(A/N: This is just something I wrote because I love masquerades, ball gowns and a Zutara/Blutara Pairing! xD
Please Review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA).

Chapter 1: Misery

Princess Katara looked up at the sky. The stars were twinkling. They looked like the loveliest diamonds money could ever buy, but burned a thousand times brighter. It was a full moon. The chilly night air made her shiver. She was standing in the middle of a garden maze. The high green, leafy walls kept her from seeing anything but the sky.

She had just escaped from the Masquerade Ball. Seeing all those couples dancing happily together made her feel lonely. She was glad now, because she could no longer hear the happy chatter, or the loud music. It was her eighteenth birthday party, after all. She didn't even want a celebration. She blamed her misery on her father. He was the one who insisted she have the damn party. She begged and pleaded but there was no use changing his mind. It had taken a few months to get this useless party ready. Three months, to be precise. Three months that the poor maids had wasted their time on. What was the use of having one if its host ran away? She knew her father would scold her later, but at the moment she didn't care.

She picked up her dress and continued her walk out of the maze. She had to admit, there was one advantage to having that treacherous party. The beautiful gown she was wearing now. The dress was made from three materials; a patterned gold material, a patterned cream, and a plain cream. It had the finishing touches of the prettiest white laces. Her gown reached the floor, and its sleeves were three-quarters, reaching just past her elbows. There was white lace added to the end of the sleeves. The top's neckline was square shaped and outlined with the white lace as well. She had a bronze coloured mask to go with the dress. It covered only her eyes and her nose, leaving her forehead and the bottom half of her face uncovered. The eye holes were outlined in black and on the top, right hand side of her mask, were attached three back feathers. The colours went really well with her mocha coloured skin and dark brown hair. She had designed the dress herself.

When she got to the end of the maze she could see a circular shaped clearing ahead. The minute she made it out, she could see that the place was a garden. In the centre was a round, beautiful fountain. Surrounding it was a concrete path which leads in different directions of the garden. There were rose bushes outlining the shape of the path and one lone tree located further back. Two statues were placed on either side of the small garden. There was a tall leafy wall, much like the one that made the maze, which fenced the garden. The place was stunning. She had never seen this side of the palace, and she had certainly never been through the maze. If she ever wanted to be alone, she decided that this would be the place she'd go.

She started walking towards the fountain. The peaceful sound of the falling water brought ease to the waterbender's mind. She felt so relaxed, and happy despite feeling alone and angry earlier. There was a gorgeous metal bench in front of the large fountain. The silver coloured seat was decorated with flower shaped carvings. It was very pretty. Katara carefully sat down, hoping that no damage would come to the dress. She stared up at the moon again and sighed, feeling content.

"Excuse me, but what's a pretty young lady like you, doing out here with no escort?" Katara froze when she heard the man's question. She turned her head in the direction of his voice. The man didn't sound much older than herself, maybe around the age of her brother or slightly older. He was standing beside the tree, hidden by its shadows, probably why she hadn't noticed him.

"I'm not in the celebrating mood," He started to take a few steps towards her, and now stood under the moons light. The blue and white mask caught her attention first. It covered his whole face. She could tell, even from here, that he was taller than her brother. He wasn't lanky like Sokka either. His shoulders were broad and he stood proud, pushing his chest outwards. His hands were behind his back. The suit, vest and neck tie he wore was gold, with a black collared shirt. It looked strange next to his mask. "And I certainly don't need an escort," she mumbled quietly to herself.

"And why not?" he started to ask, before she could reply he continued to talk, "It's your princess' birthday."

She stared at him for what seemed like forever. How could this man not know who she was? Sure, she was wearing a mask but everyone knew it was her. One by one people made their way to where she was standing and congratulated her. She didn't even know how they knew, just that they did know. Surely it was some sort of joke. She released she had been staring for a while and still hadn't given him an answer. She was trying to recall what he had said when she realised something.

"Your?" She questioned, "Why not our? Is she not your Princess?" She was puzzled. Who was this guy?

"No... I may have been invited to this party, along with Prince Zuko, but I live on the opposite side of the world." He paused for a second, letting his works sink in. "King Hakoda invited his majesty to attend the princess' birthday celebration."

Wait, Majesty? Prince Zuko?Why would her father invite a prince that lived on the opposite side of the world to her birthday celebration? She may have not known everyone at her party, but other side of the world?

Just what are you up to father? She thought.

