Chapter 3

Now in the forest, Aang sat under a tree, staring down at the ground, thinking. Mikomi was lying in a bed of leaves. She was in a lot of pain from the previous night's escape. Her abdomen hurt from overuse. Wide-awake, she stared up at the sky. Turing her head to her left, she observed an unconscious Prince Zuko. He was lying in his own bed of leaves. Mikomi was still pondering over any reasoning she could find to why he would rescue them. Then she looked at Aang, who had a somber expression that was even more noticeable in his eyes.

Sighing, she got up after some difficulty and walked over to Aang.

"What troubles you Aang?" she said seriously, looking down upon him.

"Nothing…" Aang kept his head down. He was a terrible faker.

"Aang, I can tell when something troubles you. Now tell me. It will feel better to talk about it," she said folding her arms.

"I just don't understand it, Mikomi. Why would Zuko save us?"

Mikomi would've sat down, but she didn't want to go through all of the trouble of standing back up again. "I don't understand it either, Aang. There must have been some benefit for him"

"I don't know," Aang said looking up into her eyes.

Both of them were silenced when they heard a groaning. Their heads snapped to the source and they saw Prince Zuko, now conscious. His unscarred eye looked upon Aang.

"I had a friend 100 years ago. We used to get out of a lot of trouble like that. And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you," Aang said turning his head to look at Zuko. The memories of a better time brought a smile to his face for the first time that morning. "Do you think we could have been friends?"

Zuko looked at him for a second then stood quickly, sending a blast of fire in Mikomi's and Aang's direction. Aang jumped above it agilely and completely avoided it. Mikomi sidestepped, barely getting out of the way in time. After that effort, Prince Zuko noticed her clutching her stomach, obviously still pained for some reason in her stomach.

Aang ran away from Zuko, but not as fast as he could so Mikomi could keep up. She followed Aang, but in serious pain. Her normal run was reduced to a jog. Zuko ran after the two, going as fast as he could. He gained a lot of ground on Mikomi, who was slowing by the second and her breathing became much more labored. Suddenly, she stopped still clutching her stomach and fell to her knees. Zuko took advantage of this moment and picked up his speed. Aang had just noticed that she wasn't behind him and saw her on her knees, breathing heavily and holding her stomach. Then he noticed that Prince Zuko was right behind her. Aang turned and ran toward Mikomi, but he was too late.

Prince Zuko grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her to her feet. Wrapping his arm around her neck, he held her above the ground and had a free hand to attack the Avatar if necessary.

"Give yourself up Avatar," Zuko demanded. "Or else your friend will be coming with me."

"Let her go!" Aang shouted at him, fear filling his eyes.

Aang didn't hear the response from Zuko, because as Mikomi was using both of her hands to hold onto the arm that was suspending her in the air, she spoke.

"A-Aang," she said as she pulled herself up so she could speak. "Go…back to….Katara and…S-Sokka."

"But, Mikomi. I can't just leave you here," he said saddened by her wish to sacrifice herself.

"You c-can't…afford to be…c-captured," Mikomi said stuttering.

"But…"

"G-go, I'll…b-be fine," she said trying to get some air into her lungs.

Aang took one last regretful look at Mikomi, and then bounded off into the trees.

Prince Zuko was astonished by her sacrifice. She gave herself up just to protect the Avatar. He was infuriated by her decision, for it had cost him the Avatar.

He let her out of the headlock and let her fall to the ground. Mikomi landed on her feet, but instantly fell to her knees, still in extreme pain. Zuko watched her for a second and then picked her up again, slinging her over his shoulder.

She shrieked in pain, because it was her stomach that was indeed in pain. Prince Zuko remembered that her stomach was hurt, but he didn't care. He began to walk towards his ship.

A little while later, Mikomi was relatively still, except for the occasional shift in position trying to make it less painful. Prince Zuko was caught by surprise when something wet penetrated the clothing on his back. Turning, he looked for the source of the wet sensation, and then he realized it had come from the girl. The prince took her off his shoulder and held her up so that he could see her face.

