Crippled Anger - Chapter 1

"Anger is the most impotent of passions. It effects nothing it goes about, and hurts the one who is possessed by it more than the one against whom it is directed."

-Clarendon

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The early morning sunlight crawled across the floor and onto Katara's small bed, signaling the start of a new day. With a groan, Katara threw her arm over her eyes in an attempt to block out the unwanted intrusion. She just wanted to sleep until she could wake up to the reality of her choosing—no war, no fighting, no running from the Fire Nation and, most importantly, no banished Fire Nation prince.

After a few ineffectual moments of trying to get back to sleep, Katara reluctantly caved in and sat up. Heaving a sigh, she removed the blanket and threw her legs over the side of the bed. As she stood and began to dress, Katara ticked off her mental list of things that needed to be done for the day.

First there would be breakfast, then cleaning, then laundry and then, of course, the never-ending rounds of training. Each day followed a specific pattern according to who trained Aang—with fire getting particular emphasis. Katara's turn to train Aang usually came much later in the day, often after dinner when the moon was high in the sky. This allowed Katara much of the day to do other things, like chores, since she was the only one who would do them in the first place.

She made her way down to the open area with the fountain of the Western Air Temple, which had become the unspoken common area, and began to make breakfast. Inhaling the warm morning air, Katara enjoyed the few moments of peace and quiet she would have before everyone began to wake up. As Katara hummed to herself, she started a small fire and set up the pot, bending water into it from the nearby fountain.

"Good morning," came a familiar raspy voice from behind.

Katara stiffened. Of course, Mr. 'I Rise with the Sun' would be up first.

"Morning," she replied tersely without a hint of kindness, her good mood completely spoiled.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Nope."

Zuko sighed and sat down on one of the collapsed pillars off to the side as he waited for Aang to wake up for training. Katara continued about her business, plainly trying to ignore the Firebender's presence.

Ever since she had begrudgingly accepted Aang's decision that Zuko would be his Firebending teacher, Katara had been forced to deal with the prince. Unlike everyone else who ignored Katara when she was in a bad mood, Zuko would not. He seemed determined to push her into acknowledging him—for what purpose Katara had yet to figure out, but it was starting to get on her nerves.

Silently, she hoped someone else would wake up soon so she wouldn't have to be stuck alone with Zuko for much longer.

Her prayers were answered as Hakoda made his way into the fountain area.

Katara beamed at her father. "Morning, Dad!"

"Morning, sweetheart." Hakoda returned his daughter's smile as he made his way over to give her a one-armed hug.

"Did you sleep well?"

"For the most part; after sleeping on the ground or in hammocks for most of the past two years, sleeping in a bed is strange. My neck is a little stiff." As if to prove his point, he grimaced as he rubbed the back of his neck trying to work out the kinks.

"I can heal that for you if you want; let me just finish making breakfast first. You know how Sokka gets if food isn't ready by the time he wakes up."

"That I do." Hakoda chuckled.

Katara watched as her father made his way over to where Zuko was seated and proceeded to strike up a conversation with the young man. She didn't even try to hide the dark scowl that came over her face as she observed them interacting, stealing glances here and there. She couldn't help but wonder what on earth they could even be talking about. Not that she had reason to care, but this was her father making friendly chit-chat with her worst enemy. Had the world gone crazy?

When Hakoda threw his head back in laughter at, presumably, something Zuko had said Katara nearly broke the spoon she was holding in her hand.

"Good morning delicious food!" Sokka greeted as he came up to smell the jook that Katara was stirring in the pot. Suki trailed behind him, her hand grasped tightly in his.

"Good morning to you too, Sokka," Katara shot back scathingly. "It's almost ready so try to be patient."

"I think he can manage that."

Suki shot Sokka a look that told him to behave while she gave Katara a warm smile, which Katara gladly returned. Having Suki with them to keep Sokka in check was a blessing since they had all returned from the Boiling Rock. Minus all the unnecessary public affection the couple was fond of demonstrating, Katara was happy that Sokka was happy.

Slowly but surely the rest of the group streamed into the common area as Katara was dishing out the individual portions of jook. She began passing out the bowls as Aang finally came into the common area, making him the last one to join.

"About time you joined us, sleepy head," she teased him gently, handing him his breakfast.

"Sorry, I guess I just overslept," Aang said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"You probably just needed the rest."

"Yeah, you're right, but I'm all ready for another round of Firebending training with Sifu Hotman!" He proudly called to Zuko across the small circle that everyone had formed around the fire.

