I'm SO sorry it took me forever to put this up guys! I had lots of school work to do, including an 8 page paper...who would want to type after that?...not me! XD So yeah, I hope you accept my apology, and to help you forgive me, here's the fourth chapter! Enjoy!

Triumph Over Two

Chapter 4: Fire Bender, Attack!

Previously:

"Oh no..." Aang whispered as he backed up slowly, not letting his guard down. Suddenly one of them stepped forward, an evil smirk on his face.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Aang's ears were ringing as the foe approached him, a malevolent smile still lurking on his face. It was one of confidence, one that seemed impervious. It frightened Aang to know that he may have gotten stronger while he was lounging about on the beach with Katara and Sokka. He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath, trying to hide his apparent fear.

"What do you want Zuko?"

Aang's voice was low, yet quivering. Prince Zuko breathed out his nose and shook his head slightly.

"I'm just here to capture you. You are my only chance of having good graces with my father."

Aang crossed his arms.

"If he had wanted you back, he would have taken you back long before I ever came around," Aang replied, frustrating Prince Zuko to the point where flames were engulfing his clenched fists. Suddenly the fear that was in Aang vanished, and his confidence rose up. He held his head slightly higher.

Prince Zuko stepped forward again, this time so close to Aang's face that he could smell his horrible breath.

"Why does everyone say that? He obviously predicted that you would come around, and decided to let me catch you for him!" Zuko defended himself quite well, but anyone could see right through his lie.

"Let's see you try to catch me!"

Aang jumped in the air and leaped several yards back to distance himself from the fiery prince. He quickly turned to look at his companions, fear flashing across their faces. It was obvious now that this was a serious thing, and Aang now had to take responsibility to protect his friends from harm.

He swivelled his head back around to face Prince Zuko, his eyes set and his body unmoving. This was it, it was now or never that he defeated him.

Aang set his feet.

"Let's see what you've got, Avatar!" Prince Zuko teased. "Or are you too chicken to face me?"

Aang felt a sudden rush of anger flow through him, overcoming his whole body. His knuckles turned white from holding his fists together so tight, and his knees were locked.

Before the prince could make any more snide comments, he was flung across the field backwards. A giant gust of wind had appeared out of what seemed nowhere, but there Aang stood, hands poised in front of him, an icy cold look on his face.

As quickly as he had been flown back, Prince Zuko jumped to his feet.

"Heh..is THAT the best you've got?"

Before Aang could reply or even move, a ball of fire glided through the air and hit Aang squarely on the chest. He was suddenly thrown to the ground, and, as luck would have it, he was now unconscious. Katara and Sokka ran up to him in a state of panic, leaving their safe place.

Prince Zuko reared his head and laughed, his men following him.

"Did he honestly think that he could defeat me?" He said, then looked down at the unconscious Avatar. "Oh well, this will make an easy capture."

The prince made his way towards Aang, ready to pick him up and carry him away, when Katara jumped up and defensively stood in front of Sokka and Aang.

Prince Zuko snorted.

"As if you could protect him! I know you are in love with him and all, but you are too weak to do anything against ME."

At this point, Katara's blood was boiling. How could he say that to her? And saying that she was in lo–.

She paused in her thoughts. Could it be, that after all this time, she was slowly but surely falling in love with the avatar?

She immediately became lose and her shoulders slumped slightly, all of her muscles no longer tense.

"I am right then? You are in love with him?...and you are weak?" Prince Zuko interrupted the silence with his arrogant comments. She tensed again and looked down.

"I may be weak...and...and I may be in l-love with Aang..."Sokka gasped, but she continued. "But I will not let you take him away from me and Sokka, even if it kills me!"

She rapidly looked up, her eyes aflame with hatred. Prince Zuko started to back away as she got into some sort of unknown position. As suddenly as she had raised her head and positioned herself, she had gathered up water from the ocean and sprayed it forcefully, covering the fire bender army.

Standing there sulking was Prince Zuko, steam arising from his suit, and his hair plastered to his head. He lifted his head slightly and gave Katara a defiant look.

"You have won this time, you measly water bender, but next time you will all perish, and the Avatar shall be mine!"

In a flash the fire nation army disappeared, leaving an angry Katara, a shocked Sokka, a tied up Appa, and a badly injured Aang.

Katara whirled around in horror.

"Aang!"

She rushed over to him and dropped to her knees by his side, tears welling up in her eyes. Never before had she seen him in this bad of condition: burn marks on his arms and chest, blood slowly trickling down the side of his face, and his bottom lip swollen slightly.

Looking down at him, she began to cry.

Prince Zuko's hit must have been powerful...he looks...dead.

She shook off the thought, and gently took his hand in hers. How she had wished she told him how she felt before all of this happened. Although she had tried to wait for the perfect opportunity, it seemed as though she passed by it without even realizing it. She squeezed his hand gently.

"I'm so sorry, Aang. I wish it didn't happen this way..." She trailed off as her tears freely fell onto the ground and Aang's clothing. Eyes shut tight, she didn't notice the pair of blue eyes staring back at her.

"Katara, what's wrong?"

It was quiet, solemn, raspy. Yet, she knew the voice the moment it left his lips. Immediately she opened her eyes to see Aang looking at her, a content look on his face.

"Aang I thought you were–"

"Dead?"

He finished the sentence for her. Her eyes became downcast, not really wanting to look him in the eye.

He gently wiped away the tears with his thumb.

