I'm really trying to update as fast as I can go so I can be done with this story cuz I have too many different plots in mind. So... enjoy!

CHAPTER SIX – FEELINGS REVEALED

Iroh hummed merrily to himself as he exited a tea shop, carrying several packages in his arms. He walked down a long, narrow street with dozens of poles on either side. Each pole was a different size, as if the maker couldn't measure correctly. But, all the poles had one thing in common. They each had a large poster covering it. And this wasn't just any poster. It was one that meant celebration to some, defeat to others, but it was very important to everyone.

Iroh didn't notice these posters until he reached the last one, when a single word caught his eye: avatar. Immediately, the old man turned to read the poster. It was a victory notice displayed proudly in a fire nation port.

Iroh ripped off one poster and took it with him. He hurried back to the ship, eager to report the news to Zuko.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Katara sat awkwardly beside Zuko, fingering the present she'd received from the tall lady. Was this some kind of joke? She was supposed to… "enjoy" this? Katara frowned as she remembered the lady's words. How could she enjoy something that didn't suit her at all?

In Katara's lap lay the present. It was a thin, silk nightdress made of the richest fabric. The edges were trimmed with lace and the entire dress itself wasn't much bigger than a large book. Katara had to admit the dress, with its deep blue color, was a beautiful article of clothing. But how could she wear it? In really blunt words, she was simply too modest to wear something so showy.

The silence was broken by Iroh, who rushed breathlessly into the room, almost dropping the boxes of tea and the needles and thread he was holding. He managed to set them on the table before unrolling a poster in front of Zuko. The fire prince scanned over the words and snatched away the poster for a closer look.

"That's impossible", he growled angrily. Katara looked worriedly at Iroh, but he simply shook his head. Zuko slammed the poster down on to the table and stormed out of the room.

Katara leaned forward and cautiously took the poster in her hands. She read the bulletin several times until it registered clearly in her mind. It was an announcement that proudly boasted Princess Zula of the fire nation. She had captured the avatar. Immediately, Katara felt fear creeping over her. She was worried about the safety of her friend.

But, they wouldn't harm Aang, would they? If he died, a new avatar would be reborn and the fire nation would have to find him or her all over again. Katara decided this was reasonable and she relaxed momentarily.

Then, the waterbender remembered the fire prince. Of course he'd be angry! If his sister caught the avatar, it meant Zuko would never be able to return home. Katara knew how much Zuko's pride and honor meant to him and she felt sorry for him. But, he didn't want pity. He wanted help.

Filled with determination, Katara left the room to find Zuko. She promised herself she'd find a way to help the prince. At the main entrance to the ship, Katara ran into several crew members who informed her that the ship would be leaving soon. They also told her they'd seen Zuko storm down the hall to his room. Thanking the firebenders, Katara hurried off in a different direction. She made her way down two corridors and stopped at a large door that led to Zuko's room.

Cautiously, Katara pushed it open to reveal Zuko sitting angrily on his bed. She dared to enter and sit beside him, but was afraid to speak.

Finally, Katara gathered up all the courage she could muster and was about to say something, but Zuko stood up abruptly.

"I bet you're gloating, aren't you?' he asked quietly.

"What?" Katara was quite taken back at this harsh comment.

"You've been helping the avatar run from me, and we've always been enemies. And now I lost", he said roughly.

"You made yourself the enemy! I was only trying to help Aang! And why would I be happy that he's been captured?" Katara demanded.

"I wouldn't know how your mind works", Zuko replied bitterly.

"Look, I didn't come here to start an argument. You probably won't believe me, but I actually wanted to help. Besides, Aang is my friend and I don't want him to be captured", Katara explained. Zuko sighed and turned to look at her.

"I don't get it. You know I would capture your little friend the first change I have, yet you still insist on helping me?"

"Because you only want him so you can return home. It's reasonable for human nature to make you feel this way", Katara said, sounding very much like a teacher.

"No, it's not! I'm just selfish, remember? You said so yourself!" Zuko growled, his temper flaring. Katara looked at him sadly and spoke in a calm voice, "Fine, don't think of it as help. Let's pretend I'm selfish too and all I want is my friend back". She gave him one last look and left the room, on the verge of tears.

She ran into Iroh in the hallway and before she knew it, Katara was hurrying in the opposite direction with tears running down her face. She made it into her room and quickly locked the door before collapsing on the bed. Why was she crying over a simple fight? Katara asked herself this question in her head, but her heart knew the answer. Her tears were tears of disappointment. She felt let down that any good relationship she might have had with the prince was now destroyed. Why did she care so much anyways? A week ago they had been enemies, and just a few minutes ago, she'd been more than willing to help him.

