Yay! One-shot fic! XD! I had decided to draw a picture to go along with this story. So, because I don't have Photoshop or anything of that sort on my laptop, I'll have to hand draw and color it all! Talk about many days of fun! ... I know I'll enjoy doing the project though. XD! Anyways, I think I need to formally write a disclaimer for the story... so...

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. It is property of Nickelodeon... (I think this is all I need to put...)

Grudge

---------

It had been hours since their life changing battle. Azula curled up to the side of the broken palace, her face smudged with soot, cuts and scratches from falling debris. Her eyes were downcast as were her spirits as she sat broken. Her limbs ached to the extremes and her eyes were heavy with the lack of sleep.

Her ears could pick up the faint dripping of water... something she began to instantly fear.

Water.

Oh, how much she loathed that element.

And those creatures that were able to "bend" the filthy life source.

Her arms hugged her bent legs just a bit tighter as her chin rested upon her knees. A deep sigh rang though the silent room as fire leisurely crackled every so often in random spots of the destroyed palace... the once grand palace of the Fire Nation. Her aching back rested against a semi-cracked wall as her crouched form remained from the sight of her victorious older sibling and his idiotic foreign friends.

SHE was in that group; the one who effortlessly defeated her. That waterbender.

About thirty minutes ago, her cocky attitude to the upcoming battle showed confidence and superiority, now here she remained curled up, tired, and defeated with a dejected spirit. All because of that stupid waterbender...

How dare her! How dare she make a fool of Azula! Azula was the prodigy firebender; she was the champion. Everything came naturally to the younger sibling, not the eldest one- Zuko, her brother had always been told, "You are lucky to have been born", and Azula was always told, "You were born lucky". A much different approach to the terms of the siblings you could say.

Azula stared at one of her oozing cuts. Her golden eyes held back the tears, which threatened to fall. Her father was gone now. He was the only one who held her in his favor. Zuko was the one who had their mother's approval. That was what Azula wanted also. She was greedy for both parent's attention. No more father, no mother, her brother abandoned her, and she abandoned uncle. (She knew she shouldn't have disregarded her uncle's proverbs.)

Now she was alone.

Her eyes picked up the slightest movement to the side of the crumpled halls. The stones from the giant walls littered the giant rooms and walkways; the ceilings now had a lovely view of the night sky.

"I'm searching over here for survivors!" shouted a not-so-distant voice from the halls. Fire in the area could be seen as well as a reflection of a young lady, that waterbender to be precise.

The striking golden eyes of the prodigy firebender sighed softly as she tried disappearing further into the room against the wall. Allowing that girl to see the princess of a broken and defeated nation was the last thing on her to-do list. If anything, Azula would have escaped from the palace and caught the next boat to some distant earth nation city. It was bad enough that her screaming wounds and aching limbs made her drop in this room causing the young teen to remain in her place as she carefully watched the waterbender came in.

Apparently, this waterbender wasn't your ordinary waterbender. It turned out SHE was also a prodigy waterbender. She learned how to manipulate and control her element in all but half a year from a novice to a master. Azula had teachers and trainers her whole life to try and teach her the wonders of firebending.

The princess of the Fire Nation had to admit, it was an impressive move when she discovered that the water tribe girl could create a hailstorm with the surrounding water in the area. It had done quite a bit of damage in the armed forces surrounding the palace, and a cyclone she created from near by water also did a number on the palace. A combination of the Avatar's, the blind Earth Bender's, her brother's, and that Waterbender's power all but completely demolished the palace and all its armed forces.

Her father was defeated by Zuko in an Agni-Kai. The Avatar killed the Fire Lord after he made a cheap shot to his only son. Iroh helped in the death of his younger brother.

What did that make Azula now?

The blue outfit of the waterbender began coming in view as she bended her water so smoothly to the patches of fire. With the flick of the wrist the water slapped the fire, and the fire existed no more.

Azula watched coldly as the flames were put out one by one.

Not only was fire used for defense and as a weapon, it was also used to bring life by warming up a person. Firebender saw the flickering embers as life as it burned so brightly. It was a beautiful and mystical element. It shined brighter than any other and was controlled by no one other than its possessor.

But water... this was one of the elements that extinguished it. It extinguished the warmth it provided, and it extinguished the light it emitted. Water was so cold and unpredictable. It was dangerous like the great oceans of the world. The waters were unforgiving if you were caught in its currents. The temperature of water was also an issue. It could become ice, and ice was a dangerous element. Death was on the list of possible injuries from messing with ice, and boiling water to steam. Water was so... different.

It was dangerous.

It destroyed her element.

That is why fire and water never mixed.

That is why she hated water benders the most.

Katara spotted another flame close to the middle of the rubble filled room. She could see the moon shining brightly in the hot arid summer night of the Fire Nation. She promised herself she would take the first chance she could to return to the Southern Water Tribe. She yearned to return to the hunk of ice that she and her family lived on. Now that the war was over, she didn't have to fear the lives her family or people.

The water-bending master smiled. Soon she would be returning home. She prepared her water whip to extinguish the last of the flames she noticed in the room...

"Leave it."

Katara's ear picked up the softest of voices, and it startled her as her light sapphire eyes peered into the dull topaz orbs of Azula. She had mentally wondered where this firebender had run off to; now that the mystery was solved, she could at least have the knowledge that she wouldn't have to sleep with one eye open tonight.

The water was still flowing in the air ready to be released on the crackling flames, but upon the request of the fire nation princess Katara paused.

The waterbender's eyes questioned the defeated firebender's.

