Disclaimer: mvn and I own nothing!
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! You guys get a cookie! A BIG COOKIE! Oh, you also may want to skip some paragraphs, I believe, sometime in the middle...
Zuko leans against the wall, and crosses his arms. Katara looks at him, and then rolls her eyes.
"You're Fire Lord I thought it was bad for Fire Lord's to lean against walls." Katara told Zuko and gave him a skeptical look. Zuko looks at her questionably.
"It is?" He asked her. Then she thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't know, I thought it was." She told him then looked at him. Zuko shrugged then stopped leaning on the wall and uncrossed his arms. She slightly smiled at his confusion.
"Well I don't really care if you lean on the wall; we aren't in the Fire Nation right now anyways." She realized.
"True…" He said, but didn't lean on the wall. Katara was tired of making lame conversation. She turned her head and her hair gleamed with the reflection on the icy walls. Zuko realized how beautiful she was and remembered how much he missed her. He looks at her body from her feet to her eyes. Katara glances at him and realizes what he is doing. She quickly melts ice and throws cold water on him. Zuko tries to act like it didn't faze him.
"What?" Zuko said as he wiped the water from his hair.
"I know what you were doing!" She said, almost yelling. Zuko looked at the ground and sighed. Katara held her arms, and looked at him. After a few brief moments of silence between the two of them Katara decided to tell Zuko the truth.
"…Zuko…" She said quietly. Zuko perked up and looked at her.
"Yeah." He said eagerly. Katara got a sad look on her face. Then he grew concerned.
"Do you want to know why I couldn't accept your proposal earlier?" She told him sadly. Zuko grew more concerned.
"Huh?" He said. Katara thought for a second then took a deep breathe.
" …I am already engaged." She informed him. Zuko's facial expression turned from concern to shock.
"What?" He said in a scared voice. He then felt very foolish. Katara looked at him.
"I'm engaged to be married." She told him again. Zuko went from feeling foolish to feeling anger.
"Why didn't you tell me before I said all those things?" He asked her slightly angry.
"I didn't want you to find out." She told him.
"Why wouldn't you want me to know?" Zuko asked her, his anger still showing.
"I just… I didn't want you to know; I knew you would get angry." She explained to him. She could see his anger.
"Well, if you had told me I wouldn't have asked you…" He told Katara. Katara got defensive.
"How was I supposed to know that was the reason you came here!" She stated. Zuko knew she was right and looked at the floor. Then she felt sympathy for him.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly. Zuko continued to look at the floor.
"Don't worry about it…" He told her sadly and began to walk away. Katara felt bad and walked after him.
"Wait." She said in a soft voice and walked after him. He stopped walking and looked at her.
"Do you love him?" He asked her calmly. Katara thought for a moment then answered him.
"Yes, I do love him." She told him. Zuko quickly turned his head to the ground disgusted. Katara sighed. He began to walk away.
"I wish you all the happiness in the world." He managed to tell her. Then he continued to walk away. Then Katara thought for a moment.
"You are welcome to stay here for a while." She told Zuko as he walked away. Zuko stops walking and turns to her.
"Okay…" He was slightly confused as to the reason she wanted him to stay. Katara nodded.
"I will have a room prepared for you." She said, and began to walk down through the hallways. Zuko followed her, but he was still skeptical of her kindliness. As they walked through the hallways Zuko was thinking about whom she was marrying and what he had that Zuko didn't. His thoughts stopped when they reached his room.
"Here is your room." She said. Zuko bowed to her. "Well I better leave you now." She said. Then she walked away. Zuko walked into the room and found his belongings. He sat on the bed to think.
Later Katara walks into her own bedroom to wait for her fiancé to come. His name was Yukio and he was a southern tribe noble, a war hero, and a waterbender. A fine suitor for a princess. However he did have a temper that Katara was very aware of. Katara sat in a chair in the bedroom and waited for him to return. After a while he entered the room.
"Hey…" Katara said to Yukio. He walked in the room and placed his stuff on the dresser then finally answered her.
"I saw a Fire Nation ship come in today. What was that about?" He asked her suspiciously. Katara looks at him.
"Just a friend coming to visit." She told him calmly. Yukio looked at her with a glare on his face.
"Are you sure?" He asked her. Katara gave him a strange look before answering.
"Yes, I am sure." She told him. Then Yukio sat on the bed and kicked of his shoes.
"Where is my nightly foot rub?" He asked her with a grin on his face. Katara gave him a disgusted look and began to walk away.
"Katara! Where do you think you are going?" Yukio yelled to her. Katara turned to him.
"I'm going to go see my friend." She told him. Yukio became angry. He stands up and runs to Katara and grabs her arm.
"You will stay here with me!" He told her, and then squeezed her arm tight.
"Let go of me!" She screamed and tried to get her arm free. Then Yukio grows more furious. He throws her to the ground, and yells at her.
