Title: The Hunter and The Prey
Category: Avatar: Last Airbender
Author: RedNovember
Chapter: 10
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.

NOTICE: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER! THEY ARE IMPORTANT, AND ARE THERE FOR A REASON, BELIEVE IT OR NOT! Thanks.


Chapter 10: The Turning Point

Sokka ran through the first day, the first night, the second day, the second night, and finally arrived at Jet's encampment on the morning of the third day. He was greeted with unwelcome news.

"Jet's dead?" Sokka exclaimed when Lyhan, Jet's second-in-command, met him at the entrance to the base.

"His body was found a day ago, floating in one of the sewage drains leading out of Menthat." Lyhan's eyes were red from grief and worry. "I really don't know what we're going to do now."

Sokka was silent for a moment. He and the rebel leader had never been good friends. Sokka even thought sometimes that Jet had been too overzealous and insane in his methods for freeing people from Fire Nation control. But he had never wished death on the other teenager.

"I'm sorry." He finally said to Lyhan.

"It's… fine." The other boy let out a deep sigh. "We can carry on for a bit, but I don't know if anything was revealed before Jet died. He had a poisoned Fire Bender blade buried in his back." Lyhan looked more murderous than sad now. It was clear he wanted to find Jet's killer and bring justice to him. "It was Fire Bender soldiers that killed Jet, Sokka. I know it was."

"Do you think Jet could have sold you out?" Sokka was a bit shocked.

"No! It's just that… I don't know." Lyhan said agitatedly. "I don't know! Nobody was with him when he died! I don't know what happened! I don't know if information was exchanged, if Jet wouldn't talk and that's why he was killed, or if we are all in danger this very second because Fire Soldiers are coming to attack us!"

"Just calm down, Lyhan." Sokka said, trying to reassure him. But inside, he was worried as well.

The other boy passed a hand over his eyes and tried to stop shaking. "Okay, Sokka, okay. So why did you come to us in the first place?"

Sokka's face hardened. "A few days ago, we were attacked by Fire Nation ships when we tried to rescue my sister."

Lyhan's face softened. "Oh yes, I heard. We are losing so many important ones to the Fire Nation it seems. Both Jet and Katara. One is dead, one is captured. Is she still with Zuko?"

Sokka nodded stiffly. "Unfortunately, yes. We weren't successful, and Appa was seriously hurt. We need a healer for the bison if we want to attempt any kind of rescue soon."

Before Lyhan could offer any sort of advice or help, a messenger boy came running up to the two older teenagers, panting for breath. "Lyhan! Lyhan!" He said, bending over to breathe heavily. "It was Zuko! Zuko killed Jet!"

Immediately Sokka and Lyhan both turned to the messenger.

"How do you know this?" Lyhan snapped.

"Zuko's fleet is in the harbor at Menthat, and we sighted him walking back to his ship with a bunch of soldiers and one Royal Guard."

Lyhan hissed. "A Royal Guard? It must be him. Only assassins from the Fire Nation know how to make the poison that killed Jet."

Sokka quickly intervened. "Was there anyone else other than soldiers with Zuko?"

The messenger boy frowned slightly. "I heard that he was walking around, escorting a woman on his arm. It was strange, very strange. We all know Zuko isn't married. And then later, when he went back to his ship, the woman was heavily guarded and held between two soldiers." The boy shook his head. "I don't know what that sort of strange behavior means."

Sokka's face was filled with a desperate hope. He had to restrain himself from leaping forward and shaking the messenger by the shoulders. "Did you see her face? Did you see the woman's face?"

The boy shook his head harder. "No. She was wearing a veil."

Lyhan swung back around to stare at Sokka. "Is it your sister?"

Sokka could hardly choke back the hard hope in his throat. "I find it hard to believe Zuko would let her off his ship, for however brief a time. But if it is her… it means she's in Menthat right now." He turned back to the messenger. "How long is Zuko going to be there?"

"I heard his ships were heavily damaged from pirates. He's there for supplies and repairs. Maybe three, four more days to complete repairs on his ships?"

Sokka drew himself up and knew he was going to be running again for a long, long time. "I have to go back and tell Aang. This is an opportunity we can't miss, not since we botched the last one."

Lyhan nodded. "I understand. Do you need any provisions?"

"Some food and water would be good enough, thank you. Oh and, if you have any extra medicine, that would be great too." Sokka showed Lyhan his bandaged arm. "For the bison and me."

"Right." Lyhan sent the messenger to pick up some supplies for Sokka. "Wait," Lyhan murmured to himself, then looked back at Sokka. "I may have something you can borrow. Wait here."

