Thank God, FF is finally working! As a treat, chaps eight and nine in one night!

Day Ten

When I woke up the next morning, Zuko had already gotten up, but was no where to be found as far as I could tell. Memories of what he had shared with me last night flooded into my mind, making me sad again.

Suddenly, I saw a familiar white ball of fur above me. "Momo!" I called out, waving him down. Momo squeaked and flew at me, landing on my shoulder. "How are Aang and Sokka? Are they dry?" Momo cocked his head. I sighed. "Aang?" He understood that and pointed to my necklace. I looked at him. "Aang wants me to give you this as a sign you found me?" Momo grabbed for my pendant. I sighed. "I'll take that as a yes." Reaching up behind my neck, I thought of something better.

"Momo, take this tie to Aang. It has my name embossed on it, so Sokka will recognize it," I said, untying the end of my braid. Momo snatched the leather strap from my hand and flew off. I smiled and looked around. Still no Zuko. "Where could he have gone?" I muttered, leaving the gazebo. Shrugging, I headed down a path I thought led to the ivies that grew the garden. I was wrong.

Not long after I lost sight of the gazebo, a strange, unpleasant smell permeated the air around me. "Smells like Sokka's dirty socks," I murmured, brushing aside a willow's low-hanging branches. I gasped.

There were the bodies of hundreds of dead Earthbenders, half-eaten, all around this…hellhole is the only word that could possibly describe it. Bones, pieces of shredded clothing, and human hair was scattered about helter-skelter. "Spirits help me," I whispered. "What happened?"

I got my answer when I looked closer. There, next to the bodies, were the carcasses of dead giant shark birds. The horrible monsters had the teeth of a full-grown adult male shark, with the talons of a hawk. The rest was a horrible mutation of shark and bird, whose sole purpose was to kill and scavenge.

I had wondered why there no bodies down in the village; if they had died in a flood, there would have been bodies scattered everywhere. Now I knew why. The birds had dragged the bodies to their nests. With time, they killed off each other in hunger and basic animal savagery. Without thinking, I turned and ran…

…Right into Zuko. I was no more than three yards from the nesting grounds when I found Zuko by sheer accident. He took one look at my face and took me by my shoulders.

"Katara, what happened? Katara, breathe!" I let the breath I didn't realize I had been holding out. I panted as I explained.

"The bodies…giant shark birds got them…oh, Zuko." I nearly fell over in a faint. Dimly, I felt Zuko hold me against his chest.

"The bodies of the villagers? Giant shark birds ate them?" I nodded. As I opened my mouth to say more, Zuko stopped me. "No, don't say anything. I'll be right back." Zuko ran off in the direction I had come from.

Ten minutes later, I saw a thin line of smoke rising from that awful mass grave. Zuko came back about three minutes after that smoke had gone. I wanted to go to him, but I felt unable to move. Zuko came up to me.

"The bodies are burned, but that smell will take months to go away," he said, looking back. I nodded, then trembled. The sight was just awful. I felt lightheaded, sick to my stomach, chilly, and my breathing was shallow. The wind blew strands of my hair across my face.

Zuko studied me. "Katara, are you all right? You seem paler than usual." Before I could reply, I fainted.

I don't know how long I was out. When I came to, I thought there was an earthquake going on because the ground beneath me was moving. Moving my hands, I realized that, once again, Prince Zuko had me in his arms, carrying me back to the gazebo. I didn't question why I felt safe in his arms, I didn't stop to ask why I felt reluctant to leave his embrace. I just let myself feel safe and at peace.

"Katara, are you awake?" Zuko asked, not stopping.

"Yeah. How long was I out?" I questioned, rubbing my forehead.

"About ten minutes," he explained. "We're about halfway to the gazebo now." I nodded. I think Zuko expected me to demand he put me down, but I didn't. "Hold on." I looked down to see a log had fallen in the path and Zuko needed to jump over it. Silently, I hung onto Zuko's shoulders as he went around the log. I frowned.

"I thought you were going to jump the log," I remarked.

"I was going to, but then I saw the way around it," Zuko muttered. Somehow, I didn't think that was the case, but I didn't say anything; I didn't let go of Zuko either, for some reason. What was going on between the Fire Prince and me?

Nothing that wouldn't have had happened anyway.

What was that supposed to mean? Zuko and I hate, well, used to hate each other. (Spending days trapped in a garden on a cursed island will erase any bad feelings toward whoever you're stuck with.) But, if we didn't hate each other, what did we think of the other?

