Author's note: So very sorry it took so long to get this chapter done, but I was without my laptop and my desktop computer for thee longest time which meant I didn't have access to anything I'd written for this story (or any of my other WIP). My desktop computer is still out of commission, but thankfully I have my laptop again! So here is chapter five. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Six years earlier

"General Iroh I'm honored that you chose to attend this meeting."

"Thank you, Chief Hakoda, but the honor is all mines."

Chief Hakoda sat down at the large round table and the General followed suit. His staff began to bring in lunch.

"I heard you are quite the tea aficionado. I hope that our tea will live up to your rather high standards."

"I have heard a great many things about the waterbending tea practices of the great Southern Water tribe, I am sure that your tea will be to my liking."

"Good. Now if we can get down to the official business of our meeting; The Steam Alliance the marriage of your nephew to my daughter. One hundred years of war and the reparations you've paid out have left the Fire Nation greatly in debt, and if the Southern Water Tribe has to keep fighting this war against the North we will be unable to sustain our way of life. Though the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation are strange bedfellows I do believe this alliance will help us more than it would hurt us."

"Yes. I can agree upon that." Iroh took a sip of tea and closed his eyes in delight. "Wonderful. Whatever waterbending techniques you are applying to the tea by all means keep doing."

Chief Hakoda chuckled. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Pardon my interrupting, please continue with the business at hand."

"Of course. There is the matter of you having no heir if you were to, may thee Spirits protect your soul, die today without a proper heir it would throw the Fire Nation into complete chaos."

"Yes. My nephew is set to become Fire Lord when he comes of age, but he will need to produce an heir and, although I don't believe a child or any person for that manner should be referred to as such, a spare."

"You already know my daughter was set to marry the Northern Chief's son, Hahn, but the more I talked with Pakku the more I gathered he instilled in Hahn that his most important duty was to produce an heir whether my daughter was ready to do so or not. Chief Pakku merely sees Katara as an incubator."

"I can see why you broke the marriage contract." Iroh said,

"Ever since Pakku learned of Madame Wu's prophecy about Katara being a waterbender of unparalleled power that is all he's been able to see when he looks at her." Hakoda's voice took on a sharp edge that was punctuated by the furrowing of his brows. "He doesn't think of her as a human being capable of her own thoughts and free will. As strong willed as Katara is I don't think I have to paint you a picture of what will happen to her if she were to move away from her home and marry into a society that views women as chattel. I respect that in the Fire Nation there is equality among the sexes."

"That is at least one good thing that the Fire Nation has going for it, eh?"

Hakoda smiled wryly. "I'm not going to pretend that I don't have my own concerns about my daughter marrying into the Fire Nation, but I do know that your nephew is not his father, nor is he anything like Pakku or Hahn."

"No he is not. My nephew has struggled. He grew up in a harsh and unforgiving environment, but he has always had good in him. He has not let his past turn him into a harsh or unforgiving person. He is not cruel. In fact Zuko behaving differently from his father is what got him banished from the Fire Nation in the first place."

"I've heard the rumors about his banishment, but I don't believe any of them, I would like to hear from you the real reason why Prince Zuko was banished."

"Naturally I blame myself. Prince Zuko wanted to sit in on a state of the nation briefing. I knew he wasn't ready for the meeting but he earnestly wanted to go because one day he would be Fire Lord and he wanted to learn all that he could as soon as he could. I warned him not to speak during the meeting as those in politics can be a bit sensitive."

"Isn't that the truth." Hakoda said and poured Iroh another cup of tea.

"For most of the meeting everything went fine and I was optimistic that the rest of the meeting would go on without incident, but that was foolish optimism on my part. When Haruya Anzai, the Minister of Education, asked Ozai to make the ideologies of Fire Lord Sozin and Azulon a compulsory part of the Fire Nation's history curriculum Zuko spoke out against the plan."

"Oh no. That can't have been good."

"My nephew loves his country dearly, but he was mortified at the thought of new generations being taught that our country was on the right side of history during the one hundred year war. Zuko was right you see, but it was not his place to speak out, and he didn't know then about his father's involvement in the neo-Azulon movement."

"So that's why he banished his only son? Unbelievable."

"Yes, but I'm afraid that is not the end of the story. After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko challenging the Minister of Education was an act of complete disrespect, and there was only one way to resolve this..." Iroh trailed off leaving Hakoda to draw his own conclusion.

Chief Hakoda shook his head."Don't tell me his father; his own father challenged his son to an agni kai?"

