347You Don't Hate Me
By
Lucibell
Chapter One
I look out ahead of me, beyond the deck, beyond the sea. The moon shines brightly on this night, the stars twinkle softly. There, just up there, that's where he is. The evasive Avatar. The boy who should be an old man by now. I frown. How did he manage to stay so young? I shake my head, staring at the island. It's heavily wooded, just like every other goodness-forsaken place he's taken refuge in. He does it on purpose. To evade me. I know it. It bothers me, but then again, it would bother anybody that was trying to regain their honor if the one thing that could restore their honor was so elusive.
Not far now… He's close. So close… My honor, my right as a prince, it's all so close… But it's been that way before, hasn't it? Several times before. I scowl, touching the left side of my face. I feel the scarring there, the imperfections in the skin. I can feel the way it wrinkles and stretches, taught over a skull that it should've been separated from. I wince inwardly, remembering the pain. All the pain. The burning of the flame, the singeing of my skin, the blood running freely down my face…
And the pain of knowing that the one who burned me… the one who scarred me for life… that that man…
Was my father.
I shake my head, noticing that it's almost time to go ashore. I turn, making my way to the hatch. I enter, making my way down the stairs and through the winding hallways. I reach the bridge and look to my uncle, who is playing that stupid game of his. I hate that game. I don't even know what it's called anymore, though I know enough about it from being forced to play to beat Uncle Iroh several times over… But I still don't know the name.
"We're here, Uncle." I state simply. He and the soldier that was humoring him by playing that forsaken game rise and follow me as I hastily make my way to the deck. Tonight, I'll have the Avatar. Tonight I will regain my honor.
A Brief Interlude
She sat up abruptly, her braid flying over her shoulder. She scanned the campsite, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She couldn't see anything abnormal. There was Sokka, snoring away. And Aang, sprawled out with Momo on his stomach. She could see the hulk of a sleeping Appa, grunting every now and then. She listened intently, trying to decide if she'd actually heard something out of the ordinary, or if it had all been in her head. Just as she was about to lay back down, she heard it.
Snap! And then, Thud! "AH!"
She jumped up, running towards the seemingly strangled voice, not even thinking to wake Sokka or Aang. She hoped for hope's sake that it wasn't that Fire Nation prince… Zuko. She crashed through the underbrush for what seemed like centuries, but was really a matter of seconds.
She halted dead at what she saw.
Standing above a dead firebender stood a heavily breathing earthbender, long-dagger in his hand, blood flashing in the moonlight of his blade. The firebender's blood…
In total shock, she completely disregarded the rest of the scene. She never saw the scorch marks on the surrounding trees, ground, and the earthbender's clothes. She didn't notice the stab wounds in the freshly dead firebender or the clods of earth that presumably had inflicted the bruises on his limp body. The only thing that registered was primitive instinct:
Fight or flight.
She turned and ran, not thinking about direction. She never thought about Aang or Sokka or Appa or Momo. She forgot that they were there, that they could help her. She didn't cry for help. She just ran.
It was all she could think to do.
She felt brances bend and snap under her feet and around her body as she ran. She felt the sting of tiny twigs as they scratched her face, but didn't notice. She kept running, and all too soon, she was running on adrenaline alone. She heard her breathing and heartbeat pounding in her ears; she felt the vibration of his footfalls behind her. She knew he was going to catch up, that he was going to overtake her. She knew she was going to die.
She didn't notice the tears streaming down her face as he grabbed her.
She felt pain like she'd never known. He threw her to the ground, landing punches on her face and torso. He let up for a moment and she scrambled to get away. He snatched her arm backward, bending it unnaturally and she screamed. He pinned her too a tree and she closed her eyes tightly, tears mingling with blood and dirt on her face. Please… Oh, please, don't… She silently prayed.
She'd heard of girls that had been in this kind of situation. That had been… dishonored… and then killed. She just hoped he'd go straight to the killing, so she wouldn't have to suffer. She screamed again when she felt a sharp and unbearable pain in her side. She felt blood pour from the wound as he punched her once, for good measure, she guessed, before stabbing her in her left shoulder. She cried out once more, feeling her body now truly pinned to the tree behind her by the dagger below her collarbone.
He hit her again, and everything went black.
Chapter One (Continued)
I push back some branches, hearing my men call out to each other through the undergrowth. I can sense Uncle Iroh somewhere behind me, but I don't worry about him much. I have to find the Avatar. I take a turn through some particularly thick brush and stop where I stand. I hear my uncle follow suit.
Blood covers the forest floor just beneath a large oak. My eyes travel up the base of the tree, past a pair of booted feet, to a blue-clad figure. At least… It was a blue-clad figure before it was drenched in its own blood.
Or rather, her own blood.
My gaze rests for a moment on the stab-wound, the hilt of an Earth-Nation dagger sticking out of her flesh. A dark bloodstain surrounds the wound; I take a tentative step forward.
I look to her familiar face, trying to think of her name…; her head is hanging low, her cerulean eyes closed, dried blood at the corner of her mouth, and as I get closer I can barely hear her ragged breathing. I rush to her, pressing two fingers to her neck.
Her pulse is fading.
"Uncle!" I cry, "Find the soldiers! Tell them to find the Avatar and bring him and his companion to the ship, at any cost. They are not to be harmed!" I hear him rush off unquestioningly.
Reaching down, I feel my hand curl around the hilt of the blade. I whisper an apology to deaf ears before snatching it from the bark of the tree and the girl's shoulder.
Dropping the dagger, I catch her as she falls limply from the tree. She grunts and I feel her head lift to look at me.
"S-sokka…" she whispers. "A-a-aang…"
Katara Her name hits me like a slap in the face. So does the realization that she doesn't recognize me.
"It's alright, they're fine. You're going to be fine…" I say to her. If she were oriented, she wouldn't believe me. Just like I don't believe myself.
She tries to nod, but can't. I pick her up, my arms under her back and knees, mindful of the wound that's now spouting blood. I have nothing to close the wound with, so I hope against hope that she'll be okay.
She's far too young to die…
I run, as quickly as possible without jarring her, back to the ship. I can hear the soldiers frantically searching the woods, shouting for the Avatar or the girl's brother.
Katara…
I look down at her bruised and battered face. She's beautiful, I can't deny that. And for some reason unbeknownst to me, I feel the urge to find and punish the person that did this to her.
I hear the cries of her brother now, frantically trying to understand the situation. Why were the firebenders so urgent? What about his sister? They had her? Was this some sort of sick joke? I'd go back and yell at him, but I can't. I don't have time.
I kick open the hatch, tentatively racing down the stairs. I maneuver my way to the sick bay and call for all physicians. Carefully I lay Katara down on one of the beds nailed to the floor. I press my fingers to her throat again.
She's almost gone…
Five doctors crowd around and I urge them to take care of her. To save her, or it's their heads. I don't really mean it, but this needs to be done. She needs to survive.
She's too young to die…
And dare I say it, for the first time since the Agni Kai, I'm scared.
Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is scared…
Author's Note: This fic was actually inspired by the barrage of "Zuko-takes-Katara-as-bait" fics. Most of them are great, others aren't, and it's all so... cliche. I'm not trying to be spiteful, honestly! I just wanted to write a KataraxZuko but I didn't want it to be so similar to everyone else's.
So, I'm liking where this is going. I'm liking my ideas, and I think you will too. This is my first fic outside of the Zelda realm, and I'm not all that familiar with every episode, but I'm doing research and looking into it, so stick with me, I'll get it right eventually.
Review, if you please... Flames welcome.
God Bless,
Luci