"It's all okay now. I'm alive, you and Sokka are alive, and Appa's alive. That's all that matters."

She nodded, not fully comprehending what he said. Staring into his eyes always seemed to draw her in, and she seemed to forget about everything around her.

He gently shook her shoulder.

"Huh?..oh, I'm sorry. I'm just–getting over this whole thing, that's all,"

She bit her lip, hoping he would buy it. Smiling he sat up and appeared merely inches from her face.

"It's not that big of a deal. Besides, we're bound to run into him again, and it'll probably be worse–much worse."

Sokka appeared beside him.

"You are supposed to make her feel better, not give her the gloom and doom!"

Aang looked up and frowned at his friend, not really understanding that it freaked Katara out knowing they would be fighting him again.

"I wasn't! I was just letting her know the truth!"

Sokka bonked him on the head with a nearby stick.

"You are so daft," Sokka replied. Aang rubbed his head.

"Okay, whatever. Let's go before anything else happens."

Aang stood up, and took Katara's hand, helping her up to her feet as well. Soon they were walking side by side through the green pasture. Aang gasped.

"We can't leave Appa!"

He rushed back to his companions side and untied him, allowing him the freedom to finally stand on all six feet.

Aang reappeared beside his friends.

"Okay, we can go now."

"Hey, do you think we should go back to see Gran-Gran and check up on them before we head off to neverland?"

Sokka suggested as he looked over Appa, the grains of sand slowly moving due to the slight wind. Aang and Katara mounted Appa and sat beside Sokka.

"Of course we should! They aren't too far from here, and besides, it'll be nice to actually see Gran-Gran...and she can give us an official farewell?"

Katara eyed Aang, who apparently didn't hear, as he was fixing the reins on Appa's horns. Sokka sighed.

"Aang!"

He turned his head, eyes moving from one person to the other, unaware of what was going on.

"What?"

"Should we go back to see Gran-Gran? I mean, I miss her, and I would like to have an official farewell from all of them..."

Aang gave them a smile of approval.

"Of course! We might get flock for it, but it will be nice to actually say goodbye to them."

Aang yanked the reins and said the magic words, and in a matter of moments they were above the town and over the water.

Katara looked up and stared at the wide open blue sky. There were no clouds, just the warm sun shining down on them. Her thoughts were set on Aang.

I wonder how his wounds are doing? He took a pretty hard hit, and it was as if it didn't bother him at all...

She trailed off as she looked over to Aang, and noticed his wounds were no longer there. Her mouth dropped slightly at the sight of it. It's impossible for wounds to heal that fast...isn't it?

Eventually nightfall was upon them, and the cool air and slight wind tickled their skin. Below, the water was dark and mysterious, and above, the sky was infinite and never ending. In the middle of these two phenomenons was a giant flying bison and four passengers: Aang, Sokka, Katara, and MoMo.

MoMo was sitting quietly on top of Appa's head, ears up and alert, tail wagging back and forth ever so often. It was the first time in a while he had actually been silent.

Behind him at Appa's neck was Sokka, who stared blankly ahead at the vast ocean that lay before him. It wasn't every day that you see him sitting quietly and unmoving. The atmosphere was certainly calming.

In the back of Appa's seat lay Aang, his breathing even and a faint glow appeared around his face. Though his eyes were open, he had turned to where it looked like he was asleep. Many thoughts swirled in his head.

Did Katara really admit that she loved me?

He looked from the back of the seat over to Katara, who was curled up comfortably against the side of the seat, her face somewhat expressionless. Although he was knocked unconscious, he could still hear voices: Prince Zuko's teasing and mocking...and Katara's replies...

He turned over and faced the sky, gazing at the millions of stars that were scattered across the velvet sky. It was definitely a sight to see.

Soon, the three friends were sound asleep, the only noise was the wind blowing gently across the ocean and the waves crashing on rocks and icebergs.

Soon, dawn rose, and everyone was already awake, just sitting there, staring at eachother.

"Do you think Gran-Gran will be mad?"

Katara broke the silence, and her question seemed to puzzle everyone on board of Appa. It was no question that Gran-Gran would be upset, but would she actually be angry? No one had an answer, so the two boys shrugged.

"You guys are a big help," Katara said, gaining two glares from her friends. She didn't notice.

MoMo began to jump up and down, pointing strait ahead. Aang jumped to his feet and ran up to where the reins sat comfortably on Appa's neck. He smiled.

"Land!"

The other two followed and gazed ahead, seeing the village right there in plain sight. Katara covered her mouth with excitement.

"We get to see everyone again!"

As they began to land, they noticed it was quiet. Too quiet. Aang slid off of Appa and carefully approached the village, everyone else behind him.

Katara suddenly broke into a run.

"Gran-Gran! We're...he–"

She stopped suddenly as she scanned over what lay before her. When the other two caught up to her, they stopped dead in their tracks and, mouth agape, stood absolutely still.

Aang was the first to speak.

"What...who..."

Haha! Another cliffie! I'm excited!

Anyway, thanks for being so patient with me guys. I will hopefully have the next chapter up much sooner than this one. And yes, I did put a little action in there...although it sucked. I must admit I'm not good with fight scenes...please forgive me.

And I did try to put a little friction between Aang and Katara. I don't want to rush into it, because then it will lose it's excitement as to when they will tell each other or what will happen between them next. I don't like rushing into that stuff...because when I read, I like it to be that way.

Thanks so much guys! Hope you liked it!