Here's a new chapter. R'n'R please.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

Chapter 10: The Palace

Katara watched as the bubble floated in the air, then popped when she poked at it with her finger.

Wu, a lady tending to her, walked over to where the mysterious girl was in the bathtub.

"Washed up from a shipwreck; oh, the poor thing." She murmured as she picked up the robe Katara wore.

"I'll just get this washed for you." She said kindly and left.

Sokka breathed out as he reached the top wall.

"Ouch, you're crushing my shoulders!" Yue hissed at him.

"Sorry, but I can't hear. Hold still." Sokka whispered, the turned back to the group of women walking clothes.

"Well, you must've at least heard about this girl." A person said.

Sokka felt Yue crumble under him and tried to reach for a surface to grab, but couldn't find one.

"Well Atsuka says…" another woman began, but Sokka fell before he could hear the rest.

"I'M on top this time." Yue ordered; rubbing her shoulders.

Sokka made no objection and boosted Yue onto his shoulders.

"…And since when has anything Atsuka say been right? I mean, this girl shows up in rags and doesn't speak." the woman finished.

Yue suddenly toppled down.

"Sokka!" she hissed at him.

"Sorry." He apologized.

"I'm still on top." Yue said as she climbed onto Sokka's shoulders.

"…not my idea for a princess. If Zuko is looking for a girl, I know a couple of available ones right here." Another woman finished.

Sokka suddenly gasped at something and began running to it; nearly forgetting that Yue was on his shoulders.

There were fishermen unloading a huge net of fish and even a seal.

With a gasp, Sokka fainted; making Yue fall alongside with him.

"Sokka?" Yue asked; trying to budge him.

In the Castle

"So who is this new girl?" Iroh asked gaily.

"Someone I found on the shore. She didn't seem to have a home and was shipwrecked, from what I saw." Zuko replied to his uncle in a neutral tone.

'But that other girl…' Zuko's mind began to wander.

"Good evening, Zuzu." A voice called from the other side of the room.

"Azula…" Zuko seethed.

"I just need to talk to you." Azula said simply; coming up to him and grabbing him by the arm.

"Give up on that mystery girl; be reasonable for once in your miserable life." Azula told him.

'She's real, you little—!' Zuko mentally fumed but before he could say anything, a voice was heard at the end of the hall.

"Come on, dear. Don't be shy." Wu said; lightly pushing Katara out of the shadows.

She wore a full length Kimono of white with blue edges and the design of ocean and sky scenery and aquatic and airborne animals flying, swimming, floating, and moving along in it. Her hair was brushed with a sheen around it and she wore a bit of makeup.

"Oh, Zuko, isn't she a looker?" Iroh breathed, as if the entire sentence was a sigh.

Zuko himself was a bit surprised, she did look good, but looks were nearly always deceiving.

"You look—wonderful." He said honestly and kindly.

Iroh was first to speak out.

"Come, you must be famished. Let me help you." He insisted; taking Katara by the hand and guiding her over to a chair.

Pulling it back for her, Iroh waited and pushed the chair in after Katara sat down. The two siblings watched their uncle with amused and confused eyes as they took their seats. Iroh must've felt their eyes on him as he became lightly flustered.

"Uh—it's, it's not often that we have a lovely dinner guest, right Zuko?" Iroh asked quickly.

Zuko didn't say a word; just continue to stare at his uncle. Katara noticed a 'dinglehopper' on the table and, picking it up, began to brush it through her hair.

Azula stared at her with a raised eyebrow and was joined by her uncle and brother. Why was she combing her hair with a fork?

Katara saw everyone watching her and, feeling a bit embarrassed, place the fork down again; this probably wasn't a time to comb her hair, she decided silently. Iroh took his seat, unveiling a pipe and sent a small flame down the mouth.

Katara remembered what Aang had told her about a snarfblast and took it out of Iroh's mouth; examining it.

"Oh, well if you like it—it's rather…" Iroh began, but was interrupted when Katara blew from the mouthpiece, the contents of the pipe, into his face.

Zuko laughed at the sight of his uncle's face covered in soot.

"Oh, my!" Wu exclaimed; readying a handkerchief for him. Clearing his throat, Zuko held down his laughs.

"So sorry, uncle." He said.

"Why, Prince Zuko, that is the first time I've heard you laugh in years." Wu observed.

"Oh, very amusing. Madame Wu, my dear, what is for dinner?" Iroh asked; wiping his face with the handkerchief she'd given him.

"Oh, you're going to love it. Chef's been fixing his specialty; stuffed fish in wrapped Cabbages." Wu replied before going back to the kitchens.

Azula and Zuko silently gagged; the chef had this weird obsession with fish and cabbages for some strange reason.

In the Kitchen

Sokka, ducking under a table after sneaking into the palace, watched as the chef unloaded a lot of green vegetables, 'Cabbages' as a vendor said, along with many fishes, crabs, and other seafood and the chef began to sing.

(A/N: I think you can guess who the cook is in my story)

Les Chou

Les Chou

How I love Les Chou

Love to Chop

And serve cabbages

First I cut off the base

Then I pull out the leaves

Ah mais ou

Ca c'est toujours delish

Moving on,

Les poissons

Les poissons

Hee, hee, hee

Ha, ha, ha

With the cleaver, I hack them in two

I pull out what's inside

And I serve it up fried

God, I love fish and cabbage

Don't you?

