A/N:

WARNING!

THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"

Language, violence, sexual situations.

"Aw," The Pirate Captain laughed as he pressed his key into the lock. "Look at you two," Katara's eyes fluttered open as he stepped towards her. 'Why was he saying that?' She asked herself. She wiped her eyes and looked around, she was still sitting up against Zuko from the night before. Katara looked up at him and saw him scowling towards the pirate standing before them. She followed Zuko's gaze only to see a grubby hand coming towards her. She hissed has he grabbed her bruised and damaged shoulder, pulling her upwards. "That's only allowed in one place on my ship," He growled, looking her straight into her sleepy blue eyes, filling them with fear. "and you're about to find out."

She furrowed her brow in confusion as he pushed out of the cell. 'What did he mean by that?' Another pirate had been standing in the door, ready to catch her has she fell forward. Two other men had also slipped into the cell to hold Zuko and guide him to where ever it was they were going.

Katara looked back to Zuko. He wasn't struggling or fighting, he seemed as if he were still trying to wake up. So was she, but he was obviously more confused as to what was happening than she was. She didn't get to look at him long before the brute that was holding her pressed his hand against her mouth to make her face forward. She immediately flinched back. She hated their dirty hands touching her.

The men followed their captain up the stairs, this was the first time Katara ever got a good look at the hallway. The ceilings were so low, she was surprised none of the men had to lean down, but she did notice The Captain's hat constantly brush against the ceiling. She rolled her eyes at this. He could just take it off, how important was it that it had to be on his head at all times?

The Captain swung a door open and allowed his men to throw his prisoners onto a small bed that went across the far wall of the room. Katara and Zuko simultaneously sat facing the group of thieves, pressing their backs against the wall, wondering what was going to happen next. "So," The Captain spoke. "If you're comfortable enough to fuck in my cell, I'm sure you're comfortable enough to do it here." He said, motioning to the bed they were sitting on.

"What?" Katara asked aloud, tilting her head. She had never heard that word before and had no idea what it meant. She looked over to Zuko and was taken back when she saw absolute, pure horror in his eyes. She looked around, confused. 'What did we do?'.

She jumped when The Captain suddenly pushed her shoulder, causing her to fall back. The mattress was thin, and she hit her head on the floor when she landed. She slammed her eyes shut in pain and used her elbows to prob herself up. She could feel something over her and she shrieked when she opened her eyes, seeing The Captain hovering over her.

Katara turned away from her just as Zuko sent a fire blast at him. 'What!' She turned over onto her stomach and looked up. A pirate had already lunged himself onto Zuko, tackling him into the wall.

Katara lay there, stunned as she watched Zuko free his left arm from between himself and the wall to punch man square in the face. Zuko used this window of opportunity to kick the buccaneer off of him and onto the floor. Two more men came towards him. Zuko singled one out and punched him before he could reach him. The other one grabbed Zuko by the arm and fell on top of him. The pirate quickly put all his weight onto Zuko's smaller frame, pinning him to the mattress. Just as Zuko lit a flame into his right hand, another pirate grabbed his arm and pinned it down onto the bed. One of the men that had slipped out of the room came back with rounds of chain in his arms. "Found these earlier." He held them out to Captain.

"Chain him down." The Captain ordered, grabbing Katara by her arm and press her up against the wall. She was still to stunned and focused on Zuko to notice. She had no idea what was going on, or why Zuko was acting in such a way. He had said to not water bend and to not fight them yet. What did The Captain mean? What was happening? What was going to happen that had Zuko so scared? The word 'terrified' popped into her mind.

As the crew member dropped most of the chains onto the bed next to Zuko, he pulled one up, revealing that these were cuffs. As he chained Zuko's wrists to the bars of the cheap, old headboard that rested against the wall, the man that had pressed himself onto Zuko stood, and went to grab him by the leg. Zuko immediately protested and went to kick him. The pirate dodged, and grabbed him by the ankle, pressing his leg down into the mattress. Zuko crossed his leg over the other to kick him in the face. The brute shook it off and grabbed his leg with both hands as another pirate punched him in the mouth, then kicked him in the side as a quick punishment. Blood began to pool in the canyon between Zuko's lip and trickle down his cheek and onto his neck.

