One: Unintended
One moment, she was drifting through the stalls in the marketplace, searching for food to last the group through the week. Sokka's appetite was never-ending, and Aang was a growing boy.
The next moment, the Prince of the Fire Nation was staring at her from the end of the street, shouting something she couldn't hear above the hubbub of the market.
So she did the only thing she could. She ran.
She dropped her purchases, vegetables and fruits and breads tumbling into a wasted heap on the ground. She elbowed and kneed and forced her way through the crowd, ignoring cries of protests and angry faces.
A column of flame narrowly missed her, and she knew he was catching up.
She caught sight of the blue water of the harbor, and the metal ship that belonged to him. Why hadn't she noticed it before? How could she have been so careless? Where were Aang and Sokka?
Darting into a side shop, (a sign proclaimed: Extremiely Interisting Things of Extremie Intireste) she hovered behind the door, breath comming in harsh pants. The store owner was gone; probably in a back room getting drunk. Reaching behind her, she picked up the first thing she touched. A good-sized stone figurine, its surface paint almost oily in the dim light of the shop. It had cold ruby eyes; she shivered as she ran her hand over it, trying to get a good grip on the surface. It almost seemed like it was trying to slip from her hands-
Then the Prince's scarred face was in the doorframe, scowling and a punch aiming towards her-
She ran forward, slammed the figurine into his stomach.
With a painful grunt, he pitched forward, one arm futilely grasping for the nearest solid object, which happened to be her. They went down together, disrupting all matters of knick-knacks and statues and ugly toys.
Trying to clear the ringing pain in her head from the impact, Katara looked up, and saw his fist coming towards her face - she picked up the ruby-eyed figurine, raising it to protect herself -
The fire from his hand impacted with the cold statue, and there was a brilliant flash, illuminating his face, her face, the world-
Everything went black.
A/N: Let me explain what this is going to be. In modern terms, something along a C+ romantic-comedy. Something completely different from LTE and THATP because I dunno about you, but that angst sure gets me down sometimes. I need relief. I want to try a different style I'm not going for records here, or epic war story. I'm going to write it between working on LTE, when I need a break or a 30 second vacation along those lines.
There is no guarantee this story is going to be remotely funny. Just mildly entertaining. Each chapter is going to be extremely short, quick, to the point. No more than a thousand words per chap, I'm guessing.
And before you jump me, Zutara it is. But light, cheap Zutara. Affordably priced for your average shipper.