APRIL FOOOOOOOOOOOLS!!!!!!!!!!! :P

Yep yep, it was all a prank. I would never ditch my stories midway. I always finish what i start. And i didnt get the virus either so my chapters are intact and ready for your reading pleasure. Sorry if I worried any of you. Hope this chapters make up for me being a sneaky SOB :) enjoy!

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Chapter 11: Ambushed

After escaping from the Spirit's room, Katara immediately fled back to the East Wing and into her room's adjoined bathroom. She quickly turned on the sink and stuck her burn covered wrist under the cold water, allowing sweet relief to wash over her as the pain from the burns disappeared. Using her healing, Katara was able to get rid of the marks within a minute.

Looking over her wrist, Katara decided that her patience and tolerance had officially run out. Wrapping her arm in a cloth, Katara went back into her room and grabbed her cape which was hanging inside Toph.

"Oh, huh, wha?" Toph snorted, snapped out of her nap as Katara shut her doors. "Oh good you're back...hey what are you doing?" She asked as she heard her stomp back toward the door.

"Promise or no promise!" Katara said putting on her cape. "I can't stay here another minute."

"What!?" Toph exclaimed as she tried following after her. "No, wait Katara!" But Katara had already opened the door and ran out into the hallway. She ran as fast as she could till she reached the main hall. She then came upon Sokka and Suki who were both surprised and relieved to see her.

"There you are!" Sokka called out. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Katara what's wrong?" Suki asked seeing the look on Katara's face. Katara didn't answer and instead stepped over them, making a mad dash for the front door. "Where are you going?"

"Stop her!" Toph called from out the doorway of the east wing. "She's running away!"

"WHAT!?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Oh no!" Suki called out. "Wait stop! Please!" But by the time they had gotten down the stairs, Katara had already gotten to the door and flung it open. The three servants watched helplessly in disbelief as their last hope ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

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Out in the courtyard, Appa sitting contently eating a bundle of hay. It was just starting to snow when Katara arrived and used her waterbending to slice through the rope binding him to the iron fence. "Come on Appa, we're getting out of here. " Jumping onto his back, she grabbed the reigns and yelled "Yip, yip!"

As soon as she snapped them, Appa took off into the air and set out for the forest. Finally able to breathe easy, Katara let out a relived sigh, knowing she was finally away from that prison and the monster that lurked inside. However, she didn't get too far when she heard a faint buzzing noise. Looking over the side, she noticed that Appa was flying over a VultureWasp nest which was now starting to follow them. Snapping the reigns, she shouted at Appa to go faster but the VultureWasps were quickly catching up. Soon a whole swarm started biting at Appa's heel and swipe at him with their stingers.

Knowing she couldn't lose them by air, Katara forced Appa to go downward into a large thicket of trees. Although it was a narrow fit, Appa managed to squeeze his way through all the trees and branches and hide in a small cave. The VultureWasps tried to follow but kept getting snagged on branches which tore up their wings. Injured and unable to find the bison, the VultureWasp's gave up and retreated.

Katara and Appa waited till they had gone before venturing out again. Standing in the middle of the woods, Katara tried figuring out which way to go when she heard yet another sound. This time it was a low growl that was coming from the bushes around them. Appa began to get skittish and backed away till a loud roar bellowed from behind. Turning around, Katara gasped in fear as a pack of LionWolves emerged from all around them.

Snapping the reigns, Katara urged Appa towards into the woods with the LionWolves quick on their heels. As he charged his way through, Appa was able to fight off some of them off by slamming one up against a tree and kicking another in the face. He was almost able to outrun them when he fell through some thin snow covered ice. As he tried desperately to swim to the other side, Katara began to panic as the LionWolves caught up and were trying to take a snap at them. She then summoned up a wave of water and flung it at the creatures, knocking them off the ice. A few sunk into the water but the rest managed swim to the sides and climb out.

After struggling through the ice, Appa finally emerged from the water onto the shore where he ran into a clearing. He was about to take off when a LionWolf came out of nowhere and bit into his paw. Letting out a loud roar, Appa reared back to throw off the LionWolf but threw off Katara instead and got his reign caught on a branch.

Katara picked herself back up and gasped in horror as the LionWolves began circling in on Appa who was unable to fly away. Although he was able to kick a few, Appa was barely able to move and almost had his face bitten off before Katara used her water whip to throw the LionWolf off. She then tried desperately to free Appa but found she couldn't reach the reigns. A LionWolf then lunged at her again and narrowly missed biting her arm, tearing out a small hole in her sleeve.

Backing away, she knew she had to defeat the LionWolves before she could free Appa and whipped out her pouch. Using her water whip, she forced them away from Appa back towards the clearing. Some of them retreated but others began closing in and attacking her from different angles. One LionWolf lunged for her leg but she managed to dodge out of the way. Another lunged for her hand but she was able to strike it with her whip and send it flying back. Two more then tried a sneak attack but were instantly frozen into the snow and up against a tree.

