Zuko left the cell early that morning, opting to not go back asleep after his natural clock awoke him with the rise of the sun. He brushed by Red as he opened the door, heading towards the washrooms, intent on rinsing the blood from his hands and gathering more medical supplies.

He was stopped by a strong, but gentle hand on his shoulder.

He quickly scanned the hall, and only turned back towards Red when he verified that they were alone. "What is it?" he all but hissed at the guard.

"Prince Zuko, I-"

"Don't call me that," he said through gritted teeth.

Red exhaled a deep sigh. "How is she?"

Zuko barked out a humorless laugh. "What do you think? She…" he trailed off, not really sure he wanted to continue.

The two men took turns glancing around both ends of the hall while they moved to a more secluded area, one that could be easily used to see any oncoming personnel.

"He'll take everything. I've seen it before. And he's in no shortage of those willing to help him accomplish this goal."

"How much more can they possibly take from her?"

Red looked at him with serious dark golden eyes. "Sherik is known for his… skills. He'll be able to break her, and Zogen won't have him stop until she yields. It's in his nature."

"And then what?" Zuko asked.

"Then…" he took a moment to breathe. "I suppose he'll have her killed."

Zuko paled, shutting his eyes, but wasn't all that surprised. "How long does she have?" he asked quietly, without looking up.

"I've never seen him chose to not take his time. He'll work slowly. And I'm sure Zogen won't put an end to it while there are so many willing… participants. A couple of weeks, if she's as strong as you say."

"Will she make it that long? You think all the guards will let her get away with a single burn?" Zuko demanded.

Red studied him for a moment before responding. "She's strong. Yiram had heard the General say as much. But I fear that may work against her, in this situation-"

"Can he be ready? Before she… she…" Zuko trailed off and pressed his knuckles hard against his temples in frustration.

Red considered for a moment. "Sherik has been requested for his skills at the Boiling Rock. He and three other firebending guards will leave on the solstice. I believe that is our opportunity," he spoke quickly. "If Yiram's sources are correct, there would only be Zogen and a handful of other firebenders. Our allies would stand a much better chance then."

"The solstice… that's over a month away! What-"

"Prince Zuko, lower your voice," Red hushed, taking a peek around to be sure he wasn't heard before turning back to the prince. He rubbed a large hand over his beard. "I feel," he started, "that the girl-"

"Katara," Zuko interrupted.

Red corrected himself, "Katara. She may give us the advantage. Even with you at your full strength," he paused to run a hand in the air at Zuko's malnourished and less-than-ideal physical physique, "It would be difficult for you, me, and the others to face off against no less than thirty of Zogen's men. But we would be fighting with fire. The girl- Katara- she has strength. Natural ability. I've seen it from when she sent those two guards running for their lives using just a splash of water."

Zuko considered this carefully. He hadn't intended on even attempting to bring anyone else into this, let alone a heavily watched over prisoner. But Red was right. He knew she could fight, and would want to, if it meant being able to see her tribe and brother again. But a thought nagged his hopes.

"What if she doesn't… what if she can't… how can we know what Sherik has planned in terms of…" Zuko couldn't continue as the image of her screaming in pain burned behind his eyes. "You said yourself she may only have a week or two. What if a month is just too long?"

"She will have to be even stronger than you've already seen. She possesses the power to heal herself, a huge advantage in this situation. And Zogen takes no interest in having her killed so quickly. At least physically."

"And what about… the not physical? What if she can't hold on for another month?" Zuko sounded desperate, fearing that Zogen would know right when he got to her, and that it would be far too soon.

"That," Red told him, "will be entirely up to her."

Katara woke up cold and alone. She immediately reached for her thick robe, but stopped when a burning pain erupted from her leg. Oh yeah. That.

Taking a few moments to breathe through the pain, she eventually hiked up her pantleg enough to see that the bandages had soaked through, and a greenish substance was oozing out through the fabric, mixed with the blood.

She groaned, half in pain, and half in annoyance. Her grandmother had taught her all that she knows about the body and injuries, and Katara knew that the signs of infection were already setting in. She would have to at least wash it out more thoroughly today if she wasn't able to heal it.

"I brought you water," the voice made her jump. She hadn't even heard anyone come in.

Katara muttered a "thanks" when Zuko set down the water. She began cleansing her leg right away, studiously avoiding looking at him.

The boy knelt a few paces away from her, giving her space as she worked. Katara could feel him staring at her, and knew his eyes would be full of emotions she so desperately wished she could ignore.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said sternly.

"Katara I-"

"No. Stop." She didn't think she could bear the piteous apology right now. Not from him.

The defensiveness in her voice caused Zuko to clap his mouth shut, his teeth clicking together.

