((Sighs)) Only six reviews out of 502 hits . . . . Oh well. I'll get over it. Anyway. I edited the 2nd chap. So yeah. No big changes just spelling and grammar. This one is going to be starring (along with Zuko and Katara of course) Sokka and Aang.
Clever
Sokka yawned and turned over in his sleep. "Hmm. I love you too Suki. . "He muttered. "Yes, I think you look gorgeous in that dress." The dreaming boy reached out and enveloped his imaginary girlfriend in a hug. "Of course I'll marry you Suki!"
"Sokka! You're crushing me!"
The sound of Aang's voice snapped the water tribe boy out of his dream. "Aang?" Sokka asked groggily. "Where's Suki?" Well, maybe not entirely out of his dream.
"There's no time for that Sokka!" Aang said worry in his voice. "Katara is missing!" he continued, distressed.
Sokka immediately sat up and looked around quickly, noticing that Katara's sleeping bag was gone. If anything happened to his sister he would never forgive himself. "How long has she been gone?" he asked. "I need to know!"
Aang stood up and looked around, noting the sky. "I came here just as the sun rose." he said to the older boy, now efficiently rolling up his sleeping bag and securing his boomerang. Sokka tossed his rolled up bag into Appa's saddle and then began to examine the ground around where Katara had been sleeping. He waved Aang to come to him.
"Look," Sokka said as Aang walked over. "Foot prints." The water tribe boy bent down and inspected the tracks more thoroughly. He frowned and raised himself up. "Fire Nation soldiers." he said darkly, "I'm sure of it."
Aang looked stricken as Sokka continued. "Where did they take her?" he exclaimed, confused "Why would they take her?" Sokka ignored him, having already traced the prints.
"They came from this direction." he said, walking over to the tree that Zuko had hid behind. "Someone stood here, probably the leader." The water tribe boy nodded and continued his tirade. "They carried her over here; see how the prints are a little deeper?" Sokka walked on, his head bent to the ground. "I was right, Fire Nation."
Aang looked at where Sokka had stopped, right at the edge of a small inlet. He glanced down and noticed the deep marks of steel in the sand, probably a gangplank from the ship to the shore. Sokka looked out onto the small bay and turned to Aang, his face serious. "Fly up there and see if you can find a Fire Nation ship, they might not have gotten far."
The boy nodded, his face in a frown, and snapped open his glider, backing up a few steps and running in order to gain liftoff. Aang bended the air around him and glided slowly up, searching for the tell tale black smoke of the Fire Nation liners. Sighing, defeat lining his face he came back down to earth beside Sokka.
"I couldn't find anything." he said sadly. The air benders eyes downcast. Sokka looked at him then stared back out toward the sea. "At least we know who did it." he said slowly and carefully. "Zuko, the exiled prince of the Fire Nation."
Aang looked surprised. "How do you know that Sokka?" he asked, "It could've been Zhou or any other Fire Nation officer. What makes you so sure-"
"It's Zuko." The elder boy stated flatly, "Think about it Aang, if Zhou had come across us he would have just burned us to a crisp and then left, no this isn't Zhou's style at all. The commander goes for big and flashy, something that says 'I was here, look at me!'… . " Sokka paused. "That probably holds true for any other officer in the Fire nation also. Zuko, however, is very clever, and I hate to admit it." he said, seeing the confusion again on Aang's face. "But he is. This is completely like him."
Aang sighed and sat down. "What can we do?" he asked. "We don't know where he's going and we don't know why he took Katara." He looked at Sokka.
The water tribe boy stared at Aang with a hard look in his eyes. "I don't care." he declared. "I'm going to find my sister, no matter what it takes." Sokka said, turning around on his heel and heading back into the camp. "You coming or not?" he called over his shoulder. "
Aang stood up and ran after Sokka. "You bet I am!" he yelled, jumping on to Appa's back and waiting for the other boy to catch up. "Yip yip!"
And off they went.
((Now we skip ahead . . . To about morning of the next day. So the timeline for the two story lines S+A are on the morning Katara was captured. K+Z are on the morning after Katara was captured. Everybody square?))
