OMG...I'm sooooooooooo sorry this took so long to publish! I understand if you wish to throw stones and lobsters at me...but I hope you'll forgive me because I'm still back, and I am going to finish this story! Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, and I promise it won't be so long between updates next time!!

"Oh Spirits! I think she's alive!"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, it could just be your imagination…"

"No way…see? She's breathing! Oh! And I can feel her heartbeat! She is alive!"

A faint buzzing sound chorused throughout the area. It grew louder and louder until Ursa shook her head violently as though it would clear her mind. Her brain was slowly trying to tell her to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as though they weighed a ton. Her head throbbed harshly, but she needed to figure out where she was…maybe she died and was in the Spirit World now?

She blinked several times before her vision cleared enough to see that she was surrounded by men. Ursa's upper body was propped up by a stack of furry pillows, so her woozy head could rest comfortably without her needing to sit up.

The men were gawking at her in shock, as though she was some sort of grotesque monster.

"What?" she asked in a painfully hoarse voice. The very action of speaking made her throat scratchy, immediately causing her to cough and sputter.

"Bato, get her some water! We need her to be able to speak when Hakoda's ship comes into port!"

Ursa instantly stopped her seemingly unstoppable hacking and blinked. "Hakoda?" she choked out in between coughing fits.

Once again, everyone was taken aback by her recognizing Hakoda. She squinted more carefully in this dark room and finally realized that these men were Water Tribe.

"Do you know Hakoda?" one of them asked her as she was silently debating whether or not her being Water Tribe was a good thing.

Ursa nodded stiffly. "Is he here?"

The men shook their heads. Ursa sighed with relief. Most of her body was so weak that she could barely function without having pain spasms everywhere, but somehow, she was alive. She didn't want Hakoda to see her in this state, especially after what had happened in Ba Sing Se. She would be a much easier target if he decided that she should pay for her nation's wrongdoings…

She felt both relieved and remorseful at the same time. However, Ursa didn't remember why she was on this ship in the first place…

"What happened?" she interrupted the men's anxious chatter, causing them all to look at her again. She bit her lip and looked away, not exactly loving all this awkward attention.

"You don't remember?" a tall, burly man with blue beads on his facial hair asked her breathlessly. His hair was dark brown, like all of the other men; however, he wore a special Water Tribe headband on his forehead, setting him apart from the others.

"No," Ursa snarled at him, feeling slightly annoyed by the fact that all these men wouldn't stop looking at her so strangely.

"You almost drowned!" one of them shouted out. "You're lucky that Bato managed to save you before you died!"

Ursa's eyes widened. "Bato…? Who is…"

A man with kind blue eyes stepped forward from the group and smiled gravely at her. "You gave us quite a scare back there. It's not a pleasant sight, seeing someone's head suddenly submerge underwater in a storm."

Ursa tried to chuckle nervously, but no sounds would come out. These men were so unfamiliar to her, and waking up onboard one of their ships was quite unnerving.

"We'll take you to see our chief as soon as we meet up near Whaletail Island. But first, if you don't mind, I'd like to know your name."

Ursa's eyes widened. She was expecting to be interrogated, such as why she was alone on a small boat in the middle of a storm. Or something like that. But her name?

"I'm…Suki," she said uncertainly as she remembered the name of the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors.

The men murmured to themselves, but Bato simply nodded before calmly telling her:

"Our healer gave you some healing herbs for your nausea. They have understandably made you quite tired, so we will let you rest. We will be meeting Hakoda's fleet in the morning."

As he and the other blue-clad warriors turned to leave, Ursa urgently ordered her mind to remain conscious.

"You know, I should be fine by tomorrow. Just drop me off at the nearest Earth Kingdom port…"

Bato smiled curiously at the woman's desperation. "No worries, Suki. Hakoda is nothing to worry about. As long as you're not a spy for the Fire Nation," he added solemnly.

Ursa bit her lip as Bato shut the door behind him.

Oh, sure…I'm just an Earth Kingdom woman, remember?

A tiny voice in her mind added: But Hakoda knows different.

xXxXxXxXx

Ursa fretted the entire morning. The healer tried everything possible to calm her down, but she swatted every possible opiate away. This was no time for sleeping! She had to figure out a way to escape before she was recognized as Fire Nation. She didn't want to know the consequences that lay ahead of her…

"Lady Suki, please!" the healer cried exasperatedly as Ursa flipped underneath the blankets of her bed in the same manner a young child would if being force-fed onion and banana juice. Ursa shook her head stubbornly under the covers, fully aware of how immature she was acting and not caring one bit. She knew the healer meant well, but it would not improve her situation if she was sleeping while Hakoda informed the crew of their Fire Nation occupant. She could only imagine their rage…

However, for the most part, the Water Tribe men were good people; always ready to help, even if she was a complete stranger. They were trusting too; the atmosphere on the ship was far more relaxed than that in the Fire Nation. There, everyone was always watching their backs, as though their best friend would stab them in the gut if they weren't paying attention.

