A/N: Short fic, chapter 2 about some things ... Mostly, I'm bad at humor, so this is just a little thing ...uh, possible SokkaZuko ... chapters will be short and choppy.

Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar or Aang or Sokka or Katara or Zuko etc ... I will own any OCs, and I'll tell you who/what they are when/if I decide to use them ...

..oo00oo..

Chapter 2: Zuko

Zuko was feeling good. No, scratch that, he was feeling great. He was feeling better than great. Zuko was highly pleased with himself, for Zuko had finally captured the Avatar.

The only trouble was that he slept like a rock and snored like a boar.

Why the heck did I tell them to put the prisoners in my quarters?! Zuko asked himself as his good eye twitched. And how can anyone snore that loudly without waking themselves up?!

But Prince Zuko knew exactly why the prisoners were in his room. Two of them he knew were benders, and the Fool displayed Earthbending abilities back in the cave when he saved Zuko's life. The reason they were all staying in HIS quarters: Zuko simply didn't trust anyone else with their watching. He considered himself the only person (besides his uncle) that was even capable of watching an unconscious Avatar.

However, as Aang rolled over in his sleep, drool running over the wooden floorboards, Zuko wondered how much longer it would be until he snapped.

..oo00oo..

Katara woke up to the flare of a candle. Groaning softly, she tried to get up. That's when she discovered that her hands were bound; quite tightly, too. Katara jerked off her brother's warm shoulder and looked around.

"Ah, so you're awake."

Katara looked up. A portly man with a pointed gray beard was lighting several candles next to a sleeping boy. Katara saw the scar on his face and realized that it was the Fire Nation Prince. Looking up, she watched the man light candles more closely, and gasped.

"You're a firebender!"

The old man nodded as he drew his hand away from the flame slowly. "Yes, that I am. You're on our ship now. My nephew wants to take the Avatar to his father in the Fire Nation." Katara wrenched herself into a better position as the man drew a blanket over the boy's shoulders. "You won't get away with this!"

She was surprised when Iroh turned to her with a bright smile. "Would you like some Jasmine Tea? It's awfully chilly tonight."

Katara blinked wide-eyed at the man and then shook her head.

"Suit yourself," he said, walking over to her. She huddled against her sleeping brother, trying not to show fear as the footsteps drew closer, then stopped, and went the opposite way. Katara didn't lift her head until the door clicked shut. Looking up from Sokka's shoulder, she saw the pillow the old man had left within her reach. Confused, Katara took the pillow from the floor and looked at the ceiling. Silence (excusing Aang's snores) gave Katara a medium to soak her mind in as she mulled why a Firebender would be so seemingly kind. Well, she thought, it was nice of him to give me a pillow. It's kind of rough to sleep on the floor, and I really don't want to wake up Sokka or Aang by using them as a pillow. Besides, that might be a little ... weird. She looked at the ceiling.

"But ... why would a fire bender care? Maybe ..."

'...maybe fire benders aren't all like the stories say they are.'

Clutching the pillow to herself, she went back to sleep amid the content breathing of her brother and the animal-like emissions from the 12-year-old Avatar.

..oo00oo..

Zuko looked up as Aang rolled into the wall repeatedly, making a mild banging noise. His good eye twitched as he got out of the blankets his uncle had laid on him and picked up the monk by his shirt and flung him next to the waterbender and her brother. Aang bumped into Katara, who pushed Sokka over and the teenager fell over from his sitting position into the floor with a THUNK.

"Ouch!!"

Zuko resisted a smirk. Even if he could earthbend, he was still a fool.

Suddenly, Sokka took in his surroundings and position, as well as his bound hands. Looking up, he opened his mouth to yell when Zuko sneered down at him. "Would it be wise of you to yell?"

Sokka's face twisted and he frowned. "Why shouldn't I just wake them up? Aang and Katara could kick your-"

"Because if you make any loud noises, I'll kill the girl," growled Zuko menacingly, jerking Katara away from the wall quicker than Sokka could react but not hard enough to wake her up. The dark-skinned boy stiffened as Zuko's unoccupied fist flashed, fire flickering from the balled hand eagerly. Terror crossed Sokka's face briefly before he slumped back against the wall, a scowl of defiance and disgust on his face. Zuko smirked to himself and the flames around his fist died off into a warm glow, and he relished the soft warmth.

Sokka watched Zuko move his sister into a more comfortable looking position with suspicion before growling at the teenager. Zuko looked up, keeping a hand on the girl's shoulder. "What?"

"Get your hands off her."

Zuko made a face. "She's my prisoner. I'll do what I please." Sokka jumped, eyes widening, but Zuko continued. "Not that I would want to DO anything to her ... she's ugly, and she's noisy."

Sokka let out a breath. Then, he looked over at the other teenager. Zuko was leaning back against the opposite wall, leering at him with his good eye. Sokka shuddered as he looked over the scar that took up almost a third of the other boy's face. It was a terrible burn wound; a horrible memory, Sokka guessed as his frown deepened. The fire prince became aware of Sokka's stare and shifted, eyes narrowing.

