The guard returns for her the next afternoon.
She's waiting. It's later than she expected, but she knew that Zhao was going to send for her.
He pulls her up by her arm and she goes willingly even though she's somewhat stronger than she was last night. Sleep had done her well even though her body is so parched and dehydrated that it's ridiculous. Her blood is sluggish in her veins, her vision darkening around the edges. If she doesn't get some sort of drink soon, she isn't going to last much longer before she passes out.
The guard is patient with her as she stumbles a little when he leads her out of the room. She can feel the renewed strength in her muscles but she's just so parched that she can't do anything. Katara practically has to lean her entire body on him when they go up the stairs.
"Make it easier on yourself," he repeats to her, gently tugging her up the last step.
She blinks in response. Her mouth is so dry and her throat is sore from Zhao's attempt to strangle her yesterday that she's not even sure her words will be coherent. Why waste the energy? But she does manage to pull away from him enough to support all of her weight on her shaking legs even though he's still basically holding her up with his hand wrapped around her upper arm.
He doesn't take her to Zhao's room like she expected. Instead, she's lead outside onto the deck. The sun is so bright and low in the sky that she immediately closes her eyes and shies away from it. There is one good thing to being outside though – the ship is moving quickly and there's sea spray that goes everywhere. A few drops land on her skin and her body soaks it up instantly.
Katara is pushed down onto her knees again but her hands aren't pulled out from her sides. They don't chain her – she can't escape or bend and they know it. Her body is still too tired and dry from healing herself repeatedly the day before. She'll need more than a night's rest to recover.
When she finally feels able to open her eyes, Zhao is smirking that infuriating smirk of his. Her fists curl in and her nails dig into her skin. He's so maddening.
She hasn't made a move to attack and the guard that led her here finally steps away. Katara wants to make towers of water from the ocean that surrounds her; she wants to drown them and destroy their ship with a sweep of her arm and the flick of her wrist; she wants to push Zhao into the deepest part of the ocean so that no one will ever find him again.
But she can't. She's forced to sit here: dry as bone with her hands itching at her sides to make the violent images in her mind a reality. It's the most annoying, exasperating feeling in the world and she can't help but feel so helpless and vulnerable.
She will drown them all.
"Your back has healed itself completely, I see," Zhao walks around her. Her back is exposed to the sun and the wind – but it's also absorbing in the sea spray that still splashes near her. She's only able to catch a few drops but those drops will add up and give her an energy boost, at least. They're more idiotic than she thought if they keep her out here on the deck for much longer.
"The night in the cell worked a number on you," he stops in front of her. "You look and smell even worse than you did last night. I would offer to give you a bath but… well, we can't have you try to drown me, now can we?"
"So you do have a brain," she croaks, unable to pass the chance to see that flicker in his self-control. She probably shouldn't goad him but she can't help it. It's too tempting. He responds so well. If she can make him look weak in the eyes of his men there's no telling what will happen.
Zhao doesn't take the bait though and she doesn't see much more than a flicker of anger pass in his eyes before he's steely again, putting the smirk back on like armor and she realizes just how much she hates him.
He steps forward. Katara watches him carefully, and her body stiffens when she sees a bit of malice in his stare. The pain will come soon.
The Captain reaches around to put a hand on her exposed back. She stiffens at the touch, tilting her head back to glare at him. What was he –
– searing pain rips through her body and Katara can't help but scream. He's burning her – boiling her skin with fire in his hand pressed right against her skin. She screams and screams. Her throat is raw and she chokes, tears flooding her eyes as she drops down to the floor on her hands and knees. She can't move – can't rip away from the pain even though it hurts so bad and she can taste the fire licking the entire inside of her body.
Katara lifts a shaking hand to push him away but he steps down on it. Her fingers are crushed under his boot and her back is burning. She's in so much pain that she can't breathe, can't move, can't think of anything but the pain. It hurts so much – and it's not stopping. She's not sure how much more she can take and her vision is swimming in red and black and she can feel the burns deep inside her like her whole body is on fire. Everything is red and orange and it hurts.
Zhao removes his hand and she collapses on the floor in a heap, her arms too weak to hold her up any longer.
She can't move. Her back is still throbbing with agonizing pain and her whole body is heated as if she walked through a furnace. The tears on her cheeks are hot and evaporate into steam when they touch her skin. Katara can't hold back the sobs that catch in her throat while her body shivers uncontrollably on the ground. It was like all of the fire whips combined and amplified at once.