Katara couldn't help the amused sneer that snaked its way across her face as the expression on Zuko's face soured at Aang's favorite name for his new teacher. Seeing Zuko uncomfortable somehow made Katara's day that much better.

"I'm sure there will be lots of dancing," Katara said, unable to resist adding that last crack with every ounce of derision in her.

She then made her way to Zuko and her father, handing them their helpings of the morning meal.

"Here, Dad."

She handed Hakoda his bowl cheerfully before turning to Zuko, her expression turning icy in a matter of seconds.

"Here."

Katara all but shoved the bowl into the prince's hands and turned back to her father, who was giving her a disapproving look, which she pointedly ignored. With a wave of her hand, she pulled more water from the fountain and wrapped it around her hands. Anything her father might have said to scold her quickly vanished from his mind as she placed her hands on his neck, working out the knots in the muscles.

"Ah, that's much better," Hakoda declared appreciatively. "Thank you, Katara."

"You are very welcome." Katara giggled as she bent down and gave her father a kiss on the cheek.

Everyone ate quietly for a time, but after a few moments small conversations popped up around the circle as everyone started to discuss plans for the day. Katara, meanwhile, went around gathering bowls as people were finishing their breakfast and piled them over by the fountain so she could wash them.

"I can help clean up the dishes," Zuko stated as he came over and handed her his bowl.

He just doesn't give up, does he?

"Thanks, but no thanks, Your Highness." Katara emphasized the last word snidely. "I wouldn't want you to dirty your hands by doing menial labor such as this."

Zuko clenched his fists, and Katara could tell that it was taking everything in him not to retaliate. Sometimes, she almost wished he would. At least that Zuko she knew what to do with.

"Come on, Sifu Hotman! It's time for training!" Aang bounded over to Zuko eagerly, blissfully unaware of the tension between his two teachers, or at least doing his best to ignore it.

"Stop calling me that," Zuko said through gritted teeth as Aang dragged him off towards the training area.

"You know, Katara," Toph said, saddling up to Katara, "sooner or later you're going to have to accept that he's part of the group now."

"If you think that his teaching Aang Firebending is going to make me forget that he betrayed us Toph, you've got another thing coming."

"Look, I don't know what happened down in those caves between the two of you, but he is just trying to help. I trust him, Aang trusts him, and even your brother trusts him now."

"You have no idea what happened, Toph. You weren't there." Katara didn't even notice the water in the fountain as it sloshed around in response to her rising temper. "So stop trying to tell me what to do!"

For once Toph actually seemed to back down, suddenly not interested in pushing the conversation much further. Katara was a little taken aback. Toph was never one to back down from a fight, especially one with her. Toph certainly wasn't afraid, so what was it? The younger girl seemed to be focused intently on something, her eyes narrowed and brow furrowed in concentration. Katara wondered what she seemed to be picking up on, but Toph just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.  

"Fine, but don't you get tired of being so angry every single day? You're only making things worse for yourself, you know."

Katara was struck dumb by such a mature statement from the young blind girl. She had no answer to that question and her pride wouldn't let her admit that maybe—just maybe—Toph was right.

Toph seemed to sense that this particular verbal sparring was over and turned around to leave, while Katara was left by the fountain to war with her own conscience.

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Later that day, Katara was once more by the fountain, scrubbing the dishes from lunch with a little more vigor than was necessary. She had just turned Zuko's help down again, when Hakoda approached her.

"Katara, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean Dad?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"I've never seen you treat anyone the way you treat Zuko," he answered tersely. "You were raised better than that."

She immediately stopped washing the bowl she had in her hands and turned to face him, anger instantly flaring to the surface. First Toph and now her father; she was sick of people treating her like she was the bad guy.

"You have no idea what he was like Dad. What he's done." Her voice was cold and low.

"I don't care what he's done in the past, Katara. He's here now, trying to help, and all you do is spit it right back in his face!"

"He tried to kidnap Aang! He chased us all over the world! He betrayed all of us!"

"He is trying to make amends, Katara," Hakoda's voice was low and strained. He was giving her the strangest look, like he really didn't know who she was anymore. "Even you can't hold a grudge against him forever."

"I can sure try."

"Katara…" Hakoda stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders, willing her to look at him, but she obstinately refused to meet his eyes.

"Katara, honey, everyone deserves a second chance."

"I was the first person to give him a second chance!" she shrieked in response, unable to control her own emotions, as she twisted out of his grasp. "He betrayed me! And Aang nearly died because of it!"

