A/N: I upped the rating because of swearing. I hope they don't swear too much, especially Katara. But, crap, they're teenagers! They're going to swear! Especially when put in the situations I've put them in.
And if you can't tell, Mei's a whore/prostitute/concubine. I thought that was obvious, but I guess not.
Chapter Three: The GirlsWhen Fai the healer unlocked the doors to her infirmary, she immediately dropped into a fighting stance. There were two reasons for this: One, she expected to have to fight, and possibly sedate, their prisoner waterbender, and two, she expected a rather grumpy fire Prince to be on her tail for leaving him with the waterbender for x-number of hours.
She found neither.
What she did find, however, shocked and amused her to no end.
Lying where she had left him was the Prince of the Fire Nation, and in his lap was the newest addition to the small crew--Mookie, Iroh's cat. The herbal remedy she had given him to ease the effects of his allergies much have worked---There was not a sign of the red, itchy eyes and horrid sneezes. Nor, she thought pleasantly, was there any sign of the soup-induced vomit. The kitten purred softly in the Prince's lap, just as oblivious as the Prince was to what was going on around her.
It was the female head leaning gently on the Prince's shoulder that had Fai worried.
It was such innocent gesture, and it made Fai want to laugh and cry at the same time. The waterbender probably did not mean for her head to lie on the Prince's shoulder; the two had probably stayed up talking, and when sleep took over, the Prince had probably looked like the softest pillow in the infirmary (Fai knew she didn't want to sleep on any of the pillow in this place). The Prince, confined to his bed by the sleeping cat, (or perhaps he had fallen asleep first) must have let the girl sleep on his shoulder without complaint.
Fai was only certain of one thing---judging by the content look glued on Prince Zuko's normal agitated face, he was probably having some of the best sleep he had had in a long time. Whether that was the waterbender's influence or not, Fai did not want to know.
For a moment, Fai was scared. Scared that, perhaps, the Fire Prince and the waterbender had, possibly, maybe, fallen in love. Which did not bode well for the Fire Nation as a whole, for if Prince Zuko ever regained his honor, it meant that there would be a waterbender on the throne, and waterbenders were horrible at politics, especially of the Fire Nation variety. The last thing anybody in the Fire Nation needed was a waterbender on the throne.
Fai continued to stare, again the sheer innocence of the scene in front of her made her not want to continue her morning duties and awake the pair. They just looked so happy, Fai thought…maybe; maybe having a waterbender on the throne was a good thing, even if they were rather horrid at politics.
Maybe it was a sign that, after a hundred years of war, peace was finally here.
Smiling silently, Fai turned around and walked right back out of the infirmary door. Her morning duties could wait---there was nothing extraordinarily important about them anyway, and she was not about to ruin the beautiful scene in front of her.
XXX
But gossip about it?
Of course. What sort of person did you think she was?
"Oh, Jee, you should have seen it! It was so sweet!" The middle-aged healer said, tossing her graying black hair into the tradition Fire Nation bun.
"I'm sure it was." Jee said, not listening at all to what Fai had to say. Which was normal, as Fai just liked to gossip a lot. He couldn't listen to all of their gossip, could he? "Who are we talking about, again?"
Fai looked appalled. "Why, Prince Zuko and the waterbender, of course! Haven't you been listening to me?"
Jee spit out his tea; an annoying habit that had started yesterday and seemed to create some sort of disturbing routine. Jee didn't like it---it wasted good tea.
"What were they doing!" He shouted. Oh, Great Agni! He did not need this.
"Nothing, really." Fai said, amused at how interested Jee had become in just a few choice words. "They were just sleeping next to one another. It was so cute! Her head on his shoulder, both of them completely oblivious to the world around them…" Fai sighed heavily, as if she expected her own Prince Charming to come and rescue her much the same way.
