Saviour

Chapter One

Suppose that I miss you, suppose that I care. And suppose that I spent all my nights running scared, suppose that I was never there. –Suppose by Secondhand Serenade

Zuko had been with the Avatar for two weeks now; it seemed that Sozin's Comet was years away when really it was weeks. Zuko taught Aang everything he knew and he learnt quickly.

Although Aang was picking up everything Zuko taught in a matter of seconds, Zuko was less than pleased. Which he partially blamed himself, and partially blamed Katara. Actually, that was a lie. It was his entire fault.

After Ba Sing Sai he couldn't blame Katara for not trusting him, but he was ready to prove him, which is very hard to do with a stubborn and lethal water bender.

Other than that, he had been accepted. Ironically not by the one person he wished would forgive him, Katara. Who, though he would never admit it, he cared about. Like he would care if she was to go missing or got hurt, but, didn't he feel that way about the whole group?

So now, as he sat with his legs dangling over a cliff overlooking the earth kingdom, he just wished that his 'inner voice' would just shut up.

"Zuko?" Zuko jumped, nearly falling off the cliff-side. He turned around to see Sokka, looking tired and surprised. Whether it was because he had just woken up or just bored, Zuko couldn't tell.

"Sokka, I nearly jumped off the cliff!" Zuko snapped.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone else knew where this was." Sokka apologized, and he sat beside the fire bender.

"You're not going to push me off this cliff are you?" Sokka asked wearily.

"Only if you don't push me." Zuko answered numbly.

"Darn." Sokka joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"If you're kidding…" Zuko trailed off, he knew the answer to that question.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" Sokka asked, dangling his feet over the side of the cliff as well.

"I mind." Zuko replied.

"I'm still asking." Zuko sighed.

"I need to think, and that's hard to do when you're either teaching or listening to you guys talk about Sozin's Comet." Zuko explained.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Sokka got up and walked away, his feet scuffing every so often as if he were kicking a rock along. When the scuffing stopped Zuko turned his head, Sokka was about ten feet away, about to say something.

"You know my sister will eventually warm up to you." He said in a somewhat confident tone. Zuko smirked, a cover-up for the somewhat relief he felt.

"So she's coming around then?" Zuko asked.

"I didn't say that. She still hates you." Sokka replied quickly. Zuko nodded and pursed his lips.

"Super." He mumbled, and with that Sokka went back to their campsite, leaving Zuko alone, for the first time in two weeks.

Back as camp Katara was playing around with a puddle of water, listening to Toph and Aang talk about the war, frankly she really wished they would stop. She was scared, terrified actually.

"Hey, has anyone seen Zuko anywhere?" Sokka asked as he climbed out of a few bushes behind Katara.

Like Katara cared, the good in her wanted to believe he'd changed, she wanted the same childish hope she had when they were trapped in the ice caves.

Where he had apologized for something that his nation had done, she wanted to believe that he was still that guy, but what had happened last time she had that same trust. Zuko left her with an injured Aang. Better safe than sorry.

"Well, since no one answered," Sokka continued, "He is at the Four Rock Cliffs, pondering."

"Sokka, do you even know what pondering means?" Toph asked, Sokka shrugged and turned his gaze to Katara.

"Katara, I never thought I'd ask this of you, but could you please give the guy a chance?" Sokka sat down next to Katara and put an arm around her, to which she glared at him.

"No, never, even if hell froze over then thawed out and froze again." She snapped, but not bothering to remove his arm. A hug from her brother meant business. In this case, she wasn't appreciating the gesture.

"I haven't killed him yet, have I?" Katara replied in a deep, dark tone, and for a moment Sokka was scared of his baby sister.

"She has a point." Toph offered.

"Thank you." Katara said, Sokka sighed.

"I'm not the guy's fan, Katara, but we need him to feel comfortable here if he's going to teach Aang fire bending." Sokka paused for a moment to see his sister's reaction, and once seeing it backed off.

