Chapter 10: Playing with Pirates (Part 2)

Katara hunched over the scroll, squinting to see in the moonlight. She'd not felt right revealing that she'd stolen the Waterbending scroll from the pirates, not in front of Lee at least. Maybe if it was just Sokka and Aang then she would have told them about it but Lee wasn't part of the groups by his own choice.

She'd pretended to go to sleep until everyone else had actually fallen asleep. That had taken longer than she'd expected; Lee had sat awake for a long time, staring into the fire and flicking his dagger from hand to hand, sometimes stopping to run the tips of his fingers along the blade. She thought there might be something engraved on it.

Eventually he'd settled down on his thin blanket and she watched as his breathing deepened and his chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

She'd waited another minute or two before withdrawing the scroll from under her bedroll and creeping down towards the river.

Zuko sat in front of the fire, going through the motions of meditative breathing. He could feel Katara's eyes on his back, watching him. He chose to ignore her and drew his dagger, flicking it back and forth.

His fingers brushed along the familiar inscription. Never give up without a fight. He wasn't sure if he'd succeeded at living up to the motto, but he'd certainly done his best. He supposed that was the point.

Sighing softly, Zuko laid down on his blanket, scarred side towards the ground. Normally he'd remove his patch, but he didn't feel like having to deal with the Avatar's group starring at the scarred ruin that was his face.

He closed his eyes and fell back into the pattern of meditative breathing. He listened as Katara's bedroll was unfastened, and as she rustled with something and stood. He listened as she tiptoed out of the camp, heading towards the river.

He stood silently and followed her, blending into the shadows of the trees.

Katara cursed as she failed to master the water whip. "Why isn't it working?"

"What's wrong with the scroll?"

Katara shrieked and turned to see Lee sat on top of a nearby boulder, watching her.

"Lee! When did—I mean, what are you—what are you doing here? Were you following me?"

Lee shrugged. "I heard you leave camp. Wondered where you were going."

Katara's face was red as she stuttered, "I was just—I mean—"

Lee nodded towards the scroll. "I'm assuming that's why those pirates were after you."

Her face got redder. "I—Okay, I took it. But they stole it first! This is a Waterbending scroll, it belongs to Waterbenders, not pirates."

Lee nodded. "So you stole it. From pirates. Okay."

Katara frowned at him. "You… don't have a problem with that? Sokka and Aang would be freaking out."

Lee shrugged. "You probably could've done a better job of stealing it, to be honest. Maybe gone back later when the pirates were all drunk or asleep."

She frowned at him, not knowing what to make of his reaction. He asked again, "So what's wrong with the scroll?"

Katara looked down at the scroll with a glare. "It's not working. I'm trying to learn this move called 'the water whip', and I'm doing all the moves but I can't do it."

A tear slipped down her cheek, only to be hurriedly wiped away. She heard Lee say, "Katara? Could you show me?"

She looked up at him. There was an expression on his face that seemed almost encouraging. "Why? You're not a Waterbender."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not. But I know a bit about fighting. Maybe I'll see something that'll help you."

She sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

She got into position and went through the motions of the water whip. She barely managed to raise the water, let alone shape it into a whip. She screamed in frustration.

"See? It's not working!"

She looked over at Lee. He had his head tilted to one side, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What?" she snapped.

He said, "You're right, it looks like you're doing each move just right. It's the transition, that's what's letting you down."

"What are you talking about?"

Lee jumped down from the boulder and walked over to her. He gestured for to get back in position. She grudgingly did.

"See, each stance is correct, but it's the way you're moving between them that's letting you down. Look, the scroll is showing more of a fluid transition, while yours were a little more sharp and sudden. Try it again slowly and really focus on the way you shift from one stance to the next."

Katara sighed, but did as he suggested. She watched, disbelieving as the water lifted effortlessly from the river, thinned itself out into a whip-shape, and then snapped out into an attack at her command.

She laughed, high and joyful. Tears sprang to her eyes. "I did it." She breathed.

She turned to Lee. He had a small smile on his face, barely there but noticeable all the same on his otherwise sombre face. She said quietly, "Thank you."

He nodded, not saying anything. Then he frowned and tilted his head to the side.

"Can you hear something?"

A metal sphere landed to the left of them. Lee saw it and dived towards Katara just as their world turned white.

Aang shot up with a gasp. His head shot around as he searched for what woke him up. He looked over at Sokka, snoring away in his bedroll. Then he saw that Katara and Lee's blankets were empty.

