A/N: First person and present tense? I must be insane. Don't worry, this is just for this chapter, and then back to normal, easy, 3rd person. Also, I would like to say thank you to those who have reviewed, followed, and favorite. P.S. I know I promised this like two months ago, sorry. I had school and writer's block. However I took the fact that I had no class, no work, a broken Wacom tablet, and Netflix experiencing "technical difficulties" as a sign from the universe that I needed to do this. Also I went back through this and cringed at how many spelling errors there were. I tried to clean it up some, so if you find any, just know I at least tried.

Disclaimer: Sorry, still don't own any of this.

Reviewers will get fruit pies made by Aang and Gyatso. And yes, they are delicious.

Chapter Two: Welcome to the Land of Fire

"What if he doesn't like me?" I ask, my eyes glued to reflection in the mirror. It's a stupid question, and a misplaced one at that. I already know the answer. No, the Prince wouldn't like not me. Not at first. I know this because I don't like him. This whole arrangement has made me resentful. So if his situation is anything like mine, he is probably just as unenthusiastic to be wed to a stranger. So no, he wouldn't like me.

But as I stare at my reflection, inspecting every aspect of my appearance, it is a slightly different question that began to plague me. What I really mean is; what if he doesn't like the way I look?

It's a silly question. I shouldn't care what he thinks of me. But I do. Even if this is only a marriage for political standing I still have to acknowledge that this complete stranger, this prince will be my husband, and I will have to spend the rest of my life at his side.

I only know what Chief Arnook told me, which is very little. He is the son of the Fire Lord's second son, seventeen years of age, a fire bender. His name started with a Z, I don't quite remember the rest of it though. I suppose that is a rather awful thing, to not know the name of the person I am about to marry, I suppose that in itself represented the awfulness of this whole situation.

"Nonsense, Prince Zuko will love you, Princess." Zuko, that's it. So even Mika knew his name, I wonder what that says about me? My dress maid knows more about him than I do. Mika is Yue's lady in waiting, although I often think nanny might be a more appropriate title. Officially, her job is to make sure the princess always looked just as such, a princess, but she spent more of her time making sure Yue stayed in line, than she did tending to her style.

She also insists on addressing me as Princess. I suppose the title is correct, by birth I am as much royalty as Yue is. But I certainly have never thought of myself as one. The Southern Tribe simply didn't have the time or rescores to supply anyone with lavish, royal lifestyles.

Regardless, Mika was excellent at her job, which is why I can't help but stare at my reflection, it reminds me of Yue. Only I feel much less comfortable in the intricate fabrics and expensive furs than my northern sister does. It wasn't the first time I had gotten dressed up like this, but this feels more significant.

I can hardly recognize myself, Mika has coated my lips in a deep red paint and used a deep charcoal on my eyes, making them appear larger than normal. And she has smeared pink powder across my cheeks, giving me the kind of flush I would often work up after an intense work out. But what strikes me the most is my hair. It had been braided, and twisted, and pinned, and sprayed. I had tried to keep track of what Mika had been doing, but lost track twelve pins and four braids in. All I know is that the hair do resonated in elegance that rivaled Yue's. It was the hair that made my faux royalty believable.

Mika finishes her pampering, adding a final blot of powder to my makeup covered face, and leaves my room.

I am worrying again, although I don't remember when I stopped. I begin manipulating the water in a nearby glass in attempt to calm myself, twisting and twirling it around the room, seeing how complex I can make the pattern.

"Careful, you wouldn't want to spill on your dress." Arnook's voice takes me by surprise, I don't know when he came in. I quickly pour the water back into the cup and stand up.

"Is it time?" I ask with as much feigned confidence as I can find.

"Yes, we have just docked, General Iroh is waiting for us." He tells me and turns away, beckoning for me to follow him.

I try to remember the way Yue would walk whenever she was in front of a large crowd. It was strong and intimidating, yet as graceful as the moon, as if she suddenly became an untouchable force to be looked up upon.

