Mwahahahhaha! I made you WAIT for this chapter. Actually, I've been busy. Got a job and crap. And…was short on inspiration. But people kept prodding me to update
so I was all "STFizzuck up!"
and they were all "no wai"
and I was all "u aint ghetto enuff fo dis hot shit"
and they were all "bitch plz"
so…I wrote a new chapter:D
Thanks for all the reviews on the last one
Zuko had begun to slow significantly. He knew the Avatar's camp was somewhere around here. It had to be. Delirious and tired from what was now is second sleepless night, Zuko slumped against a tree to take a momentary rest.
Bad idea.
Perhaps a few seconds of sleep wouldn't hurt…he thought groggily, his arms subconsciously wrapping around Katara as though she were his blanket.
No! Keep focused, Zuko! The Avatar! Revenge against your sister!
The firebender moaned before putting his clothed head against the tree.
"Just five minutes" he protested, eyes blinking shut behind the blue spirit mask.
Zuko's inner self became a little squeak but continued to jabber inside his head.
Iroh, Avatar, Azula, Iroh, Avatar, waterbende-Azula!
The banished prince swatted a bug on the side of his face, yawned, and passed out.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The buffalo had landed back at camp. Aang and Toph had gone to search for Katara by the river. Iroh and Sokka were in the woods, doing the same.
"You know, I had fun tonight" the old man lamented.
"Oh yeah, sure! If being chased by scary girls, hanging out with old loonies and losing your sister is fun, I'm having loads of fun!"
Iroh chuckled. "You know, you remind me of-"
"Don't say it." Sokka made a 'talk to the hand' gesture and pouted. He didn't want to be compared to Zuko.
"I was going to say a cup of jackass bitter tea. You see, it tastes horrible, but it keeps the mosquitoes away!"
"So…you're saying I taste horrible" said Sokka, scratching his head.
"No, I was saying that although you're bitter you have a beneficial value."
Sokka contemplated this as he stared blankly into the sky. It was almost dawn, the moon was slowly setting. The full moon. Sokka felt as though his heart was sinking with it.
Iroh's eyes followed those of the young warrior.
'I have not been able to look at the full moon the same every since-"
"Don't say it."
Iroh hushed and looked a bit downcast.
"Hiding from your memories is no way to bring back the ones you love."
Sokka's face twitched furiously.
"What do YOU know!You're firenation! You people take away everyone who means anything to me. My parents. My girlfriend. And now my sister!"
"I know more than you think I do."
"Yeah well that's not saying much because I think you know nothing."
Iroh looked like he had been bitten by a snake. He turned away from Sokka, shaking his head.
"You are like Zuko. The world is full of problems yet you only see your own. There are stones at the bottom of the river, child! You may not see them until you're drowning, but they're still there!"
Sokka had shut up, his thoughtful blue eyes focused on Iroh's face.
"There are two children back there that need your wisdom. Even if something has happened to your sister, you must look past it and help what you still have. You can't go through life clinging to what you've lost. Otherwise you will never see the stones, never push yourself back up to the surface!"
Sokka bowed his head in shame.
"You're right."
"What?" said Iroh in confusion. This couldn't be the stubborn warrior boy he'd first seen at the south pole. The boy who'd charged repeatedly at Zuko even though he'd clearly lost. Who seemed to have a boomerang permanently crammed up his-
"You're right."
A paused passed between them.
"You know, I never actually expected that speech to work."
"I know."
Both men looked at each other, then at the horizon. Red and blue. Young and old. Opposite elements.
The moon set over the treetops.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Toph and Aang skirted the edges of the river, looking for signs of Katara.
"She was definitely here" said Toph, noting the disrupted footprints along side the river.
"She's not here anymore." Aang's fingers plucked a few sharp objects out of the surrounding trees. "She fought that weapons girl."
Toph had bent down and began to trace her fingers over the ground. "That doesn't explain what happened to her. When we met the weapons girl she was alone."
Suddenly remembering this, Aang felt shocked.
"You're right! And she said-"
"She knows where Katara is, but we might not like it." Toph's pale eyes widened as her earth sense detected something unusual under her fingertips.
"That Azula girl must've gotten her! She's CRAZY. The only reason she didn't electrocute me into a vegetable was because Iroh stepped in!"
