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Chapter 35:

"Thank you." I said to Zuko after I had finished examining myself in the mirror. He was still frowning. I pulled away from the mirror and placed the package of clothing into my travel bag. Zuko stood up. "You should get some rest, or at least try to." He told me as he turned to leave.

"Tomorrow we'll find him?"

"Tomorrow we'll find him." He said firmly giving me a nod as he left my room. I watched him go and then sat down on my mattress after he had left. My hand kept travelling to the bareness of my neck and my shoulders. I lied down on the mattress and closed my eyes. I needed my energy for tomorrow so I forced myself to at least try to go to sleep and soon enough, I did.

I woke up fresh in the morning. My hand darting to my hair and I gasped as I realized where my hair had disappeared. I got out of bed and went into the washroom and washed up before returning to my room. I picked up my travel bag and hitched it up on my shoulder; I then walked over to Zuko's room and knocked on the door.

I didn't hear an answer, so I knocked again and waited. He still didn't answer. I sighed and pushed open the door. Zuko was lying asleep on his mattress, with no shirt on. I tore my eyes away from his bare chest and walked up to him. I leaned in close to wake him up but then stepped back. Zuko's face was contorted with pain, I thought it was his shoulder, but I continued watching him.

He turned in his bed and his arm swung around aggressively. His face was filled with pain and grief, it couldn't be his shoulder. I watched him for a few more minutes until I couldn't take the pained look on his face. I crouched down next to him and whispered into his ear. "Zuko, wake up."

He didn't hear me as he continued flailing on his mattress. I stroked his cheek with my hand. "Zuko?" I said slightly louder. "Wake up."

Zuko's eyes snapped open and he sat up in his bed abruptly and gasped for air. His eyes were widened and he was sweating. I watched confused until he finally caught his breath and slowly sank back into his bed. "Zuko?" My voice was quiet.

He looked at me, surprised as if just noticing I was there. He held his face in his hands for a long time before turning in his mattress to face me. I trained my eyes to stare at his face and not at his bare chest as he faced me. He didn't say anything for a while as he squinted his eyes at me.

My eyebrows drew in and I sighed, "you were having a nightmare."

Zuko sat up in his bed and combed his fingers through his hair. "No, I wasn't."

"Yes you were, but anyways, hurry up and get dressed." I watched as he pulled the sheet off of himself and rubbed his eyes, "you promised we could go today." I said finally.

He looked over at me one last time and then breathed heavily. "I don't think I will ever get used to your hair being short."

I rolled my eyes. He always managed to drive every conversation the wrong way. "Zuko, get dressed!" I said loudly as I straightened up and made my way towards the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes to wrap your shoulder again."

He nodded and watched me as I left. Right as I walked out of his door, I ran into my room and looked back into the mirror. I looked like myself, just with shorter hair. I ran my fingers through my hair several times, I couldn't think of the last time I had cut my hair. I sighed and slowly got back up and hitched my travel bag higher up on my shoulder.

I walked back into Zuko's room. He was still shirtless, which was serving to be a major distraction for myself. He hadn't noticed me come in so I tried to hold my gaze on the window behind him. He finally turned around and he had a worried expression on his face. I walked up towards him when I saw him fumbling with the wrap on his shoulder.

"Zuko, what's wrong?" I asked him as I pushed his hand away form his shoulder, he didn't say anything as I slowly unwrapped the cloth. I gasped at what I saw. His shoulder wasn't bleeding anymore, but it was a deep shade of black and blue and it looked bruised. I looked right in the spot where the arrow had gone in and that spot was so deeply cut through, it made me shudder.

I felt myself panicking. "Zuko…I don't know what happened! I don't know what to do…I think- I think it's infected!" I was breathing quickly as I stared at his shoulder intently then looked back at the cloth in my hands. Zuko took a hold of my wrist and then raised my chin with his other hand. "Katara, it's fine…" He almost looked embarrassed and I couldn't understand why.

"Stop saying that!" I snapped as I pushed him away from me and held his arm in my hands. I was worried, but for my own selfish reasons. If Zuko didn't get better than I wouldn't be able to find my brother. I felt horrible, it was I. I had done something wrong, this was my entire fault. I had fallen asleep when his shoulder needed to be wrapped again and I didn't find a doctor when he needed one. I pushed away a memory of Zuko bringing me into the infirmary instantly after I had been hit with the sword. I felt my eyes sting.

"Stop saying it's fine!" I was yelling at him now, because I couldn't think of anyone else to take my anger out on. "It is anything but fine! I-I don't even know what's wrong…" I couldn't hide the deep worry I held in my tone.

Zuko cupped my face in his hands. "Katara, it's healing. Relax, it's not infected."

