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On board the ship, the fire nation soldier reported to his officer.

"Did you capture the avatar?"

"Yes sir."

"Good I'll inform the prince immediately." With that he went off at a fast pace, eager to report the good news.

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"Katara?" Aang surveyed the area for a sign of his friend. 'I thought this was where she landed. Maybe she already headed back to camp.' Aang looked around once more before turning to head back to camp. He did not hurry though he wasn't worried. Katara was quite capable of taking care of herself she'd definitely proved that if there'd been any doubt, in the North Pole.

When Aang returned to the camp everything was very still. The only sounds were the crickets and the steady rhythm of Appa's mammoth breaths. Aang crawled quietly into the tent.

"Katara" Aang whispered hoarsely. "Are you here?"

"Aang. What are you doing?" Sakka rolled over to face Aang.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were sleeping."

"Well, I was" Sakka sounded as if he didn't want to be bothered but he did not sound drowsy. He rolled back over on his side, violently turning his back to Aang. He pulled his sleeping bag up over his shoulder to hide his face. "You and Katara should go to bed too."

"But I can't find Katara."

"What!" Sakka rolled back over he was immensely annoyed now. "I thought she was with you."

"She was with me, but then I was air bending, and I let her use my glider and I couldn't find where she landed so I thought she came back here.

"Obviously she didn't because I don't know where she is. She's probably lost out in the woods now. That was a stupid idea Aang."

"Well there's nothing I can do about that now. Let's just go look for her. I'll get Appa."

Sakka Groaned and rolled over, thrashing about I his sleeping bag momentarily before pulling it out from under him and throwing it angrily to the ground. He followed Aang out to where Appa was sleeping soundly.

"I'm so glad I set up the tent so that no one would sleep in it."

"I said I was sorry for waking you up will you help me?"

Sakka knew that he was being hard on Aang, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't change his attitude at all. The world was a miserable place and everyone in it should be just as miserable as he was. He couldn't even tell if he felt any remorse for how he was treating Aang. I was just miserable. There was no other word for it. Sakka climbed up onto Appa and seated himself next to Aang.

"Yip yip. "He said sourly.

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When Katara awoke, she was on her side lying on the cold hard ground. She blinked a few times trying to clear her vision. Things were coming back into focus at a very slow pace. 'Where am I?' Her surroundings were almost too blurry to be defined. There was a large wooden box on the floor, not far from where she was lying. It was difficult to distinguish between he edges of the box and thin air. She looked over to the corner of the room. There was someone there. She guessed that it was a boy about her age but she could not be sure. He was leaning against the corner of the wall, hugging his knees with his head bent. His shoulders were trembling slightly. 'Poor kid.' Katara lifted her head a bit, contemplating going over to him when suddenly he jumped up and thrust his arm out in front of him. Bright orange flames shot out from his fingertips and hit the wooden box in the middle of the room. Katara, suppressing the urge to scream, closed her eyes and let her head rest limply on the floor. 'He's fire nation.' She hoped that he hadn't seen her stirring. The boy continued to throw flames viciously at the wooden box. He was screaming in anger and frustration. Katara felt her pulse speeding up. Luckily she didn't think that the boy had seen any movement from her. The boy continued to unleash chaos on the box until it was burnt into a pile of ashes. When the boy was satisfied with the destruction of the box he returned to his original corner and slammed his fist against the wall. He slid back down into a crouching position. He grasped his head in his hands, tensely, squeezing his skull until his angry façade was depleted from exhaustion. His entire body began to quiver as a constricted choking noise escaped his throat.

Katara watched him through half closed eyes. Her vision was returning to normal. The boy was choking on each breath now, as if each one were a struggle. It suddenly occurred to Katara that she was watching prince Zuko. An involuntary gasp escaped her. She could not even try to suppress it. Zuko turned to her and fiercely wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve. He looked down on her with his hand on his hips as if to exert his dominance over her but, she could see the fear and the shame in his eyes. He knew that she had seen him crying. Katara sat up, still stunned. She realized that her hands were not bound but she could not bring herself to take action. She could only stare blankly up at him. He had been her constant enemy for so long, yet at this moment she did not hate him. She actually felt sympathy for him. His mouth was stern but his eyes were swollen, and vulnerable. She had never seen Zuko before in this light and for the first time she realized that he was just as scared as she was. They held each other's stare until a noise from the deck outside distracted Zuko. Relieved, Zuko turned and left, slamming the door behind him, leaving Katara sitting motionless on the floor still in a daze.

Eventually Katara was awakened from her trance. Reality came rushing back to her. She realized that she'd been captured. 'Aang!'