A/N: Next chappie! Woohoo! Let's see here… yup, it's gonna get fluffy, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it, especially with that last chapter as it was (Evil Jet lol) So let's read on, shall we?

Chapter 5

"Ahh! Jet, stop it! Please!"

He had thrown her onto the small bed, and was now advancing in on her. Tears began to form in her eyes, and they ran down her cheeks. Her heart was beating madly, and there was no way out.

"Katara, don't be silly. I'm just getting started. Isn't this fun for you? I thought it would be… oh well, I know it is for me."

Jet grabbed onto her, and pulled her into him once more. Her hair was now messy and tangled from the struggle, but he didn't mind it. He just pulled it back, and kissed at her neck. And right when she was going to give it her all, yell as loud as she could, he covered her mouth with his. All that came out was a painful whimper of sorrow.

She closed her eyes tightly and prepared for the worst. Suddenly, she felt a bit of warmth in the room, and Jet had gotten off of her. Katara opened her eyes, and all she could see was a blaze of red and orange.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Zuko! It was Zuko; he was here. She couldn't believe it. Was she dreaming? He stood in a fighting stance, ready to attack at a second's notice. Zuko inched his was over to Katara on the bed, and Jet inched his way towards the way out. Zuko looked at Katara quickly, and their eyes met with electricity between them. Oh he was real; he was really real. Zuko saw the condition that Katara was in, and the dried tears on her cheeks. He snarled at Jet who was standing there smiling.

"Why hello, I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name…"

"This is not a time for introductions! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?"

Jet merely laughed, but his smirk was wiped off with a blast of fire that almost touched his face.

"I only did what we know we both wanted. Isn't that right Katara?"

She tried to get up, she thought her strength was coming back because Zuko was with her now, but her head started to become dizzy, and she simply sat back down. Zuko didn't need her to answer.

"Don't you dare say another word about her! You bastard! You will pay for hurting her!"

"Really? Why so angry, is she that important to you?"

Zuko growled at him, and everything happened at once. Zuko swung his arm at him, but Jet caught it in his hands. He then flipped Zuko so that Jet was the one next to Katara. Zuko ran at him, but Jet had already gotten a hold of Katara, and was now holding a knife to her throat. Zuko stopped abruptly, and his eyes widened.

"Leave her out of this!"

"Oh, but isn't she what it's all about? Aren't we fighting for what belongs to us?"

"Katara doesn't belong to me, and she doesn't belong to you either! I said let go of her!"

"Ah ah ah! Don't make any sudden moves, or I cut her!"

Zuko bit his lip, and looked to the side angrily. When he looked back up, his gaze met Katara's and a suddenly new power and strength over came him. As they looked at each other, somehow everything was laid out in front of their eyes.

"Hello? Aren't you going to say something?"

"Why yes, actually I was just thinking. You wouldn't have any water around would you? I'm awfully thirsty."

Jet was so puzzled and startled by this, that his grip on Katara loosened, and so did his knife. Katara hit him in the ribs with her elbow, and she ran to Zuko with all of her strength. He put his arm around her and she did the same. Jet was now getting back up with his hand on his ribs. He was wincing, but chuckling to himself.

"What now Katara? You don't like my style? I thought you did back then. I guess you've found something more… dangerous… Is that how you like them?"

Katara gave him a murderous glare, and Zuko had to hold her back. Then each of them took their outer hand and joined them together. Jet let out a mad howl of laughter.

"What are you two doing? You're going to dance or something?"

"You could say something like that… NOW!"

Katara closed her eyes, and concentrated really hard on any water source that was nearby. Zuko gritted his teeth and felt all of the hatred towards Jet come out. Through the tree house entrance zoomed in a powerful stream of water.

Aang was walking through the forest near by, and saw a stream of water rise up from the ground and into the trees. He looked at it oddly. Were there geysers all the way here? He decided he should go check it out.

The stream of water zoomed into the small area, and into Katara and Zuko's hands. They let out a scream, and pushed towards Jet. His eyes widened in terror as the blue fire shot out right at him. His scream was silenced however, because he was now engulfed in the fire that didn't burn him, but instead gave him the exact kind of pain and anguish he had given to Katara. His insides felt like they were being gnawed at, and his heart was racing so fast, he didn't even know if he was alive. All of a sudden, the fire was gone, just like that. Jet closed his eyes, and fell to the floor. Zuko smiled wickedly. Serves him right.

Zuko's attention was diverted. Katara fell onto him, and gave out a little cry of pain. She looked up at him, and tried to smile. She closed her eyes as Zuko took her into his arms. Katara rested her head against his chest. She was finally free. He came and saved her.

"Zuko…"

"Shh… don't say anything, you need to rest. Let's get out of here."

