Inutenshi: Heyo peoples! I give many thanks for your reviews. They mean alot.
Zuko: How come I didn't get any ice cream?
Katara: If you had shut up for two seconds, I would've asked.
Zuko: Meanies...(pouts)
Inutenshi: Anywho...In today's chapter, Katara wakes up to an unpleasant perdicament...DidI spell that right?
Zuko: Who cares...(continues pouting)
Katara: Fine. You can have an ice cream.
Zuko: Yay!
Chapter 3: You Owe Me
Darkness…
Endless darkness as far as the eye could see.
Katara alone stood in that darkness, her body unclothed and shivering. She called out, but was only answered by her echo. Her breath came out heavily in a puff of frost. Her body broke out in a cold sweat, making her shivering increase.
Sitting on her legs, she curled herself into a ball and stared blankly into the emptiness. Mischievous laughs and chuckles surrounded her. Her body began to ache everywhere. The pain grew until it became unbearable. She cried out, her voice lost in laughs and jeers from unknown sources. She was slipping away, the pain killing her slowly.
Then her body sank into the inky background and all went black.
There was nothing, but the excruciating ache and even that began to fade, slowly being replaced by a soft warm feeling in her chest that she eagerly welcomed. The warmth spread through her like fire in her veins. It was a gorgeous, comforting feeling. It wrapped around her, inside and out, clutching her to its source and forcing the pain away.
Katara's sky blue eyes reopened to the world. She lay faced down, her cheek pressed against the pillow of the mat she lie on with thick blanket draped over her. A few dim candles placed before a dragon-faced altar made the lighting. Her hair was undone from its braid and bun and felt wet, like it had been washed. On her other side, gentle breathing caught her ears. Her shoulders were still sore, but she managed to twist them enough to turn her head.
Not even two feet from her, lay Prince Zuko on his uninjured side, facing away from her with the same blanket wrapped around his waist, exposing his well muscled back.
"What the…"
She pushed her body up onto her elbows, but when she went to push herself onto her hands, a shock of pain coursed into her hands. She let out a startled, agonized cry and fell back onto the mat. The sudden noise woke the sleeping prince and he grunted in annoyance as he pushed himself to sit up.
After a quick rub of his eyes, he looked at his surroundings. He appeared to be in his room back on the ship. His mind processed this for a minute before the events of earlier hit him like a brick and he rubbed his temple gently.
Katara had forgotten about the shock of waking up beside her enemy and focused on the pain rippling through her shoulders, hands, and places that she would've never wanted to hurt. Her small whimpers made the fire prince turn to look to his side. The action caused the wound in his side to ache and he hissed in response. The waterbender opened an eye to him, seeing his grimace. She contemplated running from him. But then she realized that trying to escape would only hurt her more and possibly get her killed, so she stayed in her place, shivering under his stare.
"So..." He spoke, his voice cracked from pain and sleep.
"How do you feel?"
If she wasn't already lying down, she would've fallen over at the unexpected question.
"How do you think I feel? Like shit. That's how..." She rasped, making him smirk.
He readjusted himself so he could face her.
"Well at least you're okay enough to swear." He said.
She didn't reply to that. She just stared past him, to the collection of weapons and spare armor. Zuko sighed and grunted as he stood. Looking in the mirror beside his dresser, he eyed his bandages.
From across the room, Katara watched as he unwrapped the cloth around his middle and grew curious when he hissed out a few curses.
"Is it bad?" She asked, propping herself on her elbows.
Her question was ignored.
Retying the bandages, he looked at her through the mirror, his gaze wandering to a light cuts across her neck, bruised shoulders, forearms, and wrapped wrists. For a moment, he didn't even notice that the girl was unclothed. When he did, his face almost glowed with embarrassment. The young woman tilted her head in confusion before looking at her reflection. Her eyes widened in shock. She squealed meekly, hiding herself under the heavy blanket.
"Oh god! Oh god! What did he see!" She asked herself frantically.
"Um…"
Katara peeked out through one end of the sheets. Zuko's head was turned to the side, avoiding eye contact, his pale face slightly pink.
