Hooray for faster updates! I am really sorry about all these slow updates. Urgh, I know I suck. But oh well, I hope you still love me. I'm super excited everyone. The Packers are going to the Superbowl! I never thought I'd be so proud to live in Wisconsin. :P

Superfreakklove: Thank you for being so supportive! I love you! :D and the next chapters coming out… today!

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Thanks to anyone who read but didn't review. I appreciate you taking the time to read my work. Phew! This is a long chapter, for me at least.

Song of the Chapter: Beyoncé- I'm Scared Of Lonely

Chapter 9: The Spirit World (Winter Solstice Part I)

I could hear Zuko's breath; it was sharp and sounded like he was irritated. We walked through some of the tallest trees I'd seen in my entire life. "Uncle!" Zuko shouted at the top of his lungs. "It's time to leave! Where are you? Uncle Iroh!" We emerged through some trees and found Iroh, sitting in a hot spring completely nude.

"Over here." His voice sounded more like purr than a voice. I could tell how relaxed he looked, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly agape.

"Uncle? We need to move on, we're closing in on the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him!" I could see Zuko's eyes flash angrily.

"What Zuko is trying to say-"I rolled my eyes, glancing at Zuko, "-is that we stayed here too long. We need to move."

"You look tired, Prince Zuko, Sienna. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles."

"My troubles cannot be soaked away." Zuko snarled. "It's time to go!"

"Zuko…" I whispered, touching his arm softly. The prince turned his head, his eyes so intense I dropped my hand from him wide-eyed.

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself." Iroh shifted position slightly, putting his hands together and breathed steam from his nostrils. All around us steam filled the air and Zuko swatted it away, annoyed.

"Enough! We need to leave now! Get out of the water!" I flinched at his voice.

"Very well." Iroh murmured, beginning to rise from the water. A yelp escaped my lips; I spun around quickly and covered my eyes. Zuko put his hand up horizontally and turned his head half away to block the view of Iroh's… nakedness.

"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes, but be back at the ship in half an hour or I'm leaving without you." Without another word, Zuko turned and strode off into the trees we came out of. I blinked as Iroh sat back down with a long sigh and took off after Zuko. Thirty minutes, I thought, and then we can finally leave.

35 Minutes Later

I took off eagerly to try and get Iroh on the ship before Zuko became too irritated. Iroh had high blood pressure and I didn't want Zuko's yelling to make him feel any worse, especially after what happened a few days ago. Passing out in a hot springs was not something I liked to think about, so I got worried and decided to check on him. Walking briskly through the trees I stopped at the clearing, sighing in relief. There was Iroh, still enjoying the hot spring he'd been in for at least an hour now.

"Hello Sienna, what are you doing back so soon?" Iroh questioned, smiling. I sat down near a tree close to the hot spring and looked over to him thankfully.

"I was just worried about you so I came quickly to check and make sure you were alright. I'm sorry if I disturbed you Iroh." I smiled, leaning my head back up against the tree and closed my eyes.

"You were not disturbing me in the least, Sienna. I'm thankful you came to check on me, it gives me peace of mind." I opened my eyes and smiled back at him. "How is my nephew?"

"Alright, I think. No less agitated than usual." I informed, my thoughts shifting from my worries of Iroh to Zuko. I thought about his pale skin, how it reflect against the light of the moon. I reflected on his tight ponytail at the top of his head, wrapped by a single red band at the base.

"Who's there?" Iroh suddenly called into the trees. He scaled the forest in front of him with narrow eyes, searching out the source of the noise. Then, without warning, a small rodent jumped up on the bath in front of him, its ears perked up. The General lifted and outstretched his hand for the small creature to jump into. "A meadow vole! I should have known. You startled me, little one." He smiled down at the tiny living beast in his hand and laughed suddenly at himself.

Without warning, the earth started to tremble beneath me. Iroh looked up alarmed just as he and I were both encased in an earth coffin, leaving only our heads at the top. My body reacted, forcing my hands against the walls but it was all in vain. My breath quickly released from my lungs in fear.

"He's a Fire Nation soldier." One of the men said to another. No doubt they were earth benders, obviously.

"He's no ordinary soldier. This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West, the once great General Iroh, but now, he's our prisoner." The other man, my guess was a Captain or General, told the man.