The rebel disappeared into the woods and reappeared a minute later leading two horses by the halters. "We stole these from Fire Nation soldiers about a week ago. We haven't got much use for them, because we don't do much traveling unless we need a disguise of some sort that requires a horse. They've been mostly sitting around and growing fat off our supplies." He handed the reins to Sokka. "Take them. Bring them back to us when you've got the Avatar. The horses will probably cut down your travel time by a day or so."

Sokka took the offer gratefully. It didn't matter that he'd never ridden a horse. He wasn't going to enter any competitions. He just needed the speed. "I'll get them back to you as soon as possible, Lyhan. Thank you."

Lyhan nodded. "Good luck, and I hope you get your sister back."

In less than five minutes, Sokka was mounted and racing off to retrieve Aang. His original purpose (the search for a healer) was completely forgotten. No offense to Appa of course, but the bison could heal for now without any help. Katara was in Menthat, and it was up to him and the Avatar to save her.


Zuko sat on the deck at the stern of the ship, and rested his forehead on his knees. The sun had set not two minutes ago, and he was tired. An entire day of counting and calculating supplies and repairs didn't seem like much work, but it was tiresome and took a bit out of a guy when he had to do it all morning. Plus the whole fiasco with Jet and Katara in the afternoon. And the argument with Katara afterwards.

He was definitely still angry at her. But her words kept coming back to ring in his ears over and over again. "I told him you weren't a heartless bastard I told him you weren't a heartless bastard I told him I told him."

She had defended him against Jet. It really was unbelievable. But Zuko knew that Katara would never lie about such a thing. She wouldn't make it up just to get on his good side. He knew her. Or he thought he did.

Besides, he wasn't sure why he'd made such a big deal out of Jet. The rebel leader was dead, anyhow. He wasn't going to make a difference anytime soon. But still, the fact that he'd come so close to losing Katara made it seem extremely important. And the fact that Katara could have betrayed him before he killed Jet. Would she do that? Would she give him information about Zuko's fleet and army? She'd certainly been around long enough. She could have given him numbers. How many ships they had, how strong they were, what their weaknesses were.

She wouldn't have done it. She couldn't have done it. She was much to scared of him to even think of betraying him, because she was afraid of the consequences that would follow. Either that or she was so caught up in her delusional ideas about a perfect world where nobody was ever mean to anybody else that she thought she had enough "pride" and "loyalty" to not betray him.

That could work. Except why would she ever be loyal to him? There was no reason for it.

Zuko shook his head, trying to clear out his mind. This was Katara he was thinking about. Why was he thinking up paranoid explanations about the inner workings of her mind? She definitely wasn't devious enough to try to double cross him or manipulate him. She was just Katara. She wore her emotions on her sleeves, and did the first thought that came into her mind. She didn't take time to judge her actions and calculate her words. Not like he did.

Except when he was around her. Then he just seemed to lose everything.

He got up, wincing at his numb legs and slowly walked across the deck and down the stairs to his room. It was still a wreck, and one of the windows was still covered by his armor. He distantly thought to himself that if Katara had really wanted to escape, she could have just broken one of the other windows. Easy enough, really.

He entered the room and found it in complete darkness. Katara must have fallen asleep before she'd had the chance to light a lamp. He turned towards the bed and crawled on before realizing that it was empty. Katara wasn't in bed! There wasn't the usual weight of her body on the other side.

Zuko quickly got off and lit one gas lamp with fire from his fingers all the while thinking where did she go? This room isn't big at all is she hiding? And the lamp flared into light. Looking around, he finally spotted her in her usual armchair, facing out to sea. She was asleep, her head lolling to one side. He noticed she was still wearing the dress, and hadn't bothered to change. Had she been sitting there all evening and finally fallen asleep?

He stood for a foolish second in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do. If he left her there to sleep for the night, she'd wake up the next morning unbearably sore and probably grouchy too. But he really didn't want to wake her.

He crept a bit closer and knelt down until he was face to face with her. In sleep, her face was fixed in a peaceful expression, her lips parted just a bit so that whenever she breathed in, she made the slightest noise. Her dark hair fell over one side of her face and she was curled up against one armrest, her slim body in a fetal position.

And it was at that second that Zuko realized she was beautiful.

It was no earth-shaking revelation or heart-stopping realization. It was just a simple fact. Simple, simple, simple. Simple that he hadn't noticed before. Simple that when he finally did slow down and really look, he saw things that he normally didn't see.

