Sorry the last one was a bit short, so here's a nice long one and bear with me till the end. )

Aunt Wu slowly got up and walked towards the door, speaking the next sentence so softly that Katara wished that she had misheard.

"This time I expect you'll have to die."

Chapter 9 Girl Talk

Katara had a weird sensation of being out of her body. After Aunt Wu had made her dramatic exit, Katara had quickly locked her door and had fallen upon it for support.

She didn't know how long she leaned there against the door, breathing deeply. She felt dizzy and lightheaded; pounding as if her brain would explode any minute. Crazy! She'd heard the many rumors about Aunt Wu, but she'd downplayed most of them to mere age and eccentricity. And now to discover how right everyone had been. How totally insane Wu was –

"This time you'll have to die."

"Uh!" Katara groaned out loud. Why'd I ever go there anyway? Why'd I end up there to do my homework of all places? No reason really –

Katara pressed both hands against her ears, but her thoughts spun in all directions. She could still remember how Aunt Wu had stayed so calm during her story of the insane fire. How… expected she had seemed.

She was waiting for me, Katara thought miserably, She was waiting for this to happen and knew I'd come.

"They're insane." Katara mumbled, and then frowned as a thought nagged at her. If you really believe she's insane, then why are you getting so upset?

But those details, she knew more than she showed…

"Anyone can take a dumb old legend and embellish it." Katara whispered to herself. "No, it's just stupid."

She wished Sokka were here right now. Even though she had been so angry with him before and even frightened him, he seemed to be the only one she could feel safe around.

Katara opened her door and looked anxiously down the hall. She was being foolish, she knew, but Aunt Wu's prophecy continued to haunt her and no matter how she tried to rationalize or dismiss what had happened, it only loomed larger in her mind.

The house was unnervingly quiet.

She closed her door quickly and jumped into bed. She pulled her legs up close to her chest, resting her chin upon her knees. Katara told herself how silly she was being, how glad she was now that Sokka and Aunt Wu weren't here, knowing how much they'd make her feel uncomfortable… She told herself she was safe, yet at the same time she felt herself getting up and walking to her window.

She didn't want to look.

She didn't want to look over at the forest behind her house, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

Because something wanted her to look.

Suddenly Katara felt them, in the very pit of her soul – just like I felt it that very first night, the eerie presence, those invisible eyes watching from the trees. Forcing me to look, needing me to look…

"What do you want from me?" She slammed down her palms flat against the windowpane, and her voice sounded like a stranger's voice, someone she didn't even recognize. "Tell me what happened that night! Tell me what to do!"

She could see that beyond the trees, ever so slightly there was a presence, a pale shadow beckoned her from the darkness beyond.

"How can I help you?" Katara cried. "Don't you understand? I'm getting so scared, and we're running out of time!"

She hit the window again out of pure frustration, the glass rattling dangerously beneath her fingers, and all her emotions were crumbling.

"No!" and again she hit the windowpane, again and again and she could hear someone screaming, "No, no!" but it was as if the sound drifted to her from some other place, from some other person in some other time…"No!"…"No!"

"Katara?"

The familiar voice came out of nowhere, an unwelcomed intrusion into her brain. It brought her back with a shock, and as Katara spun around, she saw Yue and Sokka standing just inside the bedroom door. Both of them were staring as if she were a total lunatic.

Katara held their gaze for one endless minute. Then her anger exploded.

"What are you doing here?" she was furious and confused and terrified. She reached out for her dressing table to steady herself and her voice rose. "What are you looking at?"

"What are you looking at?" Sokka accused her. "Or better yet, who are you talking to?"

Katara stubbornly shook her head. "Nobody, nothing. Myself."

"I'm sure you've gone totally off the deep end!" Sokka yelled.

"What's –" Yue began but Sokka cut her off.

"It was him," he said angrily, "Wasn't it Katara?"

Yue had been glancing first at one sibling and then the other, but now her baffled gaze settled on Katara. "Him who?"

