By the way, I don't own any of Avatar the Air Bender or any of its characters.

Chapter 6-Let's Dance

Katara P.O.V

Too much red.

That was my first thought when I walked into the ball room. I think the servant room would be better suited for a ball than this. At least it had a color other than red in it. No one really paid attention to me as I walked out of the shadows and onto the dance floor. I guess I shouldn't be calling it dance floor; there was not one single person dancing.

The couples standing around were doing exactly what every single person was doing; judging people around them. I saw this one couple in particular whisper to each other every time someone walked by. The first nice sight I saw was Iroh talking to a bunch of women. It made me smile to see him having fun. He deserved some time off away from Zuko.

Please don't notice me….

A few people were starting to glance at me now. I was the odd one out, the opposite from everyone of the Fire Nation. Tan-skinned, blue-eyed…no wonder all the men were staring at me. I couldn't be much of sight to them, could I? I asked myself silently as I walked past a group of drunk men. None of my curves has survived the starvation period. I was now skin and bones. What was so attractive about that?

As I scanned the area for anyone willing to talk to me, I noticed Ozai staring at me.

He had that arrogant smile on his face again, so to shut it down, I smiled and waved at him mockingly.

It must have bugged him that I had so much confidence, because he immediately stopped smiling.

In reality, I had no confidence what so ever. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, I was sweating like a pig, and I was scared. This was the one chance I had to prove myself, and I was completely panicking. As I weaved through the crowd of red and black, I felt my stomach churn with nervousness. All I have to do is get someone to dance with me…just once. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

A tap on the shoulder brought me out of my thoughts.

"Hi Katara!" Ty-Lee said happily with a big, happy smile on her cheery face. Why couldn't everyone from the Fire Nation be like her? I returned her smile, "Hello Ty-Lee. How are you?" I asked politely. I wasn't about to scare away the first person who had decided to talk to me. Ty-Lee was the only person who was not wearing black or red; instead, she was wearing a short, pink dress with purple slippers. It suited her personality perfectly.

She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a cold, chilling voice.

"We do not associate with watertribe members Ty-Lee."

Mai came out from behind her with a completely straight face, as usual. Did she have no emotion?! My smile faded and I crossed my arms sassily. "Oh Mai. Don't be sad just because she found someone who actually has a personality!" I exclaimed happily, watching Mai's mouth drop open in shock. That was the first and probably last time I will ever see Mai show emotion. I flipped around and strutted away, not wanting to be insulted anymore.

Doing so, I accidently ran into someone.

I looked up to see the face of Zuko staring down at me.

"Sorry."

I tried to walk away, not really in the mood for talking to the prince of the Fire Nation. Zuko grabbed my arm however, stopping me from running away. "Wait, Katara." He said, his voice hiding an emotion I had never seen in him. I stopped and he let go of my arm, still peering down at me. "You-uh-You look nice." Zuko chocked out, actually appearing nervous for once. I blushed, something I never imagined I would do when Zuko talked to me.

"I don't feel nice. It's like I'm in a costume I can't get out of."

"Yeah, uh, what I meant was that you look nice in Fire Nation colors, um…even though you hate us."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Yeah, I do hate you guys." I answered, slightly snobbishly. Be nice to him, a voice in the back of my mind whispered. He's complimenting you for once! Zuko looked slightly taken aback by my reply, and his eyes narrowed down at me. "I give you a compliment and that's how you reply?" Zuko snapped. Feeling anger rising in my chest, I stood up a little taller, even though it didn't matter since Zuko was over five inches taller than me.

"You think I'm being ridiculous? Your nation kidnapped me and is keeping me in a freaking cell!"

I noticed a few people glance over at me yelling up at Zuko. This probably wasn't looking too good for me right now. Ozai was probably planning my beheading right this minute. After taking a quick second to compose myself, I looked up at Zuko's still stern face. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I'm just-" Zuko wasn't even listening to me, so I stopped talking. He had started looking around as soon as I opened my mouth.

"Whatever. Do you want to dance?"

"Do I- wait, what?"

Zuko looked extremely annoyed with me right now.

"Do you want to dance?"

He asked it slowly, which made me glare at him.

"Fine."

Zuko held out his arm and I linked mine with his. Everyone else was lining up for the upcoming dance also, so I figured it must be a traditional one. Even Iroh was doing it! I, on the other hand, was less enthused to be doing a Fire Nation dance..and with Zuko too! What had I turned into?! The women lined up on one side, while the men stood on the other, across from their partner. Zuko and I were ten feet away from each other and you could still feel the tension.

It hadn't occurred to me that I had no idea how to do this dance.

It was too late; the music had started to play.

(Think Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth dance)

I copied the woman standing next to me. The women and men both swiftly went towards each other and bowed slightly, switching places. Zuko was glaring at me intently, while I returned to favor. We went towards each other again and joined hands for a split second, turning around and returning to our original spots on the ball-room floor. We were a bit behind the other couples, so I focused my brain on coping exactly what the other couples were doing.

