I've had some questions about Sokka, Aang, and Iroh. Remember, this is from Zuko POV, so they aren't seen unless he sees them.


"Prison" just about summed up how Zuko felt about the hovel. It was getting rather tiresome, that hovel. Zuko compared it to the time he had been sentenced to a month in his room. The only difference was that Katara was also stuck here with him. And that was a big difference.

Katara, unlike Zuko, was not content to sit around and do virtually nothing. She talked. A lot. Even when it was obvious Zuko was not listening, Katara would talk. Usually about her brother and the Avatar, but sometimes about what she would do to Ji Li if she could get her hands on him. (Silently, Zuko concurred with some of her ideas, though he would never admit it.) One day, a week after Su's appearance, Katara's talking got on the prince's nerves.

She was saying something about it being about three weeks since Zuko had gotten her into this mess and how she hoped that Aang (who Zuko gathered was the Avatar) was learning Earthbending and Firebending. Finally, Zuko, careful to control his temper, muttered, "Do you ever shut up?"

"I'm not usually this talkative, but I'm bored. I talk when I'm bored," Katara said. "It's not natural for me to be cooped up like this!" Katara waved her hand around the hovel.

"It's not natural for anyone to be cooped up like this, Katara," Zuko replied. "But sometimes, as Uncle Iroh put it, 'life puts us in predicaments that we'd give our life to get out of'."

Katara laughed. "Well, maybe not my life, but I would definitely give almost anything to get outta here."

"Like what?"

"My mother's necklace," Katara said after a few minutes debate. "It's the only thing I can remember with, but if it would get me out of here, I'd trade it in a heartbeat." Katara looked at Zuko. "What about you?"

"I have nothing of value, sentimental or otherwise, at this moment," came the reply.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," Zuko confirmed. "Only the tunic and pants I had under my armor, and my armor, if the guards have not already ruined it." The prince cringed at the thought of his armor being shared out among the guards. "I don't think anyone here has much use of silk, anyway."

Katara smiled. "Don't think so. It looks like linen and cotton is the fabric of choice here." She absently fixed the kerchief around her head. "I hope my hair grows back soon. I hate having it short."

Zuko shrugged and began to meditate. That didn't last long.

"How on Earth can you sit there and meditate nonstop?" Katara asked.

"Firebenders always meditate," Zuko said. A smile tugged at his lips. "And I have nothing better to do."

Katara sighed. "You could try being more sociable. Frankly, you're dull company."

"I'm sorry for that, but I wasn't the one in my family who practiced that sort of thing," Zuko said coldly. "My sister was."

"Sister?"

"Sisters, actually. Zula had a twin sister, Okia, but she died in a fever that swept the Fire Nation about three years ago."

"I remember that," Katara said. "Half my village was wiped out."

"It was horrible," Zuko said, quieter. "Firebenders rarely ever get fevers, due to our high body temperature. When we do get them, they're usually only minor ones and they go away after a few days and many herbal teas. The one that ravaged the Fire Nation was…devastating, to say the least."

"Do you miss her? Your sister, the one that died, I mean," Katara asked. The prince snorted.

"No. Okia was just like Zula. Mean, heartless, and a master at whatever she attempts. She wasn't a Bender, like Zula, so she mastered other arts," Zuko said, his voice laden with scorn and a hint of jealousy.

"Is Zula younger or older?"

"Why do you want to know?" asked Zuko. "It's no concern of yours."

Katara gave Zuko a look. "I have a feeling that we'll be stuck together for quite some time, even after we get out of here. If I'm going to be stuck anywhere with you, I'm going to need to understand you better."

Understand? The thought made Zuko think. No one, save his uncle, had ever tried, or showed interest in attempting, to understand him. They all assumed that he was a moody, exiled prince whose obsession with the Avatar was more important than obeying the laws to him.

"Very well. My sister Zula is a prodigy. Everyone likes her and hates me. She's a Master Firebender and has been one for five years. She's fifteen."

Katara looked at Zuko open-mouthed. "Fifteen? She became a Master at ten?"

"Yes. My father swears she already knew some moves when she was born. He adores her." Zuko then pressed his lips together in a firm line. He was going to say nothing more to Katara.

That was not going to work. The Waterbender was stubborn and unrelenting. "What about that man, the one Zhao called General Iroh? I've seen him before, with you, but that's all I know."

"He is my uncle, my father's brother," Zuko said. "When I…when I left the Fire Nation, he came with me, saying someone had to be there in case I blew my temper and needed someone to get me out of trouble."

"He tried to stop Zhao from killing the Moon Spirit, which was a bit odd. I thought all the Firebenders were eager to kill off the moon," Katara said.

"My uncle is not a normal person, by anyone's standards. He stopped my ship at a port to find a lotus tile, which he discovered was in his sleeve the whole time."

Katara laughed. "That was the time you teamed up with the pirates after I stole the Waterbending Scroll, wasn't it?"

The prince nodded. "Yes, and a complete waste of time in my opinion. I would have captured your friend the Avatar if it hadn't been for your loudmouthed brother."

"Sokka is loudmouthy sometimes," Katara admitted. "But, he's my brother, so I learned to deal with it."

"Hmph." Zuko clearly thought it was impossible for anyone to get used to Katara's brother.

"You're not exactly easy to live with yourself, Prince Zuko," Katara pointed out. "I have never met someone so moody, so hot-tempered, so driven in my entire lifetime. And trust me, living with Sokka has given me plenty of experience with moody teenaged boys."

Moody? Hot-tempered? Driven? Was that what she thought of him? Is that all anyone thought of him? Well, you've done nothing to discourage those thoughts, nagged his conscience. Try showing her that you're not some nutcase after her friend.

How? How can I do that and not show weakness?

You idiot! She's a Waterbender! She won't think you're weak!

Zuko hated it when his conscience was right; it just became more annoying. "I'm not just a 'moody, hot-tempered, driven' person, Katara," Zuko said.

"I've yet to see a different side of you," she pointed out. "All I've seen is an unfeeling teen prince with temper issues after my best friend."

"If I was, as you say, unfeeling, would I have woken you up when you had that nightmare a week ago?" asked Zuko. "Would I have been careful not to cut you when you had to cut your hair? Would I have caught you when you fell after seeing those bones back in the cell? Would I have saved you from that fight?"

Katara, for once, was speechless. Everything Zuko had said did point in the opposite direction from unfeeling. If anything, it pointed to…caring.

Before anything else could be said, they heard Kyru and Kiena return. "What's Kiena doing back already?" Katara asked as she went to the other side of the curtain.

Kiena's normally tan skin was pale. "It's a fever," Kyru said. "Some recently captured Earthbenders brought it with them. I saw Kiena, clutching onto the vines for dear life and told Madam Su. She gave me permission to bring her back here. Can Waterbenders heal fevers?"

"If I was more advanced in healing, probably," Katara said. "But I can't. Aren't there any other Waterbender Healers?"

Kyru shook his head. "They all died from old age and overwork." Kiena collapsed onto her pallet, sweating. Zuko took a good look at her.

"I recognize her symptoms. It's…" The prince looked at Katara, who gasped.

"Not…?"

"Yes. It's the Huzon Fever. The fever that wiped out a third of the world's population."