Here is Chapter three. Let me know what you think of it by reviewing also the more reviews I get the more likely I am to update. What can I say they just inspire me!!!! It's my motivation and I love to find out what you guys really think about this story. Also as a reminder this is set a little after boiling rock.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Air Bender or any of its amazing characters

Chapter 3

When Katara awoke it was considerably darker in her small room. It must be around dinner now, she thought. As she pushed herself into a sitting position she noticed that her nails were chipped and broken, and something about the sight seemed wrong to Katara.

"So."

At the one indignant syllable, Katara looked up abruptly, panicked. The girl, Suki, she remembered, was sitting in a straight-backed chair across from the bed. Her hair was half pulled up. Blue green eyes peered at Katara as the girl smiled. Relaxing again, she remained sitting. "Hello."

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but besides that much better."

"That's good. I was wondering if you would like to clean up."

"I'd love that," said Katara as she started to stand, stretching her sore muscles in the process. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it. After that I will clean your wounds and put some fresh bandages on them. Oh and then there is dinner."

"Really? Sounds….delightful," mumbled Katara as Suki stood and moved over to where a blue traveling bag sat, long forgotten in the corner of the room. "Now where is it?"

"Where is what?" asked Katara as she came over to stand beside Suki, who was rummaging through the bag.

"An outfit for you to wear since your other one is a little ruined at the moment, but don't worry I'm sure I can fix it up. For now Sokka said you could wear your Fire Nation clothes, but I can't seem to find them," she said as she continued to search for the missing garments.

"Oh." Katara said as she looked down at her outfit.

How could I have missed all this damage, I mean it's completely destroyed, thought Katara, looking scornfully at the many rips and burns that adorned her clothes.

"Here it is," said Suki pulling out a red outfit.

Katara gaped at the clothes. They were exquisite. "They're so beautiful."

"Yeah, they are. So are you ready to go get cleaned up? I think that Toph will be joining us as well," said Suki as she gently led Katara out of the room.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. The bath was wonderful and Katara realized that it was something she needed if she had any hope of making it through dinner. Suki had cleaned out all of her cuts and even re-bandaged the worst of them. The severity of the injuries frightened Katara. Ugly scratches ran down her legs while her wrists were rubbed raw. There were a few cuts that adorned her arms and a nasty bruise on her cheek that was vaguely shaped like a hand. What had happened to her that she received such injuries? Suki had said that her injuries were a lot better than they were a couple days ago. Which just made her wonder how badly injured had she been.

She found that she liked Suki. She was nice but had an air of authority to her that Katara envied. Toph, she had found out, was a tomboy through and through.

She glanced at herself in the mirror again. Suki had pulled half her hair up into a top knot and had left the rest of it tumble down her back. She was dressed in a red top that only covered her left shoulder and left her stomach exposed. It was silk and she found that she was comfortable in it. Katara had on a crimson skirt that reached her knees and was held up by an intricate belt. She wore loose baggy pants under the skirt that were just a few shades darker than chocolate brown. Suki had given her a pair of red silk slippers to wear. She figured they had to be hers since they fit perfectly. Suki had put gold wrist cuffs on her wrists. They manage to cover up her raw, red wrists without rubbing against them much to her relief. Suki had then fastened golden arm bracelets on the upper part of her arms. Katara had to admit that she looked rather good and, unlike what she thought, she didn't feel odd. She felt as comfortable in this outfit as she did her ruined blue one. She took one last glance at her reflection before she moved over to the window. The cool breeze that ruffled through calmed her nerves. Suki had mentioned that she would send someone to get her when dinner was ready, but she hadn't added that it was because she wouldn't know the way.

Struggling with impatience, she leaned against the sill. Impatience, she'd discovered, was very much a part of her. Memory would come, Katara assured herself. And if it didn't come soon, naturally she'd find another way.

Zuko, Katara thought, he might be her access to another way. Who was he? It was a relief to think of him rather than herself for a while. Concentrate on him, Katara told herself. If he were to be any help to her she had to understand him. Good-looking, she thought, even with the scar. She wondered how he got it. He seemed to be very smooth on the outside. She wasn't so sure about what lay within though. He seemed to her a man who would be ruthless and solitary, a man who did things in his own style. Good, she thought. That was precisely what she needed.

