Chapter 3

Zuko stared at the ocean from the deck of his ship. The familiar breeze of the ocean wind calmed him. He walked around the deck, slowly so he could enjoy it. Looking around he could see floating memories of when he was a child. Him playing with his sister; his mother clapping and smiling. He'd been on this ship as a child on family outings. Now he was the master of the ship.

He didn't know where to set off to, to relax. He wanted to stay close to the fire nation, but not to close. He decided he'd go to an island close to the edge of the fire nation. There he could relax.

He had to make sure to count the days though, the next world meeting was next week.

Katara kept working on the woman's igloo. It was almost done. All it needed was some glass from the glass smith. Hm, maybe I could set them up.

Sokka had gone into a slump over the past few days. After finding out that Suki had died, he'd been really down. Katara felt sorry for him. Well, he has to perk up sometime, there's work to do.

Katara just kept walking. When she got down to the smith's shop she ordered a couple small windows. She also invited him to dinner. Hehe, Yanai won't know whats coming.

There was that too. Yanai was obviously still grieving her husband a little, the trick would be to get her out on the dating scene. She could be pretty if she wanted to. I'll make her over.

Yea, so far Katara's day was going pretty well.

Zuko went down below decks to sleep, he was tired. He'd given the captain directions, they should be there right as his nap was ending. For some reason though, he looked eerily familiar.

Above decks, Mai's brother, Ten, steered the ship in the wrong direction as Hiro had instructed. He had to make sure that Zuko didn't relax. He'd make sure that the Firelord stayed away long enough so they could escape into the earth kingdom.

Ten had not thought about how he would get off the ship, or back to the family. He'd get there, somehow. Hopefully their plan worked and an illegitimate child was conceived.

Katara was walking home with groceries, and some other stuff. Her house was mainly on the edge of town, with a mile or two left she just put her groceries down. Ah, hell with it. She made a platform and water bended her way home. It was much faster than walking. Maybe I should make canals instead of streets. I'll have to ask Dad.

As princess of the southern water tribe, and partial hero of the world, she had a part of power. Though, she didn't use it much, she really didn't want to become power hungry.

Being royalty, though, had its many perks. She had others make her clothes. And, when she wasn't home, they'd do the chores. These were mainly the ones she'd slaved over before the war came to the south pole. Making clothes was a long and tedious process, usually done by the mother of the house. That had changed when their mom died. And doing chores took hours. Now, she had maids, when they were available of course.

When she walked into the house the children were playing games, mostly with ice chips. Their mother was sitting at the table reading a book.

Katara took Yanai by the hand and led her to the bathroom.

"Yanai?"

"Yes?"

"I've set up a date for you tonight"

Yanai just looked a bit bewildered.

"You-have?"

"I thought it would be good for you to try and find a husband soon"

"-You think?"

"yes, it will help if you have a man in the house."

"Okay, well-who is he?"

"He's our glass smith." "He uses the imported sand from the other nations to make glass windows for our houses."

"Ah" "-Well, should I be getting ready?"

"Yes, yes" "That's why I bought some powder for makeup"

"Okay, well, should I do it?"

"No, I will if you wish."

"You know what? How about during the date you distract the children"

"okay"

"Here, I'll put it on"

In an hour, Yanai looked wonderful. She didn't look tired and she looked young and happy.

She looked in the mirror.

"-Oh!" "I looked like I never had children!"

Katara laughed. He should be here any second now. All she had to do was get their dinner ready and get the children out of the way.

Zuko woke up with a start. He felt cold. He could see his breath. –What?

Zuko rushed up to the top deck and saw ice caps and glaciers. They were in the south pole.

"CAPTAIN!"

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Why have you turned off course?"

"I don't know, I thought I was going in the right direction" He said with mock ignorance.

Zuko's temper flared.

"You know damn well what you've done, now turn around and head for the right course!"

Suddenly something hit him on the head.

Katara cooked dinner silently and waited for the glass smith to arrive. She had planned for her and the children to go out and play outside of the house while dinner was going on. They would be safe if any storms hit, she was a waterbender after all.

Yanai looked a bit nervous. She just stroked her hair and looked outside. Katara felt sorry for her and hoped that she could scrape together some sort of personality for the glass smith.