After finishing up rinsing and wrapping her leg (with the supplies from last night) as best as she could, she made to stand up and stretch her sore limbs. The broken ribs seemed to have other ideas, though, and she barely had time to bite her lip to prevent the cry from escaping at the stabbing pain blossoming at her side.

The bruise was already a deep purple with ugly green tinting the sides. She gently prodded where the bones should be lining up, and determined that only two were out of place.

Zuko never said anything, only watched her with an empty gaze as she patched herself up as best as she could. He lent a hand by helping her bind her ribs tightly, but said nothing.

When he offered a chunk of bread, Katara took it gratefully, nibbling it in small portions while taking in sips of water until it was gone.

They still hadn't breached the silence. Which was just as well, in her opinion. She thought she could use a bit more rest, anyways. Gran Gran always said that the best healer was sleep.

She peeked at Zuko from the sides of her eyes as she lay down on her back, the least painful position for her ribs. Her leg was going to hurt either way, but at least on her back she didn't have to worry about shifting her ribs around as they healed. Katara closed her eyes after determining that the boy still wasn't going to say anything else, and willed herself into a hesitent doze.

Zuko watched over her as she slept, making sure the bandages around her ribcage remained tight and in-place when she shifted a bit. He wasn't even completely sure she was fully asleep, as the hard lines of her face never relaxed. Her eyebrows remained drawn in, her mouth stuck in a slight frown. She looked every bit as tense as he felt.

Not one to sit around idly, Zuko spent the time the girl slept by doing some mild workouts. He had recently started them up again, and was glad to feel his muscles getting back into shape again. He still hadn't worked his way up to bending again (which was prohibited for inmates), but figured that Katara's solitary cell would be a suitable place to practice away from prying eyes, once he was ready.

He remembered some of the most basic exercises that his Uncle Iroh had taught him when he was younger. The older man's calm demeanor seemed to work wonders on him while the multitude of person trainers had failed. He had visited Zuko, once, but since then the rules had changed, and Zogen allowed no outsiders in the prison currently. Iroh had brought his nephew scrolls of old poetry (which had since disappeared), a few sacks of tea leaves, and two pairs of socks. Zuko always did have a habit of getting holes in them, and never bothering to have them mended. Maybe Katara could teach him to do it himself.

He was just beginning a new set of crunches when a soft knock preceded the door opening. Red poked his head inside, seeming surprised to see the young man in the midst of the physical activity. He bowed his head slightly before clearing his throat.

"I am to escort you back to your chambers," he said firmly.

There must be other guards around, Zuko thought. The man was always soft and polite towards him.

Zuko checked on Katara one last time before getting up and exiting the room with the guard. Once they were in the hallway, he asked "Am I starting chore duties again?"

Red halted and shot him a sad look. "I'm afraid-"

He broke off as a group of guards came barreling down the hallway, Sherik following them more calmly. He paused in front of Zuko, smirked a little, and continued on, intentionally knocking him into the wall on the way. Zuko followed their path with his eyes until they slowed in front of the door he had just exited.

Red's hand was around his arm before he could even register that he was turning back to follow the guards.

"Your highness," Red pleaded. "There is nothing you can do. I have orders to bring you to your cell until further notice."

Zuko all but growled, "I shouldn't be leaving her when I could be-"

"You cannot do any good there, Prince Zuko. It's inevitable."

Zuko let himself be dragged back the rest of the way to his room, where he was then instructed to stay away from the isolation corridor until Red came to get him later.

Katara was awake the moment Red had opened the door. She had continued to feign sleep until Zuko had left, however. He had left the water, so she figured she could try and heal herself a bit. The food and rest had made her feel a little less weak, although the pain was still making her head a bit fuzzy and her hands shaky.

The water felt right in her grasp, and she savored the feeling of the cool liquid fanning out on her leg. She let her mind drift to the moon, where she got her power from. Images of moonlight illuminating leaves on small plants reminded her that all living things grow, and that, while they gain strength from the sun, the moon offers protection during the dark nights.

She didn't even notice at first that her hands had begun to glow. All her thoughts were of the moon and how long it had been since she could see it. It was even getting more difficult to sense it. The room was always dark unless Zuko or another firebender was there. They could light the candles on the walls. More for their benefit, she thought. Her eyes always had been used to the darkness.

Her eyes flicked down, drawn to the blue. Her skin had regrown where it had been burnt off, and only a large pink scar remained. She let the water fall from her hands, enjoying the soft splash it produced as it hit the ground. She did not have enough left in the bucket to even attempt at healing her ribs, and knew that she probably couldn't do it anyways. Bones always were difficult to get to from the surface. She was lucky that her waterbender body was able to heal naturally a bit quicker than others, but they would still hurt like a bitch for a few more days, at least.

