A/N: Wooo! Done with the re-writes! Now it's just me from here on out! You all get to know what happens next! Isn't that wonderful!? X)

Hey, HJ, whoever you are, Army dude... I do not believe I have historical mistakes, so would you please just drop the subject? It is starting to get a little annoying. I do my research, in case you were wondering (I'm very well aware of the atrocities of both sides of the war, even America has no right to bitch. We were pretty bad ourselves, as was England and other countries). Just out of curiousity though, where are you studying? West Point? ROTC at some college? Or are you still in high school? (If this last question offends you, I'm sorry, but I'm just curious.) You want to be a ranger, huh? I want to fly helos. Didn't think about him buying the Broom Handle, thanks.

Chapter 4—Knowing the Unknown

Night fell on their fifth day traveling. The group was tired, filthy, and hungry but they kept their spirits high knowing that they would one day see their lost friend again. Aang had found a lake a bit further from the road than they had camped before and a cave big enough to fit all of them several yards away. They made camp in the cave, built a fire, cooked their supper, and laid out their sleeping mats. As usual, Zuko sat apart from the group, leaning against the mouth of the cave and staring out into the night. The others busied themselves with chit chat and ghost stories while he ignored them, thinking to himself.

He did not look at the group that night; he did not want to nor did he need to. He knew Katara was staring at him like she always did, he could feel it. Rubbing his sore neck from the heavy pack he had been carrying all day, he looked at his hand and saw a layer of dirt had come off his neck and lay in his palm. He was filthy, they all were, but yet why was he the only one who seemed to care about that? The others knew there was a lake, but not one of them seemed to realize what it could be used for. No one was moving anytime soon so he decided to go himself. Ignoring Katara's watchful eyes, Zuko stood up and left the cave, walking down the hill to the shore of the lake.

---

Katara seemed to be the only one who noticed Zuko get up and leave the cave. She ignored it, thinking he was just going out to relieve himself but after half an hour without him returning, she realized her assumption was wrong. Where DID he go? She wondered. Maybe I should go find him. Standing up, she walked around the fire towards the mouth of the cave, but stopped when she heard Toph's voice.

"Where are you going, Katara?" the blind girl asked.

"Oh," she said, at a loss for words. She had not thought about explaining what she was doing to her friends. "I was just going to check on Zuko."

Aang's head popped up from his pillow and he looked around the cave with wide eyes. "Zuko? Zuko left?" he asked. It was obvious he had not noticed their escort was missing.

"Why?" came Sokka's annoyed tone.

"Just to make sure he's okay," Katara replied. "He's been gone for quite some time now."

"He'll be fine!" her brother said, waving his hand in a dismissive motion. "Give him an hour, he'll be back. Now sit down and tell us one of your ghost stories. You know how we all love them."

Katara shook her head. "No, Zuko's been gone for half an hour, something might have happened." She turned back around and left the cave. "I'll be back in a bit."

The whole group watched her leave without letting them say anything in return. After a minute of silence, Sokka spoke sarcastically: "Suit yourself."

---

Zuko stood in the lake with the water up to his waist. He had left his clothes on a tree branch near the edge of the water before getting in to wash up. Digging his hand into the cool liquid, he splashed water onto his body and scrubbed. He wished he had soap but that was not a luxury any of them could afford right now.

It was tough, scrubbing all the dirt and grime off his body when all he had to use was water. To wash his mucky and greasy hair, Zuko took a big breath, filling his lungs with all the air they could hold, and ducked under the water. He ran his fingers roughly over his scalp and felt all the dirt and twigs untangle themselves and rinse out into the lake. Finally, when he could no longer hold his breath, he quickly lifted his head and torso out of the water. Shaking his head from side to side like a dog, most of the water clinging to his hair flung off and fell back into the lake. Rubbing is eyes and opening them, he stared at his reflection on the lake's surface in the moonlight. He was ragged and had begun to grow scruff on his chin and upper lip. He hated facial hair and hoped he would be able to find a razor at a decent price at the next town.

