Chapter Text
In every story, there is a hero. A hero who must save the day and free the world from its torment. Someone who would rescue and bring peace to the world. In this story, the Avatar was their hero. But the Avatar wasn’t there to save her.
She had to save herself.
A little girl lay in the corner of a dry, dark prison cell. Her face was stained with dried tears. The unfamiliar heat crept up her spine, her body producing a foreign liquid on her skin. Her body shook with every breath. Where was she? Where was everyone else? The girl glanced warily through the bars, making out a dim hallway that connected to pitch black. Her stomach growled. But the feeling of it eating itself couldn’t mask the pain of being separated from her family.
Before long, lanky prison guards marched towards their station, spewing their disgust and hatred at the girl behind bars. At every sunrise, she was given a lump of grain and a measly cup of water, enough to keep her heart beating. She looked up towards them, her chin held high. ‘Never let them know your weakness’ Katara had once overheard their father tell Sokka, preparing him for war.
Here she was, in the eye of the enemy, while Sokka was preparing for a war he would never face.
Time could not be measured in the gloomy dimlit cell she was held in. Her tribe had taught her to use the moon cycle as a guide. Katara had not seen the sky in months, let alone the moon. Instead, she measured it by her hair growth, which was not as reliable given the little food she was given. But it sufficed. It had to.
Days turned to weeks, weeks into months. Months into… Well, she must have lost track by now. Her hair decided to stop growing the moment it touched her hips.
As every second on the clock passed, every moon cycle that she felt in her blood. The guards grew in confidence.
“Look at this little one. I bet she would have sold for a pretty pouch of gold.” A guard clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“I’d love to watch the light in her eyes fade as I had my way with her.” The taller guard stepped closer, his eyes filling with black as he bore down on her weak figure. “Looks like I’m too late for that though, it's already gone.”
They walked away, laughing. “She is way too young for you, Zumi.”
Katara saw the taller figure shrug. “The younger the better.”
***
The prison was boring for Katara. She missed being under the bright sky, playing penguin sledding with Sokka, and listening to the stories that Gran Gran told about the world before the war. Most of all, she missed her mother’s warm embrace. What she would give for the chance to feel it again. Sometimes when she closed her eyes. She could still hear the icebergs crashing into each other. She could smell the sea prunes her mother made whenever she was sick. It was the only escape she had. It kept her sane in this hell hole. It gave her a reason to endure it. For a slim chance to feel it again. But just like every good thing she had, the Fire Nation would always take it from her.
A loud bell disrupted her thoughts.
“Good morning pretty girl.” The guard smiled, baring his rotting teeth at her. His dark eyes dragged across her body.
“It’s a pity I can’t have you for myself. Captains orders.” He tapped his chin. “I know all the guards would want a turn with you as well.”
Katara stood up, holding her chin high. She was not scared of him. She did not get thrown halfway across the world to cower at a single rotting guard.
“Would you look at that, soldiers' courage. I thought rotting down here for a year would fix that problem.” He eyed her body up and down.
“I thought a year of being stuck down here as scrap for the army would make you realise the coward you are.” She bit back, her voice was hoarse from lack of use. “I wonder how ashamed your family was when they found out you’d be tending to useless prisoners.”
Just as she calculated, his eye twitched and he lunged for her. Katara didn’t flinch. “Pretty girl got some tongue on her does she?” He seethed, staring straight into her eyes. “I’ll fix that.”
Katara watched as he poured her day's cup of water onto the ground. It splattered on the floor beyond the bars.
“If you’re thirsty.” He started, the cup clattered as he dropped it. He knelt down, gripping the bars beside her face, staring at her from eye level.
“You’ll have to get it from the source.” He snickered, his eyes darting towards the bulge in his pants.
Whatever that meant, Katara thought. She did not want to find out. She would rather die.
Perhaps she would.
***
Water had become scarce ever since the exchange with that grimy old man. But it was well worth it. Guard or not, all she saw was an insecure man that needed fear to feel powerful. She was not scared of them. Much like the stories she heard about Fire Lord Azulon. Fire Nation people had a weird relationship with power, Katara had realised being trapped in their prison.
Katara needed to find a way out soon. Her head grew dizzy. She needed water. She didn’t know what that old guard had meant about his offer for a drink, but from his stare, she knew it would be a worse fate than death itself. It was either die from dehydration, or die trying to escape. She much preferred the latter.
She thought hard and long. How could a 11 year old girl, who had never learnt how to bend, be able to do what even master waterbenders could not do? How could she escape this prison?
The metal door slammed open. The guards would not arrive until sunrise. This was not on the schedule. Did Dad finally locate her whereabouts and came to save her? Her heart began to soar. It shouldn’t have taken that long. Maybe it wasn’t her Dad, maybe the Fire Nation was finally ridding itself of the prisoners they had to feed. Well, keep alive. They did not feed them. Was she hallucinating? Was this the last time she’d ever take a breath? Whatever it was, she was prepared to face it head on.
An old lady with scrawny white hair emerged. She walked towards her cell, and took one long look into Katara’s eyes.
“You will do nicely. Follow me.” She commanded, her tone devoid of any fondness one would give to a child.
“No.” The waterbender said firmly. Her heart threatened to burst out of its rib cage. She did not prepare for a situation like this. Yet, she held her ground. “I don’t know you.”