"Tell her," Sokka said unexpectedly. He ignored the venomous look his sister shot him and added, "If you don't tell her, then I will."

"Him who?" Yue demanded.

Biting her lip, Katara turned her back on the two of them. Resentment and frustration raged through her, she felt like she was being violated. "You have no right." She muttered.

"I have every right!" Sokka countered without hesitation. "Enough Katara! Did you hear yourself just now? Do you even realize how close you came to busting out that window? This situation's way past serious – I have every right in the world."

Despite her obvious confusion, Yue tried to be comforting. "Look Katara, Sokka's obviously just trying to help you out. When he couldn't find you, he came driving all the way to my house –"

"I don't need Sokka's help!"

"Oh, you need help all right." Sokka replied with maddening calmness. "An don't even think that I can't tell when you're deliberately blocking me away from you."

"Will someone please explain what's going on here?" Yue asked helplessly. "Have you both lost your minds?"

Sokka shook his head. "Just one of us."

"I haven't lost my mind. I can't help it if I'm the one he comes to – I can't help it if you can't see him!" Katara argued.

"Huh? See who?" Yue asked again, only now she looked around the room as if someone would jump out at any second. "Are we alone in here?"

"You know, I'm not sure anymore!" Sokka's voice dripped with sarcasm. He made sweeping gestures toward each of the four walls. "But it wouldn't surprise me if he was in the closet. Or… I don't know… under the covers, maybe."

"That's not funny Sokka," Katara said tightly.

"No Katara, it's not."

The two siblings glared daggers at each other, neither one backing down. Yue sweatdropped and then nervously cleared her throat.

"I think, I should go."

No one answered. Yue slowly backed off and reached for the door. "Okay then? Bye –"

She started to leave, but Sokka's sudden hand on her elbow caught her by surprise.

"Nobody's going anywhere until Katara does some explaining. Go on Katara. Explain."

There would be no getting out of this one, Katara could tell by the grim lines of Sokka's face and the steel in his eyes. With a sigh of defeat, she sat down at the edge of her bed.

"His name is Zuko," she said in a soft whisper. "Prince Zuko, and he…he loves me."

Yue's eyes widened, and then her face broke out into a huge grin. She thought for a minute, then shook her head in surprise. "Do I even know the guy? Does he go to our school?"

"No." Katara gazed calmly back at her. "He's dead."

….

For a long time there was nothing but silence.

Sokka stared at a spot on the ceiling, and Yue continued to watch Katara with a startled, almost comical expression. If situation hadn't been so serious, Katara would have giggled at the expression, but now wouldn't be appropriate. And then at last, cutting into the silence, Yue laughed.

"He's dead?" she echoed. "You're kidding right?" Nobody answered. She tried again.

"So what's the big deal? I mean, that pretty much describes half the guys at school. If you two want to play a silly joke on me, then you'll have to come up with something better that."

The silence had grown uncomfortable now. Katara's gaze fell to the floor as Sokka sifted positions, crossing his arms over his chest. As Yue looked from one of them to the other, her smile slowly began to fade.

"You're…serious?"

They nodded in union, neither wanting to meet Yue's eyes. Yue walked over to the bed, nudged Katara aside and sat down next to her.

"You're really serious." She said again. "And I'm starting to feel like I'm in the middle of some weird movie. I mean, you're not just doing this to play a trick on me. It's real, right?"

Katara nodded, more soberly this time. Yue nodded back, took a deep breath, and slid an arm around her best friend's shoulders.

"Well, okay. I guess you'd better tell me everything."

Katara remained quiet, so relieved that Yue hadn't ran away thinking she was crazy, yet scared that Yue didn't believe her and actually felt sorry for her. A tangle of raw emotions still throbbed inside her – anger, fear and sadness – at the prospect of baring her soul all over again. Opening up to Aunt Wu had been a disaster, and now sharing Zuko with another person seemed like an ultimate betrayal.

"Sokka," Yue said suddenly, "Would you please get out?"