"You will stay here with me!" Yukio yelled at her. After hitting the ground Katara winced from the pain, then she stood up.
"I can do whatever I want!" She yelled at him.
"You are my wife!" He told her.
"I am not your wife, I am your fiancé." She told Yukio. Yukio went and sat on the bed, put his feet up.
"You will do what I say." He commanded her. Katara gave him a hateful glare. Then began to leave the room again.
"You can't leave me!" He yelled at her. Katara looked back at him.
"But I can leave this room!" She stated then begins to leave again.
"Katara!" Yukio yelled at her.
"What?" She said as she turned to face him.
"You will regret this." He told her, with a grin on his face.
"Regret what? Ever accepting your proposal?" She said to him.
"If you leave me now, you will regret it." He told her. Katara thought to herself then decided that if she left she would pay the severe consequences later. She decided to leave anyways. She opens the door, and sees Zuko walking through the halls. She realizes this is her chance to get away from him. She quickly leaves the room and walks to join Zuko. Yukio is furious. Zuko notices Katara, and wonders what she is doing.
"Katara, what's going on?" He asked her, concerned. She decided to lie to Zuko.
"Nothing's wrong." She said as she tried to hold back her tears. Zuko believed her.
"Okay…" Zuko said, and he kept walking. Katara was afraid she was going to burst into tears so she quickly thought of something to say.
"Uh… I'll see you later." She told him, and quickly walked away. Zuko sadly walked back to his room. Katara continued to walk away from the palace hoping that Yukio wouldn't come after her. She wipes her tears as she walks through the palace.
"There you are." A voice from behind her said. Katara turned around to see it was Yukio. She got into a fighting stance and bends snow at him. Yukio bends the snow away. He runs after her and grabs her around the shoulders and drags her back to their bedroom. Katara tries to scream for help. Yukio puts his hand over her mouth. She decides to kick him in the shin. He grunts in pain but doesn't release her. They reach the bedroom; he throws her inside the bedroom and shuts the door. Tears pour down her face.
"Please!" She cries. But Yukio doesn't control his temper and he strikes her to the ground, she falls and hits her face on the dresser. She whimpers in pain. She holds her face and runs out of the room, Yukio allows her to leave. Tears continue to pour down her face. She tries to think of who to talk to or where to go. She sees an empty room and runs into it throws herself on the bed and cries herself to sleep.
The next day Katara wakes up, she looks in the mirror at the large bruise that is covering her cheek. She quickly heals it with her bending. She thinks to herself when will it end and how will she ever stop it. As she walks through the halls she decides to tell someone. She knows she can't tell Sokka. The only other person that listens to her is Zuko. After a few hours of thinking she finally gets the courage to talk to Zuko about her problem.
Katara knocks on Zuko's door, he opens it. "Katara?" He said slightly confused. Katara looks at him.
"I need to talk to you." She calmly told him. He nodded and opened the door, she walks in. Zuko sits on the edge of the bed. She sits beside him.
"What is it?" He asked, concerned. Katara blurts out what has been bothering her.
"Yukio'sabusingme!" She said very quickly. Zuko was shocked.
"What? Slow down." He calmly told her. Katara took a long deep breathe.
"Yukio, my fiancé, is abusing me." She calmly told him. Zuko grew angry, and stood up.
"That bastard!" He yelled. Katara looked at him.
"Zuko, please calm down." She asked him. Zuko took a breathe then sat down beside her.
"Sorry." Zuko apologized, and then looked at her.
"No one knows. No one even suspects it." Katara told him. Zuko thought for a moment.
"Why did you tell me?" He asked her.
"You were the only person I could think of." She confessed. Zuko thought for a moment. "No one else would believe me." She said.
"I believe you." He told her truthfully. Katara looked at him and gave him look of gratitude. Katara thought for a few moments.
"What should be done?" She asked him. Zuko thought for a second, and then answered.
"You need to leave him." Zuko told her.
"I can't do that he would just beat me…" She drifted off. Zuko thought more.
"What if we left?" Zuko presented. Katara was confused.
"What do you mean 'we left'? Where would we go?" She asked.
"You could come with me, to the Fire Nation." Zuko said. Katara thought for a while.
"When can we leave?" Katara asked, she had made up her mind. Zuko thought for a while.
"We can leave as soon as possible." He told her. Katara nodded.
"I'll meet you at the docks in an hour, if I don't come then, then something happened so just leave." She told him. Zuko looked at her questionably then nodded.
"Alright." He said.
"Thank you Zuko." She said and leaned to him and gave him a hug. Zuko returned the hug. "I will see you soon." She told him.
"Yeah." He stood up and left the room. Katara walked to her room to gather her things.
Author's Note: What's going to happen? Is Katara going to get to leave? Is that bastard going to find out Katara's leaving? Will Zuko and Katara EVER get together? You shall find out in the next chapter!