A/N: Sorry it's taking so long. It's really hard for me to get anywhere that has internet. But tomorrow's my last day of school so hopefully I can get to a computer more. Anyways, I wanted to mention that though I have realized some stuff in my story is like what has happened in the show and some is suppose to happen in upcoming episodes, I wrote this before I even saw them. I just wanted you to know I didn't copy their ideas, it is merely coincidence, lol.

Chapter Thirteen

Evening seemed to come early that day. Black clouds were rolling in rapidly and the sky was darkening quickly. Prince Zuko looked worriedly at the storm clouds racing across the sky. They were still an hour from land and their chances of beating the storm looked slim.

"Commander!" Zuko shouted and the head commander appeared before him.

"Yes sir!"

"Tell the crew to prepare for bad weather. It looks like we have some rough sailing ahead of us."

"Yes sir." He turned and began barking orders at the rest of the crew. Prince Zuko waited to make sure that no one was paying him any attention then turned and went below deck. He knocked softly on the door to Katara's room and then unlocked it. She turned from where she had been staring out the window. To his surprise her eyes were red and it looked as if she had been crying.

"Katara!" he said in surprise, "What's wrong? Did…did I do something?"

Katara sniffed and hurriedly wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "What? Oh, no! No, I just.." she sat down heavily on the bed in another burst of tears. "I just don't understand! Why would the Avatar leave? Why didn't he want to protect his people? And…and wouldn't Aang do the same thing? He would never understand what's going on between me and you! It's not fair!" More tears ran down her face, "How can he call himself my friend if he wouldn't even support my decisions! I…I just feel like everything I believed in has been a lie." She buried her face in her face, ashamed to let Prince Zuko see her cry.

"Oh Katara." To her surprise he sat down beside her and put his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest. She relaxed slightly and let her head rest against his body. She could here his heart beating slowly. "I…I don't really know what to say. I wish this wasn't true but….I believe it is. The Avatar would never stand for this. They're all the same." His voice was edged with anger as he said these last words. "But," his voice softened, "At least we have each other. No one can take that away." He bent down and kissed her on the top of her head.

Katara smiled through her tears and brushed her hair away from her face. "Yes. We have each other." They sat there in content silence.

"Oh," Katara laughed slightly, "By the way, why did you come down here?"

Zuko stood up suddenly. "Oh no! I completely forgot! I came down here to bring you above deck, the weather's getting rough and I don't want to take any chances. I had better get back up there, though. I don't want my Uncle, or the guards, to come looking for me."

Katara stood up quickly and followed him out of the room and up the stairs. She gasped slightly as they emerged on deck. The change in the weather since Zuko had last been up there was drastic. The sky was so black it almost seemed to be nighttime. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. Just as they stepped on deck, the rain began to pour down on them.

"Prince Zuko!" One of the guards ran up to them, shielding his face from the rain, "It's getting worse! What should we do?"

"Pull in the sails and tie anything loose down! There's nothing more we can do until this passes!"

"Yes sir!" The guard turned and ran off to carry out his orders.

Zuko turned to Katara. "Wait on the stairs! I don't want you out here in this but I want you close in case anything happens!" He had to shout to be heard over the thunder that was now so loud it seemed to be right above them.

Katara nodded, not even trying to speak over the storm. She turned and walked halfway down the stairs; far enough to be safe from the pouring rain but close enough to still partly see what was going on above. Zuko had gone to help the crew who were fighting with the sails, trying to pull them in before they were ripped by the gusts of wind that whipped past.

Suddenly there was a tremendous crash. Katara screamed as the mast and sails came crashing onto the deck, right in front of her. The wood at the top of the stairs splintered and pieces of the mast exploded everywhere. Katara threw up her hands to protect her face. Luckily only small pieces came her way. But the damage was done. The mast had blocked her only way out. The top stairs were gone. But that wasn't the worst. Hearing a strange noise, Katara turned, and to her horror, saw that there was a crack somewhere in the ship because water was gushing in.

"Zuko!" Katara cried in alarm, not even caring if the guards realized what was going on between them. She just wanted out. The ship would soon sink and she did not want to be trapped on it. "Prince Zuko! Help!"

"Katara! Katara! Where are you?" The panic in his voice was obvious.

She climbed as far up the stairs as she could get and waved her hand through the gap that had not been blocked off. "I'm trapped and the ship is leaking!"

"Don't worry! I won't let anything happen to you!" In a mad frenzy Zuko began yanking at the beams that blocked her way out. Realizing that it would be useless to try to move them alone, he spun around and shouted at the guards. "Don't just stand there you fools! Help me move this!" They quickly ran over and began helping him lift the wood off the opening.

Feeling something against her feet, Katara looked down and gasped as she realized that the water was already around her ankles. She tried to climb higher but there was no room. She glanced up nervously. Please let them hurry!

The seconds turned into minutes as the crew worked on. Soon the water was up to Katara's chest. "Zuko!" she called, panic apparent in her voice, "The water's almost over my head!"

"Hold on!" Zuko threw himself into the task as hard as he could.

Finally a board broke free, leaving a hole just large enough for Katara to fit through.

"Grab my hand!" Prince Zuko yelled.

Katara reached out and grabbed his hand tightly. He grabbed her other arm and started to pull her up. Suddenly she was jerked back. Zuko didn't let go but he stopped pulling. "What's wrong!"

"My dress! It's hung!"

Prince Zuko cursed under his breath. "Hold tight! I'm going to try to pull it loose!"

Katara squeezed his hands as hard as she could. Zuko took a deep breath, then pulled with all his might. At first nothing happened but then, with a loud rip, Katara suddenly shot forward, landing on Zuko. They clambered up quickly.

"Thanks." Katara sighed, her legs shaking.

"Come on. We've got to-"

But whatever they had to do Katara never got to find out. Suddenly, a giant wave crashed across the deck. They could see instantly that there was no hope that the ship would survive a wave like that. Grabbing each other, they held on tight as the ship was smashed into pieces and they were thrown into the churning black waters of the ocean.