There was nothing more to it. She was attractive for a woman, and he had noticed. It wasn't like he was a eunuch or anything. He was a growing young man. Of course he noticed these things. And, being on a ship and commanding warfare for most of his teenage life didn't let him get out much and… mingle. Of course he would notice a woman once in awhile, when he got to see one. It was all primitive biology.

But what he did next was not primitive biology.

Gently, Zuko slipped one arm slowly under her shoulders and the other under her knees. In one smooth move he lifted her up from the armchair, her head slipping toward his shoulder. She murmured something quietly in her sleep and he couldn't quite catch it.

He turned around to the bed and put her down, hoping she wouldn't wake up. What would her reaction be, realizing that Zuko was carrying her in his arms? Half of him wanted her to wake up, and half of him wanted her to stay asleep. He didn't think he would be able to bear it if she woke up and started screaming in disgust. That would have completely destroyed his self-confidence.

Zuko pulled the blanket out from under her and covered her with it. His mind flashed back to the first time he had done the same action, back when he had first captured her. How things had changed since then. He smoothed the sheet down next to her, a million different thoughts running through his mind.

And then he kissed her.

Nothing much happened. For one, she didn't wake up. Secondly, no fireworks went off in his head, no brilliant flash of light, and no wonderful, beautiful letters spelled out L-O-V-E in the sky.

But he had to admit it was very, very nice. And most important of all, he didn't regret doing it. It had been an impulse thing. She'd even responded a little, just a bit, even though she was asleep. It must have been instinct for her. He sure hoped it wasn't habit.

Whispering his second "I'm sorry" into the sleeping girl's ear, he got into his side of the bed and pulled her close automatically, not even waiting to go to sleep before gathering her in his arms. Too bad Katara wasn't awake to hear his apology and experience her first kiss.

And Zuko went to bed that night feeling just a little bit better about everything in the world.


It took one day and one night for Sokka to ride back to Aang and Appa.

It took one hour to convince Aang to leave Appa for just a short bit in order to attempt a rescue of Katara.

They rode back, and it took a bit longer this time because Aang kept falling off the horse and they had to carry several bags of supplies with them. But all in all, they made good time.

They did a bit of research, asking around the market about sightings of the Prince and the strange veiled woman he'd brought with him. Nobody had really seen her face, except for one cloth merchant who claimed he had actually sold some cloth to the lady. He couldn't accurately describe her, for she had been veiled, but he did remember the way her light, grey-blue eyes had shone in the shadows of her face.

The merchant also mentioned the woman's "husband", and described him in a way that revealed to Sokka and Aang that Jet had been with Katara, for however short a while.

This only served to confused the two boys more. Hadn't Zuko made Katara pretend to be the Prince's wife? How had Katara and Jet met up? Had Katara and Jet talked? Was she with him when he was killed? What had they done?

What was going on?


The next morning, Katara woke up in bed.

Funny, she didn't remember falling asleep in bed last night.

She looked over at Zuko, who stared intently back at her.

Funny, she didn't remember falling asleep next to him last night.

"Good morning." Zuko finally said.

She stared at him for a moment before rolling over, away from him, and out of bed. She stood up stiffly, brushing the wrinkles self consciously from her dress.

"What, no greeting for me?" Zuko said from behind her, sounding utterly relaxed and rested.

Katara was extremely confused. Why was he in such a good mood all of a sudden? Yesterday he'd looked like he wanted to kill her. He had completely blown his top at her and now he was acting like they were all close and happy together. What was wrong with the man?

Damn him for confusing her.

"No." She snapped back. "No greeting for you."

She heard him get out of bed, rustling the sheets.

"Fine." He said easily, changing. He didn't sound upset at all.

Katara couldn't take it anymore. How could he possibly be so relaxed that he was in such a good that he UGH! Didn't the man know how to keep a grudge?

She spun around angrily. "What is your problem-"

But he'd already left.


Zuko left the room, laughing quietly to himself. Katara must be so confused. Well. If he had it his way, she'd never find out what had happened last night to put him in such a good mood.

Maybe he'd tell her someday. Maybe once this was all over with.

He frowned slightly to himself. What would he do with her after accomplishing all his goals? Then he thought to himself, I don't have to worry about it now. The worse that could happen is she might die in the process. The best would be…

Well he didn't know what the best thing would be.

"Hello uncle!" He said, coming up behind Iroh, clapping a hand on his uncle's shoulder.

"You're in a good mood today, Zuko." Iroh observed calmly. He wondered if Zuko knew that probably half the ship had heard him and Katara screaming at each other yesterday. Well, Zuko had been doing most of the yelling. Strange that his nephew would be in such a good mood afterwards. It worried Iroh. If Zuko was so optimistic, Iroh wondered what sort of state Katara was in.

