A/N Okies,

So last time….

The two were stuck in the sprit world, having to take three tests in order to go back to the real world.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar!

-----------------

Katara gasped as the light flashed before her eyes. Once she opened them, she found herself in the middle of a forest, the cool night air caressing her cheek. She also noticed she was back in her water tribe clothes, instead of that torn up nightgown.

Walking around, she whispered, "Zuko? Where are you?"

Turning here and there, she heard someone groaning in pain, emitting through out the dark forest.

Gasping, she ran towards the sound, branches scratching her arms and legs.

Ignoring the pain, she kept going, afraid of what she was going to find at the end of this.

Again, the groaning persisted, louder this time.

Katara fought the brush and was speechless at what she saw.

"No…..Z…Zuko?"

He was down on his knees, one of his arms leaning against a tree, supporting his weight. What was worse was the fact that many knives were in his arms, legs, and back. Blood streaked down from the wounds.

Katara trembled at the sight.

Zuko groaned as he looked up at her. "Katara…"

Katara stood speechless, staring at the bloodied body of the man she loved. Her hands trembled at her sides, her eyes brimming with tears. Finally, she rushed up towards him, kneeling down next to him.

"Zuko? Who did this to you?" She cried out, laying his head down on her lap.

He opened his eyes and Katara tearfully looked at the topaz eyes, her vision blurring every second with the threat of tears.

"I'm….s…sorry" He painfully spoke out.

Katara bit her lip and let the tears fall onto his red shirt, creating dark spots.

He spoke up once more, blood dripping from the wounds, "I protected you….at least….you're…..safe…" His voice trailed.

Tears flowed readily down her tan cheeks.

"You didn't have….to…" She clutched the bunch of fabric of his shirt in her hands, wrinkling them.

"I'm….happy….as long as you…..are safe….." He painfully groaned softly as his eyes slowly started to close.

"No! I'm not! You didn't have to! Why? Why did you do that?" She screamed, trailing off with a horde of tears. Katara buried her head in his chest, hearing his heart beat slowly and faintly. She gritted her teeth as she tightly grabbed a fragment of his shirt, so tight, that she felt her nails dig into her palm.

"You didn't have to!" She cried into his chest, tears wetting his shirt.

"If I didn't…..I wouldn't be….able to….live with myself…." His breathing got shallow.

Just then, his breathing stopped, the continuous heartbeat, ceasing.

Katara knew this wasn't real….but it hurt so much. He gave up his life trying to protect her, which made her add guilt to her mixed emotions.

The wind blew, rustling the trees, dried off the tears on her cheeks and slowly Zuko disappeared.

Slowly, a door revealed itself in front of her, bringing her to the second test.

-------------------

Zuko let the cool sensation leave him as he opened his eyes to find himself on a different map, with different surroundings. Moonlight shaded down from the sky, to the grassy ground below.

He walked on, listening to the occasional croaking of frogs and crickets.

Suddenly, he heard a young woman's voice, calling out for help.

"Help….someone….please…." The voice was weak and scarce, hardly hearable.

Zuko rushed towards the origin of the sound, he kept running until he came to a grove of trees. Panting, he darted his vision around, up….down….left…right…..until he saw a dark figure leaned against the base of a tree.

Quickly, he rushed over and gasped when he saw it no other than Katara.

Her hair all out of its complicated style, a blood line streaming from the corner of her mouth, her clothes, caked with mud and blood, and her legs, seriously injured.

She weakly opened her eyes and whispered out, "Is that you Zuko?" She squinted slightly and lifted her head off of the tree, sending the rest of her hair falling down to her waist.

Zuko stood there speechless, afraid of what to do, exactly what happened when Katara fell ill and died.

He rushed up to her side and kneeled down, staring at her hard, tears welling up.

"Who did this to you?" His voice shaking slightly.

Katara sighed in pain and took a while to answer, "Zuko, promise me that you won't give up your throne, just because of me…."

His clenched his teeth and whispered out in a broken tone, "What do you mean by that? Of course you won't die, I won't let you."

She shook her head and replied no. "My time is up Zuko, just promise me….please…."

Zuko shook his head no, "No, this isn't real….I know it isn't…..it can't be."

As quick as he blinked, she was gone, swiftly like the wind. He blinked away tears and shook his head, trying to get the words that she said out.

My time is up Zuko, just promise me….please….

He breathed out and looked ahead, seeing another door, leading him away from the first test.

A/N Okies….I may have made them OOC or whatever….I apologize, but there! XD

Next chapter…

Katara and Zuko go through the second test, but will they be able to overcome the heartbreaking flashbacks of each other's past?

Ok that's the overview of next chapter! Till next time!

R&R!