16Hi everyone!
I wrote the first few chapters of this new fic during Christmas break for apologising for not updating my other stories very often, and not being able to do it at all, now during exam time.
This fic might sound serious at first, but it is not intended to be very serious. Which will get clearer in the end of the fic.
I hope you like it, and please let me know what you think!
I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender, nor its characters.
Chapter One
Stretching her arms, Katara arched her back off the mattress, a languorous soft screech escaping her lips. With a sigh she let her back fall back onto the bed. Her body felt incredibly good, as if she had bent water for hours before going to sleep.
Warm rays of sunshine caressed her face, and she smiled in a relaxed way. Since Sokka hadn't yelled for her to get up, she was sure she could keep lying in her bedroll for a while longer.
Her brows contorted, wondering why she wasn't lying in her bedroll, but in a warm, very comfy bed.
Her sleepy mind really didn't want to ponder about that, but her responsible part nagged her into opening her eyes. Anyway, when she was lying in a soft bed, her situation couldn't be that bad. Maybe some nice villagers had found her campsite, and not wanting to wake her up, Aang and Sokka had carried her here.
Uh, no. Sokka would have totally woken her up. And villagers didn't have such comfy beds, with silky sheets, which smelled like… Huh, she didn't know that smell, but it was very flowery, and she loved it.
But this situation was still strange, since she had no idea how she had gotten here.
And hadn't they been in the North Pole? And wasn't it cold there?
The invasion, Yue's sacrifice, Aang's powers, ...
And then?
Reluctantly, Katara opened her eyes, hoping that she had just dreamt about the North Pole, and would now know that they had left several weeks ago, had found Aang an earthbending teacher, and were in some very warm part of the Earth Kingdom? Wasn't there a desert there? Katara was positive that she had never been in such a warm place in her life, so it made sense that she was in the desert.
Through an open door, warm wind blew the red curtains into the room, making it possible for the sun to peek through. When Katara's eyes adjusted, she could make out a grassy surface outside with stone ways, and a few trees. Behind that was a stone archway, and behind that, large and tall buildings grew closer to the sky. They were unlike anything Katara had ever seen, as if one had built smaller houses on top of larger ones. But the most unsettling thing was that their roofs were red.
Wide-eyed she sat up, quickly looking across the room.
Red bedsheets, red carpets, red painted walls, brown and black furniture, and many plants standing in large red pots in the corners of the room, and next to the two doors she could see.
The room was larger than any room she had ever seen, probably about one third of her village, and the bed she was lying in seemed to be bigger than the living room in her old igloo.
Katara's mind worked quickly, and she understandingly reacted with screaming in a high-pitched tone, followed by rapid curse words.
How on earth had she ended up in the Fire Nation? Or was this the Fire Nation? Maybe it were only the colonies, and she hadn't known they had travelled so close to them, so getting back to Aang and Sokka might not be that difficult. But that would still mean that they had already left the North Pole, and why couldn't she remember that?
Cursing she noticed that she was only wearing a bright red robe, with a golden trim and belt. Nothing covered her most intimate parts underneath the robe, which wasn't only very short, but was also not even closed.
Suppressing a new screech, so as not to alarm whoever it was who had put her in here, she hurried to cover herself, when the door to the left burst open.
What she saw next, was definitely the craziest and most frightening thing she had ever seen.
A pale, muscular man with tousled, chin long, black hair came storming out of whatever room was behind, his fists alight with fire, as he fell into a bending stance, the flames growing larger and brighter.
"What happened?" he demanded to know, looking frantically around the room.
Katara's jaw went slack, and she blinked two seconds long, while she stared at the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. He was also the first man she had ever seen naked in her whole life.
That's when not only her cheeks dusted with colour, but she screeched again, scrambling out of the bed, pressing her eyes shut, while she fought with the robe to keep her covered. Once she was sure that nothing besides her legs was shown in an inappropriate way, she held her hands out, her eyes still pressed together.
