Katara watched as the waves went passing the slow moving ship. This trip felt like forever to the little nine year old girl. She had nothing to do and every time she told her mother she was bored she would just say "go play with Sokka." Even though she loved her eleven year old brother, he was so weird and didn't like to play with her. So most of the trip Katara just watched the waves pass feeling the power of the ocean in her.
The dinner bell rang and Katara headed down to the dining hall. Along the way she ran into her father.
"Why the long face, sweetheart?" he asked her as he took her hand. She looks up into his blue eyes much like her own.
"Oh daddy! I'm just so sick of this ship. I mean I love being on the ocean but there's nothing to do but watch the waves." She said to him.
"Well don't worry by tomorrow we should be landing in the Fire Nation." He told her just as they reached the dining room.
In the room was a low table with blue cushions for them to sit on. Katara's mother, Kya was already seated with Sokka on her left. Hakoda sat down next to his wife leaving Katara to sit between her brother and father. As she grumpily sat down she noticed the table was set with all kinds of water tribe food mixed with some of the fire nation food so the family could get used to the spiciness of the food before they reached the Fire Nation.
Sokka immediately started to dig into the food.
He'd eat anything I set in front of him, even a raw egg thought Katara. She tried to reach for the bowl of fire rice and fish, one of her more favorites from the fire nation food, but Sokka stabbed her hand with his fork. She yelped and pulled her hand away.
"Sokka! You nearly ate my fingers! Mom, he's being very rude!" she raises her voice. Her mother and father not missing any of the commotion that just happened look at the pair of children.
"Sokka," Kya said, "say you're sorry to your sister." Sokka looked at her and then to his kid sister.
"I'm sorry Katara," he said calmly. What a baby, he thought to himself. Katara's piercing blue eyes starred at him. She knew he didn't mean it.
"Children, we will soon be at the Fire Nation and as soon as we get there we will be taken to the palace where I will meet with the Fire Lord. You two need to be on your best behavior while we're there," Said their father. He looks at the two of them intently making sure they understood. Katara and Sokka nodded their heads.
"Daddy, what are we to do there while you and mom talk with the Fire Lord and Lady?" asked Katara, putting on her perfect child mode. She reached over to get the food she had gone for earlier. She put some on her plate and started to eat it like the princess she was. Sokka rolled his eyes at her.
"The Fire Lord and Lady have two children, a boy and a girl. Zuko is eleven like Sokka, and Azula is nine like you Katara. I'm sure you children will find something to do with them to show you around," Said Kya. She gave them a warm smile.
"Oh cool! Finally another boy to play with," exclaimed Sokka. "Do you think he knows how to throw a boomerang?" he asked, jumping up and down in his seat. Kya's light laugh filled the room.
"Maybe but if not you could always show him." Hakoda said with a smile. "Show him what a warrior you are." Sokka smiled up at his dad.
"Do you think they're benders?" asked Katara quietly. She knew they most likely were but she wanted to double check.
Hakoda stopped smiling. He looked to his wife and then to Katara.
"Yes they are. But Katara you are not to water bend while we are there. It would not be safe." He told her. She nodded her head.
"Even if they ask you if you know any water benders, you tell them you know of none," Explained Kya.
"Yes mother," said Katara. She eyed Sokka. He will blab for sure, thought Katara.
"That goes for you as well Sokka." Said Hakoda, Sokka looked up for the food he was scarfing down with a questioning look. "If you say a word about water benders or Katara's bending you will be grounded. End of story." His eyes were hard as he looked at Sokka.
"I understand dad. I'm not an idiot." He said.
"One last thing, Since your father is the chief that makes you two a prince and a princess, and its most likely that while we're here you will be known as such. So don't be surprised. Okay?" said Kya.
Sokka said, "Wait, am I the prince?"
Katara face palmed while her parents laughed.
"Does that mean you're a queen mom? And daddy's the king? So we're royalty!?" squealed Katara. Her eyes grew bright. She clapped her hands together with glee. "Yes I always knew we were special. Yes! I'm a princess!"
"Katara…" her mother started.
"Wait of course I'm the prince, I'm the one with all the muscles" Sokka said while flexing his arms.
Zuko was bouncing on the balls of his feet, too excited to stand still. Finally another boy, the prince of the Southern Water Tribe no less, was coming to the Fire Nation! A boy just his age, someone to play with, someone that wasn't Azula. She always got on his nerves, but with the boy coming and his little sister she should have someone new to entertain her, other than Mai and Ty Lee.
The yelling of the dock workers caught his attention, a ship was coming in. It wasn't like the Fire Nation ships that Zuko had been on before. This ship was made of wood and had a blue sail. That is a Water Tribe ship? Zuko thought to himself. A person on the ship threw the ropes to the dock workers who pulled them in. As soon as it was tied a girl jumped over the side of the ship followed by a boy.
The girl looked to be Azula's age. She had dark skin, as did the boy, her long brown hair was pulled back into a two braids. She wore a blue sleeveless dress with a white sash tied around her waist. The boy, who had to be Zuko's age, had brown hair pulled into a wolf tail on the back of his head. He wore a dark blue sleeveless shirt with white trimming and matching pants.
