A/N: New Zutara fic! I know you will like it! But before we begin, I must tell you that this fic is going to have a darker theme than my other ones. Be prepared for violence, and details that might be 'gruesome'.

This first chapter can act like a prologue if you so please, because it will explain everything you need to know! I hope you don't bail on this fic, just because there wasn't anything zutarian about this chapter! I promise you, this IS a Zutara fic! lol

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or anything associated with it. I do own this plot and anything that is different than the story in ATLA, is my idea! So no jacking! Thank you!


Secrets

Chapter 1

The gray clouds rolled along in the sky, unceasing, not letting any sunlight shine through. It was the end of the day, so it wouldn't matter anymore. Darkness crept silently through the village, spreading shadows upon everything and everyone. Soon, all of the villagers would be heading home, or going to a tavern for an evening out. Loud sounds of rumbling laughter could already be heard in the distance. The village was surrounded by thick forest. And not only were the tall trees like gates to the village, but two people lived there, for now, almost like guardians of the night. Both unaware of the other; both with the same objective, well almost.

Katara watched the day come to an end up on the hill that was near the east side of the village. There wasn't much she had to do that night. But her mission had to start sooner or later. She had finally gotten a tip, and she would follow it. Her thoughts came to rest on two people, Sokka and Aang. It had so long since she had seen them, and it hurt her inside everyday, not knowing what had become of them. A while back, the three of them had to be separated. Aang had grown up a lot within the time she was with him, and Sokka had heard news of their father. It was agreed that Sokka would go find their father, and help out with the war effort. He would try and find a way to help Aang if it was possible for him. Aang still needed some training in earth bending, and then he had to find a fire bender to learn from. Katara thought that it would be easier to find a fire bender willing to help, if the two of them split up. And that is what happened. Aang was now somewhere, hopefully alive and well, and Katara was here, in the well-known fire nation village of Tochigi.

Standing upon the same hill, at the northern part of Tochigi, was the exiled fire nation prince. Zuko looked up to the sky and he could feel the haunting presence of a storm. But it was very miniscule, and most likely there wouldn't even be any rainfall. Even so, Zuko was suddenly filled with thoughts of his uncle on their ship. During one particular storm, he had acted as a human lightening rod, directing the bolt of lightening to the water, so as to protect the ship. He had looked a bit funny with his fried gray hair, and at the thought Zuko smiled slightly. Iroh had always been such a kind-hearted man, all the time, thinking about others and not himself. That was all in the past though, Zuko had to learn to move on. Zuko had lost Iroh when his own father directed his arrest and execution. He would have been caught as well, but because of his uncle's determination to protect him, Zuko was alive now. However, he was living as an outcast, a wanted man, and he had to hide his identity. There was much that the fire prince learned because of all that had happened to him. His father, was not a father, but a heartless beast, imitating to be a human. And his nation, turning its back on him, meant that he would turn his back on the nation. Zuko was not on their side anymore. The war was pointless, and it was clear the only reason it was put in place was because of the hunger for power and dominance. It disgusted Zuko when he finally realized he had been a puppet for his father's games of catching the avatar. Now, there was nothing more that he wanted than to get revenge on his father. To do that, he had to risk his own life, and enter the village of Tochigi.

Both of them took their disguises and put them on. Now it was almost pitch black outside, and they fit in perfectly. The laughter continued to boom out from one particular tavern in the village. Katara dodged in and out of the streets, until she finally got to it. Zuko on the other hand, preferred to get there by skipping from roof to roof. Either way, they both found themselves hidden among the shadows of the same tavern, still with no knowledge that the other person was there as well. The men gathered close to each other in two groups, so Katara kept close to one, and Zuko to the other. It was a big tavern and there were most likely around one hundred people there. So since each group had fifty people, it was very easy for the two to go unnoticed.

"Well, I say it don't matter! A fat old bastard she was!"

