She was sleeping soundly as he crept up to their camp, curled into a ball with soft snores shaking her small frame. He looked over at her, the Avatar valued her very much, she would deal a great loss to him gone.

He walked away from the young boy with tattoos and approached her. She had her hair undone and brushed out, causing it to flow to its full length with soft waves. Of course he couldn't see this due to the lack of light. She was light when he picked her up that it too him off guard. Were they eating enough?

She didn't stir as he traveled back, in fact she had been immobile the entire time.

He walked up the iron deck and thanks to years of practice he didn't make a sound. Soon enough he was below deck and placing her into one of the spare rooms. He was in the hallway when a door opened.

"Uncle, is that you?" The unexpected voice came from his nephew.

"Yes, Zuko. What is it you need?" He kept his voice calm and tired, to trick him. Zuko did not know of his outings while the crew and its master was sleeping.

"What are you doing up so late?" Zuko's voice was showing that he was slowly coming awake.

"Just walking around, no need to fret." Zuko looked at him oddly, shrugged and went back to bed.

Iroh stood patently as his nephew went into slumber. Went into slumber without knowing of the girl sleeping right next door. Oh well there is always the morning.

{*.*.*.*.*.*}

Zuko woke in a start. Dreams of his past were racing towards him and were catching up fast. Images of Fire Lady Ursa were still freshly imprinted. Oh, Agni; he missed his mother. He felt alone, lost, ever since she disappeared. Her expression the night she fled was branded into the back of his mind as if a memoir of his home nation. Fear, concern, loss, shame; all looked he had hopped to never see on his mother's face. The face that showed him compassion, love, honesty, and a little disapproval to keep him in line unlike his destructive little sister. She was the first person to build him up, the only person that seemed to have cared. Now it was all gone, any signs of this shut him down and he blocked it out. Iroh tried, tried to fill the space his mother left, but zuko wouldn't have it.

A noise outside raked Zuko back into reality. He wasn't ten anymore, he was sixteen. Quickly he rose to his feet and crossed the cold metal floor, bare foot, and opened his door.

A large, rounded shape stood in the hallway; it was Iroh. "Uncle? I know that we are early risers but isn't this pushing the limit?" This was the second time in a short while he caught the old man snooping around his room.

Iroh turned around and looked at Zuko. He smiled warm heartedly. "Ah, Zuko. Just the person I was wanting to see." His face went blank and somber as he opened the door next to Zuko's and walked inside. A small lump was occupying the cot. But this room was unassigned.

Zuko's expression of courtesy faded into a hard, and slightly angered, glare. "Uncle, what is this." He made his way over to the cot and turned the form over; as if he had been burned, he withdrew his hand as fast as he could. " Uncle! What?"

"Zuko. Think this through, the Avatar has a protective nature and she is one of a great deal of shock when he finds his friend, and waterbending teacher, has gone missing." Zuko just stared at his uncle, this was not like him. Uncle didn't seem interested in hunting the Avatar with a drive. He gave his uncle a confused look then glanced down at the water peasant.

"Before down breaks, we set sail. We need to put distance between them and us, just for now. Have them chase us, for her." It would offset them very much with her absence; he thought to himself. He vaguely remembered her acting as a motherly figure for the two, young teen boys. And the Avatar was very protective of her, he would be greatly driven of course with her absence. "Uncle, I'm going to try to get what sleep I can salvage before we cast off. No one knows she's here." And with that Zuko fell back into the reserve that he has held for over a year.

Iroh nodded and began to tend to the waterbender, then Zuko left swiftly and urgently, leaving his uncle with a knowing smile. "My dear, this shall be a very interesting voyage. True colors will be shown, colors that will change everything. I'm deeply sorry to have stolen you from your friends, truly, but I know your a healer and I need you to heal my nephew."

Little did out dear Iroh now that a certain waterbender was awake the whole time, heard every word, and was now trying her honest best to appear to have been sleeping and not freaking out in horror when she realized where she was, and who she was with.

Well, well, well. Never thought Iroh would be big on kidnapping, huh? Poor Katara stuck in a Fire Nation ship all alone...but not for long ;)