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The Siege of Katara	By : CordeliaLeCroix Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 56169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Episodes 13 14 & 15 - Rescue
Katara focused on the water swirling around her. She stood in the pagoda fountain raising the ribbons, sending them around her body faster and faster until it looked like they weren't moving at all.
Normally handling this much water at this speed would be thrilling, but today it was her prison. Every time she sat down to think Haru was taunting her about Zuko.
Threatening him didn't work and the others might notice if she froze him to the wall and left him there. So for now she would bend until she was too exhausted to fight with Haru or think about Zuko.
Zuko was all about adventure it seemed. His bending was weak so he and Aang had left to discover the Sun Warrior City, met fire bending masters who were the last living dragons, and came back with new techniques. This morning he and Sokka went on a fishing trip, which was so obviously not a fishing trip, in Zuko's war balloon. Everyone was warming up to him and it frightened her.
Last night Zuko had pulled her aside. It was the first time he had tried to talk to her since she'd threatened him.
"What is going on between you and Haru?"
She jerked her elbow out of his hand. "Stay away from me."
"Every time I see you together you're upset, Katara. I can't stand around and watch while he badgers you."
"He's determined to find out if you're the reason he and I didn't start a relationship," she said it before she thought about it, and then colored embarrassingly.
"Am I?"
She shrugged noncommittally and looked away.
"Mai stayed behind so she could send us information," he said and handed her a scroll. "She's risking her life every time she sends one of these."
Katara glanced at him and unraveled it. In a beautiful script addressed to 'Mother in New Ozai' it described Azula's fascination with a water bender named Hama and her 'hope' that she might be powerful enough to restore Azula's bending. At the end she also expressed her hopes that 'her brother' was well and that they were already planning their reunion.
"Hama," Katara whispered ignoring that part at the end. "If I'd known she would be turned over to Azula..." she didn't know how to finish the sentence. What could they have done if they had known?
"You know her?"
Katara glared at him. "She was the last water bender the Fire Nation kidnapped from our tribe. They obviously didn't know that since they came back to kill my mother."
"Is she powerful enough to give Azula her bending back?"
"She might be. She's a blood bender."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
"Katara," he whispered.
"What?" she looked up at him and his fingers were already waiting for her jaw, his lips already pressed to hers. It only lasted a moment.
He touched the scroll and it disintegrated. He was already walking away when she opened her mouth to spit venom. He and Sokka had been gone over a day.
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Zuko hung onto the bars of the gondola as it reached the pinnacle of the volcano's lip.
"Who was that? She rescued us," Suki said from beside him.
"Mai," he whispered as he watched guards surround her. She looked up at him and smiled just before the gondola hit the landing pad out of sight.
He'd taken Sokka to the Fire Nation's leading prison, The Boiling Rock, to attempt a rescue for Sokka and Katara's father.
He knew it was a bad idea from the beginning, but Katara would never forgive him if he let Sokka go on his own. They had been successful. Hakoda was with them, and as a bonus Sokka's girlfriend Suki was there too.
But Mai...he gripped the bars and gritted his teeth. While they were posing as prisoners and planning the prison break Mai had arranged a meeting in a holding room with him. She'd screamed at him for the guard's benefit as he stood outside the door listening. She berated him for betraying his nation while he kissed her and ran his hands over her body. She threatened to have him executed for treason as he took her against the wall, a frantic, frenzied, desperate joining. They whispered words of love before she broke a chair over his back and left the cell.
"What are you doing? Let's go!" Sokka urged.
Zuko violently pushed himself away from the bars. This was not Sokka's fault, he reasoned with himself. He hadn't known Mai was on the island, and no one had forced her to intervene. But, he told himself, he would be back. He would get her back even if he had to come back alone and fight the entire island by himself.
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"You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you," said Mai. Surrounded by guards and facing Azula she finally felt she'd done something worthwhile for her nation.
"No, you miscalculated. You should have feared me more!" Azula twisted her hands and restored electricity sparked between her fingers as she prepared to strike.
Mai prepared also, unsure of how much of her bending Azula had regained. Then Azula fell to the ground, limp. Ty lee stood by her and Mai couldn't help her open shock at what had just happened.