Suddenly, the need to pee need hit her like it had when she and Zuko were eating. She had briefly considered asking him to help her make her way to the hole in the ground, but pushed that aside. While she figured she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't make fun of her or anything, they still only met a handful of days ago.

Katara regretted not asking for help the moment she tried to stand up. Her tiredness from the lack of proper nutrition and exercise combined with the ache in her side made the trudge over to the corner slow and painful. Once she had relieved herself, she was glad to sit down on her mattress again.

She had just begun to do some basic stretches to let out some of the tension in her muscles when the door slammed open and revealed two guards she hadn't seen before. One immediately hurried over to her, reaching her before she had the chance to finish standing up. He knocked her back down with an arm the size of a log, knocking the breath out of her.

She couldn't even fight them off this time. A few kicks and weak slaps were all she managed until the man firmly pinned her limbs beneath his meaty hand and heavy abdomen. Squirming proved to cause more pain than to be helpful, and soon both of their pants were off.

He took a long time to finish. Katara tried to buck him off a few times, but she knew that there was not much she could do with this mooselion of a man on top of her.

She had a fleeting thought that maybe he would finish faster if her top was off, like the day before. As quick as it came, though, she dismissed it. Better to endure the pain than to allow herself to fall any lower.

She thought about how her family would see her if they knew what was happening to her. How she allowed herself to be used in this way. A part of her knew there wasn't much she could do about it, but that part was overruled by her shame. You're supposed to be strong. Make them stop.

She could hardly move at all, though. Not with the solid weight on top of her. All she could do was wait.

Suddenly, Katara remembered the water sitting in a bucket. There wasn't much left, but at least there was something. If she could just move her hands…

The guard let out a rough moan just then, ceasing the movement of his hips and pushing himself off of her to make way for the next man.

A stream of water knocked him in the side of the head before he could get very close to her. Katara was up in a defensive position, hands guiding the water and as much perspiration from the men and herself as she could. She even drew the liquid that dripped down the side of her leg to form enough of a weapon to wield against the men.

For awhile, they couldn't touch her, allowing her to scoot her pants up to rest loosely on her hips. She stood on shaky legs, but her stance remained strong. Each grab they made at her would be met with a sharp flick of her wrist, sending pricks of ice into their arms or streams of water into their eyes. It was evident that none of the three men were benders.

She managed to keep them on the other side of the room- about four arm lengths away. For a few minutes, no one moved. Katara allowed herself the time to breathe as she was protected with liquid spirals swirling around her. A strong blast had knocked one of the guards hard enough into the wall that he was holding his head, and the large one who had assaulted her had half a dozen cuts on his huge arms from where her ice daggers had cut him.

She hadn't noticed the fourth figure standing alone in a dark corner until a burst of light erupted, effectively breaking through her defenses and pushing her back a step.

Sherik easily overtook her and the minimal amount of her element in her command. He dried up every drop of water almost instantly, and Katara was left with nothing.

Bracing herself for the heat of flames she had become so accustomed to in the past few days, the waterbender let her hands lay at her side and dug her feet into the ground. Head high, she watched the man as he pushed himself off the wall.

But he didn't approach her. Instead, he cocked his head in her direction, a minute gesture that she could easily have missed.

The heads up didn't matter, though. Without water, she was easily overtaken by the three guards again. One left the cell after giving her an excessively rough shove onto the ground. Without the mattress to soften her fall, the breath was knocked out of her so suddenly that she was stuck gasping for breath while another man got on top of her.

Katara slammed her eyes shut when the other man began groping her and roughly pulling her head to the side each time she spat up at the man on top of her. She felt the skin on her cheeks being scraped raw.

They took turns with her, and Katara was bitterly grateful that Sherik seemed to be more interested in picking his nails than watching her. She also was glad for the lack of burns. Her ribs still killed with every thrust, though.

When they were finished, she was oddly proud to be able to right herself while straightening her clothes. She figured she looked ridiculous, with bloodied cheeks and dark red stains on her pants, standing with her head held high and a glare that could melt glaciers.

She even made a bolt towards the door when it opened, only stopped when Sherik's barrier of fire appeared so close to her face that pieces of hair singed.

When the flames cleared out, she stood a breath away from piercing golden eyes.

Zogen's white hair was a steep contrast to the shadowy room, the dim light of the candles illuminating the texture of his scars and too-light eyes.

"I don't. Know. Anything." She was breathing heavily. Not so much in fear as in anger.

Her breath caught as she half-expected to see a forked tongue slither from his lips as he spoke.

"Of course you don't," he laughed. Laughed at her. "Why would Hakoda tell you anything? He doesn't trust you. How could he?"

She could practically hear the hiss. But she didn't have to grace him with a response. Of course her father trusted her. He just couldn't risk telling anyone at home in case something like this happened.

"He didn't even take you with him. Your brother- Sokka is it?- was left to lead what was left of your broken tribe, but what could you do? You can't lead. Can't fight. Can't even defend yourself. Couldn't even save your mother."

Katara recoiled at that, taking a step back. Her mother had died years ago in a fire nation raid. She was eight. There was nothing she could do.

"I was there when your mother died," Zogen went on. "Pretty thing, she was. Had those same eyes. So determined and bright, until she realized she was going to die. You had already gone, of course. Ran off to your daddy while your mother died, alone."

"The eyes can tell so much, you see." He paused for a brief moment to study Katara's eyes now. "For instance yours right now have that brightness, determined not to break. But just near the center there's a hint of a dark cloud. A fear that, just maybe, your determination won't be good enough. When you're laying on the ground, with your life slowly bleeding out from you, it'll be because the light was completely overtaken by the darkness. Your mother's eyes were so grey when you left her. She knew she'd never see you again. But still…" he almost smiled, then. "They still held just enough light to make me respect her. I almost regretted watching her die."

Katara didn't finch from him this time, even though hearing him talk about her mother made her want to spit in his face or claw HIS eyes out. She forced her gaze to remain steely, and threw as much hate as she could into it.

"My mother has done nothing to the fire nation or anyone! She did not deserve to be killed. But your type just kills whoever they want with no repercussions whatsoever."

Zogen's eyebrows shot up at that. "You think she was just killed for no reason? She could have lived. But she chose to lie, saying that she was the last waterbender. But I guess we all know now that that's not true, is it?" He looked hard at her.

No, she thought. They killed her because that's what they do. It wasn't my fault…

"No. They killed her because that's what the Fire Nation does. Ruin lives and hurt people."

Zogen shook his head slowly, sadly. "No, my dear girl. She did not have to die. That death was meant for you. And you ran away, leaving your mother to die in your place. Like the coward you are. Weak. And you deserve everything that has, and will happen to you."

Katara said nothing.

"I'm sure by the time Sherik is through with you, you will have learned your lesson. Your mother was at least strong until the very end, but I can assure you that there will not be a trace of light in your eyes. And I'll be here to watch them glass over. No one would be able to tell if you were dead or alive, if all they had was your eyes to look at. And then," he smiled a bit at her, "you will die. The resistance will hear of how the South's last waterbender was so easily broken by fire."

"Won't be so easy," Katara hissed through gritted teeth.

He smiled and reached up to stroke her bloodied cheek with a false tenderness, grinning widely as she resisted the urge to flinch away. He lingered on her fierce stare for a moment more before turning and walking out the door, his guards following behind.

Sherik was the last to leave. He paused at the door to look back at her, his eyes flashing with victory.

"Oh, and do give my regards to the prince. So sorry he couldn't join us today," he said with a mocking air.

All Katara could do was stand against the wall, starring at the closed door. So many things had just happened, she wasn't sure how to process it all.

First, her mother had died protecting her. Kya was dead because her daughter was the last waterbender. It was her fault that she had died. And once Katara was gone… the Southern line of benders would be gone. They would have no hope…

But she wouldn't break.

Secondly, Zogen had been there. The very man who was responsible for so much of her pain had watched her mother die, and was going to watch her die as well. It didn't matter that she didn't have information. He would make her suffer. Would make a mockery out of the last waterbender of the south, and snuff her out.

And third... What did Sherik mean about the prince? Prince of what? Katara and Sokka were sometimes considered prince and princess, because their father was the chief. But he wasn't here, was he? Had they captured her brother while she sat around in her prison?

She slid down the wall as the questions weighed down on her. With her head in her hands, she ran through everything she knew about what the fire nation had done to her tribe, trying to sort through fact and the lie she had been told all her life.

The more she thought about her mother, the faster the tears came. By the time she had worked up to thinking about her current situation, the salt had begun to burn in the open cuts on her face. The only hope she had was that she would be able to withstand whatever Zogen or Sherik threw at her long enough for her brother or father to rescue her. And then she would make them pay.

She eventually pulled herself together enough to bend her tears dry, and did cleaned herself up as best as she could.

She hoped Zuko would bring more water. He'd been gone for a long time, as it was. But at least he hadn't been there to watch her fall apart. She was grateful for that, at least.

As Katara shook the emotional and physical pains of the day off, she continued her stretches from earlier, working her way into practicing bending stances. She wondered how someone like Zuko could be so different than every other firebenders she had had the displeasure of knowing.

Ahhh sorry for the super long wait. I'll try to be better with updating!

Comment/review :)