Book 1: Water

I'm sorry about the wait, I haven't had a lot of time to write recently. And, honestly, I'm was pretty nervous about this chapter. There's quite a bit of OOCness, I think, from both Zuko and Iroh, for which I'm sorry.

I'm taking a few cues from the way Zuko acts with Mai when he's with her to explain away how he acts with Rhian here. Not as many as I should, but a few.

Anyway, I hope you like it, regardless. And, please feel free to let me know anything you did or didn't like. I like reviews and constructive criticism is welcome. :)

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Book 1: Chapter 7

They didn't speak for three whole days. Meals where tense and difficult with the teens glaring at each other and Iroh trying to make conversation neither of them were willing to partake in. By the second day, they refused to be in the same room as each other. So, on the fourth day, Iroh, sick of their childishness, shoved Zuko into Rhian's room and bolted the door from the outside.

"Uncle!" Zuko screamed, banging on the door. "Uncle, open the door, now!"

"Not until you two work this out." Iroh said calmly from the other side. "If you're not talking civilly in two hours, you're in there all night."

"Iroh, this isn't fair!" Rhian yelled, joining Zuko at the door.

"I'm leaving now."

"Iroh! Come back here and open the door!"

"Uncle!"

There wasn't a response.

With a frustrated yell and one last kick to the door, that Rhian's foot greatly regretted, she stalked back to her bed and sat down to glare at Zuko. The prince stayed where he was, sliding his back down the wall to sit on the floor, glaring right back at her.

Neither of them spoke, and neither of them intended too. They could be just as stubborn as each other.

For the full two hours, they stared each other down, each stewing in their own fury. When Iroh came back and heard nothing from the other side of the door, he sighed.

"Have you worked it out yet?"

Rhian wanted to lie. Wanted to call out, brightly and happily, 'Yes Iroh, it's all alright. Everything's fine now.' But her pride wouldn't let her. Zuko just growled.

"Fine." Iroh said. "Then you're stuck there until morning. I suggest you get cracking if you want any breakfast tomorrow."

"Iroh! Let us out!" Rhian screamed. "This is cruel and unjust!"

"I can't hear you, Rhian, I'm leaving." Came the muffled reply.

Rhian threw her shoe at the door with an enraged yell and sulked back against the wall.

"Hey!" Zuko yelped when the shoe just barely missed his head.

"Oh, don't be a baby. If I'd wanted to hit you, I would have." Rhian snapped, crossing her arms.

They stayed like that for another half hour, until Zuko finally grunted. "Are you ever going to talk to me?"

"Are you ever going to stop being a jerk?"

"You're being childish."

"So are you. Don't act like I've got the patent on childish behaviour here!"

They glared for another minute, before Rhian really thought about what they were doing. They hadn't spoken in three days. They'd been avoiding each other, and whenever they were in the same place, they glared each other down. Really struck with their actions, Rhian caught his eye and started to laugh. Zuko just looked shocked, which caused her to laugh harder. "We…we are idiots. No wonder Iroh got sick of us." She choked out.

Zuko even managed to crack a smile at that. A real smile. One she hadn't seen for a while.

"So, can we talk this out, or are we going to go back to glaring at each other?"

"Fine." He said.

She waited a moment, but he didn't say anything else.

"Umm… how do we start?" She muttered.

"Why you were angry." Zuko asked, staring at her accusingly.

Rhian twitched, it wasn't like this was her fault! But she let it go, sighing sadly. "I'm worried about you."

"Why?" He moved across the room to sit next to her on the bed, throwing one arm around her shoulders. She always felt privileged when he did that. He didn't like to be touched, but sometimes he would put his arm around her. Like he trusted her.

"Because this mission, this hunt for the Avatar… it's like it has completely consumed you, Zuko."

The Avatar had always been the mission, she understood that. But before the south pole, before they'd discovered Aang, yes, they had travelled and searched, but never like this. Never so violently. Never with no thought or respect for the people they encountered. Maybe it was because now he finally had something solid to grab onto. Maybe the closer he got, the less he saw. Or maybe he'd always been this driven, this ruthless, and she'd just never noticed before.

She was noticing a lot of things lately, if she wanted to be honest with herself.

Zuko looked confused. "That's because capturing the Avatar is the top priority."

"That's just it. It is your top priority. Everything else pales in comparison. Those people on Kyoshi Island suffered for it. And it's like you don't even care."

He looked away from her. "I don't." he said.

She drew in a shuddering breath, gazing at the floor. "And that's what worries me, Zuko. The hunt led you there, I get that, I even understand collateral damage. I don't have to like it, but I can understand it, on some level. But it's the fact that it doesn't even matter to you. That all you can see is the Avatar, you're so blinded to everything else. You're better then that, Zuko."

He tightened his arm slightly, squeezing her shoulders. "The Avatar is everything. Unless I capture him and return him to the Fire Nation, I can never regain my honour and I can never go home. We can never go home. The Avatar has to be the main priority."

She sighed again. "What if it was us? Iroh, or me? Does capturing the Avatar come before us?"

Zuko stilled. She could almost hear his mind working, twisting the problem over and over.

"Actually, I don't want to know." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder. She knew he was a good person. She'd seen it over the years. Heard it in the stories he and Iroh told her about his childhood. Mostly Iroh. Zuko didn't talk as much about his childhood. She knew he was a good person, even if it was buried deep down most of the time. She just wondered if he knew it. If he didn't, she didn't want to hear his answer.

"Are you tired yet?" he asked.

"Exhausted. Staying mad at you is tiring." She said. Gently, he tugged her down with him to lie down. She raised her head. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Going to sleep." He said, baffled.

"Oh, not here, you're not." She grinned evilly. "I'm still mad at you."

"What?" With a smile, Rhian kicked the confused prince off her bed.

"We're good now, Zuko, but not enough for you to sleep on my bed."

"Rhian!"

"Nope. Not tonight, Prince Firehead." She said, tossing a pillow and blanket at him. "Now go to sleep. All this talking is exhausting. And could you get the candles?" She rolled over to face the wall, her dark smile never leaving her face.

"Rhian–"

"Good night, Zuko."

He growled threateningly. She could feel him glaring at her back, before the candles went out and he rolled over without another word.

Rhian considered this a win.

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