Amaya had to admit, being imprisoned wasn't one of her favorite pastimes. It might be hard to believe, considering how often it happened to her. But in this case it was necessary. A town with a whole holiday dedicated to slamming her for something there was no way she'd done? Yeah, that had to be handled.

"You've got tattoos," a man said from the darkened area on the other side of the cell, the area shadowed by an overhang. "I think you'll fit in pretty well around here, even if you are a girl."

"Holy mother of an armadillo rat!" Amaya yelped as a huge, muscular man stepped from the shadows, green lines running all around his arms and across his collar bone.

"What's wrong, arrows?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "Scared?"

"Er, no!" she said defiantly. "I was just, er, surprised. I thought I was alone here!"

"Uh huh," he nodded, clearly disbelieving. "So arrows, what are you in for?"

"Avatar," she grumbled "Apparently people aren't cool with that around here."

"Whoa, no way!" the man blinked. "Hey, Choi, come here! It's the Avatar!"

"You been in the sun too long Bao?" asked a voice as a man stepped from the shadows. He was also tattooed, though not quite extensively as Bao. Or maybe he was, she didn't know. He was wearing a shirt.

"No, look! She's got the arrow tattoos and everything," Bao said, pointing to her. Amaya held up the backs of her hands with a weak grin.

"No way," Choi grinned. "I'm sharing a cell with the Avatar. Hey, why are you wearing that collar?"

"Trust me, brown isn't really my color," Amaya joked.

"We can fix that," Caoi said, poking Bao. "Come on."

Amaya pressed against the wall nervously as the two burly men came towards her. "Er, what are you going to do?"

"Just hold still," Choi said as he took hold of the wood and held it steady. "Bao."

Bao raised his hand like he was going to chop her neck and Amaya yelped as he swung, closing her eyes. The wood around her neck cracked and then broke away. Amaya blinked, staring at the giant splinters around her. "Erm, thanks."

"No problem," Bao said, waving it off. "Hey Bing, come here! It's the Avatar!"

"Huh?' said a bleary voice from the back of the cell. Another man edged out, tattooed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "I was napping."

"The Avatar," Bao said, pointing at Amaya.

"Hey, look!" Bing said, pointing. "The Avatar."

Bao rolled his eyes. "No kidding. Come on arrows, take a seat."

Amaya wasn't really given a choice as he picked her up and sat her down on the ground in the middle of the cell, he, Choi, and Bing taking seats so that they formed a circle.

"So, got anyone on the outside arrows?" Choi asked.

"Katara and Sokka," Amaya nodded. "They're working to clear my, uh, Kyoshi's name."

"Weird names," Bing mumbled.

"They're from the Water Tribe," Amaya said defensively.

"Not judging, arrows," Bing said, holding up his hands. "I knew a girl once, Northern Tribe." His eyes went starry. "Biggest blue eyes I've ever seen, and the shiniest black hair too. Not a bad rack either," he added hastily, seeing how the others were blinking at him.

"I met this little refugee once," Choi said thoughtfully. "Tiniest thing you ever saw, but she was real nice, kept offering me some of her soup. Said I looked like I needed it more than her."

"You're all a bunch of girls," Bao snorted. "I just grabbed a girl down at the docks whenever I got antsy."

"Uh huh," Bing said skeptically. "Then who's that Lin girl you mutter about in your sleep sometimes."

"Shut up," Bao muttered, nudging him with an elbow.

"What about you, arrows?" Choi asked. "You got a guy on the outside?"

"Er, sort of," Amaya said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Well, spill," Choi laughed, slapping her on the back. Amaya's eyes widened as the breath wooshed out of her. "Oh, sorry."

"It's 'kay," she gasped. As soon as she regained her breath, she started talking. "Well, it's really complicated."

"People say that," Bao snorted. "Usually it's real simple. You like them, they like you, ya kiss, ya rut, ya maybe settle down and have a family."

"Er, that's not really an option," Amaya muttered, blushing brightly at the thought of her and Zuko doing that second one. Bad brain, bad brain, get out of the gutter. "See, he's from the Fire Nation."

"Oh, living dangerous, eh arrows?" Bing teased, poking her.

"Well, he was sort of sent by the Fire Lord to capture me," Amaya said, hugging her knees to her chest. "So yeah, I guess."

"Military man, eh?" Bao said shrewdly.

"You could say that."

"Wait, why would like this Fire Nation guy if he's been hunting you down?" Choi said in confusion. "Make sense, arrows!"

"I'd love to," Amaya said ruefully. "But it doesn't really. I mean, we've fought time after time, you know, actually trying to hurt each other, but then the bending stops, and things are different. I… sort of admire the determination he shows in tracking me."

"What do you mean?" Bing asked curiously.

"He followed me from the Southern to the Northern Tribe," Amaya explained. "And the thing is, sometimes he's really nice. Another man managed to capture me, but he set me free. He almost got captured too. Imagine my shock when I pulled off that stupid blue mask of his and it was the guy that's been hunting me down," she chuckled.

"Wait a minute," Bing said thoughtfully. "I remember hearing something about that. Some Admiral caught the Avatar, and the Blue Spirit got her out." He grinned, pleased with himself. "That's him, isn't it?"

"Well," Amaya said, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I… Yeah."

"So how far have you two gone?" Choi questioned.

"Er, I sort of kissed him," Amaya admitted. Why was she fessing all this up to a bunch of criminals? Well, because why the heck not? They couldn't do a whole lot. No one knew the Blue Spirit was Zuko.

"So, you love this guy?" Bing asked.

"I don't know really, I-"

"You do," Bao said, nodding.

"And how would you know?" Amaya demanded, placing her hands on her hips. He snorted.

"You've got that dumb love-struck look on your face like Choi gets talking about his tiny soup lady."

"Oy!" Choi protested.

"Don't even try to deny it," Bao said, waving his hand. "And arrows, you got that same look."

"So what's the problem?" Bing asked. "You meet up, he ditches the Fire Nation, you all live happily ever. All neat and tidy."

"Well, the Fire Nation sort of kicked him out recently," Amaya explained. "And now he's on the run. No idea where he is, and I figure he's probably still after me."

"Why?" Choi blinked. "I mean, this boy likes you…"

"I'm not sure if he does," Amaya said. "And he's sort of torn. He doesn't get to see his family until he carts me in."

"Ah," Bing said, nodding sagely.

"Trust me, this kid likes you, he's just an idiot who's too dim to see it," Bao assured her disinterestedly.

"And how would you know?" Amaya asked.

"Well, he set you free didn't he? He hasn't gotten you to the Fire Nation yet, has he?" he pointed out mockingly.

"Plus, look at you!" Choi said. "You're pretty, funny, and you're the Avatar, for crying out loud! You're a pretty decent catch, you ask me."

"Thanks," Amaya grinned.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Zuko was lying on top of a stand in the town he and Iroh were hiding outside, waiting for the proprietor to leave with the day's earnings.

"Yeah, shared a cell with the Avatar once!" bragged a loud voice below him. Zuko perked up, listening intently.

"You're full of ostrich horse droppings, Choi," said a voice.

"He isn't lying," said another man's voice. "I was with him. Saw her too. Tall, skinny thing, long brown hair in a braid. Arrows too, just like in the posters. Only, and you'll never believe this, she was wearing some Fire Nation hair thing."

Zuko smiled slightly. Amaya was just daring enough to do it.

"Fine then Bing, if you were there, what'd you talk about?" demanded the second man.

The third scoffed. "Her love life. Asked if she had a guy on the outside. Get this, the girl's in love with the Blue Spirit!"

Zuko nearly rolled right off the top of the awning as he edged towards the lip, listening intently. Amaya? In love with him?

"No way," the second man snorted.

"It's true!" Choi insisted. "Apparently this guy saved her from some Admiral who captured her."

Well, that was him.

"I was so sweet I almost wanted to brush my teeth afterwards," sneered a new voice.

"Aw, come on Bao, cut the girl some slack," Choi said.

"She had this look on her face like she was talking about the King of the universe or something," Bao chuckled. "Completely love-struck that girl."

"Well, let's hope she can contain herself long enough to kick the Fire Lord back to the hole he crawled out of."

"Here here!"

"Yeah!"

"Cheers!"

Zuko waited longer, but talk turned to the war, all things he had heard before. Quietly, he slipped away, feeling quite proud of himself. Amaya in love with him? It was only third-hand, from a criminal who may or may not have ever met her, and was just going off his own opinions, but it still put a bit of a spring in his step, for reason's he wasn't quite sure he wanted to think about.