A/N: Hello readers! Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've had lots of work to do as well as a MAJOR case of writer's block. However, I should be able to update more quickly now because I took a little bit of time to come up with a general idea of what is going to happen throughout the story. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… Here it is! I'm still working on incorporating the things included in the challenge to this story, but they will come. Hopefully VERY soon. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters or ideas. They all belong to Bryke. *sigh* Zutara is too complex for those two creators… It's rather unfortunate.

"Take her to the brig!" Zuko shouted as he got off the Shirshu. "I'll take care of getting the ship started," the prince said.

Katara looked over at her captor. Just looking at the spoiled teenager made Katara's blood boil. Since she'd met him, her village had been attacked, her grandmother had been threatened by none other than the prince himself, her friend had been captured, she had been tied to a tree and attacked by pirates, and their lives had been threatened on more occasions than she could even count.

She harbored a loathing for him that was extremely deep, and she hated feeling that way because she knew it was wrong. Unfortunately, the fact that she disliked Zuko so much only made Katara hate Zuko more.

Katara was so consumed in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice when a man gently pulled her off the Shirshu and slowly took her below deck to a small cell.

The man carefully placed Katara on a cot which was pretty much the only piece of furniture in the enclosed space.

Then, the man stepped out of the cell and locked it. He then sat down on a stool across from the cell and sent her an apologetic glance—he then looked down as if he was actually ashamed of what he was doing.

Katara tried to furrow her eyebrows, but she couldn't because she was still paralyzed by the Shirshu. She mentally swore. 'Why that droning fen-sucked joithea—,' she was cut off from her thoughts when the fire nation soldier cleared his throat.

She moved her eyes to look at him. When she did see him, she would have gasped if she could have. He actually looked…like a normal human being.

Every time Katara thought of the Fire Nation, she always saw a cold hearted army with no warmth, humor, or love. But this man was different. There was a twinkle in his beautiful chocolate brown eyes that seemed to make the atmosphere ten times brighter. He also had a smooth, tan complexion—he sort of looked like he was from the southern water tribe himself. But Katara quickly smothered the thought from her mind. 'That's impossible…' she said to herself.

The man also was very muscular, but it was hard to tell due to the thick armor that he had covering his chest and arms. He looked as though he was about thirty years old, and he had a very welcoming persona.

Katara realized that she must have been looking at the man strangely because he had a bit of a sheepish look on his face. She quickly straightened out her facial features to the best of her ability and did her best to smile at the man.

The man cleared his throat again and then spoke in a clear, strong, deep voice. "Hello Katara. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before, but strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to talk to you. I know I'm breaking Zuko's rules by doing this, but I feel like I need to apologize. I have absolutely no idea what the young prince is planning, but it doesn't seem like he's up to any good. You must understand that he's very confused and that he's just trying to sort out his life. I'm very close friends with his uncle Iroh, and I imagine you'll like him as well." He smiled warmly at Katara, and she couldn't help from feeling comforted by this odd man.

The soldier sighed. "Anyway, I wanted to apologize for whatever he may do to you in the future. Like I said, he's confused, and he isn't thinking straight. That would explain why you're paralyzed. Zuko is taking care of getting the ship started now, but he will be back soon, and I'm sad to say you'll probably have to deal with him. I also wanted to let you know that I'm looking out for you, Iroh. We believe Zuko has been planning your capture for quite a while now, and we both will do our best to protect you from whatever may be coming. If you ever need anything, just let either of us know, and we'll be there for you." He stood up and stretched.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that you should be getting control of your body back soon. The paralysis only lasts about an hour, so you can probably move now," the man said.

Katara tried to move her arm. This time, it actually moved when her brain told it to do so. She smiled at the man and then tested out her voice.

"What's your name?" she asked the soldier quietly.

"Ling," the man said.

Katara smiled. "Thank you Ling. Thank you for everything. I truly do appreciate it," Katara said.

And with that, Ling smiled, turned to the door, opened it, and left.

Zuko stood on the deck of the ship as he watched the docks of the village slowly move away from his line of vision.

He saw his uncle come up beside him, and he sighed. Zuko assumed that he had just come back from paying the bounty hunter. "Hello Uncle," Zuko said softly. He felt a hand on his shoulder and resisted the urge to shrug it off.

"Hello Nephew," Iroh said in response to Zuko's greeting. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Okay uncle. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? What do you want to tell me?" Zuko asked pointedly.

His uncle gave him an innocent look. "I have no idea what you're talking about Prince Zuko. Would you care to join me for a game of Pai Sho?" Iroh asked happily.

Zuko felt his temperature slowly rise. He huffed steam out of his nose and then threw a ball of fire out into the ocean.

"Uncle, how many times have I told you? We do not have time for Pai Sho! We have to focus on capturing the avatar! I don't even understand how you can possibly even think about playing a game when we are so close to finding the avatar!" Zuko ranted.

Iroh sighed and gave his nephew a grave look. "How close are we Zuko?" Zuko opened his mouth to reply, but his uncle held up a hand silencing him.

"You have no idea what you're going to do after you capture the avatar, and you don't even know that the avatar will come after the poor water bender!" Iroh continued.

Zuko rubbed his one good eye and exhaled. "Uncle, I'm going to the Fire Nation after I capture the avatar, and I truly believe that the avatar will come looking for the water tribe peasant. They're sort of a couple, right? Why wouldn't he come and rescue his girlfriend?" Zuko asked his elderly uncle.

"Zuko, the avatar is a driven young man much like yourself. You both will stop at nothing to get what you want. The avatar is driven to defeat your father while you are driven to regain your honor. You can't tell me that you didn't leave anyone behind in the Fire Nation after you were banished, can you Zuko?" Iroh asked.

Zuko groaned. "For the last time uncle, I did NOT have a girlfriend when I left the fire nation!" he said hotly.

"I'm well aware nephew. But I'm sure that you left behind someone that you cared about. Mai perhaps?" Iroh asked in an innocent voice.

Zuko felt his cheeks heat up at the thought of the fire nation noblewoman. Iroh smirked. "I thought so…" he said underneath his breath.

"Okay. Fine. Let's just suppose that I did like Mai to spare ourselves an argument. What exactly does that have to do with the avatar?" Zuko asked.

"Well, you were willing to leave your nation and someone you care about to regain your destiny, yes? I am confident that the avatar would do the same if the thing that he lived for depended on it. Not to mention the fact that he doesn't want to be captured by a certain fire nation prince. It is unclear whether or not he will come and save the girl," Iroh finished.

Zuko scowled. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, won't we Uncle?" he said while doing his best to keep his temper in check.

"There is no need to get upset Zuko. I am merely saying that you should plan ahead in the event that something should happen that you don't expect. Life can be unpredictable, and you never know when it will surprise you. But you must be ready to defend the things you care about in the process. Please don't behave rashly," Iroh pleaded.

"I will do my best uncle. Thank you very much for your advice," Zuko said. He gave a slight bow toward his fire bending teacher. He then walked across the deck towards steps that led to the brig. He had a prisoner that he needed to speak with, and there was nothing that could possibly stand in his way.

A/N: So there it is! If you have any ideas, please let me know and I will try to include them. Hope you all liked it! Please review! I hope I'll be able to update soon! Thanks for reading!