In this story is Aang still in the iceberg and does the Firenation rule the world. They see the other nations as provinces.
This story is based on a Dutch legend.
A common girl from the Southern Water Tribe
In the Firenation lives a man, but he is not a common man, he is the prince of the Firenation, the whole world. He's not only well known for his position, he's a real womanizer. How can a girl possibly refuse him? He has a powerful position and is also very handsome, a natural beauty, except for his scar that his father had given him. He had been banished, but he wanted to return, to get his honor back. His father had taken him back, but now his sister Azula was the next heir. He couldn't care less.
'My prince.' Zuko's servant said while he bowed down. ' I know the perfect next woman for you.'
The servant, Jet, had a soul just as depraved as his prince's.
'My servant, tell me who you have in mind.' Zuko ordered.
'The beautiful princess of the Southern Water Tribe has become a woman today.' Jet told his prince.
Zuko got a wide smile on his face. Yes, he knew the girl, the exotic beauty. 'Prepare my ship, I want to leave tomorrow.' he ordered.
'As you wish, my lord.' the servant bow with a grin on his face. Another beautiful victim. He left the room after bowing one more time.
Katara was proud. She had become a real woman. Although her chores hadn't changed, she felt different. She was a beautiful woman, her skin had a dark and exotic colour and her eyes were as blue and timeless as the ocean. She had beautiful, long hair, chocolate coloured. She had a somewhat big nose, what made her look even cuter. Her lips were irresistible to every young man. She also had a very nice body, but best of this all, she didn't realize this all herself.
Yes, she wanted a husband. He should be nice and hard working, making money the fair way. A woman who thinks like that shall never become unhappy. She didn't wish for expansive necklaces, a closet full of clothes or even a lot of money. She wanted a family, children and grandchildren. She wanted to grow old with her loving husband and than die peacefully. A woman who thinks like that can live a very happy life.
Katara was fishing when she saw a great ship. She saw the Firenation emblem and ran home, leaving the fishing rod. Although the Firenation had won the war and now possessed the whole world, she was still afraid. She was the last waterbender at the Southern Water Tribe, she was afraid they would take her with them for that reason.
She ran home to her family and closed the door.
The prince knocked on her door. Although she's the princess of the Southern Water Tribe, she lives in a common house, a simple igloo.
The ship was docked in the harbor and the prince waited full of arrogance for the door to open. The door was opened by the girl herself.
'May I please have a drink, I am very thirsty.' he asked politely.
Everyone from the village knew what this man was like, and why he came 'round, but how could the girl say no to the prince?
'Of course, my prince.' she said while she walked towards the well.
The prince followed her. The well was created by La and Tui themselves. The water in the well wasn't salty, it was a source of life. The water in the well was warm and hid itself deep in the well.
Katara dropped a bucket attached to a rope down into the well. Zuko looked into the well and said. 'I can see your reflection down there.'
'You're wrong, sir.' the girl who was merely a woman replied. 'Down there it's way to dark to see a reflection.'
'That's because your image is etched into my mind. I'm like a blind man, forever seeing the image he saw last on this world.' He replied smoothly.
'You shouldn't talk to me like that.' she said, but she wasn't mad at him. 'I am just a plain girl and you're making more of me than I am.' the girl answered, her cheeks were red.
'You know what, I'll call you firelily. Because you've become a woman in one day, just like a firelily opens its petals in one day.'
'Isn't it your habit to pluck those firelilies, that have sprouted in one day?' she answered, knowing that she hadn't insulted the prince.
Katara held up the bucket filled with warm, fresh water and gave it to the scarred prince. Zuko drank while the girl walked away, swaying her hips dangerously, telling him that he shouldn't come close. He silently enjoyed her stubbornness while he drank.
Jet walked towards his prince. Eyeing the girl who had just rejected his prince he thought: Do you really think that you can run away from him?
