Hey everyone! I'm sorry for updating this so late, but I had so many ideas for this prompt, and I couldn't decide if I wanted Katara and Zuko to act friendly towards each other or not, if there was peace or war, etc. I wrote down four different stories, and in the end settled for this one. I hope you'll like it!

I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender.

Day 19: Avatara

His anticipation grows with every minute. These damn pirates! What if they don't come back? Or what if they take her and decide to keep her?

Zuko's hands clench to fists and he grits his teeth.

Sitting in the bushes to wait for a bunch of pirates to appear with the Avatar is not really how he imagined his moment of glory, but he also didn't think the Avatar to be a sassy, little girl.

That should have made capturing her easier, but somehow those children are pretty clever and have luck on their side everywhere they go.

Zuko's now imagined moment of glory is also not what he imagined. Instead of grown man marching in here with a tied up girl, a completely free girl runs out from under the trees, straight forward, in Zuko's direction, the grown men chasing her with loud shouts and weapon clattering.

Zuko smirks. That's even better. This way he will still kind of catch her.

He tenses and waits for his moment like a predator for his prey. He grins at that thought, since it would be pretty fitting in all scenarios. The Fire Prince stalking the Avatar, fire devouring water, a man hunting a woman.

She's close enough, and Zuko jumps.

He lands right in front of her feet, startling her so much that she only gasps, but doesn't have time to retreat, and he grabs her wrists. She won't be able to fight without being able to waterbend.

Zuko pulls her closer to his chest so that she hasn't enough space to try to kick him or do something equally desperate.

"Now I've got you!" he growls.

"NO! Let me go!" she screams and wiggles around.

Zuko has to pull her right to his chest and wrap his arms around her in order to stop her from hurting him somehow. His crew isn't here, only Uncle and a bunch of pirates he doesn't know he can trust. Why didn't he think about bringing ropes and a gag?

"I must admit, she is a feast for the eyes, but you could have got yourself an even prettier lady in town without all hat effort," one of the pirates grins. His hair is long and he wears green clothes, his plump lips spread in a disgusting smirk.

Zuko scowls. "I don't plan to use her for that," he spats, then quickly turns the girl around so that her back is pressed against his chest.

"As if I would ever let a cow pig like him hmpmmpf!" He presses his hand against her mouth to stop her indignant complaining.

"So you wouldn't mind if we had a little fun with her fist, and then let you have her?" the green clad pirate asks, still grinning.

Zuko scowls. First of all, this is his prey. Secondly, this is a little girl! How dare those pirates be so honourless? But then again, they are pirates. "You'll have to get through me first!"

He tenses and looks around, seeing how a dozen pirates get into a fighting position, and the captain smirks. "Well, then, we don't think the Fire Lord will miss his banished, outcast son."

Iroh steps next to Zuko, and Zuko has to stop himself from yelling at him for not making an appearance earlier. "Have I ever told you how I got the name Dragon of the West?"

The pirates don't seem to care and still run forward.

Zuko immediately turns around to shield the Avatar's body, then he throws her on his shoulder and runs away from the massive fire wall, trusting that Iroh will follow them.

Zuko runs for a while, leaving the noises of the battle behind him, hoping that Uncle got every one of those bastards.

The Avatar doesn't stop screaming and wiggling, and Zuko ponders if he should just knock her out. But her head hangs on his shoulder, so he does the only thing he can think of. He hits her behind.

"What the seal's shit? Are you crazy, you pervert?" Her little fists drum onto his back.

He hits her again, harder. "Shut your mouth or I'm gonna hit your head next to force you to shut up!" he growls and strengthens his grip on her to make his threat more believable. It's not that he wouldn't do it, but he'd rather not do it.

That shuts her up, and Zuko sighs, runs faster and can already see how he will deliver the Avatar to his father,

But he shouldn't have kept running close to the river.

Soon, his feet are covered in ice, and he falls on the ground, hits it with his face. It hurts like Oni's shit, and even before his vision gets dark Zuko notices the pain to be too strong not to fall into unconsciousness from it.

When Zuko wakes up, his head doesn't hurt anymore. It feels like he never fell in the first place. And he's fricking cold.

His eyes open wide, but all he can see are leaves and branches, obscuring the sky. A thick layer of ice covers his body and is the reason for him being so cold.

Damn, if he hadn't been cold for dragons know how long he could easily heat up and melt the ice, but he feels way too cold to even think about fire. How long was he out? And where the magma is he?

A brown face with ocean blue eyes and rose pink lips comes into his view. Brown, blue, pink. Those are the colours he associates with her face. He could never forget it.

Zuko glares at her with all the animosity he can master, but it's hard, when she doesn't look angry herself. She looks more like she's tired.

Her eyes are wide, fearful, but not angry. Confused. "You saved me from the pirates," she says, as if she can't understand how and why that happened.

Zuko frowns. "So? I'm no monster."

The Avatar keeps staring down at him and her facial expression suddenly softens. "Maybe not. Killing you would be the easiest way. This way my friends and I wouldn't have to fear that you keep chasing us. But I'm no monster, either."

This is simply humiliating. Zuko is so vulnerable to the Avatar that she could easily kill him. She even thinks about it! Well, it's not like he's not used to girls who are younger than him trying to kill him.

So she walks away. She lets him freeze to death.

He grits his teeth and takes deep breaths, hoping to connect with his inner fire again to melt this icy blanket.

It seems like his day of glory hasn't been here yet.

Thanks for reading!:D