"Where are my clothes?" she asked.
He gave her a quick glance.
"Who ever tended to our injures must've taken them." He said in his usual cold before disappearing behind his closet door.
Katara watched patiently as clothes flew out of the closet. A dark red vest, that she suspected was for training when it once fit him, landed atop her head and she shook it off. Just as it fell, a pair of baggy pants the same color and a pair of grey socks took its place.
"Um…Are there…" She blushed, watching him dress into his armor.
He tossed a look over his shoulder at the blushing waterbender, watching as she shyly shrunk back into her cover.
"There aren't any women on board to help you dress." He tossed two long, wide strips of cloths her way, which landed beside the lump her body was making.
Her face burned in frustration and embarrassment.
"Then how am I supposed to get dressed with sore wrists?"
The blanket was jerked back and she let out a scream of surprise, rolling onto her back and covering herself as best she could.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She yelled.
Grabbing the clothes, Prince Zuko set to try and dress the waterbender. When he took hold of her arm, he eyes widened in pure fear and she began to struggle.
"No! No! Don't touch me!" She cried, her free hand hitting his armor clad chest.
Ignoring her cries, he continued to attempt to hold her still. This went on for about ten minutes, before Zuko became frustrated and gripped her other wrist harder than he'd intended. Blood seeped through the bandages and stained his hands. Jerking her hands away, Katara cradled the abused appendages to her chest, pain overpowering her modesty.
Zuko sighed angrily and threw the clothes to the floor.
"If you don't want my help, then you can just sit in here naked the whole time!" He yelled as he stood and moved towards the door.
Katara began to panic. Alone and naked on a ship full of Fire Nation soldiers? No way! Sure this was Prince Zuko we're talking about, but it was better than some clumsy idiot soldier that might decide to cop a feel. Zuko had more honor than that…Didn't he?
"Wait!" She called out uncertainly just as his hand touched the door.
He paused and waited.
"You…" She started. "You promise you won't hurt me?"
The fire prince raised a questioning eyebrow and returned to her side, picking up one of the strips of cloth.
"You have my word."
Iroh was walking down the hall towards Zuko's room with a tray of first aid supplies, soup, and, of course, tea to check up on the prince and his…guest, when his old ears picked up the small little grunts and groans coming from inside. Being a very curious old man, he put his ear the door and listened in.
"Hnnnnn...Aaah! Not so hard!"
The waterbender?
"Just relax! It won't go in right if you're so tense."
...And Prince Zuko?
"Ah...Nnnnnh...Stop! Stop it hurts!"
"Calm down! I've almost got it!"
What the hell was going on in there!
"If you hadn't pulled it out again in the first place, this wouldn't have happened!"
"Sure! Blame it all on me!"
"Oh...Aaaah!"
"There it's in. Just let me see if it's set right."
"Hnnn...Oh! I can't take it anymore!"
"It's ok.Ah! We're almost through."
CRACK!
"KYAAAAAAAA!"
THUMP!
"AAH! FUCK!"
Iroh's eye twitched violently.
"I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?" Katara asked, placing her hand on the prince's injured side she had kicked.
"...I'll be fine." Zuko said, shooing her hands away. "What about you?"
"A little sore, but I'll be able to use it." She said rubbing her shoulder.
"Good."
The old man's muffled laughs filtered through the door. Zuko stood and opened the door. Iroh fell through the door way and almost spilled the tea and soup.
"Uncle? Why didn't you just come in?" He asked.
"I didn't want to interrupt you're little interlude, nephew." Iroh explained, not being able to contain his laughter.
Both benders blushed madly, looking from the old man to each other then back.
"I don't think dressing wounds and resetting dislocated limbs could be considered a romantic interlude, Sir." Katara said sitting upright and brushing off her new clothes.
Iroh straightened himself and wiped away the tears of laughter.
"Please forgive me miss, but my old mind seems to wander many a times." He apologized.
"More like it's stuck on In-the-Gutter Mode." Zuko chuckled, folding his arms and leaning against the door frame.
Iroh coughed in his fist.
