And the story develops! Now we all see the conflict the young prince struggles with - And how will he ever get through to Aang? Will Aang, seeing Zuko as his captor and jailer, push the well-meaning but hotheaded Zuko too far? In another exciting installment of your new favorite series!! (This sounds like a really gay commercial XD)

Day Three ; Dear Diary....:

Today, I actually am awake to see that Zuko guy come into my chamber. And I need to talk to him. Because I need to pee. And there is no bathroom, or chamberpot.

" Oh, you're awake? Did you sleep well?"

"Ahh, hey, not really, because I.."

I trial off in midsentence, not wanting to say any more than that, because it was too embarrassing. And besides, he might use it as a form of torture, make me wet my.... Well, the ground, anyway - I'm not wearing pants, and then make me sleep in it or something. I admit, it was nice, last night, eating with him, but I still don't trust him at all. He just wants me to be off guard, you know, so that the torment will be worse.

Zuko watches me attentively, curious to see what I need. "You what?"

"I.. I just... I thought..."

"What?"

Ack! What am I going to say? How am I gonna get it through to him!?

"Nevermind."

He continues to stare at me, a bit curious, a bit confused. Then suddenly, his eyes darken.

" Oh, yes, I forgot - I won't be here for a few days."

Dread begins to bubble up in my stomach. Then, remembering his remark about," The guards might spit in your food", the dread turns to horror.

"W-Where are you going?" I say carefully, trying to not stutter anymore.

"Well, Ty Lee just decided - Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention, I have a girlfriend named Ty Lee, I broke up with my old one, Mai, anyway - She just decided to send us on a private vacation to... 'Find ourselves-," He makes a face right here that almost makes me laugh,"- Or some other bullshit along those lines." He looks so annoyed that I have to work to hold back a gust of laughter. Still, just a tiny giggle escapes my lips, and my face is getting red. His annoyed look disappears and he instead looks puzzled, frowning, and asks," What?"

At that innocent, purely puzzled expression, I simply couldn't hold back, and started laughing, just bursting out with the hilarity of it all. I'm practically being thrown back and forth on my chains, my body racked with the force of the laughter. Then, once I start calming down, I realize I have no idea why I'm laughing, and begin all over again. Zuko looks worried, as if he is honestly afraid that I've lost my mind, and seeing his expression, that same puzzled expression, I laugh even harder.

"What's so funny?" Zuko asks, and at that, I am laughing so hard that no sound comes out, and I can't breathe. Tears flood down my cheeks and I begin to wonder if I really AM insane, which makes it that much funnier. I claw at my neck, still laughing but unable to breathe, and Zuko, who had been smiling kind of uncertainly, begins to realize that something is terribly wrong. He runs up behind me and thumps me on the back, hard. My mouth opens widely and I catch a snatch of air, and I force myself to stop laughing and to continue gasping for air. Now Zuko is hastily undoing my shackles and hugging me to him, as I stop laughing and, inexplicably, start crying. And not just crying. I'm sobbing almost as hard as I was laughing, and with just as little reason. Finally, as my tears start to subside, I realize where I am, and who I'm with. Big mistake.

I stand up sharply, almost hitting Zuko with my elbow on the way up. He looks up at me, somewhat surprised, and then he gets a look of what seems to be understanding. He nods his head. "I know how you feel, but really, it's oka-"

"I don't want your charity. You took away everything I had, and now you want to humiliate me. Well, take a good look!" I cry at him, motioning toward my scarred, brutally beaten, pitifully thin and malnourished, blood covered body. "It doesn't take much to humiliate me now! Now that I have nothing, I have almost no pride. But I have some. Go away." I turn my back to him.

He stares at my back for a few seconds, and when I consider turning around to see if he's leaving or not, (I can never tell, he's so quiet) I feel something large and hard being driven into my back. His kicks are extremely powerful, and I go skittering across the floor like a kicked puppy.

"You IDIOT!" he roars. He storms over toward me, and I cower, as he raises his foot over my head, and I'm sure, this is it, my end, he's going to smash my skull with his big feet. But then I see - This isn't Zuko. I was talking with Zuko, yes, but this person kicking me was someone else, and I see Zuko, in the back of the room. The voice who called me an idiot was not Zuko either.

"ZHAO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?" Zuko shrieks, enraged.

The 'Zhao' guy stops attempting to crush my head, his foot frozen in midair. He turns his head slowly and menacingly toward Zuko.

"He disrespected the fire nation prince! He must be punished!" He turns back to me when Zuko tackles him, with a flying lunge, and the two go rolling on the ground, fighting. Zuko is fighting much harder, but Zhao is more experienced. Finally, with a good hit to the skull, Zuko lay bleeding and unconscious. Zhao stood up, and dusted himself off. He came back over to me. He grabbed me by the head, which was covered in very short brown hair. I scowl up at him weakly.

He stares at me a moment more. Then he chuckles, saying," You're a rowdy one, aren't you? That prince isn't man enough to have you, all to himself. I think you'll adapt nicely to my quarters, won't you?" I gape at him, not quite sure (And not wanting to be sure) what he meant by any of that.

"Have me all to himself?"

Zhao chuckles again, and then pulls out a wad of what looks like tissue from his pocket, and puts it over my mouth. The world begins to dim, the edges of my vision get darker and darker, the circle of light thinner, thinner, thinner....