AU This story takes place in the fire nation. Zuko was never banished and never got his scar. He is also nice and doesn't have that ugly ponytail. He has the same hair as "Lee". And if anyone is out of character it IS an AU after all. Also the avatar wasn't discovered…just thought I might add that!  Also, Katara is 13 and Zuko is 14.

Prince Zuko walked along one of the great halls in the palace in which he inhabited. The huge white columns ever three yards or so cast a shadow in the prince's path. He turned every so often to look out into the beautiful gardens of the courtyard.

He thought he might take a walk considering there wasn't much to do. As he strolled along he saw a girl. He had never seen her before. She was not one of the usual slaves that he sees around.

She had beautiful thick, brown hair that fell in a long braid down her back. Her eyes were like puddles of clear blue water. But he could tell that she seemed unhappy. He was free so he thought that he might as well find out why.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" he asked politely. There was silence.

And again he asked, "Girl, you will answer me when I talk to you!" She then looked up. Sorrow filled her eyes. Then she softly replied" Katara of the Southern water tribe." And then went back to scrubbing the white tiles of the hall. He then noticed that when one spot was clean she would bend the water back into the bucket and move to another dirtier spot.

He then knew why she was here. His father had raided the South Pole and had brought back a few of the woman and children to be slaves about 6 years ago. Zuko looked down at the girl with pity. He never thought of his life being good because half the time he was just wondering the halls and working hard to master his fire bending. But the prince realized that other people had it worse. Being taken from their home and family. He wanted to do something, to help her. But how?

"Come with me. I can help you get out of these rags. I'll tell the slaveholder that I want you to be my personal slave. You can stay with me at all times in case I need you. That includes at night. Then you will not have to sleep in the slave quarters. I am the only person you will listen to from now on OK?" He said as he looked down sympathetically at the girl and extended his hand towards her. She looked up with the same look of sorrow in her eyes and nodded. The only thing she could do was go with him knowing that he was of some sort of higher level and could harm her if she did not obey.

"I am Prince Zuko, just thought I might tell you if you are ever asked who you serve." he said calmly. She looked up at him in surprise. She knew who he was but had never really seen him. Katara also didn't know that the son of the Fire Lord could be so… well, nice! He smiled back at her as they walked through many long corridors and finally stopped in front of a pair of doors.

Zuko pushed open the double doors and led Katara in. The walls were covered in very extravagant wallpaper and the floor was covered with exquisite carpeting that was extremely soft and about an inch thick. Everything in the room was red or black except for the desk, wardrobe and dresser, which were wood. All of the furniture was of the utmost quality. There was a large desk and a king sized bed along with a table that had 4 small seats on the floor. A door was on the west wall, which she presumed led to the bathroom. And on the east wall were a large dresser and a wardrobe. The room was also almost twice as big as the entire slave quarters. Katara looked around in awe as Zuko took a seat at a small round table.

"Please, come sit with me." Zuko insisted as he motioned to the seat across from him. She did as she was told and sat down. "Is your mother here also?" he questioned. Katara looked down and replied in a weak voice, "She was killed in your father's raid." Zuko's face dropped. He never really wondered much about what happened to the women and children that weren't taken. "Oh…. I am very sorry. Well, let's get you out of these rags that you are wearing."

He got up and walked over to the wardrobe. He opened it up and sure enough there was a small drawer at the bottom and was filled with beautiful dresses and clothes. Katara slowly walked over and looked through the gowns. They were all red and looked as if they were for royalty.

"They were my mothers gowns from when she was young. She had nowhere else to put them so she gave them to me to store since I don't have nearly as many clothes as my sister. She said that if I ever found a use for them that I was more than welcome to take them. I think that you are a good enough reason." He blurted as if reading her mind.

As Katara continued to search through the dresses she saw a bit of fabric at the very bottom. The fabric was a beautiful shade of blue. As she tugged on it, a stunning blue dress emerged. It was made in the water tribe as she could tell from the markings.

She held it up to herself and looked in the mirror that hung on the door. It was very small and only reached just above her knees but it was better than one of the horrid fire nation dresses. There where no straps on the elegant gown. But it was made of a silky material that reminded her of her own mother's festive wear.

"Where did your mother get this?" Katara questioned as she turned to face her new master.

"I think she got it on a trip to the Southern Water Tribe. She mentioned going there before the raid. " Remarked Zuko. " If you like it you may put it on." And with that he turned around to give her some privacy.

"OK, you can look now."

Zuko turned around and his jaw dropped as he saw the Water Bender. The dress fit her just right and showed every last one of her new curves. He looked her up and down in awe. Even though he was a Prince and she was a lowly water tribe peasant they were both still teenagers.

"You… you look spectacular! Um… ok, I'll just call someone up Bishoujo to let her know that I have a knew, um… slave and that she is no longer needed." Zuko stuttered. He then pulled on a rope and a patter of footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. Then in burst a beautiful Earth Nation girl.

She had shoulder length black hair and wore a long red dress with 2 slits that ran up both her legs and went up to her knees. It was completely black except for the red fire nation insignia on the upper middle. She looked to be about 12 years old and very tired

"Yes, Prince Zuko. What is it I can do for you?" She panted as she fell to her knees.

"Bishoujo, your services are no longer needed here. Please report to the slaveholder and let him know that Katara and you have switched duties. Katara will now work for me and live up here as well. You will then take Katara's place and do whatever chores she would do. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Prince Zuko, I will obey your wishes." She then got up from her knees, bowed and left the room.

Zuko turned to face Katara and looked into her blue eyes. "It's getting late. I think we better go to bed. There is a blue robe at the bottom of the dresser. You might want to change into that while we sleep,"

Once again he turned around and Katara slid into the robe. It fit just like the other dress, small and curvy. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. And again, he was awestruck.

" Since a bed hasn't been set up yet and tonight is supposed to be cold, I think you should sleep in the bed with me tonight." He remarked.

" But what if someone comes in while we're sleeping? I don't think I should, I could be severely beaten for something like that."

"Don't worry, I always lock my door at night. No one will be able to get in." He confirmed. Then he locked the door and climbed into bed. He patted to a spot semi-close to him on the other side of the bed. She slowly inched towards it and finally slid under the covers.

The bed was so warm and much fluffier than the cot she had slept in for the past 6 years. Though it was much better than her old bed it was also much higher. She had never been in a bed that was so high off the ground! She slid little by little closer into the bed. But then jumped a little when her back suddenly hit Zuko's back.

" To high for you?" He whispered.

She silently nodded her head somewhere in the darkness.

"It's OK. You won't fall." Zuko again whispered. He reached over and gave her a little rub on her shoulder. And very soon they both drifted into a soft dreamless sleep. But neither of them knew that this night had begun something bigger than they could imagine.

Please review. It came out better than I thought! Please don't flame, I don't mind constructive criticism though. I will update soon but only if I find at least one person, who likes it, so please review!

Bishoujo means Beautiful Girl in Japanese