Chapter Thirteen

The next morning Katara woke to find herself nestled against Zuko's chest, his arm slung over her and the heat lavishly surrounded her. She tried to quietly extricate herself from his embrace, not wanting to wake him because he was still so desperately in need of sleep and healing. The moment she began to slide away his golden eyes snapped open and quickly focused on her. She felt the heat rise to her face.

"Hi." She said quietly.

"Morning." He said, slowly pulling back his arm as if trying not to spook her and then rolling onto his back, laying the arm over his eyes.

"How do you feel today?" She said sitting up and putting some space between them as she scrutinized his battered body.

"Peachy." He muttered sarcastically, arm still over his face.

Katara was about to press on when they heard the familiar scrape of boots treading toward them. Katara was quick to stand and whirl to glare at her captures. Zuko made muted pained sounds as he found his feet. Katara offered him a hand but he waved her off, trying to prove he was better then he actually was. Cain came into sight, followed by his ever present entourage of several guards; one was always an earth bender and the cloaked chi blocker.

"Awake early? Like begging dogs." He spat.

Katara and Zuko both straightened their postures and stared at him balefully.

"Are you going to cooperate this morning, or is it going to get interesting?"

Katara knew it would be a bad idea to resist, especially since Zuko was in no condition to take any more abuse. She strode boldly forward, hoping he would follow her lead. She almost sighed in relief as he did, though he growled as the chi blocker stepped up to the bars. They received their routine jabs, the power of their bending flowing out of their bodies.

"I'm surprised…" Cain muttered. "And a little disappointed." He gave them his gruesome grin. Despite how much he pretended he wanted nothing but obedience, he didn't like to miss an opportunity to dole out violence. "Stand back!" He barked and they obligingly stepped away so one of the guards could slip the tray with unidentifiable slop under to them. Katara examined the contents of this morning's breakfast and brought it further back into the cell ignoring the guards, but Zuko stood unmoving, staring down the men with steely eyes until they left. Once they were gone Zuko let down his guard and limped back to Katara and carefully lowered himself to the floor, tenderly leaning against the cool stone wall.

"Hungry?" She asked flatly, lifting the spoon and letting the substance slide off and back to the tray with a little splat.

Zuko rubbed his face tiredly, careful to avoid the new bruises. "Unfortunately."
"Me too." She added begrudgingly.

Zuko was very adamant on sharing, but Katara was careful to give him a little of her share too. He needed it more than she did, especially since he'd been here longer. She contemplated trying to keep some of the water to help Zuko with when her bending came back, but decided the risk was too great and she didn't want to put him in further danger. It was a while before the guards came back to collect the tray and bring them to the latrines. Again, Katara didn't resist and crossed her fingers that Zuko wouldn't either. He didn't fight them, but he was still prickly and irritable. They were locked in their tiny, cold cell once more, left to dread the coming torture sessions.

Zuko lay back down, arm over his eyes once more. She wished there was something she could do for him. She sat watching him worriedly, afraid for him more than herself at the moment. "Zuko?" She called quietly, not sure if he was asleep or not.

"Hm?" He responded unmoving.

"It's just, when they come, you know, for you or even for me…" She trailed off, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. How was she supposed to bring this up? She couldn't tell him to give in, but she was so concerned about his current condition, she didn't want him provoking any unnecessary injuries. What a laugh! Unnecessary injuries? They were being tortured after all!

Her pause was so long that Zuko pulled the arm from his face and turned his head to stare at her, his golden eyes piercing the gloom and settling heavily on her face. She could feel the weight of them burning into her.

"It's just… when they come, please, don't resist." His face went blank and she stumbled over her words. "You're already so hurt; don't give them any more reason to make it worse!"

He let out a long breath and turned his attention towards the ceiling. "Katara…"

"I'm not telling you to give up! I just don't want anything to happen to you!" She was practically yelling and her hands were clenched in her lap. She was embarrassed. She just wanted to help, she was so worried, but she ended up yelling at him.

"Katara…" This one wasn't resigned, it was coaxing. It took her a moment to raise her face from her lap. He held out an arm to her. She crawled closer and helped him sit up, leaning him gently against the wall as he grimaced. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she watched the pain pass over his face. "I'm okay, really."

"Don't lie to me." She murmured, big blue eyes staring at him, eyebrows slightly knit.