An enormous raging laughter erupted from the group Katara was with. She rolled her eyes, as she saw them all clinking together their glasses of rum. It would be a while before they would talk about the important things she needed to hear about. On the other side of the tavern, Zuko was barely able to stand still. These weren't the drunks; instead, they were all smoking on pipes and cigars. The fumes made his eyes water, and he wanted badly to cough, but none of them were coughing, and if he did, attention would be brought to him automatically. So he had to keep it inside his lungs, all of the horrible smoke. But he thanked Agni when they finally started to talk about something interesting.

"That's not possible! I say you are mad!"

"I'm not mad! I'm telling you all, there is such a thing!"

"Oh yeah, how do we know you are bluffing? How do we know you are not trying to scam us?"

Many of the men agreed, and then gave a mistrusting look to them old man in the middle. His white hair was tied back, and his beard hid his strong neck. He was a retired general, Zuko thought of his uncle, but pushed the thought aside. The old man looked a bit nervous, but then cleared his throat.

"I am not bluffing! I've heard of it from a most reliable source! And I've seen it as well!"

The men started to hush in all around him, and the old man smirked.

"That's right. Now you want to know, don't you?"

"Yes! So, how can we get it?"

Katara's eyes widened when the drunkards finally started to talk, about something other than a women's features.

"It would take you all out in a minute!"

"Even in seconds!"

"Well, what does it do?"

This was it. Finally her search would turn up to be worthwhile. Spending the past couple of weeks in Tochigi showed Katara how much she should appreciate the time she was given with Sokka and Aang. The people here weren't kind, and she had to hide the fact that she was a water bender.

"Let's just say that if you've got an… enemy that is a bender, you won't have to worry at all. It will take them out in… seconds."

The drunkards fell silent, as did the smokers. Zuko's eyes widened when he had heard it. A jewel made for disabling a bender's abilities. It was just too great to think it were true. And the smokers thought the same exact thing.

"He's bluffing! There's no way he's telling the truth!"

"What? Of course it's the truth!"

"Let's get 'im!"

The smokers growled, and ganged up on the old man. Zuko couldn't hold it in any longer though, and he coughed. His cough boomed out throughout the silent tavern, and each head turned to him. Zuko realized his mistake, and saw that the drunkards were starting to wonder. But the smokers were already heading in his direction.

"Who are ye?"

"What are ye doing 'ere?"

When Zuko didn't answer, the old man saw his opportunity to gain back the trust of his 'friends'.

"I bet he's a spy! He needs information of the you know what!"

"He is!"

"Who else could he be?"

"Get him!"

By now the drunkards were interested, and they were glad to get into a brawl for the night. Katara began to realize how dangerous it was for her to be here. She hoped she would go unnoticed as she slipped to the entrance of the tavern. But unfortunately, she had to stop dead in her tracks.

"Wait! There he goes!"

A drunkard had spotted her and was pointing right at her. Katara wrapped her cloak around her even more tightly, and she tried to hide in the shadows. But now all of the drunkards were heading towards her. The smokers looked at her direction, and Zuko found his chance to jump up to the second level. It was the only way to get out, up to the roof. The smokers, since they were sober, realized quickly.

"That's not him you idiots!"

"Whoever it is, is too small!"

"Where did he go?"

"Up there!"

The drunkards all looked up amazed to see a black figure leaping up to the window of the tavern. Everyone there was entranced by the figure, but Katara hadn't even noticed there was someone else. Her heart was hammering as she ran out of the tavern. Someone noticed, and pointed at the swinging door.

"Go after 'im! Let's get 'im!"

Everyone was making their way out of the tavern and they were out into the dark night. When each of them was out there, the drunkards looked puzzled, and the smokers were agitated. There was no trace of anyone. The wind blew strongly at them, and they retreated inside.

Katara ran with all of her might through all of the alleys. It was too risky to be spotted in the street. Finally, she was back at the safety of the hill. Quickly, she made her way inside of the forest, and soon enough, she found her hut. It was concealed very well, and now, she fell onto her bed, gasping for breath. Soon, it steadied out, and she was able to relax. Katara smiled to herself as she took off the mask. She finally knew how she was going to help Aang.

