Zuko tripped, broke his gaze on her, and ran.
His feet sank, loud and heavy, into the flying earth, the trees tearing at his flesh, the thorns mocking each step he took as he bolted, heedless of the gashes, the scars, the blood that was running down his arms. He didn't stop when his foot caught a root and he crashed into the underbrush, forcing the jagged ground into the side of his scarred face with the ferocity of flaming knives; he limped up, his ankle twisted and screaming. But the curse of the unmerciful jungle could not pull him down. He had to get away from her.
He stumbled out onto the beach a bloody, burned mess. He lost his footing in the sand and fell to his knees the wet earth beside the sea. He could not support himself and fell forward, pressing both palms into the sand, his elbows locked. The tide lapped up around him, soaking his knees and causing an unpleasant stinging in the cuts on his hands.
Apathy. Anger. Uncaring. Unfeeling. Fire.
He had...what had he done? He had told her...he was sorry...he had felt guilt. He had apologized.
"Zuko..."
He spun, all scars and burns, his body flaming. He had to erase her, completely erase her.
"Get away from me," he snarled. His arm flashed and a flicker of red glittered briefly in Katar's eyes. She dropped to the ground as the flame rushed by her, blazing, threatening to creep across her own unresisting flesh. The look in Zuko's eyes was something she could hardly stand to see; his element had consumed every last scrap of soul inside of him, his mind blinded and devoured in a hellish blaze.
"You tried to make me weak! -" he roared, punching his fists towards her in quick, furious succession. She bended water from the ocean and neutralized each one, but barely; evading an underestimated blow, she ducked down, feeling the heat scorch the side of her face. Zuko's reason had been destroyed, his anger overpowering every last morale thought in his head. Now he knew his weakness, knew the parts of himself he had to destroy...and the girl he had to destroy...
"You tried to make me guilty, you tried to make me feel, you tried to make me sorry...you're a fool of a water bender who thinks life can be lived with feeling, with caring...and you tried to make me what I wasn't, you tried to make me pity you -"
He lashed out at her, roaring, flaming, lost to the hell of his own body -
Katara ducked, swirled th water in her hands, and sent a perfect, brutal water whip at the Prince.
It his him squarely in the chest and he stumbled back, leaving the beach. The sea foam gathered around his legs as he toppled into the shallow water, catching the loose sand beneath the water for support. In moments he was drenched, held up by his elbows, the fire of his body vanished with the onset of cool waves.
Katara stared at him, her hands still poised in bender position in case he tried to get up again. Her eyes were shaking, filled with unreasonable tears.
"You're not the one controlling the fire, Zuko," she whispered. Zuko tried to stand, tried to turn and fight, but every time he did so some new wound on his body would sear and he would fall back into the waves, helpless. Katara glared at him, momentarily, and then let her hands fall. "...you're letting it control you."
Zuko just stared into the waves, the sea water dripping down his face, his body drenched and shivering. His hair was loose again and the wet strands of it stung his scarred eye as he watched the light glitter faintly in the water. He had never felt so completely pitiful in his entire life. Katara stared at him as his shoulders began to shake, his body momentarily cooled from any raging fire. His forehead touched the surface of the water as he knelt there, utterly rejected by the world.
And as Katara walked out into the cold waves, something happened.
Zuko, the infamous, apathetic, banished Fire Nation Prince, began to cry.
And Katara - though she couldn't understand why her heart ached at his anguish, why she felt the need to comfort this horrible, tormented person - knelt down into the bitter, knee-deep water and held him through his sobs.
Iroh stood on the deck of his ship, gazing out into the desert of waves before him. A sailor stood beside him with a telescope, watching the islands as they passed. The Captain, his eyes baggy from nights of searching, joined them at the front of the ship and stood beside Iroh.
"The scouts are returning from the last island. He was not there."
Iroh face changed to a serious frown and he joined his hands behind his back.
"What about the old temple island? Have you checked there?"
The Captain paused and shook his head.
"We wanted to check the three closer islands before we went that far. There is more of a chance he is on a nearby isle, isn't there?"
Iroh was thinking deeply, consulting with the fire spirits that were buried in his ancient soul. In his mind's eye, the island's deserted temple continued to appear.
"Very well. But if he is not on any of those, we go straight to the temple island. No delays."
Katara ripped the white clothe with her teeth and finished wrapping Zuko's arms. They were bandaged now from the elbows down, and id you added Zuko's bare chest, ripped pants and facial scar it gave him the appearance of a fire-bending rogue warrior. Which, he had to admit, made him feel a little more confident.
"Where di you find this bandage?" he question her as she replaced the clothe back in the dirty, burnt box she had found it in. She looked up at him and smiled, her facing lighting like an angel.
"There were Fire Nation soldiers here, right? So they just left behind some bandage...it was in my room."
Zuko smiled weakly at her, still astonished at her selfless yet confusing personality. She looked at her handiwork on his arms and stood, grinning.
"So, the burns will take a little longer to heal, but since you're a fire bender they should go away pretty quick. There's some melons in my room that I found...you can eat those if you want, but be careful cause some of them have worms in them."
She started to leave the room and Zuko stared at her, wondering where...then he mentally kicked himself before beginning to follow her.
"Where are you going?" he asked quietly as she turned in the doorway. Her smile flickered again.
"To practice my bending. You can come, just as long as you don't laugh at me again."
Zuko grinned and shook his head, following her down the broken temple steps and out onto the dusty, sun-stained ridge top. They both gazed back, momentarily, as the last rays of light glittered across the island.
The walls of the temple gleamed brighter whenever the sun rose or set; it was an ancient trick of the preachers, that the sides of the sanctuary should be painted with a special gloss only found in Fire Nation. When the flames of the sun were in the right position, red light skimmed across the surface of the steps, the walls, the shaking, broken foundations and the damaged, vine-plagued towers; the temple lit up like it had been made of fire itself, a legendary, glowing beacon where spirits sought refuge in the night.
They skid down the slope together and struggled through the trees to reach the glade; the fireflies were just beginning to appear and Katara giggled as one landed on the back of her hand. Zuko caught one and put in her hair, to which she was not as much amused; but she got her revenge when she splashed him at the base of the waterfall.
"Alright," she muttered, cracking her knuckles. Zuko seated himself on a rock beside the cascading waters and settled his attention on the water bander, who focused on the pool and began stir the life at her fingers.
Move it, ice, melt it, bring it back...
She stirred the essence into a swirling sphere again, concentrating on what she would do with it, what she would form it into...She flicked it from her with what she believed to be excellent precision and control - until she opened her eyes and saw Zuko gasp and leap out of the way of her flying icicle.
"No! No! Why can't I do this..." she ran over to Zuko to help him up, but paused when he turned to her, shaking his head.
"I told you, you have to feel it," he said, begging her to understand with his eyes. Katara frowned and turned back to the pool.
"You're a fire bender, Zuko -"
She felt his hand on her shoulder and turned towards him, feeling a warmth beginning to stir through his veins. Until this moment she had hardly noticed hw cold she was compared to him. Where his touch was fire, hers was ice; where his was rigid, flaming, hers was gentle, soothing...
"I still understand it, Katara," he whispered. He stepped away from her, bringing his arm back in a reflection of the move she had just attempted, and let the fire whip from him in the motion she had been trying to duplicate. Still she glared at Zuko, pride flaring.
"It's different, you don't have to change it to ice and back and -"
"Katara," said Zuko softly, stepping back towards her. He raised a hand and his fingers lit up with yellow flame. "Fire and water are opposites, but they both have the same motion, the same flow, the same delicacy. Fire is controlled with pain, with passion..."
He stepped away from her and fire began to swirl around him, appearing in fierce flashes that blinded her, her eyes used to the comforting darkness of night. Katara felt like shielding her eyes but she was curious as to what Zuko was planning to do.
He was moving like a snake, twisting and sliding his feet across the earth in strange, flowing patterns that mimicked some sort of mysterious ritual; the fire glittered from his fingers and danced around his body, never still, always forming into something new, beautiful, dazzling...he stood into a straight stance and the fire swirled up his side, gentle but bound with fury, and erupted above him in the glorious form of an eagle, wings spread, gazing down at them in mid-flight.
The fire-bird vanished and Zuko relazed, looking back at the water bender.
"Water is controlled with peace, with understanding. Sometimes you feel it, and sometimes you try too hard...you have to let it flow with you, be part of you..."
"Only a part, though," whispered Katara gently. "Not the whole thing." Zuko smiled weakly.
"Right."
Katara stepped back into the water and stared, focusing on the depth, the cold, peaceful essence...the glittering light from the fire flies, flickering across the surface...the light rush from the waterfall, the calming touch of cool serenity, the quiet motion of life and understanding that flowed in her body, flowed through the water lapping her ankles..she would make it part of her, the way she breathed, thought, felt...
Her hand raised again and she knew the water raised with it; she did not see it form the sphere, but felt it in front of her, swirling slowly in readiness. Her thoughts gave into sudden joy that she was finally doing it, finally mastering the water - al she had to do was flick it away and -
Something stung her face and she realized she had lost control again. She stomped the water impatiently and Zuko shielded himself from the splash, struggling to control his laughter.
"What now? I had it -"
"Yes, you did," said Zuko instantly, his face still smiling with amusement as he spoke. "But it's when you try to shift into different phases you start to lose it...don't force it to change, flow with it, let it change with you...here..."
He hesitated a little before stepping behind her, forcing himself almost knee deep in the cool water. Katara felt his palms press softly against the back of her hands, his arms mirroring the motions of her own, his chest brushing her back. She had a momentary desire to scream, freak out and push him off with a water splash, but resisted. Whatever Zuko was doing, it was helping her master water bending. Besides, if he tried anything she could grab the waterfall over there and plow him into the ground...then his voice breathed against her ear and Katara's body trembled.
His breathe was slow and warm; she could feel the inner fires of his body moving in quick flashes as he placed his hands on hers, directing her what steps to take.
"Now try," he whispered. Katara raised her arms with Zuko's behind it, and the water swirled before her, majestic, gleaming, prepared for anything she had in store. Zuko watched it swirl and began to guide her motion.
"Just flow...and release."
Katara pulled back her hand in mirror of Zuko's, who took a step back, letting her go; she spun, releasing the stream of water, which flashed into a shard of ice and hacked a tree in two with flawless aim. The ice shard sank to the ground, swirled back into water, and returned to Katara's hand. When she opened her eyes she stared at the tree, astonished.
"I...yes! I did it! Zuko -"
She turned to find him gazing at her, smiling. The expression was something he hardly ever wore on his face, and it pulled at something in the depths of Katara's heart. She gave him a small smile back and walked up to him, eyes shining.
"Thank you, Zuko," she said, gazing fearlessly into both eyes. For a moment, Zuko's old rage returned and he felt like scowling and pushing her back, angry with himself that she was such a weakness...wondered if he should kill her. But he didn't.
He couldn't.
His hands moved slowly as he stared at her, their faces inches apart, his concentration solely focused on the deep blue of those gorgeous, wonderful, all-forgiving eyes...
And from the palm of his hand, a single stream of fire flowed forth, curled delicately around his fingers, and formed the gentle shape of a flaming, red rose.