Her voice cracked with that last sentence, and she tried to swallow back her tears as she remembered that horrible day. Katara couldn't understand how her dad could even be taking Zuko's side after seeing the state Aang had been in after getting hit with Azula's lightning.  

Hakoda approached her again, and this time he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind and hugged her to his chest. Katara sobbed freely with her hand covering her mouth, trying feebly to muffle the sound.

"I almost couldn't save him, Dad," she hiccupped. "I almost used the one thing that did save Aang—on him! All because I believed his stupid lie that he had changed!"

Katara felt the guilt and resentment swarm around her, and she couldn't hold it back any longer before she cried in her father's embrace. She turned in his arms to bury her face in his chest, sobbing like a small child. She felt so stupid. She had managed to stay strong for so long, but the instant her father showed up it was like she had never aged at all.

Hakoda held her in his arms tightly until her sobs finally quieted, and she felt him kiss the top of her head.

"Katara, my beautiful little girl," he began, "no—you're more than that now—you're becoming an adult, and each time I see you I am amazed at how much you remind me of your mother."

Katara couldn't help but smile at this, sniffling as she shifted her hands to clutch at the pendant around her neck.

"It pains me to know that you've had to grow up so quickly, and that my leaving you and your brother played a significant part in that. Even though I left to protect you—to keep you out of this war—it has still fallen upon your shoulders."

He pulled away to stare down at her, and Katara wondered just when he had come to appear so much older than she had remembered him being.

"I'm not defending Zuko's actions, Katara, but you have to at least try to give him a chance. He went with Sokka to rescue me, and if it wasn't for him neither your brother nor I would be here right now."

Katara allowed herself to mull over that thought. She had been annoyed when she, Toph, and Aang had awoken to find her brother and Zuko gone, but she really believed it when the letter said they had gone hunting. So when they finally returned, looking exhausted and followed by Suki, Chit Sang, and her father, Katara was shocked. She had been so overjoyed to see that her father was safe again that she hadn't given it much thought as to how it had happened.

It hadn't been until later the next morning that Sokka had regaled them all on their heroic adventure together, telling them that it was thanks to Zuko that everything had worked out so well. She refused to accept that, but here she was being scolded by her own father for treating his rescuer disdainfully and she couldn't help but feel slighted. Now, not only were all her friends on Zuko's side but her father too. It just wasn't fair.

"Every day he asks you what he can do to help you with the chores around here," Hakoda said, pressing on as his daughter remained silent. "From what I've seen, he's the only one to do that. I think that says a lot, don't you?"

The tiny niggling voice of doubt in the back of Katara's head was growing stronger as she did a mental account of just how many times Zuko had offered to help. If she was being honest with herself, he had done nothing but go out of his way to make things easier on her, but she refused to acknowledge it.

"I know it isn't easy for you to forgive someone, but all I am asking is that you at least try to be nicer to him—" she shot him a dark look before he followed up with "—please?"

Katara sighed as her defenses crumbled. "Sure, Dad, I'll try."

"That's my girl." Hakoda smiled and squeezed her tightly once more before setting her free.

Once out of his arms, Katara turned back to the dishes. There was no denying that her father made a good point, but it was so easy to be angry at Zuko.

Where is that getting me though? She frowned at her reflection in the water.

She had to let go—or at least attempt to be more civil, even if the very thought made her cringe. It was like admitting that she was wrong, and Katara hated that, but when she thought about what her father and Toph had said she couldn't deny the veracity of their arguments.

As Hakoda turned to leave, he paused for a moment, as though a thought had suddenly occurred to him. "Oh, and Katara?"

"Yes?"

"It might not hurt for you to at least thank him for rescuing me."

Katara looked up with a stunned expression to watch her father retreat around the corner and down the hallway that led up to the dormitory. With a deep sigh, Katara realized that she had to make some effort to work on her treatment of Zuko around her father and the others, at least then maybe they wouldn't all gang up on her. The universe, it seemed, wasn't on her side this time.

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For the third time that day Katara gathered up the dirty dishes and began stacking them by the fountain to be cleaned. This time she noticed Zuko approach her and she mentally took a deep breath. She was going to do as her father asked; she was going to play nice.

Not that it will change anything, she thought darkly. Katara still didn't trust him, and he was going to have to do a lot more than chores to change that.

"I can help clean up the dishes," Zuko offered, repeating himself for the third time that day. His face clearly braced for the same response he had gotten every other time he had offered to help.

"You're drying," she said as she held out a rag to him, trying to mask her dislike of the situation. "Try not to break anything."

