A: TLA © Bryke

A/N: This is edited. Please review!

Why does love always feel like a battlefield? - Battlefield - Jordin Sparks

The Opposing Elements

Chapter 4 – A Father She Never Knew

Her throat burned with a passion, her chest aching with unrelieved exhaustion, her wrists were throbbing, from what, she didn't know, she couldn't see, couldn't hear, and couldn't speak. She attempted to move any of her limbs; none of them responded. It was as if her nerves had all been cut out of her body, partly left to be able to make her feel pain. Oh Agni, it hurts... Silent tears streamed down her face, well, in which she hoped was silent.

She couldn't bare the injuries she had, nor could she tolerate the memories. Yon Rha, his head had... Been severed from his neck. Before that, the pain of the column of fire, the blue mask. It moved like a spirit. Her thoughts were instantaneously cut off as her body grew chilly, licking away at her heat and devouring it, leaving her cold, not only on the outside, but internally, as well.

She forced her lips to move, her mouth desert dry, desperate for a drink. Her brain felt numb, but she managed to open her eyes, that simple task exhausted her to no end. What she found, however, surprised her, in the negative fashion. She didn't expect to find steel bars standing in front of her, her head tilting up to look at the glaring figure above her, said figure's fists were tightly clenched, anger leaking out of his every pore. She willed her lips to move more, making them mouth incoherent words, syllables and sentences, but none of it came out.

The burning fire of her father's eyes didn't do anything to her, not like it did to everyone else, it made her want to stand taller than him, to bring the world out of the War his grandfather had created. It had been going on for 99 years now, and she had finally had enough. With all the strength she could muster, she stood, her face showing no appearance of pain as she steeled her resolve, matching her fathers gaze with an icy one of her own, even deadlier than his. But he wouldn't back down, he had the advantage, he was out of prison.

"Why am I in here?" Her voice was raspy, unused and her throat sore from the gravel-like texture forcing it's way up through her trachea. The look of her father's didn't waver as he continued to glare at her, but she knew she had him, the sweat on his brow glistening in the torchlight being her only indication.

"Stop playing dumb, you mindless bitch!" Katara reared back in shock, her hand coming up to her mouth, covering it.

"Dad-"

"Not only did you brutally murder my Admiral, but you helped the prisoner escape! Your crimes are punishable by death!" Katara couldn't speak, the lump in her throat had a grown one size to large, and she couldn't swallow it down, but she forced her voice, she had to defend herself!

"Dad, I-I didn't kill Yon Rha, he-"

"I know you've been helping out the prisoners. Especially him, Sumi, was it?"

"Zuko,"

"See? You've been giving him water, letting him heal himself, you let him escape, tell me, Katara. Has he gone back to his tribe? Back to live among the peasants? Where his scarred face belongs?" That time, Katara stood up and was instantly in her father's face, her hands clutching the bars tightly, which were glowing a faint red from the heat of her palms.

"You don't know him! He was tortured for no reason! I didn't kill Yon Rha; I didn't let Zuko out or help him escape either!"

"Lies,"

"It's just like you." Hakoda looked at his daughter, his brows furrowing.

"You didn't show mom mercy, either."

"How dare you!" Katara was suddenly thrown back by a fireball, her back hitting the ground. She clutched at her stomach, the red material of her tunic burnt, showing her mocha skin beneath, reddened by the flames. Tears sprung to her eyes as she choked on her own saliva, her head turning to face her father, he had an angry look plastered on his face.

"See?" She mocked him, "Mom tried to leave you, you killed her. You kill everyone who doesn't bend to your will; you hurt anyone who makes a 'wrong' decision. You have no honour, striking me when my Chi has been blocked by Suki," But despite her lack of firebending, at least Suki had been kind enough to let her keep her internal heating.

"You cannot speak of honour, Katara." It was the first time that Hakoda had ever muttered her name without disdain, hatred or anger. Despite her being the Crowned Princess and him being proud of her, that didn't mean he loved her. No, quite the opposite.

