Time and Time Again

Chapter 3: Coming To

Katara groaned as her bed swayed slowly beneath her, she hated sleeping on Appa. This was one of those rare occasions where she had actually managed to fall alseep, and she wanted to keep it that way. She squeezed her eyes shut and reached out to pull her blanket closer around her, only to not be able to find it. As much as she wanted the blanket, she wanted sleep more. It was surprisingly warm on Appa, so she decided she could make do without it. A musky sent filled her nose, but she was too tired to even bother trying to figure out where it came from. All she wanted was to curl up and rest her weary body. Appa slowly lurched to the right, causing Katara to roll over, ruining any chance she had of falling back asleep. Muttering angrily (but still keeping her eyes shut), she sat up and stretched. Katara gasped and opened her eyes as pain shot through her head as she moved. Her eyes widened as they registered the area around her.

She was sitting in the middle of a small, dark room. A chamber pot sat in one corner, and a small cot was welded to the wall on her right. In front of her, a door with a small, barred window stood. There was no handle on the door, much to Katara's dismay. Frightened, Katara attempted to stand so she could look out the window, only to fall back to the floor with a gasp of pain. Lights danced behind her eyes as red, hot pain filled her head. Slowly, she raised a hand to her forehead and gulped. There was a great big bump in the middle of it! Where had that come from? Where was she? What happened? Questions spun around in her head. Katara's breathing quickened as panic made her blood cold as ice.

Stop it, Katara! She scolded herself, Just calm down! Breathe! Katara took a deep breath, forcing herself to concentrate only on breathing. In...and out. In...and out.

A few minutes later, Katara was completely calm. Okay, first question, what is the last thing you remember? Katara thought back. She had...sneaked away.. Away from what ?From...From...Aang! And Sokka! She had sneaked away from them in order to practice waterbending! Why would you sneak away to do that? Because...because it wasn't just any waterbending, it was something bad. Bad...bad...Pirates! She sneaked away to practice the waterbending moves on the scroll she had stolen from the pirates! Then, she had seen the pirates through some bushes and went to warn Aang and Sokka! It all came back to her, the pirates, Zuko, Aang leaving her behind, everything up to the boot coming towards her face! She remembered! I must have fainted when the soldier kicked me! That would explain the bruise and memory lose, but it doesn't explain where I am.., fear engulfed Katara as her thoughts continued, ...or does it?