Look, I actually found some time today to post! Yay! Let's see what I can get done.

The steersman of Zuko's ship was confused. Very much so, in fact. Not only had he been ordered to stop the ship, it was not because the avatar was somewhere on the island. In fact, it seemed that they were waiting for the Avatar, who had recently appeared behind them. Weird. Still, he figured he might as well take advantage of the opportunity to get some repairs done on the ship. He docked the ship on a small island, once inhabited by earth-benders, but recently taken over by renegade fire-benders. He was none to keen on renegades, of course, but they supported Zuko in the fact that he was an exile too, so they would at least get a warm welcome.
Katara lay in quiet misery on Appa's back, silently praying that her brother was safe. All that she had done in the past three days had been cruel, and she knew it. Taking so long to shop? Revenge on Sokka for making her lend him her favorite outfit, and revenge on Aang for making Sokka even more uncomfortable by laughing. No, it wasn't logical, and it wasn't nice…and this last day, Aang kept sighing, and she just knew he was mad at her, or at least annoyed. She echoed his latest sigh and sat up.

"Aang?"

"Yeah?" Aang was worried. She sounded upset; was she mad or something?

"…I'm sorry. I've been so mean to you recently! I shouldn't have shopped so long – I involved you in my private revenge on Sokka, and I shouldn't have done that." Aang's jaw dropped. (Fortunately, Momo caught it, and Aang was able to reattach it.) An apology was the last thing he'd expected – and she'd only taken so long shopping to get back at Sokka?

What a weird way to get revenge…

Still, at least she admitted it, and was sorry. While all this was running through his head, Katara was still confessing.

"- and I didn't mean to be so rude to you when we found him missing, and up until now; I was just so worried about Sokka that I got really upset…I'm so sorry!" There. She'd said it. She hated admitting that she was in the wrong; who didn't?

"It's ok, Katara…seriously, it doesn't matter, as long as you stop. And," he finished, laughing like he had before this whole ordeal had started, "as long as you never make me go shopping with you when you're mad at Sokka!" Katara joined in his laughter, losing the haunted look that she'd taken on when she started talking. Now that the atmosphere was less tense, they began to talk about how they would get Sokka back, taking into consideration that his ship had stopped at a small port.

Sokka, the object of their conversation, was not thinking anything of the sort. In fact, he was thinking more along the lines of how cozy his chambers were, how polite the servants were, and how kind Uncle Iroh was. Leave to go back to life on the run with Aang, eating, sleeping, and breathing in the 'great outdoors?' Ugh! Not on your life! Sokka didn't want to leave. Sure, Zuko was a jerk, but at least he was willing to let Sokka wear his clothes.

Over all, these Fire-nation people were shaping up to be much nicer than they were drawn up to be.

How can I think that? I'm a captive, a bargaining chit to get the avatar, or at least Katara. I have to protect my sister!

Sokka paused in his thoughts for a moment.

…How am I supposed to do that? As it is, I've already fallen prey to the typical cliché of Sympathy for the Devil and whatnot. No wonder that's what happens to Katara in all those stupid stories – it's hard not to! (A/N: no offense meant.) Stupid Fire-Bastard Prince. Wait…why did Iroh want the dress, anyway…? Shit! I bet he gave it to Zuko – Ew! That creep is probably smelling it, or whatever freaks like him do!

As if the rude thoughts had conjured him, Zuko entered the cell. Eyeing Sokka's appearance in his clothes, he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Ugh! Thought Zuko, This sucks! Not only is he not the person I meant to capture, he has the nerve to look better in my clothes than I do! What a Jerk! He scowled at Sokka.

"We've docked on a small earth-territory island. The Avatar and your sister are only an hour or so behind us, and will arrive shortly," Zuko said abruptly. "If you wish to compose yourself in any way, do so now; in half an hour, we will go to the village to stock up; you are coming with us."

Sokka groaned. It was as he'd thought. Bait. Why do I have to be the bait? Ooh, Katara's going to be so mad when she sees me in these clothes. That does it, I'm definitely never giving these back; they'll be a good disguise in the future, if nothing else.

He looked up to reply, but Zuko was already gone. Sokka entered the small washroom attached to the bed-chamber, brushed his short hair, straightened his borrowed clothing, and picked up his boomerang from the corner where it had been tossed.

Idiot- assumed I was a water-bender, and thus had no other weapon – what kind of fool doesn't check a captive for weapons? Yeesh, talk about lax security.

In a moment, he was ready to go, the boomerang safely hidden under a long black cloak Uncle Iroh had provided him. Apparently, the temperature on this island was none too forgiving. Well, that was fine – Neither was Sokka. And he would never forgive Zuko if something happened to his sister.

Well, it's not very long, and it's not very funny; I went to the funeral of my friend's dad today, so I'm a bit moody. Also, I felt like I'd made Katara too nasty, so I decided to attribute it to worry and move on. Sorry if it was a bit abrupt, but if she and Zuko are going to fall in love, there has to be something good about them other than their looks! I hope you like it...