Chapter 2

Hope Unfavorable

Katara's POV

It was early evening; though it looked almost like nighttime. Having just gotten off work after serving a large party for an eight-year-old brat, I was drained of all energy and wanted nothing more than to sink into my loving bed and sleep for the rest of my life. Though I was too excited about my date tonight to even try falling asleep.

I walked quickly down the dark and deserted road to mine and Sokka's temporary home.

Thinking of our one bedroom apartment, I remembered when we had decided to rent it. At the time Sokka only worked part time for a fishing company; they caught the fish near where the ferries dropped, then sold them to the merchants in Ba Sing Se.

As soon as we walked into this particular apartment, I knew it was exactly what we needed. Just big enough that we wouldn't feel crowded, but just small enough that if I were alone I wouldn't feel scared.

After that I just had to convince Sokka to allow me to have my own job and pay for half the rent. This was pretty simple; my only argument was that he would know exactly where I was for most of the day. After that all he had to do was write his name on a sheet of paper, acknowledging that he would be the owner of the apartment and that all bills would be made out to him. Though this bothered me, I bit my tongue and pretended I was mute. Something I was never good at but forced to practice.

Shortly after we moved in Sokka got promoted to full time, and with it, a bigger paycheck. Sokka was able to relax knowing we had enough money to eat. Which, consequently, gave me the little bit of freedom I needed.

It was starting to get dark as my thoughts drifted as I mindlessly crept through the narrow alleyway towards said apartment. It was muddy tonight, the rain having ceased though the rooftops still dripped. I stepped over deep puddles and around overflowing rain barrels to get to my home.

As I approached the door to our apartment, a glimmer of light caught my eye and I looked up from the ground, where I had been focusing on not getting dirty. My eyes widened as I saw our door, the one with the very obvious split in the knob where someone had tried to open it with a crowbar. Ironically, Sokka had done that when we had accidentally gotten locked out. But this time there were people inside.

For a moment I thought that Sokka could have been home, but Sokka shouldn't have gotten off until much later, he worked the graveyard shift, and usually when he got off early he'd come to the restaurant to bring me home.

From inside I could hear male voices, muffled by the thick wooden door, and footsteps coming closer.

My heart sped up. Without even knowing the basics of Waterbending, I had no chance of winning in a fight. So I turned and ran for the main road, ignoring the loud splashes and the freezing cold water soaking my pants and skirt.

Behind me I heard the men's voices yell at me. I sprinted as fast as my feet could carry me while piled with ten pounds of mud.

I mentally cursed myself for thinking something like this would never happen and for ignoring Sokka when he had asked if I'd prefer the apartment closer to the main road. I'd shrugged it off, complaining that the road would be too noisy during the day when he was sleeping.

I could almost see the entrance to the alley, the sweet opening that meant nothing could harm me once I was outside. If only I wasn't so naïve. But before I could get to the road a pillar of earth shot up in front of me, blocking my way and causing me to fall backwards. A strong hand pulled me by the collar and I was yanked to a standing position as the fabric around my neck cut off my air supply.

"Please, just leave me alone." I gagged, my eyes searched frantically for any source of water, though I was ignorant to the drenched clothes I wore, I found a nearby rain barrel and pulled the contents towards me. Never before had I bent water that I couldn't see, and if I weren't in a life or death situation I would have been beaming with pride.

The barrel shattered, and my captor released me just long enough for me to sprint forward with all my will, only to trip over my mud caked feet and fall flat on my face in the sticky dirt. My senses overwhelmed with the smell of fresh mud, I scrambled to my knees in a hopeless attempt at escaping.

Suddenly two more men jumped off the roof and landed in front of me, and the man behind me pinned my arms behind my back and whispered something in my ear that if I cooperated I wouldn't get hurt.

0o0o0

Where is she? Zuko thought for the umpteenth time that night. She seemed so eager to meet me here… Zuko searched the faces nearby, the numbers thinning as the day crept to an end and the Sun left the sky and was replaced by a full moon.

He sighed when it was nearly midnight, the moon high above his head reminded him of the late hour.

After kicking some rocks into the slow moving stream, he stood up from leaning on the railing, and did one last sweep of the area, looking for the familiar ocean blue eyes. The only people he saw were a young couple kissing by the light post, an old homeless man sleeping on a bench, and a cricket; making himself known by his constant chips that were itching at Zuko's last nerves.

He just couldn't believe she would stand him up like this. She couldn't possibly think she was too good for him, for Agni's sake, he was the Fire Prince! Or, at least, he used to be.

Now, he supposed, he was no more than a peasant with a dark past and royal bloodline, but that didn't mean she could treat him this way!

Maybe something came up, he tried to convince himself, maybe her brother came home with big news and they're on their way to find a Waterbending Master right now. But as much as he wanted to believe it, he was still angry.