The workers put the ramp up and two people, a man and a woman both with brown hair and blue outfits walked down. The woman took hold of the boy's hand and the man of the girl's.
"Looks like those are their parents." Azula whispered to him. He looked down at his kid sister.
"No really." He said rolling his eyes.
"I mean really Zuzu couldn't you tell." She said. "They don't look like much."
"They look fine to me." he replied looking at the family as they walked closer. The woman smiled at the boy, the girl tugged on the man's arm, he patted her head.
Zuko's father and mother stepped forward to greet them, with Azula and Zuko right behind them. They stop right in front of them.
"Welcome to the Fire Nation," Says Ozai taking in the family, as did Azula. They all had blue eyes and dark skin with brown hair. Do all the water tribe people look like this… she wonder.
"I am Fire Lord Ozai, do call me Ozai though. This is my wife Ursa and our two children, Zuko and Azula." Azula's father explains.
"Hello. I'm Chief Hakoda; this is my wife Kya and our two children, Sokka and Katara. Thank you for letting us stay in your lovely home," Said Hakoda smiling.
"It is a pleasure to have you stay in our home. You are welcome here," Ursa says putting her hands on Zuko's shoulders. Azula's annoying brother looks up at their mother and smiles.
She rolls her eyes at him and hears a snickering sound. She looks up to see Katara putting her hands over her mouth. Katara smiles at Azula, and she returns it.
I might just like this Katara girl.
Zuko look at the two girls smiling at each other. He frowns looking between the two of them.
Those two are going to be a pain. Between Azula and this girl, Katara, they must know a hundred ways to be annoying. Zuko thinks to himself.
Sokka moves forward to stand in front of the boy. Zuko looks at him startled. Sokka puts his hand out and he takes it.
"Hi, I'm prince Zuko." He says shaking the boy's hand.
"Hello, I'm prince Sokka."
"What's on your back?" Zuko asks looking at Sokka's boomerang.
"Well prince Zuko-" he started to say.
"You can call me Zuko," he said.
"Well Zuko it's my trusty boomerang. I call it boomy." Sokka explains to him.
"Oh I see. Boomerang… their things the always come back right?" Zuko asks.
"Yeah they always come back, most of the time hitting Sokka in the head." Katara giggles.
"Katara. Boomy doesn't hit me in the head! He's a good boomerang." Sokka says.
Azula come up beside her brother laughing.
"Well, well, well. Talking about a toy like it's your pet or something. How silly." She says looking him up and down.
"I know. I keep telling him to grow up." Katara tells her. "I'm Katara."
"I'm Azula. Do you guys always wear blue?"
"Not all the time but most of the time. Do you guys always wear red?" she asks.
"No, we were tons of other colors too. Do you wanna see? I have so many colorful dresses." Azula asks Katara. Katara's smile gets wide nodding her head.
"Mom, me and Katara are gonna go play dress up is that okay?" Azula asks her mother. Ursa looks at Kya; both the girls turn to look at her.
"That's fine with me. Have fun girls." Kya says and the two girls run off to Azula room. Their mothers smiling as they watch them go. Zuko and Sokka run off and the adults proceed into the palace, talking as they went.
"Your boy Sokka seems like a strong lad. Does he know how to fight?" Ozai asks Hakoda, the men walking ahead of their wives who were talking quietly.
"Oh yes. He wants to become a warrior. Sokka can be found practicing or eating. That boy loves his food." Hakoda says with a laugh. Ozai chuckles at this information about the water tribe prince. "And what of your son Zuko, does he fight?"
"Well he mostly prefers to bend. He's not so hot at it yet but I hope to see him improve in the future. At this point Azula is far better than he is." Ozai says in admiration.
"I see. She seems like a lovely girl. What does she like to do?"
"She loves to bend and she also likes to mess with Zuko. But mostly she reads. She's a smart girl." Ozai says as they reach the big outdoor seating room, near the pond with the boys were feeding the turtle ducks. The two men sit at a table that is set with light foods for in between meals, their wives continued to walk thru the garden chatting as they went. The men watch as Zuko showed Sokka how to feed the turtle ducks.
"What about your girl, Katara? What does she like to do?" Ozai asks looking at Hakoda from the corner of his eye, watching for anything his face and body might give away. But Hakoda only smiled as he watched the ducks came up to the boys, who held their hands out for them to eat out of.
"Oh she's a very sweet girl. She likes to play in the snow and she likes to have "parties" and things like that." Hakoda says turning to look at him.
His gold eyes were very observant and they didn't miss a thing. Hakoda had to watch out for him. He knew things could get mess if this treaty didn't work out. But binding two nations was never easy, and in the last hundred years nothing had changed about that.
Katara and Azula were playing in Azula's room when the servant came in to call them for dinner. Katara was about to head out to dinner when Azula stopped her.
"You can't go to dinner in that. You should wear one of my dresses." She says pulling out a deep red dress with black lace on the bottom. Katara take the dress and puts it on. Azula tied the back for her.
