Scars and Ashes (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic)

Strangers

"I've no time to dodge," Katara thought to herself as a fireball hurtled toward her head. She didn't expect someone to tackle her around her waist area, knocking herself and the stranger into the snow with a resounding crunch, the stranger landing on top of her, the air nearly knocked out of her.

"Get off me!" she muttered, her hands reaching as she attempted to push the stranger off of her; the stranger backpedaled off her instead.

"Wait. You're..."

"Lee!" A sniff drew Katara's attention back to the young firebender. Still, as Katara's like-wise blue eyes blinked, tears filled the child's misleading eyes as the child looked directly at the person who had just tackled Katara to the ground.

"Yumi," the stranger started saying, only for his breath to suck in, his body scrambling from the ground as he pulled Katara up from the ground by the back of Sokka's robes, quickly snapping out. "Move! Just move now!"

"Wait," Katara said, her body stiffening slightly as the stranger propelled her forward by grabbing onto the back of her robes.

"Just trust me and run!" the person said from under his hood; his robes died red instead of the usual blue, yet Katara saw enough of his face to see him grimace. "You don't want to be around when..."

Katara glanced back at the child, concerned with how Yumi cried, and her hands clenched right before fire explored in every direction, jumping out at everything. She sucked in her breath, watching the merchants yell out, "Someone get water! We need to put the fires out!"

"Hold on!" Katara said, instinctively reaching out for the water nearby, her arm moving, knowing...

"No," the stranger said, reaching for her arm and pulling her along quickly, his body moving with agility some of the men in their tribe would covet and Sokka might find useful, tactician her brother was.

His other hand reached up and gripped his hood, pulling down, yet she still saw his mouth and watched him bite down nervously on his lip as they moved through the merchants, moving quickly while everyone's attention turned towards the direction of the fire. Katara took a deep breath and said, "I can help."

"They don't want your help," he said. "And they're looking for you, the Southern Water Tribe member who set Yuminio off—again."

"But I didn't," Katara said, glancing back, the fire now out of sight, the smoke mingling with that of the furnaces as they continued, drawing to the outskirts of the village, away from the hustle and bustle.

The stranger pulled her along, heading towards the high cliffs that provided some of the village defense, ducking behind one particular outcrop and leading her into a cave, letting go of her hand as they entered. "I know you didn't purposefully set her off."

"Purposefully?" Katara said, stomping her foot, resulting in the cave shaking.

He stumbled, then fell backward onto his bottom and just sat there. "So you're a waterbender and a girl?"

Katara frowned, folding her arms and tapping her foot. "Please tell me you weren't just saving me because I was a girl?"

"Didn't know until you spoke!" The stranger said, flopping onto his back in the cave, still not removing his hood. He lifted his hands to his face, sighing. "Look. Don't be mad at Yuminio for going off like that."

Katara took a deep breath, pulling back her hood and playing with one of her loops, not bothering to hide her face anymore. "Still not answering me regarding purposefully setting her off." She looked around, her mouth pressing together as she took in the items in the cave, a mixture of Fire Nation and Water Tribe. "Is this your hideout or something?"