A/N: I know you all probably want to kill me right now. I can't even remember the last time I updated… Yeah, I'm bad. But after a seriously bad case of writer's block, I'm back! Yayyy! So I hope you enjoy. I'm going to start the next chapter as soon as I post this so hopefully it will be up by the end of the week. I'm going on vacation Friday and I wanted to get it out of the way. Feel free to give me any advice and R&R! They make my day Okay, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! ATLA is Nickelodeon's!

~*Chapter 10*~

The prince could care less that Elaina was gone—well at least that was what he told everyone.

The morning after Elaina's departure, a meeting for the crew was held. They gathered into the room, some in chairs, others standing against the wall. Each of them glanced over to the empty chair Elaina would have been in.

A few seats down sat the prince, looking bored as could be. His face rested against the back of his hand, leaving a red blotch on the non-scarred side of his face.

"And that concludes the financial part of today's meeting," a crew member said. Too bad Zuko couldn't remember his name.

The prince stretched out, raising his arms high above his head. "And what about the Avatar?"

The man frowned. What was his name again? Zyon? Faraji? Oh well, it did not matter. Zuko just wanted to hear about the Avatar.

"I'm afraid there's nothing new about the Avatar," the man replied.

Zuko slammed his fist on the table causing everyone to flinch. His usually alabaster skin turned bright red as he was filled with rage.

"Why not?" he growled.

Zyon-Faraji cringed under the prince's fiery stare. "Well sir, that's not, um, my job. I'm in charge o-of finance…"

Once again the room flinched as the prince shot up, knocking his chair over. He pointed an accusing finger at Zyon-Faraji.

"Your job is to find the Avatar for me. You should devote your life to that. He is the only thing that will bring my honor back!"

Zuko turned from them. Inhaling, he tried to control his growing temper. The fire continued to spread and soon it was consuming him. Zuko spun to face them again, his eyes darting around wildly.

"You all should be devoting yourselves to finding him! Instead, you just look for ways to piss me off! I don't care who you are, you're going to devote yourself to finding him. I don't care if you work on the engines—you're going to find him. If you work in the control room, guess what? You're going to find him! Fuck, even the cooks should be looking!"

"Prince Zuko!" Iroh cried in horror.

All eyes turned to the cooks standing awkwardly at the back of the room. They averted their eyes and picked at their stained uniforms.

"Things better start to change around here or I'm cutting all your paychecks," Zuko snapped. He picked his chair back up and dropped into it. "Well let's hurry this up; who's next?"

Hesitantly, a new man stepped up and read his news. Zuko zoned out once more, inspecting his palms. He scowled; his firebending was starting to go downhill. In the last week, he'd managed to burn himself five times.

Tension in the room was high as the meeting continued. Zuko paid no attention whatsoever unless the Avatar was brought up. Finally, Zuko shooed his men away.

As the room cleared out, Iroh grabbed his nephew by the elbow.

"A word," Iroh hissed.

Zuko stared down at his guardian and wrenched free from his grip. He took a step back and leaned against the table, crossing his arms over his chest. Once it was just the two of them, Iroh shut the door.

When he looked back at the prince, his face was bright red. "Are you trying to start a mutiny?"

"I'm putting them in their place. They should know better than to test my authority," Zuko replied sternly.

Iroh shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. "My nephew, you're doing this all wrong. You cannot go about with such anger towards the crew."

The temperature of the room steadily began to rise, as well as the prince's anger. "Who are you to criticize me? It's my crew and I'll treat them however I please!"

"Is this about Elaina?"

As soon as the question slipped from Iroh's mouth, he knew it was a mistake. Zuko's amber eyes flared.

"It has nothing to do with her! Elaina's a traitor! She's a spy! She's a…she's a bitch!"

And with that he stormed out of the room.

Many miles away on a small island, Elaina slowly sulked down a dirt path. She had been on this road for hours now hoping it might lead to a village. Her empty stomach growled ferociously.

Elaina had arrived to the tiny island late last night. After rowing for spirits knew how long, her arms felt like jelly. All she really wanted to do was lie down and sleep for the next ten years.

As she trudged on, she fell into a haze. The moment she'd arrived on the island, she knew she'd made a huge mistake. Zuko's ship had been the best place for her to hide. No one on it knew who she really was and they hardly ever went to shore (unless the Avatar was there, of course). Even better, they weren't near Padraic or any other anti-bending country.

How could she have been so stupid? Elaina let her temper get the best of her over practically nothing. True, Zuko had been pretty perverted coming into her room and looking at her marks. And yes, he was a huge pain in the ass. But leaving over that? Oh, how she wanted to slap herself repeatedly!

