Chapter 8 - The Brute

From a dreamless sleep, Katara felt herself slowly stir back to the waking world. Opening her eyes, she realized that she had shifted her position at some point in the middle of the night. Right now, her head was resting on top of the firebender's chest, bobbing up and down rhythmically in sequence with his tranquil breathing.

She attempted to wrap her head around the current state she found herself in. Wasn't she vexed with Zuko's unwillingness to help others right now? Leave it to her unconscious mind to ignore that fact and search for a more comfortable sleeping posture when she was asleep.

Before the waterbender could scold her unreliable subconsciousness, her ears perked up as they caught the sound of someone stepping on some loose hay somewhere in the darkness of the barn. There was a momentarily pause, and then another step followed by another pause. Almost as if someone was attempting to move stealthily and checking after each movement. The Water Tribe girl reached for her waterskin only to register that she had left it out of arms length, stacked with the rest of their gear on the far wall.

As she calculated how best to break away into a roll to snatch up her waterskin, she realized that her head wasn't rising and falling in rhythm with Zuko's breathing any more. She looked upward to see his open golden eyes as he placed a finger to his lips as if to signal to her to remain quiet.

Katara gave a silent 'epp!' as she felt his arm pull her close to him protectively. She wasn't entirely sure if Zuko himself realized what his own arm was doing as his entire attention was focused outward, straining to make out the shadows in the dark. The sounds of footsteps had ceased.

A couple of tense moments passed, then Zuko rolled out of bed soundlessly; which in a bed on top of hay, demonstrated some serious sneaking skill. From a crouch, he launched onto his feet shooting off precise sparks of fire from his fingertips at the four lanterns scattered along the barn pillars. A warm glow of light illuminated the barn almost at once as the firebender landed in a ready stance to face... an empty barn.

Narrowing his eyes, Zuko inspected the more shadowy corners only to still come up short of any intruder. "Nothing appears to be missing either," commented the waterbender as she inspected their meager possessions stacked in the corner.

Zuko looked at the base of a barn pillar that didn't appear to have anything there. He settled himself with a calming breath as three of the four lanterns extinguished at his command. He moved towards the barn door.

Katara watched him carefully. "What is it?"

"Nothing. There's no threat. You can go back to sleep." With that, he disappeared out the barn door without another sound.

So naturally, Katara followed. Grabbing her waterskin and securing it around her waist, she slipped out the door behind him. She emerged outside just in time to witness Zuko turn the corner around the barn. Following, she saw him strolling without a care towards a line of trees and disappearing into the darkness of their trunks.

Reaching the tree line, she realized there was a small trail leading to an open field of sunflowers on a lonely hill. Zuko had left the trail and was calmly walking across the field of waist high sunflowers. He seemed to slow his pace, as if he was watching something or someone.

Looking ahead of the firebender, Katara observed Lee jumping around with the firebender's Dao broadswords, swinging them wildly and in amusement as he seemed to fight imaginary enemies. A couple of sunflower baddies had already lost their heads. Then the boy moved to a dead tree trunk near the edge of the field and started to stab repeatedly into the wooden trunk.

After a final stab, Lee dashed kicked the tree trunk as he turned around with a sudden battlecry and a clumsy backward horizontal slice. Katara gasped at the action as Zuko had been walking silently up behind the boy. However, the firebender merely caught the boy's outstretched wrist and held the sword steady without much effort. "You're holding them all wrong."

Dropping the swords and trying to pull away his wrist from Zuko's grasp, Lee stuttered out, "I'm sorry! I wasn't steal'in! Honest! I just want'd to try 'em out."

Zuko released the boy and picked up his blades. Instead of being angry, he seemed to assume a lecturing tone that Katara recognized as his teaching voice when he guided her on her waterbending. "Keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon." He glided effortlessly through a simple kata as the swords hummed in the night and a flash of silver detached several sunflower heads from their stems. "Don't think of them as separate, because they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole."

Taking a couple of steps back, Zuko flew through a much more advanced sword form as his blades sang in the stillness of the night. From Katara's vantage point, he appeared to be dancing across the tops of the sunflower field as silvery steel flashed all around him in a breathtaking display. She knew he was skilled with his swords, but she hadn't seen him show-off like this before. This felt much more like a performance than the practiced sword forms he normally trained with.

Content that everything was alright, Katara returned to the barn. Settling back down under the blankets, and leaving her waterskin within arms reach this time, her mind drifted. Zuko treasured those swords of his, possibly because he saw them as a lifeline as he traversed the Earth Kingdom since his firebending would expose him immediately. But maybe it was more than that. Sokka always seemed to be attached to his various weapons, mostly his boomerang.

