Chapter 26: Zuko Finds the Power of Friendship (It's Called Kidnapping)

When Zuko woke up, the Avatar was kidnapping him. This was a status that continued despite his best efforts to escape. Every time he shook off the stupid monk's hands and stumbled away towards his ship, somehow he ended up not going towards the harbor at all and also tipped over on the ground, with a lemur batting at his face with chitter-purring concern. He was… experiencing navigational difficulties. He really wanted Lieutenant Jee here, so he could yell at him about course corrections.

"Zuko, please stop running away. It's going to be light out soon and then I bet those scary archers will be out hunting for us. We need to go. I told you I can fly you back on Appa, but first we need to get frozen frogs—"

Zuko remembered being told that. Kind of. But it still didn't change the fact that the Avatar was capturing him, which was backwards and not at all acceptable, and why was the Avatar looking at him was he doing that talking out loud thing again?

"Only for the last… ah, half-hour? But it's okay, because—because I'm not capturing you, you're capturing me! Once I fly you back to your ship, then you'll have me right where you want me. That's definitely your clever plan, so you should stop running away. Hold this frog for me? Thanks!"

It… wasn't a bad plan. So Zuko sat in the mud while the Avatar dug out frogs. They were frozen for some reason, even though the water wasn't, how did that make sense, were they waterbending frogs?

"I hadn't thought of that! Wow, I always heard waterbenders learned from the moon but maybe it was frogs all along and they're just too embarrassed to admit it—"

Or maybe there was a creepy waterbending predator previously unknown to man lurking in the depths of this swamp, stalking unwary airbenders through the pre-dawn darkness from the murky water, freezing its prey into snack-sized portions to consume at its leisure.

"...Uh. You don't really think there's something in the water, do you? Lurking, and stalking, and freezing..."

Zuko wasn't talking to the stupid Avatar, he was having an interal monologue featuring the stupid Avatar.

"Oh. Sorry. Wow, this one's huge!"

Zuko and his internal monologue quickly discovered that frozen frogs felt really good pressed against the bump on his head.

The lemur quickly discovered that he liked licking frozen frogs that his boy-tree helpfully held up. (Frozen frogs were very strange tree-fruit, but the lemur was not one to complain about things-that-made-his-tongue-go-numb.)

The Avatar quickly discovered that firebender foreheads and lemur licks defrosted frogs really quickly and Zuko either didn't remember or didn't care that he kept telling him not to put them on your head and don't let Momo do that. Aang carried his own frogs thereafter.

"Hey," the Avatar said brightly, as he tugged Zuko further up the mountain. Wait, when did they start climbing? "Umm, awhile ago? But I was going to say that this is awesome, I'm finally getting my field trip with you! And it was really fun, except for the parts that were terrifying, but judging by what Sokka and Katara don't say I'm guessing that's how field trips with you work? So I'm doing it right!"

"No," Zuko said. Very clearly. Out loud. "This isn't a field trip. And if it was, it would be Momo's. Not yours."

The Avatar ignored him. "This is so great, everyone else got one—"

The lemur chittered at Aang. Zuko agreed. (Concussions made him fluent in lemur.)

Across the Earth Kingdom, in the sleepy town of Gaoling with its stable merchant class and its unregulated underground fighting ring, Toph felt like she just got cheated. Like everyone else had gotten a turn at something and she hadn't. She didn't like this feeling.

As with most things in her life, she took her dissatisfaction out on her current opponent.

"The Blind Bandit wins the championship!"

The bison growled at him. Zuko took a step back and crossed his arms and scowled at the cave wall, because it wasn't like he cared what a giant fluff-monster thought of him, anyway.

Chitter, Momo scolded the bison.

"I don't need you to defend me!" Zuko huffed. Though he appreciated the lemur's efforts.

"Umm," Sokka said. "Why is Zuko holding complete conversations with Momo? And what's in my mou—ah! Ugh! Eww! Pfft! Ptew! AANG!"

The bison stood very slowly, lumbering to its feet with a gentle shake to remove children, dust, and various lemur-provided oddaments from its fur.

Zuko squared his shoulders and lifted his chin and scowled at the wall harder. And his heart definitely didn't do any fluttery-weird beats as the bison came closer. And sniffed him, which made all of Zuko's hair (and one lemur) drift up like it was getting sucked in.

Chitter, Momo said.

"He's stupid anyway, and I bet he sheds everywhere, and—"

The bison licked him. Which was—it was—it was appalling, it made Zuko stand up on tiptoes and almost fall over, he tried to fit it on the scale from unagi vomit to giant elbow leech slime but had to shift it to the side on its own scale—

(A new scale, for things that felt horrible-nice instead of just horrible.)