Oh holy ocean and water spirit, she had just seen his… Gah!
Spirits, what should she do? She had obviously woken up on Fire Nation territory, half naked, with a naked firebender next door! What the heck had happened last night?
Had this man maybe…? She refused to think more about that.
"Uh, Katara?" she heard the man ask in a confused manner. "What happened?"
Swallowing she wished he would put on some clothes, so that she could open her eyes.
"I-I-I…," somehow she seemed to be unable to speak. There was just so much fear clinging in her stomach.
Her first instinct was to drop in a fighting stance, too, and to demand to know where Aang and Sokka were. And what she was doing here. But without any water in her reach, and only very inappropriate clothing, she decided against that. Fighting now would only end in losing the robe. Besides, she didn't want to talk to a naked firebender. Ew.
Not knowing what to say or do instead, she turned her head to the open door, opened her eyes and made a run for it.
Wow, she ran incredibly fast, faster than ever before. Well, she had a clear motivation to run fast.
She darted across the garden, realising there was a pond, and turned around, heading for the source of water. She bent a bubble out of it, and kept it at her side, ready for defence, while she kept running.
"Katara!" she could hear the man shout behind her, but she didn't know, if he was closing in, since her own footsteps, fast heart beating, and rush of blood were already too loud in her ears. She could make out a gate at the end of the garden, and grasped the water bubble tighter to her. Too bad she didn't have her water flask with her.
Frowning she looked down at herself, noticing her breasts were bouncing more than she was used to, while running. Well, she didn't wear her bindings, but her breasts felt more than just freed, they felt heavier, larger.
Maybe she had eaten something strange last night.
She flinched, when a hand landed on her shoulder, and a raspy voice clouded with concern reached her ears. "Katara, what's wro-?", when she pulled her shoulder away, and tried to run faster.
Oh no, he was apparently way faster than her! She wouldn't be able to escape him!
Out of the corner of her eyes she could see him running next to her. What the deep sea? Why was he running next to her, why wasn't he tackling her to the ground or grabbing her arm?
Trying to pick up her pace, she kept her gaze fixed on the gate, which came closer with every second.
"What's going on?" the man asked again. "Can't you tell me what made your run like that?"
It was a reflex. That and she was incredibly surprised at the genuine sound of worry in his voice. That's why she turned her head to look at him running at her right side.
From the fast pace they were running with, the air blew his hair back, revealing the large, reddish purple colour of the burnt skin around his left eye, which was only a slit, golden iris barely visible underneath.
Katara's eyes widened in shock, disbelief and even more fear, when she tumbled over her own feet.
Screaming quietly, she turned around, so that she would land on her side, but two large hands grasped her hips, and pulled her back up and around to face him. He moved her too fast for her to run away, and before she could shove him back, he grasped her wrists, and pulled them up, although she continued to struggle and tried to escape his grip.
"Let me go!" she hissed, but that only made him lower her wrists, holding them close to her body.
"What's wrong?" he asked again. "Katara, what is it? Tell me!" He sounded even more stressed than before, but Katara tried not to pay attention to that.
Her eyes looked around frantically, not wanting to look at him, while she tried to do something to get out of his grip. But with her arms grasped tightly, she couldn't do a lot.
So she did what every sane person would in such a moment. She insulted him. "Let go, you ashmaker!"
His grip loosened a bit, and she pulled again against his hands, but before she could get out, he tightened his grip again. "What's wrong with you?" he shouted, suddenly seeming to be angry.
Narrowing her eyes, she glared up at him, which was a mistake.
The scar, the pale skin, and the golden eyes were all clearly the Fire Prince, but this one was different. He had a full head of hair, chin long, with bangs falling into his face, half obscuring his forehead and eyes, but she could still see them burning like the sun itself.
His cheeks and chin had this raw surface that men who shaved regularly had, and his chin seemed a bit more angular than she remembered. Well, she had only seen him yesterday or the day before, when he had fought her at the spirit oasis, but how had he managed to grow a full head of hair and look so much older within a few days?
