I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, or any of the names or characters of the show. I merely control them for my own twisted pleasure from this point in the story on.

Chapter 10: Blood Red Water

Between the eight of them, the soldiers had five swords and three spears. Half of them were firebenders. Zuko counted again just to make sure and noticed that the soldiers with spears also had swords at their belt.

He was running out of time, and he felt the adrenaline rushing through him. His fingers itched with his want to firebend, even when he knew it would do him little, if any, good at all.

He could fight them hand to hand, but that would be foolish. Worse, he might end up killing one of them if he got too careless in his rush. He'd gone this far without killing anyone, and he wasn't about to start now.

The first soldier took a step in his direction and the others attacked him all at once. Zuko dived underneath them, using the fact that there were so many of them and the darkness of night to hide the fact he that he was escaping under them.

He managed to get a few yards before they realized he was gone. Zuko knew he was a lot faster then them -he'd worn that heavy armor before- and he used it to his greatest advantaged by losing the group of them in the closely packed trees.

Climbing the nearest tree, he got his bearings and found that he wasn't far from the campground. He could see the light from the fire where his uncle was no doubt fighting off another group of firebenders. He knew his uncle could take care of himself, but worry flooded Zuko's throat anyway.

If he could get to his Dao's, he'd be in much better shape to help. He dropped to the ground and in a flat-out run made his way quickly through the tress and into camp. He came just in time to see his weakened uncle surrounded.

Zuko spotted his broadswords and grabbed them on his way to help the older man. Zuko felt the rage build when he realized his uncle was supporting one arm with the other. He didn't hesitate to buckle the ring the firebenders had formed around Iroh.

He lunged at the closest firebender, knocking the man to the ground with such force he was able to use the backlash to lunge at another. Two down. He took out one more while the others were busy trying to figure out where the attack was coming from.

Using the confusion against them, Zuko managed to knock out two more before drawing his swords to fight the rest. His insides were calm as he fought against the less experienced troops. They tried firebending, but up close Zuko had the advantage. It was something he'd learn from that airbender brat, and he used it well.

After the last one went down, Zuko stood above him, his sword at the man's throat before a kick to the chin sent the man into unconsciousness. When he was done, Zuko slowly turned to his uncle.

The old general was looking at him with a new light in his eyes. "Thank you."

Zuko nodded, not sure what to say anymore. He was breathing very heavily, and his arms felt like mush, but at least his uncle was okay. Nothing else mattered.

Except…

"Katara," he said and rushed over to her, making sure she hadn't been hurt by the soldiers.

"Do not worry." His uncle said, and placed a hand on Zuko shoulder, "They weren't able to touch her."

Zuko felt a huge weight come off his shoulders, and he turned back to his uncle. He reached slowly for the older man's hurt arm, but stopped just short of actually touching it. "They hurt you," he growled, and turned to glare at the men he'd fought.

"Not much. It is only a small wound." Iroh held up his arm for Zuko to inspect, "Look for your self." He didn't wait for Zuko to look, however, before moving his arm up and down. "I'm fine."

Zuko nodded, needing to believe him. He reached down for Katara and picked her up gently. "Let's go," he said with a nod and took three steps before the same soldiers that had attacked him before burst forth from the trees.

"There he is," one called as they ran towards him and Zuko took step forward.

He was fully intending to fight them when he was stopped by his uncle's arm. "Go." The old man said.

"But uncl-"

"Go." His uncle whispered firmly, and pushed Zuko behind him. "I'm a firebending master; I can take care of myself. She, however strong while awake, is helpless."

Zuko looked down at the unconscious Katara and knew his uncle was right. He had to help her, if only to be able to come back and aid his uncle. He ran off toward the river and didn't look back; if he did, it would turn him around and the girl in his arms would die.

It took less than five minutes to reach the river, and Zuko waded into the water without hesitation, taking a painful gasp of air when the ice cold water rose to meet him. He held Katara there in the water, and smiled when the girl's eyelids fluttered open.

"Where…" she said groggily, and her eyes searched him out.

"Come on Katara," he said forcefully and her eyes widened before glazing over again. He shook her, "You have to heal yourself. Please. You're dying."

She shook her head and mumbled something. He didn't have time for this! She wasn't fully awake, and he couldn't wait for her to be. He had to go back to help his uncle, and he had to make sure she didn't die while he was away.

He held her up in the water with one hand, turning her so that she was on her stomach in the water. He used the other hand to draw one Dao from its sheath.

She obviously couldn't do it on her own, and so he didn't have a choice but to make her. Taking the sword's blade in his hand, he hoped her bending worked like his did, on impulse and instinct when he was hurt. He dug the point of his sword into her back where the arrows had been before, and gritted his teeth when she cried out in pain.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, her pain filling him with his own; pain of remorse and fear. "I'm so sorry."

One cut, then another, and another. Her blood filled the water around them as she weakly fought against him. Holding up her chin, he pushed the rest of her body down so that the water came up over her back. All he could think about was that the poison was in the blood, and the more she bled the more of the poison she could heal.

For countless terrible seconds nothing happened, and he knew that he'd been wrong. But then her wounds began to close; he could see them through the water. The signs of infection disappeared. He watched in amazement as the blood around them began to turn to water. It turned pink as her bending took control.

Katara was no longer struggling and no longer crying out in pain when her wounds closed completely. He put away his sword and pulled her to him closely, not willing to let go just yet. He left the bloody water behind, making his way back to the side of the river. Her loose wet hair hit the ground first as he gently lay her on her back on the rivers edge.

Her fever was gone, and her breathing was even, but she still wasn't awake. Maybe her bending took a lot of out her. Or maybe she wasn't healed at all.

Zuko didn't know which was true but he knew he'd done all he could. He bent over and pulled stray hair out of her face, not knowing were the gesture had come from. Not caring why he'd wanted to do it. He knew he couldn't take her with him to fight, for she was helpless right now.

"But I'll be back," he whispered to her, and reached out to put a hand on her check. But he stopped himself, and shook his head before standing and running off as fast as his frozen legs would carry him back to camp.

Zuko arrived in time to see his uncle matched up with the three remaining firebenders. His uncle was tired; Zuko could see it in his face. His drew his Dao and joined the battle. He intercepted a fire blast aimed at his uncle, and didn't wait to see the reaction of either party.

Using all the skill he had, he fought them all quickly in hopes to get back to Katara before she woke. His wet clothes saved him more than once, and his uncle backed him up from behind.

But he was getting tired as the battle went on, and his clothes were heavy. Soon there was only one firebender left. Zuko didn't wait for the man to attack him first. The prince drew up his swords and attack the man head on, knowing he would be able to cut the firebender off at the knees. But he'd made a mistake. He realized it a second too late.

The firebender wasn't weak, and Zuko had been getting slower and slower as the fight went on. The man slipped under the prince's defenses and Zuko felt a sudden pain blossom in the back of his head before everything went black.

This is where my Author Notes go...Enjoy.

Aww!! I love it when you guys threaten me with pointy object and soul eating… thingies…. It's an age old sign of love! -huggles everyone-

I'm sorry the chapters aren't longer, but it takes me a day to figure out what I'm going to write next. But let's take another poll; would you rather have longer chapters, or updates every day? It's not a threat, just reality.

On another note; one of the things I love the most about Zuko is that, if you watch really closely, he hasn't killed anyone in the show, or even tried to. I wanted to get this fact across because a lot of people don't realize it.

PLEASE review. Now it makes me sure you guys are paying attention. And you guys do know you can make requests right? I don't mind. –smile-