Ok, it seems I forgot to clarify a few things in the first chapter. You see, I started this story before the second season began, and then "The Avatar State" came out and it's like 'oh crap', all this new information and a story line that doesn't quite make sense against it. So this is how things are going to work: I am mainly going to work off of information from the first season, but I may pull little bits and pieces from the second season as is appropriate. That being said, here is a time lapse for the past two years:
Zuko: after the battle at the north pole, he and Iroh floated around for a few weeks and eventually arrived at the port of Xiamen, where they discovered that Lieutenant Ji and small group of their old crew had actually not gone with Zhao when he recruited Zuko's crew right before the attack on the waterbenders. The small group had been hiding in Xiamen, waiting for some sign of the Prince's survival. In the mean time, Ji and the others had secured a new war galley from a Fire Nation governor near Xiamen who was tricked into believing that he was donating his personal ship to the Fire Lord's navy, not to the banished Prince. Needless to say, Zuko and Iroh got the crew out of Xiamen rather quickly, before the governor figured out what was going oink. In Sozen, Azula is still a bending prodigy, but she has not yet been dispatched to hunt her brother. Zuko is still determined to capture Aang. As to the comet, (damn, I was really hoping no one would remember about that thing) as it turns out, Ozai's astronomers misinterpreted the signs of the comets arrival and announced a date that was two years early: the amended date for the comet's arrival would be some months after this story began. Needless to say, those astronomers were sentenced to death by one seriously pissed Ozai (the comet will be more important in the second book of my series)
Aang and the gang: As was shown in the beginning of the first episode of the second season, Aang, Katara, and Sokka are escorted away from the north pole by Paku, blah, blah, blah. Then they travel around the Earth Kingdom fro a while looking fro a teacher for Aang, though miraculously never finding a master who has the courage to train the avatar (yeah for writer's privilege !)
Disclaimer: I don't any of the Avatar stuff, blah, blah, blah, you guys know the drill.
Ps: thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are the reason I keep writing, so keep bugging me, it helps. I can't list everyone here right now b/c I have rambled on enough for the moment, so look for you names in the next chapter.
On with the show!
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Aang sat atop Appa's saddle, reigns held tightly in his hands as he guided the great beast over the Earth Kingdom forest below. Sokka was seated behind his young friend and spewed a continuous ream of worries as he searched the region below for his sister. It was nearing moonrise and still Katara had not retuned.
"Where is she? Where in the name of all the oceans is she! Katara should have been back hours ago; she would never have just wandered off like that. Where is my sister?"
"Sokka, please be quite," Aang pleaded tiredly. They had left Momo at their partially erected camp almost two hours ago and both boys were exhausted, wracked with hunger (Katara being the only one who could really cook), and plagued by horrific visions of what might have befallen their companion. "Look, I'm sure nothing really awful has happened to her, Katara is a waterbending master, she knows how to take care of herself," Aang said over his shoulder, not really sure if he was trying to calm Sokka or himself.
Deep inside, Aang felt physically ill from the adrenalin thoughts of a missing Katara sent to pool in his stomach; he thought he might vomit just about any moment.
Aang gazed over Appa's side, mesmerized by the bison's shadow cast upon the dense forest below, as though trying to find Katara in the familiar shape gliding over the tree tops.
Suddenly Sokka gasped behind Aang and the younger boy turned to look at his friend. "What is it Sokka? What?"
"Shush" the other man said, waving Aang into silence with one hand as he slid his body low against the bottom of Appa's saddle. "Quick! Get us to the ground, now." He whispered urgently.
Deftly, the monk led Appa to the grounds and the boys dismounted. Aang spoke first.
"Why did you have me bring Appa down, Sokka? Did you see some sign of Katara?"
" No," Sokka and Aang crouched low beside Appa, facing each the in the pale light the moon provided. "Just as we flew over the main path through the forest, I saw a pair of lights."
"So, maybe it was a couple of villagers with torches"
"In the middle of the night? I doubt it. Besides, there is something else. We were pretty high up, but I am almost certain I saw the head of a Firenation komodo rhino." Sokka finished solemnly.
"Oh gods, no. Not the Firenation, not now. " Aang moaned softly. "You don't think they have something to do with Katara going missing, do you?"
Sokka squirmed uncomfortably at the thought, "I really hope not, but we can't be too sure. I am going to try to sneak up on them and eavesdrop."
"No Sokka, it isn't safe!"
"Maybe they know about my sister, maybe not, but I can't walk away from them never having bothered to find out." The older boy finished with a set cast to his features.
Aang knew there was no way of talking his friend out of the idea of tracking the Firebenders, so he wouldn't even try. However, he could compromise with Sokka.
