"Tell me where the Avatar is." Zuko repeated for the hundredth time that day.

Katara was in a cell on the Fire Nation warship. Everything was cold metal, accented with rusty reds. Although she was usually free to roam about the room, manacles were latched around each of her wrists, attached to chains that fed into the wall. From outside the door, those chains could be set to pull taut, rendering her unable to move in any direction. They were set as such now, holding her in place for Zuko's interrogation.

He paced in front of her restlessly, becoming more frustrated by the minute.

"How many times can I tell you the same thing? I have no idea! I saw him fly off just the same as you." Katara grimaced, reliving the memory of Aang and Sokka flying away on Appa. It had only been a day, but it already felt like a lifetime. Where were they? Why hadn't they come for her yet?

"You must know something. YOU WILL TELL ME." He stood directly in front of her, seeming to tower over her.

"Even if I did know where they were, I would never tell you! You're not getting Aang in your little Fire Nation clutches."

"Do you even realize the position you're in right now? You are at my mercy." He stalked even closer to her, bringing his face inches from hers with a menacing scowl. The air between them sparked. "And I'm not big on mercy. Don't make me hurt you, waterbender."

Stepping back, he conjured a small flame, making it dance between his hands for effect. Katara shrunk away as much as her chains would allow. Still, whatever Zuko was threatening was better than what the pirates had had planned for her.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?" Zuko replied softly, cocking an eyebrow on the side of his face that was not marred by the burn.

Katara looked into his eyes, trying to find a shred of sympathy within but they were hard and cold. And yet… despite how imposing as he was—and how angry he was—she didn't think he would actually carry through on his threat.

All the same, she wasn't sure she wanted to test that intuition.

"I… I told you, I don't know! We never make camp in the same place for long. They could be anywhere by now."

Zuko growled, resisting the urge to slam the wall. He allowed the fire in his palm to extinguish. He was getting nowhere with this. Four times now, FOUR, that scrawny monk had slipped through his fingers. And his honor along with him.

"Please, Zuko. You know I don't know." Katara's voice broke through the angry fog in his mind. She sounded defeated, slumping as far as she could with the chains holding her upright in the middle of the cell. It had been a full day of interrogation since she'd been brought aboard his ship, and he had not learned a single thing that would help him capture the Avatar.

He knew the Water Tribe girl was telling the truth about not knowing where the Avatar was right now—how could she?—but he refused to believe that she didn't know anything useful. And although he saw himself as callous, he couldn't bring himself to actually hurt her to see what information she might have. Worse still, he suspected she knew that. This frustrated him even further, knowing that his sister and father would have no qualms about doing what needed to be done.

He said, "Fine! But if you think I'm letting you go, you can forget it. The Avatar will come back for you, and when he does, I will be ready."

"Good! I can't wait. He is going to beat you, just like he does every time you actually manage to catch up to him!" Katara spat, holding back tears at the mention of Aang coming for her. She didn't want to give Zuko the gratification of seeing her cry.

Zuko opened the door to leave the room when Iroh's voice came from the hall, "Prince Zuko. I think our guest might be thirsty by now. You have been yelling at her for hours."

"Right." Zuko muttered, taking a cup of water that Iroh handed him and walking back to Katara.

By now, she knew the drill. She was only allowed water when it was fed to her with her arms immobilized by the chains. She had been given water a few times already by the faceless helmeted soldiers, whenever Zuko took a break from yelling at her. The soldiers had simply emptied the cup into her mouth with no regard for the indignity of how it dripped down her chin when they sloshed it too fast, and not a care if she sputtered as she tried to keep up to swallow the flow.

Zuko, though, was strangely gentle as he tipped it to her lips. His usual overbearing demeanor diminishing slightly, he said almost apologetically, "It has to be like this. It's standard protocol with waterbenders."

Katara let the cool water rush down her throat. She felt grateful for the drink, and even more grateful for Zuko's uncharacteristic kindness. But that didn't change how appalled she was at the humiliation of being restrained and fed water in such a way. Zuko watched her closely with an odd expression on his face, taking care not to pour too much for her to swallow at once.

When the cup was empty, a single drop of water trickled from the corner of her mouth. Zuko swiped it away carefully with his thumb, the movement a light caress along the bottom of her lip. A tingle flew up her spine like a jolt of electricity.

A peculiar silence hung in the air between them.

"Uh. Thanks." Katara filled the silence with the first thing that came to mind, mentally kicking herself immediately after. She shouldn't be thanking Zuko, of all people. Zuko was the reason she was in this mess. Zuko wouldn't stop chasing them. Zuko was holding her prisoner, for crying out loud.

The corners of Zuko's eyes softened almost imperceptibly. He jerked his hand away. "Yeah…" he said, before striding out the door.

After the door clanged shut, the mechanism that held her chains released, giving her freedom to move around the room. She allowed her arms to fall to her sides with relief.

Hugging herself, she threw herself onto the small lumpy mattress in the corner of the room. Her breath hitched with a sob, and she released it, finally letting out all the tears that she had held in all day. Where were Aang and Sokka? How long would she be in Zuko's clutches?

How could he be so frightening one moment and then show such gentleness the next?

O – O – O – O – O – O

Two more days went by with Aang and Sokka still nowhere to be seen. She passed her time practicing her combat and bending stances to keep her strength up.