I groaned inwardly. All this thinking was hurting my head.

The gazebo loomed up ahead. "Try walking, Katara," Zuko said, setting me down gently, on my feet. I took a few wobbly steps towards the steps that led up to the gazebo and nodded.

"I'm a bit dizzy, but otherwise I'm fine," I said, turning Zuko. He nodded.

"Good. You're heavy for being so small," he commented. I put my hands my hips.

"Excuse me? I was the lightest in the South Pole, even with my parka on," I retorted.

"If I remember, you and your brother were the skinniest ones there," the prince said. I stuck my tongue out at him. He was right, but he had no reason to say it.

I paused. "Yeah, well, at least Waterbenders can swim," I teased. Zuko laughed.

"Who says Firebenders can't swim?"

"Haven't seen one who can yet," I pointed out. Zuko smirked. "What? Are you telling me you can?" I snorted. "Prove it."

Zuko got cocky with me. "I don't have to prove anything to you, peasant." Thinking fast, I shot a water whip at him and ran. Shaking the water off, Zuko took chase. I ran straight to the fence that kept the waters out. I jumped on top of the fence; Zuko followed suit.

"Bet I can knock you down," I taunted, sending a small wave over Zuko's feet, freezing the right one.

"Not without cheating," Zuko teased. He tried to kick my feet out from under me, but I dodged. "No bending. It's overcast and that's gives you an unfair advantage." I nodded. Zuko tried to get behind me, but I stuck my foot out (the fence was about as wide as a block of ice that my people used to make igloos from) and tripped Zuko. He landed in the water below.

"Gotcha," I smirked. Zuko went under, but came up soon.

"Help me out of here," he demanded. "It's cold!" I laughed as I bent down to lend the sodden Fire Prince a hand. Zuko smirked in a semi-evil way and pulled me into the water. With a splash, I went under.

I broke the surface of the water spluttering. "You bastard," I said, shaking out my hair. "Talk about taking a cheap shot." Zuko was standing in the shallower part of the water, laughing. "Well, since you're wet, might as well prove you can swim," I said, turning to him. He stopped laughing and sighed.

"Fine." I watched as Zuko dove under and swam over. "There," he said, breaking the surface. "Happy?"

I nodded, sinking a bit lower in the water. "I admit it, I was wrong. Firebenders can swim," I said. Zuko looked at me oddly.

"What's the matter?" I blushed. He had to ask, didn't he?

"Well, I'm wet and my dress just happens to be clinging to me," I said with a little acid in my voice. "I am also very, um, modest." Zuko thought about it, then got an evil glint in his eye. I shook my head. "You are not going to chase me into the shallows!"

"Of course not," he said. Suddenly, I felt the water heat up very rapidly, making steam rise. That bastard was heating the water up so I'd run to the wall and get out of the water. I'd show him.

I made a small circle of cooler water and kept that around me, blocking the hot water. It would do no good if Zuko moved much closer, but he didn't know that, did he?

He apparently did because Zuko realized what I was doing and moved closer, too close for the shield of water to work. "Your little Waterbending tricks aren't going to work, Katara," he murmured. "Fire evaporates water."

"And water douses fire," I quipped. "Your point?" I tried to hide it, but the sweat on my forehead was obvious. I was getting hot and couldn't stand the temperature of the water for much longer.

Finally, the heat got to me and I swam off, closer to the wall but not in the shallows. "You're just trying to embarrass me, aren't you?" I asked, fully ticked off at Zuko. The Fire Prince, not as agile as me in water, crept slowly closer, forcing me closer to the shallows. Zuko nodded, then dove under. Oh, great. Even driven, haunted princes are annoying when they reach puberty!

Gradually, the water near me got so hot, I began to feel lightheaded again. Even though I had tried, Zuko had beaten me in this battle. I dashed to the cool shallows and leaned up against the cold stone fence. I breathed a small sigh of relief; the water had gotten hotter than a fire, I swear. I used some of the shallows water to heal the pink spots on my skin that were turning into burns. "Bastard," I muttered. I got out of the water. It was still a bit overcast, but the clouds were clearing. I let my body cool by laying flat on the fence. The cool rocks soothed my heated skin. "When I see that prince again, I am going to…"

"Going to what, Katara?" I looked over to see Zuko about halfway out.

"This." I stuck my hand in the water and willed it to freeze. It didn't completely ice over, but it chilled it considerably. Zuko shivered and swam over to the fence.

