Title: The Hunter and The Prey
Category: Avatar: Last Airbender
Author: RedNovember
Genre: Romance/Action
Pairing: Zuko/Katara
Rating: T (PG-13) for now, but if I have to up it to M (or R) I will.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of this series. However, the fanfiction written, the plot contained and any original characters I write I do own.
A/N: I think some of you took the whole changing-the-rating thing the wrong way. I am DEFINITELY not turning it into some sort of sexfest orgy. The only thing I am worried about is the language, and a bit of blood/gore/violence. But anyway, most of you thought it was okay as T, so it'll stay that way for awhile.
A/N 2: With the posting of the last chapter, (chapter 6) I officially reached 100 reviews! Thank you guys all so much.


Chapter 7: Almost, But Not Quite

As Captain Raku and the officers left Zuko's room shouting orders at the top of their lungs, Zuko and Katara were left staring at the shattered glass on the floor and the metal cannonball lodged into the wall above the wardrobe. Without asking, they knew they were both thinking about the Pirate Rishku.

"Did you know him well?" Zuko finally said, breaking the silence.

"Well enough to despise him completely." Katara replied, scowling as she remembered the time he'd pushed her into the water, holding her down until Sokka had arrived to smash his face in. Rishku had stumbled away afterwards, clutching his broken nose, yelling that a real Water Bender with potential would have been able to manipulate the water in order to escape an enemy.

Zuko frowned. "I wonder why he was so interested in you, then?"

Katara shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably the same reason I was interested in him. We're from the same tribe and neither of us have seen each other since he left. We weren't good friends or anything, but still, we knew each other."

"I don't think so." Zuko shook his head. "He wants to know specifically why you're here, and if he's anything like a pirate, he'll use whatever methods he has to find out."

"Aren't you being just a little bit paranoid?"

"No."

Katara rolled her eyes, and moved to help him strap on his armor. "This is going to be the longest three hours of my life." She said, pulling the first strap tight.

"Not for me." He said, grunting slightly when Katara pulled one strap too tight. She said a quickly apology and loosened it.

"Three fucking hours." Zuko scowled. "Definitely enough time for us to get riled up and panicked, but not enough for us to plan and mount an offensive attack against him first. That Rishku knows what he's doing."

As Zuko finished buckling on his boots, a knock at the door sounded, and a soldier's nervous voice floated in. "Your Majesty?"

"Yes?" Zuko called back.

"The Captain and First Mate want you on deck now."

"I'm coming." Zuko said, and the soldier left. The Prince turned to Katara and pushed her back onto the couch. "Stay here."

"What?" She hissed. "I'm going up with you!"

"No you're not. You're staying here."

She waved one hand at the shattered window. "If you hadn't noticed, this isn't exactly the safest place to keep a prisoner right now."

"It's safe enough. Rishku will be much too involved with the sea battle to come back here." He stalked towards the door, planning on locking it as soon as he left. "I want you to stay in this room. It's much safer than what's going to be happening on deck."

She stood up angrily, arms crossed over her chest. "Oh, I understand."

Zuko stopped, giving her a raised eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yes." She glared at him doggedly. "You're concerned that your precious prisoner will get stolen right out from under your nose. You're scared that Rishku might take away the bait you need to capture the Avatar." She spit out the words as if they were acid. "You don't care for me, Katara the girl, at all."

He turned to face her fully, a stony impenetrable look on his face. "Exactly."

Zuko slammed the door shut behind him and locked it.


Katara paced the room angrily after he'd left. Something cold and hard had lodged itself in her chest, something that felt distinctly like hurt and pain and rejection. She refused to acknowledge it, pushing the emotion somewhere where it couldn't get in the way right now.

For one whole hour, she paced that room, anger and hatred steaming up her veins. She'd been a fool to think that anything they'd done together in the last few days had meant a single thing. The bed, the mornings, the talks. Nothing. She was a mere object in his eyes, a mere possession, a mere hurdle in his constant fight for something bigger.

The Avatar.

Compared to Aang, Katara was just a fly in Zuko's face. Something annoying and undeserving of attention.


