here's another one...short, again...sorry...i just have to go with the rhythm and, if rhythm dictates short, then short it will be...sorry...anyway! i would like to thank all those who reviewed, it's much, much appreciated...

disclaimer: i do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender...oh woe is me...

Chapter Four: Love and Broken Memories

Two stones once found, blue and red,

a curse to bring to its finish

should two fuse and join, there brings an end

to love in pain and suffering

Pain and betrayal come again

when the great stone arrives,

to bring about a moonless night

Katara trudged wearily through the snow, her tears freezing on her cold face. With a sigh, she unfroze them and let the tears slide silently down her cheeks. She sighed as she neared the ice cliffs. There was no point in returning to her hut at the moment; Ren was watching the twins. Besides, she needed to be alone. She needed to think.

Katara approached the towering ice wall and held up her hands, palms together. After a moment, she pulled them apart and the ice parted like a silvery curtain before her, revealing a hollowed tunnel. As soon as she stepped inside, the ice wall appeared again, sealing her beneath the ice cliffs.

The tunnels glowed an eerie blue, as small cracks in the ice allowed beams of sunlight inside. Katara smiled sadly. This was her retreat, a place no one but her children knew about. And they had their own ways to get inside.

After a few moments, the tunnel fanned out, changing into a large cave-like chamber. In the middle was a pool of crystalline water, faint wisps of steam rising from the surface. This was her secret hot spring, buried beneath the ice. It's heat had melted a chamber into the ice, but still there was a good thirty feet of solid ice above the room. It was Katara's special retreat.

As she entered the chamber, a soft smile appeared on Katara's face. And then her eyes spotted a small, oddly colored stone. Her face fell and anger welled up inside. She strode over to the stone and picked it up, all too ready to hurl it as far away from her as possible. And yet, when it lay nestled in the palm of her hand, Katara knew she couldn't. Though she wished she had never found it, the stone meant so very much to her.

Slowly, Katara lowered herself to the floor of the chamber, her eyes still on the stone nestled in the palm of her hand. She had spent hours examining the blue and red stone, and knew every dip and swirl on it. It was a simple smooth rock, only a bit bigger than a grape. It was flat and perfectly circular, and blue with swirls of red. She turned it over with a sigh. And there, on the back, was a small, perfectly round dip in the stone, with three strange lines carved into it. If she didn't know better, Katara would have said that it was meant to be a part of something else, but that was ridiculous. It was just a rock.

At least, that was what she told herself. The truth was, however, that it was so much more. This stone, so small and beautiful, could bring an end to everything. And to think, she had once thought to keep it with her forever.

Another sigh left her and Katara placed the stone gently on the ground beside her. Now she kept it here, where hopefully it could do no harm.

Her eyes turned to the warm spring and Zuko's face flashed in her mind. Katara brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She wanted so much to be with Zuko, but she couldn't. A tear tracked its way down her face and Katara touched it gently. How many times had she come here, wishing hat Zuko was there with her? And how long would it take before her heart let go of the past?

Four years ago, as she was making her way back to the Southern Water Tribe, Katara had come across an old woman pawing through some grass.

"Hello," Katara said, coming up to the woman. She cocked her head to the side at the frantic look on the woman's face. Her face was wrinkled with age, but in those wide, searching green eyes was a look of wisdom.

The woman ignored Katara.

"Are you looking for something?"

The old woman stopped her searching and looked up at Katara. She stared at the young waterbender for what seemed an eternity before nodding. "I dropped my son's ring," she croaked. Her face immediately fell. "He died in the war, you see, and it's the only thing I have left of him." She shook her head. "You wouldn't mind helping me, would you?"

Katara glanced back towards the road. She was in a hurry, actually, but she would help. Katara nodded and shrugged off her pack. Holding her slightly distended belly, she bent to the ground and began looking for a ring.

"What does it look like?"

The woman ran her gnarled hands over the ground. Without looking up, she answered, "It's gold with an emerald set into the middle. It was the ring he was going to give to his fiancée." She sighed. "I'm supposed to deliver it to her."

Katara nodded in sympathy as she searched. After a moment, she spotted something. Smiling, she picked up the ring and handed it to the woman. "Here you go."

The old woman took the ring from Katara and stood up. "Thank you, child."

Katara nodded and picked up her pack, but not before something fell out of it. Before Katara could get it, the old woman caught it. Her eyes widened as she stared down at the multi-colored stone in her hand.

Without looking up, she asked, "What's your name, child?"

"K-Katara."

After a moment, the old woman brightened and handed the stone back to Katara. "Well, Katara. I am Shinju." She held out her hand as Katara tucked the stone in her pack. "Come to my house and I'll give you some food. And some advice."

They had eaten a quick dinner, talking all through out. And then everything changed. Just as Katara was leaving, Shinju grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Listen well girl, for if you leave before I am finished, you will regret this moment."

And then Shinju had made the prophesy that Katara would never be able to escape.

"Two lovers cross'd, hearts melted,

a single night to them awaits

should love remain, there brings an end

to a ruler of sun and of fire

"Sun and moon, warmth and cold

together bring joy and love,

but with a price heavy to bear.

"Two stones once found, blue and red,

a curse to bring to its finish

should two fuse and join, there brings an end

to love in pain and suffering

"Pain and betrayal come again

when the great stone arrives,

to bring about a moonless night."

Even though the old woman was about to say more, Katara couldn't bear to hear it. With a small cry, she left Shinju's hut. And continued on her way.

But that day still haunted Katara. It was not the unfinished state of the prophesy that tortured her, but rather the words spoken. So Katara had traveled to the Fire Nation to see Zuko one last time and then fled, to remain in solitude. She could not allow the prophesy to be fulfilled, even if it meant losing the one thing she wanted most.

As the light in the chamber began to fade, Katara sighed and stood. She had tried a thousand times to think of a way to escape fate, and yet she had come up with nothing. It was useless to fight anymore.

When Katara opened the ice wall once more, she found her children standing before her, their eyes wide. Ren, of course, was nowhere to be found. The twins had eluded her again.

"Mitsuko. Sunil. What are you doing here?" Katara asked, closing the ice behind her. "How many times have I told you not to run away from Ren?"

"We're sorry, Mama," Sunil said. He and Mitsuko took hold of Katara's hands. "We wanted to see if you were all right."

Katara sighed and then smiled down at her children. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired."

"Mama?"

"Yes, Sunil?"

"Why was that man here?"

Katara froze for a moment and then began walking again. "He just wanted to ask me something, Sunil. Everything's fine."

Mitsuko tugged on her mother's dress in a motion that told her mother she knew she was lying.

"Everything's not fine," Sunil said, pouting. "We know it's not!"

"Please, Sunil. It's painful to talk about it." She stopped and bent down, gathering her children close. "I'll tell you when it doesn't hurt so much anymore."

Sunil turned his blue eyes to her. "Promise?" he asked.

Katara hugged them. "Promise." She stood again. "Now, about what I'm going to do to you for running away from Ren…"

there's the end of this chapter...a bit confusing? it is to me...but hopefully things will all become clear later on...meanwhile...please review!