I lied. If this is going to continue, it's going to evolve into Zutara. But it'll be a slow, hopefully realistic process. Don't worry – even though this is CoD (Crossroads of Destiny, not Call of Duty), there won't be any eating of faces in the crystal catacombs. Because, if you remember my previous rant, THAT WOULDN'T HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. PEOPLE ARE NOT THAT HORNY. Anyway, enjoy!

When she sees him next, he's even more unrecognizable than before, and she has to rely on the scar to identify him. His hair is longer, but still pretty short, and he's thinner. But he's… lighter, somehow – like the world was just lifted off his shoulders. It's strange because he seems happy – well what passes for happy by Zuko's standards – and yet his face is too pale, and Katara notices the way he pauses every so often to cough. And, like she would for Sokka, she worries. Is he sick? Why is he working when he's sick?

And then it hits her. What is he doing in Ba Sing Se anyway? Working in a teashop, no less? And then she panics.

He's here to capture Aang.

He's here for us.

How could he do this to me? I healed his uncle!

It's the panic that makes her run back to the palace and tell Suki what happened. Suki would understand. Suki will know what to do.

But it isn't Suki, and Katara's mentally kicking herself because she should have seen that before. Strangely enough, when Azula locks her up in a cave under Ba Sing Se, her head clears, and she's able to think rationally. If Zuko knew she, Sokka, Toph, and Aang were in Ba Sing Se, then wouldn't he have come after them already? Then she remembers the way he completely panicked when Azula shot fire at his uncle.

He'd have to be an idiot to want to go back to a place that supports that.

And then the reality of the situation sinks in. Azula knows that her brother's in town, and it's all Katara's fault. Katara just ordered an innocent person to his death.

And Zuko's definitely not here to capture Aang, especially with the way he was acting back when Katara healed his uncle. Because that was the real Zuko – awkward and unsure of how to express himself, not the angry jerk who chased them from one pole to the other. Zuko is…

What is Zuko exactly? Katara doesn't know, and she's not sure anyone else does. Maybe he himself doesn't even know. She groans and slumps to the floor; nothing makes sense anymore.

When Zuko gets tossed into the same cave, Katara can't help but wonder if Ba Sing Se really has no other prisons, or if the Dai Li is just lazy. She barely acknowledges him, choosing instead to hug her knees and stare listlessly ahead. Thankfully, he's silent as well, and still as awkward as he was before.

But then he keeps coughing, and that piques Katara's concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he rasps a bit too quickly before coughing again.

Before he can say anything else, Katara places her hand on his forehead, careful not to touch his scar; she thinks it's a bit too warm, but maybe it's a firebender thing. Nevertheless… "You're feverish."

"I'm fine," he repeats stiffly.

"No you're not," she shoots back. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that if you don't rest when you're sick, you won't get any better?"

"I'm not sick!" he snaps. "Well I was, but not anymore."

Katara sighs and finally decides to address the elephant-gazelle in the room. "I'm sorry. It's my fault you're down here. I told your sister you were here." He winces, and her guilt escalates. "I didn't know it was her, though. She and her friends impersonated the Kyoshi warriors. That's how they got here." And then her eyes widen, and she panics again. "Suki… If Azula's impersonating Suki, then what happened to Suki? What about the rest of the warriors? Where are they?"

"Prisoners of war, probably," Zuko answers dully. "Chances are, the warriors are in a prison at the Caldera, and the leader's in the Boiling Rock – that's where all the dangerous prisoners of war go."

Katara shoots a glare at him. "You're not helping!"

"I wasn't trying to," he replies smoothly.

She sighs heavily. "If Azula finds out about the eclipse, then—"

"You're going to invade the Caldera during the eclipse." She realizes her mistake too late, and she desperately wishes she can take it back. "It's not a bad plan – just really predictable."

"What do you mean?" she asks a bit defensively.

Zuko scoffs, and Katara rolls her eyes when he has to clear his throat afterward. "Give us a little more credit. Do you honestly think that Father isn't expecting something like this? Thanks to Zhao's secret library, we have every eclipse – solar and lunar – documented for the next century. If you're going to invade the Fire Nation, don't do it then. Try something smaller – like taking back Omashu or some of the colonies or something like that.