She's in so much pain.
Zhao steps off of her fingers but she doesn't even try to move them. She's sure they're broken, but right now her focus is on her burned back and how her entire body feels like a smoldering volcano.
He bends down to touch her again. This time, it's her arm. She jolts at the touch of her fabric before she screams again. The flames travel throughout her body to the pulsing of her heartbeat and she can't help but cry out in pain over and over and over again. Her heart beats and the flames are pulsated outwards in an excruciating rhythm that makes her want to die right then and there just so it will stop.
He's burned clear through her Water Tribe sleeve and the fabric either evaporates or drops to the ground beneath her. Zhao squeezes a bit tighter and the flame – and pain – intensifies. A mangled sob forces its way out of her chest and before she can stop herself, she's pleading. She's begging him to stop and she doesn't even care. All she wants is the burning to stop and the pain to go away.
Zhao lets go but she's still flaming. Her body is being broiled from the inside out and she can't do anything to stop it. All she can do is lie there, take the pain and cry.
"Where is the Avatar?" Zhao demands. His voice is eerily calm, as if he didn't just nearly kill her with fire.
By the time this is over, she will kill him.
Katara can't do anything but groan. She can't even move, much less open her mouth to speak.
"Where is the Avatar?"
"I –" She breaks off, unable to finish what she was going to say. She's so dry and in so much pain.
A fire whip cracks across her back and she jerks.
"Where is he?" Zhao's voice is becoming strained. His 'interrogation technique' isn't working. Katara is still boiling and crying on the metal deck of the ship. Not even the salt spray helps her anymore. Zhao has burned everything in her away.
Katara winces – drawing herself away from his as much as possible. Her back pulses in pain at the movements and she instantly stills. It's too much. She's experienced pain like this before – but she was so unprepared… and it hurts so much…
Zhao grabs her unburned arm and picks her up off the ground. Fresh, steaming tears fly down her cheeks as her burning body is jostled. His hand is hot and uncomfortable against her arm but he's not burning her. Yet. She isn't sure how much more she can take.
"I'm going to give you one more chance, waterbender," Zhao hisses into her face. "Where. Is. The. Avatar?"
The anger ebbs into his hands and she's being burned again – this time by accident. But it's just enough to send her body over the edge. It finally is too much.
Her vision goes black and before she knows it, she's slipping into darkness and the agony no longer exists.
-/-
Katara comes to in her cell. She's face-down on the pallet. Her body still burns but it isn't nearly as bad as it was before. There's a splitting pain in her head that makes her clench her eyes shut even though it's just as dark in the cell as it is in her mind.
Before, she thought she felt dry; but now that seems nothing in comparison. She's been boiled and her insides feel cooked like she's been roasted for a meal. What she wouldn't do for a glass of water right now…
She shifts her shoulders to get more comfortable on the floor and winces. Her back feels like it has lava running through it. Moving is too painful right now. She can tell that it hasn't been able to heal itself. That's a little worrying – if her body hadn't been able to focus its efforts on a severe injury, she must be pretty parched. She really needs water fast.
"I'm supposed to tell Zhao when you wake," a familiar voice says – the guard's – and she wants to look to see where he's standing but knows that will only hurt. It doesn't matter anyway. It's so dark that she probably wouldn't be able to see him when she opens her eyes.
Her throat hurts too much to muster up a reply. She's surprised she can even manage to swallow.
There's some rustling behind her. Katara waits, wonders what he's up to just before she can feel the tug of her blood backwards. It's seeking what it desperately wants and she knows that it's near – water. Before she can start begging for him to share, her chin is being cupped in a firm, warm hand and her head is tilted further up and to the side. It's uncomfortable, but the blessing sensation of cool water being poured into her mouth and down her throat more than makes up for it.
It's not a lot, but it's more than enough to quench her immediate thirst. She's no longer on the brink of death. She's just close to it.
She finishes the cup and then there's another. Katara nearly cries with relief but she holds it back. Wasting precious water on tears won't do anyone any good. The guard is risking a lot by giving her water – after the first, she could probably bend the other cup and kill him. She can snatch the keys from his body and get out of the cell.
But her need for water far outweighs her desire to escape right now. Her body is so dry that it's far past the point of being uncomfortable and is downright painful.
She drinks it easily and soon that cup is emptied as well. The firebender set sit down near the other and she hears him shift back. He's still near. She can hear him breathing.
