AN: Ahh no time sorry I have to leave right NOW. I'll write the AN when I get back. Sorry for the abrupt ending, I'll fix it when I get back. In the mean time, enjoy what you have!

Edit: This is where we lean on T a little more heavily as the darker side of the sandbenders come around. And the title was sort of a spur of the moment thing. Stew cuz he's eating stew. Muscles cuz... Zuko's shirt is off! And he's athletic, am I right?

Oh and I'll TRY and post tomorrow but it's the fourth of July, so I mayyy not be able to put up another chapter. We'll see. I love you all! Thanks for your reviews! They motivate me to keep writing. ^_^

Midnight Iris: Haha yeah I've read fanfic forever but never joined, even though I've always wanted to. And a beta... well basically I send all of my chapters to you first. You edit them, send them back and then I submit them. ;) And thanks! I'm trying to keep them as in character as I can. I mean, the whole point of reading fanfic (for me) is to read more about the characters/world that I fell in love with in the first place! So when the fluff happens, I really want them to seem like who they are. After all, it's not really Zutara if they're not fighting and arguing half the time. haha oh disclaimers. It seems weird that we have to put them up even though this site is called FANFICTION, isn't it? xD And I know, so would I! Oh Katara, what an opportunity you just passed up... Thank you, and no problem. I love reading reviews, so it makes sense to reply to them, no? ;D

SassyPrincess: I KNOW THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING. It killed me to write it. But I had to keep her in character! And that's good. I wanted it to be a surprise. You just must be a ninja. o.o only explanation!

Disclaimer: I have a confession. Secretly I am Bryke. In my depression over the show being over and the movie being terrible, I got on here and wrote a fanfiction. YEAH CUZ THAT'S TOTALLY PROBABLE. -eyeroll-

Delicious scents wafted into the tent where Zuko was propped. He half sat and half lay in his cot as he rubbed the paste onto his ribs, his stomach, his shoulders. Applying the medicine was much more difficult when he had to do it himself. His hands were rough, calloused and inexperienced. He wondered if he had said something to Katara to make her leave. He couldn't think of anything. Still he was relieved when she came back, especially with that wonderful smelling meal in her hands.

"It's not much," she said as she crossed the dark tent to Zuko's cot, "but it should do." He saw her eyes dart to the jar of paste and then to his half coated chest. They lingered there a great deal longer than they had on the medicine. The firebender wasn't sure what to make of that. Had he done it wrong? He was about to ask her, but her blue eyes glanced up to see that he had caught her gaze. Her cheeks colored; she ducked her head and gestured at the meal. "I grabbed some stew made out of some desert plant roots and rattlefox. There were also some berries there. Here. Try not to eat too quickly." She told him curtly and set the meal down at the edge of his cot.

Without a word Zuko shifted himself into a sitting position. His muscles and ached with protest, but he ignored them. He was starving. His stomach growled viciously at the smell of warm food. He wanted to grab the plate and just dive right in. He could throw manners to the wind. He glanced at Katara. She still wasn't happy with him, and he was supposed to be trying to get her to trust him. Probably better if he didn't make the impression that he was a wild animal.

Even though it was hard, Zuko managed to wrap his fingers around the handle of the spoon. His hand shook violently as his weak muscles worked to grasp the object. It wasn't even that his hand was damaged; it was his wrist and arm. Never mind that, he thought, just eat. It was unfortunately hard to accomplish that task, however. Every time the exiled prince managed to get some of the food onto his spoon it fell off of the utensil when he raised it to his mouth. He just couldn't keep it steady enough. It drove him crazy. He could feel his temper begin to rise up once again. Soon he was just going to fling the food away from himself and starve. It would be better than humiliating himself like this!

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) Katara noticed his struggles. She stopped organizing her supplies (which is what she had previously been doing) and came over to him. Wordlessly she took the bowl from him and wrested the spoon from his weak fingers.

