Title: A Tale of Two
Pairings: one-sided Jet/Katara, Aang/Katara, and Jin/Zuko. Zuko/Katara. May add some really minor ones (most likely Toph/Aang and Suki/Sokka, but I'm not sure yet) in there, eventually.
Genres: Romance, Friendship
Rating: T, just to be safe.
Summary: Katara, living in the Earth Kingdom with her brother and father, is engaged to someone she does not love, when a young man named Zuko comes and changes her life for good. [Alt. Universe, Zutara
Disclaimer: Avatar is property of Mike and Bryan, Nickelodeon, MTV Networks, Viacom, and National Amusements. I only mess with the characters, and I do not get paid for it.
Prologue
Prince Zuko, son of Ozai and Ursa, now passed, of the Fire Nation, is henceforth banished from the Kingdom and disinherited from the Royal Family. The Crown Prince of the Fire Nation will never again set foot in the Fire Nation, Water Boundaries included, and his Crown will be given to his younger sister, Fire Princess Azula, daughter of Ozai and Ursa, now passed.
Zuko stared at the scroll without blinking, his good eye wandering over the soft brush strokes of each letter. He kind of wanted to feel shocked, feel anything at all, but really, he felt blank. After the incident two nights before, it was a rather predictable move.
The prince reached up to touch the bandage covering his left eye. It was routine to banish people in the Fire Nation, and Zuko had been expecting it ever since he had woken up in the medicine hall in the far west corner of the palace.
The scroll messenger, looking very relieved Zuko hadn't, say, breathed fire at him, spoke in a brisk, businesslike tone, as if he wanted the conversation to end as soon as possible. Zuko was informed that he was to leave the next morning, a ticket was reserved for him on the next ship to the Earth Kingdom. This ship, Zuko thought, was apparently going to take its time going to the large kingdom across the Vast Sea, as it was set to arrive one week after departure, in a journey that could take a day and a half.
It would then take one more week for his escort to take him to the small town of Lisho, where Zuko would apparently be living with his uncle. He was informed that the escort was then to leave, and Zuko was not to ever come back to the Fire Nation, or else be imprisoned for life.
Zuko frowned at the young messenger, who bowed quickly and left. It wasn't very cheery news, after all. The concept of living with his uncle, the one Azula had once called a ''tea-loving kook,'' came with only a twinge of annoyance for Zuko. He had always been rather fond of Uncle Iroh, he told himself. Although he could be slightly eccentric at times, he was a good man.
Zuko continued to think random, disconnected thoughts as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
xxx
''Sokka, Katara, I think it's time to tell you why we moved to Lisho.''
The siblings glanced up at their father, squinting in the darkness of their new home in the Earth Kingdom.
Hakoda opened his mouth to speak a couple of times, but promptly shut it without saying anything. He looked nervous, his children observed, and was not meeting either of their eyes.
''Dad, spit it out.'' Sokka drawled , flopping himself down on a colorful rug.
The man smiled wearily at his two children before speaking, ''Your mother, when she was only a bit older than you two, was traveling all over the world. She stopped in this town to buy food and water, and met a young woman named Aamina. They became fast friends, almost like sisters. Your mother had to leave only a few days later, though, so the two of them promised to keep in touch.''
He paused for a moment, observing his children's blank faces. ''Well, before your mother left, they had an idea. They decided that they would one day become family, by marrying their two eldest children together.''
This time the two teens looked bemused, so Hakoda took a deep breath before continuing. ''Aamina's first child was a boy, also, so it was decided that the next female child born would be the one to marry either Sokka or Aamina's son.''
He turned and looked at his daughter, this time directly addressing her. ''Katara, you and Aamina's eldest son have been set in an arranged marriage since your birth. Now that you've turned sixteen, your mother sought to fulfill the proposal.''
Katara looked horrified and angry, but she kept her voice steady as she spoke. ''What is his name?''
''Jet.''
She frowned a bit, so her father continued to speak, ''I won't force you to do this, Katara, I only want what is best for you. Now that your mother is gone, you don't have to feel obligated to marry this boy.''
Sokka spoke up next, ''I don't think you should do this, Katara. What if the guy's a creep?''
Katara smiled weakly, a hint of melancholy still evident on her face. ''No, Sokka. Mom knew what she was doing. It's what she would have wanted.''
Hakoda, hearing the acceptance of the marriage in her words, gave her a tight hug, whispering, ''Thank you, Katara.'' He was lucky to have a daughter so accepting of what was, quite literally, her mother's ding wish.
A tear ran down the waterbender's face, making a blotch on her father's shirt front. She quickly wiped the salty water off her face as they pulled away, and asked, with all the cheerfulness she could muster, ''So, when am I going to meet him?''
xxx
Toph ran as swiftly as she could, using the earth below her bare feet to propel her forward even faster. She was getting very wet, as it was raining, but the small earthbender did not really care. She only wanted to keep running until she got away from her parents and their rules.
She was tired of being hidden and confined.
She was tired of being treated like a delicate doll.
She was tired of her live in Gaoling.
So she ran.
Author's Notes: This is my new story, and I for one am rather happy with the plot that I have come up with (in comparison to some of the stuff I've written before, at least). I hope I can actually finish a story this time around, but we'll see.
In this chapter, Katara is 16, both Sokka and Zuko are 17, and Toph and Aang are both 15. Aang is still the Avatar, and still needs to master all the elements, but he just doesn't have the end of summer time limits, and there is no comet. If you're wondering where Aang was in this, he is living in Lisho already. The people he is living with found him wandering around the Earth Kingdom when he was 12, already woken from the iceberg. He's lived there ever since, trying to master the other three elements.
The Fire Lord rules over the entire Earth (think of it like states in a country. They still have their own leaders, but there is one ultimate leader that controls everything.), and Zuko just got his scar (he's 17, as I said before). Now he is going to live with Uncle Iroh in the Earth Kingdom. The Air Nomads are still wiped out. Zuko's mother is still dead. Katara's mother died on the way to Lisho, of the plague. That's why it was her dying wish to ahve katara and Jet marry, because she died trying to accomplish it.
The next chapter takes place two weeks later, after Zuko and Toph arrive in Lisho.
Sorry if this seems kind of all over the place, but I just needed to tell how everyone gets to the town.
So, what do you guys think?
