I see the boat leaving the port and my heart begins to speed up. I can't miss this boat. I begin to run for the water screaming for them to stop the boat even though I know there is nothing they can do. Once I reach the edge of the boarding platform I launch myself forwards and fly through the air. I can tell I won't make it so I us my waterbending to add a little more thrust but it's still not enough. I hit the back of the boat only to have someone grab me and drag me up into the boat. I drag in a breath as my body calms down. Once I can breath again I look up to say thank you but mid sentence I stop as I come face to face with the banished prince. "You." I breathe my eyes wide. A worried look enters his eyes and I glance down to see he's wearing earthbender clothes. I look back up at him to see his melted gold eyes on me as I feel the urge to lift my hand up and brush the side of his face. My eyes move over to his burn before I slowly lift my hand to the side of his face and brush the burn lightly with my fingers. After a second my eyes trail back to his and I come back to myself, I jerk my hand back and blink my eyes acting as if I was in a trance. "I'm sorry." I offer as I pull away from him and sit up. "Thank you."

Zuko's eyes are on me wide with shock and awe. A male clears his throat next to us and we both look to our side to see Iroh watching us closely. "Um... your... your welcome."

I nod my head looking back at Prince Zuko my mind realing. Is he after Aang? Is he in Ba Sing Se? Or is he done with hunting the Avatar? "Would you like to sit with us?" Iroh asks pulling me out of my thoughts. I turn to him and smile warmly at him.

"Please, if it wouldn't be to much trouble." Iroh nods his head and turns away from me before he walks off to a corner of the boat that is empty and sits down.

I follow him after I throw Zuko one last look over my shoulder only to see him staring at me.

Does he know it's me?!

I sit down across from Iroh and smile. Zuko sits next to me before speaking again. "So who are you?" He asks and I blush a little.

"I'm sorry, I'm Mala." I bow my head a little. "May I ask, what are your names?"

Iroh speaks for Zuko quickly jumping to answer me. "This is my nephew Lee and you can just call me Uncle." He states before beaming up at me and I feel my cheeks gain more color as I brush a strand of my hair back behind my ear.

"Uncle!" Zuko hisses his own cheeks turning red. Cute. The fire prince blushing.

I let out a small laugh as I start to relax. "No it's alright Lee."

Zuko looks at me before nodding his head. "So where are you from?" He asks and I look out at the water.

"I'm coming from the northern water tribe." I explain and Zuko nods his head.

"We heard about the attack there." He states and a dark look enters his eyes.

"Yes it was bad but we'll be fine. We will always be able to rebuild what we once lost. If not with our bending then with the help of the moon and the spirit of our beloved princess." I state sadly. "Where are you coming from?"

"No where specific we've been all over the place it's hard to keep up." Zuko states bitterly.

"I'm sorry." I offer looking him in the eyes and to my surprise they soften. "That burn... what happened?" I ask him earning a flinch. "Sorry I... I didn't mean to do harm I... I tend to speak before I go over what I say." I explain before I bow my head.

Zuko sets a hand on my shoulder getting me to stop stuttering and I look up at him. "It's fine. I just don't want to talk about it. All I'll say is it had something to do with my father."

I nod my head before I take his hand off of my shoulder and hold it in both of mine. "I'm sorry."

After a second of silence he pulls his hand away and looks out at the water. He gets up and walks up to the railing. "Thank you."

I slowly lift myself off of the deck and step up to him and look out at the water and moon. "It's beautiful isn't it?" I ask him and he nods his head.

"My mother loved the water." I start subconsciously running my fingers through my hair. "When she was young she would sneek out of her village and head to the ocean just to watch the water move and the moons reflection move across the waves as they moved back and forth." I can see Zuko turn to me out of the corner of my eye.

"What was her name?" He asks and I turn my head a little so he knows I heard him.

"Saree." I state softly.

"It's a beautiful name." He offers and I smile a little.

I hum in agreement before I speak. "You can admit it's odd you've never heard it before." I state softly turning to look at him completely watching him as he listens to me speak. "One time she was out there later than she usually was and she found a man who had washed ashore the island. The man was a waterbender." I turn back to the water and smile a little.

"His clothes were soaked and tattered from a battle and his hair in his face his eyes closed. She ran over to him and layed her head on his chest only to hear a thumping in his chest. He was alive. She had taken him to the village and passed him onto the elders explaining everything even excepting her punishment for being out of the village." My left hand drifts to me right wrist. "They healed him and nursed him back to health. When he woke up and layed eyes on her... he couldn't help it... he fell in love. But it wasn't aloud. Waterbenders were forbedden to marry anyone but there own element. But he wasn't at home. He wasn't leading his men into battle or walking the streets of the northern water tribe. They thought he was dead and so he let himself feel. Even if it was just for a little while. He stayed and they talked he told her of the fighting going on with the fire nation and the aid they were trying to send to our sister tribe in the south."

