AVATAR

The Young Lady Of Legends

She was a shy, self-centred and overall lazy dreamer from our world, transported to the world of Avatar where she's the stuff of some sort of legend. She also can't continue being lazy, not if a certain agitated prince gets his way. ZukoXOcc

CHAPTER THREE

Creative Avoidance

O~O~O~O

Zuko's P.O.V:

Uncle Iroh said: "Both of you are tired. You should get some rest," He glanced at me. "If we are going to resume our hunt for the Avatar and begin training tomorrow."

O~O~O~O

Emma's P.O.V:

When I woke up, to sunlight streaming in across my face, for a second I wasn't sure where I was. Then I realised that my bed was rocking, and I sat up fast.

The thick maroon blanket fell off of me, and I looked around me at my new room aboard Prince Zuko's ship in absolute wonder. It wasn't a big room, as far as rooms go (like, half the size of Zuko's room), but the recent refurbishments had done a whole heap of wonders for the room. It was steel-walled, like the rest of the ship, but decorated with red drapes and gold hangings. It made the whole room seem very…oriental.

I smiled to myself, as I got out of bed, and went over to the window. I opened it, and looked out at the sea. The sun was already high in the sky, which surprised me – what time was it?

Shrugging, I shut the window and turned back around. I had slept in my underwear, since there were literally no clothes on this ship to fit a barely five feet tall girl like me, who weighed about forty-three kilograms at most. The sunlight streaming in onto my body felt good, though, so I enjoyed a few moments to stretch in the sunlight.

And, that was when the door swung open and Zuko came in, asking: "Emma, are you up yet?" In a very impatient-sounding voice.

I swung around in shock, feeling the blood rise to my face as I crossed my arms over my chest (not that there's much of it) and fairly screamed: "Oh my God, get out, get out, get out!" As he turned around I hurried forwards and pushed on the backs of his shoulders, to get him to move faster. "OUT!" I slammed the door with a very satisfying metal CLANG!.

O~O~O~O

Zuko's P.O.V:

"Then she screamed at me and slammed the door on me." I explained to my Uncle, wishing he'd stop eating his thousand-year egg congee for just a minute. "What should I do?"

Uncle glanced up over his bowl. "You're asking me?" He blinked.

I sighed. "Uncle…"

"Prince Zuko," My Uncle clicked his chopsticks together. "You walked in on a girl while she was dressing. To say nothing of the fact that she is a girl your own age, who lives aboard your ship, and for whom you have a responsibility for. You made her feel vulnerable inside her own home – you, whom she should trust."

"Are you saying I should apologize?"

"Do you think you should?" Uncle asked.

"Hey, she owes me an apology too!" I snapped, just as there was a small sound from behind us, and we both turned to see Emma standing there, wearing the same clothes she had been wearing yesterday, only now she'd tied the red ribbon in her hair, to form a messy bun.

I was surprised to see her standing there – I hadn't heard her approach.

She wouldn't look at me (she was looking out at the sea, instead) and so, feeling frustrated, I told her: "Look, just get over it, okay?"

Her eyes flashed. "You get over it!" She shot back.

"Hey, I'm the one who got yelled at!" I retorted.

"And I'm the one who has to live with a Peeping Tom!" She said angrily.

"A what?" Where does she come up with all this stuff?

"It means a pervert." She explained, glaring at me.

I blinked a few times. A…a PERVERT? What on earth does she think I SAVED her from yesterday? ! "Excuse me?" I glared back at her. "How dare you refuse to apologize, and then…"

"I won't apologize first!" She told me.

"Well, neither will I!" I replied.

She bit her lip angrily. God, she was such a little kid! "You're such a little kid." She said stubbornly.

Hang on a second, I was the little kid? !

"Enough!" Uncle Iroh said firmly, and we both turned to look at him. "Both of you should apologize together, so that nobody has to apologize first!"

I glanced at Emma. She glanced at me. We both nodded.

"Ready?" Uncle asked. "Three…" Emma and I both opened our mouths. "Two…one…"

"I'm sorry." I said, but Emma didn't say anything! I glared at her.