Zuko was on deck, discussing strategies and supplies with the Captain. The five cargo ships had been sent on ahead with one warship to protect them. The large, heavy, cumbersome cargo vessels had no firepower whatsoever, and would merely get in the way of a sea battle. With the loss of 6 ships, they were down to 8, only three more than the Pirate Rishku's fleet. It was a bit worrisome.

However, after a mere hour and a half had passed, the first cannonball shot from a pirate ship screamed over their heads and smashed into the first scout ship in Rishku's way. Zuko whipped his head up. He should have known better than to trust a pirate. When a pirate said "three hours", he really meant "whenever I want to".

Captain Raku strode among the sailors, bellowing orders and yelling at any sailor or soldier moving too slow. "GET THOSE CANNONS LOADED, YOU FILTHY DOGS! ARCHERS! GET INTO POSITION! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, GENTLEMEN, UNDER ATTACK!"

Zuko stood at the railing, narrowing his eyes at the pirate ships drawing closer and closer. They were moving with a speed and agility that spoke of Water Bender control. They were moving much too fast for any of the cannons on his ships to get a good aim. The situation was quickly spinning out of his hands.

Two of the pirate ships had already reached their first line of defense, made up of two scout ships. The pirates, pulling up against the Fire Nation ships, quickly boarded them and set about killing any sailor who got in their way. The screams of pain and fear reached Zuko's ears.

In less than 10 minutes, the two scout ships were stained with blood and were quickly sinking from the large waves the Water Bender Pirates had pulled up and let loose over them.

Captain Raku stroke up and stood stiffly next to his Prince. "This is unbelievable." The aged captain said, watching the carnage with a grim face. "What do they want from us?"

Zuko, jaw clenched, gritted out "I don't know. The fame of destroying a Fire Nation fleet? The money? The supplies?"

Raku shook his head. "We're not a merchant ship. We haven't got any sort of treasure."

Zuko shrugged, eyes fixated on the Pirate ships which had finished demolishing the scout ships and were quickly racing towards the larger war ships.

The Captain turned to face him seriously. "Does Rishku want the girl?"

Zuko grew tense. He wasn't going to give up Katara for anything. Not even under a pirate attack. The girl was going to get him the Avatar. And the Avatar was his ticket back to the Fire Nation for his first return to his homeland after his exile, three years ago when he'd been 14. He didn't stop to consider that Katara might have been anything beyond a means to an end for him.

"It's not about the girl." Zuko finally replied. "The Pirates were going to attack us even before Rishku even learned of her presence here."

Captain Raku nodded and left.

Zuko stayed in his position, eyes trained on the pirate ships. The two remaining war ships of his fleet (The Dragon and the Ember) quickly moved to intercept them. The Dragon fired on the pirates, but none of them hit the targets. Rishku's pirates were skimming the ocean waves quickly, weaving in and out between the larger and slower war ships with an amazing agility. The Water Benders Rishku had with him were a definite advantage. Squinting, Zuko could spy them, dressed in blue and standing on the decks of the pirate ships, focused and in position for their water bending.

Soon they were through the war ships, heading straight toward the flagship. The larger and more ungainly war ships would take time to turn around and come back to attack the pirates.

Zuko clenched the wooden railing until his knuckles turned white. No wonder Rishku was so famous, and mothers used stories about the pirate to frighten naughty children. When Zuko conquered the world (and he would, he told himself) he would commission several Water Benders on each boat, in order to have the same advantages Rishku had. The pirate was definitely not stupid.

The pirate ships were level with the Golden Flame now. As he sped by, the Pirate Rishku raised a hand and waved arrogantly and confidently at Zuko. Zuko wished he had a bow and arrow on him. He could shoot the brains out of that goddamn pirate and end the battle right now.

He raised his arm to signal the archers readying themselves on the sides of the flagships. "SHOOT AT THE ONES IN BLUE!" He bellowed, determined to destroy the Water Benders Rishku was using for his amazing speed on the water. "SHOOT THE PIRATES IN BLUE! FIRE AT WILL!"

