Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter Three: Alliances and Escapes.

Zuko was far from hitting her. In fact, she was breath-takingly beautiful, and he had simply wanted to question her to see if the other devil of a girl had been telling the truth. The blonde girl's face had paled as soon as he entered the room. He sat opposite of her, and folded his arms across his chest.

"What is your name?" he asked. To his surprise she complied willingly.

"Cassidy."

"What Nation are you from?" he asked gently. Her face crinkled, and a confused look came into her eyes.

"Don't be frightened, I won't hurt you." he said quietly. "Just answer the questions and I promise no harm will come to you." She nodded and looked relieved.

"Now what Nation are you from?" he asked again. Cassy decided to play it safe and go with the answer that Amber had told her to tell him incase he asked.

"I lived in the forest with my family. I don't really belong to a particular nation." she answered. His gentleness helped her confidence grow.

"Who am I?" he asked. She didn't really know.

"I don't know... Prince... Zuko I think." she answered slowly. She glanced over him and flashed him a small smile.

"Ya know, if it weren't for that scar, you'd be really cute." His brooding silence told her she had said something wrong. "Though you're already pretty cute. If you don't mind my saying." Crash and burn, Cassy. Crash and burn. she thought, mentally kicking herself. If she wanted kudos with this kid, then she would have to be really really nice. She twirled a piece of her thick blonde hair on her finger.

"So do you have a girlfriend?" she asked. She got a blank stare in return. She almost scoffed if not for her reminding herself that she was being nice.

"You do know what a girlfriend is, don't you?" she asked. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Yes." He answered. "And no, I don't." She smiled.

"Funny. I would think you have an abundance of willing girls, since your a prince and all." she said coyly. Prince Zuko didn't like where this conversation was going. He refused to share his lovelife with a peasant. Even though she was attractive. His thoughts betrayed him. She was very attractive. His mind snapped at the thoughts and he quickly let them out of his mind.

"That'll do for now. Gaurds." he ordered silently. They moved to grab her, but she evaded them and took the Prince's hand. His surprise doubled when she lay a quick kiss on it and smiled up at him. These girls clearly weren't sisters. She smiled at his surprised face, then allowed the gaurds to take her away.

"Move her to the guest bedroom." He said in response to her. As soon as she was out of his sight, she smiled to herself. That idiot must not know what manipulation meant.

Meanwhile, Iroh had allowed Amber to stay and eat a good lunch with him. He laughed with her as she grimaced at the taste of the ginseng tea that he like so much.

"So, describe yourself to me." he said, drawing her attention from the teacup she had been studying. She sighed, and pondered it for a moment, resting her chin in her hand. Once she found the right words, she laughed at what she had come up with and leaned back.

"I have the light heart like that of a flying Airbender, the peace and tranquility that only comes when you waterbend, the strength in my faith like an earthbender, and have the cynicism and temper of a firebender." she chuckled at the last description. Iroh nodded. The girl had such an intelligence about her that he had never seen in such a young person before. She looked up from her empty plate, feeling the wieght of his gaze.

"What?" she asked. Iroh simply nodded.

"Most of the young people don't have what you do. It's a spirit that is not easily come by." he answered folding his hand across his belly. His eyes turned to something beyond her and he stood suddenly at attention. Amber heard a familiar voice behind her and she scowled. It made Iroh smile to himself. She certainly didn't mince words, much less looks. He amused himself.

"What is she doing out of the brig?" Demanded Prince Zuko. She turned slowly and opened her eyes, taking a deep breath before smiling too sweetly at him.

"Your Uncle was kind enough to invite me to lunch." she answered through her teeth. "It was a shame you couldn't join us." The Prince could see her obvious disdain for him.

"You can stop the facade, I know you don't like me." Zuko motioned for one of the gaurds to come over to him then placed his arms behind his back. "Take her back to the cell." Another gaurd came to help the other one, and just before they had gone below deck, the Prince had them turn her toward him again.

"By the way, I have seperated you and Miss Cassidy. You'll be sleeping in different cells from now on." He noted the glimmer of anger in her eyes. "She's in rather plush accomadations for good behaviour." Amber wanted to spit on the ground, but didn't because Iroh was in Zuko's presence, and if she respected anyone, it was the kind old General. So instead, she sneered at his smirk and let the gaurds take her back to the cold metal cell she called home.