"But—" she protests weakly; Zuko just stabbed a giant, gaping hole through Sokka's brilliant plan.

"Father will be expecting an invasion then," Zuko continues as if she hasn't spoken up. "If you value your life, don't follow through with that plan."

She frowns in confusion and voices the question that's been running through her head since he started talking. "Why are you telling me this?" He shrugs, and she can't shake off the feeling that he himself doesn't know either. "So what are we going to do? Your sister's taken over Ba Sing Se."

"Uncle got away," he says in a low voice. "He knows that Azula's here."

"So he'll bust us out of here?"

"Ideally, he'll get the hell out of the city." And Katara can't blame him; she'd think the same if she were in his position.

She sighs heavily. "Aang and Sokka left Ba Sing Se too. Toph's here with her mom, so she'd be able to bust us out, but I don't want her anywhere near your sister… no offense."

"None taken."

There's a long silence as awkward as Zuko. "So…" he says awkwardly. "How's waterbending going?" She shoots him the sharpest, deadliest glare she can muster.

"I don't know," she replies sarcastically. "How's firebending going?"

"Nonexistent," he scoffs. "It's a little hard to blend in with Earth Kingdom people when you're a firebender, if you haven't exactly noticed. Not all of us got free stuff for traveling with the Avatar."

Katara sighs and stands up, calling on all the water in the cave – the pond a little ways away, the meager bit of water in her waterskin, even the sweat on their foreheads, and sends it rushing towards a cave wall. "Well now's as good a time to start as any. Help me break out of here!"

"That's not going to work," he says dully, showing no inclination of moving.

"We can't stay here!"

"And if we do get out, what exactly do you plan to do? If Azula's taken over the city, we'll be spotted on sight, and we won't even make it to the walls, let alone escape." She screams in frustration and freezes him to the wall. "Thanks."

"All right," she says, exhaling slowly to calm herself down and clear her head. "So we wear down the rock and bust out of here. We'll probably need disguises if we're going to grab Toph and your uncle and sneak out of Ba Sing Se."

He shakes his head solemnly. "I'll still be pretty recognizable."

A thought flies to her mind, and she shuts it down almost immediately. No, she tells herself. It's too risky. What if you need it later? But we'll never get out if people see his scar… "Just help me wear down the rock so we can get out of here. There's something I can do to… to make you less recognizable." Her hands are shaking now, but he nods and melts the ice trapping him against the wall before helping her.

Unfortunately, they don't get very far. The wall they're trying to wear down suddenly explodes, revealing Aang and Zuko's uncle. "Aang!" Katara yelps in surprise, and the airbender runs to hug her. "What are you doing here? You need to get out of here. Azula took over Ba Sing Se. She's going to—"

"What are you doing here?" Aang yells at Zuko. The scarred prince stares blankly at him, barely reacting.

"I'll tell you later," Katara answers hurriedly. "Right now, we need to—"

"Well, what have we here?"

Things go downhill when Azula shows up. The ensuing fight passes by in a blur, but the feeling of utter shock and betrayal when Zuko turns on her doesn't disappear for a long time. Within minutes, she's fleeing Ba Sing Se with Sokka, Toph, the Earth King, and an unconscious Aang, and the only thing she can feel is rage.

Yes, I changed the whole Zuko-Katara-trapped-in-a-cave deal, and yes, I rushed the end. Part of the reason is that I can't write fight scenes to save my life, and the other part is that the fight is unimportant in the context of this fic.

Sorry, but I have another rant. I hate how people call Makorra Bryke's gift to the Zutarians. THAT'S NOT TRUE. Comparing Mako and Zuko is like comparing abortion to the Holocaust. You just can't do it. And Korra is NOTHING like Katara. So don't tell me that Makorra is LoK's version of Zutara, because that's bovine feces.

Not to shamelessly promote my other fics or anything, but please read them and review them… and this one too.

PS: the song's from "Beauty and the Beast". I didn't realize how fitting it was until AFTER I named the fic. Go me.