I'm back with yet another chapter! So I left it on a cliffhanger than thankfully you all appreciated. Thank you for all sharing my kind of humor. ;)

Now on with the show!

Edward woke with a start as the entire ship shuttered as it took the full blow of a fire catapult attack. The other waterbenders on the ship including Master Pakku rushed up to the deck to defend the ship, the Amestrian found himself disoriented but still able to think clearly.

'If we're surrounded and get captured, I could easily just say I'm a firebender that was captured since I'm in this cell as my temporary bedroom. I just have to make this convincing and hope I can find another waterbender later to help me finish training.' He mused as he quickly shed his Earth Kingdom clothes for his black clothes he had originally came in and grabbed the key for the cell and locked it. With a little bit of airbending, he moved the key onto the hook on the wall where it would normally be.

The ship rocked again and Edward heard the telltale signs that the firebenders were boarding the ship and the waterbenders were seriously outnumbered. Suddenly, the door to the hull of the ship burst open and firebenders quickly swarmed the lower half of the ship and Edward saw his chance.

"HEY!" He shouted from his 'containment', "HELP! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Firebenders quickly found his location and surrounded the cell, on their guard and ready to attack.

"Who are you and why does the Water Tribe have you in their capture?" One of the soldiers asked cautiously and Edward thought back to Pakku's explanation of the Water Tribe's last conflict.

"My name is Ling and I'm from the Fire Nation. I was captured after the Fire Navy raid on the Northern Water Tribe. I admit that I snuck on the ship and wasn't supposed to be there in the first place but I wanted to help show the Water Tribe who they were messing with by going up against the Fire Nation."

The soldiers didn't look too convinced until Edward firebended a small flame in the palm of his hand.

"I wanted to join the military but my mother was against it so I snuck off. She's probably going to kill me since I've been missing for months and now I just want to go home." Edward sighed and let the flame extinguish and from the looks in the soldiers' eyes he knew that the sob story had worked perfectly. The firebenders dropped their stances and one of them grabbed the key he had placed on the wall and released the clever and still unknown Avatar. Ed couldn't help but let a smug feeling overtake him while he kept his face in a steady form of worry.

"We'll get you out kid." One of the higher ranked soldiers said as Edward grabbed his bag and followed the soldiers through the hull. "There's still a pretty big battle up there but the waterbenders are starting to retreat. What'd you do to get some master waterbenders guarding you?"

"I'm clever and good at escaping. Not so much at avoiding the waterbenders though." He replied simply and the soldiers took their new 'charge' and waited for more of a lull in the battle before going up the stairs, their main priority was now to get 'Ling', a clearly Fire Nation citizen, home and out of the clutches of the Fire Benders. Ah, how things work perfectly when no one has a clue as to who you are.

As the group boarded the Fire Navy ship, Edward found he was surrounded completely by a guard of soldiers who were trying to keep him safe from any surprise attacks from waterbenders. He looked out to the shore, across from where the burning Water Tribe ship was sinking and spotted Master Pakku in the trees and made eye contact. The old man looked distressed but wasn't willing to out his position. In Pakku's eyes, his student had been captured by Fire Navy soldiers and was being taken to be imprisoned. All in all, his cover was safe on all fronts and Edward felt that even Colonel Bastard would approve of his current level of strategy.

Yes, he'd end up going out of order for the 'mastering of the elements' but this was the perfect opportunity to join up with some firebenders that wouldn't be suspicious of him and still look like the good guy to his side of the war. He was sure that he could learn earthbending at some point after leaving the Fire Nation and with his cover story he would most likely be able to leave without being chased after.

There's nothing like being able to make a plan come together perfectly. He just hoped his luck would last.

The Gaang, meanwhile, were heading towards the Fire Nation for a variety of reasons. One, they would have to eventually get there anyway. Two, they would be able to scout out locations that they could hide their resistance members. Three, Zuko's firebending was getting weaker by the day for some reason and they had to figure out what to do to fix that.

The only issue was disguising Zuko.

Everyone in the world knew who he was due to his scar and his position of 'the disgraced prince'. If they even went into the smallest village in the Fire Nation, he'd be recognized immediately. For this issue, Katara had a plan.

Zuko was sitting with his legs dangling of the side of the Fire Navy ship when Katara came to join him, looking out at the Earth Kingdom coast far off in the distance.

"I have a solution to getting you into the Fire Nation undetected."

Zuko merely raised an eyebrow at her as she continued to look out at the ocean.

"And what would that be?"

"I offered it to you before…everything happened." Katara replied quietly and Zuko's eyes widened.

"That spirit water? You'd use it to heal me?"

"To be honest, I was going to try and use it to heal Aang after…your sister…but he was already completely gone. It wouldn't have worked so I kept it."

They sat in silence for a while as the sun began to set over the horizon and suddenly Katara let out a sigh.

"Honestly, if someone had told me we'd be sitting here having this conversation back before we'd reached the North Pole that first time, I'd hit them with a water whip and tell them to stop being delusional."

They both let out a chuckle.

"I'm honestly sorry for chasing after you, your brother, and Aang. I was still so obsessed about trying to get home and not be a disgrace to my entire people. I've learned that it's the best possible solution that things happened out this way. My father is a monster and has to be stopped. Azula is even more ruthless than he is and will do anything to make sure she ends up on the throne and that the Fire Nation is the only thing left. We have to stop them no matter what."

Katara looked over at him. "So, do you want to heal your scar?"

Zuko sighed. "Honestly, for the longest time it reminded me of the shame I brought upon myself. After living in the Earth Kingdom with Uncle, it became something to be proud of for standing up to my father. I had gotten it for interrupting in a war meeting when they were going to send untrained soldiers into battle as a diversion and let them get killed so they could sneak up on the enemy for the advantage. I found it outrageous that the generals and my father would just send their own citizens to their deaths and spoke out against it. I had to duel my father since I had disrespected him in such a large way. It was a public battle. I refused to fight him since hadn't meant such disrespect but my father would have none of it and called me a coward before causing the scar."

Katara listened, her mouth covered by her hand and eyes wide open in shock as Zuko's own eyes glassed over in remembrance. His Uncle had taken care of him for weeks before his father had finally issued his banishment to start as soon as he was able to move from his bed. Azula had been thrilled.

"Zuko, I-"

" It's alright Katara. I earned my own honor back and we need to be covert if we're going to be sneaking into the country. No one even remembers what I looked like before I gained my scar and the only people who would recognize me would be in the capitol." He looked over at her with a sad smile. "Thanks for even giving me the chance to heal myself."

"It's no problem at all." She replied earnestly and the two got up as the sun finally set and the full moon illuminated the stolen ship. "Now let's go take care of that tonight. It'll work the best since the moon is on our side."

"Do you mean that figuratively or literally?"

"Perhaps both…you'll have to guess."

With a chuckle from both of them, they headed inside to begin the healing session.

LONG CHAPTER! So Edward is a sneaky bastard while Zuko and Katara get closer and Zuko is going to be healed! What do you all think of that? New chapter tomorrow~