ZuTara - I Never Thought I'd Love You!
Chapter 5 – The Chase Begins :
It was 10 a.m. and it's been 2 hours since Katara, Sokka and Aang went off for their journey to the North Pole. But little did they know that prince Zuko, himself, was after them.
- Hey, Aang! What's the deal with this lemur, anyway? I thought those things were extinct. – said Sokka angrily as the cute little lemur, named Momo, climbed on top of his shoulders.
- That's not a "thing", Sokka! That's Momo, and yes, his kind was extinct a century ago. He's the last one. – replied Aang with a little sadness in his voice.
- Don't be sad, Aang. – Katara comforted him – At least we have him with us.
- Yeah, you're right. Thanks for being so nice to me, Katara. You're a great friend.
- You're welcome. – she smiled and hugged him. Suddenly, Sokka shouted:
- Hey, lovebirds, sorry to break the magical moment, but can somebody, please, get this thing off me! It's gone mad, mad I tell you! Oww…!
Aang and Katara slipped away from each others grip and went to help poor Sokka.
After some minutes of struggling Momo finally let go of Sokka.
- This thing is crazy!
- He was just playing. And I think he got mad because you hurt his feelings. Poor Momo.
- Yeah, Katara's right.…Let's go to sleep, it's late and we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow.
- Wait, I still haven't practiced before my meeting with master Pakku!
- We'll have time tomorrow, Katara. You must have some rest now.
- Since when did you start giving orders around here, Sokka? … Sorry, Sokka. It seems I am tired after all. Let's go to sleep.
Katara waited until everyone had fallen asleep and went to a river, not very close to their camping place. She opened a scroll, which her grandmother had given her, and started practicing her waterbending.
Zuko, who was passing with his boat, heard her and went to see what was going on. He told his men to stop the boat and then he jumped off and hid behind some bushes. He watched her for a few minutes and then jumped out from the bushes and attacked her. She countered his attack and started running. Zuko caught up with her and pushed her to a tree.
- Where's the Avatar?
- Like I would tell you!
- Don't make me hurt you!
- Let me go, Zuko! Haven't you learned anything from last time? Didn't you remember anything I have told you?
- I have thought a lot about what you said, Katara! But I'm afraid I can't consider any of your advice. So now I must do what I have to.
- And what's that? – Katara asked with a trembling voice.
- Don't worry, I won't kill you, if that's what you're thinking.
- Please, just let me go!
- You must tell me what I need to know first.
- I will never tell you where Aang is.
- So that's the Avatar's name. Well, I guess I'll have to find out the hard way. I let you go once, but now you won't have that chance, until you're ready to talk. – he tied her up to the tree.
- Sooner or later your brother and the Avatar will come looking for you. I'll be waiting.- he sat down next to her.
- You're not a very good bender, you know! – Zuko grinned.
- I'm learning at the moment. Unlike you, I didn't grow up in a palace surrounded by servants and a master bender to teach me techniques.
- I never had a master. I learned alone. My sister was my father's favourite. He said she was born lucky, and I was lucky to be born. He never acknowledged me. I was just a burden to him. That's why he gave me this scar. The mark of the banished prince. Now, do you see why I must have the Avatar.
- That's not an excuse, Zuko! Like I've told you before - you make your own path, don't follow someone else's dreams, just because you want him to acknowledge you.
- I know, but that's what I have to do if I ever want to go home again. You have to see things my way, and maybe then you'll know my pain.
- I know what you feel. I grew up without a mother, she was killed by the fire nation. And she gave me this necklace. I watched her die in front of me.
- I'm sorry. I grew up without a mother, too. I don't know what happened to her. One day I woke up and she was gone.
- Do you see now, that I do know your pain.
- Not all of it.
An hour later Aang and Sokka found Katara. They fought with Zuko and, once again, defeated him and flew away with Appa. Zuko tried to follow them. But he failed.
- What's happening to me? Why am I not able to defeat them? I can't go on like this!
The angry prince began the chase again. Was it actually worth it?