"Come on, let's go!" Ty lee tugged her shoulders but they were already surrounded by more guards than the two of them could handle. Two soldiers raised Azula to her feet.
"What should we do with them Princess?"
Azula's eyes rolled, her mouth twitched, but calmly she said, "Shackle them until they can't move and have them transferred to the mainland."
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Zuko treaded lightly to the fountain and watched her bathe. He'd kept his distance during her baths for just this purpose. Giving her no reason to think she wasn't alone, she was off guard.
Katara been elated when he and Sokka had returned in his sister's giant war balloon with her father and Suki, but she hadn't given him the chance to talk to her alone again. He knew she was still angry, but it was more than that. He just didn't know what.
She rose out of the water and with a wrist movement she was dry. She had subtly changed. Even the color of her skin seemed different to him. Had it been so long? She reached for her robe, he let her slide it on, and she glided right past him. He stepped behind her and grabbed her wrist.
"Katara," he said to let her know it was him. An icicle through the heart would spoil his plan.
"What are…ooofff!" He pushed her against the rock wall, her back to him, and pinned her with his body. She didn't have time to struggle before he had her wrists wrapped in a simple chain above her head and he drove a dagger through the links into the rock.
"Zuko, what are you doing?" she demanded through clenched teeth.
"Shhhh," he whispered in her ear. "You don't want the others to come find us like this do you?"
"Zuko, what are you doing?" she said again in an angry whisper. She pulled against the chain and held herself away from the wall.
"Reminding you," he said and pressed against her, her rear fitting perfectly against him, his arm wrapping around her.
He brushed her hair aside and kissed her soft skin. He thought she would protest or struggle, but instead she moaned, whimpered and leaned into him as much as her restraints would allow.
It was so unexpected that his own reaction almost buckled his knees. He groaned and braced his other hand against the wall. "Witch," he growled in her ear. "You fight me for days, then melt against me. What do you want?"
She drew in a sharp gasp and said, "I can't fight you."
"Why do you want to?" He slipped a hand into her robe to caress her body, convinced she was different. She trembled and he struggled to keep his head. Her body against his bare chest was robbing his thoughts. He should have worn more clothes.
"Aang," she cried.
"Do you love him?"
"Of course I love him."
Zuko caught his breath and tensed. "Are you in love with him?"
"I already told you. I won't let you hurt him. I won't let you turn on us."
"No," he denied her answer. "We discovered the Sun City together. I've been teaching him everything I know. He trusts me. Why don't you?" Her hip felt right under his hand, her stomach, her thigh. Her body shook again.
"How can I trust you? You betrayed us."
"You forgave me for that back in Ba-sing-se. I tried to keep you away from Azula. I searched the entire Earth Kingdom for you. I stopped chasing Aang for you. Even before I figured out what I wanted or what I thought was right I would have done anything for you."
"Not anything," she said in a voice that stabbed at him. "Then there was Mai," she whimpered half in pleasure, half in pain.
"I didn't plan Mai, just like I didn't plan you."
"How many more of us are you not going to plan?"
His fingers slipped between her legs and he found her wet. She made a noise and slid down before the chain stopped her and she slid back up, causing his breath to stop, his body to contract. He drew in a deep breath to clear his mind. He needed to think.
"You don't need me. You're married to her," her voice cracked, but he didn't know if it was in lust or agony.
"I need you. I love you," his voice wavered with the admission, but he wasn't embarrassed. He stroked her, feeling her body's response all the way to his gut. She came, her body bucking against him and, shocking himself, he came with her.
His body spasmed along with hers until they were both spent and breathing hard. The dagger slipped a little from the wall.
"I love Mai too," he said softly, between gasps of air. A ball of worry formed in his chest. "She loves me. She has feelings for you. If it wasn't for her we would all be prisoners on Boiling Rock. She's probably in a prison cell right now. Would you want me to choose?"
He buried his face in her hair. He could endure anything as long as he could breathe her in. She hadn't said she loved him back and the pain was sharp. She didn't answer his question and he hoped she never would. He pulled his fingers from her and trailed them up to her breast to cup it and was amazed that his body wasn't done. She hummed then cried out when he pinched her already tight nipple. She was more sensitive than usual, but her response was beautiful.
"Do you want me inside you?" he whispered in her ear and pinched again.