"Beautiful day, yes?" Zuko said, before moving on.

Iroh watched him suspiciously walk away. He dearly hoped Katara was alright.


For majority of the day, Katara observed the activity on the docks of Menthat. Obviously Zuko wasn't going to let her out anytime soon.

She longed with all her heart to join those figures scurrying around on land, carrying bundles and going on with their business, completely ignorant of her predicament. If she'd only listened to Jet. If she'd only grabbed her freedom when she'd had her chance.

If only.


When Zuko and several of the Royal Guards descended from the boats to finish business in Menthat, they were unaware of the stares they received.

Mainly, stares from two disguised and heavily cloaked boys in the crowd.

Sokka watched the Prince walk confidently to the carpenter's business house, his lip curling in digust. His wounded arm shook with an effort to keep himself from pulling out a dagger in his belt.

"I want to kill him so badly, Aang." Sokka hissed at the shorter figure standing next to him. "But before I do, I'll torture him until he tells me where Katara is and what happened to Jet."

Aang nodded slowly. "We'll get our revenge. But first, Katara's gotta be rescued."

Sokka and Aang conferred quietly and made the mutual decision to wait until nightfall to rescue Katara. Under the cover of dark, they could avoid prying eyes. That part of the plan was as far as they got.

"So… what's the next step?" asked Aang eagerly.

Silence.

"I don't know." Sokka finally said.

Both of the boys turned to examine the flagship out in the harbor. Several Fire Nation ships were tied to the docks, undergoing repairs. But both Sokka and Aang knew what they wanted wasn't on the smaller ships. Katara was out on the flagship. This they had figured out from their last rescue attempt.

"Well," Sokka said, thinking hard. "We're going to have to steal a boat."

"Something with a sail would be good." Aang said thoughtfully. "I could bend the wind to get us across to the flagship quicker. We wouldn't have to splash noisily like we would if we rowed."

"Good idea."

"… Then what?"

"We'll need some rope."


Zuko sighed after all his men had left from the meeting. It had lasted two hours and had consisted of several loud arguments between officers and even escalated to the point of throwing measuring instruments at each other. Quite unseemly. But they'd gotten majority of all their troubles worked out in the end. They would stay in Menthat for two more days, until the last warship was repaired.

Then they would leave for the Fire Nation.

He propped his feet up on the table. Zuko only did this when his crew weren't around. He didn't want them thinking their Prince was a slob who had no sense of propriety. Good thing he was alone.

He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out an ebony box, one he'd put there this morning after leaving Katara. Zuko opened it, and inside, nestled on a pad of black velvet, was Katara's necklace. She didn't know he had it, and he wondered if he should tell her about it. Maybe use it as some sort of blackmail, or threat to make her do what he wanted?

Slowly, he realized that the satisfaction he got when making others do as he wished didn't appear this time, not when he was thinking about Katara. Usually, using some sort of blackmail or threat to get victims or enemies to do what he wanted was an easy method of persuasion. It worked all the time. Threaten to kill a family member or destroy a treasured possession would always work to make his opponent agree to Zuko's terms. And he felt satisfaction, knowing that he had power of them.

But for some reason, the satisfaction did not come this time.

In truth, the mere thought of blackmailing Katara made him feel sick.

Damn it.

He snapped the box shut. The necklace was worthless to him. He wondered how much it really meant to Katara.


In the dark of the night, two figures huffed and puffed as they pulled themselves up long, thin ropes attached to he railing of a flagship with the words Golden Flame painted on it's hull. It was Zuko's flagship. They were ascending from their stolen sailboat, bobbing around in the water underneath them.

The taller figure on the right almost lost his grip on the rope.

"What's wrong?" The shorter one hissed.

"I can't… oh shit… my arm…" Taller figure gasped. "I think it's bleeding again."

"Come on! Just a bit more!" The shorter one urged his partner on.

"I just… okay, okay. We're almost there."

Reaching the top, the two dark figures threw themselves over the railing of the ship.

Before they could scream or move, two larger, black-clad figures emerged from the shadows of the ship and grasped the two struggling younger boys.

The captors were part of the Royal Guard, and they tied their prisoners securely with chains and threw them into the deepest, darkest, dankest cell in the ship.

"Shit." Was the only word heard as the two would-be rescuers sat in the darkness, cursing their predicament. "Oh, shit."


Katara heard Zuko come into the room behind her and tensed up. She'd spent most of her day fuming and swearing and had only taken a break when Kaz had arrived with her lunch. She'd made him stay for awhile, just to have someone to talk to, in order to break the monotony that every day seemed to be now. Sleep, wake up, argue with Zuko, stay in room, Zuko comes back, argue with Zuko, sleep. And repeat as necessary.

