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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 34026 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, any historical figures or events, or easily recognizable persons, places or things. I make no profit from this work of fanfiction

Chapter List
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- 129
Chapter 125
They left the restaurant after Zuko ordered two boxes of dumplings as a courtesy to the owner. This time he held Katara’s hand in his as they made their way to the part of town that housed the livery stables. He selected two sturdy ostrich horses from a modest shop and paid the owner generously to prepare them for travel. They then went back to the market where he purchased blankets, fresh fruit, dried fruit, bread, pickled vegetables, preserved meat, cheese, a small cake, a bottle of whiskey, and two large water skins.
Zuko placed the supplies one animal and tied its lead to the other one’s saddle. He lifted Katara on the unburdened ostrich horse then climbed up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her so his hands rested against her lower abdomen as he held the reigns. They traveled up the coast several miles with Zuko sporadically stopping at sites then rejecting them as a good site for a picnic before urging the horses farther. During his travels with his uncle, Iroh had often pointed out places far enough from port where a small boat could land unnoticed, but close enough its occupants could easily hide there unnoticed.
The old general was fond of saying the Earth Kingdom is large and perfect for disappearing.

Like all people in the Southern Water Tribe, Katara had been taught how to track and she quickly saw through Zuko’s ruse. “What are you looking for?”
“A good place for a picnic, a private spot where I can enjoy the sun and you can enjoy the water. It’s been a long time since we’ve sparred and I want to see how far you’ve come.” He answered, his fingers nervously twitching against her belly.
“Toph would love this guy,” Katara thought kicking herself for forgetting that Zuko was such a bad liar.
Katara noticed that each of the places Zuko had paused at were places where a small boat could land safely; a moot point considering Iroh’s companion. It would make more sense to come straight across from the Fire Nation in an area next to a cliff. She could create a landing point and bend them up it. That way they’d emerge at a place no one would look for them.
“Stop at the next clearing, I’m hungry,” Katara suggested planning to stir the waves and carve a message into the rocks for her companions. It had to be something Iroh could see from the water and Toph could feel once they landed.
“No, I haven’t found the right spot for the picnic,” Zuko insisted, the fingers against her stomach moving faster.
“Why are you looking for him?” Katara asked causing Zuko’s heart to pound intensely against her back and his fingers to still against her stomach.
“I’m not looking for anyone. I’m looking for a spot to have a picnic,” he squeaked as his fingers clutched the fabric of her dress.
Katara snorted, “Yeah and Azula is going to become a nun and spend the rest of her life helping widows and orphans.”
“Katara…I’m not…”
“I’m not stupid Zuko,” Katara said frowning when pebbles fell down from the cliff above them.
She leaned back so her head was next to Zuko’s and indicating they had company with a single upward tilt, “I know you’re just trying to get me alone because you have some sick fantasy about screwing me outdoors. I’m hungry and I’m on my cycle. Whatever you are planning is not going to happen.”
Zuko nodded. He had seen the pebbles too. “You act as thought that is the only way to give me pleasure? You will do what I want woman.”
“Whatever, just feed me,” Katara said loudly dismissing his demands. A weak snort could be heard over head.
Zuko urged the ostrich horses faster.
“Let’s go over there,” Katara said pointing at a large sandbar.
Zuko was about to protest then he realized he was dealing with a master Waterbender. If it was someone Azula or his father sent after them they would have better odds on the water where they would see them approaching. He led the ostrich horses to a small copse where he fed, watered and secured them. He grabbed the supplies and wrapped his arms around Katara.
She smirked mischievously. Normally when she did this with another person she’d form a block of ice and surf if. Zuko did not deserve such consideration. She summoned the water beneath their feet and rolled them forward. Zuko quickly learned that riding her water was even more terrifying than being assaulted with it. It made the small ship he traveled on during his exile seem like a luxury liner. They were halfway to the island when they stopped moving. The water wrapped around their legs and pulled them halfway under.
“Why are we stopping? What are you doing?” Zuko yelped anxiously.
Katara was pleased to hear the panic in his voice, fear tended to make people more truthful. She poked him in the chest and he swayed as the water moved beneath him, “Why are you looking for your uncle?”
“What? You stopped us in the middle of the ocean to ask about my uncle? Why does it concern you?” Zuko shrieked.
Katara’s voice was full of anger, “Your uncle was at the North Pole and saved the moon spirit. He was at Ba Sing Se and gave us the time we needed to escape. You betrayed him. Why are you looking for him? To finish what you started?”
Zuko felt the water shifting around him. It gripped tighter around his ankles while the liquid supporting his waist loosened. “Katara if you drown me, Azula will kill your brother.”
“Save it Zuzu, if I gave her your waterlogged carcass, I’m sure she’ll be happy to give me Sokka since you will no longer stand between her and the crown,” she argued.
“Do you really want her to be the next Fire Lord? She’s insane!” Zuko squealed.
“As if you’re so much better,” Katara snorted. “Now tell me, why are you tracking your uncle?”
Fearing for his life Zuko decided it was better to be honest with her, “To help him, I went to break him out the day of the invasion but he’d already freed himself. The non-perishable items are supplies are for him. If he left where I think he did he should be arriving on shore near somewhere near here.”
“Wait, how did you know he was missing?” Zuko asked as the water beneath him stilled.
