A/N: Okay, to start out with, I just found out that Auschwitz is actually in Poland but I decided to keep it in Germany for the sake of this story. I know it's not geographically acurate, but you're just going to have to get over it. I'm too lazy to make major changes and plus, I'm swamped with fucking school work.

Anyway, sorry for the delay. I'm failing my English class cause my professor is a complete dick! According to him, I am the only person in the class who is not understanding the material at all. Bull-fucking-shit! You people see how good I write! I got an A in my last English class and now I have a fucking D! I swear, my professor hates me...

Oh, HJ, sorry for the "Army Dude" comment. I was having trouble deciding what to say and it came out funny. But seriously, if you had heard me talking when I wrote that, you would have laughed your ass off! I am THAT rediculous! Hey, maybe I'll be picking you and my best friend up in the middle of the warzone, who knows! The helos I want to fly do do rescue missions. Which military academy do you go to and where is it located? I attend Naval ROTC at the University of New Mexico and I love it there.

Anyway, people! Enjoy! XD

Chapter 5—Train Dangers

Zuko sat on top of his crate watching the others sleep peacefully as the train zoomed along the tracks towards the Polish border. He had woken up half an hour earlier from a large disruption on the tracks. Unable to go back to sleep, he sat up and began to form a plan for their escape from Auschwitz. He had already finished the basics to the plan and had begun to switch his mind to other, more serious matters.

He knew the Nazis wanted him more than they wanted the others. He knew things, things that Nazi Germany did not want the Allied Forces to know. If he escaped and got that information to the enemy, there was no telling what would happen to the empire Fuehrer Adolf Hitler had created. All the money that had been forged and sent to the enemy countries would be confiscated and Germany's plan for ruining the economies would be no more. Not to mention every single Nazi spy who used that money would be caught and executed. Germany just could not afford that loss, not now.

The train lurched as it went around another corner and he watched as Katara rolled over and hit the back of her head against another crate. She woke up with a start before sitting up and rubbing the back of her head. She did not notice Zuko watching her from his position on the crate above her as she proceeded to gather up a wad of straw and flatten it out for her new bed.

"Straw isn't that comfortable, you know that." Katara jumped from surprise when she heard Zuko's voice from behind. She nearly lost her balance making her fall onto the sleeping form of Aang but caught herself just as Zuko spoke again. "It'll make you itch."

"Zuko!" she whispered as she clutched her chest. "You really gave me a fright! Don't do that!"

He shrugged as he dangled his feet off the side of the crate. "I was just letting you know."

"Well, it can't be much worse than a hard, cold crate," she retorted, nodding in Zuko's direction.

He looked down at the crate he sat upon. He had not really noticed how uncomfortable it was. Now that she mentioned it, he could feel the hard wood digging into his thighs and the cold suddenly made him shiver. Zuko pushed the unpleasant thoughts from his mind and shook his head.

"You'd be surprised at how comfortable they really are," he stated.

She glared at him and lay down on her haphazardly made straw bedding. She had just closed her eyes when he spoke again. "You look cold, why don't you come up here with me?"

She raised her head and gawked at him. "I don't think that is such a good idea," she replied.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want my brother to yell at you again when he wakes up and sees us."

Zuko pretended to think for a moment before speaking. "Good point," he replied.

Katara smiled and nodded before laying back down on her straw bedding and falling back to sleep.

---

Zuko opened his eyes at the sound of voices very near him. He must have dozed off into a half-sleep after his short conversation with Katara and by the looks of things; that was only a few hours before hand. The night was still dark but the train was no longer moving. Curious, Zuko quietly slid off his crate and crept over to the sound of voices to peek out the crack between the baggage car door and the wall. Squinting through the narrow space, he could barely make out three figures, one looking to be the engineer of the train and the other two were Nazi soldiers.

"Just open the car," one of the Nazis said irritably to the engineer. "We were told of a group of fugitives from German law were trying to escape the country and we have orders to check every train, every bus, and every car around the border until we find them."

"But who would travel for several days on end in a baggage car?" the engineer argued. "It just doesn't seem logical!"