"That's right. Zuko declared that he was not afraid, but he misunderstood. He had spoken out against the minister's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's throne room it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected, so Zuko had to duel his own father."

"That is sick. I can't believe that Ozai is such a small minded petty little megalomaniac that he would burn and disfigure his son in an agni kai, and for what?"

"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. After the duel Ozai said that by refusing to fight Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment he was banished."

"Jail is too good for that subhuman pile of garbage." Hakoda said. "Any man that could do that to his own child isn't a man at all."

"I feel the same way, but in being banished it stopped Zuko from becoming like his father."

"I suppose so, but you had a lot to do with that too."

"Yes, but Zuko did the most changing on his own. I can assure you that he will treat your daughter with nothing but the utmost respect. My nephew appears rough around the edges but all that bravado belies one of the purest hearts the world has ever seen. Believe me when I say the two will be well matched. You won't find a better ally for the Southern Water tribe than The Fire Nation and you won't find a better husband for your daughter in all the world than my nephew."

"Lao Beifong? Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"He owns the Earthen Fire Refinery."

"Oh, well no wonder why he's so rich."

Zuko shot more fireballs into the sky and the ship gave out another bone rattling blast of it's horn.

Katara propelled the submersible towards the ship just as a dinghy was being lowered into the water. The two watercrafts met up and the crew from the Beifong's ship helped them on to the dinghy. The dinghy was raised back up to the ship.

"Prince Zuko, Princess Katara it's an honor to have you aboard the S.S.S Golden Gaoling. I'm Captain Li Na Beifong." Li Na was wearing Earth Kingdom fatigues. She was muscular and towered over both Zuko and Katara giving off quite the commanding presence.

"You're Lao's niece right?" Zuko asked.

Li Na nodded and her short ponytail bobbed up and down between her shoulder blades.

"Thank you for rescuing us." Katara said.

"You are welcome. If you don't mind my asking what were the two of you doing out in the middle of the Mo ce sea?"

"We were on our way to the South Pole when we were attacked by the North. Can you send a communication to the Fire Nation at once to let them know about our whereabouts and get the status on Admiral Matsumoto and the rest of the crew."

"Right away Prince Zuko."

"Is Lao or Toph aboard this ship?"

"No. I'm on a recovery mission on my uncle's behalf. My crew and I are hoping to find out who it is that's been stealing from his refinery."

"What was stolen?" Zuko asked.

"Metal. A lot of metal was stolen from Lao's iron refinery, Qiáng Tiě. It was the only refinery of Lao's to be hit. The thefts have been going on for quite some time but so far we've been unable to catch the culprit. Lao suspects it might be someone from the inside."

"When Zuko and I were captured we were taken to an underwater base that had an airlock with passageways that were made of metal. The passageways went on for miles whoever built them would have required a lot of metal."

Li Na stroked her chin. "Yes they would, but I can't see northern benders being able to take that much metal from the refinery without anyone noticing. I think Lao is right some one that works for him must have helped the north if they are indeed the thieves."

"The Fire Nation has an exclusive contract with the Qiáng Tiě refinery." Zuko explained. "It's the biggest iron refinery in the four nations I doubt that any other refinery could produce the amount of metal needed for what we saw when we were captured in that underwater base. If I had to guess who the culprit was it would be the north, but the question is why?"

"We need to go back." Katara said. "Back to the underwater base."

"What!?"

Katara turned to face Zuko."Don't say what like that."

"How else am I supposed to say it when you come up with such a stupid idea?"

"It's not stupid. Think about it Zuko, Lao probably has a way to identify his metal in case it ever got stolen."

"Right! So if we go back there we could find out if it was taken from the Qiáng Tiě refinery."

"Captain Li Na is there a way of telling if the metal came from the Qiáng Tiě refinery?" Katara asked.

"Yes. All of the metal is branded with a firemark that can be seen when you pass a flame over it. The flame has to be heated to a certain degree and only people who work for the Qiáng Tiě refinery know that temperature."

"Are you sure you want to do this Katara?" Zuko asked. "You don't have to. I know how badly you want to go to the South Pole and be with your family."

Katara closed her eyes and a moment later tears tracked their way down her face. "As much as I love Bato and as much as I would love to go back home I'm needed here. It's the best way to help the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation."

"If both of you are sure that you want to help recover the stolen metal I'll be more than happy to take you to Lao's house. We can fill my uncle in on the latest developments. I'm sure he will assist you in anyway he can, but first the two of you should rest and recover. It looks as though you've been through a lot."