The girl's face was wet with tears, teeth gritted, and she let out a moan of pain. He felt a small twinge of pity for the girl, because she had kept quiet about her pain for the entire time he had been walking.

"Can you walk well enough?" Zuko questioned glaring into her tear-filled eyes.

Her sole response was a small nod. But before he set her on the ground, he said, "Do not try to escape. You will regret it if you do."

"Do you think I'm some kind of idiot?" she questioned sharply wiping tears from her face. Prince Zuko let her drop to the ground. Faltering a bit, she stood up and added, "You and I know very well I can't get too far in my condition."

He glared at the girl knowing she was right. Grabbing her tightly on the forearm, he said "Come on."

They walked for quite some time, Mikomi would occasionally slow and Prince Zuko would pull her roughly beside him. His tight grip never loosened and hurt her arm.

Now at the bottom of his ship, Prince Zuko had to nearly drag Mikomi up the walkway to board his ship.

He was irritated by her lack of desire to walk on her own, so his grip on her arm didn't loosen. Stomping up the walkway, he began to hear the sound of a Sungi horn. When the two reached the deck of the ship, they saw a man sitting on a bench by the railing playing the horn.

Zuko realized it as his silly, old Uncle Iroh. But, Mikomi realized him as something else: the Great General Iroh, Dragon of the West.

"Hello, Nephew! You missed music night! Lieutenant Ji sang a stirring love song," Iroh said happily to his nephew.

"Not now, Uncle," Zuko said walking past him.

The Dragon of the West noticed the girl that Zuko was dragging on to the ship and said, "Who is that, nephew?"

"No one," Zuko replied angrily.

'Oh, so now I'm a no one,' Mikomi thought to herself. From the point where Zuko was strangling her arm to her hand, it was now numb and she was sure she'd have a good bruise to prove it.

Zuko dragged her all the way to the prison cells. He opened up one of the cells and shoved her in. The cell had bars on three sides and a steel wall in the back. There was nothing in the cell, not even a chair. Zuko watched her examine her surroundings.

"Comfortable?" he asked smirking.

Mikomi glared back, but then, with a false sound of cheeriness in her voice, said, "Oh, yes most comfortable. The less nice Fire Nation prison cells had water on the floor, cockroaches, and rats. This one is definitely the nicest I've ever stayed in."

Zuko's fists were beginning to glow an orange color. Her smart mouth really annoyed him. Walking out of the room, his whole body was almost glowing and steam began to pour from his mouth.

Mikomi was satisfied with how she enraged him. If he was going to keep her here, she surely wouldn't make it easy for him.

Looking at her surroundings, she noticed that there were no vents coming into her cell, so she didn't have a way out. Unless she melted the bars of the prison cell, but that would take time and she wouldn't risk it. The firebender often lost control of her fire.

She walked over to the corner and noticed that her pole and her dagger were no longer on her belt.

'That arrogant Prince must have stole them off of me, when he was dragging me here,' she thought to herself.

Sitting down slowly, so she wouldn't aggravate her abdomen, she quickly became worn from the previous days activities. She sat straight up with her legs stretched out in front of her and her arms crossed. Her eyelids quickly became heavy and finally she gave into to her weariness and drifted into sleep.

"Wake up!"

That was the first thing to greet Mikomi the following morning, someone screaming at her.

She realized it as Prince Zuko's voice and opened her eyes. Mikomi was still in the same position she had fallen asleep in.

"I called you three times! Answer me the first time! What's the matter with you!" he said bossily. Mikomi's vision cleared and she saw the Prince in his armor and holding a tray. His face was contorted into a glare.

"Well, being captured twice within two days can take a lot out of you," she said returning the glare.

