ONCE A UPON A TIME

Aang failed to defeat the Firelord on the day of the comet. Now a gravelly injured Zuko and Katara are imprisoned in the Fire nation. Mature themes. Zutara, one-sided Jetara and one sided Kataang.

(A/N)

The chapters will be longer than this I promise. This is just the prologue. I OWN NOTHING…

Once a upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in the ice lands.

Once a upon a time she had a mother but no longer.

Once a upon a time there was a young boy who lived in the land of eternal summer.

Once a upon a time he was the apple of his fathers eye but no longer.

Once a upon a time the world was at peace, but no longer.

Once a upon a time there was separation, black and white, fire and water,

Things kept apart

Once a upon a boy and a girl fought against each other but no longer

Once a upon a time there was hope...

Zuko's POV

Every thing hurt. Every bone and muscle ached, but nothing compared to the burning sensation that dwelled within his chest. It was all slowly started coming back to him. During the agni-ki against his sister, Azula had broken the rules of engagement by firing off a blast of lightning, not at him, but at Katara. He had thrown himself in front of the blast without a second thought.

"Zuko?" A voice called out. He would recognize that voice anywhere. "Wake up, please for the love of the spirits wake up."

He however was reluctant to open his eyes. His head rested on something soft. Someone, he assumed Katara was gently running her fingers through his overgrown bangs. It felt…nice. As childish as the thought seemed he thought maybe, just maybe if he kept his eyes closed, the pain might go away. "Please," she whispered with longing. For her he would do anything, so he tried to open his eyes but it was as if lead weights were attached to his eyelids. He could feel his awareness slipping away and her pleading voice was growing fainter by the moment.

"Katara", he called back, or at least he tried to, but to no avail.

Katara's POV

She was barely keeping it together. Katara was shaking almost violently. Zuko's head was in her lap. She was trying to keep his temperature down, but the only water source was their own sweat, which there was plenty of unfortunately. Soon dehydration would be a major problem. They had been in the cell for two days. Two days since they lost. Two days since, she could only assume Aang had died. She hoped that maybe by some miracle he had escaped the fire lords' wrath. But hope, she decided was a fickle thing. Not something to be trusted or longed for. Because that would only lead to sorrow.

However, realistically if she hadn't been killed maybe the others were still out there. Zuko was still alive. That she knew, and for that she was thankful. The only proof that he was among the living was the not so stead rise and fall of his chest. This, Katara found, was her sole comfort. There was nothing else she could do for him, but still sleep eluded her.

She could hear the screams from the other prisoners, some of them had to be insane, their sorrowful wales filled her thoughts with nightmarish images. She wanted to cry but she hadn't. No more tears. That would precious energy that couldn't afford to be wasted.

Once a upon a time she had been a little girl who had cried at the slightest pain, in the slightest upset to one of her plans. But no longer. Now she was a fighter.

Excerpt from chapter 1

"What about Katara?" He asked urgently. If Ozia were heartless enough to execute his own son, surely he wouldn't give a moments hesitation to executing a girl from the Southern Water Tribe.

"It's not good Hadoka," Ursa paused; this subject was delicate to say the least. "With Azula insane and Zuko's execution pending, the Fire," She stopped and corrected herself, "Ozia is in need of a new heir…"

(A/N)

Mature themes…. Yep…. There is going to be mention of rape, it's like this in the style I'm writing , you know it's happened but you won't read the gory details, because I'm just cool like that… There won't be too many mushy moments in this fic, there will be some fluffy goodness but it comes later, there's a lot of hurt and comfort at the first. I'm trying to be realistic with this. I have the first official chapter done and will post it in a few days. Hopefully after a few reviews?