Chapter 3

Find what you're looking for?

She is the one that I adore,
Creed of my silent suffocation.

- Bittersweet, HIM

The trek back to the temple seemed longer than it really was, but only because he had an extra weight on his back and was going up hill. Though it wasn't much of a weight, she was still thin and malnourished from her "previous encounter" and it would take a while for her to get her body back to the way it was before. Full, curved, and strong. The first two bothered him more than normal but he ignored the way it affected his body. Of course it would have been a shorter trip if their ride hadn't run off when the yelling started, but that's what he got for yelling. His uncle always told him about Karma, which what ever he did, good or bad would come back on him three fold, and well for yelling at Katara, the roster horse took off and he was forced to carry the girl on his back. But it wasn't all that bad, at least he was strong enough to carry her and not become winded.

Stopping a moment, he heard her give a light groan and turned his head to look at her. "You better not fall asleep on me…" To show she was still awake, she squirmed slightly. He stood for a moment longer before starting on again. Zuko could see the back wall of the temple and the open windows, letting in the cool spring air.

"Zuko…" Katara's voice was soft, almost a whisper.

"What?" She waited a moment before continuing.

"I don't think we're alone…" He stopped a moment and listened. She was right, they were surrounded and he knew by whom. Zhou. Out of nowhere a fire ball shot at them and Zuko side stepped the attack, almost knocking Katara from his shoulders. He knelt down and she slid off of him before looking around. The Fire Navy soldiers were advancing and the only path was straight. If they could make it back to the temple they had a chance of escaping. But knowing Zhou he already had soldiers at the temple. They couldn't back track that only lead to - the river!

Zuko turned and grabbed Katara by the wrist before running back down hill toward the river. Instantly they were barraged with fire balls and Zuko managed to lead them through the smoke and forest quickly. In no time at all they made it to the river and Zuko looked to Katara.

"I can't hold them off long; they're pretty much immune to fire." She wasn't sure what he meant until she realized where they were.

"I can't promise anything, so if we get stuck you better know how to swim." He nodded and watched as the Fire soldiers approached along with Zhou. The smile on his face showed of madness and anger.

"How nice of you to bring the little water slut to a healer. She might have died on me back at the ship, then where would I be without entertainment?" Zuko growled and produced from his hands his signature fire daggers.

"She's not going anywhere with you Zhou, you've already done your fair share." The older man grinned and shot a fire attack at Zuko, he dodged it easily and turned to Katara. She was safe for now, but he knew she wouldn't be for long. The advancing soldiers would get to her in no time. They were in no condition as it was to fight either. Their only escape was Katara, and she had already seen this.

Katara grabbed Zuko by the wrist and started for the river in a run. Zuko had no choice but to follow and ran with her right into the water. They only went in three or so feet, before Katara used her water bending to call up a wave and propel them across the river to the other side. She landed just fine on her feet but Zuko wasn't so use to it and tripped, falling forward. Katara helped Zuko up and followed him as he ran over the beach to the thick forest ahead of them, the fire attacks continuing. The forest was cold and dense, and Katara's as well as Zuko's legs and arms were being barraged by branches and sticks. Who knew how long they ran or how far, they just knew they had to run, and somewhere in the back of Zuko's mind, he knew he'd have to learn to rely on Katara's internal strength and she'd have to do the same for him.

-

When they finally came to a stop, both were tired and worn out. Katara looked worse for wear that Zuko, but both were equally hungry and tired. Katara's stomach growled and Zuko looked to her then back the way they came. There was no way Zhou would be able to follow them, not with his heavy armor and huge number of troops. But they couldn't just stay out in the open either; they needed to find shelter and food. Standing back up, Zuko grabbed Katara's arm and she winched, her skin was still tender and from the lashing from the branches, it was even worse. He loosened his grip and helped her up.

"We have to find shelter, it won't be long till Zhou send out the YunYan archers, and then we're dead for." She nodded and gave him a sleepy, worn look. "She must be so tired of running. Between Zhou and I, there really isn't much else." He felt back for that thought and grabbed her hand instead of her arm and pulled her along.

