Remember that this story takes place in the modern times. What happened last chapter was a freakishly realistic dream of the past that Katara had. You'll see what happened to them later on…
And sorry for the late update, WASAL week just finished up and I finally solved the problem to the document loading!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own avatar… too brilliant to be even my idea
Recap: Katara had fallen over again when she woke up to Zuko's arms once more. But before Katara woke up to recover from the fall, she experienced a dream again, one which has brought her even deeper into a mess of things…
Chapter 6 Recovery and Aunt Wu's regretful Explanation
"Katara…"
From some faraway distance Sokka thought he heard a voice.
Frowning, he sat up from his tack of pillows and lifted one side of his headphones. The volume was so loud, his head felt as if it might come right off – but how else was he supposed to deal with his crazy sister?
He'd stood at his bedroom window earlier and watched Katara leave, watched her climb the logs and go off alone to Aunt Wu's house. He'd made up his mind he wasn't going to help her this time, no matter what happened. He couldn't believe how obsessed she was getting with this stupid dream of hers.
Sokka scowled and clamped his headphones back in place. Slouching down on the corner of his bed, he closed his eyes and drummed his hands on his knees in time to the music.
"Katara…"
He bolted upright, his scowl deepening. There it was again, that voice, only it sounded more insistent this time. Jeez, I'm I going crazy too? After all, he and Katara had shared everything else throughout their lives – flu, poison ivy, chicken pox, even pneumonia once. So why not insanity too? Sokka wondered wryly.
He switched off the music. He flung his headphones onto his messy desk and listened, but the house was eerily silent.
"Mom?" he called softly. She'd been asleep in her room when they'd gotten home, but maybe she'd set her alarm early for some reason. Tiptoeing down the hall, he cracked open her door and peeked in. "Mom?"
His mother didn't move. Sokka stood there and watched her for several minutes, then quietly pulled her door shut. I'm losing it. He ran both hands back through his hair and gave a loud groan. Great. Whatever Katara's got, she infected me with it.
He felt restless and uneasy. He wandered back to his room and paused beside his desk. Very slowly, methodically, he concentrated on clearing his mind. Thought by thought…worry by worry…He pictured it like a calm deep pool…
Then he decided to take a shower. He stood for a long time, letting the hot water run over him, soothing his tension away. He soaped up his face and his neck and shoulders, tilting his head into the hard spray. Lightness and a warm pit in his stomach slowly spread through him, flowing along his veins. He felt like he'd detached himself.
Sokka frowned as he washed soap out of his eyes. What was I thinking about? He couldn't recall any specific thoughts just now – certainly not anything sinister – though he couldn't be sure. All he knew was that those earlier feelings of uneasiness had returned, like some unspoken warning.
"Katara…"
Quickly, he turned off the water. He stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist, then wiped both hands across the mirror over the sink. He looked like a pale apparition of himself, a ghost.
Sighing, he turned around and jerked the bathroom door open. Someone was standing there.
With a yelp Sokka jumped back as Yue stared at him with shocked eyes.
The moment seemed to stretch to eternity. Sokka's grip on his towel tightened. Yue's glance swept him from head to toe. He could feel his face flaming beet red, and looked at his mother's door, expecting her to wake up and walk out.
"Oh…I…" Yue motioned awkwardly toward the staircase. "The house was open. I just…I was…" her eyes swept him again, more deliberate this time. "Was you know, looking for Katara…"
Her voice trailed off. A smile played over her mouth, and her gaze focused back on his.
Sokka's flush deepened. His whole body felt hot. He pulled himself together with all the dignity and sarcasm he could muster.
"Oh. Sorry." He deadpanned, keeping his voice low. "She was abducted by aliens."
"Well, when will she be back?"
"Jeez, Yue," muttering, Sokka shoved past her into his room. "Do I look like her personal secretary?"
"You look like something." Yue teased. "But definitely not a personal secretary."
Sokka was still grumbling, digging through drawers for his clothes. He could still feel Yue watching him. He turned to face her and spread his arms wide. "See anything you like?"