A cloud of arrows launched from the flagship towards the pirates. Over half fell in the water, the pirates having narrowly swerved and avoided the attack. Earth Benders bent back the remaining arrows, but several made it through their defense. The pirates who had been shot fell over screaming. A couple toppled into the water, including one blue-clad Water Bender. One pirate ship slowed down significantly, having lost one Bender.

Zuko, grimly satisfied, raised his arms and enveloped the slower pirate ship with flames from stern to bow and top to bottom. Screaming pirates leaped overboard and the ship started to sink as the powerful fire from Zuko's hands quickly ate up the wood. The weak wave the remaining Water Bender called up was not enough to deter the fire.

The fact that he had just killed living, breathing, and thinking human beings did not weigh heavily on Zuko's mind. He'd done it before, whether indirectly or directly. He was a conquering Prince. Every command he gave, every order he shouted meant death at the other end for an individual. His fire and his sword were tools of death, and he never hesitated to use them when needed. Death was as easily as part of him as Life was.

That was something Katara would never understand, he thought emotionlessly. That girl was much too trusting, friendly, and loving for her own good. Innocent was what she was. She had traveled the world and fended off danger with her brother and the Avatar by her side. Maybe she'd even physically hurt someone before in order to protect herself.

Even so, she'd never seen half the things he'd seen in his short, 17 year life. She'd never killed anybody. She had never felt her sword swipe through human flesh and her fire charring a body until it was nothing but ash.

Katara was pure. Much too pure for him.

Zuko felt a grim, dispassionate, and impersonal shield fall over him. Whenever he engaged in battle, his emotions were dead. Gone. Unavailable. He'd learned to stop feeling and stop thinking about what he was doing, who he was killing, and what would happen afterwards. No emotion whatsoever was present in his mind, body, or spirit. He was used to it now. In fact, he even depended on this frame of mind when he killed.

Otherwise, he would have gone crazy a long, long time ago.

Zuko looked down and noticed a lone pirate paddling desperately towards his ship, eager to reach safety and shelter before someone noticed he was still alive. Somewhere, along the back of his emotionless, killing mind, Zuko had the insane idea that the pirate was paddling paddling paddling towards Katara, to take the girl away from him. No. It wasn't going to happen. Nobody was taking Katara away from the Fire Nation Prince, not if he could help it.

Too bad. Zuko raised one hand and a cloud of burning flame enveloped the pirate, screaming and twisting in pain. Soon he was nothing but a chunk of charred flesh floating in the water. He wasn't a threat anymore, not to Zuko, and not to Katara.


Katara leaned out the empty window frame on the side of the ship, careful to avoid the broken glass. She had been watching the battle, and knew now that the Fire Navy was slowly losing. The Pirate ships were just way too fast for anyone to destroy.

Until one ship burst into flames right outside her window and the men on it screamed and writhed in the fire. She gasped in horror but couldn't tear her eyes away from the ghastly sight. The flames on the boat were oddly beautiful in a way. Several pirates jumped over board, but most drowned from the arrows that were still raining down on them. One pirate escaped, and he paddled desperately towards the ship, anxious to get to shelter and out of the range of the arrows.

There was no question in Katara's mind about helping the man as he drew closer and closer to her. He was a pirate of course, but he was also a human and in fear for his life. She would be evil if she didn't help him.

You're almost there, she urged him on silently. Come on, come on!

Two seconds later, a ball of fire shot down from the deck above her and the poor man instantly burst into flames. His mouth dropped open in a scream. His eyes and his mouth combined to make dark holes in his face, gaping and terrified. His flesh was on fire, crawling with heat and destruction, and soon he was nothing but charred remains floating in the water outside her window. The smell of burning flesh drifted in through the window. Katara was utterly horrified and stumbled back, gasping for breath.

That image would stay in her mind forever. The picture of a man swimming to his death. Who would do something like that? The pirate hadn't been a threat to anyone. He was just trying to stay alive, like everyone else in this goddamn world.

She fell back onto a couch and made herself breathe, breathe, breathe. She couldn't stay in this room any longer. Katara rose up to the edge of the window again, averting her eyes in case the dead man's carcass was still there, floating in the water. It wasn't, the waves having washed it away from her sight awhile ago. Raising her shaking hands, she slowly pulled up a large wave. Building it higher and higher until it reached the window, she stepped onto the edge and leaped onto it. Her shirt and pants were instantly wet, but the water kept her floating on top.

