Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or ANY of its characters. I'm just a humble little fanboy trying to play pretend that I do ;

Chapter 1: A New Pursuit

Azula was sitting with Mai and Ty Lee around a campfire. She stood up and moved off into a secluded corner of the campground.

"That damned Avatar" she whispered to herself. "All those damned benders. Zuko… and "Uncle" too. God. I hate them all." She opened her hands, closed her eyes and released a burst of fire into the ground. "They'll all die."

"Finally…we get to sleep" Katara said as she fell to the ground. Aang nodded in agreement as he too fell to the ground.

Aang began to speak softly. "That Azula…she's one tough bender."

"I know." Katara responded. "We'll have to do some serious planning for out next encounter. She caught us off guard this time. We weren't ready for her."

Aang sat up. "Do you think she has any other tricks up her sleeve? And what about that little group of hers?"

Katara put her hand on his shoulder. "We'll find a way. Now that we have Toph to teach you Earthbending, why don't we head back north? I think we would be much better off if we had the Northern Water Tribe nearby. I really doubt that Azula will follow us there…" Katara let out a yawn.

"I guess you're right" Aang replied. "We should start heading back north tomorrow."

As he laid down Sokka awoke. "Whas gooin on?" he said in a half awake voice.

"Nothing." Katara said in as blunt a voice as she could muster. "Go back to sleep."

"Ooookay" said Sokka already back in dreamland.

Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai all mounted their beasts and were prepared for another day of "Traitor and Avatar Hunting."

"Finally, Daybreak" murmured Azula. "Now, the question is, what do we do today? Any suggestions?"

Mai opened her mouth. "I believe that the best course of action would be to pursue the Avatar. The former Prince seems hell bent on pursuing YOU so there is no real need to go looking for him."

Ty Lee's eyes grew wide. "Yay! A direct attack! I'm so excited!" She began to smile, giggle and clap.

"I like the idea as well" Azula said slyly with a little smirk. "We'll just have to make sure we get our timing just right. Heh. This will be fun."

Aang's group all woke at around the same time the next…afternoon.

Katara stood up, stretched her arms, and yawned. "Wow. Sleep feels so good after a long day…and night…and day of battling."

Aang, perky as usual, jumped up and agreed. "Yeah! I feel like I can take on anyone!" He picked up his staff and twirled it around creating a sort of fan and blew it at Katara. He couldn't control his laughter.

Toph stood up and opened her eyes. "Wow! It's amazing what a night's sleep can do for somebody's mood! You're not a cold hearted witch anymore Katara!"

Katara just smirked and replied, "Why thank you Toph. You were just wi"

Sokka cut her off before she could say anything else. "Why don't we all get going now, huh? If we want to get to the Northern Water Tribe within any sort of reasonable amount of time, we should get going now."

Katara frowned. "I guess."

Note: I wanted to cut this chapter off here for the simple fact that I didn't want a battle in the first chapter. Don't worry, in the next chapter you'll get to see a fun battle . Please review so I'll update fast!