Here's the next chapter! It's really good, and long. And Zuko will put his plan into play. Muahaha muahaha!
You're coming with me
Ch. 3: Surprise!
Katara's P.O.V.
"I'm not going crazy!" I yelled at Sokka.
"Sure you aren't." he said rolling his eyes.
"If I wasn't so scared right now I would water whip you!" I said trembling, yelling and slightly crying all at the same time. After what I had said about Zuko wanting to kill me and me "hallucinating" the person running off, Sokka thought I had lost it, but I did see someone. They were real, and they were listening. It was almost as if they wanted me to see them. But wait, what if that person was Zuko! I mean I'd said it but didn't really think about it much. If it was, he heard me breaking down right in front of him. He would know I was bluffing. That would be my worst nightmare. What if he was watching me right now? A shiver went down my spine at the thought. I looked over and saw my sleeping bag. I dashed for it and hid inside it. I could have sworn I heard Zuko's evil laughter. I just knew he was smirking, I could feel it.
"Katara," said Sokka looking in. "What are you doing?"
"I don't want Zuko to see me scared." I said trembling. "That's just what he wants."
"One, will you quit this talk of Zuko and two your sleeping bag is trembling." he said angrily. "Wait, I think I see Zuko."
"Where?" I said burying myself into my sleeping bag even more.
All of a sudden Sokka started laughing. "Sokka! That wasn't funny!" said Aang. "What if Katara is telling the truth." At least Aang believed me. Whenever Sokka ganged up on me Aang had my back. Sort of like a parent. I started to come out when I had an idea. I started to unscrew my canteen and smirked. In less than I second I sent the stream of water at Sokka's leg in a water whip.
"HEY!" yelled Sokka. "What was that for?" I started to come out of my sleeping bag still a little upset at my brother's practice joke.
"For scaring me like that!" I said still crying a bit.
"You had it coming Sokka." said Aang.
"You're on her side?" he said angrily.
"Well…" he said not wanting to take sides.
"You do believe me?" I said looking at him. "Don't you?" I said angrily.
"You're taking him on your side!" Sokka said angrily and accusingly.
"No, I'm not!" I said back.
"That's it Katara!" he said. "I'm not talking to you!"
"Well neither am I!" I said storming off. Then, right in front of me, someone ran off. A chill went down my spine yet again and I remembered what had started the whole fight.
Zuko's P.O.V.
I started to go back to the Avatar's camp to make sure that step two happened. This was almost too easy. I then saw the bush I had hid by before. I went over to it and looked at the waterbender.
"I'm not going crazy!" she yelled
"Sure your not!" said her brother rolling his eyes.
"If I wasn't so scared right now I would water whip you!" she said trembling, yelling and crying all at once. Perfect, she was getting mad at him. This was going so easy. Almost too easy. I then snapped back and looked over at the waterbender. She was angry then froze stiff. She glanced over at her sleeping bag and dashed for it. She hid inside and I couldn't help but laugh a little. I smirked but quickly put my hands over my mouth. I listened carefully as they talked.
"Katara," said the boomerang guy looking in. "What are you doing?"
"I don't want Zuko to see me scared." a muffled voice said trembling. "That's just what he wants."
"One, will you quit this talk of Zuko and two your sleeping bag is trembling." he said angrily. "Wait, I think I see Zuko." He saw me! This is great, just great. Wait to go Zuko you blew your cover. I ducked down and listened carefully.
"Where?" she said. I then saw a little lump on the sleeping bag move down. I closed my eyes but was shocked when I heard his reply. He started cracking up laughing. He was just joking.
"Sokka that wasn't funny!" said the Avatar sternly. "What if Katara's telling the truth." So the Avatar actually believed her. He was so gullible. Well, she was right but still he would believe anything she said. I listened and the next thing I heard was the unmistakable cracking of water which the waterbender called a water whip. It hit her brother right in the knee and his emotion went from comical to angry.
"HEY!" yelled her brother. "What was that for?" She started to come out of my sleeping bag.
"For scaring me like that!" she said still crying a bit.
"You had it coming Sokka." said the Avatar.
"You're on her side?" he said angrily.
"Well…" he said nervously.
"You do believe me?" she said looking at him. "Don't you?" she said angrily.
