Charred //ZUTARA

Chapter 54 - ''What's wrong, waterbender?''

The cold night did nothing to soothe the pain in her chest. Katara kept to her side of the saddle, Chan sat protectively next to her, glaring at Aang on the other end. Unaware, the Avatar looked over the horizon, as if he wanted to see beyond it, towards the lost Air Nomads. 

Zuko couldn't sit still though. Pacing back and fourth, he knew something was wrong. He couldn't shake the feeling. Ever since Katara came back to the cave, with Chan at her side, there was a demurring to her. He braved another glance her way. Her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her mind lost in a thought. He observed how her hands trembled slightly when she thought no one was watching, the forced steadiness to her voice whenever someone would speak to her. 

The worst part of it was that she kept avoiding his eyes. She kept staring at the Moon above them. The light reflected on her chestnut skin, making her even more beautiful than ever. 

Not a single of her friends noticed her strange behavior. Their light chatter reached his ears but he couldn't focus to chime into the conversation. Mai sat surprisingly quietly in the corner, ignoring everyone. He didn't want to put her in that position, even more he didn't enjoy putting those ropes around her wrists. 

But he had to. She couldn't be trusted now. 

''You should rest now, Katara,'' Chan's tone was soft, but there was an edge to it, a different kind of protectiveness he's never heard from the Captain. 

Katara nodded slowly but didn't move an inch. Zuko's eyes narrowed, shifting between the two of them. Something was definitely off.

''What's going on?'' he asked, keeping his voice low but insistent. ''You've been acting weird ever since you came back to the cave.''

Katara's head snapped up. Her expression was unreadable. ''Nothing,'' she said a bit too quickly. Then, as if she remembered something, her features sharpened. ''Not that it's any of your business.''

Zuko wouldn't be convinced. He's seen the signs but he couldn't place where it was all coming from. What has happened for the past few hours that changed something within her entirely? Why did she look so... scared?

''Is it about what you said to me in that cave?'' he whispered. ''I know you had to...''

''Leave her, Zuko,'' Chan's said defiantly. Katara's gaze shifted to his, full of a quiet appreciation. 

He ignored his Captain but couldn't ignore the broken stare of a woman he loved. ''Katara, if something happened, you need to tell me,'' his golden eyes burned with determination. 

Before the waterbender could respond, Aang's voice cut through the tension. ''She said she's fine, Zuko. Leave her be,'' there was a subtle command in his words, sending a horrible shiver down Zuko's spine.

His jaw tightened. The Avatar was hiding something, too. ''I'm not talking to you, Aang.''

The air grew thick as Aang rose to his feet, his smile faltering. ''You're talking to her and she belongs to me. I would back off if I were you.'' 

Zuko frowned, his chest raising with rage. The Fire Lord's sight flickered back to Katara, who seemed unaware of the tension, melting into the back of the saddle, looking as if she wanted to disappear. 

He took an absent step towards her, his expression softening. ''What's wrong, waterbender?''

She trembled at the words, rising to her feet with a stagger he's never seen before. ''I'm fine,'' her voice cracked slightly, telling him she was anything but fine. Her posture changed within a second, defensive and sharp. ''Just drop it, Zuko.''

How could he though? When she was standing before him, storm brewing in her mind, her eyes absent and her body shaking with an emotion he could only describe as pain?