First fanfic. (: Excited. The first couple of chapters are short,
but I promise it gets better and longer.(:

They'd been running for what seemed like an eternity. Sokka was slowly losing his strength and so was Aang. Katara tripped and ended up with a face full of dirt. Toph was beginning to hit small rocks and roots sticking out of the ground. They couldn't stop, and they didn't stop even with their strength slowly ebbing away. They didn't know when it happened but they had crossed paths with the one man they had been trying so hard to avoid.

When they saw Zuko, Katara tripped again and landed right on the prince. Prince Zuko's face lit up when he saw what stumbled into his lap.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." The young man clasped onto Kataras right arm and hauled her up, making her yell out in pain. "The people I was just thinking about. Isn't that lucky of me? Who are you running from now?" Zuko laughed at this, his hand still clamped on Kataras arm.

"Let her go!" Sokka yelled at the prince. He began advancing towards the young man who held his sister and started to pull his boomerang off his back when Zuko gripped harder on Katara, making her cry out again. "You stop that!"

"You make one more move water peasant and I'll break your sisters arm." Zuko sneered at the boy. He truly had been lucky for this girl to fall into his lap. If she hadn't, he would have no leverage. He was surprised however that the girl wasn't fighting back. He knew his touch may have burned her but at the moment the only thing that mattered was that he had the upper hand and he was going to take advantage of it

"Sokka…take Aang and go. I can defend myself." Katara managed, she'd been catching her breath while she had a reprieve. Granted it wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind but it would long as Zuko had her she knew Sokka, Aang and Toph would do anything they could to get her back. She had to let them know she'd be all right and that she'd find them.

"Get out of here! Continue on with Aang!" Was all she could get out before Zuko yelled something incoherent and began attacking them, but they were gone when the smoke cleared. He turned to her, a smile replacing the anger that had been on his face.

Katara could hear Toph yelling at the boys as they disappeared. She had hoped they would make it to Appa before they ran into anyone else. She looked up at her captor and sighed. Didn't seem like they had any luck at all today.

"You little water bender, are going to fetch me food and bring me water. Don't try any bending because I will keep your hands bound together. You will follow me and be my personal servant. You will go everywhere I go and...you will help me find my uncle." In the middle of his speech he had turned away to look at the sky. He hated asking people for help, especially the people he was trying to capture.

But maybe this water bender could help him find his uncle and the people that took him. She'd been able to find the boys and that flying creature before on her own. He know she had. Now he was hoping that she'd help him, even if he'd come off as a douche. It was only to get her by herself he told himself because he knew the others wouldn't help him.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA. What? You want me to help you find your uncle?" Katara asked skeptically as she looked up at the man that had hunted them. She looked at him suddenly and fought the urge to help him. He couldn't be telling the truth. This was Zuko. The person that had been hunting Aang since he had reappeared. Her eyes hardened at the memories of him hunting them and her lips set into a firm unwavering line.

"Yeah...I know. Weird right?" Zuko said as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

"No. This is probably some stupid trap you're trying to set up to get Aang. No. I'm not going to be bait!" Katara yelled as she got up and threw dirt in Zuko's face as she turned and ran away from him towards a river they had passed earlier.

Zuko spat the dirt out of his mouth and wiped it from his eyes. He wasn't completely shocked that she had done that but he still should have expected it. He sighed as he decided to go after her. He should have seen this coming but he had hoped too much that it wouldn't.

"Hmmm maybe next time when I ask for help I shouldn't start with 'you'll be my slave'...yeah that might be smart Zuko." He said to himself as he ran.