"Alright." He placed a hand over her balled up fist. "I won't aggravate them or resist… much." He saw that she wanted to protest so he gave her hand a slight squeeze. "I'll try, but I can't always help it. But you have to promise to stop resisting as much too. I can't stand it when that bastard strikes you." His eyes flashed. "Promise me."

"I promise."

"But you can't give up either."

"Never."

A small smile appeared. "Good. We're in it together."

"We're going to get out of here Zuko." She said, staring intently at him.

"I know. But-"

His words were cut off at the crunch of boots again.

"Help me stand." He urged, this time asking for and accepting her help. She tried to carefully pull him up and kept hold of him as they took a few steps toward the bars to meet Cain. He patted her hand and gently removed it from his arm before the guards came into view. They both straightened and put on their masks of defiance and cold indifference towards their captures.

Cain stopped before their bars and glared at both of them. He turned his dark, cruel gaze to Zuko. "It's you're lucky day. Orders say you get the day off to recuperate. You're lucky you scarred failure." He snarled and she could see Zuko's shoulders tighten out of her periphery, but he didn't react. Cain seemed disappointed. "But…" He was jovial now, which was never a good thing. "The little water peasant gets to have a turn in the chair again." The color drained from her face and her legs wobbled.

"She's not going!" Zuko growled.

Her eyes widened as the scrape of the lock echoed, her body turning to panic. She didn't want to go back! Zuko pushed her behind him but stone curled up his legs and held him tight. The chi blocker pounced forward and Zuko tried to fight him off but his reactions were slow from his time here and the chi blocker struck him several times till Zuko fell, his muscles no longer supporting him and the stone sunk back into the floor. Katara backed away but the chi blocker struck with such speed and fluidity that she couldn't avoid the bending stealing blows.

"Katara! Leave her alone!"

"I'll be okay!" She called over her shoulder, trying to reassure him, though the dread spread through her, making everything leaden as the guards dragged her away, thrashing a little bit against them. When she was out of sight of the cell and Zuko, that's when she began to struggle in earnest, kicking the guards, the panic causing her stomach to twist painfully. The guards holding her clenched their teeth and tightened their grip as Cain struck the bruises on the back of her legs, making them turn rubbery and ache as she cried out in pain. Unable to support her weight some of the fight left her but she still growled insults and tried to pull from their grip. They stopped in front of the door, waiting for Cain to find the right key from the massive ring of them and the lock scraped open.

Inside the cold, damp room the chair waited for her. The guards tossed her into it and she made to lunge out but they caught her, thrusting her back and holding her until the earth bender could set the bindings.

"You're going to pay for this!" She shrieked once she was strapped in.

"And what are you going to do?" Cain asked smugly, resting a hand on the lever. She opened her mouth to reply but her stomach clenched as she fell into the icy waters below. The dark and freezing liquid filled her mouth and hurt her eyes as she tried to squeeze them shut against the icy assault. She surfaced and spat the water out and heaved for air, her lungs so cold and shrunken it was hard to do. She tried to focus on breathing, on filling her lungs as much as possible before her next plunge but it was hard to do since she was shivering so hard her teeth rattled together painfully. All the heat from her body had been sucked away so fast it was hard to pay attention to anything other than the pin pricks of cold all over.

She felt more then saw the chair start to fall again and she tried desperately to take a deep breath before she was pulled under the dark water. She held out as long as she could, starting to go numb from the cold, but her lungs ached and burned as she fought to keep the air in. Finally she could take no more and bubbles burst from her rapidly replaced by the frosty water. She was pulled up shortly after, left to hack and vomit the water from her lungs and stomach. Her whole body ached and fought the fatigue, but it was heavily weighing on her.

She was plunged several times more, each time thinking this may be the end, her death awaiting her each time her lungs filled. But it never seemed to end. They'd pull her up just before it was too late and let her recover just enough before doing it all over again. She fought as long and as hard as she could, but after some point, she just wanted to give up. Long past the point of her cessation to struggle did they finally release her from the chair and she flopped forward into a sodden, shivering pile on the floor before the torture device.

Cain stood over her, mocking, but she was so water logged and exhausted she couldn't make out the words. Her eyes drifted closed and she could feel pressure on her arms, but that was all she could make out except for perhaps the occasional drag from her legs. The cold was too much and sleep promised release from so many things; what was the point in fighting it? Blearily she registered loud noises and she was moving, then her skin felt like it was on fire.

