"Please," he said to me, "sit down." He waved to some cushions on the floor.

I hesitantly went over to the cushions and sat down on one, and the man followed my actions, sitting down before me. I stared Keiichi down, puffing out my chest to look brave and strong.

"What is your name?" he asked calmly.

My eyes flickered to the guards that had escorted me out and then to Keiichi. "My name is Katara and I not with the Fire Nation," I informed. "I am a waterbender and I am the teacher of the Avatar."

"So you have accompanied him—the Avatar—on his travels?" Keiichi asked.

I nodded my head. "Yes, I was telling the truth when I first met you. I am only with Prince Zuko because we are both looking for Avatar Aang."

Keiichi's eyebrows knitted together as uncertainty formed. "Why were you looking for the Avatar? Being his teacher you must know the whereabouts of him?"

"Well, that's the thing," I said. "I was separated from the Avatar and my brother who was also traveling with us when I was captured by Zuko and—"

"Zuko captured you?" he questioned in disbelief. "And yet he is somehow accompanying you on your trip to find the Avatar and your brother?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly like that," I lamely defended. "What happened was—"

Keiichi cut me off, holding his hand up. "Listen, you seem like a nice girl, but…"

"But what?" I demanded. "You don't believe me?"

"Your story is hard to believe, you must admit. How could you have been capture by Prince Zuko and yet be traveling with him, searching for the Avatar?" Keiichi inquired.

I opened my mouth, but my words turned to ash as my courage deflated. He was right; my story didn't make sense and it truly sounded as if I was working with the Fire Nation. "But he's changed," I defended. "Zuko is not after the Avatar anymore," I pleaded.

"I wish I could believe you, but I have too many lives at stake. If you are with the Fire Nation and I do let you go, you would be able to tell the Fire Nation what you have learned."

I stood up. How dare he say I could be with the Fire Nation! "Are you calling me a traitor?" I asked, anger boiling inside me. "That I would betray my country? Just because I—"

"My men found you two sharing…intimate closeness in the cell," he stated. He looked me in the eye, and I turned away as a blush spread across my cheek.

"Isn't there anything I can do to prove my loyalty?" I asked, feeling desperation creep upon me. I was beginning to feel hopeless about the situation.

Keiichi shook his head solemnly. "I'm sorry, but there isn't. I can't take any chances with my men."

I eyed the young general wearily. He was so young; possibly no older than Zuko. How did someone so young come to so much power in an army? "How can you be the general?" I questioned after a moment of silence. I sat back down on the cushion. "You're so young."

"Well, you don't seem to be so old, now do you?" he threw at me with a growing smirk.

My jaw opened a little bit in my attempt to reply, but nothing came out and I closed my mouth once again. We sat like that for a few seconds in growing tension and bond.

"So we're just supposed to stay here?" I questioned, feeling defeated.

Keiichi solemnly nodded. I'm sorry to keep you here, but you will not be kept as a prisoner," he stated.

I stared at him for a few seconds. "Why were we in the cell for so long?" I asked. We had been in the cell for almost two months. Why was there a sudden change?

"I had been away during those two months. I didn't want to take care of you right before I left, so I waited until I returned," he explained.

I was being to be frustrated with this guy. There were so many questions that I wanted to be answered, but I had a feeling that I was not going to be granted that. "But where is Bumi?" I asked exasperatedly. "Why wasn't he in the palace?"

"He is away on political duties," Keiichi answered.

"Then why were you in the throne room? Why were you there if you're the general, but Bumi is not here?" I questioned.

"I am not only the general, Katara," he said.

I gave him a confused, apprehensive look. What else could he be? What higher title could he possess that he would be in the throne room without Bumi there? "And what else are you?" I hesitantly inquired.

"King Bumi is my grandfather."

"Your—" I gaped at him, my mouth open from dropping off mid-sentence. How could that be? Bumi didn't have any children. He didn't even have a wife! But he could have long ago, couldn't he? And Aang wouldn't have known that, so how was I supposed to have known that myself?

It made sense. I mean, Bumi wasn't an unlovable man. And I was sure as a king's duty, he must have had to be married for the kingdom's sake. You need a queen for the king.

Keiichi nodded solemnly. "I am the crown prince of Omashu," he stated.

I pulled myself out of my shock. I gazed at him. He didn't really look like Bumi, but, then again, he probably looked more like his father than grandfather. "How can you be the crown prince if you're only Bumi's grandchild? Shouldn't your father be the crown prince?"

"Yes, but my father died several years ago," he replied. "He died while fighting in the war."

My heart reached out to him. I knew how he felt. "I'm sorry," I sympathized. "My father is fighting in the war too."