"Alright Sokka," Aang began in a placatory fashion, "I can understand your thinking and this idea has it's merits, but I think I should be the one to listen in on the Firebenders."
"But-"
"No Sokka listen," Aang hissed vehemently. "Your are a great warrior and a great tracker, but even the slightest sounds carry in this forest. With my airbending ability, I can lessen the sounds on the wind I would make."
Aang was right of course. Aang was always right.
Sokka finally consented "Fine. You go. Just be careful. Don't use your glider, it would make too much noise."
"Right." Aang rose to begin his task when Sokka's hand on his arm stopped him. The monk turned back to his friend. Sokka's face was pulled tight with worry.
"Aang, do me a favor."
"Anything."
"Find out where my sister is, but don't get yourself killed in the process."
Aang nodded solemnly, "I'll try my hardest not to get killed." This brought a small smile to Sokka's face and Aang returned it in kind.
Aang scrambled up the nearest bayuba tree and rolled into the large dip in the center. This particular Earth Kingdom forest was home to the world's largest population of bayuba trees, mighty oak-like structures that could grow to be 60-70feet high and supported a concave roof-like structure covered in dense spreading leaves. Long branches spread out from this natural platform and reached out to their fellow trees, making leaping from one tree to the next a breeze, completely eliminating the need to travel on the ground if one needed to remain unseen.
Aang straightened up and quickly pulled off his orange caftan so as to minimize the sound any extra clothes might have made one the night's strong wind.
Remembering an age-old warrior's tactic Sokka had once taught him, Aang knelt down beside a thick branch and, pulling a small dagger from the sheath at his waist, Aang thrust the blade into the wide limb.
Instantly, gooey sap began to leak out onto his hands. Aang rubbed the juice on to his palms, taking care to cover his vibrant tattoos in the amber goo, before repeating the process on his skull tattoo. A final streak of sap down the center of Aang's back to cover the last stretch of visible markings and he was ready to take the last step.
The young man rolled onto his back and hoped to all the heavens that the natural dais of the tree was home to enough dust and dirt to sufficiently coat his goo-covered tattoos and conceal them from the night of the moon.
The group had learned enough times that Aang's marks were practically luminescent under the light of a full moon. If he planned on tracking a deadly opponent such as a Firenation warrior, it was foolish to let something insignificant as his tattoos to give him away.
Sokka's voice floated up to Aang faintly, "Good Luck."
Aang raced from limb to limb, occasionally using small spurts of airbending to quiet his journey or make it across a particularly large gap. If there really were Firebenders in the forest that night, they were only there for one reason; to capture the avatar.
The warriors would be looking for signs of life. Most likely they had followed the trail Aang and his family had left from the village to their now abandoned campsite. That thought in mind, Aang set a swift course in that direction.
After five minutes of speedy gliding through the trees, Aang cold hear voices up ahead. The avatar stopped just as he was about to take a particularly large leap between two bayuba trees when he flung himself instead back into the hollow of the great plant. He crept to the edge of the tree and peaked over to see the trademark flaming hands of Firenation scouts.
"Are you quite sure you saw a water skin back there?" One man questioned of his companion.
"Yes, Udo, I am certain that we just passed their camp. Prince Zuko was right; they must have fled, but I don't see why he sent you and I out here in the middle of the night. The avatar and the other one are probably miles from here by now."
"I don't know about that Aki," the one called Udo replied in hushed tones as he and his partner examined a branch that Appa had broken only that morning. "The Prince seems to think that the girl's brother and the avatar will have remained behind to save her."
"Either way, I'm freezing my armor off here. I don't know how these Earth Kingdom rabble can stand these frigid nights." Aki complained.
"By Agni, you are such a tyro! You have to spend a little longer outside of the Firenation Islands before you are ready to sail with the Prince. I was with him when we sailed into the North Pole two years ago. Now that was cold, my little friend."
Aang listened, not daring to breath, as the two men followed the trail Appa had created that morning by barreling through the brush in search of a watering hole. Luckily, it would take Zuko's scouts in the complete opposite direction of where Aang had left Appa and Sokka.
When the young Avatar could no longer hear the complaints of Aki and the jaded Udo, Aang allowed himself to process what he had just heard: now he new for certain that Katara was in the hands of the Firenation. A cold wave of nausea swept across the fourteen year old, tinged with fear and the gnawing sensation at the back of his mind that he would not be able to save the most important woman in his life.
Katara's face swam before Aang's eyes and suddenly he remembered the pact he, Katara and Sokka had made those many, many months ago.
