Time and Time Again

Chapter 15: A Powerful Need to Eat Sometime this Month

Zuko stared into the flames of the fire, furiously thinking. Any chance of using the water bender's aid was gone now. Thanks to his temper. But it wasn't his fault! She was just so aggravating! Surely she could have at least tried not to make him upset! She did it on purpose, he knew it! If only he could make her help him, but he couldn't threaten people the same way Azula and his father could. Katara would call his bluff and run away as soon as he loosened the knot on the ropes. Zuko would be able to find her again, but it was time he didn't feel like wasting. He needed any help he could get, it was only luck that he had been able to catch the rabbit at all. Zuko continued looking into the fire, hoping the dancing flames would provide some sort of inspiration.

Katara winced as she tried to shift position. She had tried working her hands out of their bindings, only to rub them raw. She was exhausted, but couldn't lie down and was too uncomfortable to sleep in her awkward position. She had been sitting there for what felt like hours. The jerk-bender across the fire hadn't said a word since his little temper tantrum and Katara's leg was still in pain. She couldn't take it anymore.

"So are you just going to keep me like this till I die?" Katara asked sarcastically. Silence was the only response she got.

"You know, contrary to popular belief, it's really not that comfortable being tied to a tree for hours on end. Oh, and this may come as a shock to you, but I will need to go to the bathroom eventually, and, oh yeah, I have a powerful need to eat sometime this month. But don't mind me, I'm just the girl you kidnapped and almost killed at least fifty times."Katara ranted while she tried yet again to wiggle loose of her bindings. She winced with each movement, but kept on trying, "Do you even have shelter? Or do you plan to just sleep in the rain and catch your death? Why are you even out here still? Shouldn't you be in the nearest town, being all prince-y and what not? For another thing-"

"SHUT UP, WILL YOU?" Zuko yelled, causing the fire between them to leap at least fifteen feet into the air. Zuko clutched his head, trying to get her nagging out of his ears.

"Well excuse me." Katara muttered softly, earning a glare from the prince. Katara resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the prince. She didn't want to risk getting burnt. She would never admit it, but she was terrified of Zuko when he lost his temper like that. She knew it was dangerous when any bender lost control, but when a firebender lost control, it only ended in pain.

Katara's stomach growled audibly. She hadn't eaten in what seemed like forever. The rabbit she had seen Zuko eating had been dropped onto the ground when Zuko gave chase. As hungry as Katara was, she was not about to eat dirt covered rabbit.

"Look, in all seriousness, you can't keep me here for ever, so why don't you just let me go, and wander off to the nearest village and hitch a ride back to the Fire Nation?" Katara said, giving up completely on her bindings. She could feel that her wrists had started to bleed and she didn't want to increase the risk of infection by aggravating them any further.

"You don't get it, do you?" Zuko asked, deadpan. Katara looked at him in confusion.

"Get what? You're a prince, I'm sure even in an enemy territory, you could find someway to get what you want."

"There are no nearby towns." Zuko stated.

"Well then I guess you'll just have to search further away for one." Katara retorted.

"That's impossible."

"Why? Are you scared you might get a blister on your royal toe?" Katara yelped as the prince leaped up from his seat and briskly stomped over to her. He shoved his face close to hers.

"You stupid, filthy peasant!" He hissed, "We are on an island, a deserted island! There is no other land within seeing distance and no one here to help us." Katara stared at the prince without really seeing him. Surely he was lying! Katara would accuse him of joking, but she doubted that he had any sense of humor.