Going towards each other for the third time, our faces got a mere inch away from each others. I could feel the anger steaming off of Zuko. Turning around the person next to me, I stepped towards Zuko and laid my hand on top of his lightly. Take a step forward, bow down a bit, take a step backward, bow down a bit. Zuko's warm hand released mine, almost as in disgust, as we swerved around the other couples. We flew across the floor, repeating the forward bow and backwards bow again, but in a different direction. Our eyes were locked tightly as we turned around, continuing the same steps.

"Why do you glare at me so Zuko?"

"I could ask you the same question peasant."

We stepped over each other's paths, doing a U turn and getting in each other's faces again. The part where the couple's join hands came again, although I really did not want to get burned from Zuko's anger that circulated to his hands. We turned in a circle once while I replied to his statement. "I glare at you because of your thoughts that I would actually be enjoying myself." I hissed at him, breaking the eye contact.

While repeating the "all up in their face" step, I noticed Iroh looking at us suspiciously. He must have overheard our conversation. Again, twisting around the other women, Zuko gave me that annoyed look he always used to give me when he chased us around the world. "You should be enjoying yourself," Zuko whispered harshly. "By dancing with me you're sure to not be beheaded anytime soon." He added while we let go of each others' hands.

"I'm sure every girl would be dying to dance with you."

Zuko looked slightly wounded by my comment, which I didn't understand why.

"I have met nearly every woman in this room and yet, I still choose to dance with you."

I turned around a girl and re-connected with Zuko's gaze. "Why would that be Prince Zuko?" I said, slightly in an annoyed tone. I was very curious to know why Zuko wanted to save my skin, but I didn't let it show. The dance seemed to be coming to an end, as the couples were now standing opposite each other again. Zuko stared at me for a second, waiting for the music to completely end before replying.

"Because I care for you Katara."

Time seemed to stand still for a moment. The other couples clapped, but Zuko and I just stood there, staring at each other. It wasn't necessarily an intense stare; just a stare. I don't know how else to explain it. The couples retreated and Iroh hopped over to us. "Katara! You look absolutely stunning!" He exclaimed, looking me over. "I would definitely ask you to dance…if I was sixty years younger, of course." Iroh joked. Somehow he always seemed to lighten up a situation.

I smiled at him and chuckled. "Thanks Iroh."

He glanced over at Zuko, who looked a little bit more calm. "You chose wisely my nephew! You're learning." Iroh patted a blushing Zuko on the back, then ran away towards some woman by the tea table. Zuko and I stood by each other while watching him start up a conversation with her. "He's a ladies' man, huh?" I joked, laughing a bit. Zuko smiled and nodded, "Definitely doesn't seem like he would be my father's brother." We turned around to see Ozai sitting on his throne, trying to talk to a woman who looked extremely bored.

Zuko and I burst out laughing.

"Would you like a drink?"

The little girl that helped me with my hair and makeup walked up to us with a tray of what appeared to be alcohol. She wasn't being as friendly as she was when we were alone, but I figured it was because they were afraid of Zuko, him being the prince and all. I smiled at her anyways and took one from the tray. "Thank you Shama." I said, referring to her name. She couldn't hold back her smile, but it disappeared when Zuko grabbed my drink.

"Sorry, but I don't think the council would appreciate it if you drank at their party."

I sighed, as I was extremely thirsty for something other than a few drops of water. Maybe I could go get some tea later. Zuko and I stood there for a few minutes, watching girls chase after guys that clearly did not want to be around them. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by yours truly, Azula.

"Having a fun time Zuzu?"

She smirked at him darkly, then looked me over from head to toe. "Well, well Katara. I must say you look great in Fire Nation colors." Azula hissed, knowing it would tick me off. I bit my tongue, but smiled over at her. "You look amazing as well Azula. Any guy would be crazy not to dance with you." I responded. What I wanted to say was, "No guy would be crazy enough to dance with you." Zuko hid back a smile, knowing I didn't really mean it.

Azula gave me a grin and stuck her chest out a little further.

It took everything I had not to burst out laughing.

"They would be crazy, wouldn't they?"

Zuko and I nodded, causing her to look suspiciously at us. "Well, have a good time Zuzu. Don't get too many girls pregnant." With that, she walked away onto the dance floor, probably to pay some guy to dance with her. I didn't know one single guy that would willingly dance with Azula. The experience would surely leave them scarred; not just mentally either.

Zuko looked over at me with his shaggy hair. I wondered if he was planning to leave it like that. I hoped so…his ponytail was really creepy and made him look less attractive than he was. I stopped my thinking for a second when I realized I just called Zuko hot. "You really do look beautiful Katara. I think you've already impressed the council members." He said, a little shyly.

I smiled up at him, "Thank you Zuko."

He smiled back at me and we continued to make fun of people.

Ozai P.O.V

"She has proven herself so far, King Ozai."

"Most indefinitely."

Ignorant council members, I thought to myself. This peasant had them all wrapped around her finger. How she managed to do so, I will never know. It didn't matter; I just had to figure out how to show them who she really was.

"Calm down gentlemen…she still has something to prove to us. Let's just give her one more night of fun before her death."

Thanks for reading everyone! Review xxxx