It turned out that sneaking into a Fire Nation prison wasn't as difficult as I imagined it would be. Oddly enough, the guards were more concerned about making sure no one got out. They weren't that bothered by an officer trying to get in. I was stopped once at the outer gates, and another time before the maximum-security wing. In fact, I thought that the worst part of this particular little adventure had so far been the oppressive feel of the place. I didn't expect a warm, welcoming feel for a prison, but from the moment I stepped inside, the eerie silence and dim lighting made me miss the sun immediately. There was no natural light, only small torches lining the solid walls. I guess in a Fire Nation prison built to contain firebenders, you want the prisoners to be as removed from the sun as possible, but it certainly made for an unhappy feel. There were guards posted along the corridors and some were running about on errands, but I never saw a single prisoner out of his cell. I didn't really know how prisons work, but Zuko's concern about Iroh losing his mind in here started to make a lot more sense.

I followed the instructions I'd been given by the guard posted at the maximum-security wing and followed the corridor to the very end. The hall ended abruptly with a steel door set back into the rear wall, a chair next to it with a very bored-looking guard occupying it. His arms were crossed, feet stuck out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. Basically, he looked like he was about to take a nap. Once he heard my footsteps and saw me, apparently an officer, approaching, his eyes widened with panic and he shot out of the chair, causing it to screech back a few inches.

"Ma'am," he bowed with his hands folded into the Fire Nation salute in front of his chest. It wasn't necessary for a superior to bow back, so I didn't.

I pasted my best condescending look on my face and said, "I don't have time for pleasantries. Open the door so I may do my job."

He dropped his hands, but didn't look surprised at my behavior. Rudeness must be a requirement for an officer. "Sorry, ma'am, but I'll need to see an order." I heaved a sigh and pursed my lips before I ripped the small canister off my belt. I handed it to him with a roll of my eyes. Once he'd looked it over and handed it back to me, he nodded. "I don't know what they told you, but I don't think you'll get much information out of this old lunatic. He's been out his mind ever since they brought him here. It's pathetic, actually."

"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it that my entire trip from the Earth Kingdom has been wasted. Open the door."

He shrugged and took a large key out of his pocket. With a loud clang, the metal door swung open. I strode into the darkness without another word, and he said, "There's a torch on the wall next to the cell," before he closed the door behind me. Obviously, he expected me to use bending to light the torch. Blindly, I felt around the wall next to me until I found the sconce and torch. I tried to remember the feeling of Zuko placing the fire in my hands and felt the heat rush down my arms, but it wouldn't come past my skin. I scowled at how temperamental it was being. It burst out at the worst times, but when I actually needed the fire, it decided to be shy. Then I remembered what Zuko said about my considering my fire as something separate. It didn't have a will of its own; it was a part of me. I felt for the fire again, but this time, I imagined it to be around my heart, coursing around my body with my blood. I coaxed it down my arms and out of my fingertips, much the same way I would point a finger. Fire filled my palm and I smiled fondly at it. My brain knew what to do with my bending, I just needed to trust it. I tipped the fire into the torch and brought the flames back into my body with a sigh. It felt like a limb had just come alive.

With the flickering light from the torch illuminating the room, I got my first look at the cell that was holding General Iroh. I was standing in a narrow space between the door I'd just come through and the bars of the cell. I peered through the darkness as my eyes adjusted and after a few moments, I got my first look at the man imprisoned there. Iroh was slumped against the left wall, near the back of the cell. His long, gray hair was falling into his face in dirty clumps and his clothes were filthy. His bare feet were almost black with dirt. All of that didn't scare me; what scared me was the dull, lifeless expression on his face. His eyes were unfocused, staring at the ground in front of him, and his mouth was slightly open, allowing a bit of drool to dribble out. I dropped to my knees and grasped the bar in front of me, wishing with all my heart that I could go to him.

"Iroh… oh, what have they done to you?" I moaned.

His eyes slowly moved up to glance across my face, and I didn't imagine the flicker of recognition or the sudden shrewdness that was gone as quickly as it came.

"Iroh… do you remember me?" I asked, hopeful. "I'm here to make sure you're okay. Please be okay."

