Dangerous Ground

Chapter Seven

Aang and Sokka left early that day to go to the village. We'd run out of money and food, and the boys had decided to see if they could find an odd-job to do among the bustling merchants and hagglers.

It was my job to stay at camp and watch the prisoner. I thought I'd certainly gotten the short end of the stick on this deal. I sighed as I swept up the cinders of last night's fire, trying to ignore the bitter silence that filled the cave now that Aang and Sokka had left.

It only lasted a short while. Soon, I couldn't take it any more. I knew I was just asking for another match of verbal sparring, but it was better than stewing in silence.

"Thank you for, um, not trying to escape." That was lame, Katara. Good job.

He just shrugged. "I'm not going to get far if I do, now, will I?" There was that condescending voice again.

"You know, you don't have to talk to me like I'm a child. I'm probably about the same age as you." I quipped.

"Well, aren't you a big girl." That sounded familiar. I gritted my teeth and tried a different tack.

"So, it must have been nice growing up a Prince, huh?" I watched as Zuko laughed bitterly until the pain in his ribs made him stop.

"And what makes you think that?"

"I don't know. I guess I just always thought it would be nice to grow up in a palace with servants and everything you could ever want."

"The Fire Nation doesn't cater to that kind of soft-fleshed pampering that you Water Tribes adhere to. A son of the Fire Nation's Royalty is trained to be a warrior, and that training has nothing to do with servants and palaces."

So I had been right. "Is that how you got all those scars?" I asked, letting my eyes slide over his tunic.

"What scars?" Zuko stiffened and narrowed his eyes at me. Uh-oh. I hadn't told him about the night we brought him back to camp after the tree fell on him. Suddenly, I felt a flush of discomfort at having to tell him that I'd partly undressed him.

"Well, I had to see if your ribs were broken or not, and I saw that there were scars and..." I trailed off. When I looked up, Zuko was smirking at me, enjoying my awkward moment.

"I suppose you don't get to see many men without their shirts in the arctic, hm?" He asked irritatingly.

"It wasn't that big a deal." I huffed.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing! It's just warm in here!" I growled and tried to hide the fact that I was wearing mittens. He gave me one of those irritating smirks. And then I lost it.

"Ooh! Why do you have to be so.. so... Aghhhh!" I threw my hands in the air stormed to the edge of the cave and into the forest outside, just as the boys were coming back from their trip into town.

"Hey Katara! Where are you going?" Aang called after me, worry tinging his voice.

"For a walk." I said more harshly than I'd meant to. What was it about Zuko that brought out the worst in me?

Day dawned bright and clear, a stark contrast to the wintry, drippy, icy night that we'd just endured. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and poked the dying embers of the fire. Aang was sprawled in the corner, completely zonked out and drooling a little into the corner of his shirt. Sokka was leaning against the cave wall, clutching his boomerang and snoring soundly. I giggled. Good job, Sokka. Way to keep us safe.

Speaking of safe... I peeked over the shaggy hump of Appa's shoulder to where Zuko lay. I knew better now than to assume he was asleep. I stuck my tongue out at him. It was childish, I knew, but it felt sooo good. I giggled to myself and began to make breakfast for the little group.

It didn't take long before the smell of food roused Sokka.

"G'mfrrrfing Kthhhawmmmf" He greeted me through half-closed eyes. Sokka never was a morning person.

"Ooh! Platypus bear eggs!" Aang shouted, jumping to ceiling as the aroma drifted his way. I smiled. It felt good to make them happy. At least I could make some people happy.

"Could you possibly keep it down? Some people are meditating." Well, it looked like Mr. Sunshine was up.

"Good morning!" I said in an insanely cheerful manner as I passed a plate of eggs over Appa's shoulder. Zuko cracked an eye open at me and frowned.

"I don't want your disgusting food." He snarled.

"Oooh, someone's not a morning person." I quipped.