"Who are you?" She decided to ask one question at a time. What did her father think he was doing, asking complete strangers to come to her birthday celebration? She was going to have a word with him as soon as this damn ball was over, if it ever ended. Was there nothing good that was going to come out of this night?

He hesitated for a second, "My name is Lee, madam. I am one of Prince Zuko most trusted servants. He asked me to accompany him in his travels, since I was invited to come too. We will be staying at the palace for a month."

"A month? Why?" More questions for her to think about. Perfect.

"I will answer, when you give me your name," He came a bit closer to her, now standing beside the fountain. He looked towards the fountain for a moment, before taking a seat on its edge. "I gave you mine. It's only fair."

Name? Name! What was she supposed to tell him? She did not want to reveal that she was the princess, not to this stranger. So what name could she use?

"My name is Tara," She replied in a steady tone. She couldn't think of a better name. It was a shortened version of her name. Her mother, Kya, always called her by the nickname. She was familiar with it, and recognised it as her own name. She just hoped it wasn't too suspicious.

"And what are you to the princess? Why did you get an invitation?" Hey! He was supposed to be answering her questions! Not the other way around!

"Oh, no, no, no, you're answering my questions first. I gave you my name, now answer," she crossed her arms over her chest. Her relaxed mood gone, now replaced by annoyance. Who did this guy think he was? He was a mere servant, but he sure wasn't acting like one. He wasn't getting away from her questions that easily! Why did he not want to answer in the first place?

"Why, King Hakoda asked us to stay of course," He cheerfully replied. Why would her father do that? WHAT WAS GOING ON?! She stood up from her seat and walked towards the servant, and stopped, standing directly in front of him.

"Alright, listen, and listen carefully," She said whilst pointing a finger at his chest. "You are going to tell me everything. You will answer every question I ask, and you will start talking now," she hoped she sounded threatening; after all, she was going to be the future Queen of her Kingdom.

He stood up now too, and she backed away. They were only mere inches apart. "I don't know who you think you are, or what makes you think you have a right to question me," he was so close, she could feel heat coming off him. Well, what do ya know, the jerk was a firebender. "I'm not answering anything!"

"I have every right!" she replied hotly. "Now answer me! What's the reason your prince is here, and give me a proper answer. He can't be staying here for a month, all because of a darn birthday!" She heard a sharp crack, and looked past his shoulder, to the fountain. The water stood frozen, icicles were mere inches away from Lee's back.

When he saw her look away from him, and then watched as her eyes widened, he turned to see what her attention was focussed on. There stood a tall amount of frozen water, surrounded by very sharp looking icicles. The closest one to him grazed his mask when he turned and he found himself really glad that the mask was on.

The water then melted rapidly and moved away from him and the fountain's edge. It returned to its natural peaceful movement. She was a waterbender. The Kingdom wasn't known for many waterbenders. The only one he had known about was the Princess. She couldn't be the Princess. Sure she acted like she was in charge, but what kind of Princess would hate her own celebration? It couldn't be. It was too impossible.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get that angry," He turned to face her once again. Her eyes looked sincere enough. Not like he thought she was going to kill him or anything.

"You're a waterbender? I thought there weren't much people from your Kingdom that could waterbend," He voiced his earlier thoughts out loud.

"There isn't," she was truly, an idiot. Did she just blow her cover? She tried to think of an answer that would sound good enough. "I, er, kept my waterbending a secret, until now. I let my temper get the best of me," That sounded good enough. It wasn't so easy for her to lie. "Now, quit asking your own questions and answer mine."

"I don't have to tell you anything," He repeated coldly.

Ugh! She thought. This guy is impossible! Absolutely impossible! She sighed and tried a calm approach.

"I could have you arrested," she said in a much softer voice, "Can you please just answer the questions, it is very important that I know, especially if it is concerning the Princess."

"What are you, some sort of royal messenger? Informing the princess about information you get out of one of her guest's? Are you harassing the other guests as well?" he asked.

"The other guests didn't arrive with princes' staying at the palace for a month!" Ok, so a calm approach wasn't working with him either. Fine! She thought. No more being nice girl! "I will freeze you to that tree and make sure you get frostbite! Now answer! This will be the last time I'm going to tell you to answer me! If you don't then I'll-I'll..."

"Fine," he said cutting her off. "Just keep that darn water away from me!" She crossed her arms across her chest and waited for him to begin speaking.