Ursa couldn't blame them; her own father-in-law was proof that nobody was ever safe from pain or death.

Here on the ship however, every man seemed oblivious to anything besides their work. They left their bone-carved weapons lying around carelessly; had this been a Fire Nation ship, the soldiers would have worried that they could be used to attack the more despised members of the crew. Especially with a foreigner onboard.

Other than irritated healer, the men nearly forgot Ursa was on their ship. Their intense focus on their work was admirable, though. She wished the Fire Nation could learn a thing or two from them.

Ursa tried escaping her small quarters several times throughout the morning, much to the irritation of her caretakers. They couldn't seem to comprehend her desperation, no matter how many times she pleaded just to be thrown off the side off the ship with nothing but a boat to get to shore. It was better than facing her doom, she thought miserably.

But they would have none of it. They kept her safe in her room, eventually forcing her to give up on trying to get away from here.

Outside of her room, she heard the lowered murmurs of the men. They were pondering amongst themselves about their strange visitor. Bato had refused to urge any new information out of their new member; that job was apparently set aside for the chief of the Water Tribes.

The most puzzling thing of all was her unusually warm body heat. The healer had just assumed she had a terrible fever, but that didn't explain how she appeared so pale when most people with fevers looked flushed and red. There were no traces of sweat on her forehead either, but the healer couldn't think of anything else that it could be.

Surprisingly, they had had a Water Tribe dress onboard fit for a princess. Ursa accepted it readily, not bothering to question why or where they had gotten this strange outfit anyways. It was almost as though they were hoping a woman would come onboard their ship someday…

The vibrant blue fabric with warm white furs on the hip and shoulders was a big contrast to her old, battered Earth Kingdom rag. She had chosen not to wear gloves however; her hands were easily warmed through other means…

Looking down at her reflection in the water, Ursa found herself silently wishing that she was born in the Water Tribes. These men were so easy to be around and these clothes were much more comfortable than her stiff Fire Nation robes.

Still, she was still caught off-guard when one of them knocked at her door later in the morning, informing her that Hakoda's ship had arrived. After their last encounter in Ba Sing Se, she realized that she would feel better facing Ozai himself again than Hakoda.

Thud. Thud.

She gasped in panic at the sounds of boots walking down the corridor of the ship. Two men were talking; one she recognized as Bato's voice, the other: Hakoda.

There was no turning back now. He would come in and tell everyone that she was Fire Nation, just like he told the Dai Lee back in Ba Sing Se. Everyone on the ship would revolt against her, perhaps even kill her. She would try to escape of course; she couldn't die yet…she needed to see her son at least one more time before she could eternally be at rest. The thought of seeing Zuko again cheered her for a brief moment.

Knock. Knock.

Her heart thudded against her chest. Thinking quickly, she whirled around in her bed so that her back was facing Hakoda when he opened the door. Her bright blue Water Tribe dress and her smooth black hair was the only thing visible to him for now.

Her breath came out in small rasps, and she closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. His boots were steadily coming closer…

"There's no need to hide, I'm here to help you."

Yup, that was definitely Hakoda's voice. Ursa remained defiantly fixated in her position, determined to hide her identity for as long as possible. She heard him sigh before he tried a different approach.

"My name is Hakoda, the men told me you've been through a lot in the past day."

The wooden floor creaked as his weight lifted and he advanced forward. The boat swayed slightly from the howling winds outside, but Hakoda hardly took notice.

Suddenly, Ursa felt a light hand grasp her shoulder, silently urging her to turn around.

"Please, I need to be able to talk to you," Hakoda pleaded calmly.

Ursa shook her head and tried shaking away his hand. He released his grip and came around to the side. Noticing this, Ursa whipped her head to the left, her long black hair trailing behind her and shielding her face from the chief.

"Okay," Hakoda replied, slightly amused as he stood up. "I can talk to you like this."

Ursa's head flicked curiously in his direction for an instant before nodding her head willingly.

"What is your name?"