Here's something on a tempting plate

Prepared in classic technique

First you pound the fish flat with a mallet

Then you slash through the skin

Give the belly a slice

Then you rub some salt in

'Cause that makes it taste nice

Sokka was on the verge of hurling when he saw everything. Holding in his vomit, he tried to keep silent and stop trembling as he saw the chef's shoes come to the table. "Zut alors, I have missed one!" came his voice from above.

Sacre bleu

What is this?

How on earth could I have missed?

Such a sweet little succulent fish?

Quell dommage

What a loss

Here we go in the sauce

And some flour, I think, just a dab

Now I stuff you with bread

It don't hurt, because you are dead

And I wrap you with cabbage

And certainly lucky, you are

'Cause it's going to be hot

In my big silver pot

Toodle loo, mon Poisson

Au revior

Darting out of his hiding place, Sokka grabbed the cabbage wrap just before it touched the hot water. Suddenly, he felt the chef grab him from behind and was pulled to face him.

"What is this?" he asked. Thinking quickly, Sokka grabbed the pot and splashed hot water on the chef.

Crying out and letting go of him, Sokka began to run with the chef hot on his tail.

In the dining room, a loud crash is heard by everyone.

"I'd better go and see what Jean (pronounced John) is up to." Wu said, hurrying out of the room.

Back in the kitchen, Jean was tearing the place apart to find Sokka, who had only seconds ago escaped through a window.

"Come out, you little thief and fight like a man!" Jean screamed into a large supply closet.

"Jean!" Wu's voice shouted out abruptly; causing him to come out of the closet.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded of him.

"Well, I—I was just, err…I'm sorry, Madame." Jean finally said with a forced smile.

Scowling, Wu took the plates of food already prepared and marched out of the room.

"Where's the food?" Yue asked after Sokka joined her.

"Not in the kitchens, I'll tell you as much as that." Sokka replied as he tried to slow his heart rate down.

"You know, Zuko. I was thinking that our guest might like to see some sights of this nation. Something like a tour?" Iroh pressed.

Zuko had busied himself with looking at Katara's ¾ facial features. Vaguely, she looked like that girl who rescued him. Could it be…?

"I'm sorry, Uncle. What was that?" he asked, suddenly coming out of his thoughts.

"You can't spend all of your time moping, you need to get out. Do something; have a life." his uncle said

A new maid came out from the doors; she wore a hat over her hair and clothes that covered up nearly all of her skin. As the maid glanced upwards, Katara saw that it was Yue and there seemed to be a bulge under her skirt.

Looking down at the bulge as Zuko and his Uncle continued to talk and Iroh lift the cover off of his plate to reveal something rolled in a green leaf, Katara saw Sokka as he parted a section of Yue's skirt.

'What are you doing?' she mouthed to him.

'Food.' He mouthed back.

Focusing back on the wrapped objects, Katara lightly lifted her hand and was surprised to see that a bit of water from Iroh's food rise. She DID still have Waterbending powers! It must've been yielded for a bit because of that potion.

Making sure that no one looked, Katara focused and bent the water within Iroh's food to make them come to her hands, lightly cringing at the heat emaciating from the food.

Leaning back on her chair a bit, Katara held the food and felt Sokka take them.

"…If she's interested." Zuko's voice concluded.

He turned back to Katara, who abruptly jerked herself back up.

"Would you like to have a tour of the kingdom tomorrow?" Zuko asked politely, secretly hoping that she would refuse so his uncle wouldn't go crazy.

Katara only nodded.

"Wonderful. Now let's eat before my food just wanders off of my plate." Iroh said, reaching down only to find an empty plate.

Instantly, Zuko and Azula grabbed theirs, took off the covers, and dumped the contents on Iroh's plate.

"You can have mine." Both said in unison and nearly bolted out of the room.

Not knowing what else to do, Katara also slid her plate to Iroh and exited.

LATER THAT NIGHT

"Azula, it's just food." Zuko insisted, though it was great to taste meat again.

Both had gone out and bought fried bread, tofu soup, vegetable dumplings, 4 sticks of teriyaki beef, and warmed sweet milk for their dinner and were just finishing up the last of the contents.

Looking up, he saw that girl whom he still didn't know the name of, and waved to her. Lightly blushing, Katara went back in.

Placing the 'dinglehopper' down next to something else people called a 'brush', Katara jumped into her new bed and reveled at the light and smooth fabric there and the softness of it all. Sokka watched from the balcony as he went inside.

"This has got to be without a doubt, the single most humiliating day of my life. I hope you appreciate what I go through for you. Now, we've got to make a plan to get his royal highness to kiss you. Tomorrow, when he takes you on that ride, you've got to look your best." Sokka stated.

"You've got to bat your eyes, like this." Sokka told her, batting his eyes.

"You've got to pucker up your lips like this." He added; puckering up his lips but opening his eyes to see that Katara had fallen asleep amongst the bed.

"You're completely hopeless, my sister. You know that?" he asked as he blew out her candle and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

About to climb down the balcony, he looks back and sighs.

"Completely hopeless." He repeated, climbing down and going to the inn Yue had managed to rent a room from after he and Yue worked a bit for the day.

In the Water Tribe, things could not have been more depressing and near hectic.

"Any sign of them?" Pakku asked when a scout came to him.

"No, your majesty. We've searched everywhere within our limits. There is no sign of Katara or your son. Or Yue." The messenger added.

"Well keep looking! Leave no shoreline unexplored, no iceberg unsearched all the way around. Let no one sleep in this kingdom until they're all safe at home." Pakku said harshly.

"Yes, sire." The messenger said with a stifled yawn as he ran out of the room.

Sinking down on a cushion, Pakku sighed.

"What have I done?" he murmured softly to himself.

And now, it gets good...