The sun had begun to rise, warming Aang's bald head. The night had been cold, but Aang was sweating with worry for Katara.
"Hey, Aang?"
Aang's eyes shut as he detected a disturbance. Toph had just called him Aang. Not twinkletoes or airhead or fancy dancer…Aang.
"Yeah?" he asked, his voice trembling.
"I found blood."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Azula and Co. had gathered back at the machine. Ty Lee and Azula looked pretty messed-up. Mai looked, as usual, unharmed and bored.
"What happened to you?" she asked Azula, aware that her sarcastic tone would be punished later, but not caring.
"Lemur" the bitch said sweetly, fire practically seeping out of her eyes.
"I dunno, Azula, I like your hair down! It looks so pretty, you should wear it like that mor-"
Azula smacked Ty Lee across the face. The acrobat silenced, looking like she was about to cry. Mai's eyes widened and an angry look washed over her usually slate-blank face.
The room was dead silent before Azula continued.
"Mai." Azula said, noting the girl's angry look but pretending not to notice. "Would you happened to have seen…Zuko…around?"
Mai managed to keep a strait face, but her insides were churning.
"Zuko?" she said calmly, trying to resist the urge to run.
"Yes…my brother? I happened upon Iroh in the woods. I thought it was rather…strange that the old man would be by himself. And then I realized…neither of my trusted comrades managed to bring me back a prisoner! There had to be something wrong here."
Ty Lee gulped. Mai blinked calmly.
"I failed on my own accord, Azula. I regret underestimating the water-tribe girl."
Azula's eyes narrowed.
"Very well." She turned to Ty Lee, who had a slap-mark on her cheek. "Ty Lee!" she said with a horrid kindness oozing from her voice.
"I see you failed as well! Care to explain what happened?"
Ty Lee looked at the ground, her face trembling. "The warrior stunned me, and the earthbender hit me in the head when I wasn't focused."
"Why weren't you focused? SO not like you, Ty Lee" Azula snapped quickly.
"Because…I…w-"
"I believe we all need some sleep" Mai injected bravely.
Silence.
Azula looked ready to shoot daggers out her eyes. Mai met her gaze with a blank, uncaring look. This only increased Azula's fury.
"Very well, dear friends" she said, a painted smile crossing her face. "Why don't you get some rest, and we'll continue this conversation tomorrow." Her fingernails traveled down the metal table, making a horrible screeching noise.
Both Ty Lee and Mai stood up and bowed, prepared to go back to their separate quarters.
"Oh! Ty…before you go!" Azula suddenly interrupted their silent retreat.
"Yes?" her response sounded like the squeak of a mouse that had been stepped on.
"I'd like to talk to you…alone…for a minute?"
The pink acrobat gulped.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Katara stirred in discomfort. Aang had rolled over in the night and wrapped his arms around her again. Or at least that was the little pervert-monk's excuse. She wondered vaguely why she has a stinging pain in her back and neck.
Must've rolled over on something sharp…
Katara pried the boy's arms off of her, marveling at how large he'd gotten. And warm. And muscular. And…not Aang.
The watertribe girl's eyes shot open.
Holy spirits that's not Aang.
Suddenly everything came rushing back to her. The stone cold face of the blue spirit, Mai's comments about her weakness, the pain and…nothing.
She turned around with difficulty as her rescuer had developed a crushing grip on her in sleep. Now facing him, Katara became uncomfortable of being in such close-quarters with a man. Other than Aang and her brother, or the little boys at the water tribe, or those brief few seconds with Jet, Katara had never been this close to anything male before. It gave her a strange, unfamiliar feeling. She didn't like it, but wasn't sure it felt bad, either.
Stirring made him grip tighter. Katara yelped, but this surprisingly didn't wake her rescuer. Feeling somewhat helpless, Katara tried to bite back her annoyance with this situation.
Wait a second. Where were her clothes!
I am a master bender. MASTER BENDER. My friends are in danger, and here I am in the arms of some…pervert...whose name I don't know. And his arms are around me and he's all...warm, and…I'm HALF NAKED! HE IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!
A thought struck Katara.
He owes me. He may have rescued me but if not for him I wouldn't have gotten distracted in the first place! He OWES ME!
