Chapter One

Unspoken

Zuko struggled to break free; he tried to pull away from the soldiers who held his arms. He dug his heels into the ground, forcing them to pull him. He gritted his teeth, focusing on his energy, feeling the burning chi that ran through his body, trying to muster up as much fire as possible. He could have exploded.

Then he felt the point of a spear in his back.

"You'll make it easier on yourself if you stop struggling," the soldier told him. Zuko could hear the faint trace of humor in his voice. He was enjoying this.

Zuko twisted his head back, stumbling a little as he was pulled towards the prison cells. "Why don't you just impale me now? Like you did my uncle!" he said to the guard with the spear. Zuko's voice was full of fire, but the glistening tears in his golden eyes revealed his true sorrow.

"Nah… the Fire Lord wants you alive- at least, until he decides what's to be done with you," the soldier smirked. "And we've found you the perfect cellmate. One of the late Avatar's good friends, a waterbender."

Zuko was deaf to the soldier's final words, however. He was reliving the last couple years in his mind, thinking of how his life had tumbled slowly downhill ever since the day of that War Council…

He stopped struggling.

Katara had been sleeping on the floor of her cell when the soldiers threw Zuko in. He fell to the ground besides her and didn't move. He didn't want to move anymore. He didn't want to do anything anymore except die. Death would take him away from this world, this hell, and reunite him with his mother and uncle.

The girl besides him cried out in her sleep.

Katara's dreams were troubled. They hadn't been good or sweet since the Final Battle. The battle that had decided the fate of the world. The battle that had torn her life apart, into shreds. The battle where Aang had died.

Flames consumed him in her dream. She could hear herself crying to Aang, she could see the fire crawling up his body, burning his clothes and skin. They engulfed him, and Katara saw his tattoo split to reveal gray, smoldering skull. His once bright eyes were only black holes in his head. His youthful smile became the grin of death, his bony jaws gaping at her. Katara had saw him burned to death. Her own screams echoed in her ears.

But then she awoke.

The first thing the waterbender noticed was the unusual heat in her cell. Usually it was freezing cold, numbing up her fingers and toes, biting through her thin cloak. But she felt so warm… It was such a welcome feeling.

Katara turned on her side to see where the glorious heat was coming from, and discovered that she wasn't surprised to find out it was Zuko lying besides her. She didn't think twice when she scooted closer to him- after a few months of captivity, her primitive nature was forced to take over- and he didn't seem to care. After a few minutes of warmth, her mind began to work right and she felt herself returning.

Katara knew Zuko was alive, and that he was obviously fighting some inner battle to so increase his body temperature high enough for her to feel it. His breathing was slow, however. It would seem as if he was holding his breath for as long as he could and then there was a whoosh and he would take one more, large breath.

Are you trying to kill yourself? She thought to him. Please don't… I need the heat. She couldn't bring herself to say the words aloud. The old part of her, the old Katara that had known freedom and had loved Aang (and absolutely hated Zuko) surfaced into her mind. You're lying next to your enemy… depending on your enemy's heat! What's wrong with you?

I'm in a Fire Nation cell… so is he. He's not exactly my enemy anymore…

What happened to your morals?

I won't have any morals if I die of cold!

Katara stared at Zuko, a part of her glad that he was here. Not only did he provide heat, he provided company, something that was so instilled into her brain, so necessary because generations of her ancestors had relied on the association of others, thus grounding this one instinct permanently into her brain. Relying on others was important to the early people of her world. If someone was sick or injured, they would need the help and care of another. Just like she needed Zuko's body heat. Just like she wanted it. It was vital if she were to survive any longer.

Zuko was scarcely aware of Katara's presence. He was thinking of how he compared to a dying flame because that was certainly how he felt. He could feel himself extinguishing, the fire in his chest was burning itself out. It would grow brighter and brighter and then it'd exhaust itself out and die. Zuko began to wonder if he hadn't been dying all along these last few years, ever since his mother left. An emptiness filled his soul, black nothing eating him away. Is this what it feels like to die…? He held his breath, urging the dark to come faster. Wishing it'd just hurry up and end his suffering. All of a sudden, a bright burst of color exploded inside him, and he saw everyone he'd ever met, every place he'd ever been, everything he'd ever done. He saw his failures and successes. He saw his childhood home, and then the elaborately decorated room on a ship. His room… He saw his uncle Iroh and his mother, the two people he loved overall, the two people who knew him best. The two people who he needed the most right now, and they were gone.

Zuko began to cry.

A/N: Yay! My first fanfic on this site! I've already finished writing Chapter 2, so I'll have it up when I can!

Please review and tell me what you think!