Only two reviews for the last chapter? I feel unlovedBut, because i am a kind authoress I'm putting this up for those who did review. thanks Inumaru12 and XSuicuneX!

Chapter 3

Aang yawned and sat up, his arms stretched out above his head. As he rubbed tiredly at his eyes he felt something rubbing against his leg. A grin automatically spread across his face when he saw kitty Zuko curled up beside him. His grin became mischievous when an idea popped into Aang's head. He had done this to Sokka and Momo plenty of times before. He had only been deterred from doing it any more when Momo had tried to scratch his face off (prank no. 1) and when Katara had told him to leave Sokka alone (prank no. 100). Funny how the flying lemur's response to Aang's prank was more effective than a human's.

Aang moved his body away from Zuko before leaning in towards his ear. Aang took a deep breath then shouted, "Morning!" right in Zuko's ear. As expected, Zuko woke up immediately.

It took Zuko a few seconds to work out what had just happened; by which time Aang had moved far away from the volatile cat, having learnt his lesson about scaring animals from his encounter with Momo.

Zuko turned around slowly, hissing all the while. He was going to kill the Avatar for this. He was going to swipe that stupid grin right off his face; he was going to make him beg for mercy.

Then Zuko remembered he was a cat. How could he fight the Avatar when he couldn't firebend or even use his swords? He wasn't even taller than the Avatar any more so he couldn't do what he did as a last resort and pin him down solely with his greater body mass and strength. Since this was the case was there any point in attacking blindly? No, there wasn't. Iroh had always taught him to think about what he was doing. If he couldn't attack he would have to do something unexpected; something that would completely confuse the Avatar.

Indeed, Aang was very confused when Zuko walked away into the forest. Why hadn't he been ripped to shreds by Zuko's obviously sharp claws? Zuko hadn't even given him a backwards glare before he had disappeared into the trees. Was it because Aang had hurt his feelings?

"Aang, what are you doing?"

Aang turned around to see Katara and Sokka had been woken up by his shouting. The mischievous grin had completely gone from his face as he said, "Nothing Katara. I'm just going for a walk; you guys have breakfast without me."

Katara gave Aang a worried look as he walked away into the trees. She was then distracted by her brother when he said, "Looks like the cat does have a use – Aang has someone else to torment other than me."

Katara rolled her eyes. Were all brothers this immature?

Zuko stopped a little way away from camp. He looked about for the best place he could hide to launch his ambush. The Avatar would never see his aerial attack until it was too late. Zuko only hoped that he would be able to climb up the tree.

With some difficulty Zuko managed to manoeuvre himself into the lowest branch of one of the trees. He flexed his muscles and claws, preparing himself for the spring. The cat equivalent of a self-satisfied grin crept onto Zuko's face.

"That's not very friendly you know."

Zuko was so surprised that he fell out of the tree. Luckily for him the old saying was true – cats do always land on their feet. He then looked up and came face to leg with the sorceress that had got him into this whole mess. I hope you're here to change me back.

If the accursed female knew what he was saying she ignored him. "Aang lets you stay with him and eat his foot and this is how you repay him?"

Technically it was my food, was Zuko's smart reply. It was a pity the sorceress didn't understand cat.

The girl sighed. "At this rate you're never going to learn to love. Then again, you haven't actually been together the whole day so maybe I should cut you some slack." Zuko nodded, hoping by 'cut him some slack' she meant turn him back into a human.

The girl considered Zuko for awhile. "Your problem is that you don't have the ability to communicate. By being a cat you can't communicate properly so that slows down the whole process. I guess now that you've established some sort of relationship I should give you the ability to communicate." The girl nodded her head, her decision made. "Yes, that's exactly what I'll do." With two clicks of her fingers she was gone.

Zuko opened his mouth to express his great displeasure that he was still feline when he heard the crunch of leaves behind him. He turned to see the Avatar approaching. Zuko hissed, partly because he was annoyed, partly because cats couldn't sigh that well.

Aang saw Zuko a moment later. He walked forward slowly, not wanting Zuko to be scared by any sudden movements. The cat however sat still, watching him lazily. Their eyes connected when Aang crouched down in-front of him. "I'm sorry I scared you. It was supposed to be a joke. I've done it to Sokka before – it was really funny watching him jump about and get frustrated. I never meant to hurt your feelings, I just wanted to play. I didn't think you'd play if I asked you to so I wanted to get you mad enough to chase me, even if I did get scratched as a result. Are we still friends?"

Why did he suddenly feel guilty? It was stupid, he shouldn't be feeling guilty; it had been a long time since he'd felt guilty. The Avatar talked like a child and (Zuko realized) it was because he was a child. A child with a great responsibility on his shoulders; just like him.

How old was the Avatar? Probably only a year younger than he was when he was banished. Had he been like this back then? He couldn't recall being as enthusiastic but once upon a time he too had been happy and carefree. He hadn't been happy since he was banished.

Zuko walked forward and leaned his head against the Avatar's knee. Aang smiled at the show of affection. He reached out and rubbed the spot behind Zuko's ear making him purr. Seeing that Zuko was docile for the first time since he had arrived Aang got bold. He picked Zuko up and held him to his chest, still scratching behind the cat's ear.

The happy grin that spread across Aang's face disappeared when sharp claws raked over his skin. Aang hissed from the sting of the cut. It wasn't deep and there was no blood. "I take it that's payback for disturbing your beauty sleep?" The look Zuko gave him clearly said 'Yes'. "I guess we should head back now. I hope Sokka hasn't eaten everything or it'll be nuts again for breakfast." Aang sighed. "Being a vegetarian is hard sometimes."

Zuko wasn't sure about this since he had never been a vegetarian. He was also unsure whether this new understanding he had with the Avatar was the result of the witch's promise to help him communicate or whether there was something unpleasant waiting for him on the horizon.

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