You Don't Hate Me

By

Lucibell

Chapter Eleven

It's been three days and Katara has finally steeled herself enough to go out and talk to the Tribes people. I still don't think it's a good idea, but Sokka had said that they wanted to see her waterbend before teaching Aang.

Something about teaching their own kind. I wasn't really listening. I was too worried.

And now I'm worried even more. We're standing just inside the hatch, hesitating because we're both not sure if she's ready for this.

But it's really not about being ready. It's more about what she needs to do for the world, her tribe, Aang, us, but more importantly, herself.

She has to overcome her fears, and the only way to do that is to face them.

I really think I'm saying this more for my own peace of mind than for hers.

Being as she can't really hear me…

…I'm being way overdramatic…

Resisting the urge to let out one major sigh, I reach over and twist the handle, pulling open the hatch. A blast of icy wind barrels through the open doorway and I'm so very glad that she convinced me to wear my deep blood-red parka today. I pull the hood up and look back at her. She's looking at her feet.

Once again resisting the urge to sigh, I take her hand and lead her outside, letting a soldier close the hatch behind us.

In absolute silence, we trudge through the howling winds and the ankle-deep snow to the outer edge of the village. I keep my head bowed, not being used to the biting gusts that make my eyes water beyond belief.

Which is surprising…

After what seems like an eternity in hell frozen over, Sokka jogs—how he jogs in this weather is beyond me—over to us. I stop a step ahead of Katara, and she feels like dead weight as I pull her up to stand beside me. I get the feeling she really doesn't want to do this.

Sokka shouts something over the howling winds, and obviously Katara understands, but I don't. His voice is muffled by my hood and the overly-strong breeze, and I'm not used to living in these conditions, so I just shrug it off and follow. Or at least, I try to.

Until Katara pulls me sharply back to her.

I raise my eyebrow at her questioningly. She gives me a wary look.

"What?" I ask.

She hesitates. "They don't trust you…" I nod.

"Of course they don't, that's why you're here. To convince them I'm not going to do anything. Let's go." I turn to walk off again and she pulls me back once more, shaking her head.

"Sokka and Aang don't need me to negotiate. The Master Waterbender has already agreed to teach us…"

I shake my head in return. "But Sokka said—"

"I know…" she says it quietly, so the only way I know what she says is by reading her lips. My heart drops, realizing what she means.

"They want me to leave, don't they?" She looks away, nodding slowly. I sigh. The howling winds become louder in my ears.

At least I think that's the wind… It may be my pulse. I'm to upset to worry about it, though.

It dawns on me that if they want me to leave, I have to, or Katara nor Aang will be taught waterbending. So in reality, the fate of the world rests in my hands at this moment. That thought completely pummels me into the proverbial ground and I become rooted to the spot.

I know what they want me to do, what they're asking of me…

But can I give up seeing Katara for long enough to comply?

Not seeing her and not knowing what's going to happen to her scares me more than anything and I feel myself go numb.

But this numbness isn't from the cold of the biting winds or the snow or the ice.

It's from the realization that they want me to leave and that if I do, I may never see her again…

I don't remember much of anything after that… I'm in too much of a daze as she pulls me back to the ship to talk.

A Brief Interlude

She set the steaming cup of tea on the table in front of him and sat down in a cushioned chair. He sighed, reaching forward mechanically to drink the scalding brown liquid.

He'd been on complete autopilot for around an hour now. She didn't know what to do about it. She'd tried talking to him, but all she'd gotten were noncommittal, automatic responses. He was numb, dead to the world, and she felt helpless because she didn't know how to snap him out of it without upsetting him.

Though she thought the reason why he was this way was because he was upset. So how would breaking him from his reverie upset him?

She sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. She'd let him come to her. That's exactly what she'd do.

And that's exactly what he did.

Because as soon as sleep was about to save her from her stress, he spoke up.

"What am I supposed to do, Katara?"

She lifted her head and looked at him, sliding her eyelids up slowly so that she could see him, blinking the drowsiness away.

"Whaddyou mean, Zuko?"

She bit back a yawn during his brief hesitation.

"I can't leave you…"

She gave him a grim smile. "You have to…"

He sighed. "I know."

"So what's the problem?"

"Leaving you." She shook her head.

"You have to." He nodded.

"I know." She looked at him, confused.

"I don't get it." He frowned.

"I don't want to leave you here!" She frowned.

"Why not?"

He snarled viciously, flames erupting from his hands as he stood. She shrank back in her seat. "Because I love you! I can't just leave you here for God knows how long without knowing what's happening or if I'll ever see you again! Do you know how much that hurts? Not knowing?" He looked down at her and caught her frightened expression. His eyes softened. "I'm sorry…" he said quietly.

She nodded. He knelt down beside her, taking her hand in his. He leaned his head on her arm. "I just don't think I can do this, Katara… I can't go without knowing if you're okay or not, what with the Fire Nation attacking places left and right…"

He felt the breath in her chest released in a great sigh. "I know, Zuko, I know. But we have to do this for Aang. For everyone. It's not just about us."

He looked up at her. "I wish it was."

She smiled. "I do, too. But it's not."

He put his head back down, closing his eyes. "When?"

She sighed again, putting her hand on his scalp and running her fingers lightly over the back of his head. "They want you out by tomorrow morning." He nodded and stood up, taking both her hands.

"That gives me more than enough time," he said. She tilted her head to the side as he pulled her out of the chair and into his chest, wrapping his arms tenderly around her waist.

"For what?"

"This…" In an instant, he dipped down and caught her lips in his, cupping the back of her head with his hand, entangling his fingers gently into her loose hair. She gasped lightly, and he smiled against her mouth, taking advantage of her mistake and slipping his tongue through her lips and past her teeth. His tongue met hers and he let out a small moan at the feeling of it. She pulled back.

"Zuko, we can't—" He nodded, putting a finger to her lips.

"I know…" he whispered.

"Then what—?" He shook his head.

"I'll keep it chaste…" And with that, he tilted her head up and kissed her tenderly, barely brushing his lips against hers.

Author's Note: Okay, I got an email saying something about bearing down on the whole don't-respond-to-your-reviewers thing, so I'm not going to tempt fate any more than just saying a general thank you to you all.

And WooT for 2oo+ reviews!

It's a short chapter, and not the best, but there's fluff there at the end.

Okay, so now I need your opinions. In your reviews or via email, I would like to know whether or not you guys want to hear every little detail about Katara's training and Zuko being gone and Earthbending or if you just want me to jump to the sequel and Firebending?

It's a vote, but I'm subject to choose anyway, and right now I'm leaning toward the latter. If you guys can come up with some good reasons, I'll put in everything. But I don't think it's all very relevent to the plotline, so if not, the next chapter will be the last and then I'll start the sequel.

Majority rules. Or I do. Whichever.

Loves,

Luci