"You're taking him on your side!" he said angrily and accusingly.
"No, I'm not!" she said back.
"That's it Katara!" he said. "I'm not talking to you!"
"Well neither am I!" she said storming off. Then, she turned right in front of me only a few feet away and I ran off, looking back to see her terrified and trembling. I got back to uncle and sat down.
"So," he said waiting. My only response was a smirk.
Katara's P.O.V.
I started to make dinner. This time fruit. I got a flat rock and cleaned it off with some water from the river. I placed the fruit on it and started to chop it up. I wasn't really paying attention to the fruit, I was more cautious about my surroundings. I told Aang to tell Sokka for the two of them not to stay near me or sneak up on me because I was very tense, not at least until it was time for dinner. So if I saw anything move, it would either be Momo or someone else, like a villager or "you-know-who." (A/N and I'm not talking about Voldemort! Haha!). I was really, really nervous and tense. I kept looking back and forth but still looking forward. (A/N sort of like Azula did in the first episode of the second book) I would glance down every once and a while to make sure I didn't cut my self, then I would look back up. I was just chopping away, taking out all my nervousness on the fruit. I then felt like I wasn't alone. I started chopping faster. I kept looking around. It was probably just Sokka playing a practical joke, yet it didn't feel like it was him. I then heard a twig snap. I glanced around trying to see who it was. I then heard footsteps behind me. I started cutting even faster. All of a sudden I felt something, it hurt so badly, but it wasn't from behind me it was from my hand. I looked down and saw that I had cut my finger while chopping so fast. I was about to heal it when I remembered that one it was behind me and two, someone was standing behind me. I quickly spun around to see that it was only Momo.
"It was just you Momo." I said to the little lemur. He gave me this rub me look but I said "Sorry Momo, I gotta go heal my hand okay." He just looked up at me with his little black eyes. I walked over to my waterskin and bended some water out onto my hand. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth. The cut that was just there disappeared as I looked at it. I bended the water back into the canteen and walked over to my fruit which Momo had already started eating.
"Momo!" I said laughing. "We have to wait for the others." He cutely put the fruit back onto the rock and started to walk off. "Momo, wait." The little lemur turned around. "Come over here and sit on my lap." I said gesturing him over. I sat down and he lept onto my lap and curled up. That way I wouldn't be so lonely, and I would know if someone was around.
"Aang!" I yelled. "Dinners ready."
"Wait for me Aang!" said Sokka. He came through the bushes happy but as we saw each other our emotion quickly turned to mad. Sokka sat down and was about to grab some fruit when I hit his hand.
"Ow!" he yelled.
"Aang." I said to Aang whispering. "Tell Sokka if he wants food he has to ask for it." Aang then whispered my message to Sokka. Sokka whispered something in his ear and Aang leaned over to me.
"Sokka says he wants some mango, please." he said.
"Well tell Sokka if he wants to have some food he has to ask me myself!" I said angrily looking at him.
"Well tell Katara that I don't have to." he said.
"Well tell Sokka…" I began to say.
"Enough!" yelled Aang. "If you're going to not talk to one another, don't use me to talk to you two." He said storming off. I bit my lip knowing that Aang didn't get this mad very often. Sokka just stood up and walked away. So did I.
"Night Aang!" I said to him.
"Night Katara!" he said back.
"Night Aang." said Sokka.
"Night Sokka!" he said to him.
I looked around and tried to get to sleep but couldn't. I bit my teeth and tucked myself in, extremely scared.
Zuko's P.O.V.
I was with my uncle, preparing for my plan to actually take place. I was so eager, so confident, so excited. I hadn't felt this excited since I saw the Avatar running down that ship at the Southern Water Tribe. I laid back and relaxed. I had been preparing the last few hours and had gotten it all done. All I needed now was for it to turn dark. I looked up and decided to go through the trees a bit.
"Uncle, I'm just gonna be going through the trees, you know to practice on my…" I began to say trying to make up an excuse.
"You want to have some fun, I get It." he said smiling.
"Thanks uncle." I said. "I'll be back soon, okay."
