Disclaimer: I do no own Avatar or any of its characters. The only thing that belongs to me is the plot. Everything else belongs to the creator of the series.
How It All Began
Lust...That's the only word he could use to describe this rapidly surging emotion he was feeling right now. An uncontrollable desire for the one woman he could not have. He was craving the very woman that he was sworn to hate, sworn to kill. And yet...he could not comprehend why his body was betraying him like this. Why was it longing to claim her as his own even though he had told himself thousands of times to despise her? She was beyond his reach. She was beyond his touch. Besides she was already taken, or so he thought. He couldn't grasp why he would want this particular woman when he had had countless women before. Being a Prince, he never went longer than a month before satisfying his sexual tensions, and many women had begged him to be able to be in his bed. He only chose the best, however, and the woman he was now gazing hungrily at was truly the best. Flawless skin that looked silky to the touch, curvy hips, and full breasts that glistened in the steam of the hot spring led to the only reason he could think of for his body's blatant response to the epitome of pure female sexuality that lay only fifteen feet below him.
As he watched her take her routinely bath in the hot spring he couldn't help feeling like he was a silent predator that was waiting to pounce as he observed her from afar. He had well hidden himself in the lush surroundings of trees and bushes and was using this advantage to keep an eye on her. Soon he realized that he watched her like a hawk for another reason besides his own pleasure. He wanted to protect her. Why? He did not know. All he did know was that no other man besides himself was allowed to view what he was so intently viewing. And if they did they would be taken care of immediately. He dare not admit it but he could not control the bubbling sea of rage that would overtake him if another man so much as caught a glimpse of the goddess that bathed silently below him. He watched her use her water bending skills to swirl the water around her in a whirlpool like way. He couldn't help but admit that he was impressed by the way she absently controlled the water around her with ease. It was like an exotic dance watching the way the water twirled around her.
A rustling in the nearby bushes snapped him back from the peaceful trance he had put himself in as his attention was brought back to the duty beforehand. As he jumped down from his hiding spot, flame ball in hand, he soon realized that it was none other than her annoyingly dim-witted older brother, who had come to check on her. Quickly extinguishing the flame, the very aroused Prince jumped back into the safety of the tree limbs as he retreated back to his ship that was docked half a mile away. Part of him was glad that her dumbstruck brother had come to check on her because now he could leave knowing she was at least semi-protected. Every night for the past three weeks he had come from his ship to watch over her. Even though he could be using this time to figure out a way to capture the Avatar, as the days went by the Avatar was getting pushed further back in his mind, while a brown haired goddess occupied his mind night and day.
'He's here again" she thought as she sighed happily.
The warmness of the water soothing her aching muscles and relaxing her senses. She had started coming to this spring every night knowing he would watch over her. It gave her a sense of security when he came for she knew he wouldn't let anything harm her. Now she didn't have to worry about wandering perverts and bandits; only a hypocritical prince occupied her thoughts. For the life of her she could not figure out why he watched her so protectively. On the first night she had sensed someone watching her and it made her uneasy. She had taken her bath quickly trying not to show more than she knew she was showing. She had then rushed back to camp and the safety of her friends. On the second night she had still felt like someone was watching her and she had gone as far as calling out to them but when she got no response she repeated yesterday's performance. By the fifth day she was getting paranoid and that was the day she figured out who had been watching her.
She had been quickly cleaning herself as usual when she had heard a rustling in the bushes behind her. Startled, she used her water bending to form a whip, but then she heard a gasp, then a shriek as a burst of flame was seen flashing behind the bushes. Quickly dressing, she headed towards the bushes to see what had made those noises. She gasped when saw it was a known pervert from the village a short distance from here. He was clearly unconscious but what had taken her by surprise were the numerous amounts of scorch and burn marks that covered his chest and face. She knew very well that he was not a fire bender so it puzzled her to as why there were marks clearly made from a fire bender on him. That's when she spotted it. It seemed to gleam as she crossed over the unconscious man to pick it up. It was a cufflink, but not any ordinary cufflink. It had the royal insignia of the Fire Nation Royal family and could only belong to one person, the banished prince that sought after the Avatar and had threatened to kill her on numerous occasions. So why was he here? And even more importantly, what had he seen? And if he had, well she didn't want to think about that. She searched frantically around to catch a glimpse to where he may be hiding but it was no use. She couldn't help but feel this tugging feeling that told her that he was the one that been watching her this whole time.
That had been almost two weeks ago. She had become used to the familiar feeling of being watched. It didn't seem to bother her anymore. He never spoke to her nor ever makes his presence known. And yet she had a feeling that he did not know that she knew he was there but she was thankful. With him watching her she didn't have to worry about anyone trying to attack her because the last three that had tried were now suffering from devastating burns all over their body. Leaning against a rock, she once again let her mind wander to the mysterious prince that protected her. He had never made any attempt to capture Aang even though she was sure he had many opportunities.
'Maybe he's changed' she thought as she contemplated the Prince's motives.
She knew he must still dislike her but when she tried to come up with another solution a blush crept up on her face. 'He couldn't possibly, no ...he couldn't be...attracted to me can he?' she thought frantically. Trying hard as she could she couldn't fight the blush that was erupting upon her face. After all the numerous encounters with the arrogant prince he had never shown any interest in her besides using her as bait to catch Aang.
But now she thought differently as she looked up into the trees trying once again to pinpoint his location. She had started practicing her water bending on the many nights that he watched over her. Training her senses she used the water so she could find wherever it was that he was hiding. It was working but it never helped her find him any faster. She wanted to surprise him one day by shooting a stream of water at him playfully. She would use the whirlpool disguised to look as if it was washing her to spread the mist through the foliage. Then she would try to let the water that went up to guide her towards where he was hiding but it never worked. Whenever it seemed that she might know where he was something would come along breaking her concentration. This time it would be the fault of her mood breaking older brother, Sokka. Feeling his presence once again disappear into the night with the appearance of her brother, Katara sighed heavily before brandishing a whip at her brother before hurriedly dashing out the water and quickly dressing. No matter what the prince may think, her brother wasn't that strong and she didn't exactly feel as well protected as she had moments before.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder bending the water out of it before once again looking into the foliage above. She smiled before one last thought floated through her mind as she turned to follow her now angry brother back to the camp.
'Sleep well...Prince Zuko'