Chapter One: Capture
"Ow! Let GO of me!" Katara screams were forced to become muffles as a shadowy figure covered her mouth and dragged her away from her friends. Aang, the last airbender alive and the one and only Avatar was sound asleep as was her sometimes annoying brother Sokka. She desperately searched through her mind to see if she could think up anything. Sighing, she stopped struggling, knowing that it was no use. She'd better save her strength in case she had a chance to escape. There was on question on her mind, however. Who was trying to take her away? She couldn't tell, but she had a strange feeling that this person was someone very familiar.
Someone placed a blindfold over her eyes so she couldn't see where she was headed. Hoping they wouldn't do anything thing fatal to her, she walked on blindly. Someone's, most likely a male's hand, held on to her wrist firmly so she couldn't break away from them. "Where are you taking me?" She suddenly inquired. "Somewhere…" A definite male voice replied. "Somewhere where your friend, the Avatar, can find and attempt to rescue you." Katara sighed and asked, "Who are you, then?" She felt her feet step on a slanted surface that made a clanking noise every time she took a step. He didn't answer but led her further. She shivered slightly, adjusting to the more comfortable, warm temperature. Finally she felt him stop and heard a click, like someone locking a door. A cold hand brushed across her cheek and a cold shiver ran up her spine. The blindfold was taken off of her face. Her kidnapper had let go of her hands as well.
"Zuko." She murmured softly, recognizing the strange scar around his left eye. He didn't look terribly mean right now. Just had a serious look on his face. Katara stepped back and looked around the room they were in. Surprisingly, the room didn't look at all like a prison cell. More like someone's living quarters. It had an elegant four-poster canopy bed with a bedside table. A desk sat in the corner with two tall candles standing on either side of a mirror just above the desk. The chair was beautifully carved of a rare-looking wood. Elegant paintings of scenery were hung on several places in the room. "Our new ship doesn't have any prison cells. The old one had more but you remember the pirates that stole it." He quickly explained. "Don't think that you're getting any special treatment or anything just because you're not in a cold, empty cell." With that, he unlocked the door, stepped outside, and locked it.
Katara stood for a few minutes to be sure that he had left, and tried to open the door. There was a lock on the inside and she unlocked it. She twisted the doorknob and tried to open the door, but figured that there must be a stronger lock on the outside. With a sigh, she took off her boots and climbed into bed. "I may as well get some sleep. I hope that Aang and Sokka aren't coming after me. After all, how could this place possibly be that terrible? I mean, I'm not cold. I'll escape somehow." And that was that.
morning +
"Katara!" Sokka shouted. "Katara!" Aang flew high up the trees of the forest in search of his companion, Katara. After over an hour of looking and yelling, Sokka and Aang met. "I didn't find anything." Aang said, scratching the back of his head. Sokka wasn't paying attention. "Firebenders." He pointed at a tree nearby that had a burnt mark on it. Aang nodded. "I know exactly who took her. Come on Sokka! We gotta catch them!" He grabbed the teenager's arm and they climbed on Appa the flying bison. "Yip yip!" Aang shook the reins as Sokka held Momo in his arms. "When we find those firebenders, they're going to pay for taking my sister!" His eye twitched as he let out his anger.
"Well, Sokka. It'll probably be a while until we catch up to them. We don't know which they we went and they had plenty of time while we were sleeping to capture Katara and take her with them. We just have to hope that she isn't too lonely and that she's being treated with great care." Aang leaned on Appa's head. All Sokka did was groan. After several minutes, he said, "Oh, the firebenders taking great care of a waterbender? Especially one that is an acquaintance of the Avatar? I think not!" After this comment, they rode in silence, Aang occasionally letting Appa swoop down to see if he could catch a glimpse of a fire kingdom ship.
Katara rose from her bed and into a sitting position. Eyes still closed, she yawned and stretched her arms. Her blue eyes were partially open and she bent down to a pail of water. She cupped her hands gently together and dipped her hands in to the water. She brought up some water and washed off her face. Her hand felt around for a towel and grabbed the first soft thing she felt. After wiping her face thoroughly, she let it drop and fell back in fright when she looked up. Instead of taking a cloth to wipe her face, she had taken part of Prince Zuko's uniform and used it. He stood hovering above her, a smirk on his face. In his hands, he held a tray with a hot meal on it. When she stood up, he placed it in her hands. "The cook refuses to serve anything but hot, delicious meals. We don't have anything else. Now as for my outfit. You've spoiled it so I suppose I have to change now." Katara raised an eyebrow. "So… bye then." She turned and set the tray on the desk. When she turned to thank him for the food, he was naked except for the pants he wore under his uniform. Her eyes couldn't help but stray to his nice chest. Muscular and perfect from training with his uncle to go against the Avatar.
Zuko chuckled softly and threw his uniform to her. "Keep that. I have no use for it anymore." He reached into a small closet in the room and pulled on another one. "This used to be my room, you know." He remarked more to no one than to her. "Enjoy your breakfast." He swiftly walked out the door, closed it and remembered to lock it as well.
Looking down at the floor, Katara was blushing. She waited a moment as she thought about how strange she felt when his bare chest had been exposed. Feeling like someone else was controlling her, she silently ate her food and curled up in the blankets of her bed. It was quite warm indeed, compared to the freezing outside temperatures. Have Aang and Sokka woken up yet? Did they figure out I was captured by firebenders? Did they think I got lost? Pondering this, Katara stared into space and thought about how she could escape. She didn't want her brother and the Avatar, her friend, to get hurt.