AN: I don't own ATLA because raisins.

Katara had lived in the Southern Water Tribe for virtually her entire life. She was constantly surrounded by ice, snow, and freezing waters. So on very rare occasions when she admitted to herself that she was cold, she truly meant it. This was one of those times. The large, black metal walls rose up around her on all four sides, save for two small, barred openings on the door to her cell. One was located at eye level, at least for someone a foot taller than she. The other was at the very bottom of the door. The bottom opening was only large enough to slide a thin tray of food through when the bars were unlocked. Inside the cell, it was barren. A small chamber pot lay carelessly in the corner where Katara could relieve herself in private. A cot of all springs and a thin layer of cotton was strewn atop a metal slab. The only other item in the room was a small lantern that glowed in the corner closest to the door.

They must have known that Katara was not a firebender or they would not have allowed her the small amount of light for her to live out her boredom by. Still, she sat close to it, trying not to freeze. The one thing that upset her the most was not the fact that she had been in this cell for almost five days now, or that she was in the cell at all…it was the fact that they were sailing, on a ship, surrounded by water, her element…and she could not see or touch it. She wondered if they would let her bathe. The only water she saw since she got into the cell was the very minute amounts they would allow her at mealtimes. And like clockwork, those were given only twice a day. Katara had thought about using the water from her meals to try to whip one of the guards, form an ice key or saw through the ship wall, but she knew that staying alive was a priority and even waterbenders needed to drink. At any rate, the amount she was given was enough for her to stay alive, but not enough to do any serious damage.

She shrugged herself closer and pulled her legs in, flinching slightly as her foot folded and her ankle throbbed. Katara was not used to being injured this long, but she had not gotten a chance to heal her twisted ankle from the cave. She sighed and waited, closing her eyes.

Zuko's footsteps, however light he tried to make them, clanged profoundly on the metal deck of the ship. He approached the railing and stared over the side of the ship, down into the water below. It looked almost black. Sighing, he reached up to his head and felt the new weight of a small crown resting atop it. Azula had allotted him her own crown until they arrived at the Fire Nation capitol in one month's time. He had tried to refuse her, but she insisted that it bothered her to wear it since her brother had not worn one in so long. Her month of crownlessness would be a small token of her 'humility' towards her brother. It was too small for him and shifted slightly as he pointed his head towards the sun.

"Brother, enjoy yourself. Try not to look so…pensive. Your thoughts and worries are all being handled. Breathe in the air as a redeemed member of the royal family!" Azula spun herself over to Zuko and smiled at him. She breathed deeply over the railing and sighed loudly. Zuko could see small sparks fall off of her lips and the air around her face rippled with heat.

"I'm not a huge fan of the ocean. The air is too damp." Zuko replied, very bluntly and turned to start walking away.

"You know, Zuzu," Azula began again, "I used to hate water. Water is weak; it bends and folds and is manipulated so easily. A ship can cut through it so easily. It can form into ice, but can easily be melted, all so easily. It's malleable. It needs a command to do anything, just like a slave. Fire is strong. It can move about wherever and if there is no path, it will make one. It demands to be hot all of the time. Even after it has burned out, it still smolders, leaves its mark…So I guess I grew to love water for the same reasons I hated it." She smiled, her eyes as big as the ruthlessness behind her voice.

Zuko shuddered slightly. "Where are the others, Azula? The ones that were traveling with the Avatar before his death…" He tried to be nonchalant with the question, keeping it as non- pressing of a matter as possible.

"Well, the Water Tribe girl that was trying to seduce you…She's being held by Commander Yu back in Ba Sing Se. He was one of my men who I put in charge of my city while I am gone. The others are on their way to the Boiling Rock."

"Well," Zuko reviewed her words in his head, as if placing each person where she said they would be, "thank you." He replied, surprised she had given him any answer at all.

Azula always lies…

"Thank you? For what, dear Zuzu?" She was very coy with her words.

"Well, for everything, I guess."

"Zuko, consider yourself and I partners now," she stated as she adjusted the crown atop his head.

Zuko just smiled and nodded at her, making his way back into his ship. He felt a sick feeling in his stomach. Dismissing it as mild sea- sickness, he decided to lay down.

