Chapter 7
The breeze ruffled the hem of Katara's kimono and she lightly dug her hands into Zuko's arm. It wasn't that she afraid, it was the fact that she couldn't see her enemy and the fact that she couldn't water bend. Zuko's head darted from left to right; his eyes scanned every little part in the forest. Somehow, they were all camouflaged, or they were just not moving. Suddenly though, the captain strode out from the forest and into the clearing. Zuko had to keep himself concentrated in order to not show any sign of astonishment and worry. Somehow, they had been tracked.
"Well, well, well. Look at what we caught here boys. Some beggar and his wench!"
Everything happened at once. By the cue of his words and heinous laughter, the rest of the pirates came out into the clearing. They were all smiling and nodding along with their captain, cranking their heads so that they could observe the beauty hiding behind the man with the scar. Katara shriveled behind Zuko when she heard that remark. She had no weapon except for him at that point, and she was now wishing that Zuko had never found her. Zuko was outraged when he heard what the captain had to say. When he surveyed all of their snickering faces, he lost his temper. In one swift movement, Zuko stepped forward and punched the captain in the face.
"She is not my wench, and I'm no beggar! I'm warning you, don't you ever say that again!"
Katara's shield was four feet away from her, and she was left wobbling in place with half of the pirates eyeing her, and the rest making a move to help their captain. She was beginning to feel nervous and she wasn't feeling that well. The captain stood up with the help of his crew, and three men were holding Zuko back. He eyed him curiously and then smirked.
"For a second there I didn't recognize you, Prince Zuko, or wait, is it just Zuko now?"
Zuko growled and tried to make a move, but was detained by the pirates. The captain walked forward and pulled out the string that held Zuko's topknot together. His hair fell into his face and Zuko winced as the string fell to the ground.
"I thought you were smarter than that. Don't you know that your hair isn't going to… hide your horrendous scar? But then again, you deserve to be marked as a beast."
Katara's group of men was now focusing their attention on Zuko. She was free to run away and leave Zuko all alone to face them by himself. But she wasn't going to do that. Instead, she found a long branch that had fallen, and then ran straight towards the captain.
"Leave him alone!"
She tried to hit the captain, but as she swung the branch, he caught it in his hand and threw it aside, leaving Katara to gape wide eyed. The captain then pulled her in close to him and held her hands behind her back. With his other hand, he slid a crooked finger across one of her cheeks. Zuko looked at this and felt sickened that he couldn't do anything about it.
"I remember you too now… weren't you the one we tied up a while ago? Well I must say, I didn't think you would… ripen so well."
All of the pirates laughed along with their captain as he began to lean in for a kiss. Zuko's rage hit its breaking point and that was when the fire from his palms erupted without even thinking about it. The sky was turning pitch black, and lightening scattered across it, startling the pirates and their captain. A burning red and orange flame was seen and the screams of a few pirates echoed into the forest. Zuko, mad with fury, kept away all of the pirates, punching them and burning whatever he came in contact with. Finally, he was free to attack their leader.
But as he did, the captain saw something glinting in the fire's light. His eyes widened and when he spoke, Zuko froze on the spot, his fire dying out completely.
"The Azure Jewel… you stole my jewel!"
Another bolt of lightening flashed across the sky, and this time it was accompanied with a thunderous boom. The captain let go of Katara, but she just stood there along with him, gaping at Zuko's wrist. The Azure Jewel was hanging there, and she lost it. She became speechless and horrified at her thoughts. Zuko had betrayed her… he had purposefully gotten rid of her bending and he knew it all along. He had used her…
"Give it back, right now!"
The captain's voice boomed out almost as loud as the thunder, but then it remained quiet. All of the pirates were lying motionless in the clearing. Zuko's hand dropped, and the Jewel slid down to the ground. His eyes interlocked with two crystallized ones, and his stomach dropped down to the ground as well. What had he done?
"I found it in the forest… I'm sorry…"
His voice died into the eerie silence, and the breeze picked up, whipping his hair into his face. It was an apology towards first the captain, and then Katara. But as the captain took a step forward, Zuko thrust his arm and the captain's face disappeared into an array of flames. He fell to the ground silently, and then only Katara was left standing.