Katara shook out of her daze at the sight of this and lunged towards the man who hit Zuko, only to be held back The Captain's grasp. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her to make sure she was secure. She began to try to wiggle out of his hold, but was unable to, so she used her legs and began to kick at him. He scoffed and put one of his legs over both of hers, using the wall for support as he balanced on one foot.

The Captain waited for Zuko to be cuffed down onto the bed and once he was he held Katara with one arm and used his other to tear through her lower bindings and slip his hand down to rub her lower private area.

"Ew!" She cried out in disgust. "Don't touch me there!" Struggling to free herself of his grasp, she bent her head down and dug her teeth into his arm. The Captain let out a short yell in pain before throwing her down onto the bed next to Zuko.

"I am so tired of you doing that!" He exclaimed, point down at her. "I'll give you something to use your mouth on!" He growled, grabbing her by her hair, twisting it around his hand as he pressed her face down into the space between Zuko's legs.

!

Tears streamed down Katara's face and covered her cheeks as The Captain lifted her up by her hair and tugged her forward, forcing her to straddle Zuko, who had tried his best to cover his face with his arms. They had put a pair of short cuffs on her after she bent some water from the air. They knew that she wasn't skilled enough in the art of waterbending to be able to do it with simple flicks of the wrist or small finger movements. She needed to be able to fully use and extend her arms if she wanted to bend properly.

She sniffed, and opened her eyes for the first time in a while. Katara ignored the small audience of sick men that were standing around her, hands buried into their pants. She saw Zuko's wounded torso under her and noticed his ragged breathing. Her gaze slowly trailed up to his arms. He was using them to try to cover his face the best he could. There was a thin space between them and she could tell that he had his jaw clinched tight. His lips were pressed together and his eyes were slammed shut. He was trying to ignore everything that was happening and block it out. This made her even angrier than she already was.

She felt as if he had checked out and left her to deal and go through this alone. His arm had been her make-shift pillow on the first night, and her blanket on the second. Now, she wanted them to not only serve as her blanket a second time, but as her shield for the first. She just wanted him to hold her, to comfort her and to protect her from the horrors around her. The Captains sudden placing of his hand onto her back shook her from this fantasy.

She let out a loud shriek of pain when he forced her down onto Zuko. She dug her nails into his flesh and clawed down his chest and stomach, stopping just below his navel, leaving a long, crooked trail of broken skin along his torso. All of her muscles stiffened, and she shook terribly, sobbing as The Captain grabbed her by the hips and forced her grind against the male below her.

This went on for quite some time before one of the pirates scoffed and motioned towards Zuko. "He can't do it." The Captain laughed at this and finally took his hands from Katara's hips.

"This too awkward for you?" He laughed, pulling Katara up and dropping her to the ground, quickly twisting her hair around his hand again to keep her under his control. She stared down at the ground and could only hear them unchaining Zuko before they drug him through her range of sight. The Captain lifted her by her hair once again, following his crew to the small bathroom her and Zuko had used the day before.

They threw them into it once again and closed the door behind them. Zuko slammed into the shower wall before sliding down onto the floor. Katara managed to catch herself before she hit the floor. She continued to sob a she curled up into the corner of the shower. The water shot on, cold at first before slowly warming up. Katara tried to stop crying, but tears still ran her cheeks as she tried to clean away the blood that had dripped down her thighs. Her breath was seriously unsteady, she pressed her back against the wall and tried to calm down. The room was filling with steam and it became very hard to breathe, so she held her breath for a short while, and then slowly let it out before taking in slow, deep breaths. Once she was sure she was okay, she looked over to Zuko.

He was still in the position he had landed in, on his left side, facing the door to the shower. She remembered a pirate hitting him the face pretty hard, so she crawled over and leaned down in front of his face, using her left elbow to hold herself up.

"Let me see." She choked out, slowly putting her fingertips onto his lower lip, slightly pulling it down to make sure he hadn't lost any teeth. His mouth seemed to be okay, only his lip had been busted. "Do you want me to heal it?" She asked. He continued to lay there, staring out into space. "Zuko?" She called, no answer. She looked at him and noticed his eyes had dulled dramatically. She freaked, and leaned back to make sure his chest would rise and fall with his breath. It did, thankfully. "Zuko." She called. Again, he refused to answer her.