He heard a twig suddenly snap from behind him and, thinking that he had been caught, whirled around only to see the gypsy girl looking sheepish and standing at the edge of the lake where his clothes were resting. At first he felt embarrassed, seeing as he was completely naked with a girl watching him. But when she did not move and he saw the blush on her cheeks, he grew angry. Had she been watching him the whole time?

"What are you doing here!?" he yelled, anger and irritation apparent in his voice.

"I…I'm sorry!" she stuttered. "I didn't mean to see you bathing! I mean, I didn't see anything!" She was trying to cover her tracks and it was not working.

"Get out of here," Zuko growled. When she did not move, he resorted to yelling. "Get out! Now!" He saw tears begin to well up in her eyes but he ignored them and let his anger get the best of him.

"I'm sorry, Zuko," she said, her voice shaking.

"GO!" he roared, splashing water up at her. She yelped and ran off back into the woods.

Still fuming, he picked up a rock and threw it against a tree before crying out in anger and punching the water. Zuko could tell he was becoming his father and he hated himself for it. He had shouted at the girl, was angry at her, and for what reason? He had no idea, which made him even angrier. Walking out of the lake, he sat down on a rock next to the branch that held his clothes and leaned his elbows against his knees. He ran his fingers through his wet hair, trying to figure out why he had yelled at the gypsy. She did not deserve it, that much he knew, but somehow his reasons for yelling eluded him. He felt terrible and yet justified at the same time and not being able to explain either emotion. Sighing, he stood up, put his clothes back on and headed back to the cave.

---

Sokka looked suspiciously from his little sister to the ex-Nazi leading their way. Something had happed last night when Katara had gone to find Zuko, he just could not place what it was. Katara did not even glance at Zuko's back the whole day, which was strange considering that was all she would do when they first started traveling. Sokka caught Zuko stealing glimpses at his sister every now and then, but he seemed sad when he saw she was not staring at him in return. What was going on? What happened between the two?

"Hey, Katara," he said, grabbing his sister's shoulder. She looked up at him as if nothing were wrong and smiled before she continued walking. Sokka followed her and fell into pace with her. "You mind filling your big brother in on the events of last night?"

She halted her sauntering and glared at her brother. "It's nothing you should be concerned about, Sokka!" she snarled. Sokka was taken aback by his sister's sudden serious anger and just watched as she stalked off ahead of him. So this was the complete result of the shouting he thought he had heard coming from the lake.

---

That evening, a small town appeared at the end of the road. As a precaution, Zuko took Aang with him to see the state of the town. Hiding his rifle in his pack, he and Aang snuck into the town and observed the people living there. It appeared to be occupied by the German's, as were all of the towns near the border, and lucky for them, the people were not Jewish or gypsies but had the dark hair and some had dark skin. Their small group would be able to blend perfectly with the townsfolk. Returning to the others, Zuko and Aang told them that they would be able to stay at an inn for once, get a decent meal and comfortable sleep. Everyone was excited but still remained cautious as they all headed into town.

"This place seems nice," Aang stated as he looked around at the buildings and people. "I'm sure we'll be able to find a good inn here; I'm tired of sleeping in the dirt."

"There's nothing wrong with dirt," Toph interjected. "I personally like sleeping outdoors."

"We're not all land-lovers like you, Toph," Sokka cut in. "To you, we're more like seafaring pirates!" He curled his right index finger into a hook and squeezed one eye shut to imitate an eye patch. "Arrr!" he said. "Hand over yer treasure!" Everyone laughed and was grateful for the brief moment of happiness before Zuko stopped them by pointing out an inn for them to stay in.

"This place should do," he said, pointing up at a big, rough looking building. "We need to conserve our money, we can't just spend it all on some fancy hotel," he explained when he saw the downhearted looks of his companions. "Otherwise we won't have enough for the return journey."

They all begrudgingly agreed and followed their German leader to the front door of the building, however, they were stopped before they could reach it by a soldier patrolling the streets. "State your business here," he demanded.