Curiosity overwhelms her and she opens her mouth. "Why?" It's all that she manages to force out, but even that takes so much of her energy that she resolves it will be the last thing she says until she recovers a bit more.
Katara's eyes are still closed so she misses the gentle shrug of his shoulders. "I don't like pain. Especially unnecessary pain." She lets that sink in for a moment before he continues speaking. "Zhao's getting careless. He nearly killed you out there."
She wants to ask him why he even cares but she stops. Does she really care? All that matters is that he does. Katara feels a bit uncomfortable that it is a firebender who is saving her life; but right now all that she's trying to pay attention to is the fact that it's a firebender bringing her water so that she can survive so that she can tell someone where Aang is.
She never will though. His hopes and actions are amounting to nothing and will eventually work against him once she regains her strength. She might hesitate before killing him, but that is all that he will gain from his acts of kindness.
"I was going to bring you some food but I figured you needed the water more." Katara can hear him shift up against the wall. She wants to thank him – but then she remembers that he's supposed to be the enemy. She can't thank someone who ultimately is just being kind to her in exchange for something else.
Silence settles between the two. Katara wonders when he's going to tell Zhao that she's awake like he's supposed to.
Her head is still pounding.
Katara hears him shift again. "Zhao will be more controlled from now on, I think. A lot of the crew isn't happy with the fact that he almost killed you today. If Zhao does that then the whole crew will be punished. You're the closest we've come to getting an upper hand over the Avatar."
She won't talk. She never will. It doesn't matter if the whole crew brings her water and food. Her lips will be sealed and she'll drown them instead. They're not going to get their hands on Aang even if she has to die to ensure that.
But she is glad to hear that Zhao is losing the trust of his men bit by bit. If she can drag this out for a little longer – make him lose his cool little by little – then she's sure he will lose control entirely. It would be easy and gratifying to watch him fall. Especially with all that he is doing to her.
Katara hears something odd… She stops breathing for a moment, straining her senses to reach out to the ocean and feels it.
There's another ship nearby.
A moment after she realizes that, there's commotion overhead. She can feel the vibrations of the metal ship as soldiers run overhead. They're panicking. Their hearts are beating so fast and their blood is moving so quickly that she doesn't even have to try to reach out. She's a burned out waterbender and she can still feel the fear that's being felt above her. They're panicking.
There's a smashing sensation against the ship and the metal hums. Katara's eyes snap open.
They're being attacked.
The soldier at her side rises quickly. "This is going to hurt but it's the only way to get you out of here."
She opens her mouth to protest when he flips her over. The pallet scratches against the sensitive, burned flesh of her back and she cries out. He murmurs something that she can't make out as he scoops his arms underneath her knees and her back.
His metal bracers dig into her skin and she lurches forward. He almost drops her, swearing and grips her tighter.
"Please," he says to her as he kicks the cell door open. Apparently it's been unlocked the entire time. "You have to trust me. I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay quiet and don't move."
He sounds so earnest and Katara sighs. Their ship is under attack and each shattering sensation against the side of the boat jostles the two around when he tries to get them up the steps. It's painful, but not unbearable.
So, for some reason Katara decides to trust him. She wraps her arms around his neck and steadies herself against him. She grits her teeth to fight the pain. When he feels her body stiffen against his, he gives her a small, thankful smile before he runs up the steps with renewed vigor.
Katara always knew she was light but she didn't know she was this light.
There are soldiers running everywhere. Most are heading to the deck to combat the attacking ship, others are going off to the sides where she knows from experience are where the cannons are. Katara's arms tighten around him. She isn't sure what's happening.
He stays mostly to the shadows. Most of the men are too deep into the chaos to realize that the two of them are in the hallway. They're hidden well enough, she supposes, but she can see that even if they weren't, no one would be able to pay them too much attention regardless.
The ship's been hit strongly by something and the guard's shoulder and her back smacks the wall harshly. His arm soaks up most of the blow, but she still whimpers at the sensation and curls away from it.
He pushes away from the wall and starts running towards the deck. Her eyes widen when she realizes where he's going. They're heading straight for the line of fire! What –
– There is no fight when they get to the deck. The vibrations of the ship have stopped.
Zhao's men are all on their knees in front of a line of other similarly dressed Fire Nation soldiers. Zhao himself is kneeling in front of… Prince Zuko? He was the one attacking Zhao's ship? Katara's eyes whip around – her headache long forgotten – and she tries to figure out just what is going on.
