The Fire Prince and the Water Maiden: Chapter Four
In all the time he has spent trying to capture the Avatar, Zuko has never ever really paid too much attention to the water tribe peasant.
He is certainly paying attention now.
Bound to the tree, the girl glares at him with baleful eyes. For the first time, he sees how lovely she is, the way her eyes are bluer than blue, a pretty contrast against her dusky skin. She is slight, slender and sleek like a graceful fish, or some other kind of water animal.
Water. And he remembers she is the enemy, not the first pretty girl he's had contact with in years, and certainly not one he can attempt to flirt with. She is from the Water Tribe, she is a bender, she is helping the Avatar, and this makes her an enemy three times over.
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Tied to a tree, Katara curses her stupidity.
Why, oh why did she have to take the damn scroll? It was her pride, her own wounded moronic pride that made her sneak off alone to practice. If she weren't tied up to a tree, she would bang her head against a hard and unyielding surface. Like the tree she was tied to. That would make a good one.
Somehow, the pirates manage to leer and glare at her at the same time. Then Zuko steps towards her.
Her cheeks flush as she remembers him grabbing her wrists. His voice, low and husky. I'll save you from the pirates. It is the closest she has ever gotten to him, and at that moment, she realises that despite his scar, he is very good looking.
"Tell me where he is, and I wont hurt you and your brother." And there is that voice again, soft and husky. She swallows hard. For some reason, it's a little difficult to speak.
"Go jump in the river," she forces out.
He bows his head, and for a moment, he doesn't look like the evil monster she knows him as. He looks soft, and lost.
"Try to understand," he says, and now, he is moving towards her. She can hear the wheedling tone in his voice and she remembers who he is; he is Fire Nation, he is the prince of the fire monsters, he has been hunting them to capture Aang, and this makes him an enemy three times over. So it doesn't matter how good he looks in the flickering light, or how many pretty words he throws at her. He is the enemy and a danger to them all.