Just a Market Trip…Or More?
AN: Not gonna keep you waiting long today. Here's the chapter! Oh yeah—yay! I'm over my little writer's block. Wa—hoo!
Once Zuko's ship couldn't be seen on the horizon line anymore, Katara raced over and hugged both Sokka and Aang. "I love you guys—I mean, you're so stupid and funny! At least now Zuko is gone"
Aang rubbed the back of his neck, blushing.
Sokka looked up, saying, "Gone? Who said anything about "gone"? This is all that ever happens: Zuko almost captures us, we get away, yada, yada, yada. But someday, they'll easily capture us, and I'll probably be glad to have a break from chauffeuring Aang around the world."
"Such the little ray of sunshine, aren't you, Sokka!" Katara said sarcastically. "Come on, we're running low on supplies—and I wouldn't mind getting a few more blankets—so lets look for land.
Zuko had been contemplating over it, and he came to a brilliant conclusion. "The waterbender!" he said to himself, surprised that he hadn't thought of it before. Then he reviewed a plan in his head. Of course, he thought to himself, that's the key to capturing the Avatar. She's almost ALWAYS with him, except the one time they split up—which I highly doubt was planned, probably the other stupid git's idea, and he couldn't use him for he was too stupid, anyway. Kutera, or whatever her name was, was the perfect resolution to everything, and the only thing he needed to do was snag her at the trio's next pit stop.
At the market, Aang, Sokka, and Katara split up (naturally)—Aang to pick out food and supplies, Katara to buy clothes and blankets, and Sokka to, well, do whatever he needed to do.
"All right, meet back here in about half an hour, with whatever you bought, and DON"T BE LATE! If you get into trouble, call me over or something, and I can kick the attacker's butt." Ordered Sokka as if he were leading an army.
Trying not to think about how she was to be saved by Sokka—and laughing at the thought—Katara walked over to a small booth next to the woods that had some nice merchandise.
"Hello, what can I get for you today?" said a teenager dully at the counter, without looking up, and reading some magazine with Earthbending tricks on the page.
That voice sounds oddly familiar…, Katara thought to herself, then she concluded. "HARU?" she asked the teen.
Looking up and grinning, he said, "KATARA?"
"What're you doing here?" They both asked.
"Visiting, of course!" they both answered, grins splitting across their faces.
Haru went first, in a rush, "We wanted to see our town without the Fire Nation, but since we were already far north, we decided to come up here, and have a vacation—just my dad and me. And we sent a letter to my mother telling her the details since both of us had been taken. You still are taking the Avatar all around the world, then?"
"Yep." Katara answered, and, motioning the woods, she asked, "Wanna walk and talk—to catch up on things?"
"Of course!" Haru answered, happy to be back with Katara, and prone on telling and hearing everything.
"…And right after you left, we took a slightly smaller boat up here with a few other people." Haru continued, but Katara put up a hand to stop him, looking bewildered.
"What is it?" He asked her concernedly.
"No…it's just…it doesn't really fit. I mean, even with all our pit stops, it doesn't work out. Just a few days ago, Zuko almost had us, but we got away—yet during all this, you managed to get up here before him, with a smaller and slower boat…that must mean that Zuko's here already!" she finished, looking scared.
"Got that right, you wretch." Said a cold voice from behind a tree, and suddenly Zuko stepped out from behind a tree, guards all over doing the same. Katara gasped, and Haru looked bewildered, having never seen any of these people before, yet recognizing their Fire Nation clothing. Before either Katara or Haru could do anything, though, Zuko and his men rushed forward, binding and gagging both of them.
"Leave the boy behind." Zuko said, smirking, as he pulled Katara off.
Katara and Haru gazed pleadingly at each other as they were pulled apart for what might have been forever.
Sokka and Aang had long since given up each of their theories that Katara was buying something else and had lost track of time, or she was hiding under a rock, and they were both searching endlessly.
"She can't have gone too far, unless she was kidnapped or something," Aang said desperately, trying not to think about if Katara had REALLY been kid—teenage napped.
Sokka looked ahead of them, and saw something struggling further on. "Is that KATARA!" They ran over to the body.
"HARU? Where's Katara—what're you doing here?" Aang asked, as Sokka chopped off his bindings and removed the gag.
"Follow…me!" Haru gasped out, and started sprinting off toward the direction Zuko had gone, yelling behind him to Aang and Sokka, "Some guy with a scar…Fire Nation…and men…took Katara…over…here!"
They ran out to the harbor, staring helplessly as the ship sailed away over the horizon line.
AN: Do you like it? Is it a cliff-hanger? Any confusion? I tried to make it unique—hope it worked. ) READ and REPLY, Please! And tell me your thoughts!