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Caught	By : whirleeq Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female Views: 24538 -:- 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
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Katara found herself being led into the catacombs that, she knew without asking, connected the palace to the dungeons underneath Lake Laogai. The air was getting humid and cold. Briefly, she wondered if she could bend the water out of the air itself – there were quite a few things she owed the fire siblings for – but with her hands tied, it made it nearly impossible. She had not yet mastered bending with her mind alone; a skill that was not unheard of in the Water Nation, but one that been has known to take many decades to master.
She focused instead on trying to untie the rope binding her wrists together. She had already had loosened it quite a bit during her time in Zuko's chambers, but then she had been able to turn her head and partially see what she was doing. Working on the ropes now, when she couldn't see what she was doing and while Zuko had her arm and could feel any movement she made, was proving to be a challenge.
Her eyes wandered while they walked, looking for any possible avenues of escape, but had yet to find any – well, at least any that she could use without getting terribly lost in the process. The catacombs underneath Lake Laogai were extensive, and went off in many directions – most of which she knew to be dead ends.
They passed a few other cells during thier long trek through the catacombs; most of them empty, some containing petty Earth Nation criminals. One cell in particular made her stop and pause, forcing Zuko to stop right along with her.
There was Zuko's uncle; that nice old firebender who tried to help her escape. With Aang's dead weight slowing her down, it hadn't been long before she was cornered by the Dai Li, but she still felt an overwhelming gratitude for his assistance. In trying to help her, he betrayed the Fire Lord, and now, he's probably marked for death. She made a silent vow to herself that if she escapes – when she escapes – she will free him along with Aang.
Zuko's hand felt clammy against her arm, and when she turned to look at him, she saw that he was very pale. Small drops of sweat had collected on his his forehead, and he was trying very, very hard not to look in the direction of his uncle's cell. She felt a small twinge of compassion for him before she shrugged it off. He had done it to himself. Why should she feel sorry for him?
The catacombs kept getting darker and darker until finally, the only illumination was from the sparse torches against the wall and the ones carried by the Dai Li. Finally, when they had reached the coldest part of the catacombs – directly underneath the center of Lake Laogai – did she see Aang, alone in a cell and bound at both his hands and feet with heavy iron shackles. He was deathly pale and his breathing was very, very shallow. He wasn't moving at all and didn't seem to notice their approach.
`Oh dear lord, No!`
Katara pulled away from Zuko, whose grip on her had slackened after they had passed Iroh's cell. She stepped forward until she was directly in front of Azula and glared at her, wishing desperately that she could smack the smug, self possessed look off of her face.
“Let me in there. Now.” She demanded.
Azula narrowed her eyes.
“You are in no position to demand anything from me, peasant. Now, how about we try that again, this time with a little respect.”
Azula was smirking, enjoying her little game while Aang lay dying on a cold stone floor. She would pay her back for this, she would. But for now, she swallowed her pride and played Azula's game. Aang's life was in the balance, and that was the only thing she cared about.
“Princess Azula. Let me in to see him. Please.” She begged through gritted teeth.
Azula pretended to stare at her freshly manicured nails.
“I don't know... that still sounded awfully demanding to me --”
“Azula! Enough of this. Let her heal him!” Zuko spat from behind her.
The fire princess rolled her eyes.
“Fine, Zuzu. I was just having a little fun. No need to get huffy about it.”
Azula whispered a command to one of the Dai Li. The soldier nodded and approached Katara, who looked at him warily. He pulled a small knife from his belt and indicated that she should present him with her bound wrists.
'Oh'.
She turned, giving the soldier the opportunity to cut them off.
“My Lady, in the future this one needs to be bound more securely,” he stated upon noticing how much she had already loosened her bindings.
Azula responded in a dangerously low voice.
“Well then, consider it your responsibility to ensure that she doesn't escape.”
The soldier swallowed before responding. “Yes, my Lady,” he said, pulling the cut ropes free of Katara's wrists.
Katara brought her hands in front of her and subconsciously started rubbing the red marks left on her wrists.
Azula was watching her with narrowed eyes, tossing the small bottle of water from one hand to the other. Finally, she grinned.
Katara braced herself. She knew, just knew what the bitch was going to do.
