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 12: Not So Alone

When Zuko drifted into consciousness and didn't hear the sound of fighting, he wondered if he'd been captured. But when he opened his eyes and saw sunlight barely over the tips of the tress, and knew he hadn't.

He coughed and felt a dull ache in his throat. Reaching up to rub it, he realized his mask was still on. He sat up and felt sore all over from his battle the previous day. But if he was still here, and his mask wasn't off, it had to mean that they solider had lost. Turning to see if his uncle was okay, Zuko found a sleeping Katara instead.

She was propped up against a tree, with a bag under her arm. She was breathing nicely and she didn't look to be in any pain, and she was using her back as a brace against the tree, so her wounds had to be healed.

Zuko registered that she was wearing her blue dress and it prompted him to look around. If she had her dress, she had to have talked to uncle. He looked every direction and didn't see anything he recognized.

No uncle. No ostrich-horse. No camp. Just a healed Katara.

And then, when he tuned back to her, an awake Katara.

She smiled at him groggily, something that made him feel infinitely better; if she was smiling then she was really okay. Zuko watched in wonder when she stretched her arms, both of them, over her head with a yawn.

She crawled over to him and sat very close. "Morning," she said brightly.

Zuko leaned back unconsciously. Great, she was a morning person. He stuttered: that meant he would have to deal with two of them, as soon as he figured out where his uncle was. He was still wary of her.

If she had seen Uncle she most likely already knew who he was. But she wasn't acting like someone who had just found out the person who'd been around you for two days was your enemy. Zuko nodded to her and opened his mouth to say good morning back, but nothing came out.

He tried again, and still nothing. Reaching up for his throat, he rubbed at it. What was going on? Frustrated, he stood very quickly.

"You want me to look at it?" Katara offered. He stared down at her and shook his head. She wasn't getting anywhere near him with her waterbending; he remembered their fight at the North Pole.

His neck felt painful to the touch; He most likely had a bruise around his neck. But where had it come from? It might have happened after the solider knocked him out, so he'd have to ask uncle. He'd rather not be able to talk than have her heal him. Chances were his uncle knew what could help anyway.

He again looked around for the older man, and Katara stood beside him, swiping at her clothes to get rid of the needle like leaves she picked up from sleeping on the ground.

"Are you looking for our camp? I dragged you out here a couple of hours ago. The fire nation soldiers were gone when I made it back." She paused when he turned to look at her. "There was another guy, an old man, who was fighting them off when I first got there."

Why was she speaking in the past tense? Zuko walked up to her, and she looked away. "When I came back from getting you out, they were gone, and he was too. I think they took him with-"

Zuko didn't give her chance to finish her sentence. He'd picked her up and held her against the tree- hard. She gasped and he let her go slightly.

You mean uncle wasn't with us? He wanted to yell at her but this throat rebelled. He shook her roughly, not trying to scare her, just to get her to talk. But she was scared, of him, he realized when she bended water from her waist to throw him off.

"What was that for?" she yelled angrily, and Zuko picked himself off the ground and into a fighting stance quickly.

She was a master waterbender and she had a temper, but he had a temper too, and his didn't allow him to back down from a fight. She threw another blast at him in pure righteous anger, and he not-so-gracefully dodged it.

Suddenly, she stopped fighting him. But he wasn't ready to stop. He was mad at her for leaving his uncle behind. He was mad at himself for allowing the most important man in his life to go with protection when he was injured.

And it was all her fault, if she hadn't gotten hurt in the first place, he and his uncle would still be moving along, going from town to town without the intruder. So he attacked her again, and realized too late she wasn't going to block.

Katara watched calmly as he rushed her, knowing it was going to hurt when they collided, but she let him anyway. He was probably scared, and hurt. She hadn't realized it before he grabbed her, but the old man might have been more than just a friend.

It could have been his father.

When he slammed into her, her back hit the tree hard, and she hissed in pain. She closed her eyes, waiting to be punched but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to look at him. Her gaze instead found his arm, and followed it to his fist, which was embedded into the tree next to her head.

She stared at it in shook for a full second before she released the breath she'd been holding. And when she looked back up at him her eyes were full of sorrow. She could almost feel the hard stare he was giving her. But despite being clam, she was scared.

