I sit alone waiting for

Someone telling me that you're okay and where you are

The nights that don't seem to last,

And coming dawns that went by so fast.

Their meanings of everything were not far.

A New Drive

Ed sat on his firm bed with a thick piece of parchment and an inkwell in his hands. He was trying to draw a picture of his brother, but it wasn't turning out well, given Ed's limited ability when it came to art. The room he was given was shared by one other person, who Ed didn't really feel like talking to.

Some of the sailors tried too hard to converse with Ed, for their own curious selfish reasons. They pestered him constantly and complemented his Tsungi horn talents, even though Ed knew he still sounded terrible. Overall, Ed felt horrible; he wanted to vomit and wake up from this foreboding nightmare. In the depths of his heart and mind, he knew this wasn't a dream.

He was stuck on this ship full of men who only wanted to go home. Ed knew how those poor people felt, but at least they could eventually return to where they belong. He was trapped on the wrong side of the gate, and there was nothing he could do about it. Ed didn't know what he was supposed to do. Should he abandon his shipmates the next time they docked? No, he needed these people so he could survive in this strange land. Then again, he wasn't too positive he wanted to survive…

"Dumbass!" He proclaimed loudly to himself. No one would ever forgive him if they knew what Ed was thinking. His few friends and family would want him to keep fighting and stay strong. So that's what he was going to do.

He was most certainly not a quitter, but that didn't mean he wasn't upset about his current position. Being stuck here meant he failed. He wasn't going to be able to restore Al's body while on this side of the gate. He was the worst big brother, ever,

"Hey? Are you all right?" Ed lazily looked up at his roommate.

"Just a little seasick." Homesick, he mentally reminded himself. Ed grabbed a new piece of parchment, drew his brother's seal on it, and hung it above his bed.

"What's that?"

"A reminder." The sailor looked at Ed, shrugged his shoulders, and left to complete his duties. He was once again alone in the room, not sure what he should do. They were approaching an island where their quarry was supposedly hiding, and Ed was unsure of what he was going to do. There had to be a way out of here somehow. There was always a way. Maybe the reason this Avatar was so important to capture was because he was this place's version of a homunculus. If that was true, Ed could use the lives that the Avatar was made up of to return home.

Now Ed knew what he was going to do; he was going to capture the Avatar and return home, no matter what. Of course, the information they received about the Avatar hiding out on an island was a rumor, but they were going to check it out anyway.

"Hey, you, come here." Ed looked through his messy bangs to see who had spoken, and he made no indication to move when he discovered it was Zuko.

"I have a name." Zuko seemed to be deep in thought, trying to remember what Ed's name was.

"Ed, come with me." Ed lazily stood up and followed Zuko to the lower level of the ship. It smelled like a stable, which was exactly what it turned out to be.

"Take whichever one you would like. We'll be hitting the island soon." Ed peered into one of the stalls and was shocked by what he saw. He was expecting horses, not brutish chimeras. "What's wrong?" Zuko was glancing at Ed with a questioning eye.

"I've never ridden one of these before. I think I'll just walk." He shuddered at the thought of riding a creature that resembled a chimera, even though this animal was probably an everyday normal animal in this land.

"Suit yourself." Zuko stood next to Ed and handed him a bulky red bundle of clothes. "Put these on."

"I'm not wearing a uniform." Ed had never worn assigned clothes, and he wasn't going to start now.

"It's not military. They're just spare clothes."

"Fine!" Ed replied angrily and rushed back to his room to change. He had to admit, his current clothes were a disaster; they were covered in blood, tattered to near shreds in some places, and they smelled terrible. He quickly put on the new wardrobe and was happy to find out the red fabric was thick and well made for cold weather, so his automail ports wouldn't sting as much when he was outside in the freezing air.

Ed wasn't used to wearing something so baggy, but it was relieving to have a fresh change of clothes. He took off the cloak and set a bowl of ink on top of it. With a quick calculation, Ed clapped and added a black flamel symbol to his new clothes. He put the cloak on and opened the door to join everybody up on deck.

"What's that?" Ed spun around and nearly bashed Zuko in the face.

"None of your damn business." Ed snapped, even though he wasn't sure why he didn't want the jerk to know what the flamel symbol represented.

