Intertwined Legends (Zutara)

Chapter Six

Katara rushed back to the campsite, carrying the cooked fish and thinking about Lee the entire time. As sweet as he was, especially for giving her the fish, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was simply Zuko in disguise—or as good as a disguise he could muster with the scar on his face. At the same time, if it were Zuko, wouldn't he already have attacked her? He knew who she was. How many other Kataras could he possibly know?

        She shook the thought from her head. She had to forget about Lee and focus on the fast-approaching night, on the reason they were there longer than they were supposed to me. Maybe I should bring some medicine to the people of the village...

        "Katara!"

        She looked up and saw her three friends in a line. Aang was waving to her, a giant grin on his face; Toph's face was expressionless, as always; Sokka's arms were crossed over his chest and his expression showed that he was upset. Katara smiled sheepishly, looking directly at her older brother. "Sorry I took so long..."

        "You better have a good explanation." Sokka was more strict that their Dad was, but Katara didn't mention it. Looking to the sky, she guessed that it was around six o'clock. It had taken her half an hour to get back to the sight.        

        "Listen, I'm sorry," she said, "but there was this guy in the village—"

        Aang cut her off, a strange glint in his eyes. "What guy?"

        Katara waved him off. "Just a guy. I gave this little boy, Kai, some fish when we first came to town. He introduced me to his friend, Lee."

        "And how old is this friend of his?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Katara shrugged.

        "I don't know. Maybe sixteen, seventeen?"        

        "What?!" her brother exclaimed. "Katara, you're fifteen. What are you doing going to your 'friend's' house when he's two years older than you?"

        The waterbender rolled her eyes. "I've been fifteen for a while, Sokka. There's no problem with that."

        "Well, whatever. I'm not going to argue with you." Sokka was probably too hungry to bother with yelling at his sister, especially since she was the one holding their dinner.

        "Thank you. So I was in Lee's hut and he let me take some of his fresh fish instead of that disgusting, poisoned fish from the market." She shoved the still-warm fish in seaweed towards Sokka, walking over to her sleeping mat. Her brother was staring at her with wide eyes, guilty about the assumption that she was doing something he wouldn't have approved of.

        "Katara—"

        "No." She was already slipping under her blanket, refusing to make eye contact. "Don't apologize to me just because he was kind enough to give us food. I know that's all you care about." When she was comfortable, she turned herself so that her back was towards her friends and brother. She wasn't hungry. Instead, she pretended to be asleep, waiting for nightfall to arrive.

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It was about nine o'clock when Katara got dressed and was ready to leave. Because not everything could be cured by her healing, she planned on stopping by the factory to steal (although personally, she preferred the term 'permanently borrowed') some medicine from their stock. When she arrived, she saw a few of the guards congregated outside, talking to a guy with a shielded face. Katara took off her hat as she hid behind a large boulder, listening to the guards' voices. In the silence of everything, she was able to hear their hushed voices fairly clearly.