The Prince himself now looks like a prince should. His hair is up in the topknot and he's wearing the royal robes. His face is blank yet there is a tension there that's evident in the tightness around his good eye and the line of his lips. Katara notices that for once, he looks... intimidating.
"You endangered the ability of the Fire Nation finally capturing the Avatar." Prince Zuko is saying. The guard carrying her steps closer to the two and Katara looks between the Prince and the Captain. "You nearly killed the one chance we have at tracking him down. You single-handedly nearly destroyed the best lead we have. For that, you will be punished."
Zhao is sneering. Katara notices that his arms are behind his back, held by soldiers who have his palms flat against his fabric-covered body. He can't firebend without seriously injuring himself first.
"I will take custody of the captive and of you. You are now under arrest by order of the Fire Lord. Your trial will take place in the Capital and you will face your punishment for your dishonorable, treasonous behavior."
Zuko turns away from Zhao and goes back to the platform that is connecting both ships. The guard carrying her follows him and Katara looks over the man's shoulder to see Zhao glaring at them both.
"You think you will take this chance away from me so easily? I did this! Me – Me alone while you were far behind! Now you are trying to make me look like the dishonorable one because you failed while I was successful." Zhao is spitting he's so angry – his body is jerking in the soldiers' hands and Katara's arms tighten around the guard's when she notices that they're having troubles keeping him sedated.
"Me – It's me who's winning this race and you're stealing everything away from me! Do you think I'll just let you go? Do you think that? Well I won't!" Katara sees it before it happens – his arms rip free from the soldiers - he's free from his bonds - and he's forming fire in his hands –
– No, she's not going to die here. She's not going to die by Zhao's hands on the deck of some Fire Nation ship. This is not her destiny – she will not die here –
– Katara lurches free of the guard and she's on the floor –
– He's completing a form and a wave of red-hot fire is coming towards her –
– Katara uses every bit of strength she has left to form a wave of her own. One of water and ice and she slams it into Zhao's –
– They collide but Katara's wave drowns his and then Zhao himself. He's washed away from the force. His body falls to the ground and he's hurled into his kneeling guards before slamming his back against the walls of his ship.
Katara sways on her feet. She's… She's so tired…
She feels herself falling and someone's there to catch her. Her back burns and she's bone dry again. Black and red spots fill most of her vision and she's only aware that she's being picked up again. This time, she barely registers the pain blossoming in her back or the blood running down her nose.
She doesn't slip back into the blackness. She hangs onto the light as much as possible. In the dark she can't figure out what's going on like she can in the light.
She opens up her eyes long enough to see that it's the guard who's carrying her and she closes them again as her head pounds but she doesn't go to sleep. Katara makes tight fists were her hands are lying on her stomach to make sure that she stays awake.
Katara isn't aware of where they're going. But she is aware of softness underneath her and the sound of a door closing. There are footsteps, three hearts beating in the room. She's lying on a bed; someone gently pushes her over so that she's on her stomach.
"Why isn't she healing?" Katara recognizes Zuko's voice. It's very distinct – raspy and low like he's sick.
Gentle fingers touch the burns on her back and arm and she winces. They're gone immediately.
"Zhao dried her up," the guard that carried her explains. "He's kept her away from any kind of water and he used fire both times he interrogated her. I managed to slip her some when she was in the cell before you arrived – it's probably why she was able to bend – but that's it."
Katara feels the water nearby and she sighs in relief. A hand cups her chin just like before in the cell and the sweet relief of water nearly brings tears to her eyes. She shifts, putting one of her hands underneath her so that she can lift up just a tad. Her other hand grips the cup and she greedily takes it away from the guard and gulps down the water herself.
She's finished and the guard swaps her empty cup for a full one. She still hasn't opened her eyes.
"Make sure she stays hydrated. We'll need to cuff her hands so that she won't try to bend and escape."
Katara takes another cup. This time though, she does open her eyes to look at the two men. She doesn't tell them that it's going to take at least a week before she can muster up the energy to even try to launch an attack that large. She rather likes that they're treating her like a threat even if it's going to make her escape more difficult.
"That was an impressive wave for a dehydrated waterbender," the guard compliments her. It's Zuko that she looks at though. He's studying her far too closely; his eyes go from her face to her burned arm. Katara sniffs and wipes the blood from her nose.
