A/N: I'm so glad I got to update today! I have so much homework to go do now -.- but oh well lol … Just to let you know, this chapter has a lot of detail, so you might squirm a bit. Here we go then! (oh, and sorry if this chapter doesn't have much in it… I am still trying to figure out how this is all going to piece in together!) Thanks again to all that have reviewed!
Chapter 4

The winds howled against their shivering bodies. Katara had run all the way up the hill, not looking back, and when she, along with whomever she was with, had made it into the forest, she fell to her knees and collapsed. Her arms lifted up to wrap themselves around her body. Zuko leaned against a tree, and began to control his breath. Both of them were panting, barely filling up their lungs with much needed air. When things got back to normal, Zuko helped the girl stand up. Katara took his offered hand and walked along side him, going deeper and deeper into the forest.

Zuko kept looking back to see if she was following him. It turned out that she was, and he smiled to himself. Having a partner in crime was a rather comforting thought, especially if it was a girl with rage and passion. The thought brought him to other thoughts of rage and passion, like when he bended fire. For anyone that bended an element, it was completely out of rage and passion, at least he thought so. Another thought came to his mind. Were all the elements like that really? Could water be furious with rage? No, water was calm and soothing. Just then he felt a chill go up his spine, and he shivered.

Katara kept walking behind him, and she was looking down at the ground. Unfortunately, this meant that she had bumped right into the man's back when he stopped. Zuko turned around, and stared at the girl intently, not speaking a single word. There, in the middle of the forest stood two dark figures, each one of them bearing the same red dragon mask, identical to each detail. Katara's cloak fluttered in the wind slightly, and then the lightening struck. It illuminated the sky around them, and sent light through the thick dark trees. She jumped slightly, but the man next to her took her hand and started to lead her away. Zuko wanted to make sure this girl wouldn't run away too soon; he wanted to receive some answers from her.

Another bolt of lightening struck, and this time a loud boom of thunder followed it. Since she was so close to him, she grabbed onto Zuko, and just before he was going to put his arms around her, she pulled away, blushing madly. Zuko looked at her curiously as she turned away from him. He was so intrigued to meet the person under the mask. There was so much mystery behind it, and he wanted so desperately to find out. Suddenly, a blanket of rain fell through the trees, soaking their disguises. Katara's heart started to beat in rhythm along with the thousands of drops of rain. She ran after him, obviously not knowing where else to go.

The man was standing somewhere in the distance. He looked up and saw the rain coming. From inside his cloak, he pulled out a round and triangular hat and put it on his head. His two targets were getting ever so closer towards him, and he smiled crookedly. Next, he pulled out the tube of poison, and an arrow. After inserting it into the poison, he took out a bow and took his time to figure out where to shoot. They were moving quickly, and he wasn't sure who to aim it at. The taller of the two seemed to be the dominant one, so he figured he should shot at him.

Zuko was looking everywhere, trying to figure out his way back to the hut. It seemed that he had lost his way, and inside, he had a feeling of foreboding. But the rain would not cease to fall, and his vision was becoming blurred. Suddenly, another flash of lightening darted across the sky above them, and with it, Zuko saw what his feeling was telling him. Without anytime to react, Zuko saw the arrow fly from the archer, and come straight towards him. The piercing sound of the arrow hitting through the rain and wind, was only heard by Zuko. All Katara could hear was the booming of the thunder, and then what she saw frightened her even more than the storm. The man in front of her fell down to the ground, his head leaned back, and from his arm was an arrow sticking up. Her eyes darted from him to the woods around her. She saw a man in the distance dart away quickly. Katara felt enraged, and before she knew what she was doing, she was running after him.

Whoever that man was, she was going to kill him. For some reason, she had felt like someone had attacked her, by attacking her man. They dodged in and out of the trees, until finally she was gaining on him. The storm was now giving her a sense of power, and when the lightening struck again, she felt her confidence rise. The assassin had no idea that he was being followed. He thought for sure that by now he was a safe distance away, and that the other spirit had stayed back to help. When he turned around, the sight of the red mask made his eyes widen and his mouth drop open.

Without any warning, he saw two hands wrap around in circles. He was confused as to what was happening, but Katara was smirking. Suddenly the rain was being transformed. It gathered together and as Katara shot her arms forward, the assassin was pushed against a tree by the force of the stream. She slammed the water into his mouth and kept pushing it in him, until she finally saw him fall to the ground. His eyes flickered once, twice, and then they shut close. Her mind wasn't functioning properly, and the thought that she had just murdered someone wasn't anywhere near her consciousness. Her main focus now, was to run back to her fallen comrade, and hopefully she wouldn't be too late.