To say Zuko was dumbfounded would be an understatement. Katara saw the look on his face and had to bite her lower lip to keep from snickering at his shock. Trying to be nice to Zuko might almost be worth it—just for the dumbstruck expression on his face.

"Okay," he said, quickly recovering without missing a beat. He took the rag and settled down next to her by the edge of the fountain.

They worked together in tense silence. Katara would wash a dish with her bending and then pass it to Zuko to dry with his Firebending. It proved to be much more effective with his bending than with the rag she had originally given him. Katara also noticed that he kept shooting her furtive glances out of the corner of his eye, and it was quickly wearing away at her patience—not that she ever had much to begin with.

If he was just going to be awkward about this he should have never offered to help in the first place.

Katara continued to focus on the task at hand, but when she caught him glancing at her for what felt like the hundredth time she dropped the water she was bending with a noticeable splash.

"What?" she snapped.

Zuko seemed genuinely shocked that she would be upset, staring at her with a vacant but somewhat confused expression.

"What do you mean 'what'?"

"You keep glancing at me out of the corner of your eye—like I'm doing something wrong and it's driving me crazy!"

This statement seemed to strike a nerve in the young prince, and Katara saw anger flash in his eyes.

"Well, what do you expect? You spend all this time giving me crap about every little thing—when all I'm trying to do is help—then suddenly you're willing to let me help. Forgive me for not totally trusting your motives right now."

"You are quite possibly the last person who gets to talk about trusting others around here," Katara said harshly.

His golden eyes seemed to dance with a flurry of emotions as his jaw tensed; clearly he had no rebuke because they both knew she was right.

"My dad seems to think that I am being unnecessarily hard on you, and he's not the only one." Katara stared challengingly at Zuko. "But we both know I have every reason to be angry and if you think offering to help with the chores and training Aang is going to make me forgive you—you are wrong."

Katara watched as Zuko seemed to deflate right before her very eyes; his expression darkening as he hung his head so that he was no longer returning her gaze. It was then that the troublesome voice in the back of her mind pulled up her earlier conversations with her father and Toph, and Katara felt her defenses melt slightly. She almost felt bad for how she was acting—almost.

A few beats passed before Katara turned back to finish up the last of the dishes. She handed the last dish to be dried to Zuko and tried to pretend that she didn't notice how he seemed much more withdrawn now. Again, her conscience screamed at her to make things right even though the proud and angry part of her refused.

Wordlessly, she put the dishes away as Zuko stood up and began to head off in the direction of the dormitory. Katara watched him retreat towards the darkness and observed how his pace was slower and his stance was more drooped than usual. Inwardly, she cursed as guilt twisted in her stomach. This morning she might not have cared, but after she had decided to at least try to heed her father's advice she couldn't help but feel somewhat awful for the way she was acting. Zuko had every reason to be suspicious of her, and she him, but they were supposedly on the same side now, right?

"Hey," she called after him.

"What?" he shot back coldly and she tried not to flinch at his tone.

With an exhausted sigh she made her way closer to him, casting quick glances around the room to be sure no one was within range to hear them. Satisfied that no one was around, she crossed her arms in front of her as if that action alone would somehow make what she was about to say any less difficult.

"Look, I don't trust you and I haven't forgiven you for what happened back in Ba Sing Se, but I can't ignore the fact that you saved my father when you didn't have to."

Zuko's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. "And your point is?"

Katara could feel the heat rising on her cheeks against her will and she turned to look away obstinately. This was hard enough without him staring at her like she was losing her mind.

"My point is—thank you." She mumbled the last bit a little too quickly and quietly so that Zuko could barely hear it.

"What did you say?"

She was mortified that he could possibly be asking her to repeat herself and turned to face him. "You heard me."

"No, actually, I didn't. Maybe if you didn't mumble," Zuko answered defensively.

They stood there staring each other down. Katara debated on whether or not to tell him to shove off, but part of her really was tired of being angry—and of fighting. It took a lot of energy to be angry and Toph was right: it wasn't doing her any good. She thought she was punishing Zuko, and while she was sure that the way she treated him bothered him, she was the one affected the most by her attitude. Relenting maybe just a little might not be such a bad idea.

She closed her eyes and exhaled softly as if trying to release some of the negativity within her. When she opened them again, she met Zuko's gaze with sincerity.

"I said thank you—for saving my father."

For the second time that day Katara watched Zuko's face shift into a thunderstruck expression. She didn't wait for his response as she glided past him and up the stairs to her room. It wasn't until she was further down the hall and out of Zuko's ear shot that she allowed herself to laugh softly.

