A/N: As promised, here is the fruit of my labor. The flashback is over now, and it's still Katara's POV. No, ATLA ain't mine.
Chapter Six: Elope
An hour, a day, a week; I'm not sure how long I've been asleep. I just know that after father and son left, I was left to literally sweat it out here in the fiery cage. Only Ozai had underestimated me; I managed to use my sweat to bend the bathroom sink faucet on, and use the free flowing water to disintegrate my restraints and stretch out some. I had considered going after them, but had a better idea. Sleep. Going after them now would prove to be futile. If I rest up now and eat a little, I could surely do some damage against Ozai, who'd been fighting all day now. Sleep had come easy, but food was my current obstacle.
I took to wandering the halls, and my heart leapt when I heard a baby's soft garbles. I stopped in my tracks and tried to hone in on the sound, searching desperately for its source. I came up into an open doorway where the frail woman I'd seen earlier coddled Ty Lee's little brother. Upon seeing me, he began to wriggle in her arms to get down. She seems disconcerted at first, seeing that I'm no longer with the prince or Firelord, but eases when I embrace the baby. "Where Su-oh? Him gone?" he asks. My smile fades when I stroke his dark hair and my fingers run across a few stitches. So he was hurt. "I'm right here" his low voice is like a slap to my cheek, and I slowly turn.
Zuko is here, but barely. His body is laden with cuts and a few bruises, some I can heal, others that will have to be left to time. His golden eyes bear no remorse for whatever it is he has just done, and this worries me. "Zuko, what happened?" "I've been looking for you. Where were you?" he asked. "In the Firelord's chambers, then I came here. What did you do? Where is Ozai?" I demand now, not willing to be distracted. He takes my face in his, and proves me wrong; my will is no match for this. His kiss is deep, and does well to frighten me with the force, persistence behind it. I pull back, and this time, he does answer me. "Katara, Ozai is going to kill me."
"No. We can leave now" he shakes his head "Katara, he's on his way right now with Azula in tow" there is nothing I can say to that. I clutch the boy even tighter "Then we should go!" he nods, but I can see the anger in his eyes at the prospect of fleeing. He does not understand the dire consequences of staying, just sees more and more distance between him and his honor. The woman steps forward solicitously but I dismiss her with a wave and head back to Ozai's room. Zuko unsheathed his broadswords and muttered "Leave the child" before jumping lithely out of the spacious window. I scream, but when I get to the window, I see he's perfectly fine, about 15 feet below me. I lower the baby, but hesitate. Was he serious? If he is, there's a chance he'll refuse to catch him. No, he wouldn't. I kiss the boy's forehead and send him shrieking down to Zuko. Relief overwhelms me when he catches him. Now it's my turn; he catches me as if I'm weightless, and lowers me slowly to the ground. However, the compromising position brings a blush to my cheeks, or maybe it was because of the smirk he wore that intimated he was enjoying this. His hands ruffle my pants and send shivers up my spine until my feet touch the ground, and I straighten my shirt nervously. Zuko motions for me to hide in the woods beside the left wall, and I understand; we'll need food. He darts off towards the courtyard, illuminated by a beautiful white moon…Yue.