Hey everyone. I just want to apologize for last Wednesday. I knew I was going to be late but I did not think my appointment would take that long. So, to make up for it, this Wednesday I decided to post two chapters; so you will have this one and you'll get to read Chapter ten. Again, I'm really sorry I was so late posting last week but please enjoy these two chapters!

-Katara-

"Is it really that bad?" I asked as he took another shaky breath.

"Yeah, but all try my best to explain. If you get scared at any point and want me to stop just say so." I tried to put a small smile on my face to encourage him to begin. "Well, for me, being a fire bender is frowned upon by others."

"But aren't there other kinds of benders out there?" I interrupted.

"Yes."

"So what makes you so different from them? You make it sound like everyone hates fire benders."

"They have a very good reason to" he mumbled.

"I don't understand" I responded quietly.

"This conflict has been going on long before you and I were born." He paused to collect his thoughts; so I would assume any way. "For the past one hundred years there has been a war going on. The Fire Nation started it. They thought they were the superior element compared to water, earth, and air so they wanted to 'expand their glory'" he said using air quotes. "Fire lord Sozin was the one to start the war when he attacked the Air Nomads. After that they attacked villages in the Earth Kingdom and they also attacked the Water Tribes a couple of times."

"Wha—what happened to the other benders?" I asked nervously; I'm not even sure if I want to hear the rest of this.

"The people of the Earth Kingdom as far as I can tell continue to fight back when challenged. The same goes for the Northern Water Tribe. The Southern Water Tribe…is surviving, but I only saw each of the Water Tribes once in my life. The size of the Southern Tribe pales in comparison to the Northern Tribe, but for all I know it could have been like that already."

"And the Air Nomads?!"

"Katara, I don't know how else to tell you this, but…the Fire Nation killed them all at the beginning of the war."

I felt like there was a rock in my stomach. Air benders – killed?! Fire Nation?! Hundred year war?! Suddenly my vision started to go blurry and my stomach began to churn uncomfortably. "Katara?" Zuko asked uncertainly.

"I'm going to be sick!" I sprinted for the entrance of the cave with my hand clamped over my mouth looking for a secluded spot to be sick. I was so busy being sick near a bush that I didn't even hear Zuko come up to kneel beside me on my right side.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how else to tell you without it ending badly" he apologized.

"It's not your fault" I moaned as I became sick again. Then I felt Zuko's warm hand on my back as he proceeded to rub small soothing circles in between my shoulder blades. Normally I would have shied away from him, but his hand was so much warmer than mine and what he was doing just made me feel comfortable and – safe.

Eventually I got control of myself to the point where I could sit up without being ill. Zuko wordlessly held out a canteen for me while still leaving his other hand resting on my back. I took a long swig to clean out my mouth and handed it back to him. "Thanks for that."

"No problem."

We looked at each other at the same time, my eyes locking with his gold ones. Once again I was reminded of a sunrise. It took me a couple of minutes before I could look away asking, "Should we go back to the cave now?"

"Yes we should, but Katara," I looked at him again before he continued with, "I thought you should know something else about the Air Nomads."

"That being…" Do I really want to hear this?

"One of the Air Nomads did survive."

I gasped. How could one person survive against an entire nation? "Really, do you know how?"

Zuko grimaced. "I wish I did."

I frowned, but decided to let it go. Zuko's entitled to his own privacy just like me. "Either way, it's nice to hear someone survived. But I still don't understand one thing?" One thing? "If you're Fire Nation, but not hurting anyone, I get that, then why are you and your Uncle living in the Earth Kingdom? Why wouldn't you just continue to live in the Fire Nation if that's your home?"

Zuko looked over at a tree and started scratching the unscarred side of his face while I waited for him to speak. "I can't tell you right now only because I don't really have an actual answer. Once I figure it out I'll be sure to tell you."

Does he always have to promise to tell me later? Oh well, better than nothing where he's concerned. "I hope you realize you're not going to be able to get away with that forever" I stated.