Angry at Katara for standing him up, angry at the Earth Kingdom for not surrendering when his Uncle tried to concur it, angry at that cricket that was chirping its way closer to extinction, and angry at himself for being stupid enough to think he might actually have a life here and might have actually found a nice girl he really liked.

Because of all this anger Zuko didn't think twice when a young woman came up to him and started flirting. She caressed his arm and batted her eyelashes, her lips promising sweet things and forgetting. He never discovered her name, or didn't care, because it didn't matter.

0o0o

A couple nights after being stood up Zuko celebrated his first paycheck from his first job ever in his lifetime. That was a little sad for a seventeen year old.

He went to the restaurant where Katara worked; subconsciously hoping to see her while consciously he was hoping she wasn't working tonight. Sitting at a table, he waited for a waitress. His subconscious won when he saw her back, her dark brown hair cascading to her lower back in smooth waves that reminded him of living at sea.

She was standing at a table on the other side of the room, taking an order for an older couple that looked slightly uneasy, but Zuko ignored it. He quickly averted his gaze before she turned and saw him staring at the table, refusing to look her in the eye.

"Hello Lee," she sounded truly happy to see him, and he briefly regretted being mad at her. But when he looked up at her face he nearly jumped, forgetting any reason to be upset.

She had fresh cuts along her jaw, deep purple bruises around her left eye, and her upper lip was cut. Her expression was apologetic, and when he stood up to face her she looked down at her hands.

"Katara, what happened to you?" He asked abruptly, forgetting everything he'd planned on saying to her. She didn't look up at him and he briefly noticed he was a head taller than her.

"It's nothing really," he gently grabbed her chin to get a better look at her injuries. He couldn't imagine who could do such a thing to that beautiful face. Her bright blue eyes were no longer gleaming and happy, now they looked full of pain and fear. Zuko knew in the back of his mind what must have happened when she had left work yesterday and went home to her brother. When she spoke of him earlier it was in annoyance, maybe it ran deeper than that…

"Of course it's something. How'd this happen?" she didn't try and break free of his grasp, and for a slip second he could have sworn she leaned into his hand.

"Just a mugging gone wrong, nothing serious." Katara pushed his hand away. She needed help; he was going to help her by any means possible. He owed her that much.

"Who did this to you?" he didn't notice the multiple eyes on them, he just wanted to know who's ass he was going to kick. His connection to this girl may be thin, but it was his duty as a gentleman to make sure the skum of the Earth didn't get big heads. Hurting an innocent girl was something no one should get away with, another reason why he refused to live in the Fire Nation Colonies in the Earth Kingdome.

"L-Lee, it's not-" she took a raged breath, "People are staring." Zuko sighed. The last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself. As much as he wanted to know who hurt her, it would only ruin her life as well as his if someone recognized him.

"When do you get off?" He asked grudgingly.

o0o0o

She led him silently through the nighttime air, down dark alleyways and behind stone buildings. Her footsteps were heavy and loud next to his silent step of a trained bender.

After waiting for her to speak for nearly half their trip, he decided she needed some prompting.

"So, um, where are we going exactly?" He asked.

She pulled at her hair nervously. "To my apartment, I'm not allowed to walk home alone at night anymore." Zuko could understand the reasoning behind that.

She led him down a dark, muddy alleyway, and he waited until they were at the door of her and her brother's apartment to start asking -or rather, demanding- answers.

"When are you going to give me and explanation?"

"Why do you think you deserve an explanation?" She snapped, not missing a beat. He frowned at her and gave his truthful answer.

"Because I care about what happens to you. I don't know why but I do. It's not right for a girl to be hurt like this, and it's my duty as a gentleman to make sure other men know that too." She opened her mouth as if to reply, but no words escaped. Instead, she gulped and flinched a little when he brushed back the stray hairs that hid her face from him. In the light from the small window above the door he could see all her fresh wounds. "I'm sorry, Katara."

"For what?" She visibly tensed.

"For what happened to you." She relaxed and looked down at her feet, "I can't imagine what you must have gone through." He spoke softly, trying as hard as he could to sound comforting; it was new ground for him.

"Can we not talk about it?" she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don't want to think about it right now." He nodded understandingly, he remembered what it was like after he got his scar; he hadn't wanted to talk to anyone for days. Of course, she wasn't raised in the Fire Nation, where any display of emotion was considered weakness.

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments before he blurted out: "So… Do you want to have that date now?" it was out before he could stop it, and he blushed. She looked up at him and giggled, also blushing. "I mean, if you don't want to that would be fine with me, I was just asking because-"

"I would love to," She interrupted.

He smiled crookedly at her, causing her to look down and blush. "Just let me write a quick note to my brother." She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door; he leaned against the stone wall to wait for her outside. "You don't have to wait out here," she smiled at him and opened the door, leading the way in.

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