The sight of his chest heaving sickened Katara. She was now feeling less confident, and was becoming increasingly worried. When she reached him, she looked at the protruding arrow and grimaced. Her eyes darted through the forest wildly, trying to see if there was any source of shelter nearby. Her heart leaped with joy when she saw the small hut about fifteen feet away. She tried to lift the man up, but all she received from him were grunts and moans of pain. Katara knew it was extremely risky using her water bending, but she had no choice if she wanted to save his life. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, so he wouldn't know.

Katara used the rain again to help her. She formed a pool of water underneath the man, and then lifted him up. Her soaking cloak was becoming heavy, and her arms were becoming tremendously exhausted. But she was completely stubborn, and she carried him all the way to the hut. There, she laid him down on the small bed, and then she let her arms fall down to her sides. She took off her cloak, and bended the water out of it. Katara did this as well with her clothes, and the same for the man lying on the bed. Her mask was still on; she didn't want to risk losing her identity, and she assumed the man didn't want his identity revealed either, so she decided to keep it on.

She took a deep breath in, and then sat next to him on the bed. The arrow was in his right arm, and it looked like it was in deep. Katara squirmed a bit, but gently ripped open the cloth covering his arm. When she saw his skin, she gasped at the horrible blue color that was spreading out from where the arrow had punctured his skin. The only explanation for it was simple, yet horrifying. It was poison. Knowing this, she knew she had to work quickly. Katara was no longer afraid of the arrow, and she pulled it out carefully. The man winced slightly, but slipped back into a world of black. She threw the arrow out into a tree, being very careful not to touch the tip with the poison. When she returned back to the hut, she saw that the color was spreading even quicker than she had imagined it to.

Looking around the hut, she quickly found a bucket, and went outside. The rain filled it up rapidly, and then she ran back inside. She closed her eyes and dipped her hands into the water. Pulling her hands out, they were covered in the water, and there was a trail of water following. When she put them over the wound, she winced slightly, but relaxed as her hands began to glow. The blue color covering his arm was retreating, and the trail of water engulfed it. Finally after a few minutes, the wound was healed, no trace of poison remained, and Katara fell to the ground gracefully. The calm soothing drops of rain were not so loud anymore, and instead they were drizzling on the roof.

She found her strength in it, and she was sitting up again. The man on the bed was breathing a lot easier now, and a wave of relief flooded her. But why did it? What did this stranger mean towards her? In the past few hours, she had spent so much time with him, and he had helped her out of many situations. She sort of felt a connection growing between them, and she liked how it felt. Then a thought struck her. What if he was the one who had helped her out with those men? She hadn't seen anyone, and his disguise was dark and camouflaged like hers was, so it made sense that she wouldn't have seen him in the alleyway.

She stood up and began to look around the hut. There wasn't much there. On the desk in the corner was a small pile of food, and right then she felt her stomach growl quietly. Katara had gotten the necessary amount of money, but she didn't have the time to go and buy anything with it. But she realized that he was in the same situation as her, and the reason for taking her money was now obvious. He must have done it to anyone when he could, pick pocket of course. He was living in this hut, almost the exact same one as hers in design actually. She chuckled, but quickly quieted herself. When Katara turned around, she saw that the man was stirring. Her heartbeat quickened. Now that they were alone, here together, what would happen?

Zuko's eyes fluttered open and he moaned. There was still a sting in his right arm and his head was throbbing lightly. He rubbed his head with his left hand and tried to sit up, but was instantly overcome with dizziness. Katara rushed to his side and gently lifted his head up first. Then she propped him up against some pillows. When Zuko was sitting up, he saw that his right arm was bare, his clothes ripped, and a slight shadow of a wound was there. He looked up at the woman in front of him, who just sat nearby on his bed. What had happened?

Then he remembered how the sickening sound of the arrow speeding towards him stopped when it buried into his arm. Zuko shook his head and looked at his arm again. It looked like nothing had been there at all. He took his left hand and traced over his other arm. Katara sat quietly, not knowing if she should speak just yet. Instead, she took the man's hand, and put it aside. She motioned him to watch what she did. Katara stood above him, and demonstrated how she took out the arrow, and threw it away. Then she showed how she cured him. Zuko shivered at the cool touch of her hand on his arm. The shivering sensation traveled up Katara's arm as well, and she drew her hand back. They became silent again, listening to the retreating sounds of the storm.

