Katara
The days continue to go by slow, but not as slowly as they did before Zuko started spending an hour a day with me. He's still the enemy, but for an hour a day we truce and I get to actually do something mildly entertaining. I prefer Iroh's visits in the evenings, but Zuko comes every morning for breakfast. There are worse ways to start the day.
I even convinced him to let me bend a little with the tea by playing at his ego, asking him if he thought I was actually a threat with a teapot's worth of water against him, a master Fire Bender, in a locked cell. So while we play Pai Sho and talk, I am usually swirling water around.
He asks about my family and my tribe. I ask about his home and nation. I quickly learn he won't answer any questions about his family. The closest he came to talking about them was muttering he has a little sister my age named Azula, but they don't get along.
Banishment? Off limits. Scar? Off limits. Family? Off limits, other than Iroh and Leu Ten. But I learn he does like Turtle Ducks, his bending doesn't come as naturally as he'd like so he has to push himself extra hard, he wishes he had his own dragon and hates that they're extinct. I find I actually find the Fire Prince funny, and if it weren't for his scar and shaved head he'd be handsome. He kinda is, even with the scar. The ponytail is really not flattering on him, though.
I tell him I'm the daughter of the chief. I don't really see the harm since I'm being held for Ransom anyways. I tell him about Sokka and Gran Gran. I don't mention my mother, though. It's too personal. He likes Turtle Ducks, well I like Polar Puppies and wolf horses, and always wanted one of each for myself. So does Sokka, but Gran Gran says they're too much responsibility, Wolf Horses are rare and hard to catch, and Polar Puppies grow into big Polar Bear Wolves. I love bending, but I'm not very good on my own. I feel like I could be great, but I'll never know if I don't make it to the North Pole. He seems almost sympathetic to that.
After several days, I wouldn't consider us friends. He's still my captor and I'm still a prisoner, we're on opposite sides of a war, not to mention his temper is so short I never know when he's going to suddenly get upset and then we end up shouting at each other instead of playing our game. But sometimes, for an hour a day, we can pretend to be friends. And it's nice to have a friend my own age. I haven't in years.
Our village is the capital of the South Pole, which made us a main target for Fire Nation attacks for a long time. The tribe tried to rebuild after there hadn't been a raid in a few years, which was a few years before I was born. It was a good life, with good homes and trade with other villages. I had a friend, Amni. We were close. But after the raid that claimed my mother's life, most of the families, including Amni's, moved farther out just in case. After that we only saw each other on trade days, until her sister told me one day she had fallen though the ice and drowned two weeks prior. I became even more withdrawn after that. That's something else I don't share with Zuko, even though I think about it while he studies the board looking to make a move and I swirl water above us. I try to put the thought out of my head.
"Do you think you could do water bending moves with your fire?" I ask. He looks up.
"What?"
"Look above us, what I'm doing with the water, moving it back and forth. Can you do that with flames?"
"Huh. I don't know. Uncle mentioned he has some sort of secret technique he made by watching waterbenders, so I guess it's possible. I've never tried. Fire Bending, it comes from the breath, but is directed by our muscles. So like with punches and kicks, not with swirling infinity signs."
"Want to try?" I ask. "At this point I'm just curious." I tell him. He shrugs.
"Ok." He says and creates a flame.
"Copy my hands with your own." I say and stand, exaggerating my movements. Zuko watches a moment, then stands and does the same as me, making his fire flow next to my water. I smile. "That's incredible!" He tries to hide it, but I see a smile go on his face too. "The fire is so pretty, dancing like that."
"Fire is destructive and unstable. 'Pretty' isn't usually a word used to describe it."
"Well it's pretty right now." I say, smiling gently in pleasure, watching the light dance across the ceiling. But less than half a second later, Zuko yells and blasts a powerful flame at the door. It heats up the metal but doesn't do anything past that.
"Fire's not pretty, Katara! It's powerful and destructive and unstable and consuming!"
"Hey!" I shout, sending my water back in it's teapot. "Rule number two, Fire Prince! You have to control your temper."
"You don't understand." He says through gritted teeth, then groans and goes and sits down in front of the board again.
"Make me understand." I say, sitting in front of him.
"You can't."
"Not if you don't share." I say, feeling frustration arise. "That outburst didn't come from nowhere, Zuko. Whatever you have pent up is eating you from the inside. You need to let it out, and let someone in."
"Someone like you? Yeah, sure let the Water Princess in the brig of my ship know about my issues."
"I'm not a Princess! And we said we'd leave the war at the door."
"Just stop it." He shouts, fire sparking at his finger tips. "I don't want to talk about it, so let's just finish the game." He growls and makes a move.
"Fine." I huff, not even really looking where I move my tile. We go back and forth for a bit without talking now.
"Is there anything you could show me?" I ask after a while.
"What?"
"Bending. Is there anything you can think of to teach me from firebending that might carry over?" I explain. He's quiet for a few minutes so I don't think he's going to answer, but eventually he does.
"I don't know."
"What's the first thing you learn in Fire Bending?"
"Breath of Fire."
"Can you show me?"
" I guess. It's a very simple move. You heat the air around you as you breathe." He says, then takes a deep breath through the mouth, holds it a second, and then blows steam out of his nostrils.
"I wonder if I can do something similar." I say, and swirl the water around my head.
"What are you doing?" He asks.
"Something uncomfortable. But I want to try. I can melt and freeze water. I wonder if I can make steam too." I tell him, then take a deep breath and freeze the water around my head. It's painfully cold and claustrophobic, but I make myself hold it a second before I try breathing out, focusing my energy on my breath, and using my breath to heat the ice into water then steam. It works, and when my face isn't frozen I start gasping for breath, then cool the steam back into water and send it into the teapot while I cough. When I look up I see Zuko's smiling, a very small one, but it's there.
"I win." He says and moves his last tile. "And our hour's up, so I'll see you tomorrow." He gets up and heads towards the door. "And I probably shouldn't be teaching you anything to help your bending. But…that was interesting. I've never seen a Waterbender do a firebending move. You're full of surprises, Katara."
...