…

To say that Aang was surprised when a young woman walked into his training arena would be a bit of an understatement.

Aang had gotten pretty used to his Bending Masters being crotchety old men.

But this woman was young - roughly his own age, as far as he could tell - with long brown hair and mocha colored skin.

It wasn't until the ball of water he had been idly bending splashed down on his boots that realized he had been staring. He consciously reminded himself to close his gaping mouth. No need to gawk, Aang.

But even with the self-admonishment, Aang couldn't keep himself from watching the girl carefully as she came into the large training arena. She walked proudly with her chin held high and her shoulders back. The blue and white of her clothing was a stark contrast to all the Fire Nation red, the predominant color adorning the enclosed two-story courtyard that worked as the Avatar's training ground.

Aang looked down at himself - even he wore red. The carefree oranges and yellows of his childhood another long-forgotten piece of his heritage; colors he hadn't worn in years.

As the woman walked closer, Aang could see that she was even more beautiful up close than she had looked from afar. Her skin was a flawless warm-toned brown, and she wore two blue beads in the front of her hair that matched the startling blue of her eyes. The rest of her hair fell down her back in waves all the way to her slim waist. For some reason Aang felt the urge to reach out and touch her hair, to finger a long lock to know for himself if it was indeed as soft as it looked.

Aang looked down and clasped his hands together, wondering what had come over him.

Something about this woman was making his stomach feel strange, like the days when he used to dive a bit too quickly off of the Air Temple's tallest towers.

Aang shook his head roughly, pushing the thought out of his head. Those days were long gone; he couldn't imagine why that image would come to him now. He chided himself. It's not like he didn't see beautiful women everyday here in the palace. Even if this woman's look was clearly distinctive from the typical milk-white skin, shinny black hair and golden eyes of the Caldera City nobility.

Clearly something more than just her beauty was making the Avatar squirm.

To mask his discomfort, Aang held his hands in Fire Nation greeting and bowed to the woman as she stopped several paces before him. "Sifu," he addressed respectfully, glancing only briefly into the intensity of those blue eyes.

The woman did not return the Fire Nation greeting. "Avatar Aang, I presume?" Her voice was surprisingly cold, and when Aang chanced to glance into her eyes, he was startled to see that they looked hard.

"Uh… yes," Aang stammered, a bit bewildered at the charged atmosphere.

"I am Sifu Katara. I'll be your new Waterbending Master." Aang noted how her jaw clenched when she said it. Like the words tasted bitter in her mouth.

"Yes. Thank you, Sifu Katara." Aang bowed once more to cover the small smile on his face. He liked the sound of her name on his lips.

The flip-floppy feeling Aang felt in his stomach around his new Sifu was not entirely unpleasant. But Aang had learned to be wary of uncharted experiences. His time here at the Fire Palace had taught him to doubt himself, to second guess his emotions. The carefree, openness of his upbringing had brought him nothing but punishment here.

"Well," his new Sifu began, sinking into a lunge and pulling a long stream of water from the large troughs on the perimeter of the courtyard. "Lets get started, shall we?"

….

Katara fought the urge to look back at the Avatar as the heavy double doors of the arena closed solidly behind her, blocking out the bright sunshine from the practice courtyard and plunging her into the dimness of the outer entrance hall. Her shoulders finally drooped as she let out a pent up sigh of relief.

She did not look forward to what awaited her now. But it was a relief nonetheless to no longer be in the Avatar's presence.

As a guard stepped forward with her iron restraints in his hand, she reflected on what she had just experienced.

As much as Katara had fought it, she had been unable to keep down the churning anticipation that had built in the pit of her stomach as she had prepared to meet the Avatar. She'd believed in the Avatar since her earliest memories; she'd believed in the legends, believed in his ability to save the world.

But that had been before.

Before the Avatar's miraculous emergence from an iceberg near the South Pole when she was fourteen. Before his return had reawakened the Fire Navy's interest in her remote area, enticing a fleet to come raid her home. Before they had razed what was left of her small village to the ground.

Before she had lost everyone.

It was before she had learned of the Avatar's subsequent betrayal and allegiance to the Fire Nation.

Needless to say, the idea of meeting the Avatar had brought intense feelings. The hero of her childhood and the villain of her adolescence all in one. She hated him, and yet she'd been unable to entirely stifle the awe buried deep within.

However, Avatar Aang had been nothing like she'd expected. Stories from her childhood had conjured images of a mighty creature, a being more than human. A god. She had formed in her mind the visage of an ancient, all knowing being, glowing with the power of a spirit. (She knew her imaginings were already at odds with Zuko's description of a small bald monk with a blue arrow on his forehead and a disarmingly trusting smile.)

But what she had seen today matched neither image.

The young man she had met today was neither god nor child. From the distance across the courtyard, there had been little to distinguish this man from any other Fire Nation soldier – red clothes, topknot, arrogance in his stance. Only the globe of water balanced between his hands betrayed that he was anything more than any other Ash Eater.

Hatred had balled up into her throat.

Katara's hands had trembled as she'd asked herself once again how she could do this? How could she betray her people, betray the rebellion — by teaching this monster how to better destroy them?

But she had smoothed her dress down to calm her shaking hands as she squared her shoulders and walked unhaltingly towards the Avatar.

She knew why. And she knew that circumstances made it so she couldn't really make any other choice.

From up close, she'd noted that although the young man was dressed in Fire Nation clothing, his features were in fact noticeably foreign. The bridge of his nose, the slant and color of his eyes, the giant blue arrow on his forehead – clearly marked him as not Fire Nation.

A traitor then, Katara judged. She knew that he had already sold his soul to the Ash Eaters. Gotten in bed with the very people who had slaughtered his own. As far as Katara was concerned he was one of them now.

During their practice the Avatar had been respectful enough, and learned what she had taught him with graceful ease. More than once he had tried to engage her in conversation (which she had promptly ended). The openness in his grey eyes had unnerved her. But despite the boy's surprisingly humble demeanor, and his expectant, unguarded expression, Katara's heart had turned to stone towards him.

The weight of the cold manacles locking into place on Katara's wrists brought her back from her thoughts. She rolled her shoulders to release the stress she had held there for the last tense hour spent with the Avatar.

"So, you are the new Tribal acquired to train our champion?" A voice drawled. Katara looked up to see a broad-shouldered man with large sideburns approaching her.

"I'd heard the new waterbender was a woman, but I must say, I wasn't expecting someone so…" the man's eyes meandered indulgently over her body, "…fresh."

Shame rose hotly to Katara's face. She wanted to look away, but instead forced her chin up a bit higher as she scowled steadily back at the man. "I am Katara, Master Waterbender and Sifu to the Avatar," she replied firmly.

The man's eyes finally left her body to look her in the face. "I know," he said dismissively. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Counselor Zhao, High Counselor to the Fire Lord and caretaker of the Avatar," he said self-importantly. "The Avatar is my ward, and what I say goes regarding his training." He brushed past her to stand in front of the heavy double doors leading into the training ground. As the guards rushed to open them, he continued, "Whether you live or die depends heavily upon how I'm feeling on any given day, so…" The man turned to look down on her again, the condescending smirk on his face slipping, as hard malice took its place. "I suggest you learn your place. And to respect mine."

And with that he strode out the doors towards the Avatar, long robe billowing out behind him.

…