It seemed Katara would be able to fend them off, but then even more LionWolves started showing up and began attacking from all sides. One LionWolf them jumped out of nowhere and grabbed onto her cloak, effectively pulling her to ground and causing her to drop her pouch. As she tried grabbing it, the others began closing in on her, with one snapping at her arm but only managing to graze her hand.

They were about to pounce on he when a loud yell echoed through air followed by a wave of fire. The animal yelped and jumped out of the way as the Blue Spirit emerged, waving his swords around which were engulfed in flames. He then unleashed another wave which caused the LionWolves to back off enough for him to get to Katara.

"Quick! Get up!" the Spirit said as he stood in front of Katara. Quickly she got to her feet and grabbed her pouch before resuming a fighting stance behind the Spirit. The pack growled aggressively as they approached the two and began to circle around them.

"I got these things." the Spirit said, charging head first into the pack. All at once the LionWolves and Spirit attacked each other, slicing and biting and clawing into each other in one huge massive frenzy. With his fire he was able to burn some of the creatures, setting fire to their tails. Changing their tactics, the creatures began attacking three at a time, biting into his swords and clothes and even scratching his face. He was about to be overwhelmed when he felt something cold clasp onto his wrist and drag him out of the ambush.

Katara pulled him away and resumed a fighting stance in front of him. "Don't be an idiot. I can fight too you know." she said brandishing her whip at one of the LionWolves. Both insulted and impressed, the Spirit barely had time to react when another leaped up to bite his face. He backed and swiped at it with his sword creating a large gash across its snout. Katara then grabbed another LionWolf with her whip and flung it at 3 others as they tried ganging up on her. Soon Katara and the Spirit were fighting back to back, with water and fire sprouting from every angle and the LionWolves numbers steadily decreasing.

Just as they had defeated most of the pack, a gigantic lion wolf snuck up on the Spirit and bite hard into his shoulder. The spirit let out a painful scream and tried stabbing at the wolf who continued to chomp down hard. Katara, seeing that the Spirit was in trouble, instantly ran towards him while trying to fight off other LionWolves along the way. Finally the Spirit collapsed from the weight of the wolf which then dug its claws into his back. It was about to bite onto his neck when a wave of large icicles came flying at it, stabbed it in the side and it's eye. The creature howled, stumbling off the Spirit and onto its side. Katara rushed to the Spirit and managed to help him up just as the remaining LionsWolves began to close in on them.

Katara stood ready to defend herself when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Grabbing the back of her dress, he managed to fling Katara over the LionWolves and safely onto a bush. Then with his last burst of energy, the Spirit took out his swords and spun very fast, creating a tunnel of fire which engulfed him and the LionWolves. Katara watched in shock as the fire rose high above the trees and into the sky, consuming everything in and around it. When it finally dispersed, half of the LionWolves were dead and the others were horribly burned and running away. In the middle of it all amidst the falling embers was the Spirit, looking torn up, bloodied and scorched by his own flames. Exhausted and breathing heavily, he tried taking a step forward but dropped his swords and stumbled. Grasping onto his chest, he took a deep raspy breathe before collapsing onto the ground.

Katara watched in disbelief but was shaken to her senses when Appa let out a loud growl. She instantly rushed to him and finally freed his reigns from the branch. The bison gestured for her to hop on, but Katara hesitated. She then looked back at the Spirit who lay unconscious and bleeding in the snow. True now was the perfect time for her to make a clean getaway, but that would also mean leaving the Spirit. Without medical aid, he was sure to die from his injuries. As much as she disliked him, she knew couldn't let that happen.

Pulling Appa over, Katara knelt beside the Spirit who barely breathing. Gently, she turned him over onto his side and brushed off all the snow off his clothes. Looking over his injuries, she saw that he was in very bad shape. Huge claw and bite marks covered his arms and legs, along with a gash that stretched across his chest. He appeared to have been burnt very badly as well since the skin around his wounds were bright red. The worst was on his shoulder from where the large LionWolf had bitten him, which was bleeding profusely and looked as if a chunk had been ripped out.

Using what little water she had left in her pouch, Katara managed to stop the bleeding and heal a few of his minor cuts. The rest she would have to heal more fully back at the castle. As she began stripping off cloth from her cape to wrap up his wounds, she suddenly noticed that the Spirit's face looked oddly different. Aside from being scratched and dirty, it was also lopsided and had a black ribbon sticking out of the side. As Katara looked closer, she realized that the blue and silver coloring wasn't his face or even make-up. It was a mask, and the ribbon sticking out was a strap that had apparently been dislodged during battle, causing it to hang by one side.