"What are you-?" but before Zuko could finish the question Katara stuffed a spoonful of the stew into his mouth. He glared at her, his honey eyes spoiled by the venom they were filled with. The waterbender's face was expressionless. Inside she felt annoyed, grateful, and a little smug. Zuko was humiliated. Here was this girl who he had hunted for the better part of a year and then betrayed when she and her friends had most needed him, spoon feeding him. He had captured the Avatar, injured him, hurt both Katara and her friends, fought with her, burned Toph's feet … the shame mixed with his humiliation. He didn't know where such patience and kindness could come from.

He wanted to say something, but he wasn't really sure what. Anyway his mouth was full of the stew which he slowly chewed. Katara sat on the edge of the cot and rested the spoon in the bowl as she watched him eat. She didn't rush him. Zuko assumed that was because she knew his jaw hurt from when he'd been hit by the prison guard. Had the skin yet faded from red to its regular pallor? He looked at the waterbender and wondered. He wondered how she could turn his emotions in 180 degrees. One moment he was yelling at her and the next she had him feeling like a child. How could she do that?

Zuko didn't realize that he had been staring until Katara shifted uncomfortably and turned around. She set the bowl down on the ground before she grabbed the jar of mud paste and stood up to return it to its original place. The prince's eyes dropped. He had come here to rescue the waterbender and in the end she was the one doing the saving. She was saving him from whatever terrible death the sandbenders had planned for him… at least so far. Actually, why was he a prisoner? Sure, he'd heard stories of them kidnapping travelers and doing terrible things to them, but those were just tales the natives told visitors for entertainment, right? From what Zuko was experiencing now, it didn't seem to be the case.

"Katara?" Zuko said, his voice soft. Almost… timid. His tone caused her to glance back at him, her blue eyes questioning in the dim lighting. The exiled prince almost didn't want to continue but… he had to know. "What are they going to do to me?" In a strange way, he sounded both scared and determined at the same time. Afraid of what he might have to face, but willing to meet it head on if it meant he could get out of there and fulfill his destiny. Katara scowled a little. Zuko didn't think she was trying to be mean; she just didn't want to tell him. So she wordlessly turned back to her medical supplies. He slumped. What could be so bad that she wouldn't even tell him?

"They're going to make you fight," she said when she finally turned back to him. Zuko lifted his eyebrows in question. Was this somehow connected to what the prison guard had said earlier? About entertainment? Katara was about to explain. She sat down on the edge of his cot again and picked up the bowl of stew again. "There are several outposts scattered throughout the desert. They're made up of these… coliseum type buildings. There they make men fight each other, or animals, or they force them to run through mazes or pit them against a bunch of sandbenders… Zuko, it's terrible." From the way her voice got all soft he could tell that she had seen these things take place. Things that no one should ever have to see, especially a young woman like herself. She looked down to hide whatever emotion was in her eyes from him.

"Katara…" he said softly, and before he realized what he was doing Zuko's hand was on her chin, gently lifting it so that he could see her face. Her eyes were dry, but he could see the disgust and helplessness she felt at her inability to help the men that died.

With a nervous movement she shifted the bowl around in her hands and moved her head so that the prince's gentle fingers no longer touched her face. The firebender dropped his hand. What just happened? Should be frustrated? Annoyed? Compassionate? All he felt was confused.

"Mostly, they're men from the Fire Nation. Sometimes they're soldiers and they last for longer. Other times they're killed almost immediately." She sighed heavily. "When we—the Sandbenders find men from another nation they rob them, but that's it. Of course being robbed in this environment almost guarantees your death, but it's a better chance than what they'd have in here."

"What about women?" Zuko couldn't help but ask.

"Sometimes they just let them go," Katara said, "they're kinder to women. Women and children. That's probably why I'm here instead of warming some sandbender's bed," she said with disgust at the thought on her face. Zuko wanted to touch her again or do something to reassure her, but he couldn't think of anything. "They let families go. Women they turn into… slaves. Usually after they serve for a while the Sandbenders let them go. I'm definitely the luckiest though, I know," she said. "It's because they needed a healer. I…" she looked over at the exiled prince. There was nothing but worry on his face, and not worry for himself, but for her. "Zuko," she said, her voice a little more solid than before. "I don't think you're going to have it so easy," he scowled. She was right. He was going to have to fight.