Zuko took a deep breath before answering. "We're German travelers," he stated. "We are just taking a short vacation from our busy lives in the homeland." The soldier stared at the group as if he did not believe them and Zuko could sense that the others were unsure and nervous. They feared that his lie would not work, but Zuko held his ground with no expression on his face and the guard finally gave in.

"Very well," he sighed. "But you all should be heading back home soon. War is no time for a holiday."

Zuko smiled and nodded, motioning for the others to follow, but the soldier stopped him by grabbing his shoulder before he could reach the door to the inn.

"You," he said. "You look familiar."

The young German was taken off guard. How did this man know him? He had certainly never seen the soldier before. But he had to keep his composure or they all were in trouble. Zuko shrugged. "I get that a lot," he lied. "I'm pretty sure we've never met, you must have me mixed up with someone else."

The Nazi soldier seemed to buy the lie he was fed and removed his hand from Zuko's shoulder. "Okay, well get back to Germany soon." Zuko nodded as the soldier left and he led the group into the lobby of the inn.

"That was easy," Toph declared.

"Easy!?" Katara cried. "He nearly caught us!"

"Keep your voice down!" Zuko demanded. "The solders might hear you!"

Katara frowned but could not argue with Zuko's logic. "Fine!" she huffed. "Have it your way!" She then stalked off, leaving the rest of the group utterly baffled.

"Jeez," Sokka breathed. "What did you do to get her angry?"

Zuko just ignored him. He knew the gypsy was just trying to get information on the happenings of the night before so he refused to answer. Instead, he walked over to the innkeeper and ordered up their rooms.

---

The inn only had rooms with one bed so they had to rent out five rooms total. Zuko sat alone in his room on the edge of his bed. He could not sleep; something about the gypsy girl had seeped inside his heart, but he did not know what it meant. She was mad at him and he hated that. He did not want her to be mad at him and he did not know why. She had not glanced in his direction all day and when she did, it was in anger. He wanted her gaze of fascination and intrigue to come back. He missed her stares and hated to see her angry. There was only one way he could bring it back, he had to apologize to her.

Settling on a course of action, he stood up and exited his room. Walked down the hall to the room Katara had taken, and knocked three times before waiting for an answer. There was no answer but the door opened and the tanned girl stood in front of him with puffy, red eyes. Has she been crying? Zuko asked himself. He realized that he was probably the last person she wanted to see standing at her door and that he was most likely the reason why she was crying, but he had come there for a reason and he was not leaving until he had talked to her.

"Can I come in?" he asked. She nodded and stepped aside, allowing him access to the room. Sitting down on the bed, he hung his head, thinking of how he was going to start before lifting it and looking Katara right in the eyes. "I'm sorry," he began. "I'm sorry for yelling at you the other night, I'm sorry for your family, I'm sorry for your friends, and I'm sorry for what my people have done to you and to this world." Katara just stared at him, not sure what to make of what he was saying. "I know that there is no way I would be able to make it up to you and I can't say that I haven't been a part of the atrocities my countrymen have committed , but what I can say is this: I am sorry and ashamed of what I've done and what my people have done and I feel like I do not deserve your forgiveness." Zuko looked down at his feet. "I deserve to be ridiculed and humiliated, to be cast out in shame." He stood up and walked towards the door of the room, stopping just passed the gypsy girl. Katara watched him, her face a mask of confusion, hate, and sadness and one last tear escaped her guard as he said his last words. "I deserve to die." He then continued walking and left the room, leaving Katara alone once again.

---

Zuko lay on his bed, his shirt and shoes removed and sitting on a chair next to him. When he had returned from Katara's room, he had once again attempted to fall asleep, but to no avail. He sighed and closed his eyes without caring whether he fell asleep or not anymore. He knew, just knew that he would not be able to find peace until Katara had given him a reply to his apology. But what did he expect? Immediate forgiveness? As if that would ever happen. There was no way she would pardon him, not after what he did. He knew that and had long since accepted it.