"I can't believe it. I … I …"
Zuko saw the tears fall down her cheeks, and then before he knew it, she had run off into the forest. All of his anger rose up in his chest again, and he had lost his head. His emotions were interfering with logic, and what he did next was irrational and only out of anger. Zuko thrust his arm towards the ground, and beneath it, the Azure Jewel melted from the smoldering temperature of the flames.
..:-:..
Katara was running through the trees and branches, not caring that it felt like this had happened before. Only a short while ago, she had been running away from the other Red Spirit because she had felt betrayed. Now, she was running away from Zuko, because she again had felt betrayed. It was all too similar, but she wasn't thinking about that at the moment. Instead, she kept running, all the while the storm was progressing above her quickly. Once in every while, lightening would light the way for her, and it helped. But most of the time, she was hit with the branches surrounding her. Finally, she tripped like before, but this time she didn't lose consciousness.
"Katara! Wait!"
She heard the voice and was dumbstruck. Had Zuko really used her actual name? She quickly found her strength and stood up. Zuko wasn't too far away, and it looked like he wasn't going to give up. Without thinking, she ran into the next clearing and closed her eyes. Her legs did the running, and she didn't care where they were going to go. Zuko burst out of the forest, and he couldn't believe what he was witnessing.
Katara was about to run off of a cliff.
"Katara, stop! Don't do it!"
For some reason, she did stop, and then she turned around, opened her eyes, and she saw Zuko staring at her wide eyed and desperate. She stood there panting and breathless, but she still spoke out her anger.
"What do you want from me Zuko? Do you want to use me? Oh wait! You already have! How could you? How could… you? I don't even know why I thought you had changed!"
His mouth closed tightly and he looked away ashamed.
"I'm sorry… I didn't…"
"It doesn't matter what you say to me! I should have never trusted you, even if you did help me recover. You took the Azure, and you used it so you could control me, and I'll never forgive you for that!"
She turned on her heel, and all of the air in her lungs escaped. Lightening flashed in the sky, a bit too close for comfort. But that wasn't her biggest problem. The vast space of darkness under her was everywhere, and before she could do anything about it, she slipped.
"Katara!"
Zuko ran to the edge of the cliff, and when he saw the color of her kimono, he breathed a sigh of relief. But everything was still not all right.
"Katara, give me your hand!"
She was hanging from a branch in the side of the cliff, but she was barely hanging on.
"No! I don't trust you! You are going to grab me and then let go!"
"Are you crazy? I'm not a cold-blooded monster! Now give me your hand!"
Another flash of lightening lit the area around them, but Zuko suddenly had a sickening feeling. He felt heat, a lot of it, and it was close by. Suddenly, Katara and Zuko turned their heads and saw that a fire was raging from where the bolt had hit the cliff. Wherever the bottom was, it wasn't too far away, and the fire was spreading quickly. For some reason, there was no rain, and Zuko cursed Agni for the first time in his life.
"Katara, you need to trust me! You are going to get yourself killed if you don't give me your hand!"
She bit her lip as she watched the fire spread beneath her. Her forehead was crawling with trickles of sweat, and then she looked up at Zuko. Everything inside of her was telling her not to trust him, but there was an ounce telling her she should. Katara looked up into his golden eyes and saw worry, desperate worry.
"…All right…"
Zuko nodded and bent down towards her outstretched hand. Each of them closed their eyes and gripped onto each other's arms. Zuko used all of his strength, and little by little, he pulled Katara up and back onto the cliff. As he was doing this, the fire was inching its way up the cliff rapidly. When Zuko got Katara up to safety, he pulled her up automatically as a wall of flames erupted. He grabbed her hand and they ran into the forest, away from the cliff, the clearing and the flames. Once Zuko stopped, there was another bolt of lightening, a loud crack in the air, and a shower of rain pummeled onto them. Katara immediately wrapped her arms around Zuko and he wrapped his arms around her protectively. He noticed that her breathing was heavy, and he could feel her heart beating wildly against his. Katara didn't know what she was doing, but tears mixed with drops of rain on her cheek. She felt safe in his arms, and she didn't want to let go. There were no more bolts of lightening as the rain calmed everything into place. In the distance the raging fire was sizzling out, and the blaze was finally gone.
