I'm incredibly grateful for the number of reviews I got. I'm sorry that this is a shorter chapter, but I just wanted to end it where it ended for some reason. There's a special surprise at the end of the chapter that you guys will find cute. I just had to leave it up there. Well, here's Chapter 10!

---------------------------------------

Zuko walked along the beach, staring at his feet. He didn't know how far he walked and he didn't really care. He just had to get away. His eyes were drawn out over the ocean and he watched the waves gently smooth the sand out. Then his eyes slowly made it up to the moon. He noticed if you watched it for a minute, you could almost see her face.

"Yue, why would you tell me something like that?" he whispered. "Who are you and how do I know you?"

He wasn't watching where he was walking and ran into something, making him fall on the sand. He almost screamed when he saw what, or rather who it was that he ran into.

"You know who I was. I was once the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe."

"Why-h-how are you here?" he stuttered at the girl.

She smiled at him as he attempted to stand up again. "I told you because you are to join them. They will not turn you away because I will not let them. I can help Sokka accept your relationship with Katara. I'm glad she finally found someone, though you aren't exactly what I expected for her. They have an addition to their group now that you may recognize, so I'll do what I can to help them get a better mode of transportation because Appa won't be able to carry all of you."

Zuko was still in shock and trying to get over the fact that he could still see through her. "Y-you mean, like a ship?"

She giggled a little. "Yeah, something like that." She paused and looked up at the sky. "I don't have much time left. Tell Katara to keep her eyes on the horizon in a couple days. Now, go back to her. Everything will turn out okay."

He wanted to ask her more, but she had already faded back into the nothingness that she had appeared out of. "Well, at least now I know where I know she from," he muttered to himself as he turned back the way he had come. He walked faster than before, a little anxious to get back to Katara. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her what Yue said though. "I'm being selfish, that's why," he sighed. "Maybe things will be okay. I think I can trust her. I want to trust her."

He made it back to the cave and saw her curled up near his uncle, her hand near her face and wound up in her loose hair. He smiled and quietly made it over to her, curling up behind her and wrapping her up in his arms. A small sigh escaped her slightly parted lips and he felt her snuggle into him. Maybe things will be okay.

---------------------------------------

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because it could get infected and that could be dangerous."

"No, I mean why are you helping me?"

"We're nice people."

"Ouch!"

"Sorry." Sokka was cleaning and wrapping Ty Lee's arm as good as he knew how. "If Katara were here, she'd be able to heal this no problem."

"She's the waterbender, right?"

"Yeah."

"Where is she?"

"We have no idea, but it's near the water and we're pretty sure she's with Zuko. I swear if he touches my sister, I'll kill him."

Ty Lee was relieved. Part of her mind thought Katara was his girlfriend. "So.. why would she be with Zuko?"

"Because he kidnapped her a couple weeks ago."

"Can you guys keep it down over there? Some of us are trying to sleep," Toph grumbled, still half-asleep.

"Sorry, Toph."

When Sokka was done, she took her arm back and held it. "What are you going to do with me now?"

"Well, we can either drop you off at the next town or.. you can, um, stay with us. You just seem too innocent to be hanging around Azula."

Ty Lee giggled. "I guess I'll keep that in mind, but I can't stay. Azula wouldn't hesitate to have me killed if she found me again."

"Well, for all she knows, we kidnapped you. You could stay with us until she finds us again and they'll 'rescue' you."

"I guess that's okay," she smiled. She winced as her arm started throbbing again. "Do you think it'll need stitches?"

"We can have it checked out before we head out over the ocean if you want."

"Yeah, it really hurts. Where are we going exactly?"

"Back to the island we lost her on. We figured maybe we could try tracking them from there, even though it's been a while. It was our best idea so far, unless you can think of something."

"Nothing's coming to me, but it's a good idea. You have to start somewhere."

Sokka looked up at the moon and smiled. He felt as if someone was whispering in his ear, but Ty Lee wasn't close enough. His smile faded as he realized what it was. He closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"Aang, we need a ship."

Aang turned around on Appa's head to look at the older boy. "Why do we need a ship?"

"Because Appa can't carry everyone we have to get."

"What are you talking about, we're just getting Katara."

"We're apparently getting a few others too, your firebending teacher included."