"Yes," she gasped.
"Are you ready to tell the others about us?"
"No."
Her short answer struck him hard. He caressed her and ran his hand back down her body, resting it on her stomach. "When you're ready for that you'll be ready for the other." He let her hear the pain in his voice and she whimpered.
"Katara!" Sokka called. The others were coming. Zuko stepped back from her, pulled the dagger out, and started in the other direction.
"Zuko!" Katara called after him, her voice full of renewed anger.
"What do you want me to do, Katara?" he said over his shoulder.
"Maybe you could decide who it is you want to be so I don't have to be the shield for your betrayal. Maybe you could go to Ba-sing-se and hand it back over to the Earth King. Or maybe you could bring my mother back!"
There were a million things he wanted to shout back at her, but he didn't want to explain why the front of his pants were wet to everyone, so he kept walking.
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"Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Why did you step in? Why did you stop Azula?" Mai wrestled against the metal cuffs that held her against the wall. Her robes had been taken and replaced by a shift that left her arms and feet bare. Her weapons were gone, but their captors still kept their distance. "You were always more her friend than mine."
"Azula doesn't have friends. You know that better than anyone. You're the only one who knows." Ty lee was in a drab shift too, and both her arms and legs were cuffed. "Choosing between you wasn't hard."
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"But, why? Why would they turn on me like that, Mother?" Azula launched herself onto the cushioned couch and lay her head in her mother's lap.
"Why do you think, my dear?"
"Because they are traitors! I should have known when Mai married Zuko that they were in this together. I just thought..."
"You thought they would be loyal to you?"
"Yes."
"But, what reason would they have?"
"Reason? What more of a reason do they need? I am their princess!"
Her mother remained silent.
"Say something," she demanded and bolted up to look into her mother's eyes.
"There's nothing I can say. Only you could know what possessed them."
Azula lay her head back down and angrily wiped away her own tears. Her mother started to sing.
Hama ran her bony fingers through the girl's hair until she quieted and fell asleep. Once she had thoughts of how to kill her, but now she could barely summon appreciation for the deterioration of the Princess's mind. She stared down through almost blind eyes at where her foot should be and longed to scratch it, but resisted since it no longer existed.
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Episode 16 - Sold
Zuko's knuckles turned white while he listened to Sokka recount the day his and Katara's mother died. The black snow, the raid, the sea ravens on the flags of the invading ships. The Southern Raiders. He left Sokka's room and as he walked by a pillar he said, "He's ready for you."
Suki crept out, her face red.
He sat outside Katara's room until she appeared.
"What do you want?" she asked crossing her arms, her nose wrinkling. He wanted to step closer until he could smell her and twist her hair in his fingers. Instead he kept his distance. He couldn't undo his past, the restoration of Ba-sing-se would have to wait, and he couldn't bring her mother back, but there was something he could do.
"I know who took your mother, and I'm going to help you find him."
It only took her a few minutes to be ready and she did it wordlessly. She marched up to Aang while he followed in her wake and told him they needed to borrow Appa.
"Why? Is it your turn to take a field trip with Zuko?" he joked.
"Yes."
His face fell when he saw how serious she was.
"Why? Where are you going?"
"Zuko knows who killed my mother. We're going to find him." Her face was red and her arms were still crossed.
"I don't think revenge is a good idea," Aang said softly.
"Aang's right. This won't turn into anything good," Sokka agreed.
"Are you sure this is the best thing to do right now, Katara?" Even her father stood in her way, but she was determined.
"Maybe you can hide your pain by burying yourself in war tactics," she said to her father. "And maybe you didn't feel the same way about her that I did," she said to Sokka. "But I need this journey. I need to face this man," she finished with a firm nod to Aang.
Their hurt feelings didn't faze her and their words didn't sway her. In the end they were heading out over the water on Appa towards the Fire Nation's Southern Communication Tower.
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"I can't thank you enough, Princess."
"Of course you can't. Remember to keep them bound or you won't be thanking anyone ever again."
Mai watched a Dai-li hand her knives over to a handler. She and Ty-lee were both cuffed with additional bands around their ankles, all linked by chains.
"Yes, Princess," the dogman bowed so low his forehead almost touched the ground. Six more handlers stepped forward, each with a chain in his hand.
