Hello everyone! My name is Belle Mortre, and this is my first Avatar piece, though I have a few other s for Teen Titans. I hope you enjoy this one, however I am going to warn you that as the story progresses, there will be a lot of explicit sexual scenes, so if you aren't comfy with them, you have been warned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Katara moved silently through the woods, arms laden with a soft linen towel, small ration of soap and spare shift. She had left Aang and Sokka setting up camp with Abba, the pair of boys bustling around camp with a practiced efficiency. They had conceded to Katara's pleas to wash off the dust of the road in the face of the fact that she had single handedly haggled a bundle of much needed bananas from a tightfisted stall owner that morning.

From speaking to a young woman in the market that same morning, Katara had learned of a set of natural springs about three miles outside the town, near where Katara and her companions planned to camp. As she wended her way through the placid copse, she could hear the soft gurgle of water moving up ahead and she turned the corner of the narrow footpath to come upon a breathtaking sight

A gentle glade surrounded by blossoming jasmine trees concealed a small spring perfectly, filling the clearing with their intoxicating scent. The pool itself was clear and sparkling and Katara felt her body visibly relax. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a hot bath! Bathing in streams kept her clean, but they also chilled her to the bone. This promised to be pure pleasure.

The young woman walked lazily to the edge of the steaming pool and set her bathing items carefully on a rock nearby.

Thanking the gods of her people that this was such an isolated area that the chances of passersby would be thin, Katara removed her soft leather boots, which were then followed by her leggings. With one last breath, Katara removed her tribal robes and slipped easily into the water.

It was paradise.

The water was just the right temperature to soothe her muscle aches without scorching. Her nipples tightened as they stayed exposed in the air, which now seemed quite cold in comparison to the spring. Katara slid a little lower down into the water and a small, pleasured sigh escaped her lips.

Gods above, she had needed this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Prince of the Fire Nation stalked his prey with a natural grace and inherent talent for tracking. His quarry was blissfully unaware of his presence.

This was just the way he liked it.

He followed silently as she moved farther and farther away from the safety of her friends. As soon as he had her alone she was his.

Zuko watched the waterbender enter a small clearing surrounding a natural spring. He would have to remember to tell his uncle about this spot later, the old man did so love soaking in the springs. He positioned himself behind a twisting jasmine tree, carefully hidden from the girl.

What was she doing out here all on her own? He wondered. A young woman really shouldn't be unaccompanied in such an isolated area.

Zuko grinned wickedly; this was going to be easier than he had thought. All by herself and no one to hear her scream. Not that she would have time to yell for help, a true firebending warrior knew how to take a captive so quickly that they never had enough time to realize what had passed.

Carefully, so as not to be noticed by his victim, he snaked his head around the trunk of the tree to observe the goings-on in the clearing. What was she doing? Washing her clothes?

But then she began to disrobe.

No, she defiantly was not washing her clothes.

All thought fled as the girl, Katara, he believed she was called, slowly removed her boots, leggings and finally her deep blue robes. She was flawless, a smooth expanse of dusty flesh surrounding toned, slim mussels and perfectly perfect breasts. His breath caught in his throat at the realization that certain parts of his armor were slowly tightening as he became steadily harder.

This was not part of the original plan.

Yet Zuko still could not take his eyes off the girl as she moved into the water. He watched her unbraid her hair and shake it out, the silky mahogany tresses falling down her back and floating on the water. He watched her take up the small piece of soap and lather it across her body. And he watched her as she dipped under the water to wash the soap from her skin before rising up to float languidly on the top of the pool.

What was he going to do now? The chivalrous laws of his people commanded the utmost respect of woman, no matter their nation. A lady was a lady and judging by Zuko's past dealing's with the Avatar and his companions, Katara of the Water Nation was most defiantly a lady.

True, she was a daring fighter and a steadfast friend, but still Zuko could not make himself move from his hiding place to take her now. He would simply have to wait for Katara to finish her bath.

Trying desperately not to watch her in her most intimate moment, Zuko reviewed the finer points of his plan.

The first step was to take prisoner the waterbender and keep her hostage on his ship, which sat waiting for him in a small cove nearby.

The next step was to send out a hostage missive to the Avatar demanding a trade of the girl for the boy.

Then all Zuko had to do was sit back and wait for the airbender to fall into his lap.

A sudden splashing sound alerted the hunter to his prey's movements. Peering around the tree again, Zuko was once more treated with the sight of Katara climbing out of the pool, water sluicing off her body. His pulse raced at the sight of her wet body glistening in the sun streaming through the trees.

