Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of its characters. However, the plot is mine. This is the disclaimer for the whole fic.
Chapter 1: I'm what!
Prince Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe paced back and forth in front of his sister's door. How was he going to tell her the bad news? Well it was good news for the rest of the world. The entire world except the girl involved. Why did it have to be her? She didn't deserve this fate.
All the nations of the world had been in an all out war with each other for years. Now it was finally ending. All thanks to their young avatar friend Aang. All that was left was the signing of the peace treaty. All of the nations had signed it except for one, the Fire Nation.
That was where the problem lay. Out of all the countries, the Fire Nation was the most dangerous. In fact, Sokka's own mother had been killed during one of their raids. After much deliberation, the Fire Nation agreed. There was one catch though. To make sure that the treaty was kept for at least the next generation of rulers an arranged marriage was, well arranged.
Since the Air Nomads and The Water Tribes were allies and the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom were allies only one marriage was needed. They decided that the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes were to provide the bride and groom.
Sokka took a deep breath then knocked on his sister's door. "Come in!" Sokka walked into Katara's room to find her sitting in front of a mirror braiding her hair into its usual style. "Well what is it? You usually don't bother me in my room unless it's something important." Katara watched her brother through the mirror. His worried expression didn't bother her much. Sokka had a way of making a big deal out of the smallest things.
What bothered her was his hesitation to speak. Sokka always spoke what was on his mind no matter what the reactions of the other people involved might be. Therefore, his reluctance now was very unsettling.
Sokka sat down on the edge of her bed facing her. "Katara remember how there's been talk about an arranged marriage to solidify the peace treaty. Well between the Air Nomads and the Water Tribes it was decided that we would . . ." Sokka began.
Katara stopped braiding her hair, she didn't need to hear any further she knew what this meant. The Northern Tribe only had one heir, Princess Yue, so she was out of the question. Not to mention the fact that she was already engaged to Sokka. Their marriage was going to put both tribes under the same rule uniting the two parts even more than they were already. With both Sokka and Yue already engaged it only left the Water Tribes with one royal heir to offer, her.
"Sokka, who is it? Who am I marrying?" Katara interrupted Sokka. This was the question he had been dreading. "Katara you're engaged to Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." Sokka cringed at his sister's stunned silence. Slowly his words registered. Katara's face went deep red and her reaction could be heard through out the ice palace. "I'M WHAT!"
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"I'M WHAT!" Prince Zuko shouted. At the moment, he was standing in the middle of his father's private office, before him sat his father, Fire Lord Ozai. "I said that you are engaged to be married. Your bride will be a princess from the Water Tribes. There is no way around it you will comply. That is all you may leave."
Zuko walked out of the room as calmly as possible. Surprisingly he made it all the way to the training arena before he totally lost it. Pushing past the guards that had been training Zuko released a hail of fireballs at the target dummies. The guards saw that this wasn't the best time to be around the prince so all quickly left.
Zuko spent a good half hour letting his anger out on the dummies before he was interrupted. "Prince Zuko if you keep going at this rate there won't be a shred of those dummies left." Zuko turned to find his uncle, the retired General Iroh, standing behind him. "What's troubling you nephew?" Iroh asked in genuine concern. "Nothing, Uncle." With that Zuko walked passed his uncle and back into the halls of the palace.
While walking back to his room Zuko wished that, he had stayed with his uncle. Coming at him from the opposite direction were his two least favorite people. The first was his own sister and the other was Admiral Zhao. Zuko relaxed his stance and slowed down his pace. He wasn't about to let those two catch on to the fact that something was bothering him. They'd only find some way to use it against him.
Zula stopped in front of her older brother. With Zhao on her, other side they had blocked off the hall. "Hello brother, it's so nice to see you." Zula said in a sweet tone. None of that sweetness reached the rest of her being. "Nice to see you too. Now would you move?" Zuko replied in his usual cold voice. "Aw did big brother Zuko get chewed out by father again this morning?" Zula sneered at him. "No, and it's none of your business what happens between me and father." with that Zuko forced his way past the two.
Zula stared off after her brother lost in her own thoughts of malice. "Don't you know princess?" Zhao's voice brought her back to reality. "Know what?" Zula frowned at him. "Zuko is betrothed to a girl from the Water Tribes as a part of the treaty." Zula's eyes widened then shrank into devious slits. "You don't say."
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"Tell me it's not true!" Katara burst into her father's library. "Tell you what's not true?" the King of the Southern Water Tribe asked looking up from his book. "Tell me I'm not marrying Zuko of the Fire Nation." Katara said as she came to stand in front of her father's desk. Hakoda let out a sigh of resentment. "I wish that I could. I tried to convince them against arranged marriages but to no avail. You don't have to go through with it if you don't want to. I'll figure a way to get you out of it."
Katara was in pure elation over this new option. She hugged her father then skipped out of the room. She went outside to find Sokka training. "Sokka guess what! I don't have to go through with it after all!" Katara yelled to her brother as she approached. Instead of being happy, as she had expected Sokka frowned. "How come? Did the Fire Nation call it off?"
"No, Dad said he would figure out an excuse." Sokka's frown deepened at this. "Katara no matter what Dad says you can't back out of this." "Why not?" "Think about it for a second. Think of it from the countries' point of views."
Katara did as Sokka instructed. That's when it dawned on her. If she were to back out the Fire Nation could take it as the Water Tribes backing down from the treaty. In addition, they could insist on the marriage so either Sokka or Yue would end up taking her place. That could in turn cause the Northern Tribe to think negatively of the Southern Tribe.
"You're right Sokka. Could you go tell Dad that I'll go through with it?" Katara said blankly. There was no way around it. As her country's princess, she had a duty to make sure that they were safe even if that meant marrying Zuko. "Sokka I'll be back before dinner o.k. I'm going canoeing." With that, she left her brother and went to go get a canoe.
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Aang sat up on his flying bison, Appa. He looked over and found his flying lemur sleeping soundly. Aang smiled he could see the South Pole; the home of his two closes friends. He had been flying for the last couple of nights to go and visit them.
Aang couldn't wait to go penguin sledding. He was going to spar with Sokka, play with the village children, and most importantly talk to Katara. He finally had gathered enough courage to tell her. Aang was finally going to tell Katara that he loved her.
Aang spotted Sokka out in the snow so he signaled for Appa to land. "Hey Sokka!" Aang greeted as he slipped of the bison's back. "Hey Aang, long time no see." Sokka said smiling at his old friend. It was sometimes hard to believe that this 14-year-old boy possessed the powers of the avatar.
"Hey where's Katara?" Aang said looking around for her. "That's what I'd like to know. She said she'd be back by dinner, but she hasn't showed up yet." Sokka explained. "Hey look after Momo and Appa for me and I'll go find her." Aang said running off in the direction that Katara most likely took.
-----------------------------------------Author's Note----------------------------------------
Hello mina! I'm your hostess Blissfulrain. Hope you liked the first chapter. This is my first Zutara fic. This is an AU story so the war here was a little bit different. Also, the characters are a bit older than they are in the show. That's why Aang is 14 and not 12. Anyway, folks review and tell me what you think. I really would appreciate it. Ja ne.