Chapter Seventeen

The steady rocking of Zuko's pace stopped. "Katara?" He called quietly.

Her eyes fluttered open, realizing she had fallen asleep. "Mm…? Sorry." Her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry Zuko, I didn't mean to fall asleep." She said in a rush feeling embarrassed.

He gave a low chuckle and she could feel it through his back. "Don't worry about it. You must be exhausted after all that bending." He loosened his grip on her legs, allowing her to slide off his back. Her legs tingled as feeling came back to them.

"How long did you carry me?" Guilt coloring her tone.

"Don't worry about it." He said, brushing off her concerns. Quickly changing the subject he swept his arm around them. "How does this look for a camp site?"

Finally taking in her surroundings Katara smiled. They were in a clearing of trees, a small river cutting through the forest. "Perfect." She said stretching and then wincing at the pain in her back.

"Are you alright?" Zuko asked, taking a step towards her as he noticed the pained expression. "Did Azula hurt you?" His expression clouded.

"Just stiff." She waved him away. No need to worry him over a sore back from the rock fall. "You make a fire, and I'll see if I can catch some fish from the river."

He gave her a final scrutinizing look before nodding and started to gather kindling. Katara walked to the river and followed the bank upstream, looking for a deeper spot. In the shallows by Zuko piling firewood, Katara had seen a few young fish, too small to bother catching and if she found deeper water, there was a promise of dinner. Intent on her mission, she hadn't noticed that she was disappearing out of sight.

Finally she found a deeper section and saw the glint of scales in the weakening light. The sun was threatening to set in a little while, but she was comfortable under the moons light. She leaned over into a bending pose and quickly straightened, her hands going to the sore spot as she mumbled a pained curse. Standing straighter than normal to keep from aggravating the sore spot, she concentrated on the water around the fish and brought it up, a small globe with her soon to be meal swimming about. She froze the water and placed it on the bank as she went fishing for more. When she had gathered several decent sized fish, she pulled the frozen blocks into one and using her bending to carry it, made her way back to where a fire was now crackling and Zuko watched the tree line, a relieved look crossing his face when she came into view.

"I was worried." He said in way of greeting when she came closer.

"Sorry I didn't mean to. I was catching dinner." She said, gesturing to the floating ice full of fish.

He looked like he wanted to say something but he just nodded. "Good. I'll go ahead and cook them." He said and she unfroze them, letting them lie on the ground as Zuko started preparing them. Soon they had a nice hot meal and they ate well for the first time in a while. Katara sat up and winced as the pain in her back flared. She hadn't realized her fingers were gently probing the sore area until Zuko commented on it.

"What's wrong with your back?"

"Nothing."

"You said that earlier, but it's hurting you, isn't it?" His eyes were sharp.

She sighed; tired of pretending she was fine. "I don't know what happened. It was probably when the rocks fell and hit me."

"Let me see." He said, leaning forward and reaching for her.

She looked a little startled. "Why?"

His hand fell and he looked dejected. "I just wanted to help…"

She instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry. I'm used to taking care of myself."

"I know." He gave her a weak smile. "I remember. Probably not much I could do anyways…"

"Well…" She turned her back to him and lifted the hem of her shirt until it cleared the sore spot. "How bad is it?"

She heard him suck air in through his teeth, then the very gentle brush of warm fingers across her bare skin.

"That bad, huh?" She gave a nervous laugh, trying to cover up the chill that spread under his touch. She let the fabric fall and turned around, finding him much closer than he had been before. His hand was still raised from where he had brushed her skin.

He barely let his finger tips brush another bruise, this one on her face. He looked pained himself. "You never healed yourself."

She patted his hand reassuringly as he started to pull away. "I can do that now though."

"You should." He nodded in approval and she slowly found her feet and went to the river's edge. "You want me to come with you?"

"It's okay. It'll only take a minute." She waded into the cold water and lay down in the middle of the stream, letting it wash over her. She began to bend, pulling it over her sore body and it began to glow blue in the dark of the night. She felt all the soreness leave her body and she let the water continue to wash over her to clean the dirt from her skin and clothing. She stood and bent the water from her, dry but cold. She quickly made her way back to the fire, smiling at Zuko as she settled before the flames and he smiled back, the fire throwing into relief her restored features.

The exertion from the escape and their time spent in the underground prison was taking its toll on them as fatigue dragged at their bodies. They cleared some of the rocks away and lay in the bed of pine needles on either side of the fire. Katara curled up and the night air wasn't too cold but her time in the river had drained all the heat from her body, and the cricket frogs made her jump, fearful that Azula and her men were on their trail.

A few minutes of tossing and turning, she finally sat up, running a hand across her loose hair, brushing away the pine needles and leaves and stared into the flames. Her thoughts wandered and finally she stood, coming around the fire. Gold eyes flashed as they tracked her movements. He was propped on an elbow on his side, watching her move. She self consciously kneeled between him and the fire and he watched her curiously.

