(A/N: The P.O.V's alternate in this chapter. I've put a star when they change. I'm sorry if this is confusing, but I thought it the best way to write this chapter…so enjoy:D)

Katara's eyes snapped open. It took her a moment to come to her senses, and when she did, she realized that she wasn't in the cell she had last been in. Although her eyes were still adjusting to the gloom, Katara could tell that neither Toph nor Iroh were in this new room. However, there was a figure sitting opposite her, undistinguishable in the dim light. She blinked a few times in confusion, her head hurting for some reason.

She was lying on a very flat mattress, which confused her even more.

Where am I? And why have I woken up here? Katara thought, sitting up.

She immediately regretted this decision; her side aching from - what she assumed - was the way she had been lying. She winced and gasped in pain.

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't have done that." Said a voice. Katara sharply turned around, ignoring the pain in her side.

That voice…

"No." Katara whispered in horrified disbelief. She shook her head slowly as her eyes fully adjusted. Sure enough, Zuko was leaning against the wall opposite her.

"Yes." He replied. Unlike the threatening way he had said this back at the North Pole, Zuko had no particular emotion behind his words this time. It was as if he were merely confirming Katara's statement.

Katara shook her head again, hoping that this action would make Zuko not be here. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"No, no, no." Katara muttered, beginning to panic.

"You keep saying that as if it's going to make me go away." Zuko told her, tonelessly. He was still leaning, as if unconcerned, against the wall.

"Well you never know until you try!" Katara spat back. She still didn't know where she was, why she was there and just what the hell the Fire Prince was doing there with her. And this made her very irritable.

Deciding to work on one problem at a time, Katara examined her surroundings. It was damp and cold in the room. From what she could see of the walls, they were made of dark stone. This could only mean one thing.

I'm still in a cell…she thought, but whereabouts?

This current cell was bigger than her old one, and at least this new cell had mattresses.

Granted, they were dirty, peculiar smelling and full of holes, but at least they were mattresses.

Why didn't our old cell have mattresses? Katara thought absentmindedly, Iroh could've really used one…

Her eyes widened as the realisation that she didn't know where Toph and Iroh were struck her. She knew that the only chance of finding out where they were and if they were okay meant talking to Zuko. As much as this may damage her pride, Katara didn't even need to think about it. She felt responsible for Toph and Iroh now and needed to know about them.

Quite reluctantly, she raised her eyes up to Zuko.

"Where are Toph and your uncle?" She asked, hoping her voice didn't betray how worried she felt.

"I don't know." Zuko replied shortly. He sighed and carried on, in a somewhat bored voice, "I'm assuming the Dai Li moved them the same time they moved you, and you were here long before I was."

"Yes, but I was unconscious." Katara pointed out behind gritted teeth.

Zuko's attitude was already annoying her, and she had said less than five sentences to him.

"I don't know where they are." Zuko shrugged. "At the moment I'm more worried about my situation."

Oh, that's right, I forgot. You're still the selfish, uncaring Prince you always were, Katara thought angrily. Determined to voice her thoughts, she attempted to stand up, but the stabbing pain in her side returned and she quickly sat back down again.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked, much to Katara's surprise. Rather than respond accordingly, or - God forbid - show gratitude for his seemingly genuine concern, she narrowed her eyes, ignoring the pain.

"What do you care?" She hissed. "You're probably the reason I'm here anyway."

Zuko raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Yes. I knocked you out, carried you to this cell, locked myself in and waited for you to wake up so you could start accusing me of things I'm innocent of." He replied, his voice dripping with uncharacteristic sarcasm.

Katara shrugged, careful to not jolt her side in any way.

"It seems like the kind of stupid thing you'd do." She told him, positioning herself so her side was in no more pain than it had to be.

Zuko stood up angrily and stepped off his mattress. Katara looked up at him with unease; although he hadn't come any closer towards her, Zuko still gave off a threatening vibe. Plus, there was the fact that Katara couldn't exactly stand up to defend herself. That always made a girl jumpy.

"You want to talk about stupid things?" Zuko asked, his voice raised. "How about coming back to Ba Sing Se!"

"Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time!" Katara shouted back defensively.

Zuko looked ready to yell something back, but instead took a deep breath and walked towards the door to the cell.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, her confusion mixing with her anger.

Zuko didn't reply. Instead, there was a loud clunking noise, and Katara heard him curse in pain.

"What the hell is that?" She heard him mutter under his breath angrily.

"Well, I think we can rule out the possibility that it's a feather, considering the noise it made on your foot." Katara said, trying not to feel satisfaction at Zuko's pain.

