Disclaimer: see previous chapters, I'm too lazy to think of something corny.

So, our homecoming game: we won! 38 to 6! I know. We rock. GO MUSKETEERS! Yea, musketeers. I know. Crap mascot.

AAAaaaaand our homecoming dance was last night. Wow…let me tell you. There was some DRAMA going on at the football game and beforehand. But everything worked out fine, because now I'm quite content with my boyfriend. Yes, boyfriend. –squeals-. I've actually liked him for quite awhile…so…yea. Snaps to me.

So, you all ready to hear my excuse for not updating in a really long time? It's actually a good excuse this time.

Ready?

Are you sure?

My computer got a virus.

And not just one, but because our new one is connected to our old one so they talk, they both got the virus. I know.

So, I had to resort to using my TA period to read all my fanfiction, check my myspace and what not. Yea, I'm a loser, whatev. Over it.

Khazia- Of coarse he has Iroh senses…we all knew that. It's uncle Iroh for goodness sake! Yea, the perhaps argument just kinda came out without me really thinking. Then afterwards I was like "oh…that's cool." And yeah, you were right…but it is kinda scary and gross huh? Yeaaa

Aanglover- Yay for being lazy! Write another story after this? Eh, it depends on if I actually get another idea and not use all of them up in this one, because I really don't see an end in sight so far. All my ending ideas have "well, after that happens…they could-" after them…but I guess I'll try cause you asked.

O-Dragon- DRAMMMA! But seriously, what's a good ff story without drama? Honestly? Chaaaaa.

plutobaby494- Do you think Iroh found out? Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn.

Holly N.- Longer chapters? Ok…I'll try. They seem pretty long when I write them…

Angela- Tsk tsk, I can't give away the secrets! That would destroy the entire point of reading it! But yea, Zuko has a fiancé, an arranged marrage to be precise. Is Kila downtrodden by this sudden turn of events? Pfft, who knows?

Person who didn't leave a screen name, who REALLY left an anonymous review. Hey, it's chill.- I'm quite glad that Melia isn't a cardboard cutout. She's actually based on one of my friends who kinda went through the same thing. Not having a fiancé…or parents a lord and lady…but the raping part. So, I usually take OOC characters and base them after people so they're not the dreaded Mary Sue…example. Kila surprisingly acts like me! (shocker!) But she looks like my best friend. So, it's all good. Your review made me laugh.

ElvenArcher0310-Like I said in an above review, do YOU think that Iroh figured it out? He's not exactly as daft as our beloved prince. But I'm not saying anything…Man, I wish I took AP Government instead of AP bio…cause I'm doing the bare minimum in my normal political systems class and I'm getting an A-. AP bio? Hah…we won't go there.

Lin13- YAY! You caught up! I have like…four chapters to go on your story before I'm caught up. Grrness. –k, I caught up.-

It's really quite alright that you don't have my awesome inspiring review powers…no, I'm just joking. Basically I just type whatever pops into my mind. Yea, I'm random like that. It's chill.

Petitio Principii- I can't believe you missed the update also! GOSH! You're not allowed to read this anymore! Pfft. No, just kidding. It's ok. I don't really mind. Just as long as you did read it. Oh, your reviews make me happy. Yea, Zuko doesn't seem like one who really gets over things quickly, so I'm making him angsty. YAY ANGSTY ZUKO!

Ok, so right now (as I am typing this) I have 96 reviews. I don't want to sound greedy, but let's get it to 100 people! CHA! Are you with me? READY? SET? GOOOOOOOO

15

Were the hallways always this chilly? Did it always seem like whenever Kila would turn a corner, she would find an angry army with spears and other scary pointy objects ready to throw at her? Because that's how Kila felt, and she shivered with fright as she followed Iroh, not having a clue where he was taking her.

Eventually however, Kila began to recognize that the pathway he was leading her on was not towards the helm, or Zukos room, but Iroh's.

