Azula snarled as the general shook his head.


             “I’m sorry, but this ship has direct orders from the Fire Lord to search for Prince Zuko. We can’t go back to the Fire Nation until we have him.” A crackling sound reached his ears moments before he felt a burning pain running through his body. Azula glanced at one of the other men as he hit the deck.


                     “Get him to the infirmary before I have to deal with replacing him.” As the men hurried to their wounded leader, Azula climbed to the helmsman’s tower and gave the man the new coordinates.
“This is my ship now.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


            Zuko leaned against the railing of the ship, watching Katara say her goodbyes. He grunted as he shifted the heavy pack on his back, giving Iroh a dark look.


                    “Don’t look at me like that Zuko. It is highly important that you are ready for an emergency. What if she gets hit by a poisoned arrow? She won’t be able to heal herself from that. Then you’ll be grateful for that heavy bag.” Zuko gave a sigh, glancing up at the sky. He looked back at Katara, who was talking quietly to Aang off to the side as her father and brother finished tying her bag closed. He saw her face soften, and she smiled as she hugged they young avatar, and Zuko turned away, pushing the urge to scowl from his mind.


                   ‘I really hate reacting like this every time she gets around another guy. They’re just friends, and even if they weren’t it shouldn’t matter to me.’  The phoenix’s sigh reached his mind.


                ‘You have a lot to learn, Zuko.’ The prince tilted his head to the side, then realizing the spirit didn’t feel inclined to share anymore, he looked at Hakkoda and Sokka.

              “Did you give Katara the map?” Sokka shook his head and handed Zuko a rolled up piece of paper. He unrolled it slowly and frowned at the many scribbles on the page.
“What is that?” He asked, pointing to something that looked like a piece of fruit with teeth.
“That’s Jet’s hideout.” Zuko moved the paper closer to his face and studied the drawing more closely.


                 “Okay . . .”
“You two should be able to reach there in a week from here. Then you need to travel south and meet us at Kyoshi Island. We’ll have a passage of some sort waiting for you on the mainland to take you there.” Zuko nodded as Katara walked up with Aang and Toph. She glanced at the map, then did a double take.
“Sokka, why did you draw a moose goat on Kyoshi Island? We never saw any there.” Her brother gave his sister a dark look.
“That’s Suki, Katara. Don’t act like you can’t tell.” Katara opened her mouth, but stopped when she saw her father slowly shaking his head behind Sokka.



                 “She looks lovely.” The warrior beamed.
“Thanks!” Zuko rolled his eyes, and then glanced up at the sky again.
“We need to get going if we’re gonna make it to Kyoshi in time to meet everyone there.”

                        Katara nodded and hugged her friends’ goodbye. Zuko patted his uncle on the shoulder, wincing when the man grabbed him into a bone crushing hug. Everyone chuckled and he smiled weakly at Iroh as he handed Katara her pack. She thanked him then started down the gangplank, waving goodbyes as she went. He followed her down, hoping that this would be as simple as it seemed.