Katara moves a little more to get in a more comfortable position. The water cools her heated body down and she can feel herself wake up little by little even though she's still tired. It's a tiredness that won't go away for quite some time though. The past two days had really made an impact on her body.
She has some difficulty swinging her legs over and the shooting pains up her back make her grimace when she tries to twist it. The guard reaches out and helps her, his hands warm on her arms as he gently nudges her to sit on the bed with her legs dangling over the edge.
Another full cup of water is in her hands. "Thank you," she says to the guard and she catches him blush. In the new light, she notices that he's younger than she expected even though there's some grey hair near his face. He's tall and broad-shouldered with fading burn marks around his neck and on his exposed knuckles. He's been a soldier for a long time.
She takes another gulp.
"We need to get you some clothes," Zuko says, a tinge of disgust in his voice, "I can't have you walking around half-naked in front of my men."
Katara looks down at her ruined clothing and sees that her Tribal outfit is in a state beyond repair. She knew the back was burned off, and the sleeve of her right arm is gone where Zhao burned her. There's a long slit where the Captain had showed Zuko her waterbender etching around her waist but that's been stretched. Her bindings are loose around her chest and her leggings are ripped, torn and dirty.
She's showing far more skin than she had ever shown a man before.
Shame makes her cheeks go red and she shifts uncomfortably on the couch. She crosses her arms over her chest, the loose fabric at the back dropping down and revealing the skin of her shoulders. The men notice her discomfort at being so exposed and Zuko quickly turns away. She thinks that he's going to leave when he instead goes to a dresser in the corner. He opens a drawer, digs around and pulls out a long red robe.
"Here," he tosses the fabric to her and she catches it in her free hand. The dress falls down a bit more. "Put this on for now."
She sets the drink down on the small table beside the bed as she pulls the robe over her shoulders. It's softer than she thought. Not quite as soft as her furs and pelts, but it's something that will cover her up and that's all that matters. The fabric does stick to the welts along her back and she bits the inside of her cheek to keep from wincing as she peels it off to situate the garment around her like she wants it.
"Do not think that because we rescued you that you are no longer a prisoner. You still are. You will be interrogated when we reach the Capital." Zuko gives her a harsh look and she glares at him. Of course she knew she was still a captive. They had just been talking about covering her hands.
She clears her throat and picks her glass up again. "I will tell you what I told Zhao," she speaks in between sips. "I will die before I tell you anything about the Avatar."
They can be nice all they want. She's not going to fall for their false smiles and kindness.
Zuko's back stiffens but the guard looks as if he expected that answer.
"Whatever information you give us that proves to be helpful will be rewarded."
Katara narrows her eyes at the Prince. "I told you, Zuko. I'm not going to betray him for niceties. My loyalty is worth a lot more than that and the fact that you are even trying to bribe me is insulting."
His nostrils flare and his fists clench. Katara smiles. So, the Fire Prince has a temper too. This will be fun.
"Prince, perhaps we should give her time to recover a little." The guard gives her a glance that she can't quite figure out. She expects that it's one of those warnings that he likes to tell her.
Zuko glares at her for another few moments before he quickly turns away. He all but marches to the door, throws it open and slams it behind him when he leaves. Katara continues to sip on her water as if she didn't just piss off a young man who had her life in his hands.
The guard sighs. He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, the lines in his face pronounced now that he's frowning. "Prince Zuko is a good man, waterbender. He can be kind if he wants to be. Perhaps you should wise up and use that to your advantage right now."
"I'm not going to betray my friends. I don't care how much of a good kid he is."
"Even if not doing it will cost you your life?"
"My friends have risked everything to protect me numerous times. I'm not going to betray all of that friendship and trust for him – for nice things. Especially when he's just going to throw me in a prison when he's finished with me."
"He might be persuaded to do otherwise if you allow yourself to become an ally."
"The answer is and will always be no," she says flatly. "No matter what you and everyone tries to give or tell me. I'm not changing my mind. You should counsel your little Prince to either slit my throat or let me go because you're never going to get anything out of me."
He shakes his head and leaves her. She's finished with her last cup of water. She wants more, but she doesn't think that if she asks she'll get it. So she watches his back as he goes to the door.
"Must everything be difficult?" The guard asks when he's opened the door. He turns to look back at where she sits on the bed.
"Yes." She nods her head. "It must always be difficult."