Katara tried to convince herself that all she felt for Zuko was pity. She wanted to believe that her pity for him was the only thing that caused her to care. But deep down, Katara knew there was more. A lot more. Spending a week in an enclosed area with the banished prince had taught Katara to appreciate him. Through this one person, she'd experienced more fights and arguments than her whole lifetime. To add to this, the waterbender realized that all the intimate moments of her life had been with Zuko. She'd openly talked to him about her mother, a subject she rarely mentioned. And, according to Iroh, Zuko had willingly told Katara about himself, when he rarely liked to talk at all.

So, could they have had something special? Katara shook her head and sighed. It really was no use telling herself all these lies. She wanted to stay away from Zuko before he could make her feel worse. Katara sighed again and lay down on her bed. It was only a little before noon, but she felt exhausted.

Before Katara even had time to close her eyes, a knock sounded at the door. She was sure it was Iroh and for a moment, Katara considered ignoring it. Then, she remembered the kind old man and decided it would be better not to. Reluctantly, Katara slipped out of bed and began walking across the room. She was almost there when a voice took her by surprise.

"Open the freaking door! I know you're in there", Zuko's cold voice rang out. Katara hmphed and dragged open the door. She wanted more than anything to slam the door in Zuko's face, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"What do you want?" she asked, eyeing him warily.

"To talk", Zuko demanded, but his voice had softened. Katara allowed him in and they each took a seat beside a small table.

"You aren't talking", Katara said flatly after a moment of silence.

"Fine. My uncle came in after you ran out, and he claimed there was a shortcut we could take from here so we could reach the fire nation at the same time, or maybe a little after, Zula arrives", Zuko told her.

"Is that all he said?" Katara asked, wanting to end this conversation.

"No… he also talked about…" Zuko paused and looked around uncomfortably.

"What?" Katara asked impatiently.

"Us. He talked about you… and me… and us", Zuko replied.

"What about us?" Katara asked, remembering what the tall lady had told her.

"He's disappointed that we're always fighting. And honestly, I would do almost anything to keep my uncle happy. So… I'm sorry", Zuko sounded somewhat reluctant to say this, but Katara knew it took the proud prince just about everything to say those two words.

"You know, I really wish we could agree sometimes", Katara murmured.

"Don't expect me to comply to all your wishes too", Zuko retorted.

"That wasn't what I meant!" Katara protested with a frown.

"Sure sounded like it", Zuko replied smugly. Katara's mouth dropped open, shocked that he would dare say something so mean after they'd just sort of made up.

"What's that supposed to me?" she yelled.

"Nothing", the prince smirked. Katara shook her head and decided to change the subject.

"What will we do after we arrive at the fire nation?" she asked.

"Nothing. We do nothing. You help your friend and I try to kill you. Like it's been before", Zuko said, sounding almost sad.

"What? Why don't you kill me now? I thought - "

"There's nothing to think about! We can only survive in this world as enemies", Zuko interrupted.

"Why aren't we enemies now?" Katara asked.

"There's no one around", Zuko answered in a flat voice.

"So you can only be decent to me when no one's looking?" Katara was outraged. There wasn't anything wrong with her, so why was Zuko feeling like this?

"It's not you. It's me and my honor. I don't expect someone like you to understand", Zuko sounded tired.

"Why is it always someone like me? There is no one like me! But there are people like you! They let what other people think control themselves! They think honor is more important than the other joys of life! What is wrong with you!" Katara screamed in frustration.

"You want to know what's wrong with me? I'll tell you what's fucking wrong with me! I'm being ripped in half. I have a father on one side and with him comes my kingdom, my throne, and my honor! My other side consists of a bitch who's everywhere in my life. She annoys the hell out of me during the day and haunts my dreams at night. And now I'm going insane because of her!" Zuko yelled in reply.

"I'm driving you insane?" Katara asked. She'd always thought it was the other way around. She was annoyed by him, yet always wanted and needed him to be around for some strange reason.

"Yes", Zuko growled.

"How? How does that make you insane?" Katara challenged. Zuko stood up abruptly and took Katara's hand. He shoved her roughly against the wall and pressed his lips fully against hers. She was too shocked to respond at first, but Katara soon found herself feeling completely comfortable with what was happening. She dared to kiss him back and felt a shiver run up her spine when Zuko wrapped his arms around her.