"Suki," Ursa replied almost too suddenly. Realizing this mistake, she forced her heart to stop racing at the speed of lightning.

"Where are you from?"

"Earth kingdom," she interrupted, unable to control her too-quick responses.

"May I ask what you were doing by yourself in the middle of a storm?"

"Fishing," she answered coolly, able to regain at least some of her composure now.

"Fishing?" Hakoda repeated in disbelief. This conversation was easily getting nowhere, so he tried coming from the side to see her face again. Ursa didn't immediately understand what he was doing, and managed to turn away just before he caught sight of her hidden golden eyes.

"Quit it," she told him, irritated now.

Suddenly, he paused. She waited patiently for him to resume his dull interrogation, but he seemed permanently at a loss for words. Did she say something…?

"Do I know you?" he asked her in a serious tone.

"No! Of course not. We've never met," Ursa replied instantly, her voice rising with anxiety.

"No…I know that voice…"

Before she had time to react, Hakoda was just in front of her. Her head dropped as a last resort, her hair fell into her face and shielded her eyes from his icy blue ones. She could feel his intense gaze fixated on her forehead. Any second now…

From the corner of her eyes, she saw his eyes widen. This is it, she thought miserably.

"Ursa!"

He stood up in shock, causing her to lift her head to see what he was doing.

"You…but…but, how? But Suki and…"

Ursa closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow. In her mind, she ran images of the men throwing her lifeless body overboard and into the cold, unforgiving ocean…

"What are you doing here?" he finally asked, clearly dumbfounded to see her there.

"Your men saved my life," she replied tonelessly. She didn't bother delving into details; that would only make matters worse.

"Let me guess," Hakoda countered, his tone colder than the icy wastelands from which he came from. "You fell off your Fire Nation ship and decided to spy on the Water Tribe navy."

"What?" Ursa glanced up at him angrily for such an accusation. "I was not! I haven't been there in years. Everyone probably assumes I'm dead there."

She wasn't so sure about that last point, but she certainly hoped it was a lie…

Hakoda glared at her and she returned it with a piercing scowl of her own. Not that she blamed him for hating the Fire Nation, it was just that she had never actually done anything wrong against him…

"I never did anything, but you got me arrested by the Dai Lee," she said accusingly.

Hakoda blinked. "I never told anyone."

Ursa narrowed her eyes, making it clear that she didn't believe him. Suddenly, she felt her throat growing rather dry…

She tried desperately to stifle a cough, but it escaped her throat nonetheless. Hakoda backed off and frowned; she was clearly still ill from her untimely adventure at sea in the storm. After her mild coughing fit, Ursa desperately tried to remain defiant, but her illness was ruining her image.

Hakoda's shoulders sagged and he sighed. Without another word, he turned around and exited the room.

xXxXxXxXx

Maybe they would kill her in her sleep. Maybe even hand her over to the Fire Nation in return for a big payout so that they could kill her themselves. Either way, she highly doubted that she was leaving this place alive.

She spent the entire next day restless in her quarters, wondering what her ultimate fate would be. Growing bored of nothing to do but worry about her predicament, Ursa resorted to playing small tricks with fire in her hands. She was careful to stop bending whenever she heard footsteps in the hallway, but nobody ever stopped by her room that day, save for one man bringing her tea and bread midmorning.

Later in the evening, much to her surprise, Hakoda showed up at her door. He had a grim expression on his face, making Ursa wonder if he had finalized her execution.

"We're permitting you to stay until you heal," Hakoda informed her after several seconds of awkward silence. She turned around and faced him, her face covered with amazement.

Not quite believing her good fortune, Ursa frowned. "But what about…"

Hakoda actually gave her a small smile. Definitely not expected in this situation!

"I 'forgot' to mention it," he replied easily, referring to her Fire Nation citizen status. He turned around to leave, clearly not here for a long, meaningful conversation. Before he left however, he poked his head in through the door. "You look plenty Water Tribe to me."

Days passed, and Ursa fought hard at every opportunity to gain Hakoda's trust. He never seemed completely at ease around her, not when he knew that she was one of them. The rest of the men were perfectly fine with her wandering the ship, but Hakoda was strict that she stayed in her room most of the time so he didn't need to worry about her turning against them and hurting his men.

"Can I help?" she asked as she came up behind him one afternoon at sea while Hakoda was trying to fix a particularly frustrating floorboard in the hull of the ship.

Grunting with irritation, Hakoda shook his head and kept trying.

Ignoring him, Ursa bent down and pointed to a loose nail in the floor.

