Katara shivered, cold. Her wrists felt heavy. Looking down, she was alarmed to find that they were shackled. The cuffs were bound to iron chains, bolted into the dais on which she stood. She struggled, but it was useless. She couldn't break free.

Peering around in the darkness, Katara realized that she knew her surroundings. The faint emerald glow of the crystals overhead lit an enormous stone effigy of a couple locked in a kiss. This is Oma and Shu's cave. But… how did I get here?

Before she had time to analyze that too deeply, something moved on the ground below the dais - a serpentine tail, slithering through the shadows. Katara's blue eyes bulged with alarm. Dragons. There were three of them; one blue, one red, one gold. She listened fearfully as the dragons began arguing amongst themselves as to what should be done with her.

"Kill her," the blue dragon seethed, its female voice sharp and commanding.

"No," the golden dragon replied uncertainly, glancing back at Katara with its great amber eyes shining, "I can't."

"Can't or won't?" the blue dragon wondered, coiling silkily around the other. "Oh well, no matter. I will tear her to shreds in my claws, and then we'll see where your loyalties truly lie."

"No!" cried the red dragon, whom Katara had just noticed was also bound. There were iron manacles locked around his talons, chaining him to the floor. "You must not listen to the blue dragon! She means to destroy us all!"

"Let him choose for himself!" the blue dragon snarled, her scales flashing furiously.

"I will not let you kill her," the golden dragon challenged. The shining beast swooped in a long arc over Katara, settling his stance in front of her as her champion.

"Don't make yourself my enemy," the blue dragon warned. "Or my fire will consume you all!"

Suddenly, a torrent of sizzling blue flames leapt out of the enemy dragon's mouth, coming straight at Katara. She screamed, unable to move. The golden dragon braced himself in front of her. Vivid red flames bursted from his jaws, but the blue dragon was too strong for him. Another burst of fiery death came from her mouth, burning scales and skin to a cinder.

"Katara, wake up! There's a Fire Navy destroyer on our tail!"

Katara snapped upright, her skin still tingling from the dream fire. Shaking it off, her unbound hair swished behind her as she rushed up the steps to the main deck.

What she found there was absolute chaos. The Kyoshi warriors were scrambling about frantically, pulling all the wind they could into the sails. The black iron monster sliced through the water, gaining on them at an intolerable rate. Projectile fireballs screamed overhead, barely missing the ship.

The waterbender's heart raced with the heat of battle. She raced to the back of the ship and executed a form with raised arms, creating a massive wave between the two vessels. Bringing her arms down hard, the wave pushed the clipper forward and put a modicum of distance between them. Still, the dark vessel kept edging closer. Katara frowned. Using another technique, she formed an iceberg behind them, but the iron ship's front spike crashed right through it.

"Come on!" Katara shouted, focusing all her energy into the ocean. The waves loomed higher, forcing the iron vessel backwards, but at this rate she could only keep them at bay a few more minutes.

"Katara, what should we do?" Tenshi called, steadying the mainsail to ride out the wave.

Katara was about to answer when a flaming ball catapulted overhead, crashing into the mast and setting it on fire. Gasping, she redirected the wave upwards. Seawater cascaded over the mast, dowsing the flames.

Relieved, she turned around only to have her heart sink even further. The Fire Navy ship was practically on top on them. She could only watch in horror as the enormous metal craft rammed into the back of the clipper, smashing through the wood hull with a low groan. The deck shook violently, knocking Katara off her feet. Shaking it off, she pushed herself upright and took a wide-legged fighting stance.

Katara uncapped the flask at her side. "Get ready!" she shouted to the Kyoshi warriors. "Here they come!"

Gangplanks thudded down onto what was left of the deck. "Seize them!" a man's voice cried, and a brigade of skull-masked firebenders came rushing towards them.

ooo LL ooo

"Aang. You're awake!" A blurry, black-haired girl reached out to touch his forehead. "You're burning up. I'll get you some water."

