p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Even though Katara was used to flying, being unexpectedly lifted so quickly into the sky, all the air left her lungs as a gasp, leaving her unable to scream. Within a few seconds, she was sitting on the back of an animal with her hands tied behind her back and covered in rock, presumably so she couldn't bend. She realized that she was not sitting on the fur or scales, but the very familiar feel of Appa's saddle under her. The groan of Appa as they began to move only made her know for sure that Aang had kidnapped her. Katara sighed and sat back as best she could. There was no point in trying to reason with him at this time. He must be out of his mind if he thought it was a good idea to kidnap the Lady Fire and the future heir to the Fire Nation./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They flew through the night without speaking a word. Even when the sun started to come up and Katara could start to see Aang, she still didn't speak to him. He didn't seem to mind as he just kept his eyes forward and focused on where they were headed. To Katara's astonishment, they continued to fly for two more days straight. She began to worry about the toll this was taking on Appa, remembering the last time the animal was stretched to his limit./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"By the time they reached the Eastern Air Temple, Katara was sleeping in her soiled clothes with her head on her chest because she couldn't lie down comfortably. Aang shook her awake after they landed and pulled roughly to her feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Come on, it's time to get down." Aang snapped out, the first words he had spoken to her in almost three days. Katara refused to look at him or speak. She focused on her feet and jumped down to the ground. Because Aang knew she couldn't go anywhere at the air temple, he finally released her bonds. He hopped back up onto Appa's saddle and grabbed some fresh clothes for Katara to change into. "Follow me." He led her to an indoor fountain and laid the clothes down on the side of it. Katara could see by the color that it was Earth Kingdom attire. "Clean up, but don't do anything stupid." Aang warned before turning back the way they had come. So, Katara did as he told her and cleaned up. She checked on her baby to make sure two days without food or water hadn't done any permanent damage. Sighing with relief that her child seemed okay, Katara eagerly drank some water and began to undress to wash up and clean her clothes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A little while later, she emerged from the fountain area in a dress very similar to one she had worn right after the war was over. She found Aang unpacking Appa's saddle like they would be staying at the temple for a while./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Feel better?" Aang asked more cheerfully as he jumped down from Appa, removing the saddle. Appa sighed in happiness and settled down to sleep. Still not wanting to speak to Aang, Katara just nodded and moved to lay out her old wet clothes over a stone wall. Aang unwrapped some fruit tarts and handed a couple to Katara as she sat down near her clothes. "Are you not going to talk to me ever again?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And what would you like me to say, Aang?" Katara retorted after several long seconds of deciding whether or not to speak to him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Maybe express a bit of gratitude that I recused you from your miserable life in the Fire Nation." Aang replied, anger starting to fill his voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Recused me? I am the Fire Lady, Aang! You have kidnapped me, plain and simple! Do you have any idea what kind of ramifications this could have on the peace that we just spent a year trying to bring to fruition?" Katara shot back. "Not to mention the damage you could have done to the future of the Fire Nation!" Katara didn't care anymore if he knew about her pregnancy or not. What more could he do that he hadn't already done? He probably already knew. Why else would he have pulled this stunt now?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What future?" Aang asked, with true confusion on his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I am carrying Zuko's child, Aang. The future heir to the throne of the Fire Nation." Katara explained calmly. The rage that flew across Aang's face told her that he had somehow missed the announcement of her pregnancy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Aang just paced back and forth for several minutes in his anger, trying to process what Katara had just told him. Fire, of all things, spewed from his hands as he paced. Katara rose to her feet and moved away from him. She didn't know what he would do next and she needed to prepare herself for a possible fight for her life and the life of her unborn child./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They flew through the night without speaking a word. Even when the sun started to come up and Katara could start to see Aang, she still didn't speak to him. He didn't seem to mind as he just kept his eyes forward and focused on where they were headed. To Katara's astonishment, they continued to fly for two more days straight. She began to worry about the toll this was taking on Appa, remembering the last time the animal was stretched to his limit./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"By the time they reached the Eastern Air Temple, Katara was sleeping in her soiled clothes with her head on her chest because she couldn't lie down comfortably. Aang shook her awake after they landed and pulled roughly to her feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Come on, it's time to get down." Aang snapped out, the first words he had spoken to her in almost three days. Katara refused to look at him or speak. She focused on her feet and jumped down to the ground. Because Aang knew she couldn't go anywhere at the air temple, he finally released her bonds. He hopped back up onto Appa's saddle and grabbed some fresh clothes for Katara to change into. "Follow me." He led her to an indoor fountain and laid the clothes down on the side of it. Katara could see by the color that it was Earth Kingdom attire. "Clean up, but don't do anything stupid." Aang warned before turning back the way they had come. So, Katara did as he told her and cleaned up. She checked on her baby to make sure two days without food or water hadn't done any permanent damage. Sighing with relief that her child seemed okay, Katara eagerly drank some water and began to undress to wash up and clean her clothes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A little while later, she emerged from the fountain area in a dress very similar to one she had worn right after the war was over. She found Aang unpacking Appa's saddle like they would be staying at the temple for a while./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Feel better?" Aang asked more cheerfully as he jumped down from Appa, removing the saddle. Appa sighed in happiness and settled down to sleep. Still not wanting to speak to Aang, Katara just nodded and moved to lay out her old wet clothes over a stone wall. Aang unwrapped some fruit tarts and handed a couple to Katara as she sat down near her clothes. "Are you not going to talk to me ever again?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And what would you like me to say, Aang?" Katara retorted after several long seconds of deciding whether or not to speak to him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Maybe express a bit of gratitude that I recused you from your miserable life in the Fire Nation." Aang replied, anger starting to fill his voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Recused me? I am the Fire Lady, Aang! You have kidnapped me, plain and simple! Do you have any idea what kind of ramifications this could have on the peace that we just spent a year trying to bring to fruition?" Katara shot back. "Not to mention the damage you could have done to the future of the Fire Nation!" Katara didn't care anymore if he knew about her pregnancy or not. What more could he do that he hadn't already done? He probably already knew. Why else would he have pulled this stunt now?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What future?" Aang asked, with true confusion on his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I am carrying Zuko's child, Aang. The future heir to the throne of the Fire Nation." Katara explained calmly. The rage that flew across Aang's face told her that he had somehow missed the announcement of her pregnancy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Aang just paced back and forth for several minutes in his anger, trying to process what Katara had just told him. Fire, of all things, spewed from his hands as he paced. Katara rose to her feet and moved away from him. She didn't know what he would do next and she needed to prepare herself for a possible fight for her life and the life of her unborn child./p