Zuko leaped effortlessly from roof to roof; until he was finally back at the northern part of Tochigi. He ran through the thick trees, and he at last reached his hiding spot, a hut as well. Even though it was easy for Zuko to jump from roof to roof, it still took a bit out of him, and he lay on his bed clutching his side. He pulled off his mask, and then looked up through the small whole in the roof to see the stars in the sky. Somehow he knew that the clouds wouldn't pose a threat for the night. Instead, it was a sign. After the cloud filled sky, it was now clear, not a single cloud in sight, only the numerous stars. Maybe he would finally have a clear way to his life, especially now that he knew about the one thing he needed.

The jewels, four jewels to be exact. Long ago, an evil man had created them. His life had been miserable, he had always been beaten by every type of bender. It annoyed him to the point that he couldn't take it anymore. Of course, he became insane, and he thought, if he didn't have any special abilities, why should anyone else have them? The plan made perfect sense to him, and he kept to himself for months, making the perfect weapon for his battles. Each month, he had perfected a new jewel. First, he made the Carmine Jewel, to stop the havocking fire benders. Next he worked on stopping the hardcore earth benders, and so he made the Jade Jewel. Another group of people he despised were the water benders. They had said that their water was a tool of peace. He laughed at that. He had seen their peaceful water used to kill. So he made the Azure Jewel. Finally, there was one last group he had to take care of. It wasn't for the same reasons as before though. Some smart air bender kid had stolen his food and flown away with it. Of course he couldn't go fly after her, and so he made the Neutra Jewel. After months of hard work, the man stood back as he gazed upon the ruby, the emerald, the sapphire, and the crystal. All four had been successfully made, and so it was time to try them out.

In the next week after finishing these jewels, he ran into his opponents. He asked kindly for a rematch, and when he did, they didn't object. However, their smiles were wiped off of their faces as the man held out a jewel. The opponents began to feel drained, and more than of just their abilities and strengths. Instead, they also felt themselves weaken, their legs not able to hold up their weight. Finally, they would fall to the ground, and faint. The man was so thrilled with his success that he went and tried to overthrow the fire nation. This task would have been thought reckless, and stupid. But as he defeated all of the guards, the man felt overly confident. The fire lord however, knew of the man's plans, and he wasn't going to be defeated. When the jewel maker stepped into the room, a net immediately surrounded him, and it wrapped around him, squeezing him, until he fell to the ground motionless. The fire lord snickered at the dead man, and his foolishness. But more importantly, in his possession were the four jewels he had heard so much about. There they were: Carmine, Jade, Azure, and Neutra. But the fire lord wasn't dim, and he put a blanket over the jewels, and then he put the wrapped prizes into a bag. He wasn't taking the chance of himself weakening because of the Carmine.

His capture was not for long though. In through the door to the fire lord's chamber came the most powerful being on the planet. The fire lord had not expected this to happen, and he didn't have time to throw the jewels at the avatar. The woman stood firmly to the ground with the most powerful face he had ever seen. She immediately found herself glowing, eyes and hands alike. Her powers were now to the maximum level, and when she waved her hands, the world went black, submerged into complete darkness, the four jewels lost within the world, never to be found again.

But now, Zuko and Katara had hope. They had heard from the men in the cavern, on both sides, that a jewel had been found. Details weren't given out so much, but they had heard enough to know that their search would begin now. It was going to be difficult, and dangerous, but each of them was wiling to stop at nothing to get the task completed. After thinking about all of this new information, and after their hearts stopped to beat so fast, they closed their eyes and slept, listening to the sounds of the wind blowing by.


A/N: Different than you expected? Lol I hope so, because I love being original! To let you know now, this fic is going to be 15 chapters long! And I believe it will be great!

Thank you so much for reading, and ….

Have a wonderful day!

-Monika-