A gift to like a dove, and inspired by her Zutara Month collection of break it open, 7. Wonderland.
No Promise of Summer
Zuko awoke, as always, in a freezing cell.
The Waterbending girl, his guard, always insisted that "cell" was an ungenerous term. There's a mat for him, with thick furs piled high so he doesn't have to feel the floor, with more furs to serve as blankets; a small lamp; and a wash basin, filled every morning and evening with water. He got a change of clothes, since his old ones were unsuited and his boot had fallen off in the snow when he was taken.
Still, Zuko prefers the term. He's a prisoner. Prisoners have cells. This is a small room, albeit in a primitive snow hut. He would melt it down and run, but the South Pole is as good as the Boiling Rock. It's freezing, with no natural resources. If he did manage to steal a fishing pole and perhaps a pot and a knife, he could easily fall asleep and never wake up, still covered in frost, Firebending or not.
The girl calls herself the chief's daughter, and her brother is the chief's son, which would make the peasants actually royalty. This requirement doesn't seem to matter much to them. The girl and boy change shifts to guard him, along with other tribespeople, the boy hunts to bring back meat for everyone (he gets the smallest share), and the girl does daily chores and heals his rope burns from yanking too hard. Her hands are rough and chapped and not at all soft and delicate like a lady's hands, and her hair is the same, wild and untamed.
He doesn't see much of anyone—they mostly bring in clean water, his meals, or empty his chamber pot—and he doesn't care to. He just wants to leave.
Of course, he can't. He's a trade for "peace." He's given to these peasants as appeasement—they will hold him hostage to keep his father in check. He knows his father, though. The Fire Lord doesn't give a rat-weasel's ass about him. If they had captured Azula, then they'd still be negotiating, but no, he'd said yes immediately and probably threw a banquet rejoicing the non-return of his son.
He still can't believe he got captured. He traveled here to look for the Avatar, and as he was stupidly wandering off by himself, thinking he could handle anything, the girl had frozen his feet, and the boy had tackled him, tying him with strong rope. Then, just as Zuko was going to burn his bonds off, the boy had raised his stupid toy and knocked him out, just like that.
The elder, "Gran Gran," had given him warmer clothes and stuck him in that cell. The "warriors" were about to leave, the result that their village would be vulnerable without them. So they wrote the Fire Lord, somehow (and left the "defenseless" part out), and got back the answer. So, satisfied, the men left, and Zuko stayed. End.
The girl tried to be kind to him while she talked to him, but he refused to speak with her.
"My name is Katara." She first told him as she set down a bowl of Agni-knew-what in front of him. "What is yours?"
He turned away from her as she tried to get him to talk about his family, the Water Tribe, and how he was doing, but she gave up and walked away.
Zuko didn't know where his uncle or his ship was. Maybe they tried searching for him, but they couldn't find him. That was the likely answer.
He hated this damn place. He hated the cold, the wind, the food, the endless plain of snow. He would never get a chance to leave.