Katara glanced up, surprised. A flicker of doubt crossed Sokka's face, and he stubbornly held his ground.

"No way! This thing is too out of control."

"Look, I know you're worried, but this is girl's talk." Yue soothed.

Sokka still wasn't convinced. He scowled, started to argue, but then seemed to think better of it. "Okay," he murmured sullenly, backing toward the door. "But you've got to promise that you'll tell Yue everything. Everything."

"And no lurking." Yue warned him. "If I catch you in the halls…"

Sokka's hands lifted in surrender. He backed completely out of the room and shut the door behind him. The girls waited. After several minutes, they heard his footsteps down the stairs and then slam the kitchen door.

"Now," Yue said firmly. Releasing Katara, she sat back to listen. "I'm all ears. And I'm siding with Sokka for once on this: tell me everything."

Katara gave her a reluctant nod. "Only if you promise not to tell Sokka the really juicy details. He knows everything but those."

"Juicy details?" Yue brightened. "I swear."

For the second time that day, Katara recited her strange tale, beginning with her decision to do her homework in the forest. Only this time, she shared everything. Not just the dramatic events of long ago, but how those events were beginning to steadily take over the present. How every one of those moments had been real, their intimate moments of passion overwhelming. How he was alive to her, so powerfully real. How guilty she felt over Sokka's worries and anger, and how much she hated him for it, although she knew he only meant to protect her. The things Aunt Wu had known and told her.

She told Yue everything she could possibly remember, all of her words and emotions poured out, while Yue just sat there and listened and held her hand.

Katara's voice lowered to a miserable whisper, "She said I'd have to die this time Yue. And then in my room, something just pulled me to my window, like Zuko was over there in the forest. And I can feel it, but I don't know what to do." She paused for a moment. "I love him, Yue, I really do. I know this is all crazy, but…I love him."

For a long time, neither girls said anything. Then Yue have a long sigh and curled up on a corner of the bed.

"Wow," she said softly, "You've been acting so funny – I knew something must be going on, but I had no idea…"

They both glanced at each other and Yue sat up.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

It wasn't said unkindly, but Katara could sense the hurt in Yue's voice. Guilt coursed through her.

"I wished I had," she admitted, "It was all so strange. At first the whole thing seemed like a dream, but then…"

Katara dropped her blue eyes. She felt her throat fill with tears and she swallowed hard, forcing them back.

"But then I didn't want to share it," she said quietly, "Especially with you."

Yue didn't respond. Several moments passed before Katara could go on, and when she did, her voice sounded deeply ashamed.

"Because it was just about me, ya know? I know it was wrong and immature and selfish, but…"

She drew a shaky breath, "But you were always the popular, beautiful one. You can have your pick of any guy in school, and they always want to go out with you. And then, when this whole thing happened with Zuko, for the first time I had someone too. He and I – I mean the passed away Katara – were so connected that I just…"

"You felt special." Yue finished softly. "And what is there to feel selfish about?" Her lips drew into a faint smile. "It's him, isn't it? Your dream guy. The perfect one you've been waiting for."

Katara stared at her friend for a moment before hugging her in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry."

Yue smiled and pulled back, "No Katara, I'm sorry for making you feel that way and for not being there for you, some best friend I was huh?"

Katara nodded, "Yeah…"

They both giggled before falling silent again.

"But…but this Zuko guy," Yue reminded her gently. "I mean, he's a ghost? He sure doesn't seem all that safe to be around. If what Aunt Wu said was true…"

"You've got to promise not to tell Sokka about the prophecy thing, about me having to die, he would freak. But I've got to help him Yue. I've got to find out why he's here."

Yue conceded with a half-hearted nod. She wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock back and forth slowly.

"May…maybe there's another way." She said at last. "Another way to settle this."

Katara looked hopefully at her friend. "What are you thinking?"

"We could hold a séance."


A seance - A meeting of people to receive spiritualistic messages and ghosts