Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, nor do I own
the plays which spawned this idea (Aida, Antigone). I am not
responsible for any trauma you may go through while reading this piece
of purely fan-made fiction, though I am sorry.
Summary:-post CoD- In an attempt to rescue Iroh, Aang and his companions get caught and captured by Zuko. They have failed again. The only way they can see to save the world now lies with Katara's ability to turn Zuko around.-Z/K-
To Those who Love You
Chapter three:
Katara had considered it a miracle when everyone fell asleep at the same time. Iroh's story had done its job of comforting them long enough for them to slip into a peaceful sleep, which most of them had not had since they had been imprisoned. As she fell asleep, she figured that after a night's sleep, people's spirits would rise a bit. They would finally think of a way to get out of this mess.
She wakes up in the middle of the night, wondering what could have aroused her. She had always been a light sleeper, always first to wake up when traveling with Aang and Sokka. She tries to brush it off as nothing until she hears footsteps and the jingling of keys. She sits up silently as the glow of a flame comes into her vision. The light is not comforting, but casts haunting shadows across the floor of the ship.
For a moment, she is back in the caves below Ba Sing se, waiting to see who's face will be revealed after her eyes adjust to the harsh light.
"Who's there?" she asks, a note of fear in her voice.
A fire nation soldier comes into view, laughing. He is missing his helmet and Katara can smell the amount of alcohol he consumed. He moves to unlock the door as her face takes on a look of complete fear.
A drunken soldier. A fourteen-year-old girl. She goes pale.
He grabs her and starts to strip her down to her undergarments. There is a brief minute in which she just stands there. Then he presses his mouth upon hers, roughly, and she cracks. She struggles against him, wildly, but it does not phase him.
Katara panics: starts to throw him off of her-fighting him with all of her half naked body.
The crash of a metal door and strong footsteps are the last thing she hears before she is shoved against the wall of her cell-knocked unconscious.
When Zuko hears that one of his recruits has gotten into the brig of the ship, he reacts immediately. He had given them explicit instructions not to go see the prisoners-they were to be left alone.
Different scenarios run through his mind as he rushes down stairs towards the depths of his ship. The prisoners could escape. They could attack his soldiers. His soldiers could attack his prisoners. Madness, he thinks cynically.
Then it dawns on him that his recruits have not seen a woman in a long time and there is a teenaged girl below deck. He remembers their incident in the palace.A teenaged girl with a chest. Shit.
He slams the door of the brig open and runs inside, angry. Sure enough, the door to the waterbender's cell is open. His blood boils.
He finds the soldier forcing himself on the girl, his helmet off-the savage.
Zuko punches him in the head with all his strength (before he has time to look up). Both soldier and waterbender fall to the ground. The first thing he notices is that she is unconscious. The next is that her lips are swollen. Then finally he notices that she is in her undergarments. A blush covers his face, hidden by the dark surroundings.
"Zuko," his uncle demands. He has seen the whole thing. "She is not safe here!"
He looks at his uncle, grateful that he has finally talked to him. Then his expression hardened. "What do you propose I do about it, Uncle?"
He cannot see the plan formulating in his uncle's head. "No one would bother a prince's personal attendant."
Zuko sighs, resigned. "Alright."
He makes a note to buy clothes for the girl at the next port as he wraps her in her tattered robe and brings her to his room.
A/N: Two chapters in one day! (GASP)
Sorry for the katara-rape. If it's any consolation, I had been planning this "plot twist" from the start. Call it rising action, call it whatever you want, but it's what works for me. Please review. Like I said last chapter, I want to know if my writing is any worse without several months to perfect it.
