Authors Note-Ah, Chapter 5. Here are more people who rock! Skeedodle(hmm…he might who knows?), abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1(lol, love the music), aashi (aww, thank you yeah, Zuko did seem to be a bit lost in the beginning) and Envywarrior again(im hurrying lol). You guys are all great! Once again, shortened chapter at attempt of a cliffhanger.
Disclaimer-Nope, I don't own Avatar the last Airbender…yet…someday
"Aang, lets land here. This is the only island I can find on my map near here, and Zuko will need to stop for supplies." Sokka said, studying their map of the world. It never did them much good though, for they hardly ever knew where they were. Yet since a local fisherman pointed out their location, he'd been trying to keep up with it. He turned to Aang, seeing a hopeful gleam in his large gray eyes.
"Good, I hope they stop here, Appas getting tired." Aang said, directing the bison downwards. Appa replied with a grateful grunt, eager to rest. They dove downwards, barley sticking the landing. Immediately, the bison closed his eyes and a dull snoring could be heard.
"Looks like we'll be here for a while." Sokka said, rubbing the back of his head. Now, when would Zuko arrive. Would Zuko arrive? The thought seemed to be haunting him, what if his little sister was being held prisoner aboard his ship? The thought infuriated him, and Aang noticed.
"Um…Sokka…are you okay?" He asked uneasily. Sokka turned to him, cooling down.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna go look for some food." He said, turning into the woods. Aang didn't look after him, his gaze was fixed on the ocean. He strained his eyes, searching for the tiniest dot that could be called a ship.
There!
There it was! A gray form was flowing across the ocean, cutting through the water like butter. Aang had never been so happy, actually he'd never been happy, to see a fire navy ship. The thick smoke billowing from its pipes betrayed its allegiance, and Aang was only too hopeful that it would be Zuko.
What if she doesn't want to come back?
Katara looked up as a knock hit her ears. Facing the door, she quietly called out,
"Come in."
Slowly the door creaked open to reveal a teenage boy with a rather large scar on his face.
"We'll be stopping at the port to gather supplies." He said. Katara stared at him, what did he expect from her? Did he want her to jump up and down with glee?
"Okay…." She said, trailing off as a signal that he needed to tell her more.
"Would you like to stay aboard the ship or come into the market with us. I believe that you will be n-needing more.. cloths." Zuko said, seeming to stumble over his words. Katara smirked, watching him squirm.
"Okay, I'll come." She said. Iroh had been right, there was little for a girl to do aboard the ship as far as entertainment goes. She'd spent most of her time practicing waterbending, though she made sure no one saw her. For some reason she felt, uneasy, waterbending near the fire benders.
Zukos head disappeared as she answered. Katara frowned unhappily.
"Bye to you to." She called out, but got no reply. She'd get a bye out of him one day. But when she thought about it, she didn't want him to say bye.
Then
what do you want to here?
How
about, hello, good morning, greetings, welcome, I love you…
Katara shook her head. She wasn't supposed to be falling for Zuko…She wasn't supposed to be falling for Zuko…She wasn't… she was falling for Zuko.
Stepping out of the ships dock, Katara overlooked the town. It was a small earth kingdom island, though they seemed all to happy to help out the fire nation. Katara was suspicious, yet no one else seemed to notice. Shrugging her shoulders, she followed Zuko into the market place.
They passed many stores and boutiques, Katara making sure to stop at as many as she could. It only delighted her more to see Zukos annoyed face as she stopped again, and to see him blush as she asked him to hold a new dress, shirt, or even breast band for her.
Katara stopped in front of a sapphire blue gown, hanging up in a stores window. Its long, flowing sleeves seemed meant to let your hands hide inside. The bottom was longer, frilling out and spilling like an oceans wave. The neck line similar to the last one, though a bit lower. Its color was a dazzling sapphire blue, just like her eyes.
Zuko caught her admiring the gown. He sighed, pulling out another hand full of coins and depositing it on the desk. Katara seemed delighted at the latest purchase, gathering the dress in her arms and admiring it. She'd never seen anything like it, ever.
"Are you quite finished?" Zuko said, impatience in his voice.
"Maybe." Katara replied, so absorbing in her dress that she'd barley heard him.
"Maybe doesn't cut it, lets go." Zuko said, finally losing what little patience he had left. He grabbed Katara's hand and began pulling her towards the ship. Suddenly, she stopped. He turned around, wondering what she was doing or looking at now. Her eyes were downcast, staring at their locked hands. Zuko immediately realized that he hadn't grabbed her hand in the "I'm dragging you out of here" kind of way. It was more "I'm never going to let you go" Kind of way. He blushed horribly, releasing her hand and walking towards the ship.
Katara followed, her heart abound with joy. Her skin still tingled from his warm touch, craving it again. Almost like…Aangs. She closed her eyes, picturing the happy young boy again. Aang was 12, she was 14, Zuko was 16. There was the same difference in years, but it was…different.
Zuko and Katara were more mature then Aang. He's to young, its probably just a crush. He cant really love me..can he?
Katara wondered.
Oh
noo…You cant be thinking about Aang that way again.
Why
not?
You've
made your choice
Its
not written in stone
But
will Aang agree?
This sure shut that part of Katara up(what's with my characters arguing with themselves?). Katara groaned, realizing that she still had feelings for Aang.
Yet once everyone was aboard, the ship did not depart.
"What's going on?" She asked Zuko.
"We're staying for a few days." He replied, though it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it. Yet Katara was persistent.
"Why?" She demanded.
"Because….the ship is having problems." Zuko said, turning to face her. Boy, Zuko was one good liar. Katara was still unsure of his answer, but figured it was better to not anger the prince. After all, he'd bough ten her that lovely dress. Turning her head away, she stared into the forest. Gasping, she drew back. She thought she saw a pair of gray eyes watching them. Blinking, she looked again. They were gone.
Kataras eyes shot open as she heard the slamming of a heavy metal door. Acutally it wasn't a slam at all. The noise was very silent. Whoever had made it didn't want anyone to know that they were leaving. But Katara had been having trouble anyways, and to her it had pierced the silence.
Slowly crawling out of bed, she tip-toed to her door. It creaked open at a snails pace as she peeked out into the once empty hallway. A lone figure stood in it, motionless. She opened the door a bit more to get a better look. The figure began walking, towards her door. Katara quickly shut it and jumped onto her bed, pretending to be asleep. Yet as she heard the soft footsteps pass her door, she got up again and looked outside.
The figure had his back to her now, and was heading for the stairs. Katara pondered wether or not she should follow him…or her. Finally deciding to, she slipped out of the door as quietly as possible and headed down the hallway. The person continued walking, right off the ship. Katara waited a moment, hiding behind on of the walls, before she to went down the ramp.
For a moment, it simply stared into the forest. Then it began walking into it, a lazy pace. Katara quickly followed, relieved that they were going in the woods. After all, there would be more places to hide. Keeping close to the shadows of the trees, she crept through the forest.
She began to feel incredibly uneasy. Here she was, following someone or something she doesn't even know, through a dark forest in the middle of the night. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. There was no on in front of her, no soft sound of footsteps. Where'd he go? She thought.
Boy, now she was feeling uneasy. No, not uneasy. Katara was scared. She braced herself, opening her canteen. If something were to attack her out here, she wasn't going down without a fight. The sound of a leaf crunching snared in her attention as her head swung to the side. She squinted her eyes, trying to see in the dark forest.
Sighing, she began to turn around. Before she had an idea of what was going on, a strong hand closed around her mouth from behind, pulling her to the ground.