Quick AN:

Hey, all. I'm previously known as xXxRivahxXx, Celestial Empress, and now simply Abyss. I made this fanfic back in 2010 and as I'm going through a pretty rough time in molding who I am in this world, I've decided to rewrite this and make it much...better. I began this story when I was 12, and now that I'm 22 I have a feeling what I've learned over the years will make this story that is so close to my heart even more magical.

I hope whoever reads this gets the same vibes.

Thanks for hanging out!

I

I never thought of what my life would be as a married woman. Not for one second had I daydreamed about my husband and our children, the house we'd live in and the lives we'd live. Marriage was such a foreign concept to me; buying your expected life partner an expensive gift and throwing a lavish party for all of your closest loved ones to attend? What happens if you two decide to split, let's say, a year later? Do you have to sign apology cards as well as the divorce papers and awkwardly tell those same guests you invited why you and your ex-husband are separating?

It all seemed like a huge waste of time to me and a gateway to a lot of disappointment down the road. For starters, I can't even think about what I'm going to have for dinner one night, let along make choices for another adult and however many children. It's so much responsibility and expectations that doesn't quite come with some sort of "manual". I could rely on my parents for advice, but even they're divorced. And my grandparents. And my great grands.

It's some sort of curse, I guess.

And with any curse, there has to be meta-curses that just stack on top of the shit you'd deal with in the first place. My curse? Wanting to frolic in the single, independent lifestyle for all my years on this planet. My meta-curse?

Well…

"Oh, Kat, how about this dress?" My mother came into my dressing room and held up a gaunty blue dress that had a bit too many pearls embroidered in the seams. "It would really bring out your eyes!"

"Um," I began and I was almost certain my face screamed "absolutely not!". "I don't really like that one, either."

"Kat, you've been saying that to every single dress I picked out. I'm starting to believe you don't like your mother's fashion taste."

"I don't like a lot of things about this, Mom," I sneered. "Like, seriously, an arranged marriage in this day and age? Great-great-great-great grandma had to deal with that, not me-someone born in the time period of women being allowed to choose their suitors and, you know, actually not want to get married."

A few things about my mother:

She married my dad when she was super young, got pregnant and had my brother, Sokka, at a young age, had me two years after that and when my dad got deployed to go mitigate the tension between the Fire and Earth Nations? She ended up having to raise us on her own for almost seven years. My dad rarely wrote us so he and Mom's relationship became strained and when he came back home their divorce was swift and painless.

Dad said he was really depressed for having to leave his family, Mom said he was having an affair. Sokka and I really don't know who to believe.

That's beside the point, however. One would think that when you make the mistake of starting a family when you have barely lived on your own you wouldn't dare make your child go through the same thing. But my mother? She holds traditions very, very near to her heart.

"Katara," Mom began. "I know you feel like this is stripping you of your freedoms-"

"Because it is," I rolled my eyes.

"-but it's for the good of our Nation-and the other Nations! The Prince of the Earth Nation wants to marry you, gem! How many other young women can say they caught his eye?"

"Yeah, I'm not feeling to flattered about that." I said. "I'm being forced to marry against my will, Mom. Whatever woman would wish to be in my shoes is probably doing so for the money or to assissnate that asshat and let everyone else live in peace."

I turned my head to hide the sheer fear on my face and to avoid my Mom's death stare. She absolutely hates swear words and I was going to catch hell for that remark.

Before that though, my brother swung open the door to my dressing room and waltz in as if he had no idea that knocking existed. He had a huge, dorky smile on his and a noticeable pep in his step. It was enough to make both my mother and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Goooooooood afternoon, my favorite girls!" He said. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important!"

"Oh, you know, just being forced to give my life away to some-"

"Yeah yeah, I know." Sokka interjected and put an arm around Mom's shoulders. "But guess what?!"

Before either my mom or I could take a guess, he continued.

"The Earth Prince called off the engagement!"

"What?" I jumped up from my chair. My heart had fell into the bottom of my stomach. "If this is another one of your jokes, I swear I'll-"

Sokka shook his head and his smile widened. Mom looked as if she were going to jump for joy herself!"

"He sent Dad a message this morning. The engagement is officially cut, but uh… there's a catch."

I sat back down. There's always a catch.

"What is it?" Mom turned to Sokka.

Sokka looked to me and his smile softened a bit. I knew that look all too well. Whatever he was going to say meant that it was going to be worse than having to marry the Prince. I swallowed. Hard.

"Weeeeeeeell…" he started and came to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're gonna wanna sit down for this, sis."

"Please don't tell me he wants a hand of mine or something?"

"No," Sokka trailed off. "The King had taken a liking to you and uh, wants you to be his bride."

As soon as those words left his mouth, everything else faded in the background.

"But don't get all pale on me!"

Absolutely not."

"He's like, in his seventies. He's bound to die soon, and you'll be free!"

Absolutely fucking not.

"And," he continued. Why is he continuing? "He just wants one child and-"

ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY NOT!