And how had they gotten here? They'd been at the North Pole, for spirit's sake!
Maybe this was just a dream. Yeah, it had to be a dream.
Taking a deep breath, Katara tried to reassure herself that this would really be okay. This wasn't even real. Somehow the memory of their fight, and all the fear she had felt, and the worry that Zuko would get away with Aang had all mixed up into this crazy dream of waking up in an older Prince Zuko's bed in the Fire Nation, and seriously, could she just please wake up now, please? If she had to think about this one moment longer, she'd probably throw up.
The prince seemed to notice her calmer demeanour, since he let go of her wrists, but instead of taking a step back, he actually clasped her cheeks, and moved up her face, his own head tilting down towards her.
Her eyes widened in horror, and she couldn't feel the will to move anymore.
"What has gotten into you?" he whispered. "If you…" He actually looked hurt, which made her completely flustered. She had never seen this emotion on his face. "… If you suddenly have a problem with me, then tell me, but don't just say those things!"
Blinking, she kept staring into his face, his confused brows and his pleading golden eyes. This dream seemed so damn real, and it did very confusing things with her normal life. Making the crazy angry jerk a hurt and sensitive, attractive, young man?
But she had to wake up. Now!.
"Pinch me," she said, and flinched at the sound of her own voice. Was this even her voice? It seemed so much deeper than the one she remembered. Clearing her throat, she said it again, but her voice still sounded so deep.
Zuko contorted his brows, and looked even more confused. "What?"
She closed her eyes, counting down from ten. "This is just a dream, so pinch me – Ow!"
"What? You wanted me to pinch you!" he argued.
"But that hurt!" she shouted at him, and got suddenly very desperate, because the pinching hadn't worked.
"Katara? You know, I'm pretty awake," he told her cautiously.
Pressing her lips together Katara shook her head. No. This had to be a dream. Or the spirits had played her a trick. Maybe she was in another dimension.
Thousands of explanations ran through her head, but she couldn't simply accept this. She couldn't talk to this man, as if he hadn't the face of her enemy. As if he hadn't destroyed her village's wall, stolen her necklace, tied her to a tree, got her paralysed, and beat her to unconsciousness at the spirit oasis.
Contorting her brows and narrowing her eyes into a scowl, she moved away from him, shaking her head.
What was happening?
What had happened?
Turning away from him, she moved to reach the gate again.
"Katara!" He grasped her wrist again, but this time she had enough.
Turning around she wound up and punched him in his face, screaming "Let me go!".
He did, and she didn't waste time to look at his face again, but made a run for the gate.
She didn't know where to go, not in the slightest, but she knew it was good, as long as she found an exit. There had to be road signs somewhere out of this… mansion? Just getting away from the Fire Prince seemed to be the most important thing just now.
On the outside of the gate there was a large square, stone floor and dragon statues at the sides. There were also two archways on the right and left side of the square, and Katara decided to run into one, thinking it might give her some cover, if the prince was still chasing after her.
At the end of the archway was a figure. A very familiar figure. Oh gosh, was it really him?
Holding a few scrolls, and paper piles her brother walked in her direction, his clothes his usual blue tunic, and his hair in his usual warrior wolf tail.
Great relief rushed through her, and she felt tears burning behind her eyes. Soon everything would make sense! Her brother was here, Sokka was here, and Sokka always had answers, he always knew what to do!
"Sokka!" she screamed, racing towards him.
He raised his eyebrows. "Katara? What…?"
But then she already collided with him, and wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her face under his chin.
"What are you doing? You're crushing all my plans! Katara!" Sokka complained, tensing up, and trying to save the scrolls from her hug.
"Oh, Sokka! I'm so happy I have found you!" she mumbled, and wished she could stay in his hug forever. She was too afraid to ever come out of it again.
"Yeah, yeah," Sokka grumbled, and placed his hands on her back, sighing. "Everything's going to be okay."
Frowning at his collarbone Katara noticed a difference on him, too.
