I'll Follow You Home – A Zutara Story.
Meeoko
Summary : Sequel to 'Eventualities Are Inevitable'. After being captured by a group of Fire Nation radicals and uncovering a secret plot to destroy the Avatar Cycle, Zuko and Katara must work together to find a way to stop the Sila Vatra before Sozin's Comet arrives.
Spoilers : Puppet Master, Day Of Black Sun part 1 and 2, Western Air Temple, Fire Bending Masters and Boiling Rock part 1 and 2.
Author's Note : From the results of my poll, I can see that over 58 of you prefer the writing style of EAI to this one. It's not a bad thing – don't worry. If anything, it helps me make the story better. EAI still seems to be proving popular, even though it's finished (whoop!). So from now on, I'm going to try and write this story more in keeping with EAI
Angst, here we come lol.
Katara's heart fell down through her stomach and into the soles of her feet. She could feel her eyes pricking behind the lids and she stared open-mouthed at the glistening stone through the cheering crowd of black. The swirling waves and rolling tides carved into its surface stared back at her, hitting her hard in the face.
It can't be. But how?
Katara could feel her fingers shaking in Zuko's grasp, but she didn't care. She could see from the look on his face that he also knew exactly what it was. Made from the very same material as the knife hanging from his hip. Forged from the coldest of ice and a fallen star. Her great-grandmothers betrothal necklace.
A million and one questions were buzzing through her head. Katara couldn't begin to comprehend it. Why did the Fire Nation have Nori's necklace? What made them think that the tiny stone would be the end of the world? Why were they bleeding on one of the most important relics that her family possessed? Why were they calling it 'The Blood Stone'? And just where had it been all of these years?
Katara's heart stopped for a fraction of a second as The Warden pointed a stubby finger directly into the crowd.
"Who among you is bold enough to give first blood?"
One man answered the call. The black clad soldier pushed through the crowd and stepped onto the raised platform, to stand side by side with The Warden.
Don't you touch it! Don't any of you get a single drop of your dirty blood onto it!
Snapping his fingers, The Warden awaited another man to step out from behind the black curtain at the very back of the room. The man carried a black velvet pillow in his hands. Bending down to present it to The Warden, Katara was horrified to see that a knife rested on the cushion.
She heard Zuko take a sharp breath inwards when her fingernails started to cut into the back of his hand. But he said nothing and neither did she as they stared, open-mouthed and horrified at the sight before them.
"The first to prove their worth." The Warden boomed, pointing at the Sila Vatra man with the point of the knife. "Bear your mark and give your penance."
The volunteer bowed his head. He looked young and out of place – his innocence tainted.
Katara flushed as the young man pulled his long black shirt over his head and cast in onto the floor. He was certainly fit, with a perfectly chiselled chest, as if he were made from marble. But Katara bit into her lip and cursed herself when she realised what she was thinking. Especially when she noticed the menacing black eye staring down at her on his left pectoral. How she hated those tattoo's. She felt dirty just having one drawn onto her!
The youth smiled with a grim satisfaction as The Warden roughly grabbed his palm, wincing as he did so from his own wound. He guided the young mans hand over to the stone, so that it was directly above it.
No. Don't. Please. Not her necklace...
"Relinquish your blood and give life anew." The Warden commanded in an uncharacteristic tone.
Quickly, and in one swift movement, The Warden guided the edge of the knife towards the mans palm. Katara winced and looked away. She heard the pained gasp escape the mans lips and felt Zuko's hand shaking alongside her own, in pure rage.
Barbarians!
Gathering as much courage as she could muster, Katara forced herself to look back up at the alter. A single tear slid down her cheek as she watched the young man ball his freshly cut hand into a fist. He bit his lip, wincing, and squeezed his shaking hand until the first drops of blood fell down and onto the velvet pillow, splashing onto the stone.
Biting back the urge to vomit, Katara leant upwards on her toes to try and get a better look. She couldn't see exactly what was happening over the crowd. She couldn't see the stone anymore! But no matter how much she would twist or turn, she couldn't manage to see her great-grandmother's necklace. The crowd in front seemed to be ebbing forward like a black tide, each craning to get a better view.
There were, however a succession of amazed gaps and whispers of awe.
"What's happening?" Katara whispered at Zuko quietly.
But he didn't seem to be having much luck either.
"I don't know." he whispered back "I can't see it."
