A Fighter's Heart (An Avatar Fic)

Mirror

He watched her spin around and crouch into a fighting stance so that one leg was bent underneath her and the other was extended to the side, a metal dagger and an ice one immediately appearing in either of her hands. Zuko would never admit it but he was impressed with how quickly she'd picked up on his presence.

She must be an advanced guard

The first thing he really observed about her was her beauty. She wore a short sleeved blue dress with slits that went above her knees, with tight navy blue leggings under and a small belt around her small waist with a scabbard attached to one side and a pouch attached to the other. She also wore gloves with holes in them so that her actual fingers were completely exposed. Her neck was adorned with a dark blue ribbon with a small circular stone attached to it. And she wore simple brown shoes on her feet.

Her hair had two loops going from the front of her head to the back, securing in a bun while the rest of her chocolate brown hair hung free, hanging to her waist and billowing around her. She had the skin that was shared only by the Water tribe, a dark tan. But what got the most attention from him was her eyes. Blue sapphires glared into his own golden orbs. He watched as her eyes widened slightly, no doubt from being snuck up on so easily. And not only had he managed to surprise her, he had an arrow aimed right at her heart, ready for release. There was no way for her to move without risking death; however, that wasn't his plan. He'd worked it all out in his head while he was trekking through the forest.

She continued to stare him down, although her eyes were blue he could almost see the fire blazing in them. He stared back, with no emotion shown on his face.

"You must be a very skilled warrior to have realized I was here so quickly, " he started, watching her eyes narrow in suspicion, "you must have trained with the famed master Katara from the Southern Water Tribe. "

She'd been surprised enough to have allowed someone to succeed in sneaking up on her;but when she'd turned, ready to fight, an arrow was already pointed at her heart. She didn't attack, but had waited for her opponent to make the first move. Katara had noticed immediately his handsome features even though she tried not to acknowledge them.

His clothes were scarlet and gold, a distinct sign that he was Fire Nation, but that not what had stood out to her; his shirt hung around him in a way that showed off the perfectly toned muscles in his arms and chest. And he wore simple deep red pants and red and gold shoes. His face was no less attractive. His thin lips were set in a line and didn't give any indication that they would move, he had a distinct jaw line that was perfectly cut, and he had black hair that hung in his face slightly covering his eyes. His eyes looked literally like embers from a fire, they held the same determination that she held in her heart.

She did her best to ignore these features and focused purely on her hatred for his people. She glared at him with all of the hatred she possessed, willing him to die on the spot. His question caught her off guard but she refused to let it show, instead of answering she raised her eyebrow forming the obvious question, "What do you care?"

He cocked his head slightly to the side, still refraining from showing any emotion.

"What is your name? " he asked slowly. Katara hesitated, if he was asking about her then that might mean he was sent to kill her. She was no use to her people dead. "I said, what is you name? " he asked lowering his voice to a deadly octave, and narrowing his eyes.

"Kya, " she lied. She slightly lessened the glare on her face and stood slowly, allowing him to follow her heart with his arrow. When she stood at full height she slid her dagger into the scabbard and melted the ice and bended it into the pouch. She felt his eyes watching her every move and knew it was futile to try and attack with weapons. She unfastened her belt and threw it to his feet, only then returning her gaze to his eyes. She raised her eyebrows asking sarcastically if she'd done well. He gave her a single nod of approval.

"You might want to know that I have no intention of harming you. " he said in a serious tone. She scoffed and his statement.

"No, you probably only wish to kill Master Katara; but I will inform you sir, that if you kill her I am as good as dead. " She clenched her jaw as she said it. She wasn't being prideful, what she said was true; she had single-handedly saved her city several times and she knew that she would be needed to do it several more. But if she didn't make it out of this, her people were as good as dead.

Zuko had meant what he said, he wasn't going to harm her. Even if she attacked him, he would not lay a finger on her.

But her comment, her obvious doubt, frustrated him and he narrowed his eyes. If the entire city was filled with people like her then this would be harder then he'd previously thought.

"I do not wish to harm your teacher, " He paused, slightly softening his voice, "I wish to train with her as well. "

Kya, as she called herself, laughed quietly to herself but he saw the venom in her eyes.

"Oh? Really? " She asked sarcastically, "So a man, who is obviously Fire Nation , travels to the city that the Fire Nation has been trying to get to for years, and claims he wishes to train with the greatest fighter and assassin that is fighting against the Fire Nation. " She paused and smiled at him, it was clear that she was mocking him but he ignored it, "Do you see why I'm confused? " She said smiling sweetly, but he saw the glare in her eyes. He knew that if he turned his back, she would not hesitate to bring him down.

"Fire Lord Ozai's barbarians killed my mother, " he stopped gauging her reaction, the mocking smile left her face and her eyes showed pain but she still narrowed them in suspicion, "The reason I look like to be from the Fire Nation is because my biological father was one of the soldiers guarding the captured Earth Kingdom town my mother lived in. And.. well he wasn't a very honorable man." He watched "Kya"s eyes fill with anger, being in a hidden place like the she probably wasn't exposed to the evils that lay outside the borders, he concluded. "My mother knew that if I became a fire bender or even looked remotely Fire Nation, the other villagers would kill us both in their anger. So she relocated to a Fire Nation town. We've lived there since I was a baby, Fire Nation clothes are the only clothes I own." He finished his story and the water bender in front of him looked skeptical but apparently he was a good liar.

"I'm sorry about your mother, " She said quietly, "I lost mine to the Fire Nation too. " She ended looking at the ground. Though it wasn't much, Zuko did feel some pity for the girl.

"If you agree to lead me to your master, I'll put away my weapons. " He said, confident his plan would work. The girl's head snapped up and gazed at him suspiciously before nodding in agreement.

Katara couldn't believe how ignorant this man was, he was willing to put away his weapons because she'd admitted to losing her mother to the Fire Nation? Or maybe it was because they'd found common ground. Either way her helpless little girl act had worked and Katara would seize the opportunity the first chance she got. She watched him slowly lower his aim to the ground before loosening the tension on the bow string.

Patience, Tara, wait for your opening

He removed the arrow from the string and placed it back in his quiver and slung the bow over his back, he turned so that he wasn't completely facing her to stretch his arms.

She saw her opening and lunged at him, she reached him his less then a second and her knee made contact with his hard stomach and she punched him in the jaw; with this effectively distracting him, she pulled water out of the air while pinning his arms behind his back and then froze them into place. She detached metal hand cuffs from where they were concealed under her skirt and locked them into place as well.

She heard him groan slightly in displeasure and she let him go allowing him to turn to face her. His face read pure annoyance and frustration, but she simply glared at him.

"You be a guard out here for long enough and you learn not to trust everyone's stories, " She said with a slight cringe in her voice and she heard him sigh discontentedly. "Oh, and you might want to learn to tell when a girl is feigning innocence. " Katara tilted her chin upward slightly in triumph as she said it, and watched the man breath steam out of his nostrils in a huff.

She picked up her belt and refastened it around her waist before placing a hand on his muscled shoulder and leading him toward the city. She didn't trust herself to pass judgment on him, she would lead him to her father.