"Well I've brought you some soup, tea, and extra supplies. Now that you're awake I trust that you can change your bandages yourselves." He said setting the tray on Zuko's meditation table.
Katara bowed in thanks while the fire prince rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I'm going to speak with the captain." He said standing up right
"You should get just a bit more rest Prince Zuko. That blade nearly hit your liver." Iroh said. "I don't want you over exerting yourself."
"Don't worry yourself over petty things uncle." Zuko waved the old man off and looked at Katara. "You'll be staying with us for a bit, so make yourself comfortable. And don't even think of escaping or you'll wish you were still on that island."
Katara rolled her eyes and turned her head away.
"I'm not telling youwhere to find the Avatar."
Zuko resisted the urge to laugh at the clueless girl.
"The Avatar and your idiot brother left the island notten minutes after I saved your life. You should feel lucky. I usually don't offer this much hospitality to prisoners."
Katara glared at him furiously. Prisoner? This guy had gone out of his way to save her life, get injured in the process, took her aboard his ship, tended to her wounds, and dressed her with his own spare clothes, though she wasn't too excited about the two cloths that were her make-shift undergarments. Now he was ordering her around and threatening her like some kind of slave.
"You don't scare me Prince Zuko. Aang and Sokka will find out you've taken me and once they catch up, they'll be on you like flies attracted to the discarded trash you are!"
Iroh watched in interest as his nephew advanced on the young woman, his fist clenched in anger and her eyes wide in frightful realization. She backed away from him until her back was to the wall. His hands were placed on both sides of her with his larger, more powerful body caging her in. The anger in his eyes and the way his scar accented them caused her to slide slightly down the wall, as if trying to shrink away from his terrifying gaze.
"Here this, waterbender." He hissed. "Not once have I raised a hand nor flame to a woman. But don't think you'll be so lucky if you keep this up."
He could nearly smell the fear emanating from her as he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her towards the mirror.
"Refuse my orders or do anything to piss me off and I'll beat you until you're nothing but a smoking mound of ash. Try to picture that."
He stared at her frightened expression in the mirror. The vest she wore held tight against her chest as she took quick, shaky breathes. Her long knee length hair was damp, disarranged, adding to her incredibly beautiful fear of him. His grip on her arm released and she fell to her knees, hands pressed against the mirror, eyes remaining wide and starting to tear.
"If I come back and find anything that would show signs of attempted escape,"
He crouched down behind her, his mouth mere centimeters from her ear, breath hot against her neck.
"I will make real that threat and once I find the Avatar, I'll make sure your idiot brother, the giant hairball, and the flying rat will all suffer the same fate. Maybe your tribe too."
She gasped in horror against the mirror, the tears she'd held back falling.
"I see you forgot, dear Katara." He said pulling his fingers through her damp hair. "I know where it is and I'll go back to let everyone know that because of one of their people…that wouldn't cooperate, they were all going to die. Starting with the old hag and working down to the last child.
She leaned forward, resting her head against her reflection, wishing she could melt into it and disappear forever.
"Understood?"
She didn't answer.
"I asked you a question."
She still stared blankly ahead. Her silence was taken as a further insult. Prince Zuko grabbed her aching shoulder, ignoring her startled, pained cries as he turned her around and brought their faces so close their noses were brushing.
"WHEN I ASK YOU A FUCKING QUESTION, YOU'D BETTER ANSWER ME YOU UNGREATFUL WENCH!" He roared.
The fear that was welled up inside her broke free and she screamed, her hand flying out and striking him across the scar on his face. The sound echoed down the corridor where Iroh was currently making his escape. The door slammed behind the old man, snapping the benders back into reality.
Katara cradled her stinging palm to her chest, the other covering her mouth. Her stomach dropped when then Zuko's eyes closed and his maniacal laughter echoed in her head.
"Oh god…" She whimpered. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me…I-I really didn't mean to..."
"Fool…"
"Please! Please! I'm sorry!"
She screamed and struggled as he hefted her over his shoulder and carried her towards his mat. Throwing her onto it, he straddled her, holding both her hands together with one of his own, and using the other to unbutton the vest.