"No, no take your time." he said. "I'm in no hurry." I started to climb up into the nearest tree and started to jump through them almost like, no. Well yeah, like the YuuYan archers. I was just jumping all around when I looked up and decided to climb even higher. I climbed as fast as I could and in no time reached the tops of the trees. I looked as the sun slowly faded. I then turned around, away from the beautiful pink and red sunset, to see storm clouds coming this way. 'Oh well.' I thought. 'The harder it'll be for 'them' to see me.' I started climbing down, deciding it was time for me to get back to uncle. I smiled as I jump down. Jumping through the trees like I'd done it for years. I hadn't done it a lot and was surprised how good I was at it. It was almost instinct. Finally I got back to uncle and lay down next to him.
"So did you have fun, Prince Zuko." he said smiling that friendly smile.
"Yeah." I said normally looking up. "But there's a storm coming. We better make shelter."
"Okay." he said still sitting.
"Well, aren't you gonna make camp?" I asked.
"Aren't you?" he said looking at me confused.
"I gotta go do 'the plan,' remember?" I said looking at him.
"Oh yeah." he said sort of giggling. "I'll get ready right away." He got up and started to make a fort like thing around a tree. He used logs for walls and but a tarp over it for a roof. He got inside and started to drink some tea. 'Typical Uncle.' I thought laughing a bit. I looked over and saw the sun set on the horizon. I smiled an evil smirk and started to walk off, extremely confident.
Katara's P.O.V.
I was shivering in my sleeping bag just waiting for it to be day, I loved and hated night tonight. I loved it because if Zuko did come, I would have the advantage of bending. I hated it because if Zuko did come I wouldn't be able to tell where he was, since there was no moon tonight and almost no light. All the other times we'd fought at night the moon was up but tonight it was pitch black. The only light I had was from the slowly dying fire. I kept glancing around not knowing if Zuko would come, let alone when and where if he did come. I looked at my sleeping bag and could see it vibrating. Get a grip Katara! It's just Zuko! You can take that jerky, arrogant, fire nation, prince. It could be worse! I took a deep breath and looked up still not able to see anything, just the silhouettes of the trees. I was about to close my eyes when I heard a twig snap. I froze stiff. What or who was there? I took a deep breath knowing it was probably just a hog monkey. I was about to close my eyes again when I heard footsteps. Again, probably just a hog monkey. I then heard breathing, human breathing, not an animal, a human. I remained calm. I felt footsteps getting closer to what seemed like me. I tightened up and saw a figure walk right by me. Something walking on two legs. I froze as I realized they were walking towards Aang. I started to unscrew my waterskin and it squeaked a bit. I closed my eyes, but realized they hadn't heard. I finished unscrewing and waited for the right moment. I then saw two things start glowing from the person's hands. I knew all to well who it was. I waited and right as he was about to hit Aang I sent a water whip crackling at him. It hit him directly in the head and I smirked in triumph.
I quickly yelled to Aang "AANG! LOOK OUT, ZUKO!" Aang awoke in shock and stood up starting to run off along with Sokka, leaving me to deal with Zuko. I quickly got out of my sleeping bag and tried to find where Zuko was. I started spinning all around, confused as to where he was. By accident I dropped my waterskin in all the spinning. I started to back up but quickly turned around. Where was he! I felt something behind me but before I could spin around it was too late. Zuko had grabbed me by the hands, knowing by now that a waterbender is powerless if they can't move their hands.
"Hello, water peasant." he whispered into my ear. A shiver went down my back at his voice. I would've gotten goose bumps if his breath wasn't so warm. His breath filled my nose and it smelled of ashes, but not as strong. I could feel my pulse increase. I tried as hard as I could not to be scared but he could tell. "You scared, water tribe peasant."
"No." I said trying to sound angry.
"Don't try and fool me." he said. "I saw… everything."
I froze as I realized it was him. "It was you." I said petrified.
"You got it." he said smirking. I glanced over at my waterskin and I could have sworn he had x-ray vision. "You dropped your waterskin." he said smirking. "You can't bend."
"I can't bend." I said. "But I can still do this." I said wrapping my leg around his and pulling him down to the ground, causing him to let me go. I started running for my waterskin but he shot a fireball at it and it caught on fire. I started running for my dear life. Then it started raining. Great, not only is it dark and hard to see but it's dark, wet and even harder to see. I kept running. I kept telling my self 'Just keep running, just keep running, don't let Zuko get you and just keep running. You'll get to Aang soon.' But I knew I wasn't going to get to Aang. I stopped feeling that it was safe to stop.