Katara's gentle hands found themselves shaking as they placed themselves on the side of his cracking mask.
Ha! Mr I'm-too-cool-to-show-my-face. Look whose in control now!
Katara bit her lip. Her confident sarcasm never reached the surface. Her hands felt disconnected from her body.
Slowly, very slowly, as if trying to rip a strait line in a piece of paper, the waterbender began to lift up his mask.
Smooth chin, rather pasty, strong jaw.
A little higher.
His lips aren't bad. He looks kissable…
Katara internally smacked herself. Who's the perv now?
Just a little more…
His nose is kinda cute! Reminds me of a puppy. Or…something.
A little higher…
She frowned, noticing slight discoloration on his cheek. Her fingers found themselves tracing the contours of his face, touching the discolored area before pushing the mask just a little higher…
Katara gasped.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"I think I found her!" Sokka shouted excitedly!
Iroh groaned. "Last time you said that you found a porcupine-otter and it nailed you in the-"
"No, really! I think I found her!" The warrior began to run towards a particularly large tree.
"Young warrior, I don't think that's-"
Sokka stopped dead in his tracks. He bent down and touched what he had assumed was his sister.
"Her dress" he said dubiously. "I found her dress."
Iroh raised an eyebrow, before kneeling down next to Sokka. A disturbing cracking sound came from his back. Sokka twitched, looking at him blankly for a second before looking back at Katara's dress.
"I'm old" he explained. "My bones make more sounds than a swarm of man-eating crickets!"
"It's bloody" Sokka said, looking at the red-stained rips in the newfound sunlight.
Iroh looked at the object with confusion.
"Why would she strip off her dress and run naked through the woods if she was injured?"
"I don't think it was her. Katara can heal herself. She wouldn't have left her water-jug behind if she was still injured. And she would have no reason to remove the dress if she was conscious to heal herself. Someone must've carried her here."
"You are most observant" Iroh observed observantly.
Sokka groaned. "Who on earth could have done it? Those girls wouldn't have cared to try and fix her wounds."
Iroh's fingers found something glinting in the sunlight. White and blue. A chip of plaster.
"Zuko" Iroh said sadly, rubbing the fragment of Zuko's mask between his fingertips.
"WHAT! ARE YOU SAYING THAT PSYCHOTIC SCARFACED BASTARD HAS MY-"
"That psychotic scarfaced bastard is my nephew" Iroh said carefully.
"Sorry" Sokka hissed under his breath. "It's just-"
"He's your enemy. I know. But he's not heartless. If he's with your sister, she's in good hands."
"But why?"
"Why is she in good hands? Well, it all started when Zuko was five. I was told to watch him for an hour an-"
"No!" Sokka said in exasperation. "Why would he save her?"
"They have some sort of rivalry going on. I think he wants to be one-up on her. I suppose in saving her life he'd be paying her back for saving his at the north pole."
"Actually, that was Aang. Katara and I wanted to leave him."
"Oh."
…
"Maybe he likes her." Iroh gave his infamous 'dirty old man' grin and wiggled his eyebrows at Sokka.
"Eww! Stop putting pictures in my head old man!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"So, have you guys found anything yet?" Aang asked as the four travelers met back at the camp.
"Well, we found her clothes" Sokka said, waving her dress, which was balled up in one hand.
"You found her clothes" Toph repeated dumbly, trying to understand what part of this made any sense. "You found her clothes. Her clothes."
"Why would she have left her clothes behind?" Aang asked, his eye twitching.
"Actually, Sokka and I think he's with-"
"TH-THESPIRITS!" Sokka shouted, waving his arms at Iroh to stop.
Everyone stared at him.
"She's with…the spirits! As in, the spirits are with her, you know…watching her. They work in mysterious ways!" he finished quickly.
Aang and Toph's eyes were widened at Sokka's bizarre display.
"Are you saying she's dead?" Asked Aang quietly, as though he was about to cry.
"Nonononono, she's very much alive! I'm saying she's alive! The spirits are watching over her! In fact, I'm sure any minute, they'll return her, right, Iroh?"
"No? Uh-I mean, yes! Yes, young one, do not doubt the spirits!" He raised an eyebrow at Sokka, wondering why the warrior wanted to lie to the younger children.
