A/N

Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! And for those of you who have requested things, I hope I have delivered!

I also redid that weird part in the last chapter, and I will be fixing some stuff in the earlier chapters that I overlooked in my excitement. I'll let you know when I make these changes.

It's been kind of hard for me to get started on this chapter. This chapter has to be PERFECT. Thirteen is one) my lucky number, two) the same number of the episode of "The Blue Spirit" so I have a lot to live up to, and three) this is gonna have a lot of the action that this story has led up to, so it's gonna have to be a great one. It's not the last, however. It'll be awhile before I reach the end, and even then, I may not be finished. :P

xxx

"Can't Appa go any faster? I'm walking quicker than that! And he's got six legs!" Sokka whined.

"Appa's tired!" Aang snapped back. "Why don't you try lugging this saddle around all day without stopping, and we'll see how you do."

Sokka grumbled and kept his eyes glued to the ground before him. He watched Appa's old footprints fly underneath him, huge round pads.

"Aang… Those tracks are pretty noticeable."

"Is this a ploy to get me to fly? I thought you were the one who didn't want to fly in the first place."

Sokka stopped and knelt to the ground. "And these prints… these are fresher than Appa's… They overlap Appa's. But… we didn't pass whoever made them."

"So what's that mean?"

Sokka followed a heavy pair of tracks down the lane a little farther. Suddenly they veered left, off of the road.

"Straight into the thicket…" Sokka mused, tracing the boot line with his thumb. "I wonder why…"

Dread seized his heart and refused to let go its icy grip. He spun around to his friend to warn him.

"Aang! Get out of here! It's a-."

A solid fist hit the back of his head before he could say anymore. Sokka slumped to the ground.

xxx

"We're getting closer. The rumblings are slowing down now." Mai said aloud, her gaze wandering into the sky with disinterest.

"Maybe they think we've lost them." Ty Lee answered, skipping slightly as she and her companions felt their way along the road.

Mai sighed, "With our luck, they're probably just trying to bore us to death."

"Let's sing a song!" Ty Lee offered.

"Uhn… No…"

xxx

Katara was alone now; she was sure. The darkness that pressed around her was too empty, too quiet. She held an empty palm to the space around her and waited for Zuko to run into it. Nothing came. She clutched the swords to her chest, unsure of what to do with them. She'd never even considered wielding any other weapon. Either she had her bending, or she had Sokka.

And she definitely didn't want for Zuko to teach her…

She couldn't even imagine him doing anything like that. For him to be kind… that was like Sokka's appetite being satisfied.

A light down the tunnel appeared, a tiny flame. Katara took a breath. He gave her his swords; now it was her turn to be altruistic. She walked back to the cavern, with Haru's distant noise setting her pace.

Zuko was slumped against his wall again, staring into the middle of the cavern, where he'd stoked a small fire with roots he'd pulled from the wall. He glanced at her as she entered, still with his swords in hand.

She hesitated. Why did everything about him have to be so awkward?

"Here," she muttered, handing him his weapons back, "I don't need them."

He took them back gingerly, in case she may change her mind. "You're sure?"

"Yes." She sighed. "If you were stupid enough to do anything to me, you would've done it a long time ago."

She settled on the opposite wall, staring at her idle hands.

"I'm sorry." Zuko said. "I didn't mean to… drink it all."

"It's okay." Her jaw dropped in shock, "Did you just apologize?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't read anything into it."

A smile found its way to Katara's lips and lingered there. Zuko couldn't help but to grin slightly himself.

"You choked on a biscuit." She giggled.

"I was hungry." He retorted, laughing faintly.

They fell into a comfortable silence. Momo curled up into Haru's pack and folded his ears back over his head.

"So you wanted to know what benders I knew?" Zuko prompted. Silence allowed time for him to think about what he was doing. For now, he could pretend he was with Aang's group to get his uncle back, but later, he wasn't sure how he would justify this act.

