What was he doing here so soon?

Katara's entire body tensed. She did a strange look around, with widened eyes and slowed breathing. She tried to keep quiet, even though she'd seen the menacing front of Prince Zuko's body as he walked toward her unknowingly.

A wave of chills swept her whole body. It came along with the feeling of how silly her hiding spot was, and how he could probably see right through the clothes and see her. She felt like she was standing behind glass.

If he catches me we're finished. She thought.

Even though she knew she had to be quieter, her chest wanted to heave up and down for breath.

The Princes eyes swept the length of the shop. It was large, but no one seemed to be there. Why waste his time looking in places that would be difficult for them to hide in.

He made a small note of scolding to himself, sure to dwell on later like all the rest of his self-critical thoughts. He turned around to walk out.

Katara did not relax even as he turned around. She could judge nothing around firebenders, they were unpredictable.

Then, to her horror, something happened at that moment.

"Can I help you madam?" The elderly shopkeeper said kindly, bowing to Katara. He looked slightly baffled that she was standing behind gardening robes, but all the same; she was a customer.

'Madam'? Did he look like a woman?

"- What did you call me?" Prince Zuko asked incredulously, whirling around.

He stopped dead when he saw the store owner talking to a rack of clothing.

There was a strange pause. His eyes narrowed.

Had he even seen earthbending clothes that were blue before? A light blue that looked very much like…

The girl.

Katara's heart frightfully began to beat. She was caught. The old man had blown her cover. Her thoughts flew fifty different directions. She held her breath and hoped that he still wouldn't see her.
Maybe Prince Zuko couldn't see who the shopkeeper was talking to…

"I'm rather interested in purchasing a set of gardening clothes." Prince Zuko abruptly said to the man, while staring directly through the clothes at Katara. She took a step back into the wall.

"Really? How about that, you're exactly in the correct section of the store for that sort. All of our gardening tunics and sorts are right here…"

"Thank you." The words were placid. Even a child could sense that Prince Zuko was not interested at all in buying gardening robes. His real intentions would be unknown, however.

Every step he took towards her spot made Katara's heart race faster.

He paused for a moment once he was a step away, looking solidly, almost triumphantly at the green and brown clothes. Then he raised his hand, and tore them back. They fell to the ground.

The old man jumped a little and said to Katara, "Goodness! Oh yes, well, if I may ask, young one, what are you doing inside my shop behind the clothes? Are you playing a game?"

Katara had gasped when she'd been revealed, and tried to take another step back, but could go no further into the wall.

Prince Zuko's head tilted to the side. "Well, well. Where is your friend, the avatar?" He asked. "And don't play stupid, either… I've no time for games."

"I thought she was playing one!" The old man chuckled; clearly not knowing the seriousness of what was happening. "Is your friend going to find you?"

"I think I already did." The Prince said. He clasped his hands behind his back and stared at her.

What should she do?

Pretend to be mute? Make a run for it?

Run behind the shopkeeper and use him as a shield?

There were a million options; and not one safe solution.

Katara realized that her situation was utterly helpless and pathetic.

"I – I don't know what you're – please help me!" She screamed, casting a frightened look at the old man. It was show time.

"I've never seen this man before in my life!"

Damn. She was using the 'save me' tactic. Oh well, no matter, he would burn the store down if he had to.

Prince Zuko shook his head. "I think you need to come with me now…" He moved forward and made to grab her arm with his, but suddenly a sharp pain erupted through it. The shopkeeper had whacked it with his staff.

"You'll not touch this young lady." He said sternly, moving in between Katara and Zuko. "Unless you and her are acquainted."

Acquainted?

The teenaged boy rolled his eyes. "Look, she's been traveling with me for awhile now. She's just pretending."

"Are you pretending not to know him?" The man asked her, looking at her with slight surprise.
"What – NO! Of course not!" Katara said indignantly.

"How do I know?"
"Well… you should…I mean I…" Katara's stomach jolted. There was no proof at all.

"Wait! What's my name." She asked, almost smiling from how smart this was.

"What?" Prince Zuko said.

"My name. Tell me my name."

There was a short pause. The prince's eyes bore into hers as the pause turned into a long one. The old man stroked his mustache. His eyes switched from one to the other like watching a game of tennis.

What was her name? He'd forgotten. So intent on finding the young boy she traveled with, that names were something he did not know.

Come to think of it he didn't even know her brothers name… if they were indeed siblings, and not… something else.

