Katara awoke with an awful headache, and her vision was blurry. As she looked around at her surroundings, she realized that she was on a Fire Nation ship, based on the large tarp that was hanging on the cold, steel, wall. The cell's bars were rusty, and if Katara had had some water with her, she could have cut right through them! The cot she was laying on was stiff and pokey, and she wished that she were lying on Appa's soft fur. Strangely, she wasn't scared. She had dealt with the Fire Nation before, and she could do it again.
She was about to use her sweat to bust through the bars, like she had done a little while back. But, as she was about to make her attempt, a terrible sight caught her eye. Zuko was staring at her through the bars. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she had failed to notice him enter the room. She stared at him, hatred in her eyes.
"Nice to have you back," Zuko said coldly.
"Nice to be back," Katara answered, in a voice just as cold.
She watched as he approached the cell's lock, and became quite confused when he unlocked it, and motioned for her to follow him. Katara stood up, and trailed behind the young man in front of her. Her head injury still hurt, and she was becoming quite dizzy. Zuko led her to a comfortable looking room, and gave her a look, which apparently meant, "Go on in." She looked around. There was a small bed, (Yes, an actual bed,) a tiny desk, and a window, which pointed out to the ocean. Katara was still a bit confused.
"I thought I was your prisoner," she said, addressing Zuko, who seemed to be spaced out. Her voice snapped him out of his trance, and he spoke.
"You are my prisoner. You are my way of getting rid of the avatar, for good." Katara thought for a moment, about what he had just said. Then, as if it was a puzzle, she pieced it together, and understood.
"You sent Combustion Man after us? What am I? Just a way to keep Aang unprotected so that your assassin can do the dirty work? You're just a coward! If you really want Aang gone, you should do it yourself; not that I'm encouraging you!" Katara didn't know why she had exploded like she had, but he was just so infuriating!
Zuko stopped himself from yelling at her, but it took some endurance. "Do you want the room or not," he finally said, after Katara had calmed down. She looked at him, and nodded shamefully. He hadn't done anything wrong, really. He had kidnapped her, but other than that, he had been humane. He had given her this somewhat nice room, and he hadn't even yelled at her after she had insulted him! That was big news for Zuko; she had to admit! "I thought so," Zuko said as he left the room, and Katara almost thought she saw him smile as he left.
She lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling, completely in her own world. In her world, there was no war, no suffering, and definitely no Zuko or Azula! But, she knew that it was too good to be true. When she came back to Earth, she would be back to the war, watching villages be destroyed, watching people die, and she, Sokka, Toph, and especially Aang would be responsible for stopping it! She had the weight of the world on her shoulders, and boy, was it stressful! But, deep down, Katara knew that she wouldn't have it any other way! It was an adventure, and she had always wanted to learn waterbending, and travel around the world. Sometimes, she supposed, your dreams can come true in unexpected ways.