Chapter 1 Malia Island

AN: This is my first ever fanfic so please don't be too harsh on reviews. I would really appreciate some feedback before continuing by the way.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters or ideas associated with it. I do, however, own Allete and her personality because I came up with her all by myself. :)

The Avatar and his friends sat in Appa's saddle, all watching the ground below them for a certain piece of land. They had just been informed that the small island of Malia was having their annual festival, and apparently this festival was bigger than the island itself. The group had been lacking in the fun department for quite a while. So when the gang found a sign for the popular attraction, they were all too happy to take a break and see what it was all about. Of course Katara was a little harder to convince. She had put up a few arguments about money and time but she too was convinced this was a good idea in a matter of minutes.

"This is taking forever," Sokka groaned and rolled over from where he had been laying with his chin rested on the side of the saddle. "I had no idea the island was this far away."

Katara sighed. She had to agree, this was taking longer than she had expected. "Aang, are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Of course I do! The map says it's just a bit farther and then…" Aang paused to look hard at something below them. "There it is!! I think," Aang pointed to a small piece of ground beneath them. He grabbed Appa's reigns and steered him down to the island. Appa touched down on a big, open piece of land right outside the city walls. It was kind of disconcerting to see such peace and quiet of the farmland outside of the city sitting only a few feet away from a wild and chaotic festival.

The gang, including Momo, hopped off of Appa's back. Aang gave the giant, furry creature instructions, patted him on the head, and ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

"Uncle, do we have to go to the stupid carnival?" a certain agitated prince whined and followed his uncle onto the ferry headed to the small island. Iroh had insisted they go to have a little fun since their journey after the battle at the North Pole. Running into Azula had certainly been all but fun, and it only made Zuko want to capture the Avatar even more. He couldn't do that at a festival.

"Yes, Zuko, we have to go. Trust me; you're going to thank me for this later." Iroh climbed on board the ship. Zuko rolled his eyes behind the old man's back. It was true, Zuko usually was thankful his uncle dragged him off to do things like this (even though he would never tell him). Maybe he would find something to interest him since he wasn't about to ride any of those rickety carnival rides, although his uncle would probably find a way to get him on at least one. The ferry began its short journey to the island. In fact, the ride was almost over as soon as it began, which didn't give the prince much time to think. But in the short time he had he pondered over the events that had led up to his current predicament.

Once the boat had arrived and docked at the island, Zuko and his uncle followed the large group of excited tourists to the city gates. Well, they were more like fences since the village wasn't very big at all, but they served their purpose, Zuko concluded. Actually, he was surprised that the "gates" didn't get trampled by the crowd. There was quite a big group of people. To his surprise he caught, out of the corner of his eye, a flash of color; something that stood out from the rest of the neutrals in the crowd. He remembered his uncle telling him about relaxing and forgetting about the Avatar this weekend, and he stopped for just a second, thinking. Screw it. He thought. If the Avatar is here, he's mine.