Chapter 4: Unexplained Reasons
Zuko wished he had a brother or a sister too. Then maybe he would be able to understand what was going on between the blue-eyed siblings. He was walking briskly through the trees with a very distressed Katara, wondering what the heck he was going to do.
For the past seven days, Zuko was living on a routine. He woke up every morning, had a healing session with Katara, watched as the siblings leave the house for their daily scan of the forest and adventure, while he sat alone in the house. He usually tried to rest, but his thoughts always ended up drifting to Katara, her bright blue eyes, her soft smile and laugh, and what she could be doing at the moment.
Zuko's bones healed at an alarming rate; to the point even Katara was surprised. He could walk without too much discomfort, but she told him that running and other strenuous activity was a definite no.
The next morning, he heard Katara and Sokka stir from their sleep and shuffle around the small room. He didn't want to get up just yet, so he kept his eyes closed and tried to drift off in sleep.
"Sokka," said Katara. "We're going to have to hunt again today; the food supply is running low."
"I figured," Sokka replied quietly. He paused for a second before continuing, "How's his leg doing?"
Zuko almost turned his head in surprise. Sokka had never mentioned him in a conversation; the only time they talked was when he asked Zuko a few questions on the first night. Katara seemed to be surprised at his question as well.
"He heals remarkably fast," said Katara. "A lot faster from when you broke your leg, remember?" Sokka seemed to recall and grumbled slightly at the thought. "It should be completely recovered after today's healing."
"Then why haven't you told him that?" pressed Sokka. Zuko felt the air tense, as Katara didn't give him an answer. "Katara, you know that he can't stay with us—"
"But, why?" Katara spun around, facing Sokka. "Why can't I ever make friends? Why are we always moving Sokka?"
Sokka breathed out but didn't say anything. Although the atmosphere was heavy, Zuko couldn't stop the warm feeling that was spreading throughout his chest from Katara's words. He knew that he shouldn't take it that way, but she had implied that he was a friend, and that she wanted him to stay longer. The thought made small smile creep across his face, and he was glad that he slept facing the wall.
"Get ready to head out, Katara," was Sokka's only reply.
"Sokka!" she hissed under her breath, thinking that Zuko was still asleep. He heard her sigh in frustration, but didn't say anymore. Sokka quickly pushed the door open, letting in the sunlight, and walked out of the house.
There was nothing but silence for a few moments until Zuko heard Katara's footsteps come towards him. He tried to breathe as naturally as possible, while his heart rate quickened at her approach. She reached over to his shoulder and started to shake him awake.
"Zuko," said Katara, still shaking him. "Wake up."
"Hmmmm?" Zuko mumbled. He tried to suppress the smile from earlier off his face, while trying to act natural. He slowly peaked open his eyes to see Katara's face above his, but noticed that her eyes were watering. He immediately woke up, and abruptly pushed himself up to Katara's surprise.
"Katara, what's wrong?" asked Zuko, eyes wide, and his voice filled with worry.
"Huh?" she managed to breathe out and looked at him with a smile. "Oh, it's nothing. I think something was, uh, caught in my eye." She pulled the end of her cloak up and started to rub her face, attempting to remove any sign of sadness.
Zuko felt like an incapable idiot. He wanted to reach out with his hands and wipe the tears from her eyes, or hold her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. But he didn't. He simply sat there, watching Katara as she did her best to compose herself.
"Sorry…" she mumbled. "Actually, I only need to do one more session with your ankle, and it'll be completely healed. So you can go back to your uncle today." Katara smiled weakly, and lifted her face to meet his.
Zuko felt his stomach lurch at her words and simply gave her a nod. She moved over to her bags and pulled out her canteen, bending the water out over her hand.
"Thanks, Katara," Zuko whispered quietly; as he felt her gloved hand press over his ankle to heal him, for what he thought would be the last time.
"Katara!"
Sokka suddenly burst into the room as Katara was bending the water back into her canteen, and Zuko was experimentally twisting his ankle and applying pressure. Sokka looked frantic, his eyes wide as he set his eyes on Katara, and was breathing heavily.
Before Zuko or Katara could say anything, Sokka quickly stepped towards her, "We're getting out of here. Now."
"Sokka, what—" Katara began to ask.
"Forget about hunting," said Sokka and he looked towards Zuko. "You said you lived here in these mountains, yes?" Zuko nodded quickly, surprised at Sokka's sudden demand as much as Katara was.
"Katara," said Sokka turning to her again. "Follow him up the river and get to his house. Just take your bow and leave immediately. I'll pack up the rest here and follow you guys up soon."
"Sokka, what in the world are you talking about? What has gotten into you?" asked Katara in shock. "I can't just leave you here and go. If it was about before then, I'm sorr—"
"Please!" yelled Sokka, cutting his sister off. "Please…" he continued, sounding more desperate. "Please, just do as I say."
He walked over to the corner, picking up Katara's bow and quiver, and placed them into her arms. Sokka looked at her sadly, closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed.
"I'm sorry to put you through this, Katara." He pulled her into a tight hug, "But please just trust me and get going." Sokka released his sister who looked more shattered and shocked than Zuko had ever seen her. He finally turned to Zuko with a serious face and clasped down on his shoulder. "I'm counting on you to protect her." Said Sokka in a low voice. "No matter what."
Zuko nodded again, staring into Sokka's icy blue eyes that held no hint of a joke. Sokka leaned in next to Zuko's face and spoke so quietly that Zuko almost couldn't hear what he was saying. "This is to protect Katara. Drag her there if you have too."
With that he let go of Zuko's shoulder and looked directly into his eyes again, "Get going. Now!"