Zuko frowned. "Let's go back." I nodded and started to stand up. My legs were so wobbly though that my arms started flailing by my sides until Zuko stopped me by taking my hand and to have me latch onto his shirt sleeve like last night. Then we walked back silently. After we sat back down I asked Zuko if we could work on my memories. "I don't know Katara. You've already been sick once today and whether you like to admit it or not you are still weak so I don't want to push you too hard."

"Please Zuko just one memory. That's all I'm asking for today. I won't even tell your Uncle if that makes you feel any better" I promised.

Zuko groaned. "Fine. One memory, but under the condition that you promise to take a nap afterwards."

"Do you have to add a condition? It's not like I'm going to run away again" I tried to tease. All Zuko did was fold his arms over his chest and frown. "Fine, fine! After the memory, whether I remember or not, I will take a nap."

Zuko nodded in compliance to my promise as he thought of something to trigger my memory. Then his only eyebrow lifted slightly as he remembered and pulled something out from inside of his shirt. They were two folded pieces of paper. Finding the one he wanted he tucked the other one back into his robe and turned his attention back to me. "I'm going to show you a picture of someone. I just want you to tell me if you recognize him or not."

"Sure." Zuko held the paper up to me and kept it as still as possible. On the paper was a drawing of a young boy holding onto some kind of 'stick?' He was bald with an arrow right on the middle of his head and smaller arrows on his hands. I can't be sure, but he had wide eyes like a young boy so maybe he is eleven? Twelve?

"Katara do you recognize him?" As soon as the words left his mouth I felt like I was suddenly sucked into a flashback. I was standing by a calm river, but I felt a scared look come across my face. Then I saw the boy from the poster watching me as he was controlling flames around him. And the flames were coming closer to me. I felt myself hold up my hands as I gave a terrified cry. Then I felt the pain on my hands and the flashback ended.

I was too stunned to move. My breath came out in tiny gasps and it felt like my ears were ringing. I looked down at my hands expecting them to be burned, but they are still as smooth as before; not a single scar on them.

"Zuko what happened here?" I heard Iroh call out. I looked up to see him enter the cave and make his way to where we were still sitting. Then my eyes wandered back to Zuko who was staring at me anxiously. Iroh took the poster out of his hands and looked it over briefly. "What did you do?" he asked confused.

Zuko started to splutter until he turned back to his Uncle. "Me? I didn't do anything except show her the poster to see if she remembered him."

"He's telling the truth" I added when I saw that Iroh was about to speak again. Both men looked back over at me. Iroh seemed even more confused whereas Zuko just seemed relieved that I was talking again. "I was looking at the poster when I got a flashback and it scared me."

"How? What happened?" they asked at the exact same time.

"I saw myself standing by a river and the boy fire bended at me burning my hands. It felt so real. I guess that's why I freaked out. I just couldn't believe what I saw." I turned back to Zuko and just spoke to him. "I didn't mean to startle you. The whole thing just took me by surprise."

Zuko sat there stunned. I heard him mumble something that sounded something like 'why would he do that? It doesn't make any sense,' but he was so quiet I'm not even sure I heard him correctly.

"As long as you are fine now there is nothing to worry about" Iroh stated calmly.

"Guess so." To Zuko I said, "You kept your end of the bargain so I'll keep mine and try to take a nap now." Not even waiting for him to respond I laid myself down on the ground and closed my eyes. I vaguely overheard Iroh say something about getting the tea started before he went back into town to help Han finish for the day, but my mind was more preoccupied with the flashback.

Who was that boy? Why did he fire bend at me? Was he supposed to be someone I knew from before? Or even trusted? After that flashback I'm not sure if he is someone I trusted. How am I even supposed to figure out who I can and cannot trust beside Zuko and Iroh?

My mind was at high speed, but then Zuko called me out of my thoughts to give me the tea Iroh had made. I thanked him and drank from it rather quickly. Now I remember that this is the special tea Han had given me to help me sleep. It was working rather quickly, but for once I didn't mind. I laid myself back down again and the last thing I felt before I fell asleep was the weight of a blanket being gently laid over me.