The Fire Within Us (ATLA Fanfic)

Chapter 15- Anika

TW: violence and discussions of sexual assault 

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Anika took a deep breath of the fresh evening air as she left the palace and stepped out onto the streets of the Fire Nation Capital. Dark clouds brooded above her, promising rain.

Rain.

Rain had been an unexpected perk to leaving the South Pole, where it only ever snowed. She loved everything about it--the smell of wet earth and growing things, the patter of cool raindrops kissing her skin, the gentle murmur of water on a sheltering roof. She'd never be granted the power of bending the drops as Katara could, but it brought her to life all the same.

Anika let her feet carry her where they pleased as her mind wandered further than her body did. The girls at the party had had a point. Zuko was royalty, the product of a marriage between Avatar Roku's bloodline and a powerful line of Fire Lords. If anyone had the divine right to rule, it was him.

As far as blood was concerned, she was nothing. Her mother was a Water Tribe commoner, and her father, no matter who he was or how high of a position he had held, was nothing but scum. She had grown up in an igloo her entire life. As much as she loved her culture and her people, they were about as far-removed from royalty you could get.

If only--a crash sounded somewhere near her, and Anika snapped out of her thoughts and examined her surroundings for what felt like the first time. She was on a small, abandoned street. The houses on either side of the road were in shameful disrepair, all boarded-up windows and peeling paint.

"Well, well, well." Anika turned to find three large men slowly sauntering towards her. The one in the center pounded his fist into his open palm. "If it isn't the Fire Lord's pet, running away from home. You shouldn't be out here alone."

Anika's heart drummed in her chest as she slowly backed up, only to bump into the chest of a fourth man who hadn't been there moments before. He grabbed her arms and twisted them painfully behind her back. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, actually." Anika bent a blast of terror-fueled flames out of her hands and into the torso of the man holding her captive. He let out a yelp and released his grip, and Anika used her moment of freedom to sprint down the street away from the three other thugs. She'd barely taken a step when she felt five quick, sharp jabs punch into her joints. Her limbs went completely limp, and she crumpled helplessly the ground.

Anika swallowed hard as she struggled to get her useless limbs to so much as twitch. "Y-you can chi-block?"

The man who had paralyzed her ignored her question and grabbed a handful of her hair, lifting her head from the ground. Anika grunted in pain as the man turned to one of his fellow thugs. "You sure this is the girl Zuko entered the dance with?"

"Positive. That's the Fire Lord's girlfriend, all right."

"Perfect." With that, the man gripping her hair unceremoniously slammed a fist into Anika's face.

Nothing.

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The first thing Anika was aware of as she surfaced back into consciousness was the steady throbbing in her temple. The pain pounded against her skull, sending a nauseating wave of agony through her body with each pulse. Anika moaned softly and groggily opened her heavy eyelids.

Her world was fuzzy at first, but a couple hard blinks chased away most of the blurriness. Anika was tightly bound to a chair with thick, padlocked chains that dug into her skin.

"Look who's decided to join the land of the living." Anika jerked her head up to find the source of the sudden voice. Her gaze landed on a shadowy figure on the opposite side of the dim room. Her head ached in protest at the sudden movement, and Anika had to close her eyes for a moment until the pain ebbed.