A moan escaped Katara's lips as consciousness came back to her. There was a dull throbbing in her temple and she felt strangely weak. Forcing her eyes open and her head not to spin, she sat up and tried to examine her surroundings.
"Oh, spirits" she whispered. She was definitely not in the woods anymore.
She was lying on a bed in a small, rectangular room. The bed, with its thick, red cotton sheets, was shoved against the wall opposite the metal door. A bamboo nightstand was next to the bed, with a lit oil lamp on it providing the only light in the room. A tapestry bearing the Fire Nation symbol she'd seen on flags hung on the wall over the bed. The rest of the room was mostly bare, but she could make out a small chest on the opposite wall, half hidden amongst shadows lurking in the far corner.
The sound of footsteps on a metal floor from outside caught her attention and she turned to look at the door. She thought she heard voices but couldn't make out anything being said. Then, the door swung open and a tall figure in black and red stepped inside. Katara failed to hold in a gasp.
It was him. The boy who'd come to her village, who tried to take Aang, the one she saw at the Earth Kingdom prison. He was standing right in front of her.
She swallowed back any fear and glared at him as hard as she could. They were all monsters and she wouldn't let this one have the satisfaction of knowing how suddenly afraid she was.
"I see you're awake. How are you feeling?" he asked.
She set her jaw firmly. Did he really think he could act all pleasant and concerned and that they'd get along just fine? She just knew he was trying to play her and that she was likely a prisoner here. She wouldn't make any of this easy for him.
"Where's Sokka and Aang?" she demanded. "Tell me what happened to them!"
"Who?" He sounded genuinely confused.
Katara huffed out a breath in annoyance. "Sokka. My brother. And Aang…"
"Is the Avatar" he finished. "So the airhead has a name."
"Airhead! How dare you! Aang's the Avatar and he's going to stop your people and save the world from being taken over by you monsters. Aang's just a kid but he's better than you'll ever be, Scarface!"
She saw a muscle twitch in his cheek and smirked, knowing she'd struck a nerve. There was no time to savor her small victory though, as he strode across the small room in just a few steps and grabbed hold of her shirt with one hand. She tried not to think that the area he'd grabbed was right over her breasts. She couldn't pull away, as his grip was tighter than iron chains.
The boy leaned forward until his face was right in front of hers and they were eye to eye.
"You" he slowly snarled, "know nothing of me or my people. How dare you call us monsters when you live like savages?"
Katara gasped. "How dare you?" she cried. "I'm Water Tribe and we're a proud, strong people. We are not savages. We're not the ones trying to destroy the world!" She tried to pull away and failed.
"We're not trying to destroy the world, we're trying to make it better! The Fire Nation is the greatest civilization in history and we're trying to show everyone else that so they can be better, too!"
Katara actually started to laugh. "You really think you're better than everyone else, don't you? It's funny. Who are you to think you're higher up than me, or anyone for that matter? You're just some ordinary kid, aren't you, trying to play grown-up?"
The boy's sudden smirk caused her to stop laughing. He released her and stood up to his full height, towing over where she sat on the bed.
"Actually, yes, I am higher up than a peasant like you. My name is Zuko, son of Firelord Ozai and Princess Ursa, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne."
The son of the Firelord? "But…you're just …"
He glared down at her. "Just what, peasant?"
"Don't call me that! For your information, my name is Katara and my father is chief of the Southern Water Tribe." She sat up straighter, pride evident in her voice.
Zuko gave her a mocking bow. "My apologies, princess."
Katara decided not to say that the Southern Water Tribe chose leaders based on who was the best warrior and that they didn't have royalty the way other nations did. If he wanted to think and call her a princess, that was fine by her. Plus, she was starting to feel a little dizzy and thinking was becoming too much of an effort.
He noticed. "You're tired. I should leave you to rest."
He turned and opened the door. As soon as he did, Katara desperately lunged. By some miracle, she got past him before he could grab her and ran out the door.
She ran frantically through the halls of the ship, with no idea where she was going. She just knew she had to get out of here and find Aang and Sokka. Using what strength she still had in her body, and trying to ignore the pounding in her head, she raced down a set of stairs. Behind her, she could hear footsteps. Zuko was following her but he didn't seem to be in any hurry. By the sound of it, he was moving as if on a pleasant stroll.
"There's no need to run" he called down to her. "There's nowhere for you to go. You can't fly away like that boy did."
His footsteps were louder now, and she knew he was gaining on her. Her heart was pounding now, and she cursed herself for feeling afraid. She had to be strong if she was going to make it out of here.
Katara ran through a door into another hallway. Maybe she could find her way to the deck and jump off. She was a waterbender and she'd sooner take her chances in the ocean than on a Fire Nation ship. Maybe she could sink the ship? She discarded the idea immediately. She didn't have the skill to do something like that and even if she did she was too tired.
Her heart leapt as she saw stairs with light coming from underneath a door at the top. She prayed it would lead her to where she needed to go.
The spirits had to be on her side because sure enough, it led out onto the deck. She paused for a moment, seeing nothing but ocean and sky. Footsteps behind her made her turn around.
Zuko was standing there, blocking her from going back into the ship.
"Thinking about jumping off?" He taunted her. "Go ahead. We're miles away from the nearest piece of land and waterbender or not you'll never be able to reach it alive. You don't have the strength right now to get that far. How embarrassing would it be, a waterbender drowning?"
"I'd sooner drown than be your prisoner!" she shot back.
"Prisoner? Who said I was going to hold you prisoner?" he asked innocently.
Katara scoffed. "Yeah right. No one had to say anything, genius. It's obvious. You had those Fire Nation soldiers attack me, then you acted like some masked hero, pretending to save me so I'd trust you, and now I'm going to be your bait, so that when Aang and Sokka come to save me, you'll have Aang in your clutches."