"What about her?" His gaze now lingered on my. I held my tongue to try and force myself from saying anything foolish. No use getting into trouble with powerful earth benders. I'm sure that it would add to all the pleasantries of my day.

"I don't know, she could be a fire bender too. Keep her in cuffs just in case." Four went over to secure Iroh in shackles and one came over to me. I knew Uncle probably wouldn't try to fight them, so I didn't either.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked. The man ignored me, roughly grabbing my wrists and forcing the cold metal tightly onto them, squeezing my arms painfully. I felt myself gasp in pain as the shackles were tightened further, cutting off any circulation to my hands.

"Soldier!" One of the men behind him growled. I looked up to see a man standing behind the one imprisoning me. "Do no harm her." The soldier nodded and loosened my shackles a little, allowing the blood flow to continue. My blue-gray eyes closed slightly, my hands going numb from being cut off from blood flow.

"Bring them." The leader instructed. My man took me up and into his arms, placing me on the back of an ostrich horse before getting up himself. My feet were bound then by the leader in order to make sure I didn't try to run. They weren't stupid.

After awhile darkness set in over the forest and the earth benders used torches to make sure they could see. I felt back for Uncle, his arms were shackles into an 'X' formation across his chest and he had heaving chains going up around his neck to secure them. My eyes began to droop as I silently prayed that Zuko hadn't left without us. No doubt he would have probably noticed that we were missing by now, right?

"Where are you taking us?" Iroh's voice rang out in the stillness of the forest night. I looked up at him, feeling a little more awake now.

"We're taking you to face justice." The leader answered, never looking at him. I frowned, Iroh was a great man, and he didn't deserve anything bad to happen to him.

"Right." He murmured like it was completely obvious. "But where, specifically?"

"A place you're quite familiar with, actually. You once laid siege to it for 600 days, but it would not yield to you." I felt myself shiver at the memory of when Iroh was still at war. Those were dark times I did not like to remember. Luckily I had Zuko there to keep me entertained.

"Ah! The great city of Ba-Sing-Se." His voice sounded wistful as he recalled back to his great defeat.

"It was greater than you were, apparently." The Captain almost sneered.

"I acknowledged my defeat at Ba-Sing-Se!" His voice was full of defense. "After 600 days away from home, my men were tired and I was tired-"his voice was interrupted with a yawn and he placed his head against the back of the soldier who rode with him. "-and I'm still tired." Then, without even any hesitation, Iroh fell off the back of the ostrich horse, his eyes shut and his body still with a small smile on his face.

"Iroh" I felt myself whisper, wondering if he was okay. I'd been extremely worried about his health ever since he fainted a few days ago. "Please-"I pleaded with the Captain. "-he hasn't been well lately. Don't let anything happen to him." The man started at me for a few moments before blinking rapidly and nodded, dismounting his beast. Wordlessly, he helped Iroh to his feet and got him back on the ostrich horse. I sigh in relief, then my eyes glanced at the ground and I saw a sandal laying there. Good thinking Uncle! I thought to myself.

We got back underway, no one saying much of anything before I leaned on the back of the soldier, too tired to even think anymore. Then, with my wrists and ankles searing, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

An Unknown Number of Hours Later

We'd been sitting in silence for hours; the only noise that I could hear was the sound of the ostrich horses' feet scraping against the dirt. My hope of Zuko finding us was beginning to fade and fast. Had he really left without Iroh like he said he would? Frustrated, I bit my lower lip hard, trying my best not to show I was upset.

My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Iroh's gasp. As I looked at him, his eyes were glued to the sky as if he was watching something above us. The Captain seemed to notice Iroh's odd behavior as well.

"What's the problem?"

"Nothing." Iroh paused for the briefest moment and I saw he was forming a plan. I'd follow along. "Actually, there is a bit of a problem. My old joints are feeling sore and achy and these shackles are too loose."

"Too loose?" The Captain questioned, skeptical.

"That's right. The cuffs are loose and they jangle around and bump my wrists. It would help me if you would tighten them so they wouldn't shake around so much." I stared at Iroh, silently thinking of what a genius he was. I would have never thought of anything so clever.