Zuko still came to her cell several times a day to feed her water and ask questions. He no longer bothered to engage the mechanism to pull her chains taut when he came; it was clear that she was no threat to his superior strength and fighting capabilities. Even her bending was nothing compared to his.

He would always start by asking about the Avatar, trying to glean information on where Aang could be, where he might be going, why he hadn't come yet, or what his weaknesses were. But he rarely yelled anymore, after that first day. He mostly just seemed resigned, determined to keep asking anyway. Obsessed. It seemed to Katara that a deep-seated desperation was driving him.

Often after his questions petered out, he ended up sitting on the floor across the room from her, sometimes seeming at a loss for what to say and other times trying to make awkward conversation. Katara grew to—not look forward to, that was too strong of a feeling, but—anticipate his visits to break up the monotony of her cell. He was no great conversationalist by any stretch of the imagination, but it was nice to have someone to talk to. And the more she talked to him, the more her fear of him drained away. He had not hurt her, no matter what he said he was going to do. Sure, he was angry and unpredictable, at best. But there was something underneath all of that.

And he kept coming back to see her, even knowing she had nothing to tell him about the Avatar. It was almost like… almost like he liked her company. Or perhaps it was simply a disruption in the monotony for him as well. The crew and soldiers certainly didn't seem like interesting company.

Still, Katara was sick of it all. She was sick of being bait. Sick of being helpless. Sick of her only company being her enemy. Sick of relying on the glimpses of kindness from a volatile fire prince.

O – O – O – O – O – O

It was dawn on her fourth day in the cell and Katara sat on the thin cot, trying to think of some way to escape. She wished, for the millionth time, that she were a powerful waterbender who could compel the ocean to answer her call and get her off this forsaken ship.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door creaked open and Zuko strode in as usual, with her cup of water. But this time, he was also holding a pai sho board under his other arm.

Katara gave it a pointed glance and quirked an eyebrow.

"I thought you might be bored in here. Do you know how to play?" he asked.

"Yeah. A bit, anyway. But who says I want to play with you? And why would you want to play with me?"

"I'm sick of playing with my uncle. I want to go against someone new."

"Sick of playing with your uncle? Or sick of losing to him?"

Zuko glared at her, not liking to be the subject of any joke. "I'll have you know I was taught by the best pai sho masters in the Fire Nation."

Katara could tell he was getting irritated but couldn't resist pushing him just a bit further. "I notice you didn't answer my question."

"Fine!" he snapped. "Yes. I am sick of losing to the old man, okay. Do you want to play me or not? I can just leave you alone in here with your thoughts again, if you'd prefer."

Grinning, she replied, "No, no, no. I guess I can play you. But what do I get in return?"

"What? That's ridiculous. You're my prisoner, you aren't exactly in a position to negotiate."

"Well… you want to play me, and I don't have to play you, so I think that gives me a bit of leverage, don't you think?" She smiled sweetly at him, knowing it would get under his skin.

"Forget it!" He twisted around, starting to storm from the room.

"Wait." It was so easy to rile him, but she didn't actually want him to leave. She did want to play, if only to have something to do instead of stare at the metal wall. "What I want is simple."

Zuko looked over his shoulder, halfway out the door. "What?"

Quickly, she tried to think of something that would help her escape, some way she could trick him into giving her something to her advantage. But he wouldn't be that stupid. He looked at her expectantly and she ended up blurting the first thing that came to mind, "I want to drink tea while we play."

"That's it?" He stepped back into the room.

"That's it."

He narrowed his eyes. "I don't think that's such a good idea, waterbender. Nice try though."

"Come on. We both know," she looked down, embarrassed, "I'm not a good enough bender to do anything with a bit of tea."

Zuko appraised her, trying to figure out if she was up to something.

Seeing he was on the edge of a decision, she continued, "I just want a bit of civilization. It's not exactly a holiday being stuck in your cell, you know. I just… miss tea."

"Well…" The hard lines in Zuko's face smoothed out as he considered.

"How about this?" Katara held up her hand as though she were taking an oath. Her eyes twinkled with contained amusement. "I solemnly swear I won't bend the tea. Seriously."

"…All right," he said reluctantly. "But one step out of line and I'll revoke these privileges! And don't forget, I can take you in a fight. And we're on my ship. Surrounded by my soldiers."

Katara gave him an exaggerated eyeroll. "Yes yes, I'm well aware of that. So it's a deal then!" She bounced to the middle of the room and sat on the floor, waiting for him to join her and start their game.

Zuko looked uncertainly at the pai sho board in his hands. "I didn't bring any tea today, though. Just some water."

"I'll let it slide. This time." Katara joked. She swore she almost saw a smile cross Zuko's lips; unbidden, her thoughts turned to how handsome he looked when he wasn't scowling.

He joined her in the middle of the room, setting down the board and bag of pieces between them.

Then he moved closer to bring the water to her lips as usual, stopping when she spoke.

"As much as I enjoy you feeding me water," she said with playful sarcasm, "are you really going to feed me tea too? The whole time we play pai sho? Just let me…" Locking eyes with him to gauge his reaction, she slowly reached out to take the cup from his hands. He seemed on edge, ready to spring if she made any sudden movements. Their fingers brushed as she gently put her hands around the cup and removed it from his grasp.

Zuko watched her as she took a sip, almost in a trance.

As she swallowed, he shook himself mentally and said, "Since you're not a very good waterbender, it shouldn't be a problem."

Katara wasn't sure, but she thought she caught a slight teasing in his tone, hidden underneath his usual testiness.