Hey! Don't have a lot to say, except dsi user, you are a psychic. Your review was exactly what happened in this. Sort of.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, or its characters. I just find new pieces of grass for Jet to chew on.

Aiko's POV

I was on the deck watching Zuko practice firebending against one of his soldiers. The blasts of fire were beautiful, in a dangerous way. Like the sun. All of a sudden, the ship turned, setting everyone off balance. I nearly went overboard, but grabbed the rail before I went over the side. Zuko stormed off to talk to the helmsman, me following.

"What's the meaning of this mutiny?" he demanded. "No one told you to change course." I mentally snickered. His wording was so formal!

"Actually, someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko," Iroh said. I turned to see him sitting at a table with different colored squares painted onto it.

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" Zuko's face held a flicker of hope.

"Even more urgent! It seems I've lost my lotus tile," Iroh said as he moved a piece on the table.

"Lotus tile?" Zuko asked. I cocked my head to the side, confused.

"For my Pai Sho game," Iroh stated. "Most people think the lotus tile insignificant. But it is essential to the unusual strategy I employ."

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Uh oh, someone's getting angry.

"See, you like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully, they'll have the lotus tile in stock, and I can get on with my life." Zuko took a deep breath, and breathed a short blast of fire. "I'm glad to have such an understanding nephew." Zuko stormed off, presumably to finish his practice. I knelt next to Iroh.

"Can you teach me how to play Pai Sho?" I asked.

Iroh nodded happily. "As soon as we find my lotus tile." We soon docked at the port. Iroh and I walked off, wondering at all the amazing objects for sale. Eventually we met back up with Zuko.

"I've checked all the shops on this pier. Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace!" Iroh said indignantly.

"It's good to know this trip has been an entire waste for everyone!" Zuko shouted.

"Quite the contrary. I always say the only thing better than finding something you're looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!" Iroh exclaimed as some soldiers walked past with the stuff he had bought. One of them was carrying a tsungi horn.

"You bought a tsungi horn?" Zuko questioned.

"For music night on the ship! Now if only we had some woodwinds," Iroh said.

"Aiko, why didn't you stop him?" Zuko turned on me.

"You should've seen the load he would've bought if I hadn't been along," I said, holding up my hands defensively. During this exchange, Iroh had wandered off to a ship with a dragon head at the front and red sails.

"This place looks promising!" he said, pointing. Zuko growled, and I shook my head, but we followed him onboard the ship.

"Don't girls like shopping?" Zuko asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Typical stereotype. It depends on what for. Weapons? Yes. Unnecessary clothes or trinkets? No." We walked inside and found Iroh examining a stone statue of a monkey.

"Oh, this is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?" he exclaimed.

"No, it would look creepy. I don't want it staring at me while I eat!" I said. I overheard one of the men say something about a Water Tribe girl and a monk. Zuko perked up and started questioning him about them. I ignored the talk and wandered around the shop, stopping at a shelf of scrolls. I loved to read. Picking one up, I saw that it was titled "Tales of the Nations". I was about to unroll it when I felt someone run their hand down my braid. I whipped around and saw another worker.

"How much do you want for the girl?" he called out to Zuko. My eyes narrowed.

"I'm not for sale," I told him.

"We'd pay you handsomely for her," he continued, ignoring me. I grabbed his pinky finger and bent it backwards. His eyes widened in pain as he whimpered.

"Didn't you hear me? I. Am not. For sale!" I repeated, louder this time. He nodded, and I released his finger. Zuko had apparently missed this exchange, and walked over to me.

"Aiko, Uncle, we're teaming up with these men to find the Ava- I mean, the monk. Come on, we need to get back to the ship. And put down the monkey!" he said, directing the last bit at Iroh, who sighed dejectedly. A few minutes later, the three of us and some of the soldiers were on the smaller vessel, being lowered into the water. Zuko had insisted on me coming along, finally wanting to put his "use Aiko as bait" plan into action.

I grumbled under my breath. "I still don't see why we have to work with them. You're perfectly capable of finding Aang on your own!"

"You just don't like them because they tried to buy you," Zuko retorted. I frowned and crossed my arms.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," I mumbled to myself. We met up with the men on a nearby river, and Zuko boarded their ship to consult with the captain. Iroh patted my arm consolingly.

"Don't worry, we would never sell you," he said.

"Like I would let you," I replied with a grin. We sailed for hours, not stopping even when the sun set. The moon was high in its path when I heard a girl's voice. Katara! I bit my lip. I didn't want to jeopardize my position on Zuko's ship, but I definitely did not want to play a part in my friends' capture. We stopped the boats behind some trees. The men immediately disembarked, Zuko close on their heels. I followed more slowly, stopping behind a bush where I could observe without being seen. One of the men grabbed Katara, but she water whipped him in the face. Atta girl! She turned and ran, straight into Zuko.