"He must be a very brave man," Keiichi commented.

I nodded and softly smiled in remembrance of my father. I remembered his strong chin held up in the air as it had been the day he had left with the other men to fight against the Fire Nation. There had been bravery and determined dripped across his features, but sorrow and mourning in his eyes. That was an image I would never forget.

"He is."

We finished talking after a while, Keiichi wrapping up our conversation with, "If you truly are not allied with the Fire Nation, it will show in time." His words reassured me to some degree. He would soon come to realization that we were allied with Aang. We still had hope of finding them.

I was escorted by the same two guards to our new living space. It had a heavy, metal door just as the cell did that needed to be opened with much strength. The room was small and there was no window. There was one cot in the corner and a fireplace. There were candles around the room, but that was pretty much it.

Zuko was in the room all alone. He was lying on the cot with his hands still bound in front of him. His eyes were closed, but they instantly flashed open when the door opened. He locked onto me and sat up.

The guards graciously untied my hands, and I rubbed my chaffed wrists. I walked into the room, and the guards closed the door.

Zuko watched me wearily as I entered the room; I strode to him. I sat down in front of the cot and crossed my legs. I looked at him, matching his gaze.

"What did he talk about?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Just about Aang really," I replied with a huff. I reached out and began to untie Zuko's hands.

Hope started to form in his eyes. He massaged his wrists. "Did he believe you?"

I shook my head; the hope disappeared from Zuko's eyes. "But I did find out where Bumi is," I added, hoping that would bring some comfortable to us.

He looked at me firmly. "Where is he?"

I leaned back, reclining, and supported my weight on my hands. "I am not really sure. All I know is that he's somewhere else in the Earth Kingdom due to political business." I attempted to smile, but it evolved into a frown instead. I twisted my head to the left. "Keiichi wouldn't tell me where."

Zuko shifted back into a lying position. "I wouldn't either," he commented. "What else did he tell you?" He closed his eyes.

I leaned forward and put my hands into my lap. I looked down at my hands. "Just that Keiichi is Bumi's grandchild and the crown prince of Omashu. His father died in the war," I answered.

He nodded his head. He seemed to be in a sour mood.

I wonder why… Maybe he's just tired…I reasoned.

I gazed at him. The eliminating lights from the candles bounced around on his features. His scar. I traced the lines and creases of it with my eyes. I intently watched it, willing it with my eyes to disappear forever. I lifted myself onto my knees. I inclined forward, my arm outstretched. I rested my hand on his scar; Zuko flinched and his eyes snapped open. "How did you get this?" I asked.

His hand flew to my wrist. His hand was very warm from either anger at me or frustration at the day. Either way, I didn't really want to make him even more upset.

My fingers pulled off his scar and I looked firmly into his eyes.

Zuko held my gaze without falter. There was more war and battles within his eyes again. What could he be battling? He yanked my wrist down and it fell into my lap again. "Don't do that again," he oppressively said.

I gulped and nodded my head. "I'm sorry."

He rolled over onto his side.

I huffed. Well, then! I got up and went to the fireplace. There was a fire already going, but it was starting to die down. I poked at it with the poker, nudging the logs around. The fire hissed and snapped and some ash fell to the bottom. I grabbed a log beside the fireplace and threw it in. The fire instantly engulfed it.

I sat down in front of the fire. I crossed my legs and rested my head on my hands. I watched the flames play tag around the fire place and hop from log to log like some enchanted and exotic dance. The flames began to lull me to sleep and my eyes became heavier and heavier. I was so relaxed and at ease.

"Katara," I heard foggily. "Katara." Someone was calling my name. I aversely opened my eyes. I blinked a few times as I tried to brush away the sleepiness. I squinted and saw Zuko hovering over me.

"Come on," he prodded. "The guards are here; it's time to get up."

I sat up groggily and my eyes were half-closed. I looked around the room and saw that I was still by the fireplace. I must have fallen asleep while watching the fire. I stood up and fixed my hair to some degree.

Zuko opened the door, and three guards entered. They bound Zuko's wrists and then mine. From there, they escorted us out of the room and into the hall. We walked to the mess hall. We quickly ate breakfast and then went to the training room.

There were hundreds of soldiers, and I wondered if Zuko was going to fight them all. If he was going to fight anyways. I didn't really think he enjoyed the thought of training a bunch of adolescent earthbenders. He probably just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible and find Aang and Sokka. He was like that; he didn't want to be distracted or taken off the path he had set himself upon.

