Hi!!! I'm so happy that I could finally put this up. I've been working on this story forever and I think it turned out pretty well.

Anyways…enjoy!!

Icy Fire

Chapter 1

Twisted ankles and Firebenders don't mix

I was stuck.

In the middle of a Fire Nation camp.

Surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers.

With no water in sight and a twisted ankle.

Oh, Jala! What did I do to deserve this?

A big burly soldier spoke up, smirking. "So, what shall we do with this pretty wench?" All the men started grinning and murmuring to each other. A short, fat soldier yelled out, "Let's—"

"Let's do absolutely nothing to the girl."

I looked up and searched for the body of the voice. But the soldiers were shuffling around into two straight lines, creating a pathway for someone.

Are they letting me go?

No.

They weren't instead they were making a pathway for some person at the end of it. The person was walking down the path in Fire Nation armor. It was a man-no teenager- he was tall and had a ponytail on his head. His eyes were gold and he had a scar -a burn scar, I could tell- around his left eye.

He was glaring at the men with disgust. He stopped at my frame on the ground. I was a warrior Waterbender, but with no water and a busted ankle, I didn't think I could take them. So I played the sympathy card.

My torn Water Tribe tunic and my chestnut hair lose, I was sure I fit a pretty 'damsel in distress' figure. I rubbed my twisted ankle and pressed on it to start tears in my eyes. I looked up at the boy, our eyes connecting. My ice blue eyes showing fear, confusion, and pain. His showing interest, sympathy, and malice, confusingly all at the same time. He turned his head at my ankle and saw it was slightly swollen. He kneeled down at my side and lifted me gently into his arms bridal-style.

The men then bent over to see around the soldier in front of them. Their eyes shared a look of hunger and lust. I was a little intimidated and curled into the boy's chest. He held me and glared out into the crowd of men.

"This girl is mine." What he meant by that, I had no clue. "She is wounded and I'll take her to my healer."

The men's faces faltered and the boy's nose scrunched up in anger. He hissed, "Do anything to her that she doesn't want, and I'll unmercifully and brutally kill you and feed your bodies to the Rhinostriches." I whimpered in fear and the boy held me tighter to his chest, never taking his glowering amber eyes off the soldiers.

The men mumbled and grunted out 'yessir's and went to their tents. It seemed that this mere boy was superior to these grown men. Interesting. He walked out of the soldiers' camp with me still in his arms and kept walking a little while in the forest.

My voice was stunned out of me for some time, but came back to me soon after.

"Where are you taking me?" His gold eyes glanced down at me. "To my healer." I was wondering why he had his own healer, after all, only the admirals and generals and royalty have their own. The crew has theirs.

"Who are you?" I asked him. He kept walking but his hands heated up a little. "I am the exiled prince of the Fire Nation. Prince Zuko." What? It rang through my mind like school bells hit by lightning. I was being carried by the prince of the Fire Nation. No wonder he had his own healer. Probably his own cook, bunk keeper, and who knows what else! I had an urge to throttle him but resisted it. No water and a screwed up ankle didn't sound like a winning combination to me. The prince's strength was incredible too; he'd been carrying me for quite a bit of time. I couldn't go hand-to-hand combat with him in this condition.

The forest scenery cleared out into a beach. And on that was a Fire Nation ship. I couldn't go back to anywhere now; not like I had anywhere to go to.

My brother left me and the Tribe weeks ago, Sokka telling me 'Leave the saving the world stuff to the men'. Of course, he also said that my 'magic water tricks' would just get in the way. I water whipped him in the head for that.

But now, as we approached the Fire Nation ship, I felt a little strange. I didn't feel scared at all. Actually, I felt secure for the first time in weeks.

The ship's entrance was guarded and when we arrived they let us in. Though I was greeted with funny looks, I should have expected that. I was being carried by the prince of their nation, in mutilated Water Tribe robes, with deep colored skin and looking kind of tore up. But I was sure they wouldn't do anything. Their precious prince would 'unmercifully and brutally kill them and feed their bodies to the Rhinostriches' if they even dared to touch me.

They probably wouldn't if they knew I was a Waterbender anyway.

"Here is my healer." Prince Zuko's voice pierced my thoughts as I snapped back to reality. A small girl around the age of 10 with dark red hair in braids on the sides of her head and green eyes and freckles hopped up to us.

"Hello, my Prince." She curtseyed to him. She had a beautiful pale green Earth kimono on. "How do you do, miss?" She smiled happily in my face.

Princey walked over to a red bed with a small, beautifully decorated box next to it on a stand. He placed me gently onto the bed and looked over to the girl. "Chiaki, this girl is mine. She has a twisted ankle. Fix it for her." The little girl named Chiaki smiled even more and curtseyed again. "Yes, milord." She pranced to me and leaned over my ankle.

Zuko walked towards the door. "Goodbye, girl. Chiaki, bring her to my suite when you're done." She popped back up and smiled towards him. "Goodbye, sir." He sauntered out the door.

I turned to Chiaki as soon as the door snapped shut. "What did he mean that I'll 'be his'?" She smiled some more and skipped over to the box next to the bed.

"Prince Zuko meant that you'll be his personal servant. Be proud. Now please hold still, milady." She grabbed some white dust from the box, sprinkled it on my ankle and rubbed it gently, her hands and my ankle growing warm and glowing orange.

I, however, was not as gentle with my voice. "What? You mean I'll be his slave?" I wasn't so good at following directions. My grandma and teachers would always say that I do everything my way, not how I was asked.

But the little redhead shook her head vigorously, her pigtails flying round her head. "No, no, milady! Well, technically, yeah. But I have so much freedom around the ship and rich food and protection Prince Zuko gives me. And so much fun with Uncle Iroh, and Prince Zuko is such a gentleman. Besides," she stopped rubbing my ankle and looked me in the eye. "What was your life like out there anyway?"

I reflected over that. My life wasn't at all good out there. Fighting the wild animals. Never knowing when I'd take my next bath or meal. Sleeping on hard, dry ground.

I looked over the young girl. She was well fed, healthy, well dressed and happy, though a slave. Or as she said, servant. "I didn't have much of a life." I mumbled, avoiding her gaze. She wrapped her had around my ankle again. "So, would you mind staying here?" I felt my ankle grow warm again.

"I don't know. What if I'm not treated like you are?" She laughed at my question. "Milady, what is your name?"

"Katara." I replied simply. "But what does that have to do with…"

She interrupted me. "Lady Katara, you are the personal servant of Prince Zuko. You will share his room. You will be clothed finely. You will be fed the richest food available to the Prince. Just do as he asks you to. Which won't be too much. Draw his bath, bathe him, pick up his clothing. Things like that. You are the highest of us servants."

She took her hands back from my ankle. "There! So how 'bout it?"

I smiled at the girl. "Sure, I guess I don't really have a choice. He'd probably give me to his lust hungry soldiers." I laughed dryly at this statement. Chiaki's eyes however grew wide. "Milord would never do that! He would never harm a lady, or put her into danger." I raised my eyebrows. "He is such a good sir, Lady Katara! Please stay!" Her eyes pleaded with me. Her pale green eyes were shining, so how could I say no?

"Okay. I'll stay."

"Yay!" The little girl pulled me off the bed with amazing strength and twirled me around. She had healed my ankle but I was still a little rocky and fell back onto the bed.

"Come, come! Lady Katara, I must take you to the Prince's suite!"