Something More: An A:TLA Fan Fiction.

Rating: T for suggestive scenes and mild language

Word count: 1,786

Author: Addie May

A/N: I actually feel a little bad about starting this whole thing over, but I felt like the plot was moving too quickly, and we needed a little bit of background on Katara. I realize that the way I write will make them a bit out of character, but I want them to have a different perspective for my story. Don't worry, all the same plot structure will be there, but I need to slow down the romance and let it flow into place.

Enough chat; enjoy my *revised* writing!

Snow.

Snow was all I had ever known. Snow was safe and comforting. It meant home. It meant a place I was safe, and a place I was untouchable. I had never left the safeness of snow, and I never intended to.

Then Aang showed up.

Many months have passed since Sokka and I left the Southern Water Tribe, and our safe, homely snow. Aang was welcoming and always stirring up some sort of chaos wherever we went, but it was still an incredible adventure to travel with the Avatar.

"You stole it?!" Sokka yelled. I covered his mouth with my hand.

"Oh, come on! Where do you think those pirates got it? They stole it from a waterbender! So, really, I'm just taking back what's ours," I reasoned. I looked to Aang for assistance. "Don't you agree?"

"Well…" He said skeptically. "We do need it."

So, yes, I had taken the scroll. So what? Aang and I both needed to learn some bending and what better than a waterbending scroll? I knew Aang wouldn't be against it, and the pirates hadn't really noticed… Well, I suppose they had, but we all still got away safely.

"Aang! You can't seriously be okay with using a stolen scroll, can you?" Sokka said accusingly. Aang shrugged.

"I mean, I guess it isn't a good thing, but we have it. We might as well use it," he said. I smiled triumphantly and Sokka waved a hand dismissively.

"Whatever; just don't get me wet," he sighed, sulking off to the campsite.

"Alright, Aang," I grinned. "Let's get down to business."

Later that night, I decided I wanted to try and practice with the scroll. Although I had told Aang I wanted nothing to do with it, its allure was too strong for me to ignore. I had always yearned to know proper waterbending techniques, and I finally had the information right at my fingertips. An opportunity like that can't be ignored.

I pulled the scroll silently out of Sokka's bag, and make my way to the water's edge.

"Ugh!" I yelled. For the fifth time, the stream of water splashed hopelessly back into the river. "Come on, water! Work with me here!" I groaned. It was futile. I wasn't going to be able to bend it how I wanted to. "Stupid scroll," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. Once I had calmed down a bit, I took a deep breath, and tried again. The water collapsed. Damn it! I thought. This will never work!

"Okay, Katara. Shift your weight through the stances," I told myself, carefully trying to bend the water to my will. It fell in a messy ring about my feet. "Damn!" I murmured. A loud crash of metal snapped my concentration. I turned and peered through a thin cover of brush to find a ship. It was a Fire Nation ship.

I started to run back to camp, when a large, burly man grabbed my shoulders. "No!" I yelled. "Let go of me!" I bent the water from the river to temporarily stun him. He released me, and I sprinted to grab the scroll.

A pair of burning hot hands grasped my wrists, singeing them. "I'll save you from the pirates," a familiar voice sneered. Hot breath blew across my face, and I shut my eyes tightly.

Zuko.

"Let me go!" I cried, tugging away from him. The skin on my wrists burned. I yelped in pain, and clenched my hands into fists.

Zuko dragged me over to a tree, and bound my hands to it. I was defenseless.

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother," Zuko sneered, a hard look plastered to his face.

Hatred and anger overwhelmed me. "Go jump in the river!" I yelled.

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Try to understand," he began, a false smile forming on his lips. "I need to capture him to restore something I've lost – my honor," he circled around the tree so he was whispering into my ear, his reeking breath splaying out across my skin. "Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you've lost."

He held something up to my neck, and it glinted smartly in the moonlight.

"My mother's necklace," I breathed, surprised beyond belief. "How did you get that?" I spat, realizing he must have stolen it. He probably thought he could bribe me to get to Aang, but I would never be so utterly careless.