The young man on stage who had given his blood bowed to The Warden and then again to the crowd, before stepping off stage, wrapping his bleeding hand in the black shirt he had discarded. The Warden again looked out into the crowd, pointing his grotesquely chubby finger at another member.
Another took their place on stage and the same ritual began all over again.
"We can't stay here." Toph stated grimly. "We've gotta go. Now."
What? We can't!
"But we can't just leave it here." Katara fumed back, as quietly as she could. There was no way she was going to leave the building whilst those monsters had her great-grandmother's necklace in their possession. "That stone belonged to her. It belongs in the Water Tribe, where it should be! That necklace should have been passed to my family - to me! I can't just...just go!"
Zuko turned to face her, looking grim before he pulled the hood back down over his eyes. They spoke quietly, despite the excited murmur of the crowd as more and more people stepped up to offer their blood. Katara felt a mixture of rage and sadness forming in her chest. She was at a loss for words. She wanted action. She wanted to reclaim what was hers from these monsters!
"No, Katara." Zuko whispered firmly. "Toph's right. We can't fight them all and if we stay here much longer, then we'll either get captured or have to offer our own..." he swallowed "..blood."
How can they do this? How can they dishnour my people with their blood?
Katara let go of his hand angrily, not noticing the little bleeding marks she had left on the back of his palm, from squeezing too hard. How could they just leave? How could they sit back and watch as these monsters desecrated one of the most important relics in Water Tribe history?
"You can't do this." she pleaded desperately "Not now. Not to me and not to my tribe. You should know now, Zuko. You've been offered a place among us, and you can just sit back and let it go?"
Katara didn't care that she had risked saying his name in front of the large crowd. Every cog in her brain was working as hard and as fast as she could will them, trying to figure out any way that they would be able to leave the building unharmed, and with the stone. She tried not to let her tears spill over, when she realised that she couldn't think of one.
Though she could only see Zuko's mouth, Katara was certain that he was looking a little guilty. She knew that it had been unfair to use his honorary place within the tribe against him, but she desperately needed him to see how important this was. Not just to her, but to her family and to her tribe.
The crowd shuffled forward a step as Toph spoke up, eager to give their own blood to Nori's necklace. They were getting closer to the platform.
"I know how much you need this, Katara. But Aang needs us more. We can come back. We can get it later. If we don't move it soon, we're gonna be roasted alive!"
Katara could feel her eyes prick again. In her mind, she knew that what Zuko and Toph said was true. But she ignored it, letting her hurt pride take over. This might be the only chance she got. She needed answers for once, instead of more questions.
"Why won't you understand?" she asked, her voice momentarily breaking. "That is part of my history. Part of my family! I can't let it drown in their blood! I can't!"
Don't cry, Katara. Not now. Not here.
"Katara."
Katara looked up. Zuko had turned to look at her, pulling the hood up over his face just enough for her to see his amber eyes watching from the darkness. They looked serious, but also...guilty? It was the first time he had looked her in the eye for quite a long time.
"Do you remember when we were first taken to that prison?" he asked. His voice was no longer commanding or worried. Just sad. "The first few nights you spent there?"
Unwillingly, Katara nodded her head. She could feel her eyes had pulled down into a spiteful frown. Though she willed them away, she couldn't find the strength to relax her face. Everything was just so unfair.
Zuko continued. The crowd shuffled forward another step.
"You heard me screaming. You knew what they were doing. And you knew that it hurt."
Katara closed her eyes and nodded, turning her gaze away from him. She remembered those soul-destroying screams perfectly well. And when he had come back and woken up caked in blood, Katara had felt like ripping her own heart out, just to avoid the guilt. Even when he had smiled at her weakly, through all of the pain, it had only tripled her guilt and sadness.
I'll never forget that as long as I live.
"I could see it in your eyes, Katara." he continued, his voice a whisper "The guilt you felt. You thought that it was all your fault that I'd gotten hurt. That you were responsible and that the overwhelming pain just wouldn't go away."
Katara snapped her eyes open. A tear fell freely down her cheek. She didn't want to think about any of it ever again. So why was he forcing her to re-live it?
"Zuko, stop it." she choked, feeling the same sadness wash over her.
But never once did his amber eyes leave her face. His face was un-readable to her, just like it always was. But it was his voice that betrayed him.
"No, Katara." he replied, sadly "Because if you don't listen to us and get yourself captured for the sake of your pride, then I am going to be re-living those same feelings for the rest of my life. If you got captured or hurt, it would be my fault. I would have broken my promise to your father, your brother, and to myself."