"What're you looking at?" Sokka blinked and he growled, anger rising in his chest. "Nothing-I didn't know it was illegal to look at dirt."

Zuko's eyes narrowed. "You'll pay for that," he hissed, "you're lower than dirt. I am a Prince and a warrior ... your insults mean nothing, worthless earthbender."

"What? I'm not an earthbender?!"

Zuko frowned. "Then what happened? I didn't see the Avatar helping you out. You must have been hiding your power."

"What?! I can't earth bend, I can't water bend, I'm not a bender at all!"

The thought that this blundering fool could have hidden anything seemed to enforce that in Zuko's mind. But if Sokka wasn't an earthbender, then what happened back in the cave?

Zuko got to his feet, walking over to where Sokka was glaring at him. Sokka watched the other boy approach with a dread in his gut, and then before Sokka could react, Zuko lashed out and grabbed two pressure points near his neck. The dark-skinned boy jerked and lapsed back into unconsciousness. Zuko left him lumped with the Avatar and went to his door. A few doors down, two guards were waiting for him.

"Watch them," he growled, "I'm going to speak with my uncle."

(moments later on the other side of the ship ...)

"Uncle!"

Iroh looked up as his young nephew burst into his room. "Yes, what is it Zuko? I sense a great irritation in you. You have captured the Avatar; what more do you want?"

Zuko's eye narrowed but he brought his anger down to a manageable level and took his time sitting down in front of his elder respectfully to let Iroh know that he was seriously troubled. The older man's brow furrowed as Zuko calmly took his place before him and crossed his arms over his chest before speaking.

"The girl, the water bender," her name escaped him now, even though the Avatar had called it out so many times before during their skirmishes, "apparently her brother is an earthbender."

Iroh's eyes widened and then narrowed. In most situations, amateur earthbenders were at a serious disadvantage against amateur firebenders, but a skilled earthbender could cause serious problems for even an equally skilled firebender. So that couldn't be all that troubled his young nephew.

"And?" asked Iroh in a serious tone, "It isn't like you to worry about anything but the Avatar. I see my wisdom is beginning to rub off on you."

"... " Zuko's eye twitched.

Iroh coughed. "Moving on ... what about that earthbender is troubling you?"

Zuko growled, patience wearing out. "I am NOT concerned about the earthbender. He's a fool and claims that he can't earthbend, but surely the Avatar didn't save me."

Iroh looked up sharply. "What?"

Zuko blinked twice at his uncle's suddenly sharp tone of voice but continued, "In the Temple on that island, the earthbender saved my life." Iroh's eyes narrowed. "And so now you are in his debt."

Suddenly, the full impact of what he owed the other boy hit him, and every candle flame in the room shot up ten feet.

"WHAT?!"

"If what you say is true, you are in his debt. You owe him..."

"Nothing!" yelled Zuko hotly, "I owe that commoner nothing!"

"Calm down, Zuko," Iroh said, sighing and waving a hand at his fuming nephew, "It's nothing to worry about now. Just remember that you do owe him something, and it might be in your best interest to repay it sooner than later."

Zuko snorted and crossed his arms. "Hmph. I have better things to talk with you about than that, old man."

Iroh nodded, deciding it best to let the issue drop at the moment. "Fine; what is it?"

The fire prince had been brought up in a castle before he was banished, and he knew most of the procedures of presenting a gift to a lord. "If we are to present my father with this gift, we must first contact him and inform him of our arrival. We'll be in the Fire Nation in a week's time. We can send a message on ahead."

"And what does this have to do with me?" asked Iroh curiously, "You are the commander of this ship; you don't need my permission to contact the fire nation."

"I do," ground out Zuko with clenched fists, "or have you forgotten that I was banished from the fire nation!?"

Iroh shrugged. "That is not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" Iroh looked the young prince in his eyes. "I was simply acknowledging your authority over this ship; I didn't mean to insult you."

Zuko was taken aback slightly at his uncle's words, and his irritation on the previous subject was pushed aside by a rush of something warm. He twitched, unused to the emotion, and Iroh smiled warmly at the fidgeting teenager.

"You are a fine young man, Zuko. I will get a messenger prepared within the hour." He stood and left the room.

Zuko sighed. He had to, once again, reevaluate what he thought of his uncle.

Just as he was getting comfortable with being calm, a soldier burst into the room.

"Sir! The Avatar has awakened!"

..oo00oo..

End Chapter.

Closing A/N: Ok, uh, I think I might continue this ... if anyone else is interested. I'm sort of just winging it here, and I'd really appreciate it if any Naruto fans readin would check out my other fic. I put more blood into that one. (well, my blood) This chapter was for mainly telling you about the debt thing and to show the way Katara doesn't judge people 'by the cover' as the saying goes, then to sorta re-enforce the unstable relationship Sokka and Zuko have at the beginning of this. The plot will focus a lot on Sokka in the next few chapters. It gets a lot more interesting in the fire nation ... Well, if I get it done ... uh, SokkaZuko is coming, I just don't know when. It's not just gonna be like they throw each other on a bed or something like that, because even though I'm lazy and slow, I don't deal with smut stuff ... well ... whatever. See you later. Looking forwards to another episode of Avatar soon.