So why wasn't Zuko more angry when his swords were taken from him without permission? The firebender always seemed to be quick to anger, but he didn't say anything when he realized the swords had been stolen. Granted, the thief was a small farm boy who would have likely returned them by morning, but Zuko had displayed a surprising amount of maturity.

A couple of minutes turned into an hour before she heard their footsteps approaching the barn door again. Then, she heard the young Lee speaking loudly in admiration. "I think ya'd have liked my brother Sensu. Ya remind me of him. He used ta show me stuff like this all the time." Katara didn't hear if Zuko gave a response before the sounds of young Lee's footsteps indicated that the boy returned to the farm house.

The barn door opened and she feigned slumber as she listened to Zuko's measured footsteps creep back under the blankets. She waited until she was sure that he had closed his eyes. "So you do care about others."

Zuko stiffened at the sound of her voice. "Don't do that!" he grumbled in annoyance as he composed himself once more.

The Water Tribe girl turned onto her side with a grin. "I knew that you weren't as stone-hearted as you pretended to be. I knew that you had a softer side."

Zuko sighed as he covered his eyes with his arm. "I just wanted to avoid an awkward conversation with the boy's parents in the morning. About why he was missing an arm or leg and why my swords would have been all bloody. The kid had no discipline, swinging my swords around recklessly like that."

"So instead of just taking your swords back and just being done with it, you what? Spent an entire hour teaching him properly... in the middle of the night?" she mused, her grin only growing wider.

"I don't do things by halves," the Fire Prince stated matter-of-factly.

"One of your better qualities," the Water Tribe girl returned smoothly as she turned away, pulling her side of the blanket up over her head.

A pause. Then, Zuko's eyes snapped open again. "What?"

However, the only response he received were the blatantly pretend snores of the waterbender beside him.


The next day's mid-morning found everyone gathered in front of the farm house. Sela was giving Katara a hug as she handed her a small package wrapped in a cloth. "Here. This ought to get you both through a few meals."

Zuko was fussing with Biscuit as Gansu slapped him heartily on the back with a meaty hand. "Don't be a stranger now. If you ever find yourselves passing back around this area, stop on by anytime. You'll be welcomed here."

"Yeah! And maybe Sensu will be back by thens too! I'm sures ya would become fast friends with him to!" chirped Lee as he bounced energetically around Biscuit, doing little to help Zuko's efforts in calming the horse down.

"You all really have been too kind," thanked Katara with a small bow of gratitude. Then, after giving a pointed look at Zuko, the Fire Prince gave a grateful bow of his own.

"Thank you," the firebender said.

"None of that now," smiled Sela as she motioned for Katara and Zuko to stop bowing. The elder woman wasn't used to seeing such manners, especially with Lee for a son. "You two were a breath of life and laughter that this farm sorely needed."

"Hey, what's that?" questioned Lee as he pointed towards a storm of dust approaching the farm from the main road.

"Is that... Gow?" worried Sela as she watched the earthbender and his men ride closer, each on ostrich horses of their own.

"What do you think they want?" growled Gansu.

"Trouble," was Zuko's single word response.

Gow and his men rode right up to the gathered group until they very nearly knocked them over before pulling their ostrich horses to a stop. Coughing through the dust, Gansu demanded, "What do you want Gow?"

Sela fought back a nervous expression as she wrapped her arms defensively around a scowling Lee to prevent the boy from doing anything that could provoke Gow or draw attention to himself. Zuko took a step closer to Katara, who kept a hand on her waterskin.

"Quite the welcoming party." Gow slid down from his horse as he took stock of Zuko and Katara. "Thought you knew that it's dangerous to pick up drifters, Gansu. You never know what they're capable of."

"They're good folk Gow," spat back Gansu. "Now, what are you doing here?"

Gow shrugged dismissively. "Whatever. I just thought someone ought to tell you that your son's battalion was in a large-scale battle recently. From what I heard, his unit didn't fare that good. Those that didn't die in the fighting were surrounded and captured."

There was an audible gasp as Sela started to ramble out a low string of "No's" just under her breath. Gansu visibly paled. It was Lee who spoke up first, "Liar! My Brother won't have been captured by no firebenders!"

Gow merely laughed wickedly at the distress he had just caused. Turning to his men, he added, "You boys hear what the Fire Nation did with the last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"

Katara looped her arm around Zuko's as she felt him tense and saw a widening scowl on his face. She didn't want to hear the answer. She knew firsthand exactly what kind of evils could befall Earth Kingdom prisoners. And despite her growing dread, she couldn't ignore the answer from one of Gow's goons, "Dressed'em up good in Fire Nation uniforms and put'em on the front lines... unarmed, the way I heard it." The man spit on the ground as a smirk spread on his face. "Then, they just watched."

