Zuko bit back his own temper, willing himself to remain calm. He used to be calm, once upon a time. He was a pretty tranquil child, very submissive and obedient. Never questioned, always did as he was told. But, all that had changed the day his mother died. Slowly, he'd grown bitter, grown to question everything done by the man who seemed to care for Azula more than he did for his heir. Zuko had spoken up against him and had earned himself a shunning that he, at the time, had thought started then.
But, it hadn't, really. It had started from the moment he was born. It was because he was made to believe that he'd made a grave mistake in challenging authority he felt was wrong that caused him to believe as much. His father never wanted him and it was futile to try and make the man love him. Some things just were never meant to be.
Like he and the waterbender. They'd never be friends, he knew that. She hated him and she had every right. He'd turned on her in Ba Sing Se after she'd shown him kindness in an act of pure stupidity on his part. Did she know that she was the first person outside of his mother and uncle to treat him so...nicely? No, she probably didn't. And she probably wouldn't care, so he wouldn't tell her. It was useless to. She was probably convinced that every word that came out of his mouth was a lie, anyway.
"I won't touch the weapons myself. Just tell you how to hold them and use them. And I guarantee that if I were to try anything - to which, I won't - Cordelia will have a vision about and will put a crossbow bolt straight between my eyes before you even have the chance to drown me."