"That's where the problem is. You need to hammer that down before fixing the others."

Scoffing at her, Hakoda rolled his eyes but tried it anyways. It worked, just as she had predicted. Hakoda merely shrugged it off; he wasn't one to admit that anyone from the Fire Nation, let alone a woman, was better at fixing his ship than him.

The men on the ship were always singing while they worked. Songs about the moon, songs about the ocean, and songs about their families; anything that made them remember why they were fighting in this war.

Ursa found it amusing at first; nobody in the Fire Nation armies sang or even hummed while working on ships. They were instructed to work quietly and efficiently; nothing more.

This carefree atmosphere was very enjoyable, and Ursa found herself humming old tunes that she used to sing for Zuko and Azula when they were babies. Azula always loved the vigorous songs about the sun and the lightning spirit; Zuko always seemed to prefer quieter songs about the time before the war.

Hakoda found himself constantly irritated with Ursa's presence, mostly due to the fact that she was a Fire Nation refugee on his ship. Her lies to him in Ba Sing Se had scarred her trustworthiness; no matter what she did to prove her worth on the ship, it never seemed enough.

At the sound of a woman humming a sad, mournful song, Hakoda looked up to see Ursa hard at work, scrubbing the decks with an old hairy brush and some grimy suds. The tune was so deep that it cut right to his heart; it reminded him of Sokka and Katara and Kaya.

Ursa wore a similar expression on her face, as though she remembered those whom she had lost.

Hakoda looked away, trying desperately to hold onto his notation that no Fire Nation people had feelings. But Ursa was certainly proving him wrong a lot lately…

xXxXxXxXx

Ursa was dreaming peacefully. Occasionally, there would be a jarring rock of the ship, but she mostly remained in a quiet slumber. The booms were growing louder however, and they were beginning to wake her up. In the distance, she heard men yelling in terror…

BOOM!

In a split-second, half of Ursa's room was shattered to pieces. Piles of wood were blasted back, hitting her in the head where she wasn't covered by blankets. Blood immediately dribbled down her forehead, slowly oozing past her nose and the sour taste of it trickled onto her lips. She held her head and began to feel slightly dizzy; this was clearly no small head injury.

Ursa needed to know what was going on, however. Pulling herself up and out of bed, she hobbled out of what used to be the doorway to her room and made her way down the halls. Her head throbbed painfully and her vision blurred momentarily. When she could see somewhat clearly again, she noticed that the halls were on fire.

Uh-oh, she thought as she raced on deck where the men were indeed fighting a troop of firebenders.

"Suki! Get out of here!" one of the men yelled just as he was taken down by a soldier behind her. There was blood everywhere on the deck, and she muffled a horrified gasp when she nearly tripped over a fatally wounded Water Tribe warrior.

They were outnumbered badly, but Ursa was shocked by their astounding fighting abilities. Even without bending, they quickly proved that their skills with weaponry easily made up for their weaknesses.

One soldier attempted to attack Ursa, but she kicked him as hard as she could and watched him as he crumpled to the ground in agony.

To the front of the ship, Bato and Hakoda were fighting off a pack of five firebenders. Ursa limped forward hurriedly, hoping desperately that they wouldn't get themselves burned.

As fate would have it, Ursa tripped over a lifeless body just as she saw Bato get nailed with a roaring blaze of strikingly orange fire.

"Bato!" she croaked as she shoved herself to her feet; blood still flowed freely down her head as she ran to the front to help.

The five firebenders sneered, knowing that they had Hakoda surrounded; there was no way he could aid his now-unconscious friend and fight them off at the same time.

In a fit of blinding rage, Ursa sneaked up behind them, took a deep breath, and released her first massive display of firebending prowess since she first escaped Ba Sing Se. All five men panicked and tried to leap out of the blaze, clearly shocked at the fact that they just got attacked by a fellow firebender.

Hakoda's eyes widened in amazement and he began fighting off more firebenders now that they were distracted and therefore, easier to defeat.

"You're a firebender?!" he yelled to Ursa over the commotion.

After a powerful double punch firebending attack, Ursa glanced around wildly. "I guess so!"

Hakoda shook his head in wonderment as she fought off the offenders as though they were practice dummies. She wasn't just a firebender, she was a master!

In the midst of the intense and bloody battle, one of the cowardly Fire Nation soldiers sneaked off to his commander's quarters. The man was resting comfortably while his men did all the work. There shouldn't be any problems…they were just a bunch of Water Tribe peasants, right?