Again, Zuko didn't reply. In Katara's opinion, this was a good thing. As a general rule, the less Zuko talked the less trouble Katara seemed to get into.

"It's a lantern…" Zuko murmured, crouching down to get a better look at the object he had banged into. "Who would put a lantern in front of the door?"

"I think a better question would be: how can you not notice a lantern in front of the door?" Katara asked, contemptuously.

Seriously though, She thought, rolling her eyes, how can you miss a heavy, metallic thing like that?

"It's dark." Zuko told her. "And you didn't notice it either."

Katara opened her mouth to object, but Zuko held up his hand to silence her. She opened her mouth even wider to object at his order, but quickly silenced any words she had been about to say when she saw what Zuko was about to do.

He stared intently at the lantern, as if studying it. Then, carefully stepping back, he thrust his clenched fist into the lantern. Quickly retrieving his hand, Zuko lifted up the lantern, now complete with ruby flames.

The room was a lot brighter now, and Katara was able to see the full extent of how much of a dive this cell really was. What appeared to be moss or fungi crept through the cracks in some of the walls, creating an unpleasant view if one studied it closely enough. Deciding that she didn't want to study this closely, Katara turned to see what Zuko was doing now.

He had set the lantern down in the space between his and Katara's mattresses, so each could see equally and was now sitting back down.

"I…uh-" Katara started off. She knew she should thank Zuko but the words just didn't seem to be coming out.

"You're welcome." Zuko replied quietly, before Katara had finished. She nodded, grateful that she didn't have to actually say the words.

First you're thanking Zuko, now you're grateful towards him? Katara scolded herself, what is wrong with you? Are you going to forgive him for all he's put your friends and family through now as well? What happened to being livid with him?

Katara knew that what she was telling herself was right. Zuko was now gazing into the flames inside the lantern, bending them to his will so that they rose and shrank steadily.

Now's a good a time as any, Katara gently prodded herself.

She took a deep breath and asked a question that she wasn't quite sure she wanted the answer to.

"Why are you here?" She asked him, her voice cold.

Zuko decided to take Azula's advice and play on the peasant's sympathy. Under normal circumstances, he hated anyone feeling sorry for him, but he had tried to show concern for the Waterbender and she had thrown it back in his face. So now he had to go a little deeper.

It isn't shameful showing weakness if it's only acting, Zuko reassured himself.

He looked down, sighed heavily, and then looked up at the Waterbender.

"Azula turned on me. She told the Dai Li to lock me up here." He said, in a low voice. He glanced swiftly up at the girl to see her reaction. However, instead of provoking pity in Katara, it seemed to have another, completely different, effect on her. She began to smirk and Zuko could see she was trying not to laugh. Stung, he glared at her.

"What's so funny?" He asked, acidly.

Katara raised her eyebrows at him, the smirk still on her lips, her eyes shining with suppressed amusement.

"You're kidding me, right?" She asked, as if genuinely unsure whether or not Zuko really didn't know why she was smug.

Zuko shot her a death-glare to show her that he wasn't kidding her. Katara held up her arms in a defensive position, although she was still trying not to laugh.

Zuko sighed in disgust and looked down at his mattress again, glaring at nothing in particular. He was trying to control his temper in front of the Waterbender, but was not succeeding very well. Especially since Katara was now openly smirking in satisfaction.

Will nothing get through to this girl?! Zuko fumed silently. The only time she seemed to take me seriously was when I was trying to kill her.

"I take it you're not a fan if irony then." She said after a few moments.

Zuko raised his eyes to look at her

"Irony doesn't tend to be a fan of me." He replied, not acting anymore. Katara's smirk faded, but only a little.

"Come on Zuko, even you've got to see the funny side of this." She said. Zuko didn't like the emphasis the girl put on 'you've' and scowled at her.

"I don't see anything funny about being betrayed by a member of your own family." Zuko replied stiffly.

"I'm sure your uncle doesn't either." Katara said, serious now. All traces of amusement or satisfaction had left her face and she was now frowning at him.

Zuko's eyes flashed dangerously..

Knowing that she had struck a nerve, Katara continued. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do - it definitely wasn't the kindest - but she carried on talking anyway.

"What's the matter?" She taunted him. "I was just stating a fact."

"Well don't." Zuko spat at her.

Does he feel guilty for what he did? Katara wondered, or does he just not want to be reminded of it?

"Guilt isn't a bad thing to feel when you've screwed up as badly as you did." Katara told him, putting it as nicely as she could.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko shouted, his fists clenching again.

That did it. He could ignore her as much as he wanted. He could insult her intelligence. He could repeatedly try to kill her friend.

