You Don't Hate Me

By

Lucibell

Chapter Four

It's been a week since Katara was brought here. Six days since I joined the Avatar—Aang. I have to start calling him by his name. Uncle Iroh insists on it. Something about having to have some sort of personal bond if this is going to work. I snort.

I'm not so sure it'll work anyway. How can a twelve-year-old kid defeat my father. My father, who leads a nation that's had a century to gain what power they have. And this kid, who has until the solstice to defeat him.

It really doesn't seem likely.

I take my head out of my hands and look at her. The bruises are changing from a deep purple to a greenish-yellow. It makes her look sickly… I sigh.

As sickly as she looks, she's still beautiful.

Her brother would literally kill me if he knew I was interested in her. I smile. That would be a sight. Definitely a memorable moment.

Too bad he'll never know. Heck, she'll never know.

I close my eyes for a moment, letting my imagination run away with me. What would it be like, to hold her? To stare into her cerulean orbs for hours on end? To kiss her? To run my fingers through her hair…

I hear her moan a little and my eyes snap open. She's stirring… I put a hand on her forehead. It's a little warm, so I reach over and soak a washcloth, wringing it out and dabbing her brow.

It's at this point, to my absolute horror, that her eyes open blearily and swivel around to look at me.

I freeze mid-dab.

Maybe if I don't move, she won't notice me…

"Wh…"she takes a breath. "What are you… doing here?"

Crap. So much for that notion. Not only did she notice me, she recognized me too. Now I have to explain myself, something I'm not used to doing at all.

Good luck, Zuko… a voice in the back of my mind whispers amusedly.

"What are you doing here?" she repeats with a little more force. Her voice is hoarse and raspy from lack of use. She's furrowed her brow, but in pain or in confusion, I can't tell. It could be a combination of both. I sigh, debating on what to tell her.

I could lie to her, tell her that I've taken them all captive and we're headed for the Fire Nation. Or I could be honest and tell her that we're making the long journey to the North Pole and that along the way, Aang is learning firebending.

I decide to take the truthful route, so as not to give her a heart attack.

"I'm taking care of you, until the doctor comes. You're brother's been doing it for a couple of days now, and I decided to let him go train with my soldiers. Mind you, he didn't leave quietly…

"I suppose you probably want to know how the Avatar is doing?" I look up at her, catching her baby blues with my own gaze. She nods. "Aang is fine. We're heading to the North Pole, and Uncle Iroh is teaching him." I'm feeling so uncomfortable right now, it's not even a funny thing.

Uncle might find it funny, but he's always had a weird sense of humor, so that doesn't count.

It's all I can take not to squirm where I sit. She scrutinizes me with that gorgeous gaze of hers and it gets to the point where I can't stand it anymore. "What!" I say, a little too sharply for my liking, but I can't take it back now.

She closes her eyes for a moment, then looks back at me. "You're… joining us?"

I want to wince at the pure conviction in her voice. This time, I actually do squirm. I nod slowly, averting my gaze to the medicine cabinet across the room.

Looking back at her, I think the truth is what gave her a heart attack. She's just staring at me. I wave my hand in front of her face after awhile, and she blinks, shaking her head. "I'm sorry," she says. "It's just… not something I expected." She hesitates, then adds, "Especially from you…"

I can't help but nod, understanding. Once again I avert my gaze. There's a long awkward pause and when I can't stand it anymore, I stand up. Walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

I stop, my hand on the doorknob, barely turning my head in her direction. Coldly, I respond. "Your brother will want to know you're awake."

I open the door and leave.

A Brief Interlude

She stared at the door for the longest time. She found that the cold, dark metal reflected him. He was tall, strong, unyielding, cold, and heartless.

At least, that's how she perceived him. She didn't really know what anyone else thought about him, except that Sokka hated him and Aang was somewhat scared of him, if not for his welfare, then for hers.

She blinked once, twice, then looked around. The walls were metal, the bedclothes white, and everything was kept neatly in place. It was the epitome of clean. She looked down at her own body.