All these thoughts passed through Zuko's mind at lightning speed. His mouth parted and his brows creased, he wet his lips before saying sharply,

"Is this really necessar-"

"I would imagine," The shopkeeper said coldly. "That if you do not know her name, I have no choice but to assume you're a lying swine that has less than pure intentions for this young lady."

He thought hard. Even though Prince Zuko knew that he could just take her by force, it had got him to thinking. And the thinking had got him to pondering.

When Zuko wanted something known, he made it his duty to find out. It was part of perseverance, something he had much of. Then he remembered.

"Katara." He said solidly, the word falling from his mouth with the same deadliness his eyes carried as he stared at her.

She was caught off guard. Before she realized that she could pretend her name wasn't Katara, she had responded. And by then it was too late.

"How did you remember my - "

" - okay, you've had your fun." The shopkeeper said with an awkward chuckle. "I suppose you two can be off. I've got more customers!"

He shoved Katara towards Prince Zuko and hastened off to meet the newcomers.

Immediately Prince Zuko grabbed her arm in a death grip and led her out of the store.

There was silence as they walked for a minute.

Katara's heart was fluttering so fast she thought she might pass out from fright. What was she going to do now? Well, as long as he didn't have Aang.

Why wasn't he saying anything? He looked so serious. His hands were very warm… almost too warm. It felt like there was fire underneath his skin.

"You had no right to give me that trouble in the shop." He said firmly as they walked.

"Where are you taking me." Katara interrupted, and feeling like she should at least know what was going to happen.

She was a captive now.

"You knew I was going to take you anyways, why would you waste my time." He continued, shaking his head and gritting his teeth.

There was another silence.

"We're going to my ship. That's all you need to know."

Already the Prince was thinking of ways he could use her to lure the avatar. She was his closest friend; obviously… if he discovered she was in danger, he would come right to rescue her. And then…

They exited the gates of Ichinomiya, and once they'd traveled along the path a bit, to Katara's alarm, they arrived at a tiny encampment with fifteen or so men. Other firebenders. The Prince had brought a troop.

A couple of large canvas tents had been propped up, there was a fire, and one of the guards was cooking something over it.

The smell of putrid smoke lingered around, and also the smell of men. (to Katara, the disgusting smell of men, which made her wrinkle her nose).

Although, when she walked behind Prince Zuko as he led her through the encampment, it didn't smell so bad. Well at least he found time to make sure he didn't smell terrible.

In fact, there was a smell about him that made Katara wonder what it was. Or, how he achieved it.

It was a husky, pine smell, rather intoxicating. Then Katara called herself out, and remembered they were right in the middle of a forest. Of course she smelled pine.

Others looked at them as they walked by, some with looks of surprise, some with looks that Katara did not want to know about… she knew was that she was not safe in this encampment.

An enemies' encampment, where no one would protect her.

For it was true, if she was in danger, would she be protected because she was a woman?

She doubted anyone would come to her aid if one of the men tried to do anything to her. Not the cook, not the guards, and definitely not Prince Zuko.
What if he was the one trying anything dreadful in the first place?
She didn't know if he was that type of person… he was difficult to predict.

"Now, since you'll be here for as long as it takes," Prince Zuko said tonelessly as he grabbed some rope in his free hand and led her to a tree. "I'd expect you to realize that you are not escaping, you have no means of contact with the avatar and your other friend, and that if you cause trouble I will find a way to show you the consequences."

Katara's blue eyes scanned his scarred face.

"Brother."
"What?"

"He's my brother." Katara repeated.

Prince Zuko stared at her as he finished tying the knot. He tilted his head. "Very well. Your brother. Care to tell me his name, too?" He added mockingly.

"Sokka." Katara answered placidly, knowing full well that he was playing her, and she was taking the bait. "Just in case you need to lie to the next person who might save me next time."

Had he really wasted five minutes talking to this bartering chip? Prince Zuko had no time for games. He should be spending his time searching for the avatar instead of conversing with captives.

He didn't say anything more; simply tied the knot, carelessly turned, and walked off into his own tent.

Katara felt a sense of vulnerability as soon as he had walked away.

Somehow, being tied to a tree in front of nineteen men much older than Prince Zuko, with him no longer in front of her making self-confident comments and abstracting her view of the rest of the encampment, made her feel bare.

She'd rather have the presumptuous Prince back tying a rope around, then a bunch of men staring at her.

Then, to her horror, a couple of the men began to somehow move aimlessly over to the tree, and before she knew it, they were feet away from her.

One of them leaned forward and put his hand on the tree next to her face. He leaned in a little. "Are you our captive?"