There was nothing else for it; Sokka and Sang would have to go the nearest Air Temple and wait for Katara there. They could rest and begin tracking Zuko, if nothing else, and devise a plan for Katara's rescue from a safe vantage point. Aang knew full well Katara wouldn't thank the two boys for barging onto her captor's ship and most likely getting themselves caught.
Aang lifted himself up again and, quickly leaping across the trees back to Sokka, prayed with all his might that they would all live to see one another again.
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Prince Zuko assumed the lotus position on a bamboo mat before the wall bearing an impressive piece of Fire Nation art; a vast piece of brass melted and molded and twisted and hammered to form great flames so realistic, one thought that to touch them would burn one's skin.
This motif was the object of Prince Zuko's meditation at the moment. He had been sitting like that for some time, trying desperately to relax and get the waterbender's voice out of his head.
After having left her in her cell, Zuko had stormed off, telling himself that her curses meant nothing to him. He had spent the next few hours with his Uncle Iroh, training like a man possessed. There had been stretches of time, wonderful periods, when he had managed to get his prisoner's last few words out of his head, before a small lapse in the action between the Prince and his sparing partner would allow them to cross his mind again.
"You bastard!" She had screamed. "You son of a jackal! I curse your family's name, I hope you burn in the hell of your gods!"
It wasn't the person speaking the words so much as the words themselves that had bothered Zuko; no matter what he told himself, having a woman damn him to hell in such a manner could be rather dissuading. It reminded him of his sister.
Zuko would have gladly trained into the night, but with the rise of the moon, Iroh insisted that they halt for the moment and all get some rest.
The crewmembers that had volunteered to spare witch Zuko were only too happy.
So the young man had retreated to his chambers only to find not a moments peace from the voice plaguing his thoughts.
He had done the right thing, he had. If capturing the avatar was the only way to return home, and the only way to get to the avatar was to take hostage his lady, then the only logical choice was for Zuko to have acted as he had.
Finally at peace with himself, the prince settled down to meditate.
However, Zuko had only just begun his deep breathing when a shout from above alerted him to the return of his scouts. Triumph swept through him at the thought that very, very soon, all would be as it should be. In a few days he could send word to his father in Sozen that Zuko had captured the avatar and was ready to return home and resume his rightful place as heir to the throne.
Quickly, Zuko pulled his shoes back on and made his way out of his apartments.
Once on the deck, the prince spotted his uncle and several sailors clustered around the pair of scouts Zuko had dispatched hours earlier. Their rhinos were being led away by four of the beasts' handlers and as Zuko drew closer, he could not help but notice that both scouts seemed to have rather defeated, wary looks on their faces.
These looks became more pronounced as Zuko came closer.
"My lord…" the first scout began bravely.
"Yes, what news have you for me?" Zuko was surprised to hear a note of some buoyancy in his voice that was usually so devoid of any such emotion. The scout did not seem to reciprocate this sentiment
"My lord…" the man started again. "My lord…you see…Udo and I scoured the woods for hours, we have only just returned…but…" he quelled under the furry growing in Zuko's golden eyes.
"Yes?" the prince growled.
The second man, Udo, took over the retelling of their trials. "My lord, the avatar and the water peasant are no where to be found. Aki and I searched every inch of those woods and the boys have most definitely fled."
Rage such as Zuko had only felt a precious few times before in his life filled the young man to the brim. No, no! He would not allow this to ruin his plans!
The girl would know where her fellows were hiding. Yes, once again the girl would prove to be the answer to all of Zuko's dreams.
"Prince Zuko?" Iroh's voice tentatively intruded upon Zuko's thoughts. He looked up to find every face in the small crowd trained intently on their Prince, apparently waiting for the axe to fall.
"Never mind this." He said brusquely. "Udo and Aki, you have done all that you could, I thank you for your services. If you will excuse me, I have business to attend to below decks."
The young man barely noticed the shocked looks on each and every face within hearing distance. Even his uncle was pleasantly surprised to hear Zuko control his anger in such a way and not throw the scouts overboard, as he had once been want to do.
Meanwhile, Zuko moved through the bowels of his ship. As his eagerness to interrogate the girls became greater, his steps became swifter, until Zuko found that he was almost running by the time he reached the waterbender's cell.
The single guard on duty straightened up upon catching sight of his Prince.
"My lord, do you require something of me?"
"No. I need to speak to the girl. Has she been any trouble? Tried to speak to you at any time since last I was here?"
"Not at all sire. I think she might have slept most of the night, and when I slid some food into her cell this morning, she made no protest."
"Good, let me in."
"As you wish sire." The guard turned to the heavy iron door and pulled a ring of keys from the sash at his waist. "You in there!" he called through the small opening in the top of the door. Zuko could a faint rustling of chains from within. The sentinel spoke again "You know the routine girl, keep your body facing the far wall until I have given the word."
