Zuko awoke with a thundering headache and the sun beating down on him. He slowly pushed himself upright, wincing against the pain in his head. An explorative touch found a tender lump on the back of his skull. He looked out over their campsite as the previous night washed over him. A sinking feeling settled in his gut.

Katara and Dusty were gone. Their supplies were strewn about the campsite, most of it ruined.

"No," Zuko gasped.

It had to be those thieves. They'd gotten the drop on them, attacking while Zuko and Katara were asleep. Zuko hadn't even heard them coming. He'd been defenseless, barely able to throw a punch before he'd been knocked unconscious. And now Katara was gone.

Zuko peeled himself out of the dirt. A quick lookover found the trail that the thieves had taken. Zuko quickly scavenged what food he could from the campsite before he set off at a fast pace. Judging by the sun's position in the sky, it was mid-morning. It was hard to say how much distance the thieves had covered, but Zuko wasn't known for giving up.

He was getting Katara back, one way or another.

The day was hot and dry. Zuko could already feel the dehydration settling in, but the thieves had either stolen or dumped all of their water. But Zuko was made of tougher shit than most, and he wasn't going to let a little thirst detract from his mission. He was going to kill those thieves when he got his hands on them.

At least their trail is easy to follow, Zuko thought as he eyed the footprints in the dust. He could easily make out Dusty's tracks as well.

He set himself at a gruelling pace even as the sweat poured down his cheeks and ran down his back. Zuko couldn't help the anxiety that pooled in his belly with each moment that passed while Katara was still in the thieves' hold. He knew about the horrors of war. He knew what men did, what they thought was theirs by right, free for the taking.

Zuko found that couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her. He tried to tell himself that it's what any decent person would feel, but he wasn't quite able to convince himself of it. And, without anything else to distract him, Zuko had to face a very startling truth: he was starting to like her.

He chalked it up to spending these past few weeks with her. It was hard not to like her. When she wasn't trying to piss him off, she was actually pretty nice. Funny, even. She filled up the long hours on Dusty's back with stories, regaling him with tales of her adventures with her brother and the Avatar, but also stories from her homeland.

Zuko had even found himself opening up to her, telling stories about his own childhood, and even some things about his banishment. She laughed when he made a joke, and she sympathized with him when he shared something depressing. It was...nice. Weird, but nice.

He'd thought of her as an obstacle for so long now that it was strange to believe that he could feel anything else towards her. She'd always been in his way, thwarting his plans and helping the Avatar escape his clutches. But with the Avatar further out of reach than ever (and along with it, his throne), Zuko had found room for Katara to move in. He was alone, without his uncle or his honor, but she'd become...a friend.

And now, because he hadn't been diligent enough, because he hadn't given those thieves enough incentive to leave them alone, Katara was their prisoner. Like she'd once been his prisoner. But he had never intended to hurt her, not the way these men planned to.

Zuko couldn't let anything happen to her. He refused.

Zuko caught up to the thieves at nightfall. He smelled the smoke from their campfire long before he saw them. Zuko dropped into a stealthy crouch and crept towards their camp, climbing to the top of a short hill.

He saw Dusty first, tied to a scraggly tree. Then he saw Katara leaning against her. As far as he could tell with the distance and the darkness, she looked okay. The four men sat around the campfire, eating their food. He could hear their raucous laughter. The sound set his blood on fire.

Zuko settled in to wait. He was weaponless, but Zuko knew that he could handle them. He didn't even need his firebending. These men were cowards, untrained pigs who attacked in the dead of night because they knew when they were too weak to attack in daylight. They were the worst kind of people.

He watched Katara closely. She remained slumped against Dusty, her hands clearly tied behind her back. Zuko assumed that they had kept water far away from her so that she couldn't bend. Knowing her skill, Katara would have broken herself free by now if they'd been foolish enough to leave water where she could access it.

Zuko waited as the men went to sleep, one by one. They were fools then, since they did not even leave a guard posted. Even Katara fell asleep. Soon, their fire was little more than a dying red glow. That was when Zuko made his move.

He crept down the side of the hill, as silent as a turtle-mouse. No one noticed his arrival, not even Dusty.

Zuko approached Katara and Dusty from behind, using the shadows to keep himself hidden from the thieves' line of sight. Dusty lifted her head, her dark eyes finding him in the dark. Zuko reached out to her, hoping that his bond with the animal would be enough to keep her calm once she recognized him.

It worked, apparently, as Dusty let out one low whine before she bowed her head. Zuko breathed a silent sigh of relief as he crept around to crouch down next to Katara. He put his hand over her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound.

Katara startled awake, and even in the darkness, Zuko could see the blue of her eyes. He held one finger to his lips. Katara nodded, and he pulled his hand away from her mouth. He helped her sit forward and made quick work of the ropes tying her hand.

"What are we going to do about that?" Katara asked, the words nearly soundless as she held her mouth close to his unscarred ear.

Zuko glanced at their sleeping forms. He couldn't risk the thieves coming after them again. He needed to end this now.

He looked back at Katara and jerked his head towards the hill. "Get out of here. Me and Dusty will catch up to you."

Katara considered him for a moment, her eyes searching his face. Then she nodded once before she got to her feet and silently slipped out of the camp. Zuko watched her go, waiting until she crested the top of the hill. Then he turned back towards the men, his eyes searching for his dao swords.

He found them, propped up by a pack near the leader. Zuko's face set into a grim expression as he moved towards his swords.

Let's end this, he thought.

Zuko found Katara waiting for him at the top of the hill. He dismounted Dusty and went to her.

"Are you okay?" he demanded to know, putting his hands on her shoulders as he inspected her.

"I'm fine," Katara said, although she couldn't quite hide the tremble in her voice. "They didn't hurt me."

Zuko studied her closely as he let his hands fall back to his sides. "I'm sorry I let them take you."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault, Zuko." She let out a shaky breath. "They were awful. They were going to sell me in Ba Sing Se."

Katara couldn't hold her tears back anymore. They spilled down her cheeks as a sob burst out of her. She buried her face in her hands. Zuko's jaw dropped open as he felt anger and horror surge through him. He was glad he did what he did, then. Those men didn't deserve to breathe air.

"How can people be this way?" Katara cried. "How can they just...hurt people, like it's nothing? I don't understand it."

To his surprise, Katara suddenly threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest as she continued to cry. Zuko hesitated for only a moment before he wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him, his jaw tightening.

"I don't either," Zuko murmured. "I'm so sorry, Katara. But those men will never hurt you or anyone else ever again."

She pulled back and looked up at him, her eyes widening in realization. "Did you…?"

"I did what I had to do," Zuko told her firmly. "To keep us safe. To keep you safe."

Katara wiped at her tears as she stepped back. Zuko felt a pang in his gut. Despite what those thieves had done, was she disgusted by him for what he had done? Did she want nothing to do with him now? But then she looked up at him.

"We should go," she said quietly. "We're probably way off course now."

"There's a good place to camp over there," Zuko said as he pointed. "We'll get some sleep, and set out at dawn."