Kaz hadn't been very good for conversation. He seemed to be in awe of her majority of the time, and it was hard to talk about the weather with someone who was ready to grovel at her feet and worship her whenever she said his name. It wasn't altogether unwelcome or anything, but after awhile, it did get annoying. She couldn't help but compare her interaction with Kaz to her interaction with Zuko. Just the mere thought of Zuko groveling at her feet was unbelievable. But Katara had to admit she wouldn't mind it. But it definitely wasn't ever going to happen.

"Had a good day?" Zuko remarked cheerfully, depositing his papers and bundles on the dresser.

Katara couldn't believe he was still in his happy mood. Goddamn the man. He was completely insufferable. Well, at least one person around here was going to be keeping a grudge.

"No." She snapped. "Prisoners kept in tiny, airless rooms all day by themselves usually don't have good days."

"Would you rather I stayed with you all day?"

"No!" She said quickly. "That would be make it much, much worse."

"Fine. I'll just leave you to your queer mood swings then."

Katara couldn't believe the hypocrisy in that statement. "ME? Mood swings? You think I'm the one with queer mood swings?"

He gave her an obvious 'duh' look.

She ignored it and charged on. "YOU'RE the one who completely blew a fuse yesterday because you had a little jealousy fit! And now you're pretending like there's nothing wrong!"

His smile vanished. "A jealousy fit?"

"Yes." Katara said in satisfaction, crossing her arms over her chest. She'd finally broken his shell. "You were obviously jealous about the attention Jet gave me."

"Why would I be jealous of that moron?" Zuko sputtered. "What has he got that I don't?"

"Well," Katara held up one finger, ticking it off. "Number one, I actually like him."

"Why would I want you to like me?" Zuko spat out. (but I do I do want you to) Why couldn't she speak a single bad word about that fucking rebel leader? What made Jet so special?

"Number two," Katara went on, ignoring his comment. "He has strong leadership abilities."

"He has strong leadership abilities?" Zuko was in a complete rage now. "He leads a band of fucking kids who occasionally annoy my soldiers! I command an entire freaking fleet, with several legions and a Royal Guard under my hands. How can you compare a couple of kids to that?"

Katara watched him intently. She'd said the whole "jealous fit" thing to tick Zuko off, but she hadn't thought he would have taken it this badly.

"I'm royalty." Zuko continued. "I have possess things and powers that stupid Jet couldn't even begin to dream about." He took a deep breath and couldn't stop himself from speaking the next words. "I could offer you so much more than he ever could."

Katara was speechless. She really hadn't thought Zuko was jealous. She'd only said it to insult him. Was he… for real? Or was he just joking around with her?

Too late, Zuko realized he'd fallen for her trap. Katara had made him admit that he'd been jealous. Damn her. Why was it that he could never seem to keep control of his emotions when he was around her?

Quickly, he fished out the box from inside his pocket. Opening it, he took out the necklace and swung it from his fingers, the blue stone catching the lamplight. "He could never give you this back." He said quietly.

The color drained from Katara's face. "Wh- where did you get that?" She gasped. Was it possible Zuko had had her necklace the entire time? How could he have kept it from her? Didn't he understand how much her mother's necklace meant to her?

"I found it." He said neutrally.

"Give it to me." She said breathlessly, reaching for it.

He quickly raised it up higher in the air, her fingers feebly grasping for it.

"Zuko!" She all but screamed. "That's mine!"

"You compared me to Jet. You said he was better than I am. He's dead. He's completely dead and his body is floating around in a sewage drain somewhere." Zuko said clearly, looking her straight in the eyes. "At least I'm alive." He curled the necklace in his fist. "You don't deserve this. If you don't even now how to judge the value of two men, then you don't deserve something as valuable as your mother's necklace."

She gaped at him. What the fuck? Was he insane? Who was he to judge what she deserved and did not deserve!

"ZUKO! YOU FUCKING MORON!" She leapt at him, her hands punching him and grabbing at his hand. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT NECKLACE MEANS TO ME!"

He fought her off like she was a crazed animal. Her light blows were completely ineffective against him. Her strength wasn't physical- it was in her control of the water. Using one arm, he pushed her off him. "Don't try to steal it from me." He said, carelessly brushing her off. "I already told you why you can't have it."

She continued to stare at him incredulously, fighting against his hold. Then she stopped struggling. Pushing away from him, she stood back a couple feet. "This is the difference between you and Jet, Zuko." She spat out bitterly. "Jet had empathy. He could feel emotions. He could sympathize with other people."

Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at him. "He was right. You are a heartless bastard, Zuko."

Zuko clenched his jaw tightly. "You said you defended me against him-"

She cut him off. "Yeah. That was before I realized he was right. You don't feel anything. You don't care for anything but yourself and your stupid goals. I pity the woman who will have to marry you someday." Katara narrowed her eyes at him, as if preparing to announce an edict.

"Why? Because YOU, Zuko, are the only person you will ever care about in your whole goddamn fucking life-"

And before she could say anymore, Zuko moved faster than he had ever moved in his life. Grabbing her by the arms, he swung around until he slammed her back against the wall, and pinning her there, he bent down to kiss her with a frightening violence.

She squirmed in his grasp, biting back a cry of pain when her back hit the wall. And then, unbelievably, he was kissing her. Her first primitive instinct was to fight him. She hit his shoulders with her fist, trying to push him away, but he wouldn't let go. She tried to scream, but his mouth was covering hers, his hand tangled in her hair at the back of her neck, holding her in his grasp. Nothing she could do would make him let go of her.

And suddenly, a warm feeling overcame her and she stopped struggling. She stilled for a second and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. With one hand, he pinned her right wrist to the wall.

Her mind was screaming No no no he's the enemy! He's the enemy don't give in don't give in! But she was already sighing in relief and warm pleasure. Her arms came up to his shoulders and he pulled her in closer to him. And oh my, everything was so warm and she just melted, every single thought flying from her mind.

Then his other hand moved from her lower back, down, down, down until he touched one firm thigh and he pulled it up, over his hip-

"NO!" She gasped finally, pulling away. "Stop it!"

He stumbled back, looking confused and dazed. She probably didn't have a much different expression on her own face.

They stood panting, averting each other's eyes and wondering at the sudden silence that filled the room.

Katara ran one hand nervously and awkwardly through her messed-up hair. "What… what was that?"

Zuko took the opportunity to seize upon her stupid question. "It was a kiss, if you didn't notice. Although how it could have completely escaped you, I have no idea."

Katara's eyes widened in shock. Her mind was slowly returning to her in bits and pieces. "That- that was my first kiss!" She said, horrified. She stepped back, one hand covering her mouth.

"It wasn't mine." Zuko said, as if trying to prove something.

She didn't seem to hear his comment. "That was my FIRST KISS!" She rounded on him, an angry glare fixed on her face. "It was supposed to be with someone special! I can't believe this! I can't believe my first kiss was you!" Katara looked like she was ready to shoot him. "Y- You stole it from me!"

Then she glanced at him suspiciously. "It wasn't your first kiss?"

"No." He replied calmly. "And it wasn't yours either." Inside, he was rather miffed. It couldn't have been that bad, could it? She'd certainly responded well enough. What was so bad about him being her first kiss?

"What?" Her response was incredulous.

"It wasn't your first kiss."

"What?"

Zuko was growing increasingly annoyed. "Is that the only thing you can say? I said, it wasn't your first kiss, and it wasn't mine either!"

"WHAT!"

"I kissed you last night!" He finally snapped out, uncaring of the consequences that this statement would procure. "So this was technically your second kiss. As it was mine."

She stared at him, a completely flabbergasted expression on her face. "You kissed me last night?" Her shocked expression quickly turned into deadly suspicion. "What else did you do while I was asleep?" Her arms quickly came up across her chest, in a defensive gesture from prying eyes. "Hm? What else did you do, pervert?"

He glared at her. "Nothing. I didn't do anything else."

"Right."

The room was silent again.

Katara's mind was reeling. He had kissed her after she accused of him of not caring for anyone else… did that mean he cared for her? Impossible.

Zuko cursed himself. Oh, he didn't regret the actual kissing, which hadn't been bad, if he did say so himself, but he regretted the fact that Katara would probably read into it now. She wouldn't be wrong with most of her assumptions, which was the problem.

She turned around slowly until her back was facing him. She was looking out the window again. Zuko noticed that she did this whenever she wanted to tell him something but, for some reason or other, didn't want to look at him when she did so.

"I'm sorry for calling you a heartless bastard."

"It's okay." He finally said. She apologized so easily, usually immediately after a fight (or a make-out session…). It took him a lot longer. Pride was, as always, the problem.

"I did defend you, you know. Against Jet."

"I know. And," He choked this next part out. "I'm sorry about killing Jet."

She was silent for a bit. "It's not okay."

He couldn't help but swallow uncertainly in his throat. What did that mean?