Katara took a deep shuddering breath. "We'd like that very much thank you."

"Well then I'll send the communication out to the Fire Nation and we can be on our way." After sending out the communication Li Na came back and showed them to their private quarters. "We won't reach landfall until the morning so you two can sleep here. "This is our finest and best quarters, and I've also laid out a change of clothes. Sorry they're only fatigues but it's all we have."

"That's O.K. I really appreciate everything you're doing for us." Katara said.

"Well it's not everyday you get a visit from royalty. Dinner will be served at eighteen hundred hours. Take care your majesties." Captain Li Na bowed and then left.

Zuko sat down on the bed. "I don't know what I'm going to do about the North attacking us. It's a serious offense that I can't let go unpunished, but I can't expect the rest of the world to get involved, so if I go after the North on my own how much force do I need to come at them with? I'm not Fire Lord yet, but the whole world is watching every move I make to see what kind of Fire Lord I'll become."

"We can figure it out together. Let's talk to Lao first and see what he has to say and then we'll go and see if it's the North who took the metal, and if it is we'll go from there." Katara said and sat down besides him.

"Did you know that Lao's daughter invented metal bending?"

"Really?"

"Yes. Toph is an amazing earthbender."

"So what's she like?"

Zuko laughed. "Toph is well Toph. She's blind but she never let that stop her from doing pretty much anything. You wouldn't even know she's blind when you see her bend."

"I wonder who taught her to earthbend? It couldn't have been easy with her being blind."

"Badger moles."

"Badger moles? That is amazing. Toph sounds interesting."

"Interesting doesn't even begin to describe her. Toph is stubborn and unmovable as a mountain and loud as an avalanche, but she's always been a good friend to me. It'll be good to see her again. She's the little sister I wish I had. I love my sister but sometimes she makes it hard. Most of the time she makes it hard."

"Well I was looking forward to meeting your sister."

"If Azula had been allowed to get away from home and my father like I did I don't think she'd be the way she is now, but she's always been my father's favorite he'd never send her away."

"Why did your father send you away?"

"I spoke up about doing the right thing at the wrong time."

Katara watched Zuko's eyes as they traveled through time back to the day he was sent away. She had willingly left home and that had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done in her life she couldn't imagine how it would feel to be sent away from home against your will by the person who supposedly loved you.

"I don't think there's ever a wrong time to speak out about the right thing. Sounds like the only thing you did was say it to the wrong person."

"Thanks."

"What is Lao Beifong like?"

"He's a decent guy. He cares about his family. His wife Poppy is an elegant noble woman you'll probably like her a lot."

"What does that mean?"

Zuko shrugged. "I don't know. I just mean you're elegant like Poppy. She always looks nice and always knows the right things to do and say in social settings like you do."

"I don't always know the right thing to say."

"Yes you do." Zuko countered. "It's a good thing a Fire Lady should be diplomatic."

"Diplomacy isn't going to help us out of this situation."

"No, but it can't hurt. My uncle says a little diplomacy goes a long way."

"Besides your mom your uncle is the only family member that I've heard you talk favorably about."

"You already know that my father is a monster, and where my sister is concerned the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My uncle is the only honorable family member I have left."

"No he's not. You have my family which means you've got my father, my brother, and my gran gran."

Zuko smiled. "Never had a brother or a Gran gran before least not a Gran gran that I remember."

"You're in lucky then because as it happens my brother and Gran gran are the best there is. After all this is over with we can finally go to the South and you can meet them. I only wish it was under happier circumstances."

"So do I."

"I try not to think about him too much, but the more I try not to think about Bato the more I think about him." Katara buried her face in her hands and shook her head. "I was so upset before I wasn't thinking straight. No matter how upset I was I should have never demanded you take me back to the South. Now Admiral Matsumoto and his crew are missing and it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault Katara. I don't know where the Admiral or his crew are but if they're out there I'll find them. I promise."

His words couldn't shut up the voice telling her that if Admiral Matsumoto and his crew were dead it was all her fault. They had families and loved ones who would have to hear the news that no one ever wanted to hear. Her being in pain didn't excuse her causing pain to others, and if she had caused others pain she didn't know how she was going to forgive herself.

"Dinner is in twenty minutes do you feel like going out and eating with everyone else? If not I could bring your dinner to you and we can eat in our room."

