CHAPTER RATING: M (Language, Sexually Suggestive Situations, Sexually EXPLICIT Dialogue)

A/N: Two relatively short chapters on the same day.

Chapter 13: Captivity, Part II: Outside Contact

Her soft voice echoed in his mind, and his heart jumped. Aang turned to see her standing before him. His eyes followed her new flowing red robe, and gaze upon a face that he thought he'd never lay eyes on again.

"Katara...?" His mouth was wide open as he looked into her beautiful sapphire eyes. He blinked to clear his vision, but only found it blurring with liquid. She ran towards him, and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"I can't believe that I actually found you." Her voice was cracking as she spoke.

"I can't believe this is real." He let the thought slip out. "Where are you right now?"

"After those men attacked us, Azula must've taken you." She offered him a seat next to her, an opportunity that he took without hesitation. "Everyone is fine. We're all still at the Western Air Temple."

"I'm glad that you're okay, Katara. Thank you for meeting me here."

"Aang..." She cupped his cheek with her hand. "We'll find you. I promise." He brought her hand down into his.

"Just forget about me." He replied.

"Don't say that." She tightened her grip around his hand. "Zuko thinks he knows where you're being held. And we're coming to get you."

"No, Katara. Please, just go somewhere. Do whatever you need to just be safe."

"Listen to me, Aang, you can't give up. We still need you. The World still needs you."

"I don't care about any of that." He looked into her eyes, and felt sorrow and desperation building. "I just wanted to be with you. You're the only one I care about. I just want you to be safe."

"What happened to you, Aang?" Katara's face hardened. "What did Azula do to you?"

He could feel Azula's presence lingering in the back of his mind.

He didn't want to answer her. He couldn't bring himself to do so.

"Okay." He tried to brush off her question. "I guess I'll be awaiting my rescue." A smile forced its way across his lips.

"That's what I want to hear. I'll go tell everyone that I've made contact with you. We'll be there." She stood, and brought him to his feet. "I'll see you soon."

He pulled her in close, and kissed her. She greeted him with the same surprise as when he first did it.

"I don't know when I'll be able to do that again." He whispered.

"Hang in there, Aang. We're coming." Katara whispered back, hugging him even tighter.

She brought her lips to his again, before a tear fell from her eye, and her image began to disappear. He closed his eyes as she began to fade, and when they opened again, she was gone.

...

"He's kinda cute!" Aang heard a new voice when he came to.

"Don't touch him, Ty Lee!" Azula's voice interrupted.

"So, this is what you've been working on?" Another, flat voice came.

"Yes, Mai. This is what I've been working on."

Aang peeked through his eyelids, and saw three women standing before him. Once again, he was hanging, bound by the steel cuffs embedded into the wall.

"So...Did you break him yet?" Mai's nonchalant tone braced him out of his false slumber. Still, he hung back, waiting to see what would happen.

"Not yet. But I assure you." He felt her hand brush across his cheek. "It's getting to him."

"Why, exactly are you doing this to him again?" Mai's flat voice came with a hint of annoyance.

"Because, I love him." Azula replied.

"But what if he doesn't love you?" Ty Lee asked in an oblivious, innocent voice.

"He does." Her dark tone made him swallow hard. He felt her hand grab his chin, and bring him to face her. "He just doesn't know it yet." He felta jolt run up his chin, and surge through his nerves. His eyes began to twitch with his efforts to keep his eyelids closed. He tried his best, but was soon looking into the burning eyes of the Fire Nation Princess. She smiled a wicked grin, and let his head fall.

"You call this love?" Mai's voice came back, harsher this time. Aang saw her brief apathetic expression take on a visage of anger and disgust. Azula's fire grew in her eyes as she turned towards Mai. "This isn't love, you're keeping him as a slave. You're not letting him sleep, you've barely fed him, and you keep him chained up like this?"

"Shut it, Mai!" Azula shouted. "What do you know about love?!"

"What do I know about love?!" Mai's voice rose. "Thanks to YOU, I lost the one man that I love!"

"Don't you date raise your voice at me..." Aang lost track of their conversation when Ty Lee moved closer to him.

"Hi!" She was a little too close for comfort, but at least, he thought, she was friendly.

"H-Hey." He replied.

"My name's Ty Lee." She smiled at him with her wide, cheerful eyes. "What's yours?"

"Uh...It's Aang." He managed to mumble through the voices of Azula and Mai that still boomed in the background.

"How did you get here?" Ty Lee asked. "We got here on a Fire Nation War Balloon."

"Really?" He asked. A thought flashed through his mind. Maybe I could. "How?"

"We came from the Fire Nation." She answered.

"You came here on a War Balloon? Why did you need that?"

"You're in a zeppelin. In the sky!" Ty Lee threw her arms up in the air to emphasize the location.

"Do...Do you know where we are?" He wondered if he was being clever, or if she was just as clueless as he assumed.

"Yup! We're just north of the Boiling Rock!" Aang nodded as she answered.

"GET OUT!" Azula's voice broke through towards him. The door opened, and a guard came to lead out Mai, followed by Azula. Aang watched them leave, and looked on with confusion as Ty Lee was allowed to stay back.

"Keep it a secret." She whispered into Aang's ear before stuffing a small note into his waistband.

"TY LEE!"

"Coming, Azula!"

She began walking towards the door, but turned, and winked at the still bound Avatar. With the flip of a switch, he fell back onto the ground, and found himself alone again.

His stomach was growling, his muscles were tired, and his eyelids were heavy. He unraveled the small scroll in his waistband, and read it.

We're here to help you escape.

PUBLISHED ON: 8/23/2014

A/N: Part III coming next week.(…maybe.)