She smiled slightly, and relaxed. "Yeah, I guess I'm sorry too."

She's so immature! I thought angrily, watching as she and Uncle Iroh walked across the deck to discuss her training – and her breakfast, which was more like lunch now, considering how late she'd slept in. And she doesn't even know what Tikuanyin is. I thought with some satisfaction, as Uncle Iroh explained it to her. Whatever. I haven't got time to waste on immature brats – I've got an Avatar to catch.

O~O~O~O

Emma's P.O.V:

I stood on the deck of the ship, nervous but determined. Uncle Iroh gestured for me to stand next to him, so I did.

"You have never done any martial arts before?" He clarified.

I shook my head. "No real stuff, anyway." I confided. I'd often gone out the back, onto our five acre property, and practiced random punches and meditating. It even fashioned a bo staff from an old broom, and worked with that on a few trees (poor trees!). I was very self-conscious about what I was going to do now. I'd been half asleep when I'd practically begged Iroh to teach me martial arts, and now, as I stood there, I wondered if I was in over my head here.

"Good," Iroh nodded. "Hold out your hand."

He took my hand and concentrated. His eyes seemed to go right through me, sharp and gold. The same feeling that I'd felt last night when he'd grasped my hand shot through me. It was burning hot, almost scalding, and shot up my arm and into my head before retreating back into his hand. He didn't release my hand this time, and I gulped.

"What was that?" I whispered.

"Something very interesting…" He murmured, before releasing my hand and the warm thing vanished. Iroh smiled at me. "Are you ready to begin?" He asked of me.

I nodded, feeling adrenaline and nerves pump through my veins. "Y-yes." I swallowed.

Iroh came to stand in front of me, about five feet away. "Watch what I do. Then we will do it together."

He raised both arms to shoulder height, with his elbows bent and his palms face down. Then he slowly dropped them. He nodded to me. "Try."

I copied what he had done, raising my arms and dropping them. That was easy.

He sighed.

I felt the blood rush to my face again, this time from embarrassment. "Umm…"

"Try again," Iroh said calmly, and raised his hands and crossed them in front of his chest with the palms in, then moved his hands out and down.

I tried to follow his movements more closely, although I was still feeling embarrassed from messing up something that should've been so easy.

"Calm, Emma," Uncle Iroh told me. "You are as stiff and cold as a block of ice – you must learn to relax."

I dropped my arms to my sides. "It's just…embarrassing…" I cast a quick glance around us – the deck was deserted. "Is anybody watching us?"

"No," Iroh said patiently. "They are all below deck. And, why is it embarrassing?"

"It just…is…" I muttered, not able to put it into words but, somehow, Iroh understood.

"There is nothing embarrassing about starting out, Emma," He told me. "All of us begin somewhere, and everybody learns differently. The best way to learn is the one that works. Now, try again." He demonstrated the move again, and this time I saw that he bent his elbows and relaxed his hands, so I tried to copy that. He watched me silently, then nodded.

I felt a bit better.

He performed the cross-hands move again, followed by the floating-arm move, then finished it with a kind of gentle push.

I attempted to follow this, but messed it up badly.

My face was probably flushing crimson by now, and I dropped my hands, flustered. "I…uh…need a drink…" I invented, feeling more than slightly embarrassed. "Can…can I go and get one?"

Iroh nodded silently.

My heart pounding painfully, I beat a hasty retreat, feeling ashamed and embarrassed all at the same time.

O~O~O~O

Zuko's P.O.V:

I walked out from behind the corner as Emma disappeared below deck.

"She ran away when things got too hard?" I guessed.

Uncle Iroh turned around. "Prince Zuko," He said to me. "You should not have been watching – she knew that you were." He shook his head.

"How could she possibly know that?" I wanted to know, glancing up to the sky to make sure that we were staying on course of the Avatar.

"Prince Zuko," Uncle Iroh sighed. "Do not tell me that you have not sensed it also – the very thing that drove Commander Zhao to do what he did yesterday."