The crowd was pushed forward another step. They were now perilously close to the platform and to The Warden. Katara felt her heart strings tug downwards. She remembered just how terrified she had been, all those weeks ago. Threatened to be consumed by guilt, thinking that she had caused Zuko's pain.
"Don't make me live that way, Katara." he said softly.
Katara was desperate to regain her great-grandmother's stolen necklace. To regain her stolen pride. And the honour of the Water Tribe. But she didn't want Zuko to feel like she had, if something went wrong. She knew how raw that guilt felt, how it had played over and over again in her mind since their escape. She never wanted anyone to have to mourn her like that. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she forced herself to look back at him. Every fibre in her body wanted to run over and grab the stone. But she wouldn't let it. She would do this. For him. For Zuko.
I'm sorry Nori. Truly, I am...
"Alright." she whispered back, rubbing away the tear from her cheek. "I'll go. But I'm coming back again. I can't just let this go."
Zuko nodded. His face still remained impassively serious, as it always did.
"I don't expect you to." he replied, taking hold of her wrist gently "Now let's go."
Toph sighed grumpily and tugged them back through the crowd, towards the door. Their human chain held strong, with Toph's small frame leading the way through a swelling abyss of blackened monsters. They were forced against the crashing sea of black bodies as they moved, hoping to find any available pathway they could. Many of the members looked at them curiously as they passed, as if they had passed up some immense opportunity that would never come again.
"Where are they going?" the whispers followed her. "Too young to take it. They'll let anyone join these days!" "Where are you going, cowards? Afraid of a little blood?"
Katara looked down at the floor, feeling her chest tighten. The stench of freshly spilt blood hung sickeningly in the air. She steadied herself against the cruel remarks, feeling every bit the coward the Sila Vatra had made them out to be. But nobody stopped them, as they moved along through the crowds. Zuko's grip was tight on her wrist as the remarks and sneering shot around them.
I'm doing it for him. She reminded herself, over and over again. This is for him.
Katara had expected the horrifying, booming voice of The Warden to follow them as they finally reached the door, calling them back. Branding them as cowards and exposing their faces to the light. But it didn't come. He was too busy bleeding his countrymen dry.
They edged as quickly out of the door as they could, closing it gently behind them. Toph immediately shrugged off Zuko's hand, making a gagging face.
"Sparky, what's up with your skin? You have a fever or something? You almost burnt my hand off!"
"Zuko's always warm." Katara repeated her ever-present thoughts to Toph quietly as she walked past them and down through the almost empty corridor.
"Oh, gross!" Toph replied, sounding repulsed. "I seriously don't wanna know about that!"
Toph guided them silently back through each and every hallway and stairwell, to lead them back downstairs to the door they had come through. The tension in the air was thick and the very fibres in the heated air seemed to buzz with anticipation.
Although Katara considered them out of any immediate danger, Zuko seemed to forever be alert and jumpy. Occasionally, his gaze would dart backwards and forwards into each open door that they passed, though most of them were empty. Katara sighed sadly, still feeling shaken from the encounter with the Sila Vatra and her great-grandmother's necklace.
Does Zuko ever let his guard down?
They didn't encounter many members of the Sila Vatra as they walked the hall. Many were preoccupied upstairs with the sickening 're-birthing' and many others seemed to have left altogether. She wondered how they would be able to find their way to each secret tunnel Toph had said led underneath the building. So far, she hadn't seen any doors leading downwards into the earth. She found herself, ironically, counting turtleducks as her feet touched the heavy metal floor.
Fifty-two turtleduck, fifty-three turtleduck, fifty-four turtleduck...
Katara kept her eyes on the ground as she walked. She knew that she should still be cautious. That they were still inside enemy territory. That inside the belly of the beast, they were at their most vulnerable. But Katara couldn't quite get herself to care. She felt a strange numbing sensation grasping at her mind, as if she was no longer in control of her thoughts or actions. She suspected that she was just in shock, but didn't register the thought as an actual problem.
Instead, Katara tried to focus on unimportant matters. The rusty iron walls, the copper taste hanging in the air, counting turtleducks just as Zuko had, all those weeks ago. She could feel the changes inside her body, telling her that the moon was waning, with less than two hours or so before sunrise. She felt tired, but wasn't sure if she could bring herself to lie down and sleep. It had been a long and terrible night.
