(I've decided to include the review replys to the beggining so if you reviewed be sure to read!)

Reviews: Storm-of-insanity, FirebenderKitty, Rebirth of the Phoenix, ZUkoFlAmE, Lavendervalley

Replys:

FirebenderKitty: I'm glad you liked, thanks for reading!

Rebirth of the Phoenix: Thanks you soo much! I wanted to get it in there without having it be all fluff and unrealistic, don't get me wrong, I LOVE fluff but I was wanting this fic to be a bit more believable so I'm trying to be real about it. I think you'll like this chapter too!

storm-of-insanity: It was fun to write XD

ZUkoFlAmE: Here's your addition! I hope you like!

Lavendervalley: Nope, not the end, I'm still going!

Wow, chapter seven. I've come a long way from the beginning of this story! I wasn't planning on making it this long but it just keeps growing! I hope you all continue to enjoy this as much as i enjoy to continue writing it! Sorry this is a day late, I had a lot going on yesterday and never got around to writing it. I spent most of this afternoon polishing this up though so I hope you like! By the way, I watched the re-run of "The waterbending Scroll" today (it was on yesterday, I LOVE TIVO!) and it gave me the initiative to keep writing. I think it has to be my favorite episode, with the implied ZxK and the awesome Zuko kick-ass-ness. Anyway, enough of me talking, here's chapter 7!

Chapter 7: Idle Threats

Before Katara had the chance to think, the light was back. Zuko was still standing across the room from her, shaking his head in annoyance. Katara peered at the dark ceiling. She could have sworn she saw a glimmer of light in the dark just before he'd lit the fire. She shook her head. She was obviously just seeing spots from the torches.

Zuko called to her, not by name, and pointed to a tunnel that branched off from the tomb chamber. "We'd better keep moving," he suggested.

"Alright," Katara agreed and followed him out. As they walked down the tunnel, both were silent. They didn't bother each other, no jibes or taunts, just uncharacteristically quiet.

Katara ws the first to get fed up. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" she half pleaded. "I know it was a dumb idea and I'm sorry I made you go along with it. So stop sulking already, it's rather boring." Zuko shot her an exasperated look and sighed to himself.

"Whatever." Katara shook her head, how childish. She was about to open her mouth and tell him so but remembered who controlled the only light they had to go by. He did. It wouldn't be wise of her to set off her temper. From what she'd seen of him since they'd met, he certainly had one.

"Why are the three of you here anyway?" Zuko asked, attempting to break a silence that had grown awkward since their detour to the lovers' resting place.

"Well if you must know, we're headed to Omashu. We were planning on plying over these blasted mountains but your navy stopped us." Katara informed him.

Zuko wasn't going to take this. "They weren't my ships! I couldn't have done anything about it if I wanted to!" He argued indignantly.

"Oh really?" Katara countered, "then who's been following us since we left the North Pole?"

Zuko seethed to himself. "If you must know, a pompous idiot went over my head and took them over. I've been on my own since just before the battle at the North Pole." Oops, he shouldn't have said that. He knew that he said things he shouldn't when he was angry but he never learned to keep his mouth shut. He couldn't count the number of times he'd gotten himself in trouble with his temper and now he was just making himself look incompetent.

"Oh really?" Katara teased. "So Prince Zuko isn't as all-powerful as he seems?" Zuko growled in irritation. Instead of fighting back he shot a trail of fire just in front of her face. It wasn't meant to hurt her, just scare her a little. He didn't figure he'd get quite the reaction that he did.

She laughed. Served him right. Katara laughed long and hard. It was just great, Prince Zuko throwing a tantrum. It reminded her vaguely of a little boyback at home who'd thrown a temper tantrum during Sokka's "warrior lessons". He'd called Katara in to placate the boy, having no idea how to deal with children on his own. Here she was, navigating the tunnels of a cursed labyrinth with an almost grown boy showing the same signs of immature anger.

Zuko couldn't take it. He didn't do well to being laughed at and so he reached over and clamped a hand over her mouth. It only served to dull the sound a little. "Stop it, would you?" He snarled. She didn't. "I'll kiss you if you don't be quiet." She still didn't stop. Zuko took it as what he'd normally call "insolence" and moved closer. He didn't give idle threats. When she noticed that his face was far too close for comfort, Katara moved back a step only to collide with the stone wall. Soon he was so close that she could feel his breath on her face. It was warmer than any normal person's was. She assumed that it was part of being a firebender but set the thought aside.

Instead of following through, Zuko changed his mind. He moved past her face to whisper in her ear, "I could kill you right now, you know that, don't you?" and allowed a finger to trail the edge of her neck to get his point across.

Katara shivered under his touch. His breath on her neck and his body so close was more than Katara could take. She'd never been like this with anyone and the feeling churned in her stomach. Without her permission her knees buckled and she allowed the wall to support her.

She was scared, Zuko assumed. She'd been high mantinence all night, but fear? Fear, he could work with. Toying with her like this, it made him feel powerful. It always did, just like when he would see the panic in the eyes of a crew member on his ship or a confident new recruit. This was different though. The sense of power was still there but there was something else. It was in his gut and turned his stomach in knots. He ignored it and assured himself that it was a simple lack of food. As he'd once told his uncle, he "wasn't meant to be a fugitive". The scarce meals had started to get to him. He wasn't weak, just spoiled.

Katara was a little scared but she calmed herself. It took a moment but she eventually trusted herself to speak. Before she took the chance of rooting his temper even further she looked for a means of avoiding the situation. There was none. Arms on either side of her barred any escape and he was physically much stronger than her and wouldn't be pushed off. Plus, there was the continual danger of his other hand that was glowing with fire just beside her shoulder. She wasn't eager to set that on herself. Remembering his comment she replied, "but you wouldn't."

Zuko raised an eyebrow, this was getting interesting but the churning he thought was hunger kept getting worse. "Are you sure?" She nodded.

"Of course, you've never killed anyone," she observed.

"How would you know?"

"I can just tell. Men who've killed have different eyes." Zuko accepted the answer and pulled away. When she hadlooked him in the eye his stomach leapt into his throat; he wasn't keen on feeling that again. He walked ahead and motioned for her to follow.

Another disaster skirted. Katara thought to herself.

Oh! Before I forget!

Attention! IMPORTANT! Attention!

I'm thinking of writing a sequal to this once I'm done! I'm not sure how many people would be interested so if you are please leave a review to tell me so! I don't want to write it if nobody's going to be interested in reading it so please tell me what you think!

Man, I'm not fond of this ending but it's alright. Oh! It's not the end of the story, no no no! I just mean the end of the chapter! I have a lot to say in the way of thank-you's this chapter so I'll get right to the point after I say one thing: I will be updating more than weekly now. I'm finished with Summer Gym so I have more time to write, thanks for sticking it out with me!

Thank you to everyone who's read this far! I owe every one of my hits to each of you! I'm so thankful to have passed the 1,000 hits mark and I hope to keep foraging on ahead! Please continue to support me, I love all of you soooooo much!

--Lynnia