Cautiously Katara reached out and touched it. It felt smooth and cold, like porcelain. Curious as to what he looked like underneath, she went to take off the mask when a loud growl from Appa made her stop. Looking back, Katara saw Appa stamping his foot impatiently as the bushes around them began shake. She then heard a moan as the Spirit stirred slightly before holding onto his shoulder and gasping in pain. Knowing they had to leave before anything else showed up, Katara pulled the strap of his mask back down and fastened it on. She then put her cloak over the Spirit and carefully helped him to his feet. Once they were on Appa, the bison took off into the sky and started flying back to the castle.

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Meanwhile, all the servants had gathered out in the courtyard, pacing nervously and worrying about the master and their fate.

"Oh, this is a disaster..." Suki moaned. "If only we kept a better eye on her, she wouldn't have wandered into the West Wing and angered the master."

"I feel like such an idiot." Sokka admitted. "Letting myself get distracted like that. How stupid!"

"Your not stupid" Ty Lee said cozying up to Sokka "Just a little...spazzy. That's all."

"Don't blame yourselves." Iroh said hopping next to them. "The only thing to do now is hope that Zuko can convince her to come back and that they both make it through the woods safely."

"Hey look!" Suki shouted pointing to the sky. All the servants looked up and gasped in excitement and relief as they spotted Appa flying right towards them. However, they quickly saw that something had gone wrong when Appa landed, covered in bite marks and stingers. Katara then stood, also looking scratched up, and helped lift the Spirit who was covered in blood and bandages.

"Oh no!" Suki exclaimed as the two got off Appa. "Master!"

"What happened to him?" Ty Lee asked.

"We were attacked." Katara said helping him down from Appa's back. "A group of LionWolves ambushed us. Quick, open the door." Immediately the servants opened the entranced and anxiously escorted Katara and the Spirit toward the lounge. After sitting him down, Katara immediately turned to the servants. "I'm need fresh bandages and a bowl of water, quickly!"

"We're on it!" Sokka said as he, Suki and Ty Lee left the room.

Iroh hopped onto the table and looked at the Spirit who was drifting in and out of consciousness. "Try to stay awake nephew. It'll be alright."

Katara's eyes widen in surprise at the word 'nephew' but she knew now wasn't the time for questions. Iroh was upset and it was partly her fault. Feeling bad, she put a comforting hand on the teapot. "I'll do the best I can to heal him Iroh, I promise."

Iroh sighed and looked back at Katara. "Thank you. For bringing him back."

Katara smiled and was about to respond when Sokka, Suki and Ty Lee soon returned with a fresh set of bandages, rags and a bowl of cold water. Grabbing a rag, Katara began wiping away the blood while the servants looked on anxiously. Soon the Spirit started to regain awareness of his surroundings and was surprised to see that he was back at the castle. He was even more surprised to see Katara who was kneeling by him and had emerged her hands in the bowl of water.

"Good you're awake." Katara said holding up her water covered hands. "Alright now this should only take a few minutes." As she approached him, the Spirit pulled back and let out a loud gasped. Frightened, the servants backed away toward the door. The Spirits hand immediately flew to his shoulder which was still bleeding.

"Don't do that!" Katara shouted. "You're going to hurt yourself further." The Spirit didn't listen however and continued to turn away from her advances. "Will you stop it already! I'm not going to-"

As she managed to get a hand his arm, the Spirit shouted painfully and batted the rag away. "STOP IT! THAT HURTS!" he shouted in her face.

"Well if you'd hold still and stop being a baby, it wouldn't hurt as much!" Katara angrily replied.

"How dare you! The reason I'm hurt is because of you!" the Spirit shouted. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't had run away, none of this would have happened!"

"My fault!? It's your fault! If you hadn't frightened me I wouldn't have had to run away."

"Yeah well...well..." As the Spirits struggled to find a way to retaliate, the servants stood in the doorway, nervously watching and waiting to see what the other did next.

"Okay fine!" the Spirit finally responded. "Maybe I did scare you off. But if you had stayed away from the West Wing LIKE I TOLD YOU TO" he said glaring back her as she crossed her arms. "I wouldn't have reacted that way to frighten you off!"

"Fine" Katara said stiffly. "But then again, had you learned to control your temper like a normal person, you wouldn't have acted that way in the first place!"

Getting mad, the Spirit stood up shakily and turned to Katara. "Well you shouldn't have been snooping around in my room to begin with!"

"Well you should have just told me what was up there so I didn't have to find out!"

"Well you should've stayed in your room like I ordered you to!"

"Well you shouldn't have forced your servants to starve me so I agreed to go to dinner with you!"

"Well if you accepted my invitation in the first place, I wouldn't have had to lock you up!"

"And if you hadn't locked my father up, I wouldn't be here right now!"