"Just try, okay?" He pleaded. Sokka slid his arm from around his sister and walked over to his sleeping mat.

After a few minutes of silence around the campfire, Aang and Toph retreated to their sleeping mats and drifted to sleep. Sokka soon after, Katara laid down in hers but didn't sleep. She hadn't been sleeping lately.

After an hour, Katara was still wide awake, staring at the starry sky and the moon. She couldn't help but offer a small prayer to Yue, she didn't know if she could be heard by the former Water Princess but still tried.

"Yue," She said in a small voice, "I'm so confused, about everything. I'm terrified for the invasion, and for Aang and Sokka and Toph. Maybe even a little for Zuko." Katara winced at her own conclusion.

"Yes, I said it. I'm worried for Zuko, but that's just because what he teaches Aang could be our salvation. But that's not it, I mean… I don't know how I feel anymore. I'm not like you, Yue. I can't bring myself to forgive him. I'm scared of being betrayed again. Now listen to me, I sound like a cliché, I do not want to be a cliché, or an idiot." Katara stopped when she heard the rustle of leaves behind her.

"Zuko?" She whispered, sliding out of her sleep mat and slowly rising to her feet. The rustling had stopped by now and Katara moved closer to the bushes whispering Zuko's name ever so often.

"This isn't funny, Zuko." She scolded; she stopped an inch away from the bush and thought over her non-existent plan, go in bush and find Zuko. If it wasn't Zuko then... well, that person was in for a world of pain.

She took a deep breath and moved in; she was through the bush after a few steps and found herself on a walking path, with no one in sight.

"I think I'm losing it." Sighed Katara as she put her hand to her forehead.

"No your not." A familiar voice said from behind her. Katara spun around with an orb of water in her hands, ready to possibly de-capitates whoever was there. Instead a small red flame greeted her.

"Zuko?" Katara asked incredulously, "I was about to blow your head off."

"Ouch." He laughed; Katara was unresponsive to his attempt to make her smile. Then the same rustling noise returned again, and both of the teenagers went silent.

"That wasn't…" Katara was cut off by Zuko.

"Me? No, it wasn't." He replied, he raised a finger to his lips, signifying silence and slowly walked to Katara.

They instinctively went back-to-back, fire and water at the ready. More rustling noises came from the bushes, but no shadows to match.

Zuko's eyes darted around the forest, battling the darkness. He heard footsteps and a thump from behind him, where Katara should've been.

"Katara?" He turned his head and Katara was lying on the ground unconscious, he knelt down beside her and lifted her head onto his lap.

"Zuzu." A voice from the dark said, it sounded sinister and feminine, and he recognized it almost immediately.

"Azula." He sneered, "You're pathetic." He scooped Katara up, ready to retreat at any moment.

"Try to get away and you're both dead." Azula threatened, and as if on queue, ten small fire orbs lit the surrounding darkness.

"There's no need to bring her into this, Azula, I'll go with you." Zuko said through gritted teeth.

"I wouldn't be so stupid as to throw away my assurance, brother." Azula snickered, "You're both coming back to the fire nation."

Zuko considered his options, he could run and risk both he and Katara's lives or go with his psycho of a sister, in either case he was still risking their lives, but if he went with Azula…

"Fine, but she stays unharmed." He spat, trying to cover the anxiety in his voice, and for what he could tell, it was working. He had the whole emotionless jerk complex under his belt.

"Zuko, if I didn't know you better I'd say you've got a soft spot for the Avatar and his friends." Azula sneered, "Why do you care whether or not the water peasant lives."

Zuko had an answer planed in case any event such as this had come to pass, which he had prayed to Agni it wouldn't but apparently even he had disowned Zuko.

"To free the world from the ridiculous war, the Avatar needs his companions alive and well. I don't want to be in exile for any longer." He responded quickly, perhaps a little too quickly.

Azula nodded and the surrounding fire orbs lit up the suspicious expression on her face, as they lit up Zuko's hard, emotionless one.

