Warnings: Slight AU. Zuko x OC. Some Maiko. T for swearing, abuse, slavery, mildly sexual situations, and a mountain of other stuff that might come along. Rating may go up, if necessary.

Also - somewhat revised.


Albatross

Prologue

It was moments like this, that she missed her freedom. Cold metal all around, pools of water and blood here and there, the smell of metal and smoke heavy in the air.

Chains held the form of a girl to a solitary spot of a ship's cargo hold, being hauled back to a place considered forsaken to her. The crude cuffs dug into the alabaster skin and drew blood, the stinging so significant that it was nearly numbing.

The freedom she once had, was torn away and crushed just a few days before this pitiful scene unfolded. She was the only one - thing - in the damned ship, besides the boneheaded crew assigned to get the girl back to a place she had fled years back, as a gift to whichever royal bastard had requested her presence.

How did they even know who she was?

Shifting uncomfortably against the cold plating of the hold, the girl reflected on everything in her life, just as she had the past miserable days that had gone by.

Raised in a noblewoman's family in the Fire Nation, currently the wealthiest country in the world, with her younger sister. The pair was impure, 'illegitimate children' as she had heard so many times as a kid. The logic behind it might have been that they were, indeed, impurely conceived; their father was of the Northern Water Tribe, while their mother was Fire Nation. It had caused a whole world of issues for them, grudgingly disregarded after awhile by the other nobles and royal family.

Despite how impure they were seen by society, they associated with the royal children and other nobles freely. Childhood was far from difficult for the most part, other than the occasional question about her cobalt eyes, or her sister's darker-than-normal skin; it was similar to the dark froth that topped freshly poured tea.

The younger girl's image then plagued her thoughts. She wondered how she was doing, being left with the Avatar's group after the girl was dragged away, pulled at the throat by soldiers.

Rattling chains echoed through the hold, followed by the metallic echo of the idiots' boots against the diamond-plate stairs that led into her vast prison. The men, they referred to her as 'the gift.' It was how she knew that she was going to be fixed up and presented to someone of high importance, probably the Fire Nation's Princess, since the Prince was long exiled. Or he was, in her knowledge.

"Ay, Gift, " one of the soldiers teased, a covered bowl in his hands. He dropped it with a clatter in front of the girl, who could do nothing but look up, hatred blazing in her dull eyes. "We were given orders to feed ya."

She rolled her eyes. "You've told me this every day since you got me." the girl uttered.

A grin split another's face. "So she speaks."

By the time the girl was eleven, she had heard too much. received far too much ridicule for her heritage. She and her sister weren't the first cross-nation children conceived, but they were the only ones residing in the Fire Nation. But, being the original monstrosities to inhabit the place, the harsh comments and curses were all aimed toward them - specifically her, being the elder. It wasn't her fault, she had tried to explain, but they wouldn't listen, or would take things straight to her mother, who then scolded her for no clear reason.

The next soldier who entered, bouncing down the stairs with an eager look to his eyes, carried a wood bucket of water.

The girl cringed. Her rags of clothes were still stiff from being drenched with the water they brought down to her the previous day. 'So this is how soldiers amuse themselves?' she asked herself. When she lived in the Fire Nation, they were mature men, but now they seemed to be recruiting the most delinquent of them all. It was depressing.

An icy rush suddenly came over her and she cringed. Taking in a sharp breath, her eyes went up to the men before her. They were hardly past twenty, she finally noted, no wonder they were so easily amused. After being in a haze for the past few days, she finally took in things about these strange people.

"And now she doesn't speak. Nice going, Shang!" one of the men spat, slapping the back of the others' head.

"You really are little boys." the girl said with a sigh, composure calm despite the urge she had to scream at the three buffoons. They were probably the most aggravating people she'd ever encountered, and they weren't even casually communicating - it was all brief, tossing things to her or kicking her around for 'speaking out of term.'

One looked at her ridiculously - the Shang-guy.

"You really have a mouth, don'cha, Gift?" another guffawed, taking a few steps forward to strike her across the face with the iron forearm guard he sported.

With a hiss, the girl was slung to one side by the blow. A red mark accompanied by a light scratch, just filling in with blood, marked her pale skin. She retreated to the far wall, where she had started out her hell ride. Her face stung and the taste of blood was seeping into her mouth, yet again. A quiet sound of defeat escaped her lips as she shut her eyes, face mostly covered by her mop of pitch hair.

The men laughed and departed the hold, feeling proud of themselves for pushing around their prisoner. Once she knew they were gone - closure being the clang of the hatch being shut - she let the tears and a string of curses go. They streaked her dirty face, stinging the new wound on her cheek. Chained arms came up with dirty hands to muffle the nearly uncontrollable bout of both anger and gloom.

After being pushed past her breaking point, the eleven-year-old took her eight-year-old sister and left their mother's large home in the dead of night, snatching only a few items that would suffice until they reached their haven of choice, the Earth Kingdom.

From that point forward, the older girl pickpocketed people to live, and the younger conned vendors and shop owners into giving freebies of food and fabric for clothes making. They really had things well for the years that passed; four being the number that went by before they finally cleaned up their acts and settled in Ba Sing Se.

The girl uttered curses, a useless feeling coming over her. The men had been pushing her around for days, and they were just minor soldiers. They gave small burns and pains, while, whomever she may be presented to in the next twenty four hours, could probably fry her to a crisp with a flick of their wrist.

More tears and cries escaped the fifteen-year-old's body as she thought of the possibilities; she could die young, or be forced to be the wife of some sick being.

Eventually, the frantic cries subsided, and the steady rock of the metal ship was the only thing heard other than the girl's soft breathing of curses. Sleep escaped her, even still, leaving a dull form of entertainment to tired eyes. She flicked a flame to one of various puddles and watched as it hissed and the water evaporated in steam.

In the big city, her sister had encountered a kind tea maker, and the younger grew close to him. They shared tea regularly and chatted about whatever had went on in the city at the time. The older girl sometimes joined, along with the man's nephew. The pair both seemed to be disconnected from the happy chatter, until, after recovering from a sudden sickness, the other was conversing with her sister and his uncle avidly.

The pair had been chosen to serve tea to the Earth King, and things seemed to go well. She was happy for them, for sure, but everything was kind of off after that. The old man, Mushi, came to her whilst working - smithing was her profession - and requested her aid, as well as her sister's.

That was when things took a turn for the worst, the beginning of whatever she was tangled in now.


Well, I hope you guys liked this, I spent quite some time on it and I don't think it's too bad. If you don't like it, let me know what, etc. I'd really appreciate if you dropped a review, too.

Thanks~
Broken Blackk Dahlia