Aang's confused face asked him everything, but he still voiced his questions. "How do you know?"

"Yue," was his simple response.

"Well.. I guess that's good news then, huh?" Aang said cheerfully. Always the optimist, Sokka would say.

"Yeah, sure."

Ty Lee looked at him worriedly. "Is there something else bothering you?"

Sokka shook his head. He was sad at the memory of Yue, but angry at what all she had told him, especially the part he hadn't told the others. Part of him wanted to be mad at his sister, but the other part said it wasn't her fault. After spending so much time with those guys, firebenders or not, she was bound to get along with them eventually. Getting along meant she was beginning to like them. He just hoped she didn't like the one he thought.

"Sokka?"

Sokka was snapped out of his thoughts by Aang's voice. "I'm sorry, what?"

"How are we supposed to get a ship?"

"I don't know, go to a non-Fire Nation town. Tell them you're the Avatar and that we're on an important mission and maybe they'll just give us one."

"Or you could just take one and return it later," Toph mumbled sleepily. "Now you can be quiet because I'm still tired."

They all smiled at the young earthbender and whispered among themselves, Sokka still hiding the rest of Yue's message.

---------------------------------------

"That's cold!"

"You're the one that wanted to spar."

"I know, but you made it that cold on purpose!"

"That's the great thing about sparring, I can do whatever I like to win."

She smirked at the firebender before her. She knew his moves and could almost predict and dodge them. The heat from his body made steam rise off of his bare chest from her water. He tried so hard to catch her by surprise, but all the practicing she'd been doing had brought her reflexes up greatly. He shot two fireballs at her and she jumped to the ground and rolled away, bringing her arms around to swallow him in a wave. He recovered quickly and circled them in flames. She doused the flames behind her and jumped into the water. He ran to the edge, the waves licking at his ankles, and shot more at her.

He was on the ground. He shook his head, his wet hair slapping his forehead, and took a second to think about what just happened. Before he realized it, she had an icicle under his throat.

"I believe I win," she taunted.

He thought quickly and did a spin-kick, knocking her down. He jumped on top and pinned her arms to the sand. "I think I win," he whispered in her ear.

She confused him with her smile. She blew up his face and in his hair, freezing all the water she had attacked him with. "Call it a tie?"

"For now, peasant," he managed to say. He unpinned her arms and put his hands to his face, quickly heating it back up and melting the ice on his face and hair. He stood up and helped her up, pulling her into his arms. "You won't win next time, though."

"Don't be so sure about that, my prince."

She wrapped her arms around his chest and his arms found their way around her. They stared into each others eyes for what seemed like an eternity, noses touching. A voice in Zuko's head spoke up and he knew he had to tell her about the night before. "Katara, I need to tell you something."

"You ruined it."

He smiled, then turned his face serious again. "Last night, after I left you, your friend Yue visited me again only this time she was almost real."

"Why does she come to you and not me?"

"I don't know, but I prayed to her the day you almost drowned because I'd heard you pray to her before. Since then I've been seeing her. Anyway, she told me to tell you to keep your eyes on the horizon in a couple of days. She said everything would be okay and she would help your brother cope with 'us'."

"That's great but.. how are we all supposed to get off this island on Appa?"

"She's taking care of that. She didn't say exactly what to look for, she just said 'a better mode of trasportation'."

She laid her head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, which slowly quickened as they stood like that. She felt tears tugging at her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She wasn't even sure what brought them on, but part of her knew it had something to do with them leaving.

"Katara, are you okay? You're shaking."

She took a deep breath to calm herself before she opened her mouth. "I'm fine. It's just.." she trailed off before the urge to cry came back.

He held her tighter. "You don't want to leave yet either, do you?"

"No," she whispered, tightening her grip on him as well. "As much as I want to see them again, I don't want to leave our paradise. They won't accept us as easily as I want them to. The world won't accept us. Zuko, I love you."

Chills ran up and down his spine and his stomach twisted at her words. He smiled and whispered into her hair, "I love you too, Katara. I don't know where I'd be without you." He buried himself into her sweet scent and let his thoughts take him away. He wanted so badly for that moment to last forever, but like everything else in the world, everything had to end at sometime.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Why do you have to do that, Uncle?" Zuko asked, annoyance in his tone.