"Oh please no! Please Prince Zuko! Don't!"
Tears rolled down her face as she thrashed under his hold. Her screaming grew louder and more urgent, until Zuko's palm collided with her cheek, instantly silencing her.
"No ones going to care how much you scream. Don't waste your breath." He brought her face dangerously close to hers.
"Do I scare you now? Does it frighten you knowing that with a single blow, I could burn your beuatiful body to cinders?"
His finger tips became burning hot, threatening to set her body ablaze.Her heels beat against the mat furiously. Her hips twisted and bucked trying to force him off. Her body felt like she'd been pummeled with stones by the time he tore the last button away.
"Not again. Please Prince Zuko. I can't go through this again!" She cried as he grabbed hold of the cloth around her chest.
He gave her a hard, angry look and released her hands.
"You won't have to." He said, grabbing her neck and pulling her up until she was eye level with him. "As long as you obey my every command and don't try to escape, you won't ever have to experience it again."
Zuko stood, glaring down at her shaking body. Fear andpain glowed in her sapphire eyes. Her sudden cry struck him hard as she rolled onto her side and hugged her knees to her chest.
His heart clenched at the familiar site.
Too many times had he seen a woman like this.
9 years ago – Fire Nation Palace
Zuko hummed to himself, smiling as he marched playfully down the halls. He would be turning eleven in a little more than a month. His father promised that he would start training him personally in the art of firebending. Young Zuko already knew how to firebend, but it was his own father, the Fire Lord Ozai, who would further help him master it. That was his gift.
He hoped that his mother and uncle had gotten him something good too. Maybe his mother finally gave in and got him that puppy he always wanted or a dagger he could use to carve things with.
Zuko walked passed his parents room, but stopped when he picked up a woman's quiet sobs. He crouched quietly in front of the slightly opened door, peering through the crack. On the other side of the room his mother lay upon the bed, her body quivering. There was no sign of his father so he pushed the door open further and entered.
The younger firebender said nothing as he approached his mother and pulled himself up onto the large bed with its red silk comforter.
"Mommy, are you okay?" He asked, reaching out to touch her bruised, tear streaked cheek.
The Fire Lord's wife flinched under her son's touch and opened her eyes. She stared into Zuko's confused face as he pushed her raven black hair from her face and looked over her marks and bruises.
"Why are you crying mommy?" His little naïve mind worked to find the cause of his mother's pain.
His mother cried out and sat up, grabbing little Zuko and clutching him to her chest. Her tears fell onto his pale face as he stared up into her pained eyes.
"I want you to promise me something my son." She pulled his away to face her.
"Listen to your father. Never disobey or upset him. And when something else has upset him, stay clear. Can you do that for me Zuko?"
He didn't quite understand, but Zuko agreed all the same.
"That's a good boy." She smiled sadly and held him again.
"Now run along. I think that's your father coming…" She said lifting and placing him onto the floor.
He scampered across the room and looked back to his mother just as she blew him a kiss. He laughed happily as he caught it in his hand and gave her one of his own. She caught his and smiled sweetly as he left.
Present
Zuko remembered the deep urges he had to stay behind and face his father. He wanted to stop the tears he couldn't keep his mother from shedding. But he had made her a promise…A promise that he'd unfortunately broken a few years after her death.
"Look." He said, breaking the silence. "I understand that what you're going through is hard and what's happened is irreversible…but try to get used to it. You're not the only one in the world who's had something so bad happen that it haunts you every time you close your eyes."
Katara sat up and wiped her eyes.
"I guess…you're right." She sighed.
Zuko grabbed the tray, brought it to where Katara sat and crouched down beside her. He held the spoon out to her and she took it. The face she made when she tasted the soup was priceless and it took all Zuko had not to smile or laugh.
Katara sighed and set the spoon aside and looked down at her lap. Zuko pulled her chin up to make her look at him.
"I'll be back later with something other than soup for you. Alright?"