"How do I look?" Katara asks spinning. Azula taps her finger on her chin before answering.
"Like a Fire Nation princess."
As they are walking to the dining room, they make their way through the garden passing the boys at the turtle duck pond. Zuko and Sokka are kneeling at the edge of the pond, feeding the baby turtle ducks out of their hands.
"Awe isn't that cute Katara? Our brothers have a sensitive side." Azula said oh so loudly. Katara covered her mouth giggling into them as the young princes turned to glare at their sisters.
"Shut up Azula. You're just jealous that the turtle ducks actually like me." Zuko exclaims.
"Ooh burn! Need some ice for that, we have some back at the South Pole for yah." Sokka snickered waving his arms in front of the girls.
"Oh don't listen to him, he's an idiot. Let's go to dinner." Katara urged her.
"Alright you win this round Zuzu, but you better watch your back. I know where you sleep." Azula tossed over her shoulder as she linked arms with Katara and headed over to the dining room.
At hearing the word 'diner' the boys quickly followed behind them, eager to eat. When they entered the dining room Sokka's eyes lit up at the sight of the huge feast in front of them. Sokka immediately went straight to the table and started piling food on his plate.
"Sokka be respectful. We haven't been invited to eat yet." Katara told her brother.
"Oh sorry. Fire Lord Ozai, would it be okay if I start eating?" Sokka asked pleadingly.
"In the fire nation it is custom to wait for the Fire Lord to take the first bite, it would be rude to not follow customs while we are visiting, wouldn't it Sokka?" Hakoda answers before Ozai could.
"I apologize Fire Lord Ozai. I didn't know of the custom." Sokka tried to say respectively and politely.
"It's alright Prince Sokka. Now let's get situated for dinner." Ozai responded.
The feast contained foods of Fire Nation exquisite delicacies. The fire lord placed a bit of food on his plate and took a small bite so everyone else could eat. He was keeping an eye on the little water tribe girl, who was watching what Azula put on her plate. Azula had taken a spoon full of a small, bright red cubes. Katara thought they looked good, hopefully not too hot. She also took a spoonful, much smaller than Azula's. Ozai gave a small chuckle causing everyone to look at him to see what he was laughing at.
"Princess Katara I don't think you'll be wanting to eat that." he says drawing the attention to the girl. She gave him a questioning look.
"That dish is made exclusively for fire benders, which you are not, you will most likely going to fall ill if you eat it."
"O-oh…um thank you," Katara blushed from embarrassment.
Zuko looked over at the blushing girl and felt embarrassed for her, he knew how condescending his father could be. He picked up his empty plate and held it in front of her.
"Here Princess. You can have my plate." Zuko said faintly.
She quickly handed him her plate whispering her thanks. Sitting back down, Zuko saw her cheeks were redder than before. His amber gold eyes met her crystal blue ones across the table and she gave him a small smile before he quickly glanced down at his plate. He felt his own cheeks get hot.
The parents glanced at each other and knew their arrangement would work just fine.
Early in the morning, the day of their departure, Katara was at the turtle duck pond. She had brought bread to feed the baby turtle ducks but they were on the other side of the pond. Knowing she was alone, she gently pulled the water towards her. Zuko, who was also up to feed the turtle ducks, saw Katara at the edge of the pond. He was about to call out to her when he noticed that the water in the pond was being pulled towards her along with the turtle ducks. Zuko watched in amazement as he realized that she was a water bender. He approached her slowly as to not startle her. She heard movement and immediately stopped. She turned around only to be face to face with the Fire Prince.
"Pleasedon'ttellanyone." Katara blurted out.
"Don't tell anyone what? That you like to feed the turtle ducks? Don't worry I won't tell Azula." Zuko laughed as he kneeled down next to her. He tore pieces of bread, opened his hand, and held it out for the turtle ducks. They immediately swam up to him and started eating out of his palm.
"Just hold out your hand slow and gently. Make sure you stay calm, they can sense when you're anxious. Make sure when you tear the bread, it is in small little pieces so they won't choke. Once they get used to you they won't leave you alone. Sometimes they will follow me around the garden. Maybe the next time you come they'll do the same to you." Zuko explained softly.
"Awe they follow you around like their mama. Are these pieces small enough?" She held out her hands to show him the pieces. He glanced over and then nodded his head. She held her hands towards the turtle ducks, trying to keep her cool. She smiled when a few of the babies ate from her hands.
"Dad says we won't be coming back for a couple of years." She says as the corners of her mouth turn downwards.
She was sad to be leaving, she enjoyed her visit. She had fun playing with Azula and watching her and Zuko fire bend together. She would miss the four of them playing hide-and-shriek in the gardens after dinner. One single tear fell as she reminisced the past month and how she would not be able to see her new friends for two years.
Zuko watched the tear roll down her cheek and felt sad himself. He really liked Sokka and Katara and would miss them a lot.
"Hey it's okay, we can still write each other. It won't be the same but it's still something. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your secret." He says with a smile.