He had no reason, as her "family" did, to shield her. Nor did he have a reason, she added with a frown, to give her the help she wanted. So why had he agreed to help her? What confused her more was why she had felt relieved when she had seen him standing in the doorway this afternoon. It shamed her to admit it. Her makeshift family had been there, concerned and loving, and yet she'd felt an overwhelming sense of relief seeing him behind them.

Perhaps it was better that she'd forgotten herself. Katara threw her hands up in despair turning away from the window. How was she to know if she would like the person she was? She might easily find herself to be someone cold, unfeeling, and selfish. All she had discovered was that she was a woman who was impatient and liked beautiful clothes. Perhaps she was just shallow.

But they loved her. The love she'd seen in her family's eyes had been real. Would they love her even if she didn't deserve it? How long would it take to discover what depths there were in her? Sighing, Katara turned back to the window. Zuko had been right about the possible advantages of her situation. She could watch and observe what reactions she brought to others. Tonight she would do just that.

Katara walked down the long stairway beside Aang. There would be a large dinner in honor of her return and everyone was going to be there, he had told her. They paused before the huge doors.

"You look very nice, Katara."

"Thank you. But it would be difficult if Suki hadn't shown me what to wear."

He laughed and looked young. "When we were… uh… picking out those clothes you had claimed them the minute you saw them."

"I must have good taste then," she said as Aang opened the doors.

Zuko couldn't help but notice the anticipation that hung in the air. Sokka was sitting by Suki nervously chatting as he waited for Katara to arrive. Once he wished he could have worried and cared for Azula like Sokka did with Katara. When his mother had told him that he was going to be a big brother he had been so excited to take the role the position offered, but that would never happen, he thought dispassionately.

Zuko shifted his gaze around the group. Toph was relaxed as she leaned up against a stone pillar, only half listening to the conversation around her, throwing in her two cents every now and again. Haru, the Duke, and Teo were talking about the best methods to make peanut bombs; apparently their first few tries had failed horribly and resulted in a sticky mess that had left Katara scolding them for weeks to come.

Katara, he thought. He wondered if she would ever remember her memories. If she would ever become the girl he had known. He heard the heavy door squeak open and when he turned he saw her, she seemed to be the girl he had once known.

Her head was lifted, as if she were walking into an arena rather than a dinner party. She was dressed in Fire Nation clothes. She definitely looked beautiful in red. Her hair was pulled up in the traditional Fire Nation topknot, but she had left half of it down to curl gently down her back. The crimsons and silk suited her skin just as the blues of her nation had. But unlike the blue, the scarlet made her look even more exotic. She didn't cling to Aang, thought Zuko. She was braced and ready. And, he thought with approval, she was watching.

"Katara!" said Sokka as he practically ran to her side, leading her to a spot by the fire.

Katara walked calmly as she followed Aang and Sokka to the fire. Her eyes swept the room, resting briefly on each person in turn. Zuko had told her to observe without prejudice. It was advice she saw wisdom in. She saw a man dressed in greens sporting a brown moustache; he looked to be a little younger than Zuko. Sitting next to him was a tiny boy wearing a helmet that was ridiculously too large for him, and another boy who sat in a wheelchair wore goggles on the top of his head; he looked to be around Aang's age. She watched as the trio turned to look at her. "It's good to see you again," said the oldest of the group as Aang and her past them.

She felt nothing as their eyes met. "Thank you."

"Katara this is Haru, The Duke, and Teo," Sokka said as he casually introduced them.

As shecrossed the room, she caught Zuko's small nod of approval. Some of the knots in her stomach loosened. She soon found herself sitting in between Sokka and Aang. "I'd like to thank Suki for preparing tonight's meal," said Sokka. Everyone made their way over to sit by the fire as Suki stood to get their meal.

"Let's eat." Sokka said as he pulled Katara into a one sided hug. "Suki made the best of the best tonight. She spent most of the afternoon cooking. Apparently she made a lot of different foods from all of the nations. Should be good. I heard that there will be papayas. You can have all of them if you like."