"Forget it. I don't even like anything I see." She moved towards the stairs and added, "Maybe I'll wait for Katara to get back."
"Whatever," Sokka started to shut his door when a sudden thought came to him. "Yue!"
She paused on the top step. "What?"
"Were you calling her name when you came in?"
Yue shook her head. "No. I figured your mom would be sleeping, so I just came on up here, why?"
"No reason."
But as Yue walked away, she could see a worried and almost frightened expression spread across Sokka's face.
……
"No!"
Katara suddenly sat up screaming into the silence of the forest. It was still dark but the brilliance of the full moon cut through the darkness and gave light to the small clearing. Shivering, Katara sat up and raised a hand to her head, slightly dizzy. Then she noticed a glint of red from the flame ruby and quickly threw her hand back down beside her.
What had happened? Why was she in the forest? She looked up and breathed quietly for a while. Katara felt strangely stronger and comforted looking up at the moon, a sense of familiarity…
Well, she decided, I'm going to go back to Aunt Wu's. Go back and ask questions until she'll have to throw me out. I want answers.
Katara got up shakily and she was suddenly surrounded by a scream piercing the air, thick smoke circled around her as she felt extreme heat from the fire flames licking at her legs. She spun around to see herself and a stranger – Zuko! – lying near dead against the roots of the trees, waiting for their death to come…
Until as soon as she had felt everything, it was gone as quick as it had come. No fire, smoke, chaos. Just the still forest. Katara shook her head slightly and her breath quickened. What had happened?
She remembered then.
The dancing, his kisses, the warm strong feel of him, every sight and sound, every raw emotion. Real. Every bit as real as standing here now, as real as the trees and the moon in the night sky.
This time, Katara carefully raised her hand outstretched in front of her to look at the ruby flame. Up until it became eye level and held her tiny gaze in the stone when she noticed a faint movement behind her in the reflection…as though a shadowy figure had appeared in the clearing.
Gasping she spun around. But the clearing was empty. There was no sound.
And still that faint wavering of shadow reflected behind her…while in the heavy silence of the forest, a deep mournful sigh seemed to echo softly from every dark corner…
"Zuko?" she whispered.
If she stared hard enough, she could almost see a face looking back at her through the gloom, a young handsome man with coal black hair and golden eyes.
And if she held her breath, if she listened closely in the eerie quiet, she could almost hear him whispering, "Katara…Katara…please come back to me."
……
"A-Aunt Wu? Are you home? Please answer the door, I really need to talk to you about something!"
Where on earth could she be? Katara wondered. Aunt Wu had never been gone out this late before. She continued banging on her door for another good 10 minutes before giving up. The lights were out and the house seemed long deserted.
Katara suddenly felt miserably lost, and she wanted answers now. Why were these stupid dreams – so realistic dreams – keep bothering her? And they were also a continuance of the dreams before. Like watching a movie a few parts at a time. That definitely wasn't normal.
She gave up and ran off towards home, hoping that everything would soon somehow clear up.
……
"Where on earth were you?" Yue demanded. "I've been waiting for nearly an hour! Sokka said you'd been abducted by aliens."
Katara stood on the back porch, gazing in through the door. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, and she gripped the doorknob with pale fingers.
"Hey," Yue got up out of the chair and approached her cautiously. "Hey Katara are you okay?"
Katara managed a nod. She willed herself to smile. "Yeah, sure. Just out of breath is all."
"Come in here! Are you crying?"
"No, silly, it's from the wind. It's getting really cold."
But Yue was staring at her, unconvinced. "You're a total mess. I don't think I've ever seen you this dirty."
Katara followed Yue's gaze down the front of her sweater, her jeans, her shoes. "Well…" she thought quickly, "I was looking for something in the garage."
Yue continued to stare. Katara fumbled with the door and pulled it shut behind her.
"The garage." Yue said.
"Yeah. Looking for something."
"All this time you've been out in the garage. And Sokka didn't know? You didn't hear me drive up?"
"Well…" Katara walked over to the sink and began washing her hands. She had her back to Yue, but she could still feel her best friend's eyes boring into her. "I guess I was just so busy, I lost track of time. You know how I get when I'm really into something – I get obsessed."