The bison lay back down with a whuff. And well. If he was going to sulk about it, then Zuko had to kind of… sit next to him. And lean in. And it maybe get absorbed into his fur just a little. Sokka was right, it wasn't as soft as it looked but it was still really, really easy to sink into. And past the long coarse hairs on top there was a super fluffy fine-haired undercoat that was eating his arms— (It wasn't nice or comfortable or warm as a just-banked fire at all, but… maybe he could just stay here for awhile? His frozen frog ice packs had all hopped away and his head hurt again.)

Chitter, Momo said.

Groan, Appa said.

"You're both too flammable and I hate pets anyway," Zuko muttered. "Except for dragons," he added, and fell asleep.

Sokka blinked over at this scene. He tried to be surprised that the Prince of the Fire Nation had just become one with a sky bison's fur, but somehow wasn't. "Did you make a friend, Aang?"

"Yeah! I think?" ...And that was the air nomad's guilty-feet shuffle.

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Did you kidnap a friend, Aang?"

"No! Umm. I think?"

Sokka gave himself the forehead slap of that-was-a-yes. "How much of a head start do we have before the cheerful old guy comes to roast us?"

"Uh, I don't think he knows where Zuko is. See, I got caught by Zhao and then Zuko came and he was deflecting arrows with swords, it was so cool, we were barely holding them all off with both of us and then he said I'll cover you and he held them all off himself and we escaped, he rescued me all on his own—"

Chitter, Momo objected.

Groan, was Appa's long-suffering agreement.

"—Monkeyfeathers! I was supposed to say 'What happens at Pohuai Stronghold stays at Pohuai Stronghold,' wasn't I? Ugh, I need a field trip do-over!"

When Zuko woke back up, the sun had fully risen and he couldn't speak lemur anymore. There were peasant-voices saying peasant-things outside the cave, but in here he could pretend that the bison's big slow heartbeat under him was the only sound in the world.

He'd rescued the Avatar. Rescued. That was the opposite of capturing, and even if he went out there and re-captured him right now and then flew back to his ship on the sky bison who would definitely realize that Zuko was going to treat it better than a stupid air nomad ever could, once he was back in the palace he'd buy it the most expensive hay and he'd have servants brush it twice a day and anytime Azula even looked at them funny they could go flying to a different prefecture (and that would be at least three times a day) and—

And okay so probably the bison would hate him if he captured Aang. But Zuko hadn't captured him. Because he'd rescued him.

Zuko squeezed his eyes shut and curled into a tight ball on his side, which was the appropriate preparation when he expected the world to kick him. He slowly slowly brought one hand up next to his face, and cracked his bad eye not-his-good-one so that if it didn't work than maybe he just wasn't seeing it right, and… and he tried to light a flame.

And the fire came, steady and strong as it had been since he'd not-danced with dragons. So. At least Agni wasn't angry with him again.

But that still left Father.

Zuko kept the little fire going, and stayed curled in his ball, and wondered if doing the right thing would always make him feel this sick.

(He'd thrown up after saving the 41st, too.)

The peasants were still talking, and it was easier to listen to them than to his own thoughts. Zuko lay on itchy-soft fur and stared at his fire and breathed, deep slow breaths like the bison's.

"So how serious are you about this kidnapping?" Sokka said, and Zuko's flame leapt a little.

"I didn't kidnap him!" the Avatar protested.

"All I'm saying is, we could probably have him about three hundred feet in the air before he wakes up."

Zuko should probably have been more upset about this. But his head hurt and so did his ankle and his skinned hand, and there was a lemur curled up in the dip between his chin and his shoulder (which also hurt), and the bison was sweaty-warm in a way that made him not ever want to move again. And if they actually tried to put him in that saddle, there was plenty of time to light them on fire then. (And if they wanted to kidnap him, didn't that mean they wanted him?)

"I promised I'd fly him back to his ship," the Avatar said. "And I didn't kidnap him!"

"So he came with you. Willingly."

"Well, he did try to run away a lot…"

There was a long pause. And then the distinctive sound of a peasant slapping a hand to his own face, and it probably said something about his relationship with Sokka that Zuko could recognize that without looking.

"Okay maybe I kidnapped him a little. But it's not like we can just keep him."

