Opening the door to the waterbender's cell, Zuko was surprised to find it empty. Fearing the worst, he franticly skimmed the hall for any sign of her, but he only saw the red haired guard who had told him to see her earlier that day. The man seemed to notice the boy's confusion, and lazily swung his hand in the direction of another stone door a few steps down.

"The general decided it would be best to move her there," he grunted. "Something about it being 'better equipped,' whatever that means." The guard dug into his pocket and fished out a ring containing a single key. "You're gonna need this," he said, tossing it to Zuko.

The boy caught the ring and nodded slowly at him, but before he reached the indicated door, the man stopped him again.

"General Zogen also put me in charge of her… maintenance."

Zuko tilted his head a bit at that, even more confused than before, but waited for the man to continue.

"But God knows she'd kick my ass the second she had her hands on water," he shrugged, "and I wouldn't blame her, to be completely honest. But as I would very much like to keep all of my body parts intact, I've excused you from all duties so you can focus on making sure Zogen gets what he wants."

He paused then, scratching at his bearded chin. Then finished with "And she wouldn't be very much use to him dead," before flicking the grime from his fingernails and lumbering off to the eating room.

Pushing back his unease at that final statement, Zuko continued his way to the waterbender's new room, excited at knowing that he would be able to see her often.

His eagerness diminished when the boy budged open the heavy door. He froze before he was even completely in the room, eyes squinting as he scanned the scene in front of him.

While this cell was about the same size as the previous one and contained the same hole in the ground to serve as a bathroom, there were a few key additions. First of all, there was a sheeted mattress set along one side. It wasn't exactly clean, but it was similar to the ones Zuko and the other prisoners slept on in their bunks. It may even be a little bit thicker.

The aspect that concerned and shocked Zuko the most, however, was the body being supported by heavy chains attached to the wall adjacent to the door. With the wrists locked high above her head and spread legs tethered to the ground, the body looked almost artificial in posture. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of her chest, she would have appeared to be…

No. Don't think like that.

She was no longer dressed in the bright blue robe, but stripped down to just thin light blue pants and a white sarashi binding her chest. Both showed spots of blood and wear from the event that caused the most horrific part of her ensemble.

Almost every exposed inch of skin was covered in burns.

Her flat stomach was marked by dozens of intersecting lines of scorched red skin. Some were so deep that blood had seeped through and dried onto her body, while others formed white blisters. Her arms and neck displayed the same marks. Zuko could spot a deep circular opening in her side from where something hot had had been forcefully pushed into her. A few blackened holes in her leggings revealed reddened flesh on her thighs. He could see deep cuts on her wrists and ankles from where she had struggled against her bonds.

She appeared to be sleeping, her head bowed with her chin resting on her burnt chest. Her staggered breathing accompanied by slight tremors and repositioning of her feet betrayed her wakefulness.

"…um… hello?" Zuko started tentatively, his foot still keeping the door partially ajar.

"Go. Away." The mumbled words were laced with pain and hopelessness, but it was definitely the same voice of the girl who had captivated him with her determination and intensity.

Ignoring her, he allowed the door to close and set the bucket down as he slowly approached her.

The girl lifted her head just enough to meet his eyes. "What? You've come to join in on the fun? You wanna laugh at me too? Wanna mark me?" she spat with as much disgust as she could muster.

She almost laughed when boy took a step back as if she'd just hurled the entire ocean at him.

Zuko stood there gaping at her while he racked his mind for something to say.

"I didn't- I just brought-" he stammered, gesturing to the pail of water. "And I have food."

Katara's empty stomach reacted immediately to the thought of food, and her mouth watered as she watched the boy pull out and unwrap a small cloth containing a chunk of bread and some dried fruit. It didn't even look very appetizing, but she hadn't eaten in so long…

She halted her train of thought when the boy took a step towards her. He stopped as well, reaching down to set the bundle of food on the ground before retrieving a key from his pocket.

He set to work unlocking her shackles, first from her ankles, then from her arms. Katara flinched when his elbow brushed against the injured skin on her arm as he turned the key to finish releasing her.

Without the support of the chains holder her up, Katara fell forward immediately.

The boy's arms were around her waist in an instant, supporting her weight as he gently lowered her to the ground.

Once she was seated, she leaned back against the wall. From this position, none of her injured body was in contact with the stone, as her back had been spared.

As she took a few deep breaths, Zuko reached over to grab the food he had brought, putting it within her reach. He then got up to bring her the bucket of water.

Katara's eyes flashed when she caught sight of it, and immediately pulled the liquid contents towards her, completely emptying the container. The feeling of her element at her fingertips gave her the energy to stand up, using the wall to support her injured knee.

Zuko barely had time to react to the stream of water whipping towards his leg as he managed to step to the side to avoid it. Her next attack was narrowly blocked by a shield of fire, but he was unable to protect himself from the sharp pieces of ice being hurled at him. Small cuts on his arm dripped blood as he looked at the girl in shock.

"What are you doing!? I'm here to help you!" he said as he threw up another burst of flame to protect himself from her attack. He could tell she was already tiring, her water whips becoming weaker and weaker and her ice melting almost the second it was thrown.

Desperate, Katara took a step away from the wall, putting the slightest pressure on her hurt leg as she grounded herself to throw a series of jets at her opponent. However, her injuries had made her bending sloppy, and she was unable to make another hit on her mark.

Just as she threw another weak splash, her vision grew foggy and she stumbled a bit before being caught by two strong arms and supported by a hard chest to her back.

She was almost glad of it. She was getting closer and closer to blacking out, and falling to the ground during a fight that she initiated herself would have been beyond embarrassing.

