A/n: I really dislike this chapter. Oh, and since this story takes place soon after the season finale (dunno if you've figured that out yet), there will be some spoilers and things. If you haven't watched the season finale, you'd better before you read this chapter, or you might not understand some of it.

Chapter VI: What We Share

Me

When I wake the next morning, he is already up. He sits outside of the tent, holding in his hands a yellow flame. I sit next to him, saying nothing. He releases his breath with a soft whoosh, as if he'd been holding it in. I look at the ground, knowing something is bothering him. I will not ask, but from his slumped shoulders I know my presence must be at least a little comfort to him. Suddenly the flame is extinguished. In the dim, dawning light we still sit. His fists clenched. His fingers are pale and clammy. We continue like this for five minutes or more, before he speaks.

"We'll never heal from our past." His voice is tired, relinquished. It surprises me – how he sounds. Like he's given up.

"I don't have a past," I say softly, trying to joke.

"You do," he says, "but I haven't told you all of it."

I pause. "What?"

"There was more to it."

My heart quickens. More? More? Another chance at freedom, I think.

"My father burned me, gave me this scar, in an Agni Kai. A fire duel. He sent me into exile – as you know – and made the price for my return a high one."

"The Avatar." My voice cracks.

He nods, as if not knowing or caring how I'd guessed.

"I pursued you for so long after you discovered the Avatar in an iceberg. Nothing mattered to me but my honor, my father's love."

"It's a scar. It can't be healed."

"That's something we have in common."

"Try to understand. I need the Avatar to restore something I've lost. My honor."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

I wait. To let him continue. He takes a deep breath.

"In the cave-"

I suck in a breath.

"-we fought."

Not something I would've expected.

"You yelled at me. I – I tried to hurt you. To help my sister. My uncle came just in time to save you…from me."

I sit, dumbfounded. "So you turned against me."

"My sister is a liar. Not long afterwards she grew upset with me and I escaped from her. It was incredibly unlike her. But…the Earth Kingdom, and my uncle, are both dead and gone."

"Where have the good things gone?" I wonder out loud. Then, in a flat tone, "You lied."

"Yes."

"And what about my name? Lie about that, too?"

"No, I –"

"And my brother?"

"No –"

"How can I trust you?"

Zuko

Before I know it, flames throw themselves from my fingertips, sparking at her but not dangerously. I feel the heat rising up in me again. I push myself up. Standing, I tower over her. I clench my teeth together. How dare she – how dare she! But I remember my lies, and I remember my attempts to capture her friend. I remember how I stalked toward her, ready to kill, or capture, as she cried over the 12 year-old boy they call the Avatar. I remember this, and more. My betrayal of Uncle. My childhood at the Palace – sheltered from all but the hand of my father. And I knew I've answered her question, that I answered it long before I found her on the riverbank, cold and unconscious.

"You can't trust me." And with that, I leave the camp.