"Thanks, but I think I'll feel better if I went out and ate dinner with everyone else. I'm going to take a shower and change before dinner." Katara kept hoping that changing in front of Zuko would get easier but so far it wasn't. He was still enough of a stranger to make intimate little things like changing feel awkward so she took her fatigues with her and got dressed in the small bathroom.

While Zuko showered she turned down the bed so that it would be ready for them when they got back from dinner. It was a lot smaller than the one they had back in Hira'a but it didn't matter somehow she always ended up snuggled up next to Zuko who was always warmer than she was. It reminded her of how fire and warmth were so important to the South. Without fire to create light or heat there was no life.

Zuko had gotten dressed in the bathroom too but he might as well have been in his towel as he stepped into their room with wet hair and well fitting fatigues.

"You're staring."

"Oh. Sorry. It's just that you look really good in those fatigues." She admitted.

"Oh, uh thanks." He gave a slow shy smile. "You look good too, but you always look good in everything."

"Thank you uiga." Katara said and took his hand and headed to the deck of the ship.

Dinner was delicious. Li Na's friend Aimi caught several fish and they had the fresh fried fish for dinner.

"I'm the best fisher in my village, maybe even the Earth Kingdom, probably the whole world." Aimi said.

"Forgive Aimi she doesn't do modesty." Li Na explained.

Aimi waved her hand back and forth. "Life is too short not to celebrate yourself. If you can do it well wear it well. I say."

"I like that." Katara said. "That's a good saying."

"I'm full of them."

"Oh, you're full of something, but it's not sayings."

"May I introduce you to Suki the comedy queen of Kyoshi Island." Aimi said.

"If you can do it well wear it well." Suki quipped.

Aimi stuck out her tongue and narrowed her eyes at Suki. "I do not like you."

Katara sat back in her chair and relaxed a little. It was a perfect day for sailing. The winds and the sea were calm. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but still the day was warm enough to enjoy without the sun making the warmth feel unbearable.

"I still can't believe that you were attacked by the Northern Water Tribe, I never thought I'd live to see a civil war between the two Water Tribes." Suki said.

"I never thought I would either." Katara admitted. "Things were great when Chief Arnook was ruling the North, but when Pakku took over so did his elitist ideas about the North. He was one of the biggest opponents of the South's independence."

"Is that why he's waging war against his fellow tribe?" Li Na asked.

"It's one of his reasons." She wasn't about to get into the whole broken marriage contract. "Arnook was changing things giving women more power, but Pakku is all about tradition to him the old ways are the only way."

"Why did Arnook step down?"

"It was more that he was forced to step down. After their daughter died Arnook and his wife, Nerrivik went into a deep grief, but when you're a royal you have to have an heir and a spare. They tried but Nerrivik was unable to get pregnant again. She had four miscarriages in a row and they took their toll on her and Arnook. When it looked like they weren't going to be able to produce another heir Pakku started a smear campaign against them. He pointed out to anyone who would listen that their grief and depression made them unfit to rule. He played on the north's fear about having a ruling Chief that couldn't produce an heir to his advantage, and he knew that Arnook and Nerrivik were at such a low point they wouldn't fight him to keep the throne."

"Wait, I thought Arnook and Pakku were brothers." Li Na said.

"They are." Katara answered.

"So how could Pakku do that to Arnook?" Aimi wanted to know.

"Pakku is an arrogant asshole who thinks he alone knows what's best for the Water Tribes, but he doesn't. He says he wants to keep the traditions of the Water Tribe alive, but he's a liar. He's keeping everything the same because that's the easiest way for him to control people his brother included."

"That's so awful." Suki cried.

"But it's not the way it has to be." Zuko replied. "Pakku has already kidnapped us and if we can prove that he's behind the thefts from Lao's company I know we can convince King Kuei that all the nations need policing."

Aimi arched one eyebrow."Uh, what?"

"Yeah, Li Na added, what are you talking about?"

"I'm going to request an audience with King Kuei to see if he would be interested in officially forming a united peace council. With his help I think we can get all four nations together to draw up a peace treaty that everyone agrees on."

"Zuko that's an excellent idea." Katara said.

"Seems mighty ambitious." Suki said.

"What's the point of being in power if your not going to use that power to make the world a better place?" Katara asked. "Helping to make a change in the world is not only our responsibility it's our duty."

"That means you'll have to remove Pakku from the throne." Li Na said. "There's no way you could ever draw up any kind of peace treaty with him on the throne."

"After we draw up formal charges against him I'm sure it won't be a problem."