"I… can't sleep. I keep waiting for her to come bursting out of the trees." She confided with her hands clenched.

"We're far away; we are on a different island, deep in the forest. She'll never find us." He reached out with the hand that wasn't supporting his weight and clasped her wrist, gently tugging her down by him. "Everything will be alright. We'll find a village and contact my Uncle and Aang." She lay beside him and he pulled her in closer, brushing hair behind her shoulder. "Let's get some sleep."

"Thank you Zuko." She murmured as she snuggled into his side, instantly comforted and falling into the most restful sleep she had since Azula's men had first started hunting her.

The sun warmed her face and her brain quickly caught up and told her it was okay to continue sleeping, since there was no immediate danger or upcoming torture. She snuggled closer to the warmth and the arm tightened around her. Her eyes fluttered open, remembering whose arm it was. She felt her face flush but she didn't want to wake him, so she froze and listened to his even breaths. He needed to sleep as much as possible after what he'd been through.

She rested her head on his arm once more, closing her eyes as she thought through a plan for the day. Wash up, fish and eat, find a village. Sounded easy enough. Her thoughts gave way to the blank slate of dreams as she drifted off again only to be awoken when Zuko roused later.

Her pillow shifted under her and her eyes opened, finding him looking at her. She scrambled up off his arm, rubbing her eyes and running her fingers through her hair. Zuko sat up slower, ruffling his hair.

"Morning."

"Good morning." She responded. She stood and adjusted her clothing, brushing pine needles from her. "Should I go fishing?"

Zuko slowly found his feet. "Ya, just be careful okay?"

"Alright." She strode off down the river's edge, back to the deep spot she had found last night. She used her bending to catch several and combined them all into a large block of ice that she brought back to the fire that Zuko had started up again. They ate quickly, filling their empty bellies before removing any signs of their campsite and continuing their hike. It was hours of traveling through the woods. They were still exhausted from their long imprisonment and it seemed that they were looking over their shoulder every few minutes. Zuko had reassured her that there was no way Azula and her men could find them, but every rustling bush, broken twig and darting shadow had their hearts pounding and defenses barely reined in.

Katara was watching her feet, trying not to trip in the tangles of weeds and tree roots when Zuko's arm shot up, baring her passage and getting her to halt. She felt her stomach clench and her heart leap as her head snapped up, quickly scanning for any threat. He put a finger to his lips and pointed through the brush. She squinted and now that he had pointed it out, she could make out the corner of a roof. There was a little run down cabin up ahead. They stalked up to it carefully, staying hidden among the foliage. He made a motion for her to stay in the trees as he went into stealth mode and peered through the windows. He started to circle, disappearing around the corner. Katara shifted her weight. Being alone made her nervous. It felt like a long time and she was anxious and want to run after him despite her better judgment. She released a breath she didn't know she had been holding when he slunk around the corner, checking what she assumed was the last window. He crouched there and watched for a moment before creeping back to her hiding spot among the pines.

"It's an older couple." He reported quietly. "Looks like we're in the earth kingdom, but it's hard to tell. They don't look like they'll give us any problems."

Katara nodded and starting confidently making her way toward the door to the cabin but Zuko caught her arm, pulling her back. "What?"

His eyes flashed. "I don't think it'd be a good idea if they knew who we really are."

"Zuko. You're the fire lord and we've been traveling with the Avatar, it's kind of hard not to know who we are." She explained impatiently.

"I just think it'll be safer this way."

"Fine. It's just, you have a very recognizable face."

The look in his eyes dulled and his shoulders hunched a bit as he lightly touched his scar. "My face…"

Katara could've kicked herself. "That's not what I meant." She sputtered quickly.

"No, it's okay…" His voice was quiet and his eyes distant.

"Zuko…" She brushed the silken skin of the scar and his eyes met hers.

"My father marked me; it's who I am."

"You are who you are in spite of him."

He offered her a small, sad smile. "Well… if there is a chance they don't recognize me, us, we should have different names."

"When Aang was attending school in the fire nation colonies I had the name Sapphire Fire."

"Sapphire Fire?" His eyebrow raised in humored disbelief.

"What?" She asked indignantly.

He cleared his throat to cover up a laugh. "Nothing. It's uh… pretty."

She crossed her arms in mock offense. "And what's your name?"

"When my Uncle and I had the tea shop in Ba Sing Se, I was known as Lee."

"How original." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"It doesn't stand out like-" He argued and caught himself.

"Like what?" Eyebrows raised in challenge, but she couldn't keep the corner of her mouth from twitching up in a teasing smile.

