AN: Lots of Zuko angst in this chapter. But it sets the scene for a Zuko/Katara peace treaty. I'm sorry if anybody cries...cuz it made me cry...

Chapter 13: Rain and Arrows

After the wave crashed over the ship, no one really knew what happened. Zhao ran back to his ship, declaring he'd kill Iroh later. His men followed, and they sailed off into the storm. Aang and Sokka called a temporary truce with the Fire Nation soldiers and they worked together to save the ship. It was only after they'd secured everything and everyone filed inside that they noticed Katara and Zuko were gone.

"We have to find Katara!"

"Sokka, we can't go anywhere! The storm will rip us to shreds!"

"Your boyfriend is out there! Why aren't you upset?"

"Because I myself taught Zuko to swim! I'm sure he'll reach land safely. If they're together, I'm also sure they'll take care of each other."

"My sister would never help that bastard of a prince!"

"I warned you about insulting him!"

"Stop it both of you!"

Iroh stood up between the battling teens and called silence with a clearing of his throat.

"Look, we can't do anything until the storm is over, so let's get a few things straight." He turned to Sokka. "First, we are all very loyal to Prince Zuko, so it'd be best if you didn't insult him. Secondly, both of our groups are missing a member, so once the storm is over, things will go better if we work together to find them."

Iroh looked around, but no one contested his words.

"All right then. Right now, let's all agree to work together and not fight." Several people began to nod, but Sokka spoke up.

"Aang, if you're not going to say anything then I am. What about when we get Zuko and Katara back? Zuko's not going to be happy that you sheltered the Avatar. So we're sitting ducks, because as soon as he takes control again, he won't let us go."

Iroh was at a loss for words, because he knew the boy was right. Gi solved their problems.

"When Prince Zuko and your friend rejoin us, if he is still intent on capturing the Avatar, we'll give you a day's head start, no matter what he says."

Sokka regarded this statement for a moment, and at a look from Aang, he nodded his agreement.

"Alright, now where will our guests stay? If you don't mind, Avatar, you and the Water boy can stay in the spare room. Anzha, you can sleep in Prince Zuko's room. I'm sure he won't mind." Iroh's eyes glowed mischievously, and Anzha returned his smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Aang nodded his agreement. "That sounds great, but one favor Mister Iroh."

"What can I do for you?"

"Please call me Aang, and that's Sokka."

"Only if you call me Uncle Iroh." Aang grinned.

"Deal."

The man wasn't paying attention to the doctor binding his arm. All his attention was focused on Captain Zethan.

"Listen to me, Captain, my son is out there, in this storm, with a madman hunting him down to kill him! I don't care what I have to do, I'm going after him!"

"Forgive me, Fire Lord, but the only way you'll get to him is to swim! We'll head to the coordinates you gave us in the morning if the storm has let up! Trust me, we won't let anything happen to the Crown Prince, but we can't let anything happen to you either. You are injured and you need rest. Prince Zuko's taken care of himself this long, I'm sure he can do it for a few more days."

"Yes he has taken care of himself, but that was before Zhao went insane."

Katara woke slowly, listening to the soft pattering of the rain on the roof of the cave, enjoying the strange warmth that surrounded her. Then she opened her eyes, and finished waking up. The 'pattering' of the rain was more like 'drumming' and the strange warmth…was Zuko.

She wasn't upset by the fact that she was in Zuko's arms, knowing that he didn't think of her that way, and she was perfectly content not to move, until she realized she was in her underwear.

Horrified, she started to pull away but she realized that so was he. Their clothes weren't far away, but she looked up into Zuko's face. He was sound asleep, and she knew he had to be exhausted. She also knew that if he hadn't gotten them to this cave and warmed her, she'd be dead. So, she slipped back into his arms, not wanting to wake him up. The sound of the rain was intoxicating, and she began to doze again. But the sound of the rain wasn't pleasant for all. For some, namely Zuko, it brought up VERY unpleasant memories.

Rain…Rain everywhere. But it wasn't normal rain. Instead of soft moisture, there was unimaginable heat. Instead of the soft lullaby of kind drops, there were screams. Instead of the faint hazy scent of the fallen water, there was a scent that he hadn't known then, but now knew as the scent of death. A raindrop hit a man, and he screamed as he fell. It wasn't raining. The raindrops were arrows.

Katara jerked awake as she heard Zuko whine in his sleep. She raised her head and looked at him worriedly.

He was being carried, could feel whoever was holding him running away from the battle. He whimpered against her shoulder.

"Momma," He moaned, his voice taking on the pitch of a six-year old. Katara's worry increased as she felt him tense against her.

The cave. It was morning, the sounds, sights, and smells of the battle the night before faded away as if a bad dream. But something was wrong. The one holding him was stiff, cold.

"Momma please wake up." He whispered it, and Katara clutched him to her. And then he began to shout it.