"Soldiers, please secure our prisoners. And don't hurt them." Azula commanded, Zuko noticed how her stature and tone had evolved. How her hands were seemingly glued to her back and her voice demanding cooperation. And it almost scared him.

But at the moment, he was more scared for what was going to happen next, and as he looked at the unconscious girl in his arms he saw the outline of a burn on her lower leg. He assumed they had aimed for her leg and she had hit her head on the ground as she fell. Not good.

Then she was ripped out of his arms and those were tied behind his back roughly. One soldier was on either side of him and Katara was being held like a bag of potatoes in front of him. He stared at her intensely as if willing her to wake her up, no luck.

They walked for thirty minutes before coming to the ship; it reminded Zuko of the one he had travelled on while trying to capture the Aang.

"Look familiar, Zuko?" Azula asked from the front of the mini brigade, "It should, you were living on that ship not too long ago."

So it was, he had terrible memories of that ship. Most of which included how horrible he had once been. This branched onto remembering why Katara disliked him so intensely. Everything from tying her to a tree to threatening to burn down her small tribe. He had been disgusting. And when she forgave him and offered to heal his nearly self-defining scar, he betrayed her.

At this point proving himself would look fake and desperate, and impossible. He was still glancing sadly at Katara's limp body when he heard a groan.

Katara lifted up her head slightly and Zuko could tell by the expression on her ace that her eyes were adjusting to the darkness and she was remembering everything up until being knocked out.

"Act like you're still asleep," Zuko mouthed, "Please." Katara did no action to respond but dropping her head again, quite realistically. Zuko couldn't tell whether she was acting or if she really was out of it again.

The board that allowed passengers on was dropped and Zuko was roughly shoved up it, nearly tripping on multiple occasions. He was lead into the bottom of the ship and he and Katara were put in cells right beside each other.

Once the guards were out of view Zuko slid over near Katara and whispered her name.

"Katara, they're gone." He said, she merely lifted up her head before putting it down again with a hiss.

"Slow down, you're hurt." Zuko instructed gently, "Try to drag you over to me, just a few inches."

Katara reached out her hand and grabbed one of the bars and used it to drag her body over, and Zuko wondered if she felt the burning form her leg.

"Azula has us doesn't she." She sighed, "Again." The expression on her face was one Zuko had never seen before. She looked tired and hopeless, like she gave up on any chance of them escaping.

It was pure silence for a moment as Zuko decided how to face this situation.

"Would you let me look at your leg?" Zuko asked sincerely, Katara looked at him, almost shocked.

"Why?" She asked in a small voice, her judgement said yes, he hadn't done anything to harm her or anyone else.

"You were burnt and I've seen a lot of burns, I might be able to help." He explained, Katara nodded and used the bars to bring her upright with her bad leg facing Zuko.

It was still dark out so it was a little harder to see but it was defiantly there. The burn was the size of a average scroll and already started to cover over, a few layers of skin had been exterminated and it was infected.

"Is there any way you can heal this?" Zuko asked.

"There's no water near, I left my skin back at camp, so no." Katara replied sadly, Zuko's hand went to touch the brun but he pasued before coming into contact with it.

"This might hurt a bit, but can I touch it?" He asked, he looked genuinely concerned, Katara figured. So once again, she nodded.

He put a little pressure on it and Katara ground her teeth and let quiet hiss escape her mouth. Zuko looked up, worried, and took his hand off.

"It's pretty bad, I'm not going to lie." He said, Katara wiped her forhead since it had gotten sweaty. It was freezing out so she guessed she had a fever.

"You have a fever, don't you?" Zuko inquired, Katara nodded. Both of them sat there in silence until Katara spoke again.

"I have an idea, but I don't know if it can work." She whispered. In one swift movement she water-bended the sweat from her forehead and attempted to heal herself with it, it covered the inner layer of skin and then she ripped of a bit of her dress and gently tied it around the burn.

"That's going to have to work." She said smiling slightly, Zuko retuned the gesture but Katara could see the worry in his face.

That's when they heard footsteps.