Jet and Zuko looked at the girl, she was so beautiful, yet so stupid. Why would she fight it? It would happen anyway. Zuko threw the bucket into the well and walked away, towards his ship. His servant followed him. They didn't speak, they both knew he was going to try again.
And he did. He showed her how well trained he was in the art of seduction. He spoke to her with sweet words, and somehow always knew where she was. When she was fishing, chopping wood or cooking he was there. Even when she was just walking he showed up, trying to seduce her with beautiful words and winks. But Katara ignored it all, she knew what he wanted, another girl to use and dump.
Everybody at the Southern Water Tribe talked about the rejected prince.
Once he was there, coming out of nowhere and captured the girl in his arms. She tried to escape, but he was stronger than she was. She was fast and supple, something that annoyed him more and more as this cat and mouse game continued.
'How long are you planning to keep on running? Never has a girl thwarted me!' the prince yelled out of frustration.
'Please, just leave me alone! Can't the hunter find another prey?' Katara replied.
At this the prince began to laugh, never had this hunter seen such a beautiful prey. She used his laughter to escape his muscular arms. Again he had failed.
Again the girl had escaped, his sweet, soft prey. He could just kill himself for this. His prey was gone, like always. Whenever he tried, she knew how to escape. His friends laughed at him and even the man on his ship, his man!
'When do you think you can finally get the girl?' they teased.
'You're doing not but spying on the girl the whole time, nobody is shocked whenever they see you lying under the snow or hiding behind an igloo. They are just surprised when you show up in public!'
'You just wait!' the prince sneered. 'Who doesn't want to come voluntary, will bow!'
After Zuko had said this he called out an Agni Kai against the man who had said the last. He was the damn prince! Of course he won, an easy task, but how he longed to win from the girl.
Katara heard about the prince's threats, but she wasn't really impressed. She even laughed about it with her friends. The prince wouldn't win this dangerous game. Katara lived well protected by her brother, father and friends.
She didn't know, though, that the prince walked around her igloo, every cold and icy night, together with his depraved servant, like the devil and one of his henchmen.
As the time passed, the prince became more and more depressive. Oh how he longed for the one girl he couldn't get.
The door to Zuko's cabin sway open and Jet came in without knocking, he was out off breathe.
'My dear prince.' he whispered excited. 'It's time!'
'What do you mean?' Zuko demanded with the harsh voice of a royal.
'Her father, brother, grandmother and friends are all to a village party, she is home alone!'
The prince's depressed eyes flew open, this was his chance.
'Do you mean, that she didn't come with them to dance and play?'
'That's it exactly, my prince.' Jet and Zuko both got a wide grin on their face.
'Tell me, my dear servant, what am I supposed to do?'
'You should put a ladder against her igloo. The door is closet, but there's a hole on the top of the igloo, for the damps that the fire burning inside gives.' the depraved servant said.
'Yes, yes that's what I'll do. Prepare my polar-dog.'
Jet carried the ladder on his shoulders while Zuko rode on his polar-dog. When they came at her igloo, there was no one in sight. Not a sound could be heard, except for the soft stepping of the polar-dog and Jet.
'So, you told me the truth.' Zuko said while he looked content at his servant.
Jet told the prince with his eyes to be silent and placed the ladder against her igloo. Jet walked up the ladder and twisted his voice.
'Katara, are you awake? I am your brother, I've come home earlier, the others are still at the party. Please let me in.' He whispered loud enough to wake her.
Jet jumped off the ladder and went to door that was opened after some loud clicking and cracking. She opened the door and before she even realized the depraved servant was in the igloo. She struggled and tried to scream, but Jet held his hand firmly on her mouth. He lifted her up in the air and carried her outside.
Now they would take her with them, but how could they know she's a waterbender? She hadn't bended since they had gotten here. Katara was placed on the polar-dog in front of the prince, who kept a hand on her mouth.
