Chapter Text
Katara struggled against the ropes, fuming. She didn’t know if she was more furious at herself or at the scarred-face teenager in front of her. The ropes bit into her skin and she knew that she’d have marks for the next few days.
“Tell me where the Avatar is!” the prince yelled, a burst of fire streaming through the air. His face was contorted in rage and it made his scar stand out in sharp relief. Not for the first time, Katara wondered how he’d gotten it. It covered nearly half of his face and stretched past his ear. Seeing a firebender with what was clearly a firebending wound prickled something in the back of her mind, but she shrugged it off.
She had gotten herself caught and now she needed all of her focus to figure out how in Tu and La she was going to get out of this situation.
Katara stopped struggling and held her nose up in the air. “Like I would ever tell you.”
The prince-- what was his name, again? --took a step back and a deep breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something she thought she’d never see again. Her mother’s necklace. Against her will, she gasped.
The prince’s eyes squinted at her reaction and Katara cursed at herself internally.
“Oh, I thought you might want this back.” He leaned in, his breath hot on her skin. “All you need to do is tell me where the Avatar is.”
A long pause. His golden eyes bore into hers and she felt a shiver-- or was it a tingle?-- run through her body. He was close and she could feel waves of heat rolling off of him.
“No.”
The prince drew back, composure gone. “Listen, I don’t want to hurt the Avatar,” he practically snarled. “But I need to take him to the Fire Nation.”
Katara scoffed. “Please. You’ve followed us halfway across the world shooting balls of fire at us. Excuse me if I don’t take you at your word.”
Before the prince could respond to this assessment, a twig snapped behind him and he whirled around. The group of pirates from before came into the clearing.
The biggest pirate spoke first. “No sign of the boy. We kept our end of the deal, now hand over the scroll.”
The prince held up the waterbending scroll that had caused this whole mess. “Oh, this one?” He lit a flame under it. “No Avatar, no scroll. That was the deal.”
The pirate chuckled. The prince stilled as he realized his mistake. “The scroll is valuable. But the Avatar…now that would be quite the prize.”
Katara tracked the conversation, staying silent and still. Maybe if they were distracted…
“He is my prize,” the prince bit out. “The scroll for the Avatar.”
“Now, now,” said the pirate, looking around at his men with amusement. “If you want us to hand over someone as valuable as the Avatar, we are going to need a bigger payment. Aren’t we, men?”
The men responded back with an affirmative chorus. The prince’s fist clenched. He had such a temper.
Katara, distracted by trying to reach the knot in the ropes with her bound hands, felt a chill race down her spine. The pirate’s gaze had shifted past the prince and landed on her. His eyes slowly leered at her body, making their way up her legs to her face.
She instantly grew still.
Katara was only fourteen, but she was not a fool. Being a girl in a world torn apart by war meant that she had grown up fast. Her mind flew back to the day her father left the South Pole. She had been ten; Sokka had been twelve. After she had tearfully hugged her father goodbye, he had clapped his hand on Sokka’s shoulder. His voice was low and Katara knew she wasn’t meant to hear the next words. But she had.
“Son…you’re in charge now of the village. And of Katara. You must protect her honor, make sure she…she is kept clean.” Hakoda’s voice was low and desperate.
Sokka nodded solemnly. “I will protect her with my life.”
Another memory tried to force itself to her mind, a day of black smoke and fire and her mother, screaming, pleading, clothes torn-- No. She would not think of that day.
Her Gran Gran had explained some of life’s mysteries shortly after the men had left. Although that day-- and her father’s words --would always haunt her, the next four years had been relatively peaceful. After all, her village consisted of women, elderly men, boys half her age, and her brother. It was easy to forget that the world was not kind to girls.
Before Katara had left, Gran Gran had pulled her aside. It had felt like a lightning bolt, realizing that she was in her father’s place now. She was leaving her people, her home, everything she knew. Although she wanted nothing more to see the world and to learn how to waterbend, it still pulled at her heart to leave.
Her grandmother had given her a warning. About traveling without a father or husband to protect her. She had been right-- there had been comments, stares throughout their travels. But nothing she couldn’t handle. And she had always been with Aang and Sokka, who she usually had to prevent from starting fights. Aang had been perplexed at the meaning of some of the comments, until Sokka had taken him aside. They both had come back, faces red, and refused to make eye contact for the rest of the night.
Boys.
And besides, if she learned how to waterbend, it wouldn’t matter. She could protect herself. That’s why she had ventured out that night. But Tu and La were mocking her, because that led her to this moment.
The prince glanced back at Katara, confusion marring his features. “I’m not sure I understand.”
The pirate smirked. “Give us the girl and the scroll and we’ll give you the Avatar.”
A jolt of panic set in but Katara still didn’t move. She didn’t want to draw their attention.
The prince turned back to the pirate, his voice still perplexed. “You want the waterbender? But she can’t even fight well. I doubt her abilities could help in a storm.”
Relief washed over her, even though the prince’s assessment of her abilities stung. They just wanted her for their ship. It made sense. A waterbender on a pirate ship could turn the tides in a fight or a storm.
At this, the pirate started laughing. It echoed throughout the forest. “Spirits, no wonder you were banished. A fire prince who can’t see the value of a pretty little thing like that. Have you even been made a man yet?”
The prince had been banished? This thought quickly flitted through her mind but she tucked it away for later.
The prince glanced back at her, his face no longer confused, but completely unreadable. He returned his gaze to the pirate. He stayed silent.
The pirate stepped forward. “After we have our fun, she’ll fetch a fine price at one of the brothels. Perhaps then you can pay her a visit since you’ve clearly squandered the opportunity right now.” His grin was terrifying.
Although she knew it wouldn’t help, her body didn’t listen to her mind. She started struggling against the ropes again, her breathing loud and gasping.
“I like it when they fight. Makes it all the more fun.”
Tears leaked down her face as the prince turned around and caught her gaze. Shame and fear laced her expression. She broke eye contact and looked at the ground.
“Please, please…don’t-- please don’t…” Her voice broke as she pleaded with the prince.
She closed her eyes as more tears fell, not able to look at the men surrounding her for another second. She heard his footsteps approaching.
“Well, pirate, that is an interesting offer,” the prince said, but his voice was laced with danger.
She felt his presence. He tilted her chin up. “Open your eyes.” She clenched her eyes shut even harder. “Now!”
Startled, her eyes flew open. Their gaze met. She expected to find the same leering eyes the pirate had traced over her form earlier, but was surprised to find the prince’s face curled in disgust.
“You’re right. She’s very pretty.”
The pirate chuckled. “Can’t believe you didn’t notice before. She’s young, but most men like ‘em that way.”
The prince leaned in, mimicking the moment before the pirates had shown up. Her blood went cold as his breath hit her ear. Spirits, he was going to have his way with her right here. Or let the pirates take her. Or both. Her whole body began to tremble.
“Run,” he growled.
Before she could react, he sliced through the ropes with a quick burst of flame before turning to the pirates with a much larger blast.
For a moment, Katara’s body didn’t accept instructions from her brain. She locked eyes with the prince again as he ducked a fist.
“You idiot waterbender, RUN!” the prince shouted, sweeping an arc of fire between her and the pirates.
She didn’t need to be told again. She ran without looking back.