But my every step feels heavy; the world comes slamming down with each step. On the outside, everything is calm, but I am worried that one wrong breath will cause me to combust.

We are now on the deck of the ship. I trail behind Arnook, who walks towards the gangplank with as much grace as his daughter. A grace I don't possess. I see them, there are three, two men, one younger than the first, and a woman. They stand in a line at the dock, unmoving, their status is clear by the way they hold themselves like the high and powerful people they are.

I feel out of place, a peasant among royalty. Arnook comes to a halt, I am paying close attention to him, so I don't make a klutz of myself. I step forward so that I am beside him, I try to mimic the stone cold look from the three Fire Nation royals.

The older man is first to speak, and his voice surprises me. It is not deep and powerful like I thought; instead the sound is a hollow rasp.

"Pleasure to see you again Chief Arnook. I hope traveled well." He says.

"Thank you General Iroh, yes, we experienced smooth sailing for the majority of the trip." Arnook replies. The exchange is dry, rehearsed, petty, but it is what I expect from royalty.

"Glad to hear it." General Iroh says, and I can't tell if the notion is genuine. Arnook then takes the opportunity to gesture to me.

"I would like to present to you the Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe." He says, it is now my turn to act.

All eyes are on me, making their assessments of me, I feel like a moose-lion being sold at an auction.

A moose-lion in a clown costume.

"It is an honor to meet you General." The line is rehearsed; I have practiced them over and over in my head. I must be perfect.

"Pleasure to meet you Princess Katara, I have heard wonderful things about you." I wish everyone would stop calling me princess, but I must remain poised and competent.

"Let me introduce my sister in law, Ursa, and her son, Prince Zuko." The General says, and I notice how he left off the woman, Ursa's, title.

"Katara, it's an honor to meet you, we are all so glad to welcome you to our blessed nation." The woman smiles at me, it's a warm smile, a genuine one, it calms my nerves for a split second.

But then I'm staring at him.

And he's staring at me.

We are staring at each other.

It's weird.

I don't know what to say. I am positive that whatever I say will be wrong. After all, what is the appropriate way to greet the person you are going to marry? I'm not sure there is one. I am expecting him to introduce himself, spouting the same political pleasantries that his mother and uncle have. But he doesn't say anything. We're still staring at each other, and it's reaching a unbearable level of uncomfortable. So I bow, a desperate attempt to break the gaze. I'm not sure if he bows back, I am too focused on my own actions to take notice.

Ursa then leads us to the carriage. Although I'm not sure that it is a carriage at all. We all pile in and I feel us being lifted of the ground. So we are being carried, I already do not like it here, if just for that.

We are all silent. I am seated across from the prince, and I take the opportunity to study him. He is exactly what I had expected of Fire Nation Royalty. Dressed in traditional Fire Nation robes. I remember he is fairly tall, but not too tall that it's alarming, maybe an inch or so taller than Sokka. His skin is pale and flawless, like porcelain. It contrasts with his dark pulled back hair, a trait of the fire nation. His features are distorted by the foul expression he wears. I take notice of his eyes. At first the look angry, but then I see something else, it is sadness, it unsettles me how sad they are, it was the same that I saw in my brother's eyes after our mother died, and it scares me.

I try to think of something else, but my mind is becoming clouded and my thoughts begin to jumble. At least I could put to rest one of my fears, the Fire Prince was not ugly.

I wish she would stop staring at me. It's been ten minutes and all she's done is stare. Like I'm some kind of mutant spider-rat. Which I'm not.

But yet she still insists on gaping at me with those huge, bug eyes.

And they are huge, almost alien actually. If anything deserves staring its those eyes. Wide and blue and panicked like they belong to a frightened child. They seem too out of place. The rest of her is completely calm and reserved, but her eyes are overflowing with emotions I can't quite pick up on.

Great now I'm the one staring.

