Chapter 9

Authors Note-You probably all guessed that someone was behind Katara, not much of a cliff-hanger person. Anyways, go frozenheat, katarawater, watcher of hearts, Aashi, abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1, and Brix! Btw Aashi, I really appreciate your advice! Me and logic…never really went together lol. I guess I overlook things easy. But in that Zutara part, Zuko didn't have any other fire benders around, just when they set that trap for Aang. Zuko didn't think that Katara would follow him into the woods, he just heard her once they were in. Thought I'd add another fight scene into the story

Disclaimer-I don't own Avatar

(By the way, this part happens right after Aang gets knocked out)

Zhao smirked, all to pleased to see Zuko and his men carrying an unconscious avatar onto their ship. No, he didn't want the prince to take the avatar back to the fire nation, to claim all the glory. But he'd just caught the avatar for him.

Putting down the telescope he'd been looking through, Zhao called out to the crewman;

"Keep the ship out of sight until I give the order." He said.

(back to the present)

Katara gasped, putting her arms up in a weak attempt to defend herself. She braced for it to hit her, but all she felt was the wind tug at her as it flew by. Hearing a grunt, she turned around to see Zhao sprawled on the ground.

A very unhappy Zuko came running up the stairs, staring first at Aang then at Zhao. Zhao? What's he think he's doing on my ship? Zuko thought.

"Get off my ship." The young prince snarled, his voice low and threatening. Zhao got to his feet, facing the angry teen. By now, a large group of fire benders were on the ship, both from Zuko and Zhaos crew.

"Who do you think you are, ordering an Admiral around like that?" Zhao said tauntingly.

"I'm Prince Zuko-" He began, but was cut off.

"Banished prince, you hold no authority over me. Now hand over the avatar." Zhao demanded. Zuko gritted his teeth, trying to contain his anger.

"If you haven't noticed yet, he's no longer in my custody." Zuko said, motioning over to wear Aang and his friends stood.

"I knew that you couldn't handle this responsibility. You can't even contain a mere child?" Zhao said, his gaze also diverting into Aangs direction.

"He's no mere child, and you know it." Zuko whispered through his teeth. Zhao frowned, growing more irritated by the minute. Suddenly, Zhao spun around, palms exposed. A large column of fire shoot out, lunging towards Aang. The airbender leapt into the air, spinning his staff to ease it off. Zuko, enraged that Zhao would try and take his prisoner, his ticket home, launched a ball of fire at Zhao.

The admiral, distracted by Aang, was hit squarely in the gut. He grunted, falling backwards. Aang leapt at him, staff in the air. Quickly, he swung it like a bat and sent another sharp blast of air at him. Zhao jumped to his feet, barley avoiding it. As he did so, he swung his foot and sent another attack at Zuko.

By now, all of the fire benders seemed locked in combat, and Appa was no where to be seen. Sokka pulled out his boomerang, hurling it at the nearest soldier. It struck his helmet, not harming him but giving him a rather large headache. Turning around, he prepared to fire at the warrior. Katara, quickly moving into her stance, brought a water whip to hit him with.

Aang looked over his shoulder, smiling as he saw Appa flying near the side of the ship by Katara and Sokka. The bison attempted to land right in the middle of the ship near Aang, but every time he flew any higher he was quickly bombarded with attacks from all of the soldiers.

Aang began to run over to him, but skidded to a stop as a column of fire shot through the air right in front of him, cutting him off. Looking over, he barley had time to duck before Zuko launched another attack at him.

"Katara, Sokka. Get on Appa and fly, I'll be fine!" He called out. Katara stared at him for a moment, her eyes growing larger and watering.

"Aang, we're not leaving you!" She cried out. Aang cast her an annoyed look. Being distracted, he didn't have time to avoid the next attack that was contributed by Zhao. Sokka immediately saw that he and Katara needed to leave.

"Come on Katara! We're distracting him, we need to leave. We'll come back, don't worry." He said, pulling Katara towards the edge. She reluctantly followed, climbing aboard the bison.

"Yip yip." Sokka said, steering the bison up away from the ship and into the clouds. Now all they could do was wait.

"Ahh!" Aang cried as Zhao and Zuko fired at him at the same time. Leaping into the air, he created a swirling ball that blocked the attacks. Turning, he began to run down the stairs trying to get away from the fight.