Ty-lee squealed and stepped back as one hooked his chain to the cuffs at her wrists and the other hooked his to the one at her feet. A third pushed her against the wall to stop her struggles and put a collar around her throat with a leash.
Mai stood motionless. Struggling wouldn't do her any good.
The dogman guffawed, his expensive clothes were too small for his portly stature. "You prospects had better make me a star." He glanced over at Ty-lee who was still struggling against her handlers. "She's got good game. I hope you're better in the pit," he said to Mai. "The Agni-Mizong is the last place you wanna take a nap."
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Donning dark robes they stealthily infiltrated the Communication Tower, stole a map with the current location of the Southern Raiders, and headed to Whale Tail Island. Katara had suspected that Zuko might have orchestrated this just to get her alone for his own agenda, but he helped her maneuver their plan and hadn't once tried to soften her or touch her.
She steered Appa, unable to sleep, and without realizing what she was doing she found herself telling Zuko about the day her mother died, how she had found a soldier in her mother's tent, and how she had sent her away to protect her.
Irritated that she opened up to him she brushed her tears away. He made no comment except to point out a Southern Raider ship.
They were able to easily jump from Appa to the ship, and in a rage for what they had done to her mother Katara easily overcame the soldiers on the ship with torrents of water. Never had she commanded such a massive amount of water, not even during the invasion.
She snatched some of them from the deck with whips of water and then rolled the rest off the side with a torrential wave. When it began to tire her out she only became more determined. They made it to the captain's quarters.
"Are you ready to face him?"
Katara burst through the door with a wall of water. The captain was ready for them, but Zuko blocked his fire attacks. Katara pushed her rage into her stomach and lifted a hand to the moon. The captain lost command of his arms. Then he was on his knees. She pointed her fingers out, then down and he bowed before them.
From the corner of her eye she saw Zuko look at her in astonishment, but she ignored him until he asked, "Is this him? Is this the man we're looking for?"
Katara took a long look at the captain's eyes. Her rage sank as she realized he wasn't and she let him go. "It's not him."
She felt sick, all her anger and energy quailing with no outlet. Zuko grabbed the captain's wrist and used it to bring him to his feet. "If you're not the man we're looking for, then where is he?"
"Are you...are you Prince Zuko?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Prince Zuko, you must be looking for Yon rha," he said wincing against the pain. "He was the captain of the Southern Raiders years before me."
Katara felt her energy, and her rage, return.
"We are your men, Prince Zuko," the captain wheezed as he spoke. "We were told you turned your back on the ways of your father."
Zuko let the man go, and gratefully he rubbed his sore arm.
"Is this a joke?" Zuko asked, not in the least amused.
"No, sire."
Despite herself Katara giggled at the sight of the older man calling Zuko sire.
"It's no secret that your father's marriage to his daughter shocked the nation. The people are questioning everything now. The rumor is that you've defected to stop the war and take your father's place. The Southern Raiders are behind you."
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"Lemmee tell ya how this works," the dogman loomed over them. "We're gonna let you skip the keep since there are fans in the audience that want to see you fight, so hopefully you're game."
The Agni-Mizong, an illegal underground fighting operation, was debuting in the capital city at the request of the royals.
"Now we're gonna let you fight one at a time. You're gonna walk out to that scratch line," he pointed to a line in the dirt. "And when the horn blows you'll fight. We'll hold the other back just in case you decide to make trouble. Any trouble and the other one gets boiled." He lit a ball of fire in his palm to demonstrate his point.
"If you win, you get to come back here and we'll fix up your wounds. If you lose, it depends on how well you did and we decide whether to give you another chance or let you die. It's that simple."
There were 4 other fighters besides them. Two were sisters who had obviously been fighting for a long time. They each wore outfits that bared their backs and arms, which were almost covered in intricate tattoos, but they didn't have chains.
The other two were boys who were just as heavily chained as they were, but they were quiet and a silent horror looked out through their eyes.
Ty-lee had cried during the ride to the pit and one of the sisters had tried to comfort her. "It's not so bad, if you win," she said. "The handlers aren't allowed to touch you if you win."
