Fighting the Dark
All standard disclaimers apply.
Sokka slept silently, his eyes closed. As he turned over, a pain in his back made him wince. His eyes flew open, and he silently cursed himself for forgetting.
The non-bender tried to yell, but the gag was still firmly in place on his mouth, sufficiently blocking his noise. With a vengeance, Sokka began to gnaw on the fabric, knowing that his health depended on it.
A few minutes later, he was through. "Toph!" he yelled, "The damned healers forgot to treat my arrow wound!"
Toph woke up with a start. "What?" she said, her voice rising. "Hey! Hey, is anyone here?" she yelled. "I'll be right back, Sokka." And with that, Toph sped out of the room to go find a healer for him.
Now it was coming back to her… He hadn't just been injured by those stupid fire flakes; it had been the arrow in his back! Toph mentally cursed herself. Why had they forgotten?
"Because of Zuko and Katara being alone together…" she muttered to herself as she walked through the empty hallways. "He was so preoccupied with his baby sister and the Royal Brat being alone together that he forgot. I bet it's infected." Toph stopped. She felt someone coming.
"Hello?" she called out.
No response. The footsteps kept coming closer.
"You needed a healer?"
Aang itched his arm like crazy. Who cared if people said it was bad to itch, what did they know? It's not like it would make it worse.
A few minutes later, Aang cursed himself for thinking that the itching would help. It didn't. "Appa! Can you go any faster??"
The bison groaned. He was already tired from getting no sleep, and now he had to go faster?
With a grunt, they increased their speed.
"Don't worry, Sokka," said the airbender, "I'm coming."
Katara felt like she was in a daze. Here she was, walking along the streets of the Fire Nation with the Fire Lord himself. Not that she would ever be intimidated by that, or impressed…
She felt a hand touch hers, and she glanced over. Zuko's hand slowly enveloped her own. She hid a smile, but it grew as she felt the warmth slowly pulsing from their clasped hands.
"Thank you for buying the dress," she said shyly. "It's very pretty."
"Not as pretty as you."
Katara blushed. She had never guessed that Zuko would be this… sweet, this nice, this… handsome to her.
He had always been the royal prat, the one everyone loves to hate… But know… He was so much more to her.
"Zuko." she said, stopping short. "Katara, what's wrong?"
"Sokka and Iroh… Who kidnapped Iroh? Who shot Sokka??"
Katara's voice grew frantic. How many days did they have left to get Iroh back? Was Sokka okay?
"Katara, it's going to be okay…" Zuko hid his initial panic. He had almost forgotten about the arrow in the non-bender's back. Iroh's kidnapping... the arrow in Sokka's back… Were the same people behind it?
His mind whirling with unanswered questions, he tugged Katara back to the palace. "Come, let's sleep, and tomorrow we'll go ask questions."
Zuko was tired already, and he knew he would be getting up early to go meditate in his gardens, and ask questions while Katara slept.
"Katara… do you want to sleep with me tonight?"
The water bender's eyes widened slightly, in fear, shock, and want…
"Zuko…"
"No, Katara, I'm sorry… That's not what I meant. What I mean is that I want to... I want to sleep with you in my arms, and wake up with the scent of your hair in my head. That's it. Nothing more."
Katara smiled. For a minute, she had been scared, and a little excited. "I'd love that, Zuko."
Iroh's hair was ragged, and his nerves were frayed. He couldn't remember the last time there had been reports of the Black Shadow… They had roamed the streets during his childhood, taking innocent children to do "experiments" on. Most of them were fire benders, but they did have water benders, and a few earth benders. There main experiments included, but were not limited to: seeing if water benders could control the fluid in a body, seeing if fire benders could boil the fluid in a person, or take away all their heat, making people eat dirt and soil, and then seeing if earth benders could control the earth inside their bodies.
Iroh hung his head. At least they hadn't taken his nephew… At least the Fire Lord was still safe.
The only thing he couldn't figure out was why they had taken him, of all people. To get to Zuko? Perhaps. Had he done something in his childhood to make them upset? These couldn't be the original Black Shadows… They would be older than him! Iroh couldn't puzzle it out. Why had they taken him.
The old man sighed, and wished that he had his bending back.
His tea had gotten cold…
A/N: Well, that was a fast update, huh? I told you I'd update soon… Oh, and to the reviewer who told me to write longer chapters… I will soon. ;D Just give me a couple days, and you'll have yourself a big fat one. Keep reading and reviewing! Thank you all!!
Su-Su