Katara had fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep until she heard the harsh rapping on her cell door. She wondered to herself that it might have been a little early for dinner, but she had no complaints about being fed or watered. She moved closer to the door, waiting to hear the familiar screech of the hinges on the bars at the bottom of the door. Maybe they had forgotten something? After a moment another set of hinges started to groan and Katara backed away. She moved towards the cot at the back of the room as she watched three guards enter her cell.

"Princess Azula requests that you be given a bath."

Finally…

One of the guards took her arm and pulled her to the side as another entered the room with a large tub of water on a cart. He removed the tub from atop the cart as well as a small stool that had been resting behind it. Waving at the other two guards, he placed the tub and stool on the ground in the center of the cell. The two approached Katara and each of them grabbed an arm, standing her up so she was in front of the larger guard who had moved the tub.

"You will not try to bend. If you do, you will be burned. Is that understood?"

Katara nodded.

A younger guard with small freckles on his nose grasped at Katara's right arm. She knew they would not name themselves for her, so she would have to figure out a way to remember them herself. She would call him Freckle. On her left was a man with a very square face, almost flat like a frying pan. Pan would be his tag. And the man in front of her. He was large. Burly. The bottom of his face was spotted with small amounts of rough facial hair and he smelled of sweat. His hair was cut in a military style but a mean chunk of it on the left side appeared to have been burned off in the shape of what resembled a blade of some sort. Dagger. He would be Dagger.

Dagger did not look at Katara's face as he lit a small flame on his finger. He dragged it towards her neck and Katara flinched slightly. What had she done to deserve a burn? She was not fighting her captors…She shut her eyes tight as she prepared…But the warmth did not touch her skin. Instead, it cut like a blade down the front of her tunic, singing the fabric away from her as it smoldered slightly. The flame did not mar her exposed skin, nor did it scorch at her bindings as her tunic fell away in a filthy heap on the floor. She felt indecent, struggling against her captors to cover herself but to avail.

"You will not try to fight us. If you do," he repeated with a snarl that morphed into a smirk, "you will be burned. Is that understood?"

Katara did not nod this time. She only stood, a statue.

"Han!" Dagger shouted, just loud enough to be heard by another older guard who was stationed outside the cell. Han peeked his head around the corner as Dagger nodded to him. The large door closed with a loud screech of the hinges.

Katara was frightened. For a moment, she considered bending the water in the tub. She could do a number of things with it, provided her current strength. She could freeze the guards to the wall, rip at their skin with ice daggers, or even drown them. The moment of consideration fleeted, however, when she remembered the guard outside and consider how many others would follow behind him at their associate's screams. She was alone in this battle. She was still the fighter who stood against Azula, the waterbending warrior with the heart of a lion, the healer with the kindness of a mother…but she had to be smart if she was going to live. She had to be smart if she was going to survive long enough to escape, long enough to rescue Aang, wherever he was…

The flame flickered brighter as Dagger smiled wider, bringing the flame to her breast bindings now. Katara swallowed deeply, only increasing the guard's excitement. She could feel the heat as he melted away the only barrier between her chest and the cold, biting air. Her bindings fell to the floor in a heap. Her stoic poise was starting to falter as a sweaty, rigid hand came up to touch her breast. Dagger let out a satisfied chuckle. Katara let her head droop in shame and shut her eyes. She did not want to see the expressions of her assailant. Finally, the hand dropped to her lower bindings. This time, no flame was used. Dagger dropped himself to his knees and slid his right hand into the waistband of her bindings. His other hand found it's way to the back of her knee, caressing her. She felt sick. Dagger pulled her underwear down slowly, finding pleasure in every moment of exposing her. He was at eye level with her most precious jewel and Katara said a silent prayer to the Moon Spirit to allow her to remain sacred for as long as possible. Dagger came to his feet and roughly grabbed Katara by the shoulders. Letting her arms fall out of their grasp, the two guards calmly took a step away as Dagger shoved her fragile frame against the cold, metal wall.

"I am going to wash you, and you are going to allow me to do whatever I need to do to complete that task. Do you understand?" His face was close to hers now, his breath like putrid old onions and tobacco.

Katara's eyes were still shut, and a small tear squeezed itself out as she nodded her head very subtly as if agreeing to slice her own throat.