Clearing my throat, I muttered in a raspy voice, "Can I get a drink of water?" The Captain looked over to me and nodded. My soldier handed my shackled hands a canteen and I smiled thankfully. Looking down at the pouch filled with water I started to feel bad, fearing for these men's' safety.

"Very well. Corporal, tighten the prisoner's hand cuffs." I took a slow drink as the Corporal jumped down from his ostrich horse and walked over to Iroh. Just before he placed his hands on the iron, Iroh blew hot air onto the cuffs and heated them up. Then he grabbed the Corporal's hands and forced them to the cuffs, burning the man. I acted quickly then, jumping down from the ostrich horse and bended the water out of the canteen, hitting the man who I rode with off. The soldier ducked out of the way from a fire blast that was sent at him and I knew this was our chance. Iroh and I both looked at each other before we launched ourselves over the edge of a Cliffside and rolled through the rubble.

I knew we were caught the moment I felt myself being pulled down into the debris, burying Iroh and myself almost up to our heads. The earth benders were not far away, and approached us fast.

"They're too dangerous, Captain. We can't just carry them to the capital. We have to do something now." One of the soldiers told the captain, who nodded in agreement.

"I agree. They must be dealt with immediately and severely." I gulped, that didn't sound good. Forcing us from the dirt, the Captain and the three soldiers brought us down the cliff to a small clearing. I feared for the worst, were they going to kill us?

"Do not be frightened." Iroh told me as the earth benders forced us to our knees and placed our hands on a large, flat slab of rock.

"These dangerous hands must be crushed." I felt my throat close and my eyes widen in fear. They were going to crush our hands for trying to escape? Iroh gave me a confident look. I wish I could have said the same about myself. The Captain lifted a large boulder from the side and hovered the rock over until it was right above our hands. Fearfully, I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away; trying to think about anything except how much this would hurt. I heard a large thud noise but felt no pain. Curiously I opened my eyes to see Zuko standing next to us, the boulder flying away from where we knelt. Relief flooded over me when I saw him. The Prince lifted his foot and kicked the chains near our hands, breaking them so we could be free. Iroh rose from the ground, a smirk on his face.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko."

"You taught me well." The Prince countered.

"Surrender yourselves, it's five against three. You're clearly outnumbered." Zuko, Iroh and I got into a fighting stance, readying ourselves to defend.

"Uh, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched!" I was surprised to hear Iroh say that. He sounded very confident, and a little arrogant. Maybe that's where Zuko got it from.

All five earthbenders launched stones at the three of us. Iroh swung his chains and broke them into pieces mid-flight, while Zuko blasted the two nearest him with fire. Zuko was about to be hit when the stones were wrapped in Iroh's chains. He swung them around his body and released them back at their captors. They were hit in the stomach and were both knocked out. The Captain, then, launched several rocks at Zuko, who dodged them and returned fire. The fire blast is blocked when the Captain lowers his head and the fire broke harmlessly over his onion shaped helmet. The Captain raised two huge sheets of rock and Zuko looks afraid, but then chains wrap around the Captain's feet and his is pulled to the ground by Iroh. The rocks land on top of him of the Captain just as I realized I just stood there and watched the fight the whole time.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I rushed over to Zuko, who had just turned to look me over. He opened his arms and accepted me; I could feel that he was happy we were okay. Placing my face into his right shoulder I felt a few stray tears escape from the corners of my eyes. His right hand was locked into my hair, gently stroking it while his left hand was firmly at the small of my back. I was so relieved we were all okay and together again.

Then he looked down and noticed the red marks on my arm from where the soldier had gripped my wrists hard. A reddish purple bruise had formed over night, throbbing painfully every time it was touched. "Who did this?" Zuko's voice was tight and coarse. I felt myself look away, half in fear he'd grab my wrist and to avert my eyes from him.

"It doesn't matter." I told him, not wanting him to get angry and try to kill any one of the earth benders. Zuko, instead of grabbing my wrists, gripped the top of my arms near my shoulders and spun me around.

"Who did this?" He hissed again, his eyes blazing like the fire in his heart. I felt myself begin to shake and looked away again, staying mute.

Uncle cleared his throat then, making me remember that we were not alone. Stepping away, I flushed in embarrassment.

"Now would you please put on some clothes!" I couldn't help but let out a loud, unladylike laugh.

The End.

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