"Do I like them?"

"Love them," he said with a grin as Suki, with the help of Toph, carried in the meal.

"It was…amusing to find Sokka enjoys a joke," Katara said some two hours later as she stepped onto the terrace with Zuko.

"Was it enlightening to learn you can take one?" He paused as he looked over at her in the dark.

"Actually, yes. I've also learned that I detest papayas and that I have a character that demands revenge. I'll get him back for tricking me into eating one of those vile fruits. In the meantime…" Turning, she leaned back against the strong stone banister. "I can see I've put you into an awkward position, Zuko. I didn't intend to, but now that I have, I'm afraid I don't intend to let you out." Katara said as she thought about all the glares Zuko had received when she had moved to sit by him at dinner.

"I can handle that for myself, when and if I choose."

"Yes." She smiled again. Then the smile became a laugh as she tossed her head back. Fear seemed so far away. Tension was so much simpler to deal with. "You could at that. Perhaps that's why I feel easy around you. Tonight I took your advice."

"Which was?"

"To observe. I have a good brother. The strain of this past week hasn't weighed lightly on him and he acts as if it is entirely his fault. I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at me, but he is mad that I trust you more than him. Do you agree?"

The moonlight played tricks with her hair. "I would."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Not everyone is required to like me."

"I wish I had your confidence," she murmured. "In any case, I've added to whatever resentment he might feel toward you. Tonight when I said I wanted to take a walk and asked you to come with me, it annoyed him. His sense of family is very strong and very exclusive."

"You're his responsibility--- in his opinion," Zuko added when she started to protest.

"His opinion will have to change. Aang is different. He seems so carefree. Perhaps it's his age. Still he watched me as though I might trip at any moment and need him to catch me. Toph is…what's the word I want?" With a shake of her head, she looked overhead to the starlit sky. "Tough, unyielding, I suppose. She is fiercely independent, sarcastic, and direct, but I suppose she needs to be. Suki also seems tough, assertive and not afraid to speak her mind, but at the same time, she seems to be very compassionate and loyal. I'm glad Sokka has her. Haru, what do you think of him?"

"I don't know him."

"Neither do I," she said wryly. "Any opinion?"

"He seems to act like a leader figure for Teo and The Duke."

It wasn't an evasion, Katara decided, anymore than it was an answer. "You're a very elemental man, aren't you? Is that a Fire Nation trait?"

"It's a matter of pushing away frills that just get in the way. You seem to be a very elemental woman."

"Do I?" She pursued her lips in thought. "It might be true, or it might be true now only out of necessity. I can't afford frills, can I?"

The strain of the evening had been more that she'd admit, Zuko observed as she turned again to rest her palms against the stone. She was tired, but he understood her reluctance to go in where she'd have nothing but her own questions for company.

"Katara have you thought about taking a few days and going away?" She lifted her head. Sensing the anger in her, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Not running away, getting away. It's human."

"I can't afford to be human until I know who I am."

"Suki said the amnesia's temporary."

"What's temporary?" she demanded. "A week, a month, a year? Not good enough, Zuko. I won't just sit and wait for things to come to me. In my room I had dreams." She closed her eyes a moment, breathed deep and continued. "In the dreams I was awake, but not awake. I couldn't move. It was dark and I couldn't make myself move. Voices, I could hear voices, and I'd struggle and struggle to understand them, recognize them, but I'm afraid. In the dreams I'm terrified, and when I wake, I'm terrified."

He drew in a sharp breath. She said it without any emotion, and the lack of feeling said a great deal. "You were drugged."

Very slowly, she turned toward him again. In the shadowed light her eyes were very clear. "How do you know?"

"From the state you were in it suggested that you were kept drugged, which is why you didn't wake up for a day and a half after your return. Even when your memory comes back, Katara, you may not be able to pinpoint anything that happened during the four days that you were held. That's something you'd better face now."

"Yes, I will." She pressed her lips together until she was certain her voice would be strong. "I will remember. How much more do you know?"

"Not a great deal," he said shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Out with it."