Azula tried to hold her body closer to herself and away from the view of the enemy. Her dull pink lips remained firm as the golden eyes stared at the water tribe girl cautiously.

"Are you alright Azula?" questioned Katara as she slowly made a step towards her comrades younger sister. The waterbender made a mental note to place her water back in her skin pouch before making another step forward. Even though this was her main source of water, she could bend water from near by puddles that littered the cracked and broken floors of the palace.

But the firebender smirked sardonically.

"Just peachy."

Katara made a few more steps closer to Azula very well aware this young prodigy could produce dangerous fire and lightning at any given moment, Katara wouldn't be able to bend water quick enough to protect herself. But this was a risk she was willing to take.

Azula also noticed this risk, but she did nothing of the sort to give off any alarms of surprise attack. She watched the waterbender come closer. "You have much nerve approaching me. You should be aware of what I can do."

Katara lightly smile as she sat herself beside the princess, "I've battled against you many times Azula. Only two times were they more intense and passionate."

Azula made no reply; she remained silent as she ignored the ongoing pain of the burns and cuts inflicted from the last battle.

Katara noticed the princess wince as she shifted her body. Silently and quickly, the waterbender bended near-by water onto her hand like a glove before she brought up her glowing hand to the injured waterbender. Without warning, Katara placed her palm onto the oozing wound on the princess's shoulder.

Azula gasped when she felt the gentle coolness of the hand on her throbbing shoulder blade. She knew it was a deep cut and a good amount of blood drained from her body. But it was a surprise to see the hand of her enemy glowing- the eyes of the waterbender were closed as the hand began to glow even brighter. Immediately the energy felt in the glowing water began entering her wounded body electrifying it in a strange way as it slowly numbed her senses before relaxing the tenseness of her muscles. Finally relief was felt in the nerves of the young teen girl before water dripped down from the hand of the waterbender.

Katara stared at the firebender expectantly as curiousness began filling her senses. Azula stared at the now healed wound extremely surprised that such a horrible gash was now nowhere in sight. She then turned back to the waterbender as the foreigner's expectant eyes held silent question.

"Well?" asked Katara.

"Well what?"

The girl with darker skin smiled as she began bending some more water around her hand, this time the firebender noticed this notion.

"Does your shoulder feel better?"

Now, it wasn't normal that people would do something nice for her just because they could; people did things for her at her whim and command. This was something strange and new to the princess, and she felt extremely uncomfortable- almost vulnerable. Even though she was known for her deception and lies, she had enough sense that she wouldn't lie to or pick on this master waterbender.

She was a healer. As a matter of fact, Azula didn't know Waterbender could HEAL wounds with water. Her teachers would always tell her horror stories of waterbender's freezing their victims or killing them with weapons of ice and methods of drowning.

This was completely unexpected.

So, extremely uncharacteristic of the young firebending prodigy, Azula lightly smiled and nodded her head forgetting the lessons learned from when she was young and slowly began opening her mind to new thoughts. Maybe the waterbenders weren't such bad people after all...

"It feels much better."

Katara smiled brightly as her hand began to glow once again with the water surrounding her hand, "Is there another sore spot?"

Azula pointed to another gash, which slashed across her arm. Puss and blood were oozing down her arm as the ripped material of her once radiant clothing was stained with her running fluids.

Katara used her other hand to bend water from the surrounding areas and carefully drenched the wound with chilled water before placing the healing water upon her wound.

Azula closed her eyes as the healing began taking place once again; the same tranquil sensation heated her senses, and a light smile began forming on her lips as the aches were dulled. Katara diligently worked inwardly smiling at the trust the girl before her was expressing.

"Have I ever told you how I discovered these healing abilities?"

Azula's eyes remained closed as she relaxed her back against the stonewall, her arms were no longer clutching her legs, but were dropped to the sides allowing Katara easy access to the wounds.

Azula was never a good listener, but she decided she might try it out for once in her life, "No, tell me your story."

The waterbender smiled brightly as she continued healing the fire princess. "Well, we had run in with Jeong Jeong, the ex-fire nation military general. He was teaching Aang how to fire bend right before Aang had the change to master Waterbending..."

Another wound was healed before Katara began working on another nasty cut bending water from the surrounding area. She repeated this motion many times as she continued her story.

In the distance, Iroh smiled as he silently watched the interaction with the two master benders. Zuko blinked in amazement and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't witnessing something completely farfetched. Well, this was as farfetched things went. Azula allowing Katara, of all people, to touch her wounds... no less talking to her? Wow... things were really messed up, but in a good way. Don't get him wrong. Along with the uncle and nephew stood a familiar face, Ursa. The wife of the late Fire Lord smiled as she watched her daughter and the wonderful girl from the water tribe.

"Katara is such a wonderful young lady," commented Ursa as she smiled in delight.

"She sure is; she's like a geo- tough on the outside, but beautiful on the inside," added Iroh as he stroked his beard in thought. Now that Iroh was formally Fire Lord, the old man laughed as he noticed his nephew's admiring stare to the young waterbending master. "You should snag her Zuko, before some other dashing bender sweeps her off her feet."

"Yes," agreed Ursa with a twinkle in her eye, "that would be most pleasant Zuko."

The prince of the fire nation frowned as he ignored the two adults. He couldn't help but watch in awe at how those two opposites were getting along.

Fire and Water.

Who knew those two would mix with such opposite personalities?

----------------------

AN: Okay, I think this might be a long shot... but I might write a "sequel" type of story for this one-shot... if I receive a good response of what you people think. Let me know. My fanart for this fic has been posted! I hope you all enjoyed this!

http// www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 50546991/

Just take out the spaces. :)