There was more rustling of chains from inside the chamber and quickly the guard had opened the door and Zuko had passed through the portal the find Katara standing, shouted stiff in anger, with her face into the hot wall.
The door clanged shut behind them. "You may turn around." Zuko said.
She did. "What do you want now?" she snapped.
"I don't have time for this, peasant. Tell me where you brother and the avatar are hiding!" Zuko was just able to keep his rage in check. This proved to be much more difficult task when Katara's face lightened in pleased surprise. How dare she feel joy when Zuko's entire world could come crumbling down upon him at any moment?
"They got away?" tentative happiness laced her voice.
"Not for long. You are going to tell me where they have gone."
"How crazy do you think I am? I have already told you that I will never give Aang up to you."
"And how stupid do you think I am?" Zuko hissed as he closed the distance between them. He was inches away from her face when he whispered, "I will return to my land one way or another. Now, tell me where they have gone."
"I don't know."
His hands shot out of nowhere to slam into the wall beside Katara's face, trapping her against the wall between the cage of his arms. He completely filled her vision, he was so close. A thrill of fear raced through her body with the realization that if she pushed Zuko too far, he could very easily kill her right there in the prison of his ship.
"I don't believe you." His voice was tight with suppressed anger. "Let's try this again, shall we? Where. Is. The. Avatar?" Each word was perfectly enunciated.
"I don't know."
Zuko's breath came quicker and a familiar rush of rage swept up his body. No! He would not allow this simple peasant to get the better of him. He was her superior, her lord and master in every possible way, and she would not ruin all of Zuko's carefully laid plans now.
Zuko took a deep breath and a step back to appraise his captive. Imprisonment did not suit her, he noticed. The girl's hair was coming out of its careful braid and a deep flush had reddened her tan cheeks. It was actually a rather alluring effect. He grinned.
"Well, I know that your brother and the Avatar are no longer in the forest. There are no other towns in this area for a great distance. I can only suppose that they will be running over seas." Zuko watched her eyes carefully when he said this last piece and was rewarded by a slight quivering of her deep blue eyes. A perfect tell, caught just at the right moment, as Iroh had so often taught Zuko to catch them.
"Perfect." He smirked and leaned in closer to the woman and his smile widened. "I told you, did I not, that the Avatar would fall right into my hands? You have given up your beloved little monk. Didn't you swear that was the one thing you would never do?" He mocked.
She spat in his face.
Zuko wiped the spittle from his cheek and, with a low growl, backhanded the girl on her own cheek. She fell to the floor with a clatter of chains and had the good sense not to get up again.
"Guard! The door!" Zuko snapped.
Just as the man on the other side had managed to unlock the heavy portal and Zuko was on the other side, Katara croaked, to be heard through the still open door, "Your will never find him, you poor excuse for a man."
The door slammed hard behind Katara and she flinched at the noise. Faintly through the door she could hear the sounds a fire prince made when he stormed off in a temper. One thought became abundantly clear: Sokka and Aang had escaped! If there was any justice in the world, and any sense in Sokka's head, than the boys would remember their promise and might already be on their way to the nearest Air Temple, which, if Katara was correct, was the Eastern Air Temple.
The young woman grinned despite the smarting pain in her left cheek where Zuko had struck her. She lifted one hand to feel the tender flesh on her face. Katara had never been hit in such a manner before and though it came as quite a shock, the pain was sweetened by the knowledge that her family might survive to see another day.
Tugging her chains over to the single window, Katara continued the venture she had been working carefully and stealth-fully on before the guard had announced the Prince's arrival.
The window was small, barely little more than a porthole, but was filled with a sheet of glass several inches thick. However, the best past was that the deep chunk of glass was surrounded by metal.
Swiftly rusting metal.
Metal that Katara had been carefully chipping away at all morning when a careful examination of her cell had provided her with the knowledge of the tiny crack in the windowpane.
Exultation filled the waterbender when her fingers suddenly pocked through the wall of the ship. True, it was a minuscule opening and Katara's finger was greatly scraped from its journey through the rusty wall, but she could fell with the tip of her finger hanging over the ocean below that ever so familiar draw of the water.
With just a little more work Katara would have all she required to escape.
In the setting sun, the girl worked diligently, the only though in her head that of freedom.
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Mwahahahah! Yeah for cliffies! I know so many of you were wondering whether or not Aang and Katara are lovers…and you are just going to have to wait and see. I am so sorry if this has taken my longer than expected to update, but it wasn't like I was abandoning it or anything. Never fear, more to come.