CHAPTER 7

A prison. In the middle of the ocean. That was where we were right now. Zuko's men had helped the prison warden back onto the metal surface we were standing on. And it wasn't the ship. Multiple guards stood before Zuko, scared expressions on their faces.

"What happened here?" Zuko asked.

Just in case you're wondering, it's been a week since Zuko and I last spoke. He's too prideful, and he's also the one who hurt me, so hearing an apology would be nice. Yes, I forgave him, but I don't want him to know that just yet.

"The Earthbenders... They escaped," the warden replied. No, really?

"I can see that. How?"

"It was a girl. She looked sort of like her." The warden pointed to me, and I gasped.

Katara was here? What about Sokka? Does this mean they're with the Avatar?

"She motivated the Earthbenders to escape, and there were two boys with her. One had tattoos of arrows."

I saw Zuko's hands close into fists. We were on the right path, but he was also chasing my family. Besides Gran-Gran, they were the only family I had. I couldn't let him to this. Not when Sokka and Katara were in this.

Zuko dismissed the guards and warden, then turned to the sea. His men went to the ship, but I stayed behind, conflicted on whether I should speak or not. I saw him lean over and pick something up. But what was it? A few seconds later, I was too late to speak and was being led back to the ship. He and I still slept in the same room, unless I felt that he was unreasonably moody. So we went to his quarters after he'd instructed the crew on what to do.

"Do you recognize this?" he asked when we were alone. He showed me the thing that he'd picked up, and I saw that it was my mother's necklace. And I nodded. "Who's is it?"

"Katara's. It's my sister's," I answered. I know I said that we weren't speaking, but I lied. I just don't like to admit that he's ordered me around this whole time. So instead, I'll say that we haven't spoken. "She never takes it off."

Zuko:

Looking at the girl in front of me, I saw her eyes fill with tears, but she didn't let them fall. I couldn't hold a conversation with her anymore because eventually, I'll have to apologize for my actions and I knew that she wouldn't forgive me. I'd never hit her or burned her before, and it's just not something that somebody gets over so quickly.

Kiara's wrist was still bandaged, but the swelling in her cheek was gone completely. Two nights ago, I'd heard her sniffling, but I hadn't said anything about it. The only times she's ever cried was when she thought about her family. Even after my father scarred us, she hadn't cried. Sure, she was in pain for a full month and a half, but she'd never cried.

This was her family. The necklace in my hand belonged to somebody important to her and she was refusing to cry. She now knew that I was pursuing her family to capture the Avatar. And honestly, I wish that I wasn't.

Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore.

"Kiara... I-I'm sorry," I whispered, looking away from her.

Silence.

So I looked back at her, and saw a tear. The urge to hug her like when we were kids snuck up on me. I'd comforted her when she was sad during our childhood together. And with no further thought to it, I set the necklace down and pulled her to me. Almost instantly, I felt her tiny arms wrap around my torso.

"Kiara, I really am sorry. I was just angry. And I know that you hate that, but you know I have temper problems. Again, I'm so sorry for hurting you. I didn't mean to."

"You big goof," I heard her mumble, "I forgave you a long time ago."

Kiara:

A few days later, we had docked in a Fire Nation colony at the edge of the Earth Kingdom. It was warmer her, so I was wearing lighter clothes, but still covering the burn on my back. Zuko and I roamed through the woods, looking for Iroh, who had disappeared not long after we'd docked.

"Uncle!" Zuko shouted as we broke through the bamboo wall. "It's time to leave! Where are you? Uncle Iroh!"

"Over here!" Iroh called. He was sitting in a rock hot spring. Some Earthbenders must have formed it. I shielded my eyes, blocking the view of the older man in the hot water.

"Uncle?" Zuko sounded confused. It was kind of cute, actually. "We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail, and I don't want to lose him," Zuko explained.

I turned my back to them. Things had gotten better since Zuko apologized, but he was still beating himself up. I could just tell. Guilt was in his eyes when he looked at me. And he would sometimes mutter to himself before he came to bed. I caught him cursing at himself on time, calling himself stupid and saying that he was a shitty friend. Technically, we weren't even supposed to be friends in the first place, and I wouldn't even say that's what we were now.

"You look tired, Prince Zuko," Iroh said. "Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?"

Zuko flared up. Even though I couldn't see him, I could still imagine his face at this point. "My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!"

Iroh only remained calm. "You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. Temperature's just right. I heated it myself."

I swatted away the steam that suddenly surrounded me. That only meant that Iroh was heating the water some more.

"Enough! We need to leave now! Get out of the water!" Zuko was silent for a second. "On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes?" he asked. I guess he saw something he didn't want to see. "But be back at the ship in half an hour. Or I'm leaving without you!"

Zuko passed me, indicating that I needed to follow him, and I did. We left his uncle alone in the hot spring. Would it be bad if I said something? I was worried about him, to be honest. Was he angry at himself for hurting me? He'd gained my forgiveness, but had he forgiven himself?

"What are you thinking about?" he asked me suddenly. I looked up at him, startled. "Does it hurt?"

I shook my head as he stopped walking altogether, making me stop as well. "Not anymore, Prince Zuko. Only if I move it the wrong way."

"Who treated it?"

"Your uncle, actually. The night it happened. I woke up and went outside to get some fresh air, and he came out. He examined it, then treated it," I answered. I looked at him, waiting for his reaction.

"Why did you wake up?"

"I-I had a nightmare..." I whispered, looking down at my feet. I knew he was going to ask what the nightmare was about, so I spoke before he could ask. "It was the day I was taken by the Fire Nation. It's almost like I remembered something, but it was a dream. I-I watched my mother be killed..." Tears were sliding down my face as I spoke.

Zuko gripped my shoulders, causing me to look up at his face. Was it bad that I found him attractive? Handsome? Even with a scar on his face that would never go away? It shouldn't be. But for some reason, I thought it was. He reached his right hand up to my face, wiping a new tear away. He can be nice when he wants to... But that's the thing. When he wants to.

"We need to get back to the ship," he said, dropping his hands. I nodded, following him as he walked towards the ship, where the crew was waiting on our arrival. We went back to Zuko's quarters. There, I watched him pace impatiently as I sat quietly on the bed.