Chapter 4 - The Nightmares

'Clank, clank, clank...' Katara's footsteps reverberated loudly across the metal grates as she slowly walked down the dark corridor. There was a fog in the air that seemed to seep in everywhere, casting a dreary, hazy veil that masked the flickering, elongated shadows formed from the sparse candles on the walls.

'Drip, drip, drip...' Somewhere, hidden in the distance, that infernal leak rang out once more. If she paused to listen for it, then the leak would reverberate throughout the metal walls, making it impossible to locate. Cell after cell lined the corridor, with burnt hands gripping at the bars.

The Water Tribe girl couldn't bring herself to look through the small cut-out barred openings on each door that offered a glimpse into numerous rooms. She didn't want to see what could possibly be inside. The charred remains of those that fought on the deck of the prison rig. Those that fought and lost. Fought and died. Because of her.

Katara started to run. Her footsteps were louder now. Banging heavier on the metallic floor. The corridor itself was endless. But the panic only loomed all the greater. She could sense the walls on either side begin to slowly close in on her. The smell of cooked flesh permeated her nostrils and choked her lungs. Then, came the voices.

Some, she recognized. Others, she did not. However, the words were the same. And each accusation was more piercing than the last.

"You killed me."

"You killed us."

"This was your fault."

"We died fighting for your uprising."

"Why are we dead and you are not?"

Pressing the palms of her hands down onto her ears, Katara tried in vain to shut out the condemnations. She ran quicker now; faster and faster down the pitch black hall to get away from the damnations. But the cells seemed to go on forever. Every door she came across rattled and shook, the rusty bolts keeping each door in place while protesting underneath the stain, as whatever it was inside attempted to get out, attempted to get to her. And yet, it was the voices, growing louder and louder each passing second, that tore at her, no matter what she did to drown them out.


Zuko awoke abruptly to the bloodcurdling scream piercing the tranquility of the evening, jumping to his feet with his Dao broadswords drawn in his hands, the metal glistening in the pale moonlight. He had never been a heavy sleeper. His time alone this last week only increased his wariness at night. He zeroed in on the Water Tribe girl instantly as she shook back and forth on her bedroll restlessly, eyes closed tightly and shouting that she was sorry over and over again. Tears flowed freely down her face.

Perturbed, he lowered his swords slowly as he took a couple of steps closer cautiously. This could be a water savage trap after all. However, her wild fits and sounds of frantic panic quickly overwhelmed his suspicions that she was faking this trauma. Sheathing his blades, Zuko approached the girl. Crouching down next to her, he shook her shoulder roughly. "Hey! Wake up!"

The girl's fist shot up without warning and connected squarely with his jaw as the Fire Prince staggered and fell on his backside. Dazed for a moment, he paused and checked his chin with his left hand. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, he moved to stand up again only to find his right hand and legs frozen in place on the ground. An empty waterskin lay nearby.

Grunting in exertion, he attempted to break through the ice with strength of force alone. However, the ice was thicker than he originally estimated. Instead, he breathed in deeply to gather his inner flame. With the sun down and the moon high in the night sky, this took a couple moments longer than he would have liked. Especially, when he heard more water crystalizing off to the side and his eyes darted over to see his own waterskin next to his bed roll draining of water as dozens of ice shards and ice needles alike hovered in the air, all pointed menacingly in his general direction.

"Peasant girl!" he shouted anxiously. "Wake up right now!" He would forever deny the high pitched tone that may or may not have encapsulated his call-out as the projectiles launched themselves at him all at once. Spinning wildly, he broke out of his ice restraints with a burst of flame and continued to twist on his hands as he called forth as series fire kicks to melt the ice needles before they reached him.

The ostrich horse neighed loudly in fright at all the excitement going on within the campsite. The sound of the panicked animal finally seemed to reach the Water Tribe girl who awoke with a start. Additional ice projectiles that were only in the process of being reformed from water on the ground, melted away in the air as the water crashed back down.

Katara was breathing heavily with a cold sweat marring her features. Her eyes were looking around wildly as she noticed puddles and scorch marks all throughout the campsite. In the middle of the area, Zuko was laying on his back with his hands spread out wide and panting deeply. "What happened?" she asked in bewilderment.