"Yes." Katara answered, "You said seven."

"You won't know all of them."

"Well… Just tell me anyway. I'm curious."

"I'll start with ones you know. The avatar, for one."

She nodded in agreement. "He's amazing."

"Is that… admiration for his bending or…"

"Or what?" Katara snapped, flushing.

Zuko smirked. "Never mind. My uncle is another. He doesn't bend much anymore, but that's also because he doesn't have to. He doesn't have as much passion for bending as he used to, not after he lost his son."

"His son? You had a cousin?"

Zuko nodded, plunging his amber gaze into the flames he'd set. "Lu ten. He and I were… We…"

"You were close?"

He nodded. "He was killed in the battle to win Ba Seng Se. Uncle was never the same after that. Lu ten is number three on that list. He was a very powerful bender."

"I'm sorry. You must miss him." Katara whispered sympathetically.

"That was a long time ago." Zuko looked back up into her eyes. "Anyway, you've heard of this next man. Can you guess?"

"Um… Not really, no. You and I don't exactly know the same people…"

"My father."

"Oh. Yeah, I've heard of him." She said bitterly.

"What about General Jeong Jeong?" Zuko asked, his lip curling at the mere thought of the man.

"Jeong Jeong! We've met him before! Aang tried to learn fire bending from him, but-."

"Wait," Zuko sat forward, his eyes glowing angrily, "You've met him? How?"

"It was a bit after you, uh, 'visited' us at the abbey." She waited to see is reaction. He was still listening with a dead-set face of fury. "We came to a fire nation town within the Earth Kingdom. Aang was hoping to find a teacher there, but we made a scene and they found out who he was, and they chased us, and we met a man named Chey."

"Chey?"

"Do you know him too?"

"No. But I already don't like him. Go on."

"So he rescues us and takes us to the man he follows, called 'the Deserter.'"

"The Deserter? That's dumb."

"Are you going to listen or interject?"

"Keep going."

"So, the Deserter. Chey said he was once part of the fire nation army. A general in the fire nation army."

"I know that. What about Jeong Jeong?"

"Stop interrupting!"

"Stop telling me things I already or don't want to know!"

"You're impossible."

"Listen… It's imperative that I hear this, okay? So just… tell the story."

"Fine. Chey took us to Jeong Jeong, but he said he wouldn't teach Aang. He said he needed to master water bending and earth bending first. Aang went to talk to him personally, and somehow he convinced him."

"He taught him?"

"Sort of… Aang said all he taught him was stances and breathing."

"Then what happened?"

"Zhao showed up."

"Zhao? His old student?"

Katara shrugged. "I guess. Aang and Zhao fought."

"Aang won?"

She grinned. "Naturally. But Jeong Jeong disappeared."

"He always was a coward."

"Coward? Why do you say that? How do you know him?"

"He was a horrible man."

"He was kind to us, and there were many others that lived with him too." Katara pointed out.

"You don't know him! He was a traitor to his own men! He was going to sacrifice an entire division of new recruits for a battle! What kind of 'kind man' does that to his own people?" Zuko yelled, his entire body shaking with rage.

The fire plume rose threateningly.

"What are you talking about? What happened?"

Zuko settled back, trying to calm himself. "Nothing. Forget it."

"Zuko…" Katara stood up and kneeled as close to him as she dared. "Is he the one who…" she touched her own left eye. "Did that to you?"

He shook his head, his jaw clenched. "No. He didn't do it."

Katara sat down, expressing the fact that she wasn't moving until he told her what had happened.

He turned to glare at her for a few moments, then gave up. "Fine. If you really want to know…

"It was my first time in my father's war chamber. Uncle told me I could come, so long as I was quiet… I've never been very skilled at holding my tongue. Jeong Jeong was proposing a plot to lure the Earth Kingdom soldiers away. He said that we could sacrifice one division, they were newly recruited. They knew nothing of fighting or battle yet, and they would never know anything of it either. I spoke out against him. I told him it was wrong."