I turn my head and look at Zuko for a second. "He was there greatest general. The Mighty General Herzio of the Northern Water Tribe. His title held much power in the Northern tribe. He and his men had been sailing to our sister tribe when a fire started in the belly of his boat. His men discovered the fire but the ones who found it weren't waterbenders. The fire spread quick. Too quick. The next thing my father knew the ship was blown up with dynomite and he was throwen into the water with all of the supplize for our brothers and sisters. During the days my mother would work in the garden and my father would catch fish or help find berries and fruit telling himself he would leave the next day and return home. But as days became weeks and weeks became months he got the feeling that they both shared the feeling and dreaded when he would leave. He faced her and told he that he loved her that he was willing to do anything to be with her even leave everyone in the water tribe behind. And that's what happened. They married and had two children. Twins. A boy and a girl. My brother and I." I stop as I realize I'm cring. I stare out at the water and the moon my heart aching as I grasp the railing with clenched hands.

"What's wrong?" Zuko asks and I shake my head.

I take a breath before I speak. "Nothing." I whisper. I whip my tears away. "I just miss my parents." I state. I turn around and look at the back of the boat and smile before I turn to Zuko. "Back up a bit." He does as I say and I turn to the empty patch on the deck and focus on the water outside of the ship before I start to bend. Moving as I can using the water to create two sculptures of blue. When I open my eyes and look in front of me stands a man and a woman. I slowly step forwards and touch them both, grasping there icy hands. My mother and father stare at me with icy blue eyes. I feel two people walk up behind me.

"Who are they?" I hear Zuko ask.

"Saree and Herzio." I state softly. The kids on the boat get up from there spots near their parents and walk over with wide, awed eyes. "Saree the peace maker and Herzio the warrior." The kids all sit down I around me and the icy warriors.

I look around at everyone to see their eyes on me. I nod my head before I begin to speak my voice thick with emotion. "Years ago there were two people." I pause and look around at everyone. "A man and a woman. The man was a Waterbender named Herzio. He was the general of the Northern water tribe for some time. He would lead countless men into battle and usually only come back with wounded and not many might I say." I explain happily as the kids bounce up and down. I use my Waterbending to make the statue of my father move, drawing his icy sword and swing it around. "One day he was sent on a mission to aid the sisters and brothers of the Northern Water Tribe. And so he went. He was hurt. His men attacked and separated from him. When he was found he was saved by a beautiful woman by the name of Saree." I move my mother around as my father's statue lays on the deck wounded and unconscious. "They fell in love and had two little children. A boy who's name has been long forgotten. And a girl by the name off Adeana." "As the two children grew older they were taught how to bend. Or the brother was. The sister couldn't bend her mothers element or her fathers. She would wander of during the day but one time she found her father fishing. Using his water bending to pull fish in for everyone to eat. The little girl watched her father move back and forth bending the water using it as a tool, as and extension of himself. The little girl copied him pulling on the water. After a little while she noticed a move in the water. She continued and after a second a huge wave came in and knocked her father into the river. When he came back up he looked around but the only one for him to see was his little no bending daughter." I watch as a third person comes into view an smile as the little girl helps the man up out of the "river" that's on the deck of the ship. "And so they kept it a secret from her mother until her and her brother's birthday. That day the little girl worked hard in the garden with her mother and friends telling her mother of the surprise her and her father had for everyone. But it wasn't to be. Rustling came from the trees and everyone stopped. Suddenly fire benders dove from the trees attacking everyone they could. The little girls mother screamed at her to run, run to the river and find her father. She did just that. Running as fast as her tiny legs could carry her. But it wasn't fast enough. When she reached the river she fell to the ground screaming for her father to save her mother. He ran for his love but they were too late they took to long and they found her dead with the other woman who had been working that day in the fields. Little Adeana had ran to her father only to find her mother's burnt body laying in front of him. Broken she lost all control and swore to kill every last fire bender that crossed her path. But she was stopped by her father. He kneeled before her and grabbed her shoulders to see into her tear filled eyes and he spoke. "Don't let them win. When they kill one person it will hurt but you must fight back the urge to retaliate for if you do they have already won." And I listened. I never struck back. I never ran away to avenge my mother's death. Years later a letter found my father from the water nation. The battle with the Fire Nation was getting rough and he was needed back, so he decided he would leave and come back for me and my brother. We both watched him board his ship. I watched as it sailed out. As my father manned the ship full of water benders. One ran to him and he only had time to turn around before the ship exploded and he was gone." I whisper as I let the figures melt. "He had left me too, and that's when I made a vow to never lose anyone else I cared about, even if it means risking my own life."