He felt way too muscular and broad.
Gasping, she drew back to stare at the man who looked like her older brother.
Shit, what was wrong with the world? Please let all of this be a dream!
"Sokka?" she asked warily.
He frowned at her like only he could, and rolled his eyes like only he could. "Yes. What is it? Please don't tell me you're fighting again, that's getting really annoying."
Her mouth stood a bit open, wondering if maybe she was just missing her dad, and therefore dreamed about the future, in which Sokka would look like Hakoda.
"You look so much like Dad," she whispered, grasping his upper arms.
Sokka blinked at her, but then a grin spread on his lips. "Thanks, sis. Uh, are you okay?"
She laughed dryly, shaking her head. "No, I'm totally not okay. I'm so confused, but I'm pretty sure it's all a dream," she told him, feeling herself getting hysterical. This was not good. She really rarely got hysterical at all. That was more Sokka's thing.
"Okay," he said slowly, then smiled at her in a worrying way. "Why don't you just tell me about your dream?"
Taking a deep breath she straightened herself a bit, gesturing around. "I mean, what else could this be? First of all, why are we in the Fire Nation?" She felt her eyes getting larger, and she knew she must look crazy, but she didn't care. After all, it was her surroundings acting crazy.
"Because of your wedding, duh." Sokka crossed his arms in front of his chest, raising his eyebrow at her.
"M-my wedding?" she stammered, taking a step back. "Who am I going to marry?" she quickly asked, then a thought occurred to her. "Is he a powerful bender?"
Sokka made a thinking face, shrugging. "I suppose so, I mean as head of state he'd have to be, and you're evenly matched, he even managed to…" Then he blinked and stared at her for one moment. "Wait, why are you asking me this? Is this some sort of game?"
"What? No? I'm just… I'm just so confused. I wish I would wake up!" she suddenly screamed, because she had enough of this.
Sokka wasn't supposed to look like that, he was fifteen, for spirit's sake, and Prince Zuko was younger, too!
She was supposed to be in the North Pole, with Sokka and Aang, and the ocean spirit had hopefully killed the Fire Prince along with all those others!
"Do you not want to marry him anymore?" Sokka asked, reaching her even through her disarrayed thoughts.
"What, I… I don't even know who he is!" she shouted, feeling more and more desperate.
Oh no, was she starting to hyperventilate?
"Uh, calm down, okay?" Sokka laid his hands on her shoulders, trying to make her look at him, but she refused to. "Hey, it's okay. Just talk to me, Katara. We'll find a solution. I'm sure he wouldn't mind waiting with the wedding, hm?"
"You're not supposed to look like this," she whispered, then shook her head. "Please take me back. Please help me. I don't want to dream anymore!" she cried, feeling now the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Through the watery blur she still managed to see how Sokka's face screwed up in concern, how he looked completely helpless.
"Katara?"
He was there.
Right behind her.
"No!" she screeched, crushing into Sokka's chest, just wanting to get away from him! Why was he following her like that? Why was he still sounding concerned? She had punched him, he was the enemy!
"Go away!" she shouted, struggling with Sokka, who was trying to calm her down. "No! No! No! Go! Go away! Leave me alone! Let me go! I just want to go!" she cried, while more tears streamed down her cheeks, and she noticed her voice grew husky, and her nose got runny.
"Zuko! Do something!" Sokka yelled, and that was when she noticed she couldn't trust this Sokka, and tried to free herself from his grip.
"I don't know what!" The prince answered, distress obvious in his voice.
"But I do!" A girl's voice sounded, and out of reflex Katara wanted to turn around to see who the new voice belonged to, but before that was possible, she felt a blinding poisoning pain on her head, her field of sight getting dark spots at the edges.
"Toph! I'm going to-," the prince raged, but she didn't understand the rest, as her whole world went dark. Maybe she was going back to sleep. Maybe she would wake up in the North Pole again.
You can expect the next chapter to be published at the end of the week.
Please, let me know what you think and review!:D
