Disclaimer: If I had a dollar, I would go put it in a slot machine (cuz they're everywhere in Vegas). Then I would take my winnings and go buy Nick. By owning Nick, I shall own all products they make and thus, I shall own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If only I had a dollar…

Chapter 4- Grows on You

Another uneventful week went by as Katara and the old man played games of Pai Cho and drank tea together. Of course, Katara could only go so far from her bed now. Iroh was waiting for the right moment to ask again about the incident in the woods. Maybe without the presence of the young prince, the girl could talk openly,

After an extremely exciting game of Pai Cho, in which Katara almost beat the old man and his lotus tile, but was tricked and lost, both were in good humor, and Iroh felt the time was right to ask.

"My dear, that was a wonderful game!"

"You're just saying that! You and I both know you held back!" laughed the waterbender.

"That may be…" he sighed. His voice got suddenly serious as he asked, "Please tell me. What happened that night… in the woods…"

She sighed. "I guess I'll have to tell you sometime." She situated herself back on her bed and began from the beginning. "After leaving the northern water tribe, the three of us headed south, towards Omashu where Aang could find an earthbending teacher. We had made camp in a clearing in a forest on the outskirts of a small earthbender village…"

"I'm hungry," whined the warrior.

"You're always hungry, Sokka. Why not go look for food?" Katara reasoned.

"Because that's women's work," he replied haughtily.

"What do you mean by women's work?" Katara asked harshly, planting her feet apart and her hands on her hips.

"I mean it's not the work of a great warrior such as myself!" Sokka wasn't paying attention to the death glare emanating from his baby sister. The female bender was seconds away from pummeling her brother for being insensitive- again.

"Guys!" The young Avatar had finally stepped in to quell the fighting, saving the other boy. "Looking for food is everybody's work! We need to work together, or else we might as well starve," he said, using his diplomatic voice.

"ST-ST-STARVE?! I'm going to look for food!" Sokka suddenly ran off away from the clearing before he could even help unpack.

"Nicely done, Aang. Maybe he won't be so incredibly sexist now! Or at least a little better…" she sighed. "I'm going to go find Sokka. I doubt he'll bring back anything edible," she said with a laugh and stalked off after her brother, leaving the Avatar to sit quietly by him self. He didn't immediately set up camp, but rather wanted to wait for the siblings' company before starting and he lay back lazily against the now dozing bison, with Momo coming to rest on the child Avatar's chest.

"Sokka! Sokka! Go back to camp! I'll find the food!" She was sure he would hear her voice in the quiet forest. It was so silent she was positive her thoughts were booming through the leaves. She hadn't gone far from the clearing when she called for the stubborn fighter again, and spied a bush full to the brim with delectable-looking berries, ripe for the picking. It was too good to pass up. The boys needed food and there it was.

She hurried over to the shrub as though it would disappear, leaving her hungry, and quickly began plucking the fruit off its branches, using her dress as a basket.

Although her ears may not be so very fine-tuned, she was still able to discern the subtle rustling of leaves behind her.

Thinking her brother had found her, she cried happily, "Look at these berries! We might have a decent meal tonight!" When no answer came she stood warily. "Sokka?"

Before she could turn though, she squealed as her arms were pinned to her sides, causing her to drop the precious fruit, and cold metal thrust to her throat. "Not another sound, understand, peasant?" The voice was female and most likely one of authority. Katara stood as still as she could, trying not to shake with fear.

"Katara?" Sokka's worried voice came through the foliage.

"Ugh. Let's move," the voice hissed to unseen others behind her. "Get moving." She pushed Katara through the dense brush back to her campsite. There must have been about seven or eight men at this woman's command. They stepped through the last bush and stood in a circle of warm light cast from the small fire one of the boys had lighted.

Both boys were already on their feet when they heard noises in the forest. When they saw Katara they did not see the fire nation woman behind her at first. Their faces were that of contentment, seeing their friend safe and in their midst, but contorted to fear as the woman stepped into the firelight.

"Who are you?" the youngest of the group asked, worry etching lines on his usually carefree face.

"It's really not important right now. But what is important is that you are going to accompany me on my ship- in shackle of course, and I might not kill your pretty little friend here," she ordered, too calm to be comforting.

"Never! Now let Katara go!" he shouted and he and Sokka assumed fighting stances, ready to run to Katara's rescue.

"I could do that, but where's the fun there. And besides…" she let her words hang with dread, letting fear fill the clearing. "You wouldn't want me scarring such a pretty face, now would you?" The flat of the blade in the unknown, but definitely dangerous, woman's hands stroked Katara's cheek.

Both boys shifted hesitantly. What would she do? "Fine. I'll come with you. But Katara and Sokka go free," the young Avatar bargained.