Another long pause, and then the waterbender spoke. "Actually…"

"Yeah," Sokka said, and the way they were both talking made Zuko pretty sure they were doing a sibling eye contact thing. He and Azula did it sometimes too, but usually theirs didn't end in agreement. "Aang. Who's Zuko's dad?"

"The… Fire Lord?"

"And who's the most evil guy in the world?"

"Probably the Fire Lord. Unless there's some kind of crazy serial killer hiding in a small village chaining up victims, or—"

"Let's just focus on that first answer. Now, who is a little incendiary ball of shouting who is somehow not evil despite all expectations, initial impressions, continued impressions, and his own best efforts to the contrary?"

"...Zuko?"

"Yeah. So how about we not let him keep hanging out with the other evil Fire Nation people, one of whom—not to name names, but the Fire Lord—is almost certainly a child abuser, as if we needed another reason to take him down? Seriously. If he were Water Tribe, Ozai's the kind of guy who would have an accident on a hunt and someone else would adopt his angry little child. I'm pretty young to be adopting, but I do kind of want to see my dad's face when he realizes he left for two years and now I've got a son. A firebending son. Pretty sure he'd never leave me behind again."

"We can't just—" Aang started.

" 'Brother' makes more sense, Sokka—" Katara started.

"My dad is not a—!" Zuko started, and didn't know how to finish, but that was what fireballs were for.

"Uh-huh," Sokka said, and he didn't even dodge he just trusted that Zuko was aiming over his shoulder. "So, brother or son? You've got to be family somehow, or the rest of the Tribe might try to push you off an iceberg when you do the fire-magic thing."

Zuko growled. And Sokka, again, did not dodge. Zuko had to snuff a trailing spark before it lit the tribesman's stupid not-even-a-real-top-knot on fire. "You aren't kidnapping me! Or… or adopting me! I have a family, and they're not Water Tribe!"

"But they could be," Sokka said, and preemptively hid behind a conveniently Sokka-sized nonflammable rock column.

Zuko debated chasing after him, but Momo was yawning on his shoulder and Appa was trying to tuck him back under a giant fuzzy leg. And his head really hurt. He compromised at sitting up, wincing.

"How are you feeling?" the waterbender asked, like she cared.

"You tried to flood a Fire Nation town." This wasn't an answer to her question, but it was the answer that mattered.

Sokka didn't think telling his little buddy/brother/son (okay, yeah, son would be weird) about how his new sister/aunt (aunt sounds less weird, maybe Sokka could be an uncle? Zuko seemed to have good taste in those) (wow, sitting still and trusting a firebender to not hit him really made his mind and/or adrenal glands jumpy, he was definitely going to keep hiding behind this column until he stopped smelling phantom smoke next to his head) (but anyway:) he didn't think telling Zuko that Katara was prone to swooning for Earth Kingdom terrorists was going to help this situation. Jet was barrel of blasting jelly he didn't want to touch.

And they still needed to establish how kidnapped Zuko was. Soonish, because the sun was fully up and Appa was mostly packed and it was about time they hit the sky.

"You know what would stop us from flooding additional Fire Nation towns?" Sokka asked. "A Fire Nation advisor. I mean, this party—nay, this Gaang—is pretty Water Tribe heavy, and we're going to be surrounded by more Water Tribe soon—"

"So you are going to the North Pole!"

"Uh, yeah? Aang needs a waterbending master. So does Katara. And after that we'll be heading to the Earth Kingdom and picking up a teacher there and be we'll be surrounded by all those Earth-y types. Fire's last in line. That means months and/or years of the Avatar having your enemies whispering all sorts of woe-is-us-the-Fire-Nation-is-so-evil completely true, might I add propaganda into Aang's impressionable young mind." Sokka edged out from behind his safe stone column, and emphasized this point with a poke to Aang's blue head-arrow. "Just look at how impressionable he is, his head literally comes with pre-printed instructions on where to put the propaganda. If only he had some kind of sane, rational voice of megalomania to explain to us the Fire Nation's oh-so-superior ways."

His little buddy kept resting against Appa's side, with an uncharacteristic lack of attacking-Sokka-on-principle. He just crossed his arms. "You're trying to get me to kidnap myself."

"...Is it working?"

"I'm not listening to someone who glues arrows to lemurs."

"I… what? I do not!"

Katara was looking far too thoughtful for comfort. She had a thinky-crease on her forehead and everything. "There was an arrow glued to Momo… And you were hallucinating. A lot."

"I was hallucinating that I was Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis the Fourth, Junior, Knight-Champion of Earthbendia. Lemurs are non-native to Earthbendia!" This point did not seem to convince them. "Do I look like the kind of person who would glue an arrow to a lemur?" Belief in his innocence continued to not be. "Where would I even get glue? Or an arrow?"