It hadn't helped Ty-lee's state at all, and she was the first up. Her handlers jerked her to her feet and dragged her to the scratch line. The horn blew and they unleashed her. At first she just stood there, looking for an escape route. The pit was a good sized hole about fifteen feet in the ground. They had to have had earth benders to do it. No doubt Azula had loaned them Dai-li.
Fifteen feet wasn't that high for Ty-lee, but she looked back at Mai with huge eyes full of terror. The dogman stood beside her, waving a handful of fire over Mai's head. Mai wouldn't blame her for making her escape. In fact, she hoped she would.
A fighter came barreling in on her. It was impossible to tell whether the fighter was male or female, but it was huge. Nothing for Ty-lee. At the last minute her arms shot out and the hulking being lay puffing in the dust, unable to move. The crowd booed, but the dogman cheered.
"Well done, but we're going to have to work on your showmanship," he leered at Ty-lee while her handlers clipped their chains to her.
Then Mai was suddenly on her feet and she jerked the handler attached to her hands and cracked his skull with her forehead.
"None of that!" Ty-lee flinched as the dogman held his burning hand towards her face.
The injured handler stood and kept his distance as they dragged her to the scratch line. His forehead was red and the skin broken. "Try that again and you'll be my playmate for the rest of your worthless existence." His putrid breath made her ill and he shoved her wrist and ankle guards and her knives at her.
They unleashed her and she put them on, finally feeling like herself for the first time in days, but she knew that even though the chains weren't physically attached she was still as tied down as if they were. Ty-lee was sitting under the dogman's hand. Ty-lee hadn't abandoned her and she wouldn't abandon Ty-lee.
The horn blew and a man emerged from the other side. He was shirtless and every inch of his bared skin was tattooed. Simple, Mai thought, and four stars knocked him back and pinned him to the wall by his pants. It was the only thing on him she could aim at without hitting flesh. The crowd cheered.
The man roared and pulled the stars out, mangling his own hands, and the crowd cheered louder.
He rushed towards her and even managed to dodge her next set of stars. He lunged and grabbed for her but she dipped and rammed a knife through his foot and into the ground. He roared again. Sidestepping him she thrust another knife into his other foot. He twisted to stop her and only managed to rip the other foot wider.
He screamed and hit the ground. The crowd couldn't be happier.
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Yon rha was walking home in the rain, a basket of food in his arms. He had aged since he'd ordered her from her home, but Katara recognized the monster in him. He tripped over the rope they'd laid across his path and fell in the mud.
Katara revealed herself. "Do you remember me?"
Yon rha cowered and offered them his money.
"You'd better remember me like your life depends on it," she bit out. He stared at her and she ground her teeth when recognition lit his eyes.
"You look like you're from the Southern Water Tribe. My last raid as captain was to wipe out the last water bender."
"She wasn't the last water bender," Katara said feeling cold emptiness in her chest. Her feet snapped together and she spread her arms, beading the falling rain until a dome formed over them. Pirouetting the dome became blades of ice and she hurled them towards Yon rha, but they stopped just short of piercing him. He sniveled and begged for his life. He even offered up his own mother's life.
Katara let the ice melt and the rain pummeled them again. It wouldn't matter if she killed this man. He meant nothing to anyone, even to the nation he killed for. He was nothing; insignificant. She had killed before, but this was too meaningless. She had set out to save her mother, she realized, and this wasn't going to bring her back.
Zuko's arms went around her and she let him hold her while she hid her face in his wet cloak. The rain drenched them and hid her sobs.
Zuko's hold grew tighter and his arm moved, then his body thrust forward. Katara backed away and looked behind her. A bone hilted dagger stuck out from Yon rha's forehead, blood streamed over his face with the rivulets of rain water, and his mouth hung wide open. In his own hand was a black knife the size of his forearm.
They hadn't thought to search him, and Katara had turned her back to him.
"He was going to kill us," Zuko said, his expression stricken. "I reacted. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Katara whispered.
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Mai woke up face to the ground and feeling like her shoulder had been set on fire. Ty-lee sat next to her, daubing ointment on her back.
"What happened?" She sucked air in as Ty-lee's cuff grazed her shoulder.
Their chains were wrapped around the wall of the covered wagon and attached to the other side. The sisters watched them from the other side of the wagon. The last thing she remembered was a handler pointing a stick at her.