Being nice to Zuko might really be worth it for the lost expression on his face that he gave her each time.

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When Katara woke up the following morning she was surprised to find that a part of her felt a little lighter. The swirl of negative emotions that she had been battling with were still very much present, and it took all of her self control to hold her tongue throughout the day, but she found that it wasn't such a bad thing to at least be civil with Zuko.

Everyone else seemed shocked to wake up that morning to find Zuko making breakfast instead of Katara. She had been skeptical about letting him do it at first, but she had to admit he didn't do a bad job, and it allowed her to enjoy the morning for once.

No one was more surprised or proud than her father, however, and that was what made her happiest.

Half-way through the day Hakoda pulled her aside and hugged her, telling her just how proud he was and how he hoped that things would only improve from there on. Katara made no promises, but she couldn't deny that the camp wasn't quite as tense now. Aang also seemed more at ease, which helped during training. Toph just spent the whole day shooting Katara that self-important grin of hers that said she knew something Katara didn't, and Katara couldn't help but wonder what the heck the Earthbender was so smug about.

Katara's change in attitude wasn't a complete one though, as she still managed to scold Zuko when he got too critical of Aang during a particularly intense training session that afternoon. It wound up escalating into a shouting match that ended with her storming off in a huff.  They ended up grudgingly and wordlessly apologizing to each other by washing the dishes together again after dinner; and mostly because Toph manipulated them into it.

That night the whole group stayed up late telling jokes around the fire and playing games for the first time since their little quartet had grown. Katara was surprised to actually find that she was genuinely laughing and enjoying herself, and it felt nice. It had been too long since they all had really felt able to relax and enjoy themselves, and it was clear that they all needed it.

During a particularly lively re-telling by Sokka of how they met Haru, Katara caught Zuko's gaze as they exchanged glances across the fire. He too seemed to be enjoying himself, and Katara couldn't help but smile at him lightly. She wasn't fully ready to accept him yet, but maybe—with time—it would get easier.

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Katara was vaguely aware that dawn had arrived as she began to wake up the next morning. With a yawn she rolled over and away from the sun hoping to get just a little more sleep after their late bedtime the night before. Just as sleep tried to claim her once more a large explosion rocked the temple. In a flash she was on her feet. Months of being on the run had taught her not to completely let her guard down even in sleep.

Looking around frantically for the source of the attack Katara noticed Aang in a defensive posture staring out at the open canyon where several Fire Nation airships loomed ominously. More explosions continued to follow the first and Katara felt her stomach drop—they had been found.

Aang moved quickly to protect them from the onslaught by Airbending the doors around their sleeping area closed.

"What's going on?" Haru shouted between the blasts.  

"The Fire Nation is here." Aang stated severely.

"I should think that's obvious!" Toph called out sarcastically.

Despite the doors to their communal area being closed and protecting them from immediate harm, the bombs continued to wreak havoc on the temple. The dilapidated structure was beginning to crumble around them and they all knew they had to find a way out and fast.

Katara had no time to notice the chunk of ceiling before it came hurtling down on her.  She heard Zuko's voice yelling at her to watch out, but it was too late. Just as she was prepared to be crushed, she felt a warm body slam into her and she was rolled away to safety. When she opened her eyes she was shocked to see Zuko huddled over her protectively—his body right on top of hers. This was as close as she had been to the prince and while she was inwardly grateful not to be crushed, she wasn't entirely happy at the sudden close proximity to the one person she was in the most conflict with.

"What are you doing?!" she snapped, trying not to take too much notice of just how warm his arm was wrapped around her.  

"Keeping rocks from crushing you."

"Okay, I'm not crushed. You can get off me now."

Irritably, she slid out from under Zuko and immediately headed back to the others to figure out what needed to be done to get them out of this.

"I'll take that as a thank you." She heard Zuko dead-pan behind her, but she ignored him.

"Come on, we can get out through here!" Toph called out to the group, pointing down the freshly made tunnel she and Haru had just bended.

Everyone began to run down the tunnel but Aang was unable to get Appa to budge. Katara was making sure they all got through the tunnel when she heard Aang shouting.  "What are you doing?"

It was then that Katara noticed Zuko wasn't evacuating like the rest of them. He had a dark look on his face that she had never seen before.

"Go ahead, I'll hold them off." He said with an almost eerily measured calm. "I think this is a family visit."

"Zuko—no!" Aang cried after him as he dived through a hole in the doors and off towards the airships.