Indeed, when they finally reached Iroh's personal room he held the door open for Kila, permitting her to enter. She bowed her head and shuffled in cautiously, scared to the bone.

"Sit down." Iroh commanded, pointing to a cushion. Kila sat, hoping that if she complied with the old man, then he wouldn't treat her so horribly.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked, stepping over to his cupboard and opening it, peering inside.

Kila blinked a couple times, trying to figure out why he offered tea. "Yes please." She replied.

"What kind? I have practically every kind on the market." He said turning to her and grinning.

"JASMINE! JASMINE TEA!" Kila's stomach screamed, but she remembered that Iroh knew her favorite flavor, so she just replied back "Whatever you're going to have, I don't want to be a burden."

"Then we will have Green Tea; it's my favorite." He answered back grabbing a few leaves.

Kila was taken aback. Green tea wasn't his favorite, ginseng was. Was he trying to trick her? Or did his taste buds suddenly take a turn for the worst? Kila hated Green tea, it was too bitter for her. But Iroh knew that…he would never even offer green tea when she was around after the first time he gave her some and she spit it out on his face. That was a total accident, and he knew it, but he never gave it to her again. Perhaps he was just checking a theory, to see if it was really her. Kila didn't quite know, all she knew was that she had to stomach the tea, whether she wanted to or not.

"I bet you're wondering why you're up here." Iroh said, waking Kila from her stupor. He was no longer caring to the tea kettle, but had sat down opposite Kila at his little table.

"Yes sir." Kila replied, fear engulfing her body once again.

"Well, I just figured that any woman, even a prisoner, needs to spend a little time outside of the cell. A prison hold is no place for a lady, even one who has committed crimes. What did you say your name was again?"

Kila felt like she would roll right off her cushion onto the floor. So, he didn't know it was her? No, she knew Iroh was cleverer than that. He was trying to be tricky, wasn't he? "Kiana sir." She replied back.

"Well Miss Kiana, I understand that Lady Melia visits with you regularly. However, I believe it's necessary that a woman is on the other side of the bars regularly. It may be an old sexist idea of mine, but I like to keep it." He said, winking. Kila gave him a side smile in return. He then stood up to check the tea and see if the leaves had brewed throughout the water thoroughly, and Kila told herself to relax.

A few minutes later, Iroh placed a steaming cup of green tea in front of her, and commanded that she drink. Kila smiled weakly and too a tiny sip of the tea, maneuvering the liquid so it wouldn't touch her tongue that much. She hid her look of disgust and swallowed with a large gulp. Iroh watched her intently. Kila looked back down into the cup and tried to read her fortune in the leaves, even though it was still too full to examine.

This pattern continued every day afterwards. Kila would be summoned out of her cell and led upstairs to Irohs room where he would serve her tea. Most of the time it would be green tea, Kila figured this is because he wanted her to crack. But other times he would serve different flavors.

He would also ask about her background. What nation she was from, she replied earth. Was she a bender, she replied no. Why was she with the rebels, she replied that her parents were killed by the fire nation and Jet picked her up one day. These questions continued to be asked, and Kila continued to lie. Every day she felt worse and worse, and she wished that she could just break down and tell Iroh everything because he was still being so kind. Yet she knew that she couldn't, because then Zuko would have her killed, or worse.

So, eventually Jet and the other rebels were getting angrier and angrier with Kila and the fact that she was able to leave her cell. They would taunt and tease her when she would return from her afternoon tea with Iroh, and she would just begin to feel even worse. Kenta would talk to her and try to make her feel better, but his actions were in vain, because Kila would just slip farther and farther down.

And not only was she becoming depressed from this predicament, but she was so angry with herself as well. How could she be so afraid of Zuko's wrath? She never was before! Why is this time any different? It shouldn't feel different, but she knew it was. She was also annoyed because she was never a person to stew in something for very long, but when something really upset her, it would grind in her stomach until she felt like she would dissolve. She was never really a person to get or feel depressed, and now here she was, totally inside a hole with no way out.