"Every son of the Fire Nation rises with the sun. We just usually have enough respect and self-control to meditate and absorb its energy before we go flying around like ignorant peasants."

"Well, I'm so sorry to bother you, Your Highness, if there's anything this ignorant peasant can do to make you more comfortable, please let her know." I bowed.

"How about untying me?" He waved his hands over his still-bound legs. He'd obviously been working on the knots, as I could see the frayed edges sticking out at odd angles around the edges, but Sokka had made extra sure to tie them so that they only come undone with a knife.

"Sorry, my prince, but I'm just a simple water peasant and I don't know how to untie knots." I batted my eyelashes at him innocently and swaggered back to the fire to help clean up the breakfast mess.

The boys had had good fortune on their last trip to town, and would be going back today, as well. Each night Aang would bring back some other little tidbit of knowledge about the secret earthbender resistance army and I would sit in rapt attention. Could these be the saviors of the world? They certainly sounded magnificent. I sighed. I could only imagine what it would be like to meet one of these brave warriors. Sokka brought home the things he'd earned each day. Usually it was food and a couple gold pieces, but every once in a while he's surprise me with a pretty shell or a comb he'd gotten as a bonus.

I took a few trips into town myself, but they never lasted long. Somehow, the care and feeding of a certain irascible Prince had fallen under my list of duties, and I always had to get back in time to deal with him, whether in force-feeding him something or keeping Sokka from killing him over some insult he'd made.

It was getting tiring. It had already been a week and I was looking forward to the day when I could cut him loose and let him go free. Of course, we'd had to untie him every once in a while, to restore the circulation in his legs and to let him take care of certain needs, but it was never for long. I knew he wouldn't try to escape. He simply couldn't right now, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to hurt Aang or Sokka or myself.

...It had been a full two weeks before I'd had it up to here with him.

"The Water Tribes are not inferior!" I yelled, throwing my broom to the ground.

"Of course they are. They have years and years to go before they could ever dream to reach the technological and elemental advancement of the Fire Nation." He said, crossing his arms and then immediately regretted it as his ribs protested.

"How does that make them superior? Killing people more efficiently makes them better?"

"Well, you don't see the Fire Nation losing the war, do you?"

"I'll have you know the Water Tribes have made great strides in the fields of healing and medicines."

"So?"

"Well, that's a lot more useful than knowing how to kill people."

"Really? Then tell me why you're losing the war." There was that smirk again.

"Because of people like you! People that don't even know how to show mercy." I spat. Something flashed across the Prince's face, the same faraway pain that I'd seen that day when I asked him why he didn't just live in his own homeland.

"You should get to know people before you judge them, Katara."

It was a slap in the face that sent me spinning. I had done it again. I'd become the very person I was always warning Sokka not to be. I groaned inwardly. I opened my mouth to apologize, but before I could get the words out Zuko's face hardened in anger and he spoke with as much vehement force as his ribs would allow.

"To show mercy is a mistake. Mercy is for the weak. I will not be weak again." He added the last part in a mumble that I could barely catch. I wanted to press it, but I'd spent enough time around Zuko by now to know when I was treading on dangerous ground, and my the tone of his voice this was it.

I let silence fill the cave for a while. Zuko's face was chiseled stone, but I could see in the amber flicker of his eyes that in internal battle was raging. What happened to him to make him like this? I traced the scar on his face with my eyes. What lies in your past, Zuko?

It was handy to have a firebender around. We could get careless with tending the fire because all Zuko had to do was flick his wrist and immediately a lively flame would spring up to dance among the embers. I had to admit, I admired his skill.

It was a cold morning, and I was floating on the hazy edge of sleep. I knew I should get up and make breakfast, but I also didn't want to leave the protective warmth of the blankets. It was then that I noticed an unusual rhythm of light and dark flicker in front of my closed eyes.

I snapped my eyes open and almost screamed when I saw the fire blaze and then die, blaze and die, blaze and die as if it had life of its own. I sat up straight, filled with fear at the strange phenomenon. I scooted away from the fire and looked around to see what could be causing the fire dance. That's when I looked up and caught Zuko's face, taunt in concentration, as he manipulated the flames without even moving.

I remained silent and watched him.

What must it be like, to have fire always in you? I contemplated as I watched the striking dance of flame. The nature of fire is power, anger, destruction, passion... what must it be like to have that element rule you?

I played with a puddle of water on the cave floor, feeling the water move at my command, feeling it push and pull with me, passive, healing, soothing. The opposite of fire. Maybe that's why he couldn't understand. Maybe fire was just never meant to coexist with water peacefully. Well, it wouldn't be much longer. It had already been almost two weeks, and Zuko's ribs would probably be almost mended by now.

"Lay down." I brought a canteen up and settled next to Zuko, who looked at me as if I'd just told him to fetch my slippers.

"Excuse me?" He growled.

"I have to check your ribs, make sure they're healing properly." I said.

"I don't want your healing." He said, scooting away from me.

"I don't care if you want it or not. The sooner you heal, the sooner you're out of my hair." I didn't mean to sound so barbarous, but his defiance was getting more and more tiresome each day.

"Forget it." He snapped. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I put one hand to his forehead and gently pushed him back. Unable to use his chest muscles, he was powerless.

"Now, are you going to or am I?" I pointed to the buttons on his tunic. He sighed, seeing that he wasn't going to win this one, and unbuttoned them himself. I worked hard to keep the blush out of my cheeks, and was horrified to think that I was fighting a losing battle. I bent my head over my work and willed myself not to get flustered. What was I? Some silly little school girl?

I carefully pressed the spots on his chest where I remembered healing a bruise. He hissed and pushed my hands away. Obviously, there was still a little more time to go before he was all better. I wished I knew how to heal bone, if such a thing were even possible. I began to regret shunning the healing instruction offered at the North Pole.

"I'm sorry. I wish I knew how to heal this." I murmured as I ran a finger over his rib cage. "I guess I'm just as much a failure as you think I am."

"I don't think you're a failure." I snapped my head up to face Zuko. Had he actually said that?

"Uncle says that the elements balance each other. Each one is necessary to maintain order and life on earth. Water may be weaker, but it has a sense of power, too. Though far inferior to that of fire." I smiled. I guess that was about as close as I was ever going to get as far as a compliment from Zuko.

Then, a question crossed my mind. I didn't want to spoil the moment, but I had to ask it. "So why is your father so bent on destroying the other nations?" Zuko stiffened for a moment, and I could tell he was weighing whether or not to speak.

"Father does not believe as Uncle does. They... disagree on... many things."

"And what do you believe?" I pierced him with my eyes. Tell me the truth Zuko, not what you've been force-fed your entire life.

Zuko's eyes betrayed a whirling of emotions so strong I almost took a step back.

"I am a loyal son of Lord Ozai!" He shouted at me. Hmm, his ribs must be feeling better after all.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"How dare you question the beliefs of the Fire Prince!" He balled his fists. I could see flames licking at the edges of his palms and the room felt suddenly, unbearably hot. Dangerous ground. Somehow I'd stumbled onto it again.

"I'm not trying to be arrogant. I'm trying to understand how you can seemingly believe one way and yet act in another. How can you believe that the balance of nations is good, and yet still try to capture Aang?" I felt frustration building inside of me. If only he'd talk. If only he'd open a crack in those cursed walls around himself and let me see who he really was.

"I am in exile! I disgraced my father and my nation, and until I bring the Avatar back, I will remain without honor, without country, without my father's -" He stopped himself as a stunned look crossed his face. He'd said too much for his own comfort.

"What?" I clung to the conversation, willing him to open up just a little more...

"Never mind. It's none of your concern." He turned from me and rested on his side, once again signaling the end of our conversation.