"I'll save you from the pirates," he said. Great, the men were pirates! Way to go Zuko. He tied Katara to a tree and started interrogating her. Her response? She told him to go jump in the river. I smiled at that one. Then he brought out her necklace, but she still refused to lead him to Aang. The lead pirate demanded his scroll back, but Zuko held it over a flame and told them to search the woods. I shifted my weight, trying to remain hidden. It seems as if they've forgotten about me, thank goodness. The sun had risen when the pirates returned with Aang and Sokka. I frowned, hadn't their been another pirate? Katara apologized to Aang.

"Give me the boy," Zuko demanded.

"You give us the scroll," the captain said.

"Only when you hand over the boy," Zuko stated.

"I thought you might say that," the captain smirked, and nodded his head. Someone grabbed my braid, yanking my head back, and held a knife to my throat. I froze. Looks like I found the missing pirate. "That's why I brought another…bargaining tool. Bring her out Ru!" My captor, Ru apparently, shoved me out of the bushes and over to the rest of the pirates. For some reason, this felt oddly familiar. Zuko's eyes widened slightly before returning to normal.

"Like that girl would make much of a difference," he scoffed.

"You're really going to hand over the Avatar for that stupid piece of parchment?" Sokka butted in.

"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other," Zuko said.

"Your friend is the Avatar?" the captain asked, curious.

"Sure is," Sokka said with a grin. "I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll." I inwardly smiled.

"Shut your mouth you filthy Water Tribe peasant!" Zuko yelled.

"Yeah Sokka, you really should shut your mouth," Aang added.

"Please do," I chimed in as Ru pressed the knife harder against my throat.

"I'm just saying, it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life. Not to mention however much you could get for Aiko here," Sokka said, gesturing at me on the last part.

"Keep the scroll. We could get a hundred for the money we'll get for the kids," the captain said, turning to leave.

"For your information, I'm sixteen," I sniffed.

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me," Zuko said right before he and two of his soldiers shot blasts of fire at the pirates, scattering them. One with stringy hair ran forward, throwing smoke pellets at Zuko and his soldiers. The soldiers charged towards Aang, Sokka, and me, but more pirates leapt in front of us and threw down more smoke pellets. I jerked my head back, smacking my captor in the nose. He yelled and dropped his knife. I ran off, trusting the boys to take care of themselves. Right now I was more worried about Katara. I ran over to her tree and sliced through the ropes with a fan.

"Aiko!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story short, I was captured by Zuko. Now come on, you need to get out of here," I said, dragging her by the wrist. We ran down to the pirates' ship. Katara immediately started to try and push it into the water. Aang and Sokka charged down the beach.

"Katara, you're alright!" Aang said. "And Aiko, what are you doing here?"

"Zuko."

"Help me get this boat back in the water so we can get out of here," Katara said. Aang and Sokka ran over to help while I just shook my head.

"Guys, just use your bending!" I said. Aang and Katara looked at each other; then ran over to stand by me. We moved our arms in sync, creating waves that slowly moved the boat into the river.

"Everybody in!" Katara shouted once it was far enough into the water. Katara, Sokka, and Aang climbed on while I stayed on the shore. Aang paused on the ladder.

"Aren't you coming Aiko?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Eventually, you're going to need someone to teach you firebending. Strangely, I think Zuko is the one to do it." Aang gave me a strange look, but didn't say anything else. I waved good-bye, then bended a wave of water to speed them on their way. Looking back, I saw the pirates following in Zuko's ship. I grinned, even though it meant a long walk back to the boat. Zuko ran past me, and I sprinted to catch up. I saw a waterfall, and the gang was about to go over! I gasped, but right as they went over, Appa came out of nowhere and caught them. I sighed in relief, and maybe a little regret. I had refused one of the easiest escapes ever.

"My boat!" Zuko exclaimed as we made it to the edge of the cliff. Iroh was chuckling.

"Prince Zuko, you're going to get a kick out of this. The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" he said. I groaned, and facepalm. Zuko grabbed the tile and threw it over the cliff.

"You know that means we have to do this all over again?" I commented.

"Oh, shut up," he growled as he walked past. I grinned and followed. At the end of the day, I could always mess with Zuko to cheer myself up.

Don't really have anything to say. Except, if Kyoshi Island is Earth Kingdom, and I'm pretty sure it is, why do all the people wear blue?