A/N: YAY! CHAPTER 4! Warning – really bad fight scene coming up. And Haru OCCness so bad it killed my cat when I read it to her.

And this chapter is more depressing than my other ones, for some reason. I don't exactly know why, it just came out that way.

"Muzzle her," he said dispassionately. "She's going to wake up the entire village."

One of the Dai Li produced a gag and covered her mouth. She was reduced to muffled curses and promises of disembowelment to anyone and everyone in on this when she got free.

Long Feng spoke to Haru. "Finish him off."

Zuko stared at the Bastard Earthbender, feeling slightly delirious.

So…I'm about to die. That's nice…

He drifted in and out of awareness, his loose grip on consciousness making for some weird hallucinations.

"Muzzle her," said Momo in a deep voice. "She's going to wake up the entire village." He pointed with his tail at a jumble of houses on the ground that appeared to be snoring.

Aang grinned widely, and blasted a large possum-chicken into Katara the ostrich-horse's mouth.

Momo turned to Sokka, who was wearing a dress and a belt that matched his bag.

"Finish him off."

Then, Katara the ostrich-horse swallowed the chicken, and began to sing.

Ugh…she's awful. It just sounds like she's screaming.

His common sense slapped him firmly across both cheeks.

FOCUS YOU IDIOT!!!!! it screamed.

Zuko snapped back into reality, and looked around rather sheepishly. Luckily for him, no one had noticed his temporary lapse of sanity. They were too busy looking at Katara.

She was not singing. (She wasn't an ostrich horse either, for that matter). She was screaming, through her gag, obviously hoping someone, anyone, would come to help them.

Zuko glanced around the clearing quickly, hoping there was someway out. But no, of course. Even though the Dai Li where distracted with Katara screaming, they still stayed at their posts around the top of the hill. Zuko lay about a foot from the lone tree, his head resting on a knobby root. A few feet away, the two Bastards who had held him earlier stood, looking over at the other guards trying to quiet Katara. The First and Second Earth Bastards were standing a few feet further away, also watching Katara, and whispering to each other. He listened to them.

"We can't keep her here," the Second Bastard said. "She's making too much noise, and if we knock her out the Avatar will be suspicious when she gets back."

The First Bastard didn't reply – he merely stared at her, throwing hate-filled glances at Zuko every once in a while.

The Second Bastard seemed to come to a decision. "I'll take the girl ahead to Lake Laogai. You can catch up with us, after you take care of that." He gestured carelessly at Zuko, still lying on the ground. His heart rate sped up.

Surely the Earth Bastard isn't that foolish he thought incredulously. I can still take on that lousy excuse for a bender! Even with my arm broken!

At the thought, he shifted excitedly, ready to kill That Bastard That Had Hurt Katara (it didn't occur to him that he also wanted to kill him because he had not hurt Katara, and kissed her, but Zuko's slow like that.)

He began to meditate, closing his eyes and readying himself for the combat…

Katara ignored the pain in her throat as she took another deep breath, readying herself for a deep scream.

She watched as Zuko seemed to fall asleep on the ground, his eyes closing and his muscles relaxing.

Now he's fainted! I have to save him, I have to get someone here…she repeated in her head, not caring that if the villagers hadn't heard her before, they definitely wouldn't hear her now that she was gagged.

In mid-scream, she was caught by a Dai Li operative. He brutally grabbed her arms, still bound, and lifted them over her head.

Katara let out a real scream, this time of pain, as one of her shoulders was dislocated.

She was supported by two members, and could vaguely hear Long Feng telling Haru good luck, and then being dragged off. She opened her eyes, desperate to get one last look at Zuko.

Her eyes bore into his, praying that he would feel the heat of her gaze and awake. But his eyes stayed closed, and she cried as he disappeared over the hill.

Zuko watched through lidded eyes as Katara was dragged off the hill, tears streaming down her face again. He wanted nothing more than to reach out to her, to tell her that he was going to be fine, and he would not let anything ever happen to her ever again. But to maintain the element of surprise on that Earth Bastard, he needed to appear unconscious.

With the thought of the traitorous boy, he stifled the urge to jump up and stab him in the gut. That would not be honorable, and he knew that no matter what he did, Katara would not want him hurt. The same couldn't be said for Zuko, though. Besides, his swords were on the other side of the tree.

His thoughts and pseudo-meditation were rudely interrupted by a vicious kick to his ribs.

He rolled over a few times with the force of the kick, letting out a moan when his arm was jostled.

Zuko glared up at the Earth Bastard with pure hatred. The Bastard responded to the evil look with the same.

"Kicking someone when he's down. Very honorable, bastard," Zuko snarled sarcastically as he tried to rise to his feet.

The earthbender gave a dry laugh. "Honorable? You're a firebender. I should crush you right now, without even fighting you. Be glad I only kicked you."

