Chapter Two; Let's Go Disappoint the World

"Careful, it's hot." He warned her as she removed the forks from her hair. He gently placed the comb in the back of her hair to hold two of her four braids in place. Then she took two strips of torn fabric and tides them around the others. When she looked up he said, "Welcome to the team." She smiled at him and two of her braids fell in her face. He smiled back as she attempted to get them out of the way. "They look nice like that," Zuko said as he gently pulled her hands away from them. She couldn't help but to smile, she was on Zuko's ship actually talking with Zuko and she was Fire Nation, how could this day get any better?

"Zuko!? Have you seen the fine cutlery?" Iroh called as he walked onto the bow.

"We were, uuuh, polishing it." Zuko responded.

"Good for you." Iroh said. "We could use the help." Alura looked at Zuko and shook her head in disbelief. With a smile Alura grabbed a fork and started rubbing it with a rag. She smiled at Iroh who saw her hair and said. "You look like you could be Zuko's sister."

"Uuuuh, thank you?" Alura half stated half asked. Her gold eyes looked back to Zuko again once Iroh left with the forks, and asked, "That was compliment, wasn't it?" in response Zuko just shrugged. He was like that, sometimes he acted like he had the answers to everything (which was annoying), and the rest of the time he acted like he didn't have a clue about anything (which was even more annoying). But Zuko was Zuko, and Zuko was as Zuko did…and Zuko, as Alura had learned in the past three hours, did annoying quite a lot. But Zuko also, as she had learned the night before, did kind and considerate occasionally too.

"I don't think he meant to insult you." Zuko stated suddenly. "But it was a strange compliment…I guess it could have been worse though…he could have said that you look like Azula."

"Didn't he though?" Alura responded.

That night Zuko and Alura hid while the crew had 'music night', though if you were to ask Alura and Zuko they would tell you it sounded more like 'impersonate a sick cow-monkey night'. "When does the agony cease!" Alura exploded, nearly Fire Bending the map on the wall into obliteration.

"Calm down Ali." Zuko stated. "It's just my uncle and the crew pretending they have talent."

"Yeah, well someone had better tell them not to quit their day jobs." Alura replied. "And by someone I mean you…hey it stopped!"

"That's odd." Zuko stated as his uncle opened the door. "For the last time I will not play the stupid sungi horn!"

"We have company."

"Admiral Zhao," Zuko stated coldly. For a Fire Bender Zuko could be a cold person.

"So this is the great Admiral Zhao I've heard so much about." Alura said in a tone that matched her name. "to be truthful, Zuko, I'm a little disappointed, I thought the great Admiral Zhao would be, oh, I don't know…great." She looked at Zuko and saw his jaw was unhinged at the disrespecting and authorative tone Alura had taken. It may not have shown, but Alura was a little shocked herself. Her tone was icy and unreadable, her eyes, unblinking, were showing no emotion, and her jaw was set firm; no one in the room dared to contradict her or even to talk. She now had control of this situation, and she might be able to change things. "I'm sorry you must have something important to say if you came all this way…"

"As a matter of fact…" Zhao started in an aggravated tone. He went on to explain that he was taking Zuko's crew. And that he couldn't risk Zuko getting in his way at the North Pole.

"That is such a typical Zhao maneuver." Zuko said the next morning. "Ali, what happened to you last night?" He looked at her and waited for an answer. "You scared me... and I think Admiral Zhao was scared too."

"Remember how I told you that your life was my favorite work of fiction back home?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, Admiral Zhao was going to try and make you admit that you can use duel swords."

"So?"

"So he knows you're the Blue Spirit, dunder-head!"

"I know." Zuko responded. There was a sudden bang of a door being opened and Alura and Zuko went to investigate. Alura looked out a window in the center of the ship.

"Uh, dunder-head, does that scaly looking bird look familiar?" Alura asked. Zuko came over to see what she was talking about. Then, BANG! There was a huge explosion.

Alura opened her eyes underwater; Zuko was sinking in the wreckage of his ship. Alura grabbed his hand and began to swim to the surface. "You're welcome, dunder-head, you're welcome."

"Thanks, Ali, I didn't know you cared that much." Zuko said wiping his long, thin strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah, well, I do, and don't forget it." She said shaking the water out of her hair. They were tired, wet hungry, and needed a change of clothes, Zuko was scraped to no end, and Alura had a spiral shaped burn on her arm. Other than that they were fine. While Ali was shaking her hair the comb Zuko had made went flying into the dirt.

"You dropped this," Zuko stated as he reached out and picked it up.

"Thank you." Alura replied as she placed it back into her saturated braids. Zuko looked at Alura and couldn't help but to laugh. She looked odd with her hair wet, she wasn't the cool, up tempo girl he'd met two days before she was wet, burnt, battered, and bruised. She was still up tempo, just thrashed to no end. As the two teens sat laughing Alura caught sight of something. "Zuko, your uncle, he's seen what happened…he probably thinks…." She didn't want to say it, since she had felt the same way when she had seen him starting to drowned.

"Oh, Ali," Zuko said.

"What?" Alura asked concerned by Zuko's tone.

"We have to stow away on Zhao's ship,"

"What!" Alura said angry this time.

"It's the only way we can get to the North Pole now."

"Yeah, that may be. But how are we going to get back?!"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Zuko stated. That was the Zuko that Alura had watched on TV, the leap then look back on his plan and be distracted just long enough for someone to sneak up and attack him Zuko that was obsessed with hunting the Avatar, and sadly the Zuko she had wish to meet all her life. That was when she realized that his mind was somewhere else, off in a place where pain was an unknown feeling, and, sadly, a place he would never get to be. She looked into his golden eyes, and touched his arm bringing him back to his senses. "Let's go disappoint the world." He said. She sighed, knowing all too well he meant letting his uncle know they had survived the explosion.