"Whatever." Ed could tell Zuko was using all the willpower he had to not go into a yelling rage. "We're ready to go." Once on deck, Ed followed the men mounted on the chimera creatures to solid ground.

"I want the Avatar alive." Zuko announced to his men. "You go on ahead." He was now only addressing Ed. "Since you're walking, you are stealthier than we are." Ed nodded his head and he quickened his pace to a light jog. It wasn't long until his shipmates were out of view. Why they choose to ride conspicuous, lumbering beasts, Ed didn't know.

Townspeople were scrambling around the streets, completely oblivious to Ed's presence since he was running to the town in the safety of the small forest. He could see several girls dressed up in some sort of costume hiding behind buildings like they were planning to ambush Zuko when they entered the town.

A girl with a long braid was standing next to a familiar bald kid; it was the same one that opened Ed's cell door on the ship. Maybe this was who he was looking for. To confirm his suspicion, Ed walked out of the forest and snuck up behind the two. Unfortunately, the girl spotted him, and both kids turned around and took on a defensive position.

"Who are you?" The bald one questioned.

"Look at his clothes." The girl spoke to the boy quietly, but loud enough for Ed to hear. "He's a Fire Nation prisoner."

"Oh. Do you need help?" The boy asked Ed. Fire Nation prisoner? Ed was most certainly not a prisoner, well, at least not Zuko's prisoner. He could leave the ship and its crew whenever he wanted to.

"Yes. I'm looking for someone. I was wonder-"

"Find him!" A loud voice roared from the village. Leave it to that dumbass jerk to ruin the mission by being so hasty and pushy.

"It's Zuko! We need to get out of here." The girl panicked, and they both looked ready to run. "Come with us." She motioned Ed to follow. Deciding he might be able to get a little more information out of the two, Ed ran with them into the forest.

"Wait, what about Sokka?" The boy asked when they all leaned against a tree to catch their breath.

"Hopefully he saw us running this way, and he'll follow us." She sounded doubtful. Both kids began to stare at Ed like he was the most interesting thing ever.

"Who are you? Are you a spirit?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

"What? No." This place was messed up if the kid thought he was a spirit.

"I thought maybe…because your hair…"

"My hair is fine." Ed growled out.

"You came from Zuko's ship. Oh, that must've been awful. Are you okay?" The girl sounded sincere, but Ed was confused. Sure, Zuko was a pain, but he wasn't terrible. It wasn't like it was torturous living on the ship.

"I'm fine." He wished people would stop asking him how he was feeling.

"Are you hurt?" The girl was concerned.

"No." The pain he felt from being ripped away from his brother was not an easily fixed problem. It was also something he didn't want to explain to a complete stranger. "My name is Ed." He offered with a fake smile; maybe one of these two was the person he was looking for.

"I'm Katara, and this is Aang." The girl responded and Ed inwardly cursed to himself. Neither of them were the Avatar.

"Hi. Now, do either of you happen to know where I could find the Avatar? It's really important." Both children looked at each other, reluctant to say anything.

"Why?" The boy glanced at Ed carefully.

"I need his help." Yes, as soon as he caught the Avatar, he would be able to get out of this hellhole.

"How can I help you?" The boy asked cheerfully. Ed could hardly believe a child so young was such a dangerous person. It was probably a disguise to deceive people, so Ed clapped his hands and turned his right arm into a blade to apprehend the threat. The girl and boy's eyes grew wide with fear.

"What are you doing?" The girl shrieked. Ed didn't answer, instead, he charged at the Avatar. The boy quickly moved aside, which caused Ed to run into a tree instead of his intended target.

"Get out of the way, he's dangerous." Ed told the girl.

"If you need my help, why are you attacking me!?" The boy shouted.

"You're a monster! I know you have hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives trapped inside of you." Ed tried another attack, but the boy was too fast.

"You're insane!" When Ed made another move to attack, the girl stood protectively in front of the boy and she flinched when Ed came closer. Ed gripped her shoulders gently and moved her out of the way. What he wasn't expecting was the girl coming back to punch him in the chest.

Normally, it wouldn't have hurt, but he had bothersome chest pains ever since he landed in this place. When he was punched, something felt wrong. It was almost felt like his ribs were cracked, and that blow wasn't helping the pain. The Avatar then seemed to send an invisible blast at Ed when he managed to regain his poise.