"That was the right answer." The woman's hand dropped from Katara's neck, the knife glinting in the light from the fire built moments earlier to banish the coming twilight. The boy travelers let out sighs of relief, but Katara remained taut. This woman didn't seem the type to give up, and her words reflected that. "Well, almost," she added evilly. And just as Katara was about to duck out of her attacker's arms and rush to her brother's arms, a pain, the likes of which she could never have imagined, shot through her right side, and she dropped to her knees in agony with a scream.

"KATARA!" Sokka screamed and rushed to his sister's side.

"You said you would let her go if I came with you!" Aang cried and prepared to attack the woman.

"I said I might let her go," she sneered. "And isn't everything more exciting this way? Men! Attack the Avatar!" the woman announced with an evil grin plastered on her face.

More than half a dozen men rushed from the trees and bushes. After seeing his best friend, a girl he wished would be so much more, Aang couldn't think. He threw blasts of air every which way, in an attempt to face the woman at the center of all his current agony. Didn't he have enough to deal with? He was the Avatar. He was thought of as a coward who abandoned the world. It was up to his twelve-year-old self to save the world, and now he has to deal with the very possible death of someone so close?

Sokka, meanwhile, had dragged his beloved sister over to the safety of Appa's side while Aang handled the Fire Nation soldiers. "Katara, just hold on. We'll get you help. Just hold on." The warrior was on the verge of tears. Only his pride kept the tears at bay. Being medically incompetent, he pulled the short dagger out of her side before she could stop him and threw it to the side.

"I'll be right back, okay? Don't di- don't go anywhere." Enraged, Sokka turned to the soldiers and charged at them. Aang was working his way through the men that just would not go down to get to their psychopathic ring leader. The Water Tribe warrior watched as she stood there, arms folded nonchalantly. Aang was finally closing in on her as Sokka joined the fray. Sokka, wielding his boomerang, began slashing at the fire nation warriors as his sister fought the sleep that threatened to overcome her and never let go. Aang and Sokka were surrounded, fighting back to back. One soldier produced a net, hurling it over them. The other men attacked immediately. The boys were knocked senseless and bound and gagged. The young waterbender could do nothing but watch through slitted eyes that threatened to close as she watched her family being taken away from her.

Again.

And worse, they had forgotten her, left her for dead.

"Thank you. You have done wonderfully." The old man commented. He gave her some more tea and turned to leave the sickbay in case she wanted to be alone. "You have no idea how strong you really are. I'm just glad we found you in time…" he said reflectively.

"Thank you. And thank you for saving me," she said sincerely. Iroh had reached the doorframe, one hand on the knob. "Uh, Mr. Iroh, sir?" she asked, somewhat awkwardly. She really didn't have a lot of experience addressing captors that were so polite and unthreatening as this man before her. He stopped and turned to face the ship's newest addition. "How can you be related to such a horrible person as Zuko? How can you stand being around him?"

"He just grows on you, I suppose." And with a smile, the old man left her.

"So Azula has captured the Avatar! That's what I suspected when I found her dagger at the campsite. Now, she's already gotten a head start to the Fire nation capital. We'll never be able to catch up! By the time we reach her ship, it will be docked and the Avatar will be in my father's possession!" roared the teenager.

"There is always the masquerade ball held every year about two months before the summer solstice in a few weeks. No one knows that your men took over this ship. You could sneak in and steal the Avatar away, wait a while maybe, and return with him saying you recaptured him from the so-called kidnappers," Iroh said in a bored voice. Really, the kind old man would never do such a thing, but he wanted to help the waterbending girl and his nephew was easily convinced in matters of the Avatar.

"I guess that's the best thing we could come up with," he sighed. "Set a course for the fire nation!" he ordered the captain, who was standing at the helm only a few yards away.

The ship lurched as the prince spoke to his uncle. "If we are to attend the masquerade ball, then we need to stop and find costumes," he said quietly.

"The girl will need clothing, too," Iroh commented.

"What!? We don't need to go shopping for the prisoner!" he spat angrily.

"Her clothes are torn and bloody. She's on a ship full of men. For the good of everyone, she needs clothing. Be reasonable, Prince Zuko!" the old man argued.

"Fine," he consented reluctantly after a moment's thought.

"Good. Now, I think I will go play some more Pai Cho with our guest."

"Uncle, how can you stand to be around that peasant all the time?" he asked hotly.

"I guess she grows on you."

YEAH! CHAPTER FOUR IS DONE! Yeah me! Although it's kinda short. I will try to fit in more Iroh and Zuko How do you like it? I really need to know. It is really important. Cuz without your constructive criticism, this story would suck even more than it already does. Not really much to this chapter, but it gets good later on. I'm thinkin' about twenty-ish chapters. But I swear it's gonna get real good! And just so you know, if you are ever stabbed with anything, scissors, a small dagger, or even a pencil, don't pull it out. More blood will flow out and you have a greater chance of dying from blood loss. I took first aid!!!