Because it has to be said, I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, or any of the names or characters of the show. I merely control them for my own twisted pleasure from this point in my story on.

Chapter 02:

The Port City

The small port that Uncle had sleepily mentioned the night before was in a fact a large bustling city, which in all fairness was better than if it had been too small. As a thief, no one would notice Zuko here, and as a man, they would overlook even his scar.

Uncle had become quite the entertainer along their journey, and they were making enough gold by day to eat at least one hot meal. But it still enraged Zuko to see his uncle acting like a fool. Zuko knew it wasn't just to feed his own belly, and it singed his pride.

He didn't like to steal. He would never like to steal. He was a prince and he hated to live like a worthless peasant. But even as the words crossed his thoughts he realized now that not all peasants were useless.

He'd seen enough in their day to day lives to know that they were all just trying to survive like he and his uncle were now. But he just glared on as another passerby place a copper coin in the money bowl his uncle had set out.

"I'm going to go crazy sitting here all day," Zuko said haughtily. "I'm going to go find some fresh water."

"Okay Lee," his uncle said, calling him by his assumed name in front of the townspeople, "but be sure to be back before dark. We need to set up camp outside the city wall again because we don't have a permit here."

Zuko just clenched his fists, holding back the desire to make them alight with the heat he had running through his veins. He walked away to the sound of his uncle's singing voice, and looked back, giving his uncle a small smile before continuing onward.

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"Okay, so," Sokka's voice was hoarse and he sounded incredibly tired, but Katara knew he wouldn't give up the chance of a captive audience. "I know we've been going over this all night but, how are we going to get out of here?"

"Asking the same question over and over again isn't helping anything Sokka. Shut up." If at all possible, Toph was even more pissy than usual. "I'm trying to block any noise coming from this stupid machine. It's kept me awake all night, and now that we've finally stopped moving, I want. To go. To sleep. I can't do that with you flapping your gums!" She was so close to yelling that Katara was afraid she'd wake up Aang.

Katara had been up for a while now, listening to her brother and their newest member arguing with each other. She knew that even though it really sounded like they wanted to kill one another, it was just their way of dealing with the fact that even Sokka couldn't come up with a plan on how to get out of this place.

"Sokka, could you keep it down?" Always the peacemaker, Katara gave her brother an imploring look, "Toph has a point. She can probably hear everything that you think, this place gives off so many vibrations."

"Finally," Toph grumbled, "someone who understands."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine," Sokka pouted and slumped against the wall. He'd figured out that if his bent his knees at just the right angle he could transfer most of his weight to his back, keeping his legs from cramping. But he wouldn't last much longer tied up to the wall like this.

Katara's restless mind was drawn to Aang when the younger boy shifted in his cell.

"Good morning," she called across the room before realizing what it would do to Toph.

"AGH!" the blind girl yelled, and Sokka gave a half-hearted chuckle. Katara whispered an apology as a small grin played across her lips.

"Alright, who made Toph angry?" Aang asked drowsily from his side of the room.

"Everyone," the earthbender muttered, and closed her eyes.

"So," Sokka said, a new skip in his vocal step. "We were discussing ways to get out of this mess; any contributions?"

"Yeah," Aang muttered, "where's Zuko when you need him?" Surprised, Katara gave Aang a confused look. What did he mean by that? She wondered.

"What?" Toph said, giving the airbender her full attention. "What was that?"

"Nothing," the Avatar mumbled.

Maybe he said it because their escapes from Zuko had always gone so well, and frankly, they had never been worried about a release before. Every time any one of them had been captured, their companions had always been left behind to mount a rescue.

With all of them in this place, there was no one left to try and save them.

And now all they could do was freak out.

"LET ME OUTTA HERE!" Toph's scream surprised everyone, including the guard beneath them, for the yelp of surprise and the loud bang that followed meant he had probably been sleeping.

Sokka snickered. Aang and Katara got a good laugh at the expense of the guard as well before settling down to worry about their fate once again.

"So, we can't think of anything?" Katara asked just to make sure.

"None of us can bend," Toph said from her suspended place above them, "and even if we could, meaning that even if you could, 'cause I'm in the middle of the freaking ocean, we're still all tied up." She sighed and hit her cage again. "And well, caged."

"Have they brought us food yet?" Aang asked.

"No," all three replied at once, each voice as tired as the last.

"You know," Aang said excitedly, leaning as far through the bars as he could, "they have to keep us alive so we can reach the Fire capital, and that includes feeding and watering us, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't bend tied up like this," Katara replied, and it was true. She could barely move, let alone get enough momentum to bend.

"But Aang can!" Sokka exclaimed. His chains shook as he moved around, obviously exicted. "When they bring water over to Aang he can get out of his cage and use the water to cut through our chains too. Then we can get the heck outta here."

"And what about me?" Toph said from her cage, "You are not dropping me to the floor in this thing. Do you know how far off the ground I am?"

