A/N: So this is kinda two chapters in one because one ended up being like 267 words lol. Read, Review, Follow, Favorite, Enjoy! (not necessarily in that order)

The next day the ship arrived at a small Earth Kingdom port at around midday. Everyone in the town seemed to be a little too excited and they soon found out why. The merchant who was selling them some food exclaimed "Did you hear? The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island!" Zuko's eyes narrowed.

"What did you just say?" he asked curiously.

"The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island! Isn't that exciting?" the merchant exclaimed again with equal enthusiasm.

"Yes. It is." Zuko replied in a low voice. He reboarded his ship and yelled "Set course for Kyoshi Island!"

"Yes Prince Zuko," came a cordial reply.

"Why are we going to Kyoshi Island?" Mina asked as approaching Zuko.

"The merchant who just sold me this," he said indicating the basket of food, "just told me the Avatar is there." he explained

"And you're going to believe him why?" she asked.

"Because his excitement seemed genuine." Zuko justified. Mina rolled her eyes.

They arrived at Kyoshi Island the next day. Everyone got ready for battle. Kyoshi Island was known for its fierce warriors. Some of the crew mounted the rhinos and a few remained on foot. The search was on and the fight followed. The Kyoshi Warriors lived up to their reputation. Every crew member was surprised to find out they were female, even Mina. In the end the Avatar escaped and all Zuko and his crew managed to do was burn down some stuff. However, after watching the female warriors of Kyoshi Mina felt a strange sense of empowerment. After her nightmare yesterday, she kind of needed that.

Zuko was in poor spirits for the rest of the night because again he failed to capture the Avatar.

After the failure on Kyoshi Island Zuko was in poor spirits but the entire crew knew there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. The next few weeks went slow on board. They had few leads on the Avatar's location and Zuko's patience was dwindling.

"Cheer up Zuko, we'll find him." Mina stated assuredly.

"I hope you're right." he sighed in response.

One day they took a break and stopped to rest at an nondescript forest. This irritated Zuko but nobody really cared enough to listen to him.

"Zuko, we've been on the ship for weeks. We need a break." Mina tried to reason with him.

"Besides, there are natural hot springs just within the forest, they make for an excellent bath." Iroh added. "You should come with me, you look like you could use some relaxing."

"I don't need to relax!" he shouted. "I need to find the Avatar.

"Suit yourself then, I'll be in the forest if anyone needs me." Iroh said and he was off.

"So what do you want to do?" Mina asked.

"I want to find the Avatar." Zuko sneered.

"Well that's clearly not going to happen today Zuko so will you come off it!" she exclaimed. Zuko stared at her, wide eyed.

"Fine." he said.

"Let's go explore!" Mina said and before he could react, she grabbed Zuko's hand and dragged him into the forest.

"So why are we up in this tree?" Zuko asked a little while later.

"I don't know, but it sure beats being holed up on that hunk of metal you call a ship all day." Mina said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." he agreed.

"Plus we get the best view of the forest." Mina added.

"Yeah, the forest does look beautiful." Zuko said admiring the view.

"Hey! Look at that steam! I bet that's where Uncle is soaking in those hot springs. Let's go say hi!" Mina shouted suddenly.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah! Come on!"

"Hi Uncle!" Mina exclaimed as she strode into the clearing where Iroh sat soaking in a hot spring.

"Hello Mina." he greeted back. "And Zuko."

"Hi Uncle." Zuko responded.

"I really think you should get into one of these pools. It will calm your nerves." Iroh said.

"My nerves don't need calming!" Zuko exclaimed. "Hurry up. We're leaving soon."

"Whatever you say." Iroh said standing up to reveal his naked body. Mina and Zuko both covered their eyes in disgust.

"You know what, how about you take a few minutes to get ready before we leave ." Zuko said.

"Thank you Zuko, I knew you would understand." Iroh smirked as he sat back down into the tub.

"But if you aren't ready in thirty minutes, I will leave you behind." Zuko stated as he stomped out of the clearing. Mina followed close behind him.

"I don't want to leave yet." Mina said.

"Yeah, well I do." Zuko said as he stomped on board his ship. Mina sighed and sat down in the grass by the river they were currently on. Zuko did need to relax, and his nerves did need calming. She curled up on the bank and before she knew it she fell asleep.

"Mina, wake up." she heard a distant voice. "Wake up, Mina." It was Zuko. He had shaken her awake.

"What's going on?" she asked confused. "Are we leaving?"

"Not yet. I can't find Uncle. I think he was captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers." Zuko explained.

"Wait, what?" Mina asked. She was really confused now.

"Uncle was taken captive by Earth Kingdom soldiers. Now get up! We have to go find him." Zuko was losing patience. He had been losing his patience all day and now this happened. It sent him over the edge.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." Mina said as she dusted herself off. "Now how are we going to find Uncle?"

"There are some footprints in the clearing. We'll have to start with following those." Zuko said.

"How do you know they were Earth Kingdom soldiers?" Mina asked as they followed the ostrich horse footprints.

"The earth around the hot spring had been moved in an unnatural way. They were earthbenders." Zuko explained.

"Okay." Mina said and they continued to follow the footprints. They had been searching for hours when they stopped to search the area around them.

"Zuko, we've been searching for hours. How do you know if we're even going in the right direction?" Mina asked skeptically.

"Look!" Zuko exclaimed. "A sandal!" He ran over and picked up the shoe.

"Is it Uncle's?"Mina asked.

"Well there's only one way to find out." Zuko said. He didn't look too happy about it. He sniffed the shoe and choked on the stench. Everyone around him gasped and cringed. "Yup. It's definitely Uncle's." he confirmed. "We're going in the right direction." And they continued on with their search. Mina admired Zuko's determination to find and save his Uncle. It didn't seem like it sometimes, but Zuko really did care about him and the other people he was close too.

They searched on until they heard the vague sounds of a struggle and sped up to see what was going on. From behind some bushes they saw Iroh's hands chained and resting on top of a rock.

"We're going to make it so you can never firebend with these hands again." one of the Earth Kingdom soldiers sneered. Another soldier used his bending to position a heavy rock right over the place where Iroh's hands were. They were going to crush his hands. Without thinking, Zuko burst into action. He ran out of the bushes and kicked the rock right out of the air. With another quick kick he broke the chains that had bound his Uncle.

"Excellent form Prince Zuko!" Iroh praised in approval.

"I learned from the best." Zuko said in response. At this point Mina too came out of hiding in the bushes. Together her, Zuko, and Iroh fought off the Earth Kingdom soldiers. When they had finished Zuko said "Now will you please put some clothes on?" All three of them laughed. "No, but seriously." Zuko added.

A/N: And now I'm going to go curl up into a ball and cry because my tummy really hurts.