Zuko took off after him, only to be shot from the side by Zhao. The prince flew to the ground while Zhao tore off down the stairs. Grumbling, Zuko got to his feet and followed him.

Aang jumped as he ran, swinging around and sending a blast that knocked Zhao backwards into Zuko. Zuko angrily shoved the admiral off him, running after Aang who'd rounded the corner by now. Zhao jumped up and went after them as well. Pulling back his arms, he clenched his fists and shot them forwards. His fire struck Zuko in the back, knocking him to the ground. Zhao quickly leapt over the prince, firing now at the avatar that stood before him.

Aang spun around on the balls of his toes, using his staff to hurl the fire along with the two benders backwards. Wheeling around, he began to run the other way. Aang began panting heavily as he ran down the endless hallways. He didn't even know how to get out of here now! He glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if anyone was following. The empty hallway behind him comforted the boy, but suddenly he ran into something.

"Oooffff." Aang said as he fell to the ground. He looked up, seeing a very angry fire nation admiral standing over him. Aang used his hands to support him as he swung his lower body upwards, bringing his feet around to knock Zhao's out from under him. The firebender jumped quickly, easily avoiding the attack. While, in mid-air, he fired another column at Aang.

Aang used his airbending to flip backwards, landing on his feet and putting his staff in front of him. Aang lifted it above, ready to deal another blow. Before he had a chance, it was torn from his grasp. Aang began to look around, right before a strong hand lifted him up by his collar. Zuko tossed the staff aside, yet still held fast to Aang as he hung in the air. Aang brought his elbow forward, then roughly shot it back to hit Zuko into he gut.

"Owwww." Aang said as he struck the princes hard Armour. Aang grabbed his arm unhappily, then turned up in time to see a column a fire rushing at them. Gasping, he lifted his legs backwards, pressing them against Zuko and shoving off. Free of his grasp, Aang landed on the ground as the fire flew over him, instead hitting the prince. Zuko fell backwards, motionless.

Zhao strode over to him, ready to deal a final blow. Aangs eyes widened. Even if Zuko was the enemy, even if he'd tried to take Aang prisoner, he was still a person. Grabbing his staff, he ran forward and released a powerful blast that knocked the admiral against the wall.

Before he even moved, Aang knew that he was in trouble. Zhao wasn't mad, he wasn't angry, he was furious. Regaining himself, he immediately began firing at the young boy. Aang yelped as one column hit him, sending him crashing into the wall of the ship. His head banged against it, causing his vision to begin to fade.

Oh no, I am not passing out with these two here. Aang thought to himself. Groaning, he blinked his eyes. Zhao was just shooting another blast at him, which Aang leapt to the side to avoid. Still, his mind was spinning, leaving him unable to bend for the moment. Zhao knew that the boy was dangerously close to falling unconscious, and once that happened nothing could stand in his way.

Zhao stood before Aang..Well actually, he towered above the smaller boy. Aangs breath came in rapid successions, his energy fading. How much longer can I keep this up? He wondered. Just as Zhao began to finish the battle, he fell to the ground uncurious.. Aang looked at him, puzzled. Tilting his head, he saw Zuko behind him.

Ohh man. Aang thought as Zuko advanced on him. Assuming his fighting stance, Zuko unleashed a swift blast at the young airbender. Aang finally cleared his head, raising his arms to create a small ball of air that was enough to direct the fire into the wall. Wheres my staff? Aang wondered. Looking around, he noticed it lying on the floor behind Zuko.

Aang began running forwards, straight at the teen. Zuko wondered what he was up to, while firing a huge column at him. Aang kept running, waiting until he could feel the heat of the flames. Taking a deep breath, he extended his legs and slid on the ground, going right between Zukos legs. Righting himself, he grabbed his staff and spun around in time to avoid another attack.

I need to get out of here. Aang thought to himself, he couldn't keep this up much longer. Zuko quickly lunged at the boy, who didn't have time to react. His hand tightly grabbed Aangs throat, picking him up and shoving him against the wall. Aang wrapped his own hands around Zukos wrist, trying desperately to pull him off.

Aang attempted to suck in a breath of air so he could airbend, but found that even breathing was becoming difficult with Zuko tight grasp. Aangs vision began to fade black and white, his mind spinning and his grip loosening. Finally, he allowed himself to go limp in Zukos grasp, hanging onto consciousness for dear life.