Apart from the eyes there seems to be nothing at all interesting about the princess. Her lavish way of dressing is borderline ridiculous. Covered in a thousand beads and gems, plus that fur-lined coat she has on is hardly appropriate for the weather, even if it is sleeveless. I wonder if she will change her attire to something more fitting to the environment, or if she plans to continue tromping around in her strange Ice Block garb for the rest of her life. I guess I don't really care, but there's not exactly anything else to think about.

I'm starting to feel trapped with the five of us stuffed into the small enclosure. And the feeling of suffocation is not one that I enjoy. The Water Tribe Chief and my Uncle are seated across from each other and have been apparently locked in some sort of royal staring match since we started moving. Every so often Uncle will make note of some wedding detail, to which the Chief will reply with something equally insignificant and plastic sounding. I would be a little creeped out if I weren't so hyper aware of how awkward the whole situation was. I am suddenly relieved that Azula decided not to tag along. I don't even want to think about how much worse this whole outing would be with Azula sitting next to the Chief making the kind of mortifying comments that would surely scar me, and everyone else for the remainder of our pitiful lives.

My mother has been talking since she sat down, but I'm not listening. She's going on about how great the palace is.

"You will absolutely adore it." I hear her say.

Yeah right. What's to love about the palace? It's big and dark and lonely, I would leave if I could.

My mother hates the palace. She's good at pretending though, she has always been an excellent liar, a trait Azula evidently picked up on, she plays them off in a way where you actually believe she means them. Sometimes I can't even tell the difference, but I've learned to pick up on the little things she does or how she says things she doesn't mean, which is more often than not.

I look back at Katara. She isn't staring anymore, thank Agni. Instead she's trying to listen to my mother. I can tell she doesn't believe her either, or she's trying to convince herself that she does.

It doesn't matter now because were here. And she can see for herself how wretched this place really is.

Our walking carriage comes to a stop, and we all file out. So this is the palace, it's huge, frightening really. It's beautiful, and intimidating, like no mater how powerful you are you can't help but feeling small compared to it's grandiosity. The Fire Nation has always been known for it's grand displays of power, and it shows in the design of the palace. The exterior is built up of black and gold and designed in a way that reminds me of a giant war ship. A red tower shoots up from the center with a large gold statue resembling fire sprouting from the top.

The courtyard is bare and dry. I had been expecting some sort of garden or vegetation, at the very least a fountain. But there is nothing. I couldn't see much in terms of scenery during our trip here, but I remember seeing glimpses of green peeking through the curtains every so often. However all I see now is stone ground. Also, the large wall that now encases the palace and us makes me think that not many people are welcome here. But I try to put off my assessments until we are inside.

At the poles, everything is white. The misty pale sky blended with the constant blanket of snow and ice that covered the land from all directions. Even in the Northern Palace, the rooms were filled with a blinding bright white that reflected off of the walls of ice. At night, the sky would turn blue, and would light up with every color imaginable, but then daybreak would come, and my world would fade back to white. At times I grew quite sick of all the white, especially during the long days of summer when the sun never set. I wished to see the vibrant colors that the other Nations possessed.

But right now I miss the blinding white.

The palace is dark. Almost everything is in shadow. The theme of red and gold has continued inside the palace and the lights that line the halls glow dim. It is not what I would have expected from the nation of fire. Since we left the docks the daylight has been slowly leaving, so I suppose it's possible that most of the palace relies on natural light during the day. But there are few windows, so I do not put much hope in that possibility. I realize I am not sure where we are going when the general stops to turn and face us. We seem to be at the divide between the left and right wings of the palace, and there are two

"I am sorry we wont have time to give you a proper tour of the palace tonight. But I am sure you are both worn out from the journey here, and you should take the opportunity to rest." The General explains as he stops and turns to face us. I notice that there are two girls, servants, standing at the back wall.

"Kiko and Sayo are two of our best workers and have been selected to be your personal aids during the remainder of your visits. If there is anything you need, they will tend to you." The general turns to the two servants who have both stepped away from the wall.