She reached up and placed a hand around his wrist in comfort, and was suddenly aware of how much bigger than her he was. She tried to speak, but he pulled away quickly and disappeared into the forest. She watched him go and sank to her knees, trying hard not to feel as though her whole world had suddenly darkened.

Zuko started to run as soon as he was in the trees. Had he really hurt her again? He could feel guilt rise up in his head like poison. What was wrong with him?

She was getting too close. He knew that she already knew him too well. Despite only being with him for a couple of days, she unconsciously understood how to handle him. She had stopped fighting back. Why had she stopped fight back?

And his uncle; what were they doing to his uncle? He could think of so any things that could go wrong with General Sho. Zuko had never even heard of him.

Did they know his uncle was General Iroh? Did they treat him well or did they put him in some dank cell to rot away? Or did they think he was friends with the Avatar, and were torturing him for information?

Suddenly it become too much and he stopped running to fall to him knees on the ground. He had to find them; he had to get him back. His uncle was everything. He was more important than the Avatar. He was more important than Zuko's lost honor.

He had to think of something, had to think of a plan. They'd take him to the ship most likely, but it had been hours since they left; a ship that size, on a good current, could be miles away by now.

He couldn't think. His mind was too rushed; it felt like he was slowly loosing his mind. Without uncle, nothing mattered anymore. He was alone again, completely alone. No crew to go back to and no ship. Nothing.

He heard a sound behind him and spun around, one hand unconsciously going to his back, but finding no swords. Katara stood a few feet behind him, her bag in one arm and his sheath and swords in the other.

"I'm sorry," she said, and he lowered his arm to his side. "I didn't know he was that important or I would have gone back for him sooner." She looked down at the ground and took a step in his direction.

She placed the bag and the swords on the ground in front of her and took a step back. "I can find Aang and the others on my own."

Zuko didn't move. She was going to wonder off by herself. Did she even know where she was? She could get lost.

Why did he care?

He turned away from her, not willing to watch her leave, and felt more alone then ever. But when her foot step got closer instead of further away, he froze. And when her arms came around from behind him in a hesitant hug, confusion rushed through him like a chill.

She would give him comfort, after everything he'd done? He was sure by now she didn't know who he was, but to do this after he attacked her? And when she pulled away to leave, he grabbed her arms with him own, and pulled her closer. He wouldn't cry like he'd done so long ago in his mother's arms, but he needed to be held.

His mask hid his face so he could be different around Katara than he'd been around anyone else. And to feel her warmth cover his back as she knelt behind him, he suddenly knew he wasn't as alone as he thought.

This is where my author's notes go. Enjoy!

You guys have to look at my profile. I just put up a bunch of links to pictures of me and other stuff. Take a look… please?

And just to make it clear to those who are new to this game: I DO update almost everyday. So don't miss out by thinking it'll be a week until I update. NOPE! Everyday people!!

And you guys are CRAZY!!! I love reading your reviews; it's like having ten other people in my head sometimes. –giggle-. But this time, it was too great so here I go again:

Silver Shadow75: Okay I guess I was asking for that one. –sighs then giggles- Yes, Katara was covered "up above". This is rated 'k' you know, lol. Iroh cut out big pieces in the back. So, like in her dress, she has holes in the bandage-looking things she wears to swim in the show, but it's still mostly there (mostly being enough to hold up the front). And I'm glad you liked my summery, I was worried it wouldn't be good enough.

Inifini and Vanilla.Swirls.Of.Doom: the video game rocks!! But I'm easily amused, so rent it first. It's very confusing at first and not everything is cut and dry. The animation is strange, but everyone has their original voices (even Zuko). And like I said, I'm easily amused, but I don't think it's worth the 40 bucks their asking for. Wait a month or so for the price to go down.

amaurea3000: I completely agree, but Zuko was kind of freaking out at the moment, and had to do something. Remember what I said about characters taking over? Yeah, he's a big one under that category.-sigh-

Zombie: lol YAY! Someone was freaking out over the mask part!!! Good thing I didn't make that the part when she found out, 'cause, that was the plan about three chapters ago.

Maze2010: I love long reviews, but sometimes, even saying, "Update PLZ" helps me write. You're doing a great job so far –smiles-