Jee winced, puzzled. Who was on guard duty last night? He was going to kill them. His mind raced, tracing over the schedule he'd given everyone who had gone to see the fortuneteller in the first place…
At that most unfortunate time, Jiro came into the room. "Say, Fai, you come up with anything good for a hangover yet?"
Jee hit him.
XXX
Zuko woke up first.
First thing he did was stretch and yawn, noticing, with the tiniest hint of reluctance, that he had just had some of the best sleep, ever. He gently petted the kitten on his lap, another sign that he had gotten good sleep, for any other time he probably would have roasted the cat and had it for breakfast. He twisted his neck gently, popping it into place per morning routine, and thought that maybe, just maybe, today would be a good day. Maybe he would capture the Avatar today, and get a chance to go home. Yeah, that would be good.
He turned to see what this lump was beside him, and his good morning was henceforth ruined.
Curled in a ball on the side of his bed was that damned waterbender witch, sleeping peacefully and quietly at his side as if she did that every night.
Very quietly, Zuko left the bed, staring in wonderment at the fact that the waterbender was still sleeping, and more importantly, had slept beside him. Quite possibly even touched him (not like that--get your damn dirty mind out of the gutter now) during the night. Whether the waterbender knew it or not, it was probably the closest form of human contact he had since he was banished.
He was surprised to find that he wasn't angry with this.
Very gently and quietly, he left the waterbender and the cat in their peaceful slumber, hoping that, maybe if he left now before anyone came in (or the waterbender woke up) he could avoid having the explain something he didn't even understand.
He wasn't going to complain, though. After all, a small part of his mind relented; the waterbender---Katara that was her name---was cute. He would never admit this aloud, and if anyone ever called him on it, he would deny it so hard it'd hurt.
Katara yawned in her sleep, turned around, and curled up beside Mookie.
Zuko smiled, a rare event in and of itself.
Oh yeah, Katara was cute. Very cute. He was surprised he never noticed this little fact before. He wondered what she thought of him—
He sneezed.
Damn cat.
XXX
"I am NOT staying in there!" Katara screamed at her two—three---no, four---make that five…ah, crap, Iroh was there too. Fine then, six guards.
Jee squirmed. "Why does it stink so bad?"
Shen shrugged. "She got sick. No one bothered to clean it up."
Katara looked very ill. "I'll get sick again if you make me stay in there!"
Taro growled. "She was the one who threw up everywhere. Aren't you a waterbender? Why don't you use some water to clean it up?"
Katara scowled. "I would, dumbass, but I need water in order to waterbend."
Iroh smiled pleasantly as he petted Mookie. "So I'd imagine."
"We can't give her water, she's a waterbender." Zuko countered with logic. "You two, clean up this cell." He snapped at Taro and Daisuke, who looked less than pleased at that prospect.
Jee frowned. "And where do you suggest we keep her until then, your highness?"
Zuko shrugged his shoulders. "Can't we keep her in the crew quarters for now?"
"Oh no, I am not sleeping in a room full of horny firebenders!" Katara screamed. Jee, Taro, Daisuke, and Shen looked mildly insulted.
"In case you've forgotten, you're my prisoner, not guest! I could make you stay in the cell if I wanted to!" Zuko yelled at Katara. Katara lowered her head as she was reminded of that fact. There was a small look of homesickness in her eyes that made Zuko almost regret yelling at her.
Almost.
Iroh frowned. "But she does bring up a good point, Prince Zuko." He said, putting Mookie down on the ground. "Perhaps she can stay with the female soldiers of this ship."
Katara looked at them curiously. "There are other girls on this ship?" She asked inquisitively.
Taro snorted. "Of course there are!"
"Fire Nation ain't sexist!" Daisuke added.
"No discrimination here, you stupid water-witch." Taro finished, looking for a chance to stop mopping up the spew. Jee noticed this immediately and set the boy back to work in an instant.