Kila eventually just began sitting in a corner of her cell and only moving for when Iroh called her, or when Melia came downstairs, which was becoming very less frequent, because Kila wasn't talking much.

She wished that she could just fall asleep and wake up at home, with none of this ever happening.

Well, that's it. Hope you liked it!

SeethingxShadows

No, I'm just kidding. It's getting too depressing right now, so I had to liven things up.

Ok…BACK TO READING! Readysetgo!

Iroh sipped his tea, pondering. He tried to think of his next plan of attack, because this angle wasn't working out too well. Kila sat across from him, sipping her green tea.

Suddenly, Iroh's door burst open and Melia stuck her head in. "UNCLE!" she screeched. She then noticed Kila and waved. "Hi Kiana."

Kila gave her a half smile and said "Hi Melia."

"What is it?" Iroh replied.

"Oh yea. They want to see you up in the helm." Melia said, jabbing her thumb in the direction.

Iroh took a deep sign and pushed himself up off the table. Kila stood up. "I'll go back to my cell now." She said quietly.

"No, no need." Iroh said raising a hand. "I will be back shortly. Just sit tight." He pointed back down at the cushion, and Kila reluctantly sank back down into it. Iroh smiled, then strode over towards the door, walked out of it, and shut it. Kila was left alone.

Kila jiggled her leg for a few minutes, trying to preoccupy herself. She hummed a few tunes in her head, trying to see if she was still able to remember any songs. Then she remembered that she hadn't fire bended in about a month.

"I wonder if I can still do it…" she thought to herself. Looking around to see if the room was empty, which it of course was, she held out her hand. Instantly a flam appeared. She took in a breath and it grew, and she let it out and it shrank back down. "I guess it's just like riding a bike…" Kila said softly.

She then shot a few flames out of her hand for practice, then some air currents, then twisted her tea around with waterbending. Iroh still hadn't come back, and Kila was beginning to feel the most relaxed she had ever been. She even began to crack a small smile.

I'm so tired of being here

Suppressed by all my childish fears.

And if you have to leave,

I wish that you would just leave

Because your presence still lingers here,

And it won't leave me alone.

The words seemed to slip out of Kila's mouth before she realized it. She was singing again. Why did she choose this song? He subconscious must have been trying to tell her something, but she didn't care. She took in another lungful of air and began to sing again.

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I've held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me

Zuko stomped down the corridor, fuming. He knew it was true, he knew it. But his blazing uncle wouldn't let him do anything about it. "I have it under control." He would say. The very thought made Zuko blaze with anger.

As he passed a door, he heard an unearthly sound echoing from inside the room.

You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
But now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me

His eyebrows furrowed with anger. Thrusting the door open, he saw her. She was standing there, once calmly singing, now eyes wide with terror.

"YOU!" Zuko screamed enraged. "I KNEW IT WAS YOU!"

"Oh no…" Kila uttered, staggering backwards. But Zuko was too quick, and he flung himself across the room and grabbed Kila's throat, thrusting her up against a wall.

"Do you understand what you did?" He muttered, squeezing his hand around Kila's throat tighter. Adrenaline was pulsing through is veins, and he could have smashed down a house now if he wanted.

"I—m s-s" Kila gasped, but it was no use, because there was no oxygen flow. Zuko's anger just flared more and began to lift her off the ground,

"SORRY? YOU THINK YOU'RE SORRY? SORRY ISN'T GOING TO BRING THE AVATAR HERE, LIKE WHEN YOU HAD THAT CHANCE, NOW IS IT?"

"PRINCE ZUKO LET HER DOWN!" Irohs voice boomed through Zuko's own.

"IT'S HER UNCLE!" Zuko said, turning his head to face him.

"I KNOW IT IS!" Iroh exclaimed loudly.