"Well you-" Just then there was a screech as the Spirit stepped on Momo, whose ear was sticking out from under the chair, causing him to run out and knock into the Spirit. He immediately lost his balance and fell violently on his side.

Gasping, Katara rushed to the Spirit who let out a low moan as he tried picking himself up with great difficulty. Getting his arm over her shoulders, Katara lifted him back up and onto his chair. She looked over his injuries and saw that he had reopened a gash on his knee.

"See what did I tell you?" Katara said grabbing a rag to clean his knee. "Now you've just hurt yourself more."

"Shut up" the Spirit said drawing away from her. "Just leave me alone."

Getting frustrated, Katara let out a sigh and stood in front of him. "Look, it's obvious that you and I don't get along, but if we're going to spend...an indefinite amount of time living under the same roof, then we should at least be on respectable terms."

The Spirit looked at her but said nothing so Katara continued. "I want to help you. But I can't do it if you keep fighting me. So...truce?" Katara then held her hand out to him. The Spirit looked at her suspiciously, deciding whether he should trust her or not. But seeing a he still needed her to break the spell, he nodded and reluctantly shook her hand.

Satisfied, Katara went back to the water bowl and once more engulfed her hands in water before reproaching the spirit. "Now, let's try thing again." Kneeling beside him, she looked over his shoulder which was starting bleed again. "I need you to stand still for this. It may feel cold and sting a little but it'll pass."

The Spirit looked wearily at her glowing hands as he held out his arm for her. As she gasped onto his shoulder, the Spirit let out a small gasp and gritted his teeth as Katara started to heal his wound. After five minutes, the wound had closed up and became one giant scab.

"How did you do that?" the Spirit asked looking at his healed wounds.

"I'm a waterbender remember? I have healing abilities. Now don't move. I want to see if I can heal this redness on your skin-"

"No!" the Spirit said pulling his arm away from her. "I mean, I'm fine. My skin's just fine. Just...put bandages on it for now."

Puzzled, she however complied and proceeded to wrap his arm in bandaged before moving onto the cut on his knee. For a while the Spirit watched silently as Katara attended his injuries before asking "So...where'd you learn how to heal people?"

Katara paused briefly at the question but continued to clean his knee. "My mother."

"She was a waterbender too?"

"No" Katara answered. "But she had a huge collection of bending scrolls which she gave to me to help with my bending. I learn a lot from them. Healing, fighting, everything."

"I see." the Spirit said. "They must've been really good scrolls...cause you were holding your own pretty well out there against those LionWolves."

Katara smiled a bit at the compliment but continued to focus on her bending. "If you like that, you should've seen me going hand to hand with the scarecrows in my backyard. They never stood a chance." The Spirit smiled; impressed with the fact that not only was she was a self taught bender, but she also a good one at that.

"You're not too bad yourself you know" Katara continued. "I've never seen a person wield two broadswords like that before...at least outside of story 're fire bendings impressive as well...when it's used properly."

The Spirit was surprised by her compliment, and then noticed she was looking at her arm. Her sleeve had been ripped open and there were a few scratches going down her arm. He also noticed her wrist, which was covered with a dirty bandage. "You're arm...did one of the LionWolves bite you?"

"Actually, those are burn mark..." Katara said stiffly, not looking at the Spirit. He suddenly remembered what he did to her and felt a wave of guilt wash over him.

"I'm sorry...that I lost my temper at you earlier. I really didn't mean to hurt you, it's just a...reflex that happens when I get mad...I should've controlled myself better."

Katara was silent for a bit as she finished bandaging his leg before answering "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been snooping around your room to begin with."

From the doorway, the servants looked at each other in disbelief and amazement. Katara and the Spirit were actually trying to make amends to each other! The Spirit even used the 'sorry' word!

"And by the way...thank you." Katara said getting another rag.

"For what?" the Spirit asked.

"For saving my life back there." Katara said looking up at him. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, Appa and I wouldn't have made it out alive."

The Spirit was shocked at how humble and sincere she was acting towards him. No one had ever thanked him for anything before. It was a strange feeling. Looking at the waterbender, he nodded slightly and said "You're welcome."

She then smiled at him for the first time since they met, and got starting on healing the gash on his chest. From the doorway, all the servants were ecstatic and silently high fiving each other. With Katara and the Spirit on friendly terms, the transition would go a lot smoother. Finally, they had a real genuine chance of getting them together and breaking the spell.

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Aww, how sweet :D Well next chapter should be up quicker this time. I had alot of exams the past few weeks so I've been preoocupied. Sry bout that.

Also, I'm not pregnant. I said that just to give y'all a hint that i wasnt being serious :P (plus all girls use the pregnancy card on their parents or boyfriends at least once on April fools day)I'll let you know when I'm preggers for real......'trust me' :)