"Logical or not," the second soldier said. "We have our orders and we must carry them through. Now I am ordering you to open that door!"

Zuko did not stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. They were in a tight situation and they needed a way out. Quietly moving to the others, he woke them up one by one and warned them of the situation.

"What are we going to do?" Aang asked no one in particular.

"Simple," Zuko replied. "When they enter the car and search around the crates, move yourself around so you are on the opposite side of the crates as they are, that way they will never see you." He glanced at the frightened face of Katara and then down at the straw bed she had made only hours before. With that laying around, they were bound to get caught. "And make sure you do not leave anything lying around that's ample evidence that you're here." He looked Katara right in the face as he spoke and she knew exactly what he was thinking. Bending down, she quickly shuffled up the straw and hid behind the crate just in time for the door to the car to slide open allowing one of the soldiers to enter the car.

The group stayed in the corners, out of sight of the two who stood just outside the car while the soldier checked behind Zuko's crate first. He held his breath, not wanting to betray his position on the opposite side as the soldier. The moment the ex-Nazi saw the barrel of the soldier's rifle come around the corner of the crate, Zuko moved around so that he was not seen. Once satisfied that no one was there, the soldier moved along the back end of the car and swept the area in a big circle, arriving at Toph's crate last.

Zuko was amazed at how well the little blind girl was able to keep out of sight of the soldier. She was right when she told him she did not need her eyes to see. Even though she was blind, she could still feel the vibrations of the soldier's footfall with her own feet and heard his loud motions. She knew exactly where he was.

Zuko heard a soft thump to his left. He jolted his head in the direction of the sound and saw the scared and surprised face of Aang. Looking down to the ground, he saw a canteen lying on the floor of the car bathed in the light of a flashlight. The teenager attempted to reach out and take it back but Zuko shook his head violently and mouth the word "no" to him. Aang froze in his tracks as the soldier walked over and picked up the full canteen. As silently as he could, Zuko motioned for the boy to go around the crate and hide behind it while mouthing directions. Aang did as he was told but Zuko thought that his heart had skipped a beat when the soldier called for his partner.

"Look at this," the first one said as he handed the canteen to his partner. "It's still full and I've seen flattened straw indicating that someone has either been in here or is still in here."

The second soldier frowned as he studied the canteen. Hooking it to his belt, he began to walk around the crate while his partner did the same around the other side.

Zuko knew he had no choice when he saw the second soldier enter the baggage car. Slowly and quietly, he pulled his rifle out and cocked a bullet into place before stepping out into the open and nudging the barrel against the soldier's back.

"Do not move," Zuko demanded with a harsh voice. "If you do, you will find a bullet lodged in your spine before you have time to say 'New World Order'." The soldier froze making Zuko smile ever so slightly. "Now drop your rifle and hand it to my friend." He pointed over the Nazi's shoulder at Aang who had come back around the side of the crate. The soldier did as he was told and Aang begrudgingly took the rifle from the man. "Now turn around, hand me your pistol and remove your uniform."

The soldier turned around and glared at Zuko with the utmost malice as he handed over his pistol. When he paused, Zuko poked him in the stomach with the barrel of his rifle and the soldier disdainfully removed his uniform and gave it to the ex-Nazi as commanded. Zuko sarcastically thanked the man and, with his rifle still pointing at him, he walked around the crate to see what had happened to the other soldier. To his great surprise and delight, Sokka had taken care of the other just as Zuko had done.

"Great job, Sokka," Zuko praised. "Now grab his uniform and let's get out of here."

"What about the engineer?" Katara asked as she helped her brother pack up the uniforms.

Zuko stole a glance out the train car door and saw the small blind girl angrily threatening the already frightened engineer. Turning back to the gypsy girl, Zuko smiled and said: "I think Toph has that covered."

The soldier who had his clothes taken from Sokka tried to run, but Zuko pulled out the pistol he had taken off the other soldier and pointed it in the man's face. He stopped in his tracks and walked off the train with his partner at Zuko's commanding nudge.

"What should I do with the engineer?" Toph asked. Zuko turned to see the small girl with the relatively larger man's arms twisted behind his back.

