Katara cried for what seemed like the rest of the day, finally tiring herself out and falling asleep, considerably paler than she had been. Zuko was glad of the reprieve, which gave him time to meditate. The incessant crying had annoyed the prince to no end.

Wouldn't you be crying if you found out you couldn't see your family again?

Zuko shook his head. For the last two years, he hadn't seen his family, and he hadn't cried in that amount of time. Ignoring his conscience, Zuko began meditating. He would have begun practicing, but the cell wasn't large enough to do that without burning the girl, or himself.

Gradually, meditation began to bore the Fire Prince. He was sixteen, and even moody, driven princes can only tolerate so much meditation before they finally crack. Without the Avatar to chase, Zuko discovered, time seemed to drag. With nothing else to do, the Fire Prince laid down to sleep.

When the prince next awoke, the girl was already up. "Hmmm, I though Firebenders rose with the sun," she said, a bit of amusement in her voice.

"You're weeping kept me up all night," Zuko growled. "Of course I'd sleep late." Of course, that was a lie. His sleep had been plagued with nightmares again and the prince hadn't been able to sleep well until about midnight. But the girl had no need to know that.

"Sorry for my emotions, your highness," she said with a hint of contempt. "But I was told that I might never get to see my brother or anyone I care for again. Just because you have the emotional capacity of a thimble does not mean I do."

Zuko ignored the last comment and began to focus on the fire just as it went out. Sighing, the prince got up to get more of the wood Su had left two days ago, only to find that it all gone, leaving just a few small pieces. "How much wood did that woman leave?"

"About two days worth, why?"

"Because this is the last of it," Zuko said, setting the wood on the remains of the old fire and igniting them. It was a feeble fire at most, barely enough to light up a few feet around the wood. Even if Zuko focused on making the flames go higher, it still didn't light up very much space.

"I don't suppose you'd be kind enough to become a human torch," Katara muttered just loud enough for Zuko to hear. The prince shot her a scornful look. "Just asking."

Zuko sighed and put his hand to his head. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. Being locked in a cell was one thing. Being locked in a cell with a Waterbender was a completely different matter, especially this Waterbender, the one that haunted his sleep.

Something caught the prince's eye. It was the girl's necklace. The same one he had found all those, what seemed like, years ago. It shone rather brightly in the light of the fire. The girl caught him looking at it.

"What? Is there something on my dress?" she asked, snapping the prince back down to earth. He hurried looked away and shook his head. Katara shrugged and looked off to the side. Suddenly, she got up and began running her hand along the wall. "Prince Zuko, could you come here please?" The prince, confused, got up and followed the girl. "Could you shed some light right over here? I see something," Katara said.

Zuko lit a small flame and held to where Katara pointed. It was in a crevice large enough for about three people. Inside that crevice was what appeared to be the remains of a…

"Human," Zuko whispered. "Those are human remains." The girl nodded, hand over her mouth. She ran back to the fireside, panting.

"He let that poor person rot away in here," she gasped, her face suddenly very pale. "And he's going to do the same thing to us! That poor captive couldn't have been much older than me." She looked about to fall down in a faint.

Instinct told Zuko to catch her, which is exactly what the prince did. Katara collapsed in the Fire Prince's warm touch. She was still conscious, weeping softly. Zuko realized that she was in shock, the news yesterday and the discovery today taking it's toll on her. "He's going to kill us; he's going to kill us!" Katara muttered repeatedly.

Zuko was really confused. He had never dealt with a young girl in shock before and was at a lost. He did know that if she didn't calm down, she could die. A close friend of his uncle's had died that way. How do you treat shock? he asked himself.

The same way to wake someone who's sleepwalking.

Water.

Zuko set the girl down gently and brought the water bucket over to her. The sound of splashing water brought the girl back to her senses. Still a bit in shock, Katara bended the cooling water onto her face. "Thank you," she whispered, her skin returning to its customary tan. "Th-the bones-"

Zuko nodded and held up his hand. "It's fine. It could have happened to almost anyone." The flames flickered, the light dancing along the walls of the cell. Zuko attempted to sit down, but the splint was caught on something. Turning, he saw it was caught on a rock that was jutting out. He tugged at it, biting his lip when his arm jerked. The cloth came loose, but it also ripped a bit.

"That reminds me," Katara said. "I need to check your arm."

"No, I'm fine," Zuko muttered.

"Ha! If I'm not mistaken, a broken arm is a sign of weakness in the Fire Nation?" Katara remarked.

Zuko's temper flared. "I am not weak, you little peasant." Katara reached out and slapped Zuko's face, leaving a slight red mark.

"Don't call me a peasant, you spoiled little prince!" she cried. "I don't have to heal you, ya know!" Zuko gingerly rubbed his now-sore face. If he wanted to, he could hurt the girl tremendously, and he'd have every right to. No one had so much as playfully punched him in two years and got away with it.

No. Don't lose your temper, the prince thought to himself. However, not retaliating would show weakness, and weak was something the prince was not. Not knowing what else to do, Zuko reached out and snatched Katara's necklace right from her neck.

That did it. Katara was on Zuko faster than Sokka on blubbered seal jerky. She water whipped the prince and laid him out flat on his stomach. Twisting his good arm behind Zuko's back, Katara snatched the necklace and let go. Her braid had come undone slightly and her chocolate brown hair was in her face. "Never steal my necklace from me again."

"Or what?" Zuko asked, smirking as he sat himself up.

"Or I'll, I'll, I'll freeze you!" Katara said, slightly flustered.

Zuko smirked even wider. "Hmm. Remember last time you tried to freeze me?"

"It was sunrise! Of course you were going to melt through my ice!" exclaimed Katara. "If it had still been nighttime, you'd have gotten frostbite before you had melted through. And don't forget who kicked your butt afterwards," she pointed out.

"How can I?" Zuko muttered. "I'm still sore from that rematch." It was Katara's turn to smirk.

"Ha!"

"Ha? Is that all you can come up with?" Zuko asked, still smirking. Katara's smirk dropped like a Komodo Rhino that ate too much. "In the Fire Nation, we're trained to never let our opponent outwit us." Katara looked about ready to say something, but found herself at a lost for words. "See? You can't even come up with a comeback!"

"At least my Nation still wants me!" Katara said, though she instantly regretted it. "I didn't mean to say-"

"Just shut up," Zuko snapped. "Don't even think about trying to heal my arm, you filthy water peasant."

He hadn't meant to sound so cruel, but Katara's remark had stung Zuko deeply. Zuko expected some remark from Katara, but to his surprise, he got none. Just a nod from Katara and silence.


A little fighting here. I wanted to...actually, the whole going from concern to hate kinda happened naturally. (shrugs) Oh, well. Good thing Zuko's prone to mood swings.