Her white nightgown looked beautiful in the darkness of the night. The servant walked with the ladder, he would come later, while the prince and the girl sprinted away on the polar-dog. Never had the animal ran that fast, he was clearly in his element. The full moon looked beautiful, bringing a little sparkle in her deep eyes.
Prince Zuko lifted his hand from her mouth when they were nowhere near the village. Nobody would hear her if she'd scream.
'Where are you bringing me, prince Zuko?' she asked, her voice was so secure, it didn't show her true thoughts. Actually she was afraid.
'I'll bring you to my castle, you'll live in the biggest and nicest room in the palace. I'll give you necklaces with the finest pearls, white and pure like the morning dawn, my firelily.'
'I don't ask for your nicest room, neither do I want those pearls.'
'You'll have maids who come to you whenever you clap your hands. You'll sleep in the finest cushions, made of silk and velvet. I'll give you bracelets made of gold inlaid with diamonds in every colour of the rainbow. I'll give you shoes made out of velvet.' he promised.
'I don't needs maids nor servants, I don't long for those cushions of silk and velvet. I don't want your golden bracelets with diamonds. Your velvet shoes are not made for my feet.' she replied.
The prince did not understand how this girl could possibly not want these things. Any woman would fall for him if they'd heard this, but the woman he really wanted just ignored it.
The polar-dog continued his trip towards the ship and after a while she asked again.
'Where are you bringing me?' she couldn't suppress the worry in her voice.
'Shall I take you to the forest in the Earthkingdom? I know a place deep, deep in the forest surrounded by trees. There you can lay down in a bed of soft and cottony moss. The moonlight will make it glister in the early morning.' some girls loved the wide and open air of the forest, but again the girl refused.
'I don't want to lay in the moss, no matter how soft it may be. I want to lay down in my own bed made out of soft fur. Surrounded by the darkness of my igloo and the soft snoring of my dad and brother. Let me go!' she demanded.
'I think I'll be in sorrow forever if I'd let you go now.' the prince who finally had what he really desired answered.
'You might be in sorrow forever if you didn't let me go now.' the girl smartly replied.
How the frivolous prince had to laugh at this. He laughed as a winner, his laughter dragged by the wind all over the field. While he laughed the girl took her chance.
She shove her foot under his and lifted it so he became unbalanced. She felt how the power rushed through her, she had never felt so strong. She looked up at the moon and that gave her the extra strength she needed. She lifted the prince out off his saddle. He fell on the ground, his head hit the ground hard, and he became unconscious.
She sprinted towards the village, taking another route since she didn't want to meet the prince's henchman. Without looking at the unconscious prince once again, she and the polar-dog ran towards the village.
When she arrived at the village was everybody still laughing and dancing at the party. Proudly she told everyone what had happened, but nobody believed her. How could such a girl, who was merely a woman, win from a well trained and muscular prince?
'If you don't believe me, why don't you go and take a look yourself?' she said proudly. 'He's lying unconscious at the Snakemountain, near the fishing place. He has fallen hard on the ground. I hope he's finally cured of his love disease.'
Everybody who owned a pet got on it and drove towards Snakemountain. The men on the prince's ship also heard about this and so did his depraved servant. They all went to the designated place.
And there he was, the arrogant and depraved prince, lying in the cold, white snow. All his friends and enemies laughed at him. But between the crowd was the prince's henchman, Jet. He lifted his prince off of the ground and carried him in his strong arms towards the ship, to his cabin.
The next day the ship took off and the prince nor his servant ever returned to the Southern Water Tribe again, where the girls were all normal and plain.
The actual story name is A common girl from Hunsingoo. This story is slightly different, but follows the actual story quite well.
I just really liked the story. I used the polar-dog from the legend of Korra.
I've gotten the story from a book, the most beautiful Dutch sagas and legends. Really there are three categories in these Dutch legends. 1. with mythical creatures. 2. about that you should listen to God and not to the devil. 3. the remaining all ends badly, the people than almost always die. With some exceptions like this story.