"You won," Ty-lee said. They had fought over and over again. Mai's knives were rusted with blood before the sun set. "They knocked you out with a mizo dart."
So that was what that stick was for. "Why?"
"For your first tattoo," one of the sisters said with pride. "It's a badge of glory."
"You get tattoos for each tournament you win," Ty-lee explained.
Mai tried to look over her shoulder at what they'd done to her, but couldn't see it. "Why aren't you in pain?" she asked irritated.
"I need to work on my showmanship," she said and rolled her eyes. "I get to stay with you since I won, but if I don't wanna end up meat for the handlers I'll make it look better next time," she imitated the dogman.
"Damn it," Mai swore. "I don't suppose you want to free us and let us get out of here," she said looking at the sisters.
The first sister shrugged. "This is our home. We know nothing else."
"Besides," said the other. "We're not far from getting our last tattoos."
"Is that special?" Mai rolled her eyes.
"When you're opponent runs and you haven't even moved, you'll know how special they are."
"No one wants to fight someone with a complete set of tattoos. There's no way for them to win."
Mai gave them the disgusted stare they deserved. "What about the first guy I fought? He was covered in them and he wasn't so special."
The sisters looked at each other. Then one finally said, "People come from other kingdoms just to see him fight. His reputation is that he's impervious to pain. He's never been beaten before."
"After what you did to his feet he'll never fight again."
"Oh, good. At least one of us is off the hook," Mai glared at them.
The sister's didn't appreciate the humor. "He won't be doing anything again. Ever."
"Oh."
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Katara emerged from her room and arrested the fountain. Everyone had vied for her attention when they returned, but she hid in her room after saying she needed time to think. Now she harnessed the water and sent it spiraling around her until it glowed blue as if to heal herself.
Zuko stalked towards her, his anger evident in every step. He obviously wasn't going to let her put him off by feigning practice.
"You can't avoid me forever," he shouted at her.
She glared back at him. She had let him comfort her as they returned on Appa, but that only confused her more.
They faced each other letting the heat and anger build between them, oblivious that they had an audience. Slowly they circled and finally attacked. Katara blocked Zuko's hits then built a tower of ribbons around herself. Zuko mimicked her, building his own wall of fire, encasing them both.
He focused on it until it was as blue as the water. In a swirling dance Katara's tower flowered out extinguishing the flames, but they flared back up, even in the puddles.
He shot fireballs and she blocked. "Is that all you can do? Throw fireballs?" she taunted, moving her arms in a similar manner and shot ice balls at him. He dodged them as they crashed around him, shaking the pagoda.
Toph listened from behind her stone perch, anxious about how this might play out. Her gut twisted when she felt Sokka and Aang heading her way. She stayed quiet, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop the oncoming drama. Sokka reached her first.
"What the? Zuko's attacking Katara!" he yelled for Aang's benefit and prepared to jump over the short wall dividing them. Toph stomped and the wall jumped into his way instead. He smacked into it and fell backwards.
"They aren't going to hurt each other. They're not fighting." Toph said resolutely with a sigh.
"What's going on?" Aang peered over at them.
"If that's not a fight, what is it?" Sokka demanded gesturing wildly.
"It's an emotional thing." Toph settled back down to listen, looking in their direction as if she could see them.
"What do you mean by emotional thing?" Aang whispered sounding like the air had been punched out of him.
"They should be the ones to tell you."
"Tell him what?" Sokka's shoulders drooped dramatically as he splayed his hands.
"Then I'll go ask them." The resolution in Aang's voice twisted in Toph's stomach.
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Katara sent a ribbon of water to Zuko, encasing his hand as he shot another loop of fire from the other. A blast of wind broke them apart and they both landed on their rear ends. Aang glared at them both. Zuko glared back at him and Katara felt ill.
"What's going on?" Aang demanded.
"It's nothing." Katara stood and brushed herself off.
"I don't think it's nothing." Aang stared at her, sadness and anger in his eyes.
"You really aren't going to tell him?" Zuko's calm accusation startled her. He looked betrayed. Heartbroken even.
She thought about all things she needed to tell them both and didn't want to. She thought about peeing herself or passing out just so this conversation wouldn't happen.
