Discalimer: I do not own Avatar but that would be pretty cool though. Hehehehe

Author's Note:A few of my events may be off a bit. I can't remember all the episodes in order. Please forgive me! One friendly reminder, bold is for thoughts and italics are for flashbacks. In this chapter, underlined words are writing.

Kindling a hidden flame

It had been a week and a half since Zuko and Lamura had been alone together. Actually, they had been alone plenty of times in the past ten days but it wasn't a comfortable alone. There was always an awkward silence between them. Lamura stayed in her room a lot while Zuko would stay in the navigation room for hours on end.

Today was like every other day. Zuko was sitting in the navigation room while Lamura was sitting in her room. She had on a long black dress that hugged her curves well. The skirt spilled over her bedside, looking like a waterfall of dark water. She held her doll in her arms and buried her face in its hair. Her hair was down, matching the black of her dress. The only light color was her pale skin. She had lost her soft tan from her time in her room.

The silence in the room was very bone-chilling. She looked around for no reason and saw her fire was dying. She would have gotten up and stirred it but she felt too sad to firebend. As she bowed her head, her hair fell infront of her face, hiding it from the room. She heard her door open and close with a clang!. She looked through her hair and saw Iroh. "Hello Iroh."

"Hello Lamura. Why are you here all alone?" Iroh asked, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I don't know. I can't leave. If I do, I'll have to face Zuko."

"Why do you not wish to face my nephew? Are you afraid of him?" Iroh asked as he tucked a strand of Lamura's hair behind her ear, revealing her pretty face.

"I'm not afraid of him. I'm afraid of the way he'll look at me. He hates Commander Zhao and the doll he gave me. I'm afraid that he'll hate me for accepting the doll. I just don't have the courage to go out and face him." Lamura was near tears now.

Iroh moved to sit closer to Lamura. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his arms. "Shh... It's alright. You can have all the time you wish. Zuko is having just as much trouble leaving the navigation room. He waits until he knows you'll be asleep then creeps to his room."

Lamura looked up at Iroh. "He does?"

"Yes. He has yet to tell me anything but I can see in his eyes and in the way that he moves that he misses you and wishes to be around you again. You two were the only two I have ever seen that were actually happy through a betrothel. You must not let your fear of his rejection get to you. He will accept you because he loves you."

Lamura nodded and wiped away her tears. "If you think he'll love me anyway, I'll go see him."

Iroh smiled and got up. "Good but wipe your eyes first. I believe he's on the deck now. I'll go see." Iroh gave her another smile and silently left the room.

Lamura wiped her eyes and stood up from her bed. She smoothed out her dress and then ran her hands through her hair. She looked at herself in a small handmirror then left her room. She walked to the deck and looked for Zuko. Spotting him, she walked up behind him only to hear him speak to Lieutenant Jee. "The safety of the crew isn't important. Catching the Avatar is." His words shocked her. Does he really not care about our safety? Lamura stared with wide eyes at Zuko.

Lieutenant Jee looked over Zuko's shoulder and saw the hurt look on Lamura's face. He glared at Zuko. "Really?" He motioned for Zuko to turn around.

Zuko noticed the motion and turned around. He gasped when he saw Lamura. Did she hear what I said? His expression softened and he took a step closer to her. "Lamura...Did you-"

"Yes. I heard you. Thank you for opening my eyes. You don't really care. You never really cared!" She yelled as her tears fell from her eyes. She turned and ran off of the deck. She ran down the dark hall and ran right into her room. She slammed the door behind her and threw herself on her bed. "He doesn't care about me! All the love he showed me isn't real. All he cares about is catching the Avatar!" She cried into her pillow until she couldn't cry anymore.

On deck, Zuko was frozen in his place. Lamura had heard him. He heard Lieutenant Jee whispering to some others. "I'm not suprised. They were too different. He never really cared about her." Zuko would have turned and gone after Jee but he had other things on his mind. Without saying anything, he walked after Lamura.

Lamura sat at the table that was across from her bed. She had a piece of paper and a quill in her hand. She dipped the tip of her quill in a bottle of ink and began to write.

Dear mother and father,

I have terrible news. I fear that I overheard Zuko's true feelings about me and my safety. He was speaking with Lieutenant Jee when I heard him say that the safety of the crew was unimportant and that it didn't matter. I felt like my heart was tearing into little pieces. I thought he loved me. He has told me before that even if we hadn't have been betrothed, he would have asked for my hand in marriage anyway. He told me that he cares deeply for me but those words that he spoke showed that everything was a lie. I could tell in the way he spoke that he didn't care if any of us died in his search for the Avatar. He doesn't care about my safety or his uncle's safety. I feel like I don't even know him anymore.

Lamura stopped writing and thought back to some of the moments she had shared with Zuko. He had comforted her and held her in his arms so many times. He had whispered sweet words to her and made her heart fly to the clouds. He had made her heart soar and if he had asked, she would have given everything for him. She would have given him her heart and everything along with it. Now, she just felt empty. She felt cold and lifeless.

Lamura put her quill down and yawned. All the crying, running, and emotional stress from the past few days had really made her tired. She rose to her feet and moved from her table to her bed. She slipped under her blankets and closed her eyes. She was asleep in seconds.

Only moments after she had fallen asleep, Zuko walked in. He had been standing outside of her door for minutes, listening to her through the door. He had heard her mumble a few words quietly but he didn't understand her. He heard a long silence and had decided to enter. He stuck his head in the room, looking from one side to the other. He stepped in completely when he saw Lamura asleep on her bed. He slipped in the room, closing the door behind him.

He looked at the desk and saw a sheet of parchment on it with a quill and ink. He walked over and picked it up off of the table. He let her eyes scan over the letter and the more he read, the wider his eyes got. When he finished, he lowered the note and stared at Lamura's sleeping figure. "She really thinks that's how I feel about her?" He let the letter drop and he walked over to Lamura's bedside. He kneeled down and carressed her cheek with the back of her hand. He whispered to her as she slept even though he knew she wasn't listening. "Lamura, I care for you more than anything in the world. Without you, I would have hardened my heart and never been happy ever again."

He slowly rose to his feet and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. He walked to her door and sighed before opening it. I have to make this right somehow.

Author's Note: How was it? Please review and tell me what you think. You can give me ideas or whatever. No Flames please.