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 28: And the Sun Rises

Zuko looked furious. "But you just led them straight to us!"

Katara's initial joy at seeing Aang was very quickly, and very brutally, snuffed out. Zuko's reaction had turned him cold and scary, like he had been before she loved him. His coarse actions toward Aang had annoyed her until she realized he was just angry in general.

And she was too; she hadn't been ready for Aang to exist again yet. It sounded cold, even to her, but it was true. She had hoped to enjoy at least their morning together before going back to her friends and family.

She'd had five mornings with the Blue Spirit, but she hadn't gotten a morning with Zuko yet. She felt the need to soothe him, so she said his name quietly.

"Zuko…" but the moment his name was out of her mouth, Aang reacted.

"Zuko?" he said and looked at her in shock. She realized then that she just gave away the fact that she knew who the prince was, not that the missing mask hadn't already been an indication. But to hear his name come out of her mouth had to be even more of a surprise.

"Oh, no, where's your mask?" Aang's voice was full of worry, but she wasn't sure if it was for her or Zuko.

The prince narrowed his eyes, and she saw the fight starting behind them. "I thought I wasn't going need it anymore," he said coldly. "Apparently, I was wrong."

Taking a deep breath, she healed Aang's leg, all the while hoping Zuko would cool off despite knowing what an ironic thought it was. However, as soon as he grabbed Aang by the back of his collar, she knew he wasn't going to calm down.

"You'll regret it if they've hurt my uncle."

"Why are you so angry?" She asked through her teeth when he pushed Aang forward and grabbed her, keeping her at his side.

The fury in his voice scared her. "You're being taken from me."

She took an involuntary step back and he stopped to face her. "What do you mean?" She hoped the fear didn't show in her eyes because she knew how he'd react to it. "I was going back anyway."

She said it because she was trying to talk some sense into him, but it didn't work; he only seemed to get angrier.

"No," he stated as if he was talking to a child, "I was taking you back."

What had she missed? When had he gotten so possessive? So mean? It was just Aang; he was harmless, didn't Zuko get that? If they had been anywhere else, she'd have beat the stuffing out of him for treating her like an object, but this wasn't the time or the place. "I don't get the difference."

"I was giving you to him until I came back for you," he said fiercely and she stared at him, confused. Is that what he saw this as? A power play? That couldn't be right.

"I'm sick of having things taken from me. Everything I've ever lost has been taken from me." His voice rose and the emotion in it followed suit. She understood then that he was scared of losing her for good, and to his enemy no less. She wanted to reassure him, but he seemed to be shutting her out.

"I thought maybe this time would be different, but it looks like I was wrong." He turned from her and she didn't know what to say anymore. The reaction seemed deep rooted, like this was something he'd been expecting to happen the whole time. She knew then that he'd just given up resisting it and was furious with himself for it.

She didn't say anything else until they got back to camp. She saw Iroh there and was glad that the old man hadn't been attacked while they were busy dealing with Aang's sudden appearance. The old man's grin faltered but stayed on his face when he saw them.

"I thought I was making breakfast for three, not four."

Zuko grabbed Katara's bag from Iroh and pulled out the Blue Spirit's mask. "Uncle we don't have time. We have to get out of here." He didn't even motion to Aang when he added, "This stupid brat just led Sho right to us."

As adverse as she was to Zuko calling Aang a brat, she knew he had a point, though he was making a bigger deal about it than was necessary. It wasn't like Aang had done it on purpose. She was about to say so when Aang looked at the old man and apologized.

"Sorry," he said and she knew he was telling the truth. At least Aang knew he'd done something severe as well; that way Zuko wouldn't have anything to attack.

As Iroh and Aang talked and as Aang explained the situation, Katara watched Zuko. When Aang looked at her shed smile reassuringly at him before Zuko's movements caught her attention. The prince tied the mask over his face and her heart fell. She turned to Aang and tried to comfort him, knowing his actions would make her feel a little better.