He opened his mouth to defend himself before he realized she was teasing him. "Let's just go." He said crossly and he stomped towards the door this time and Katara giggled behind him. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for a stooped elderly man to open the door.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

Katara stepped forward, around Zuko. "I'm Katara and this is Zuko."

"Katara!" Zuko hissed. She spared him a quick glance.

She pressed on. "We were kidnapped and tortured and our jailers are searching for us. We need to send a letter back to the fire nation palace. Do you have a messenger hawk?"

"Well now, you wouldn't be Fire Lord Zuko would ya?" He asked, eyeing him up and down from his hunched position, eyes settling on the scar.

"Uh, yes." He mumbled.

"Jeong, who's at the door?" An old, feminine voice called out.

"The fire lord and the girl that traveled with the Avatar. Say they've been imprisoned and tortured." An equally hunched woman with white hair made her way to the door and shooed her husband out of the way.

"You poor dears!" She gushed and with a strength belying her age, pushed them into the house fretting. "Tortured you say! Come, sit down, I'll make you some tea."

"Yori! This is the fire lord and lady Katara and you offer them tea?!"

"Hush up now." She snapped at her husband and pushed Katara and Zuko towards a little table. "Sit and I'll make you some tea."

Zuko and Katara exchanged glances, but sat obediently. She clattered about a cluttered kitchen getting things ready and Jeong seated himself in a stuffed chair and eyed them warily. "Ya in some sort of trouble?" He asked, pointing with a wizened finger.

"Jeong!" His wife screeched reproachfully.

"It's fine!" Katara soothed quickly while Zuko sat stiffly in his chair looking uncomfortable. "We are in trouble, it's true. Like I was saying earlier, some men are looking for us. We need to send a letter to the palace."

"Ain't got a messenger hawk." He grumped.

Yori slammed the tea tray down on the table, making some it splash out of the old, cracked tea pot. She glared at her husband before turning sweetly to the two wide eyed teens and carefully pouring the tea into delicate little cups. "There's a little town just down the path. They have messenger hawks there for you to send your letter."

Katara nodded, cautiously picking up her cup. "Thank you."

Yori carefully set the pot on the tray, beaming at them. "Of course you're welcome to stay here if you need to for as long as you'd like."

"Woman!" Jeong said shooting forward in his chair. "We don't need whatever trouble they got."

The sickly sweet grin still on her face, her eyes pinched and flashed as she got very close to his face speaking carefully. "Jeong, darling, these children are in trouble. They have done much for the world, the least we could do is keep them here in their time of need. Can't we give them the guest rooms for a bit?"

Jeong slowly settled back into his chair. He deflated, but puffed back up with the next breath. "Well of course we can. Don't be daft woman. It's the least we could do. You should go make sure their rooms are ready while I tell them how to get to town."

Zuko stared wide eyed in awe and confusion at the complete turnaround in Jeong's behavior, but Katara was trying hard to stifle suppress a knowing grin at his wife's mastery of manipulation.

Yori flashed them a winning smile before shuffling down a hallway and disappearing. Jeong hauled himself out of his chair. "Come here boy, erm, fire lord Zuko." Katara sipped her tea and watched as Jeong went back to the front door, pointing out the path to Zuko and explaining where to find the rookery in town.

By the time she had drained her teacup Yori came bustling back in. This way dear. I'll show you to the bathroom so you can wash up. I found some of my old clothes from when I was a girl. They'll replace… these." She said gently picking at the tattered fabric that remained of her clothing.

"Thank you so much." Katara said.

"Of course dear. Your room is at the end of the hall on the left. Fire lord Zuko's is right next to it. I put extra towels in the bathroom. If you need anything else let me know."

Katara found her way to the bathroom and scrubbed herself clean, dabbing a bit of rose oil from the counter behind her ears and brushing out her long hair. The clothes she found folded next to the towels were a soft green that fit exquisitely. She felt pampered and beautiful with these simple luxuries. It had only been about a week, but had seemed like eternity to her. She emerged with a cloud of steam and found Zuko wearing what she presumed to be Jeong's old clothes. They too were green, though perhaps a big snug across the shoulders and lose in the stomach. His hair was also wet.

"Did you wash up?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"There's a basin outside by a pump. Bath water is easy if you're a fire bender. Someone was hogging the bathroom." He teased.

"Sorry." She said, sticking out her tongue.

He stared at her for a moment, eyes flicking from top to bottom. "You look nice."

"Thank you. Green looks good on you."

There was a momentary lapse into silence.

"Uh, shall we go to the rookery and send that message?"

"Yes! Let's go!" She said tugging at him eagerly and he led the way into town, using the directions Jeong had given him earlier.

Sarahplainntall here! Sorry it's taking me a while to update. I keep getting behind. What do you think? Keep me motivated with comments. Even if it's just one word! ;P