Katia had been chained below deck on a fire navy ship for three weeks.
Her mother fled from the southern water tribe years ago when Katia was only four, hiding her precious water bending daughter from the fire nation, who had constantly raided their village, capturing all of their water benders to demolish the threat that they might pose to the fire nation.
She grew up on an icy island not too far from the South Pole, it was remote and hidden, it protected them from the fire nation. Other water benders had fled with them, until they formed their own little village, hidden from the rest of the world.
Katia grew up to be a strong water bender, just like the other water bending children that were brought to her village. She fell in love with a handsome non bender, Akaden, he loved her more than anything in the world and defended her until his tragic death when the fire nation finally found and raided their village, Katia wasn't strong enough to save herself, most of her energy was going towards nurturing the little life inside of her, and she was imprisoned by the fire navy.
Three weeks in the boat and they weren't due to reach the fire nation for another two days, but Katia's water broke, and she went into labour in the dank, mouldy dungeon in the bottom of the ship. The guards sent for a medic who bound Katia's arms and two fire benders held their aim towards her in case she tried to bend, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with big E/C eyes, she was barely given a chance to know her daughter because two days later, when they reached the fire nation, she was snatched from her arms.
In their last moments, Katia slyly water bent a bracelet onto her baby's wrist, made of ice, using a special technique that she invented herself, this ice wouldn't melt, on the back it had "Akaden & Katia" carved into it and on the front it read her daughter's name, Y/N, so she'd always know who she was, and hopefully one day, find her way back to her family.
Y/N was left at an orphanage in the fire nation, but didn't spend long there, only the first few of years of her life, which she didn't really remember. She was adopted when she was four by a noble couple from Azulon. Her adoptive father was named Zorian, he was a trusted friend to Fire Prince Ozai and a general in the Fire Nation Army, her adoptive mother was named Azira, she was in charge of training some of the most talented groups of non bending soldiers in the fire nation.
So therefore, Y/N grew up around the palace and became friends with Princess Azula, Mai and Ty Lee- girls from her school, the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Although she hung around with them at school, she got along a lot more with Azula's older brother, Zuko, and spent a lot of her time at the palace talking with him and his mother.
Prince Zuko's mother, Ursa, was so gentle in comparison to Y/N's, Azira did genuinely love Y/N, but didn't appear as nurturing and loving as Ursa did. Besides, Ursa and Zuko knew a secret that not even Y/N's parents knew: she knew how to water bend.
The two fire nation royals kept Y/N's secret because they feared what Fire Lord Azulon might have done if he knew what she really was. Zuko would take Y/N to his secret spot, behind the palace, where she'd practice her ability to water bend, they were best friends, and he'd protect her secret until the day he died if he had to.
When raising Y/N, Azira taught her to be an exceptional fighter, especially considering that she believed that Y/N wasn't a bender at all.
One day, when she was very young, Y/N ran into Zuko's bedroom:
"Zuko, Zuko! Where's your mother? I want to show her this awesome trick I learned, see!"
Y/N excitedly cartwheeled around the room before bouncing back into a one handed hand stand, grinning and looking up at Zuko, but her face dropped when he saw he had been crying.
"Zuko, what happened? Who upset you?"
He sniffed and curled up into a ball on the floor,
"My mother... she's gone..."
And that was the day that Y/N had realised that the world wasn't as happy as she'd pictured it, and that within her nation, great evil lied.
She attended Fire Lord Azulon's funeral and watched as Zuko's father was wrongfully crowned Fire Lord, and after that day, nothing was the same again.
Years passed, herself and Zuko were still friends, but she spent a lot more time with Azula, Ty Lee and Mai, life was dull now.
She was twelve when she sat in the audience in horror when she saw Zuko have half of his face severely burnt by his own father in front of all of the nobles in the fire nation, and felt her heart shatter when she heard that he was banished... her best friend.
Before he left, she chased after him to say goodbye, she put her hand against his wound on his face and whispered:
"I can fix this, you know?"
Zuko sighed before pulling her hand away and shaking his head,
"No, I can't ever let anyone find out about what you can do... but, could you look after the turtle ducks for me whilst I'm gone?"
Her eyes blurred from the tears forming in them,
"Of course"
She pulled him in for a hug before his uncle interrupted their goodbye, and left with him on his journey to find the avatar to restore his honour.
YOU ARE READING
Fire & Rain: Book 1
FanfictionI wrote this for myself but you can read it, too, if you'd like. Y/N is a water bender who was born on board a fire navy ship holding Southern Water Tribe captives, she was left in a Fire Nation orphanage and was eventually adopted by Fire Nation n...