Katara huffed and pushed him up and against the wall into a sitting position. "Zuko, don't do this!" Her breath caught in her throat and tears welt up in her eyes. She pressed her hand against his shoulder and called for him again. When he continued to stay silent, she sat between his legs with her legs folded under her, placed his cheeks firmly into her hands, and looked him in the eyes. "Zuko, please!" She begged. "Please, please don't block me out, Zuko please!" She shrieked, shaking him a bit. His eyes flicked over and he focused onto her. "Please, please, please." She huffed, trying to get her breathing under control again. "I need you." Her voice broke and tears streamed down her face.

Zuko blinked and slowly brought his knees up, placing his elbows on them as always. He pressed his lips against her cheek without actually kissing her and slowly wrapped his arms tightly around her, before slowly leaning his head down, nesting his cheek into the crook of her neck.

Katara shook, and tried to regain control of her breathing. She wrapped her arms around Zuko's neck and curled up against him. She let out a long sigh and eased up, finally calming down. She couldn't believe by how safe she felt once he had his arms around her. She didn't even care that she was half naked or that he was completely. Or that he had been the enemy, or that she was away from her brother, held prisoner on a stolen ship, had just been force raped and had been forced to rape at the same time. It was as if everything else had disintegrated and it was just her and Zuko wrapped in each others arms. She let out a long sigh and realized that was all that mattered to her right now. She placed a hand on the back of his neck and held him tighter with her other arm. All she wanted to do was get off of this sorry excuse for a ship with him alive. She would get back to her brother and Aang later, right now Zuko was the only thing that mattered to her. She closed her eyes and wondered what caused this sudden need for him.

He was the only one on this boat with her. He was the only one being put into the same situations as she was, having to deal with the same things she was. Zuko was the only one who understood what she was going through and he would be the only one who knew or understood everything completely. He was exactly what she needed, the only one she needed 'And the only one you want with you' she concluded in her head. At this, she leaned back to face him, and covered his lips with hers. It took a second, but he returned the favor, gently and ever so slightly kissing her back. He broke the kiss and pressed his cheek against hers before returning his to his previous position. She sighed and rested her chin on his shoulder.

They stayed like this until the water began to run cold, then they moved under the shower head, out of the waters range. Katara wondered how they were controlling the water from a different location. Perhaps they would stop every other sink or shower on the ship, leaving the water on and only this shower on while they were on it. Once they wanted them to get out, they'd cut off the water supply to whole ship until the left, then come in here and turn this shower off so they could cut the water back on and used other sinks or showers as they pleased. Katara stretched her arm about above her, reaching her hand towards the knob that she guessed was the one you turned to turn the water on or off, but before she could grab it the water cut and the door swung open.

One of the crew members entered, with a new change of clothes in hand. He threw them on the ground and told them to 'hurry up' and that he didn't 'have all day'. They slipped on the clothes, which consisted of only one thin shirt and one thin pair of pants for each of them before three more men showed up to take them back to their cell. They made their way back to their cell without any struggle. Katara went in first and just as Zuko stepped into the cell, The Captains voice rung out from the bottom of the stairs telling him to stop.

He made his way his way over to Zuko and grabbed him by the back of the shirt. "You think you can try to fight us and get away with it?" He asked, turning Zuko and pushing him up the stairs. Katara jumped towards the opened cell door, but one of the men had stayed behind and closed it in her face. He belted out a laugh when he saw her crash into it. He waved her off and turned to aid in whatever it was that they were going to do to Zuko.

Katara held a bar in each hand tried not to cry again. She waited for a bit before slinking back to the far wall of the cell. There, she continued to cry until she hand no tears left. It wasn't long after she stopped crying when the men returned with Zuko. They swung the door open and dropped him onto the ground. He fell limply onto his left side.

Katara gasped went over to him. She covered her mouth with her hand and she was sure that if she hadn't already cried so much, she would be absolutely bawling right now. He had cuts, and even some gashes scattered across his body, with plenty of new bruises and welts to go along with them. His nose and mouth were bloodied and his right eye was already blackening. "Oh, Zuko." She sighed out, gazing at his battered body.

