Thank You to all of my readers and reviews. You guys really mean a lot to me. Chapter Two is a shout out to my reviewers: SweetStories11, greenfireangel, Zukoscute2, Vicki So, and Melodiee.
Ch. 2
Trust?
The icy waters of the ocean engulfed their bodies, stinging shocks of freezing waves sent needles down their spines. But Katara didn't have a spare second to think about her rapidly dropping body temperature. The Blue Spirit gave her a tug then began to swim towards the shore. She quickly followed.
Considering the ship hadn't left the port yet, they only had a little ways to swim before reaching land. As they scrambled up onto the shore, hidden by the brush, the Blue Spirit collapsed and lay still and unconscious. Katara hurried over to him and saw that his left hand was still clutching his side, and his fingers were stained red. She pulled away his hand to reveal a dagger in his side.
Katara's stomach knotted up just looking at the wound, but she had dealt with injuries far worse that this before. She braced herself and gently pulled out the dagger. Blood began to spill out of him at an alarmingly fast rate, but she was grateful that blood was the only thing pouring out, and not any of his guts or organs.
She used her waterbending to clean the wound, then engulfed her hand in a water glove, placed it over the gouge in his side, and healed it. But the gash was more than just superficial so she could not heal it fully. She tore a piece of her skirt and wrapped it around his waist as a bandage to hold him together and to stop the blood. He still needed a lot of medical attention.
Once Katara finished wrapping his wound, she turned her attention elsewhere on his body. She had been so preoccupied with ensuring his health – and rightly so – that she still had not seen his face. She gently brought her hand up to the mask and slowly removed it. Katara was astonished and confused when she saw Zuko's face, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. His breathing was uneven and dangerously slow, and beads of sweat were collecting at his brow and dripping down his face. She touch his forehead; it was an inferno. This was not a good sign. He had lost a lot of blood, too much, and now that he was unconscious, she couldn't be sure if he would ever wake up. She tore another piece of her skirt, dipped it into the ocean and mopped his head with the scrap to lower his still increasing temperature. She touched his scar delicately and he moaned. She was startled, but spoke to him.
………
Zuko could hear a voice, "Stay with me, Zuko, please, stay with me." His eyes slowly cracked open and he saw a figure looming over him. He reached a hand up and touched a soft, delicate face. Then everything went black again.
………
Tears began to leek from the corners of Katara's eyes. She whispered, "Please don't die, you can't die. Zuko please." She couldn't understand the feeling that was rising inside of her. This was her enemy, yet he had saved her life. This was her enemy, yet she wanted him to live. This was her enemy, yet she felt something special about him. She laid her head on his chest and began to silently weep and pray.
………
Sokka woke up in the middle of the night from an uneasy sleep. He looked over at Aang's sleeping form, then over to his sister. But she wasn't there. Sokka jumped up and ran over to Aang and shook him awake. "Katara is gone! Get up! Katara is gone!"
"What?" asked a half-asleep Aang.
"She isn't here, she is missing! What if something happened to her, we have to go find her!" Once Aang processed what Sokka was saying he bolted up and the two ran off into the night.
They didn't have to search far. They found Katara on the shore of the ocean, just out of view of an enormous Fire Nation ship that they knew to be Zhao's. But Katara wasn't alone. Lying next to her was an unconscious Prince Zuko. Katara had a wet rag and she was tenderly mopping his face. They noticed that there was a wrap around his middle that was stained with blood.
"Katara!" they shouted in unison. Katara looked up and ran over to them. She hugged them both. "What are you doing? Where were you? What happened?" Sokka asked with mostly concern but a hint of anger in his voice.
"I was out walking in the forest, and the next thing I knew I was waking up on Zhao's ship. He came in and he … and …" her voice trailed off as she remembered what had happened in Zhao's room. She figured it would be best not to tell Sokka or Aang about the goings-on on that ship. It would only serve to infuriate Sokka and cause him to do something incredibly stupid and get himself killed. And it would make Aang even more insecure and more guilty, since he would have done exactly what Zhao had bet he would. No, nothing good could come from telling them.