Zuko's head snapped up in anger. "That's what I want to know! Why were you flinging ice at me?!" He winced in pain. Despite his fire and quick thinking, he had not been able to deflect or melt all of the ice needles in time. He was bleeding from multiple tiny cuts with several small chunks of ice still lodged in his arms and legs.

Katara could only be baffled. She surveyed the destruction around them again. "I did this?"

Rising in a huff, Zuko growled, "Well it wasn't me!" He winced again in pain as he stumbled and caught himself. The firebender fought to remain standing despite his numerous small wounds.

Watching him stumble slightly, Katara took noticed of the blood flowing freely and the ice needles still stabbed into him. "You're hurt!" she cried out as she stood up too.

"Just leave me alone!" he shouted in anger. "I'm fine." He pulled out the remaining ice chunks and grit his teeth at the additional pain.

"Let me heal you..." she started as she attempted to move closer only to realize her waterskin wasn't on her belt loop.

"I said I'm fine!" The Fire Prince snatched up the overturned waterskins and shot a fireball at each of the puddles he saw to evaporate the standing water. "No more water tonight!"

Katara remained silent as she watched him stomp around the campsite and line up the luggage in between them as if to try and create a small wall to block anymore ice chunks. Or maybe it was to just create a symbolic physical barrier between them. She heard him grumbling to himself about stupid waterbenders and their stupid waterbending in the middle of the night as he pulled out some bandages to wrap his bleeding limbs.

A hazy, bittersweet memory of her brother constantly complaining about her 'magic water' and always being the one to get drenched flashed in her mind at Zuko's fuming tirade. Katara hugged her knees to her chest as she felt herself shake sharply in sadness. Sleep would not be returning to her tonight.


All too soon the sun rose over the skyline to cast its glow across the landscape. Despite the abrupt wake-up in the middle of the night, Zuko felt the energizing warmth of sunlight motivating him to get up and get the day started. He noticed the Water Tribe girl still sitting up in her own bedroll. Her eyes appeared a little bloodshot and lethargic.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" the firebender asked pointedly. She shook her head. He frowned. "We have a lot of traveling to do today." She moved to get up. He sighed. This was going to be another long day.

A simple breakfast, a recharging of the waterskins, and a repacking of saddlebags onto the ostrich horse and the pair departed. Zuko had placed Katara onto the animal once more, mostly because he rather walk than have her slow him down by suffering from exhaustion.

The morning travel passed in relative silence. Zuko remained resolute to not start any conversations. Katara offered several times to heal his arms and legs, but each time he brushed her off and told her to leave him alone. She felt her heart ache each time she watched him stumble or misstep and rub his leg with a growl.

As they stopped for lunch, a trio of minstrels started to approach them, but a sharp, intensely scathing glare from Zuko caused them to turn around. Instead, the troubadours continued on their way as they started to sing about negative waves.

The afternoon continued much the same as the morning and Zuko felt the pair of them could be making better progress than they were. To where, he was still trying to figure that out, but at least they were moving. His mind kept focusing on the previous night. What had she been dreaming about that had panicked her so much? Where did that ridiculous strength in her waterbending come from? She had never demonstrated such ability before. At least not during the few encounters he had seen her several months ago. Those ice needles were razor sharp.

Zuko felt a drop of water on his face. Then another. And other. Faster now. The firebender stood there with a scowl on his face as a downpour started overhead. There hadn't been a cloud in the sky earlier this morning and he had been so focused on his thoughts that he had failed to notice the gathering rain clouds during the day. Well, it was too late to put a cloak on now. He was already drenched and soaking wet.

Despite her depressing thoughts and the lethargy she felt from the lack of sleep, each drop of rain was revitalizing to the waterbender. The tranquil sky water ran across her face and down her arms as the ostrich horse continued to walk alongside the firebender. In the South Pole, Katara had mostly experienced snowfalls and ice flurries. It wasn't until she started traveling that she learned about rain. While most people seemed to dislike this particular weather, it always brought a smile to her face.