Putting more energy into the wave, she pulled it up until she was level with the railing on the top deck. Looking around, she saw everyone else was occupied with the pirates and Zuko was nowhere to be seen. She quickly threw her leg over the railing and climbed on deck, releasing the wave back into the ocean. She ran across the deck until she reached a wall of barrels stacked up next to the railing. Katara bent down, panting, to catch her breath.


Soaring over the blue ocean, Appa pushed himself to his fastest speed at Aang and Sokka's urging. They had spotted the large Fire Nation fleet early in the morning, and were flying as fast as possible to reach it in time.

Both boys were silent and incredibly tense.

"I didn't know Zuko had an entire fleet under his control." Sokka said worriedly.

Aang didn't answer.

"Katara could be on any one of those ships." Sokka continued. "How are we going to find her?"

Aang pointed, cutting off Sokka's words. "Look closely at the fleet."

Sokka squinted into the distance, then looked back at Aang, surprised. "Are they having some sort of battle?"

Aang nodded silently, his large eyes fixated on the scene, curious. They could see the charred remains of several wooden ships surrounding the fleet. One ship was still on fire, and there were numerous dots in the ocean, humans who had jumped overboard.

Both boys studied the carnage in front of them. Aang patted Appa, and the large flying bison swerved downwards, aiming for the large ship in the middle.

"That's the flagship." Aang said, a bit uncertain. "If she's anywhere, she'll be there."

Sokka nodded silently. The situation had changed. Obviously the Fire Nation fleet was under attack. From who, they didn't know. However, this could either work for or against them, depending on whom the attacker was. Zuko would be distracted, which was a good thing. However, if the strange, black-sailed ships turned on Aang and Sokka as well, that would create a bigger problem.

The two boys kept silent as Appa flew closer and closer to the sea battle in the middle of the blue, blue ocean.


The four remaining pirate ships had drawn up next to the Golden Flame and pirates were boarding the flagship. Soldiers and pirates locked in battle as more and more of the enemy swarmed up the sides of the ship, determined to take control and get what they wanted. Screams and yells and battle cries rose up around him, the bodies of dead men trampled under his feet. The heavy smell of blood and smoke hung in the air.

Rishku leaped up onto the side of the larger Fire Nation ship and surveyed the situation. He climbed onto a pile of crates for a better vantage point. His men were quickly overpowering the soldiers on deck, but he had no doubt that reinforcements were getting ready below deck. He'd have to find the Prince and kill him quickly, before the odds turned against them. But first he'd make that bastard Zuko tell him where Katara was, and what she was doing with him. He hadn't believed a word of their lie, about a stupid betrothal. The Prince wasn't very intelligent if he had thought Rishku would fall for the idiotic excuse. Rishku wanted to know why Katara was there, and he wanted to know now. It smelled of a conspiracy, and pirates could always make great profit off conspiracies, if they played their cards right.

Rishku finally spotted the Prince at the edge of the crowd, fighting Lundo, one of his pirates. The Water Bender wasn't a very good swordsman, and could do nothing when the Prince drew his sword swiftly and sliced off Lundo's arm. The Water Bender was left screaming in agony as the Prince deserted the now-useless pirate and searched for better prey. Zuko wiped his bloody sword on the shirt of a dead man on deck.

Rishku stood up with a crazy smile on his face. "Your Majesty!" He called, and Zuko's eyes shot up to meet his. Rishku was unafraid. The Prince was too far away to kill him with a sword, and Zuko wouldn't dare use Fire Bending on his own ship, for he would set fire to the wood easily, incapacitating his own vessel.

Zuko started to advance through the crowd towards him, intent on killing the pirate. Rishku gave him an easy and confident smile before disappearing from his previous position and losing himself in the crazed crowd of soldiers and pirates. He'd lead the Prince on, confuse him and wear him out until he was weakened. Then he'd kill the man.


Katara peered out from her hiding place behind the barrels. She could hear the screams and shouts of the men on deck, and knew the pirates had boarded the ship. Before she could dart from her barrels to another hiding place, someone grabbed her roughly by the hair and dragged her out, struggling and screaming.

