I heard a knock on the door as I delivered another kick to the training dummy. Katara let herself in and I punched the dummy twice. Katara frowned then sighed.

"You're going to reopen your wounds if you keep doing that." She stated.

I kicked the dummy in the stomach. Sweat was starting to bead on the nape of my neck. Katara set down her bowl of water on a table and pulled me to the bed. I laid down, the constant healings becoming routine.

Katara pulled up my shirt and looked at the new burns on my back. They had bled a lot the first day or two, but after they closed up, they were only red. The new burns almost completely matched the scars, making everything swollen, red, and painful. Katara began her healing and I drifted off slightly. I knew she was talking but the healing was so soothing, and I couldn't get much sleep with the throbbing burns.

"So we let Zuko into our group today. He's going to teach Aang firebending. I wanted you to be included in the decision, but I knew you wouldn't come out." I tensed.

"You what?" I nearly screeched.

She shoved me back down on the bed, and I knew I almost reopened my wounds from the cold pain that seeped through my veins.

"Look, I know you and Zuko have issues. I don't know what it is though. It's been eating away at you ever since we were trapped in those caves under Ba Sing Se. But it's something you have to resolve for yourself, I can tell you that much."

I huffed, and Katara continued her work then left. I didn't want to think about what she had said, but I knew she was right. He betrayed you and tried to kill you! another part of my mind argued. But talking to him won't hurt I countered. It could mean the end of your life. I sighed, My life was over when he left me.

{BURNING WATER}

"Let me out!" I screamed.

The lady in black panted with the effort it took to restrain me. The speaking man had appeared, and was watching us struggle in the door of my room.

"You can let her go." He said, and I bolted down the hall as soon as I felt her resistance leave. It was bright outside, and I had to cover my eyes so I wouldn't be blinded. I searched at the top of the palace steps for him, and I caught sight of a ship loading up. Fire blasted from my hands and feet as I bended to get closer. To my surprise, he hadn't even gotten on the ship.

"Zuko!" I yelled.

He looked up and I ran to him. He wrapped me in an embrace, and I lifted my hand to trace the bandage covering his eye.

"What have they done to you?" I whispered, the tears beginning to streak down my face.

Zuko placed his hand over mine and pulled it to his mouth, kissing my palm gently.

"Why only a letter?" I asked softly, but he only shook his head.

I cried harder.

"Don't leave me…" I choked out.

Strong arms pulled me from Zuko, locking me securely on shore as he boarded the ship. I struggled to get away, but the soldier didn't give.

"Zuko!" I shout at the top of my lungs. "Zuko!"

He looked back only once.

"Don't leave me…"

My throat was raw and my mouth was dry when I woke. I must've been talking in my sleep. It'd been a while since I'd had that dream. I pushed myself out of my tangled sheets. Sweat was causing my night shirt and shorts to cling to me.

I gave a sigh of relief that it wasn't the burns. Katara's healing session earlier today probably strengthened the scabs. I looked at them in a mirror, and confirmed my thoughts. I sat back down on my bed, and looked over at the still-sealed letter that Zuko had left when he had left. I was so mad then that I had wanted to burn it. But I didn't. Because I was madder at myself for thinking that I was going to do the same thing to him.

I slipped over to my door and out into the hall. I was the only one occupying a room down this hall, so I set out exploring. I wandered through the room across from mine, and then the one next to that. When I opened the door to the room across the hall, two doors down from mine I froze.

Zuko was sleeping in the bed across the room, the moonlight splashing over his face making him look nearly ghost-like. He stirred slightly as I tip-toed to the bedside. I leaned over, brushing a thumb across the scar that marred his face, which was so similar to my own. My heart ached; this is what they did to him. I would have jumped at the hand grabbing mine if I hadn't been pulled at the same time.

Zuko pulled me astride his waist, and I was left breathless and staring into his open, golden eyes.

"Are you a dream?" He whispered, bring my hand back to his face.

"No, no, no, no, no…" I whispered over and over, tears dripping from my face to make tiny puddles on his chest.

"Don't cry, Hikari." He murmured, wiping a tear from my cheek with his thumb.

"I'm so sorry." The tears followed faster as I said this. "I—" I hiccupped, "I was going to leave that place, and I realized how terrible it would have been for you if I had…" I hiccupped again.

"Let's not talk about this now." He said, and brought my face down to his own.

He brushed his lips across mine, and there was nothing else to think about.