His quiet voice made me jump as he whispered, "The healer from the Earth Kingdom?"

"Yes! It's me, it's Rei." I tried to keep my voice low in my excitement. I stood up and pressed my face against the cold, iron bars. Iroh's face lost all of its dullness and his eyes regained the intelligence I was used to seeing in them. He wiped the spittle off his chin and rose to his feet before he walked over to me.

"I would shake your hand, but I'm afraid it would be more of an insult in my condition," he chuckled. I laughed, mostly in relief. "May I ask what brings you here?"

"I told you, I'm making sure you're okay…"

"That's very kind, but I was referring to your presence in the Fire Nation. I never got the impression that you longed for a visit."

"No, I'm here to learn firebending. I needed a master."

He nodded, obviously deep in thought. "Now I'd like to know how you've gotten in here."

"Well… it's a long story, but I ran into Zuko and um… well, he asked me if I could come visit." Zuko hadn't told me to keep his motives a secret, but I was still a little nervous.

"Zuko…" he said.

"Yeah… He wanted to make sure you were doing alright, so he arranged for me to sneak in here." I looked around the cell again. "This place is horrible, I'm so sorry you're here. You don't deserve this, especially not for helping the Avatar."

"Things here are… tolerable. This is the price I paid, but it's one I would pay again to save our world."

My heart twisted with pity. "But it wasn't worth it. You're in here and the Avatar died anyway."

A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "Perhaps."

"But, Iroh—"

"Tell me, Rei, what has Zuko been doing? If you know."

"He hasn't been here that long. I only know what I've heard. He's been welcomed back as a hero, there was a parade for him and the princess…" I took a deep breath, "And he offered to teach me firebending."

Iroh's eyebrows shot up in surprise before he arranged his expression into a calm one again, but a bit of a smile played around his mouth. "Has he? I'm certain he will do a good job." I was glad one of us was. I couldn't help but let my eyes slide to the ground and my fingers tightened around the bars of the cell. "You don't agree?" Iroh said.

I sighed before it all came spilling out. "How can I trust him? He killed the Avatar, brought down the Earth Kingdom, allowed you to be locked up here… I hate him," I finished, but the words didn't hold any conviction. When I looked up at Iroh, there was a very knowing look in his eyes.

"Sometimes, my dear, the heart knows much better than the mind."

"How can you say that? You wouldn't even talk to him!"

"No, I wouldn't, but not for the reason you think." Iroh shuffled closer, and I was struck by the serenity I felt with him. He just had such a calming presence, something I hadn't experienced in a long time. I realized then that even though I hadn't known him for long, I'd truly missed Iroh. "There has always been a battle raging inside Zuko. My greatest fear has been that he would let the battle consume him, but it was always his to fight. He has looked to me for direction so many times, but I can't tell him what to choose. He has to do it himself, or the battle will never end."

I let my forehead rest against the bars. "What if he chooses wrong?" I don't think either of us was fooled into thinking we were just talking about Zuko anymore. I'd already begun to think of myself as a dual being, the healer and the firebender. I couldn't help thinking that the two couldn't survive inside me at the same time. One was concerned with harmony, the other with revenge. I could barely even sort out what I thought was right and wrong when it came to my plans for Kenshin. Or when it came to Zuko.

"Rei, we all must choose our own path, fight our own demons. But I've found that the outward battles are far less significant than the ones within ourselves."

"I guess these walls are making you crazy," I muttered.

He chuckled and said, "It's not the walls so much as the awful tea."

We laughed together before a knock at the door made me whip my head around. The door opened slightly and the guard's voice called, "Ma'am? Everything all right in there?"

"Of course it is!" I shouted back, and I'm proud to say my voice only shook a little. The door closed and I looked back to see Iroh sitting against the wall again, that vacant expression on his face. As soon as he was sure the guard was gone, he looked up at me with a wry smile.

"It's easier to make them think I've lost my senses. I don't get bothered as much this way." That didn't seem like a good enough reason to pretend to be a lunatic, but I let it go. I had my secrets, so Iroh was certainly allowed his.

