A/N: sorry it's taken a while to continue. I've been sick and it's getting close to Christmas so I don't have as much time to write. Hope you like this chapter though. And a personal thanks to nikanuu for her/his review and suggestion. I will use some of them for my story and I give them credit for the ideas. Thank you so much and thanks to everyone for your reviews. Praise, criticisms, and suggestions are always welcome.

Chapter Fourteen

Katara stared at the door Zhao had just disappeared through in surprise. Her mind was still trying to sort out what had happened in what had been only minutes but had seemed like hours.

Did Zuko and I really-? Did Zhao just-? What about-? Thousands of unfinished questions whirled through her head, none of them complete except one. What is Zuko going to do now?

She didn't have to wait long for that answer.

"UNLCE!" Zuko shouted, beating his fist against the locked door. "Uncle!" They heard a crash from somewhere down the hall and, after a minute, footsteps hurrying towards them.

"Prince Zuko! Where are you?" Iroh called down the deserted hallway.

"We're in here!" Zuko shouted back, banging on the door for emphasis.

There was a click and the door opened to reveal Iroh standing on the other side looking slightly guilty. "I'm sorry Prince Zuko; it appears I dozed off while enjoying my cup of tea. What happened?" He cast a worried glance at Zuko and Katara who had picked herself up from the bed and walked over to stand behind Zuko.

"Admiral Zhao was here. He's taken the artifact, there's no time to lose! We must stop him!"

"I will tell the Captain to set all engines to full speed. I assume Zhao is headed for the Temple?" Iroh asked.

"Yes."

"We will head directly there then. We should reach it by day break." With that Iroh turned and headed quickly up the hall towards the Captain's room.

"Zuko?" Katara asked cautiously. She could no longer deny that she had feeling for the exiled Prince but even after there brief kiss she still wasn't sure how he was going to react to her, especially now that she had lost him the artifact.

He turned to face her, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "What?" he asked, his tone troubled.

"Don't…don't you think there's something odd going on here? If Zhao wants you dead then why didn't he just kill you then instead of just taking the artifact? He said he was going to use the artifact as a way to frame you, to say he killed you when you resisted arrest but he left you live even after he got what he came for."

He raised his head to look at her for the first time since Zhao had left. He blinked, as if he had forgotten she was there. "Are you ok?" he asked suddenly, his glance skimming from her injured wrist to her face which had received a slight cut somehow when Zhao had pushed her away.

Katara stared at him in surprise. That was defiantly not the answer she had expected. "Yes." She said when she found her voice again. "I'm fine. But what about Zhao?"

Zuko shrugged. "Maybe he changed his mind. Since he got the artifact he may have decided it wasn't worth it to kill me, perhaps he thinks that I can't possibly reach him before he completes the ceremony and the Avatar becomes helpless."

"Aang.." Katara gasped quietly. In all that had happened she had completely forgotten about Aang and Sokka. She hoped they were safe for the time being.

"Where is he?" Zuko asked, sitting down on the bed and staring at Katara. There was a slight lurch as the ship started to move at a fast speed and Katara set down beside him to keep from losing her balance.

She didn't answer. She wasn't sure what to say. She wanted to tell him the truth but she didn't know if she could trust him yet.

"Fine, you don't have to tell me. I just thought I could help." Zuko said, glancing at the floor. Katara bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

"He….he was captured by soldiers in the fire nation along with Sokka, my brother. I don't know where they took them. I had to leave them though! I couldn't help it, there was no choice! If I didn't then they would have no one to help them escape!" Katara's voice had risen with each sentence. An overwhelming desire to justify her actions had overcome her and she didn't know if it was towards Zuko or if she was trying to ease her own troubled mind. A single tear ran down her cheek and she turned her head quickly away so Zuko wouldn't see but she wasn't fast enough.

He gently touched her chin so that she had to turn back to face him and wiped the tear away with his thumb. "You did what you had to."

"Thanks." She whispered. They were silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.

"So what are you going to do now?" Katara asked finally.

"I think I have a plan." Zuko replied. "Well, it's not exactly complete, but the beginning of one. Since Zhao took the Fire Nation artifact, he must have the three others as well. So all we have to do is get to the temple and stop him."

"But I thought you wanted this ceremony to happen." Katara said hesitantly.

