Summary: Fire Nation!Katara AU After being kidnapped as a young child by the fire nation, Katara is raised by Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa as Princess Katara of the Fire Nation. Katara/?
ARC 2, CHAPTER TEN
A single yes was all Katara needed to feel pure joy deep down in her soul. Her father looked so sad when he said it but she couldn't help but hug him tightly, relaxing at the strong arms around her.
That was three hours ago, though. She had her bags packed and sent off to Zhao's new ship. Now, she walked to the eastern gardens, unprepared to tell her siblings and Eiji the news. She was sure Azula and Zuko would take it better than Eiji, maybe they'd be jealous but never mad like she was sure Eiji was going to be. They were going their own way, though. She knew Eiji had begun shadowing his father as an apprentice and before long, he'd be a soldier in the army.
A servant open the glass doors for her and she stepped through, immediately seeing all of them sitting by the large pond talking animately. Eiji was the first to see her and he waved with a large smile.
"Bout time you show up," Eiji said sarcastically. There was only humor in his voice, though and he motioned for her to sit next to him. She shook her head and smiled awkwardly at them.
"I have news." She said, smiling lightly.
"And what news would that be?" Azula asked, leaning back on her hands. She rose an eyebrow at Katara.
"I am leaving the Fire Nation," Katara said slowly. "I have accepted an offer with Commander Zhao and we're sailing to the Earth Kingdom in the morning to join up with Fire Nation troops."
Azula had a knowing glint in her eyes, but Eiji and Zuko both looked shocked and extremely upset at her words. It's was the look on Eiji's face that made Katara almost regret her decision. Cold eyes stared at her, looking like they were trying to decide whether to angry or sad.
"No, Kat, you can't go!" Zuko said pleadingly. He quickly stood to his feet and Katara cringed at how watery his eyes were getting. "No! What if you get hurt?"
"I won't, I promise." Katara said, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. "You have to trust me, Zuko."
"I do!" Zuko said angrily. "It's that commander I don't trust. We don't even know him, Katara!"
"You just want to get away." Eiji said. "Away from us."
"You know that's not true, Eiji." Katara said. She frowned as she watched him stand up, brush off his pants and took off. "Eiji, wait! I-" She looked back at her brother. "I-I'm sorry, Zu." She whispered before taking off after Eiji.
She caught up with him halfway down the royal halls in the palace and stopped him with a yank on his shirt. Eiji stopped abruptly, but refused to make her eyes.
"Please, Eiji, don't be mad." Katara said pleadingly.
"How can I not, Katara?" Eiji snapped. "You're leaving for who knows how long!" His voice turned sad. "Why would you want to leave?"
"I can do more out there, Eiji," Katara said softly. "On the battlefield. I'm wasting my talents interrogating war prisoners for father and he agrees with me. It's not like I'm abandoning everyone. I will be back."
"And what if you don't come back?" Eiji said. "What then?"
Katara paused, having not thought about the slim chance of her dying in battle. Then again, Lu Ten did die in battle and he was one of the best firebenders Katara ever saw. As she thought, she felt her blood pumping through her veins and she shook the thought away.
"I will come back, Eiji." Katara swore. "We'll write letters to each other and everything will be okay. And one day, when this war is over, we can live in a peaceful world not divided by war."
"I hope you're right." Eiji whispered. There was a strange look in his eyes, one that Katara couldn't identify. She shook off the feeling, though and smiled brightly at Eiji.
Eiji nervously toed the floor before looking up at her. "I also have something for you. I've been meaning to give it to you for a while, Kat, but never found the time." He pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "You have to promise me you won't open it until you're out at sea, though."
Katara took the letter, staring down at it with confusion but looked back up at Eiji and gave him a serious nod. She carefully slipped it into a pocket.
"When do you leave?" Eiji asked.
"Tonight, in a few hours actually." Katara admitted, feeling guilty for not pre-warning all of them. Eiji sighed deeply and his eyes flickered down to the floor for a second before looking up at her.
"You should have told us sooner that you were planning on leaving," He said to her. She frowned and looked away guiltily.
"I didn't know if father would even allow me to go so I didn't want to upset anyone before I knew I was actually going." Katara said softly. "I am sorry, Eiji." He just shook his head.
"Don't apologize," Eiji sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I shouldn't have overreacted. Promise me something, Katara."
"Anything," Katara said softly.
"Come back home to me," Eiji said.
Katara smiled, eyes twinkling. "Always." It was like his entire body relaxed at her words and he shot her a quick smile.
"Walk with me?" He offered his arm. Katara nodded quickly and took it, letting his lead her down the hall.
The hours went by shortly and it wasn't long before Katara was watching the capital land fade away, her friends and family waving goodbye sadly. Zhao was at her side, tall and smug about whatever events were going his way but Katara couldn't care. She could feel the seaspray on her cheeks, the warm of the sun on her skin and the comfortable, simply red and black clothing felt much better than the stiff dresses she was used to.
"Katara, come meet the captain of this fine ship." Zhao said, taking her by the shoulder and steering her to a stiff looking older man with pitch black hair and narrowed amber eyes. "Captain Ko, this is Princess Katara." The captain bowed lowly to her and Katara nodded.
"It's a pleasure," Katara said coolly.
"No, the pleasure is mine, Princess." Ko said. "We have one of our best rooms set up for you, and the Firelord has put presents out for you in your room." Katara blinked in surprise, not expecting that. "Shall I show you to your room?"
"Yes, that would be lovely." Katara said. She ignored the curious looks from the older sailors and soldiers and followed Captain Ko down to a lower deck and into a fairly large room. It was dimly lit with a comfy looking bed, a dresser and a few Fire Nation flags on the walls. Perched in a cage next to the dresser, though, was a large messenger hawk with lovely fire red fire and black tuffs on top of his head. Golden amber eyes stared coolly towards Katara and she couldn't help but smile.
"One of the finest messenger hawks that can be afforded," Zhao said in amusement. "Along with some other things," He nodded towards three vibrantly wrapped packages on her bed.
"Thank you," Katara nodded watching as the two men disappeared from her room, most likely to discuss future battle plans while she got used to the tilting of the ship in her room. It was a strange feeling but oddly enough, she felt comforted by it.
Katara gently let the hawk out and it quickly flitted to her shoulder, pressing his beak onto her cheek. Seeing a tag, she read it out loud. "Sevong." It was a pretty name and she was happy to have him. Sevong flitted to her dresser as she moved to the packages. Opening, the first one she was surprised to see a box filled with scrolls. They were different scrolls detailing battle strategies. She set the box on her dresser and moved to the next package.
This package was large, and also in a box form. Opening it up, she was pleased to see Fire Nation armor along with a polished royal hairpiece. It was fitting for her to wear this when she fought. Along with the armor were a set of black boots and she was happy to see that her father had given her boots without the pointy toed. He knew how much she despised them, that is.
The next package was small and once opened, was revealed to be a lovely golden ring shaped as a dragon. Rubies adorned it's eyes and it took her only a moment to fit it onto her finger.
The last package was larger than the ring and once she opened it, her eyes twinkled. It was obviously from Uncle Iroh, she thought, as she removed a delicate and beautiful tea set. While she was not nearly as obsessed with tea as Uncle was, she still enjoyed it at least once a day.
Katara sat down, smiling happily and flicked her eyes to the window. The sky was darkening now, it had been for the past twenty minutes. She shrugged and decided to go to bed. She had plans for the morning.