"You were right."

"No one else thought so. My father decided that I had to learn from my mistake. He wouldn't let me make a 'mockery' of his court."

Zuko fell silent, his mind too full of pain to continue. Katara put a hand on his arm.

"He banished you for that?"

"Yes," Zuko fumbled with his sleeve. "But that's not all he did… I've never told anyone this. Everyone either knew or didn't think to ask…"

"If you really don't want to tell me, I understand." Katara said softly.

"No, I want to tell you." Zuko said firmly. "I was challenged to an Agni Kai. I thought it would be with Jeong Jeong."

"That would make sense."

"But that's not who it was with… I went out there ready to fight an old general. I expected to beat him easily, I was that naïve. I still have nightmares about who was I turned around to see…" He shook his head disbelievingly. "My father challenged me."

Katara gasped. "Your father? He fought you?"

"No. I refused, and for that he scarred me. He called me a coward. I was dragged away to my chamber. Later that evening he had a servant come and tell me that I was to be banished, and that I could have one ship and three hours to get out of the fire nation."

"I never knew… This is horrible… So, the only way you could come back was if you caught Aang?"

"Apparently."

Katara slumped against the wall next to him, stunned into silence.

"Thanks for listening." Zuko muttered.

"Don't thank me." Katara replied, and hugged herself. "I thought I had it bad. I lost my mom, my village is in shambles, my father left for war, and on top of that, I couldn't find a master until Aang showed up and took me to one. None of that even compares… I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make you feel worse."

"There is no tragedy worse than another. They are all equally awful." Zuko replied. "Uncle told me that after we left the healer's house."

"Healer?"

"Long story. Uncle ate a bad plant. We went to the healer's house."

"Oh."

"I've told you five powerful benders. You still want to know the other two?"

Katara shrugged, still disheartened by Zuko's past.

"One is my sister. As much as I hate to admit it; she is powerful. She's naturally gifted. Nothing's ever hard for her." Zuko turned to look at Katara, his expression somewhat bemused. "The other is a girl as well. You want to try and guess?"

"Was your mom a bender?"

"No."

Katara shrugged and tore her gaze from the fire to return his stare.

"You caught me by surprise at the North Pole, you know. I didn't expect you to be that good." Zuko said with a shake of his head.

"Wait. You're saying…"

"You're the seventh powerful bender I know, Katara."

xxx

"Some warrior you are. You couldn't track a troop of soldiers before they hit you. Ha!" Azula scorned and stepped over Sokka's groaning body.

Aang leapt to his feet "Leave him alone. I'm the one you want."

She motioned for her guards to pick up the water tribe boy. "Actually, leaving him alone is the last thing I want to do."

"Aang…" Sokka groaned from his place strung between the two soldiers. "Run."

"Yes, Avatar." Azula said mockingly. "Run. We'll see what happens to your friend here."

Aang dropped to the ground and held his staff out to Azula. "No. Don't hurt him. I'll go with you peacefully."

"Yes. You will." Azula stepped toward the boy and took his staff.

"Let me guess." Aang said sarcastically. "It will make an excellent gift for your father."

Azula smirked. "It would, but I think I want to keep it for myself. Thanks for the consideration."

xxx

A/N

The End! Hope you liked it.

Ha. Just kidding. I've already come up with a sequel to this story, so its not likely at all that I'm ending this anytime soon.

I downplayed Aang and Sokka and Azula a LOT. When I get out of this Zutara-induced craze I'll go back and tweak it, but for now it shall remain as it is. There was also a lot of stuff I would've liked to put in this chapter too, but seeing as the length of this one was rather longish, I decided just to come back with more excitement in the next chapter.

Yay, the CHASE! I'm hoping Iroh and Zuko will make an appearance in 'Bitter Work'.

And again… I would LOVE it if someone would be interested in doing illustrations… Email me!