"King Hakoda invited him because..." He mumbled the last part quietly.

"I'm sorry? Repeat that will you." She snapped. He was so annoying!

"He is hoping that the Prince and the Princess would fall in love and get married. He wants a strengthening of the two kingdoms and he thinks that his daughter could find no better man," He said proudly. She was silent. She didn't look like she heard any of it. She stood there, frozen. "That enough information for you?" he asked cautiously.

"HOW DARE HE?! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS, SENDING HIS ONLY DAUGHTER AWAY LIKE THAT! SHE IS NOT GOING TO MARRY SOME PRINCE JUST TO STRENGTHEN TWO KINGDOMS! THAT'S UNHEARD OF! THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD MEN OUT THERE, JUST BECAUSE HE'S THE PRINCE. THE TITLE DOESN'T AUTOMATICLY MEAN THAT HE IS THE BEST MAN OUT THERE! FOR ALL SHE KNOWS HE COULD BE AN UGLY, ABSUSSIVE MORON!" If she was angry before, she was fuming now.

"PRINCE ZUKO, AN UGLY, ABUSSIVE MORON?! WHY HE IS NO SUCH THING! HOW DARE YOU?!"

"I'M GOING TO FIND HER BEFORE SHE FINDS THAT DARN PRINCE! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS THAT PRINCE CHARMING WANNABE!" she was pacing angrily now. How could her father do this to her! She was not going to marry the stupid Prince! I know. She thought, as an idea came to her mind. I'll just drive him away, get him so angry that he'll want to leave and never return! Then I could marry who ever I want! What an awesome plan! Why didn't she think of it earlier?

"What?! Prince Charming WANNABE?! He doesn't need to be "Prince Charming", he's charming enough. All the girls faint when they cross his path, and he doesn't even need to do anything! He never pays attention to those stupid girls anyway! It wasn't like he wanted to be the Prince or the future King!" She stopped and looked at him.

"How would you know how he feels?" she asked him.

"I, uh, well... Prince Zuko and I are very close! Yeah, that's it! He tells me all his secrets and thoughts! I accompany him everywhere! So, of course I would know everything about him!" He rambled on, making her very suspicious. She didn't have time for this.

"Right... Well I have to go. It was nice meeting you Lee," She said the last part sarcastically. She turned and walked away from him, with as much grace as a lady should when she walks.

Zuko just stood there, watching her leave. When she was no longer in view, he walked backwards towards the leafy fencing and climbed over. He then ran as fast as he could, back in the direction of the castle. When he entered its large double doors, he saw that the place was still crowded. He had to get to his assigned room. He didn't want to bump into that girl again. She could ask him to point out which one the Prince was, which could be a problem.

As he pushed his way through the dancing crowd, he wondered which masked woman was the Princess. He wondered if she was beautiful. Did she have the same colour cerulean eyes like her big brother? Was she tall or short? Was she ugly? Was that the reason her father wanted to get rid of her? Well, it didn't sound like he wanted to get rid of her anyway. Prince Sokka had informed him that the same thing was had happened to him. It was how he and Princess Yue had met. They fell in love rather fast. He sounded rather happy just speaking of their relationship. Could he be happy with his sister? Would he love her? Would she love him back?

He reached the stairs and walked up hastily. This palace was so different to his home. He went through the palace corridors, trying to remember the way to his room. When he found the room, he turned his knob and entered, closing the door behind him. Zuko removed his mask and threw it on his large bed. He stood there for a second, trying to calm himself, then made his way to the bed. The room was huge. It was in shades of blue, grey, white and silver. It was very different from his home. There, the Kingdom's colours were red, gold and black.

He took a seat on the bed. What was he supposed to do tomorrow? Try to impress her? What if she hated him from the start? What would that lady, Tara, be filling her head with? What if she lied to the Princess, and made him sound horrible? What if he did end up loving her? Would she give him a chance? Was she nice like her brother?

Sitting there and thinking about the many possibilities that this could turn out, was doing him no good. He got up and strolled to his wardrobe. He dressed in his night attire and got into bed, shutting his eyes and waiting for sleep to claim him.

(A/N: So they both lied, no harm done. The masked man was Prince Zuko, but she doesn't know that. xD Don't they both suck at lying? I was trying to make the dress code date back to the 1800's. Sorta. When I upload her dress on Deviantart, go check it out! Don't forget to review! And thanks for reading!)