revised

Disclaimer: Still don't own The Avatar.

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A thin crescent moon shone palely through the open window where Momo sat, purring gently in his sleep. Aang lay curled on his side, one arm dangling, Sokka was sprawled out snoring, and Katara snuggled herself under the covers of a bed she would miss. They all slept in the same room out of habit; as they had grown accustomed to being together at night. Granted, in was a rather large room, but one room nonetheless. Zuko was grateful to them for this- it would make his job much easier, like shooting three rabbits with one arrow. Carefully he crept into the room, catlike and silent. In his hand he held a bag of mixed herbs, that when inhaled, rendered the victim unconscious for a few hours. He made a mental note to himself to thank his uncle for his extensive knowledge of herbs. Zuko held up the bag in front of the Avatar's nose, and Aang breathed in blissful ignorance, and was soon completely lost to the world. Zuko then approached Sokka's bed, and wrinkled his nose in disgust at the drool which dribbled out of Sokka's mouth. Extending his arm towards the slumbering boy, he waved the little parcel in front of Sokka's mouth and nose. Smiling at the ease of it all, he approached the third bed which contained Katara.

-Crunch-.

Shit. What had he just stepped on? Quickly he glanced at Katara to see her still asleep, and he exhaled in relief. He stood still for a minute, staring hard at the ground to make sure nothing else was there for him to step on. As Zuko scoured the floor, Momo, who had heard the crunch (which was Leechy nut shells) opened one eye. Now Momo was no genius, but he could recognize the Prince as an enemy, mostly by his scent. He leapt up, twirring and squeaking furiously. Launching himself onto Zuko's face, he began to paw him relentlessly. Katara woke up in a start, and stared in shock and horror at the dark figure being attacked by Momo. The deep resound of his cursing voice allowed her to recognize him immediately: Zuko. Nearly falling out of her bed, she grasped the extra-large water skin she always kept near her at night, and turned to face the furious prince just as he managed to extricate the lemur from his ponytail. Her heart raced, and she wondered why Aang and Sokka hadn't woken up.

"What did you do to them!" She spat, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. She would not show weakness.

"Oh, nothing they can't recover from.." He drawled, enjoying her fear.

She knit her brows together in concentration as she began attacking him, weaving water around in the air with grace and ease that came with constant practice. She had become quite the Waterbender. However, she was not the only one who had been practicing. Zuko had finally begun to listen to his uncle, and as a result, had progressed mightily. Flashes of fire lit the room; smoke, steam and sweat filled the air as the two fought against each other with force and passion. It seemed like hours passed, time slowly marching along. Why wouldn't Aang and Sokka wake up? Why hadn't someone heard the racket and come to her aid? Bending takes concentration, something Katara was lacking at the moment, due to her panicked worry over the boys. Why wouldn't they move?

Zuko recognized that Katara was a bit preoccupied in her thoughts, and took full advantage of it. He unleashed stream after stream of fire, forcing her to the defensive. She stumbled backwards, crashing into the earthen wall behind her. Briefly, she just stopped. Leaning on the wall for support, she prayed silently to the Gods to give her strength. She glared at Zuko, and he began walking slowly towards her, fists clenched, but not flaming. As he drew nearer, she shrunk away, her palms pressed flat against the wall, and turned her head away. How could she get out of this? Zuko stood merely inches away from her; she could tell because his body heat radiated from him like he was fire itself.

"You could just give up, you know." He whispered in her ear.

"Never!" She whispered back as she drew up a wall of water with amazing speed.

As quickly as she created the wave, she crashed it over the prince's head, knocking him backwards. Zuko smacked the floor with his face, scratching it up considerably; but he fell on something besides the floor. What was it? A jug, of some sort? He wrapped his fingers around the handle and stood up lightning fast, to see Katara ready to pounce again. With quick precision he hit her hard on the head with the jug, knocking her out. The water she had bending splashed to the floor, wetting his shoes. Knowing fully that someone must have heard that racket, he bound Aang, and flung him heavily over his shoulder, then quickly ran out of the room and found his uncle waiting on the street below, a set smile on his face.

"Well, Prince Zuko, you finally have the Avatar. I hope you are satisfied now." The wise old man said quietly.

"As a matter of fact, Uncle, I am." Zuko whispered.

"Well, I guess we should be going then." Iroh glanced at the city once more; he would miss the tea, to be certain. Quietly as they could, Zuko and Iroh walked towards the limits of the city, and only realized something once they had reached its edge.

Panic seized the Prince's voice. "Uncle, when we first entered the city, the guards had to Earthbend the gate open." He paused, cursing himself for being so incredibly stupid. Silence gripped them both, as another wave of failure waited to crash over the Prince. Finally, he asked in quiet uncertainty, "How are we going to get out?"

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He heard cursing and shouting, but very faint. Tiko pinched himself awake, shaking his brawny limbs and yawning. He was one of ten guards on duty that night, and he seemed to be the only one awake at the present moment. The noise sounded like it was coming from the other end of the palace; but, perhaps it was nothing. He listened carefully into the night, hearing only the chirp of various nocturnal insects. But Tiko was a dutiful guard, and he decided to go check on things anyway. He walked through the hallways of the still palace, and finally arrived at the other end. Stopping, he listened again: nothing. In a stroke of genius not usually attributed to Omashuian guards, he decided to check on the Avatar, even though everything appeared to be in order. When he reached the room, he poked his head into the doorway, and gasped. Katara lay on the floor in a puddle of what appeared to be blood and water mixed, her brother unconscious, and the Avatar gone! Tiko rushed to the balcony overlooking the streets, and saw two figures in the dark, heading towards the gate. Quickly, he pulled himself together and went to alert the other guards on post.

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Zuko and Iroh heard shouting, and knew that the Avatar had been missed. He had failed, yet again.

"No.."

"What, Prince Zuko?"

"No. I will not be a failure!" He shouted angrily. Zuko threw Aang to the ground, and turned to see Earthbender guards rushing towards him.

They fought with skill and fury, but ten to two was too much. Zuko made sure he left his mark, though. A few guards would wear glaring red scars as a reminder for the rest of their lives.

"The Prison will be well filled tonight!" One guard guffawed, and laughed mockingly at an angry Zuko struggling to free himself. His hands were bound with metal, along with his feet, and legs..

"Fire Nation Royalty locked up in our humble cells.. what a pleasure!"

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A/N:

(You would think that the guards would have realized something was going down sooner, but they aren't the smartest kids in the class, tho they are excellent benders.)

OooO. Zuko isn't gonna take his failure wellllllll.. and, (sings excitedly) Zuko and Katara will be interacting more in the next chapter.. I think. Either chap.4 or 5, that is.

Whew, I am having so much fun with this! But for those of you who are following this story, I won't be updating so quickly once the long weekend is over. School, ya know. I also might be going back and revising chapters as I go along.

But, for the present, enjoy, and while you enjoy, review!

And if you have suggestions, tell me!