Katara drank back the last of the thin cabbage soup and set the bowl down, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. She sighed and leaned against the strong metal wall of her cell, her legs stretched out in front of her, crossed at the ankles.
Looking around her, she wondered when Zuko would come, just to break the monotony of the jail. She sighed and slid further down the wall, her hands crossed lightly in front of her stomach.
She suddenly stood up and pulled her chains to their fullest extent, listening out into the corridor. The guards hadn't come back since Zuko dismissed them the other day, giving her a small amount of privacy. Katara shook her head and stretched out the rest of her body, making sure she wouldn't get cramps the instant she tried to walk normally.
Upstairs the prince and his uncle where enjoying morning breakfast and tea. As Zuko sipped his hot drink he thought of Katara down in the cells, cold and probably hungry. An image flashed in his mind of the girl huddling in a corner shivering and shaking.
After a few minutes of this taunting image the prince snarled and stood up, marching out of the room, grabbing a cloak on the way out.
Iroh glanced up from his tea. "So impatient."
Zuko suddenly came back into the chamber and grabbed the teapot and two cups from the table and Iroh's hand. "Hey!" The general complained as his cup was snatched away from him. "I was drinking that Zuko!"
"Sorry Uncle." The prince muttered, already halfway down the hall. He arrived down at the cells and looked at his hands. He frowned. So much for the dignified entrance.
Katara looked up from her stretches as the door opened and Zuko glared at her from the other side. He bent down and picked up something Katara could not see. She instantly became suspicious and stared at the prince. When she saw that it was only a teapot and cups she smiled and sat down.
Zuko placed the pot and cups in front of the girl, exiting to get the cloak he had left outside. He sat down across from the girl and poured himself a cup of tea.
"It's not poisoned." he muttered, indicating that she should serve herself.
Katara blushed slightly and tipped the pot over, pouring the hot tea into her cup. She raised the cup to her lips and inhaled deeply, her eyes on the drink. Taking a small sip she smiled at the boy in front of her.
"It's good!" she exclaimed, taking another small taste.
Zuko raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was a prince after all, exiled, but still a prince; did she expect him to just drink anything? He took a few swallows of his own drink, and examined the girl in front of him.
He hadn't noticed it before but she was really pretty. Zuko suddenly realized he didn't even know the girl's name. The prince frowned a little and drank his tea, waiting for Katara to finish. As the girl lowered her arms down toward her lap Zuko looked up and suddenly asked, "What's your name anyway?"
Katara looked up at the prince. "Katara." she glanced down at her lap and then raised her eye's to meet Zuko's again. "When are you going to get rid of me?" she asked frowning slightly. "I know you said that I was going to help you find the avatar but why not know? Why are we still going," she paused slightly, "Wherever it is we're going."
The prince set his tea down and rested his hand under his chin. "I suppose I should tell you after all, seeing as you are the center point of this entire plan." He looked at Katara and continued. "Say instead of you I had the avatar on my ship. So here I am heading back to the Fire nation to deliver the boy to my father." he said pointing to his teacup as if it was his ship.
"So I'm sailing along and suddenly Zhou catches wind that I have the avatar. He immediately comes over and 'whoom!'Attacks, steals the avatar, and there goes me all up in smoke." Zuko demonstrated with a short fire burst from his hand, causing Katara to flinch and a small wall of mist to rise from his cup. He raised an eyebrow at the girl's reaction, but continued anyway. "But if I have you on board. . ." he paused, toying with the rim of his tea cup. "Zhou won't really care; he doesn't know that you and your brother are traveling with the avatar."
Katara frowned at the firebender. "So you're saying I'm sort of an insurance that you can safely 'deliver'," she almost spat out the word, "Aang to your dad?"
Zuko glanced up at the girl. "Whoa, you catch on quick." he said, actually rolling his eyes, and returning his eyes to his tea. The prince picked up his cup and refilled it again, sipping at it slowly.
