Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Ch.3

Zuko and his battleships arrived in a harbor at the fire Nation. A messenger was waiting for them with a note from Azula. The note congratulated him on his win, but it wasn't very sincere. The note said how she wanted him and the new prisoners to come to palace as soon as possible, so she could look over her new shipment of future slaves. The ships were taken care of and his personal things were sent ahead to the palace.

The prisoners were chained on their feet and hands. They were put into a caged in cart. They would not take any changes with escape. Toph was a different matter. She ended up kicking one of the guards in the chin and Zuko had to stop him from burning her alive. They put her in a different cage, isolated from the other prisoners. The cage was thicker, it was totally enclosed, and the metal was stronger, but it was smaller.

Azula wanted to see Toph last of all the prisoners, probably because she was going to take the most time with her. Azula had methods and a certain way of doing things. She counted, treated, and took care of prisoners and slaves all in different ways. She had certain routines and if they were broken the person who messed them up would be punished. With Azula they were punished severely.

It didn't take them long to arrive at the palace. On the way people looked at them curiously and a lot of them clapped. They didn't clap for him. They clapped for the soldiers or for the idea of the battle that was won; no one had really accepted him. They had worshipped Ozai and Ozai had turned him out, so in their eyes, there was something wrong with him. Even after he turned to the Fire Nation and fought battles for them, he was still an outcast.

The soldiers had already left to go to other jobs or see their families, but a few had to stay and help him transport the prisoners, or who were always required to be at the palace. They were escorted into the throne room, where Azula sat in all her royal splendor. The Prisoners had already been transported to the dungeons under Azula's command, but she still had not seen them yet.

"Ah, brother, your home," Azula said in a sickly sweet voice, "Congratulations on your win. I would, though, like to see my new prisoners. Do you have the leader of the group I asked you to capture and bring back to me?"

"Yes, I do," was all he said.

"That is very good, because I need her for certain things. I also want to get a look at the woman I have heard so much about, Toph I believe is her name. Some people say that she cannot be human because of her amazing powers, but we shall find out how much flesh and bones she really is," Azula said getting a sadistic grin on her face. She had something in mind and it most likely would be cruel.

"Mai, Ty Lee," Azula said pointing at them, "We and Zuko shall go take a look at our new rats and if they aren't already they soon will be. I just hope they won't stink up the dungeon to much, the smell is sometimes to putrid to bear, but sacrifices must be made if I want to keep total control of this rotting place."

Five guards surrounding Azula and one leading the way took them down to the dungeons. Azula always had high security around her. She kept a firm eye on everybody and never let anyone get to close to her. The only people who ever go in her room or have been in there are Ty Lee and Mai.

"These are the captured people from the rebel group," a guard told them pointing at ten cells, each with five people in them. They all looked tired and worn and Zuko couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy towards them, but sympathy wasn't allowed. He couldn't have sympathy for them because that was weakness and he could not and he would not have any weaknesses.

"These men are to skinny," Azula said looking at a particular cell, "They really won't serve any purpose. They look to weak to work at the mines, but maybe they could work at the warehouses. I don't know, well just have to see."

"These men over here," Azula said, once again looking at a cell, "They are stronger. They look like they could hold up heaving, pulling, or digging rocks. I think they will do just fine." She looked at them as if they weren't human. She looked at them as if they were people just sent to her, to do her every will.

"Do we have a choice?" a brave soul in a cell said, "Can we choose life or death?"

"No, you don't have a choice," Azula said looking at him coldly, "And if you defy what I say, if you argue with me or you insult me, I will kill you right now, right here in front of all your friends."

He got a look of panic on his face and he hurried to the back of the cell. Azula just chuckled evilly. She took pleasure in other people's pain. She liked to see their hair crawl to the back of their neck at something she said to them. She liked people's misery and heart ache and she liked it when she was the one who inflicted it upon them.

Azula looked at the prisoners for about an hour. She sorted out which ones were going to work and which ones for going to die. Fifteen poor souls were going to be killed at Azula's command. She would probably make a sport out of it. She would call onlookers over to watch these people die for her amusement.

"Now where is the girl, I've been waiting to see?" Azula asked one of the guards in the dungeon, "Where is the great Toph, who led these pathetic people to fight against my army."

"She's down here, your Highness, in the special cell we built for her, just as you ordered and she's in the middle of the dungeon under high security."

