Chapter Twenty

Katara stumbled blindly through the forest. She didn't even try to brush away the tears that fell down her cheeks. She just wanted to get as far away from Zuko and Commander Zhao as she could.

"How could he?" she asked herself between choking sobs, "How could he not believe me? All I wanted was to help him! Now what will I do?" She swiped at her face as her tears blinded her vision. Finally she gave in and collapsed beneath a tree, sobbing her heart out. "How could he do that?"

She cried until she couldn't cry any more. Then she sat and simply stared out through the forest at the trees and the river beyond. The cool breeze blew through her hair. She sighed and half-heartedly tried to straighten her hair out.

"I guess I should at least look half presentable if I'm going to find a place to stay. I wouldn't want to scare the people there." She tried to smile but failed. She stood up and brushed the leaves off of her dress and started walking towards the river. If I follow it then I'm sure to find someone eventually.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize how long she had been walking until darkness began to settle over the forest. Glancing around nervously, she quickened her pace. I must find shelter soon. Who knows what kind of animals live in these woods? She gulped and sped up even more. Suddenly the trees parted and she found herself in a clearing. She stopped as she saw a fire and realized that someone was here.

"Katara!"

Katara spun around and gasped in surprise as she saw Sokka and Aang sitting by the fire.

"Katara! Wh-what are you doing here!" Aang was looking at her with a look of absolute shock on his face.

"Aang!" Katara's emotions were spinning inside her so fast she didn't know what to think. This is supposed to be my enemy! Aang? My enemy? She felt like she was coming out of a long and confusing dream. As she saw Aang's face her mind was suddenly filled with memories of every thing that had happened and why they were fighting the fire nation. She glanced at Sokka and remembered with a jolt how the fire nation had killed her mother and taken her father to war with the rest of the men from the tribe. She gasped. How could I ever have been so blind as to forget? Tears slipped down her face as shame filled her. What have I done?

"Katara!" Aang jumped up, recovering slightly from his shock, "I can't believe it's you! Are you ok? What happened? How did you get here?"

Glancing at him, Katara felt a sense of determination fill her that pushed the shame away. I may have made a mistake once, but it will not happen again. We will win this war, only this time, I'll be fighting for the right side. I will avenge my mother and everything that has happened to me these last weeks. They will pay!

"Aang!" She grabbed him in a hug, laughing and crying at the same time, "It's so good to see you! I was afraid I wouldn't see you again!"

"I can't tell you how happy I am to see you Katara!" Aang hugged her as hard as he could, he was so filled with joy he thought he would never let go.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too." Sokka said bitterly.

"Oh Sokka." Katara laughed and let go of Aang. "I'm glad to see you too." She grabbed him suddenly in a hug.

"Agh!" Sokka tried to push her off, but he was laughing at the same time, "Girls are always so emotional! Honestly!"

Finally they let go of each other and sat down around the fire to talk.

"So what happened Katara?" Aang asked after a few minutes. "How did you escape?"

Katara was silent for a while, turning it all over in her head. I can't tell them what really happened. "I don't really remember." She said finally. "I….I was kept mostly below deck. The only time I really saw anyone was when they brought me food or when we stopped for the night. Most nights though they just left me on the ship. But then today we reached the fire nation and Zuko…Prince Zuko," she corrected herself quickly, "Was talking to Commander Zhao and they forgot to lock the door to my room back. So…I escaped and ended up here."

"Wow." Aang stared at her. "Well, they'll be sorry they ever messed with us! We attack tomorrow! You can stay here if you want though Katara. You probably need to rest."

"No!" Katara raised her head determinedly. "I want to fight. I want to make them pay for everything." It was the first thing she had said in a while that wasn't a lie.

"Are you sure? I don't know if that's such a good idea." Sokka looked worriedly at his sister.

"I'm sure." Katara said. She stood up. "I think we should go to bed now. I'm tired."

"Ok." said Aang. "You can sleep here." He spread out their extra blankets on the ground to make a temporary sleeping bag.

They put out the fire then lay down for the night. They lay in silence for a while, staring at the sky and turning everything that had happened over in their minds.

"Good night Katara." Aang said finally.

"Good night Aang. Good night Sokka."

"Zzzzzzz."

Katara laughed. "Well I guess he won't have any trouble sleeping tonight."