Trudging along through the quickly forming mud, Zuko continued his calculating thoughts about the previous night. Those needles had been shot to kill. It was only due to his quick thinking and his capacity to endure pain that allowed him to intercept the ones aimed at his vitals and block the rest with his limbs. He frowned. Azula would have blocked all of them effortlessly and walked away without a scratch. She probably would not have even been caught in ice in the first place like he had been. Being restricted like that had limited his options from the start. His clumsiness and weak firebending caused him to come up short again. That was why he was walking around in pain right now. Because he was not good enough. Not strong enough. Weak. Incompetent. Trash.

Katara observed Zuko's facial features continuing to darken as he brooded alongside her. Why was he being so obstinate about this? He knew she could heal his injuries with her waterbending. They had learned about that ability just yesterday. No, the real question was why did she hurt him in the first place? How did she hurt him? She could not figure out what she did last night. All she remembered was that nightmare, that horrible, horrible nightmare. She shivered at the memory.

"Zuko..." she started. However, his Dao broadswords were out in the blink of an eye as he spun around her and she shut her eyes tightly in fright. A moment later she heard something hitting the ground. Opening her eyes slowly, she noticed a splintered arrow on the ground next to her as the ostrich horse brayed loudly.

"Come out," ordered Zuko as he held his blades at the ready towards the tree line. A trio of burly men emerged and barred their path.

"Nice moves there kid," taunted the archer. "Guess I should have aimed for you instead of the horse."

The other two bandits leveled spears at them. "Just drop the saddlebags, turn around, and head back where you came from. We just want your stuff. There is no need for this to get bloody in front of the girlie."

Shifting his stance and moving directly in-between Katara, the ostrich horse, and the bandits, the firebender stated resolutely, "No." The rain continued to fall, making it difficult to see too far.

"Have it your way kid," mused the archer as he nocked another arrow. "Rough'em up lads."

As the first spearman rushed him with a joust, Zuko hooked the extended spear with his left blade and knocked the bandit off course as he delivered a brutal right cross to the man's face with the hilt of his right blade. Blood erupted from the man's ugly face as he was flung backwards in defeat and unconsciousness.

An arrow sang out as Zuko crossed his swords in front of him to cut it in half. The second bandit was already upon him as the firebender leapt over the spear thrust, his sweeping legs kicking the man upside the chin and stunning him. Dropping low, Zuko shot up with a savage gut punch as the man gasped, the wind completely knocked out of him.

"Watch out!" was the only warning the firebender received before an arrow sank deeply into his left shoulder from his front and he fell backwards in sharp pain.

His left sword clambered to the ground as he looked up just in time to raise his right blade and deflect yet another arrow. However, this resulted in his right blade being knocked from his hand. Zuko glared at the smirking archer who was nocking a final arrow to finish off the prone Fire Prince.

As the bandit loosed it directly at Zuko, a two foot tall wall of ice sprang forth directly in front of his prone form and absorbed the arrow as it pierced halfway through the ice and stopped. Gritting his teeth, Zuko sprang to his feet and leapt high into the air over the ice wall as he shot three quick fireballs at the distant archer, two with his right hand and one with his left. The Fire Prince grimaced tightly at the pain when he punched with his left arm.

The man was clearly shocked to see the small ice wall appear out of nowhere and the rain of fire crashing down upon him. He was definitely not expecting to stick-up benders today with his small crew. The archer threw down his wooden bow as it was set ablaze by the incoming fireballs despite the steady rain and drew a small dagger. However, the firebender was upon him within fractions of a second with a furious series of angry punches and kicks. The fight was over in moments as the archer hit the ground, unconscious.

Zuko was panting heavily as he stood over the last defeated bandit. Katara rushed up to him holding both his Dao broadswords and the ostrich horse by the reins.

The waterbender moved to check his shoulder wound, but was stopped when the firebender held up his open palm in a clear signal for her to stay back. She gasped as Zuko gripped the arrow with his right arm, breathed in sharply a couple of times, and deftly pulled the projectile out of his shoulder. He hissed in pain as he raised the arrowhead eye level to ensure he had gotten all of the metal triangle out of him. Satisfied, he threw the bloody arrow to the ground and tore off a piece of the archer's tunic sleeve to press against the wound in an effort to stem the bleeding.

