By the time Zuko made it back, the women was gone and Katara had her arms wrapped around her knees and her face was hidden beneath her hair. Signs of dawn were showing through the trees.

"Tara?" He asked cautiously.

Her head snapped up and she turned quickly away from him, starting to pack up her mat, "We should get going; we need to reach them by tonight."

She'd turned quickly, but not quickly enough. He'd seen the streaks of tears down her face.

"What happened?" He asked, dropping the wood immediately forgetting it and going to her side.

She shook her head, "Nothing, we really need to get moving though. They won't wait for us forever."

"Katara," he said forcefully, putting his hands on either of her shoulders and forcing her to look at him, "What did she say to you?"

She looked up at him, her tears were wiped away but her eyes still looked sad. She put a hand on cheek as if it was the last time she'd see him, "I can't tell you." She said, her voice was slightly choked up.

"Why?" He asked gently.

She gave him a small smile, "Because I can't bear to lose you now; not after we've come so far."

Zuko's forehead furrowed in confusion; he didn't understand what the women could have possibly said that would make him leave his mission. Did it have something to do with his father? Or maybe his sister? It didn't make sense; he was already sacrificing Katara (somehow) and he couldn't see anything harder than that.

"But-"

"-We need to get moving. Sorry, you kinda gathered that wood for nothing." She interrupted, then standing and throwing her bag over her shoulder. Zuko shook his head and made his way over to his pack, throwing his things inside. They had a long road ahead.

Her mind wasn't on her side. She was tripping over branches, missing turns, and she had even been leading them in the wrong direction for a short while. She wasn't trying, but she just couldn't seem to focus on the path ahead of her; she was too pre-occupied with her conversation with her. She'd been trying to unscramble her thought after the women had left, and she'd just figured it out when Zuko reappeared out of nowhere.

She almost wished that she didn't understand, because the truth broke her heart into a million stupid pieces. She didn't want it to be true; she wanted to believe that the man walking with her had always been sincere. But she knew the truth now; and the truth was that she couldn't trust him.

His mother had asked her not to tell Zuko anything that she had said. She'd said that if he knew, he would abandon his mission to search for her if he knew she was alive. And no matter how much of his life was a lie, she needed his help if this was going to work.

"Never forget that you need him. No matter what he does wrong, you need him."

Yeah, she wouldn't forget it; she couldn't. Without him, she'd still be head guard working under a hidden tyrannical government. But now, they were going to set things right. When they did whatever Zuko said they had to do, things would be better. No more hiding, no more running, and no more being afraid. The world would be at peace.

But that didn't ease Katara's mind away from what the women had said; some of her exact words were, "Once you two fix what has been broken, he won't have any chance of ever seeing me again. He can't know about me because he wouldn't be willing lose me again."

That part she understood, and all she wanted was to tell Zuko that she spoke to his mom and to help him go after her. She wanted to give him the chance to say goodbye that she never mother had been stolen from her; if she had been told that there was even a small chance that she could get her back, she would do anything. She felt like a monster withholding that information from him.

She would tell him everything; but only after he told her his whole story.

"Toph! Behind you!" Suki screamed as a girl in Fire Nation armor flipped through the air in her direction. She threw one of her fans in the girl's direction, and she narrowly dodged it. With the girl now distracted, Toph turned back to defend herself and the warriors next to her against the unrelenting attacks.

The girl Suki threw the fan at turned on her and gave her a somewhat pouty glare. For a moment, only a brief moment, Suki could've sworn the girl was wearing a frilly pink costume with her hair in a long braid rather than the tight bun on the top of her head. There was something so familiar about that glimpse, something that made her feel like she was relaxing with a friend instead of fighting off an enemy.

She hesitated; and as she hesitated, her enemy attacked.

"You are an embarrasment!" *hit*

"You are a failure!" *hit*

"You are not my son!" *hit*

Sokka turned his head to the side and spat the bloody saliva from his mouth before turned his weak form back to his sire, "You know what, Dad? Being called your son would be an insult."

*Black*

Hiiiiii people! Short, not very happy, and a whole lot of cliffies! So! Read below because there's a bunch for YOU to decide! :)

#1: There is a lot of history I have left unrevealed so far so let me know what you want to know first and what you don't care about knowing at all

-Aang's death and the whole sitch surrounding it

-Ursa's mysterious life (NONE of you were even close if anyone wants to take another shot, the reward still stands for the person who guesses it)

-Fall of the Southern Water Tribe

-The history of the order of peeps that the archer (that shot Zuko) came from

-I know that there's more that I'm forgetting so let me know! :)

#2: Anyone feel like writing some cannon scenes for me? Idc who for, I've just been sooo romantically uncreative lately -.- so if anyone feels like taking on a mini-project, p.m. me! (And btw I'm not gonna steal your writing I would put in what parts you wrote and include bunches of shout outs in the A.N.)

#3: Woot Woot! Any of ya'll read any super good Zutara goodness lately? I feel like reading lots of super fluff . :3 (it's a heart)

#4: Talk to me guys! If you haven't already noticed, I've been trying to interact more with my readers and get your tips/criticism/love/whatever so send me a review! Or a p.m.! And please, I love all you guys and everything, but "Great chapter. Review soon." IS NOT A REVIEW. I appreciate all of my consistent reviewers so much but WHAT DID YOU LIKE? WHY WAS IT GOOD? When you just say "Great chapter" it makes me think that it was actually a bad chapter cause you don't even care enough to write anything out.

And...*sigh* guys, I have a job, I have church stuff, I have to watch my sisters, I have to work out, I have to clean, I have to spend time with people who need my advice/support, I'm not going to stress over minor grammar errors and really? Did me using the phrase "bullet-proof" bother you THAT much? Then don't read! For real, I don't have the time and I honestly don't care to fix that. I'm not mad, I'm not yelling, I'm not trying to offend you guys, but I want you to understand that it's a miracle when I can type up 1000 words to post. I'd love it if I had hours to proof read and make every detail historically accurate (and when I finish this FF I plan on rewriting it with far more detail and care put into making it perfect), but I don't.

I LOVE YOU! FOR REAL I'M NOT JUST SAYING THAT!SO PLAY NICE!

Kmsitterley