"Do you really think that King Kuei will go for it?" Suki asked. "He's been pretty adamant about keeping Ba Sing Se free from any more wars."

"He is a fool if he thinks he can keep Ba Sing Se from another war." Zuko said. "I don't want another war to ever happen again but that's not a realistic expectation especially for a country as large as the Earth Kingdom. At least with a peace treaty in place there will be clear lines drawn so that if and when someone violates them every nation can agree on how we should deal with their violation."

"I like that." Li Na said. "You're going to make a good Fire Lord."

"Thank you. Now I only need to convince the rest of the world."

"We will, Zuko, Katara said. We will."

As Zuko watched the sun rising from the deck of Lao Beifong's ship he was comforted in the fact that back in the Fire Nation palace his uncle was up with a cup of tea doing the same thing. At the same time he was worried about what Azula might be doing. She was out of sight but not out of his mind. He had no doubt that she was using his absence to try and take back the throne. She had attacked their uncle once before and there was nothing to stop her from trying to do it again or hiring someone else to do it for her. Azula would do her best to undo all the efforts he was putting forth to change the reputation of the Fire Nation. He wondered how best to reach her if she was even reachable. He didn't want to think of his sister as a lost cause. What if his uncle had thought of him as a lost cause? Where would he be?

That however was one problem he didn't want Katara to be caught in the middle of, but just as her family was his family his was hers, and she now had to contend with his relatives and all the issues that came along with them. A missing mother, a jailed father, and an embittered sister. The only saving grace was his uncle.

"There you are." Came Katara's voice from behind him. "I woke up and you were gone."

"Sorry. I didn't want to wake you."

Katara stuck out her bottom lip. "I can't sleep when you're not there."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Is that so hard to believe?"

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the sky. It was better than looking at Katara and confirming that he was an open book. "I don't know I thought maybe you needed the heat."

"I do, Katara answered truthfully, but it isn't just the heat it's the person providing the heat."

He didn't know what to say about that so he turned to look at her through his eyelashes.

"You're not used to hearing people say nice things to you are you?"

He shrugged.

Katara put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin in order to look him directly in his eyes. "Well that's going to change."

Zuko felt a stupid grin spread across his face and made no effort to stop it. He couldn't believe how enthusiastic she was about making him feel good about himself.

"Prince Zuko. Princess Katara. I have a communication from your uncle the regent Fire Lord." Li Na said. She handed over a letter.

Zuko opened it up and smiled when he saw his uncle's familiar handwriting.

"What does it say?" Katara wanted to know.

"My uncle says he's glad we're all right and that we should continue on with our mission. He's managing to hold things down in the Fire Nation. I should have known he would be more than capable."

"What about Admiral Matsumoto and his crew? Have they been found yet?"

"No. I'm afraid they're still lost at sea."

Katara gasped. "No! This is all my fault."

"Don't think the worst." Zuko told her.

"He's right." Li Na added. "The Mo Ce sea is huge. It could take weeks to find the crew, and just because they haven't been found yet doesn't mean that they won't be found alive."

Katara wasn't convinced. She was sure that Admiral Matsumoto and his crew were all dead. She was only sixteen years old, but in those sixteen years she'd seen much horror, carnage, and death. All she could think about was the bloated waterlogged bodies being fished out of the Mo Ce sea and the families that would have to identify them. All of that was on her and her alone. Just as was Bato's death and her mother's. A wave of warmth came over her and the taste of bile flooded her mouth. She retched as she clutched her heaving stomach and ran over to the edge of the ship on wobbly legs and was sick over the side while Zuko held her hair back.

When she was done being sick she leaned back against Zuko and rested in his arms and closed her eyes.

"We'll be reaching land shortly." Li Na said softly and placed a hand on Katara's shoulder. "Will you be needing anything?"

"No, but thanks." Zuko said. "I'll take her to our quarters to freshen up. Please let me know the moment we've reached our destination."

"Of course your majesties." Li Na said and bowed out.

"You don't need to take me back to our room, Zuko. I can manage by myself."

"OK." Zuko said. He wasn't entirely sure if she should be by herself, but still he watched her go.