She tried to pull away, as pathetic as her attempts were, but the fire didn't stop, it spread. It was too hard to open her eyes, and trying to recoil from the burning didn't help so she made whimpering sounds. Then she heard soothing words whispered to her, just beyond her scope of understanding. She fought to open her eyes and it was difficult, but she managed to slit them open just enough to make out a blurry Zuko.

"Zu-oh…?" She slurred trying to form his name with numb lips. She felt something brush over her hair and more soft murmuring. She was starting to make out some of the words.

"…ok…hypothermia…heat…move…"

She blinked, trying very hard to focus. The pain was making her more aware. The burning was all over her body. She was on fire. She was on fire and he wasn't doing anything! Why wasn't he helping her? She was burning in front of him and he just kept stroking her wet hair and whispering.

"Burns… fire…help…" It was a great effort to form those words but he seemed to understand.

"No. You're not on fire." His voice was becoming clearer as the pain sharpened.

"It hurts." She insisted as vehemently as she could manage.

"You're okay." He hushed her, adjusting his grip and shifting her.

"I'm on fire!" She cried, becoming panicked as she tried to move.

"Katara, shh… You're okay. I wouldn't let you burn. It's because blood is being circulated back through your body. I had to warm you up or you were going to die of hypothermia."

She was so tired and everything burned, especially her extremities. She was tired of hurting and being afraid. She just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. "It hurts." She murmured as she buried her face in his shirt to keep from crying or making any more pained sounds.

He adjusted his hold on her again, making her realize she was cuddled up in his lap as he ran his warm hands over her, massaging the muscles and limbs back to life. He curled around her protectively like a blanket. "I know. I'm sorry. It'll be over soon. I'll keep you warm; just try to get some sleep."

The pain was starting to abate and now that she could think clearly again, the exhaustion pulled at her with a new demanding strength. He gently pulled a hand up from where it lay curled to her and carefully straightened her fingers and rubbed them between his hands and blew steaming breath over them. Feeling started coming back and she could feel her fingers ever so slightly caress his lips as he continued to breathe life back into them. It felt good as he started working on the other hand, placing the first where it had been. Nothing was numb or painful anymore and she could feel her sodden clothes slowly drying. She was almost back to her normal temperature and could feel the promise of warmth and security surround her as everything became heavier and then turned to nothing as sleep pulled her under.

It felt like she had just closed her eyes, but Zuko was shaking her shoulder when she woke. She was drowsy and comfortable and it took a moment to realize why he had awoken her. Footsteps were approaching and the growling of her stomach and the sounds coming from Zuko's made her realize it was dinner time. Zuko stood and offered her a hand up. She would rather have remained on the floor, but this was one of the few ways they could show their defiance, proof they hadn't been broken yet so she got to her feet and stood next to Zuko, trying to look strong.

Fortunately Cain wasn't the one who brought them their meal; she wasn't sure if she was up to dealing with his crap at the moment. It was one of the nameless guards and the chi blocker. Since Cain wasn't here, there was no need for testosterone laden posturing so they stepped up to be jabbed by the chi blocker before the little gate at the bottom of the door was lifted and the tray and water cup were slid under. Zuko stood glaring at the men until they retreated and Katara took the food further back into the cell before splitting the meager offerings with Zuko. When they were done and left the tray by the door Katara was ready to curl up and sleep again though it was disheartening that it had grown cold once more, the extra heat Zuko had provided had slowly disappeared and she found the chill hard to bear after her long stint of nearly freezing.

Zuko lay down near her and got comfortable. She bit her lower lip and steeled her nerve before she scooted over and curled up alongside Zuko, tucking close to his body. He gave a startled jump and turned to look at her.

She tried to hide the blush furiously coloring her cheeks and tried to explain as calmly as she could. "It's cold and even if you don't have your fire bending right now, your body heat is still warmer then the stone floor."

"Glad I can help." He said as he rolled to face her, wrapping her in a tight embrace pulling her flush to his body. She stiffened for a moment, but slowly relaxed. He wasn't going to hurt her. He was just trying to help and this was much better than the stone floor. His arm even pillowed her head. She snuggled closer, inhaling a deep woodsy scent that was purely Zuko and sleep found her once more.

HOLY SHI-COW! So sorry! I've been graduating, in New York, moving and starting a new job! I've been without internet the whole time so I'm sorry for the loooong wait! I hope you enjoy!