A/N: I did wonder what happened between the interrogation scene and when Sokka and Aang are brought back.
Zuko comes terribly, terribly close to her face with his own smirking one. "Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost- my honor."
Katara jerks her head away from him. How could it be honorable to kill the world's last hope for peace and balance? She'll never understand fire scum and their savage customs, no matter how long she lives.
"Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost," he continues, and holds her mother's necklace up against her chin.
"How did you get that?" She's shaking from anger now, fists clenched. Does he really think she would sell out a friend for the sake of an heirloom? She loved her mother- she still loves her mother. But she knows that she would never want her to make such a trade.
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering," Zuko lazily replies, slipping it back into his pocket. "Tell me where he is."
"NO!" she shouts, hating her utter helplessness. This is why she wanted to learn to waterbend the right way- so that she wouldn't end up in these kinds of situations, trapped like an animal.
"Enough of this necklace garbage!" one of the pirates demands- she'd almost forgotten that they were there. "You promised a scroll."
"I wonder how much this is worth," he says, lighting a flame an inch beneath the parchment in his palm. Collective gasping follows. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here!"
They scamper off, and she's left alone with the prince. Rope is chafing against her arms and sides- he's tied her far too tightly-
Oh, merciful Senna, he can't be planning on- bound to a tree, beneath the cover of darkness, she's not a strong woman and he's been toying with her all night. Oh, merciful Senna.
He takes out the pendant again, twirls it between his fingers. "Don't look so pathetic," he chides. "I have no reason to hurt you. But there's a lot I can offer you if you were to cooperate."
Relieved for a moment- if she can trust a firebender to keep his word, that is- her indignation returns in full force after his last comment. "Do you want to stop the war and bring back harmony?" she mocks. "Zuko, I didn't know you had it in you."
His eyes- harsh and yellow, like a bird of prey's- flash. "I never said you could refer to me by my given name," he grinds out. "You're nothing more than a water peasant; you should count yourself lucky to kiss the dirt below my feet." Back in her face; she can smell the ashes on his breath and forces herself to meet his furious stare.
Calling a prince by his name is disrespectfully intimate, she's sure- it's a good thing that she has no respect for a vicious, manipulative beast who treats her worse than the filth under his boots because of her birth. "Get- the- hell- away- from- me," she slowly enunciates, smirking in distaste. "I don't want my necklace, or whatever else you say you're willing to give. I care about my friends more- have you ever had a single friend with that kind of attitude?"
He stalks a few paces towards the forest- clearly, she's struck a nerve, though he won't admit it. "Babble all you like. Once my men return with the avatar, we'll see who's laughing then."