She kept on screaming shrilly before her captor drew back and slapped her hard on the face. Katara shut up suddenly, her cheek smarting from the blow. She stared up into the face of a pirate dressed in a dirty green robe.

"It's a woman!" He said in amazement.

His two companions behind him murmured and elbowed each other. "This must be the girl Rishku was talking about."

The man in green turned back to her, face slowly widening into a mean grin. "Well, since we found her, I'm sure Rishku will reward us well for making sure she wasn't killed."

One of the men standing behind Green Robe shook his head. "I dunno about this, Gedu. Rishku was really serious about not touching the girl." He appraised Gedu's hand clutching Katara's upper arm. "And it looks to me like you're touching her alright."

Gedu quickly let go of Katara and threw her back on the ground, scowling. "You ain't gonna tell on me, are ya?" He asked, his facial expression ugly.

The other men backed away quickly. "No way, Gedu, I was just sayin' that Rishku had dibs on her. And you know how he gets."

Before Gedu could provide an answer of any sort, the side of his head was smashed in by the hilt of First Mate Hurei's sword. The other two pirates scrambled to get out of the way. Hurei gave Katara a glance that said What the hell are you doing up here? before chasing after the other two pirates.

Katara bent over on the deck, catching her breath. She averted her eyes from the mess that was Gedu's face, groaning on the ground. That had scared the shit out of her. But what scared her more was what Gedu had said. Zuko had been right, Rishku was coming after her. She was beginning to wish she'd stayed in her room. The image of the gaping holes in the face of the burning man filled her mind again and she choked hard, trying not to vomit. Everywhere around her the sounds of men dying rang in the air. The heavy scent of blood and smoke clogged her lungs. She stood up shakily, her legs wobbling.

Looking up, she was greeted by the most welcome sight she'd even seen in her extremely short life.

Slowly realizing what this meant for her, she began to scream, waving her arms over her head like a madwoman.

"AANG! SOKKA!" She jumped up and down, excited beyond words. "I'M RIGHT HERE GUYS, I'M RIGHT HERE! AANG! SOKKA! I'M HERE!"


Zuko heard a woman screaming indistinct words in the distance, and looked up to see Katara jumping around on the other side of the ship.

Fuck, he thought, What is that crazy bitch doing? Slowly, his mind woke up from it's previously emotionless state.

Inside, he was unbelievably ticked off with Katara's blatant refusal of his orders to stay in the room. He'd locked the door too. How had she gotten out?

On the outside, he was perfectly composed, sliding his sword out of a dead pirate with a graceful elegance that was pleasing to the eye. He started stalking towards the girl waving her arms around on the deck. Rishku would just have to wait. There was a more immediate problem Zuko had to deal with right now.

He looked up at that second and was greeted by the most unwelcome sight he'd ever seen in his extremely short life.

Knowing what the presence of the Avatar and Katara's brother meant for him and his plans, he quickened his pace until he was flat-out running towards Katara. Of course, he wanted to capture the Avatar as well, but that was clearly impossible what with the current situation involving Rishku.

The Avatar would just have to come back for his girlfriend some other time. Right now, Zuko wouldn't let anyone take Katara away from him.


Rishku heard a woman's indistinct screaming out of the corner of his ears. His head shot up, knowing this had to be Katara. She was the only woman on board. He stopped his little goose chase with Zuko and turned back around, heading through the crowd for the crazy girl screaming and jumping at the other end of the ship. He needed to get her, and this was the opportune time, when everyone else was distracted. Zuko would just have to wait. There was a more immediate problem Rishku had to deal with right now.

The pirate looked up at that moment and was greeted by one of the most unbelievable sights in his extremely short life.

A huge furry white animal of some sort was flying around in the air above the ship, carrying what looked like two boys on it's back. Rishku's eyes widened, recognizing the famous Avatar by the sign on his bald head. Unbelievable. The Avatar and Katara, in one place at one time. This day couldn't have gotten any better for him. He could kill two birds with one stone now. He was sure someone in the world would offer up a handsome price for the Avatar. Maybe even Zuko himself. The girl he would keep for his own purposes.

