Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the song "Prithee, Pretty Maiden" from Patience, lyrics by W.S. Gilbert.

Author's Note: This is a short, cute song that I've been wanting to use for a long time. While at the theatre in recent weeks (including the show the song is from), I wrote the basic story out in longhand, and I'm finally getting around to typing and revising it. It takes us back to the happy beginning of the series, when anything was possible.

Prithee, Pretty Maiden

Prithee, pretty maiden, prithee, tell me true,
(Hey, but I'm doleful, willow willow waly!),
Have you e'er a lover a-dangling after you?
Hey willow waly O!

Aang stared at the girl who'd introduced herself as Katara, thinking that he'd never seen anyone so beautiful. Appa was swimming them back to where the Southern Water Tribe lived, but Aang really wished he could have impressed Katara by flying there instead.

When she asked him if he knew the Avatar, Aang's heart skipped a beat. He'd come here to escape from that identity, so he stammered that he didn't know the new Avatar. He didn't like causing her subsequent disappointed expression, but when she seemed to accept his answer, he became absorbed in her features once again. When Katara asked why he was smiling at her like that, he started guiltily.

"Oh, was I smiling?" he returned, suddenly self-conscious. While Sokka made a disgusted noise, Aang stared ahead and reflected upon the virtual impossibility that a girl like this would not already have a boyfriend. Obviously, that was not something he could ask directly, but he decided to pay attention when they reached her home.

I would fain discover
If you have a lover!
Hey willow waly O!

It didn't take Aang long to realize that the Southern Water Tribe did not seem to contain any boys near Katara's age, except for her brother. This observation considerably raised Aang's estimation of his chances with her.

In fact, there seemed to be no men of any age, and the oldest boy Aang spotted in the village couldn't have been older than six. Not only that, but the settlement seemed awfully small to represent half of the world's Water Tribe. He also didn't see any of the majestic buildings made out of snow and ice that he'd seen in earlier travels. Instead, the people lived in tents. Something must have happened here, but he couldn't imagine what.

Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free
(Hey, but he's doleful, willow willow waly!)-
Nobody I care for comes a-courting me
Hey willow waly O!

Katara felt like her whole world had shifted during the course of an evening. After living a sheltered, isolated life for as long as she could remember, she'd inadvertently used her waterbending to crack open an iceberg and found a boy. Not just any boy, either; he was an airbender! No one had seen an airbender in 100 years. It was believed that they were all wiped out by the Fire Nation in an effort to kill the new Avatar. Apparently, they'd missed one, and Katara couldn't be happier about that. It gave her renewed hope that the Avatar might have survived, too.

As she introduced him to the village, she thought back to the tattoos she'd observed while he was getting dressed. She had never seen anything like that before and wondered what they meant. Were all airbenders marked that way? She would have to ask him, when they got to know each other a little better.

Nobody I care for
Comes a-courting, therefore,
Hey willow waly O!

Katara wasn't sure why she felt so drawn to this stranger, even as Sokka was openly distrustful. Maybe that was part of the reason; she liked to tweak her brother whenever possible.

Of course, part of her fascination could be that she hadn't seen a man in two years and had never had a boy near her own age even to be friends with, let alone anything else. Aang was clearly younger than she was, but not by much, and compared to the little boys that surrounded her, he might as well have been fully grown. She was curious, at least, to see how they might get along.

Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
(Hey, but I'm hopeful, willow willow waly!)
I may say at once, I'm a man of propertee-
Hey, willow waly O!

Too much was coming at Aang for him to decide what he should focus on. For example, the way all of the people stared at him and hearing Gran-Gran say that the airbenders were believed to be extinct confused him. Aang had just left the Southern Air Temple a few days ago, and he couldn't fathom the world changing so much in that time.

He also kept catching hints about being at war with the Fire Nation, but he had friends in the Fire Nation. They weren't at war with anyone, as far as he knew. Besides, he'd traveled the world extensively in the last few years and had never seen any sign of war.

Rather than dwelling on these inconsistencies, it was much easier to devote his attention to Katara and the thing that had brought him to the South Pole in the first place – penguin sledding.

Money, I despise it,
Many people prize it,
Hey willow waly O!

As he struggled to catch a penguin, Katara brought Aang up short when she revealed that she had no one to learn waterbending from. To Aang, it was the most natural thing in the world to invite her to go to the North Pole with him. A bender needed a master to learn from; that was the natural order of things. For her to have to muddle through on her own felt incredibly wrong to him, and he wanted to remedy the situation.

Besides, Aang could think of nothing he'd like better than traveling the world with this girl and sharing the wondrous things he'd seen, as she was sharing the secrets of penguin sledding with him.

Gentle sir, although to marry I design-
(Hey, but he's hopeful, willow willow waly!)
As yet, I do not know you, and so I must decline-
Hey willow waly O!

Katara was surprised that her initial reaction to Aang's offer was excitement and a strong desire to say yes. Traveling the world, finding a master waterbender to teach her – it sounded too good to be true.

An instant later, reality came crashing in on her. She'd never been away from home before, and to leave her family and tribe for a jaunt to the other side of the world with a boy she hardly knew didn't seem like the wisest course of action. Besides, her father had left her and Sokka in charge. She couldn't just abandon that responsibility.

Even so, as Aang re-introduced her to the joy and freedom of penguin sledding, she knew that a large part of her really wanted to drop everything and go away with him. Maybe someday, she'd be ready.

To other maidens go you,
As yet I do not know you,
Hey willow waly O!

In the end, it was anger at Sokka's narrow-mindedness that made her declare that she was going to the North Pole with Aang after all. She was a little rash by nature, but when Sokka called after them, Aang said that he didn't want to come between her and her family. This only reinforced Katara's feeling that he was worthy of being her friend, but she reluctantly let him go.

As she watched the large bison swim away, Katara had mixed feelings. She vented her temper at Sokka and Gran-Gran before storming off. Maybe she would meet Aang again one day. First, though, she had to help prepare her tribe to face the Fire Nation ship that was now approaching.

--

Author's Note: I like the back-and-forth aspect of this song, which was why I decided to switch perspectives accordingly, which is something I rarely do. I know it's been a long time since I updated this collection, but I'm going to take a stab at responding to reviews anyway.

Review responses:

Dragon Firebender84: It's been so long since Christmas, yet the time has passed very quickly for me! I wished that the show had done more with celebrations, like at the solstice or equinox, or even someone's birthday! I guess the last chapter was my way of adding that flavor.

Philip Clark: "The Madness of King Scar" probably would make a good addition to this story, but as you can see, I haven't been spending much time thinking about these songfics recently. Now that it's summer, I want to try and slip in the occasional oneshot between chapters of The Path Ahead.

MelInuLover: I rarely do season-specific stories, usually because the holiday has passed by the time I get around to it, but that one was just too right, and I'd been hearing it on the radio a lot. How was this for a change of pace?

Midoriko-sama: I wasn't aware that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a musical. I admit my tastes generally run more to the classics, although I've done a few songs from Wicked. I don't think I've done any from Legally Blonde yet, but I plan to.