Chapter 7: Runaway
The two sat there soaking in each other's stories.
"I had no idea," Katara said sadly.
"Nobody ever does," Zuko responded not even looking at her.
"Zuko, I wish there was something I could do or something I could say to make it better…"
"Nothing can be done. What's happened has happened. It's all in the past now and I just have to move ahead…I have moved ahead."
"Have you?"
Zuko looked at the Water Tribe girl confused. Whenever he had opened up to people in the past, it only pushed them away to know the dysfunction from which he came. But here was Katara standing next to him still.
"I've made as much progress as can be expected," he responded not looking at her.
"I'm sorry. I had no idea your father was like that. To his own son too."
"When the Avatar kills him, I hope he sits there and bleeds like my mother. I hope he struggles for his last breath. I hope he feels the pain that burns in my heart everyday I think of him."
"Zuko…"she began, but he quickly put a finger on her lips.
"We have to go," he told her.
The next day, Katara awoke to the bright day. She looked around her and realized Zuko was still asleep and had left some water from the day before lying around the house. She quickly drew the water to her using her bending and quickly placed it upon her chains. She then froze it and, preparing to run as soon as she succeeded, gave the chains a violent tug. A loud cracking noise mixed with the thunk of the metal hitting the floors awoke Zuko. But Katara was already running, running.
She knew that if she went the exact opposite of where he took her yesterday, it was most likely going to lead her back to the city. She ran and ran though her legs felt like they were on fire. She ran into a low hanging branch and scrapped her face up, but she just kept going like nothing mattered. She fell on a rock and looked behind her to see an angry Zuko right behind her. Her expression went from fear to anger as she brought up all the strength she had and kicked him in the stomach right as he was about to grab her. He flew through the air and his back hit a tree.
"Sweet," she muttered grinning wickedly. She got up and kept running till finally, she arrived at Ba Sing Se.
Aang was pacing the room nervously. There was still no sign of Katara anywhere and they had been searching for days.
"Hey, look!" Sokka yelled out of the blue. "Aang, look out the window!"
Aang ran to the nearest window and spotted Katara running up the street to their house.
"Katara!" he yelled running out of the front door. Katara threw her arms around him.
"Oh, Aang. I'm so happy to see you," she said.
"What happened to you?" he asked observing the scars on her face.
Katara was about to answer him truthfully about how Zuko had captured her and how she had slept with him and how his mother had died. But it all disappeared from her brain to be replaced with a lie.
"I went out to the woods for a while. I'm sorry I never told you. I just needed some time to myself," she explained.
"Then how come you have scars all over your face?" Aang asked.
"I had a run in with a tree branch. But don't worry, I got the best of it," she joked.
"I'm just so glad you're home," Aang said.
As Katara entered the house, she was immediately greeted by her brother's shouts of disapproval.
"Camping!?! You were out camping?!?! How could you do that!?!? We've been looking all over the city for you!?!?" Sokka yelled turning red in the face.
"Oh calm down ponytail," Toph said punching Sokka in the arm. Sokka fell over.
That night, as Katara prepared for bed, she looked out the window in her room on the second floor. Although she would never admit it to his face, she longed for Zuko to come looking for her. She didn't know what it was but she found herself infatuated by him. She hated him more than the fire nation that had killed her mother, but she still wanted him more than anything else. She turned away from the window and climbed into bed.
Outside the small house that belonged to the Avatar, a young man with a scar across his eye stood watching as the lights in a room he so longed to be in turn off. Zuko stared at Katara's window with a look of anger and lust. He wanted her and wanted her to pay and she would pay when she came looking for him. Oh yes, he knew she would come looking for him.