She laid down in front of him and wiggled closer to him. "It'll be okay," She whispered. "I could heal you, we could get out of here." She paused and took in a deep breath. "I'll be okay." She cried, wiggling a little closer to him. She allowed her eyes to slowly flutter shut as sleep took over her.

!

Katara woke up in what she figured to be the middle of the night, and saw Zuko still staring at her. She wondered if he had gotten any sleep. She opened her mouth to ask, but before she could he opened his.

"I'm so tired." He croaked out. Her heart skipped a beat and tears formed in her eyes. She understood completely. She gently placed her hand on the side of his face and ran her thumb over his cheek. "I don't wanna fight anymore," He struggled to say. Katara's face fell and she began to cry again.

"You don't have to."

"You know what I'd have to do if I didn't." Zuko's voice quivered and he looked away from her for just a moment before returning his focus on her eyes.

She huffed and took a sharp breath in. "Yeah." She cried, snuggling closer and curling against him. This meant he'd do as he was told without struggling. If they hadn't gone through what they did and he had suggested this earlier, she'd be livid, but seeing the direct aftermath of what one of his beatings looked like, she honestly didn't want him to fight, not until he was well enough to have a chance. She wondered if he would allow her to heal him now, maybe they could escape now... but then she figured that he was also mentally unstable. He needed to want to get out of here in order to be able to do it. She knew that right now, all he wanted to do was survive the night... at least she hoped that's what he wanted. She didn't want him leaving her in any form any time soon.

Katara rolled over and noticed another bowl of rice had been placed into the cell while they were sleeping. She reached out to grab and turned to face him. She held it and glared at him. "You're going to eat this." She told him, placing it down in front of him. "I'm not taking no for an answer." She said, sitting up. This surprisingly brought the smallest tug to the corners of his lips. His mind went back to when he was on his ship, he would have never of taken such an order from her, in fact, he wouldn't have taken any kind of orders from anyone back them. He turned over onto his back before opening his mouth wide enough for her to just be able to get the smallest bites into his mouth.

She slowly fed him the bowl of rice, she knew he hadn't eaten in days and she didn't want his body to reject it. She bent water from the air and placed it into the bowl before taking a sip. It seemed okay. This was the first drink of water she had in long time, she hadn't realized just how thirsty she was. She drank her fill before bending water for Zuko.

Once they were both hydrated, she placed the bowl back into the middle of the room and snuggled close to Zuko and they both tried to get some much needed sleep.

Aang let out a sigh of relief as Appa touched the ground. They had finally reached the mouth of the river. He hopped off Appa and started to help make camp. He hoped this plan would work and that they would see the stolen cargo ship pass by within a couple of days.

Just as they had finished setting up, a boat passing by caught Aang's attention. "Guys," He called out. "Guys... guys! Look!" He yelled out, pointing out to the ocean. "It's the ship! It's them!" Aang lifted himself onto Appa and grabbed the reins. Just before he could shout out 'yip yip' Sokka's voice rang out.

"Wait!" He said, holding his arm up. "Are you sure!" He asked, looking up at Aang. Aang nodded and motioned for him and Iroh to climb back up onto Appa.

"I can't believe it! Not even a day of waiting and we've already found them!" Aang exclaimed, obviously excited and happy to have finally found his dear friend. He came up to the ship and Sokka and Iroh look over the side of Appa's saddle to the small ship below them. It's engines were cut at the sight of them.

"Appa is much too large to be landed of the deck." Iroh pointed out, Sokka nodded.

"Excuse you!" A small, old man came out from the door of the boat. "Is there a problem!" He yelled out, looking up at the group above him. Their shoulders dropped as they realized this wasn't the pirates stolen cargo ship.

"Uh, I'm looking for a ship just like this...except full of pirates!" Aang called out with a cheesy smile on his face that quickly faded when the old man let out a great laugh.

"Ha! Good luck!" He laughed. "These boats are small and built for quick transport. We're trading boats. Tons of us go along the shore line all day long, buddy." He said, pointing ahead of him to the ship that looked exactly like his that was about to pass them. "You'd have to stop every single one of them, and we don't take too kindly to those who get in our way. Time is money! Now, get away from my boat!" The man said, waving them away and turning to go back into his small ship.