"Ladies would you please escort Chief Arnook and Miss Katara to their rooms?" Arnook thanks General Iroh for his hospitality and I follow suit. We then follow the two maids down various halls that all look the same until we are led to two doors adjacent to each other.

"We have already prepared your rooms and brought up your belongings from the dock. We hope that you will find them satisfactory." On of the maids, Sayo, tells us. Arnook thanks the maids and enters the room, which has been prepared for him. Again I find myself mimicking his actions, and entering my own room.

The room is very simple; there is not much besides a bed, a black wardrobe and a writing desk. The décor matches the rest of the palace, red and gold. There is also another doorway on the right wall, however it has no actual door, just a hanging red curtain. The small bag that I had brought from the North is resting on the bed. I was told not to bring much, as everything including my wardrobe would be provided to me. I don't like the idea of prancing around in Fire Nation garb all that much, so I snuck in a few dresses of my own. Apart from that, there was not much I needed to bring anyway, my mother's necklace, a few keepsake letters I had kept from over the years, and some water bending scrolls I had snuck with me. Most of my stuff would probably be safer in the North anyways. There is also small room on the left wall, upon further inspection I see that it's a washroom. That's a relief; it saves me the trouble of finding one later, and at least I'll have access to water now if I need it.

I'm not tired. The sun hasn't been down for more than an hour. Plus, I can't be certain, but I think the sun and moon cycles are a little different here, it seems much earlier than it is. My dress is extremely uncomfortable, and much too hot. I was too preoccupied earlier to think about it. Now that I'm alone though I realize just how suffocating and restricting it feels, not to mention it's completely ill suited for this hot weather.

I wonder if the wardrobe is already stocked with clothes? I don't exactly want to be dressing myself in Fire nation clothes, but it sounds better than the alternative of over heating in my sleep.

More red. Not that I expected anything else. The wardrobe is in fact full. With a variety of different dresses, that are of course all varying shades of crimson. I've never really thought about it, but it's almost silly that in each nation there is only one color that every one wears. And red is such a jarring color. I never really noticed, or minded in the Water Tribes. Blue was just what I had understood to be the color of clothes. But red, is so… red. I wonder what would happen if people stopped dressing in their nation's colors. What if one day I wore purple, or tope, or jade? Would there be riots in the streets? Would I be forced to change into my own colors? Probably not. At least I don't think so. It's not like I have any sort of desire to dress in every color of the rainbow, I'm perfectly happing sticking with my cobalt and periwinkle.

Even so, I feel like I'm breaking an unspoken law as a pull on a maroon and amber colored sleeping kimono. It might be a little big, but I don't really know how it's supposed to fit in the first place, the Water Tribes aren't exactly big on loose, breathable, clothing.

It's actually quite comfortable. No, extremely comfortable. The silk is soft and cool on my skin, almost like running water cascading over me. I may not be all that fond of the Fire Nation, but at least I can say they have comfortable sleepwear.

I'm still not tired, but there's a hundred pins in my hair, maybe by the time I've figured out how to remove them all I'll be a little more open to the idea of sleep.

I'm not. I've striped my hair of all it's accessories, as it happens there were seventy-two pins in my hair. Until now, I didn't even think my hair could hold that many pins. I look more myself now, my face is still coated in the thick makeup Mika had put on me, and the red kimono looks out of place compared to the usual blue I'm accustomed to seeing. But I can finally see myself poking out from underneath.

After running out of things to keep myself busy: I unpacked my small bag, washed my face, made an inventory of all the things that could be remotely interesting in this room (which didn't take long at all), I've decided to attempt sleep. Slithering under the bed sheets I think back to my first night in the Northern Water Tribe. I had never seen a bed before. In the South everyone sleeps in tents and igloos, we used sleeping bags layers of animal furs for beds, when I got to the North I was amazed and confused to hear that they didn't sleep on the ground like we did. I remember marveling by how soft beds were, but when I tried to sleep that first night, I couldn't do it. I ended up taking all the bedding off and sleeping on the floor, the hardness was familiar and I could pretend I was back home. But I've gotten used to the feel of sleeping on a bed now, in fact, if I tried sleeping on the floor now, I'm sure I would be uncomfortable and sore in the morning. It isn't something that matters much, I hadn't even thought about it until now, but it was a small part of me that I lost when I left home the first time. I wonder… what will I lose this time?