She gave a small nod, but then her gaze fell on Jet's body. Zuko saw her worried look, and he knew what she wanted.

"Okay, you go down first, and I'll take care of him."

Katara smiled and gave Zuko a kiss on the cheek. He smiled slightly, and helped her get into the rope's harness. When Zuko saw that she was on her way down, he went inside, and picked Jet up, and threw him on the bed.

"Take care… not."

And Zuko left.

..:-:..

Katara got down safely, and then tugged on the rope. Instantly it zoomed back up towards the top of the tree. Suddenly she heard a rustling noise from a couple trees away. She hid behind the tree, and peeked out to see who it was. Aang. Katara pulled back, and tried to hide as much of herself behind the tree as she could. It hurt her not to tell Aang that she was okay, but then again… she wanted to be with Zuko so badly. Katara held her breath, which wasn't helping her out much, with her current condition.

Aang thought he had heard something, someone even. But when he approached the tree, there was nothing. He shook his head and opened his glider. Aang began to soar through the trees, back to where he came from.

When she turned around from her hiding place, she saw Aang going back. It hurt her heart to not let him know but… She looked up and saw Zuko coming down the tree. Katara smiled and forgot all her worried thoughts. He came down, and got his hand out of the rope. Then he pulled on it very hard, and the whole rope came down to the ground. Zuko came forward towards her at once, and hugged her, but not too hard. Katara couldn't help but feel relieved, and most of all, the warmth of Zuko, a real warmth, not the dark one she felt from Jet.

"Katara… are you okay?"

She nodded her head, but then winced and began to lose strength in her knees. Zuko caught her right before she fell, and then he picked her up bridal style.

"It doesn't look like it to me," he said simply.

She smiled weakly, and put her arms around his neck loosely. Katara's head slowly fell to his shoulder, and then she relaxed. Zuko smiled as the setting sun caught her hair and made it shine beautifully.

"Thank you…" she whispered quietly before her eyes closed.

"You're welcome," he whispered back.

So Zuko continued to walk through the forest with Katara in his arms. She wasn't too much of a burden. Working out now came in handy. She fell asleep to the rhythm of his steps.

..:-:..

"Aang!"

Sokka got up, and rushed over to him when he landed.

"Sokka, did she come back?"

"What? You mean you didn't find her?"

"No, I didn't see her anywhere! I figured she came back here."

Sokka began to pace around and around the fire he had started.

"What do you think happened to her?"

"Well, I guess we did make her really angry. Maybe she wants some space?"

"That much?" asked Aang disbelievingly.

"Yeah, you know how girls can hold grudges. She once wouldn't talk to me for a whole week, because I used her doll as target practice with my boomerang."

Aang laughed at this, and relaxed. She'd come back the next day; she couldn't hold a grudge for that long, could she?

..:-:..

Zuko had to be extremely careful. He couldn't let anyone know that Katara was on the ship.

They had now made their way to the water, and she was still asleep in his arms. But the sounds of the crashing waves spoke to her, and she opened her eyes.

"Zuko… wh-where are we?" she asked while yawning.

"My ship… I hope you don't mind."

She looked at him when he said that. There was no trace of a false intention on his face, or in his voice. So she shook her head slightly, and he nodded his.

"Do you think you can walk now?"

"I'll try."

Zuko put her down gently but he still had his arms around her just in case. Slowly he let go of her, and walked around a bit. Slowly at first, but she was doing fine, so she smiled at him.

"Okay, I don't think we should let anyone know that you're on the ship… just yet."

"Yeah… I don't think that would be such a good idea."

"So I'll go up there first, and then I'll let you know if the coast is clear."

Katara watched as he left the shadows of the forest, and came up to the back of the ship. He pushed his arms forward, and sent a blaze of fire right into the side of it. To her shock and surprise, a door swung open. Zuko peered inside and saw that no one was in the hall that led to his room. Katara saw him come out again, and wave his hand. She quickly ran out of the forest. It was now night, and the moon reflected its light on the surface of the water. Zuko held onto her hand and lifted her up into the doorway. When she got into the ship, she stood back, while Zuko closed the door, and shut it close with another shot of fire.

He turned around and smiled at her. This time she felt weak because of his smile, not because of the pain she was in. Zuko put an arm around her, and they walked down the hall, towards his room. When Katara stepped in, she was for one, shocked, but then saddened. Zuko's room was so dark and dull. He had to live here, in this sullen room. No wonder she thought he was so dark and evil.

Zuko closed the door behind them and then scratched the back of his head.

"Umm… yeah, it's not much, but this is my room."

"It's uhhmm… it's really nice Zuko."

She tried to smile honestly, but he, for the first time in what seemed like forever, genuinely smiled, and chuckled.

"Katara, no it's not, and you know that."

"Yeah, you're right, but all it really needs is a bit of a woman's touch."