After Katara finished washing her face and brushing her teeth she sat on the edge of her bed taking advantage of her time alone to think. She was anxious to get to the bottom of the metal thefts because the sooner they found out who stole the metal the sooner they could find out what the thieves were up to, and that might uncover a clue that would help find out what happened to Admiral Matsumoto and his crew. No one could just vanish into thin air unless the Spirits were involved and she was sure they hadn't been. There had to be some kind of clue she was overlooking some tell tale sign she'd ignored. Katara racked her brain as she thought back to that night. It had been smooth sailing until the north showed up and then everything dissolved into pure chaos when the benders had sailed up on outriggers and tried to board the ship. Of course! It was so obvious that Katara couldn't believe that she hadn't of thought of it before now. She popped up off of the bed and ran out onto the deck.

"Zuko, the Outriggers!"

"What?" Zuko took his hands off of the railing and spun around to face Katara.

"The Northern benders were using outriggers, but they aren't a mode of transportation used by the Northern or Southern Water Tribe. I'm not too familiar with what method of transportation the people of Hira'a use, but an outrigger makes more sense for a warmer climate to use."

"You're right they are a part of Hira'a's culture. A huge part." Zuko acknowledged. "I don't know why I didn't think of that until before now."

"Because we were under attack and worrying about outriggers wasn't exactly a top priority."

"I guess not, but what do you think it means?"

Katara shrugged. "I don't know yet, but maybe it means that someone from Hira'a is helping the North."

"But why? Hira'a is still a part of the Fire Nation and I can't see the Northern Water Tribe working with the Fire Nation."

"I can't either, but I don't know any other explanation." She sighed. "The more we find out the less we find out we know, but I know that together we'll figure this out."

"Before it's too late? That underwater base was elaborate and you don't make something that elaborate unless you plan to use it." Zuko ran his fingers through his hair. "The fact that they were able to pull this off under everyone's noses means that they're already several steps ahead of us. Whatever they planned could happen tomorrow or could already be happening."

"No. I don't think they planned on us escaping." Katara reasoned. "That's got to have slowed them down or at least forced them to change their plans, and now they know that we'll be looking for them."

"We've reached land, your majesties." Li Na announced.

"Thank you." Katara said.

"I couldn't get a carriage but there is a ostrich horse stable near by. If your majesties don't object we can ride out to my uncle's house."

"That's fine with me." Zuko said and then turned to Katara. "How do you feel about it?"

"I don't know how to ride an ostrich horse."

"Don't worry about it you can ride behind me."

Katara stretched out before they began their walk to the stable. The smell of the stable greeted her long before they came upon it causing Katara to wrinkle her nose against the smell.

"You get used to it after awhile." Zuko informed her.

Katara very much doubted that. Zuko brought supplies, food stuffs, and water from the little general store attached to the stable and then rented the ostrich horses for their group. He lead their ostrich horse over to where Katara was standing.

"Go ahead and pet her." Zuko said. "Despite their size they're very gentle animals."

Katara lifted her hand slowly and reached out to pet the coarse brown feathers. "What's her name?"

"Mo Chou." Zuko said and adroitly mounted the horse and then held his hand out to Katara.

She took his hand and he pulled her up onto their mount as if she weighed no more than a feather. Katara felt her cheeks heat up as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Once again she was struck by the contrast in their marital relationship; they were strangers but there were times like now where she felt like she'd known Zuko for years that they were connected beyond the marriage they'd been forced into. It was foolish to keep thinking that way, but it was a thought that would not leave her mind.

They rode for most of the morning. A pleasant breeze stirred across the vast fields of the Earth Kingdom pushing a string of clouds across the sun. Katara watched fire-dragonflies dart around and lit on puddles of water. Prairie gopher squirrels came out of their holes in the ground and gamboled across the grassy stretch of land. It was amazing how open the Earth Kingdom felt. The land stretched on and on for miles in any direction. Looking across the plains gave Katara the feeling of eternity; that no matter what direction they went in the land would keep going on and on with no sign of civilization in sight just the endless plains and the sky that seemed bluer and bigger than she'd seen it anywhere else in the world.

At midday the group stopped to water the ostrich horses and have lunch.

"Katara was able to slide off of Mo Chou without Zuko's help but as she walked around she felt as if she were still riding.

Zuko laughed at her bow legged walk.

"Don't laugh! Walking around on the land feels weird after being on "Mo Chou for so long."

"You'll get your saddle legs before too long, princess." Li Na assured her.

Suki spread out a blanket and began unpacking the food that Zuko brought.

Katara settled down on the blanket next to Zuko and helped herself to a moon peach. "How much longer before we reach Lao's?"

"A little under an hour." Li Na said.

"That means we should reach his place while there's still plenty of daylight left, so we can relax here for a little while." Katara said and watched Zuko take his bread crust and crumble them up near an anthill. The little ways in which he was thoughtful made her smile.

