Stolen (Building Bridges Book 1) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 2

She runs through the night, the full moon lighting her way.

She is still young, only eight years old. But she has seen so much. She knows now that she shouldn't have trusted her teacher, though the betrayal still hurts her deeply.

She's smarter now. She's stronger now.

She beat her teacher.

She runs as fast as her legs will carry her, to get away. Her teacher wanted her to do something bad, but the little girl knows better. Her mother taught her better. She thinks of her mother then, as she dives into the water. She bends it into a bubble around her, and sends it away. She doesn't care where.

She remembers the stories, and the laughs. She remembers her big brother and their dad. She remembers the sound of her mom's scream as the firebenders killed her. She remembers watching from the shadows as they threw her body overboard.

Her tears mingle with the salt water, and she doesn't know which is which anymore. She is so alone. So lost. She wants to go home, but she doesn't know where home is.

She wants her family, but she doesn't know how to find them.

She wants her mom back... but she's older than her years. She knows that her mom is never coming back.

And she knows that she is never going to find her way home.

She's come too far now, she can't go back. It's been too long and she's learned too much for things to ever go back to the way they were.

Again she hears her mother's dying scream, ringing in her ears as if it's happening at this moment, even though it happened in the past.

She's so tired of hiding. She's so tired of... everything. She doesn't understand what the point of her life is. She doesn't understand why these things keep happening to her.

She slides through the water for longer than she thinks she can. Hours go by in a blur as she pushes her air bubble onward; she no longer knows up from down or left from right. She's just moving, and it's the only thing keeping her alive.

She wonders why she needs to be alive.

Maybe it would be better if she just... died.

She remembers her teacher's words. "I can teach you to survive, little girl. Would you like that?"

Katara used to think she wanted that.

She doesn't know anymore-after all, what does she have to survive for?

Still, she keeps going. She doesn't know what else to do.

She sees a beach, finally, and she climbs up onto it. She is so tired, so drained. Now, she just wants to sleep; she doesn't care where she is or what's going to happen to her.

She's so tired...

She wakes up to a hand touching her face. She opens her eyes and sees a boy, no older than her. His eyes are curious and kind, and she feels safe for the first time in two long years. It's strange to her, improbable. She almost doesn't recognize the feeling, and she doesn't understand why it's there.

Yet... something in his amber eyes, something in his smile and the way he holds his hand out to her... something about the boy calls to her.

A woman walks up behind him. She's pretty, and they are both dressed in red.

"Zuko, what have you-oh!" The girl looks up at the pretty woman, thinking. The feeling of rightness doesn't make sense. She knows she isn't safe.

But she feels safe anyway.

She takes the boy's hand and he pulls her to her feet.

****

She opened her eyes slowly, the dregs of the dream fading away. She remembered it all so clearly, as if it had only happened yesterday.

Sometimes, Katara truly hated her memory.

She would have been so much happier if she could just forget.

In the distance, she could hear children laughing, and she smiled to herself, forcing away the melancholy of her memories. Today was a new day, and exciting things were happening!

She stood, stretching, and peered out the open tent flap. It wasn't like her to take a nap in the middle of the day, but she'd been so exhausted...

In the center of camp, she could see Aang showing the village kids some bending trick.

Even now, after he'd been around for two whole days, Katara couldn't believe they'd found an actual AIRBENDER. It was easily the most exciting thing that had happened to their little village in years. It was certainly the most exciting thing that had happened since Katara had returned two years before.

She ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it, then left her tent and headed toward Aang and the kids. The Air Nomad boy was full of so much life and vibrance-it was refreshing to Katara. It had been so long since she'd felt this kind of... enthusiasm.

So long since she'd looked forward to waking up in the morning.

He'd only been around for two days, but already, Aang was a part of Katara's life.

It was strange to her-she could only remember one other person who had become so important to her so quickly.

And now... he was gone. She felt a wave of sadness sweep over her, and for the first time in a long time, she didn't stop the memory that rose to the surface.

****

She's shocked when they tell her who they are. They are so kind! How can they be the Firelord's family? She likes them. They give her food and a blanket, and Ursa looks at her as if she's important, as if she's... precious.

Ursa looks at her like her mother once did, with love and concern. It's been so long since someone has looked at her this way.

"What's your name?" Zuko's eyes are inquisitive and bright; Katara can't help but smile at him.

"I'm Seren." The name is familiar on her tongue, though it isn't her own.

"Where are you from? How did you get here? Where-"

"Zuko, shh now. Look at her, she's exhausted. Let her rest."

Zuko blinks, shamefaced. He immediately apologizes. Katara giggles, shaking her head.

"It's okay."

Eventually, she has to answer their questions. She tells them that she's lost and her family is dead, and she doesn't know where she's supposed to go next.

Though she's surprised and a little afraid, she doesn't refuse them when they offer to take her home with them.

She has nowhere else to go.