And in some way, I admired him in that aspect. He wanted to get things done as soon as possible. He wanted things done his way, though, but he wanted them to get done nonetheless. But perhaps if he went through training these men, something would happen and he wouldn't be as rigid.

Keiichi strode into the room. He stepped in front of all the men, entering the medium sized sparring circle that had been outlined with white paint. "Now," he called out to the men, "we have been so graciously given the opportunity to fight with a master firebender. You all will get a chance to spar with him. This will help all of you in the future battles you will face with the Fire Nation. Train well," he said, finishing up his speech. He ambled over to Zuko and me.

"Prince Zuko," Keiichi said.

Zuko glared slightly at the man. He crossed his arms defiantly, egging him on.

"I trust you to train my men well." With that, he brushed past him.

Zuko growled in irritation and some steam blew out of his nose. He grumbled a remark under his breath about earthbenders, but I didn't quite catch it all. I was glad nobody else did either.

I was sure that nobody else was quite too thrilled about the idea of a firebender training them. Even if they didn't know he was the Prince of the Fire Nation. If I was in their shoes, I would be a bit apprehensive about being trained by a firebender. My skin would be crawling with suspicion.

Zuko shrugged off his shirt and handed it to me. He reluctantly stalked to the sparring circle, the crowd of soldiers dispersing as they made a path for the young man. Zuko stood in the middle of the circle as he waited for his first opponent.

One exceptionally young looking man that couldn't be older than 15 stepped into the circle with a smug smile on face in his attempt to show off in front of his friends. He got into a fighting stance, his feet set firmly apart and his arms out in front of his torso.

Zuko unleashed a barge of fire and red flames at the boy. He fought mercilessly with him, but I couldn't even consider it to be a fight for the poor boy didn't even last two minutes with Zuko, which was a good thing. If he wasn't hard on the soldiers, they would never be fully prepared to fight.

The boy limped out of the circle with many burns and bruises spotting his skin. He ambled over to a table by the far wall. He sat down with a huff and a cringe of pain.

I weakly smiled sympathetically at him. I drew some water out of a nearby bucket and walked over to him. I sat down beside him. "Here, let me heal you," I offered to him.

The boy smiled at me and allowed me to heal him. He held out his arm to me. There were a few minor burns around his elbow and hand and fingers. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," I said. "What is your name?" I asked. I covered my hand in water and pressed it to the boy's arm. I focused my energy on the burn and the water began to glow bright blue.

"Yuki," he answered. He ogled at the water and his arm. "Whoa," he breathed.

I softly smiled. He reminded me of Aang. I finished healing his arm and then the rest of his injuries. I stepped back and placed my hands on my hips with a victorious smile playing across my lips. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Yuki nodded his head heartily. "Very!" He looked up at me. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome."

Zuko trained many more soldiers for the remainder of the day. None of which lasting for even five minutes. The grand total had been an even three minutes and 30 seconds. All the men that sparred with Zuko left with burns and numerous injuries. Tending to the men's injuries became my job along with the other heal.

"You're pretty good at healing," the healer noted.

"Oh, thank you," I replied.

"We've never had a waterbender to help," he stated. "It's nice—makes things move faster."

"I'm glad I could help," I said with a smile.

Training ended at 6:00 and from there we were to eat dinner. Zuko walked up to me sweaty and out of breath while the other men filed out of the training room. He reeked of smoke and ash. To be honest, it was just a bit repulsive. He grabbed his shirt from the table where I had laid it a while ago. He threw it on, and I couldn't help but smile as I watched him.

He caught eye of me. His eyebrow perked up and he looked at me questioningly. "What are you smiling at?"

"Just you," I simply stated. By this time, we were alone.

"Oh?"

"Mhm."

"Why so happy?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Cause I have you all to myself once dinner's over," I replied as I grinned wider.

Zuko smiled a little bit on his own. His expression turned elusive and playful. "And what makes you say that? There could be some other woman here that would enjoy my company this evening," he teased.

I giggled quietly as I swaggered over to him. I placed my hands on his chest. "Well, she'll just be disappointed, now won't she?" I whispered.

"Very," he added huskily and kissed my lips gently. It was a risky move, yes, but we were alone for the moment.

"We should go to dinner," I suggested.

"We should," he agreed with a simple nod.

I softly smiled, and we left the training room and headed to the mess hall.

A/N: Hey! A brand new chapter! Yah! XD Ok, so basically Zuko starts his first day of training! How exciting! Honestly, this chapter was really fun to write. Like I spent just about all my weekend writing this and Silence Before the Storm. And, of course, coloring! I really had a spur of inspiration or creativity or whatever.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thanks so much for reading! Please review!

-Neon