She didn't breath. How could she? She backed up slowly, her fingers twitching and her heart thudding. She hit the iron wall and crumpled to the floor, finally taking a ragged breath. 'How did I get here!' She screamed in her mind. 'First an island, an avatar, a lemur, aloneness, then a boat with people in armor? Come on! Why would you need armor on a boat!' She sighed. "I can't do anything about it." She said out loud laying her head back on the wall. "It's not like this is a bad place… Maybe they can take me home. Or maybe Aang and Katara will rescue me." The idea gave her hope, but they were crushed as the image of Sokka's angry face came to mind. She wrinkled her nose and put her knees down and put on her thinking cap. "Hmm. If this is a ship, then sooner or later it will have to stop for fuel or supplies, or both." She stood up with solid hope in her heart. "And I could just sneak off this antique and go to a shrine like Aang said, and go home." She laughed. "It's simple! I could be home in, like…. I don't care! I could be going home and that's good enough for me!" She took a deep breath, and coughed. "Crap, they won't be inventing cough medicine for a while…" She sat on her cot and carefully took off her new shoes, a tune came to mind and she began to hum it. At last she pulled the covers up and she had stopped the tune, but the humming had not.
The candles had almost completely gone out but the humming did not die down, in fact as Natasha felt the boat rock on each wave, she could have sworn it was getting louder. At last she sat up. "Who's there?" She called. The sound of metallic wind chimes answered her. She took a deep breath and stood up, although she could barely see, she made it to the door and into the hall like she had done it a million times. "Ok! Where do I go now?" She said loudly. A small bell chimed in her ear, she nodded and started walking.
"Oh, the sweet cakes taste even sweeter when they are had late at night." Iroh said to himself as he walked out of the kitchen. He belched and patted his content stomach. He walked on, purposely taking a small detour, leading him to his nephew's door. He knocked cheerfully. There was a muffled 'come in' behind the door. Iroh opened the door, but stayed in the hall, out of range of Zuko's fury. "How went the intogerration?" He asked casually. "Uncle, it is late. Can we talk tomorrow?" Zuko said groggily. "Zuko, I am your Second in Command, it is my job to know what goes on in this ship, especially when it is about the Avatar." Iroh said half seriously, half mockingly. "I have already told the Captain to head for the next island. That is all I could get from her." Zuko said directing his attention to his candles. Iroh raised his eyebrow, Zuko only broke eye contact when he was hiding something. "Well the…" He began but he heard a noise at the end of the hall. He turned to see the girl walking straight at him. "Are you lost?" He inquired politely. She slowed, but did not stop. The expression on her face was that of confusion and distraction. "Zuko, come here." Iroh said to the open door. Zuko got up silently and looked at what his uncle was.
The hum grew louder and more urgent, as Natasha made her way through the halls. She turned a corner to see Zuko's uncle, Iroh, in the hall. She was about to say hello, when the bells rang furiously in her ear. It looked as if Iroh had said something to her, but it was muted, as were all the other sounds of the ship. Zuko appeared from the door Iroh was standing by. He had a no shirt on, showing a muscular chest, and strong arms, but his face showed grumpiness and disbelief. She passed them and went on, not knowing completely where she was going. She then came to a door, and felt the need to open it. She grabbed the handle, but felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see the shirtless Zuko and his uncle standing behind her. They mouthed something that she couldn't make out. "I have to!" She said, not hearing her own voice in the hum. She tried to turn around, but a sound of loud surging water pounded in her mind.
She opened the door quickly, to have a salty breeze whip at her clothes. She walked out onto the deck, waiting for the next instructions. She felt the presence of Iroh and Zuko behind her, but she paid them no heed. The wind chimes beckoned her to the left. She ran to the side and gasped. She hadn't realized how far up she was. She gulped. And climbed up on the railing and put her arms out. The chimes gave a final call then let the sounds of the sea and ship come back. "What are you doing!" Zuko yelled over the wind, his hand lit so he could see her clearly. Natasha took a deep breath. "She says I'll be back, don't worry!" She yelled back, and let herself fall into the dark, cold waters of the open sea.
Zuko gasped and ran to the ledge the girl had just jumped from. Iroh was right behind him. They both stared, wide eyed as they saw the girl falling and splash into the sea. "MAN OVER BOARD! " Iroh bellowed, to the lookout, who was in the room above the ship, but the lookout, he remembered, was also eating a midnight sweet cake. "HALT THE SHIP! LOWER THE ANCHOR!" He continued, trying to rouse any one wake, then went running to the room himself to stop the ship. Zuko was about to go too, when the moon cast a bright reflection onto the spot where Natasha had landed. Zuko looked up and gasped. The moon was clouded over by an up coming storm. A crack of thunder made him jump. He looked back down, to see the reflection being left behind as the ship kept coasting, even with out the engines on. He ran down the side, following the light that was coming from below the water and not above it. The ship had slowed and was almost completely stopped when a flash and boom came from the sky. Zuko finally hit the back of the ship to see the light a hundred feet from his ship. He growled and glanced back, the waves began to rock the huge ship, making it roll and rock sickeningly. He balanced himself against the railing, but kept his eyes on the light beneath the water. He suppressed a shudder as rain began to pour fat drops of water onto his bare back. He looked back at the light and saw that it was beginning to fade. He threw a final glance behind him, then climbed over the railing and dove.