The sheer ridiculousness of what he had just done washed over the waterbender like a tsunami. 'Did he really just do that?!' she shouted inwardly. Katara finally found her voice once more as her old personality flared back to life for the moment. "Of all stupid things!" She pulled off the cap of the waterskin tied to Zuko's waist and knocked his hand away as she slowly called the water to her hands.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Zuko demanded as he shifted to move away from the waterbender as if her touch was toxic to him. His hand started to put pressure on the wound again only for Katara to knock the firebender's hand away a second time. Then, the Water Tribe girl sent the Fire Prince a tempestuous glare that gave even Zuko pause. Katara raised her watery hands to his shoulder wound and concentrated as the water began to glow a brilliant blue hue once more.

It was soothing. That was the only word for it. The water was cold to the touch but it warmed as it flowed around the firebender's wound. The searing pain seemed to alleviate almost immediately. The Water Tribe girl's brow was furrowed in concentration as she focused intensely on his wound. Zuko's arms dropped to his sides as he let her work. A minute or so later and she was done with his shoulder, shifting to work on the leftover wounds from the ice needles from last night. Zuko moved to stop her, but another stormy glare halted him cold a second time.

A short while later and the waterbender dropped the bloodied water to the ground in exhaustion as a sweat broke out across her forehead. Zuko rotated his left shoulder slowly and was surprised with the wide range of mobilization that he had with very little, if any, pain. He didn't know what to say. No one had ever done something that considerate for him before. Not since his Mother disappeared. Uncle had been kind to him, but this was different.

Zuko wasn't entirely sure how, but he knew that it was. He wanted to just grunt and move on. He very nearly did so. It was his usual response. His usual tactic. But he could see his Mother's and his Uncle's disappointed faces the second he started to make a sound. Instead, he uttered two words that he had not said in a long time. "Thank you." It was awkward. The words felt foreign to him, but not completely uncomfortable. He hesitated for another moment. Then, he added, "Katara."

"That was very idiotic of you, pulling that arrow out of your shoulder like that!" she drilled into him with a sharp tone as she examined his shoulder with a critical eye. "You could gotten even more hurt! I mean, what were you-" She blinked as she registered what he said. "You said my name... That was the first time."

"Yeah, well... I was grateful," he replied quickly as he sheathed his swords.

"You're welcome..." she returned, sheepishly for some reason, the steadfast confidence of her old personality fading nearly as fast as it had returned, partly in thanks to the abrupt shock she was experiencing at his abnormal gratitude. He had caught her a little off-guard, and with her rant interrupted, the fleeting confidence the Water Tribe girl had found once more was being replaced with uncertainty. Eventually, she tacked on, "Umm... and thank you for protecting me from the bandits."

Zuko stiffened. He really wasn't used to being thanked for anything. So he did the first thing that came to mind. He deflected immediately. "I paid good money to free you from slavery. It would have been a complete waste if you died so quickly."

"Oh..." muttered Katara at the Fire Prince's statement. That hadn't been the direction she was expecting their exchange to go. She thought back to the firebender's earlier actions. "I thought that you jumped forward to protect us all from that first arrow."

"Then... you thought wrong," dismissed Zuko firmly. No reason to allow her to get the wrong idea. In fact, it was probably just better to shut down any of those notions before they grew. "I just didn't want to risk losing the ostrich horse."

The waterbender frowned at the firebender's words. He appeared frustrated. At what, the Water Tribe girl wasn't sure. Perhaps he might have been telling the truth. Zuko did seem to place more value on the ostrich horse than he did on her. It made sense, at least a little bit to her. The pack animal was useful on the road. But still, the fact remained, he did jump in front of that arrow at the start. He had protected her, even if he was saying it was the horse he was trying to protect.

Zuko watched the emotions play out on the Water Tribe girl's face. Her features had shifted from fiery to surprise to kindness to confusion to dejection and then back to gloominess. He could hear his Mother scolding him in one ear and his Uncle admonishing him in the other. His words were perhaps a bit too harsh.