He would have to kill Zuko some other time. Right now, Rishku wouldn't let anyone take this prime opportunity away from him.


Appa flew gracefully over the masts of the biggest ship in the Fire Nation fleet, his white fur rippling in the slight wind. Aang and Sokka kept their eyes fixated on the deck of the ship below them. They could see a battle raging on the ship, pirates and Fire soldiers hacking determinedly and ignorantly at each other.

But Aang and Sokka couldn't tell they were pirates and soldiers. From up above, they were all just human.

A voice was carried up by the breeze, whispering past Aang's ears. He snapped his neck around, staring intently down at the deck were a girl waving her arms and screaming their names was standing.

"Sokka!" He cried out, pointing at the deck of the ship. "Is that Katara? Is that her?"

Sokka swiveled around, squinting at the figure on the boat. "I think it is! Appa, get closer!"

The flying bison made an agreeable noise and swerved down, passing over the tallest mast of the boat.

The boys could finally see the girl's features, and confirmed it was their friend and sister. They waved frantically down at her. Appa passed over the girl, climbing into the air again, making ready for another, closer pass around.

"We've found her!" Sokka crowed in joy. Aang smiled widely, and Appa made the last turn, dipping back down towards the deck of the ship.


Rishku sprinted towards Katara as fast as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zuko closing in on the girl as well. The pirate cursed. Zuko was more than halfway there already. Rishku had to find another way, or the Prince would get to both Katara and the flying Avatar before him.

Striding up a large pile of disposed crates, he craned his neck around at the tallest mast in the center of the boat. A sturdy rope was tied to the wood. The other end of the rope stretched up, up, up, connected to the mast on the other end of the ship, next to Katara. Rishku grinned. Perfect. It would swing him straight towards Katara, where he could scoop her up and out of Zuko's reach in time. Quickly untying the rope, he grabbed on with both hands and pushed off the crates.

The pirate swung out over the heads of the men fighting underneath him, quickly gaining on Zuko. He was almost there.


Zuko saw Rishku swinging wildly through the air towards Katara. That pirate definitely knew how to use resources to his own advantage. Miraculously, the girl hadn't noticed a thing, completely focused on the Avatar, who was now coming in for a pass over the girl, most likely in order to pick her up into the air.

Zuko cursed loudly. The situation had grown from incredibly bad to incredibly worse in the space of about five seconds.

He changed his direction, aiming for Rishku instead. He tilted forward, running at a full-out sprint now.


Everything was hanging on this one moment in time.

Three different forces closed in on one innocent, hopeful girl standing in the middle of a bloody carnage.

Zuko, Rishku, and Aang had her in their sights and not one of them was going to give up until they had what they wanted.


It all happened in the space of ten seconds.

Katara's hopeful face shone up at Aang and Sokka as Appa quickly closed the distance between them. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the two men racing towards her. One swinging on a rope, the other running at an incredible speed. Horrified to see both of them, she wished Appa would fly faster. Come get me come get me come get me, repeated the mantra over and over in her head. She strained up onto her tiptoes, reaching towards something she longed for with all her heart.

Rishku, with a manical grin on his face, swung through the final few feet between him and the girl. He reached out one arm towards Katara. Almost there almost there, he repeated to himself.

Rishku's fingers were exactly two breaths away from Katara's waist when Zuko's brilliant, red-hot sword swung out of nowhere and sliced the pirate's head cleanly from his neck, blood spurting everywhere. His last image before his optic nerves died was Zuko's scarred face, splattered with his own blood.

Sokka turned his eyes away from the gruesome sight of a headless body swinging around on a rope and reached down desperately for his sister. He strained, his arm stretching for Katara's hands.

Zuko, an ugly hatred-filled expression distorting his face, swung around to see Sokka's arm reaching down for his sister.

Nononono iwon'tletyoutouchher DON'T TOUCH HER.

The two siblings' fingertips touched ever so slightly and Zuko moved forward, slicing his already-bloodied sword deep into the flesh of Sokka's forearm.

Everything happened at once.