"Take him back to the engine and tell him to get the train going again," Zuko replied. "He's of no concern to us."

"But won't he just tell the Nazis of our whereabouts?" the blind girl asked.

Zuko smiled evilly. "If he knows what's best for him, he won't"

The engineer shuddered as Toph led him back to the front of the train. Zuko took the time to blindfold the two soldiers and kneel them down in the dirt facing the train with their hands tied behind their backs.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, sounding both frightened and nervous at the same time.

"Making sure they can't tell their commanding officer of where we are or where we're going," he replied as he set his rifle down in the dirt and loaded his Broom Handle. Frowning, he pointed the pistol at the back of the soldier's head. He had no problem killing these men. He had recognized them as two of the men in the company that he had been with when raiding Katara and Sokka's gypsy encampment. They were good friends of Sergeant Emde and no doubt they were going to get their revenge on Zuko for killing him if he let them go. He could not let that happen, not when Katara's life would be at stake, along with everyone else in the group. He would not risk everyone's lives for his rash actions.

Carefully taking aim and ignoring the motion of the train in front of them, his finger was squeezing on the trigger when Katara stopped him. "No!" she cried. His finger immediately flew off the trigger and he felt Katara's hand on his shoulder. He turned to see her eyes about to flood with tears as she looked up at him pleadingly. "Please don't," she begged.

"Katara, these men were two of the men who attacked your home and took Suki to Auschwitz," Zuko argued. "If I don't do this, they will warn Zhao of our whereabouts!"

She shook her head as she wiped away the few tears that escaped passed her guard. "They aren't hurting us now! They don't deserve to die!" He glared at her angrily and she withdrew back towards her brother. "Please, don't do this…"

Zuko glanced from the two men bent on their knees for execution back to Katara's pleading face. He sighed, knowing that he was going to regret this. Placing his Broom Handle back in its holster, he picked his rifle up off the ground and, ignoring the small gasps from behind him, bashed the butt of the rifle into the back of the soldier's heads, effectively knocking them out cold. He turned around and saw Katara's face buried in her brother's shoulder and Sokka glaring at Zuko with hatred in his eyes that the ex-Nazi had never seen before. In that one look, Sokka showed more anger directed towards him than when he had been found sleeping next to Katara. Mistrust, hatred, anger; it all showed in the man's eyes.

Turning back to the two men unconscious on the ground, he picked one up on his shoulders and began walking to the small cliffs and rocky hills the train had been traveling next to. He looked at Sokka who only glared back at him. "I need your help with this," he said as calmly and seriously as he could. We need to take these men somewhere that they won't know where they are when they wake."

The young gypsy looked at his sister for a moment and then nodded, gently pushed her off him, and grabbed the other man and followed Zuko towards the rocky hills.

---

Toph was already back and the sun had risen when Zuko and Sokka returned from dumping the unconscious bodies up in the cliffs. When the two men returned, the group gathered up their belongings and heading through the hills along the railroad tracks. The rest of the trip to the town was rough. There were few trees and the summer sun beat down on them relentlessly. Everyone was sweating profusely by the time the sun set and they had set up camp in a cave near a flowing stream.

They sat around a fire eating their canned beans and dried meat as Zuko looked over the maps and concluded that they had already crossed over the German border and would reach their destination by nightfall the next day. Happy that they would finally be able to sleep in an actual bed again, they all settled down and went straight to sleep.

Zuko sat awake long after everyone had fallen asleep. He could not help thinking that he would see the two men unconscious in the hills once again. He knew he should have killed them, but something about the way Katara had looked at him made him change his mind. He looked down at her sleeping form and smiled. She looked so peaceful when she slept. She was beautiful and he knew he felt something for the gypsy girl, he just did not know what. He had one fear, however. He was afraid that when this adventure was over, he would no longer be able to see her again. There was no way he would be able to bear the pain of leaving her; of watching her leave him, leave him forever.

That was one thing he could not face; the one thing he was afraid of.

A/N: Next chapter you might get to see some actuall love happening, or you might not! And Sokka's going to do something drastic! I'll let you decide what that is... You might be proved wrong, you might be proved right.

Can't wait for the next chapter? No? I thought so.