The Fire Prince turned away from the Water Tribe girl. "Maybe I did save you too." He could sense the waterbender being startled behind him. He quickly supplemented his comment with, "But then you helped me out with that small ice wall and with the healing. So let's just call it even and drop it."

Katara blinked at the unexpected admission from Zuko. Her features softened. "Okay," she nodded somewhat contently.

An awkward silence passed between them before the ostrich horse snorted. Zuko knelt down next to the unconscious archer and began to root through the man's pockets. He pulled out a roll of money.

"You're robbing him?" asked Katara incredulously.

Zuko shrugged. "We're out of money. Besides, they tried to rob us first. And he shot an arrow into my shoulder."

"What should we do with them?" she questioned, deciding to leave the matter of opportunistic money acquisition alone for now.

"Nothing," answered Zuko simply. "If we turn them in, then the authorities will start asking me questions. If they are Earth Kingdom authorities and they find out that I'm Fire Nation, then I'll probably be arrested and executed. If they are Fire Nation authorities and they find out who I am, then I'll be brought before my Sister and probably imprisoned or killed depending on her mood."

"Your Sister would do that to you?" Katara asked in complete disbelief. She could never imagine Sokka ever intentionally doing anything bad to her. Were families in the Fire Nation seriously that brutal to one another? She couldn't imagine any Water Tribe families ever doing something like that. Family was one of their most important values.

"Yes," responded Zuko without further elaboration. He really did not want to start talking about Azula and sour the conversation any further than it already was.

He waved Katara over to the ostrich horse as he cupped his hands into a makeshift step and allowed her to use him to climb onto the horse. Taking the reins, he walked alongside the horse and the pair continued on their way.


They settled in around the campfire later that evening. There were puddles all around from the afternoon showers. Although Katara had been animated near the end of their encounter with the bandits a couple of hours ago, she had fallen back into a contemplative quiet. Zuko was not going to take it upon himself to disturb this peaceful respite.

Cleaning up their bowls and utensils, each returned to their respective bedrolls. Soon, both fell into a slumber. However, a short time later, Katara awoke with a start. Her dreams had been turning into nightmares once more with the same dark corridor that had terrified her the previous night.

Sitting up in her bedroll, she sighed. Today had been eye-opening. Those bandits that they had come across nearly defeated them despite Zuko's impressive defense. She just barely managed to create an ice barrier with her waterbending, but it had been crude and nearly crumbled to a single arrow. It was almost the prison rig all over again. She needed to learn how to waterbend. That was why she left home in the first place, to travel to the North Pole with Aang and Sokka and find a teacher from her sister tribes.

The cooling embers in the campfire crackled and she made out Zuko's sleeping form on the far side of camp. Or at least Katara thought he was sleeping. His form seemed to be unmoving, save for the slight rise and falling of his chest as he breathed.

Earlier, he had made a show of proceeding to the opposite end of the campsite and settling into his bedroll while keeping a watchful eye on her. Well, more specifically, on her waterskin pouch. Zuko seemed to breathe easier when she poured out the water in the container and placed it far off to the side.

The wind shifted the clouds overhead and moonlight spilled over the area. She felt strangely energized. Resolved that she was not getting to get any restful sleep with this newfound energy and the threat of her nightmares clawing at her mind, Katara slipped out of her bedroll and made her way over to the nearby stream just a small distance from the campsite.

Zuko had said that she created the ice needles that nearly pin-cushioned him. How? She stood at the water's edge and tried to concentrate. She attempted to raise the water and pull it into long thin strands. Attempted being the keyword. In actuality, all she managed to do was shakily raise some water from the stream before it continued to slip back into the brook.

She never seemed to be able to much with the water. She had only ever been able to bend such a small amount of it at a time. Further, it always took so much concentration. She frowned. Then how did she manage the ice wall?

All she had seen at the time was the arrow aimed at Zuko's defenseless form and she just reacted. The water answered her call then and only then. Her frown deepened. She did not want someone to always be in mortal danger in order to get her bending to function properly. That couldn't be how waterbending worked.

