Somehow the Gaang and Azula's Band (including Zuko) are out in a desert. They get captured by Sand people.

The ground wasshivering and rumbling like it was trying to imitate an angry ocean. Toph cried out as her already fuzzy vision winked out into total blindness. Aang immediately leapt in the air, but landed to try to get Appa out of the mire. They went under, taking Sokka and Momo with them. Katara tripped and fell into an opening mouth. Azula tried to take advantage of the unexpected earthquake, but almost electrocuted Ty Lee as the shifting earth suddenly opened and pulled her under. Mai reached desperately for Zuko but he too was gone and she went willingly after him.

Katara tumbled though the sand, screaming as the sand filled her mouth. Suddenly, it opened up to dump her in a damp cavern. She forced herself up to her knees, spitting and wheezing and blind. She tired to clear her eyes but her hands and clothes were coated with sand. There was a sudden gust of brimstone filled her sinuses and she froze. Hatred and rage boiled as she sensed another presence.

"Zuko." She snarled.

He did not answer.

Azula landed suprising well. She immediately sprang up, lightning rippling in a halo around her, illuminating the hole to reveal—

"Hey! Hey! Point that somewhere else!" shouted the water tribe boy. His blue eyes reflected the lightning, glowing as he backed as far away from her as possible. He flung sand at her when she tried to shoot him. She ducked but he used her stance to get under her guard and slam her back against the opposite wall with his shoulder, shoving her into the sand until all of her lightning had gone out, leaving them in total darkness. Azula froze for a split second, completely stunned. No one had ever gotten under her guard so effectively before. She narrowed her eyes and tried to rebound but he pushed her further into the sand.

"I said stop! I'm not going to hurt you!" he said pinning her with his body, hands tight on her wrists, both knees planted squarely in her thighs.

"Ha!" laughed Azula incredulous. "How could a peasant like you hurt me, the princess of the firenation?"

"Look, we're both stuck in this hole, so why don't we work together instead of trying to kill each other?"

"Try again, funny man." She said struggling, but she was well and truly caught.

Suddenly a hot liquid was dumped on them making them both gasp and the boy spring away to wipe it off himself. "Ahh! Gross! What is this?!"

Azula sprang forward and tackled him, her fingers poised to send lightning through his heart, but nothing came out. The peasant flipped her off him and rolled away.

"What have you done?" she snarled her body feeling hot with contained lightning.

"Oh, like I really want to be here with you." he shouted outraged in the darkness. The hole was not big enough for him to get effectively away from her. She turned and kicked out and heard a grunt as he blocked the foot to his gut. She did not pull back fast enough and he grabbed her ankle and slammed her into the floor, knocking the breath from her. She blinked, stunned by how ineffective her fighting had become. His fingers were still holding her ankle and shoulder tightly. It would be so easy to send a fist straight into his solar plexus but her body felt heavy and strange. And hot. She had never felt so hot before. What was going on? Did that liquid effect more than her bending ability?

"What did you do?" he said, his voice low. It seemed to thrum across her skin and she gasped and his hand on her leg slid down to her calf.

Suddenly more liquid was dumped on them both. It was warm and oily and easily penetrated the layers of her armor. She felt him shudder and he suddenly dropped his hold and stood back.

She forced herself to roll to a stand. She would not succumb to whatever trick this was! She was Princess Azula, soon to be ruler of the Fire Nation! Princesses did not fall victim to foolish tricks like this!

The blood rushing to her head made her stagger and she fell sideways aiming for the wall but got caught by the peasant instead.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice but all she noticed was how firmly he held her and that her armor was supphocating her.

She struggled away from him and he let her stumble away. But she could feel that he was close behind her. Ready to catch her again. Like she would fall. Irritated she turned to push him. "Get away from me!" she snarled. She was completely unprepared to pitchforward as he fell backwards. She landed on his stomach, felt the air go out of him with a whoosh.

"Okay, whatever this stuff is, it's strong." He said weakly as he struggled out from under her.

"Hi! I'm Ty Lee! Are you really the Avatar? That's so cool! I thought you'd be this really old geezer but you're younger than me! Wow, you must take really good care of your skin."

"Actually, I was just stuck in an iceberg for a century."

Aang stared at the bubbly pink girl sitting across from the fire he'd made. If he hadn't've seen her do it countless times, he would never have believed that this smiling, ditzy girl was capable of blocking a bender's chi so effectively that they lost their abilities. "You're not what I would have imagined either." He said.

Mai sighed. This totally sucked. She had sand in every pore of her body and her skirt scratched her every time she moved.

"Would you stop doing that?" snarled the little girl across the hole. "I can't concentrate if you keep making all that racket."

"Whatever." She said.

And Toph growled, trying to make the sand particles do more than clump.

Steam filled the hole making it hard to breathe.

"For the last time, I don't want to fight you." Said Zuko calmly, as he brushed sand out of his hair.

"Why not?" snarled Katara, wanting very badly to dump the small sand dune that was clumped in her chest band, which only made her more irritated. He had blocked every attack she had thrown at him but never retaliated. As if she wasn't worth the fight. She wanted to kill him.

He shrugged. "I just don't."

She screamed in rage but was choked by surprise as a strange viscous liquid flooded their hole. She tried to pull all of the water out of it, but it wasn't water, it was oil and it sank into the floor almost as soon as it had come.

"What is this?!" snarled Zuko, drenched and angry, sounding like himself for the first time since she'd realized he was there. He tried to light a flame to see, but caught himself on fire.

Katara immediately used the little water she had to try to douse the flame but it only made it worse.

"You stupid peasant!" he shouted as she backed away beating flames off her skirt.

"My hair!" she shrieked. Zuko appeared suddenly slamming her into the wall. Sand poured over them as she struggled.

"Get off me!" she shouted and punched him in his scar. He backed away, holding his cheek, eyes watering.

"You're welcome." He hissed. She stared at the direction of his voice and realized that all the flames had gone out.

"Oh,uh, sorry." She said sheepishly. "You want me to heal that?"

The air suddenly went cold. And she had a flash of déjà vu.

"No." he said roughly.

Katara felt her hair, very little of it had actually caught fire. "Thanks for saving my hair." She said quietly.

What do you think? Part two coming...