"I agree with General Iroh. I'll send Hikari right this instant to take her to the crew quarters immediately, your highness." Jee said. This was going to be perfect—with Hikari watching over her every moment of the day, nothing could go wrong.
Oh how very wrong Jee was.
XXX
There were exactly five women on board Prince Zuko's ship besides Katara. There was Xia Li, who was in her mid-thirties, and seemed to be a rather rough looking woman, by Katara's opinion. She was a big woman with ratty hair that probably hadn't seen a hairbrush in twenty years, and could probably snap Katara in two with her pinky nail. Next was Mei, another woman close in age with Xia Li, this one was very thin and skeletal looking, with a pampered-ness about her that was different than all the other women on the ship. Katara didn't want to know what her job on the ship was, though she could very easily venture a guess.
On the bunks across from Xia Li and Mei sat Fai, the healer. She was a pleasant-looking woman with gentle hands and a kind heart, something Katara did not think was possible inside the Fire Nation. Katara was actually sort of hoping to speak with her; maybe the two healers could learn a thing or two from each other. On the bunk above Fai's sat Akiko, of whom Katara knew nothing about, other than that she was something of a recluse.
All of this wealth of information Katara achieved in less than three minutes by the last Fire-female on board, Hikari, who had not shut up since she found out Katara was bunking with her. Katara didn't really mind, though. Hikari seemed nice, so to speak, if only a bit gossipy. Though with the present company aboard the ship, Katara really couldn't blame her. The other girls didn't seem to want to talk much.
"Uh, hi." Katara said quietly, waving at her new 'bunkmates'.
Xia Li grunted. Mei patted her hair, ignoring her. Akiko rolled her eyes and turned over on her other side. Fai smiled politely. Hikari waved.
"So, uh." Katara mumbled. "What are we suppose to be doing?"
"Guarding you." Xia Li grumbled. "All of us have been pulled from our original duties and assigned to watch over you."
"Oh," Katara blinked. "That must be nice. Now you guys get to spend time together."
"Actually," Fai interrupted. "Most of us hardly know one another. We're all usually so busy with our duties that we don't see one another all that often."
"We actually only just sleep in the same room together." Hikari offered a gentle smile.
"Oh," Katara said again, looking around nervously.
There was an unhealthy silence in the room. None of the girls seemed to know what to say to one another. Each busied themselves with their own thing while Katara sat on the bed, being bored. Xia Li was doing push-ups, Fai was reading, Mei was doing her nails, and Akiko was ignoring everyone, per usual. It was only then when she noticed Hikari looking at her rather intently.
"You know, I've always wanted to know---how do you get your hair to braid like that?" Hikari asked, fumbling an attempt to braid her own hair.
It all went uphill from there.
XXX
They were giggling.
"What the hell is going on---"
"SHHH!" Five or six unruly firebending males (Daisuke, Taro, and Jiro included in this bunch) shouted towards their Prince, each one with their ears plastered to the door that lead to the ladies compartment on the ship. There was an odd, lighthearted noise coming from the room that Zuko hardly recognized. When he realized what it was, he still could not believe it.
The girls, the women, on his ship, were giggling.
And it was all Katara's fault. He'd bet money on it.
Suddenly, he was just as interested as his men were as to what was going on inside there. He bent on his knees beside them, pressing his own ear to a blank spot on the door.
"What do you think they're talking about in there?" One of the men asked shyly.
"Us, probably." Another answered cockily.
"Girl things," Daisuke supplied his own answer. "Make-up and babies and such."
"You think?" The one from before asked.
"Who cares what they're talking about!" Jiro growled unhappily.
Taro frowned. "Jiro, it will be alright---"
"THEY STOLE MY BOOZE! THEY STOLE MY BOOZE!" He attempted to yell before several of the men tackled him in order to get him to shut up.
Zuko blinked. "They took your—"
"All of it, damnit!" He barked.
"Calm down, Jiro!"
"They'll hear us!"