"Sir!" the man squeaked feverishly as he arrived unannounced at the door. The man, who had previously been drinking a calming cup of jasmine tea, glared up at the intruder.

"What is it?!"

The man bowed respectfully and as quickly as he could. "Sir, we're having problems up on deck…"

"You can't be telling me that fifteen firebenders can't take down two ships of Water Tribe savages?"

"No sir…well, um yes, sir…they have a firebender with them!"

The man's eyes widened as he coolly set down his tea. "They have a firebender? Is he any good?"

The messenger furrowed his brow. "Sir, it's a female…and yes, she's quite good, we think we could use some of your assistance if we wish to decimate the Water Tribe men…"

A flicker of surprise washed over the commander's face momentarily. With a stiff nod, he followed the soldier up on deck.

"Hold your fire!" he barked out to his soldiers. Most of the battle seemed to have paused at once as he glanced around for the firebending woman.

She was at the bow of the Water Tribe ship, fighting off his soldiers easily next to what looked like the savages' chief.

The commander's eyes were so wide by now he wondered if they would pop. My lucky day…

"Well if it isn't Lady Ursa," he called out. Immediately, any fighting that remained after his ceasefire command stopped as well. The Water Tribe men looked around at each other, wondering why in the world this man just referred to 'their Suki' as 'Ursa.'

Ursa knew that voice. She also dreaded hearing it. Turning her head slowly, she scowled fiercely. Hakoda had never seen her look so angry in all the time that he had known her. He was still partly in awe of her firebending abilities; she had managed to take down over five soldiers singlehandedly. She also saved his and Bato's lives…

"Captain Zhao, what an unpleasant surprise," Ursa said, her words dripping with hatred as she continued to hold onto her wounded head.

The man laughed in a cheerless tone. "Actually the Firelord has promoted me to Commander now."

Ursa laughed spitefully. "Well, he never did seem good at picking military leaders."

The commander looked rather amused by her hateful words. "I'd like to say the same about family," he added, subtly referring to her and Iroh (and Zuko, though she didn't realize it). None of the Water Tribe men caught on, thankfully.

"What do you want?" Ursa asked boldly.

Zhao chuckled cruelly. "Well, I was sent on another mission, but I figured the Firelord wouldn't mind if we took out a couple Water Tribe ships on our way over. Now that I think of it, however, finding a traitor would be even better."

Hakoda looked on in wonder. Ursa clearly knew this man, and she was apparently not as loyal to the Fire Nation as he had originally thought. Traitor…he couldn't believe she was a known traitor to her own nation…

Suddenly, Ursa glanced at him with a conflicted frown on her face. He didn't know what it meant, but…

"If I go with you, do you promise to leave everyone else alone?" she asked quietly.

Hakoda gasped. "What? You can't do that just for us…"

She looked back at him with a grim look on her face. "I have to do this, Hakoda."

Zhao grinned evilly. "You've always been good at Pai Sho, Ursa…you know, as well as I do, a good move when you see it."

Looking down at the bodies of dead men on the deck of the ship, Ursa felt a horrible lump rise in her throat. She had to do this.

"Well?" she shot back at Zhao, furious that she had no third option to turn to.

He nodded. "I agree to leave the peasants alone if you follow your end of the bargain."

Ursa nodded sorrowfully and proceeded forward, only to feel that familiar grasp of Hakoda's hand on her shoulder.

Without looking back, she hurriedly shook him off and trudged dutifully onto the giant metal ship. The soldiers shoved her harshly below deck before she could even get a last glance at him. It was for the best, she knew; seeing his face one last time would have killed her.

The metal plank was unceremoniously removed from the Water Tribe's two wooden ships and the Fire Nation ships steamed away.

Ursa couldn't help but let go of one stray tear as the cold, metal door to her new prison slammed behind her, leaving her alone and in the dark.

Okay so: this chapter was supposed to be longer. But I figured that 4,500 words was enough for a chapter, and you'll just have to find out Ursa's fate in the next chapter...don't think for a second that I hate Ursa...I actually love her character and I was really REALLY sad that she wasn't in the finale. But Ursa-abuse is almost as fun to write as Zuko-abuse is, so get used to it xD

As for Ursa in WT clothing: I couldn't help myself. I see many Zutara fanarts with Zuko in WT clothing, so I kinda stole the idea for this story ;)

Next chapter: Ursa goes to our favorite FN prison and sees one of the members of the Royal Family again. Is it Azula? Iroh? Ozai? Or even Zuko? Find out next chapter! :D