Why did we have to come here? We could have just stayed at the Air Temple. We could have just been content with our ignorance. We never should have come here. Why did we have to come here?
Occasionally, Zuko would try to walk beside Katara and catch her eye from underneath his hood. But she wouldn't meet his gaze. There was too much to think about. She was feeling a mix of emotions that she just couldn't put together as one.
She was angry, vengeful and furious. She felt betrayed and tainted. She was immensely unhappy, curious and guilty. All in all – it was certainly not a good feeling. Katara hadn't forgotten Zuko's words earlier and they still stung fresh in her mind, the guilt never dulling, for she knew them to be true.
"You heard me screaming. You knew what they were doing. And you knew that it hurt."
In some small part of her conscience, Katara still blamed herself for getting them both captured. Of course, it might not have happened if they hadn't gone so deep into the woods, but Katara couldn't help feel responsible. She had put Zuko through so much pain. He had sacrificed almost everything for her. And she still didn't understand why.
Though she hadn't known his reasons for doing so at the time, Katara still wished with all of her might that the Sila Vatra had hurt her instead, whilst she was cramped inside the stuffy cage. At least then, she wouldn't have to bear the shameful burden alone and they might have stopped torturing Zuko.
When I saw him, he looked so broken. There was so much blood and bruising. So many broken bones. He was barely a person anymore. And when we escaped...I almost...I almost killed him.
When Zuko straightened beside her, Katara snapped back to reality. There it was – the exit. And standing in front of it was the same man that had allowed them inside.
Forcing herself not to vomit or punch the man square in the nose (she was certain that she was getting rather good at it by now), Katara let Toph lead the way to the door, with Zuko in tow.
"Praytell, your experiences with the re-birthing were sufficient?" the elderly guard asked.
Zuko nodded his head, with only his mouth visible underneath his hood. A small touch of annoyance made Katara's lip twitch. That uptight 'old tongue' way of speaking that Zuko had described earlier was really beginning to get on her nerves. It was difficult for her to really comprehend what anyone was saying.
Zuko moved towards the heavy iron door, intent on getting back outside into the fresh air and out of the oppressive and stuffy building. His shoulders were tense and furhter up than they should have been. He walked as if he was carrying a heavy burden. The guard made to open the door for him, but stopped momentarily, when he glanced at her.
Why is he staring at me? Oh, spirits, make him stop staring!
Katara's entire body went rigid when he continued to look at her, as if he were questioning her very being. His dark, amber eyes seemed to pierce into her mind. He frowned slightly. Zuko stood by her defensively.
"Child. Your eyes." the guard mumbled suspiciously. "They are not as they were."
Before she could stop herself, Katara opened her mouth in surprise and horror. She hadn't noticed before. She had been too worried about the Sila Vatra. Too wrapped up to notice.
But flecks of colour had begun to return to her line of vision since they had entered the building. It was no longer all in black and white. Her Irises were healing. They were turning back to their original colour!
No! How could I not have noticed?
Using the smallest of movements she could muster, Katara widened her stance and kept the hand underneath her cloak tight over her hidden waterskin, ready to unleash her pent-up fury at the man.
"Tis nothing to trifle oneself with." Zuko replied quickly, moving beside Katara and pinching her back to keep her from doing anything stupid. A flicker of irritation ran up her spine, but she remained silent and kept her gaze on the floor. "It is but the warmth and the smoke affecting her eyes, sir. Nothing more."
I wish he wouldn't talk like that...
Silence was their only companion in the empty corridors. Katara felt time stop as the guard kept his eyes fixed on her. She could see Toph's stance widen only a fraction, preparing for the worst. Her small fingers began to fold into balls. The guard continued to look at Katara, uncaring and unaware of her discomfort. She could feel herself cowering under those piercing eyes. She sent a silent prayer to the spirits above.
Don't attack. Please don't say anything. Please don't say anything.
Katara was certain that the guard would call for help or attack them. She could feel a paralysing fear run up her spine and freeze her in place, as if liquid lead was flowing through her veins.
The guard let out a breath she hadn't realised that he had been holding. Katara stiffened and prepared for the worst. But nothing happened.
Keeping his eyes still fixed on her, the guard moved back towards the door and swiftly placed his hand over the bolt in front of the door and drew it back.
Thank La!