Zuko looked half-impressed. "I'm amazed you came up with that. But it's not true. I didn't send those men after you and I hadn't planned on using you as bait. Though it's a good idea; I'll be sure to keep it in mind."
"You MONSTER!" she screamed, because she couldn't think up any other comeback.
As he'd done in the room, Zuko swooped towards her; this time his iron grip latched onto her arm.
"Stop calling me that" he hissed, his voice low and threatening.
"Never" she whispered. "I'll never see you as anything but a monster."
She got the last word in this time, as exhaustion from her earlier actions caught up with her. Like a candle being blown out, her mind went dark. The last thing she was aware of were Zuko's hands on her as she went limp in his grasp.
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"So she tried to escape?"
Zuko nodded an affirmative as he accepted a cup of jasmine tea from him uncle.
"Yes, and she actually made all the way onto the deck before she passed out."
Iroh took a sip of his tea. "Where is she now?"
"I put her back in the spare room she was in before…and chained her to the wall."
"Zuko!" The tone in Iroh's voice was a mix of shock and disproval.
"What? She'll hurt herself if she keeps running around like that."
"I don't think chaining a young girl to a wall is the best way to convince her you don't want to harm her. What do you plan to do with her?"
Zuko shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. I'm not entirely sure why I bothered to save her."
"Because despite how you are, or rather, how you want people to think you are, you have a good heart." Iroh gestured to the floor. "Just look at how you are with Hyo."
The dog Hyosuke, or Hyo as they'd decided to call him, looked up from where he lay on the floor at Zuko's feet and wagged his tail. He'd been a shadow for Zuko almost constantly since they'd got him, only leaving his side when Zuko told him to stay and sleeping at the foot of Zuko's bed every night. Zuko smiled and reached down to pat the dog. Hyo gave a doggy grin and the long, brown tail wagged harder.
Iroh smiled as well. The dog had been good for Zuko. He would have gotten him a pet years ago if he'd known how well it would work for his nephew's attitude. Zuko seemed happier than he'd been in a long while, especially whenever he played with the dog.
Still, as wonderful as Hyo was, Zuko needed interaction with people other than just him and the crew. He needed friends his own age. He'd been surprised, and secretly delighted, when Zuko had carried the girl onto the ship last night. Though from the looks of things, they weren't to become friends anytime soon.
Iroh sighed and sipped his tea. A man could only hope.
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Katara had come to and found herself back in the room she'd originally woken up in. She tried to stretch only to find her right arm wouldn't go as high as her left.
A metal cuff was fastened loosely around her wrist, though still tight enough she couldn't slip her hand through. A two foot long chain was attached to the cuff and the other end bolted into the wall by her bed.
Really? Was he so worried about her escaping that he chained her to a wall? What about not holding her prisoner and not using her as bait? He was doing a good job of proving that.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the door swung open and Zuko stepped inside. Her examined her position and smirked.
"Feeling better?"
Katara glared at him. The look on his face was so smug she wanted the slap it off with her free hand. Unfortunately he was standing too far away.
"If I take off that chain, will you still try to run away?" he asked.
"I'd do anything to get away from you" she snarled.
Zuko sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. Fine. Lieutenant!" he called into the hallway.
A tall, middle-aged man in a Navy officer's uniform with graying hair and rough sideburns entered the room. "Yes, sir?"
"Jee, I want you to inform the crew of this. The girl is to remain in this room. For meals, they can be left in here a few times a day, once at dawn, once at noon, and again at sundown. If she refuses to eat what she is given, then she doesn't eat at all. She must be escorted everywhere on this ship outside of this room. At night, she is to be chained like she is now. The chain's long enough she can still lie down. There are not to be any liquids in this room except for drinks during meals, and that will be only a certain amount. Once in the morning after breakfast and once at night she may wash. She will be limited on the amount of water she gets to use and the time she is in there. Someone will stand outside the door to bring her to and from this room. All of this will be in effect until I say otherwise. Any questions?"
"No, sir. I understand."
"Good. Please go inform everyone else. Write it down and post it in the mess hall if you have to."
The man nodded, gave a quick, respectful bow, and withdrew from the room. As soon as he was gone, Katara unleashed her fury on Zuko.
"How can you? You said I'm not a prisoner but you're treating me like one!"
"You're giving me reason to treat you like one."
"Why don't you just let me go?" she sighed, trying not to sound like she was begging. "What good am I to you? Why'd you bother saving me if I'm going to be such a burden?"
"I can't let you go now. We're in the middle of the ocean. Plus, seeing as you could barely make it to the deck earlier, how would you survive all by yourself? And as for your other two questions, I haven't figured out answers to them yet, but I will."
"Let me know when you do" Katara grumbled. She paused to see if he was going to say anything else. When he didn't she went on. "You mentioned meals and I'm kind of hungry…"
Zuko nodded. "I get it's been a while since you've eaten. It's almost sundown. You can wait a bit more."
With that, he turned and walked out of the room with a swagger that infuriated Katara. As soon as the door closed, she hit the wall with her free hand as hard as she could. The skin on her knuckles split open and she instinctively pulled away. Tears stung her eyes and it wasn't just because of the pain in her hand. She bit her lip and swiped at her eyes, then gave up. She turned over, awkwardly because of the chain, and buried her face in the cotton pillow. Then she cried, just as she had the night her mother died.
Please let me know what you guys think! I love to get reviews and hear your thoughts.
Hyosuke is Japanese for 'helpful solider', which seems appropriate. Special thanks to GaaraHinataWake for naming Zuko's dog and to harronhermy for helping with the conversation between Katara and Zuko. Also, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or put this on story alert.