Hello my butterflies! I bless you with another chapter. Please enjoy ^_^

I've decided to do my updates on Mondays J

Sophie Segard you have no choice but to enjoy or I will cut you.

Chapter 4: Pure Evil

Zuko could not rid of the pit rolling around in his stomach, making him feel uneasy. As they walked to the makeshift infirmary, Sokka tried to calm his nerves by filling him in on everything the girl had told the Gaang.

"Her name is Yana. She was so freaked out when she woke up, she attacked Katara! But once she saw Aang…" His voice took on a somber tone, "…she started crying. She told us she had escaped from a war prison in the Fire Nation." At that, Zuko cringed. "She almost made it unharmed, but they had sent attack wolf-bats after her and they eventually caught up to her at the place we found her." he finished.

They were almost at the site when Sokka suddenly stopped.

Zuko, how did you meet Yana? Her mother gave birth to her in the prison, and she just escaped… so how…?" he trailed off.

Zuko inhaled deeply. There was no point in hiding anything now, his darkest secret was coming out to the very people he did not want knowing, whether he liked it or not.

"I met her while she was in the prison. It was disguised as a circus and she and many others were locked up there. I tried to break them free but I couldn't. Afterwards, I was forbidden to talk about that day ever again, by the Firelord himself. I was only a kid." The words came out quicker and easier than he thought they would. Finally, he had told someone. He felt as if thousands of bags of sand had been lifted off his shoulders, but his heart was still clenched in anxiety. Sokka just stared at him, his face unreadable. Finally, he spoke.

"It's going to be really hard to face her then, huh?" he said, his usual humor-filled tone gone completely. Zuko just nodded, a lump forming in the center of his throat. Sokka coughed and continued on,

"Let's go on then." and they did.

Approaching the infirmary, Zuko's stomach did back flips. He could see her now, sitting with Aang, Katara and Toph. She had washed, her hair was now combed, and she was wearing fire nation clothes, probably one of Katara's disguises. Katara saw them coming, nodded and turned to the girl,

"Yana, this is the last member of our group. He's going to help us defeat the Firelord too. He was with Sokka when they found you." she said slowly. Yana stood up and walked to him. She bowed,

"My name is Yana, very pleased to meet you. Thank you for saving my life." Her voice was smooth and filled the air with the strength of a leader. Zuko bowed back.

"It was nothing." he could barely speak. "But we've met before." His body shook with fear, not of her anger but of his shame. He was sure it was burning on his face, the shame he felt.

She looked at him, not understanding.

"I'm sorry but that's impossi…" she trailed off and it was obvious as soon as the recognition hit her.

She took on an expression that contrasted her earlier serene look, and scared Zuko to the core. She straightened at the waist and stared at him before her arm swung behind her and came down onto his face with surprising strength. Several of them gasped. Zuko stood, not resisting. She came back at him full force, maliciously attacking him with kicks and punches. They weren't too painful, it was obvious she was drained quickly and was probably hurting herself as much as she was hurting him.

Sokka eventually managed to drag Yana off of him, after much of Katara and Aang's pleading. But not before she managed to spit a wad of saliva into Zuko's good eye.

"You!" she yelled at him. "You 're the one! The one that betrayed us. You betrayed us!" she was crying now, and it was taking all of Sokka's strength to hold her back.

"I'm-" Zuko started, but Yana interrupted him,

"Don't you dare say you're sorry. You have no right to be sorry. What are you doing traveling with the Avatar, you traitor?" She was still yelling. Zuko struggled to find the words to calm her down, and make her feel better.

" I- I've changed. I'm not associated with the Fire Nation anymore." he tried.

"No." she countered. " I don't care what you've told them. You're a traitor . You'll never stop being a traitor, and you'll never stop being Fire Nation." she finished. She had calmed down now, she was smoldering with anger rather than burning with rage. Aang decided to speak up,

"Yana, we have a complicated past with Zuko too, but he really has proven to us that he wants to help us end this war." he reasoned. Aang had a way of talking that calmed people into seeing reason, but Yana wasn't having it.

"You don't understand. What he did, it's unforgivable. I can't forgive him. I'm sorry Avatar Aang."

Sokka, who decided he didn't need to hold Yana back anymore, spoke up.

"Look, it's about time for dinner, why don't we all sit down and eat, and we can talk…calmly." he pointed the last word towards Yana, and she nodded, still looking very much unhappy.

With Katara and Aang leading, Sokka and Yana following closely behind, and Zuko and Toph bringing up the rear, they made their way towards the dinner Katara had prepared. Toph leaned towards Zuko and whispered to him,

" So what did you do? This girl's ready to kill you." he bent down and whispered back,

"I'm sure everyone's about to hear." Toph nodded and they continued to take their seats around the fire. He made sure to sit straight across from Yana, just to be safe.

Zuko didn't feel like Fire Nation. He just felt confused. His perception of the "right" thing had changed so drastically, and although he felt like a good guy, he knew he was walking on eggshells. One good streak wasn't going to erase a lifetime of Fire Nation evil.

As usual, Katara took her time handing out plates of fish, rice and vegetables (just rice and vegetables for Aang). Once everyone was served, she took her own place at Aang's side. Zuko took his food with a quick "thanks" but he didn't feel like he could keep any food down.

The Gaang's usual playful banter was replaced with awkward silence, and Zuko was on edge. His face was stinging from the scratches he had received earlier and his appetite was spoiled. A couple times, Sokka tried to pick up conversation but no one was in the mood to talk. They wanted to listen. Toph, blunt as usual, started it off

" So, Yana… What's the deal with you and Zuko huh?" at that, Sokka, Katara and Aang all looked at Toph in surprise.

"What?" she said innocently, "We were all thinking it." Yana just shrugged,

"No, it's okay." she started.. " I guess it would be good for you to know, especially if you're planning to overthrow all of the Fire Nation's evil."

Aang piped up,

" Know what, Yana? I don't understand. With Zuko here, we have a huge advantage over the Fire Nation's military plans." he said excitedly. This was obviously something he treasured about Zuko's presence here. Yana laughed, a humorless, shaky laugh.

"Oh, he told you everything about the Fire Nation, did he?" she said with mock humor.

"Then I'm sure he told you everything about the Black Fire Circus then?" she said sarcastically. Zuko looked away in shame, but he could feel everyone's eyes on him.

"The Black Fire Circus?" Aang asked. Yana took a deep breath before continuing,

" The Black Fire Circus is the epitome of excitement fun and entertainment. It is adventure for the entire family. Our top facilities and talented acts will leave you on the edge of your seat, wanting more!" she was feigning an excited announcer, but her tone was bitter.

" That's what all the posters say anyways. But to really know what the Black Fire Circus was, was to know pure evil."

Everyone waited for her to continue.

"Oh, get comfortable" she said, "It's a long story."

New update will be next Monday J

Reviews (even flames) are much appreciated.