Sela erupted into full blown hysterics as she fell to her knees, her legs losing all strength. Gansu's face sparked with anger as his trembling hands clenched into fists enough to draw a faint tickle of blood. "You watch your mouth!"

Only Katara noticed how Zuko flinched at the rumor before shaking with a barely contained rage boiling just under the surface and primed to explode any second.

"Easy now Gansu," retuned Gow. "This happened just a short time ago during a battle at Hearthrow. Whole town's been burnt to the ground, but we won a great victory against the Fire Nation there. Your son's battalion was tasked with pursuing the fleeing enemy, but they went too far and got themselves either dead or captured when they ran into enemy reinforcements. They shouldn't have spread themselves so thin." The large Earth Kingdom brute shrugged with indifference. "Still, that's what the draft's for. We outnumber the Fire Nation easily. We can afford to fight a war of attrition."

Gansu looked like he was about ready to take a swing at the earthbender. Gow appeared like he was daring the old farmer to try. "Get off my land," growled Gansu through clenched teeth.

Gow took another step forward, another goading taunt about to spill out of his mouth, when Zuko deftly slid in-between the two men with his hand resting readily on the hilt of his Dao broadswords. Gow glared at the scarred boy, but Zuko did not back down, returning his own glare with much more intensity.

Gow broke the stalemate with an audible "Tsk." Then, he mounted his ostrich horse once more as he spoke to his men, "Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs? Come on boys, last one back to town buys the first round."

As Zuko watched the Earth Kingdom soldiers retreat back down the road, Gansu kneeling down as he wrapped his wife up in a close hug in an effort to console her. He pulled a confused Lee into the family hug as well.

Katara approached Zuko as he continued his silent vigil of watching the withdrawing forms of the Earth Kingdom soldiers, taking his free hand and weaving her fingers through his. For the shortest of moments, she saw a flicker of anguish and grief rise and fall on his face before it was gone, tucked away under a mask of indifference.

He turned to her and wiped away a tear on her face that she hadn't even realized had fallen. Then, the Fire Prince took in the sight of the grieving family huddled together, his mask faltering for the briefest of seconds before he set his eyes back on the road away from the farm. "We should leave."

"Now?" she was a little taken back at his declaration.

The firebender looked back at the sorrowful family, struggling to keep his eyes hardened. "Yes. This is a time for family, not for strangers. We're in the way."

"But we could stay and help?" she offered hopefully.

Zuko shook his head. "There's nothing we can do. Unless you're asking for us to venture into one of the numerous Fire Nation prisons near the coastline to search for someone who we don't even know looks like." He dropped his voice to the faintest whisper. "There is no guarantee that Sensu is even still alive right now. There is very little reason to keep an entire battalion of foot soldiers alive for a long period of time. Too many mouths to feed and guards to commit to watching them."

Katara could tell that Zuko was looking at this from a logical perspective while struggling to keep his emotions under wraps. She could see the frustrated look in his eyes that there really wasn't anything to be done. He was merely stating the facts as he saw them because he honestly did not know what else to do. Not that she was able to think of a good suggestion of how they could help either.

Gansu stood a moment later, helping his wife back to her feet. His face had set in determination. "I'm going to the front. I'm going to find Sensu and bring him back."

"No," protested Sela at the unfairness of it all. She pounded meekly at his chest. "No, we... I can't lose you too."

Gansu kissed his wife's forehead as her brought her in close for another hug. "I'll find our Son and bring him home." He slowly led her back to the farm house. He nodded a farewell to Zuko as he walked away.

Zuko nodded back and helped Katara up onto the ostrich horse as Lee ran over and tugged at the firebender's tunic. "When my Pa goes... will ya stay?"

Katara watched as a mixture of regret, pain, and reluctance swirled across Zuko's face. He was still battling inwardly with his emotions. For the briefest of moments, the waterbender thought he might actually change his mind. The Fire Prince had bonded with the young boy in such a short time and clearly grew to care for the boy. But she knew what his ultimate answer was going to be. "No. I... We need to move on."

At Lee's disappointed frown, Katara felt her heart break piece by piece. "Please? Just until Pa comes back with my Brother?" asked Lee again. Zuko looked absolutely crestfallen.

The firebender paused, then knelt down next to Lee as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Then, with his free hand, Zuko drew an elaborate dagger from its hidden sheath in his boot. "Here. I want you to have this."

As Lee accepted the knife through his tears, Zuko added, "Read the inscription."