Relief flooded through her veins as Zuko pushed at her lower back and urged for through the doorway. Katara could still feel the guard's suspicious and piercing eyes follow her as she stepped out into the cool streets.
"May flame keep your soul alight in the darkest dungeon." the guard said eerily as he closed the iron door swiftly behind them and locked it, not even giving them a chance to reply.
"I'm guessing that some part of the 'grandpa language' that means 'see ya?'" Toph asked Zuko, scratching her head nervously.
Zuko stood still, as he looked at the heavy iron door. His shoulders heaved.
"No."
Everything seemed to spin. Katara couldn't sleep, despite the fact that she would only be allowed two hours before sunrise and the beginning of another trying and soul-destroying day at the Three Embers Inn. Toph snored happily at the opposite end of the bed, her dirty feet occasionally twitching beside Katara's head.
One day, I'm forcing her to take a bath.
Zuko lay on his make-shift bed on the floor. He had been given new sheets, to replace the other scalded and burnt ones. His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly, with his hands resting on top of his bare chest peacefully.
But Katara was certain that Zuko was not sleeping either.
"Everything has just gotten a whole lot more difficult"
Katara repeated his words over and over again inside her head. Things certainly had become more difficult now. It seemed as if there were always questions and never enough answers. Too many dangers. They wouldn't be able to run from them all forever.
Rubbing at her eyes, Katara tried for the tenth time in barely twenty minutes to get herself to relax. She would use her Eyeball Bending again in the morning to fix her vision and return it to Fire Nation colours. She wondered if Sokka, Teo and her father had encountered the same problem yet. It had been less than an hour ago that she had almost given away everything!
We were so lucky. If he had decided to attack or raise the alarm, who knows what would have happened?
Although Katara's initial shock at seeing people drip blood onto her great-grandmothers necklace had subsided, she still felt a little unbalanced. Her thoughts had returned to her, the numb feeling on her mind vanishing. But now she found that she couldn't keep all of the thoughts from speaking at once. She found herself thinking back to what her friends would do.
There's just too much to think about! I wish that Sokka was here. He'd have me laughing in no time. Aang would just smile that dopey smile of his and cheer me up. Even Momo would probably get me smiling again, chasing bugs around and flying into things. Or maybe I could talk to Suki. She knows what it's like to have something you hold dear turned against you.
Katara remembered the battle at Kyoshi Island and how the people of Kyoshi had fought to defend them. Their homes, fields, even their dojo! They had all been set ablaze. The fire had spread rapidly, consuming everything in its wake. The very homes the people had grown up in, now a fierce weapon that was being used against them.
Katara found it hard to believe that it had been Zuko who had destroyed the lives of so many people, causing all of that pain and suffering. She would have believed it in a heartbeat only a few weeks ago. But now...
Now things are different.
Unable to stand the discomfort of her hot and uncomfortable bed any longer, Katara threw off her covers and got up. Placing them gently back over Toph's grubby feet, Katara walked towards the edge of the room, where the washroom was. Picking her way across the floor and into the filthy little bathroom, she felt blindly in the darkness for her clothes.
Katara hadn't been able to bare the intensity of the Fire Nation summer heat, even in the dead of night. So, she had taken to sleeping in just her underclothes. At first, she had felt insanely self-conscious. She was after all, sharing a room with the Fire Nation Prince! It had taken her a while to adjust to the idea, but eventually, the unbearably sweltering heat had won her over. Of course, she made Zuko look away or leave the room before she would undress and only allowed him back in when she had pulled the covers over herself. He would always be awake earlier than she would, and it wasn't as if Toph was going to mind either.
"How does Toph manage this?" Katara grumbled to herself quietly as she felt her way around the washroom, blindly.
"Katara?"
She jumped, banging her head on a cabinet hanging on the wall. She held back a curse as she rubbed at her sore head. But the initial pain vanished when she saw Zuko's distinctively sharp, golden eyes staring wide-eyed at her from the doorway. She hadn't even heard him get up!
Oh spirits, no!
Katara blushed a fierce red and feebly put her hands uselessly over herself, trying to cover her shame. Her embarrassment was evident. Her white wrap and underskirt probably shone out like a beacon in the darkness! Zuko's eyes widened in surprise at her attire and he backed out of the doorway a step or two, obviously at a loss for words.
"Zuko, get out!" Katara hissed at him as quietly but forcefully as she could, still fingering in the darkness for her clothes or at least, something to cover herself with. "Turn around or something!"