"I can, because I didn't kill your Admiral, he had his justice served. He was decapitated, but not by me. He nearly killed me; I was nearly burnt to a crisp."

"You look fine,"

"It's true, though. I don't know where all my burns have gone. But I guess this adds to the collection of scars, huh." She muttered, meaning her stomach.

"How do you not fear me even after I strike against you?" Katara looked up into his eyes, surprised by his question. It seemed that the mood had done a whole 180.

"Because you're a coward." She watched as he bristled. "You used mom, used her for your own selfish purposes, so you could keep the Nation out of Hakimi's reach. You didn't want your sister to drag the nation down until it was in the dirt. But she wouldn't have done that, she would've brought peace."

"Peace is for cowards."

"No, it's not. It shows that you can make a change, that you are willing to strengthen your country by bonding with the other elements."

"I will make a change. I will continue this war until the Fire Nation rules the world."

"Mom wouldn't have wanted that, but you don't care, because you killed her." With that, she turned her back on her father, disgraced to even call him such a title.

She heard the shuffling of fabric, the clanging of something falling on the floor, and then the screech of the metal door outside the bars. "Don't ever say I didn't love your mother again." After that, it was silent.

Katara turned in the direction of metal, eyeing the small trinket carefully. She scurried over it, picked it up and examined it, the pain in her abdomen barely noticeable, now. The bracelet was solid gold, beads of white, black and gold covering a thin string. The Firenation insignia was at the base of it, made of wood, and then tiny engravings on the beads caught her eye. "You're the light, Kya." Katara's eyes began watering as she glanced at the door, heartache burying itself deep inside of her. "Daddy,"

"My Lord, what will we do with your daughter?" Advisor Chan pointed out, abruptly turning to face the metal doors as they opened, revealing the princess, armoured up and crowned. She came and knelt in front of her father, her head bowed. Hakoda was confused; she had never been so formal.

"Father, I hereby hand my crown over to Sokka, he is to be crowned Fire Lord." Hakoda's eyes widened as he turned to face Sokka, he shrugged, a smug look planted on his face. Gasps were heard all around; all eyes were on the princess.

"Katara,"

"Father, I don't want to run countries like the Firenation, I don't want to be involved in years of violence, or prejudice and of homicide. I don't want to run such a despicable race." And that was the cherry on the top. With that, Katara turned around, beginning to walk towards the doors.

"I challenge you to an Agni Kai!" Katara froze her handle on the door handle. She turned her head to face her father, he looked frantic and anxious.

"There's no conflict, no debate between us. My answer is set in stone. There's no argument about it. So, no thanks." With that, she turned the knob and exited, leaving a riled-up Fire Lord and a silently snickering Sokka in her wake.

"You helped the prisoner escape!" Her father's words echoed around in her head as she ran with her cloak covering her head, her feet were padding through the forest, her eyes keeping a sharp look-out for any danger. She didn't know what to think, where are you, Zuko? Who killed Yon Rha? Her confusion halted her in her steps, her face looking towards the dusty ground. Then she heard shouting in the background. She wasn't far from the palace, and they were shouting loud enough.

"Board the ships and head to the Watertribes! We need to find him!" Katara's eyes widened in horror, they were going to the Watertribes to look for Zuko! But why? He was one bender!

They're going to kill him! With that, Katara began sprinting towards the docks as fast as her legs could carry her, her cloak whispering behind her.

She had boarded Sokka's boat in three minutes flat, immediately steering it out of the dock, surprised that no-one tried to stop her. "Sokka, he... Made sure that I could get there." She smiled, through year after year of him hating her, she would've thought he had just lent her the boat, not actually sort everything out. "As long as I get a head start to the Tribes, I can save them."

She had been in prison for the total of a week, Hakoda had visited her the day after she was imprisoned and Zuko had escaped, so he had a good week ahead of them, if he was even heading to the Tribes. Please be at the Southern Watertribe. And she set sail into the open sea.

