The bathroom was chaos.

Water was spilled (or, more likely, thrown) across the floor in sudsy puddles, the handmaidens scurrying as they alternated between protecting themselves and trying to restrain Katara, who stood in the tub and was clearly the source of the ordeal. Her arms made rapid, complicated motions, the water lashing out at her command, knocking over shampoos and towels and shelves.

One of the servants ducked a stream of water, catching sight of Zuko as she did so and exclaiming, "Oh, thank the spirits! Prince Zuko, please help us!"

Hearing this, Katara turned to face him and the cowering woman, eyes narrowing. He suppressed a groan (did she really need to announce his arrival?), instead focusing his attention on getting control over the rebelling waterbender.

Dashing forward, he skilfully evaded the water-whips she sent his way, some being turned to steam by a well-aimed fire blast. The handmaidens all scurried to a corner relatively safe from their battle, watching the two benders with wide eyes. Zuko took a lashing from a puddle behind him and had to suppress a shout of pain and frustration – obviously, their battlefield wasn't working in his favour. It was too much water in too many places, giving her the advantage and making it all the more difficult to get near her.

At some point during their fight, a puddle a few feet from the tub was frozen. Zuko lunged forward to dodge a barrage of icicles, only to step on the frozen patch, slip, and fall headfirst into the tub.

Sensing the grave danger he was in (being partially submerged in water while fighting Katara was a bad idea), he swung his arm in the vague direction he remembered her leg being in, made contact, and narrowly avoided having Katara collapse on top of him. She came up, coughing water and swearing, but had no chance to retaliate – Zuko had seized her arms and pinned them against her back.

"Stop," he commanded, voice low but firm - an impressive feat considering how out of breath he was.

"Let me go!" she yelled, struggling against him with violent desperation. It was difficult to keep a firm grip on her, with his hands and her wrists slick from soapy water and her thrashing in an effort to break free.

"Are you going to cooperate?"

"No! I'll never do anything a monster like you tells me to!"

Monster. That word had always been reserved for Azula and her sadistic ways, not him. The tone Katara said it in, sharp and bitter and full of hate, was like a physical slap.

"I'll ask again," he said, struggling to keep his voice even, "will you cooperate?"

"What makes you think I'd ever listen to you?" she hissed, no longer thrashing and instead focusing on wiggling her hands free. "I hate you!"

It wasn't a shocking statement, but it still came as a hard blow. This wasn't how he had expected things to turn out, not how he had wanted them to. Part of him understood that her anger and resistance were normal and he should've prepared himself for them, but another part (the one dominated by his heart and fantasies of a perfect life) was too idealistically hopeful to see the reality of the situation.

Tightening his grip on her wrists and pushing passed the lump in his throat and knot in his stomach, he said, "I'm trying to be fair, but I can't give you the privileges and freedoms I want to if you do things like this." He lowered his voice, speaking in gentle though still commanding tones, "Now, will you cooperate or do I have to lock you in your room with supervision 24/7?"

"No," she said through clenched teeth, "I'll never do as you say."

The door to the bathroom was being swung open at that moment, the handmaiden who had alerted Zuko to the emergency entering with Ty Lee.

Spotting the pair in the tub, Ty Lee grinned broadly and suppressed a giggle. "What are you two up to?"

"Just block her chi," he growled, in no mood for teasing or jokes. His visions of Katara being quickly enlightened to his fantastic lifestyle and golden heart were already falling apart, and he was beginning to wonder if maybe Iroh had been right.

Leaning into the tub, Ty Lee pinched a few spots on Katara's restrained arms. The other girl was silent, head bowed as her power was temporarily robbed from her. Once Zuko released her and clamoured out of the tub, one of the handmaidens rushed over with a fuzzy towel, wrapping her in it as soon as she got to her feet. It was then that he noticed the tears running down her cheeks, though she tried to hide them by ducking her head and avoiding his gaze.

Feeling heavy with waterlogged clothes and disappointment, he left the bathhouse and hurried to his room, intent on changing into a dry outfit and taking a nap.

XxXx

Zuko recognized where he was, dimly aware that it had a name he shouldn't forget. He stood on a thin pathway of earth that stretched across a lake, just a few meters long with a hole at the end. Below, down the latter within that hole, was a secret place of brainwashing and the cultural minister's police. He knew all this, yet couldn't for the life of him figure out what any of it meant.

Then he was staring at a familiar face, one that seemed to materialize out of the darkness of the tunnel. It was Long Feng – the name came to him easily, easier than his own had – glaring and determined to escape, and Zuko knew he needed to be defeated before... before something bad happened (what that something was eluded him).

His fist shot forward with a wave of flames, consuming the enemy. There was screaming, burning, the scent of melting flesh –

"Aah!"

And then he was upright in bed and sweating, his breath coming in short gasps.

It was a nightmare. That was all, just a horrible nightmare...

"Have I come at a bad time, Zuzu?"