Katara turned her head around to the old man, but left it on Zuko's chest. "Did you need something?"

"Oh no, I was just coming to find you. You've been gone for a while and I started to get worried."

"We're fine, Uncle. We were practicing."

"Are you hungry? I have lunch made."

Katara smiled. "I could eat, sparring can take a lot out of you."

Zuko reluctantly let her go and they followed Iroh back to the cave to eat. He did like that she didn't let go of his hand. He was practically floating after their little conversation. He never thought anyone, other than his uncle of course, would ever love him. He felt like he could do anything and he could be the real him around her. She made him feel whole again. At that moment, he truly didn't care about his father. He knew where he was needed and wanted.

He let out a sigh and a smile. I'm wanted.

They could tell Kiatoh had been practicing from all the scorch marks in the trees next to the sand. Something in Katara's head spoke up and she let go of Zuko's hand and took off into the trees. Zuko and Iroh were caught offguard by this, but let her go. Zuko had an idea of what she was doing. They went ahead and made it to the cave for lunch, but he wouldn't eat until she came back.

A minute or two later, she came running back into the cave with an armload of the mangos she had found when they first arrived. Kiatoh and Iroh looked up at her happily as she tossed them one. She sat down next to Zuko and handed him one, setting the rest down in a small pile on the floor.

"Where did you get these?" Kiatoh spoke up.

"I found a lot of them when we first got here. They're all over the place!" She finally dug into the stew that Iroh had made and started eating. Kiatoh ate his mango quickly and went back out to practice, Iroh soon following. Katara and Zuko quietly finished their meals, then Katara flung herself back onto the cave floor. "I'm tired."

Zuko smiled down at her before propping himself against the wall. He looked further into the cave, but didn't see anything but black. His eyes moved back to his feet, but glanced at Katara every once in a while. She was out in a matter of minutes. He kissed her on the head and stood up to go join the other two firebenders to practice.

---------------------------------------

"If we could just borrow one, that would be fine. It's an emergency!"

"And your flying animal can't take you?"

"He can, but he won't be able to get back. We have to rescue our friends on an island and he can't carry everyone. Please, we'll bring it back when we get them."

"And what makes you think I can trust you?"

"Because I'm the Avatar!"

The old man looked down at the young tattooed boy. He sighed and nodded his head with a slight smile on his face, pointing down to a small ship at the end of the dock. "I knew you'd be coming. Just be careful with her. Do you need to know how it works or can you figure it out?"

"I think we can manage," Ty Lee answered for them. Truthfully, she barely knew anything about ships, but how hard could it be to figure out?

Aang looked at her hopefully, then back at the old man. "Do you think anyone would volunteer to be part of our crew just in case something happens?"

"The way the news of your return has affected my town, I'm sure people would help. Anyone want to be in the Avatar's crew!" he yelled over the noise of the crowded docks.

"I will!"

"Me! I'll help!"

"Me too!"

"I want to help!"

There were about 20 people that automatically came running up to them frantically. Aang's big cheesy grin spread out over his face as he looked at his crew. Being the Avatar did have its advantages!

"Okay, we're on a mission to find my friend. She was kidnapped and we know where to look first, but we may end up having to track them. If you're all okay with this, let's get going."

"Wait," one boy called out. "Do you know who kidnapped her? Who we're chasing?"

Aang's eyes sadly traveled to the boy before he turned completely. "The Fire Nation."

Gasps and whispers could be heard through the small crowd, but no one left and Aang was grateful for that. He turned and headed for the small ship at the end of the dock. His friends and new crew slowly followed. A little while later, the boat was sailing towards the horizon, on their way to find their friend.

---------------------------------------

This part was written by my 6-month old daughter, who was sitting in my lap playing with the keyboard at the time. Enjoy! lol

---------------------------------------

v c v .000000 g j htrv inml,.,.

n y ggh g

m . d xc. 9,mkjuuhujujujijiji,ijdfllm/

z' errklqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq g hty

tr c cxd d g

---------------------------------------

Again, sorry about the shortness. I promise the next chapter will be longer and have more action! Ooh, and fighting! But not between who you'd expect.. dun dun duuunnn! I liked that Yue was in this one too. Okay everyone, you know the routine! R&R!

Jenn