Zuko seemed to grow taller, more menacing, but stood where he was with a forced veneer mask in place. "I suppose you could wait another month or so. Then you won't have to tell him."
She caught her breath and clenched her fists to her chest. How did he know? And how could he bring it up like this? Her eyes stung and she blinked back the wretched tears but they spilled over anyway. She shook her head willing it to be all in her mind.
"Tell me what, Katara?" Aang's body relaxed in sadness, waiting for news he knew wouldn't be good.
Zuko was waiting too.
Katara closed her eyes and imagined fleeing but she knew she would have to face them eventually. Zuko was right. Even if she refused to admit anything it would be obvious in time. She fought off the shame and humiliation that washed over her. It had been her choice and she repeated that to herself out loud to give her the strength to endure whatever was about to happen.
Hands grasped her arms and shook her gently. She opened her eyes to see Aang's concerned face before her. Zuko stood a few feet behind him, the anger disappearing. "What was your choice? Just tell me."
"I'm pregnant." she whispered so softly she didn't know if Aang had heard her. He just looked at her letting the idea sink in. His hands dropped from her arms and she thought she might fall to her knees.
"When?" Aang whispered back.
"When I was in Ba-hai. When they rescued me." Her face felt wet, even her words felt wet, and she didn't know if she was still crying or not. He didn't know the whole story, but it didn't matter. All he would see was that she betrayed them, had been intimate with Zuko while he was still the enemy, and was now carrying his illegitimate child.
"It was really your choice?" His tone was edgy but his features didn't betray his feelings yet.
"Yes." It was all she could say and closed her eyes again.
"Are you in love with him, Katara?" he asked.
"Yes," she whispered. She felt Aang walk away, her strength left with him, and she crumbled to her knees, hugging herself and rocking. Strong arms held her but she pushed them away.
"It will be okay." Zuko was trying to soothe her and it made her angry.
"You got what you wanted. Now go away." She spat at him like a wild pygmy puma and went back to rocking herself, feeling nauseous. He was kneeling in front of her trying to get her to stop rocking, but she ignored him.
"All I wanted was you."
Katara made a strangled noise to warn him but it was too late. The bile had already reached her throat and she puked, right on his foot. He held her hair back using his own band to tie it in place. He slipped his boot off along with the other one.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Katara nodded unable to speak.
"Are you going to do that again?"
She shook her head and fought the urge to laugh at the absurd situation.
"Do you need anything?"
"Yeah. Some way to convince my friends I didn't betray them, convince them not to be disappointed in me."
"How did you betray them?"
"You were the enemy, Zuko." She relaxed in his arms, loving the sensation of being held by him, then felt guilty all over again.
"Do you think that's why Aang is upset?"
"Why else would he be upset?"
Moments went by before Zuko answered. "Katara, I've only been with the gang for a short while and even I know he's in love with you."
*********************************************************
Aang blindly walked back. Sokka and Toph hugged him but he barely felt it.
"Did you know?"
"Did we know what?" Sokka asked.
"Some of it," Toph answered. "I knew she was pregnant, but I didn't know who the father was until a little bit ago. That's why I didn't say anything."
"Who's pregnant?" Sokka asked.
"Who do you think?" Toph bit off.
Sokka looked at her, then back where Zuko and Katara were sitting on the beach.
"Whoa, you don't mean Katara. She couldn't be pregnant." Sokka laughed and rubbed his forehead. "That's impossible."
Aang let his face fall into his hands and sat down.
"But how?" Sokka asked oblivious to Aang's pain until he saw Aang's silent tears. He sat next to his friend and put an arm around him.
"I'm sorry Aang. Did you ever tell her you loved her?" In the next breath Sokka yelped in his ear. Rubbing the back of his head he asked, "What did you do that for?"
"Because, Dirt for Brains, he doesn't need to be reminded of that just now."
"No, he's right." Aang wiped his tears away futilely. "I never told her how I felt. Maybe if I had she wouldn't have gone to Ba-hai."
----Raise your hand if you thought having half the characters run into a crumbling tunnel and flying off without attempting to meet up with them or at least find out if they had been crushed to death was a serious cop out on story telling....and that's why it didn't happen here. :)
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The Siege of Katara