Chapter 1: Helpless

Two Years Later

Katara stretched with a small high pitched groan and got out of bed and began to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She walked into the kitchen that was in the small apartment Zuko had let her stay in for a while. Her hands found a mango and slowly she began to eat as she looked outside. Aang, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and herself were just visiting Zuko for the month. Sokka and Katara had been extremely busy in the South Pole by building a defense fortress similar to the one in the Northern Watertribe. Pakku and his men had helped a great deal since they had gotten there, and Pakku had been trying to make a move on Gran Gran. Aang would come around and help out but he had his hands full with the Fire Nation and trying to create world peace, the normal Avatar stuff. Suki had been back at home trying to help rebuild and train some of the newer Kyoshi Warriors. And Toph had been in Omashu with King Bumi trying to help him with his city, and also countlessly trying to beat him in a match to find out who the best Earthbender was. This seemed like the perfect time for a nice vacation with friends.

Katara was now sixteen and she still looked beautiful. Every now and then a break out would occur on her face and she would have to put on some cover-up, but otherwise she was still the same striking Katara. She had gotten a little taller in the past two years, and she had gotten some more curves to her once semi-flat body. She still had her mother's necklace on her all the time and now had some different clothes to add to her wardrobe.

Katara had finished her mango and quickly putting her hair up she went for a walk down the path to where she would do yoga in the mornings. She had made it to a small creeks edge where in the humid air she began. First she bent down to touch her toes, then went into a push-up position, going into cobra pose for a few seconds, before going into downward dog, and into runners pose. Then Katara went through her warrior poses and repeating on the other side. There was a snap of twigs before five disguised men came out and surrounded Katara.

"Who are you?" Katara yelled at them arching her eyebrows in confusion.

"Who we are doesn't matter. We know who you are and what you and your friends have done," the leader replied back.

Katara scoffed at these men and asked, "If you know who I am then why would you attack me right next to a creek?" That sent the fuse off and Katara blocked off a fire blast from a man on her right. She quickly got a large stream of water and used it as a jet against the leader knocking him back and freezing him in place before looking to the others. Only the one on her right could firebend so she quickly knocked him into the creek and made a large wave to take him down the creek. Then she looked to the other and quickly knocked him out with a sheet of ice. She pinned another man to a tree with ice spears and the other man just took off after Katara gave him a quick and deadly stare. She quickly ran up to the leader anger in her eyes and screamed, "WHY! What are you doing here!"

The man looked at her and replied, "I will not tell you anything."

"Fine," Katara spat back at him. She slowly incased her fingers in claws. "I will play some darts until you tell me. I've been known to have a great aim." She took a few steps back and aimed for right underneath his crotch, the man's face grew worried when he saw the shot but he but on a cool face in a flash. "Now, who sent you?" Another this time near his shoulder. "Is your group going to try to assassinate the Fire Lord?" After a few more "near misses" she walked up to the man and placed a claw to his throat. "Are you going to tell me or do I have to slit your throat?"

"Just do it already. Or are you too much of a coward?" the man asked her.

That jab cut deep. Katara had never tried to kill a person with the sound idea that she was in fact taking a life. Her eyes narrowed and she raised her had to the sky-

"KATARA!" a voice called out. It was Aang. "What are you doing? What's happened?"

Katara backed up from the man, "This guy and his five men just attacked me for unknown reasons and I was trying to get him to talk."

"By killing him?"

Katara walked right past Aang, "I'll go and get Zuko's men." Katara muttered to herself as she began to walk towards the palace to find Zuko, about how nobody let's her do what she feels is right. She walked to the training center where there were dummies filled with hay and rock people, created by Toph, and of course Melon Lord. There he was taking a sip of water from a cup one of his servants must have brought him. "Hey!"

Zuko looked up, his face was still the same, still so handsome. He had grown taller over the years and had become a tad more muscular, but thinner. His hair was in a topknot and he looked hot with his shirt off showing off his abs and his red pants just hanging off of his hips.

"What!" Zuko yelled back. Katara had grown up very well. Her face had lost it's chubbiness and her hair was a little longer with it in a loose bun with some of the locks of wavy chocolate hair falling down. She was only in her undergarments, with her white top bindings not wrapped as tightly as they once were, and her bottoms almost looked just like shorts.

"I was ambushed this morning and we have some men your guards can take in," she replied walking closer to Zuko.

"Whoa whoa! Guards! We need some men over here," Zuko called and about six men came. "Follow us. Katara, what happened?"

"Well," Katara began as they started down the path, "I had been doing my morning yoga when these five men came all clad in some weird uniforms saying something like 'we know who you are and what you and your friends have done'. Then I pinned two to a tree one went down the creek another is knocked out and the last ran away. I was about to make myself clear to the leader when Aang stepped in and stopped me."

Zuko was surprised at Katara, as far as he knew the only thing she had ever wanted to truly kill was Yon Rah. "Are you alright?"

Something snapped inside her, "Of course I'm alright! I don't need you, Aang, and my brother to be constantly asking me if I'm doing what I think is right! Because I CAN HANDLE MYSELF!"

"Okay… okay," Zuko replied trying to calm her down. Before they knew it they spotted Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Toph. "Morning guys!"

"This better be really important because I woke up for this," Toph yelled at everyone.

"Sorry Toph, but we need our lie detector," Sokka replied back to her. "Alright so, who are you?" The man turned to Sokka and spat in his face. "Alright Toph break something." Toph flicked her wrist and a pillar of earth snapped the man's finger back making him howl in pain. "Katara heal the man." She glared at Sokka, I could have done something very similar to that, but no I'm too much of a goody-two-shoes. Katara brought some water over the man's finger and quickly snapped it back into place. "Tell us. Now, or the other fingers will have the same fate."

"My name is Yoru. I'm apart of the Fire Nation Forever group. We strive to get Azula or

Ozai back on the throne, not this priss we have now," he glared at Zuko. "My men and I are to take out the Avatar, Katara, Toph, and Zuko."

"Whoa-wait! What about me?" Sokka whined. "I helped defeat the firelord!"

"We could handle you in a matter of seconds, that's why," Yoru replied. "Watch your backs." He smiled a cruel and malicious smile and Zuko told his guards to take him away to the Boiling Rock.

The six of them all stood there as he was put into chains and handcuffs. "So you'll let Toph break the man's fingers but I couldn't even give him an ice dagger to the shoulder?" Katara said still looking at the man. The rest of the group looked to her.

"Sugar Queen I can handle dealing out punishments. I'm the bad cop, you're the good cop-"

"Maybe I'm not nearly as good as you guys make me out to be!" Katara screamed back at them. "Maybe I'm tired of being protected like some porcelain doll to be taken out only to look at! I can clearly take care of myself! I am one of the greatest waterbenders in the world!"

"Katara…" Aang began only to be stopped by Zuko putting a hand across him to keep him from following Katara back to the palace.

"Space."

We got some Zutara in there! I know the Prologue was short AND had no Zutara. Anyways once again more incite into what has happened since the war and what Katara thinks. I think that I shall do a chapter about Zuko now? Thoughts? Reviews please! Don't nag me about spelling, I am so bad at it and I really try but it happens.

I own nothing! If I did Zutara would have become cannon! Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Nick, I think, I do not own any of the characters from the TV show.