Katara looked wearily over his features, her gaze lingering on his burn scar for a moment. She wondered if maybe he'd gotten it in battle or maybe a training accident. It probably hurts to be permanently marked by your own element. She had the faintest of urges to reach out and touch it to see if she'd get burned.
"Alright." She replied.
Setting himself on his knees, Zuko released her chin, buttoned up the vest and pushed on her shoulders until she lay down.
"I want you to rest as much as possible until I return." He said, pulling the blanket up to her chin.
"You owe me a lot for this."
Katara nodded lazily and watched as he left the room, locking the door behind him. Once the sound of foot steps faded, she pushed the blankets off and walked up to the mirror. The bruises and cuts on the exposed parts of her body disgusted her. Unbuttoning the top few knots of the vest, she observed the scars left there and the slight burn from were Zuko's warm hands had grabbed her.
There'd been many stories that a lot of depressed teens would take out the emotional pain out on their bodies. She was no different. When he father left for the war, she enveloped herself into a deep depression and had gone out in her kayak once or twice to cut herself and cry as the blood dripped into the snow or water.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the collection of weapons upon the wall. She stood before a group of daggers and looked over each one. The one that she kept looking back at had a wavy blade with a black leather handle and three average sized rubies embedded in it. She lifted it off the mantle and walked away from the rest to sit in front of the dragon faced altar.
Plucking a hair from her head, she held it to the blade and watch how cleanly and smoothly it cut on the sharp edge. She held the blade to on of the bright candles and waiting until the tip turned light red from the heat. Holding out her wrist facing up, she didn't give the consequences a second thought and stuck the scalding point into the soft skin. A pained yelped tore itself from her throat and she bit her tongue to stifle it.
Dropping the dagger, she watched the blood drip onto the cold metal floor.
Then it dawned on her.
How was she going to hide this from Zuko?
Katara looked desperately around the room for a discarded cloth or something to mop up the blood. Instead she found a wash basin to at least wash her arm. Half limping across the room, she kneeled down and dropped her arm into the cool water.
"Shit! It's not stopping!"
She repeatedly splashed the wound, but the blood kept seeping through. The once clear water became heavily tainted with crimson. Soon Katara's vision began to blur and her frantic splashing reduced to gentle sloshing.
Shaking her head, she looked towards the door and considered her options.
She could stagger out into the hall and scream for help.
Or she could just sit there, let herself bleed to death, and end her pain.
But then there was Aang and Sokka. What if they discovered that she'd taken her life? They'd probably be heart broken. But if they were so worried about her, why hadn't they come for her? Were Prince Zuko's words true? Did they leave without trying to find her first?
Her eyes glassed over in realization.
They didn't care. They left her on that island alone and she hadn't even been away an hour. She would've died out there and they left her, leaving her at the mercy of the monsters that defiled her and to be saved by the most unlikely of people. If not for her savior, the flaming black knight that hunted them like wild game, she'd most likely be dead.
She smiled weakly at her own stupidity. From prince's display of 'affection' towards her, if she kept up her rebellious attitude, she'd be dead by the day after tomorrow. Then she remembered she still had to get payback for his abuse on her.
That alone gave her the strength to get up. No one was going to treat her like a slave and get away with it. Placing both hands on the wall beside her, she staggered forth a few steps before dizziness overcame her and she fell, knocking over the table. She heard the loud clang and splash of the over turned basin spilling its contents and the hiss of the doused candles. Her vision was fading fast, there was little she could do and with each passing second, the thought of a deep, endless sleep became more and more enticing.
Zuko: Were you that depressed?
Katara: Naw. It wasjust one of those'feel like attempting suicide' todays...moron...
Zuko: Don't treat me like I'm stupid!
Katara: (eating a snow cone)
Zuko: O.O...Hey where'd you get that snow cone?
Katara: It's mine and you can't have one!
Zuko: No fair! (throws a fire ball at it)
Katara: HEY! YOU MELTED MY SNOW CONE!
Inutenshi: Okay children! Am I gonna have to seperate you two?
Katara and Zuko: O.O ( they hug each other) NOOOOOOOO! T.T
Inutenshi: Good!
Next Chapter: Why Won't You Trust Me