Okies! I'm back again. I'll try to make this funny (because I know the last one really wasn't despite my best intentions…) but in exchange it will be shorter. No, actually how funny it is has nothing to do with the length; I'm just on a time limit. But anyway. Here's the next chapter! Oh, and I'm starting with a flashback so that the story flows more. I might keep doing this; we'll see.

Zuko's men had been well briefed. As soon as Sokka, Katara, and Aang exited the teashop, the soldiers grabbed them, and carried them away.
Well, to be fair, it must be said that it was not a matter of simply picking them up and carrying them. Except for Sokka, who was glad for the soldiers' presence, as he was too full to walk anyway. Katara and Aang, on the other hand, struggled and fought to the best of their ability, as would be expected. As implied, however, it did no good, and there were soon three prisoners on board Zuko's ship, instead of one guest. Sokka retained his old room, but (to his eternal dismay, once he woke from his food induced stupor) had to share it with Aang. Katara got her own room, right between Zuko's and Iroh's for her own safety. Sokka, of course, doubted Zuko's motives on this, recalling how his room had been decorated in the beginning; but the guard of Sokka's room wouldn't let Sokka go check.

Sokka needn't have worried. Zuko himself had personally seen to the décor in Katara's room, rather than Iroh himself. The walls were hung with soft red tapestries of phoenixes and dragons, the bed a queen-sized affair clad in black satin. A plush black rug covered the iron floor, and even the lamps had been edited to emit a softer, brighter light. All in all, it was the most comfortable room an exiled fire-bender could possibly provide.

And she had better appreciate it, too! Zuko thought, after all the trouble I went through at the village to get those hangings…

Still, no sounds were coming from her room, and her guard was entirely at ease. Either she had fallen asleep, or she was planning an escape. Zuko decided to check. Just in case.

He approached her room.

"Any trouble?" the guard shook his head.

"No, sir. She quieted right down as soon as we let her though the door." Zuko smiled; his decorating job must have made an impression. He dismissed the guard, thinking,

Hmm…maybe a job as an interior designer wouldn't be a bad idea, if Father doesn't accept me…Zuko mused as he pushed open the heavy iron door.

"Katara? Are you awake?" he called through the slit in the door.

"…Yes…who is it?" She sounded wary, but sleepy. Probably had been daydreaming, or dozing before he called.

"It's Prince Zuko. I'm coming in."

Back in Sokka's room, Aang was ranting loudly about stupid water-boys who were too busy eating to notice that Zuko was planning to capture them, and how Zuko was probably torturing Katara for information this very instant, and how it was all Sokka's fault, etc., etc. Sokka had fallen asleep when Aang first started complaining, correctly judging that it was not an important conversation. Now he sat up, blinking from his shot-gun nap, momentarily surprised that Aang was still ranting.

"Shut up a minute, ok? How are we supposed to tell if he's torturing her if we can't hear over your racket?" Aang paused. Sokka had a point. If she was being tortured, she'd probably be screaming, right? His brow creased in confusion – he'd never seen or heard torture before, so he had no idea.

Sokka picked up a fancy glass cup that had been left on a tray with a small jug of ice water. He held it up against the wall closest to him and listened, before moving to the other side of the room and repeating the process.

"Well, she's not to either side of us, those are just crewmen. Do you know how big the ship is? I was never allowed out of my room, and I never really tried to tell how many stories there were from the outside."

Aang thought for a moment, marveling at how good Sokka could be with strategy when he put his mind to it.

"Hmm…there should be at least one more floor than the one we're on – listen out the side to see if we're under water," Sokka nodded, seeing the logic in this, and obeyed.

"Water," he replied, "and a lot of it. We're probably about fifteen feet below the surface."

Aang frowned; no chance of escaping that way. Not that there would have been; their captor was a paranoid psycho prince; why would he give them an easy escape route?

Sokka, meanwhile, listened through the floor, and shook his head.

"A store room, or empty hull space. No one's there."

He tried the ceiling with similar result. It was just a cabin, some room or another with a male inhabitant…

"It's not her room, Aang…I'm sorry –" Sokka paused in the act of pulling away, and put his cup back against the ceiling. Someone had just entered the room, and was pacing. Indistinct mutters of annoyance could be heard, growing louder, until Sokka heard, "Stupid water peasant, stupid bending abilities, and stupid crewmen for giving that – " Sokka gasped in indignation "- water! If she's a water bender, you don't go an give her her primary weapon out of courtesy!"

The snarls continued, and the ceiling above Sokka heated up as Zuko began to fire-bend to calm himself down.

Sokka jumped down off the bed, smiling.