Zuko dropped Kila from shock. Kila it the floor with a dull thunk and began to gasp for air, using her available energy to bend some into her lungs. "You knew?" Zuko cried indignantly.

"Of coarse I did. I knew from the beginning." Iroh said waving his hand, striding over quickly to Kila to inspect her neck. "I was just trying to get her to confess herself. Are you alright Miss Kila?"

Kila looked up at Iroh with wide eyes, then thrust her arms around the old general and began to weep. "I'm soooo sooooory." She cried. "I di-didn't mean to do anything w-wrong! I ju-just wanted to meet the ava-atar!"

"Shhhh, breathe. It's ok." Iroh said stroking her back. Zuko felt like he wanted to throw up.

"That is not an excuse! Tell me, where is the avatar?" Zuko said, pushing Kila on the shoulder.

"I do-don't know. He escaped wh-when Zhao came and-" Kila sobbed out, but was interrupted by Iroh.

"What? You met up with Admiral Zhao? Here, sit down again. I'm going to make some jasmine tea. You're going to tell us everything from the beginning. Prince Zuko, you sit down as well." Iroh led her over to a cushion, then stood up and went over to his cupboard and began bustling around to make tea. Kila tried to subdue her sobs, but it seemed like all her worries and trials just came flooding out at that one point, and she wanted to get them all out.

"Oh stop blubbering. It's making me sick." Zuko said, folding his arms. But that remark just made Kila cry a bit harder and Zuko received a slap across the head from his uncle.

"Prince Zuko, you must be kinder than this. How are you going to act when your wife begins to cry?"

"Well, I will actually like my wife, so I won't be as upset." Zuko replied, raising his eyebrows.

This remark only made Kila cry harder.

Iroh placed the tea in front of Kila and she thankfully grabbed it and took a sip. The sweet sent of jasmine reached her nostrils and calmed her a tidbit, at least enough of an amount for her to form a coherent sentence.

And so, Kila slowly told Iroh and Zuko how she had met up with Zhao, how he had captured the avatar, but Kila managed to distract them, how she had gotten caught up with Jet, and why she cut her hair. "Though I guess it really didn't serve much of a purpose." Kila replied shrugging.

"Not entirely. Prince Zuko didn't recognize you at first, which is what you wanted. But he eventually figured it out, and it was all I could do to keep him from coming down into the prison hold and slaughtering you." Iroh chuckled to himself, and Kila raised an eyebrow.

Kila looked over at Zuko who was still glaring at her. "I'm so sorry Prince Zuko." She said. "But at least I got Aang out of Zhao's clutches, which means you have a better chance, huh?"

Zuko just grunted and looked away.

"Well, now that we know all your intentions were for the best, I believe it's time for you to get your room back." Iroh said, clapping his hands and standing up. Then he paused. "I forgot…Lady Melia is in your room now. You wouldn't mind sharing it, would you?"

"I don't exactly know how she's going to react when I tell her why I'm not in the prisons hold anymore, and my name isn't Kiana." Kila said, shrugging.

"Yes, yes…we must also let the men know that you are back on the ship. Would you mind cooking again? I have been missing your stroganoff." Iroh said patting his stomach.

"No…I don't mind. But why are you so forgiving?" Kila said, standing up.

"Well, it all seems legible to me. You must understand that some of my trust for you is gone, but it can be gained back." Iroh said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. Kila smiled and gave him a hug. Zuko stomped out of the room, disgusted by what was happening with the world.

OK, again it's not very long. But it's about eight pages, and its 9:18pm on Sunday. School tomorrow, so I have to go to bed, because I'm flaming tired.

What will Melia say when she learns that Kila was lying? What will Jet say? What will the crew say? And how is Zuko going to treat her from now on? DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.

Yea, I just want you all to think about that for now. Sorry it's so rushed, but I wanted to get it over with. Probably some typos, but get over it, cause I am. CHA.

SeethingxShadows