ARC 2: A War Divides Their People

DAY 9: Fight

She doesn't expect them to bandage her wounds.

Or feed her.

In all honestly, Katara expected to be chained to a pole in the snow (if she wasn't dead or being passed around to the many leering men in the camp).

Instead, she sits before a fire with a plate of food on her lap and the prince sitting across from her. She's been dressed in a red tunic and dark pants (both of which are a little too big) and given a thick fur coat (she's annoyed that the Fire Nation is so well prepared for the terrain). Both of her hairpins rest on the prince's desk five feet away, along with the rest of her possessions. The inactivity is frustrating, but she's outnumbered three to one in this ridiculously big tent (well, she's really outnumbered with an entire camp against her one miserably injured self, but it's all about perspective).

Zuko seems content to eat and calmly watch the fire as if she isn't a threat at all. They haven't spoken since she tried to tear his throat out with her teeth (it was still worth the try, even if she didn't get very close).

The two guards stand near the door, one outside and one inside. Neither are armed, so they must be firebenders. Katara eats and watches her adversaries carefully. The storm grows worse with every hour and she must escape before it's too late.

The prince sets his food down to one side, wiping his mouth in a strange dainty way (the gesture reminds her of Lady Ursa so strongly that it almost aches). Then he turns his burning eyes on her. Katara senses that it's time for the silence to end.

"What do you want with me?" she asks, setting her own food down.

"How many waterbenders were with you?" he asks, "How many survived and where are you to meet up with them?"

At least they're both being clear and to the point. She hates all the dancing around and wordplay that the Fire Nation is so fond of. This is quicker.

"And what if I don't know where they'll go?"

Prince Zuko shrugs, "I'll have my answers one way or another."

It won't matter because in five days her waterbenders will think her dead (or compromised, which is worse). They'll meet up with their rebel contacts in the nearest village and by the time ten days have passed, they could be anywhere. Ba Sing Se. Kyoshi. Caldera City itself. All she has to do is hold out until then.

"I had ten waterbenders, ten warriors," she says, "You killed fifteen and the survivors are all to meet up in Omashu by the next full moon."

He cocks an eyebrow (well, his only eyebrow). She's not very surprised; even she knows she's a terrible liar. It was still worth a try.

"My men counted six, maybe seven waterbenders," Zuko counters, "And we have three bodies."

She can't react, even as her heart burns for her companions. Three are dead and maybe one is free (if the prince can be trusted at all). She forces herself to keep eye contact, even as her mind races and decides that the moment to act is right now.

"Your men need to learn how to count." She says and then throws her plate of food at him.

She has a snowball's chance in hell of taking down both guards, so she leaps over the fire (singing her butt in the process) and runs for Zuko's desk. She grabs her hairpin, then dodges a rice covered prince and slides behind him. Katara clings to his ridiculously broad back, the sharp end of her hairpin resting against his throat.

"Don't move!" she snarls.

Everything stops (well, Zuko gestures for his men to stop and then everything does). Katara focuses on keeping her grip; one broken arm and too many hurts will make it easy for him to shake her off.

"Release me now," the prince says calmly, "And you won't be hurt."

"No," she says, breathing hard, "Your men will provide me with a pair of good boots, one of your fancy eel-hounds, and a week's worth of rations. I'll release you a mile from this camp, provided that all my demands have been met."

"We don't have any eel-hounds." Zuko says.

"You're a prince," she scoffs, "Of course you do."

She doesn't catch the way his face burns, but he tenses. It's then that it occurs to her that he's not wearing his phoenix tail (the mark of a prince, if she remembers correctly). She wonders what happened to the boy she once knew and this moment of thought costs her dearly.

Zuko grabs her good hand, his grip grinding the bones in her wrist together and pulling the hairpin away from his throat. He stomps at her foot, she dodges backward, breaking his grip and rearing back to stab him. She doesn't expect to bump into the desk behind her or for his elbow to follow suit. He hits her hard and she stumbles back.

Before she passes out, Katara considers that all this head abuse is going to kill her before anything else does.

She comes to with an eye swollen shut and the prince leaning over her. He's dabbing at her face with a warm cloth.

"Don't touch me." Katara hisses.

She struggles, but he's got her trussed up like a hog-llama. Her head hurts as though somebody has been kicking it in (and in retrospect, that's a pretty accurate sentiment).

"I'm sorry," the prince says, "I don't hit women."

"Don't lie to me. You don't hit women as long as it suits your agenda." she spits, glaring.

"We'll make this simple, then," the prince says, "Cooperate and I'll see to it that you're treated well. Refuse to do so and things will get very nasty."

Katara growls at him.

"I'll escape and you'll be sorry when I do." she says.

They stare at each other.

"What happened to you?" she finally asks.

Zuko is incredulous. "Me?" he says, "You've become a rebel!"

"Your soldiers kill my people, rape our women, and kill our benders," she says, voice low and burning with indescribable anger, "It's either fight the occupation or lie down and die."

His eyes narrow. She bares her teeth at him like a wolf, struggling against the ropes (part of him acknowledges that she'd be trying to kill him right now if she weren't restrained).

"You can do whatever you'd like to me," she swears, "But I'll fight you until my dying breath, Zuko of the Fire Nation."

He says nothing, because he doesn't want to fight her. When he looks at Katara's blue eyes, he sees a little girl with sticks in her hair hugging a stupid boy beside a turtle-duck pond.

Zuko leaves the tent and she shouts curses after him.

Okay, overwhelming response was in favor of steambaby.

In case you didn't already know, a steambaby is a baby from a Firebender and Waterbender. In the ATLA fandom, it usually means a Zutara baby.

To specify, as many of you have questions, a steambaby won't dramatically change the story. I didn't specify whether the baby would happen at the end or now. I just asked whether there should be one or not. To my readers who worried I say this: DON'T WORRY. I understand your concern and no, I'm not planning on using a baby as a reconciliation device (that's kind of cheap if not used correctly) and my plan was a little different. Just trust me because if all goes well, this will be awesome! :3

Also:

This story is mostly canon (with the exception of zutara and the fact that I'm seriously messing around with the timeline). So yes, Zuko was more or less banished by the start of the second arc. Azulon is dead, the treaty is null, and Ozai is the Fire Lord. Much change, etc. It's been roughly five years, in case you didn't catch it (it was a single line in chapter 8, so don't worry if you missed it).

I enjoy all of your reviews, so keep sending 'em!