There was a quiet knock at the door and, not caring who it was, he said: "It's open, you can come in." He heard the door unlatch and the hinges creek and looked up to see Katara shut the door behind her and stand in front of the bed, her head bowed as she fidgeted with her fingers nervously. "Katara!" he gasped as he sat bolt upright on the bed.

"May I sit down?" she asked. He nodded and she sat right next to him. She did not look at him as she spoke, but simply stared at the floor as if she had found great interest in the wooden boards beneath her feet. "I…thought about what you said," she began. "And I just wanted to say that even though you don't want it, I have already forgiven you."

Zuko looked aghast. He stared at her, eyes wide in shock and just gaped at a loss for words. Did she really mean that, or was she just pretending? She could not be pretending, she had to be telling the truth. But how?

"You really mean that?" he asked completely baffled.

She nodded, took his hand in hers and smiled up at him. "I do," she said. "How could I not forgive the man who saved my life as well as my brother's and my friends'?"

"But I haven't saved all your friends," he protested. "What about Suki?"

"Does it matter?" she asked. "You're risking everything to help us and that is all that matters to me. Thank you Zuko, thank you for everything." She hugged him, wrapped her arms around his neck and held him in a warm embrace. It was strange to him, a new sensation that he had not felt since he was a child. What was it? He could not remember, but when he gave into it and returned the embrace, the word finally came to him.

Love.

---

Zuko woke groggily to a loud banging on his room door. Blinking his eyes several times, he listened intently to the voices coming from the other side of the door.

"Sokka, we don't even know if what you're saying is the truth!" It sounded like Toph, but the young German could not be sure.

"I know it's the truth!" came Sokka's angry and loud reply. "She's not in her room, she's not in yours or mine so it has to be him!"

The words seemed to flow in one ear and out the other. Zuko was still exhausted from the night before and he did not seem to care for what was happening, he just wanted to rest a bit longer. It was not until a loud bang issued into the room did he open his eyes to see a very angry and very irritable Sokka staring him dead in the eyes. Confused, he rolled over in bed to see the sleeping form of Katara right next to him. Oh, shit.

"What is this!?" Sokka yelled.

"Uh…" was all the young German could stammer out before Sokka was yelling again.

"Get away from my sister!" he demanded. "I had a feeling you were obsessed with her!"

"What!?" he cried, sitting bolt upright in bed. "I am not obsessed with anyone!"

"Then why are you sleeping with my sister!?"

Zuko really did not have a valid explanation for him. He looked around the room and noticed that the sun had already risen and was shining brightly through the thin curtains overhanging the one small window in the room. He saw that a confused Toph and a nervous Aang had followed Sokka into the room and their eyes were just now drinking in the scene before them. Looking down at Katara's sleeping form, all the memories of the night before came flooding back to him. Oh, that's right. Katara and I stayed up late talking and just fell asleep here. He saw that her hair was slightly covering her face and as he reached out to brush it away, her brother lashed out and knocked his hand away.

"Don't you touch her!" he bellowed.

Just then, Katara began to wake and she rubbed her eyes as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Zuko?" she asked groggily. "Who's yelling?" Immediately, Sokka ran over to her and yanked her out of the bed and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Sokka, what…?" It was apparent that she was really confused by the situation.

"You just stay away from her!" he bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at Zuko.

"Sokka, what are you doing?" Katara asked, quite appalled at her brother's actions.

"Getting you away from this creep!" he replied.

"What!?"

"Did he hurt you, Katara?"

"What?"

"Did he hurt you!?" Sokka repeated the question.

"No! Of course not! Zuko would never do anything like that!"

Sokka looked at his little sister as if she were a different person. "Don't you dare say you wanted it." He almost sounded like he was going to cry.

"Sokka, I'm surprised at you!" she shrieked. "Put me down this instant! Put me down!"