He stopped laughing and pulled her gently closer to him. She didn't resist, and instead she wrapped her arms around him. Katara couldn't hold it in any longer. Her eyes shed tears and she let out small soft sobs. Zuko caressed her, and hushed his voice so that it was as quiet and soft as it could get.

"Don't worry Katara… you're safe now… you're safe."

"Oh Zuko…" she said in an even more quiet voice.

She looked up into his eyes, and he wiped her tears away. He wasn't sure if he should, but she took that thought away from him, because at that moment, Katara flung her arms around his neck, and brought his face and inch away from hers. She kissed him with all of her might, thinking that it make everything that bothered her, and everything that happened to her disappear. Instead though, at the touch of his lips against hers, she stopped. Zuko tilted his head just a bit back, and then he leaned in, and kissed her softly.

Katara couldn't believe she was feeling what she felt. It was extraordinary every second that he touched her. All of it was so different, so much more real. She could feel his affection through his kisses. There was no gut wrenching, sickening feeling in her stomach. Instead, his warmth carried into her body, and flowed throughout her veins. All of the pain and heartache was disappearing so rapidly, that now all she felt was his love. Now she kissed him back, kissed him with that same gentle manner he had showed her. Jet had left a scar in her heart, but she wasn't going to let it show. Zuko was in a complete thrill; everything seemed to be going off like fireworks inside of him. Katara slowly stopped her kisses, and then opened her eyes. She smiled at him, and Zuko's whole being knew that she was special. He couldn't ruin anything with her, or he would regret it deeply.

Zuko picked her straight up, and spun around with her in his arms.

"Zuko!"

He stopped and realized that he shouldn't have done that. Zuko could see her wincing, so he brought her back down, and set her on his bed.

"I'm sorry… I forgot…" he said with his head tilted down to the side, "I'll get you some water."

He walked over to a table, and poured some water into a cup. Katara took the cup, and drank the water. She put the cup down, and put her hand on her heart. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Zuko saw nothing, but when she opened her eyes, she looked like nothing bad had happened to her. She stood up, and put her hand on Zuko's cheek. He looked at her, and she saw that he was angry with himself.

"Zuko, it's okay. I'm fine, really. I just healed myself."

"What? How?" he asked curiously.

"I can use my water bending to heal, did you know that?"

"No actually… but I'm glad you're all right…"

She kissed him softly, and then smiled. Zuko wiped away some hair from her face, and then she rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"Stupid hair! When it gets like this, I have to redo everything!"

Katara stepped away, and then began to undo her messy braid. Her hair came falling to her shoulders, and Zuko stood there amazed. Katara looked at him curiously.

"What is it?"

"You look… you look even more beautiful than before…"

"Oh really? You like the look?"

Zuko chuckled and answered with another kiss.

"Yes I do."

He stepped back and took off his suit, so that he was only wearing his sleeveless shirt, and his pants. Katara was combing her fingers through her hair, when she realized that Zuko was unbuttoning his shirt. She stood there gawking at him, and then when he caught her gaze, she blushed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking…"

"No, no it's okay Zuko. If I weren't here, you'd just sleep like that anyways. I'll umm…" she looked around the room, "I'll just sleep here in this chair right here…"

Katara went to go sit on the chair, but Zuko gave her his hand.

"Come on Katara, I'm not going to let you sleep on a chair. Besides, it will be warmer for the both of us…"

She bit her lip, and thought about it. She trusted Zuko, he had saved her from Jet, and he would never hurt her. Katara nodded her head, and he picked her up, and laid her down on his bed. He pulled back the covers and sat next to Katara on the bed. She pulled the covers up, and then she hugged Zuko. Her hands felt his tight cold back, and so she just held on tighter. She felt herself blushing madly, but the room was dark, and so he wouldn't see it. However Zuko was also thankful for the darkness, because he too was blushing. Zuko stroked her hair, and kissed her forehead. They both stopped blushing, and they both became aware of their true desires just to be with the other.

Zuko lay down on the bed, while she was still holding onto him. He put his arm around her, and pulled her into him as if he was afraid he would somehow lose her.

"Zuko?"

"Yes Katara?"

"Good night."

He stared into her softly lit eyes and kissed her gently.

"Good night."

- - - - - -

A/N: Grins I really liked writing this chapter! Cuz of course as you can tell, my pen name is SweetStories11 lol Did you like this chapter better than the last one? I hope you did! Please tell me, give me some feedback, because the story goes on cuz of you! Once again, I want to thank ALL of my very kind reviewers for being so loyal, and giving me your reactions! THANKS!

NEXT: This isn't a happy fairytale ending, nope it's not. Someone comes in to disturb the peace, and make Katara rethink what she has done! (DUN DUN DUNN!) lol –Hopefully up next weekend!