Zuko's P.O.V
I started walking to where I remembered the camp was. After a few minutes I found it, I could see only a few cinders on the fire. Lucky for me, I was trained to work in the dark. I could see well in the dark or in light. I took a deep breath and started to walk in spotting where the waterbender was. I needed to know what she was doing constantly. I was about to step over a twig but I stopped and thought that I needed to so that the waterbender knew I was there. I stopped and stepped on the twig seeing something the sleeping bag I was watching move. She stopped and was about to go asleep when I started walking, loudly. She moved again but returned to normal. I didn't wanna have to do this but I started to breathe heavily showing her that I was a human, yet she still remained calm. I started walking towards her then realizing what I had to do to get her attention. Only one word could describe what I had to do, Avatar. I walked right by her and heard the squeaking of her waterskin. Perfect. I started walking closer to the Avatar listening to her constantly. I then did the final thing that showed her exactly that it was me. I made two fire daggers and prepared to attack the Avatar. I then heard the sound I had wanted to hear this whole time, the sound of water shooting at me. It hit me in the head and hurt a bit but it was worth it.
"AANG! LOOK OUT, ZUKO!" she yelled from her sleeping bag. The Avatar woke up and looked at me in shock. I spun around and saw the waterbender starting to get out. I let go of my fire daggers and started walking off into the shadows. I watched as she spun around confused. I was waiting for something to happen. Then it happened. She dropped her waterskin. If she hadn't have turned around she would have seen me. She spun the opposite direction and I took the moment to my advantage.
I grabbed her by the hands and whispered into her ear "Hello, water peasant." I felt her shiver a bit and I felt her pulse increase from her wrist. I smirked and whispered into her ear "You scared, water tribe peasant."
"No." she said angrily
"Don't try and fool me." I said smirking. "I saw… everything."
She froze stiff at this. "It was you." she said petrified.
"You got it." I said smirking. I could see her glance over to something and remembered that she had dropped her waterskin. "You dropped your waterskin. You can't bend."
"I can't bend." she said. "But I can still do this." She wrapped her leg around mine and pulled me to the ground. I let go and she started darting for her waterskin, but I sent a fireball at it before she could get it. She started running as fast as she could. All of a sudden it started raining. Right on cue. I started running after her and knew she could win.
Normal P.O.V. (A/C this is going to be just the normal combo, no exact point of view.)
Katara breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth while spreading out her arms to calm down. She started running again and slipped on ice she had just frozen. She fell into the river and hit herself on the head. 'Duh!' she thought. 'I can freeze water.' She looked forward and saw someone walking by, about Sokka's height.
"Sokka," she said squinting. "Is that you?" The figure stopped and turned her way. It waved and she waved back. "Sokka, is it you?" she asked the figure. It nodded its head. "Well don't just stand here!" she said laughing a bit. "Help me up." It was about to walk over the ice when she said "Wait, there's ice right there." The figure tilted its head to the side in confusion. "By accident I froze a stream of water and slipped on it while running from Zuko." The figure did a soundless laugh. "HEY!" she said, a little angry. "Well help me up." It walked around the frozen stream of water and helped her up. She noticed it felt a lot warmer than Sokka's hand. She also remembered that he had heated his hand by the fire the entire night. "Zuko burnt my waterskin. Do you have yours?" she asked him. He shook his head no. They started walking off when all of a sudden Katara heard something that made her and the figure stop in their tracks. Sokka's voice.
"Katara!" he yelled. "Where are you?"
"Sokka." she said a little scared. She froze as she realized who'd she have been talking to for the past few minutes. The figure wouldn't talk, he didn't have a waterskin, and his hands were warm. There was only one person like that, Zuko. He grabbed her hands and started running off. She was about to yell, but realized that's exactly what he wanted her to do. After they were pretty far away he ran to where his uncle was.
"So," he said as he saw Zuko's figure.
"I got her." he said pulling Katara out.
"Perfect." he said smiling. "Another person to drink tea with!" Katara looked at him as if he had three heads.