Ed was smacked violently against a tree, and he slumped to the ground. He didn't have enough energy to stand back up and fight. The only thing he could manage to do was hold up a hand to his pained chest.

"What did you do?" A new voice accused, so Ed peeked an eye open. There was a guy in girls' clothing looking harshly at the Avatar. Ed coughed violently which gained the attention of the newcomer. "Hey, I recognize him. He stood up for our village when Zuko attacked us. Did he escape from the ship?" Ed looked at the hand he hacked into and saw his saliva was mixed with blood. That couldn't be a good thing.

"Sokka, he attacked us." The girl said sympathetically. "He's on their side." Ed let his hand fall to the ground and he closed his eyes while trying to avoid the sharp jabs in his chest every time he took a breath.

"That doesn't mean you can kill him. Besides, look at him. He's obviously being forced to do this." Even though his eyes were closed, he could tell all three were staring him down. Ed wanted to protest that he wasn't on any side, and no one could force him to do anything. When he tried to talk, it only resulted with him sputtering out more blood and spit.

"He won't die. I don't understand why you care at all when you don't even know him. You still don't even trust Aang!" The girl spoke loudly.

"That's different."

"No, it's not!" Ed couldn't help but think these two were siblings. Carefully, Ed opened his eyes slightly to get a better hold of his surroundings. A ball of fire caused him to squint his eyes from the brightness. There was no way that was the sun, and sure enough, the fire struck a nearby tree.

"Guys, please stop arguing." The bald boy spoke. "We need to get out of here." Quickly, the three kids ran and the soldiers from the ship soon reached the spot where Ed was leaning his back against a tree. More specifically, it was only Zuko. Ed blinked away the haziness from his eyes and looked up at the jerk. He seemed to be contemplating about leaving Ed where he was to follow the Avatar.

"'M'fine." He managed to choke out, and Zuko started to lead the not-a-chimera into the direction of the fleeing children, that is, until he watched Ed cough. He climbed down from the beast and angrily looked toward the beach where he knew the Avatar was running. "Leave me 'lone." Ed tried to straighten himself to make it look like he was feeling better. It didn't fool Zuko.

"You are not okay. Come on, I'm taking you back to the ship." Zuko didn't know why he was helping the stubborn brat when the Avatar was still on the island, just waiting to be captured. Something in his mind shouted at him that he needed to help the injured boy in front of him. People in danger always had priority.

"No." Ed didn't make a move to grab Zuko's outstretched hand to stand up. Zuko awkwardly lifted the surprisingly heavy child and placed him on the komodo-rhino's back. He kept one hand on Ed's back to make sure he didn't fall, since that would only worsen his condition.

Zuko commanded two of his men to take Ed to his room once they reached the ship. He could see the Avatar's bison flying away from the island, and Zuko groaned irritably. He shouldn't have sent Ed after the Avatar alone; he wouldn't be making that mistake again in the future.

"You should've left me there. You could've gotten him." Ed's condition improved immensely over night, but Zuko could see the drool stains on the boy's pillow were pink in color.

"I can't have you dying." Zuko only came down to give Ed a batch of Uncle's tea to help stop whatever it was that was causing harm. Ed insisted he didn't need to see a healer and that this would solve itself.

"Why not?" Ed challenged. Zuko blinked. He honestly didn't know how to answer that question. When he saw Ed heaving in pain surrounded by three kids, the first thing he thought was, Avatar! Then he thought it was pretty cowardly for a three-on-one fight. He almost pitied Ed while he sat there helpless, when the thing he was looking for was only inches away from him. The last thing he felt was anger; those kids had dared to harm his subordinate in an unfair fight! On the other hand, did Ed really count as his soldier? He didn't know what Ed was to him anymore. Definitely not a friend, but not a foe, either.

"Just get some rest. We have a general idea where the Avatar is headed."

"Good. I'm gonna kick that little brat's ass next time I see him." Ed had a grim smile on his face, which Zuko recognized to be real. A new fire was now burning in his eyes.

Sorry for the short chapter, but I promised several people I would update today, so I'm sticking to my promise. Since I'm writing two stories at once, I'll alternate which chapter I update. So my next update will be for Altruism. I promise the next chapter for this story will be much longer. And I keep my promises.

Thanks for reading!