Prince Zuko ordered the servants to bring him a late lunch as he sat down on the opposite side of his Uncle. He sat with Zuko and remained quiet as the meal was brought to the Prince. Zuko took his chopsticks and ate a piece of roasted chicken from his plate.

"I can't imagine you found anything interesting to talk about with that snot-nosed stuck up witch of a peasant." Prince Zuko snorted as he at a mouthful of rice. Iroh raised his brows in displeasure.

"Actually, she is much smarter than you think, Prince Zuko. She is a very interesting specimen, quite learned for someone of her breeding." He answered despite Zuko's glare.

"I feel Cassidy is a better taste." he answered carelessly as he ate another piece of the seasoned chicken. "I had her moved into the guest bedroom close to mine." Zuko paused, then grinned at his uncle. "Grandchildren, uncle." Iroh nodded and faked a pleased smile. He wasn't so sure about the change in the Prince's eyes for the blonde. It was much too fast, Iroh decided.

Amber kicked the metal door. Her clothes were beginning to smell, her hair had become oily and disheveled from the constant hitting, and her spirit was beginning to weaken. She ground her teeth and decided to get comfortable as the darkness fell. Removing her outer shirt, she folded it into a pillow. Then she rolled up her jeans and removed her shoes and socks. Checking her pockets, she felt a surge of hope when she felt a familiar cold metal shape in her hand. She yanked it out of her pocket and hugged it. Her pocketknife from her dad. He had bought it when she turned thirteen because she was such a tomboy. Her oldest brother got one, though her older sister didn't. Amber peeked through the metal bars at the gaurd, who had fortunately fallen asleep for her little escape attempt. She removed the disfigured cork-screw that she had shaped to be a lock pick and began doing what she had trained herself to every time she locked herself out of her room. Amber expected the lock to be extremely complex. To her surprise, it popped right open after the first ten seconds of rooting around.

"Yes!" she whispered, hope fresh in her mind. She peeked back through the bars, making sure the gaurd was still asleep when she opened the door. She crept by him, heart pounding. As soon as she got to the corner, she quickly looked beyond it and bolted down another hall. She checked the next corner, and to her horror, The Prince himself was striding that way. He hadn't seen her, thankfully, but it wouldn't be long before he would round the corner and catch her. She panicked, and grabbed the first doorknob in reach. It opened, and she quickly went in, closed it, and locked it. Looking around, her face went even paler when she realized where she was. The Prince's Personal Bedchambers! Right next to the door were metal drawers welded onto the ship, right across from that was the Prince's bed with a Fire Nation flag above it. On the far right wall was a table bolted to the floor with unlit candles on it, and above it on the wall was a tapestry of a red dragon. Amber suddenly spun in fright, holding back a scream as the doorknob shook.

Prince Zuko didn't remember locking his door when he left it this morning. He shrugged and pulled out the key to the door from his armour.

Amber watched in horror as she heard a key click into place. She did the only thing she could think of.

Zuko entered his room and let a breath out. His uncle's workout had worn him. Looking around his room, he felt satisfied he was alone. He went to his drawers and took out a pair of sleeping pants. He removed his sweat soaked shirt and dropped it next to the bed. Next he removed his pants and adorned his pajama pants.

Amber was mortified as she watched him remove his shirt. She closed her eyes and waited for him to put on his pants, catching a whiff of his shirt. It didn't stink like she thought it would, but rather smelled very sharp and pleasant. She slapped herself quietly and kept her eyes closed.

Zuko heard something. Not wanting to ruin the element of surprise, he simply turned and looked around. He spotted what he heard beneath his bed and he walked over and picked up his clothes, putting them on the dresser. Then he walked over the carpet next to his bed and sat as hard as he could, so the bed would bend in a little bit. He heard his que, almost laughing as he heard the breath go out of his captive. He swung his legs onto the bed and lay at the edge for a few minutes. Then he reached underneath it quickly and grabbed the dark haired girl's throat at the pressure points. She gurgled her anger as he dragged her from beneath the bed.

He he he! I just got my VERY FIRST REVIEWER, and while that isn't much of a dealfor the blokes reading this here story, its a HuMonGOUS deal for me! A million digital cookies of her fave flavor to LOVENELIE! Thank you very much, and don't just flatter me with totally cool reviews! Tell me what I should do to make it BETTER! still leaping/dancing w/ joy Okay, now back to the real world Note You lose conscouisness everytime you read a good book... Godsspiker !