"Let's go find the others." she said and placed her hand on his arm. "When did you last see them?"

"We split up almost immediately. Toph went ballistic, and earthbended like half of them into the ground. Sokka was stuck in the aftermath and that's the last I saw of them. Sho, and what Toph and Sokka didn't take out, followed me. They only caught up once, and I hurt my leg running away."

She nodded, and turned to Zuko. He and his uncle were having a private conversation and she called out to get his attention.

Zuko turned and Aang said, "They weren't very far behind me." Zuko nodded and quickly drew his swords.

"We should head to the river," he gave her a quick looking over and she inwardly smiled at his choice. The river would be much better for her and Aang. Aang could fight firebending with airbending, but water was their best shot. "That way we can all fight." Zuko finished and Katara nodded.

But Aang had a different idea of what the comment meant. "I won't let them hurt Katara," he said and gave her a big smile. "You don't have to protect her anymore, Zuko." He said it like he thought she'd been a burden. She turned to Zuko because she wanted to hear him reject it. She needed to hear him reject it.

But he didn't.

"Yes, I know." He didn't even look at her when he said it.

Katara saw the sun rise above the trees behind him and realized that their time together was truly over.

She was so focused on him that when Aang cried out to her she didn't realized why. She just turned to look at him and instead came face to face with a fire ball the size of her brother's head. It missed her, but only because Aang deflected it.

"Katara! Get up!" Aang cried worriedly and she stared at him for a second before rising into a fighting stance. Zuko and his uncle shifted into their own stances as more fire blasts hailed towards them from the protection of the trees.

"We need to get out of the open," Iroh said as he pushed two fire balls out of air. Zuko stepped in front of her and deflected a couple more, how many she wasn't sure because she almost hit him with her water whip. She glared at him half-heartedly and sighed before following their group toward the trees.

Aang made sure he was in front of them and Katara knew why. His airbending was a lot better to use in the trees than their bending. Fire really wouldn't help and though water wouldn't make things worse, it wouldn't make them any better. Not with such a short supply. They needed to get to the river, where she and Aang could do some serious damage.

They ran until they saw water, not looking back until they hit the edge. She and Aang kept going until they were knee deep in the river. Katara turned to see Zuko place himself in front of her and she moved so that he was out of her way.

A group of firebenders came out of the trees not two seconds later, and didn't hesitate to attack. She and Aang made quick work of most of them, piling wave after wave of water on them until they were forced back into the trees. She guessed they were most likely too waterlogged to respond to anything at that point.

Zuko kept his guard up, slightly impressed that Katara and the Avatar had managed to drive away off the firebenders, and not take him and his uncle with them.

"We should travel upriver," the Avatar said, but Iroh held up a hand.

"No." his uncle said softly. "It is likely that they have us surrounded. Running," the old man moved as if to look at all three of them, but his gaze was directed at Zuko, "will do us no good anymore."

Zuko sighed at the double meaning of the message. Zuko knew his time with Katara was over; he'd known it when the sun rose. Why couldn't the old man ever say what he meant?

His attention shifted, however, when a lightly armored firebender walked out of the trees and towards the group. Her long dark hair floated behind her as she walked and Zuko saw his uncle relax at the sight of her, and Katara made a noise halfway between surprise and relief.

Hanae's glasses reflected the sun from behind them as she stopped and pushed them up her nose. "If all you'll do is blow and splash water at me, then this will take much less time than I thought."

This is where my Authors note's go. Enjoy!

Another cliff hanger… so sorry. I just liked this ending too much. –smile-

And what is up with you guys?! When I write the last chapter I"LL TELL YOU!

I won't just…stop! I hate it when people do that. Why would I do that? Thats so rude...

-cries- Do you not trust me to finish this story?

Speaking of which, I'm still writing chapter 26 and I'll post it in a few days. See you later, when I update tomorrow.

Err…. Maybe… tomorrow's Christmas shopping. I'll try really hard to update tomorrow.

Gah!

REVIEWS??? Encouragement might help... -big grin-