Okay, well….I know I said I wouldn't write anymore…But I've been watching a lot of the Avatar episodes, old and new, on YouTube, and I felt like writing something…I hope you don't mind…assuming anyone reads this as it is…Oh well, if you do, Enjoy!

Katara sighed happily. One thing she had to give to these Fire Nation people…they sure knew how to cook! She hadn't eaten so well in ages!

Actually, truth be told, I've never eaten this well on a regular basis. I mean, back home, I ate more regularly, at least, but never food like this…this is awesome!

Maybe being Zuko's prisoner wasn't so bad after all.

Speaking of Zuko, didn't he say he'd be coming back for another "interrogation"?

As if on cue…

Katara stared at the door. She'd given the whole "as if on cue" opener, so why hadn't Zuko entered? Where was he, anyway!

As it happened, Zuko was busy, and not in the mood for "interrogations".

"No! Wrong! Do it again…correctly!"

Aang snarled, not liking the harshness of the order. Who did the man think he was ordering around, anyway? He was the Avatar, for chris'sakes! Nevertheless, he tried again, lashing out in one direction with a kick and then following it (correctly, this time) with a forward somersault, coming to his feet again with both fists in the air in front of him in a punching gesture.

"Good. Now, if Prince Zuko will step in, you will learn to repeat it perfectly, but in combination with the fire to accompany the strikes. Prince?"

The ship's Lieutenant looked in Prince Zuko's direction, handing over Aang's tutelage in fire bending. Iroh had asked the man to take over, so that Aang could learn the physical motions without taxing Zuko's short temper.

"Very well. Thank you Lieutenant – carry on." The man bowed and walked away, and Zuko stepped forward to take his place.

"Uncle taught you to conjure the fire itself yesterday, did he not?" Although he didn't intend for it to happen, much less notice that it did, scorn and doubt crept into Zuko's voice, making it sound as though he did not believe Aang capable of fire bending.

Aang kept his eyes on the cold, metal deck of the ship as he answered, "He did."

"Show me. Before you can combine the physical motion with the bending, you must be able to summon and sustain the flame indefinitely."

Aang, disliking the Prince's "attitude", raised his head sharply, sticking his hand out, palm first, before him. He concentrated, his brows knitting fiercely. As Zuko, Sokka, and Iroh looked on, a small flame, controlled and glowing a hot reddish orange shade, bloomed in his fist.

"Good." Zuko meant it. Truly.

It still didn't sound convincing, though, so Aang got mad.

"Look, I did it, alright? I can conjure the stupid fire, I can keep it while I wave my hands all over the place or I can get rid of it! See? Look! I know how to do this!"

Zuko stared at him, one brow raised, looking totally clueless and innocent (if that's possible).

"Well, duh... I can see that."

Aang deadpanned. Never, ever, in all of his encounters with the sour Prince, had he heard him sound so much like the teenager he was.

"Oh. Uh, ok, then…"

Zuko gave him a look that said, "Wow, you're weird," and continued with the lesson. Meanwhile, Katara, peeved at Zuko's failure to appear at her cue, came to investigate. What she saw when she arrived was Aang staring at Zuko like he'd never seen him before, and Zuko waxing eloquent on the subject of how to properly project flames.

"It's one thing to have the ability to conjure and hold the flame, and an entirely different one to be able to bend it to where you want it to go. Did Uncle teach you how to do that yet?"

Aang shook his head dumbly.

"Very well then; here, look – hey! Pay attention, Avatar! I'm not talking for my health, you know!"

Aang (and Sokka, too, this time) facefaulted.

"Woah…he switched age groups, like, five different times! First he sounded like he was in his twenties, and then he was a teenager, and just now he was a little old school teacher…"

Zuko blinked. First Aang wasn't paying attention, and now he was babbling about how someone…changed ages? What the hell was the boy talking about! Since merely wondering this didn't give him any answers, Zuko decided to ask directly.

"…What are you talking about! Pay attention already! You need to learn this!"

Katara smothered a laugh behind her hand and went and stood by Uncle Iroh.

"How long have they been arguing like this? They're like brothers!" she giggled. He joined in her laughter, but raised a subtle eyebrow at Zuko, who wasn't acting as aloof as he usually did. Not only was he not cooking the Avatar, he was (sort of) bantering with him! Zuko just didn't do that kind of thing…at least, he hadn't that Iroh remembered. Oh well, it's not like it was a change for the worse.

The boys finally sobered up a bit, and Zuko demonstrated how to shoot flame out in controlled burst from his fists, explaining step by step how it was done. Aang tried, failed, and succeeded on the second try. Zuko looked faintly shocked, but moved on without commenting.

Katara continued to watch, her head cocked slightly to one side.

They really are like brothers…she thought vaguely, when did that happen? I'll ask him about it later…

And just like that, it was later! Finally, one of Katara's cue's pays off!

Zuko had finished training Aang for the day; he'd run him through the exercise seven times in a row, with the flame, flawlessly. Having judged this enough for one day, Iroh halted the practice, and he and Sokka helped an exhausted Aang off to his room to rest. Zuko, still sweating from the training, turned to Katara.

"Are you still ok with talking about Aang? I mean, is now a good time?" he inquired.

Katara blinked, once, twice, admiring his trim form, outlined by his shirt sticking to him from the sweat. Then she noticed that she hadn't answered, and replied, "Oh! Yes, it's fine! Um…my room, or…"

"Oh…actually, unless you'd rather wait a while, is my room alright? I need to change, but your room is right next to the boiler room, so…"

She saw his point immediately, of course; he had to change his shirt no matter what, but if he changed and then went to her room, he'd just end up sweating through another shirt. Still, it was a little awkward.

"Er…no, your room is fine…"

"Glad as I am that you two are even considering this, I feel the need to point out that it isn't really wise, planning one's trysts out where any of the crew could hear you…"

"…."

"….Uncle…."

It was just as well that Zuko hadn't changed immediately; it seemed he was fated to get more exercise that night, in mad pursuit of his aggravating uncle. As for Katara, she couldn't move, much less talk, for blushing, so she stayed put to wait for Zuko to come back, privately hoping that Zuko would bring Iroh's head as a trophy when he came back

Haha…I know, I know…it wasn't funny at all…I tried, I really did! Oh well, I hope you like it…it has been a while, so I had trouble getting back into the swing of things, but here it is. I hope that, in the case that someone reads it, that they found it enjoyable. Ci vediamo…(no, I don't speak Italian, so forgive me if that doesn't mean what I think it means.)