Steam: An Avatar Story

Chapter 13

The gang had been flying for almost three days straight now, with only very few stops on islands they came across so Ren could drink water. The proud, tough dragon had been flying them to progressively colder skies for three days straight without rest. Katara fell asleep for the last two nights with her hand on the hard scales of Ren's back, as if to give her the strength.

Right now most of the gang was napping, while Beck and Katara were awake. Katara glanced over the side of Ren down to the ice floes below them. They were close, at least, she hoped they were. She had been stuck in her warmest robe since they first started seeing snow, unaccustomed to the cold of the North. The chill seeped through her robe now, causing her to shiver uncontrollably.

"Are you okay?" Beck asked, worried. Katara nodded, but Beck chuckled. "Here," he whispered, draping his heavy fur coat. Warmth flooded back into Katara almost immediately. "Those Fire Nation robes won't do you any good up here."

"Don't you need this?" She asked, burying her face in the soft fur lining the collar. It smelled like Beck, like the sea. It felt familiar to her, she always loved the sea.

"I'm okay," Beck said with a smile. "All the way up here, I don't even feel the cold, I just feel like I'm home."

"Tell me about it," Katara said, glancing towards the north. Beck smiled.

"The Northern Tribe is as impressive as Ba Sing Se. We have a great wall of ice that surrounds the entire city, raised and lowered by the Waterbenders. There's canals and bridges everywhere, connecting all the little islands to each other. It's full of life and laughter. You can see kids running on the sidewalks, smiling and laughing with their families. It's beautiful," Beck smiled, his eyes closed.

"It sounds wonderful," Katara whispered. Hearing him talk about his home was amazing, she could tell how much pride he had being from the Water Tribes, and feel how much love he had for his home. Perhaps that was why she lowered her head so it was resting on his shoulder as she curled her arms around one of his. "I can't wait to see it," she muttered.

Zuko didn't want to sit up. He heard the whole conversation between them, and didn't think he'd like what he saw if he sat up, so instead he glared at the edge of the saddle angrily. His heart broke a bit because, back in the Fire Nation, he never heard children laughing in the streets, at least, not in the Capital.

Zuko was upset for another reason too. For the last two days he had been forced to watch Katara and Beck get closer, talking to each other and laughing at jokes. He wasn't sure he liked it. Katara was his best friend, he didn't want to lose his best friend.

She's more than that, a malicious voice whispered in his mind. It kind of sounded like his father, which made it even worse. Zuko sighed. You like her way more than a friend, and significantly more than a brother would.

He couldn't like her, he didn't. They were siblings, and best friends. Feelings made everything more complicated. Was there a moment where he thought it may be different? Yes. Ever since her party, he felt something more for her, and thought she did too. But he must've been wrong.

Ren dropped suddenly, causing Zuko to yelp and jump up. The rest of the gang awoke, with yells. Katara screamed at Ren, who didn't seem to hear her. They were high, so high. To hit the water from this high up would surely kill them on impact, especially if that blasted Waterbender didn't stop screaming his head off and clinging to the saddle like a little girl. Though he supposed he knew Katara as a little girl, so maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.

"Ren! Ren wake up!" Katara screamed. Her poor dragon had been flying almost nonstop for days, without adequate rest. Katara dropped to a crawl, slowly making her way to the front of the saddle as Ren plummeted. By all means she should've flown out of the saddle, but there were enough little things on this quick makeshift saddle that she was able to hold on to.