Zuko got to his feet, and tried to take a defensive position as best as he could with the broken arm. He tried to get to his swords, hoping he could use them to pin The Bastard to the tree or something. But as soon as he spotted their precise location, the earthbender sent a rock flying at him. Zuko dodged to blow barely, and started to circle around to where the swords were.

"So," he said, trying to distract The Bastard, "are you only trying to kill me because I'm a firebender? Or is there something else? Katara, maybe…?"

The Earth Bastard's face contorted with rage. "DON'T TALK ABOUT HER!" he screamed, punching a boulder he had just summoned so furiously that it dissolved into dust. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO SPEAK HER NAME!"

Zuko grinned inwardly. He wasn't very fond of mind games, but this bastard deserved all the suffering he could dish out.

"If you want Katara to like you, you're going about it completely wrong," he said casually, dodging another boulder as he echoed Sokka's words from earlier that day. "Katara hates your guts right now."

Haru snarled, throwing a large slab of rock, large enough that Zuko couldn't get out of the way fast enough. It sliced his face, opening a wound from his right earlobe, down his check to the corner of his lip. Zuko gasped at the pain, hoping that is wasn't so deep that he lost enough blood to faint.

"You don't deserve her." Haru whispered viciously. "I am the on the side of good! I am on the right side in this war! How could she fall for a firebending bastard like you!?" On the last word, he raised a column of earth under Zuko, flinging him in the air and into the lone tree.

Damn not hurting him! Zuko thought, attempting to hold his arm and back at the same time as he struggled to his feet. I don't care what Katara thinks at this point. I need to stop The Bastard from killing me!

Zuko took a deep breath, shifting into the familiar firebending stance. He summoned a fireball with his good arm, and carefully aimed at the charging earthbender. Zuko shot the fire at him with a roar.

Haru blocked the flame at the last second, summoning an earth wall and flinging it at Zuko. He rolled to avoid it, getting closer and closer to one of the swords that was lying at the base of the tree. Just as he reached it, four boulders, one on each side of him, rose out of the ground. Zuko stared at them as they froze for a moment, then gasped and dropped as they slammed together, inches above his head.

Shit, Zuko thought. The earthbender is faster than he looks. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…

The constant swearing in his mind actually seemed to calm him down a bit.

Who knew? Zuko thought as he stood up and swung his single sword, destroying the boulder flying at him. Cursing is good for you. (A/N – AMEN)

Katara sat in the metal wagon the Dai Li were transporting her in, sobbing her eyes out both from the pain in her shoulder and the fact that Zuko was dead.

DEAD. The word seemed to echo in her mind, taunting her.

I couldn't save him, its my fault he's gone, I couldn't save him, I couldn't save him…she repeated over and over in her head.

Her common sense came in again, it's "voice" gentler than normal.

Don't blame yourself, Katara. If its anyone's fault, it's the Dai Li's. They were the ones who actually ki- did the deed.

Instead of being comforted, Katara started crying harder. Images flashed through her mind – Zuko, bloodied and beaten, Zuko, crushed under boulders, Zuko –

Katara welcomed the comfort of unconsciousness as she, in the long tradition of damsels in distress, fainted.

Zuko panted, feeling the pain of all his injuries coming back as the adrenaline rush began to wear off. He just prayed that The Earthbending Bastard was tiring as quickly as he was. Like an answer to his prayer, a boulder twice the size of his battered body flung itself at him. Behind it, The Bastard stared at him with hatred, with only a few cuts and burns as a testimony of their fight.

Gods, Zuko thought more calmly than he thought possible, I know my family is evil, but must you take your anger out on me?!

As Zuko dodged, getting slower and slower with each sidestep, he noticed that the rocks The Bastard had were flinging at him were herding him. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, Zuko was being pushed back towards the tree.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake, as the earthbender spread his hands out, parallel to the ground. Zuko stared as he tried to get his balance back on the trembling ground.

So The Bastard can make an earthquake. Who knew?

As he staggered back, he tripped over a root. Zuko gasped at the sudden pain in his ankle, falling onto the tree and hurting his other various injuries. He panted, leaning against the tree and breathing deeply, trying to ignore the waves of pain coming from his arm, ribs, ankle, and face.

Before he could recover, The Bastard had rushed forward and pinned him on the tree. At first, he struggled, but a firm hand squeezing his broken arm stopped him. He watched The Earth Bastard, waiting for the killing blow.

Sokka stared into the night, waiting for Zuko to return. He had become bored with his interrogation of Toph and Aang after about fifteen minutes of evasive answers, knowing looks, and girlish giggles (the girlish giggles, were, of course, from Aang). He really hated not knowing things, but he sensed that this was one encounter that he didn't want to hear about.

Anyway, he had watched the woods for three hours now, but Zuko had failed to return.