"I do, I did that is. But I'm beginning to think it may be a bad idea." Zuko held his head in his hands. "There must be a reason that this temple, this magic has been hidden for so long. And if Zhao wants to use it so bad, I don't think I want any part in it."

"Oh." Katara answered quietly. She was relieved in a way but she couldn't help feeling extremely sad as she thought about the fact that once they stopped Zhao she would have to leave Zuko, maybe forever. For he could never stop hunting the Avatar and she could never abandon her friends. More tears slid down her face, no matter how hard she tried to stop them.

Zuko studied her for a moment, as if truly seeing her for the first time. Then he slid his hand into his pocket. "I have something for you."

Katara looked at him in surprise.

"Close your eyes." Zuko said, smiling slightly. Katara looked at him for a moment, trying to see what he was thinking but finally closed her eyes. She sat there for a moment then suddenly she felt something slide around her neck. She opened her eyes and gasped in complete shock.

"My necklace!" she whispered, staring at it as Zuko gently lifted her hair and fastened the blue necklace around her neck. She turned and stared at him in complete amazement. "You're giving it to me?"

"Well, technically I'm returning it." He said with a slight smile. "Since it wasn't exactly mine to begin with. You lost it the day-" He was saying but before he could finish his sentence, Katara had practically tackled him in a hug. He stared in surprise at the top of her head which was lying against his chest, then slowly let his arms circle around her and hugged her back. Slowly she raised her head slightly to gaze up at him and when Uncle Iroh came back he found them lying together on the bed kissing passionately.

"Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked, tapping lightly on the half-closed door. "We are passing the Fire Nation and I believe it would be best to stop and get some supplies and weapons before we go on."

"Mmphmm." Zuko tried to answer but found it slightly hard to talk while kissing. With great reluctance he and Katara sat back up and she tried to smooth out her hair.

"Fine, fine. Whatever you think is best Uncle. After all, you were a commander once."

"Alright." Iroh said, hiding his smile as the two teens resumed kissing as soon as he had turned away.

"Wait." Katara said as Zuko was about to wrap his arms around her again. "If we're going to the Fire Nation again…" she trailed off, uncertain of whether or not to say what was on her mind.

"You want to rescue your friends." Zuko finished for her. His hands dropped back down to his sides and he gazed off into space. "I don't know. I have to admit we could use the extra help in dealing with Zhao but it would cost us valuable time to rescue them." He thought for a moment. "Alright, here's what we'll do. If we can rescue them before nightfall then we will. It's almost dawn and Zhao won't start the ritual until night time. He always worked best under the cover of darkness. But if we can't…" He looked at Katara.

"I know." She whispered, not wanting to finish the sentence out loud.

"Wait, what about your wrist? I can't believe I forgot about it!" Zuko said, gently taking her injured hand. "You can't fight like this."

Katara was about to answer when she felt a strange heat spreading through her hand. At first she thought it was from Zuko but then she realized her hand was turning red. Zuko noticed it to and quickly let go, thinking he had caused it.

"What's going on?" he asked in confusion.

"I don't know!" Katara gasped. "Can I have a bowl of water? It feels like my wrist is burning!"

He quickly filled a small bowl with water and Katara gently set her hand in it. She was bout to say something when there was a flash. They both gasped in complete shock as the water was suddenly filled with a strange blue light that encircled Katara's wrist. It looped around and around it until suddenly there was a bright flash and it went out.

Katara raised her hand, shaking slightly. The burning hand stopped with the light and so had the pain. "I-I think it's healed." She gasped in amazement.

"You're a healer?" Zuko asked, equally shocked.

"I don't know! That's never happened before." Katara moved her wrist gently. They both sat in silence for awhile. Suddenly Katara looked up at Zuko and stared at him intently.

"Katara?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Katara didn't answer. She was very still, then slowly she dipped her hand back into the water and raised it, dripping. She gently pressed her hand against his face.

"Katara? What are you-" Suddenly there was a second flash of light and Katara lowered her hand with a slight gasp. Zuko froze, hardly daring to believe the only explanation he could think of for what she had just done. Then slowly, shaking slightly, he raised himself from the bed and walked over to the tiny mirror on the wall. For a second he couldn't bring himself to look into it. Then with a deep breath he did.

His scar was gone.