Zuko swiftly grabbed Katara's wrist and pulled her out of the house. She struggled against him, not wanting to leave Sokka behind.
"Wait! Zuko, please," said Katara. "I really can't leave Sokka behind!"
But Zuko didn't listen. He kept pulling Katara along into the forest and finally faced her when the small house was out of sight. "Katara, I'm honestly as confused and shocked about this as you are…" He continued walking but slowed down his pace, when she stopped struggling and so that Katara could adjust the quiver over her body. She didn't respond back, but continued to look at the ground as they walked through the trees.
"Has he ever done this before?" asked Zuko. He saw her shake her head 'no', but didn't look up to meet his face or speak to him. "Katara, this isn't your fault if that's what you're thinking…"
She finally raised her head to look at Zuko, and he knew that she was trying hard not cry. He felt his heart break as he watched her struggle with her emotions. Zuko slowly loosened his grip on her wrist and slid his hand down, gently taking her hand instead.
"Katara…" Zuko slowly began. He had no idea what to do or what to say, he wished he had a how-to-cheer-up-sad-girls book with him for situations like these. "You know… before we left, he told me to protect you no matter what." Her eyes widened at his statement, and he couldn't blame her. Zuko had thought Sokka didn't even trust him with Katara in the first place. He cleared his throat in the awkward silence and continued, "And he did say that he'd come follow us as soon as he finishes cleaning up. So… let's trust in Sokka's word and wait for him to come back, yeah?"
"Yeah…" said Katara quietly, and gave Zuko a small smile. "Thanks, Zuko. This never happened before and I guess I kind of freaked out… sorry."
"Don't apologize," said Zuko. "Let's just get to the river as soon as possible and work our way up from there. Sokka's a smart man, so he'll meet us up there for sure."
Katara released a small laugh and looked at Zuko with an amused face. "Well, then I guess we'd better start walking the other way." She said, pointing over her shoulder with her free hand.
Zuko felt himself blush as he realized that he had been walking in the wrong direction this whole time. He made a mental note to himself never to go walking when his emotions are awry, because his sense of direction seemed to fail him, twice. He grumbled again, when he heard Katara giggle at him.
"Oh, shut it," said Zuko playfully. Katara cleared her throat, settling her laugh, but still having a smile plastered onto her face. "I'll lead us to the river, and you can take over from there."
"Deal," said Zuko, smiling at her. He observed her smiling face and thought she was definitely more beautiful when she smiled, even if she was smiling at his dumb mistakes.
Zuko heard the roaring sound of river before he and Katara were able to see it. The water was crystal clear, flowing rapidly down the side of the mountain. He felt the cool air hit him as they got closer to the river, and he heard Katara sigh with satisfaction next to him.
"It always feels great being near your element, doesn't it?" asked Katara.
Zuko shrugged. Although he was a firebender, being near water wasn't revolting, nor was it a satisfying feeling of safety as it was for Katara.
"My uncle has always told me how different fire is from the rest of the elements," said Zuko. He crouched down in front of the flowing river and looked down at his reflection. "Fire doesn't flow in the direction you want it to go, like water does. It's like it has a destructive mind of it's own, dangerous and uncontrollable when used incorrectly… Fire is simply a very intense element."
Katara quietly nodded, listening to Zuko's words. He continued to look down at the running water, until it suddenly rippled and shot into his face. Alarmed, Zuko yelped in surprise and backed up, sputtering and wiping down his face with his hand. He heard Katara lightly laugh at his reaction and he turned to frown at her.
"What was that for, Katara?" Asked Zuko speechless.
"I… just felt that you needed to lighten up," said Katara with a smile plastered onto her face. She shrugged at her words and began to loosen her cloak. She swiftly untied the last rope at her neck, and pulled the large cloak off her shoulders. Since meeting her, Zuko finally saw Katara's figure and clothes that were always hidden under the large cloak. She was wearing a navy blue robe that cut short at her waist, the sleeves fitted around her arms and extended down to the middle of her forearm. Black pants were cut off mid-thigh to expose her long legs. She wore a thick white belt around her waist, and black bands were wrapped around her wrists, shins and above her knees. Katara started to kick off her boots as Zuko had stood there, looking dumbfounded.
"Well?" she asked. "What are you waiting for?" Katara ran into the river and inclined into a stance. She still smiled at him, when Zuko felt a sudden chill down his spine as Katara's face hardened seriously, her eyes flashing dangerously. Zuko felt a smirk ripple across his face when he realized that she was asking to fight. He too, kicked off his shoes and slowly stepped into the river, but still staying close to the bank. Zuko felt the sun's energy bore into his back as he concentrated on his breathing. He had no idea how capable Katara was at fighting, but he didn't want to injure her to find out. The water began to emit a hissing noise as it came into contact with his burning skin. He got into the most basic defensive stance and decided to wait for Katara to strike.
He shouldn't have waited. The moment he appeared ready, Katara swung her arms in a graceful pattern, causing the river water to erupt like a water show. It began to recede from the bank as Katara lifted the water higher and higher into the air until it almost completely surrounded the two of them. Zuko was utterly shocked; he had no idea she was capable of bending that much water so easily. He watched as she moved her hands together in a clasping motion, and the water started to rapidly crash towards him. Zuko reacted quickly, feeling fire erupt from his arms; he formed an orb of fire around him as the water came crashing down.
A/N: It took a while to update this chapter, my apologies. As I was writing this chapter, I wanted it to end at a certain point, but it was getting too long so I ended up splitting the content into two chapters.
Nevertheless, please continue to read and review!