"GOOD! I HOPE THEY DO!" He banged on the door loudly. "GIVE ME BACK MY FUCKING B---"
But then, he stopped. The whole world seemed to have stopped. Time itself stayed still for a moment of monstrous glory as Zuko son of Ozai's world shattered.
There was Katara.
And she was beautiful.
After traveling with the Avatar, Katara had had little time for make-up and doing her hair in anything fancier than her traditional braid, but now, now, she was making up for it. Little flowers braided into her hair gave her a heavenly scent that he did not know how to place. Her blue eyes sparkled with an eerie beauty that he knew flowed past the skin. If she was 'cute' before, she was gorgeous now…
It wasn't just Katara, either. Hikari was standing there, her hair tied in ridiculous cinnamon buns on the side of her head, too, shared the same flowery scent. Hell, even Xia Li and Fai had gotten involved, their hair decked into several braids and other fancy do-rags. Mei stood back, gazing in a mirror as she admired the change the braids gave to her hair.
It was Akiko, tiny, forgotten, reclusive Akiko, that shocked them all.
Her hair was back in a traditional waterbender braid. Her face was painted with all of Mei's tradition firebender make-up, and in her hand was a bottle of Jiro's booze.
Jiro probably fell in love at that point, but with him you could never tell. He might've just been admiring the booze, for all Zuko knew.
"Boys," she said seductively. "Don't you know it's rude to intrude on a girl's slumber party?"
XXX
Katara smiled at how brilliant she was. Honestly, she was surprised at herself for coming up with such a good plan. Who would have known how easy it was to get fire women drunk? And the best part was, she got a makeover out of it as well.
She stepped over the sleeping bodies carefully, for the women had long since passed out out of drunkenness. She herself, being the only underage one of the group, had not drunk a single drop, and for that she was proud of herself. But she was also proud of what a clever escape plan she had come up with.
She probably deserved a medal for it.
But, deep inside, Katara felt bad. She had lied and tricked these women, earned their trust, and now was betraying it. She told herself over and over that they would have done the same to her in a heartbeat, even though she didn't really think that was true. She felt really bad for betraying Hikari, who, by her continuous questioning of whether or not Katara liked Prince Zuko or not, was probably only looking for a friend.
Above all, it proved to Katara that not all firebenders were cruel and heartless and evil and men, and that's what scared her the most.
She began untying the lifeboat carefully, not wanting to be seen or heard. Little did she know she was being watch---
"Boo." A quiet, seductive (or maybe that was just him, period) voice whispered in her ear, making her drop the rope that held the lifeboat.
"Zuko." She whispered, feeling his warm breath against her neck. It tickled.
"Clever plan." He whispered, taking in her scent. "It almost worked."
Katara felt unexpected heat rise to her face, and found she could not explain why it was there. She felt numb all of the sudden, like his sullen whispers had frozen her where she stood. There was a tingling in her skin that she welcomed, although she did not fully understand it. It was almost if she—
Nah, like that would ever happen.
"It almost worked." He whispered again, his mouth dangerously close to her ear. "Almost."
She did not fight him as he carried her back to the room with the girls, did not argue when he locked the door—only sat on her bed numbly rubbing her cheek where his breath had been mere moments ago.
"Katara? 's that you?" Hikari mumbled, drunk.
"Yeah, it's me, Hikari." Katara whispered, her hand still against her cheek and ear. "Go back to sleep."
"Was that :hic: Zuko in here a'minute ago?" She asked numbly. Katara did not answer, just stared at the locked door in wonderment, as if she expected the Prince to come back in at any time.
Hikari took her lack of response as a 'yes'. She grinned. "You know, I think he likes you." She said before she passed back out on her own bunk.
"You know," Katara whispered after Hikari had already passed out. "I think I like him, too." She then went to sleep, and for the first time since she had been captured, dreamt of something other than her escape.
:end:
A/N: Well, I liked it, I don't know about all of you.