He gritted his teeth, suddenly wishing he were still asleep. "What do you want, Azula?"

"I heard what you brought home with you," she said, stepping further into the room, her hands clasped behind her back. "I must say – I'm quite pleased that you followed my advice."

"It just seemed most logical," he said, glaring at a patch of floor to his left. Good advice or not, he still didn't completely trust his sister; Iroh was right about her always having something up her sleeve. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," she said, voice fakely sweet as she widened her eyes in an attempt to look innocent. "Can't I just be happy for my brother?"

"It's never that simple with you."

Sighing, she sat at the end of his bed and said, "Fine. I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but... father is sceptical of the waterbender's benefit." Seeing his expression, she reached out to touch his hand. "I tried to persuade him, but he really thinks it's best for the Fire Nation if you keep your relationships within our nation rather than... outsourcing."

"I thought you said –"

"I tried, Zuzu," she said, spreading her hands in a helpless gesture, "but he won't listen. He doesn't see why you would want to associate with Water Tribe barbarians when you can settle down with a nice, well-mannered Fire Nation noble. Like Mai."

He growled, turning away. "Katara is the girl I like, and I won't let politics or father's judgments get in the way. Besides, she'll grow on him – that's just how she is."

Azula scoffed. "Not if she keeps pulling stunts like the one this morning."

Grimacing at the memory, Zuko said, "She's just scared – confused. Don't worry; she'll learn to love it here."

It was as much to convince himself as his sister.

XxXx

"What do you mean, 'Not yet'?" Jet demanded, fists clenching and stomach knotting, the reality of their situation weighing heavily on his mind.

Katara was gone, kidnapped, and Sokka wanted to wait? It was heartless, cold, an unbelievable suggestion. The Fire Nation was robbing them of what they valued most and they just sat there, allowing it to happen!

Letting his grudge and thirst for revenge rest while they were in the very nation he hated was one thing – it was a logical matter of surviving until they reached the palace and could cut the problem at its root. He had tolerated the traditional styles and customs of his enemy, talking to and trusting people they should fight, turning the other way when they had the perfect opportunity to destroy Fire Nation resources...

But this? This he could not, would not, stand for.

"Jet, hear me out," Sokka said, using a tone reserved for explaining schemes everyone deemed insane. "I thought about it while we were paralyzed, and... Well, if we try freeing them now, we'll get slaughtered. It's three against an army."

"But -"

"If we wait," he continued, talking over Jet's protests, "and strike during the eclipse, we'll have the army my dad gathered, the Earth King's support, and the element of surprise. There's no point barging in now when we have a better chance of surviving in a week."

"So we're just going to sit here?" he asked, dark eyes glinting as he levelled his comrade with a glare. "We're going to sit around and wait while they" – his arm shot out, pointing in the general direction of the palace – "do spirits-know-what to Aang and Katara? Are you really so –"

"Cool it!" Toph cut in, meeting the look he threw her with annoyed, sightless eyes. "Sparky is pretty fond of Sugar Queen, and his uncle says he's a good guy at heart. This is probably his twisted way of showing that he loves her, not some plot to kill her."

"What about Aang?"

"I don't think they'd hurt him," Sokka said. "Not until they have Ba Sing Se, and maybe the rest of the Water Tribe under control. It'd be too risky."

Growling, Jet turned away from them, pacing forward and biting his lip (even with his old habit broken, he still felt the need to chew on something when he was frustrated or trying to think).

They were right. He knew that, but it was a hard fact to swallow. Waiting around while Hakoda (whom they had met up with after talking with the Earth King and receiving his letter) amassed an army would be torture, filling him with the same helplessness he had felt after his parents died and his village was in disrepair. It felt right to act first and think second, the desperation flowing through him making him anxious and angry. At the same time, when he distanced his mind from the emotions of the situation he could understand Sokka's reasoning and even agree that it was the best plan.

Kicking at a tree stump, he raked his fingers through his hair, biting down on his lip so hard he thought it might bleed. He was a leader and therefore used to making hard decisions – but they were still and always would be hard, especially when they involved the well-being of a beloved comrade.

"Alright," he sighed at last, turning to face Toph and Sokka. "Fine. We'll wait, so long as getting Katara and Aang back is top priority during the invasion."

"Of course," Sokka said, eyebrows furrowed in an expression of slight hurt and confusion. "What makes you think we wouldn't?"

Jet said nothing, stalking off toward the forest.

After a few tense, silent seconds Toph frowned and said, "Who died and made him Queen Bee-rat?"


Author's Notes: Okay, so, I had to completely rewrite the bathroom scene once, and then do a lot of editing to it just now, so I hope you guys like it. xD I'm also hopeful that I did Jet and Azula justice in this chapter - they're hard characters to write. Especially Jet - we never got to see enough of him.

Also, is Sokka's choice of action realistic for his character? I'm kinda nervous that might be way crazy.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Avatar' or any of its characters.