Dangerous Ground

Thank you again, beloved readers, for your support and encouragement. I dedicate this story to you. I truly hope you have enjoyed it, and will continue to enjoy it over the next several chapters.

Chapter 19

It was a war cry that broke the stillness of the night. I blinked in the darkness, my world a swirling mass of confusion as the blurred edges of sleep mingled with the sudden panic of reality.

"They're attacking!" I heard a soldier's distant shout. I gripped the blankets, feeling suddenly very alone and very helpless. I searched for the canteen, but it held only a few drops of water. I had planned on filling it up at the next stream. Now I might never get a chance to. I was powerless, naked without my water and at the mercy of the firebenders.

Firm, warm hands gripped my shoulders. I screamed. A hand went over my mouth. Panic lanced my heart. Only a firebender's hands would be that hot in the middle of winter.

"Shh. It's me." Zuko's low voice brought a wave of relief over me so intense that I felt like collapsing.

"Stay close. Don't let go of me." He said. I nodded, though there was no way he could see the gesture in the pitch black that surrounded us. The moon and stars had been hidden behind clouds, and no fires had been permitted.

I saw a blaze of light in the distance so bright it made spots wiggle in front of my eyes for a moment. Firebenders.

All around me was shouting, screaming, the thud of earth being moved and thrown, the hiss of fire as it streaked through the air. I clung to Zuko, who remained still and wrapped an arm around my shoulders protectively.

Soon the woods were on fire around us. In the growing light I waterbended a small amount from the sopping earth beneath my feet and held it in front of my face, ready for the attack.

But it never came. The yells died down and the fires were soon put out, leaving only a small bonfire around which the soldiers were clustered.

"Come on." Zuko tugged me behind him as he marched up to the soldiers.

On the outskirts of the circle, we could not see what was going on, but we could hear Teikei speak, though his voice was almost drowned out by the excited murmur of the other soldiers.

"What's going on?" I tapped one of the earthbenders.

"The party of firebenders that killed Sergei's men attacked us. We killed them all, but there are some wounded men."

"Let me through, please." I said, squeezing between the girth of two large earthbender rebels. They parted for me, and I led Zuko along behind me. Arriving at the ground where four earthbenders lay groaning and clutching burnt limbs, I began to collect water from the ground and heal their lesions.

"The attack means that we're close. We should arrive at the village by tomorrow. Once there, we can track their movements. We know the land better than they do, so we should have little trouble catching up to them if we move swiftly and do not stop often." Teikei spoke to the men clustered around him.

"Since we're all up anyway, we might as well start marching now. Dawn will come shortly, anyway." A collective groan rose, but the men went obediently back to their mats to pack up.

We had just stopped for lunch a little while ago when I began to smell it. Ashes. Smoke. Death. I covered my nose. I noticed the other soldiers sniffing the air, detecting the same scent that I did. We were getting close.

A short time passed, and I saw that the ground was becoming more and more darkened. I stooped and pressed my finger into the dirt. But it wasn't dirt. It was a crumbling, flaking substance. Ash.

We reached a clearing. A meadow. The soldiers began to fan out, searching the edges of the clearing. The ash was thick here, coating everything from the tree limbs to the ground in a dense black blanket. I heard something crunch beneath my feet and looked down.

Something sparkled in the cold white light of winter's afternoon. I bent down to pick up the shard. It was pale pink, with some designs in the center of it. I brushed the ashes away and realized that it was the face of a porcelain doll. I smiled, I'd had one myself as a child. But what was a doll doing out here in the midst of a fire-blackened meadow? I looked around and noticed a strange shaped log beside the fractured pieces of the doll. I reached out my hand to brush the ashes from the log...

"Katara, no!" I heard Zuko's voice dimly before my world dissolved in a wave of horror. As my fingers brushed away the ashes, they revealed the face of a woman. She was beautiful, young, perhaps no older than I was. In her arm a child was curled, one arm wrapped around her mother while the other held a porcelain arm. The doll. It had been the child's doll.

The child was dead. The mother was dead. Something was hurting my hand. I looked down blindly at the shard of the doll's face in my palm. I was squeezing it so tightly that the edges were cutting my skin, causing blood to fall, hot and red down my palms.

I reached out to touch the child's face. She was so beautiful. Maybe she was only sleeping. Blood was still running down my hand, faster and in more volume now. I didn't feel the pain. I didn't feel anything.

"Katara!" Hands grabbed me, ripped me away from this place of horror. I registered Zuko's face in dim recognition as he pried my fingers open and took the shard of the doll from me. No. He couldn't take it. It was that girl's. I had to give it back to her. She would wake up in a while. She would want her doll back.

"It's okay, Katara. Speak to me." Zuko was looking at me, worry plain on his face. "Speak, Katara!" He said, his voice rising a little. I opened my mouth, but words didn't come out.

I vomited all over the ground.

"Uuuuuuuuh." I rubbed my head and opened my eyes, blinking in the light. Why was I still asleep? We should be marching out again. We needed to get to the village.

The village.

Memories swarmed me and caused my stomach to twist, but thankfully I'd already thrown up everything I'd ever eaten, and there was nothing left. I must have blacked out after vomiting. I was suddenly aware of two strong, warm arms holding me. I found strength in that embrace. I faced the little girl's memory, and accepted it. I nestled into the arms, not wanting to leave this place of safety.

I twisted up to look into Zuko's face, but he wasn't looking at me. His gaze was fixed somewhere in the distance.

We were still in the middle of the meadow. Only it wasn't the meadow. It was the town. Covered in ash, I couldn't tell the difference between the destroyed remains of the buildings and the bodies of the Fire Nation's victims, but I didn't want to. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the wave of nausea to leave my stomach.

I waited for a few moments, and then looked back up at Zuko. Reluctantly leaving his embrace I turned and sat across from him. He was in a state of shock, too, though he was handling it very differently from me. Horror haunted his features, but mingled there was also disbelief and the firm lines of anger.

"Zuko..." I whispered. He remained silent, but there was a grim set to his face, as if he'd reached the conclusion of a terrible decision.

"There is no honor in this..." His voice was so low I barely heard it.

"They were children... mothers... they could not fight back... not against trained firebenders..." He wasn't speaking to me. He was somewhere else...

"There is no honor in it!" Zuko's voice was so loud that it echoed off the mountains. I jumped and watched as flames licked at his wrists and fingertips.

"Zuko." I whispered again, placing my hand on his chest. He pulled away from me, but it was not in anger, it was in a sudden decision. I watched him as he walked over the ashes to where Teikei was gesturing to a group of rebels.

I sat alone in the ashes. He was right. There was no honor in the slaughter of these innocents. I cried there. I cried for the bodies of the children, I cried for the mothers, who died with babies in their arms. I cried for the elderly, who held each other as their town was consumed.

As their lives were consumed.

"There are footprints here, leading west. I suspect that they'll attack the town to the west." Teikei had built a fire a ways from the village. All of us had been thankful to put some distance between us and the graves of so many innocent people. Exhausted from the course of the day, I had dropped to my mat and prepared to drift off into a restless sleep, but then I'd noticed that Zuko was preparing himself by washing his face and brushing off his clothes.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To the war council." He said emotionlessly.

"But... I thought... since you're a firebender..." I didn't want to insult him, but I had a hard time believing that Teikei would allow Zuko into the war council.

"He gave me permission. Stay here and get some sleep." He said before turning and striding off to where a group of men were circled around a small fire, conversing in low tones.

There's as much chance of that as leaving a bowl of pudding in front of Sokka and expecting him not to eat it. I thought to myself as followed him in the shadows.

I found a hiding place in the bushes a few feet from the war council. Careful not to make any noise, I squatted behind the evergreen needles of the juniper bush and listened, picking out the low voices as they were carried to me on the wind.

"The Fire Nation is moving west, as is evidenced by the footprints. I suspect they will attack Du-Shing next, sweeping in over the mountain ridge." Teikei said.

"Then we should prepare a counter attack from the east and meet them head on before they can reach the town!" One of the advisors spoke up, a man with a deep, booming voice that seemed to make the earth rumble beneath my feet.

"I say we follow their trail and attack from behind, at the crack of dawn, when they least expect it!" Another advisor said, pumping his fist in the air.

"The Fire Nation will expect an attack."I recognized Zuko's voice. Silence crackled loudly in my ears as I waited breathlessly. "They will have scouts patrolling ahead, behind, and to the sides miles ahead of their army."

"What are we listening to this firebender for?" Booming voice said with a note of disgust. "He could lead us right into a trap."

"I have allowed Prince Zuko to come to the war council by his request. We will listen to him, and accord him the respect that we would give each other." Teikei warned. The council fell silent until Teikei spoke again. "So, Prince Zuko, what do you suggest we do?"

"Do not attack at dawn, this is when a firebender is strongest. Do not attack by day at all. Set up an ambush and wait for nightfall."

"Night? We'll be setting ourselves up for slaughter!" A disbelieving advisor said.

"Would you like proof? Call Katara. Her element is ruled by the moon, and she could easily beat me tonight." He pointed upwards at the nearly full moon. A blush rose into my cheeks. Zuko was praising me in front of the other council members and somehow that act gave me an obscene amount of pleasure.

"Prince Zuko is right. I have heard of this. I think he has the right idea." Another advisor spoke, a little hesitantly, but loud enough to be heard.

"How do we know we can trust him? He is one of them, or have you all so easily forgotten? It's plain on his face!" Booming voice pointed at Zuko. My breath caught in my throat. He'd insulted Zuko and pointed out his scar. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the fight that would ensue when Zuko invariably lost his temper.

But there was no fight.

Zuko simply looked calmly at the man and spoke in a firm, controlled voice. "I will be traveling with you. I will be fighting with you. Your death would be my death."

"How do we know?"

"I give my word as a son of the Fire Nation."

"Ha! I would not trust the word of a son of Lord Ozai any more than I'd trust a thief not to steal!"

"I said 'son of the Fire Nation, not 'son of Lord Ozai'." Zuko said softly. Silence descended on the circle as the weight of what Zuko had just said settled on them. I felt a shiver run up my spine.

"A long time ago, my nation had great honor... my father was a fool to abandon that honor in lust for power." Zuko's face lifted proudly in the firelight. He did not hide his scar, and it flamed all the brighter, a further testament to Ozai's ruthlessness and dishonor.

Teikei stood. A flash of brilliant silver reflected in the firelight. A knife. My eyes widened. Teikei brought the knife up and slashed it down in front of Zuko...

...severing his bonds.

Zuko worked his wrists and rubbed at the chafed skin. He made no move to fight, and slowly the advisors breathed a sigh of relief.

"We will do as Zuko says. I trust him, as should you." Teikei walked from the council, signaling the end of the meeting. Zuko stood also and started walking.

He was walking towards me. My eyes widened. He reached behind the bush and yanked me to my feet, gazing at me with piercing golden eyes.

"Spying on the war council is punishable by death in the Fire Nation." He said, mouth set in a firm line. I raised my hand to prepare to fight, but he grabbed my wrist and, with one quick movement, flipped my over his shoulder.

"I'll be merciful today, since I'm in such a good mood. You can be my prisoner and make me dinner." He said as he carried me back to my mat. I struggled, but he held me firmly. Finally, I couldn't hold it back anymore. I broke out in a fit of laughter that felt so good after the events of that day.

Dinner was plain, but it tasted good. Zuko had built a small fire and we'd toasted our bread and meat over it. After dinner, I crawled onto my mat and looked into the darkness. The images of the day haunted me, and I shivered.

"Are you cold?" Zuko asked from his mat a few feet from mine.

"No... just... thinking." I said. I heard a rustling and then felt his arms wrap around me, the familiar scent of fire and smoke and Zuko's body comforted me.

"What are you doing? They'll think-"

"Let them think." He said, ending all argument. I was glad. I didn't want to argue. I wanted to just lay in his arms.

For the first time in two nights, I was warm.

For the first time in two nights, I felt safe.

For the first time in two years, I was genuinely happy.

For the first time in all my life...

I felt...

And sleep overtook me.

Oh, I do hope you liked it. Holds her breath and hopes desperately that her readers liked it Hopefully, I'll have more very soon. It's all mapped out and just a matter of writing it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading. I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter.

Author's Note: Did you know that Ginseng tea is used to promote... um... how do I put this so it's safe for any of my young readers... it's used to promote stamina and performance and to stimulate certain hormone-producing glands. wink wink (My mother is an herbologist and I read her books when I can't fall asleep at night).

Hmmmm... makes you wonder why Iroh is always trying to feed Zuko ginseng tea, eh?

Grandchildren, anyone?