"Aang, Zuko's room is right above us! He went and talked to Katara, but – get this! Some of his men gave her water to drink, so what do you think she did with it! Water-whipped him across the face! Haha! That's my baby sister, alright!" Sokka and Aang laughed, their good spirits renewed by Katara's valor. Sokka was also happy because his sister was not just standing up to Zuko, she was resisting him. He still didn't know what had happened to her dress, but he doubted that Iroh had burned it, or kept it.

Now, hopefully, all you readers won't mind my backtracking a bit to show Zuko's fateful encounter with Katara. Because here it is.

"It's Prince Zuko. I'm coming in." Katara's wide sapphire eyes got a little wider. She ducked under the covers of the bed as the prince entered, hiding the fact that she'd neglected to get dressed after a quick wash-up; she had just laid down on the oh-so-comfy bed. Now the Prince was coming in, and she was by no means decent! She started to shriek, then remembered that he had warned her, and that it was her fault for not stopping him. Thus, all that came out of her mouth was a tiny squeak of dismay as he closed the door behind him with a click.

Zuko turned around to face her – and didn't see her.

"Wha – " Oh, wait. There she was, in bed, mostly hidden by the blankets. Trying to hide? Well, that would never do! It wasn't working anyway. "Come on girl, I see you. Get out of bed! I need to talk to you about the Avatar and I don't have all day."

His only answer was a resolute shake of her head, sending her two long bangs flapping.

"Oh, come on. I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm not here to torture the information out of you; I just want to know more about the kid I'm chasing!"

Katara was panicking. There was a Prince in her room, trying to talk to her, and here she was, lying naked in bed, and he thought she was just afraid to leave the 'safety' of the covers! She blushed, shaking her head harder. Unfortunately, he mistook her blush for a flush of anger (And why shouldn't he? Her mind whispered, after all, how is he supposed to know you're naked if you don't say anything?), and got mad.

Zuko was getting annoyed. He went through all the trouble to furnish her room, and then she wouldn't even answer some simple questions! She wouldn't even get out of bed or say anything! I mean, it's a comfy bed, but there's a limit!

"Look, girl, this is your last chance! Get out of bed so I can talk to you properly, or else!"

Katara was now in an even worse dilemma, if that was even possible. Get up and risk embarrassment but avoid punishment, or stay where she was and be punished – somehow. Hmm. Katara stayed put. I mean, what's he gonna do? Toast me?

Zuko sighed in exasperation, a small lick of flame flickering between his teeth, and advanced on her. She watched him, eyes wide with terror as she realized his intention. He felt guilty, but it wasn't like he was going to hurt her, just get her up. He reached out, and before she could stop him, he snatched the blankets away from her and ripped them from the bed. He paused, seeing her sit up suddenly, clutching the sheet around her, her back toward him, and then he stumbled back, clutching his cheek in agony. Ouch! What the -

Katara could not have imagined a worse scene, but she couldn't just sit there and let him expose her nudity. As soon as he began grabbing the blankets, she had sat up and pulled some water out of a nearby bowl, and without hesitation (though with a lot of guilt), water whipped him in the face, quickly standing up to take advantage of his pain to grab for her clothes. He stumbled back, holding his cheek, but soon straightened up, glaring at her – he recovered too fast for her, and she was only in her underwear when he stood. He stared, a blush making his pale face look almost cute. Oh, no…oh no, no no, I did NOT just think that…He's the enemy! E – N – E – M – Y!

As much as she would have liked to continue thinking about that, she had a Prince to get rid of temporarily. He looked annoyed, embarrassed, and, well, amazed.

Oh, come on! Is it that far-fetched an idea that I have a nice body? Now she was annoyed too, instead of just embarrassed, but still she controlled herself. Barely. Now it was an effort.

Augh! Stupid water-peasant! If she didn't want me to see her then why didn't she just ask me to step outside for a moment? She didn't need to whip me!

"I apologize, Prince Zuko," she said, her voice displaying a tiny bit of strain, no evidence that she was as embarrassed as he, "But I will have to ask you to come back some other time." Then her control broke. He could see it, as she lost anything but an urge to get rid of him. That's not all I can see, either…he mused, admiring her figure and temporarily forgetting her anger. Then he remembered. He looked up in time to see her inhale, preparing to shout, and fled.

"Get out! Pervert!" He was already gone.

In the room over, Iroh listened to her shrieks of rage, as his nephew beat a hasty retreat. He turned away from the wall, and cheerfully prepared himself a glass of tea, laughing as he worked.

Yay! Another long-ish chapter. I hope you liked it! I tried to think of the most embarrassing thing that could happen to Katara on a ship, and that's all I could think of…maybe tomorrow's will be funnier(see, the long ones aren't funny! Augh!). Review...please...I love you all and I love this story, but my self-esteem is failing me...If I don't get reviews, how am I supposed to know you all like it? If you don't, that's good too! Let me know! Seriously!