Aang pulled on Appa's reins and took him back to camp. "I can't believe it." He breathed out, kicking the dirt in front of him before plopping down onto the ground.

"I'm sure we'll find them." Iroh assured, giving Aang a small smile even though the young boy was looking down, away from him.

Aang looked up and noticed Sokka still sitting in the saddle. "Sokka?" He called, stretching his back and neck to get a better look at him. Sokka's face was twisted with anger. "Are you okay?" Sokka ignored and Aang stood up. "Sokka, are you o-"

"No!" Sokka yelled out, turning to face Aang. "No, I am not okay, Aang!" He said, hopping out of the saddle. "Katara is my baby sister! You didn't grow up with her, you're not related, you don't love her! When my father left he gave me one order, he made me promise him one thing. ONE! One thing! To protect Katara and to keep her safe! I was giving one task to do, Aang! And I've let everybody down! Horribly!" Sokka's voice quivered with the last words. He bit down onto his lip and tried to keep himself together.

"Sokka, I care about Katara, too." Aang said softly, trying to calm his friend down.

"Then why'd you let them take her!" Sokka asked, leaning towards Aang.

"They were gunna kill her!"

"They probably already have!" Sokka shouted, throwing his arms into the air. "Or've done other terrible things to her! You're the avatar, Aang! You had the chance to save her but you didn't! So you obviously don't care about her too much!"

"They had a knife and everything!" Aang tried to defend himself against Sokka's rage.

"You could have airbended it out of his hand! Or gone into the avatar state! I wasn't there, I couldn't have done anything!" Sokka then turned and pointed to Iroh. "And you," He growled out. "I've heard of you. The great General Iroh, The Fire Prince, The Dragon of The West. You were able to enter the walls of Ba Sing Se, but you couldn't save a little girl from a bunch of pirates!"

Iroh sighed and stood, facing Sokka. "You're right, I am all of those things, and I'm not about to let you speak to me or the avatar that way." He said, motioning towards Aang. "He did the right thing by letting them take her and Zuko. Had either him or I made a single sudden movement, they would have slit their throats right before our very eyes. I understand what you're feeling and-"

"No, you don't! How could you possibly know what I'm feeling?" Sokka asked, turning his side towards Iroh and crossing his arms.

Iroh sighed once again and looked down. This kid was even worse than Zuko. "I know what it's like to lose someone that you specifically were supposed to protect." Iroh forced out, still looking away from the water tribe boy in front of him.

"Pft, please." Sokka rolled his eyes ignorantly as Aang watched. He furrowed his bow and wondered what Iroh was speaking about. Zuko? Yes, but... someone else. "Zuko doesn't count, he's just your nephew. How could you have possibly lost anyone as close to you as Katara is to me?" Sokka continued to ramble on, insulting Iroh when the name hit Aang like a pound of rocks. 'Lu Ten'.

"Sokka!" Aang barked out, standing up to face him. "Stop it." He demanded. "You know nothing about him. How could you possibly know what he's gone through?" Aang asked, mocking Sokka's previous questions to Iroh. Sokka strangled the air before storming off towards the shore line. Aang turned to Iroh and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "I apologize for him. He's got the temper of a raging moose-lion."

"I understand what he's going through. Anger and guilt. He'll begin grieving soon, if we don't find her."

"We will." Aang said, giving Iroh's shoulder a small squeeze.

Iroh and Aang sat in front of the fire as Iroh began to brew a pot of nice, calming tea for all of them. Aang sighed and leaned back, wondering which boat Katara was on. He hoped she was okay and that they'd find her and Zuko soon, especially for Sokka's sake. Aang didn't know how long he could last before he totally lost it and freaked out over losing his little sister.

Aang looked over his shoulder and wondered if the pirates had gone up the river, and if perhaps the Gaang should start heading up it, or just sit here and wait it out.

A/N: Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter! No one said anything about the Legend of Korra reference I made in the last chapter. They were at Yue Bay and Aang said it would be a great place to turn into a city. That's where him and Zuko built Republic City! Well..I thought it was clever...

And to the anon 'sam' who pointed out the pirates not taking Aang when they had the chance, that will be answered in a later chapter.