“Catch.”
Katara dove, panicking as the bottle fell intentionally short in front of her. Her anticipation of Azula's actions and her quick reflexes served her well. She managed to catch it just inches off of the ground.
“Azula!” Zuko hissed.
“Shut it, Zuzu. She caught it.”
Another one of the Dai Li pulled a heavy chain off of his neck. Attached to the chain was a small key.
Peripherally, Katara saw Zuko watching this particular man very carefully as he unlocked the barred cell door that kept her from Aang. It swung open with a heavy, foreboding creak.
She rushed into the cell, shoving the Dai Li soldier who had just opened the door out of the way in the process.
“Oh, Aang...”
When she reached his still form, she fell to her knees and put her hand on his arm, trying desperately not to vomit at the sight of the large open wound in the middle of his back. He was cold... too cold. She swallowed, rubbing his arm furiously, trying to warm him, to bring him to consciousness.
He coughed, loudly, the sound of it rattled and course, full of fluid. It sounded very much like the winter sickness that sometimes took the very old and the very young in her village. She paled, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into her lap as she fumbled with the small bottle of Spirit Oasis water. Her hands were trembling so much that she had great difficulty getting the stopper off of the bottle.
Aang stirred in her arms. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at her. Her heart stopped for a moment.
“Aang?”
Weakly, he pushed at her with his hands.
“Go 'way. I'm not falling for it this time.”
'What?'
It hurt, what he said. But just for a moment. He was delirious. He didn't even recognize her! Determined now, more than ever, she pulled the frustrating stopper off the bottle with her teeth. Gently, she turned him over in her lap, exposing the burned and battered flesh to her view.
A few feet away, Azula watched her with narrowed eyes.
'I will kill her for this one day.'
Katara summoned the water from the bottle. It was glowing, so much so that it illuminated the entire cell, casting a soft shadow on everyone. She directed the water into Aang's wound, and then she waited.
And waited.
From behind her, Azula hissed.
“I told you to heal him.”
“I did everything I could,” she said, tears falling down her eyes. “You don't care, anyway. You're the one who killed him!”
Azula bent down and slapped her across the face. It stung, but Katara ignored the pain. She glared at Azula with all the hatred she could muster, and that was quite a bit.
“Never talk to me that way again.”
“That's enough, Azula.” Zuko said. Through her tears, Katara saw that he was restraining his sister from attacking her. Azula was seething.
In her lap, Aang groaned.
“Aang?”
He looked at her, really looked at her, and smiled. For a moment, she forgot where they were and what they were doing; she was so relieved. She let go of the breath she was holding, the warm air falling on his forehead. His complexion was starting to pink up, and she could feel the warmth returning to his body. Dragging her gaze back to his wound, she watched with wonder as the burnt flesh on his back slowly repaired itself until only a jagged scar remained – a permanent reminder of what Azula had done to him.
She bent down as if to kiss his forehead, but found herself being roughly pulled away by Azula.
“You have done enough. Take her out of my sight, Zuzu.” Azula said. She was staring at the Avatar with a strange expression.
“Leave us.”
Zuko put his hand on the small of her back.
“C'mon. Let's go...”
“No! I don't want to leave her alone with him! No!”
“There is nothing you or I can do about it right now,” He whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.
The Dai Li were already disappearing into the shadows, and Azula was watching both of them with narrowed eyes as Katara hesitated to leave.
Realizing the truth of Zuko's words, Katara allowed him to lead her out of the cell, an uncomfortable feeling setting in the pit of her belly. She stole one last look at Aang. He was staring at her, a single tear making a path down his pale cheek.
“I swear to you, I will fix this.” Zuko said, when they were almost out of the catacombs and well out of earshot of anyone else.
She wanted to believe him, she really did, but she didn't know if she had that much hope left within her.
~~~
Yes, my chapters are short... but I find that with shorter chapters, I can update much more frequently. :) So it's a good thing, ne? Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I hope you'll continue to enjoy this fic. As for the Zutara, I'm normally a hard core Kataang shipper, but for this fic, it has to be Zutara... plot reasons you know... :) A little bit of Sokka/Toph will come into play in the next chapter.
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Caught