But Zuko crossed the line when he told her she didn't know what she was talking about.

Katara stood up, her anger overruling the pain she felt in her side.

"I was there!" She shouted. Katara was surprised to hear that there was a slight catch in her voice. She had just assumed that the overbearing emotion she felt was pure rage. Now she saw that every emotion she had felt in the past few hours was put into her voice.

Anger, sadness, betrayal, fear, pain.

Roll them into one and the result wasn't pretty.

Even Zuko looked momentarily taken aback by Katara's tone, however he quickly composed himself and stood up too, ready for an argument.

"I saw you attack those that had been willing to accept your help!" She continued, practically shaking with fury.

"I saw you side with your sister! I saw you turn on your uncle! But worst of all…" Katara took a deep shuddering breath before continuing in a calmer voice that nonetheless contained anger, "I watched as your sister shot Aang with lightning and I saw you do nothing."

Zuko just stood there, speechless. Katara couldn't really blame him; she had just unloaded her emotions on him in the form of practically screaming at him. However, she wasn't done yet.

"Your uncle was with you from the beginning, right? Every time we saw you, he was there. Either making a comment that didn't help the situation at all, or just making sure that you didn't do anything stupid."

Zuko flinched at the reference to his uncle. Katara noticed this with satisfaction and continued.

"And suddenly your sister comes along and you throw all that back in his face. I was there, and I saw the expression on his face when he realized that your honour meant more to you than he did."

Katara looked Zuko squarely in his golden eyes, ready to deliver her final words.

"So don't you dare say that I don't know what I'm talking about."

Her voice was shaking with anger, but she was no longer shouting. Small tears had begun to gather at the corners of her eyes. She willed herself not to let them fall, even though they were not tears of sadness or fear.

Katara felt drained, both emotionally and physically, which was probably why the tears of anger and pain were threatening to spill.

But, regardless, she carried on standing. Zuko was still looking at her, his face seemingly clenched and small bursts of steam emitting from his nose every time he breathed out. Katara could feel his body heat radiating off him and she willed herself not to step back.

She knew it was probably taking all of Zuko's self-control not to hit her right now. His body language certainly suggested that he wanted to.

Yet he merely stared coldly at her.

"You should get some rest." He told her, with obvious effort.

Katara didn't respond. Her legs were shaking and she desperately needed to sit down.

The lantern, the only thing separating the two, began to dim and Katara knew that was Zuko's doing.

As the flames died down, neither one broke eye contact. Each seemed determined not to be the one to back down. However, just as the last bit of light faded, Katara could just make out Zuko looking away, his shoulders sagging slightly.

Turning back to where she knew her mattress was, Katara carefully knelt down. Feeling the edge of her mattress, she lay down, facing the wall.

Tears silently spilled over her cheeks, and this time she made no effort to subdue them.

As the last of the light faded, Zuko looked away, releasing the breath he had been holding. The Waterbender's outburst had surprised him; he hadn't expected her to reveal her feelings like that so soon.

He knew he probably deserved all that she hurled at him, and more, but right now he couldn't stop himself from feeling furious.

The peasant has no idea how much self-control it took to just extinguish that lantern without saying anything, Zuko thought bitterly, sitting on the edge of his mattress. She shouldn't speak to me like that; next time I won't be so patient.

He could still feel a small muscle in his cheek ticking, a sure sign that he was fuming.

The stupid girl was lucky I didn't set her alight…Zuko ranted silently. Yet even as he thought it, he knew it wasn't true. Whilst he had wanted to harm the Waterbender more than she knew, he never would do.

Yeah, you say that now, Zuko told himself, but just wait. She'll probably get even more infuriating and you'll struggle to control your temper.

Zuko sat in silence, running over the things Katara had shouted at him in his mind. After several minutes, Zuko had worked himself up so much that he had half a mind to set the lantern alight again and argue some more with the girl. Just as he was about to summon the energy to light the lantern, he heard a small intake of breath. The noise was weak, pathetic even, but it made Zuko stop what he was doing.

If he squinted with his better eye, he could make out the shape of the Waterbender, huddled over and sobbing.

Zuko sighed and lay down on his mattress, suddenly exhausted.

Now isn't the time to fight…maybe in the morning, he told himself.

He wasn't sure how long it took him to get to sleep, but he knew that Katara would be lying awake long after he had dozed off.

And, sure enough, she was.

A/N:

I hope this chapter was okay for everyone. I've tried to make the characters as IC and believable as possible. That's why it took me so long to write, lol. Thanks for your reviews, and thanks for reading this far :D