She was dragged over to the small tub and lifted up, a wandering hand finding its way to her rear during the process. When she hit the water it was slightly warm. She assumed that it had been heated up before it was brought to her. The two guards returned to her side, awaiting instruction from their burly commander. As much as she wanted to lay back, relish in her element and Gods be damned what happened to her, she couldn't. Her mind had chained her to the moment and although she still forced her eyes shut, she could see every move coming. Freckle and Pan held her hands clasped to the edge of the tub while a small sponge was run over her shoulders, drenching her body with water. Dagger scrubbed her shoulders and arms with quick vigor, only slowing when he moved to her breasts. He ran the sponge over each peak, scratching his nail very lightly against each nipple until they became pert. At one moment, he had the sponge on her right breast and his hand caressing the other. Katara was young, but she was not undeveloped like Toph.

A silent command was given to the guards as Dagger moved lower to her stomach. Katara could feel her stomach start to burn as the guards took their post at her knees, rough hands forcing her legs to part slightly. Dagger's washing ministrations dipped down further towards the tuft of hair that lay between her legs. He pushed his hand and arm under the water, and Katara bit her tongue as she felt the sponge nestled against her private regions. She could hear laughing and even quiet breaths of motivation from the men at her sides. Dagger's rubbing became more furious now, scratching at her with the sponge and his fingers pawing at her folds. She felt a digit slide in very slightly as she started to weep bitterly.

As if her cries had been a prayer, a single rap on the door resounded through the cell. Katara sucked in a breath as Dagger cursed and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her out of the tub. The air ripped at her flesh now, leaving small bumps all over her body as she stand, wet and exposed. Dagger turned, knowing her broken frame would not launch at him, and picked up a small folded tunic. He tossed it on the floor next to her lower wrappings. Motioning for his cohorts to follow, Dagger turned back to smile at her and was gone. Freckle and Pan loaded the water back up onto the cart and wheeled it out.

As if the men would return in a moment, Katara snatched up the tunic and threw it on, sliding her underwear up her legs shortly after. The garment she was given was old. It was light brown in color, although she imagined it had once been white. The sleeve on her left arm reached it's full potential at her wrist, by the sleeve on her right had been ripped at the quarter, barely reaching her elbow. It was not long and it exposed her legs all the way up to just a few inches below her hip. If she were to bend in any direction, her lower regions would be completely exposed. She was thankful that the men had left her lower wrappings for her, although she feared they were only waiting until they had taken her completely. Men like that enjoyed their trophies.

Katara slumped back over to her cot and curled up in a weak, weeping ball, as darkness took her.

Zuko could hear men talking in the halls. He couldn't sleep with so much noise.

"So what did the princess have you so wrapped up in you missed Pai Sho?"

"Had to go downstairs and wash one of the prisoners."

Zuko sighed and slung his legs over the bed. He decided to end this annoying conversation.

"The one with the pretty blue eyes?"

He stopped for a moment.

"Yeah, that one." The voice chuckled.

"Tell me you got to have yourself some fun!"

Zuko was frozen.

"Hell, I wish! She's a waterbender. I had the wonderful job of restraining her while Chou got to put his hands all over her! It's okay though. He owes me for that last game of Pai Sho we played so I get to have my turn next."

It can't be her. She's halfway to Boiling Rock by now…unless…

Doubts fleeted through Zuko's mind and he decided it was time to investigate. He pulled his red silk robe onto his shoulders and made his way towards the metal door, footsteps clanging on the metal ground.

Katara sighed, pulling her legs in closer to her chest. Her head pounded and pain shot through her body like an arrow. She was sore, exhausted and violated, but she could not sleep after the sound of footsteps and muffled conversation from right above her head awoke her.

A/N Please hold the rotten tomatoes until I finish this author's note. First off, I am SO sorry that you guys waited an ENTIRE month and day to read this chapter. It was my intention to get a chapter out every week but that didn't happen. =( I shall list my reasons so you can judge the severity of my punishment: Sherlock, moving from sunny Florida to tundra Ohio, a twenty five hour bus ride, no computer, new Supernatural, job loss, and of course, Christmas! I am now settled in my new dwelling so I promise that you will see more updates for this story and my new story very very soon! Anyways, thanks again for the reading and reviewing and favoriting and following and whatnot.

This chapter's special thanks go to NaomiKindle who pointed out a major consistency flaw from chapter two (I HAVE REVISED IT SO GO READ IT AGAIN) and flaws in my writing style. The consistency flaw has been fixed like the bold print previously stated but the flaw in my style (present tense verbs in a third person, past tense story) is something I have been struggling with. If you guys have any special suggestions or just want to list the mistakes I made in this chapter, please leave a review! :]