This was insane. She was there with a complete stranger, and he could attack her at any moment, but yet she was glued to the hut, and she couldn't move. Zuko didn't know what it was about the stranger, but he was thankful that she had been there to save his life. The wound could have been fatal, and he wouldn't have made it to see her face, not that he was seeing her face now. Both of them still had their masks on; still afraid of being betrayed when their identities were revealed.

Zuko decided that he was going to do something about it. He reached towards her, but Katara backed away. She stood for a moment wondering what the man was trying to do. He froze on the spot as well, afraid she would flee away from him. She looked for her cloak, and pulled it on herself quickly. Zuko now pushed himself to stand up, but sat back down on his bed right away. Katara winced; she didn't want to leave him here by himself, but she also needed to think about herself and her own safety. She walked over to him quietly, and motioned him to lie down and rest. But Zuko sat up once again, and grabbed her arm. Now Katara felt even more at fault for having the intention of leaving. It was obvious he didn't want her to go, but she had to. She stepped forward, giving Zuko a sense of security, but at the last moment, she pulled her hand away, and ran away from the hut.

Zuko didn't want to lose her, so he used all of his strength and began to chase after her. Katara didn't think he would have the strength to follow her, so she didn't run too far. Just outside of the hut was the woman, and Zuko felt it necessary to make sure she didn't leave just yet. He wanted to somehow let her know how thankful he was for her services. When Katara felt his hand grab her arm again, she turned around and inhaled sharply. He was standing right in front of her, just a foot away. Katara could feel her pulse quicken, and she didn't know why whenever she was somewhat close to him, it happened. Zuko wasn't sure of what to do, but he pulled her in closer. Surprisingly for both of them, he wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her.

Katara's eyes widened at the closeness of the embrace, but for some reason she didn't push him away. From above, a few drops of rain would fall down from the leaves of the trees, and they would fall on their heads, but neither thought anything of it. Suddenly, Katara had the urge to see who it really was behind the mask. When she began to reach for it, Zuko pushed her hand away gently. But she was adamant, and she slowly reached up towards the mask. His heartbeat was soaring through the roof, and he didn't know if he should let this woman figure out who he was. But the soft touch of her hand on his neck calmed him down, and he let her do it.

To Zuko's surprise, she didn't take off his mask; instead, she pushed it up slightly so that only his mouth was visible. He had a slight idea of what she was up to, and he was now enjoying the game. He felt around her neck with his hands, and Katara sighed at the touch. Zuko found his way to her mask, and did the same thing as she did. Her mouth was the only thing visible and the two of them were inching closer and closer towards the other. Katara ran her fingers over his strong cut jaw, and then she felt her fingers run over soft flesh, his lips. She leaned in closer and closer, until finally her lips met his face.

Zuko felt her cool lips kiss the corner of his mouth, and then slowly he felt them faint away into the darkness and the emptiness of the night. He was so entranced by the slightest touch from her, that he didn't even realize that she had run away into the forest. When he did come back to his senses, he pulled down his mask, and started to run after her, even though he had no clue where she could have gone. He slipped past many trees and bushes, but he saw her nowhere in sight. Suddenly he stopped, his eyes widened, and his arms fell to his sides.

Against one of the trees was a man, a dead man, and Zuko knew exactly who it was. The hat was familiar in an awful way. It was his assassin, and from the looks of it, he had been drowned. Zuko thought it to be amazing how quickly revenge could come, but what puzzled him was how it had happened. Who else was in this forest besides him and that woman he was now longing to be with? As he turned away, thoughts running through his head, he stopped suddenly when he spotted something on the ground. Everything hit him with a stunning and unbelievable realization. He bent down, and picked up the piece of black leather. The blue round pendant was covered in dirt, but nonetheless, he knew it all too well.

Katara ran all the way back to her hut, afraid that the man would have followed her, but after a while of no one coming into her hut, she realized she was safe. It was still hard to believe that she had kissed him, well almost. Her lips still tingled from the contact of the edge of his lips, but it felt exhilarating. She knew that behind that mask, was someone so mysterious and intriguing, that she just couldn't help herself. When she saw her bed, all she could do was collapse onto it, and fall asleep.