Katara stared, disgusted, up at him, but trembling on the inside. "Prince Zuko gave me orders to stay here on this tree. I think if you untie me he'll be very upset. You wouldn't want to upset him would you?"

The guard chuckled and leaned in more like he was telling her a secret.

"I don't give two damns what that young ponce does."

Katara's breath caught in her throat. This was bad news. And he had continued speaking with even more bad news.

"I'm following orders from him because he's under the command of General Zhao, and even more so, the Firelord… But I don't think either of them cares about a pretty little peasant girl whom we've taken captive… or what happens to her…"

"Touch me and you'll wish you hadn't." Katara growled. She couldn't think of anything else to say… because in truth… the guard was right. She didn't matter at all.

"Is there something you want with her?" Said a voice from behind them.

Katara didn't know whether to feel relieved or even more upset when she heard his low voice. Whose side was Prince Zuko on?

His own… She thought to herself, but waited hopefully none the less. Maybe he would do something different then them. If he did, she would be truly proved wrong in one aspect.

"Just looking for a little entertainment." The guard said. The other two peeled their eyes off Katara and nodded at Zuko from behind the first guard.

"Surely you don't mind?"

Prince Zuko's eyes narrowed. He may have been entirely focused on capturing the avatar that there was no time for any second thoughts, but that didn't take away from the fact that he was a respectable teenage boy at one time. Perhaps even now.

After all, in life before he had been exiled from the firebending kingdom, he never would have allowed something like that to happen to say, his sister, or his friend. Not at all.

He would never allow a woman to be ravaged under his authorization.

"Do you think I am in favor of immoral conducts? In my own camp?" He shouted disbelievingly. "I take this at serious offense! You are asking me permission to perform distasteful things on a girl far younger than you? You have some nerve."

"You speak of this sir, as… distasteful… obviously you have never done such things." The guard said with a hint of laughter in his voice. He almost smiled.

Prince Zuko's cheeks burned and his fist erupted with fire. "It is irrelevant about anything I have or never have done." He spoke dangerously. Katara watched him and the guards in astonishment.

"Actually my Prince, I think if you ever had been with a woman, you would encourage the guards and myself's wishes… so… perhaps you should take her first."

Katara's eyes brimmed with fiery tears. Not only was she insulted, but she was sickened with the men's behavior.

So disgusted, in fact, that she forgot her hatred for Zuko at that moment and cried angrily, "YOU PIGS!"

There was silence as every mans head turned to her, including Prince Zuko's.

Katara's chest was heaving as far as it could under the ropes she was bound under. A sick, cold feeling spread from her neck to her stomach.

After Prince Zuko had looked at Katara quickly, he remembered what was being said to him by his own guards, and his temper fired up again.

"You will be silent while I speak to you." Zuko ordered. He threw his hand forward and the fire that issued itself out, surged forward, burning the guard's mouth.

The guard howled in pain and pressed his fist to his lips, trying to sooth the pain as best he could.

While he whimpered, Prince Zuko stepped toward him and spoke in a low, deadly tone.

"If I hear about, see, catch, or discover any of that sort of behavior happening… or being planned… I will take that man who has those intentions, and cut him from this troop. In doing so, I will send him into the wilderness, with his honor stripped from him, and a noticeable scar to accompany him…"

He paused and a grim look crossed his features.

"And in case you don't know what it's like - I know how it feels to have no honor. You can take my word on that. Now back to whatever you were doing before."

As reluctant as they were to do so, the guards took one look at the one of them with singed lips, made up their mind, and returned to their posts by the fire, or playing cards.

The one guard who had frightened Katara the most got up and walked off into the woods, probably to find a stream and sooth his burn.

This left Prince Zuko standing there. His fists were balled, he was breathing heavy through his nose, and he was staring at the guards who had scattered themselves again.

He turned to look at Katara, and their eyes met for a split second.

During that split second Katara's heart jumped at the sight of his face.

So focused. So full of thought. It was frightening.

That face that caused Aang so much trouble and fear. Nightmares, worry, panic, having to run away from him.

Anger burned inside her for her friend, as she stared at his enemy.

Right in front of her.

Standing, right there.

Right there, in his black and red armor, with his stone cold face and his dark golden eyes.

Before she knew it he had broken the glance as carelessly as he would with any other person in any other situation, and he had gone back into his tent.

Katara finally let out the breath she had been holding and closed her eyes.

This was already more upsetting then she had worried it would be… and it was only minutes after she had arrived at the encampment.

How much more would come? And more yet… how much more could she take.