Eventually, Zuko's common sense seemed to return to him and he stuttered, backing entirely out of the room and turning around to face the opposite wall.
"I-I didn't mean...I wasn't sure that you...You aren't - I mean you look really...uh, never mind – forget it."
Katara cursed her luck as she finally got a hold on her clothing. She'd forgotten just how much of a light sleeper Zuko was. She dressed hurriedly, noticing the flash of pale skin in the darkness as Zuko rubbed at the back of his neck, as he always did whenever he was nervous.
...or embarrassed.
Her cheeks were intensely hot. She looked down at the floor, trying to forget the look Zuko had given her when he'd walked in on her. He had looked surprised. But there had been something else as well. Something she had seen once before at the Air Temple. Something that had set her blood alight.
She shook her head, trying not to think about the wonderful memory and attempted to cool her intensely red cheeks.
Great! Just great! I feel fine when I'm Water Bending in them, but as soon as Zuko see's me in my underwear – this happens!
Gingerly, Katara stepped out of the washroom, hugging her chest consciously. She didn't understand why it bothered her so much. After all - Aang had seen her in her underclothes plenty of times. But this – this was completely different! Maybe Zuko hadn't liked what he had seen. Maybe she wasn't good enough.
Toph rolled over in her bed, casting an arm over her head happily as she opened her mouth to let out another loud snore.
"I uh, just wanted to..." Katara mumbled hopelessly to Zuko's back "...I couldn't – I couldn't sleep."
He shifted his weight uneasily from foot to foot, still facing the wall. His head was bowed low and it looked as if he was rubbing at his scar again.
"Are you...uh, decent?"
Zuko said the last word venomously, as if he hated himself for having to say it. His shoulders looked rigid and stiff, as if he wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again. Katara empathised with him.
"Yes." she replied quietly.
Turning back around to face her slowly, Zuko crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, his shaggy hair covering his eyes effectively. It seemed that he had taken up his old habit of not meeting her eyes. She wasn't sure, but Katara thought that for a moment, she could see his lips form into something like an animal snarl.
What does that mean?
Katara edged stiffly towards the door to their room, feeling another fierce blush on her cheeks.
"I was going to go downstairs. It's too hot up here and I can't sleep. Do you...do you want to come?"
Zuko simply nodded, still without looking at her. Swallowing a dry lump in her throat, Katara opened the creaky old door and stepped out into the hallway. As quietly as she could, she crept down the squeaking staircase and out of the large oak door at the front of the Inn, into the street.
She noticed that Zuko didn't seem to make a single noise as he followed her. He never did.
Why is it that Fire Nation men never seem to make any noise? No wonder he was never caught when he was The Blue Spirit!
Although the early morning air wasn't much cooler than inside their stuffy room, Katara was relieved to be outside. She could see the tiniest possible rays of the dawn creeping over the very top of the volcano wall that surrounded them. She realised that she and Zuko had been in the exact same place the morning before.
"I'm sorry."
Katara turned around, frowning curiously. Zuko stood behind her, both shoulders hunched over with his arms crossed, as he stared angrily at the floor.
"Sorry for what?" she asked him seriously.
Maybe for walking in on me when I'm only wearing my underwear...
Zuko seemed to consider her question for a moment, as if the wrong wrong words would be his death. He seemed awkward. Stiff. Katara had noticed that he had been acting more distant around her since he had accidentally burnt her fingers after having his nightmare.
"I'm just sorry." he replied quietly.
She looked at him for a full minute, each of them in silence. It was far easier to pick him out in the rays of the dawn and she was determined to keep the promise she had made to herself, when they had been travelling together. Even if it was going to take her fifty years, she would learn to read Zuko's expressions.
But it was far harder than she thought.
It seems like there are only three emotions he ever uses. She thought a little sadly. Rage, sadness and if I'm lucky, some small form of happiness.
He seemed to grow uncomfortable under her scrutinising gaze, kicking at the floor with his bare feet.
"What?" he snapped, finally.
"It's nothing." Katara replied, uselessly. "I was just...looking."
Zuko sighed and took a step forward, rubbing again at his neck. The movement drew Katara's eyes to his chest. She remembered when he had been without a shirt for almost a week, whilst they were in the forest. How his body had always been so warm, even on the coldest morning. How smooth and certain his skin felt. How wonderful it had been to watch the morning dew fall from his chest...