She forced her eyelids open, the sound of strangled metal mangling in her ship. Quickly, she sprung to her feet and was out the door, high alert for any suspicious activity. Well, being alone on a ship and having a door mangled into a heap was pretty suspicious.

Giggling could be heard, a faint sound of childishness and darkness. It was chilling. "Firebender, firebender, look around, firebender, firebender, taste the ground!" She was suddenly encased in metal, her body covered in a coat of solid, metallic material.

She couldn't move, her face was uncovered, so she was surprised to see a young boy, about the age of twelve, swirling little balls of metal in his hand. "Hello!" He was awfully cheery, "My names Aang!" He was suddenly slapped up the side of his head by a short girl; she was dressed in orange clothes, a snort on her face.

"Aang! You're not supposed to tell the enemy your name!"

"But Toooph!" He whined, a childlike look appearing on his face. His milky eyes were blank but his lips were in a grin, one that stretched across his face.

"Why haven't you got any soldiers on your ship?" Talk about straight to the point.

"I'm not going hurt you, if that's what you're thinking. I might be Firenation, but I'm not a bastard who goes round hurting everyone in their path."

"Didn't answer my question, princess." Katara was confused by the black-haired girl's correct assumption.

"How did you-"

"I kind of moulded your crown into the metal," Aang said, a blush splashing across his face. Katara didn't look too happy about that.

"I was supposed to give that to my brother!" She heard snickering coming from Toph, who was just standing there.

"Well, your harmless, Aang. Let her go." Immediately, the metal was gone, Katara felt like she could breathe again, too.

She rolled her neck, hearing it pop; she cringed, rubbing the sore muscles. Trying to work the strain out of them. She glanced at Toph, the grey-eyed woman was picking at her nails, checking them every once in a while, she examined her, taking in her orange robes, her black hair that was pulled behind a head-band and she wore pointy shoes. "Paint a picture, it'll last longer," Katara's eyes widened at the bluntness in the girl's voice, not used to being spoken to without fear in the speaker's tone. "So, Sweetness, where are you headed?"

Katara glanced at the two kids, eyeing them suspiciously. "That's none of your business." Toph snorted, stomping over to Katara's bed inside her open bedroom door, quickly jumping on it and lying down, as if she owned the place. "Why are you on my ship?" Her eyebrow twitched slightly, Toph was wiping her dirty shoes on her cover!

"None of your business," Aang unexpectedly popped up, grinning like a Cheshire-dog, his milky eyes staring just past her, at what, she didn't know.

"You're going to the Southern Watertribe!" He jumped up and down, clapping his hands together excitedly.

"H-how did you know?!" Toph smirked.

"Well, Sweetness, Aang may be blind, but he has a great sense of direction, it's spooky, really. He knows which way is North, which way is South, yadda yadda." Toph waved herself off, swinging her legs over the bed to stand up. "When I was in the Firenation, I heard you had helped the Waterbender escape," Gold eyes widening, Katara looked up, an immediate glare fixated on her face.

"I didn't, I was badly burnt, Yon Rha, my father's advisor, he had sent soldiers after Zuko to hurt him, they did, and I helped him heal. I was following Yon Rha because I was suspicious of him, then we fought, I nearly died and he was decapitated right in front of me. Next thing I know, I'm in a prison, accused of helping the prisoner escape and killing my father's advisor."

Toph's voice suddenly turned cold, her words rasping out of her throat, "Seems we're both having parent problems."

"You're a runaway," It wasn't a question; Katara already had her answer when the silence screamed it at her. "Where are you from?"

"I am a runaway, but not from my parents, as if they're doing my head in, it's because they're dead."

"Oh," Geez, well done Katara, talk about putting your own foot in your mouth.

"I'm also from the Air Nomads, I'm an airbender." Wide golden irises stared at the small girl, astonishment crossing her features.

"But they were all wiped out!"

"Some escaped to Ba Sing Se," Toph seemed to stay silent for a minute after that, until she spoke again, "So, how long until we reach the South Pole?"

"Another 9 days."

"Oh goody,"

XD

BlackTorment