A/N – Hey guys here's chapter 4. Sorry it took so long to update. My updates are more likely going to be about 2 weeks apart at this point since I have so much stuff in my personal life going on right now. This chapter is not edited or Beta-ed yet because I wanted to get something out there. So its kind of raw so to speak. Hope you guys like it for now.

Chapter 4

Xiang slowly dismounts his horse and walks around his parents' home to the back. He ties the ostrich horse up in the back shed that they never use. Kneeling on the ground, he slowly sets his bag down for a moment to check on Katara. Her eyes are closed and her face is red. He leans in to listen for her breathing as panicked thoughts run through his mind. He is relieved to find that she is still breathing. The heat must be getting to her, he thinks. Looking at her red face he feels guilty for having to keep her in the bag for so long. Leaving the bag open he swings it back in front of him and leaves the shed, closing the doors behind him. He walks across his family's small courtyard to the back entrance, pausing at the sliding doors. He starts to doubt his decision to bring Katara to his mother. She is understanding, true, but what he is doing is treason. What would he do if his own mother tries turning Katara over to the fire lord? He knew he would protect Katara at all costs but wasn't sure how he would do so if it was his own mother he was up against. He takes a deep breath and slowly slides the door open. There are no lanterns on in the house so he assumes his mother must be asleep already. He slips his boots off by the door before silently walking up the stairs to his bedroom on the second floor. As soon as he is in his room he quickly sets his bag down and gently grabs Katara pulling her out of the bag, trying not to wake her. He pulls back the covers on his bed before settling her against the pillows. Due to her face still being red, he leaves the covers off of her. He leaves his room as quietly as he can as he shuts the door behind him. He walks towards the stairs and takes a seat on the top one, deciding he will wait and think about how he actually will tell her about Katara. Judging by the moon still high in the Sky, he knows he has all night to sit and wait for his mother to wake up.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

With the dawn's early light comes the sound of cat doves tweeting outside, enjoying the sun's light. Xiang wakes to the bright morning light, finding a small blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a small pillow between his head and the wall. His mother's thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze him. His mother! Xiang stood quickly, the pillow and blanket falling to the floor, as he walks swiftly down the stairs to find his mother in the kitchen. She is washing something in the water basin as he comes to stand a few feet behind her.

"Good morning Mom," he says rather nervously.

His mother pauses what she is doing, wiping her hands on her apron. Turning around, her hand swiftly comes across Xiang's face, the sound echoing in the quiet room. Her reaction lets him know she must have found Katara in his room. He should have just slept in his room against the door or something.

"I will give you a chance to explain why that child is here. However, I would first like to know how you could have possibly been so irresponsible as to have left her in that condition." She crosses her arms, a mixture of emotions shows on her face; anger, disappointment. He doesn't know which emotion he wants to reconcile with first. "Why didn't you wake me up as soon as you arrived? Any later and that child could be dead Xiang," his mother's scolding voice turns into one of concern.

He looks away from her then, his shoulders slumping. He had no idea Katara was in such bad shape. He knew she hadn't been feeling well but thought it was just sea sickness. He thought her warmth was from being stuffed in his bag. When was he going to stop making such horrible decisions? One of these days he was going to get Katara killed. He looks up then as he feels his mother's small frame next to his, her small arms encircling his waist.

"Never mind all that for now. I'm glad you've come back home safely. Come with me upstairs and we can talk about your journey. I need to check on the girl." She pulls away from him holding him out in front of her at arm's length. "Xiang, have you lost weight?"

Xiang sighs, glad to see his mother is as he has always remembered her. "No mother, I haven't lost any weight."

She gives him a doubtful look, almost looking down on him even though she is shorter than him. "Grab that tray there and bring it up with you." She gestures to a wooden tray with a stone teapot and cup. On the tray is also a bowl of some kind of green liquid and a spoon. Xiang picks up the tray and follows his mother up the stairs. He leans down to smell the soup and nearly gags on the putrid smell of it.

"Mother what is this stuff? It smells awful?"

"It's a medicinal soup with lots of protein and herbs. It will help stave off the illness and starvation."

Following his mother into his room he could now see much clearer in the morning light. Guilt stabs at his chest as he looks upon Katara's pale face. He also notices how thin she truly is. Being stuck in his quarters on the ship he hadn't seen her in broad daylight since the day he took her. "I didn't know she was this sick," he says quietly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Set the tray down on the desk. I won't wake her till later. I will need you to get some things from the market later and some more medicine from my clinic. For now let's talk about your trip and this little girl." His mother sits down on the edge of his bed as he takes a seat in one his arms chairs.

"What exactly do you want to know?"

"Well, for one, what is a child of the water tribes doing in our home, in the fire nation?"

"How do you know she's from the water tribes?" he asks looking up at her.

"Xiang she has fur boots that you didn't bother to remove from her, and her skin is fairly tan. Not to mention her eyes are blue and she has a water tribe symbol engraved into her necklace. Anyone who takes more than a second glance at her walking down the street could she is water tribe." His mother is looking at the child almost longingly.

Xiang rubs his neck with one of his hands before resting his arms on his knees, resting his face against a balled fist. "You're right. She is from the water tribes. That's where we were sent on this last mission. We were sent there on orders to…get rid of the last water bender of the southern water tribe. Yon Rah had found the last water bender in one of the igloos and he killed her. When he came out he had announced to everyone that we needed supplies before going back. I went into one of he tents and found the woman's daughter kneeling by her dead body." Xiang closes his eyes. "she was covered in blood."

"I'm sorry Xiang. I knew it was a mistake to let your father force you to join the southern raiders. I could see why you took pity on the child. You have a kind heart, but this-"

He opens his eyes and cuts his mother off, his eyes stony as he stares at the rug on his floor with the fire nation symbol embroidered on it. "Mother, I didn't take her with me simply because of that moment of weakness. I took her with me because her mother wasn't the last waterbender. She is."