Katara scolded herself for being so intrusive and tried not to blush. She looked up at his face instead. But he still wouldn't look up at her.
"Look." he began, sounding a little agitated. "Katara, I know I'm not good at this. At any of this. But I just...I just wanted to apologise for making you go in there tonight. For making you have to see it..."
Katara bit her lip awkwardly and stared down at the floor. The same, empty sadness seemed to wash over her. She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Zuko. You don't have to apologise."
They stood silently for a moment, watching the slowly filtering rays of dawn fill the sky.
"Why were you...looking?" he said stiffly. Katara tried not to smile. Did he sound shy?
"Well, you looked at me first, you know." she retorted playfully, teasing him. "I just thought it was fair. An eye for an eye..."
Zuko's lips formed the smallest of smiles. He turned, intent on finally looking at her when suddenly, he tensed, his body ram-rod straight.
Katara's head shot up to look at him, afraid that she had said something wrong. But both her and Zuko's attention was caught when a single, hardened chip of wood fell from the roof of the Three Embers Inn and land dully on the floor.
Zuko looked up at her, his eyes ablaze with fear. He shot into a bending position.
"Katara it's-"
But he was cut off when a hard object slammed hard into his back and sent him flying forward into the dirt at her feet, a small burst of flame trailing from his fist and dying again. He gasped for breath and tried to stand back up, reaching for the swords and dagger that weren't at his side.
He left them upstairs!
Katara shot into a bending position, releasing the water from her skins, but was pulled backwards roughly by something hard clasping her wrists behind her back. The water fell from the air uselessly and splashed onto the floor.
As she fell back onto the ground, her hands now immobile, Katara saw the stiff ground rise up around Zuko's hands as he tried not get up from the floor. They couldn't bend! She recognised the rock formation as she hurriedly tried to right herself. A pair of manacles, made from earth and shaped like gloved hands.
Not that. Anything but that!
Another pair of manacles shot out from the very darkness to clamp around Katara's ankles, sending her back down onto the floor. She tried desperately to right herself, as she saw another pair fly at Zuko's feet. But he noticed them first. Quickly, he shot his legs out from underneath him, with his wrists still locked into earth and kicked them into the side of a building, where they crumbled to dust uselessly. But he landed awkwardly with a thud and was unable to avoid the second pair that fastened him to the ground. He lay, flat on the floor, struggling against the iron hold of the rock.
"Toph!" Katara screamed up to the windows of the Three Embers. "Toph get-".
Silently, another stone manacle flew from the shadows and fixed itself over her mouth. She thrashed like a fish out of water, trying hopelessly to dislodge the bonds as she saw a figure emerge from the shadows behind Zuko.
The dark clothing of the figure was difficult to distinguish in the darkness, but the insignia on his chest confirmed her worst fears.
The Dai Lee! That must mean...Azula!
Her eyes widened in panic as the figure stood over Zuko and placed a booted foot on his head, pushing it down into the ground beneath. Struggling to prise himself from his restraints, Zuko let a breath of fire escape his lips. But the Dai Lee agent didn't even flinch as he pressed Zuko's face into the dirt.
Another figure came silently from behind Katara and picked her up off the ground, as easily as a newborn child. Her feet left the floor and she stared hatefully at the agent holding her hostage. But she couldn't see his eyes from underneath his rice hat in the darkness. Katara thrashed in the mans arms and tried to call out for help under the tight grasp of the rock hand covering her mouth. But it didn't help her.
Not Azula! Not Azula!
She could see Zuko's eyes looking up at the man holding her, burning in the darkness with a fierce hatred. He struggled in his earthly restraints, staring desperately at her, but the Dai Lee agent standing over him only pressed his foot down harder on Zuko's skull, making him flinch. They hadn't stood a chance.
"Welcome home, Prince Zuko." the emotionless voice said, looking down at him "Your presence has been requested by the Princess."
For a fraction of a second, Katara was certain that she saw the familiar flash of pale eyes in the window of the Three Embers Inn. But when she looked again, they were gone.
Author's Note : Ah, come on. You guys were all expecting it at some point. Azula doesn't like to be kept in the shadows after all.
As for those of you who have been asking if Nori's necklace (or the Blood Stone) has any special powers, then I'm afraid you're going to have to wait. None of the gang could actually see what it was doing over the crowd. But then again, it might not have done anything.
Ah, the suspense. I'm such a cow. XD