Book One: Fire

Chapter One: The Shipwrecked Girl

"Huh! I'm so bored." Said Azula leaning over the fishing ship. "We've been out here for hours and haven't caught a single fish, maybe you're not as good as you think you are."

Irritated by her complaining for hours, Zuko threw the fishing rod at Azula."Maybe this would be a lot faster if you were helping." Zuko said aggressively as his sister caught the rod.

"Calm down Zuzu, I was just kidding." Azula said while throwing the rod to the ground. Zuko picked it back up and casted it back out to sea. "How are the rest of you men doing?" Azula asked the crew. No one seemed to have caught anything either. Except one crew member who found an old boot. "This is hopeless." said Azula leaning her back on the edge of the ship.

"Your Majesties." said a crew member anxiously.

Azula still leaning back looked over to the crew member. "What is it Captain?" She didn't seem to be really interested in what he had to say.

"I was scoping out the area with the telescope, when I noticed something strange in the distance." Zuko stopped fishing for a minute to hear what the captain had to say.

"What did you see?" said Zuko who did seem to care.

"I spotted a small boat just drifting in the open." said the captain. Azula stood up straight and looked back at her brother as he looked toward her. Both Zuko and Azula got in a small boat and Zuko rowed toward the drifting boat in the distance. Finally getting there Zuko threw a grappling hook at the little boat and pulled it toward his.

"Be careful." said Azula said with a concerned tone.

"I'm just pulling it in, I'm fine." said Zuko still pulling the rope. When the other boat met theirs Zuko hopped on the other side to see what was inside. But what he saw he never expected. "I can't believe it." He said astonished. He bent down to pick something up.

"What is it?" said Azula impatiently. When Zuko stood up and turned around, Azula's eyes opened wide as she gasped at the horrible sight. What they found was a person. A young girl. her face was pale white, her hair a mess. She looked dehydrated like she has been at sea for days. She had no shoes and her clothes were a bit torn. Zuko hopped back to his boat with the girl in his hands.

"Is she alive." Azula said concerned. Zuko put his hand on her neck and felt for a pulse.

"Yes she's breathing, but she's in terrible condition. We need to take her to the ship quickly for medical attention." Zuko put the girl down and began to paddle back toward the ship while Azula watched the girl making sure she was OK.

When they returned to the ship the captain spotted them and began pulling the boat up. "What did you find?" asked the captain as Azula jumped off the boat onto the ship. Zuko hopped onto the ship holding the girl in his arms. The captain gasped at what he saw. He grabbed her from Zuko and rushed her down below deck for medical attention. A few hours later, Zuko came down to the medical room to see if the girl was doing OK.

"How is she?" asked Zuko standing next to the girl's bed.

"She'll be just fine, she just needs to eat as soon as she wakes and a lot of water would help too." Said the nurse.

Zuko looked down at the girl wondering where she came from and why did this happen to her. Azula walked into the room, walking up to Zuko to comfort him.

"Is she OK? Azula asked.

Zuko looked back at his sister with a smile. "Yeah she'll be alright."

The girl began to moan. Zuko and Azula quickly looked over at the girl lying down. The girl began to wake up slowly, but fell back unconscious. Zuko held up her back.

"Come on why won't you wake up?" Zuko asked the girl knowing she couldn't answer.

"That won't help Dumdum." Azula said putting her hand on Zuko's shoulder. The girl took a deep breath that caused the siblings to watch silently waiting for her to move, or say something. Her eyes began to open slowly as she looked over to Zuko holding her up. Her mouth began to move slowly like she was getting ready to say something. Zuko and Azula both leaned in forward with their mouths hung open a little and their eyes opened widely.

"Get off me! Get off me!" The girl began yelling and flailing her arms. Zuko and Azula stepped backward as she went nuts. The little girl kept flailing around until she fell to the ground with the blanket from her bed covering her.

"Are you OK?" Azula asked. The girl threw the covers off of herself.

"Where am I? Who are you? Where's are my parents?" The young girl began asking to many questions. She was scarred to find herself on a strange ship, in a strange room, with strangers.

"Hi, I'm Azula and this is my big brother Zuko. We are the members of the royal family from the Fire Nation." Azula said friendly trying to calm the girl down.

The girl began to fell around with her hands. "The Fire Nation?" she asked calmly

"Yes, and don't worry, we won't harm you." Zuko said sincere.

"We're just making sure you're felling better." Azula said with her arms folded looking away.

The girl just sat on the ground with a blank look on her face.

Zuko raised a brow as he just watched her, waiting for her to say something. "So, what's your name." Zuko asked the girl.

"Toph. My name is Toph Bei Fong." she said still staring off blankly.