The story behind the glass smith is a bit foggy. He came when Katara was maybe five. People were very suspicious of him, but after he had shown his worth, they accepted him. He had been single ever since he moved here. No one knew why he hadn't taken a wife. Though, there weren't many eligible ladies around in his years here, most were arranged marriages from birth. Katara just hoped he would like Yanai. If she could secure a husband, her life here would be prosperous. She also hoped that he liked children. One can only hope.

The sun was making its way down the sky. He should be here any second. She set two bowls of soup and a loaf of bread on the table. She also set some wine down. She couldn't light candles or the igloo would melt.

She packed up some snacks and juice and other necessities into a large knapsack.

She made the children put on coats and she herself put stuff on.

Suddenly, Katara heard a sound at the door. She walked into the main room and opened the curtain so he could come in.

Katara had to look up to take a good look at him.

He was a good size, a good foot taller than her, and a few inches taller than Yanai. He had tan skin and black hair. He wore nice clothing and smelled good, Katara knew that he knew that this dinner wasn't just dinner.

"Welcome, please sit"

"Thank you"

Yanai was already at the table and she stood up and curtsied. The glass smith looked over at Katara as if to say "What?" Katara whispered that in the northern culture, that's how they did things. He shrugged and bowed and sat down.

"Well, you two take as long as you like. I'll be back in about two hours."

Nobody said anything. She just smiled and headed out the back door of the igloo with the bags and the children.

Zuko woke up tied in a small steam boat. It was headed toward the edge of the pole. Oh! The captain was Hiro's son, no wonder he looked so familiar. Shit.

He firebended out of the ropes and went to the captain's deck of the ship. He looked around and found no maps. Though, he still had fuel, that was a good thing.

Ah! I know what they're doing. They want me to stay away long enough so they can get away! Zuko scowled. Was it that easy to get him out of the way? If so, his start to being a firelord was a bit rocky. Hello what's this?

He saw little bumps on the horizon. It's the south pole! Double shit!

He let the anchor down and hoped nobody saw him.

Katara played water games with the children. She bended the water through their hands and out of them, trying to see if they could catch the water. The children played and ran around. Katara just couldn't stop smiling. Children were so much fun to play with.

You'll have better lives now that the war is over.

Suddenly a scout ran up to Katara. What the-?

"Miss Katara."

"Yes?"

"Your father needs you immediately."

"-Um-what do I do with these two?"

"I can watch over them-"

"No, I think I'll bring them with me" Katara thought better than to leave them with a male scout.

Katara gathered up the children and their things and waterbended a platform over to the master house of the south pole.

"Dad, what is it?"

"A ship was spotted just before Dusk-A fire nation ship"

--Zuko?

"I'll go check it out"

"No, its to dangerous"

"No, its not." "I must disagree. No man in the south pole can match my waterbending skill. I can protect me and others that go along"

Katara looked at her father. She knew that he didn't want her to go.

"Fine"

"Thank you"

Katara gathered soldiers on a small raft and set off. She asked where the boat had been spotted. Apparently it appeared North west of the pole around sunset.

As they neared the spot where the ship was, Katara noticed no imperial flag. Maybe its not Zuko.

She noticed no one on deck and no movement.

When they got to the side of the ship, Katara silently waterbended up to the deck of the ship. She quietly walked along the deck. She looked around. Nothing moved.

Zuko saw a figure on the deck looking around. He couldn't see who it was. Darn, I was spotted. He got ready to strike. Hopefully, they don't strike before I do.

Zuko let a blast of fire out and before he could stop himself, he knocked out the stranger.

Just before he hit the stranger he heard a scream. A feminine one. Shit!

Suddenly a whole swarm of people came aboard, and before he could stop them, they tied him up tight. He couldn't see the stranger's face very well but assumed it was a girl. Here I am beating up girls when I don't even mean any harm. When they find out who I am they're gonna think twice about diplomacy with the fire nation! Well, I just fucked up a lot.

Zuko was carried to shore and put into a cell near the water. Great, they're smart.

As he looked around, he knew he wouldn't be very welcome. He could see the familiar walls of the south pole. He knew the people inside didn't like the fire nation, and that even though the war was over, lost relatives would be the root of long lasting grudges.

He watched as they carried the stranger he injured into the gates. Beyond those, he couldn't see a thing. He stressed over who it could be, hopefully, it was just another soldier.

He looked around in his cell and saw a blanket and pillows. He heated them up and crawled underneath. They were made well and kept warmth. He fell asleep in minutes.