"Less than an hour and you'll finally meet Toph." Zuko said. "I hope you're ready."

"I don't think anyone can ever be ready for that experience." Aimi said.

"I don't know whether to be scared or excited."

"Both." Zuko said. "How has Toph been, Li Na?"

"I think I'll let my uncle fill you in. There's a lot to tell."

"And Lao won't mind all of us showing up like this?" Katara asked.

"No. I sent a messenger hawk ahead of us so he knows we're coming, besides my uncle will be thrilled to be visited by the future Fire Lord and Lady."

"I think Lao's known me way too long to think of me as a Fire Lord. He probably still thinks of me as that goofy little kid running around and playing with his swords pretending to be a Dragon Emperor."

"Aww, I'll bet you looked so cute." Katara cooed.

Zuko scowled. "We should start heading out. I'm sure the ostrich horses have had enough to drink by now."

Katara giggled and held out the saddle bag for Aimi to pack up the leftover food into.

"How do you plan on getting back into the underwater base?" Aimi wanted to know. "Even with Lao helping it won't be as easy as just knocking on the door and asking to be let in."

"I was planning on asking Toph for her help. She invented metalbending so being able to get into the base wouldn't be a problem for her. The main problem is how do we get in without being detected." Zuko mused.

"If you can remember where the base was we can do a stakeout. Once we know their comings and goings we can plan accordingly." Li Na said.

"That's right you'll have the full support of the Kyoshi warriors too." Suki said.

Katara buckled up the saddlebag and Zuko took it from her and secured it onto the back of Mo Chou. He helped her up into the saddle and the group was off again. She grew more accustomed to the jolting feeling that riding created, but she still couldn't wait to get off the back of Mo Chou, so it was a great relief when Li Na announced that they had arrived at the Beifong estate.

There were two guards posted at the front gate that bore a symbol of a flying boar. Upon seeing Li Na the guards let them inside of the estate's walls.

"It's amazing." Katara breathed out. Stone footpaths divided the immaculate lawn. All the trees within the grounds were perfectly pruned. There was a small pagoda that was the perfect place to escape to when there was too much sun. A footbridge that crossed over a large pond was situated closer to the house. The actual Beifong manor set at the back of the gated estate; taking it all in was like viewing a work of art.

"I swear this estate has more wings than an aviary." Aimi noted.

A part from the main manor Katara counted six separate buildings one of them was the stable. The stable hands came out from the stable to board their ostrich horses

"To me it feels like a second home." Zuko said. "More of a home than the palace."

"One man's home is another person's prison." Li Na said.

"What does that mean?" Katara wanted to know.

"Nothing that you won't find out soon enough."

As the group walked into the grand foyer they were met by Lao and Poppy Beifong. Katara had never seen such well dressed people in her life. In fact Poppy seemed almost too elegant to be real.

"Prince Zuko and Princess Katara what a privilege it is to have you grace our estate with your presence." Poppy said and bowed.

"You don't have to bother with the formalities, please." Zuko said. I'd like to have one place where I can just be Zuko, so where is Toph?"

"I'm afraid Toph has run away from home again." Lao said.

Katara looked from Lao to Poppy. "Again?"

"She first ran away from home when she was twelve years old. We hired two men to bring her back but I'm afraid that only made everything that much worse." Poppy dabbed her eyes with a silk handkerchief. "Now I don't know if our sweet little Toph will ever come home."

The corner of Zuko's mouth twitched. He had a hard time thinking of Toph as sweet, and while she was little in stature everything else about Toph was as big as a mountain.

"I'm sure Toph will come back home." Katara said. "She probably just needs some time to think things over on her own, but once she realizes how much she misses home she'll want to come back."

"Oh, I do hope you're right Katara."

Katara took Poppy's hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze. "You'll see just give her time."

Zuko wasn't sure about that. Katara didn't know Toph the way he did and she didn't know how stubborn Toph could be. She'd run away from home once and had to be brought back the fact that she'd runaway again didn't leave him with an optimistic feeling that she would be coming home anytime soon with a song in her heart and an apology on her lips. Maybe while he was out looking for the thieves he could also look for Toph. She was fully capable of looking after herself but that didn't mean she wasn't lonely out there on her own and he knew what it was to be lonely. If he hadn't of had his uncle to look after him when he'd been banished from home he didn't know what would have happened to him, but it wouldn't have been good.