Azula suddenly looked over in amazement. "Wait a minute, Bei Fong, like the richest family in the Earth Kingdom?" Azula asked.

"Yeah, that's right." answered Toph.

"I didn't know they had a daughter." Zuko said toward Azula.

"That's 'cause they didn't want people to know." Toph said facing away at the wall.

Azula began to leave the room. "Well, it's been a long day I'm going to get some rest." she said stretching her arms. "You all need to sleep." she walked off into the hall.

Zuko helped Toph off the ground and onto her bed. "Thanks, um Zuko." she said

"That's right, you're welcome." he said with a smile. Zuko walked out of the room looking back at the young girl. "I'll figure out what to do with you tomorrow." he thought to himself.

Toph just layed in the bed, not moving a muscle staring blankly at the roof. She then closed her eyes slowly, frowned, and rolled over to sleep.

Meanwhile...

A large ship was on the trail of the little boat that Toph was found in. "Princess, I think I've spotted something." said a Water Tribe soldier to the teenage girl facing away to the open sea.

The girl turned to face the soldier. "Did you find her private?" the girl asked.

"We've spotted a small boat drifting in the distance, that might be her."

The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Very well, set a course for the boat." the girl turned back away to face the sea once again.

"You can't run forever." She said to herself.

"Still haven't found her, how do you know she didn't go down with the rest of the ship? I think you should set a course for home" said the voice of an old woman from behind.

The girl turned around. "Gran Gran. It's none of your business." She said rolling her eyes. "You're only here, because you asked to be. Don't think for a second that it makes it OK for you to interrupt my mission." The girl got closer to the old woman. "My father wants the avatar, so he'll get her." The girl went below deck.

"Oh, princess Katara, what happened to you? You used to be full joy." The old woman lowered her head as she walked below deck behind Katara.

The next day Zuko came in to check on Toph, but when he walked in she was gone. He panicked. He quickly ran out into the halls and toward his sisters room.

"She's gone!" he said out of breath. "I can't find her."

"Who's gone?" Azula was too busy brushing her hair to face her brother.

"The girl...um Toph. She's not in her bed."

"Well look around the whole ship, no one is in bed anymore Dumdum." Azula turned to face her brother. "Perhaps she is above deck."

Zuko raised his eyebrow. He felt kinda embarrassed that he didn't think of that. He then turned to walk out of her room and back into the halls making his way above deck. As he opened the door to the outside a ray of light hit his face. He squinted his eyes a little. As soon as he walked up from below deck he could see Toph leaning over the edge of the ship, staring at the water below. Zuko walked quietly up to the girl, he did not want to disturb her so quickly.

"Hey whats up." Zuko wasn't even close to her before she noticed him.

"How did you know I was coming?" He asked confused.

"I just knew OK." Toph said sarcastically.

"So, how long where you lost at sea?" Zuko had asked her this like it was an everyday question.

"I don't know a few days I guess, I lost count." She said turning toward him.

"What happened to you?" asked Zuko.

"What do you mean?

"Well, it's not everyday we just find an Earth Kingdom girl drifting out in he sea." Zuko said while pointing out toward the ocean.

"Well if not Earth Kingdom girls then what kind of girls do you find." The two began to laugh as Zuko realized Toph had a sense of humor.

"I'm just kidding." Toph said still smiling."I don't actually know why I was out there." Toph's smile disappeared and became a frown.

"Well were going to take you home. We already set a course for the Earth Kingdom"

"Really I'm going home?" Toph ran into Zuko for a hug.

He just stood there surprised. Toph quickly let go and took a few steps back.

"Um. I'm mean, that's cool, thanks." She said followed up by a punched on Zuko's left arm. She then walked away, down below ship. Zuko watched as she walked off and turned back out into the ocean.

Katara was staring out toward the sea, looking for any signs of the Avatar. A water tribe soldier came from behind her. "Your highness, we have retrieved the small boat that the Avatar escaped on, but she wasn't on it.

Katara began to grit her teeth, but quickly calmed down. "Very well captain, you are dismissed." Katara continued what she was doing. This time she pulled out a telescope. As she gazed out at the ocean she could see nothing. She was beginning to become even more impatient. Then she spotted something far out into the open. A large ship, but not any ship. A fire nation ship was far out into the distance. Katara turned around behind her. "Captain set a course for the Fire Nation ship ahead!" she yelled anxious. "A fire nation ship all the way out here near the Earth Kingdom. This should be interesting." She said as a smile on her face grew wider.

I hope you guys like it and please, I need reviews to help make it better. Also check out m other story. "The Legend of Keana." Keep reading, and I'll keep writing.