Author's Note: Hey, guys. I'm a total newbie when it comes to figuring out how to work this site. I've been on it loads of times, but only as a casual reader. As stated before, this is my first story ever posted on here. I would really appreciate a review or two. Anyways, here's chapter three!

Three

"Come in," Zuko said, his voice muffled through the door. He didn't sound happy.

Taking another breath, Maya opened the door a crack and peered in. He was lying on the bed, arms folded behind his head. When he saw her, his expression became annoyed. "Oh. What do you want?" He gave her a once-over. "And why are you hiding behind the door like that? I said come in, didn't I?"

Maya wondered if maybe she should just leave. She suddenly had the urge to smack Zuko across the face and see if that helped his attitude any, but she knew that that was a very bad idea. Setting her face into a permanent frown, she came in and closed the door, folding her arms across her chest for added effect. If he was going to so blatantly show how much he didn't like her, then she would do the same.

"Well, what do you want?" Zuko asked in an exasperated tone after a few long seconds of silence had dragged by.

"Is it true that you're trying to capture the Avatar?" Maya blurted out suddenly.

He looked at her for a second, and the expression on his face made her think that he was wondering if maybe she was stupid. "Of course I am. Don't you know that yet? You've been talking to Uncle a lot. Hasn't he told you anything?"

Maya looked around. "Actually, he kind of refused to say anything about you, except that there's a reason behind you being so angry and mean all the time, and that I shouldn't automatically hate you for being a jerk. Though, I can't say I agree with him. Right now, you're making me really want to not like you."

"You little –" Zuko said, getting off the bed and standing up. "How dare you talk to me like that, peasant!"

Maya scoffed and stood her ground, arms dropping to their sides and hands clenched into fists. "Peasant? That's the worst insult I've ever heard. Didn't anyone ever teach you swear words?"

"Do you want me to call you a bitch?"

Maya sighed heavily, and stretched, arms out in front of her. She put them back at her sides. "Look, I didn't come in here to fight with you, okay? I just wanted to know if what the crewmembers were saying was true. Why do you want to capture the Avatar, anyways? Isn't he supposed to be a good guy?"

But Zuko wasn't listening, apparently. "Hello?" Maya said, rolling her eyes when he didn't answer after too many seconds had gone by. "Did you even listen to anything I said?"

"Where did you get all those burn marks?" Zuko asked suddenly, staring at her arms.

Suddenly, Maya was very self-conscious. The question had completely blindsided her. "W-what?" she stuttered, subconsciously rubbing her arms and holding them close to her body.

"You have burn marks all over your arms. They look old. Where did you get them?" Something in Zuko's voice was desperate and demanding, like if she didn't tell him he would force the information out of her.

But she resisted. "That's none of your business," she stated flatly. "How would you like it if I stared at your face like that and then demanded to know how you got your scar?"

"But you were staring at me."

"What are you talking about? When?"

"Yesterday, when we rescued you. You were staring right at the scar on my face. At least you didn't ask about it. But I was about to tell you to stop when you did it on your own."

"Oh. Sorry." There was a lull in the conversation, and then Maya was hit with sudden inspiration. "If you tell me how you got your scar, I'll tell you how I got all of mine."

And then Maya knew she had lost him. He shut down, and his face became angry again. He turned away from her and yelled at her to get out.

"Zuko, you don't have to keep it hidden away!" she yelled right back. "Just tell me!"

He turned again to face her. "If you don't leave right now, you'll have another burn to add to your collection." His voice was serious, and deadly. She knew he wasn't lying. Suddenly, she was afraid of him, and at the same time, she still wanted to smack him.

"You're a horrible person," she said, and then she stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind her.