"I should probably get going, anyway. We both know how much Zuko loves being kept waiting." We shared a smile before I bowed low to him. His smile widened and he bowed back from his spot on the floor. "Thank you."

"No, thank you. And Rei... the red becomes you."

My smile tightened and I turned to leave. I looked back at him once I'd reached the door, but he'd gone from sitting to lying down and wasn't looking at me anymore. With a small sigh, I opened the door and left.

""""

"You saw him? How did he look?" Zuko's voice bombarded me as soon as I'd climbed to the ridge where he was hiding. The sun was just starting to set and I was exhausted from the stress of sneaking into the prison and that snarled up mess that was my feelings for Zuko.

"He's been in prison since Ba Sing Se, how do you think he looks?" I said, but instantly regretted my snappy words. Zuko's face fell and he looked almost sick. "Zuko, he's fine. Really, he's as well as could be expected."

Zuko's eyes snapped back up to mine. "You talked to him?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but not for long. Trust me, he's as sane as ever," I couldn't keep a bit of sarcasm from leaking into my voice and I smiled fondly at the prince.

Zuko laughed, a beautiful, relieved sound. "Thank you, Rei. I was…" His face grew sad again. "Did he-did he say anything… I mean, did he ask you to tell me anything?"

I hesitated. Iroh didn't want Zuko to know why he didn't talk to him in the prison, and I had to respect that. Then again, Zuko's dejected face was twisting my stomach with pity. "He asked how you were doing," I finally murmured.

"What did you tell him?"

I shuffled my feet, uncomfortable. "I told you, I couldn't talk to him for very long. Really, I just had time to tell him how I got in there. I told him you arranged it, and that seemed to answer his question."

Zuko fell silent as he thought over my words, probably imagining the conversation between Iroh and me. Finally, he sighed and lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile. I'd never seen him smile so much, and it sent strange flutters down my stomach each time he did. His eyes moved back to the prison and he looked at it for a long time. I was glad he wasn't interrogating me because I honestly didn't want to tell him everything that Iroh and I discussed. I thought over the general's words about his nephew. There has always been a battle raging inside Zuko… My eyes traced over his profile and as I watched him think about his uncle, I started to see the prince in a new light, and that terrified me. Maybe I knew logically that he wasn't the monster I'd told him he was, that he wasn't a mindless servant to the Fire Nation, but I hated him anyway. Maybe he was just doing his best to keep his head above water in that sea of conflicting emotion that I often felt within myself. If Iroh thought he wasn't beyond saving, who was I to condemn him? There was no changing what he'd done… but maybe it was unfair to discredit his reasons for doing it. After all, how evil could a man who loved his uncle so much be?

I was startled from my thoughts by his quiet voice saying, "Are you tired?" His eyes slowly moved from the prison to my face.

"Not really," I said. I'd slept late that morning, and my mind was whirring too fast for me to feel any fatigue. And, I admitted to myself that I didn't want to go home yet. I wanted to stay with him a bit longer, if just to try and sort out my thoughts.

"We could practice your bending a little. It's weaker at night, but you'll be able to do some basic things," he said.

Once back in the cave, Zuko held his handful of fire in front of him and sat cross-legged on the ground. I sat across from him and winced when the breastplate jabbed into my stomach. "Hang on," I said. With a sigh, I maneuvered to my feet and tried to find my pile of clothes. I was completely outside the circle of light from his fire, so once I'd located my clothes from earlier, I quickly stripped out of the officer's uniform and back into my own clothes. I returned to Zuko and took my seat opposite him, shivering when the cold of the stone floor seeped through my clothes. I looked up at him expectantly, but his gaze was on my chest and his jaw was tight.

"Rei, how did that happen?" he gestured the hand holding the fire at my chest, moving the shadows around the cave.

I felt my eyes go dead as I thought about that night. "A casualty of war," I said, reciting a line from the Fire Nation pamphlets. "Just teach me, Zuko."

Zuko stared at me for a long time, and I caught the flicker of unease in his eyes. I wondered when I got so good at reading him; I'd certainly been clueless when he was under my care in the Earth Kingdom. He seemed to shake himself, and finally said, "I think we should just start with a few breathing exercises to get you in touch with your bending."