The rain continued to fall, but in the forest it was only a light drizzle. Zuko heard soft sobs come from the woman he was holding. He pulled her even closer towards him, and reassured her by stroking her loose hair with his hand. Katara felt him squeeze her and it reassured her that everything was going to be all right. Her sobs lightened up, and soon she wasn't crying anymore.
"Katara… I don't know what I would have done if I didn't see you in all of that darkness…"
Her eyes opened up and she looked up at his face. In the faint light, she couldn't tell if those were tears or drops of rain on his cheeks, but she went with the rain. But still, she was astounded at what he had said, most of all because it sounded so sincere. Her face grew hot, but she couldn't look away from his fierce eyes. Zuko found himself lost in her delicate eyes as well. His anger had vanished and instead of it, he was surrounded by the tranquility of the soft drizzling rain, and most of all by her presence.
"Then why did you take away my bending?"
Katara's voice chilled Zuko's back as if it was a ghost, but really it was a haunting feeling of guilt. She reached her hand up slowly, but didn't touch his cheek. Instead, the water disappeared and circled her hand. It felt like bliss to water bend again. But how could that have been possible if Zuko had the Azure with him? Zuko saw the confused look on her face, and then he loosened his arms, let his hands fall to his sides, and stepped away. Katara watched him pull something that was burned from under his sleeve.
"Is that…"
Zuko's eyes pierced hers as well and she knew it was true. In his hand was the melted Azure Jewel. She felt new tears forming in her eyes, but she held them back.
"I don't know what possessed me to do it Katara. When I found you… I thought you would fight against me."
"Well obviously I didn't…"
Her voice sounded wounded like an animal, but Zuko held his composure. He wasn't so weak that he would bend his back at whatever a woman had to say.
"All right already! I know you didn't! I'm sorry all right? I am a ruthless horrible person from the fire nation and I don't deserve to be talking to you! Is that what you are thinking? Because I hope I could confirm your doubts!"
He looked at her and he could tell that she was rethinking her thoughts about him. Zuko slapped his forehead and growled at himself.
"I did it again. I'm a sorry excuse of a human being."
That last part was mumbled, but Katara heard it. In a matter of a minute, she went from hating him, to feeling sorry for him, to not knowing what to think. As if starting from scratch, she walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Zuko… don't say that. Do you know what you did?"
"What? I bet it was something wrong, correct?"
She smiled softly and when he looked up at her again, his eyes softened as well.
"No Zuko. You did something extraordinary. You are the person that has freed every water bender from the worry that one day they would have their abilities stripped from them."
His mouth parted slightly and he looked at her confusion. She was happy that he had gotten rid of the Azure? But it was something so valuable that it was worth a life.
"But Katara… I'm still sorry, and there is nothing you can say that would not make me feel responsible."
"All right, I understand that. But could you answer one question? And answer it honestly."
He nodded slowly, and she continued.
"Why did you really help me? Why did you go through all of the trouble to use that jewel so I wouldn't be able to resist you if need be?"
Zuko closed his eyes, and then looked at the ground.
"As you know, my loyalties don't lie with my father anymore. I am on your side. When I saw you, I thought I could eventually tell you, and I thought you might not believe me. I thought that I would be … beaten again… like at the North Pole. I needed someone to talk to, I've been isolated and everything seemed reasonable at the time."
Katara stepped away for a moment, and her back faced him. She pushed back her loose hair and thought about everything he had said. For some reason, she finally felt that he was speaking the truth. It pleased her, and she knew that it wasn't easy for him to say it. Inside, she beamed with hope, and a thought occurred to her. The rain was letting up, and then she turned towards Zuko. His eyes looked hopeful.
"All right. I believe you."
She walked right up to him, and gave him a tight hug, which Zuko didn't respond to at first. Each of them felt a bit awkward about it, but something inside wanted it to last longer than the few seconds that it did. Katara stepped away nervously, and then Zuko looked at her quizzically.
"What was that for?"
"That was a thank you."
