Disclaimer: Alrighty people, I must introduce you to my turtle-duck, Quakie! He shall now do the disclaimer for me.

Quakie: Quack, quack, quack quack quack. (translation: SVA does not own Avatar.)

Warning: Do you people honestly need a warning anymore? It is the same as it was the chapter before and the chapter before that, and before that, and before that…

Look into the distance, you're living in a cage
A fire burns inside you, that fuels all the rage
You're thinking of the outside, and dream of the past
The gates to freedom lie within your grasp
--Free
--Asia

Note: Sorry for the late-ness! I was on holiday for five weeks and then school came! Hope you enjoy this update! -

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Zuko glowered at the people in front of him as if hoping his mere glare would somehow magically reverse the situation and set him free. Of course, this did not work but it did attract some attention to him.

"You know, I've heard that if you glower too much, your face will freeze that way." Bumi commented as he looked down at the kneeling prisoners before him, especially the glaring one.

Zuko snarled. "Well if I weren't here, I wouldn't glower so much!"

Bumi grinned. He was going to like this boy, he could already tell. "Unfortunately you are here—"

"So you see why I need to glower." Zuko interrupted, ignoring a warning look from his uncle beside him.

But Bumi did not seem to mind the rudeness, in fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. "Well if you hadn't been captured, then you wouldn't be here."

"If your men hadn't been sneaking around then I wouldn't have been captured." Zuko shot back.

"If you weren't where my men were 'sneaking' around, then they would not have caught you."

Zuko snarled as he finally snapped. Enough of these mind games! "We were hiding in a bloody cave!" He yelled, struggling to stand. However, both the fact that he was now five, almost six, months pregnant and a soldier was effectively forcing him back down, kept him from attacking the King of Omashu. "We weren't doing anything and we weren't going to do anything either! We were just going to sit there and wait until Aang finished his bloody training and we would have been off! But no…instead your men just had to sneak around and they just had to find us and drag us here!"

There was a little silence after Zuko's outburst as everyone turned to look at Bumi waiting for the almost-sure death sentence. However, Bumi just blinked once, twice, then "And your point is…?"

Zuko let out an infuriated cry and made to stand. He was so going to knock some sense into that idiot king in front of him! How dare he mock him so!

It took five men this time to subdue him.

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Iroh glanced around the humongous chamber, a grin slowly making its way to his face. Clapping his hands together, he exclaimed, "Isn't this chamber wonderful?"

Zuko didn't even bother looking at him as he sulked on the bed, where he had had been forcibly dragged by the guards. "It's a prison cell, uncle."

Iroh didn't seem to hear. "Such a humongous place! Look! We even have room to practice!"

"It's still a prison."

"--And look! Comfy beds! --"

"They are green--"

"--And look at the wonderful decorations!--"

"--An Earth Kingdom flag, some stupid carpets on the wall, and a crystal chandelier above us. Lovely."

"--But look at the tapestries!" Iroh exclaimed, fingering one of them. "Wow…velvet…and such exquisite designs!"

"--A bunch of green squares on a purple cloth. Amazing." Zuko answered sarcastically as he crossed his arms and glowered at the wall.

Iroh sighed and finally turned to face his nephew. "Zuko, I understand that you are not happy with this predicament, neither am I, but—"

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Then what are we doing just sitting here! We should be busy escaping!"

"Zuko! Use some sense! Look around you!" Iroh gestured around the room. "There is nothing but tiny air vents!"

Zuko snarled. "So? Blow a hole in the wall!"

Iroh sighed again, slowly shaking his head. There was no reasoning with his nephew now. One of the things Iroh hated the most was that when Zuko got something in his head, he refused to give it up. It had been true in the past but even more so now. It seemed that pregnancy only added to the determination and completely destroyed reason in the boy. He opened his mouth to try and soothe the boy the best he could, when a piece of the wall suddenly sunk down into the ground making a small 'doorway'. A guard stepped in and Iroh could see silhouettes of more guards waiting outside.

The guard merely glanced at Iroh before turning his attention to Zuko. "You, boy," He hinted for Zuko to follow. "The King would like to speak with you."

Zuko let out an exasperated groan as he slid of the bed slowly and with some difficulty before walking to the 'doorway'.

Iroh moved to follow, but the guard held up his hand to stop him.

"The King wants to see the boy alone."

Iroh frowned but backed away, watching worriedly as the missing piece of the wall rose up.

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Zuko walked silently after the guards, cursing the fact that he could not bend. There were thick metal bands on his wrists and ankles, pressing hard into pressure points, thus effectively rendering his bending useless. Of course he could still breathe fire, but they did not know that and he wasn't stupid enough to tell them. He'd wait and reveal it when deemed necessary.

Which was most likely going to be soon. He decided silently as he and the guards turned a corner.

They were taking him to the torture chamber, he knew it. Although it did seem kind of strange that they were taking him upwards…he always thought that torture chambers were below palaces and near the dungeons. But then again, this was not the Fire Nation.

Zuko gritted his teeth and vowed silently to refuse to reveal any information.

Yes, he wanted the war to end. Yes, he sided with the Avatar. Yes, he was going against his father, the Firelord. Yes, he was going against his entire nation as a matter of fact. But that did not matter. As much as he would have liked to say that he despised his father for treating him like the way he had; it was just not the case. Something inside was still loyal to his father, to his country, to his people. And it was that small something that refused to let him say anything that could endanger his nation.