"MOMMA! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! IT'S TIME TO GO! WAKE UP MOMMA!"

"Zuko!" Katara shouted, gripping him by his shoulders and shaking him. "Snap out of it Zuko!" But he continued to shout. Finally, she slapped him, which jerked him out of sleep and back into the real world. He was shivering as he looked around, comprehension dawning on him as he realized it was just a dream…or was it?

"Zuko, what happened? When your mother died? What happened that night?"

She'd expected him to snap at her, tell her it was none of her business, but he just looked at her.

"Zuko, I know what it's like to lose a mother. Perhaps telling me about it will help you."

He looked down at the cave floor.

"I've never told anyone what happened that night, not my father, not even Anzha. But maybe you're right. Maybe it would help. Sure couldn't hurt." She turned her full attention on him.

"I was six. My mother and I used to take a trip every summer, just me and her and one guard. That year, the guard's name was Kizo. He was an Elite, one of my father's personal guards. We went to Andor, and the night before we were supposed to leave, it happened."

A boy lay in his bed, half asleep. He heard a sound from the floor below, and then someone coming up the stairs. "Lady Sita!"

"What is it Kizo?"

"An army of Earth Nation and WaterTribe soldiers are attacking the city! We have to leave! Now!"

His door flew open and his mother came in. "Zuko, get up honey, we have to go now." She said in a false cheery voice.

"What's wrong momma?" he said as he sat up in bed. She didn't hesitate seeing him awake.

"Nothing baby, we just have to go." She scooped him up into her arms, blanket and all.

Slipping downstairs in bare feet, they were hustled out the door by Kizo, who followed them as they went outside into the fray. Kizo had his sword out, and kept his free hand on his mother's shoulder.

It was raining, no, those were arrows. He could see the flames of the battle on the horizon over his mother's shoulder. He could hear mothers' pleas for their children's lives, their cries as the babes were slaughtered anyway. Kizo looked at him.

"Sita, he can see." She immediately pressed his face into her shoulder and he whimpered, clutching at her dress.

"It's ok baby. It's ok."

He felt his mother's fire as she blew a hole in the wall for them to get through. Unfortunately, the enemies' soldiers saw.

"Get the fire witch!"

"Run Sita! I'll hold them off!"

Now he could feel her running, clutching him to her breast desperately.

"Don't worry baby." She panted. "I won't let anything happen to you."

They ran in silence for what seemed to him like hours. Suddenly, his mother jerked and cried out, but didn't fall and kept running.

After a while, they found shelter in a cave in the foothills outside of the city. He looked up from her shoulder and his mother smiled down at him. Her face was covered in dirt and soot, but that didn't take anything away from her beautiful smile. He could see the arrow sticking out of her shoulder, but he wasn't worried. Nothing could hurt his momma. She began to rock him gently, singing his favorite lullaby.

"Sleep my little Zuko

Let your dreams take wing

One day when you're big and strong

You will be a king"

The next thing little Zuko knew, Kizo was shaking him awake. When his eyes fluttered open, Kizo picked him up and carried him outside.

"Time to go, my prince."

"What about momma? I'll go wake her."

"No Zuko…I…you're mother's…she's…momma's not going to wake up."

"……No…"

"Zuko, we have to go."

"No! Momma!" He turned from Kizo and ran back into the cave. He buried his face in his mother's chest, beating at her with his little fists.

"Momma! You have to wake up! It's time to go! Wake up momma!"

Kizo came back in and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Zuko."

"Momma! Momma please wake up! Please!"

"Zuko."

"Momma, please don't leave me!"

Kizo waited until the little prince shouted and cried himself out. The boy slumped against his mother in exhaustion. Picking up the lethargic boy, he took him outside and placed him on the saddle of the waiting rhino. He then went back inside the cave. After taking her wedding ring and placing it in his pocket to give the Fire Lord, he cremated her body, saving her sacred remains from desecration at the hands of the enemy. He then went back out to the prince and swung up in the saddle, turning the rhino towards the capital.

"He took me home, all my tears were shed for her then. When I got home, my father didn't cry like I did, he just held me close to him. And then…"

"Yes?"

"He promised he'd never leave me. The only promise he made to me that…that he broke."

"Oh Zuko."

Katara didn't know how she felt about Zuko now. She'd once hated him, hated the Fire Nation for killing her mother, but WaterTribe soldiershad helped kill his mother. She stopped trying to figure it out when she noticed Zuko's shoulders shaking. The silent tears ran down his cheeks, and she pulled him close.

"And now, now my father's dead too. They're both gone now. And I…"

Zuko meant to say that he was the Fire Lord now; he meant to say he could return home, he meant to say….a thousand things that never made it to his lips. Instead, a cry he'd held back for years broke through the gates in his throat, and he found himself sobbing on her shoulder, his hands clutching her to him. She gripped him harder, letting him know she was there. And he cried.

ok...i wrote this in record time...please review.