"Oh." Said Aang, scratching his bald head. He wondered idly of Sokka and Iroh had eaten some funny mushrooms while they were looking for Katara. "O-of course."
"We found BLOOD in the forest!" Toph protested.
"It was the blood of the fish she killed."
"How the HELL should you know all this?"
"Because we…"
"Talked to her."
"Yeah, and she said-"
"She needed to be alone."
"You two are full of shit" Toph said blatantly. "Stinky, poorly concocted shit."
"Such a nice girl" Iroh said with a chuckle, pulling on Sokka's collar and directing him away from Aand and Toph.
"So…" said Aang, looking at Toph with a bemused expression as Sokka and Iroh proceeded to argue out of earshot. "I guess Katara's all right?"
"Yeah, it's not her I'm worried about."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Zuko's instinctive hand had grabbed Katara's. The sudden feeling of air on his face, her fingertips- the boy had woken immediately and grabbed her before she could pull his mask up and further.
Katara stumbled back, out of his lap.
What was she doing on top of me in the first place? Idiot girl! Her curiosity will get her KILLED one day!
"I-I'm sorry" she squeaked.
The Blue spirit merely leered at her as the mask was pulled down over the portion of his face she's uncovered.
"Leave."
"Wh-what?"
The strange man had finally spoken. It was too brief for her to recognize his voice: cold and raspy with a slight lisp.
You heard me.
Katara stood up, straitening her skimpy clothes and loose hair, her blue eyes widened. Zuko couldn't help but think she looked hot like this. It was irritating. He WAS a teenager, there was nothing wrong with having such thoughts…but NO. Not about the waterbender.
"Y-your hand" she said in alarm.
What?
"W-we've met before."
No shit.
Katara stumbled backwards. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid!
The Blue Spirit stood up, his blank, cracking face boring into her.
It was then the waterbender turned and ran, ran blindly back to where she hoped the camp still stood.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The rumble of her traveling compartment irritated Mai's ears as she lay on her side, worried for Ty Lee. Azula's behavior towards her had been appalling. Slapping the poor girl in the face- Mai wanted to rip her arms off and shove them down her throat.
She knew Azula was aware of this. Their circle of friends was nothing but interconnected lies. They were tied only by their hatred of each other.
Ty Lee was the lesser of two evils. Mai had never particularly liked her, or so she thought anyway. But suddenly the girl's cheeriness and stupidity seemed like a gift from the spirit world in comparison to the demonic Azula.
Mai tried to focus her thoughts on more pleasant things. Like Zuko…Zuko who'd betrayed her and protected the enemy.
Zuko who'd been her friend when she was younger. Zuko who she used to meet under the bridge in the royal gardens so Azula wouldn't see them.
Zuko who'd kissed her on the cheek, and yelled at her the next day, saying Azula told him Mai was just using him.
Zuko who was dumb enough to believe her.
Mai gripped the buns at the side of her head, groaning and trying to lock out the thoughts that ran through her mind.
Ty Lee and her stupid crush on that water-tribe boy.
Ty Lee saying she should wear brighter colors.
Ty Lee trying to give her a makeover when they were little and making her look like a circus clown.
Ty Lee who ran away and joined the circus to get away from Azula.
Zuko and Ty Lee. The only people who had ever cared for her. Her eyes found a painting that hung on the walls of her makeshift bedroom in their monster-train like machine.
Azula and Ty Lee, grinning with their arms around a sulking Mai. They'd gotten it done at the firenation market, even though Mai protested and whined that she didn't look good in paintings.
A dagger found itself planted in Azula's smiling face.
hey! So it's a bit short, but I can't waste the fun on this chapter! It was more of a filler chapter before the good stuff starts up again, though you DID get to see a little Zutara so no complaining D:
Sneak-peak of the next chapter!
"I was blind to you before. It wasn't the real moon I saw; it was just a reflection in the river."
"You're truly are amazing if you can see all that."
"No. I only see because there are stones under all this water."
…
"There's no problem if you like the boy, sweetheart! I just wanted to warn you, from the caring heart of a friend…why…you must be careful! Boys can be so fickle. One moment they're pining over you, and the next they're drooling over your best friend!"
"Y-yes, Azula."