The lady turned around, facing the girl.
“There is no one here to save you, stop waiting for someone who will never come.” Her blue eyes met her own. “You have to do it yourself. Just like I did.”
The cell door unlocked, something Katara had never seen or knew possible.
“How can I trust you? How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Her voice came out smaller than she intended.
“Wonderful, at least I don't need to teach you about trust.” She rolled her eyes. “The first good thing the war had done.”
Katara weighed her options. One, stay down here and die. Two, leave here and then die. She frowned. These were terrible options. But they'd have to do.
She stepped out of her cell, looking back at the place she was trapped in for years. “Okay, where’s the way out?”
***
After they escaped, Katara found out that Hama was also a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. Captured by the Fire Nation, just like her. Hama had created a new technique that helped her escape. She called it blood bending, but it could only work on a full moon.
“Do you know how long you’ve been stuck there?” Hama looked back at her.
They had been walking for hours along the forest trails on the border of the Fire Nation.
‘No.” Katara was tired. She had such an eventful day. It was nothing like what she’d ever experienced before. When the adrenaline had finally died down, it left the girl exhausted in its wake.
“Three years.” Hama stopped, facing her. “You were down there for three years. They did despicable things to you didn’t they? Things you wouldn’t even understand until you're older. They did the same to me, except I had it worse. I was down there for 6 decades.” She spat, her voice seethed with an anger that was uncontrollable.
“What's a decade?” Katara asked. For the first time, a glimmer of softness glinted behind the older woman’s eyes.
“Ten years. So I was there for 60. Until I learnt how to blood bend and save myself.” Hama knelt down, holding her shoulders. They lacked warmth.
“You must be angry at them aren’t you? They took away your family, your home. You couldn’t even bend to defend yourself. You’re a helpless little girl.” She stated simply. “But I can change that. I can teach you how to defend yourself. How to win.”
“But how can I do that? I’m only 11” Katara emphasised by holding out all her fingers.
“By bending of course, only then will you be able to defeat your enemies. I cannot fight this war by myself. I’m growing old. I need someone to continue the fight. That someone can be you.”
“I don’t think I can do that. Hurt people I mean.” She confessed. This old lady was very strange. But it was the first conversation she had with someone who didn’t want her dead. So she welcomed it nonetheless.
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m going to pass.” She smiled, “When I was trapped there, all I could think about was returning home. I miss my mum, Hama. I just want my mum back. I’m going home.” For the first time since she was taken, Katara had finally let herself feel the despair of losing everything she knew. It stabbed her chest in a way nothing had ever before. She missed them. She missed everything, and she wanted it back.
Hama spun around, she lifted her arms. The trees snapped their trunks, revealing the view of the vast ocean in front of them. Just waves and waves of fresh ocean water. The sunlight gleamed back at her. Katara gasped in amazement,
“Look. Can you see our tribe?” She asked. “You can’t. It’s gone, Katara. You can never go back. If there was a way, I wouldn't be standing here right now.”
She suddenly felt it. Standing beside the ocean, for the first time in her life, she felt small. Like an ant trying to swim across a pond. Hama was right. It was massive. It probably stretched for ages. There was no way to go back. She was still trapped. Even after years in their prison. Even after escaping, she was still trapped. The Fire Nation still held her. She could never return home. Tears began to stream down her face.
“No. That’s not right. My father will come for me. He’s the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. He’ll come.”
“Remember.” Hama yelled, suddenly. She grabbed Katara’s tiny head, her fingers splayed across her skull. The girl fell to the ground with a thud. The familiar feeling of fear returned and settled deep into her stomach. “Remember what they did to you!”
Katara cried as countless memories flooded through her. Memories that had caused so much pain, that she had pushed them aside.
She was wrapped in warm thick fleece, fire balls flew in every direction. The air was heavy with smoke and soot. Turning the once white landscape into a dark graveyard. Her mother screamed, cried for help. For anything to save her baby. The soldiers didn’t listen; they knew it was her. She watched as she was dragged ruthlessly away from her family. She saw Sokka’s puffy face as the soldiers held them back. “No please make it stop! Make it stop!”
Hama let go of her and the memory ceased. “The water tribe needs you. You’re their last waterbender. You’re their only hope. Only you can seek revenge. Bring justice to the lives lost.” She grabbed her shoulders, her grip tight. “Now, what’s your choice little girl? Run away and die from the Fire Nation, unprotected. Or fight for your people. No one is coming to save you. Your father is not coming to save you.” Her face inches away from Katara’s, grabbing her chin to face her.
“No one is coming to save you.” Her voice was laced with anger, she seethed. “But I will. I will take you in as my own, train you. Until you become the world's best bloodbender. Until you can kill hundreds with a snap of your finger. But I need your undying loyalty.” She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. “I need the Fire Lord’s head.”
For the first time, Katara was angry. She didn’t feel pity for herself. She didn’t feel like crying alone in the corner like a helpless girl anymore. She wanted vengeance. For her tribe, for her family.
For her.
The little girl that believed in hope? She died the second she was stolen from her home. She wanted it back. She wanted it all back.
“The Fire Nation took everything away from me.” Emotion was absent from her voice, she matched Hama’s cold stare.
Hama smiled, “Then we must return the favour.”
Just like Katara was their only hope, Hama was hers. Like she said.
No one was coming to save her.