Drawing the blade from its sheath, Lee studied the writing for a moment as he slowly read aloud, "Made in Earth Kingdom."

Katara nearly fell out of the saddle at the absurdity of that statement. It clashed with the heaviness of the situation they all found themselves in. Even Zuko fumbled slightly before sighing and stated, "The other one."

With a sheepish smile emerging on his face, Lee turned the dagger around and read, "Never give up, without a fight."

"Never give up without a fight," echoed Zuko. "We only really lose when we stop fighting. Until then, keep getting back up, again and again."

"Will I ever see you again?" asked Lee as he sheathed the blade, still holding it in his small hands as Zuko climbed up onto the ostrich horse.

"You never know. Our paths crossed once. They may very well cross again," answered Zuko as he settled into the saddle.

"Goodbye Lee! I really do hope we see each other again!" waved Katara as Zuko urged Biscuit forward. Lee waved goodbye back and chased after the trotting ostrich horse for a couple steps before he had to pause and wipe the tears from his eyes.


Biscuit nipped at the tall grass nearby as its riders stared at the fork in the road in front of them trying to decide which way to go. Well, Katara was actively deciding which way to go. Zuko just stared at the road sign absently.

"The sign says the upper path will eventually take us to a city called Ba Sing Se while the lower path branches towards someplace called Gaoling. Which way do you think we should go?" prompted the Water Tribe girl.

Zuko didn't respond immediately. Katara recognized that he was brooding again. She started to debate to herself, "Sela mentioned that Ba Sing Se is the largest city in the Earth Kingdom since it's the capital. Which means a lot of people and crowds. I'm not sure if you would like that. Gansu mentioned that Gaoling hosts something called Earth Rumble. He said it was a kind of sporting event in the Earth Kingdom, although Sela called it a waste of time and energy."

Zuko kept staring at the wooden sign posted at the fork in the road. "If you don't want to give your opinion, then don't complain later when I pick a direction," chided Katara.

"Did I make the right decision?" blurted out the firebender suddenly.

Katara was taken aback. Where did that come from? In the short time she had known the Fire Prince, he had never questioned his own decisions after making them, for better or worse. And he usually made up his mind pretty fast too. Zuko's eyes were pleading. This was not the time for a joking retort. "Do you feel like you made the right decision?" she asked.

Zuko slid off the ostrich horse as he led the animal by the reins over to a nearby stump and sat down, placing his head in his hands. "I don't know. Why is this so hard? I know there is nothing we can do to help. So why do I feel so upset and frustrated?"

Katara slid down as well as she sat down next to him. "Because you care for people. You can keep saying you don't all you want, but you have a gentle heart. It's a good thing."

"Both Father and Azula would call it another weakness," commented the firebender as he raised his head.

"Then it's a good thing that they aren't here," comforted the Water Tribe girl.

He grunted in response as he continued to brood.

Katara started to think back to the conversation that they had with Gow at the farm and what they had learned from him. Slowly, she paused, as a look of dread began to creep onto her face. "Gow said that the Earth Kingdom was fighting the Fire Nation at a village that was burnt down, right?"

Zuko nodded absently.

"Do you think that village was the location of the same battle we were caught up in a couple of days ago?" pressed the Water Tribe girl.

Zuko nodded again. He had already put those pieces together earlier himself.

Katara gulped nervously. "That Earth Kingdom soldier we came across at the end... The one that I... defeated... You don't think that was Sensu, do you?" The whole event had happened so fast. And try as she might, Katara was ashamed to admit that she didn't even remember the soldier's face all that well anymore. It was just a blur to her.

The firebender was shook out of his own brooding as he followed along with his traveling companion's hypothesis. 'So that's what she was getting at,' he thought to himself. Shaking his head in the negative, he replied to her, "No. It wasn't him. Sensu is just a couple years older than us, correct? That Earth Kingdom soldier in the battle, he was much closer to Gansu's age."

Katara sighed in relief. At least that was a small comfort. It was still bad enough that she had ended someone, even by accident. The whole tragedy had been over in a couple of seconds and the smoke and the chaos of the situation made everything difficult to remember. But still, there was absolutely no way she could face Sela, Gansu, and Lee again if she had been somehow responsible for any misfortune that befell Sensu.

Zuko looked over at the road sign again as he debated the two choices. "You think this Earth Rumble thing is worth a look?"

Her mind returning to the previous decision that had kept them at the fork in the road in the first place, Katara shrugged. However, before she could answer, the waterbender noticed a dust cloud forming back down the road they had come from. Studying the dust cloud more intensely, Katara recognized the figure waving to them from atop a carriage cart as the woman urged the ostrich horse to go faster. "Is that... Sela?"