The girls face was still slightly creased. "What if Zhou captures your ship and sees me? You said he won't care but what if he does?" her face suddenly paled. "What if he takes me with him?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
Zuko stared into her eyes, looking at her squarely. "First off, Zhou won't capture my ship as long as I don't have the avatar on board. All that he knows is that the avatar is still out there and evading both our grasps. He has spies on my ship, but fair few souls know that you are even on board, fewer still know why you're on board. Not to mention that the choice soldiers I picked out for the mission are loyal to me."
The boy took another sip of tea and continued. "If, in the unlikely event, Zhou and I meet up somewhere on the way to the Fire Nation I will make sure that a soldier unlocks you from your cell and escorts you to my room where you will be instructed to wait until further notice." Zuko blushed slightly, thinking of what he had to say as his excuse for having the girl on board. Think about it a little more his face then reddened even deeper. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'I need to practice lying about her sometime. It might as well be to her face.'
Katara had followed Zuko's explanation thus far, impressed despite herself at how well thought out his plan was. She was leaning forward, interested to hear more when she realized that the prince was . . . . Blushing?
Zuko coughed and made himself look at Katara's confused face. "If Zhou suddenly has the urge to inspect my ship he will see nothing of consequence." he paused. 'Here goes.' "And when Zhou comes to search my rooms he will only see a pretty girl. He will assume that since I'm always out hunting for the avatar . . . And that I'm sixteen after all . . . That you are . . ." he stopped and stared at his tea, painfully aware of the flush on his cheeks.
The girls eyes widened and she blushed in turn. "Oh."
Outside the door a snort could be heard. Zuko immediately got up and strode out the door, only to see his uncle nearly doubled up in silent laughter. The old general put a hand out to steady himself against the side of the wall.
"That was incredible Zuko." he said, still chuckling. "Your eloquence is unmatched."
Zuko narrowed his eyes, "Shut up! You think of a better way to throw Zhou off!"
Iroh shook his head, "I'm not saying it's a bad idea." he said, still doubled over, taking deep breaths. "It's just the way you put it!" he sniggered, his laughter coming out in huge bursts, "And your face, nephew!"
The prince eyes narrowed further, flashing a dangerous shade of red. A burst of fire issued from his mouth as he passed by Iroh, leaving the Dragon of the West alone in the corridor. After a few minutes Iroh calmed himself and entered the cell, still laughing quietly.
Katara looked up as the firebender entered. She put down her cup and watched him, not making any noise. Iroh bent down and scooped up his tea supplies, careful not to spill anything.
"Excuse me," he said, bowing and exiting the room, "But I was getting thirsty." The girl smiled a little as the firebender left, closing the door and wobbling down the hall. She shook her head and looked at the cloak Zuko had brought in with him.
She picked it up and examined it, holding it up to the small lantern, located in the two corners farthest away from her. It was intricately woven and very thick. She smiled and then laughed, remembering the look on Zuko's face. Katara sat back and covered her legs with the cloak, thinking about how to pass the time, at least until Zuko's next visit.
Outside the door, Iroh smiled and headed upstairs, his arms full of tea supplies. 'That girl has a very pretty laugh . . .' he thought. 'Maybe this trip will be good for my nephew. . . .'
All right, that's it. Sorry. In response to some of my reviewers -
Dracori - Thanks, hope you enjoy these chapters too.
Crazysheelf - Thanks.
Patience - I'll have some fun making Zuko pester Katara, or will it be the other way around. . food for thought
Azul-lunar - Updating!
Marin - Am I updating soon enough?
Kimono - I think I'm keeping Zuko pretty well I.C. I'll try harder though.
Kikyo - Allrighty then. I'm actually working on the next chapter.
Zuko - nice review. . . . -
Vicki - Aangs in this chappy! Link to the coolie-o pic at the bottom.
Oswari - Whoot! Updating!
Another Link to an interesting picky - http/ it made me laugh . . . . . And don't forget to review!
Heart Bender.
P.s. - Vote! Are Zuko and Katara I.C? ((Can be for both or either!))