'This is mad!' Zuko thought wildly. 'She is a member of my enemy tribe. I shouldn't be watching this girl in such a manner!'

But when he reflected on it, Katara really wasn't much of a girl anymore. Two years had passed since their battle in the North Pole and in that time Katara had blossomed into a sensuous young woman of about sixteen, not much younger than Zuko's own eighteen years.

She was re-dressing in a clean blue tunic which, Zuko reflected smirking, she filled out very well. He shifted his body in preparation to pounce. She would move right past Zuko on her way back to her camp, he was perfectly positioned to capture his bait.

She was right before him, delightfully unaware that her end was near. Before Katara had time to think, he was upon her, one solid blow to the back of her head knocking her to the ground.

A single grunt of a laugh escaped the warrior prince's lips before he hefted the unconscious lithe figure over his back and set off at a run back to his ship, task completed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Everything felt hazy. Moaning slightly, Katara forced trough the fog clouding her brain to realize that she was shackled in some way. Her chin was resting on her chest and when she raised her head she felt her hands bound behind her back.

Her breathing was heavy, as though there was a sponge stuck in her throat. As her surrounding became clearer, the waterbender was able to pinpoint the source of the hindrance.

Katara's captors had deposited her in a chamber of some dark metal. The girl sniffed and caught the sharp tang of iron in her nose. There was only one place that Katara could think of that so sank of doom:

A Fire Nation war galley.

And there was only one person who would dump a waterbender in her own personal hell of metal and heat:

Zuko.

Fear jumped through her body, tensing up every tiny muscle, and Katara scrambled to collect her wits. She would need them about her if a confrontation with the Prince of the Fire Nation was soon in coming.

Slowly, the young woman relaxed her body against the wall as much as was possible in her shackled state and let sleep consume her, worry plaguing her dreams

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zuko paced from side to side on the stern of his massive war galley, hands clasped tightly behind his back, with only his Uncle Iroh for company. The rest of his crew was either below decks taking advantage of their sleep shifts or wandering about aimlessly on the anchored ship. There was nothing for them to do, concealed as they were in the marshy Earth Kingdom bog.

The retired general watched his nephew's endless pacing, growing slightly dizzy at the sight, "What do you plan to do now that you have the girl?"

"I'll need to solidify the whereabouts of the Avatar before I can go forward with anything else No doubt he and the girl's brother will have moved on by now that they know I've got her. I've dispatched our finest scouts to scour the surrounding land in a fifty-mile radius. They couldn't have gotten farther than that in the short hour since the girl has come under our control."

"Are you sure what you have done is a wise decision Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked in his gentle tone. "The girl is clearly much love by both her bother and the Avatar."

Zuko cut the old man off. "That is precisely the point uncle! The Avatar won't risk capture for a casual acquaintance!"

"But that is my point!" Iroh took control of the conversation again. "She is much more than a casual acquaintance to the Avatar. For all we know, they may even be lovers."

"Uncle!"

"What?"

"The monk is barely more than fourteen. He is still practically a child."

"There are places in other nations where these things happen at such a tender age, Zuko. And the girl is very attractive. I wouldn't be surprised if she were sharing his bed"

"Uncle!"

"Do not look so chagrined my nephew," Iroh said, chuckling at the rare, abashed look on his charge's face. "How old were you when you first took a woman to your bed?"

"That is beside the point Uncle!" Zuko's ears had turned quite red at the tips, never a good sign. "Listen to me. Now, because the girl is so adored by the Avatar, he will most defiantly come to retrieve her, you know he will. We have both witnessed them in battle, one will move to protect the other if the other is injured. He will come for her."

"Whatever you say Prince Zuko."

And with that last note, the Prince spun on his heel and removed himself from the bridge to confront his alluring prisoner.

Five minutes later Zuko stood before the bolted door of the ship's brig. He had purposefully ordered his guards to lock the girl down in the pit of his ship, knowing full well that her only true weapon was her bending. So far away from any source of water, the chit wouldn't stand a chance of defending herself.

A quick breath to re-compose his stoic features and Zuko pushed through the door with the practiced grace and pomp only royalty posses.

A dim room smelling sweetly, to Zuko, of iron greeted him. Besides the familiar metallic aroma, however, Zuko detested spending any time in the ship's cells and for a brief moment he felt a stab of guilt at imprisoning a woman who's people based their entire existence on communing with nature in such a dark little pit.

But this was none of his concern.

His golden gaze swept across the room and landed on a small figure curled up in the corner where she had been chained. She wasn't moving! Oh gods, had he killed the girl when he had debilitated her for transported to his ship?

