Falling For The Island Girl (Katara x Reader)

Shattered

  I let the warm water wrap itself around my body, as I lean into the bath. I just finished an exhausting lesson in combat and want to relax. Then again, maybe relaxing is too much to ask for, there's a knock at the door. "Princess (y/n), the Fire Lorde and Princess Azula have arrived," my nanny, Alma, says. 

 "I'll be right there," I reply, standing from the bath, and stepping onto the cool, marble floor. "Is there anything you need?" another servant, Luna, asks.  "Could you get me something to wear?" I respond. "Of course," the young maid says, walking away.

 I wrap myself in a fluffy towel, beginning to brush my hair as I wait for her to return with some clothes. 

 There a knock on the door. "Come in," I say. Luna shyly makes an entrance, placing the outfit she kindly fetched for me on a stool. "Is there anything else I can help you with?" she wonders. "No, but thank you very much for helping me," I assure. She bows. "Of course, princess."

 She exits the wash room, leaving me to grin and roll my eyes at her manners. I've asked her, among with other servants, to simply address me as "(y/n)," but, alas, they choose to stay with "Princess",  or sometimes even "Your highness." Of course, there's nothing to actually complain about, it's a non-issue, I just find their extreme politeness amusing.

 Once I finish brushing my long hair, I slip on the dress Luna has brought me. It's a simple, flowy dress, clearly made on one of the Aequatoris islands. In fact, my grand father bought it for me on one of the smaller islands for my birthday. I smile at the memory, as I slip on a pair of sandals. Just like the dress, the footwear is signature to my islands.

 As I make my way through the palace, I'm stopped by Alma. "Heaven's, child," she muttered, as she began fixing my messy locks of hair, "You can't walk around like that, especially when the princess is here." I roll my eyes, as she finishes braiding my hair in an unnecessarily elaborate hair style, clipping a single hair pin to hold it together. I thank her and hurry down the hall to the guest room where said individual always stayed in.

 Ripping the door open, I'm greeted by her golden eyes. "Azula," I exclaim, wrapping my arms around the taller girl's neck. "It's nice to see you too," the dark haired princess chuckled, wrapping her arms around my waist. 

 I loosen my embrace so that I can get a good view of her face. "You know," I say, "I've always found your eyes  so enchanting." "I know," she replies with a grin, before pulling me into a deep kiss.

 Out of the blue, there's yelling, and the sound of shattering vases.

 There was definitely no shattering when this memory was made.

 "Meet me outside, if you're man enough to fight!" An angry, feminine voice finally woke me from my dreams. I stretched, trying to shake off the memory of dating Azula, before standing from the bed. I got dressed and went down stairs to see what all the commotion was about. 

 Outside, I saw no other than Katara yelling at Pakku to fight her. He ignored her, triggering the southern water tribe girl to grab a hold of some water, forming a whip-like string, and hitting his back with it. 

 "You want to learn to fight!?" he said, "Then watch closely." 

 He engulfed the two of them in a stream of water, that he let rotate around them, forcing her to step closer to the center until she broke the cycle. Intrigued, I began stepping closer to the match, observing both contestants, though I mainly focused on Katara.

 Her movements seemed steady, that is, until just after the competition was half way through. The girl's fighting style then changed, becoming more aggressive and less thought through. Ultimately, she lost. This was inevitable, yet her determination and the fact that she was able to keep up for even that long astounded me.

 I was about to walk up and talk to her, however, I heard the familiar cooing of a messenger pigeon, and stopped, stretching my arm for it to land. I traced my middle and ring finger down the animal's head, before taking the scroll from its mouth, thinking it was going to be from one of our spies.

 I thought wrong.

 Dear Princess (y/n) of the Aequatoris Islands,

 As you already know, we will be attacking the Northern Water tribe in a matter of days. Though, what you didn't know until now, is that the spy who informed you of this was recently caught whilst attempting to send you another letter with information that you won't know until it's too late.

 He was interrogated, and, my, I've never seen a spy break so easily. Turns out, he is terrified of mice. A couple of minutes in a closed room with one was enough to have him tell us everything we needed to know.

Good luck, little princess.

- Sincerely, Admiral Zhao

 I clenched the missive, only to drop it once it turned to ashes in my hands. I was furious. Not only that, but I didn't know who I was angered by. Was it the weak spy who confessed without putting up a fight? The general who taunted me? Or was I angry at myself for even asking for further information? 

 Regardless, I had to tell Arnook that the circumstances of the attack might be worse than expected and that he should start planning out his battle strategies soon as possible.

_ _ Timeskip _ _

 That night, though I did everything I could to make sure that the North Pole citizens would be safe during the future attack, I couldn't help but feel like I had a rock in my stomach.

 Nevertheless, like every other night in the past where something bothered me, I managed to fall asleep.

  Like putting a piece of paper into a book in an effort not to lose your page, my dreams that night seemed to start where my previous ones left off.

 My girlfriend, Azula, seems tired from the traveling, so I make sure she's in bed after dinner, saying good night before heading back to my own room.

 On my way there, I can't help but overhear arguing between two males. I'd recognize those masculine voices anywhere, at any given time: my father, king of the Aequatoris Islands, and Fire Lord Ozai, ruler of the Fire nation.

 "It's not a completely arranged marriage, you know how much our daughters care for one another," the Fire Lord says with a strained voice. 

 "Yes, Azula and (y/n) love each other very much," my father notes, then finishes his point, "But it's still an arranged marriage if neither of them asks for the other's hand in marriage. And you know what my people and I think of arranged weddings. You wouldn't really want to get between us and our values, now, would you?"

 "Values?" Ozai replied in an ironically cold tone, "Think about how beneficial it would be for both of our countries if our children married, it would strengthen our alliance." "If that's your definition of strengthening an alliance, I want none of it," my father stated, "I'm not getting my only child into my politics, especially at such a young age."

 "You will regret this decision,"  the Fire Lord hissed, making his way to the door. His footsteps signaled that it was time for me to go to my room.

 The next morning, I make my way up to Azula's room, wanting to ask if she knows anything about the marriage her father had envisioned, but she isn't there. And there's no trace of her or her father anywhere else in the palace.

 They had left without a trace.

 Immediately, I shot up. Instinctively, I pulled my legs close as a comfort mechanism. My dreams that night and the previous one weren't the worst of my memories. However, I didn't want to see the next chapter of the book "Princess (y/n)'s Past."