"What? How do you know that for sure?"

"Because, when I came into her hut and I found her like that I left immediately. I knew the woman was who Yon Rah was talking about but as I turned to leave that little girl started throwing snow and water at me. When I turned around she wasn't just throwing it at me, she was bending it at me."

"So you thought you would kidnap her? I could understand not killing her Xiang but why didn't you just leave her there? This is one of the most foolish things you have ever done."

"If I had left her the fire lord would eventually have found out mother. You know he would have. And then what, our entire crew could be held responsible. One day they would go back and Kill her. I…I know it was stupid but I just, I wanted to protect her."

There was a silence in the room. His mother moved closer to Katara to remove the cloth from her head. She took the cloth and dipped it into the bowl of hot water that was sitting by the bed. Wringing it out she folds it and places it back on the child's head.

"What is the girl's name?" his mother is brushing a stray strand of hair away from Katara's face when he answers her.

"Her name is Katara."

His mother sighs turning back to him. "It's a beautiful name." After another long pause she says "Xiang, you have endangered this whole family by bringing her here, you know that right?"

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry"

"There's nothing you can do now. She is here. I suppose I have more things I will have to discuss with you now, pertaining to what we now have to do, but for now get some real rest. When you wake up I'll need you to get some things for me as I mentioned earlier and then we can dicuss what we're going to have to do."

Xiang gets up from his chair and walks to the door. Before leaving he leans down to hug his mother from the side. She pats his forearm beneath her neck saying, "Everything will be alright Xiang. Go get some rest." Xiang releases his mother and makes his way to the family's guest room across the hall, stopping to pick up the earlier abandoned pillow and blanket. He takes a last look at his bedroom before entering the guestroom and collapsing on the bed. For the first time in months he sleeps soundly.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

When Xiang woke it was sometime in the late afternoon. He slips on his shirt and walks out into the hallway over to his room to check in on Katara. He is somewhat surprised to see that she is still sleeping. He closes the door behind him and makes his way down the steps to find his mother sitting in the living room with various documents spread over the coffee table in front of her. She is writing something down when she notices him at the bottom of the steps.

"Good you're awake." She waves him over to sit next to her as she makes room on the couch for him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah I did actually. It was really nice. I'm worried though. Is it ok that Katara is still sleeping?" He asks.

His mother continues to write as she explains, "She'll be fine. She needs a lot of rest now that she's had some proper medicine. Her body is trying to fight off illness and a major climate change to her body so she's going to be sleeping a lot in the next few days. She was briefly awake earlier to eat but she went back to sleep. She is very timid. She didn't speak to me at all."

"She's like that. The first week I spent with her she didn't speak to me at all. Only to tell me her name. But I think with time she'll come around." Xiang is smiling as his mother turns to look at him, a smile lighting up on her own face.

"You really care about this little girl don't you?"

Xiang's cheeks brighten a little as he turns to her. "I do mom. I don't know. She's like the little sister I never had and I want to protect her at all costs. I realize now it was stupid to bring her here but if it means she'll be safe ten years from now then wasn't it worth it?"

She puts a hand on his cheek patting it lightly. "You've grown so much in the past few years I sometimes forget you're not my little boy anymore. I suppose if its worth it that we should do all we can to see that she is protected."

"Thank you mom." She murmurs a 'you're welcome' as she turns back to the papers. Xiang finally noticing all the paper work asks "What's with all this?"

"This is everything that I need to take care of before Katara gets better and we have to leave. I'm going to need someone to take care of my patients at the clinic while we are away-"

"Wait, mom what do you mean leave?" Xiang's brows furrow at he looks at his mother.

"Oh right. Um, well I know a way we can help Katara be safe. You may not like it, but well it's one of the only options we have." Her hands sit in her lap as she looks at her son, a serious look on her face. "It's time for us to make a visit to your grandmother."

"Ok…" he says slowly narrowing his eyes at his mother. "Grandmother is dead mom. I doubt even she can help us from beyond the grave unless you've suddenly developed the ability to speak to spirits?"

"No Xiang I haven't. Your grandmother Kwan is not who we must see. I'm talking about my own mother." Xiang raises an eyebrow about to ask more questions when his mother puts up her hand to silence him. "Just listen for a moment. I know your father and I have always told you in the past that my mother is dead. The truth is that, well, she is very much alive." Her eyes narrow and harden as she explains further, "You have to understand Xiang. Your grandmother is not in our lives for a reason. In fact even your father doesn't know she is still alive. Your grandmother is nothing like your sweet loving grandmother Kwan. She is terribly cruel. Growing up, she only ever showed coldness and hatred towards me. When I found out I was pregnant with you I thought things would change and perhaps maybe she might be different with a grandson on the way. However, it only made me want to stay away from her for good."

"I'm sorry that she was horrible to you mom. No child deserves to be treated with such unkindness. I'm lost though. What exactly does this have to do with Katara? If she really is as horrible as you describe her to be then what makes you think she is going to help us? Why would you even risk trusting someone like that?"

She stands up from the couch stepping a few feet away from him, wrapping her arms across her midriff. Her back faces him for a moment before she answers quietly. "She is the only one who can help us Xiang because your grandmother is a waterbender."

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

*DUN DUN DUN*

A/N - Finally got this chapter out. This chapter for some reason was really hard to write. Mainly because I want to get to the Zutara chapters so badly! Since those are my favorite to write but I can't get to them 2 without all this back story. So I'm thinking with what I have outlined I still have maybe 2 more chapters and then we'll get to meet Zuko, so bear with me ^-^

Please Read and Review ^-^