"For what?"
"For saving my life Zuko. I would have been dead if it wasn't for you following me to the cliff."
Zuko suddenly smiled and so did she. The intensity had been lifted and they were laughing slightly like before.
"Hey Zuko, I have an idea."
"Oh? What is it?"
"I don't know why, but I'm in the mood for… a rematch."
Zuko gaped at her disbelievingly. After that confession, she still wanted to torture him? But her smile and her radiant eyes made him give in. If it made her happy, then he would do it. He stood out with his hands in an attack position, and then smirked.
"Are you ready to lose?"
"No way Zuko, you know I'm going to win… again…"
It wasn't to be cruel, she said it playfully, and even with a hint of flirtatious flavoring. They both knew that Katara had the advantage; there was water everywhere. Zuko's power was dying out as the night began. The sun was gone, and he wasn't as angry as before. This battle would be over before they knew it. With a twist of her wrist, Katara gathered the water that was hanging from the leaves and that was in the air, and encircled it around the two of them. Zuko threw blasts of fire at her, but water sprang forth from the never-ending wave, and little clouds of smoke were left in the collision's place. Katara smiled, and Zuko began to feel heat in his cheeks. His heart began to race as the circle of water began to grow smaller and smaller. Katara began to move closer towards him, and he didn't know what to do. He stood there like a statue, awaiting her next offensive move.
After a few minutes, Katara was a foot away from him, a glint of victory in her eyes.
"Zuko, how does it feel to have lost once again to me?"
He didn't respond, but he wasn't smiling anymore. What was she really getting at? If she had really wanted to battle him, then she would have done something a long time ago. His mind was racing, along with his heart, because for once, he had no idea what was happening. Then, suddenly, as Katara wanted to take another step towards him, her victorious smile disappeared, as she tripped. The circle of water fell to the ground and instantaneously Zuko lunged forwards, and grabbed her by the waist. Their breath was interlocked with one another, and there was a cool heat radiating in between them. Each of their gazes was only on the others face, and they were frozen in time.
Zuko helped her up into a straight position, with his arms still around her. Katara's arms were on his strong shoulders, and their faces were inches apart. Zuko's voice caused Katara to flinch, as suddenly, she wasn't the one winning the battle anymore.
"I'm not so sure I'm the one losing… Katara…"
He didn't smile, but in his face she saw a hidden strength built up inside of him. It was so incredible that she was overwhelmed by it. There was so much about this person that she didn't know of, and yet, something inside her pushed her towards him. Her mouth parted slightly as she observed his, also somewhat open. The mystifying thoughts that encircled him were left hanging, as she reached up towards his face to push away the loose strands of hair behind his ear. In the darkness, she didn't see a scar, or anything horrifying about him. Instead, she lost herself in him, her lips finally finding their way to his.
Zuko closed his eyes at her touch, and found himself lost in her kiss. He pulled her in towards him, and poured out everything he could not say in words. Their kiss was breathtaking, and each of them found each other enthralled by their surprising passion. Katara clung to his neck and curved herself into his overtaking form. Zuko's arms worked their way up and down her back, and finally coming to rest at her waist. She sighed as he began to kiss her ear, feeling his lips travel down her neck. All of this was so new to her that she felt herself succumbed to him. Zuko didn't know how he had found himself so dominant, but by the sound of her sharp intake of breath, he knew he was doing something right. He kissed her on the lips again, this time even more powerfully than before. Zuko felt her fingers dig into his neck, but he didn't mind. After what seemed like forever, the two of them stopped, and just held each other in a comforting embrace.
"Zuko… I think I lost that battle."
She looked up at him to see him smiling.
"Are you sad about that?"
Katara kissed him lightly on the lips and let her head rest on his shoulder.
"No, not at all."
..:-:..
Everyone quieted down when she entered the tavern. Her face emitted the deepest disgust and hatred, and all of the men quivered when she walked closely by them. She came to a halting stop at the middle, in between the two groups of men.
"Who would like to help me?"
It wasn't a question; it was a command. All of the men around her nodded their heads and raised their hands. Azula smiled evilly and clapped her hands together.
"Excellent."