Sokka smiled an evil little smile to himself as he thought about how well his plan went off that night.

Zuko is so gullible. Sokka thought mischievously. Of course I was going to follow Katara! What else are big brothers for but tagging along on dates? But there was always a chance that I would get caught, and she would beat me up.

He shuddered a bit, imagining his baby sister's wrath.

All I had to do was push Zuko in the right direction, and voila! A brand new guard-dog!

After rubbing his hands together and cackling with glee some more (earning him strange looks from Momo and Appa), he resumed looking for the two teenagers.

Another ten minutes passed, and Sokka stood up.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to get them.

He saddled up Appa, and flew towards the village, looking for any suspicious activity.

The scene might look a little funny if you just walked into the clearing. Zuko thought, glaring at The Bastard. I mean, I am extremely strong and manly. And The Bastard just looks kinda of wimpy and girly…maybe I should start calling him The Bitch…

Zuko was pinned against the tree, his knees slightly buckled so he was looking at The Bastard face to face. Said Bastard's mouth was in a feral snarl, one of his hands holding Zuko's broken arm and the other grasping an earth dagger. But his eyes…

Unlike the last time Zuko had looked into the earthbender's eyes, his emotions were there to be seen very clearly. First and foremost was anger, then disgust, then hurt, and then…hesitation?

Yep, there was definitely some hesitation in the eyes.

So The Bastard isn't totally confident! He might not kill me!

"Are you really going to kill me?" asked Zuko, barely more than a whisper. He kept his face blank, but he was mentally praying to all of the gods that he was right, and saying something wouldn't push him over the edge.

The green eyes hardened, loosing all emotions but anger.

Damn.

Zuko felt a bit apprehensive, but mostly angry.

I've made it through so much. How can it really be my fate to die alone and helpless at the hands of a mediocre earthbender who has a vendetta against me because the girl I like doesn't totally despise me?

He paused while he pondered this.

My. Life. Sucks.

Zuko almost thought he heard a chuckle from the inner recesses of his mind, but he pushed it away.

If only I could get enough energy to push him off me…stupid adrenaline rush. Wearing off when I need you the most.

The Bastard smirked, raising the dagger a bit higher.

"I was thinking about sparing you, because it's the right thing to do. But I really can't have you competing for Katara against me, can I? When we brainwash her, I'll just make sure any memories she has of you are…washed away…"

A feeling Zuko recognized immediately came through him. He smiled as his energy came rushing back.

Oh, jealousy, he thought happily as he mentally stroked the little green monster. What would I do without you?

It roared in response and attacked a little dummy of Haru he had set up in its cage.

Good idea. Less thanking, more ass-kicking.

Zuko roared, pushing The Bastard off of him and blocking the dagger with his sword, flipping it out of his hands. Then he grabbed him, pushed him against the tree, and held the sword to his throat.

"I don't think so," he said, smiling triumphantly, and hit The Bastard temple with the sword butt. Hard.

The Bastard's look of shock remained as his green eyes rolled back into his head, and he crumpled to the ground.

Zuko staggered back, and then leaned on his sword as he surveyed the scene. Huge chunks of earth were torn out of the ground, coupled by small scorch marks everywhere. And at the base of the tree lay The Bastard Earthbender, out cold. A little part of him dearly wanted to kick him (and break his arm, and slash his face, and…). His hand twitched towards his sword, but he took a deep breath.

Mercy and honor. Two things I have that The Bastard does not. Lets keep it that way, shall we?

Zuko shifted his weight off of his sword, and groaned. He had forgotten how much pain he was in. Gritting his teeth, he tried to take a step in the direction Katara had vanished to, and nearly screamed. His foot and arm let out throbs in unison, and almost fell to his knees.

Okay, I wont be able to go after her. But maybe I can make it back to the camp and tell the others…

With this idea firmly lodged in his brain, he began a sort of limp-jog towards the camp, but he felt his energy draining away slowly…

He was moving down the path when he tripped over a rock and fell on his face.

Rolling onto his back, he tried to get up again, but was to weak.

For the first time in a while, he let a tear escape his unscarred eye.

I'm sorry, Katara. I couldn't save you…

As darkness overcame him, he had no idea that a few miles away, Katara was thinking the same thing about him…

THE END

A/N: Lol, just kidding. I know this chapter was really really short, but I just wanted to get something up before I died from guilt. I promise I will not take as long to get the next chapter up. I just had losta trouble with this one because of the fight scene. As you can tell by its awfulness, I am good at dialogue, and that's it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! AND REVIEW!!!!!

Will Sokka find Zuko in time?

How will the gaang fight off the Dai Li?

Will Zuko and Katara make out soon?

ALL THESE QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE NEXT ADDITION OF ZUKO'S JEALOUSY!!!!! (confetti)