"And…?" Aang probed. She changed her thoughts to Zuko. "He saved me," she said softly, turning to face her rescuer. "What!" Sokka shouted. "And now he needs my help. He's badly wounded. If we leave him, he'll surely die. I have to help him."
"Oh no! There is no way we are taking this filthy firebender back to camp."
………
"I can't believe we brought this filthy firebender back to our camp!"
"It's only until he recovers," Katara told her brother as she tended to the Prince.
For three days, Zuko had been unconscious. For three days she had been caring for him, nursing him back to health, cleaning and stitching up his wound. For three days she had been constantly by his side. For three days she thought of no one but Zuko.
On the third day, Katara was just sitting by Zuko's side, staring intently at him. The scar used to be the first thing she would notice when she looked at him, but now, she began to see past it. She noticed how incredibly handsome he actually was: his chiseled facial features, his silky jet-black hair, and his body. Oh, did he have a nice body! Considering that she had been caring for his wound the past few days, she had to remove his shirt, which revealed a finely toned, muscular chest.
He moved slightly, which knocked Katara out of her trance. Then he slowly opened his eyes. The open lids unveiled the most piercingly brilliant shade of gold Katara had ever seen. For a moment she was captivated, but then she welcomed him with a kind, "Good morning."
He suddenly tried to sit up as he asked with deep concern, "Are you ok, you're not hurt are you?" But then he felt the severely burning pain in his side. He clutched it and lay back down.
"I'm fine," she said.
"But, what about-"
"Later," she shot a scolding glance at him signaling that she didn't want her brother or the Avatar to hear. "The question is, are you ok?" she asked soothingly.
"I feel sore and tired," he replied, rubbing his forehead.
"You were out for three days, your wound was pretty bad, but it's healing well. Here, have some breakfast," and she gave him some fruit. When Zuko saw it, he realized just how hungry he was. He finished quickly, but she would not give him any more, "Your body isn't used to having food again, you need to take in slow."
He acquiesced to her request with a gentle nod.
"Why don't you get some rest, ok? Just call me if you need anything," she told him as she turned to leave.
"But, I don't know-" he started but was interrupted.
"Katara. My name is Katara," and with that she turned on her heel and walked off.
Katara. What a beautiful name, Zuko thought to himself as he watched her walk away. He stretched his arms up and placed them behind his head, trying to get comfortable. He closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to claim him, but it never did. After a while he slowly opened his lids and let his golden eyes take in his surroundings. He was in a small campsite with a fire, a few sleeping bags, and some light supplies. He noticed a small lemur hopping around near that enormous flying bison. Zuko knew them bothto belong to the Avatar.Where is that kid, anyway? But at that moment he heard voices in the distance, getting closer. He closed his eyes to feign sleep and listened.
"Katara, we can't trust him! Now that he's awake, we've got to get rid of him," came the voice of Katara's brother.
"Sokka, he needs me, he's still weak. And besides, it's the least I can do to repay him for saving me," came Katara's retort.
"I don't know Katara, I think I'm gonna have to side with Sokka on this one," Zuko heard the Avatar say.
"Yeah. Katara, listen. How do you know that he won't turn the tables and kidnap Aang, or murder us in our sleep or something like that? How can you have so much faith in the person who has been hunting us for the past few months, the Prince of the Fire Nation!"
"I… I just… I don't know…" she whispered softly.
"Katara, we can't trust him. He's the enemy, a firebender. Ruthless and out to kill like all the others."
As, Katara listened to her brother's words, she felt anger swelling inside of her and yelled back, "No! You're wrong! He's not like that, I just know it! Zuko is good! Why else would he risk his life to save mine?" And then she stopped abruptly. Why did he save me? How did he know I was there? But her confusion turned to gratitude with her next thought, What would have happened if he hadn't saved me? She shuddered at the thought and pushed it out of her mind.