So she focused on her waterbending practice, failing to notice the shadow in the tree line behind her. Zuko watched the waterbender critically. It didn't seem like she was working on a plan to kill him in his sleep tonight. He frowned as she failed to properly bend her element. If she was acting pathetic on purpose, then she was being very convincing.

What had he been thinking, allowing her to travel with him? She was just another variable that he couldn't control in his life. Another unknown. He watched her for a while until he was certain that she was just wasting her time before he returned back to the campsite and fell into a light sleep on his bedroll.

Katara struggled with the water for another hour before she returned to her own bedroll, completely spent. She drifted off into a dreamless, restless sleep in her exhausted state. She hadn't noticed the Fire Prince at any point during her training, nor did either of them notice the silverly-blue spirit observing the campsite from a far distance away.


This routine continued for the next several days. After they finished the day's travel, Katara would attempt to sleep, only to find herself unable too and would then head to whatever water source was near their campsite to practice her bending alone. She would return to her bedroll much later, depleted of energy, in a fleeting attempt to sleep, but the nightmares would could to claw at her, stirring her back awake. Each day, the bags under her eyes grew.

Zuko noticed. How could he not? But it wasn't his problem. If the Water Tribe girl didn't want to sleep, then that was on her. If she couldn't keep up, then he was going to leave her at whatever the next town on their path was and let that be that. This whole experience had been extremely vexing and his patience was very nearly spent.

As the week drew to a close, Katara returned to the campfire after her latest failed practice session. She sighed with weariness. The cumulation of exhaustion from night after night of restless sleep threatened to consume her. And yet, she really did not want to try and contend with her crushing nightmares again.

She knelt down next the small bag Zuko had given her with the supplies he had said he had gotten for her in town. She hadn't used it too much yet. Mainly, there were just a handful of toiletries in there: a toothbrush, some soap, a small washcloth. The only clothes she had were the single tunic and pair of pants he had given her on their first day together. She noticed a smaller bag inside near the bottom that she had not realized was there earlier. Opening it up, some unused burn ointment and aloe fell into her hands.

Katara blinked at the additional medicines in her hands, different from the ones in the bag the nurse had given her. Zuko had never said anything about getting her these remedies. 'He probably figured they were unnecessary after we learned about my waterbending healing,' she reasoned to herself. Her hand moved absently to where the former burn mark on her waist had been when she showed him. 'He knew about my burns back in town. Back when he was getting supplies. He got these for me before we knew about the healing, before we knew the nurse was going to give us any medicines. He cared from the start in his own way.'

She spied Zuko sleeping on the far end of the campsite. Ever since that first initial night where she supposedly waterbent ice needles, he appeared adamant to remain as far away from her at the campsite as he could get.

She stared at her own bedroll. It looked so uninviting and cold. If she had still been back home in the South Pole, then she would have crawled into bed with Gran-Gran or Sokka whenever she had a scary dream. Katara could picture their reactions clearly in her mind.

Gran-Gran would have scolded her that she was getting too old to be scared from nightmares. But even then, her Gran-Gran would never actually turn her away. Instead, Katara could have looked forward to being wrapped up with a warm blanket and an even warmer grandmotherly smile.

A tear fell from the Water Tribe girl's face. Wiping it away softly, Katara's thoughts shifted to her Brother. Sokka, well Sokka was Sokka. He probably wouldn't have woken up at all even if she accidentally kicked him as she adjusted the blanket. If by some miracle he did happen to wake, then he would probably mutter some half-sleep promise about keeping her safe from the big bad firebenders or tiger sharks before snoring and dropping back off into dreamland.

A faint smile crossed her face, a rarity from this last week. Katara tried to imagine Sokka's reaction if he knew that one of those big bad firebenders had rescued her and was now protecting her from the dangers of the road. Zuko shifted in his sleep and Katara jumped slightly at the movement.

She could just barely make out his features in the pale moonlight. He had turned so that the unblemished side of his face was prominent. Staring at his sleeping form, Katara was surprised to realize just how young he actually looked. He appeared only slightly older than she was actually. He grimaced in his sleep and she swore she heard him mutter something along the lines of, "I meant no disrespect Father... I'm sorry I spoke out of turn."