"Here's your breakfast," Zuko said sitting it on the floor and using his foot to push it over to her. He stood in the door of the cell and didn't want to move so she couldn't escape. Mikomi noticed his boot touched the bread and gave it a look of disgust.

"Oh, wonderful! I get to taste your boot on my bread this morning! How nice," she said smartly.

The next thing she new Zuko was standing above her with a flame right in front of her face.

"Say something smart again, and you'll be eating this flame for breakfast," Zuko said.

Mikomi didn't even flinch, because, unbeknownst to him, he was shoving her element in her face. She stared at the flame for a second and then looked up at Zuko.

Seeing that the flame didn't bother her, he moved it away from her face. He returned to the door of the cell and leaned against the frame of it and watched her, crossing his arms. Mikomi took a look at the food. She picked up the tray and sat it on her lap. Picking up the bread, she noticed something. A very thin layer of white powder was on the bread.

'How pathetic,' she thought to herself smiling. Prince Zuko noticed her smile and began to worry.

'She hasn't noticed it has she?'

Then Mikomi picked up the class of water that was in a tin cup. She looked in the water and noticed that it wasn't entirely clear. Looking at the rim, she noticed the same film of white powder. There was a bowl of soup as well and she saw the same thing on the rim of the bowl.

Then Prince Zuko saw her look around the prison room. He didn't know that she was looking for a sign of a rat or mouse to test the food, but she saw none.

'I guess I'll have to find out the other way,' she though to herself smiling.

Taking the end of the black wrapping on her forearm, she tore of a piece that was about the size of her palm. Then she picked up the bread and wiped it with the piece of black cloth, getting much of the powder on it. Examining it she threw it so it sat right between her and Zuko.

"Prince Zuko, would you be so kind as to set that piece of cloth on fire for me?" she asked grimly.

"Why?" he asked roughly.

"Oh, I just want to see the beautiful colors of the flame. A small flame will do," Mikomi said smiling a false smile.

He decided to comply with her silly wishes, just to shut her up. With a flick of his wrist, he set the cloth on fire. At fire the flame was a light blue, then it turned green and went out leaving the cloth as ashes.

"Just what I thought," she said grabbing the tray and putting the bread back on. Glaring at Zuko, she said, "Thanks for the food, but no thanks."

After that was said she pushed the tray over towards him and it stopped at his feet.

"Why don't you want your food!" he asked getting infuriated.

"I don't like eating food that is drugged!" she shouted in response to him.

"What do you mean!"

"Oh, you can drop the act, Zuko! You drugged my food with Drowsiness Drought! I've seen it so many times before in the other prison cells! It is a fine, white powder that causes people to become extremely drowsy. It's used to make people easier to handle and, I don't know, easier to question about the Avatar!"

"What if that wasn't Drowsiness Drought! Many drugs are white!"

"Only Drowsiness Drought, burns blue and then green. Thanks so much for setting that cloth on fire for me, because I would've had no idea what is was if you hadn't!"

She had completely outsmarted him. Prince Zuko's whole body was flaming now and smoke was falling out of his mouth. Mikomi felt the intense heat radiating off his body, but was not affected by it. She had endured extreme heat before, because fire was indeed her element. Then Prince Zuko, in his rage, fired two fireballs toward Mikomi. She jumped up over top of the first one and spun in the air as the second fireball came at her. It clipped her right shoulder, sending her down landing on her stomach.

Holding her arm and gritting her teeth, she looked at Zuko whose eyes were glowing with rage.

"What is your problem!" she shouted at him. Her shout seemed to wake him from some sort of trance. He realized what he had done and instantly regretted losing control like that. The memories of his father hurting his mother like that instantly came back to him. Then he looked into Mikomi's eyes and was terrified by himself. Backing away out of the cell, he locked the door. Then he ran out of the prison to escape the pain of his actions.

I hope you guys liked this chapter. No this is not the Zuko captures girl, Zuko falls in love with girl story. They're going to dislike each other for a looooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnng time.