"Excellent. Take me to her," Azula ordered.

They walked down a narrow passageway past rows of cells. As they went further in, they passed the more dangerous criminals. Soon they came to the very middle of the dungeon, to Toph's cell. She was huddled up in the corner, her hands touching the metal frantically. She was trying to feel vibrations, but none were coming to her. She looked up when she heard them walk outside her cell.

"So, you are the one," Azula said looking at Toph, "You are the one that I want to get information from. Information about where rebel groups are hiding, or information about the Avatar that has disappeared, but before we talk about that, there are some other questions I want to ask you."

When Toph didn't say anything Azula just continued. "So, tell me when you first discovered you amazing skill of earth bending."

"I don't feel like going into that story at the moment," Toph said looking sternly at where she thought Azula was standing.

"Oh, but I would very much like to know. We are all very curious and if you don't I can arrange for you to tell me in other ways."

Azula sparked a fire ball in her hand and Toph cringed in her cell obviously feeling the heat.

"Now will you tell me," Azula said menacingly keeping the fire ball still in her hand.

"It's not that important but if you must know, I discovered my talent when I was six."

"And how did you figure that out?" Azula asked her strictly.

"I was taking a walk outside alone and I was walking across a little bridge over a pond. I fell in and I started struggling to get out. When I couldn't get out somehow I was able to pull the earth over to help me."

"I don't believe you," Azula said looking at her strangely.

"I have the scar to prove it," Toph said not backing down in the least.

"Well, then tell me how you learned to bend metal?"

"Now that is a story I definitely am not going to tell you."

"Do you want to be chained up to the wall; you know that I can hurt you."

"Oh, Zuko already tried that with me, but it wasn't that unpleasant. It was actually kind of comfortable in a way," Toph said in a bored voice.

"I have ways prepared to hurt you if you would not answer my questions, but I was hoping you would answer the easy questions before I had to go to that measure, but I don't care when we have to begin," Azula said truly evilly.

"That wouldn't be the worse thing that ever happened to me," Toph said roughly.

"Your courage is foolish, very foolish. You are stuck in a cell and there is no escape. Your bending won't work in there and you can't fight back. I can hurt you physically and mentally. I want answers and there are no limits to how I will get them from you."

"Just kill me; I'm not worth the hassle. I won't talk and you wasted your money building this stupid cage I am in. I have no doubt that you are capable of hurting me, you've made that very clear, but now I am tired and I want you to leave me alone."

"Is that so," Azula said looking at Toph angrily. She signaled for two guards to come over and soon they had Toph chained up to the wall.

"I want you to think about this and tomorrow I will come back down here with more questions. If you don't answer them than I will have to torture the answers out of you."

Azula walked away from the cell and headed toward the end of the dungeon. Mai and Ty Lee followed close behind her. She would get what she wanted.

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"What would Iroh think," Zuko said quietly to himself. Iroh one time had mentioned something, hadn't he, about knowing the blind girl. He had liked her and helped her. What would he say if he found out she was going to be tortured for information, but did that matter, he wasn't here to protest.

It was late probably around midnight, but as Zuko sat quietly in his room, he could still hear noises outside his room. Guards or soldiers still ran errands late at night. Azula had guards watching certain parts of the castle. Her room, Ty Lee's room, and Mai's room were all guarded. The War Room was guarded, but not as heavily as Azula's was. The dungeons were of course guarded, but a lot of the guards fell asleep before their shift was even over.

When he was younger, the palace wasn't guarded that heavily until his mother had died. Ozai made up excuses that she was murdered and that he needed guards surrounding the place to make sure that wouldn't happen to him. He knew the truth, but he wanted to believe what his farther had said at the time. He wanted to believe so much. He wanted to believe that his father hadn't ordered his mother to die, that he was doing the right thing, that his Uncle should have followed what he did, and so much more.

He finally did fall asleep, but it wasn't a very deep one. He awoke with the rising sun, but it was still very early. He was alive another day. Soon the sun disappeared behind clouds and it started to rain. The rain was hard, very hard for a November day, but it never got that cool in the Fire Nation. By looking outside, you could tell the air was humid. Lightening streaked the air everywhere and thunder boomed, but it was just a day, a day that he would have to live.

Ch. 3 is done, so please review.