Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Avatar.

Intertwined

Chapter 5: Resolutions

How were they going to move Zuko with his legs bound?

Zuko met their stares head-on. Growing up in the Fire Court had given him this useful skill. Unlike the others, the first thing in his mind as he heard their plan was what they would do with him. He was always looking out for himself, since no one else would.

Sokka, as usual, broke the tense silence in the way only he could.

"Nuh-uh! No way am I carrying him again! He's too heavy!" he whined.

"Well, what are we supposed to do, leave him?" Katara was being sarcastic, but Sokka had the ability to block out sarcasm when it was convenient for him.

"Yes! That's a perfect idea, Katara!"

"Do I have any say in this?" Zuko hated listening to the siblings argue over what was going to be done with him as if he wasn't there. From what he could tell, the girl probably wouldn't allow her brother to do anything harmful, but he wasn't that confident.

"No!" Sokka shouted at the same time that Katara said, "Maybe."

Not exactly what I was hoping for, but better than two 'no's.

Aang had not taken part in the conversation between his friends because he was having thoughts of his own on the matter, mostly about what he knew about firebenders. He agreed with Katara, of course, but wanted to come up with his own plan before saying anything.

"Sokka, think about it. Leaving him here, tied up-"

"Is the best idea we have! Someone will eventually find him and-"

"As I was saying, leaving him here, tied up, would be as ruthless on our part as any firebender. You remember what he's like when it comes to the Fire Nation. What do you think he would do if he found the prince of the Fire Nation, in his forest, pretty much defenseless?"

Although he was at a loss for words, seeing the smug look on his sister's face made Sokka want to say something, anything, to wipe it off.

"So what do you want to do?" He blurted out, then immediately regretted it. That was exactly what she wanted.

"How about we… put him on Appa! That way he'll still be bound, and we can move."

"Like that'll work," Sokka muttered, not loud enough for anyone to hear. Then, speaking louder, asked, "How will we get him up there? It's not like we can roll him up Appa's tail."

"Well," Katara looked defeated for a moment, and then brightened as she got an idea. "You could lift him up!"

"NO!" Both Sokka and Zuko shouted at the same time, making Katara jump. They glared at each other before Sokka turned back to his sister.

"No way am I picking that up. I already carried him all the way over here. Even if I wanted to, I'd only drop him. As I've said before, he's too heavy."

Just as Katara was about to open her mouth, Aang surprised everyone by dropping directly in front of Zuko and peering at him intently.

"Aang? What are you doing?" Katara asked, coming up behind him cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Giving her a reassuring grin, he answered, "I have an idea," before turning back around.

After a few tense moments, Aang spoke again, this time to Zuko.

"If I untie your legs, do you promise not to try to capture me, at least for now?"

Zuko's mind went into overdrive. This could be his chance. As long as his legs were free, he could leave during the night and get back to his ship. Yes, he would have to make a promise, but there were ways to get around them.

Almost like he had read his mind, Aang quickly added, "And you can't sneak off during the night, or until we say so."

"Which would be NEVER!" Sokka shouted, followed by, "OW! Would you STOP hitting me!" after Katara hit the middle of his back with another water whip.

Zuko silently cursed. There went that plan. But the more he thought about it, the better the situation seemed. This way, he would be able to learn all he wanted about the trio. He could know their weaknesses, their skill levels, from watching them practice. By listening to their conversations, he would know exactly how to appeal to them.

"Fine," Zuko said gruffly, hoping they didn't figure out about this plan.

Surprised at his quick reply, Aang was slightly unsure of whether to accept his word. Then he remembered a long-forgotten conversation with his friend Kuzon that gave a solution to his problem.

"Hey, Kuzon? Why is everyone in the Fire Nation always talking about honor?"

"What do you mean, Aang? Doesn't everyone think like this?"

"Well, they have honor, but no other nation cares about it so much."

"Hmmm. I guess you could say that honor is considered sacred here. It's more important than family, love, even life. If you die, if it was with honor, your soul is said to be blessed by Agni. And most people would rather die than be stripped of their honor. That's why, if a firebender swears something on their honor, you can be sure they'll keep their word."

"Do you swear on your honor that you won't try to capture me, and won't try to leave until we let you?"

When Zuko heard this, his face paled further. The boy was smarter than he thought. He obviously knew more than he let on, especially when it came to his nation's customs. Swearing on his honor complicated things, but he would have plenty of time to find a way out of it later. Right now, he really wanted out of those chains.

Head hanging down, he quietly said, "I swear on my honor that I won't try to capture you, or leave."

Brightening almost immediately, Aang reached for the knot at his ankles, knowing how to untie it from watching Sokka. He pulled on it, confident that he was doing it correctly.

Nothing happened.

Only slightly perplexed, Aang tried again, to no avail. He just kept pulling at it in every direction, to Zuko's aggravation. To him, every time the younger boy moved the one end, the hold of the chains tightened painfully. The boy was so oblivious that if he hadn't growled at the Avatar, his circulation would have eventually been cut off.

Turning to his friends sheepishly, Aang called out, "Uh, Sokka? Could you untie the chains? I think I've been making them tighter."

"Not gonna happen!" Sokka shouted mulishly over his shoulder. He didn't like the idea of letting a firebender free, even if it was only his legs, and didn't want to be any help.

Rolling her eyes at her brother's childish antics, Katara knelt beside Zuko, her slim fingers quickly finding the end of the chain in the mess Aang had made. With one expert tug, the bonds around Zuko's legs were gone.

Finally! Who would have thought that the girl would be able to do that?

Using what little help he could get from his hands, Zuko managed to stand and stay up, though his legs felt like they would collapse any second.

Looking around the clearing, he saw that Katara had taken the chain from the ground and already had it coiled and packed.

"Okay, now that that's settled, we should leave. I say we go… that way," and with that, Sokka started to march into the forest.

When he didn't hear any other footsteps, he stopped and turned to see three incredulous expressions.

"What?"

"Why do we have to go where you say?" Aang had a feeling that he knew the answer, but wanted to ask anyways.

"Because I'm the leader and my instincts are telling me to go this way."

His answer was met by two snorts of laughter. Both Katara and Zuko found Sokka's reasoning flawed, and both were showing it. Zuko had leaned against a tree for support, but made it seem like he was doing it to show how cool he was. He, obviously, wasn't going to elaborate. Katara, arms crossed over her chest, let her brother know exactly what was wrong.

"Sokka, there are a few problems with your answer. One is that the last time we followed your instincts, we walked straight into a Fire Nation camp," Zuko barked out a laugh here, "so that's out. Another is that you can't be leader. You'd probably 'lead' us right under him."

"Well, then how do we find one of those streams?"

"Give me a minute."

Katara stood perfectly still, eyes closed. As her breathing evened, she focused all of her being on the feel of water. She slowly moved in a circle until she felt the power she wanted. The power of a stream.

She opened her eyes, ignoring the looks of interest and shock on the three boys' faces, and pointed in the right direction.

"We should go that way."

A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you liked this chapter. It's not the greatest, but I think it's okay. Sorry if anyone seemed OOC. Thanks to everyone that reviewed!

In answer to Tallis Nightly's question:

For that, I could picture Aang and Sokka being really into getting the right amount, and tying Sokka with it, while Katara was trying to seem like she didn't know them. Sorry that it was confusing.

Please review!