The guard in front of him stopped, jerking Zuko out of his thoughts. Blinking, he was surprised to see in front of him an elegant door with the Earth Kingdom symbol carved into it. Dimly, Zuko wondered how the door was supposed to open, when the guard made a pushing motion with his hands and the door simply swung open.

Of course. Zuko thought dryly. Earthbending.

Stepping in, Zuko braced himself for a vast number of torture devices that would most likely be towering maliciously before him, but nothing prepared him from what was actually in front of him.

Zuko involuntarily stopped and just stared in blatant surprise.

In front of him was a huge table, filled with all sorts of exotic dishes. There were two chairs, one at the end of the table, and the other placed near it. The one at the end, however, was occupied by none other than Bumi himself.

Bumi grinned madly at him before hinting the seat next to him. "Well? What are you waiting for? Sit!"

Zuko shook himself out of his surprise and allowed himself to be escorted over to the chair. Sitting down cautiously, he eyed the dishes.

There was everything here, from fire flakes to even stewed sea-prunes. Zuko's mouth watered at the sight of roast duck. It had been so long since he'd eaten a normal meal…

Mentally shaking his head, Zuko shifted his gaze to glower at the king across from him. "What is this?"

Bumi just kept on grinning madly. "Lunch, what did you think? We have to eat you know!"

Zuko didn't buy that. Not one bit. It was obviously a trap…a…a new torture device of some kind! Yes! That was it! The foods before him were obviously laced with poison or something! Turning back to the king, he declared, quite clearly in his opinion, that he would not tell him anything.

The mad king only laughed then snorted a couple of times.

"I know you won't tell me anything, Prince Zuko. I am not a fool!" Bumi reassured the boy, who simply narrowed his eyes at him. "But we really should eat—"

"Ha!" Zuko burst out, his frustration and anger getting the better of him. "Like I'd touch this junk!"

Bumi blinked, cocking his head while stroking this beard. "Junk? I was quite certain that it was food…"

Zuko snarled, trying to stand. But once again, a couple of guards forced him to stay put. "You're trying to poison me, aren't you!"

Bumi chuckled, then snorted once this time. "Now why I'd do such a thing?" He asked simply, eyeing the boy.

Zuko was silent for a few seconds before crossing his arms. "Because it would be so simple! Poison me then blackmail my uncle into revealing everything!" He hissed.

This time, the mad king was silent for a few seconds. Then, to everyone's surprise, but none more so than Zuko, he patted Zuko on the back.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Bumi exclaimed happily. "I knew you were a genius! I hadn't even thought of that possibility!"

"What!" Zuko spluttered, his mind reeling. What the hell was going on?

But Bumi wasn't paying attention as he grabbed the nearest plate and dumped a couple of potatoes on his plate, then dumped the rest on Zuko's. "Eat up!" He remarked happily. "None of these are laced with drugs or anything, I can assure you. I made a promise to the Avatar, of course." Bumi added quietly as he grinned mischievously at Zuko. "Roast duck?"

Zuko stared at the King for a few seconds, before deciding on two things. One, that if the King had promised Aang something, then he would be bound to keep it, right? After all, Aang was the Avatar…and to enrage the Avatar was suicidal.

The other thing he decided on, was that the King in front of him was really, truly, quite mad.

With a sigh and a glare, Zuko cautiously picked up a fork and chewed on a potato. He had to admit, it was pretty good.

"So…" Bumi began after a long silence. "How are you?"

Zuko snorted. "Apart from being captured and held prisoner? Fine, I suppose."

"Good, good." Bumi muttered as he glanced slyly at the teen. "How's the baby?"

Zuko, who had become somewhat relaxed with the situation, barely even registered the question before answering. "Fine..." But just as the word left his mouth, Zuko froze. With wide eyes he slowly looked up at the grinning face of the mad king. "…How…?"

Bumi grinned in silent victory. "Oh let's just say a little bird told me."

Zuko groaned inaudibly as he dropped the fork beside his plate and leaned back in the chair, frowning. Stupid Sokka… But it made sense now…it made sense why he wasn't being tortured or poisoned or something. He knew that Earth Kingdom laws were pretty strict when it came to dealing with pregnancy. But he would've preferred them not to know…

Zuko glanced up at Bumi when he heard the chair scraping.

"I want to show you something." Bumi told him, hinting for him to follow.

Zuko groaned as he pushed himself up with some difficulty, and followed the King outside onto a balcony.

Bumi grinned at him. "Tell me, what do you see?"

Zuko blinked at the strange question before walking cautiously over to the rail, keeping one eye on the mad King just in case he decided to do something like push him over. But when the King made no such threatening move, Zuko finally took his eye off of him and looked down at the Kingdom of Omashu below. He was silent for a few minutes, watching earth carts zoom past them on ramps.

"The mail system." Zuko answered finally, not exactly sure why the King wanted to know the obvious.

"Hmm…yes…" Bumi answered, still grinning. "But what else do you see?"

Zuko frowned as he turned back to the city below him. Something in him was sure that Bumi did not mean the houses, or people, or streets, or any of that sort. Slowly, his gaze wandered back to the rolling carts. After a few more minutes, he smirked.

"An escape plan."

This time, it was Bumi's turn to be surprised. But of course, he did not show it, save for lifting one bushy eyebrow. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Zuko just kept smirking as he turned around, walking back into the room. "You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you?"

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Sorry again for the late-ness! Please review! (and thank you for being patient)

SVA