He ran over and shook Sokka's shoulder violently. "Sokka! Wake up! Katara and Lee are gone. Sokka!"

Sokka's hand swiped towards him sleepily. "G'way, Aan'. Sleep time."

He went back to snoring. Aang drew a deep breath and shouted, "SOKKA WAKE UP!"

"Waaah!" Sokka shot out of his bedroll and landed on his face. He turned to Aang with murder in his eyes. "What?"

Aang pointed towards Lee and Katara's empty bedrolls. "I just heard a loud boom and Katara and Lee are missing."

Sokka sighed and ran a hand across his face. "The hell has she done now."

That's when he heard a sound that sounded vaguely familiar. Like metal clashing on metal. Coming up the hill from the river.

He grabbed his club and said, "Aang, throw all our stuff on Appa's back, then follow me."

He took off running.

As the ringing faded from Katara's ears she became aware of a heavy, warm weight on top of her. It took a second longer for her to identify the weight as Lee.

She went to push him off when he groaned and rolled to the side.

Katara asked, "What was that?"

"Grenade." He groaned. "I hate grenades."

That's when they heard the rasp of steel and saw pirates emerging from the treeline, swords drawn.

Lee pushed himself to his feet, Katara following. He drew his dagger, the only weapon he had on him, and Katara pulled some river water towards her, albeit shakily.

That's when they heard slow clapping. They turned to see Commander Zhao emerging from the darkness, flanked by soldiers.

"We meet again, Traitor." Zhao's eyes flick to Katara. "And the Avatar's little Waterbending friend. It appears to be my lucky night; I just have to sit and wait for the Avatar himself to turn up so I can ship him off to the Fire Lord."

"Zhao." Lee snarled.

"That's Commander Zhao to you, Traitor. Then again, I wouldn't expect a wretch of a deserter like you to show respect to his betters. That was always your problem, wasn't it, Zuko? Respect?"

"Zuko?" Katara asked, taking a half step away from him.

Zuko shook his head, not meeting her eyes. "So what, Commander, here to take me in? I was surprised you didn't plaster my face from here to the Caldera."

"Take you in? That implies we want you, Zuko. Not even your own father wants you, Traitor. Your mess of a face should tell you that much. No, no; deserters like you should be executed so you can serve as a statement to all the weak links in the great chain of the Fire Nation."

Zuko snorted mockingly. "You always did like the sound of your own voice, Zhao."

Zhao's lip curled and flames gathered in his fists.

The Pirate Captain interrupted with, "If it not be a problem, we'll be taking our scroll back."

Katara snatched it up before Oh, the first mate, could do so. She rolled it up and stuffed it up her sleeve.

Oh sneered. "Don't think we won't go searching for that scroll, missy."

Katara's face paled. Zuko's hardened. He snapped, "Leave her alone."

Zhao opened his mouth to speak and then paused. Everyone was quiet as they listened to the sound of rustling leaves, twigs snapping, and the growing sound of a Water Tribesman screaming at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Sokka burst out of the bushes, brandishing his club like a madman, with Aang close behind, staff in hand.

Aang let loose a burst of air that took Zhao and his men off of their feet, even as Sokka collided with Oh, tackling the pirate to the ground.

Zuko darted forward into the fray, jabbing his dagger into the side of a pirate intent on skewering the Water Tribe boy. The pirate screamed as he twisted his knife and wrenched it out. He felt heat heading for his back and dived to the side, rolling, and coming up in a crouch.

Zhao was there, smoking fist extended, and an expression of pure malice on his face. Zuko smirked and rose to his feet.

Zhao let loose a series of fiery punches and kicks, all of which Zuko dodged and avoided.

"Fight back!" Zhao bellowed, unleashing a veritable inferno at Zuko.

His eyes widened at the oncoming firestorm. He took a deep breath, widened his stance, and did his utmost to part the flames and redirect them up into the sky. It left a thick cloud of smoke all around, obscuring everything from view.

Zuko dropped to his knees, coughing. He felt dizzy, like the world was spinning around him. He managed to spot Zhao in the haze, slack-jawed expression turning to one of outright fury.

Zuko struggled to his feet just as Sokka came charging out of the smoke, Katara and Aang behind him. He felt the other boy shove himself under his shoulder and begin dragging him in the direction of camp.

"Time to go, come on."

They hurried through the trees towards where Appa, and salvation, awaited.