Katara sighed heavily. "It's not okay, but I don't really blame you for it." She turned to finally face him. "I know how you saw him. He was a liability. A threat. And when you had the chance, you had to kill him. That's your solution. You kill anything that is a threat to your interests."

He nodded. That's how it was.

"Aang is a threat, yes? Like I am a threat?" As if unable to face the answer, Katara turned around again, her back to him.

Zuko could see that it was dark outside already. Night had fallen fast.

Uncurling his hand, he dangled the necklace in front of his eyes. Stepping up close behind Katara, he reached around her shoulders, bending his head close to her ear as if he was about to whisper into it. He draped the necklace across her throat, and clasped it in the back, leaving his hand there.

"You're right, Katara." He whispered. "I do kill anything that threatens my interests." He bent even closer, feeling her tension under his hand. "But are you a threat to me? Or one of my interests?"

A knock sounded at the door.

Katara and Zuko both sighed. It completely destroyed the mood. Zuko turned from Katara, and she shifted to rest her weight on one foot, an annoyed stance.

"What?" He snapped, sounding utterly hostile to whoever it was at the door. Damn them.

"Captain of the Royal Guard, sir." The emotionless tone of one of those queer elite soldiers answered.

Zuko immediately became taut. His elite wouldn't bother him unless it was something incredibly important. He crossed to the door, hearing Katara sigh behind him. He'd get this finished with quickly.

Katara tapped her foot, obviously miffed as Zuko went outside, and she could hear the low murmurs of conversation drift in. She stroked one hand over her necklace. It's familiar weight comforted her.

"… on the ship now…"

"… are you certain? Absolutely positive?"

"… yes sir, put… both… in cell before… could do anything."

"… good work, good work, thank you. I'll inspect… tomorrow…"

Katara rolled her eyes. They were probably talking about supply shipments. How trivial. Definitely not important enough to interrupt her and Zuko's… conversation. A red blush appeared on her cheeks. Conversation? Was that all it was? She could remember the feeling of his breath tickling her ear, and the words he'd said. Could she be anything more than a threat to him and his goals? Possibly?

Zuko finally came back in, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Katara turned around. She was surprised by the look in his eyes. His previously, intent, burning stare was now glazed over, as if he were thinking about something faraway. He wasn't focusing on the here and now. A slight smile seemed to tug at his lips. It wasn't a loving or blissful smile. It was a satisfactory smile, like the frightful expression a predator has once it's caught it's prey and is about to begin the feast.

"Zuko?" Katara asked worriedly, trying to bring his attention back. "What happened?"

His eyes finally focused back on her face. He looked intently at her neck, at her necklace for a brief moment, before gazing at her fully again. "Nothing, Katara. Nothing." He smiled.

"Nothing that would trouble you."


A/N: AND FINALLY THEY KISS! Wow, I really did prolong it, didn't I? I waited until the 10th chapter for them to do it! XD Hopefully I didn't screw it up. Gosh after writing this, I figured out I could NEVER write a lemon… jeez. I'm so innocent. Innocent me slaps cheeks repeatedly. This authoress is trying not to get a nose bleed… and just from a little kiss! Jeez. I've read much more mature stuff about these characters and I don't know how the authors manage to do it! I respect them, yes I do…

Yes… according to many comments I got, Katara and Jet weren't as on good of terms as I made out in the last chapter (9). All of you were very accommodating and didn't make me feel as bad about it as you could have. Thank you for being considerate! I've learned a lot from the reviews and I'm glad most of you could overlook the inaccuracy for the sake of the story. Thanks for all the tips about Jet you guys gave me too. It really helped. But, in truth, he's dead now… sooo… yeah. But thanks again!

However, I wasn't able to watch the episode because the times got screwed up. Don't worry, I promse I'll catch it someday! And, if you couldn't tell already, I arranged this chapter so that The Waterbending Scroll episode has not happened. Therefore, Katara did not know Zuko had her necklace. Most of you probably already figured that out.

And my first ever… COMMENTS FOR YOU, THE REVIEWERS! Don't you feel special? Anyways skip over this if you want:

Divine-Red-Crayon: Yes! Did you hack my computer and find out about the necklace scene or what? Lol! It wasn't exactly an "apology" thing, but still, it played a big part.

Myst172: Thank you! But, please don't hurt me! Especially not my fingers… they're what I use to type this story with. XD

Red Moon Kree: Thank you! I'm glad you like my fic, and I'm glad it's one of your favorites.

KlausBaudelaire17: I'm sure I got some parts of Jet wrong… but thank you anyways for the reassurances!