I pushed him off of me. "How do you know that?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and grabbed his shirt and slowly pulled it on over the pants he was wearing. He took the wrap from my hands and wrapped it back around his arm by himself. I watched, fuming at how calm he was acting, he could be dying for all he knew.

He turned to face me as he wrapped his sheath around his waist and pushed his sword into it. He met his eyes with mine and I glared at him. "Are you ready?" He asked me.

I continued glaring, ignoring his question. He smiled ever so faintly as he took his hand in mine and he began walking out of his door. "I will take that as a yes, let's go." He held my hand until we had left the inn and were making our way towards the stables that held both of our horses.

I walked towards my horse and wrapped my arms around her neck. I pushed my travel bag up onto her as I placed my foot on the stirrup; I looked over at Zuko and felt my face heat up when he was staring directly at me, already on his horse. I pushed up and sat down on my own horse and looked over at Zuko.

"Your brother has been living towards the middle of the forest, in the larger inns. So it'll probably be a few hours of travelling until we arrive." He turned away from me and placed his hand on the handle of his sword and absently traced his hand over the handle before looking back up at me, "are you hungry?"

I shook my head no. I wasn't hungry at all; I just wanted to find my brother. Zuko gave me a nod and he began trotting in front of me. I followed behind him, alert of my surroundings. Zuko hadn't ridden his own horse ever since he had been shot with the arrow. I trotted up so I was directly next to Zuko. His face was directed ahead and I watched as a muscle in his jaw twitched.

"Zuko?"

He turned to face me.

"This morning…" I paused, how was I supposed to word this? "This morning, when I came into your room…you were having a nightmare-"

"Katara-" He tried to cut me off but I held my hand up.

"Does the nightmare have anything to do with when you were shot with the arrow?"

I watched as Zuko's eyes flicked up to mine and then stared back down at the ground ahead of him, as if he couldn't hold my gaze. I held my breath. "Zuko, you didn't tell me who the man was who shot you…"

He raised his head up and gave me a questioning look. I swallowed, "when you were shot, you told me it wasn't one of your father's soldiers…so who shot you if they weren't one of your father's soldiers?"

Zuko continued staring at the ground ahead of him for a long time. His body had tensed up visibly and I held my breath, waiting for his answer.

"Zuko-"

"I can't tell you." He muttered under his breath, loudly enough for me to hear. I pushed my horse forward and pulled my reins right in front of Zuko's horse. Zuko's horse neighed loudly and came to a halt. I glared at Zuko.

"What do you mean?" I wasn't trying to hide the anger in my voice, but I struggled to keep my voice even because I was shaking from anger. "What do you mean you can't tell me?" I repeated myself louder and I knew some villagers were watching us.

Zuko gave me a blank stare and he pulled his horse in the other direction and crossed me without saying anything. I galloped up to him. "Zuko! Why can't you tell me?" The blood had rushed to my face and I could feel my entire body heating up from my anger. When he didn't reply, I stopped my horse in front of his again. "Zuko! Look at me!" I yelled at him and Zuko's head didn't move as his eyes slowly met mine. "Why can't you tell me?"

Zuko looked back down and he looked pathetic. This pathetic prince who I had made a mistake of travelling with. I leaned in on my horse as I spoke, keeping my voice even, "when I agreed to travel with you…you told me you had told me everything I needed to know. Then you get shot by someone who-who you can't even tell me who it is!" My voice was shaking and I inhaled sharply to control my anger before I continued, "I am doing a favour for you by travelling with you! Not the other way around, do you understand? If you think you have any right to hide things from me then I will find my brother on my own, without your help."

He continued staring blankly and his pale face looked even paler as he continued staring at me, it drove me insane. There was a hint of anger in his voice when he spoke, "go ahead. You can have fun finding your brother on your own. " He paused for a second and closed his eyes and then slowly met my gaze again, "If you're using that as a threat against me then you are confused at what really threatens me, but let me tell you something, whether you accept it or not, you will never find your brother without my help, ever." The coldness in his voice made me want to jump off of my horse and tackle him to the ground.

I watched as he swallowed, some of the colour returned to his face and the anger in his eyes melted and a new expression crossed them. "Katara, believe me when I tell you that I cannot tell you…" His voice was quiet and he almost seemed to apologizing for losing his temper, "I will tell you…but not here…not now…" He whispered and I bit my lip. He met my gaze and stared at me with such intensity, I couldn't hold the gaze for long; I stared down at the ground. "I promise I will tell you…" He finished and he slowly pulled his reins aside and began trotting again.

I watched him continue trotting and I slowly fell in pace behind him. I didn't want to travel with him, but he was right, I would never find my brother or my family without his help. It was hard for me to digest, but I was relying on Zuko and he couldn't leave me and I couldn't leave him.