Sokka screamed in agony, Katara gasped as her brother's blood spilled onto her, Zuko grabbed her violently around the waist, and Appa lifted up and away into the sky. Aang looked back down at Katara's horrified face, disappointment filling him to bursting. Sokka clutched his mangled and bloody arm to his chest, knowing that their rescue attempt had failed. He stared back down at his sister's terrified and tearful face, feeling like the worst brother in the world.

Zuko pointed, and twenty archers and one cannon turned, aimed, and fired at the flying bison. Appa roared in pain as arrows pierced his fur and the metal cannonball lodged itself deep into one of his six legs. He continued to fly off, bright red bison blood dripping onto the deck of the Golden Flame.


Zuko, his face contorted with anger, violently hauled a screaming Katara to her feet, half-dragging, half-carrying her across the deck and back to his room.

The sobbing girl refused to walk, and so Zuko had to drag her down the stairs, bruising her body. She slammed to the bottom, before rising up and starting to hit him with her fists and feet. He ignored the flurry of violence from her, barely noticing it at all while he unlocked the door. Bending down to drag her up under the arms, he physically picked her up and threw her into the room.

Katara landed violently on the floor, crashing into the armchairs and the desk, knocking a table aside and breaking a lamp before coming to a stop, motionless and breathless. She hurt all over. Shutting her eyes tightly, she moaned in pain, the sharp corners of furniture digging into her ribs and legs.

Opening her eyes, she glared hatefully at Zuko, who quickly stalked forward and yanked her up by her neck. She choked, all her bravery fled and primitive terror filled her mind as that man leaned close until their noses brushed each other.

"Next time, bitch, you will listen and follow every single fucking order I give you, do you understand?" He hissed, his scarred face completely distorted by ugly emotion.

She simply sputtered. His hand clenched tighter on her delicate, fragile neck. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he reasoned that if he put just a bit more pressure on her skin, he could simply break her. It'd be as easy as shattering glass.

"Do you understand?" He roared in her face.

Katara finally choked out a "Yes" around the pressure on her throat.

He finally let go, staring down at her as she gasped and heaved, her hand coming up to rub her neck gingerly. He'd left bruises on her skin, he noticed absentmindedly.

Katara refused to meet his eyes, tears gathering in her own and slowly dripping onto the expensive red carpet. The liquid reflected the color of the rug, creating the illusion that the tears falling from her eyes were made of brilliant blood.

He looked up at the broken window and knew this was how she had escaped last time. Stalking over to his wardrobe, he yanked out his extra set of armor and threw it at the shattered window. In mid-flight, he sent a blast of fire at it, so that when it came in contact with the wooden window frame around the gaping hole, it melted slightly, the edges turning into liquid medal.

As it cooled, the metal adhered to the edges of the shattered window, creating an ugly scar in the elegant furnishings of the room. But it did cover the hole effectively.

He turned to Katara again. "You won't be leaving for awhile."

Zuko slammed the door as he went out, and locked all four locks securely, double-checking each one. Then he climbed the stairs to the top deck. There was still the little problem of pirates on his ship. And somebody would have to clean up Rishku's body.

They'd have to find his head too.


A/N: If you didn't notice already, things are going to start getting a bit more serious from this point on. Before, in the previous chapters, it was mostly light-hearted and humor-filled. I'll still try to get some humor in here (especially with Uncle Iroh!) but I think this is really the point when it might start getting darker and maybe even a bit angsty. Just maybe. This is the first fic I've ever written, and I do want to try writing in different styles and situations. Hope you don't mind.

A/N 2: You've probably also noticed my updating speed isn't as fast anymore. I've begun to take more time to edit my grammar and spelling and making sure everything makes sense in the chapter before uploading it. I looked at some of my earlier chapters and some of the errors there just bug the hell out of me. As soon as I finish this whole story, I'm going to revamp and re-edit the whole thing over again (If I don't get occupied with something else first).

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! Based on all of your feedback, I'm going to keep it at T for now, as most of you thought I should. I wish I had time to personally reply to every single one of you, but I'm a bit occupied right now, seeing as I have several impatient ideas waiting in my head for the next few chapters. Hopefully that'll satisfy you all! THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN!