Deception Chapter 9: A Few Moments, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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Katara hunched up on a flat rock next to her stream and frowned, scrunching her nose up. Zuko had put her in a situation she didn't want to be in. She had resolved not to trust him; and now, a day after the fight she was questioning herself. By all rights, Zuko should have handed Aang over to the Firenation. This was what should have happened. She had torn her mind apart over why in the world he wouldn't want Aang to be captured, whether by himself or not; it still would've been by his nation. Sitting there in the quiet, she turned the idea over in her head until the snap of a twig interrupted her inner ramblings. Raising her head, she was mildly surprised to find she was no longer alone. Zuko stood before her. She remained silent, not wanted to exchange words with him yet, not exactly trusting what might come out of her mouth- lest it be another insult. They glared, each looking the other directly in the eye, and time slowed, thickening like molasses. Fire flickered in Zuko's eyes and water rolled in Katara's, and for each of them, perfectly still, it seemed hard to breath. The air felt heavy and moldable, yet charged by the electricity of their eyes. Silence crackled between them, the air buckling under the weight of the two young people, who only had nerves to look at each other. No words passed between them, and as quickly as he had appeared, Zuko left, silently trekking further into the forest.

Yet another unsettling moment she had shared with the prince. Shuddering off the strange meeting like a chill, she went back to her pondering. She wasn't exactly sure if she ought to be even more suspicious of him now, because how could he ever want to fight with the Avatar against his sister? She gazed into the stream, watching ripples pass through her face in the water, waving across her reflection. She sat, entranced, for a while, and eventually all thoughts of the present were pushed from her head. Minutes passed. Sometimes her distracted ears heard a bird chirp, a bush rustle with a small animal. Night descended around her, the warm dark blue scent of summer drawing around her like a curtain. Eventually, her thoughts gently floated back to immediately after their encounter with Azula..

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She had to get water, and quickly. Pounding through the forest, her footsteps sounded out as a rush of racing feet, tapping the ground like rain. She hurriedly bended more water into her two water-skins and again returned to camp.

Zuko was still unconscious, laying on the ground, and Aang had some pretty nasty injuries. Sokka was in even worse condition, scratched and burned in numerous places. Iroh then entered their encampment carrying Azula.

What? Why had he brought her? She'd just tried to capture and/or kill all of them!

But she was family. She saw Iroh bend down over her, with a saddened look in his usually twinkling eyes. She wondered how Zuko would react to his sister's death, especially as he had been the cause of it.

Tearing her eyes from the elderly man and his niece, she began to work her healing on Aang's injuries. She took a deep breath, and with her hands glowing with water, she healed what she could. She then turned to her brother, and although he was somewhat hesitant at first ("Oh no, you are not going to heal ME with that weird magic of yours!") he finally gave in. Begrudgingly she then turned her attention to Zuko, who was still unconscious. This was a good thing, in her opinion. This way, he wouldn't make a fuss over her, a lowly peasant, touching him. In fact, she almost didn't want to lay a hand on him. Part of her wanted him to die a horrible, drawn out death; but another part of her (the more reasonable part) recognized what he had done by turning against his own nation and family. The real question was, why had he done it?

Never mind. The important thing was, that he had in fact done it.

She dipped her hands into the silky water, and placed them on a fierce looking burn on Zuko's arm. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, and the water glowed a brilliant blue as the burn faded. Pausing for a moment, she stared at his face, looking at his scar, unsure of what she really thought anymore. What did she see? She saw a Fire Prince; conceited, haughty and destructive. She saw the ruler of a great Nation, one that threatened to swallow up the world, and all it's different cultures, and blend them into one bewildered mass. She saw the destroyer of her family, a man that represented all her hatred.

But she also saw a boy, not too much older than herself, one that had gone through as many hardships as she.

Abruptly, she was then snapped from her musings by the sound of Zuko talking to her.

"What are you doing?" A hoarse voice whispered.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the disgust in his voice that he didn't bother to hide.

"I'm healing your injuries." She replied tersely, avoiding his gaze until he spoke again.

"What?"

She looked up, and found him looking at her questioningly. He caught her eye, and for one second she felt what might have been called pity. Banished from his home, fighting his own sister, he had looked at her incredulously at the mere thought of someone actually helping him. Yes, she helped him, of all people, the one who she wanted to kill while she healed him. Such were her sentiments, split raggedly down the middle, all fueled by the ever burning question: was he trustworthy?

Zuko didn't speak another word as Katara healed him; whether it was out of gratitude or contempt Katara couldn't tell. Once she had finished, he gave no thanks, but simply watched her walk away.

Zuko stared at her back as she strode quickly away from him, exceedingly puzzled. He had seen her treat him with contempt, and utter hatred and mistrust, and fight furiously against his Nation. And yet, she had put that aside and healed him. He couldn't help but believe she was up to something, and anger began to creep over his senses again, his eyes narrowing. His bad temper, however, was somewhat contained by his lack of energy, and therefor Katara was saved a yelling match which surely would have taken place, had he had more strength.

Iroh then noticed his nephew had regained consciousness, and walked slowly over to him. Kneeling down, he looked at Zuko for a moment, before telling him his sister was dead.

He wasn't upset, not outwardly anyway. He told his uncle in a muttering growl, "that bitch deserved it." Nevertheless, his face tensed slightly and he attempted to get up from his sprawled out position. Finding he couldn't, he settled for glaring at anyone who so much as passed in front of him.

Katara, after healing as much as she could with the energy she had left, collapsed, falling onto Appa's soft fur. Sleep soon washed over her, a comfort from the blood, fire and hate that had filled the day, the remains of it still drifting like smoke in the air.

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"Katara. Katara!" Shaking herself back into the present, she saw Aang looking at her. It was almost completely dark now, but she could still discern his worried expression. "Are you eating at all? Iroh made a Firenation meal for us."

"I guess." She replied rather absentmindedly as she slipped down from her rock. She followed Aang back, but all the while she couldn't help but think; he fought with us. It was a plaguing idea that refused to leave her, and day and night from that evening on, that thought lay curled up in the back of her mind, always ready to present itself to her.

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Two weeks had now gone by. Aang was still making very little progress in Firebending, as he seemed to have formed a mental block against it. Katara tried to help him, but it wasn't doing much good. Iroh had resorted to teaching Aang, as Zuko got too frustrated that Aang just wasn't getting it. Sokka was a little worried that Aang wasn't doing well, and kept reminding them they had a time limit to defeat the Fire Lord, which made Zuko tense up and glare at Sokka; and it took all of his self restraint to keep from attacking him. Luckily this went unnoticed by either Sokka, Aang or Katara; for if one of them had noticed (namely Katara) she would have reverted back to her "make one wrong move and I will KILL you" frame of mind. As it was, she began to trust Zuko ever so slightly. The overwhelming thought of him fighting against his own Nation was very striking, and she couldn't help but think that perhaps he had a bit of decency in him after all.

His sister was dead, and his father had sent her to capture both him and the Avatar. He and his uncle were officially wanted men in the Firenation. Now, they really didn't have much of a choice but to stay. Technically, his quest for the Avatar was over, but Zuko wouldn't let himself believe that. He held on strongly to the idea that if he brought home the Avatar, his father would welcome him back. This was the reality which Zuko created for himself; but at the same time, he wondered about what he was doing now. He was teaching the Avatar the element that would complete his training and defeat his father, and a very very small part of him was bitterly happy with that. But that part was far overshadowed by his longing to return home, even if it was a home empty of comfort. Zuko shifted in his seat under a tree, staring hard into the dirt, as if looking for the answers to his questions.

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Streaming the water up and around her head, she swirled it tightly into a ball, which she then hardened into ice, and pulled a string of water out from it; forming a rope of water, with an attached ball of ice. Swinging it around her, she smiled satisfactorily, pleased with her new trick. Relaxing her stance and letting the water pour back into the stream, she folded her hands and breathed deeply, her cheeks flushed from the exercise. She had been bending for the past half hour, and it showed. She sat down on her rock, pulled out her hair and re-did her braid; then she stretched out, and fell into a gentle sleep.

A few minutes later, Zuko walked into the clearing by the stream, wanting to get some water, and he saw her. He glared, and looked at her somewhat disgustedly, quickly getting a sip to drink, then pausing to look at her for a moment. In a flash when he saw her hand draped over the rock into the rushing stream, he remembered her healing him. He lingered one more moment, just looking at her, as though trying to remember something. Then, as if shocked by lightning, he started and hastily walked back into the forest, leaving her. Being alone with her wasn't something he was comfortable with.

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Finally! She was off that stupid boat. Whisking through the streets of the Firenation Capital, she reached the city's gateway. She demanded entrance, stating she had important news for the Fire Lord. They let her pass, more out of fear than anything else. She wound her way through the buzzing alleys and streets, finally sighting the Palace, surrounded by immense stretches of land and bordered by gates. Stating her business in a low mumble to one of the guards, he nodded and let her pass, motioning to another guard to escort her into the royal palace. Entering the room which held Lord Ozai himself, she kneeled on the ground in front of him.

"Lord Ozai, I have found retired General Iroh your brother, and Prince Zuko. They are traveling with the Avatar. I saw them together in a small coastal town outside of Omashu."

"And I thought they could sink no lower." He sneered, the fire that surrounded his throne flaring up, and roaring, emitting stinging sparks.

"Very well, the guard will give you the money on the way out." He paused again. "You haven't seen my daughter, Azula, have you?"

"No, my Lord, I did not have the fortune to meet her." Jun replied, fighting to keep the flattering tone in her voice. She was in this for the money, not to grovel to the pleasure of the Fire Lord.

"Very well. You are dismissed."

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Notes: So, the five of them have spent a grand total of two weeks together. (Only two weeks, 9 chapters.. I have 10-11 more weeks to cover.. :D) Azula is dead, along with all the other firebender guards they fought. They had to kill them, because if they didn't, they'd report back to other guards and then find them again.. you know.. so they're all dead now.

The section where it says.. two weeks.. etc.. where Katara does her bending move, that's the day of the two weeks together. Starting from that point on is the next day I'm writing, so the next chapter will be a continuation of this day. Ya?

I TOTALLY made that waterbending move up. I don't even know if it's possible, and if it's not.. well... it's fanfiction! Yea.. I put in some mini-Zutara like moments.. nothing big at ALL, but, it's the most I can do at this point in the story.. please tell me if their 'relationship' ceases to be realistic, like if I make it go too quickly.

As for the Cave of Two Lovers.. I am in denial that they will kiss! They won't! So there!

Also Important: In this story, it takes around two weeks to get from the coast of the land-mass that Aang is currently on, to the capital of the Firenation, by boat. I don't know how accurate that is, but that's what I made it. Mmk?

Shorter chapter, I know.

-ai