"I didn't see a light on out there," Yue persisted.
"Well, it must have burned out. I ended up using a flashlight."
"So what were you obsessing over in your garage?"
Katara's mind raced. She stalled for time. She ran the water more loudly and glanced over her shoulder.
"What?"
"I said, what were you – " Yue began, but another voice cut her off.
"Hey Kat, did you find those old magazines mom wanted?"
Both girls turned around as Sokka leaned casually from the hall. He looked as if he'd just gotten out of the shower, his hair still wet jeans zipped but not buttoned, feet bare, arms engaged in tugging a T-shirt over his head. Yue couldn't take her eyes off him.
"The magazines," Sokka repeated, frowning in Katara's direction, "did you find them?"
Surprise, Katara peered back at him. I don't believe this – Sokka's actually covering for me? After a flustered second she stammered, "No…but I still have a few boxes to go through."
"I knew you wouldn't find them." Sokka grumbled.
"I…" Again Katara thought quickly, playing along with his lie. "I said that I wasn't done yet. Give me a break!"
Yue reluctantly tore her gaze away from Sokka. "Magazines? You were obsessed over some magazines?"
"She's always obsessed over something." Sokka made a noise of disgust. "Always off somewhere in her own little world."
That little remark was certainly deliberate, Katara thought. She gave her brother a dirty look, and he shrugged innocently and swaggered away.
Yue continued to look longingly at the doorway. When Sokka failed to reappear, she turned her attention back to Katara. "So…what do you want to do tonight?"
Katara looked at her helplessly. "Nothing." She said at last.
"Nothing?"
Again, the helpless stare. Katara's mind spun wildly, yet her face remained calm. How can I stand here like this, like everything's so normal, when I've just been in some other place, in some other –
"Yue, honest, I feel like I'm coming down with something. Right now I just want to go to bed."
"Well…" Yue studied her friend closely, frowning as Katara looked away. "Maybe you're right. You don't look that great at all. Though I have to say, your hair smells great. What is it?"
Katara's expression was blank. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Kind of…I don't know…" Wrinkling her nose, Yue took a deep sniff. "Earthy, natural."
"I've…I've been experimenting."
"It's great. I'll have to try it. Maybe when you feel better."
"Yeah," Katara replied relieved, "Tomorrow, probably. Tomorrow I'll probably feel better, okay?"
"Oh…alright. Call me if you need anything."
"I will."
Katara quickly ushered her friend out the door and sat down at the kitchen table, sighing. "Finally."
"Hey, that's not nice."
Katara gasped and looked up to see her brother glancing back at her, arms crossed in mock anger.
"Were you there the whole time?"
"Nah, like I'd want to hear what you girls were saying. I just remembered to tell you that Aunt Wu was here to see you. She came about an hour or so ago and I just told her to wait in your room for you."
"Aunt Wu? Here?"
"Yeah I was pretty freaked out too when I opened the door to see her standing in front of the door. She said that you had questions…which I thought was kind of creepy…hey, where you going?"
"I'm tired. I'm going to go and visit Aunt Wu tomorrow so I'm gonna get a good nights sleep."
"Hey wait, so you didn't take the ring from my room huh?"
Katara wearily spun around and faced her brother. "What? Yeah of course I did."
"Well it's not on your hand in case you didn't notice."
"What are you – " Katara looked down as she spoke and noticed that indeed the ruby ring wasn't on her middle finger anymore. Frantically she looked at both her hands to make sure and then quickly checked all of her pants and jacket pockets. She regretfully found it empty.
"Sokka! I must have dropped it in the clearing earlier!"http/ size=1 width=100% noshade>Hey! Umm not my favorite chapter, but read on folks! That's why I posted up two chapters this time!
I hope that it didn't become too corny for you guys! It would help to read this really seriously or something… Ah well review please!
P.S Go to my site at http// www(dot) vsocial (dot) com / video ? d 20034
Without the spaces and the (dot) to watch "The Avatar State" That I downloaded!