"Don't worry," Aang said cheerfully, "I'll catch you."

"So?" Sokka asked slowly, "Is this a plan?"

"Looks like it to me," Katara replied, and they exchanged a smile.

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Zuko managed to steal three bags of tea from the little shop owner, but when he went back for the fourth, he got caught. Served him right for being so cocky, he thought as he managed to elude the larger man running through the crowd after him.

He slowed down after losing the man and then stopped to catch his breath. Zuko discovered that he was very close to the spot his uncle had picked out earlier that morning, but when he got closer, the crowd surrounding his uncle gave him a very bad feeling.

Since he could hear singing, he knew his uncle was unhurt, but the crowd was laughing more than usual, making Zuko wonder what his uncle was up to now. The old man could be very weird at some points in time, and Zuko hoped this wasn't one of them.

Zuko groaned and made his way toward their spot, his uncle's froggish voice rising above them in a singsong manner.

The prince watched as his uncle danced around on a…was that a soap box? The sight of it was only getting more painful by the second, and Zuko took it upon himself to remove his uncle from the very degrading display.

"Uncle, what are you doing?" Zuko said in a hissing whisper, trying to drag his uncle off the wooden box by the arm.

"What does it look like?" the old man said with a ridiculous smile, refusing to budge. "This is great fun, nephew! You should join me!"

"Never in a million years," the prince grumbled. "Now get down from there before you break your neck!" Zuko tugged on the old man's arms, and the crowd laughed sympathetically.

"What a shame, my friends," Uncle said, and took a bow as his nephew steadied him on the ground. "Perhaps you'll get another show tomorrow, and if we are very lucky, my nephew here might join me." The old man grinned and winked at Zuko.

The prince didn't even bother responding to such a ridiculous statement. The crowd dispersed, talking amongst themselves, and Zuko gave him uncle a glare that would have set the old coot on fire, had Zuko been trying.

Uncle gave him a teasing smile. "You always seem so frustrated with me, nephew. It's a wonder you haven't tried to kill me yet."

Zuko took a deep breath and let it out slowly. " Believe me, if there'd been anything to gain from strangling you, I'd have done it by now."

"You don't mean that," his uncle said assuredly. Zuko hadn't meant it but he would never admit that fact openly. Lucky for him, the look he gave his uncle was enough to get that across.

Uncle smiled and put a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "So, did you find any clean, fresh water?" he asked, taking a seat on the ground once again.

Zuko sat as well, leaning against the saddle his uncle had relieved the ostrich-horse of while the prince had been away. "No."

"Too bad," his uncle said regrettably. "It looks like we will have to leave without it."

"But you just said there'd be another show tomorrow," Zuko grumbled angrily.

"I lied."

Zuko gave his uncle a confused look and the old man simply smiled back.

"The Fire Navy is making a stop here this evening for supplies," Uncle stated as if it was all he needed to say to explain, and it was.

Zuko felt as if all the fire in his blood had gone out, only to be replaced by an even stronger flame. "Azula."

"No," Uncle said, his smile fading. "I do not think it is your sister; there would be more of a fuss if it were. We should still leave here by dark, however. If they recognize you, there may be no way to stop them from taking you back… home," he finished sadly

Zuko nodded, knowing his uncle was telling the truth. His situation had only gotten worse after the incident at the North Pole. His father was no longer ignoring his existence; he had sent Zuko's sister to capture him instead. And to call Azula a fierce opponent was a serious understatement.

Uncle was right: they had to leave. Zuko stood and began packing.

"Wait, Zuko," his uncle said from the ground. "Are you certain you want to leave now?" His uncle asked from his seat on the ground. "I thought you might want to look around the shops a bit more."

"No, we should go now." Zuko's head hurt just thinking about his sister. "We can't take any chances."

Uncle gave him a smile before standing and helping him pack. Zuko looked back at his uncle, realizing the old man had stopped. Seeing that Uncle was looking at the ground, Zuko's eyes moved to see what he was looking at.

Where Zuko had just been sitting were the bags of tea he'd managed to steal from town, and he looked back up at his uncle's face. His heart sank when the old man sighed.

"Did you find anywhere to buy feed for the ostrich-horse?" Iroh asked sadly, and Zuko got the meaning. Did you at least steal food for the horse as well?

Zuko nodded his head slightly, shame coloring his face, and continued to pack.

This is where my author's notes go...Enjoy.

Okay, so I was mistaken. They don't meet in this chapter. I tried to make it happen, but they kind of took over, so I made it more about Zuko and Uncle.

That being said, anyone who kills Uncle Iroh has openly asked to be flamed to death, pun intended.

Anyway, the next chapter will be mostly about escaping, so, it will be a lot of action. Look forward to it?

PS: I LOVE you people who review! LOVE YOU! And I'm glad you didn't think Zuko was too OOC. If I get a little too overboard, tell me.