Her right arm was in a sling. Tenderly lifting the sheet that covered her, she noticed that her clothes had been removed and that she was bound from her hips upward to her underarms. She blushed slightly, hoping that it hadn't been Sokka, Aang, or Zuko that had done so.

But then again, beggars can't be choosers, now can they?

The binding was clean, so it had to be fresh. That meant that it had been rebound recently. She blushed again then scolded herself for being so immature. It was necessary, she'd die of infection if the wound in her side wasn't cleaned daily.

She went to push herself up with her left arm and found that she couldn't due to a white hot pain that left her vision blurred. She cried out and laid back on the pillow. Breathing heavily, she willed the hot tears from her eyelids. Blinking rapidly, she looked at her left shoulder…

And remembered everything.

She sat in shock for a few minutes. She didn't hear Sokka and Aang and Zuko come in. She didn't see Sokka sit down in the chair next to her and take her hand. She didn't hear him talking to her, and didn't feel Aang's weight as he sat down at her feet.

All she could feel was the hits, the kicks, and the dagger, all over again.

Chapter Four (Continued)

I stand staring at her. I scowl when I notice that she's not responding to what her brother is saying and that she's not looking at either Aang or Sokka. I watch her for a while longer, waiting to see if she'll react in any way. When she doesn't, I move to the pail of fresh water beside the medicine cabinet and cup some in my hands. I walk slowly to where she sits, so as not to let too much of the water leak.

Sokka stops abruptly and gives me a look—one that I'd like to just beat off of his face—I shake my head at him. I kneel down in front of her, looking into her eyes. They're glassed over, and she's starting to sweat. I realize that she's in shock and splash the water on her face.

She jumps violently and shakes her head, spluttering. She looks around wide-eyed and frightened, reminding me of the lemur that the Avatar has. Aang places a hand on her shoulder and she jumps again. Finally her eyes land on her brother and realization dawns on her face. She scrambles across the bed and practically pounces on him, nearly toppling the chair he's sitting in. Before she can attack the Avatar, I take my leave.

Discreetly, of course…

A Brief Interlude

She didn't care that that stupid, banished, bratty, stuck-up, spoiled, arrogant, sorry excuse for a prince had just soaked her with water. (Okay, so maybe not soaked, but she was wet all the same.) All she cared about was that her brother was here and Aang was here and Momo was somewhere and Appa was there too. And that they were all okay. That Zuko hadn't hurt them.

That he hadn't killed them.

And that he really was joining them and that they'd be safe from now on.

At least, from him they would be…

Throwing herself at her brother, completely mindless of her injuries, she cried and babbled and laughed and hiccupped and so many other things at the same time. Sokka hugged her tightly and with an unbearable shock of white-hot pain, she remembered just where she was and why she was there. Hissing in pain, she bit back a curse. Despite the pain, she embraced her brother and let him cry on her shoulder while she was inconsolable on his.

Soon she turned to Aang and opened a side to him, having an immobile arm and one slung around Sokka. He smiled brightly and hugged them both.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said.

She laughed and sobbed at the same time, "Me too. Me too…"

This is a more Katara centered chapter. I like it fine, but I know that the action and such that you're all looking for isn't here yet. It will be soon, I promise. But for those of you that are looking for a thriller, this is mainly a romance, with a side-genre of Action/Adventure. There will be action, but that's not what the story will be centered around. It will revolve around the Zuko-Katara relationship.

Cuz we all love it!

Thanks to the Reviewers: Arwey, xxxPainful Blissxxx, Dracori, Spleef, starlightz1112, Aangluva, jerseygrl246, smrtbunny, Saucy Noodles, iloveprincezuko (I do, too!), Dine Bilagaana, and .CrimsonMysteryOfARose. (Awesome name, by the way.)

I hope you like this chapter, and there's more to come. I'm going to work on my site now, which y'all should visit. It's http/ www. geocities. com/ lucibell88. Or you can just click the homepage link on my profile.

Later, y'all!

Luci