We spent an hour or so sitting on the damp cave floor. As he coached me in the correct breathing technique and told me to feel the fire within me, concentrate on the heat, the cold of the cave slowly disappeared. I felt my body warming itself from the inside, and it felt so comfortable. Like I'd been cold all my life, and was just now feeling what it was to be warm. I could have fallen asleep there, listening to his rough, but calming voice telling me to feel the fire flare with my breaths. My eyes slid closed and I saw his fire flickering for a few moments from behind my eyelids before it disappeared and I felt the blackness close around me. I would have been nervous if my bending wasn't massaging me with heat.

"Do you feel it?" he murmured.

"Mmm," I hummed, my eyes still closed.

"Open your eyes." More relaxed than I ever thought I could be in a damp cave with Prince Zuko sitting in front of me, I let my eyes slide open, but I couldn't see anything in the pitch black. "Now, just let the heat flow. It knows where to go."

I felt the heat slowly meandering down my arms and raised my palms, much in the same way I would usher a friend out of the door. I just gave it somewhere to visit, something to do. The fire didn't burst out of my hands, it slowly filled them like a flower in the sun. I sighed contentedly. It felt so right, like relaxing in a warm bath after a stressful day. I couldn't remember ever feeling happier than I did right then. Everything in the world felt like it was exactly how it should be, even though I knew that couldn't be right. My face relaxed into a smile and I watched the flames dance and twist on my palms, as happy as I was. My eyes wandered lazily up to Zuko to find him watching, not my hands, but my face. His wide eyes were glowing as the flames reflected in them and his mouth was parted. He looked enraptured, and I thought it must have been the same look I'd had while staring at the flames. Suddenly, he dropped his stare and fixed his eyes on his lap. "Now just think about bringing the fire back inside." Much like I had in the prison, I brought the fire back into my body like I would put a hand in my pocket. Immediately, we were bathed in darkness again.

"It's getting late," his voice sounded almost harsh as I felt the heat fade within me. I had to blink when he illuminated the cave with fire again. Without waiting for a response, Zuko got up and moved past me to stop near the opening for the tunnel that lead from the beach. "You can make it from here, the tunnel doesn't split off."

I brushed my hands on my skirt and stood, confused at his sudden coldness. I kept my eyes on him as I walked over, but he was avoiding my stare. I paused next to him and lightly touched my hand to his arm. "Are you alright?" the healer in me asked.

He pulled him arm away slowly, still looking away. "Fine," he said. "I'll let you know when we can meet again for training."

I paused again, but didn't know what to say. It was hard to reassure someone when you don't know what they're upset about and if I knew anything about Zuko, he wouldn't tell me. I sighed and walked into the tunnel.

""""

I was almost to the stacks when a shadowy figure stepped out from behind an empty guard station. My heart rate sped up, but I tried to tell myself it could be a coincidence as I continued walking. After all, it wasn't that late and I had seen others on my path. Except this person was standing still, waiting. I felt for the heat in my chest for a bit of comfort as I neared him. As I got closer, I could see in the moonlight that it was a young man, bald, with ragged clothes and a tired, drawn face. He met my eyes and quickly flicked his away. I stared straight at the ground and marched forward. The path was narrow and I had to walk past him to get to the stacks. I'd taken one step past him and let out a relieved breath before I felt his hand close around the top of my arm.

"Hang on, girl," he growled. I grunted and tried to jerk my arm away, but he wouldn't let go. "Stop! I don't want to hurt you, so just quit it."

I snarled, "You'd better get the hell off me or you'll be sorry!"

I brought my other hand around and pressed it against his face, drawing my fire out against him. He screamed and dropped me, but before I could run, another set of hands grabbed both my wrists and pinned them behind my back. I tried to get loose, but I was trapped. My firebending rushed to my defense and I felt the flames licking up my back, but whoever was holding me was a firebender, too, and he was suppressing my flames with a hand against mine. I doubled my squirming, but I only managed to tweak my left shoulder. The man holding me turned me to face the bald man I'd injured. He was holding one hand against his face, but it didn't lessen his glare. His free hand reached for me. I took a deep breath to scream, and was promptly slapped across the face before I could make a sound. That's when the full gravity of this situation hit me. I knew what would happen now, because it had happened before. I think my mind retreated somewhat to try and protect me from the trauma of this happening twice because I laughed. The bald man gave me a confused look and I laughed harder, the sound disturbingly bright. I just couldn't believe my luck. I'd travelled across the world and managed to find another Kenshin.