Katara woke up in a medical cot with lots of bandages around her feet. Ouch! What the hell happened to my feet? She looked around and wondered if anyone was around.

"Hello? Nurse? Anyone there?"

A woman walked in looking concerned.

"Yes, Miss Katara?"

"Could you get me a bucket of water?"

Now the woman just looked confused.

"-Yes, Miss Katara"

As the nurse was leaving, Her dad and Sokka followed in.

"Katara! Are you alright?"

Her father had a concerned smile on his face. She could see the 'I told you this would happen' look.

"Yea, I am fine." "But these burns hurt like nothing else."

The nurse walked in with a bucket filled to the brim.

"Here you are Miss Katara"

"Thank you" "Sokka, could I borrow your hunting knife?"

Sokka handed it to her slowly. He wanted to see what she was going to do.

"Relax"

She cut the heavily layered bandages down to her skin. She slowly peeled the bandages and lifted her foot. The air hit her foot like knives, she winced. She looked over her wound. The flesh was seared and severely burned. Her foot was throbbing and was really swelling. Sokka suddenly realized what she was doing. He lifted the bucket over to the edge of the bed, within Katara's reach. Katara bended the water around her foot and healed it. She followed the same actions with her other foot. She wiggled her toes happily at the results.

She crawled out of bed quickly and slipped on her shoes. She needed to get dressed and head over to the prison. She needed to see who attacked her.

Zuko woke up in the morning and still felt tired. The time change was hard to adjust to.

His breakfast was soup and bread. It wasn't royal cuisine, but it wasn't bad either, he was hungry. He expected to be asked who he was and what he was doing here. The war was over, but defenses hadn't gone down yet.

After breakfast, he crawled back under the blanket. When he got out of here, he'd have to buy one of these in red. He was tired again and fell back asleep.

He awoke startled at a clanking at his cell.

"You have a visistor!"

"Okay"

He saw a woman walk in with her hair up. She was ornately dressed and had a little make up on. Everything she wore was in blue. He guessed she was a rich daughter.

After a few moments of silence, she finally said something.

"—Zuko? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Katara? That's you?"

"Yes! Who else knows your name?"

He suddenly recognized her. Man, she had matured. She actually, looked kinda pretty.

"Could you let me out of here?"

'"No! You attacked me!"

Zuko gulped.

"That,-that was you?" "Then where are your bandages?"

"I healed the wounds."

"-Oh-Okay"

"Why are you here?"

"I got tricked"

"Tricked? By who?"

"A captain who was plotting against me"

"You expect me to believe that?"

"..Yes"

Zuko just looked up. Then stood up.

"Look, you may not realize it, but the position I am in right now is actually very hard to keep. Being firelord is dangerous. People want to kill me and take my throne."

"Yea, whatever" "I guess I can let you out, I can handle you if you loose it."

"Yea but I won't-!"

"Shut it!"

Zuko didn't realize she could be so forceful. He'd always assumed she was just nice. It didn't matter that he had helped them during the invasion, no, he was still that fire nation prince jerk who was chasing them.

Zuko just followed her into the village. He was tied by the wrists. As he looked around, he found it had changed a lot. Apparently they had built up after the war.

"The south pole looks nice"

"Shh!"

As they walked farther she suddenly stopped in front of a house. It was on the edge of town She entered and pulled him in. This must be her house.

Shit! I forgot all about Yanai!

"Katara!"

"Yanai! I am so sorry! I was caught up in..buisness"

"Its okay, everything went fine."

Katara breathed a sigh of relief. At least one thing had gone right. Katara looked behind her and saw Zuko was still there.

"I have to take care of him. Be back in a bit."

As they entered another room out of sight of Yanai, Katara turned.

"Okay Zuko, heres the deal" "This is MY house. You will not cause trouble and if you try to escape, you will be punished. We are still searching your ship for anything fishy."

Zuko breathed in as if starting to say something. She stopped him.

"Okay?"

"Okay.."

With that she froze his hands into a wall for a second.

"Hey wait! Damn! This is cold!"

She carefully built yet another room onto the house, making sure this one was extra secure.

She unfroze his hands and led him into the room. He tried to warm them with fire but nothing came.

"What happened?"

"We drugged you"

"What! Why?"

"Safety hazard"

After that she just gave him a blanket and closed the door. He'd be fine.

A/N:

I really have nothing else to explain. I explained it all last chapter.

I don't have any questions to answer either. :(

Please rate and review! I want to see what you all think!