But she'd sooner kiss an otter-penguin's asshole than admit that.

"Let go," she protested, trying to knock him off of her.

Zuko held fast, allowing her to hit him with her hands until she grew too tired and allowed him to hold her without objection. He couldn't help but notice how perfectly the girl seemed to fit in his arms. It had been a long time since he had been in contact with another person in this way.

She was shaking with exhaustion and pain, breathing heavily as the boy once again lowered her to the ground.

When they were both seated on the now-damp ground, Zuko hesitantly took his arms off of her.

"Are you finished attacking me, now?" he asked.

The girl just sat there, biting her lip and furrowing her eyebrows in frustration. After a few moments, she spoke, glaring directly at him.

"You're one of them." Her voice was full of hatred and accusation.

Zuko bowed his head slightly. "I can't help it if I was born a firebender. But if I wanted to hurt you, I would have already."

The girl snorted, though she couldn't really argue with that. She looked at the empty pail and the water soaking the floor, wishing she had at least taken a drink before expending it all in her attacks. She may have been able to separate the dirt out, but she could barely manage to send a decent stream after less than a minute of battling the firebender.

Instead, she just closed her eyes and tried to focus on anything but the pain from the burns that had resurfaced even worse than before from the strain she had put on her body.

Zuko watched her carefully for a few minutes before grabbing the bucket and heading towards the door.

Once he exited, Katara groaned angrily to herself. You couldn't have been a little nicer? He was your only chance at getting water and something to eat.

She spared a glance at the now soggy bread and fruit. It looked disgusting, but she supposed that was her fault anyways. Picking it up, she had just started to pick at the chunk of bread when the door opened again, revealing the boy she had attacked.

To her surprise, he was carrying the bucket, now refilled with water, along with some strips of cloth.

Without looking at her, he sat down in a dry spot on the floor and began wash the blood from his arm before using one strip and wrapping it over the shallow cuts. When he was through, he tossed the remaining cloth the to girl where she was eating.

"I tried to get you burn ointment, but couldn't find any."

Katara just popped another dried berry into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully before daring to ask him to pass her the water.

Without responding, Zuko pushed the bucket towards her with his foot, not risking getting any closer to her. He watched as she closed her eyes and dipped her hands into the water, holding them there for a moment before taking them out to inspect her now-healed wrists. She then formed the same glowing gloves she had used to heal her nose from the day before, and set to work slowly gliding her hands over her arms.

By the time her arms were healed, Katara felt her spiritual connection with the water's healing properties weaken. Knowing that she didn't have the strength to heal her other wounds, she sat back to finish her food and take a fulfilling drink from the bucket, wondering how long it would be before she could get rid of her remaining burns.

After a few moments of sitting in awkward silence, Katara curled her arms around herself and began to shake slightly.

"I already told you I wasn't going to hurt you," he said, a little annoyed. Then added more gently, "There's no need to be scared."

"I'm not scared," she snapped.

"Then what... Oh."

She was hungry, out of energy, half naked, and in a stone prison underground. Of course she was going to be cold.

Zuko ran a hand through his messy mop of hair and considered potential course of actions.

After a moment, he settled on the riskiest option, daring to take a chance with her.

Katara shot him a warning look as he scootched closer.

Zuko's hand shot out to grab her cold one before she had time to yell at him. Or hit him, which was probably more likely.

Katara immediately felt the chill drain from her hand. She bid her body to loosen up a bit as the boy moved closer, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders while the other held onto her hands.

He knew he could have just handed her the discarded robes that lay on the ground, but he was closer, and definitely warmer...

He felt the girl relax in his arms as she stopped shivering. He couldn't help but feel a thrill when she leaned her head onto his shoulder in exhaustion. She closed her eyes, presumably going to fall asleep.

Zuko leaned against the wall and allowed his eyes to drift down to her stomach, assessing the injuries there. He could tell they were caused by indirect heat, rather than by fire itself. They looked painful. Puss was already starting to seep from the blisters and dried blood clotted around the sloppy punctures from where something heated had been pushed into her flesh. He couldn't understand why she had neglected to heal herself completely. Should he fetch her more water?

"I'm sorry for attacking you… again," she said quietly, her eyes still closed. Zuko almost missed it, as he was still preoccupied with pondering her healing abilities.

He shrugged. "I'm getting used to it," he lightly responded.

The girl graced him with an apologetic smile. She rested against him for a few more minutes before lifting her head with a huff.

Katara angrily eyed her injuries before lightly poking at a large blister on her stomach. She hissed as her finger made contact.

"Touching them only makes it worse."

Katara turned her head to glare sharply at the boy. "I know that," she growled.

"Can't you do the glowy thing and fix it?"

She sighed before explaining that healing took a great deal of energy.

"Maybe if you hadn't attacked me, you'd have more energy," Zuko observed.

"Or maybe if I hadn't been chained to a wall and tortured by some hot-headed assholes all day," she shot back.

Zuko hummed in understanding before letting go of her hands to reach into the bucket to cup a handful of water.

Katara watched curiously as his hand hovered over her stomach before he opened his fingers, letting water drizzle over her stomach.

She sighed as the liquid cooled her hot skin. It didn't feel as nice as healing it would have, but it was the next best thing until she had the energy to mend herself.

She lifted the water that had soaked into their clothing from sitting in a puddle, using it to dance it lightly over her skin, as Zuko had done.

With her pain soothed a bit, Katara hesitantly leaned back into the warm body behind her, closing her eyes once more.

She settled into a dreamless sleep minutes later.