The heat of the sun through my window forces me awake. It's a shame, I was having a good dream. I've forgotten it already, but the initial confusion has worn off and I remember yesterday's events, remember the nightmare that is currently my life.

I'd like to go back to sleep now.

But I can't, because someone's currently banging on my door. Whoever it is should know better than to disturb me so early in the morning.

"What do you want?" I bark through the door, maybe whoever it is will get the hint and leave.

"Zuko, it's your mother, may I come in?" Apparently that was a rhetorical question because she doesn't wait for me to respond before she opens the door.

"I was sleeping."

"Sorry to wake you sweetie, your father and I are having breakfast with the Chief and Princess Katara, would you like to join us?" My mother is polite, too polite. She makes it sound like she's offering me the choice, when we both know there is none.

"I'd rather not." I shouldn't be testing her like this, but I'm too tired and too angry to care.

"Zuko. Katara has traveled a long way to meet you, don't you think it would be rude if you were not to accompany her for her first experience with Fire Nation cuisine." She says it like somehow I'm going to effect the way her food tastes. What a joke.

"You're right mother, how inconsiderate of me, I'll meet you in the dining hall as soon as I can." We both know that I couldn't care less about being polite, but I don't want to make this any more difficult than it already is. She gives me a smile, this one's real, but sad, and leaves. I dress quickly, the sooner I get there, the sooner I can leave. Besides, the last thing I want is to have my father give a lecture on the importance of punctuality of all things.

The table has been set with five places, my father is at the head of the table and my mother on the opposite end. The Chief is seated next to my mother and Katara is sitting between him and my father, there is an empty place across from her, to the right of my father. I don't know where Azula is or why she isn't here, frankly I don't care, but I'm glad she hasn't decided to grace me with presence.

Katara looks different from the last time I saw her. Her ridiculous costume is gone and replaced by a plain red kimono, I wonder where on earth she found that. And her hair looks like actual hair rather than a woven basket. If it weren't for the silk kimono she could've been mistaken for a peasant girl. She also looks unnaturally sluggish, her bug eyes have shrunk and drooped and I wonder if she'll be able to stay awake through breakfast. After all Water Benders aren't known for being early risers.

"Thank you for finally deciding to join us Zuko, if we had waited any longer we would have gone hungry." My father says as I sit down. Well, it's better than a lecture. I notice Katara leaning towards the Chief as if to cower away from my father. I can't say I blame her, if there's anyone to be afraid of, it's him.

"My apologies father." That's all I plan on saying for the rest of the meal. My mother talks, I don't listen, Katara does, nodding whenever necessary, but she doesn't speak much either.

Our food seems to take forever to come. When it does come, it's just steamed rice, rolled omelets and baked komodo rhino strips.

"The Watertribes have a bland pallet and it might take you a while to adjust to our spicy cuisine, so I asked the kitchen to make something simple and mild." My mother tells this to Katara, I hadn't meant to pay attention, but the way my mother spoke caught my attention. This might be interesting. Katara is inspecting a piece of the rhino meat, eventually she bites into it. Her eyes go wide and face turns red and I hear my mother gasp a quiet "oh my" and shove a glass of water into Katara's hands.

"Perhaps not mild enough. I'm so sorry dear." My mother says, but she's hiding a laugh. I'm surprised when I realize that I'm laughing too, not loudly, but enough that it makes the princess grow redder and shift her eyes to her the Chief and then my father, but I think that only embarrassed her further, they both look like statues.