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering," Zuko smirked, moving from behind me. He stood in front of me, surrounded by a band of pirates. Specifically the band of pirates I had stolen the waterbending scroll from. "Now, tell me where he is!" Zuko demanded once again.

"No!" I continued to resist, determined to not let him have his way.

One of the pirates stepped forward. He wore a dark red dashiki and a sailor's hat, as well as a colorful reptile bird on his shoulder. "Enough of this necklace garbage," he said in a rough, grainy voice. "You promised the scroll," he fisted his hand and creased his brow, almost as if in a challenge.

Zuko grinned and pulled the scroll out from behind his back. How did he get that? I thought I had in my pocket, I thought, confused. "I wonder how much money this is worth…" Zuko lit a flame underneath the scroll, threatening to burn it.

"No!" The pirates yelled. The way they reacted was almost comical.

"A lot, apparently," Zuko chuckled darkly. "Now, you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy." His smirk dissipated into a sneer. "Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."

The pirate scoffed, but turned around to face the woods. "Fine." Another one of the pirates eyed me curiously, and I quirked an eyebrow at him. He grinned lazily as if he had decided on something.

"What about her?" He asked Zuko. "Where does she fit into all of this?"

Zuko's eyes flickered with something I couldn't decipher. "She'll come with me back to the Fire Nation as a prisoner."

"Why can't we take her as a prize? You can have that boy, but what is a peasant useful for in the Fire Nation?" The pirate grinned sickeningly. I cringed. Going with Zuko would be almost enjoyable compared to going with the pirates.

"She will be my prisoner, and that's final. My mind is made," Zuko said. I was confused as to why he was being so firm about this. Zuko shouldn't have cared about my fate at all. He hated me.

"Well, I think we can negotiate, can't we?" Another pirate joined the first, grinning the same sickly grin. I couldn't bear to imagine what was going through their heads.

"No! She is staying with me," Zuko said fiercely. I was almost cheering him on at this point.

"What's the big deal? She's just a commoner. She'll do you no good in the Fire Nation," the second pirate reasoned. The first nodded in agreement.

"If she is of no use for me, then why do you want her?" Zuko asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Dear boy, isn't it clear?" A third joined. No, no! I won't go with them! I won't! I thought. I started to panic. What if I was forced onto a ship with them? What would I do? Zuko, don't let them take me! I thought frantically, a pleading look of fear obvious on my face. None of the men saw it, and my emotions were completely out of consideration.

"We will have to refuse to comply with your demands," an older man said. He was pudgy and non-threatening, and his voice was calm and soothing. "I will not stand for you to so plainly disrespect a strong, young woman such as her," the man smiled knowingly in my direction. This man seemed to be the only one to really take my well-being into account. I silently thanked the spirits for his presence.

"She's a peasant! There is no disrespecting her; she is not worthy of respect," one of the pirates sneered, spitting on my shoes. I cringed, and shut my eyes tightly.

I'm not quite sure what happened then, but whatever it was, it unbound my wrists from the tree. I was stunned for a moment, and then understood. This was my chance to get the hell out of there.

I started to run. I wasn't sure where, but I realized I was going towards the river. I was a fast swimmer, and a quick dip to the other side would be my ticket away from the pirates. As I was about to plunge under the surface, a hand caught my forearm.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice snickered. I turned to see a pirate with a green sari and a matching headband. His eyes glinted evilly, making a shiver travel up my spine.

"Get away from me!" I shouted, using my free hand to bend water into his face. He seemed unfazed by my attempts, and wrapped his arms securely around my waist. "No! Put me down!" I shrieked. It was purely out of fear, and I knew any bit of pleading or begging would do me no good.

The pirate chuckled and carried my squirming form onto the hull of a wooden ship. As a door was closing, Zuko looked up from where he stood outside of the ship, fighting off the pirates. I reached a desperate hand out to him, and he almost looked…afraid.

The door closed, and as did any chance of my rescue.

I was left at the beck and call of the pirates.

A/N: Well, that took me longer to write than expected. I hope you all enjoyed my first revised chapter, and you can look forward to more! If you review, I have another chapter to release by this time next week.

- Addie