"We should be able to find somewhere we can rest and hide. If only we had a ma-!" He fell suddenly through a whole in the ground and Katara was pulled down with him into the whole. It wasn't a long drop, but enough of a drop to knock the wind out of him, and even more so when Katara fell on top of him. She wasn't that heavy, and in all honesty it did hurt him, but it gave him a light pain in the stomach. She stood up slowly with a groan and watched him stand. He looked around while brushing the dirt off his shirt and pants. It wasn't a hole they fell into, but a tunnel.

"Where are we?" Katara asked while looking around.

"I don't know, but it's a good place to hide. Follow me and stay close." Zuko brought up a flame in his hands and started down the tunnel. Katara followed close to him, close enough that she ran into him a couple of times, not hard but enough to startle her. He turned back to her and gave her and angry look, but saw she was just as scared and worried, and hid the look of anger. "You're a water bender; can you sense or hear any water near by?" Katara stopped a moment and closed her eyes, listening to the area around them and tried to focus on the pull of water. They were close to a stream; it wasn't more that a yard or so ahead of them, and it was above ground. Opening her eyes she nodded and pointed a head of them to where the water was.

"Just up there, but it's above us." Zuko nodded and started ahead of her till he came to what looked like another opening. He looked to Katara and waved to her. She made her way to him in a light jog and he looked up.

"We're going to have to work together if we want to make out of this. So I'm going to lift you up and I want you to peek out and see if anyone is around." She gave him a dumb found look.

"Why me?!" He smiled lightly, which was totally odd to her in every way.

"You want to try and lift me up, okay." She thought a moment and shook her head. He was right, she wouldn't be able to pick him up and she was small, she could hide better than him. Giving a slight sigh she nodded and the fire disappeared from his hands. She stood a moment before she felt his arms around her thighs and lifting her up. In the darkness of the tunnel, Zuko's' body heat seemed to fill the entire black, surrounding her and filled her body with a feeling of sleep and lust. Shaking her head, she put her hands on the roof above them and pushed up. The fake door gave way and she pushed it up slowly to look around. No one, there was no movement that was unnatural in the forest and she looked down to Zuko. "Its alright, there's no one around." He nodded she lowered the door. He lowered her down and when her feet touched the ground, she found her body pressed close to Zuko's hard frame, his arms still around her and his heat traveling through her body. She was thankful for the darkness or else he would have seen her blush.

Zuko relished the moment with the young woman in his arms. It was a new feeling, different yes, but not uncomfortable. To be honest it was rather nice and he liked it. He'd like to feel it again but he had a feeling Katara wouldn't. He let her go reluctantly and took a step back. "Well we can stay here in the tunnels and rest for a while and get food and water when we need it. This island is fairly large and will take at least a day or two to make it to the other beach."

"What about your uncle?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about him. Uncle Iroh has probably already worked his way out of the situation and is probably on his way to the other side as we speak." She gave a light smile in the dark and felt a rope in her hand. She froze and looked to him.

"Z-Zuko?"

"I'm going to life you up again. I want you to crawl out and open the door up and lower the rope down. It'll be easier to get in and out that way." She let out the breath she was holding and nodded as his arms went around her hips again. She felt his heat even stronger now and tried to focus on her job. Katara pushed open the door and slipped out the best she could with his help and grabbed the side of the door before it closed. She then pulled it back and laid it on the ground and lowered the rope down into the whole, and tied the other end to a large tree behind her. She went back to the whole and helped Zuko climb out while making sure no one was around.

Once he stood on his own two feet he looked around and noticed that they were beside a cave as well which could come in handy. Zuko looked to her and noticed the worn, dazed look on her face. This wasn't going to be easy, not at all.

"Alright, we'd better set up camp. I'll get the fire wood and you get some water. And don't go too far… we don't know where Zhou is." Katara nodded, completely oblivious to the fact he told her not to run away, just to be aware of where she was.

-

Zuni: Sorry this one is so short… I kinda put myself into a box and need to work my way out of it.