Standing up, Zuko hissed, "Something's wrong."

As the carriage pulled to a stop near them, Sela jumped out to run up the last couple of steps to close the distance. The panic and fright on Sela's face was plain for all to see. "You have to help! It's Lee-the thugs from town came back as soon as Gansu left. When they ordered us to give them food, Lee pulled a knife on them! I don't even know where he got a knife! Then they took him away." Her voice was growing more and more hysterical as her explanation went on. Zuko's face continued to darken with each passing word.

Katara wrapped Sela up in a hug as the older woman continued, "They told me if he's old enough to fight, then he's old enough to join the Earth Kingdom army. I know we barely know you, but..."

Zuko was already swinging himself up into the saddle of his ostrich horse as he gave a tug to the Dao broadswords at his waist to ensure that they were secure. "I'll get your Son back," he proclaimed without hesitation in his voice. He kicked Biscuit into a gallop and sped off in the direction of town without another word, a steely determination set on his face.

"Zu-Lee!" called out Katara, correcting herself mid-way through her shoutout. However, the mounted firebender had already covered several dozen yards and wasn't showing any signs of stopping. The waterbender and Sela scrambled onto the wagon carriage as Sela crackled the whip and rushed them back to town.


The sun was beginning to set overhead as Zuko approached the town and slowed a panting Biscuit to a steady trot as he rushed through the small archway leading into town. There were more people out and about. Far more than he had seen when he had first arrived into the village just the other day.

A scowl deepened on the Fire Prince's face. All these people, and not one of them was willing to come to a young farm boy's aid when a couple of thugs threaten that same boy's life. He could feel his disgust growing. The people in the village swiftly scattered to the sides of the road as he rode through.

A quick survey of the situation revealed a dejected looking Lee tied securely to a tower in the center of town. However, the boy's eyes grew wide with hope when he spotted the scarred teenager atop the ostrich horse. "Hey! There he is! I told ya he'd come!" Lee cheered happily.

Zuko dismounted a good distance from the tower and tied Biscuit's reins loosely to a hitching post as he removed his sedge travel hat and secured it to the saddle. Gow and his soldiers were emerging from behind the tower next to Lee.

Zuko stood tall in the center of the street as crowds of people cowered in alleyways and behind shuttered windows. "I'm only going to say this once. Let the kid go."

Gow laughed cruelly as his soldiers joined in. "Who do you think you are, telling us what to do?"

Zuko steadied himself into a ready stance. "It doesn't matter who I am. But I know who you are. You're not soldiers; you're bullies." Gow sneered at the accusation. "Freeloaders, abusing your power. Mostly over women and kids." Katara and Sela rushed through the crowd as they reached the side of the street. "You don't want Lee in your Army. You're just a bunch of sick cowards messing with a family who's already lost one Son to this war."

Indignant, Gow slapped the back of one of his soldiers. "Are you gonna let this stranger stand there and insult you like this? Attack!"

Katara's breath caught in her throat as she saw one of the Earth Kingdom thugs begin to charge at Zuko with a spear thrust leveled at the firebender's chest. She knew Zuko was a skilled fighter. He had proved it several times over during the last couple of weeks. But to feel the intensity of this showdown, to know the fact that Zuko was hiding his firebending ability, to see him outnumbered; all of it combined into a growing mixture of dread and apprehension within the Water Tribe girl. This wasn't a sparring match. Gow meant to kill Zuko right here, right now. And the brute wanted to make a show of it.

Zuko pivoted to the side, making his once wide open chest into an evasive target that effortlessly avoided the thrust. Springing upwards from a crouch, he half drew his swords with a single hand to strike the soldier harshly in the gut with such force that the man was knocked back several feet. The firebender did this with minimal effort, no wasted movements, and within mere seconds.

A hush fell over the gathered crowd of people as they stared slack-jawed at the young drifter standing up to Gow's men and demonstrating that he might actually be more than capable of pulling off a such a feat. Zuko slid his swords fully back into their sheath as he settled once more into his ready stance. The defeated soldier, now weaponless having dropped his spear after the hit, crawled to his feet and ran away.

A second thug watched the retreating form of his comrade before psyching himself up with a battlecry and charged directly at Zuko with another spear thrust aimed directly at the firebender's chest. Surely this drifter would not be so lucky a second time, right?

The soldier was watching Zuko's feet for an expected pivot like the first avoidance. Instead, Zuko spun in towards the charging soldier as his batted away the spear shaft with the back of his hand and collided his shoulder directly into the charging soldier, planting his hand on the man's face as he slammed him into the ground with a growl. Standing back up, Zuko watched as the second soldier ran away in terror.

