Chapter 4-Surprises in the Dark

Katara P.O.V

I thought of Zuko.

Zuko may have just saved my life today. Why would he do that?

Questions swerved left and right inside of my head as I sat there in the corner of my now pitch black cell. I didn't want to sleep, because when you close your eyes, the darkness takes over. I don't just mean literal darkness; I mean the fear-filled, no hope darkness. So I sat there with my eyes burning for the three hours, rocking back and forth to keep my blood flowing. If I don't keep it flowing, I may just freeze to death.

Or the darkness will take over.

After avoiding death this afternoon, the guards had dragged me back to my cell, leaving me all alone with my confused thoughts. Zuko has never done anything nice to me before; why now? Why did he value my life? His father was going to try to kill Aang…Zuko had lost his chance to deliver him straight to his father, so why does he care what his waterbending teacher's fate is? I just didn't understand. Even after putting myself in his shoes and thinking of every possible reason he might have to save me, I came up with absolutely nothing.

My body started shivering and I curled myself up in a tighter ball.

Honestly, I don't think I have ever felt colder…and I live in a freaking frozen ice land. Lived, I should say. My lips were plastered together, along with my toes and fingers. The coldest thing was probably my heart though. I know, I know; I'm not a cruel or terrible person, but I just had this terrible guilt feeling overwhelming me for some strange reason.

Another reason why you do not close your eyes.

"I would like to speak to the waterbender."

"At this time-I mean, yes Prince Zuko."

For the first time in hours, I heard voices. Somehow I managed to look up, even though I knew I would see nothing but darkness. The cell door creaked open, a sound that I usually dreaded hearing. Footsteps echoed through the room, and the cage was closed. I waited for him to speak, although I didn't know if I would be able to understand him if he did. Nothing was really making sense to me anymore.

"How are you?"

Blood trickled down my lips as they split open.

"Grand. How is the magnificent Prince Zuko today?"

Fire light up the entire cell, revealing Zuko's stern face.

"I'm fine. You know, you really should have more respect to someone who just saved your life."

He whispered the last few words, in fear that the guards or other cell mates would hear him. I licked my cracked lips and stared at him coldly(literally). "I might respect you more if I only knew why you did." I answered plainly. "I've tried thinking of every possible reason you said that…nothing stands out." Zuko's facial expression changed to something I couldn't read. It almost looked like confusion.

What happened next surprised me.

Seemed like he was always surprising me.

Zuko created a small fire in the middle of the cell (Don't even ask me how that's possible on concrete floor). He then sat down next to me, looked down at the floor and said, "I don't even think I know why I did it." There was a certain tone in his voice that calmed me. This sensation alarmed me. His heat was venting off of his body and colliding with mine, giving instant relief to my frozen limbs. I wonder if he's always this hot.

That sounded really bad, so I pushed the thought out of my head and looked at him.

"Well can you at least tell me why you're here right now then?"

I said it in a nicer tone, since he was borrowing me his warmth. Zuko peered up at me, his scar lit up by the glow from the flames. It really wasn't that bad honestly; to me it just appeared as a patch of dry skin. "I-I just wanted to see if you were okay. Your hands, I mean." He said, motioning to my raw hands. I hadn't been able to feel the blistering, since frostbite had numbed it out a bit. If I ever do get out of this situation, I don't know if I will be able to heal them.

This thought worried me.

"Well, how do you think they look?"

I stiffly lifted my hands up to show him. I've seen many sympathetic expressions before, but I think Zuko's just beat them all out. He instantly grabbed both of my wrists, which got the blood flowing again, and brought them up to investigate. I ignored the pain; I was too busy watching Zuko change from concerned to angry.

Zuko P.O.V

I was so angry.

I couldn't even put it into words. The blistering on Katara's hands was now black from the effect of the frostbite, while the skin that had been peeling off was now just a dead piece of skin hanging off like a booger from your nose. She must be tougher than I thought; honestly, if that were my hands, I would have thrown up from just the look of them. They were starting to smell bad also.

Through gritted teeth, I managed to speak.

"Doesn't this hurt?"

"Oh yeah…especially when you're gripping them so tightly."

I realized how tight of a grip I had on them and let go. "Sorry it's just…I've never seen something so…" I trailed off, not knowing what to call it. Katara flashed me a grin, "Disgusting? Repugnant? Nauseating?" she suggested, laughing as she did so. I gave her a weird look; how could she be laughing at a time like this?! Katara could be dead next week, her hands are nearly falling off, and she's laughing? Katara noticed I was staring at her and her face got dark.

"What?"