NightKitten: Yes, I seem to be killing off several characters in this story, hm? I'm glad you could figure out that part about Katara's conflicting feelings for Zuko. Hopefully, you weren't the only one. That was sort of the whole point of the chapter. XD

Insane Euphoria: pets you. Yes, you're awesome too.

Amber: LOL! I'm glad your sister thinks it should be Z/K as well! ZUKO KATARA FANS FOREVER!

IncessantEscapist: Hopefully this chapter had enough romance.

Blackened-fire: I updated! XD

Roguehobbit: Thanks for reminding me! I did remember to put it in this chapter… I was in a bit of a hurry last time, sorry!

Thedarkangel246: They do! IN THIS CHAPTER!

An innocent reviewer: I've noticed you review every single chapter I write… I'm completely in love with your loyalty. Really. I feel so flattered that you take the time out of your day to review this fic. XOXO to you! Thanks so much!

Mushramolover: More romance? Hopefully this did the trick.

Xleia: I'm so sorry! You're probably already in Europe now… well you can finish reading when you get back!

Levisrictusias: Yes I did kill Jet… several people are upset about that. But, all for the sake of the story, yes? Thanks for your review!

CurlEgurl: Thanks for the tip on Jet! And for your understanding that I never watched the show. XD

Hotaru: Kill Sokka? Interesting idea but… maybe not yet. He's not on my list of Characters To Kill as of now. But maybe. Maybe.

M0m0 the cheese: Thanks! This is my first attempt at anything angsty or dramatic. I'm glad you liked it!

Fiery-Ice-Kitsune: Here is the next chapter! Thank you for overlooking this pathetic author's mistakes… XD

Deity of death 1: Thanks so much for your review! Yes, both Jet and Zuko are pretty screwed over, aren't they? But that's why we love them.

KamikazeNeko: Thanks for the episode overview. I still have to watch it. XD

Starlightz1112: Hopefully this chapter had more romance for you! XD

Sam: Oooh… there's going to be a healthy dose of angst AND romance coming up. Maybe that'll balance it all out?

Hareiyu: Updating! Updating! Updating!

Kirida: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like my story XD

Pussin Boots: Now, you are another reviewer who gets every chapter. Jeez. I really love you. I really do. Cookies for you.

Kagura: I'm updating, bitch! LOL. I made you cry? I'm so sorry… but it's good, yes? Yeah this is turning kinda AU. But still, probably all Z/K fics are. There's no way they would get together in the show. But thanks, anyways.

Kurai-Tenshi of Doom: Well now you're not missing anything! I guess it's a good thing you almost cried? XD Hehe. I'm glad you like it. Thanks so much for the review!

Ieyre: I know! I feel a bit ashamed at my mistakes about Jet. But I'm glad you still like the chapter.

Akai Tsuki: I do get upset when I miss an episode! But I was absorbed in writing Chapter 9, so it wasn't that bad. XD

Harlequinny: Thanks. You helped make the 200+ reviews happen. And as you could probably figure out from this chapter, there are several windows. Yup. XOXO

Kayko15: I will try to get around to your Avatar fic, I promise! But sometimes I'm just a little tight for time. But if I do have a couple minutes, I will!

Waterbender: You have reviewed this story from the very beginning too. Thanks so much! Yes those super-long chapters… but sometimes I can't bear to cut it off. I think it sort of destroys the mood, you know? But I guess each to her own.

Battygirl: Jet is beginning to sound more and more retarded the more I hear about him. Hm. But thanks for the eview!

IloveJesus7390: yessiree, things are definitely getting more complicated around here.

MES: sighs happily I really do love reading your long, long reviews. It makes my day. I really wonder if some of you reviewers hack into my computer and read what I wrote already. You can probably tell that I sort of did the whole couch thing like you said, but it was a lead-up to something more important. Good prediction, though. Thanks for the episode times too… but I think there's something about the time zones that got me confused. I turned on the TV and it was Full House. Is it before Full House or afterwards?

Queen-of-Azarath: Haha, I can tell by your name! I'm a Raven fan too! I am responding to your review! XD I'm so glad you like my story.

Dark Beloved of Light: Oooh… too bad you don't like the angst. Sorry. Yup, Katara's definitely gonna be changed by the end of this. In more ways than one. Figure that out, folks? Thanks for your review!

Masako Moonshade: The whole Sokka going to Jet thing was, yes, based on desperate measure in desperate times. Glad you knew that. XD I love your Z/K fic too. I did review, yes? Well thanks for your reviews! I really appreciate it.

Ahriaman: Different IS good!

I might have missed just a few people… but these are responses only to Chapter 9 reviews, thanks. Wow that took awhile. Be appreciative, because I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon.