The only thing I own is the plot on your screen. If you plan to take my ideas and put them into your own fanfic, claiming to be your own mind that thought them up, get a hobby. Plagiarism is wrong, don't do it!
Katara opened her eyes as soon as the familiar 'click' of the unlocked door entered her ears. She quickly got up, got dressed, and did her bed. She walked out of her bedroom and headed to the kitchen for her final breakfast on the ship.
Not long after she walked into the kitchen, a lethargic Iroh arrived. He grabbed his bowl of rice and a cup of tea before sitting across from Katara. He said a small 'Good morning' and frowned after examining her face from afar. "Are you alright?" he asked a hint of concern in his voice.
Katara raised her eyebrow in confusion and smiled, "Yea. Why do you ask?"
"You have bags under your eyes, as if lack of sleep."
Katara looked away. Those bags weren't from lack of sleep, they were from crying. "No, I'm fine. I've gotten all my sleep. I'm just tired from yesterday's…training. Water bending can be quite a work out," she assured and let out a small laugh.
Iroh didn't believe a word of it. Something was wrong with her. "If you say so," he said before sipping his tea.
"It is me or is it hot?" Aang asked as he put on his helmet.
"It's these uniforms. They're hot and they echo," Sokka said. "Try not to speak very loud, or else your own echo will hurt your ears. …Actually, don't speak at all."
"Why not?"
"Aang, no offense, but your voice hasn't changed. So you sound like a girl," Sokka commented as they approached the ship.
"I do not!"
"Hush, and do what I do," the warrior said as they came upon the ship. They walked up the ramp, and sweat began to form on their faces. They were about to enter the vessel, when two soldier stopped them.
"Halt! Who are you?" the first soldier asked the two young boys.
"We're guards," Sokka answered stupidly.
"Of course you are, but why are you here?"
"We came to interrogate the girl about the Avatar's whereabouts," Sokka said, deepening his voice.
"Is that so?" the man asked.
"Yes! Now let us pass," Aang ordered loudly.
"Hmm…I don't know… What are your names?"
Sokka panicked. They hadn't thought about that. "Uh…I'm Tuke and he's Ping," he said trying to come up with names as fast as he could.
"Avatar's whereabouts, huh? How would she know where they are? They could be anywhere by now," the combatant stated.
"We are just following orders sir," Aang said quietly.
"Fine. You may go."
"Where is the girl?" Sokka asked, trying to sound formal.
"She's in the kitchen with General Iroh."
"Thank you," he said and pushed himself through, holding Aang by the arm. Once they were out of earshot, he turned to the young Avatar. "I told you not to say anything. We could've gotten caught."
"Sorry, but you took too long answering," Aang said and pulled his arm away. "And stop grabbing me like I'm some child. They might suspect something."
"Right. Sorry. Let's go get my sister." He looked at the different hallways and frowned. "Where is the kitchen?"
"Come on, I think I know," Aang said and walked a short way down a hallway and stopped in front of a door. "This is it, I think." He looked at Sokka. "What now?"
"I don't know. I didn't think we'd get this far."
"Ugh. OK. How about-- "
"Quiet Aang. Here comes Prince Zuko." Aang turned around and saw the Prince coming their way. "Act normal."
"What's normal?" Aang asked and backed up against the wall.
"Don't talk," he hushed and backed up against the wall as well.
Zuko came up to them and frowned. "What are you two doing here?"
"We're guarding Ka--err, the girl," Sokka said sternly. Anger beginning to flow in his veins.
"I didn't order you two to guard her," Prince Zuko said arrogantly.
"We thought it would be appropriate since we're on land. She could try to escape."
"She wouldn't."
"How do you know?" Aang asked, and shrunk against the wall. Bad idea…
Prince Zuko turned to him and gave him an angry glare. "Alright. You!" he said and pointed to Sokka. "You are going to go inside and guard from within. And you," he faced Aang. "You are going to wait out here, the entire time we're at this island. No sleep or food for speaking out of turn." Having the security of the mask, Aang stuck his tongue out.
Prince Zuko walked into the kitchen and Sokka followed him obediently. Excitement began to overwhelm him as he took a step closer towards his little sister. And there she was. Her back was turned to him, but either way, she was there. Safe.
"Good morning uncle," Zuko said and gave him a soft smile.
"Good morning Prince Zuko." Iroh shifted his gaze to Sokka. "Why is the guard here?"
"He's here to keep an eye on Katara," Zuko said, still facing his uncle.
"Me?" Katara asked and turned around, seeing the guard standing behind her. She frowned at him. She hated guards. They made her sick. "Why?" She turned to Zuko.
"Since we're on land, you might try to run away."
"I wouldn't try that," she lied and smiled deceitfully.
You wouldn't? Sokka thought and frowned. She's lying. She has to be…
"Well, I'll leave you two love birds alone. Have fun," Iroh said and winked at Prince Zuko.
Love birds?
Zuko frowned at his uncle. That wasn't necessary, he already felt uncomfortable with Katara, and his uncle just made it worse. "I'm leaving soon and even though he's here," the banished Prince pointed to the guard with his thumb, "I want you here."
"Well alright. Then I'll be back to keep you company, Katara. Don't fret," the old General said and walked towards the kitchen's exit. "Keep an eye on her, but not too much…she's taken," Iroh told Sokka with a smile, and then left the room.
Sokka fumed. My sister's not taken. Specially not by Prince Zuko.
Or is she? Could it be that in a matter of eight days, something could have happened between your sister and …
That monster? No. I refuse to believe it!
It's not impossible…
But she wouldn't do that.
Prince Zuko growled at the door that General Iroh had just gone through. "He is so infuriating," he muttered and tried to reach for a bowl of rice from Katara's side of the table.
Katara giggled and slid the bowl to Zuko. "Just ignore him."
"Easy to say," he argued. "Weren't you the one who yelled at him yesterday?"
She took a sip of her tea, and sighed afterwards. "You're impossible."
"So are you," he retorted and took a bite of his rice.
"Ha. Ha. Ha," she said sarcastically. "So…why are we at this island again?"
"We need more food and coal for the engine. That's all. Then we can leave tomorrow afternoon, before Zhao's ship arrives," he stated.
Katara closed her eyes. "Do me a favor, will you?"
Prince Zuko looked at her. "Me? You want me to do you a favor?" He smiled knowingly and nodded. "Sure. What is it?"
"Don't ever mention Zhao's name again. Please?"
Zuko frowned. "Oh. Sorry. I forgot," he said sheepishly.
What was that all about? Sokka thought to himself as he stared at Zuko's guilty face.
"Can you do me a favor?" the Prince asked Katara with a shy smile on his face. She nodded. "Will you accompany me to town after I'm done loading all of the supplies on the ship? I want to step on land for a little while, and I suppose you do too."
Katara smiled happily. "Yes! Of course! I want to get off this wretched ship."
Prince Zuko laughed. "OK then. Well, I need to go now if I want to be done by tonight. My uncle should be back in here in a few minutes. He's probably in the meditating room." He stood up and walked over to Katara. He knelled down and met her gaze. "I'll see you later," he said and stroked her cheek softly.
She blushed and smiled. "OK."
He stood up and walked out of the room.
Sokka turned around to make sure that the Prince was completely out of the kitchen before walking up to Katara and lifting her up by the arm. "What is up with that, Katara? Is there something going on between you two?"
"Sokka?" Katara asked, confused by what was happening.
"Answer me!" he ordered loudly, scaring his sister.
"Let go of me," she said and pulled her arm away with tears in her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to get you out of here, but if you don't want to I'll understand," he said, anger in his voice.
"Why wouldn't I?" Katara asked, still a little confused.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because Prince Zuko is not coming with us."
She looked away. "I don't care about him," she lied. "I care about you and Aang. That's all." She threw her arms around her brother and squeezed him despite the hard armour that surrounded his small body
Sokka froze at the sudden action. It had been so long since he had his sister in his arms. His anger soon faded away, and he returned her loving hug. It was then that he realized why he was there in the first place. He wasn't there to argue with Katara, he was there because he loved and missed her so damn much. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."
"It's OK. Why did you guys take so long?"
"We couldn't get you before because we'd be risking Aang's safety."
She let go of his embrace and smiled. "Where's Aang?"
"He's outside. Now here's the plan. You are going to pretend that we're taking you prisoner. Put your hands behind your back, and let me tie them," he said seriously and pulled rope from his uniform. "You are going to put up a small fight when we get out there. Momo is getting Appa." He tried her hand and gave her a small shove to indicate walking.
"OK," she agreed and paused after considering what he just said,"Wait. Momo is getting Appa?"
"Yes. Now lets go," he said and led her outside.
"But what if Zuko sees me? Or Iroh?"
"Aang will attack them while we run."
"What?"
"Quiet," Sokka ordered. "Come on Aang."
"Hey Katara," Aang said to her from behind.
"Hey Aang."
"Sorry we took so long. We couldn't come and save because we didn't have a plan. Actually, we still don't have a plan. We're kind of making this up as we go."
They came out into the deck, sighing in relief when they noticed that there was no one in sight. Not a single guard or soldier. Prince Zuko was gone and Iroh was still in the meditating room. Katara looked around the ship one last time. Amazingly enough, she was going to miss it. She was going to miss Iroh's company and Zuko's bad temper.
"Lets make a run for it," Sokka suggested and Aang nodded. "Now!"
Sokka pushed Katara, making her run. They ran down the ramp and out into the forrest. They ran through the woods. They ran until they reached the old small barnwith Appa laying down beside it. They made it. They got out. They were safe.
Aang untied Katara and got out of his uniform as fast as he could. After doing so, he took a moment to hug his dear friend. They exchanged 'I missed you's and boarded the white shaggy beast, who then descended into the vast bluesky.
Katara was free.
Goodbyes make you think…they make you realize what you've done, what you lost, and what you've taken for granted." -unknown
Prince Zuko climbed out from the crate carrier after counting how much coals they had. They needed much less than expected, and that was a good thing, considering the fact that he'll spend less time with loading supplies and more time with Katara. Or so he thought. "We're going to need about half of this. Try to get it by tomorrow," he ordered. "We just need to take list of the food that we need, and we'll be done."
A soldier came from behind Zuko and tapped him softly on the shoulder. "Sir?"
Prince Zuko turned around sharply. "What is it?"
"The Avatar is flying overhead."
"What?" Prince Zuko looked up and saw the flying bisonsoaringover their ship. "Katara," he muttered andran to his ship and across the deck. The guard that he ordered to stay outside the kitchen's entrance was gone. He opened the kitchen door and found his uncle eating peacefully. "Where's Katara?" he asked desperately.
"I don't know. I thought she was with you. Why?"
"The Avatar," he concluded angrily and ran out. He looked up at the sky and saw the bison becoming smaller and smaller. They were leaving from this destination. But how? How did they--
The guards.
The retired General came up from behind Prince Zuko. "Care to explain to me what is happening?" He watched Zuko point to thelarge animal in the sky. "I see. But how--"
"The guards," Prince Zuko said darkly. "The Avatar and her moron of a brother, dressed up in Fire nation soldier uniforms and took her with them when the top level was empty." He stomped his foot on the ground. "Damn it. …Damn her!" he yelled at the sky.
Iroh placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Zuko--"
Prince Zuko shrugged his uncle's hand off. "Good riddance," he whispered and walked off the deck.
Katara looked down at the ship. She couldn't help but feel guilty. He had poured his heart out to her, and she still ran away.
But he doesn't know that you were awake.
But I know.
Don't feel bad, you're with your brother now.
But…
You love Prince Zuko?
Yes.
"You OK Katara?" Aang asked as he observed her sad expression.
She nodded and smiled at her friend. "Yea Aang. Don't worry."
"So tell me. Did Prince Zuko always treat you that way?" Sokka asked with his arms crossed. He was still was not over the fact that his sister had been flirting with Prince Zuko.
Katara looked away and shut her eyes. "Not now Sokka," she said. "I'm tired."