"Unless we escaped right now. Both of us." He replied, determination clear in his tone. Before Katara could do anything he swung his legs over the edge of the cot and stood up.

"Zuko!" Katara cried out. Immediately after trying to put weight on his legs, they buckled. Lucky for him the waterbender was there to catch him before he fell to the sandy floor. "You idiot," she hissed. "You're not strong enough to do anything but lie down and eat!" The exiled prince grunted in frustration. His legs were completely useless. He had to hold on to Katara to find any stability. He hated himself for it, but he wrapped one arm around her neck and another around her back. He could tell it was hard for her to support all of his weight, but she did it anyway. As quickly but gently as possibly she maneuvered him back onto his cot so that his back was propped against the wall. He did all that he could to make things easier for her.

"You can't escape by yourself, and I couldn't escape alone and having you as a burden certainly isn't going to change that. And I'm not leaving without you. We just have to wait until you're healthy enough… and an opportunity presents itself. In the meantime…" she grabbed the bowl of stew. "We'll just try and get by…" she looked down at the food, a scowl on her face. "It's cold."

"Here," Zuko said, reaching for it and as he did, brushing her hand. As soon as she did she seemed to recoil and immediately drew back her hand. This confused the prince. "What?" he questioned. She looked away.

"Nothing."

He didn't argue. Instead he heated the food and was about to spoon some into his mouth when he caught Katara's expression. She looked… unbelievably worried.

"The others are okay," he said. That must be what was on her mind. "I'm sure that they won't stop searching for you until you've been found."

"You mean us," she replied. Zuko didn't think that the Avatar and his crew really cared that much about the exiled prince, but he nodded, if only to humor the waterbender.

"They were fine when I left you. I'm sure they've found more food, water, and they're on their way now. If a bunch of sandbenders saw my flare, then I'm sure the Aang did." As he did he realized that he hadn't yet fully explained how he'd come to be in the possession of the sandbenders… but then again, neither had she. "That's how they found me… it had been a few days since I'd last seen the Avatar, so I sent up a flare at night and hoped they'd find me. I fell asleep waiting. The sandbenders ambushed me when I was asleep."

"You must be a pretty light sleeper," she told him as she watched him lift the shaky spoon to his mouth. As before, she took it from him, even though he had managed better than before. He didn't want to let her, but was too tired to fight. He gave her a questioning look. "At least eight sandbenders came to me with injuries after they brought in a 'new prisoner'. I just thought they'd brought in a fighter; I hadn't known it was you."

The sudden sound of footsteps caused both of them to glance to the entrance of the dark tent. The flap was pushed open and there stood a sandbender swathed in all the typical sandbender clothing: bandages, tan trousers, visor, headscarf…

"How is the prisoner doing?" he questioned in a rough voice, addressing Katara.

"Better, but it'll be at least several days before you can throw him into a ring. During that time he should stay here, with me, so that I may tend to him while he recovers." She replied and her voice took on a formal note that hadn't been present when she spoke to Zuko. She looked back at the prince, and when she saw him open his mouth she quickly stuffed the spoon back in it. Zuko got the feeling that she didn't want him speaking out against this man. The sandbender's eyes behind the visor shifted from the waterbender to her patient.

"As long as he's ready for the next arena… a fighter like him'll win us some rounds against the Hami tribe for sure." Zuko couldn't see, but he knew that the sandbender was smiling behind his cloth. The prince wanted to hit him. "Do you want me to stay here, miss?" he asked. "In case the prisoner gets a little…" Zuko didn't want to think of how the man was planning on ending that sentence.

"No, no. He's too weak to try anything." She looked at Zuko. "He can't even hold a spoon." Zuko knew she was just covering for him, but he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

"Alright then… I'll be just outside of the tent if you need anything." And with that, the sandbender left. The two were left in the tent by themselves again.

"You should get some sleep," Katara said once the man was gone. Zuko nodded sleepily in agreement. He lay down on the cot, and within seconds sleep had taken him.