"Zhao coveted her because she is female," I snapped, feeling the blood rising to my face. "That is all! There is no other reason!"

"Do not fool yourself into thinking that, Prince Zuko," My Uncle said, almost sternly. "You were watching her movements; you know that is possible that she is the Pri-."

"Don't mention the name!" I interrupted him harshly, glancing all around just in case. I leaned towards my Uncle. "Nobody is to make the connection between her and Emma, NOBODY. I trust the men on this ship, but not that much!"

"You sound angry, Prince Zuko." My Uncle said mildly.

"Yeah, do you think? !" I snapped. I pulled out the map that showed the Avatar's sightings, and brandished it in my Uncle's face. "Look at this! How am I going to find the Avatar, Uncle? He is clearly a master of evasive manoeuvring!"

O~O~O~O

Nobody's P.O.V:

Sokka looked at the map in his hands. "You have no idea where you're going, do you?"

"No," Aang grinned. "But I know it's near water."

Katara glanced over the side of Uppa, to look at the ocean beneath them. It stretched on for miles.

"We must be getting close, then." Sokka rolled his eyes.

O~O~O~O

Back on Zuko's ship…

"Emma, are you ready to resume your training?" Iroh had discovered Emma in the ship's galley, where he found her scrubbing a huge iron wok with a sponge.

"Huh?" She glanced at him, and then over at the huge pile of dirty dishes that had somehow managed to accumulate. "Uh…no, sorry Uncle Iroh, can't – busy." She returned to her scrubbing.

Iroh accepted this, and left her to clean.

O~O~O~O

Two hours later…

"Emma, do you wish to start training again?" Iroh poked his head in the door of one of the cabins.

"Uh…" Emma didn't look up from the board she was focusing on. She sat facing a solider, who wore the same look of concentration that she did. "Umm, no…Daniu here is teaching me how to play Pai Sho." The other soldiers in the room nodded sagely.

"Oh, then I will play the winner." Iroh said casually.

"You might have to wait awhile, sir," One of the soldiers told him. "She hasn't made a move in the last ten minutes."

"Don't rush me!" Emma cried.

O~O~O~O

Five hours later…

"Emma," Iroh stopped dead when he entered the cabin, and found Emma brushing the hair of one of the more beauty conscious soldiers onboard the ship. "Never mind." Iroh backed out again.

O~O~O~O

Seven hours later…

"Emma, dinner is ready," Iroh found Emma up on deck, staring up at the moon which was now a red crescent. "We're having steamed fish with garnish…Emma?"

She was sobbing silently, her shoulders shaking slightly. "I'm sorry…Uncle Iroh, but I'm not really hungry…I didn't work up a big appetite today…"

"But you did so much," Iroh reminded her. "You washed dishes and played Pai Sho and made Dao-Ming feel more beautiful then he has in a long time."

"Yeah," She shook her head sadly. "I did everything but what I was supposed to be doing." She sighed. "I should've known it would be too hard for me to do."

"Not to worry," Iroh said cheerfully. "We will try again tomorrow…"

Emma looked up. "But…"

"No buts," He said, firmly, taking her by the shoulder and guiding her toward the door. "Now, come and eat – you need your strength."

Emma couldn't find the energy to protest – she was actually starving – and found herself sitting across the table from Zuko, who wouldn't look at her.

Iroh smiled happily as the steamed pink fish was brought in, but the bearer also carried news.

"The Avatar is on Kyoshi? !" Prince Zuko exclaimed, standing up quickly. Emma's eyes shone briefly, but Iroh was the only one who noticed this, as Zuko strode towards the door. "Set a course for Kyoshi Island!" He commanded, leaving the room.

"Are you going to finish that?" Iroh pointed to the steamed fish.

Zuko stalked angrily back into the room and snatched up the plate. "I was going to save it for later!" He snapped, as he stormed back out again.

Iroh and Emma pouted, but Emma's mind was racing.

Kyoshi…to Kyoshi…to the Kyoshi Warriors…and to Aang…the Avatar!