"Katara?" Aang asked in a whisper.

"Sorry, Twinkletoes, it's just me." Toph took a cloth and sponged his brow. Momo peered worriedly over her shoulder.

Aang gulped, only by the sight of Momo convinced that he was no longer in the swamp. "Toph. Where's Appa?"

"He's outside, swimming alongside us. I think he's glad to have a break from flying."

"Katara? Sokka?"

"They're fine. Sokka's up on the main deck. Katara's with the Kyoshi warriors." Toph reached out for the water bowl, almost knocking it over. "Sorry. I guess I don't make the best nurse. It would help if there was some dirt in here. I can't see anything."

Aang tried to roll over and couldn't. He collapsed, sweating and then shivering. The Avatar mumbled incoherently to himself.

The earthbender pulled the blanket up over his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Aang. I'm sorry you got hurt. I'm sorry you're sick. I'm even sorry I'm not Katara. If I were, I'd know what to say to make you feel better. But I don't. I didn't know what to say to Sokka either."

When Aang continued to be fitful and showed her no response, Toph continued, talking more to ease her own feelings than to keep him company.

"Katara told me what happened to Princess Yue. I know Sokka must be really worried about Suki, hoping what happened to Yue won't happen to her. I wish he'd worry about me like that. But he won't. He doesn't think of me like a boy thinks about a girl.

"You don't, either. I may not be able to see the way you look at Katara, but I can feel your heartbeat when she's close to you. It's flying. Jet's did, too. I… I guess it would be nice if just once, someone would feel that way about me." Before she could get too down on herself, she forced out a brave, haughty laugh. "But that's stupid, huh? I mean, I'm Toph, the world's most powerful earthbender! Solid as a rock and stronger than metal! Why should I care what guys think about me?"

She paused, then half-whispered to herself, "Yeah, okay, I'm a bad liar. I do care. That's my problem."

Momo's wide, inquisitive eyes peeked over her shoulder with concern. The lemur rubbed his fuzzy white head against her face.

"You love me, don't you, Momo?" Toph asked uncertainly.

Momo chattered and chirped, then curled up in her arms to sleep.

"Yeah, you better," Toph smiled, patting his head. "Especially if you're the only one."

ooo LL ooo

"Well, that didn't take very long," Mai clucked to herself. The pale, darkling girl tucked her senbon back into the sheaths beneath her sleeves. "The Kyoshi warriors get easier to beat every time. What a bore."

"Lady Mai, the enemy ship has been destroyed and the prisoners taken below," the deck officer reported. "We confiscated their weapons and stored them in the hold, as well as - Prince Zuko!"

Mai turned to find Zuko behind them, glaring at her. He looked as though he could breathe flames out of his nostrils at any moment.

"What is the meaning of this insurrection?!" he demanded. "The ship is under my command until the Avatar is found and delivered to the Fire Lord. So explain to me why there was a battle and I wasn't notified at once!"

"Yes, Your Highness," the officer genuflected. "We received a messenger hawk from the battalion at Kyoshi. They've searched the entire island and found no sign of the Avatar's bison. However, they informed us that the Kyoshi warriors escaped. As they're known to be the Avatar's allies, we thought perhaps his friends had left him in their care and taken the bison themselves as a ruse. Since the Kyoshi warriors' vessel was within our trajectory…"

"Why," Zuko repeated, taking a step forward to invade the nervous officer's personal space, "wasn't I notified at once?"

Mai sighed heavily. "Dismissed," she nodded to the officer, who looked relieved to scurry away. "What's your problem, Zuko? You said you wanted me to follow your orders, so I did."

The scarred prince's lips thinned into an angry line. "I didn't order this," he snapped, pointing over the side. The vestiges of a boat drifted alongside the port bow - shattered pieces of hull floating as driftwood, still on fire.