Did he have nightmares too? She never would have guessed with how gruff and angry he always seemed to be. It was a different side of him that she had not witnessed before. It felt so... human. The frightening stories that the tribal elders told to the children in the South Pole had always painted firebenders to be brutal and vicious, raiding and spreading hate across the land. But now that she had spent a little time with one, those stories did not seem entirely accurate.

She had seen the fierceness of Zuko first-hand of course. When he first arrived at her village in search of the Avatar, he had crashed his warship into the ice and stomped down the metal ramp directly into the village. He had seized her Gran-Gran. That had scared the waterbender, but as she thought back on the event, she recalled that he hadn't actually hurt anyone. He had been focused entirely on Aang.

But now? His anger seemed like a protection mechanism, as if he didn't want to let anyone get close to him. It didn't appear like he was being harsh or curt for the enjoyment of it, but rather to keep others at a distance. At least, that's how it appeared to her.

A distance memory of her childhood stirred within Katara's mind. Long ago, her and her Brother had come across a wounded, wild polar bear pup in the snow dunes. The little bear-dog had a wounded paw. It would growl and nip at anyone who attempted to get close to it. Sokka managed to get himself bit.

However, Katara stubbornly sat nearby the wounded animal, long after her Brother said the whole thing was boring and stupid. The young waterbender just spoke softly to the wounded pup until the creature eventually lessened its snarls.

She never got further than that though. Sokka had told their Dad what was going on. Hakoda showed up with several tribal warriors and retrieved the little Water Tribe girl. Her Dad had been crossed with her for putting herself in danger like that, approaching a wild beast. The sounds of additional polar bear dogs howling in the distance reinforced her Dad's concerns that the bear-pup's family was returning for it.

As she played the memory over and over again in her head, Katara couldn't help but see the comparisons. Or maybe she was just making the connections that she wanted to make.

Either way, she stifled a tiny giggle that rose unbidden in her throat as she imagined a pair of floppy polar bear dog ears on Zuko's head and a fluffy tail wagging from his backside. She looked over at her bedroll a second time. It was just as uninviting and dark as before. She may have been free from the prison rig and Zuko already said he released her as a slave, but she knew that she was still chained to the nightmares hounding her in her mind. And those nightmares were not going to let her sleep.

She looked back and forth between her bedroll and at Zuko's slumbering form. Biting her lip, she nodded her head as she made her decision. Gathering her blankets, she softly stepped over the tiny wall of stacked saddlebags that Zuko continued to build each night since the first night mishap. It was like he was trying to construct a physical barrier between them.

As she approached him, the waterbender found her courage wavering. Climbing into bed with Gran-Gran or Sokka was one thing. They were family. This, was a firebending stranger. Well, maybe not complete stranger, more like acquaintance at this point. But still, he was not a family member.

She almost retreated back to her side of the campsite. She took a step backwards more than once. But as she looked over at her bedroll yet again, the darkness seemed to eat that side of the camp area up.

Ignoring her own conscience, and how it sounded suspiciously like her Gran-Gran nagging her that this was entirely different from getting into bed with either her Gran-Gran or Sokka, Katara spread out her blankets next to Zuko. Slowly snuggling up next to him so that her back was close to his-Spirits! His back felt so warm in the chilly spring night-Katara felt the comfort of another human being that she had craved. It mattered very little at this point that the other human being was a big bad firebending polar bear dog who might or might not hate her. She drifted off into a peaceful sleep almost immediately.


Katara found herself in the dark corridor of her previous nightmares once more. However, to her surprise, she felt something fuzzy and toasty nuzzle up next to her side as her right arm brushed against a creature. Looking at her side, she saw a fully-grown polar bear dog. But the interesting part was instead of soft, snow-white fur, this one seemed to radiate a gentle red fire, which did not burn her as she petted the animal.

With a fierce, commanding bark, the polar bear dog's presence seemed to almost fill the entire area with a warm, welcoming light. Then, the beast walked forward a couple of steps before looking back, almost as if it was waiting for her to follow. Finding her courage, Katara trotted up next to the dog as she placed a hand on its large back. Walking side-by-side, the pair continued down the corridor. And not a single haunting voice disturbed her that evening.