"Sorry Katara, I should have warned you, Fire Nation food can be a bit extreme for first timers. Don't worry, you'll get used to it." The Chief tells her with his own amusement showing through, and she nods, still embarrassed.

I've gone back to not paying attention, focusing instead on finishing my food as quickly as possible. I'm almost done, when I realize my mother has been talking to me.

"….what do you think?" What do I think? About what? Dammit. People should be more clear when talking to me, otherwise how am I supposed to know when to ignore them.

"..um."

"Well I think it's an excellent idea. I'm sure Katara would love to see the garden. We don't have much plant life in the North."

"Then it's decided, Zuko, after your training you will accompany Katara on a tour of the east garden." My father knows I hadn't been listening. I can hear it in his voice. Great. At least I know what everyone has been talking about. Funny how the decision was made without either me or Katara giving any input.

"Of course. I look forward to it."

I hardly notice the hours passing but apparently they have, because I'm waiting for Katara at the edge of the garden. She's late. Or maybe I'm early, it's not like I have anything better to do than to wait for her anyways.

She asks a lot of questions. I can tell she's only trying to distract from the silence. I can't blame her, any sane person would want to get to know the person they're about to marry. I just find it hard to believe that she thinks you can get to know someone by asking them a bunch of random, worthless questions. At least it's distracting from my thinking.

"Do you go outside of Capital City often?" She's so determined.

"No. Not really." I refuse to give her much more than short one-worded responses, and yet she still asks question after question. As if she's hoping that one of them will get me to suddenly begin contributing to the conversation. I'd like to tell her to just quit now. I'm surprised she hasn't already.

"Oh, I hear there's some amazing places to visit. I hope I'll get to see some of them one day." She's thinking like she's already accepted the idea of staying here for the rest of her life. The sad thing is, she will.

"Have you ever been to the Earth Kingdom?" Another useless question.

"No." The only thing I know about the Earth Kingdom is that Mai is there; it's pathetic that something as useless as that makes me think about her.

"I haven't either." She's quiet; it's taking her longer to think of a question. She should just give up now.

"Arnook tells me you have a sister, do you guys get along?" Oh.

Now that I think about it, I prefer her idiotic questions about geography over questions about my wretched family.

"No." Azula's not exactly the kind of person anyone gets along with.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That must be tough, me and Sokka- my brother, have always had a good relationship, but I don't see him much anymore. He's coming for the wedding though, it will be nice to see him and my father, I didn't realize how much I missed my family until I got here." What's that like? I wonder. Having a family you love. I almost want to ask her. But I don't.

"Are you excited for the wedding?" It's the first thing I've asked her.

"I'm excited to see my family." She avoided my question. She doesn't want to answer, because her answer is no. So she's not excited for the wedding. The thought that she might equally despise this arrangement gives me some sort of twisted satisfaction.

"I see. It's getting late. My father is expecting me soon. Can you find your way through the palace by yourself or do you need me to call a servant to take you back." I've managed to lead our walk back to the palace entrance.

"I think I can manage. Thank you Prince Zuko." She bows and turns enters the palace, walking off as quickly as she can, in the wrong direction I notice. Well, if she wants to get lost, that's none of my business anyways.

The Southern Princess is not what I expected.

AN: That was sooooo long! Seriously, I can't even imagine how many issues there probably are? Did the POV's make sense? Did I stay in proper present tense (that was hard) does it flow? are their? Continuity errors? Probably, but I want to know. So TELL ME! So, I just sat down and wasted my entire afternoon writing this, and I don't have the energy to edit it. (More proof that I really need a beta) So any mistakes you notice, spelling, grammatical, or otherwise, please let me know in that lovely review that I'm sure every single one of my readers is going to leave. Right? Yeah so PLEASE REVIEW. No seriously, Review. If I can get 10 people to Review this chapter, I will be the happiest person alive. And I'll probably get the next chapter out quicker. On that note, you can expect next chapter sometime… before Christmas. I've decided to set my deadlines far away so that there's no way I will miss them. So yeah, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.

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