"Shut up!" he growled. He looked around, frightened. When I didn't stop laughing, he slapped me again, though not as hard. "I don't want to hurt you," he said. I stopped laughing and studied his face. He really didn't look like he was enjoying this, and the guy who was restraining me did really seem like he was trying to be gentle about it. He was holding my hands behind my back, but he wasn't jerking them so that my shoulders complained.

"What do you want?" I managed to say.

"We just need anything valuable you've got on you. Then, you can go home."

"Are you two really this stupid?" I said, still a bit hysterical. "I'm going into the stacks! How much money do you think I have?"

"Some. It doesn't matter, we need it. Where are you hiding it?" I glared at him and kept my mouth shut. "I'll just search you if you don't tell me. Do you want that?"

My jaw clenched tight, but I didn't want him to touch me. I growled in frustration and said, "I've got it in the right pocket on my skirt."

His face didn't change, he just reached into my pocket and fumbled around with the coins there. I didn't have much of Zhin's money left, just a few coppers, but it was all I had. I almost asked him to leave it, told him that I'd starve without it, but I didn't. There was no way I'd beg. When he drew his hand out, his fist was closed around the coins and I felt him brush against my knife, strapped against my thigh. He froze and glanced up at me. I couldn't stop my eyes from widening, and he seemed to guess immediately what it was. With a stony expression, he lifted my skirts and took the knife from my thigh. He didn't do anything else, but my face burned red with embarrassed fury. I knew without a doubt that I would kill them if I got free.

My voice shook with my anger as I said, "You two are a couple of real patriots, you know that? You'd leave a woman defenseless and hungry for a few coppers."

The man holding my hands leaned his face over my shoulder and I flinched away from him as he said, "We have to. The soldiers don't pay attention to these things in the stacks, so we don't have a choice. We're starving, too. And we don't have the options that women have for money."

My face twisted in disgust. I knew that many women in the stacks have taken to selling their bodies to the soldiers for money, but I never considered that. I would die before I let a soldier touch me again. The bald man picked up a rock off the side of the path that was about the size of his fist, and said, "Sorry. We need to." After a nod at the man behind me, he swung the rock at my head. The world went black.

When my eyes opened, the first thing I felt was the throbbing on the left side of my face. It was still dark, but the moon was significantly lower in the sky and I could see the very edges of dawn above the mountain. I groaned and pressed my hand to my head. I definitely had a concussion, and I was lucky if my skull wasn't fractured. I didn't think it was, but I couldn't do much about it anyway. My only consolation was that I wasn't dead yet.

I felt strangely numb about the whole thing. Maybe it was because they had been right in saying that it was no use to report it, or because I'd already had to deal with a similar situation. I let the anger simmer below my skin and held onto the numbness that was at the forefront of my mind. I sorted through my options and decided I'd just have to move on from it. I'd stop by the bath house and clean myself up, then I'd go to my shack and sleep it off, then I'd learn firebending and kill the man who was responsible for my being here in the first place. I felt a strange peace wash over me as I thought about how close I was to that goal. I soothed the pain in my head with the familiar fantasy of Kenshin's body limp on the ground as I stood over him. Once I mastered my firebending…

My mind automatically went to Zuko as I walked through the stacks. It was strange, I was usually bombarded with emotion when I thought of him, but this time, I thought about our moment in the cave with a detached curiosity. I tried to pull up the feeling of his hands and mouth on me, but all I could feel was Kenshin pressing me up against my counter, his disgusting tongue in my mouth. I tried to remember Zuko's scent and could only smell the smoke of my hut burning. Once I was back in my hut, the only thought I had about Zuko was how much I hoped he'd contact me soon. I needed to train.

Thank you guys so much for the interest in this story, it's more than I ever thought I'd get! I love all your reviews.