The rest of the journey passed in a penetrating silence between the two of us. We hadn't said one word to each other and I could only hear my own breathing in the dead silence of the forest path. Zuko seemed as tense and uncomfortable at me and a look crossed his face many times, as if he was regretting something.

A look crossed Zuko's face many times during the journey, in which his eyes would mist over and his head would droop, almost as if he was regretting something. I didn't ask him about it, because I wasn't speaking to him. We finally arrived to a large clearing of the forest where there seemed to be an endless amount of large inns. Zuko looked back at me and then looked forwards again.

We slowly trotted forwards, my heart was beating frantically. I didn't want to be nervous, but I couldn't help it. I was about to meet my brother whom I didn't seven know existed. I turned to Zuko for guidance, but he wasn't even looking my way and I felt my stomach drop, he was angry with me. I wasn't sure if he had ever been angry with me before but I knew now he was angry with me, so I didn't speak to him as I followed behind him closely. Zuko slowly slid off his horse and held the reins in his hands, and I did the same.

I walked next to him, taking in the view. There were just hundreds and hundreds of different inns and so many people were walking around; I had no idea how I would find my brother. Zuko's neck craned up and he gave me his horse's reins. "Stay here, I'll be right back." He said in a low voice that made my stomach drop again. I watched as he walked away and began speaking to a man at the stall. They first exchanged greetings and then Zuko leaned in close to speak to him.

Zuko returned and he took his reins from my hand without a word. I followed him, feeling like more of a lackey than anything else. I hated feeling so helpless, I hated having to follow Zuko and I hating having to put up with his anger towards me. Zuko stopped in front of one of the inns and closed his eyes for a few seconds. I watched as he swallowed and then he turned to face me and he nudged his head, motioning me to follow him. I tied the reins to the closest tree and I ran up behind Zuko. We both entered the inn, and I was surprised to see how quiet and calm it was.

There was a man standing at the door and he greeted Zuko. Zuko seemed to be holding back a scowl as he greeted him sarcastically. The man looked over at me and I felt a nervous shiver run down my spine. The man leaned in close to me and I held my breath as I continued walking. He walked behind me and I prayed for Zuko to turn around and help me, but he was already walking ahead of me.

The man's face was close to mine, as he spoke, "You don't look like you're from around here." His breath smelt foul and I continued holding my breath as I shrugged quickly. I quickened my face but the man followed. "If you need a place to stay, I can always help you out with that. I have no problem with helping women like you out."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes as I spoke, "no, thank you."

Zuko was far ahead of me and I began walking even faster towards him, suddenly I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me back. I gasped in surprise as I came face-to-face with the man. I struggled from his grip. "Let go of me." I gasped. The man held me so tightly and he brought his face so close to me and suddenly pulled me towards him. His hand traced down my back and then moved towards my stomach and I froze.

Suddenly I watched in slow motion as a fist came out of nowhere and collided with the man's jaw. The man let go of me and Zuko grabbed me and pulled me aside as he punched the man again. I gasped as the man started bleeding instantly. "Zuko-" my voice was weak and uneven as the man getting up and punching Zuko right in his mouth cut me off. Zuko didn't even hesitate as he punched the man again and again. The man hit Zuko again right in his jaw and Zuko's eyes flashed with anger. My breath hitched in my throat. I grabbed the man and pushed him away.

"Stop it!" I yelled. "He's injured!" The man didn't listen to me as he punched Zuko again. Zuko hit him in his stomach and the man doubled over in pain. I suddenly stepped right in between the man and the Zuko and I faced Zuko and the last thing I saw was the horror in Zuko's eyes when I felt myself being flung to the ground as the man hit me as hard as he could, a blow meant for Zuko, in the back. I heard Zuko gasp and the man ran up to me and I heard him apologizing but I heard the sound of Zuko hit him again and again and I weakly looked up as I watched Zuko jump on top of him and punch him again and again until the man was lying in a pool of his own blood.

Someone pulled Zuko off of the man and I watched as the anger lingered dangerously in Zuko's eyes. Someone was helping me up, but I couldn't breathe, I was winded badly and I was gasping for any form of air to make it's way into my lungs. I heard someone yell, but it wasn't Zuko.

"Katara!" It was a voice loud and desperate and it knocked me off my guard, a voice so familiar it sent memories flooding through my head. It sounded like the voice was crying, but I wasn't sure where he was. "That's my sister!" I gasped for air and a desperate pain filled my chest, it was my brother. My brother. I wasn't sure if I was standing or lying on the ground but I flailed my arms desperately in an attempt to find my brother in the crowd of people, but I couldn't breathe. No air was coming into my lungs and I continued gasping for air until everything went dark.

Cliff hanger's…don't you just love them? Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter!