I did have this story up as something else, but it was highly flawed so I decided to fix it then continue on with the story. Please review to tell me if you liked it or not, or give me suggestions for things I could do better. Also, I'm not really sure about the title and would like suggestions for a new one, so really anything you say will be taken into consideration.

All standard disclaimers apply.

Katara's POV

"Well we would have enough food if someone hadn't eaten it all on our way here!" Katara exclaimed with a pointed look at her brother who was trying- and failing- to look innocent.

"I'm a growing boy Katara! I need to eat a lot," Sokka said in his defense.

"Aang's a growing boy too, yet you don't see him eating every ten minutes!"

"Yeah, well, Aang and I are different!" Sokka's poor explanation was useless though because Katara had already stormed off in search of food.

"Wow, Sugarqueen sure is angry," Toph said, "It'd be best to leave her alone for a while," she added as Aang got up to follow after Katara.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Want to come look for firewood with me?" Aang asked.

"Sure. And I'm always right," she replied, getting up and following Aang into the woods.

Meanwhile, Katara had come across the most beautiful pond she had ever seen. She dipped her fingers in the water and sighed. The water was cool and felt good in the heat of the summer twilight. She hurriedly took off her outer dress and stood in her under wrappings that she preferred to practice in.

She stepped into the water and drew it around her in the octopus formation. From there, she moved smoothly into the move she had seen Aang and Master Pakku perform at the North Pole. She had been having trouble mastering it, but she had a good feeling right now- she was totally in sync with her element. She swirled the water around the lower half of her body and rose out of the water. A smile of satisfaction showed on her face as she held the position.

She sensed someone in the bushes behind her so she dropped quickly back into her octopus position and shot one of the "tentacles" back to where they were hiding. Whoever it was dodged and sent a branch flying out of the bushes toward her. She sliced it neatly in half using her water, realizing too late that it was only a distraction. She felt a sharp pain in her thigh before the darkness consumed her.

Zuko's POV

Zuko sat in the bushes thinking about his next move. He had finally managed to slip off his ship unnoticed for some much-needed "quiet time". Even when he was alone on his ship it was never quiet, what with all the banging of the pipes and the ocean outside. Most of the time it was okay, but lately Zuko had had the feeling of the walls closing in on him and knew it was time to get out for a bit. He got up and started wandering around in the woods. After he had been walking for maybe ten minutes, he heard someone sigh off to his right. He peered through the bushes to find the source of the sigh….

Whatever he had been expecting to see, he didn't see it. Instead he found a waterbender girl stepping into a small pond. A half-naked waterbender girl he noted with some embarrassment. As he watched her he realized the girl before him was the one that traveled with the Avatar. A plan sprung into his mind, and he hurried to put it into action. He wasn't blind, he had seen the way the young Avatar had looked at this girl. If he captured her then the Avatar was sure to come and rescue her.

Zuko took a poisoned dart he had gotten in the last village out of his pocket. Now he was really thankful he had gotten this dart. Even though it felt like cheating, he knew there was no way he could take out a master waterbender on a night with a nearly full moon in the sky. He had witnessed the power the moon gave waterbenders when he had gone to the North Pole. The dart was coated with a powerful poison that rendered people unconscious for a good twelve hours.

Looking back out at the pond, Zuko saw the girl drop out of the complicated looking form she was practicing and move into a position that made her look like an octopus. She shot one of the tentacles of water right at him, so he dodged instinctively and picked up the first thing his hand touched- a stick lying on the ground. He threw the stick at her as a distraction, and then shot his dart aiming for her leg. He watched with satisfaction as the girl became distracted by the stick and failed to notice his dart.

When he saw her fall to the ground, he stepped out of the bushes and scooped her up into his arms. She was surprisingly light. He could also see that she was well-muscled. Not in the burly way where people wondered whether you were on steroids, but her arms were rock hard he noted as he carried her through the forest. Not what he had expected from this soft looking waterbender. By the time he had established this he was back to his ship. He passed his uncle on his way below deck.

"Who is this?" Iroh asked his nephew.

"You can't tell me you don't recognize her, Uncle. She's the Avatar's water bender."

"Oh, yes. I remember her now, but why is she here?"

"I'm going to use her to capture the Avatar," Zuko replied as he placed her on the cot in the holding cell of his ship.

He ignored his uncle's disappointed head-shaking and walked out to get some food for the girl for when she woke up. When he came back with some food he proceeded to watch her "sleep". It then occurred to him that she was still half-naked. Since there were no women on board, he went to his room and got one of his shirts. He figured that she could use it as a short dress-like thing if she wanted to. He walked back to the holding cell and threw the shirt at the foot of the cot. He then settled in to his chair, watching her as he waited for her to wake up.