Chapter Three: Sudden Ice
Loud bursts of laughter sprang through the air. Katara clutched her stomach, bent over and giggling. Zuko stood beside her, laughing softly. Near them stood several firebender guards with frowns on their faces. Katara had managed to get them wet by waterbending some ocean water onto them. Before this, she was almost bored to death. The guards shook there heads and walked away angrily. "I must admit, Katara. You've definitely made this place livelier." Prince Zuko smiled at her, something he didn't do very often. She grinned back and leaned against the railings of the ship. Staring into the depths of the water, she couldn't help but wonder if what she was doing was wrong. She shouldn't be acting kindly toward a firebender. Particularly one that had made several attempts to capture Aang and bring him to the Fire Lord.
Zuko's gaze rested upon her. He'd never felt so…strange. He felt joyous. Never in his life had he felt this way. Ever since his father had banished him from the fire nation, he was heartbroken and this made him want to do anything to earn back the respect of his father. Not once did he smile. Not once did he feel happy. Not once until now. Was this telling him something? He sat on a metal chair and put his head in his hands, thinking. How could his father have been so mean to him? "Hey. Are you okay?" Katara sat in the seat next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Her voice was soothing and sounded like she really cared. But no one cared about him. No one could. And he couldn't care about anyone either.
"I'm fine." He snapped at her and stood, brushing her hand off his shoulder. Within moments, he stalked back inside the ship leaving Katara looking and feeling confused. Did she do something wrong? She sighed and gazed out at the horizon. Were her friends searching for her? She hoped that she could at least convince Zuko not to go through with this. She'd do anything to keep her dear friend and brother away from all harm. But she couldn't go talk to him now. All she could do was wait. Wait until the right time when hopefully they were friendlier to one another.
Standing, she brushed her hair from her face and headed back to her room. It was surprising that he trusted her enough to leave her alone. Or maybe he got caught up in the moment and forgot about his duty. She opened her door and stepped inside. Her body bounced on the bed when she threw herself onto it and she lay staring at the ceiling. Hopefully, things would get better soon and she could speak to Zuko about leaving Aang alone. She didn't understand why he was trying so hard to hurt him. There was no reason to except that if Aang got too powerful, the fire nation would fall. She knew that there was a softer side to him. She just had to find it.
"Come on, Aang! We've been searching for hours and in starving!" Sokka's stomach growled, a sign that he was hungry. Aang shook his head. "We can't go back now, Sokka. It'll take over an hour to get back to the shore and we need to find Katara!" Sokka pet his stomach and sighed. He needed to save his only sister but he couldn't save anyone on an empty stomach. "Hey, look!" Aang stood and pointed into the distance. A small speck with smoke coming from the top was just barely visible. "Finally, we found them." The cranky brother commented and pounded his fist on Appa's back. "Can't you go any faster?"
Appa grunted but continued his slow pace. "He's tired." Aang explained and threw his arms around Appa's neck. "Aren't you, boy? Aren't you?" He cooed and laughed in his usual joyful way. Sokka groaned and flailed his arms up empathetically. "Will you please not do that? It's really weird.." He crossed his arms and sat cross-legged. The ship wasn't getting any closer. "WILL YOUR STUPID BISON GO ANY FASTER?" He shouted and started to bang on Appa's back. "Go you stupid animal!" Aang shook his head. "Come on Sokka, don't be mean." With a sigh, Sokka nodded. "Sorry Appa. I'm just so freakin' hungry!" He fell onto his back and frowned.
Zuko walked into his own room and slammed the door shut. The room vibrated for mere seconds. "Prince Zuko.." His uncle stood in front of him with a very serious expression on his face. "I think that you are getting too friendly with this Katara girl. You know that she is your enemy." Zuko glared at the old man. "I know, Uncle. I just can't help it. She's innocent, Uncle. The only person I'm after is the Avatar and there is no reason to hurt her just to capture him. Besides, it is less likely that she will try to escape if I am being kinder to her." Uncle Iroh slowly nodded. "I suppose you are right, nephew. But be very careful. If she escapes, we may not have another chance." Prince Zuko nodded his head once. "Yes Uncle."
Author's Note: Holy ! Excuse me. I wasn't expecting this many reviews. –dances- I'm POPUULLAAAARRR! XDDD Alright so, uh, yeah. I hope you enjoy my fanfic so far and I'm glad that there are Zuko/Katara fans out there. In my opinion, Zuko's kind of cute. His baldness and his scar are kind of weird, though. Yup. So, don't forget to review and tell me what you think of this chapter!