"Fine!" Sokka growled, throwing her back at Zuko who caught her and wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Do what you want, see if I care!" He then fled the room followed quickly by Toph and Aang.

"What is with him lately?" Katara asked no one in particular with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"He's just being an older brother," Zuko replied. "He feels the need to protect you now that your parents are gone."

"Well, it's stupid," she huffed. "I can do just fine on my own."

Zuko raised an eyebrow and smiled down at her. "Are you sure about that?" he asked sarcastically.

She frowned before saying: "One time, ONE time! And even then Sokka couldn't do anything. That was all you!" He smiled as he let her go and stood up and walked to the door. "I'm going to go get dressed. I'll see you at breakfast?" She was smiling now.

He nodded and she left the room.

---

Once packed, the five refugees walked through the town, ready to leave and move on after they had eaten a decent meal. While Toph and Aang were off searching for a cheap place to eat, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko looked around the town square.

"For the last time, Sokka," Katara pleaded with her brother as soon as she was sure Zuko was out of earshot at the other end of the square. "Zuko and I were just up late talking last night and we must have drifted off! Why can't you understand this?"

Sokka frowned and sat down on a bench. He sighed. "Things were just so much simpler when you and Aang had a crush on each other and Suki and I used to dance to the songs on the radio…" He trailed off and glanced down at the ground. Katara saw a single tear slip past his guard, slide down his cheek and fall to the ground between his feet. He was hurting more than anyone in the small group but it was so difficult to tell because he always channeled his sorrow into his distrust of Zuko. Katara knew her brother would not be able to hold that mask for much longer.

She sighed and walked away and saw Zuko staring at a notice board across the way and strolled over to him. He turned when he heard her approaching and she smiled at him. Zuko only nodded and looked back at the board.

"Sokka's really hurt," she told him. "I think we should give him some space for a while."

Zuko did not answer for a while before changing the subject completely. "According to this," he said, pointing to a flyer pinned to the notice board. "There is a train in this town that can take us to a small town not too far from Auschwitz."

Katara stared at the paper for a moment before answering. "That's very convenient but how are we going to get seats? In case you've forgotten, we don't have any travel papers."

Zuko only smiled devilishly. "Who said anything about getting seats?" he asked.

---

They stole quietly through the train station to the baggage cars near the end of the train. Zuko led the way, followed closely by Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka who brought up the rear. Everyone in the group nervously glanced around their surroundings knowing that if they were caught sneaking onto a train heading out of the country, major suspicion would arise among the guards checking for travel papers.

Zuko reached the car first and held out his hand to Aang. The boy took it and was helped onto the train before the rest. The former Nazi climbed in last and sat down on a crate in the corner of the car.

"Things are only going to get harder from here on out," he told his companions. "I hope you're ready for this." They all nodded, determination evident in their eyes. Satisfied, Zuko leaned against the side of the train car and closed his eyes, deciding on getting as much sleep as he could before he embarked on the toughest mission of his life.

---

Suki lay on the cold, concrete floor of the small building she shared with the other female prisoners unable to sleep due to the pain in all her muscles and joints. Her head had been shaved bald days earlier and since then she had been put to work for over fourteen hours a day and only fed once a day. The work she had been ordered to do seemed utterly pointless to her; move giant, heavy rocks from one big pile to another, dig a trench, pull up weeds with her bare hands, and so forth. Strangely enough, it felt to her like they were all digging their own graves, quite literally.

She heard the girl right next to her cough violently from the cold. Suki knew the girl was going to be taken away soon. That always happened when someone showed any signs of sickness. They were taken away and they never came back. Suki covered her own nose and mouth hoping that she would not catch what the girl had.

A single tear fell from her eyes as she remembered those she had left behind. Where are you, Sokka?

A/N: You know what, I'm going to borrow Schindler's List from a friend of mine to help me write this story. I haven't seen it but my sister says it's really good. Who knows, maybe the movie will give me some ideas for the plot! That's always fun! :)

I've decided to give up on asking for reviews. I have now decided to no longer care! Yay!