The path went slightly downhill and to her luck there was a tiny village at the bottom. A tiny smile formed on Elaina's face. At least something was going her way.

Elaina pulled her hood up and joined the rest of the crowd in the tiny market place. Her mouth began to water uncontrollably. All types of aromas filled the air.

Elaina went to one of the vendors. She bought a steamy cup of soup with two pieces of bread. Elaina took a large bite of the bread and sighed. She hadn't tasted anything this good since living in Padraic.

Within no time she finished her meal and was happily stuffed. A light rain had started, causing the crowd to thin out. Elaina went back to the dirt road she'd come in on. The trees provided cover from the icy drops.

Elaina took a turn on the road and came across a sign covered in flyers. Most of them were promoting job openings or events coming up. There was a flyer for a dance class and one for a bending seminar. Multiple pictures of the Avatar covered the board, all promising large amounts of reward money. A few other wanted posters here and there.

Elaina's eyes fell on a picture towards the bottom of the board. Was that…?

"Holy spirits," Elaina gasped.

She ripped the poster off and stared at her picture in horror.

"WANTED," it read at the top, "for high treason against the king of Padraic, Alir. Elaina of the Osala family, daughter of the Lord and Lady Osala and sister of Queen Perdita, is very dangerous. She is believed to be hiding in the fire nation. Fifty-thousand gold pieces will be rewarded to the person to bring her back. Must be brought back ALIVE."

Treason against the king? Elaina had never done anything to her brother-in-law! She hardly ever spoke to him either!

The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. She felt like she was being watched at that moment. Her eyes darted around crazily. A squirrel skunk scurried by. Raindrops fell from the leaves. A twig snapped in the distance.

Elaina shoved the poster into her bag. She needed help. Now.

If there was one thing Zuko truly despised, it was practicing his bending in the rain. He had always noticed his bending was not as powerful when it rained. However, today was not the day to put off practice. They were onto the Avatar and Zuko predicted they were just a few miles behind.

Zuko brushed off the beads of water covering his bare arms. He took up his stance and sent three fireballs at the target he'd set up. The fireballs blackened the target but didn't do anything else to damage it. Zuko growled in frustration.

He wanted to blame the weather for his bending but he knew it was more than that. Not that he would admit it or anything.

Zuko sighed and tried again. This time he completely missed the target. Zuko scowled.

"Stupid rain," he muttered.

Taking up his stance for the third time, Zuko sent three more fireballs at the target. They were all lousy, small things that dissolved quickly.

Zuko shouted in anger and attacked the target with a wall of fire. The target was engulfed in flames and began to sizzle.

The prince breathed in deeply, his shoulders shaking.

Forget her, he thought to himself. She was gone and no longer one of his problems.

Zuko took a deep breath to calm himself. He turned to one of his men and ordered him to fetch a new target.

There wasn't a place in the world that felt safe anymore. Behind every door someone was waiting for Elaina. At any moment she could be captured and brought back to Padraic. The place she had once called "home" was now what she feared the most.

After discovering her wanted poster, Elaina knew she needed to do something. Disguising herself as much as she could, Elaina went back to town. She had to inform Will of this.

Keeping her head down, Elaina bought the things she needed. She wrote a brief letter to Will, informing him of the trouble she was in.

Her next priority was to find her way back to Zuko. She knew it was very unlikely he would take her back. Zuko would be the first one to turn her in if he knew who she was. But then again, Zuko was so busy hunting the Avatar he might not notice. Either way it was worth the shot.

Luckily for her, there was a dock near the village. Elaina scanned the boats from afar, narrowing down her options. When she found the perfect one, she made her way to it.

Elaina walked over to a man with a gray beard. He was busy washing down his boat.

"Is this your boat?" she asked.

The man looked up and glared at her. "She ain't for sale."

"I'm not looking for something to buy. I need to get somewhere."

"What does this look like, a ferry?" he snorted.

"I'll pay you."

"No can-do missy. Find someone else."

Elaina tapped her foot impatiently. She was running out of options.

"I know where the Avatar is. And what they're paying for him is pretty high," Elaina said.

That got his attention. He looked at her suspiciously. "You know where he is?"

Elaina smiled darkly. "I technically found him. If you take me where I need to be, I'll give you all the information. And I'm willing to pay."

The man stepped forward and stuck out his hand. "Deal!"

Elaina shook it. She'd be back to Zuko in no time.

Simple as that.

A/N: I'll try to have Chapter 11 up ASAP!