I Promise

By Rehyou

Rated: T (Just incase)
Summary: Akari, a wanted traitor to the Fire Nation, finds herself thrown into a war she never wanted any part in. When captured by Prince Zuko, the two are forced to make promises, heal scars, follow destiny, and maybe even save the world.
Status: In Progress

Hello there.

Welcome to my first fan fiction. So first of all, what I hope to accomplish with this is to explore different aspects of avatar. I want to know what its like to be thrown into war. I want to explore how it messes with my character's head. I want to see a different side of the other characters. Also, even if it is quite selfish of me, I want Zuko to end up with someone better. I like Mai. She's great. But Zuko is hands down my favorite character. I like him because he is complicated, he makes mistakes, and he overcomes failure. Also, out of all the characters, he changes the most. After all that struggle, I think he deserves someone with a little more passion and someone who relies on him just as much as he relies on her.

That is just my opinion. You can take it or leave it. If you don't like it, that's fine. Read the story for the mystery of unraveling her past.

This chapter is short and a little slow. Please forgive me. It is just setting up the stage, I swear. ;D I truly hope you enjoy it as much as I love writting it. Please read and review; it means the world to me. So get comfy and start reading. :3

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. :'(

Love you all,

~Rehyou

Freedom

The sense of freedom the girl had was intoxicating, indescribable, and completely overwhelming. It was like her mind was on sensory over-load. She could feel the sun beating down over every inch of her face. The bangs that fell into her vision were so clear it hurt to look at them. Don't even get her started on her hair—the light brown locks that had been tied into a bun for over two years to disguise its length felt strange in the loose ponytail that hit well past her shoulder blades. The sore pain that ricocheted throughout her body was excruciatingly vivid. For what it's worth, I thought it would be worse—considering the past few years.

For two years freedom was all she had ever wanted. Now that she had it, Akari had no idea what to do with it.

It was like an extra weight on her. Actually, that weight came from the few fruits and a small bag of coins in her pockets that she had snatched off a fire nation soldier that had been browsing the outdoor market. They could be so oblivious sometimes. But Akari had other worries. When first coming to this Earth Kingdom village, she had been worried about sticking out like a sore thumb in her fire nation clothes. But as it turns out, this town decided to actually give into the Fire Nations demands. So there she was, lost in a sea of green and red.

But she had nowhere to go. All her life, her purpose had been driven towards leaving the Fire Nation. It had taken sixteen years, and now that she had, Akari realized that she wanted more than this. She was not meant to be some nobody. She couldn't be happy in a simple life of peace and prosperity until she figured out what path Destiny was leading her down. Akari continued walking, pondering the meaning of life, all that good stuff; completely distracted.

That was when she smacked into somebody. Caught off guard, Akari tumbled to the ground, the contents of her pockets spilling out. Streams of curses were muttered under her breath. She inwardly scolded herself for not paying attention. Who knows what kind of people were crawling around this town.

"Hey watch where you are go-" the soldier trailed off. Akari glanced up at him, pushing her bangs to the side. Immediately she recognized him as the owner of the small black coin bag that she was currently stuffing back in her pockets.

"Shit," Akari muttered as she picked herself up off the ground and sprinted in the other direction. The soldier's cries for backup rang down the sea-side market. Suddenly, two extremely buff men appeared in front of her, huge hands snatching at her. Reflex kicked in as Akari dropped to the ground. She spun her legs around her, kicking the men's feet out from under them.

Akari jumped over their bodies and continued down the boardwalk. Boats flashed by on one side while shops blurred on the other. Much to her dismay, there was no crowd to hide of her. Three more men appeared out of nowhere. Spinning on her heel, Akari attempted to sprint down a side street when more soldiers emerged from there. She backed up now, walking. Every ounce of her body was screaming at her to bend, to bring the fire to her fingertips—but she couldn't risk blowing her cover.

Completely surrounded by 15 soldiers, Akari put her back to a metal boat. She would fight them, and if she got caught, that was no big deal. Akari was a prison expert. They are just local security. Akari told herself. How bad can it be?

"That brat is a thief!" A man shouted. Akari assumed it was the one who had gotten robbed. How could she help herself? His coin bag was practically dangling out of his pocket. Any other poor kid could have snatched it. It just had to be her.

"You got robbed by a girl?" One of the nearby soldiers asked, practically giggling.

Akari heard a thud and the girly laughter silenced.

They all took one step in, closing the semi-circle in even more. Akari took a deep breath. She had this. She had dealt with more, better opponents. But her body argued, her back burned as it often did in stressful situations. Every movement was dully protested. She scowled, trying to tell her body this was controllable. Or maybe...

It wasn't necessary her style but she could run. High-tail it out of that place and dive into the water. Swimming would be a great way to escape; she had witnessed its success first hand long ago. Akari inched back slowly, every muscle in her body preparing to spin around and jump—when suddenly, a voice stopped her.

"What is going on here?" the voice demanded. Akari whirled around, realizing that the voice was coming from the boat behind her. The speaker walked off the ship, dressed casually. Unlike many of the soldiers surrounding her, he was only masked by the scar that covered the left side of his face. His hair tied tightly on the top of his head made the rest of his features look even more severe. She met the intense gaze of his golden eyes with her own green-flecked brown ones, hit with a horrified realization.

Bad. Very bad.