A/N: Bonjour, my lovelies! This is the chappy where you all get to meet my little OC! I'm fairly certain you all will like her character. And if anyone has read White Fire, yes, she is similar to my other OC, Kandace Akari. BUT there are major personality differences between the two that you will be able to notice l8r on in the story. Also, I would looove to hear your speculations about her, if you have any. I always want to know what my readers think of my OC, and plus I'm still figuring things out.

Toodles!

-B

Disclaimer: Oh, must I? Fine. I do not own ATLA. Nor would you want me to.

B-L-A-C-K-O-U-T

I only smiled, holding my silence; I knew what was coming.

Wait for it . . .

Then, the whole world went black.

I HOG TIE THE FIRE PRINCE

"There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
-Edith Wharton

I smiled widely, rather proud of my own handiwork. Ten yards away, Prince Zuko lay unconscious in the corner of a cozy little cave I'd found out in the middle of a forest near a quiet earth kingdom village. I had tied his hands securely behind his back so that bending would be limited, if not completely impossible, when he woke up. I hadn't felt the need to use a gag or tie his feet up, though, pretty sure I could take him on myself if he tried to escape. After all, he couldn't fight if he was blind, now could he?

The grin on my face widened even more. My plan was going perfectly. In a matter of weeks, I would have what I wanted, and pretty boy over there would be free to go; no harm done. It had been surprisingly easy to take him. In all the confusion, he had completely lost track of me and what I was doing. Big mistake on his part. You never took your eyes off the enemy, no matter how little a threat they seemed. Not that I was complaining, though. He had made the kidnapping painfully simple.

I looked over at the young prince, who couldn't have been much older than I was. I had heard many stories about the boy who was little more than a child, both great and terrifying. It seemed unlikely that he was capable of all of the things that he was so often accused of. I studied the scar that painted half his face. It was the only reason I even believed that it was the prince of the fire nation that I had, knocked out in a cave, rather than some random, insignificant person.

Seeing it was a painful reminder of my own father, who was . . . well, let's just say, less than fatherly. I frowned at nothing in particular as a few not-so-endearing memories of the man replayed themselves in my head.

From the corner, I heard Zuko stir quietly. I was immediately snapped from my own little world and back into the one I was currently doing some dangerous and very illegal things in. The young prince sat up with difficulty, due to the fact that his hands were still tied, and shook out his messy, dark hair, as if trying to clear his head. I waited silently at the side wall of the cave. He looked around, his expression guarded, as if he expected something to jump out and try to eat him. Ha, now that was an interesting thought, to say the least. I smirked when his eyes finally landed on me.

"Well, good morning, Princess," I said, thoroughly enjoying the horrified expression on his face as he realized that he'd been kidnapped by a girl. I saw him try to move his hands, only to find that they were bound behind him. He pulled stubbornly at the ropes, but to no avail. I had made sure beforehand that they wouldn't come off, no matter what. I didn't say anything, though, as he struggled uselessly against the ties. Just watched.

After a good two minutes of failed attempts at untying himself, he turned to me. I smiled politely, waiting for the generic question that was about to come.

"Who are you?" the young prince demanded for the second time since I'd met him. Yep, that's the one. I stood up, slowly walking over to where he was. His expression was nothing but guarded as I approached him, dragging out the should-have-been short walk. I crossed my arms in front of myself, stopping and looking down at him, which I'm sure he just loved.

"What's it to ya?" I shot back at him, raising an amused eyebrow. He promptly turned a vivid shade of red that I supposed had nothing to do with being embarrassed.

"I just asked you who you were, girl" he fumed, as if everyone on earth was automatically required to comply with his every demand. Typical fire nation, thinking that they're always going to get what they want. "Do you know who I am?" I rolled my eyes, which only seemed to make him angrier.

"Of course," I drawled, leaning down so that I was smirking deviously right up in his face, knowing that he could do nothing about it. "You're Kuro Surami, the greatest traveling waterbender of all time!" Prince Zuko looked as if he were all of a sudden choking on something huge, and sounded like it too. I threw my head back, laughing loudly. Did he really think that I was serious?

"What?" He exclaimed, his eyes bugging. I felt the air heat up around his body and, though I certainly didn't show it, I was momentarily surprised that he had enough energy to do that after being unconscious for as long as he had. And because of me, no less.

"Oh, calm down, Zuko," I said dismissively, waving my hand at him. "I know who you are."

"That's Prince Zuko to you!" he said stubbornly. I yawned purposely to show him that I wasn't even bothering to really listen.

"Sure, sure," I muttered distantly, studying my nails. Like I would ever refer to him as that. Ha, never. Zuko made a low, growl-like sound, lashing out to kick me with his unbound feet. I calmly stepped out of the way, not even bothering to look down.

"Why don't we get down to business, then?" I offered, unconcerned. Zuko glowered at me, not offering any kind of response to acknowledge that he'd heard what I'd said. I continued. "My name is Kaida Hotaru, and you have something that I want." That little accusation successfully seemed to grab at least a portion of the young prince's attention. He watched me distrustfully, but now, he was paying attention.

"I hardly have anything myself," he spoke carefully, as if deliberately choosing his words. "And somehow I doubt that you would want any of it." Ohh, so he thought I meant some silly object. I shook my head, explaining in more depth precisely what I was talking about.

"Two years ago, the fire nation took my grandmother and my baby cousin," I cleared up, glaring at him although I knew it was not directly his fault. "And let's just say, I'm not very happy about that." My eyes narrowed meticulously as I spoke.

"And what makes you think that I can do anything about it?" he asked coldly, seeming unaffected by my suddenly chilling tone of voice. I raised my head in defiance.

"Oh, you can't do anything," I explained, clearly stating that he was useless. "I'm holding you for ransom." Zuko had another choking fit when I said that. I waited patiently until he calmed down again. It was strange. I had expected the young prince to be much more dignified; more refined to himself and better-than-you. I hadn't thought that he would be just as snappy as I was when he got angry.

Zuko glared up at me darkly through his tangled bangs. His eyes burned, as if he were attempting to singe a hole right through me.

"You're forgetting that I'm a banished prince, little thief," he countered, keeping his voice even with some obvious physical effort. "I doubt my father wouldn't pay a loaf of bread to get me out, much less your family."

"Oh, I'll probably find somebody who wants you," I told him, wrinkling my nose at the thought. I wasn't sure who would try to get him back, but there had to be someone out there who would be willing to do it. I would agree, of course, regardless of who it was. I wasn't picky. And besides, it wasn't as if it mattered to me what happened to the prince after I was through with him.

"Now," I started, walking to the mouth of the cave. "I'm going to the village. Don't try anything funny, because you won't get far with no use of your arms and no map, and I'm not really in the mood to have to go out and look for you. So, just save yourself the embarrassment and stay put. Got that?"

Hn. Let him mull that over for a couple of hours.

I waited momentarily for the answer, but knew that I wouldn't get one out of someone like Zuko. His inflated pride would not allow for him to respond to a question like that, so, after a moment, I shrugged indifferently and left.

B-L-A-C-K-O-U-T

A/N: Slightly confused about some things? Good, because you're supposed to be. It's all a part of my master plan, muahahahaha! . . . Eh, well, you'll get it later. In fact, you'll get it next chapter. Doesn't that make you want to:

Read&Review pplz!