Sokka read the message from Katara, smiling in delight when he thought of her freezing Zuko to the forest floor for snoring. Suki giggled from where she was reading over his shoulder.
“Uh oh.”
Sokka looked at her.
“What?”
Suki grinned with a knowing look.
“She’s got it bad.”
“What?!”
Suki walked off, smiling to herself with happiness for her friend.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


                 Zuko reached back and grabbed Katara’s hand, pulling her up the last little way to the top of the mountain they had been climbing for two days. She stood for a moment looking around, then flopped onto the ground with a loud sigh.
“Oh I miss Appa so much.”
Zuko smirked.
“Weakling.”
A small flick of her wrist and a stream of water knocked his feet from under him. He went down with a loud grunt, and she smiled to herself in satisfaction. He glared at her, then shook his head.



                “Katara, aren’t we a little old for childish things like that?”
“Like you putting a frog bug in my tea?”
He grinned.
“I think it was good for you. I’ve never seen you bend so fast.”
She rolled her eyes, then stood.
“So are we making camp here tonight?”




He sat up, looking around.
“We probably need to keep going for a little longer. There’s no water source right here, and it’s a little too out in the open.”



                       She nodded and extended a hand, helping him up when he took it. They walked back into the dense forest, this time moving down the mountain. Soon they had found a small river, and Katara started pulling fish from the water while Zuko set up the campfire.

                They made supper together in silence, and then cleaned up in the same comfortable peace. Katara took her water bag to the river and refilled it. She turned to walk back to camp, but instead was tackled to the ground. She started to scream, but a hand covered her mouth, and Zuko whispered in her ear.
“Shhh.”



                     She nodded, then gave him a questioning look. He put his mouth to her ear, and
she fought of the shudder that wanted to run through her, then mentally scowled at herself.


                  “There are some soldiers coming up the mountain. They’ll probably be stopping somewhere nearby to make camp. We need to get away from here.”
Katara nodded and took her bag from him, quickly pulling it on. They started running quietly as possible through the trees, jumping over tree roots and ducking to avoid low hanging branches.


               They ran in sync, moving in mirror images to each other, Zuko watching both Katara and the path in front of him, and Katara doing the same. Suddenly Katara’s foot caught in a hidden vine and she pitched forward. Zuko dove to the side, sliding on his back but landing under her so she fell on him. They both skidded a few feet before coming to a stop.
“You okay?”
She nodded, then winced when she tried to push herself off him.
“Ow!”
Zuko flipped over so he was covering her, throwing his arm up at the same time. Katara screamed and buried her head in his shoulder when she spotted the large stream of fire speeding towards them.