Chapter 4 - A New Predicament

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters associated. This is a fan fiction! = )



THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM ~ Ch. 4-- A New Predicament

By: Emily Beyer (a.k.a. SxK_YGOfan)





“Hello Zuko,” Iroh greeted him pleasantly, “how was the training session.”



“Fine,” the prince answered simply.



“Would you like some tea or fruit?”



“No,” he answered.



“Zuko, you should eat some breakfast.”



“I'm not hungry uncle,” he answered sternly, ignoring his elderly man, and turning to look at Katara.



The girl swallowed nervously as she looked up at him, their eyes meeting. She stared at him silently for a moment, and could swear she remembered his presence yesterday when she was in trouble. Had he been the one to save her?!



“You alright?” Zuko asked suddenly, catching her off guard as she swallowed and nodded. “Good,” he replied, noting her answer, “Uncle, tell the crew to keep things maintained; we're continuing down the island chain to get more supplies at the nearby village.”



“Wait,” Katara suddenly spoke up, “What about me? I need to reconnect up with my brother and my friend.”



“The Avatar?” Zuko smirked.



“Never you mind,” she replied, frowning at his snide attitude.



“Actually, never you mind,” he replied, “we lost many of our supplies during that storm last night, and we need to restock. We will continue down the island chain as planned. Uncle, inform the crew.”



Iroh nodded, but was unsure if what they were doing was right. “Zuko…?” he tried to question his nephew, but Katara did it for him!



“You can't do that! I need to get back to them!”



“Well, too bad!” Zuko responded harshly, “We need to restock on supplies, and I deem that more important, so sorry!”



“Then when are you going to take me back?” Katara asked desperately.



“Whenever it's convenient for me!”



“You can't keep me here!” By now the two of them were practically in a shouting match, with Iroh watching helplessly.



“I am the prince of the Fire Nation; I can do what ever I want!” He yelled at her harshly, and she started to cry in frustration. “You better just get used to it waterbender. You're here and there's nothing you can do about it, so just deal with it!”



“Arrggh!” Katara growled at him, throwing a pillow in his direction as he stalked out of the room, pulling Iroh with him. Zuko had slammed the door, and the pillow hit the wall. Katara cried in frustration as she slumped down on the bed. She was so angry with Zuko and hated being on the fire nation ship. She got off the bed and walked into the washroom, closing the door behind her, sitting on the floor leaning back against the door and crying.





“Zuko wait!” Iroh rushed to catch up with his nephew as he headed down the hallway to the ship's kitchen, “Zuko!”



“What is it uncle?” the prince turned around to face him, watching as the old man tried to catch his breath, “Are you okay?”



“Just tired from running!” the general replied breathlessly.



“Uncle, I was barely walking fast!” Zuko frowned at him in disbelief.



“Oh…well, that's beside the point!” Iroh blushed, embarrassed. “Zuko, I really don't think you should have been so hard on Miss Katara; after all, she is our guest.”



“Guest?! She's just a waterbender uncle, don't bother worrying about her!” the prince replied.



“Oh but Zuko, she's scared and alone. She fought for her life yesterday, and was very lucky you saw her and saved her.”



Zuko turned and looked at his uncle, wide-eyed, “You didn't tell her that did you?!”



“No Zuko, but why would that…”



“Good! I don't want you telling her anything!” the prince said sternly, cutting him off. “Now, let's continue our course for the island. We must restock our supplies.”



“Very well Zuko,” Iroh replied, “But I do think that you should try to make the girl more comfortable if she must stay here. In fact, she might as well stay in your room since she's already there.”



“What?!” Zuko groaned, not wanting to share his quarters on the ship. However, a firm look from his uncle made him surrender. “Fine, whatever!”



Iroh smiled and nodded, “Good, now, would you like me to go get you some breakfast?”



“Sure, thanks.”



“No problem! I'll see you later Zuko,” Iroh smiled at his nephew and gave a small wave, before he headed to the kitchen. Zuko watched him `till he turned the corner and walked out of sight. Then the prince stood silently for a moment, before heading the other way to go outside on the deck. Unbeknownst to him, Katara peeked out from behind the bedroom door, having heard everything that was said! She watched him walk away and felt a little more at ease, knowing he had indeed saved her life.







~TO BE CONTINUED…..

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