Narrowing his eyes, the firebender noticed the third soldier already charging at him with a third spear thrust. With a well-timed front kick, he shattered the wooden spear shaft in two, right down the middle. The third soldier stopped his charge and looked at the broken stick he now carried in his hand before throwing it to the ground and running away screaming.

Lee laughed in satisfaction at Zuko's three quick and simple victories. This was the greatest thing that he had ever seen in his life! His surrogate big brother was fighting for him, and winning.

Sela watched the fight with an increasingly worried expression on her face. This young man was fighting for her Son and her family. She had willingly placed a guest to her household in danger so that her Son might make it out of this situation safe and sound. And she had done so knowing that this young man's wife was standing right next to her with a similar look of unease.

Katara sighed in relief at the ease in which Zuko defeated the foot soldiers, but she knew that Gow, being an earthbender, was going to be the far tougher fight. This showdown wasn't over, just the warmup.

Gow spit on the ground as he unclasped the warhammers on his belt and held one in each hand. "It looks like I'm going to have to retrain my men. Don't act so smug boy. You'll find I'm a completely different caliber of soldier."

Zuko drew his Dao broadswords in a single fluid flash, a blade appearing in either hand. "The smallest dog barks the loudest."

With a growl, Gow slammed one hammer down thunderously onto the ground with a grunt of exertion to pop out a chunk of earth and used the second hammer to send that earth chunk flying directly towards Zuko. The firebender hissed under the strain as he used his swords to cut through the chunk of earth, narrowing his eyes to deflect the dust and small rock shards.

Finished with his own warmup, Gow crashed his hammer harder into the ground and used the momentum to launch three additional chunks of rocks at the firebender in rapid succession. Using his blades, Zuko parried the first, redirected the second, but pivoted a step too slow to dodge the third as it caught him in the gut and knocked him back a step.

Katara moved to rush forward so she could help, but Sela caught her by the wrist and shook her head.

Zuko breathed in deeply as he readied himself once more, his blades primed to answer his need to fight, and to win. Defending against hefty rocks with thin metal swords was foolhardy. He needed to close the distance. He charged forward.

Somewhere to her side, Katara absently heard a bystander urging Zuko to use his left sword more and another bystander shushing him.

Gow repeated his previous trick, launching another series of three rock chunks at the young man. Rushing forward, Zuko parried the first, deflected the second, but was yet again a step too slow in his pivot to dodge the third. However, this time, the rock chunk sent him somersaulting backwards as he hit the ground hard with a sickening thud.

The crowd groaned in disappointment as their impromptu champion was pushed back. A confident smirk spread on Gow's face despite Zuko quickly raising himself to his feet and positioning himself back into another ready stance. The Fire Prince attempted to hide his painful wince as his ribs were clearly feeling the physical abuse he was taking. But Gow definitely saw it anyway. The brute knew he held the advantage in this fight as long as he kept his distance and forced the drifter to come to him.

Katara knew Zuko was a tenacious fighter. He would keep getting back up over and over again until it killed him. And that's exactly what she was worried about.

Gow was a whirlwind of rocks now. He launched a non-stop barrage of earthen chunks without breaking for a pause anymore. Zuko parried and deflected desperately. It was all he could do against the earthen onslaught. There was no time to switch to the offensive position he gravely needed.

Looking to finish this melee, Gow raised both of his warhammers over his head and, with a grunt, crashed them heavily into the ground as he summoned up a rock-avalanche that skewered forth to impact the firebender with bone-crunching force. Zuko flew high into the air to land on his back with a brutal clunk. He lay still.

"Get up...!" urged Lee worriedly, still tied to the tower. The crowd had gone deathly quiet.

As Gow took a couple of steps closer to the downed drifter, he halted as a small frame of a girl with fierce blue eyes slid into view, barring his path.

"Out of the way missy," dismissed Gow with an unconcerned tone. "You're gonna get-"

Katara did not only see Gow in front of her. She saw the shadow of the Fire Nation prison warden standing there, right behind the Earth Kingdom brute. And in that moment, all her fear, all her distress, all her terror simply vanished, as if it had been insignificant to start with. None of that mattered anymore. Not when someone important to her needed her help. And now, she had the ability to help.

With determination, the waterbender unleashed a typhoon from two large water barrels lining either side of the street directly at the Earth Kingdom brute in front of her and threw him back several feet. With a focused concentration, she froze one of his warhammers to the ground as Gow attempted to use that tool as a stake to slow his backwards movement.