"You said, and I quote, 'I'm going to my quarters, not to be disturbed,'" Mai reminded him. "During your relief, I'm in command. Relax. I took care of everything."

"So I see." The banished prince looked grimly out at the smoldering remains of the clipper. "We'll need another lead on the Avatar so the helmsman can set a course. Where are the prisoners?"

"Down there." Mai thumbed over her shoulder. "On the left."

Zuko nodded. "I'll question them personally. They may know where the Avatar is hiding."

"Suit yourself," Mai shrugged. As he turned and went down into the hull, she sighed. Some pleasure cruise you sent me on, Azula. The Kyoshi warriors were easy to beat and Zuko isn't any happier to see me than he was when we were kids. This stinks.

oo LL ooo

Katara paced to and fro in the iron cell. The situation was grim. Even if she and the Kyoshi warriors could escape, where would they go? She couldn't exactly waterbend them all the way to land. And no one is coming to save us, she forced herself to admit. Sokka and Toph have probably met up with Dad by now. It'll be days before they start wondering where we are.

She wasn't sure if Mai had seen her before the Fire Nation soldier grabbed her from behind and dragged her away. Still, the presence of the gloomy knife-throwing girl unnerved Katara. Wherever she was, Azula was bound to be closeby. Azula saw Appa flying toward Kyoshi. She must be looking for Aang. When she finds out he's not here… who knows what she'll do to us? The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

Just then, the lock turned with a metallic scrape. The cell door creaked open, but the one who stepped inside was not Princess Azula.

"Zuko!" Her jaw dropped with a shaky gasp.

Zuko's eyes grew large, absorbing the shock. He couldn't think of any logical reason why she would be here, on his ship, in a bleak iron detainment cell. For a moment, he couldn't move. He couldn't even think. He could only stare helplessly back at her. Behind him, the metal door swung shut and the lock clanked into place.

His stomach twisted inside as her expression settled into a look of dark resentment. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with the Avatar?"

"We split up, after your sister practically killed him," she informed him coldly. "What's the matter, Zuko? Sorry you caught me and not him?"

"I shouldn't have caught either of you," he scolded in a gritty tone. "You should have left the Earth Kingdom when you had the chance!"

"Oh, I wish I'd thought of that! It wasn't like I was on a boat, trying to escape!" she said derisively. The waterbender turned spitefully to face the wall. "At least Aang is far away from here and safe from you."

"You don't need to worry about being safe from me," Zuko muttered.

"Right. Like I would ever believe that again." The Water Tribe girl looked over her shoulder at him and narrowed her eyes to icy slits of blue. "You're wasting your time with me. I'm not going to tell you where to find him, so just finish what you started in Ba Sing Se and be done with it."

Zuko arched an eyebrow, genuinely confused. "Finish what?"

"You tried to kill me," she accused, turning on her heel in umbrage. "Remember?!" In the silence that followed when Zuko looked away, her expression hardened. "Well? Isn't that what you were trying to do? Tell the truth, Zuko. If your uncle hadn't burst in and saved us, you would have killed me and Aang, wouldn't you?"

Zuko stared guiltily at the floor. Her accusation ripped through him like a blade. "I didn't want to hurt you, Katara," he insisted. "I've never wanted to hurt you."

It was the first time she'd heard him use her name, but she was too hurt to care. "Then why did you attack me?" she demanded. "And why did you attack Aang? Your uncle said you were right behind us. I thought you were on our side!"

"I know." He started to look up at her, but dropped his head again in shame. "I didn't want to fight you. But the Avatar was the only thing that stood between me and being able to go home. I tried to explain that to you before."

Try to understand. I need him to restore something I've lost - my honor. She remembered. But his self-seeking admission only riled her further. "So, you'd kill me, betray an uncle who loves you more than anything, and take away the world's only hope for peace, just so you could go home?!"

Zuko scowled, turning his chin away from her. "It's not like that. You don't understand!"

