Freedom

Chapter 1: The Monster in a Man

Hello everyone! Many of you may not know me, but I have been a long time writer on Fanfiction.net. As we all know, Fanfiction.net is in it's dying stages. So I decided to finally make the transition to this platform! This story was the first one I ever wrote and isn't my best work in the beginning. So I've decided to rewrite this story and also upload it to this platform to gain a new audience and also tune up my favorite story I've ever written. I'm still currently working on the sequel still on Fanfiction.net, so if you've read the story before, it is still over on Fanfiction.net. So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! As always, I do not own avatar or its characters. Onto the story!

It was wet, cold, and the only light was from the glowing green crystals. Katara ached as she moved, her body holding onto several bruises. She desperately wished to heal them, but her water skin was far away, probably still back at the Earth King's palace. She groaned lowly at her stupid mistake.

She was normally the one to catch when people would deceive them. She should have thought better when they said the Kyoshi Warriors had arrived. They had seen Suki not very long ago, at least it didn't feel like a long time ago. But the more she thought, so much had happened.

Appa had been missing, then they found him. They discovered the Dai Li had taken him and they were keeping the entire city away from the war. And then there was the drill.

Nobody knew exactly what Suki could have been up to that whole time. She only desperately hoped she was still alive. Azula was brutal, the most brutal person she had ever met. But she wouldn't kill them, would she? Azula was brutal, but she was resourceful. She wouldn't kill if she had nothing to gain from it. At least that is what Katara hoped.

Katara settled herself against a crystal, as she examined her surroundings. She didn't know it could be so cold in the Earth Kingdom, even underground. Even though she was used to the cold, she hadn't dressed warm enough for these types of temperatures since the Northern Water Tribe. She cast her body closer to her chest as she shivered, desperately holding onto her warmth. She took a deep breath and a small fog emerged as she exhaled. It was dark, but the crystals cast a green glow over the room. If it wasn't a prison, it would be kind of beautiful.

There was a drip of water from the ceiling, the only sound in her crystal prison.

Suddenly there was a noise from the stone door being moved aside from the Dai Li. Katara stood, praying Aang had finally found her. Instead, the Dai Li carelessly threw a earth kingdom man into the room, "You've got company", the Dai Li agent, almost as if mocking her, said.

Katara moved closer hoping to help the innocent man. But when she saw the deep red scar across his face, she threw herself back.

"Zuko!"

He stayed there, turning his back to her. Katara started to pace, her anger towards him and the situation rising. "Why did they throw you in here?", she said in an angry tone, but she received no response.

Zuko sat, staring at the floor. "Oh let me guess, it's a trap", she practically laughed when she said it. It was inherently typical, "So that way when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your little fire nation clutches", she said practically mocking him to his back. But still, Zuko only slightly looked over his shoulder, showing her the scar side of his face, then went back to looking at the floor.

"You are a terrible person! You know that?! Always following us, hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world's last hope for peace!" Katara glared at his back, not caring if he was really listening. "But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son... Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood"

This finally seemed to get him riled up, but not how she expected. She saw the look on his face change from one of impatience and desperation, to one of inner turmoil, "You don't know what you're talking about.." he told her. She expected him to blow up, to yell at her and tell her how wrong she was. But he kept his face calm, calmer then she expected anyway.