"How about we have the servants show you to your rooms?" Lao said. "After you've freshened up we can meet up and discuss the situation of my missing metal."

"Are any of you hungry? If so we can have the chef prepare something for you." Poppy said.

"No. We already ate, but thank you for asking." Katara said. "We'll just go freshen up and then get down to business."

"Good. I'll see you shortly." Lao said.

The servants showed everyone to their room. He and Katara were given the biggest and best room. Usually Zuko liked to sleep in one of the smaller simpler rooms, but he thought that Katara would enjoy the master guest suite.

"How do you like Beifong estate so far?"

"It's beautiful I can see why you like it here, but I guess Toph didn't or else why did she run away two times?"

"Her parents are very overprotective all her life they've tried to keep Toph from the world when all she's ever wanted to do is go out into the world and kick its ass. it's something that's always been a point of contention between the three of them. That time that Toph ran away at twelve was to join Earth Rumble VI she won the entire tournament, her earthbending is that good."

Katara's mouth dropped open. "She won Earth Rumble VI at twelve years old? If she's that good why do her parents think she needs protecting?"

"I don't know. Maybe they feel they're to blame for Toph being born blind like somehow they didn't do enough to protect her, and if they let her out in the world now she'll only get hurt worse."

"Do you think she'll ever come back home?"

"Honestly, no."

"That's terrible. If she loves her parents at all she has to be missing them."

"It's funny Toph's parents can't accept her for who she is, but they still love her and would do anything to have her come back home again, but she doesn't want to. My father can't accept me for who I am and did everything within his power to banish me indefinitely, but I wanted to come back home more than anything else."

"We should try and find her and talk to her." Katara said. "She's only fourteen and no matter how tough she is I know that she misses her home and her parents."

"I know. I plan on looking for her while we try to recover her father's metal, but you don't know Toph like I do. When she feels slighted she becomes even more stubborn than she usually is and believe me that's quite a feat."

"I think we're up to the challenge."

"I do too. Let's get freshened up and get going."

After Zuko and Katara made themselves presentable they met Lao in his office. The crew of the S.S.S Golden Gaoling and a young man that Zuko didn't recognize were already sat around a long conference table. A servant poured everyone a cup of tea and then exited from the room.

"I guess I should start." Zuko said and recalled the story of their ordeal for Lao.

Lao steepled his fingers under his chin. "Well the Northern benders using outriggers proves my theory that the metal thieves are getting inside help. My partner Loban is a Fire Nation citizen I'll ask him if he's noticed anything untoward among the employees."

"Why isn't Loban here this concerns him too." Zuko said.

"He had some business to attend in Cranefish Town, but his nephew Satoru is here to fill in on his behalf."

Satoru stood and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you your highnesses."

"It's just Zuko." He informed Satoru and motioned for him to sit down.

"So that just leaves the matter of finding my uncle's metal and the dirtbags responsible for taking it." Li Na said

"I know a factory in Hira'a where they make outriggers I can give the place a visit." Satoru offered. "If I ask some questions I might get some answers."

"That's a good idea, but you shouldn't go by yourself." Katara said. "It could be dangerous."

"Oh it will be dangerous so I'll go with him." Aimi volunteered.

"While the two of you are doing that Zuko, Katara, and I will try and find the underwater base." Suki said.

"That leaves me to stay here in Gaoling to poke around the Qiáng Tiě refinery." Li Na said. "But don't worry I'll take the other Kyoshi warriors with me."

Zuko stood up to address the room. "We'll head out tomorrow and then meet back here at the end of the day to discuss what we've found."

"Uuh, what if our business takes longer than a day?" Satoru asked.

"If it does you can send a message back to my estate. I have more than enough messenger hawks for each group to take one with them before they go. I'll be waiting here so any messages you send out I'll receive." Lao said.

Zuko started for his room with Katara following behind him, but Suki stopped them before either of them could get there.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering how do you plan on getting into the underwater base without Toph?"

"I'm going to go looking for Toph, and not just to ask her to help us but because she's my friend. The only trouble is I don't even know where to begin looking."

"I do."

Zuko, Katara, and Suki all spun around in unison and stared at Satoru.

"You do, how?" Zuko asked.

Satoru lowered his voice. "I used to be a run away and when I was living on the streets of the Lower Ring in Ba Sing Se I ran into Toph and we became friends. She's staying with some friends of mines. If you promise not to tell her parents where she is I can take you to her."

"As the prince of the Fire Nation and future Fire Lord you have my promise." Zuko said.