No, no, she had just sighed, she was only asleep.

Releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding, Zuko strode across the tiny cell and hunkered down beside his captive.

The young prince couldn't help but notice how peaceful his enemy looked in sleep. Gentle, almost ethereal. Only ever having faced her in battle, Zuko had never seen her like this before, and suddenly the memory of the peaceful glade he had capture her in rose to the surface of his mind.

Zuko shook his head violently to banish the thought. This was no time to be indulging in idle fantasies! There was work to be done.

His hand shot out, quick as lightning, to knock the girl in the side of the head. A soft moan escaped her lips and her eyelids fluttered open to reveal eyes as clear and blue as the ocean after a storm.

"Ughhhhh…" she groaned, "Wha… What…?" And then her situation seemed to come rushing back to her and she jerked against her bonds.

Katara shot herself into a crouched position and glared daggers at Zuko, chest heaving as she panted, trying desperately to regain her equanimity.

"Zuko," she hissed.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite waterbender. And how are we feeling today?" His voice dripped mockery.

"What do you want Zuko?"

"I would think that my aims are self-explanatory on the whole."

And yes indeed, to Katara, everything was perfectly clear.

"You would use me to tell you where the Avatar is."

"Not quite."

She rode over him, "Because I wont do it. I would die for Aang, and there is nothing you could ever do to me that will make me give him up!"

"Be quite."

"Nothing!"

Zuko shoved his hand against her lips, consequently pressing the young woman against the wall of her cell.

"Shut. Up!" Zuko's voice rang in the tight enclosure. "My god woman, are you never quiet?"

Her eyes blazed with rage above Zuko's calloused hand.

"For your information, Katara, is it?" She growled. "Lovely. Like I was saying, you are not quite correct in your thinking. True, I plan on using you to capture my prize, but I do not require any information from you. The Avatar will fall right into my lap. Now," Zuko pulled away and backed up to the door, "hush up and enjoy the trip, hostage, all you have to do is wait. Try not to be any trouble for the guards."

Now everything made sense to the girl. Katara flung herself at her captor, falling back onto the floor again when her chains reached their limit. "You bastard!" She screamed. "You son of a jackal! I curse your family's name, I hope you burn in the hell of your gods!"

He ignored her.

The waterbender was still screaming obscenities in Zuko's name even after the prince had shut the door behind him, given orders to the guards not to speak to Katara, and traveled back up the corridor in the direction of his own chambers.

Zuko did not particularly care; let her shout. It wouldn't be the first time a woman had cursed him to hell and back for the things he had done in order to return home.

Of course, all his other planes had proved fruitless, but not this time.

Now Zuko had a foolproof plan that would restore his honor and the love of his people. And more importantly; the love of his father.

All that was left now was to wait for his scouts to return with the whereabouts of the Avatar and everything else would fall into place.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in her cell, Katara had yelled herself hoarse. This was it, for all of them. There was no way for her to contact Aang, meaning that he would defiantly come to save her and this time Katara feared that there world be no escape for her dear companion.

Unwillingly, tears flowed down her cheeks as Katara rose onto her knees in an attitude of prayer, hands clasped and head bowed.

"Please, Great Tui and La, spirits of the moon and ocean, spirits in who's gentle guidance I follow. Deliver me from this hell and protect me in my flight. Oh Great Hei-Bai, keep Aang from harm, he is of your kin, keep him close." Sobs racked her defeated body. "Spirits of Sun and Moon, Earth and Wind, hear my prayers, do not lead the Avatar to his death."

Katara prayed for what seemed to be hours. Finally, body and mind exhausted, she curled back up to sleep against the foul, hot walls of her prison cell, a thousand thoughts chasing themselves around the head at once.

"With any luck the boys will have figured things out by now and gotten away. Maybe they are already on their way to the rendezvous point." Katara thought, remembering a pact she, Sokka and Aang had made the previous year in a small Earth Kingdom inn while searching for an earthbending master to teach Aang. In the darkest corner of that wayside tavern in the third year of their travels, the three had sworn that if they should ever become separated for more than a day again, they would all travel to the nearest abandoned Air Temple and wait for the others to arrive. "Gods willing they remembered this and won't come crashing onto Zuko's ship to rescue me,"

With a last defeated sob, she turned over and watched the moon rise through the one tiny window until the familiar feeling of peace the moon supplied to her people took over and lulled the girl to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I promise things will pick up in the next few chapters, Aang and Sokka will come into play and Katara won't seem quite so helpless. I was just a little rushed at the moment.

I'd love to know what you think!

Ciao Loves!

Belle Mortre.