"You're so weird."

Animosity filled Katara's eyes.

"I'm weird? Zuko, you and I are enemies and in the past few days you've helped me heal myself and I'm pretty sure you just saved my life today. We completely despise each other and yet, you choose to be here right now. Who's the real weird one?"

As Katara lectured me, she was waving her hands around like an animal, but pulled back when she clipped one against the wall. I watched her draw her hand back like a whip and lay them on her lap. It was then that I realized how bad of shape Katara was really in. The fire light up the room for a split second, and I got a glimpse of what it was like to be a waterbender in prison.

Katara's hair was out of its usual ponytail and matted with blood and hanging in her face. Her face was pale for her complexion with numerous cuts and bruises covering it. Besides that, Katara's entire body was shaking and quivering uncontrollably. It was an awful sight, even for someone like her. By that, I mean my enemy.

But was she my enemy?

This was the girl that had offered me numerous times to heal my scar. That was usually how they ended up getting away, now that I think of it. In the middle of a battle, she would randomly bring it up, knowing it would distract me.

"I guess you're right."

"I am."

I sighed at her comment and scooted closer to her. This was the wrong move. Katara's head snapped up and she jumped up from her spot on the floor and went to the middle of the cell. I glared at her, "What? I was just trying to keep you warm! You should really appreciate-" Wrong thing to say again Zuko! Get it together! Katara's nostrils flared and she gave me the darkest glare I have ever seen. Keep in mind that my father is Ozai. I've had my share fair of glares.

"How dare you-"

Katara didn't have time to finish her speech.

With her blood probably not flowing correctly due to the cold, her balance wasn't great. Her footing slipped and she had no strength to stop herself from falling into the fire. I jumped up and grabbed her, inches before the tips of her hair caught the fire. My hand froze when I touched her, my hand firmly around her waist. Katara looked up at me, a shocked look on her face.

I must say, I was surprised too.

Should have just let her burn, I thought, still holding her awkwardly. It would have been a quicker death than what was sure to come.

"Thank you."

I stared down at her smooth face.

"Don't count on me to always save your life."

Katara P.O.V

My goodness.

This kid would be the death of me.

I have never seen someone so…bipolar! Honestly!

Zuko pushed me back onto my feet, leaving the spot where his hand was warm. I stared at him, not sure what to think. He reached into his pocket and held out something for me. "Take this." Zuko grumbled, barely giving me a second to hold out my hand before dropping it. With that, he pushed open the cell door, and was gone.

Not wanting to get my thoughts riled up, I looked down at the object.

It was a small pouch of water.

My heart sped up, but for a different reason.

Someone else was walking down the hallway towards my cell.

Quickly, I stepped on the fire until it was completely out, not wanting to get Zuko in trouble. Somehow I could still see the smoke through the darkness, and I knew time was running out before the person arrived. Not knowing what else to do, I sat down on the hot spot. The cell opened for the second time that night. The person's face was not visible, but I knew exactly who it was when they spoke.

"I've got you waterbender. You may be able to fool a few people but not me. You're mine."

As if the darkness wasn't dark enough, the sinister sound of Ozai's voice made the atmosphere even darker. His nasty smelling breath bared down on me, making me want to vomit. Hiding the nervousness of my shaky voice, I clear my throat. "We'll see about that." I answered in confidence I didn't know I had at the moment. Even though I couldn't see a thing, I somehow knew he was grinning evilly.

"Indeed we will peasant…indeed we will."

With a whisk of wind, he was gone. I jumped up, my butt literally burning. You would expect it to feel good, but since hot and cold don't mix, I think it just made things even worse for me. All the pain that had been numb returned. I sat down in my little corner, taking the water pouch out from my shirt where I had hidden it. Thinking of my blistering/frostbitten hands, I shakily poured an ounce of water onto them. The most amazing sensation pooled through my veins. Oh how I missed you water.

Placing my hand over top of my left hand, I took a deep breath and started to heal.

I cannot explain how amazing it was to have more than one layer of skin on my hand again. The pain flushed away like it had never even been there. I continued to feel this until the rest of my body was completely healed. There was many wounds however, that could not be healed so easily.

My brain could no longer tell what was real. The first time I looked up since healing, the cage bars looked like thousands of little Momos running up and down. I shook my head and curled my legs up to my chest, the heat now gone, like it was just an illusion. Maybe my whole life was just someone else's illusion…

I took a deep breath to keep myself from going insane.

I sat there, never closing my eyes, pretending I was in some sort of dark paradise.

Thanks for all the reviews! LOVE YOU.