Katara had little time to worry after Zuko as she and Sokka rushed to help Aang with his large and uncooperative companion.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" Sokka said urgently as he grabbed hold of the reins.  Appa groaned in protest as the trio began tugging on Appa's reins using their combined weight to try to drag the bison to the safety of the tunnel.

"I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels," Aang said as the three of them continued to tug on the flying bison's reins.

"Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here," she told him as all three of them loosened their grip.

"We'll have to find a way."

"We need to split up." Sokka immediately slipped into Plan Guy mode, addressing Haru and the others in the tunnel. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."

Katara felt her stomach knot as she realized what that meant. "No! The Fire Nation can't separate our family again!"

Hakoda's face turned dour as he took her by the shoulders. "It'll be okay; it's not forever."

Though he was trying to reassure her, Katara felt all the anger that was roiling inside her bubble to the surface. This wasn't fair. This wasn't supposed to happen this way. Why was the Fire Nation always taking away the things that mattered most to her?

Reluctantly, she gave in and quickly embraced her father, holding back tears and hoping that it really would not be long before they were reunited again.

Katara turned and ran back to Appa, climbing up into the saddle on Appa's back. She reached down to help Suki in as she and Sokka joined them.

"I can clear that away and we can fly out through there," Toph stated as she bent herself onto Appa.

"Um, there's an awful lot of fire in that general direction." Suki visibly cringed as the temple continued to shake and crumble around them.

"We'll get through," Aang's said, determination clear in his voice. "Let's go."

Toph indeed managed to clear the rubble out of their way as they burst through and into the ravine where the Fire Nation airships hovered portentously. Using some of the rubble as a shield, they sailed past Azula as she fired on them. Before she could fire on them again however, her attention was quickly drawn back to Zuko who reappeared on top of another airship.

The group of teens all looked on in astonishment at what was unfolding. Zuko and Azula began to exchange blasts of blue and orange flames, but Katara had no time to focus on the outcome of their fight. Firebenders on the other airships had started hurtling fire blasts at them. Uncorking her water skins, Katara stood in the saddle and began bending the water to dodge the blasts.

Aang managed to keep Appa from careening into a nearby airship, and they continued to try to make their escape. Katara turned around just in time to watch Zuko and Azula exchange explosive blows that sent them both flying off their respective perches.

"Aang! Look!" she shouted, pointing to where Zuko was falling.

"On it!"

Katara watched as Zuko fell through the sky and her heart pounded in her chest. She inwardly prayed for Aang to hurry as the seconds crawled by. Finally, just as they were close enough, Katara braced herself against the saddle as she reached up and snatched Zuko out of the sky, slamming him down next to her. They both stared at each other for a brief, wordless moment, panting slightly from the adrenaline rush, before Zuko's attention was diverted back to see the fate of his sister.

"She's not going to make it." Zuko's voice was quiet and somewhat sad as he watched her continue to plunge through the air. She continued to free fall for a few seconds before a burst of flames shot from her feet sending her right into the rock face. With a flip that would make Ty Lee jealous Azula landed against the cliff and slid down the side until she found her grip and skidded to a stop. Clearly it would take more than a little fall to take down the princess of the Fire Nation.

"Of course she did," Zuko intoned bitterly as they flew away from the temple that had been their safe haven for the last few days.

With the chaos over, everyone finally had a chance to breathe easy as they searched for a place to set up camp. Katara sat in the saddle quietly seething at the sudden change of events; her brow furrowed in an obvious scowl. Once again her family had been forced apart by the Fire Nation and Katara couldn't help but feel personally slighted.

"Katara?" Zuko's voice intruded on her thoughts.

"What?"

"Thank you for catching me," he stated plainly with genuine gratitude.

Katara narrowed her eyes at him. "You saved my life; I saved yours. We're even," she replied curtly, all hint of civility gone.

Zuko seemed to scrutinize her for a moment, sensing the sudden change in her demeanor, and frowned. Katara merely turned away, not wanting to talk to him any further. She had done the right thing and now she was finished. With her father gone there was no longer any point to trying to be nice to Zuko. The little voice of her conscience in the back of her head tried to reason with her but she quickly quashed it. She had tried to play by the rules and it had gotten her nowhere.

Internally, something inside her snapped and she was furious—furious with the Fire Nation, furious with the war, furious with Azula, and furious with Zuko. Nothing good ever came from her dealings with the Fire Nation, and it continued to be personal. As far as she was concerned, Katara wanted nothing more to do with anything related to the Fire Nation—least of all Zuko.