"No," Katara stated defiantly.

Lee was hooting and hollering in delight from his rope bindings. The crowd erupted into a cheer at the emergence of their additional champion.

With an angered growl, Gow used his free warhammer to break the ice holding down his frozen hammer and launched a series of rock chunks directly at the young waterbender.

Using the water pooled on the ground, Katara swiftly raised a succession of ice walls in front of her. Several shuddered and broke under the weight of the crashing rocks, but enough held firm to block the chain of attacks. The crowd of villagers continued to cheer for their unexpected champion as Gow grit his teeth in frustration.

Seeking to capitalize on her success, Katara swirled her hand as she grabbed for some more water from her waterskin on her belt loop. This was a new move that she had been practicing over the last couple of days. She had gotten the idea from watching water flowing briskly across a river they traveled near not too long ago.

Flicking her wrist, Katara grinned as the wisp of water lashed out and wrapped itself around Gow's left wrist to hold it in place. Great. Now she had immobilized one of his arms. Next, she could-

The Water Tribe girl lurched forward as she fell onto her stomach. Gow had pulled his captured wrist back sharply and the simple physics of a small girl attempting to restrain a burly barbarian was never going to actually work. Her water whip had backfired, allowing Gow to knock her off her feet as he freed himself.

The waterbender yelped in surprise as rock chunks exploded around her. Scrambling back onto her feet, Katara's eyes grew wide as a new barrage of sharp stones came careening towards her.

In a rush, she attempted to raise more ice walls in defense, but there were not nearly as many walls as she had managed the first time. In shock, the waterbender quickly realized that during the shuffle of all the fighting, the water on the ground was intermixing with the dirt on the ground. The resulting mud that formed was much slower to answer her bending call. Too sluggish for her waning concentration to control and bend properly to deflect in time.

The waterbender watched a particularly jagged rock chunk streaked unchallenged towards her face as her last ice wall crumbled. Time seemed to slow for her as the earthen wedge drew closer.

Without warning, her world erupted into fire as a massive vortex of red, orange, and golden flame spun all around her, growing rapidly and wildly in height and volume. The inferno threw Gow backwards as he dropped his superheated metal warhammers.

Despite observing the closest bystanders in the crowd shuffling away under the blazing heat, Katara herself did not feel scared or frightened at all. In fact, the fire all around her was comforting and full of life. It felt warm and welcoming, not hot and cruel.

Zuko was at her side in an instant, breathing in deeply, his swords crossed low, and a fury of purpose set upon his face. Gow had positioned himself back into an unarmed ready stance, but Zuko gave him no respite. The firebender charged forward, lashing out with his blades and sending flaming wave crescents streaking towards the earthbender.

Gow hastily raised a thick earthen barrier of rock, but it crumbled instantly under the first wave of empowered flame. Gow flew backwards again as he crashed into the side of a wall, which promptly collapsed down on top of him.

Lee's face spoke for the entire crowd with his visibly shocked expression and speechless stupor. In his mind flashed still-shot pictured memories of Zuko teaching him how to use twin swords, Zuko enjoying a dinner with his family, and Zuko protecting him from Gow. Each of those imaged memories began to spark, burn away, and crumble into ash.

Gow looked up with fear readily apparent on his face as Zuko approached him. The Earth Kingdom brute repeated his question from the start of the fight, only his time his voice was shaky and unsure. "Who... who are you?"

Zuko lorded over the fallen earthbender with regal prestige. His entire focus was on his downed opponent, ready to counter any possible dirty trick that Gow might still have up his sleeve. On the other hand, Katara's attention was drawn to the silence of the crowd surrounding them.

A deathly quiet fell over the small nameless plains village. Gone were the cheers for their unknown champions. Rapidly filling that void were glares of hatred and loathing. The crowd had turned. No longer was this a fight to free the village from injustice. Instead, the war had come to their doorstep. A firebender, the enemy, their enemy, had just defeated their Earth Kingdom defenders. Cruel earthbender personalities could never be as bad as having watched a firebender win the day.

Fiery golden eyes locked Gow in place within the rubble as Zuko slid his twin swords back into one. "My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne," he proclaimed proudly. He finished sheathing his swords.

An additional wave of shock washed over the gathered crowd as Katara watched it ripple through them. Even she felt stunned by the firebender's proclamation. She knew who Zuko was, but she had never heard him announce it with such vigor and resolution. Standing there, he looked every part the striking prince he claimed to be.

An single bystander seemed to break from his stupor. "Liar! I heard of you! You're not a prince, you're an outcast! His own Father burned and disowned him!"

