Elemental Dance- 3

The bonds on Katara's hands broke and she closed her eyes. She and Kurina were surrounded by spheres of ghostly-black fog, rising into the evening air.

A strong breeze swept by, tinted with the scent of jasmine- the Night Queen- the Soul Flower.

Zuko and his men stared in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Avatar's bison flying near his ship. He turned his gaze back to Kurina and Katara. "Avatar!" he shouted.

Aang jumped, looking to Zuko in surprise having forgotten the fire nation prince had been standing there. He leapt onto Appa's neck and took the reins, ready to escape.

"What is happening to them?"

Aang froze. "I don't know."

Kurina's globe suddenly turned red; Katara's blue.

Zuko gasped. Something was calling to him. He didn't know what it was but it was painful. His blood was boiling with the need to go… somewhere. Unbeknownst to him, he had risen into the air, his eyes glowing crimson. He was surrounded by a sphere of white fire.

His blood began to thrum with an ancient beat, thundering through his body and into his soul like ripples of water disturbed by a piece of earth. The sound of a pan flute twined around his body like the wind. The harmony of a low fumiko raced through him like a thread of fire tying together the notes of eternity. He was filled with a power unlike any he had ever felt before. He wanted to scream and cry and laugh at the same time.

Then just like that, it was gone.

They fell to the ground, weeping at the loss of the feeling. Their tears were like twinkling stars as they fell on the cool sand.

Iroh gasped, his eyes widening as he came upon a small epiphany.

Zuko was the first to get to his knees.

"Katara? Are you okay?" He heard the Avatar ask. He watched hazily as the Avatar touched her hand.

Immediately Zuko jerked, feeling the power again. Kurina's eyes glowed crimson.

Aang whimpered. Katara screamed, her body glowing a faint blue.

Zuko glanced at Kurina and found her clutching her stomach on her knees.

"Let go of her, Avatar," he whispered. "Stop calling the feminine. You are affecting all of us." He had no idea where those words had come from but he knew they were the right things to say.

Aang remained motionless.

Kurina gasped, falling to the ground in a fetal position.

Katara closed her mouth and curled up on the ground, her hand still clutched in Aang's.

Zuko got to his feet, swaying slightly as the ground tipped. He pushed Aang off of Katara and fell back to his feet.

Immediately the feeling was gone.

He watched the tension drain from Katara. Glancing back, he saw Kurina sit up and smile at the captain weakly.

Suddenly he was angry. "Leave, Avatar. You are not wanted here."

The sixteen-year old air-bender looked into Zuko's eyes and quailed. He grabbed Sokka's arm and called Appa. He reached for Katara but was met with a large fireball. Aang narrowed his eyes and threw a fierce wind at Zuko.

The Fire nation Prince dodged it easily and kicked a streak of flame at Aang. The Avatar took a deep breath and made the flame disappear. Zuko's eyes widened slightly, but he smiled, shooting a series of whip-cord punches at the younger man. Aang didn't have a chance. He had to use his air-bending. He had only mastered water, air and earth, not fire. Fire was too powerful and he hadn't gotten used to the other elements yet.

He called a boulder of earth and threw it at Zuko.
Zuko cracked it in two with his sword, and swept his feet on the ground. Aang leapt up and grinned. He called a water whip and snaked it around Zuko's feet; however, before he could freeze it, Zuko had evaporated the liquid. Aang smiled. This was the most fun he had had in a long time. He trained with Katara, a water-bending master, but he was always afraid of hurting her. And battles with evil Fire Nation soldiers didn't count.

"Aang, come on! I've got Katara!"

Aang called a huge wind and knocked Zuko's men off of their feet. He leapt onto Appa.

Zuko flipped to his feet and roped a whip of fire around Appa's feet; but, before he could add strength to the fire, the whip broke and the Avatar had thrown a blast of water at him.

"That was for Katara!" he shouted.

He growled, watching the bison fly away into the night sky.

"He shouldn't have taken her."

He jumped at the sound of Kurina's voice. She was standing right next to him, glaring in the direction of the white dot that was the Avatar.

"Are you alright, Prince Zuko?"

He turned to his men and uncle. "I have no idea."

"I do." Iroh smiled gently. "Come onto the ship. The Captain will set a course for the Earth Kingdom while we speak. Lady Kurina, I request your presence as well."

"What just happened, General Iroh?"

"Those who will bring death and beauty into this war have been found."

Zuko and Kurina stared at Iroh as the old general turned around and walked back onto the ship. The soldiers stared at them.

Kurina let out a shaky laugh. "Is your uncle cryptic often?"

Zuko laughed with her. "Only when he feels like it."

"And when is that?"

Zuko offered her his arm as an escort. She bowed and accepted. "If I could answer that, I would."

She laughed again and Zuko found something twitch inside of him. He liked hearing her laugh.

"Great Ratri! What happened?" Katara shot up in her sleeping bag. (AN: Ratri is the Hindu Goddess of the Night.)

"No clue. We're going to Boumi's to figure it out," Sokka shouted back. He was steering Appa so that Aang could get rest. The Avatar had all-but collapsed a few hours after the incident at Zuko's camp.

Sokka glanced back and found Katara going through a few of their packs. The water-tribe warrior had grown into a knock out. He was about 6 foot with a trim, muscled frame which he took care of. His voice had deepened albeit it was still a bit gentler than most men of his era.

He hoped visiting Boumi would help them figure out what had just happened. His instincts were telling him his baby sister was going to get hurt along the way and his instincts had never let him down before. His sense of direction on the other hand...

He looked down, cursed and turned Appa the other way. They would have gone straight into Fire Nation territory if they had kept flying that way.

"Sokka? We have a problem."

He glanced back and cursed. Zuko's ship was following them, Aang was asleep, Appa was tired, and Katara was in no condition to bend.

He suddenly stopped short. His instincts were telling him the Prince didn't want to hurt them. Wonderful. He was going mad.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar, nor shall I ever. This goes for all of my chapters. (in case I forget)