Catalina took a few steps back as she realized what it would mean if he really was the Fireprince, the Prince of her enemy, even worse: the whole Kingdom's enemy! This meant that she just helped the enemy in penetrating the Kingdom, her Kingdom! How could she have been so stupid? She hadn't even known who he was and still helped him, thinking it was a good thing to do. But maybe it was? Cata considered this idea but then shook her head, he could after all easily kill her or take her hostage now. What had she done?!

"P- Please don't hurt me!" Was the only thing the Princess could bring out. Then she closed her eyes and held her hands in front of her in order to protect herself from what would undoubtedly follow. She waited for a while, but nothing happened and she dared to slightly open her right eye. Zuko just sat on her bed with his back leaning against the headboard of the beautiful blue four-poster. His goldbrown eyes seemed to look right through her, as if she wasn't there at all. On his face he had a blank expression. Then he shook his head and frowned in confusion.

"Why would I wish any harm to my saviour?"

"Well... We're enemies..." Cata mumbled, inspecting her interlocutor with narrowed eyes.

"Are we?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do we have to be enemies? It's just our Kingdoms who are enemies, right? So why should we be enemies if we don't even know each other?"

Catalina thought for a moment, but then she understood what the Prince had just said. "That's true," she replied hesitatingly. "So what are you suggesting?"

"We could act like we weren't enemies," he began. "Like... we just met, you saved me and I woke up... Like normal people..."

"But that's what happened," Cata stated.

"Exactly!" Zuko exclaimed, he almost seemed excited.

"So... if that's what just happened," she paused for a short while, choosing her words carefully. "I guess that's alright."

There was a short silence and then the Prince grinned and took her hand, gently kissing its back.
"Good--" He paused and looked out of the bedroom's window to see how far the day had already passed. "--afternoon, milady! You saved my life, and for that I am very grateful! I owe you my life!" He thanked her and a charming grin spread over his face.
"And now could you please go get some food, otherwise I'll die of starvation and you'll still have a dead Prince in your bed."

Catalina tried to keep the suspicious expression on her face, but it was in vain as she suddenly burst out in laughter and shook her head.

"So you can laugh?!" He joked. He may have been the enemy, but he did have a sense of humour.

"Of course I can! It's just that I don't do it often..." She replied smiling, adding her last words so soft that Zuko wouldn't be able to hear them. "Now I'll make sure my servants-"

"Your servants? The lady here has a lot of luxury!" He said sarcastically. "Watch out! Maybe you'll break a fingernail on your way down the stairs!"

"Stop it! You're making fun of me!" She poked him in his chest but he cried out in pain, for his wound there wasn't fully healed yet. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

"It's nothing. I'm okay," He smiled at the Princess.

"I'll just... I'll just go get you some food..." She stumbled. The Prince just nodded at her and closed his eyes again.

As soon as Cata closed her door and locked it she let out a sigh of relief. She put the silver key in her pocket and walked towards one of the guards that was stationed the closest to her chambers.

"Excuse me?" She tapped him on his shoulder.

"Prinsessa Catalina!" He exclaimed, bowing before her.

"I just wanted to tell you that you are off for the rest of the evening. I am now going to get some dinner and then I am going to sleep."

"But I can't, konan Catalina! My orders are to stay here all night!"

"Then would you be so nice to go stand a bit further in the hallway? It would make me feel a bit more comfortable!"

"Of course, konan mínn!" He answered and went to stand some farther away from the entrances of Cata's chambers. The guard shouldn't be able to hear her and Zuko talking from this distance now.

She nodded gratefully and walked into another hallway that lead along the walls of her chambers. She could already see the long stairs spirally leading down to the main part of the Palace. Once she arrived there she went into the left hallway and made her way to the kitchens. Inside she could only find some fruits, a few pieces of applepie and a bottle of sweet red wine. That would be enough for the two of them. Suddenly her gaze fell on ice that was covering the bottle of wine in her hand. It would freeze if she would hold on to it any longer! Cata ran as fast as she could back to her chambers, the basket with food and the half-frozen bottle still in her hands. As she ran by the guard he took his spear and held it in the direction the Princess had come from.