Katara calmed herself down and said coolly, "Sokka, Aang, if you can't trust him, will you at least trust me? Trust my judgement? I know what I'm doing. Just until he recovers, ok?"
Sokka and Aang looked at Katara's pleading eyes, and they couldn't help but trust her. They glanced at each other then nodded their heads in defeat.
"Fine Katara, but only until he recovers," said Aang.
And Sokka sternly added, "But if he tries anything, anything at Katara, I will not hesitate to kill him."
Then he smiled softly at his sister, and she ran up to him and the Avatar and embraced them warmly saying, "Thank you. I promise, he will be no trouble." She kissed them both on the cheek and released them, smiling to herself as she walked over to Zuko.
Aang was blushing. He blushed every time he made physical contact with Katara. Whether she accidentally bumped him; or they were playing a game; or she touched his arm to comfort him; or she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. They were all the same and all made him feel giddy inside.
………
As Zuko heard Katara approaching, he said with his eyes still shut, "Thank you for defending me."
Katara suddenly stopped and blushed. Silence. Then she saw Zuko open his eyes and her sapphire orbs locked with his golden ones. The silence continued for another moment, but it was shattered by Katara's soft voice, "Oh, it was nothing. I just, well, I don't really know." Silence again. And again, It was Katara who broke it, "Why, why did you save me?"
Zuko was startled by this question, he knew it was coming, but still, he did not really have an answer to it.
"I…" he paused. "I knew that you were in danger."
He then told her about that night. How he was out taking a walk, just to clear his head and think, when he saw Zhao marching out to his ship with an unconscious Katara in his arms, so he followed.
Zuko thought to himself how he had heard Zhao mutter that this young and innocent girl was the key to his victory and the lock to seal the Avatar's fate. But Zuko did not mention this to Katara; it would just be painful and awkward.
Zuko couldn't help but wonder if Zhao had brought harm to Katara in any physical way, as he had been rumored to do, so he asked if Zhao "hurt" her at all. He noticed that her cheekbone beneath her right eye was a faint bluish green color, but he didn't know if it was the lighting, if he were seeing things, or she had been struck.
Katara looked up at him with pain, fear, and anger in her eyes. She was hesitant to tell, but decided to let her feelings out, and with them came tears. She wept into his strong, warm chest and hugged him tightly around the middle. He unconsciously winced at the pain of his wound, but he didn't even notice. He was growing hot with anger and loathing. He couldn't believe Zhao would exercise such cruel behavior.
But instead of focusing his attention on Zhao, he focused his attention on the young, weeping girl in his arms. He rubbed her back soothingly and hushed her. Somewhere, a voice in his head asked Zuko when he had become so kind and comforting, and quite frankly, Zuko didn't know. He just attributed his actions and attitude to the delusions of the wound. He then heard the girl give out a small laugh, and she pulled away looking up into his glowing golden eyes once again.
"Look at me," she said, "bawling my eyes out in the arms of someone I hardly know, and have only known as my enemy." She wiped away her tears and smiled at him. "Thank you, "she said quietly, but looking intently into his eyes. And with that, she broke the gaze a walked away.
As she walked away, Zuko could not take his gaze form the girl. She was beautiful. Breathtaking, really. Her soft tan skin, her long dark hair, her curvy slim figure. What am I doing? I can't be thinking this about this girl. As soon as I'm healed, I've got to get out of here. Wait. What am I talking about? The Avatar is right under my nose. Once I have my strength back, I can easily defeat these three and take the Avatar as my prisoner. But I can't betray this girl. Katara. She sees something in me that no one else sees. She is willing to trust me. She is willing to give me a chance. So I have to give her a chance…
Slowly, Zuko drifted off to sleep, with thoughts of Katara, the water tribe girl, in his head.