"All right, then. You were taken sometime on Sunday. When you didn't return that night Sokka started to get worried. We searched for you. Monday morning your water skins were found on a path in the woods. There was a stream that ran near the path and it was where you have a habit of going when you're mad. We searched for four days until you were found."

And where had she been held? Dark. All she could be certain of was darkness.

"I'll go back there," Katara mused. "To the place where my water skins were found and to the place where you found me."

"Not right away," Zuko protested, "I agreed to help you, Katara, but in my way."

She walked right up to him until there were only a few inches separating them. The top of her head came to his chin. With her chin tilted back, she looked eye to eye with him. She narrowed her smoldering ice blue eyes. He noticed the way her lips thrust forward ever so slightly in a pout as she asked, "Which is?"

"My way," he said simply looking down at her. "When I think you're strong enough, I'll take you. Until then, we move slowly."

"If I don't agree?" She took a step back from him her anger subsiding as she answered her own question. "Then I go nowhere." She walked a few feet away into a stream of moonlight.

"That's right," said Zuko.

"I knew you wouldn't be an easy man, Zuko." She sighed. "I don't much choice. I don't like that. Choice seems to me to be the most essential freedom. I keep wondering when I'll have mine back. Tomorrow, I'm going to meet with Suki in the morning and we'll go over my regular routine. Whatever it is I'm committed to do, I want to do. Even if it's spending hours just sitting around doing nothing."

"Is that how you think you spend your time?" He asked his anger rising slightly.

"It's a possibility. Well then..." With a shrug, she trailed off.

Slowly she turned to look at Zuko. "Tonight, before dinner, I looked out my window and wondered. Actually, I thought of you and wondered."

Very slowly Zuko ran a hand through his already disheveled shaggy hair. "Did you?"

"I tried to analyze you. In some ways I could, and others not," rocking back on his heels, he studied her as she continued, " You are a man who had to struggle and fight for what you wanted but because of that you have an iron will and incredible determination that I'm envious of," Katara said as she looked Zuko in the eyes.

"But I have the feeling that you have a nasty temper, if not controlled, will get the better of you. You are also very clever, but like Sokka, I believe that you don't think things through. Even though you try to act all tough you are in fact a very compassionate person who protects those close to him. I also think that besides being serious all the time you still like to have fun and joke around," Katara stated as took a step backwards away from Zuko.

"And you get these assumptions from…." Zuko trailed off as he watched Katara walk away from him again.

"From doing exactly what you suggested," Katara said turning around to face him. "Observing you without prejudice," Katara said with a shrug.

"Oh, so you were actually listening to me," replied Zuko mockingly as he took a step closer to her.

"Humph!"

She had only taken two steps, when he caught her arm. "And is it helping?"

He saw annoyance flash in her eyes, "Well you tell me. I still don't remember anything and all that I have found out is that I obviously have people that care for me deeply." Katara turned her head slightly in an attempt to hiding her watering eyes.

"Katara," Zuko said as he tilted her chin up to look into her eyes, "there is no need for tears or frustration. Your family loves you very much and the only thing they want from you is to get better."

She nodded once taking a step back while wiping at her eyes in shame. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry anymore but here she was crying yet again.

"I think it's time I showed you back to your room." Zuko said as he studied her, "Maybe you should sleep on it."

"I think that could help."

Yeah I know it's a lot shorter than usual but I felt that it was a good place to end. Trust me, the next chapter is going to be really good. I am already planning it out in my head as I speak. Anyway like always a big thanks to my beta reader, mythreedeadlysins, without her this story wouldn't be half as good as it is. Again please review it helps me get writing since I'm a very lazy person I need all the motivation I can get. Yet again I'm surprised that I got this updated that quickly (for me anyway). Yeah dumb boys and dumb issues/drama have been delaying my updates along with dumb chemistry and calculus oh well what can you do…anyway enough about my issues and if you actually read this whole rambling I applaud you (lol) ok anyway REVIEW!!!!!!! And I'll start the next chapter asap. Oh one last thing what would you guys think of me making a playlist at the end of this story for the chapters so you get an idea what I was thinking while I wrote what I did??? Just a random idea that was floating around in my head.