Compassionate blue eyes flashed concern towards the Fire Prince, but he didn't flinch under or deny the man's rebuke of him. "Zuko..." whispered the Water Tribe girl.

The old man's admonishment seemed to empower the crowd as it's outrage began to grow. Katara could hear an array of accusations and speculations of what the Fire Prince had done to be guilty of his banishment; notions ranging from the stealing from the royal treasury to the attempted assassination of royalty to the abusing of Earth Kingdom captives. Each tale seemed to grow more outlandish and outrageous than the last as the whispers and murmurs grew in volume. Cheering faces had darkened into hateful glares and accusing eyes.

Zuko ignored all of it as he stepped forward, leaning down over Gow. The earthbender cowered into a fetal position with his eyes shut closed. Zuko merely plucked the dagger he had given Lee from the man's belt loop. A scowl at the defeated brute sent him fleeing in the same direction as his cronies.

Walking towards the tower in the center of town, Zuko found Sela already loosening the bindings restraining Lee. As he approached, Sela stood resolutely in front of her Son and spread her arms out wide as if to create a protective barrier. "Not a step closer," declared the mama bear.

For the first time, Zuko flinched as he stopped walking, his mask of indifference flickering ever so slightly. He knelt down so that he was eye level with Lee. He held the dagger back out, its handle extended towards the young farm boy. "It's yours. You should have it."

Lee peeked his head out from around his mother's skirts. He stuck his tongue out and raspberried as he spat out at the firebender. "No! I hate ya!"

Sela looked at the firebender tearfully. "Just go, please."

Both Lee's and Sela's rejections of him seemed to strike Zuko harsher than from the beating of rocks that Gow had pelted him with just mere moments ago. Feeling even more emboldened after watching Sela's non-acceptance of the firebender, the crowd launched into outright jeers and enraged shouts. Rotten vegetables and small rocks started to fly. Zuko just took each projectile in stride, not even bothering to defend himself or look back as he walked over to Biscuit.

"Begone demon!"

"Get out of here!"

"Go back to the Fire Nation!"

"Give me back my husband!"

"You're a beast!"

"Scum of the earth!"

"Give me back my son!"

"Just die!"

One rock caught him in the temple and he stumbled as a trickle of fresh blood ran down his face. "Zuko!" called out Katara in alarm.

At the sound of her voice, the crowd wheeled on the waterbender as hands lashed out to grab her, pull her back, prevent her from reaching the firebender. She struggled against them resolutely, breaking free from their wild grasps and stumbling into Zuko's arms as he caught her from falling. Sorrowful blue met dejected gold as their eyes locked for a moment.

The projectiles ceased after the waterbender reached the firebender. However, their shouting and jeers continued to flow freely. The crowd didn't approach closer though. Fear held them back. Fear that the evil firebender might just decide to burn them all to ashes if they got too close.

Katara knew there were those in the Fire Nation who were capable of exactly that. She had spent months suffering from torture and beatings from those very people. And yet, here was Zuko just accepting the resentment from the villagers without complaint or protest. As if he had just resigned himself to receiving the hostility that they were spewing as truth.

An elderly woman walked towards the front of the unruly mob. "Girlie, get away from that beast! He's dangerous! You saw how he defeated Gow!"

Katara's own ire surged. If Zuko wasn't going to get angry or defend himself, then she was going to do it for the both of them. Using the waterskins on the beltloops of the gathered crowd around them, the waterbender encased the feet of the braver outliers that had been inching closer with ice to lock them in place. "How we stopped Gow!" corrected the Water Tribe girl. "Or did you already forget how cruel and abusive Gow was? What has Zuko ever done to you? Other than save Lee and defend your town for you?!"

Some of the mob seemed to hesitant, but others just looked downright insulted and argued back in disbelief at this out-of-towner.

The waterbender felt a touch on her shoulder as Zuko whispered lightly, "Let's just go. We're-I'm not wanted here."

"No!" she protested loudly. "This isn't right! We haven't done anything wrong! We helped them and they're acting like this! They're acting like you're a... a..."

Katara struggled to find the right word. She locked eyes with Sela, still standing in the crowd with Lee at her side. "You got to know him! You talked to him! You've seen that he is a good man! He cares about Lee and he came back to save him when Lee was in danger! Please! Say something!" Tears were forming in the Water Tribe girl's pleading eyes.

Tears began to form in Sela's eyes as well as she held Lee close. Then, in a single motion, the older woman turned her back on the firebender and waterbender.

Fury and betrayal burned within brilliant blue eyes as Katara leveled a frosty glower across the mob. "I see you all for what you truly are. This isn't a town of victims; it's a town of monsters."