"Everything is alright, guard! Nobody's chasing me!" The Princess yelled back over her shoulder in a very unprincessy way.
The guard loosened his grip on his weapon again and went back to his position. After unlocking the door to her chambers Catalina went inside, while she had been gone to get some food Zuko had found an Old Jeevikan book and was staring at the pages, not understanding anything that was written on them. He looked up as the Princess entered the bedroom and smiled.

"What's on the menu for today, Princess?" He grinned.

Cata smiled and put the basket with food on her bed, on Zuko's left.

"See for yourself, Your Highness."

The Prince opened it and took out the different kinds of food wrapped in clean towels. He mumbled the names of the food and spread the towels over the bed, so it wouldn't get dirty.

"Did you also bring something to drink?" He asked, digging deeper into the basket. Catalina cleared her throat and slowly revealed the now frozen bottle of what had been wine from behind her back.
"I think we may have a small problem..."

"Why don't you just melt the-"

"I can't." She interrupted him.

"Come!" Zuko said sweetly, patting on the open space next to him on the bed. She hesitated for a second but then decided to do as he asked. If he had wanted to kill her he would have done it by now anyways.

"Give me the bottle," he opened his hand for her to put the bottle in it. As soon as his grip tightened the wine in the bottle became liquid again. Zuko grinned at the Princess' face, which was filled with admiration and confusion.

"How did you-"

"I am the Fireprince, remember?"

"Oh... Yeah..." The Princess' voice softened. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, until Catalina suddenly realized something.

"Wait a second, if you really are the Prince of Lasairiona, how did you end up in Jeevika?! Or rather: how did you end up in the Niatsyr?"

"The what?"

"The Niatsyr, the frozen river...." The Prince seemed to remember it now, but then a dark expression spread over his face.

"In my Kingdom we don't call it the Niatsyr, we call it the Nahara. And in my Kingdom, it also wasn't frozen, in fact is was boiling...

I was riding along Lasairiona's borders, through the Burned Woods with a company of guards from the Stronghold, my home."

"Wait, you live in a stronghold?"

"Not just a stronghold, the Stronghold! Now please just listen to me...

I was riding out on a routine surveillance through the Burned Woods on my horse Hyzân. The guards were only there to keep me company, because I didn't really need them to protect myself, well... That's what I thought. Suddenly a weird smell reached my nose and apparently the guards smelled it, too. It was sulfur-like and the sourness almost hurt when you breathed it in. This smell seemed to be coming from our right side, so when we came to a bifurcation we chose the right path. As we came closer to the source of this scent it also became hotter and the air became thicker with each step our horses set. Suddenly there were no burned trees anymore and before us lay a wide chasm with vapor rising from the depth. Lava slowly fell down the rock walls of the abyss and the rocky ground around the edges of this enormous gap seemed to be boiling even though it was still hard. On some places even some small fires had started. My men and I had never seen anything like this place and it had never been on any of the maps of our homeland. Suddenly ten dark figures hiding in the shadow of the caps of their black cloaks appeared. I ordered them to reveil theirselves, but they didn't. Without any warning they attacked us, slaughtering my men and their horses one by one. They showed no mercy. I and a few other men managed to escape and we fled along the edge of the deep hole on our left. Then, from our right, the attackers seemed to fly against my men with inhuman speed and they send the brave guards to their death. I just kept going without looking back, but it was difficult for Hyzân to gallop over the slippy and hot ground beneath his hoofs. When I looked down I saw that there was no longer lava down in the chasm, but water, boiling water. I suddenly realized that it was the Nahara. And just at that short moment when I wasn't paying attention the enemy took its chance and threw me with the same inhuman speed into the depth, into the boiling waters of the Nahara. I saw my attacker land at the other side of the wide hole, but was too far gone to realise what was happening around me. I slowly closed my eyes and waited for the blow that would come when I would hit the water. I thought I was going to die, but I didn't.

Something strange is going on on our borders, Princess... I know it. And when I'm fully healed I will find out what it is and I will get my revenge. I will do whatever it takes and no matter what happens, this will end."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

I'm sooo sorry for the slow updates, but my parents are going to split up and it is kind of a weird time so I hope you can understand...
I really hope you liked it! Don't forget to vote and comment! ;P