A wave lifted then tossed him not so gently onto the shore and Katara landed besided him. She dropped down and straddled his chest locking his arms to his sides with her knees having learning from the mistakes she made the night she tried to smother him. She pulled the water down over them so their observers would not be able to easily guess what they were doing. “Will your father send someone to hunt down your uncle?”
Zuko was focused on the cocoon of water surrounding them so he missed her question, “What?”
Katara leaned forward, the water following her hands leaving only his mouth, eyes and nose exposed, “Will.Your.Father.Send.Hunters.After.Your.Uncle?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. It depends on his mood. Probably not since he already has the Avatar,” Zuko admitted panicking and straining his neck to lift the rest of his face above the water. “Wait, the Earthbender. Uncle said he had tea with her before Azula struck him with lightning, is that why you teased my Father about her whereabouts?”
Katara contemplated his words, weighing them against the things he’d consistently told her since they’d been captured. His missed his uncle. He was lost and confused without him. He made a mistake in Ba Sing Se because he wanted to come home and regretted his actions. He said trusted her but knew she could not trust him in the same way.
Katara relaxed, bending the water back into the ocean. She debated telling him the truth. She wouldn’t know any of the general’s escape plans or where to begin looking for him or how to get in touch with him. Toph was exceptional but she was blind. Iroh would have to be the one to pick up any visual clues, but he was unfamiliar with their signals.
Her best chance to find them was Zuko.
He had told her they were both in the pricklesnakes den and they couldn’t survive alone. He said she should open her eyes and her mind to see in what areas he could be trusted and gage how much faith to place in him. Admiral Chu-hua had said Zuko saved them. Azula had wanted to only take Aang, and leave the rest of them for dead but Zuko convinced her to bring her and Sokka along. When they were in the palace he had smuggled food to them. He’d done the same thing on the processional out of the capital and several times once they were back on the ship.
Even if she could not trust his words she could believe by his actions that he didn’t want them to die. Katara sighed and let him up, “Iroh is not alone.”
Katara waited, studying the expression on Zuko’s face before deciding to continue. He was smiling and seemed to be comforted by what she had just told him so she decided to reveal what happened the day of the invasion, “Toph felt him fighting underground as we were retreating from the palace and went to help him. We were waiting at the rendezvous point when three fire breathing dogs crawled up from the depths of Hell they normally reside in. We had to leave otherwise we’d be killed.”
“Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid,” Zuko growled beating his fist against his forehead. “I’d gone to the prison to free my uncle, but he was already gone. I had planned on telling my father…”
Zuko stopped. He couldn’t reveal what he’d planned. Azula and Ozai would kill all three of them, but not before Katara had been passed around to the crew and the nobles. “Let’s just say my father and I disagree on the proper way to treat Uncle Iroh. I took my swords planning on confronting Father when he was without his Firebending since he has no other weapons. I took too long at the jail. When I came back the eclipse was over and my father was telling me to grab my armor. I had no choice but to accompany him.”
“Uncle Iroh is alive,” Zuko exclaimed in relief, sagging his head against the sand. “My father still doesn’t trust me. I was afraid he had executed Uncle and staged the break out as a test to see what I would do or that he would use it as an excuse to execute him.”
“You’ve freed me from a tremendous burden. Thank you,” Zuko said genuinely. There were tears in his eyes as he pulled her into a heartfelt hug, “Uncle Iroh is the only real family I have left. I was afraid he was dead. I thought my stupidity and selfishness might have killed him. I was so terrified my actions had cost me the only person in the world that truly loved me.”
Katara understood the feeling. She’d felt the same way about drawing the guards attention to Sokka by washing and healing him. Zuko’s face was next to hers and his warm puffs of breath were starting to tickle her neck. His arms were around her waist. It felt natural to wrap hers around his shoulders, to tilt her head slightly and hug him. Her lips brushed against his while doing so.
Zuko jumped slightly then smiled against her lips before rejoining them. It had been weeks since she had willingly kissed him. They shared several light pecks before caressing each other’s faces, opening their mouths and adding tongue. It felt very much like the afternoons on the Ursa before he angered Katara to the point she stopped talking to him. The fingers of his left hand slipped behind her head pulling her closer as the right skimmed the side of her neck, tracing the contours of her body as it slowly moved lower.
Katara was also reminded her of how the days when she was still escaping into her delusions as Zuko’s right hand slid behind her back and pulled her closer. She had vowed to live in reality no matter how ugly it got. She backed away slowly, the pads of the fingers on her left hand mapped his jawline as the fingers of her right curled over his pectoral as his heart drummed intensely against her palm.
The heat from his breath grew cooler with the increase in distance but not so far that she didn’t feel it brushing against her lips as she quietly asked, “Zuko, what are we doing?”

AlishaDarling: Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad you picked on Sokka’s vulnerability. It is a driving force behind Katara’s action.
We will see more of Mai in part 2. She’s known since she was 8 she would marry Zuko. He was her first crush, her first real kiss, but before that he was one of her best friends. She was much closer to him and Mu than she was to Ty Lee and Azula. The Zuko who came back to the Fire Nation is not the same person she knew. She’s a bit scared of him but she is also scared for him. I hope you keep reading to see what I mean.
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- 129
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Borealis: A Zutara Story