"Help me up; it's really cold now," he stammered through chattering teeth. I smirked.

"Apologize for trying to embarrass me first," I demanded. Zuko shot me an evil glare and rolled his eyes.

He sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry." I nodded and lent Zuko a hand up, laughing as he shivered.

"Good thing this fence is so wide," I commented. "There wouldn't be enough room for both of us up here otherwise. Ack!" Zuko had pushed me into the icy water. "I repeat; you bastard." I shook the water from my eyes.

Zuko smirked and helped me up. "Now we're even." I nodded and shivered.

"Well, if I wasn't fully recovered from my fainting spell," I stated, "I am now. I didn't realize I had made the water that cold!" I couldn't stop shivering long enough to bend the water out of my clothing; the wind made it feel ten times colder than it was.

Zuko noticed my shivering, and probably my figure, which I had tried so hard to hide. (I lived with Sokka long enough to learn that if a girl had a nice figure, guys would stare or subtly glance frequently. I hoped Zuko would do neither; it was just too embarrassing.) I blushed when this thought crossed my mind and turned around, hoping to hide. Suddenly, warm hands touched my shoulders, sending a small wave of warmth through me. Before I could react, the arms attached to those hands wrapped around me.

I let Zuko's warmth fill me, taking away the cold. I didn't move away, as Zuko probably expected. I didn't even tense. I just stood there, as if nothing out of the ordinary was occurring between him and me. (Oh, Spirits Above, I hoped Momo wasn't looking for me. He and Aang have a special connection. I swear Aang can speak to Momo and understand him.) In the back of my head, I felt safe, like I had almost every time Zuko had had me in his arms, carrying me. This time, he wasn't carrying me, but I felt the same.

Zuko pulled me closer. "Katara," he whispered. I shivered slightly, and it wasn't from the cold. "It's getting late." I looked up at the sky. I hadn't realized how long we had been out; it had to be past suppertime. Even with the overcast skies, it was dark. I was long since perfectly dry. I nodded.

"I didn't realize how tired, or hungry, I was until you said that," I remarked. I hadn't pulled away from Zuko yet, and, quite frankly, I didn't feel the urge to do so. I didn't ask why, didn't care why. I felt safe and I wanted that feeling to last as long as possible.

"Is there any food left in that pack of yours?" he asked, letting the embrace slip. I paused.

"At least enough for a few more days," I replied, feeling lost without Zuko's arms around me. "But when that runs out, I don't know what to do. Unless you've found some vegetables in this weird garden?" I looked at Zuko.

"Actually, there is several rows of vegetables in the farthest corner," Zuko said. "But I don't know if they're safe to eat; I've seen people die from eating a poisoned carrot." He jumped down and helped me off the fence.

"Chances are that the vegetables I found all those days ago are from the ones in here," I remarked, heading towards the gazebo. "They should be safe to eat." Zuko nodded, looking at my hair.

"Why is your hair undone?" he asked. I hit my forehead with my palm. I never told Zuko about Momo.

"Momo, Aang's lemur, flew over. He wanted to take my pendant to prove to Aang that he had found me, but the necklace was done up with a simple knot that anybody could undo," I said. "I gave him my hair tie because it was done with a knot only a human, and one skilled with knots, could undo. Sokka would recognize it, even if he can't read my name on it. Since it was done with a complicated knot, they'll know I'm still alive."

"Your brother can't read your name?" I shook my head.

"Sokka doesn't know how to read much of anything, actually," I admitted. "He can read maps and some signs, but that's it. There isn't much need for reading down in the South Pole. Gran-Gran was the one that taught me; she learned up in the North. Aang might not recognize my name, now that I think about it. He can read and write, but only archaic writing. The written language has changed in the last hundred years. I was teaching him, and attempting to teach Sokka, to read the current written language, but…" I trailed off. I didn't need to explain further.

Zuko and I reached the gazebo. Digging into my pack, I pulled out two peaches. Tossing one to the prince, I bit into mine, satisfying the hunger in my stomach. Soon after I finished and had washed the juice off my face, I reached into my pack once more, this time pulling out a tie and the brush.

"I thought you gave that annoying animal your hair tie," Zuko remarked, studying me.

"One of them, the one with my name on it," I clarified. "This is the extra one." I quickly brushed my hair and redid my braid before lying down. "Good night," I said, rolling over. I barely heard Zuko's reply as I slipped into sleep.

The fluff! Ah, the glorious fluff. Chapter Nine, comin' up!