"You're right, Zuko," Katara furiously agreed, "I don't understand. I opened up to you. I trusted you. I even offered to try to heal you!"

"Yeah, and then you walked away from me," the banished prince reminded her sullenly. "With the Avatar. You chose him. You didn't want - "

Katara caught her breath. A heavy silence hung in the air.

Me, he finished internally. You didn't want me. Zuko's fists clenched at his sides. He'd stopped himself, but not in time.

Overwhelmed, Katara slumped down onto the lumpy mattress of the cot. If Zuko felt abandoned by her and Iroh, it didn't excuse his actions, but it certainly made them more understandable. "It wasn't like that," she quietly denied. "Your uncle told us to go help our other friends. Zuko… I didn't want to leave you."

Zuko's chin jerked up at her confession. "You didn't?"

Katara shook her head. "But it wasn't that simple. I have an obligation to Aang. He needs me. No matter what I feel, keeping my promise to help him end this war has to come first."

"You said feel," he realized aloud. "Not felt." Zuko took a tentative step closer, but halted when he saw Katara flinch. His stomach cringed. It hurt to see that even now, she was afraid of him. "If you want me to leave, I will. But I think you should know, I wasn't trying to kill you. I was trying to save you."

"Save me?" Katara echoed, nonplussed. "But… you fought me! You came between me and Azula!"

"I had to. It was the only way to convince Azula I was on her side," he explained. "Even the Avatar couldn't beat her, not with the Dai Li helping her. If I had joined you and Uncle, we'd all be dead now."

"So you were trying to protect us." When he nodded, Katara sighed. "Even if you did it for the right reasons, what you did was still wrong. I don't know if I can ever trust you again."

"I know. That's the chance I had to take." He stared at the floor. "You said you didn't hate me before. Do you hate me now?"

"No. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed," Katara admitted. "I knew someone like you once before. I wanted to believe in him, too. But I couldn't."

Zuko met her eye with interest. He didn't know if she would want him to sit beside her, but he decided to risk it. He settled himself next to her on the mattress. Surprisingly, she didn't move away. "What happened to him?"

Katara hung her head. There was no way Jet could have survived his injuries, despite the brave face he'd put on for her sake. "He died. The head of the Dai Li killed him."

He could almost feel her pain. "I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it."

"No, I want you to know." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "When I met him, he told me the Fire Nation had killed his parents, and I told him I'd lost my mom. I trusted him. I let him get close."

That sounds awfully familiar, Zuko thought.

"He did some terrible things that made me hate him, and we went our separate ways. Later, he found me in Ba Sing Se and tried to convince me he'd changed. I couldn't believe it. But when we needed him the most, he proved himself a true friend. He risked his life to save us." Tears pricked at her eyes. "I tried to heal him, but it was too late. I never got to tell him how sorry I was for doubting him, and… for…"

Katara's voice broke off as she started to cry. It hadn't occurred to her before, but this was the first real chance she'd had to grieve over losing Jet. Her shoulders heaved as she released the grief she'd been carrying in silence.

As her face fell and her tears came faster, Zuko felt a strange ache in his chest, compelling him to comfort her. Bridging the gap between them, he tentatively reached for her shoulders. He was surprised that Katara allowed him to pull her into his arms. "I'm sure he already knew," he whispered.

"I wanted to hate you," Katara confessed with feeling. "I should hate you, after all my friends and I have suffered because of you. But I can't."

"Maybe it's better if you do hate me," Zuko murmured. "You're with the Avatar. I'm with the Fire Nation. If we weren't, things might be different, but -"

His words were cut off when Katara's fingers came to his lips. She motioned to the door, where they heard the guards walk past, and saw their shadows pass through the crack at their feet. By the time their footsteps had faded, Zuko and Katara's eyes had met once more, their breath labored from the momentary fear. Though neither was aware of it, both their hearts were thudding loudly; no longer from panic, but from another emotion entirely.