InsaneJournal

Characters: Zuko, Katara
Location: the street outside the library
Time: early afternoon, post-arrival
Notes: N/A

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

One moment, they were on Appa's back with the banished prince sitting atop the bison's head, reigns in hand as he wondered just why the waterbender sitting at the back of the saddle behind him hadn't killed that man who'd murdered her mother. He almost did it for her after she walked away from the man, but hadn't wanted to upset her in any way by overstepping his boundaries - whatever those were. Nothing was clear when it came to this emotional bender, least of all his place. She blew hot, she blew cold, sending him mixed signals at every turn. Did she hate him or want his help? Did she want him to throw himself off a cliff or teach the Avatar how to firebend? He didn't know and was tired of trying to tell. He'd helped her, but he'd yet to receive a thank you.

Maybe he didn't deserve one. Maybe it was foolish of him to even expect some gratitude, even a minor amount, for the effort he was exerting on her behalf. Perhaps he was still just a selfish prince from the Fire Nation and wasn't capable of being nice in her mind. He might never redeem himself to her and if this didn't do the trick, he didn't know if it was worth trying anymore. He might be better off just accepting that she hated him and would never look at him like she had down in those caves in Ba Sing Se ever again.

He was about to ask how she was doing, when suddenly, they weren't on Appa anymore. He blacked out and when he came to, he was sprawled face-first on cold, marble tile next to a tall bookshelf.

Zuko pushed himself to his knees, blinking as his eyesight reset itself, belatedly remembering he had a companion and calling out, "Katara? Waterbender! Kat--" He stopped when he laid eyes upon her, letting out a sigh of relief. The Avatar would ring his neck if anything happened to her, especially since the boy had been opposed to this trip in the first place.

"Any idea what just happened?" He asked her, climbing to his feet and plucking one of the books off the shelf. Odd. There wasn't a title...and even stranger, when he opened the book, all the pages were blank. Zuko dropped that book and pulled out another and another and another, flipping through book after book and finding nothing but empty pages.

"This is really starting to wei--" Zuko began, when he was suddenly seized by someone in a suit of armor who came seemingly out of nowhere. "Hey!" He shouted, "Put me down!" Craning his neck around the armor as he was picked off his feet and carried towards a pair of grand doors, he spotted Katara being seized in a similar fashion by a second person in armor. "Let her go!"

He tried to bend, but it had no affect and soon the doors opened to reveal a bright, sunlit world and he and Katara were deposited unceremoniously onto their rumps in the street. A strange, metallic box was tossed at both himself and the waterbender before the guards retreated back into the library with the blank books. Zuko scrambled to his feet and ran after them, but the doors closed before he could reach them. He pounded on the door, bent fire at it, and kicked it, but nothing happened.

Swearing in anger, Zuko marched back down the steps and held out a hand to the waterbender. "This is not my fault," he told her, the words tumbling out of his mouth seemingly of his own accord.