When the couple finally broke apart for air, Katara felt a mix of emotions swirling around in her. She had fallen for the enemy. Did that mean she had betrayed Aang and Sokka? She felt torn between her duty as a friend and what she really desired. She really hoped she didn't have to choose a side, because that would have been impossible.

"You feel it now? Fell torn apart? That's how I've felt", Zuko answered her question.

"But, there's always a solution", Katara said, feeling desperate. She had to admit that at the moment, she would have chosen to be with Zuko. This made her feel guilty and she hated the feeling.

"No. After we get off the ship, there'll be dozens of forces trying to tear us apart. The whole world is going to object", Zuko stated.

"You can't say that", Katara whispered.

"I just did", Zuko countered firmly. He still had Katara in his arms and she was now resting her head against his chest. The waterbender shook her head and buried her face in his shirt, gripping his arms tightly. He held her too, feeling like a heavy load had been lifted. He felt relieved that Katara didn't stop talking to him. He had been worried that if he'd told her how he felt, she would have laughed or rejected him. Instead, she had pretty much admitted she felt the same way.

The couple had won their internal battles, but now they had to face the rest of the world.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Nighttime was arriving and the ship had already set course for the fire nation. Zuko and Katara had found Iroh, who showed them a map. He said that the shortcut would give them good time, but there was a small section of the waters that consisted of a narrow waterway with many large rocks

Also, Iroh claimed a storm was approaching and the waters would be dangerous. Zuko had insisted that they go through the shortcut. He boasted that nothing could stop the ship. No matter how much Katara or Iroh protested, Zuko was stubborn. Nothing could change his determination, and Katara had to admit she admired this.

They stood at the edge of the ship, watching the upcoming rocks in the distant that were steadily growing larger. The rain started falling, proving Iroh's theory about the storm to be correct.

"The gaps between those rocks aren't nearly large enough for the ship!" Katara pointed out with one hand while shielding her face from the rain with the other.

"No. There's going to be a way", Zuko argued. He left Katara on the deck and headed down to the steering room, planning to take control of the wheel himself. He burst into the room, but the captain wasn't willing to hand over the ship. A heated argument was started and Iroh arrived in time to break it up.

Huffing angrily, Zuko returned to the deck beside Katara.

"Maybe you can use fire bending and move the rocks or something", she suggested. Zuko nodded and blasted away a jagged rock with fire as the ship approached the narrow waterway. He worked tirelessly, blowing up the rocks that could possibly harm the ship.

The rain was falling harder now, and Katara could barely see. She moved closer to Zuko and waved her arms above their heads, creating a shield made of water. The rocky waters were getting worse and more firebenders had joined to help out. Zuko, seeing that the storm was slowly winning, yelled for Katara to go inside where it would be safer. She hesitated and was reluctant to do so, but there was a feeling of desperation inside her. She felt almost sure that the ship would fall into pieces from the rocks, but she wasn't willing to leave Zuko outside.

Katara was inches away from the door leading to safety, but she paused as a thought went into her mind. Waterbending. As a waterbender, she could try doing something the firebenders couldn't. The ship rocked to one side as the waves crashed in it and lightning filled the sky. Everyone was soaked in the freezing ocean water, but no one was willing to give up. This was a fight they would fight till the end.

Katara hurried to the front end of the ship and looked down at the stormy waves. She took a deep breath and concentrated hard, pushing all her extra thoughts out of the way. She slowly lifted both arms and the water under the ship rose, allowing all the rocks to sink under. Katara let out a sigh and continued to concentrate. She moved the water in large, gentler waves so that the ship sailed over the rocky area as if it were gliding.

Everyone else on the ship froze and watched her work, awed that so much power radiated from such a small figure. It wasn't until the ship had safely made it through the narrow waterway that everyone could relax again.

Katara sank to the ground, almost completely drained of energy. She hung onto the railing of the ship, gasping for breath. Zuko made his way to her side and gently helped her up. She collapsed in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck, a smile playing lightly on her face. She had helped him, just like she promised herself she would.

Zuko buried his face into her soaked hair and inhaled her intoxicating scent. They remained this way while the crew, torn and tattered, circled them and cheered wildly. In the distance, the lands of the fire nation were visible. They were close. Very close.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

So… how was that? I really liked the last two paragraphs… but other than that, this chapter was average. Not as good as I wanted it to be. Sorry for any proofreading mistakes, but I'm really trying XD