Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar:The last airbender. Plain and simple

Diamond could hear Iroh talking to her in her sleep. He was softly telling her they were going to the market; and that he would bring her back a gift. But she was half-asleep; so she figured it was all her dream.But when she woke up; and asked Iroh were Zuko was; he said he hasn't come back yet, and that he had stayed out later to search for the Avatar. She waited until noon before deciding to get dressed in her performing clothes considering the ones she was wearing needed to be washed; grasped her ring-shaped weapon and ran out into the forest to look for him.

She found him an hour later bound to a tree with chains. Jhao standing in the middle; grinning proudly. She saw Jhao and her head throbbed, and before her, flashed a burning island. So quick she could barely tell what happened. She saw a sword in Jhao's hand and it was pointed at Zuko's throat; Zuko might not like her at all, but what kind of person would she be if she let him die?

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" She yelled from her hiding place in the branches. "Welcome to the Diamondaire circus! Taking center ring is the star in your sky; the twinkle in your eye, the most undeniable, Diamond!" She jumped out of the trees; in a back-flippy kind of way; and landed on the ground. "Your worst nightmare." Jhao raised an eyebrow.

"I've seen strange entrances before; but that by far-"

"For her first performance, she'll demonstrate her amazing, flying disk!" Zuko blinked and watched. The soldiers attacked her in an ambush; she threw her disk and it made a round; chopping off most of their heads, blood, everywhere! Zuko gasped in amazement. That's when she started to...dance? The soldiers found it strange; so they all attacked to get the fight over with. She did a back flip, grabbed a solider's head between her legs, rolled into the center of her ring shaped weapon, and as she pulled the ring over her, a loud crack was heard and the soldier's head was turned all the way around.

Jhao was the only one left. She smirked. But before she could attack; she fell to her knees and held her head. Oh god..no..not here..not now... Zuko called out to her, worried. She stood up, and sliced the chains which set him free. She stumbled, and passed out into his arms.

"A fainting spell.." He sighed, swinging her legs over his arm and her weapon in his hands, he retreated, unable to fight Jhao himself with Diamond being so..fainted.

He got back to the ship, Diamond's head resting under his chin, he couldn't tell if she was asleep; or still fainted.

"What happened?" Iroh asked, ontop of the deck.

"She had a fainting spell." Zuko got back on the ship and carried her back down to her room; where he timidly rested her on the mattrace and sat with her to make sure she was alright. She had saved his life after all. Honor dictates that he owes her his now.

The flashes kept coming; they flashed a bit longer each time. Her head throbbing and pounding harder and harder, like someone beating on a drum, the island had sand, so it was near the ocean, and the buildings looked like tree houses..but they were on fire. People running every which way to put the fires out before it engulphed the entire island. Diamond, with her ring shaped weapon faced Jhao, but that was all she could see. His lips were moving, but what he was saying couldn't be heard. It was like he was mouthing his words instead of having a voice. He brought up a fiery fist..

Diamond shot up in her bed before anything else happened, sweating. She never felt so afraid in her whole life. She swung her legs out of her bed and wobbled over to the door. She apparently was still weak from her fainting spell. She walked over to the bathroom and took a shower; feeling it nessisary.The water after it had hit her skin felt so good; she tried to convince herself it was just a nightmare. But why had Jhao triggered something? Ever since her fight with him, she hasn't felt quite herself. When she got out of the bath, she re-dressed and walked out. She thought of going back to her own room, but she was scared the dreams would come again. So, she walked down to the only room that she could think of at the moment.

"Zuko.." She softly whispered after opening the door. It was three in the morning and the sun wasn't even awake yet. "Zuko.."

"What..?" He asked tiredly; rising up from his slumber and looking at her.

"Can I- I mean- sleep with you?" She shut the door and walked over to him so he could see her better. "I had a nightmare and can't go back to sleep. Just tonight I promise." Zuko sighed and moved over, making room for her. "Thank you.." She layed down in his bed beside him. A few minutes passed before he started another conversation.

"What was your dream about?"

"Nothing..just a lot of these weird flashes. They kept showing a burning island, and Jhao saying something I couldn't understand."

"It's probably from your fainting spell." He told her softly. That was the first time she had been spoken too softly by Zuko. She liked it when he wasn't screaming at her for something that wasn't her fault. She felt his hands rest gently on her wet hair; and then him telling her she took a shower. She nodded.

"Zuko..." Zuko stood in the middle of a field of red poppies, looking around for who was calling his name. It was foggy and he couldn't see past the fog. There was some text at the bottom of his dream saying Diamond appeared with a smile on her face. She did look more elegant."are you happy?"' He nodded.

"Very." He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. She tilted her head to the side, and just before they were about to kiss...

Zuko fell off his bed. Having rolled over too far and met with a plummiting fate. Diamond was already gone and he had to sit up by himself. He got up; rubbed his head irritatingly, and got dressed. He walked down the hall and into the bathroom, where he shed his clothes and got into a tub of hot water. He shut his eyes and had amillion thoughts going through his head at once. When he opened his eyes again; he saw Diamond washing his back. He got startled and unconsciously stood up.She cupped her hands over her eyes; he realized what he did and quickly got back under the water.She moved a finger to see if it was OK; and it was so she took her hands off her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I forgot to thank you for before." Zuko was still red; unbelieving that he stood up out of shock and she saw..well..you know. "I don't know why I fainted like that."

"Why did you come in here? couldn't you wait until I got out before thanking me?" He was still red. Diamond blinked.

"I suppose I could have." There was silence between them for a while; before he spoke again.

"Whatever; you saved me so I saved you. It was only fare."

"But you didn't have to. Tell me Zuko; about your past. I know you have one."

"I don't want to."

"Why?" He growled.

"I just don't want to OK?"

"OK." She told him quickly. "Was there a girl you liked?"

"Sort of." He sighed. "My father engaged me to her. I liked her; but she had an accident and I heard she died. Doesn't really matter; she probably wouldn't have liked me anyway."

"Don't talk like that." She snapped. "I bet you can be sweet if you want to be. Your good looking too. I bet a lot of girls would like you!" He looked at her for a minute; and then asked if she might. She blushed. He realized how it sounded.

"I didn't mean it like that!" He stood up again; she reacted the same way as before; and so did he. They were so awkward.

about damn time I updated! I got that stand up idea from Ranma. It happened to Ryoga once. :D