As one, the others looked at the extremely large pile of random things that he vaguely recalled messenger hawks delivering from devoted citizens to the bossy-but-beloved Queen of Earthbendia.

"Okay, if a lemur brings me glue and an arrow while I'm trying to send a messenger hawk as a thank you to Her Majesty's imaginary hallucinated subjects for their many offerings, I cannot be held responsible for my actions! Also, any gluing that may or definitely may not have occurred during aforementioned hallucinations have nothing to do with this current non-hallucinated discussion! Now, is this a voluntary kidnapping, or are we actually kidnapping you?"

His little buddy scowled. "Neither, this isn't a kidnapping at all!"

"Great; voluntary. We'll finish packing and be on our way. I'm sure your uncle will be stalking us, so we'll just pick up your things from the ship the next time we see him—"

"I'm not going to let you use me against Father!"

Which was not the anti-kidnapping argument Sokka was expecting, to be honest. Though 'taking the Fire Prince hostage' was arguably a pretty solid strategic move, it wasn't one he'd given any thought to. At all. Which wasn't actually like him, but there was a pretty obvious reason for it. He shared a look with Katara, and somehow Momo and Appa got included, but Aang looked pretty confused, bless his impressionable head. "Zuko. Can we use you against your father? Does he care?"

And oh hey there stone column ol' buddy, Sokka was just going to never leave your protection again, because there was all the jumping up and actually-attempting-to-aim-his-fire that this conversation had been missing. The terrifying heat cut off after a moment, and a couple of this-is-fine-this-is-okay breaths after that Sokka stuck his head out just far enough to peek and not a flammable-hair further.

Katara had all that tiny rage wrapped up in a hug. Zuko wasn't fighting his way free in nearly as effectual of a manner as Sokka knew he could. It was like he was just sulking in her arms, but with more occasional elbows to her ribs. Judging by his sister's almost complete lack of reaction, they weren't even that hard of elbows.

"Think about it," his sister said softly, "what's going to do the most good for your nation—catching Aang and... and giving him to your father? Or teaching Aang about all the good things in the Fire Nation?"

Sokka admired his sister's ability to say 'all the good things in the Fire Nation' with a straight face. And maybe that showed in his face, because his little buddy was shooting him a look and Sokka was just going to duck right back around this stone, was what Sokka was going to do.

"...I have been thinking about it," Zuko said.

"I know," Katara said. "You did a really good thing last night. I'm proud of you."

Sokka risked another look, just a smidge of a peek, around the other side of the column. The expression on his little buddy's face was like he hadn't heard anyone tell him that in ever. Sokka was pretty sure Operation Parental Custody Transfer was a go, and Katara was New Mom.

Which was when the Fire Nation showed up to ruin everything. Because of course.

Uncle Sokka gripped his sword.

Lieutenant Jee had been hiking for miles. At night. Through a swamp. Following a trail Crewman Teruko claimed was there, and not invisible, and yes Sir I'm sure. And though yes Teruko he'd grown up in a city, he did not consider himself a city boy anymore than he thought it paranoid to think that something had been stalking him through the waters. There had been a lot of unaccounted for splashes in the dark.

He was ready to go back to the Wani now. To the ocean, where the worst they had to fear was a leviathan-kraken, which would at least have the dignity and self-respect to attack them outright and still be there when he turned around.

Lieutenant Jee cleared his throat, and trusted that the sound adequately reflected how little he currently cared that a bunch of children were now taking defensive stances against them.

The prince startled, and shoved the waterbender off of him. "This isn't what it looks like, especially if it looks like treason!"

Jee's armor was gunked with mud and water weeds. It did not creak. This was fortunate, as nothing polite could have possibly been conveyed. "...Let's get you back, sir."

"Ahem," the Water Tribe boy said. "We're kidnapping him. Not you. Go find your own prince."

Jee shifted his weight, and his armor ribbited. "Prince Zuko, we must be back at the ship before Zhao comes looking for you. I strongly suspect—" he shifted his gaze to the bald monk "—that the Avatar escaped last night. It would be most unfortunate if witnesses could place you anywhere but on the Wani."

The prince hesitated. Crewman Teruko glanced to Jee, but Jee… didn't know what to say.

Actually. He did.

"It would be most unfortunate for your crew and your uncle as well, sir. I suspect they'll swear you never left your room, even if you haven't yet returned. It would be better for everyone if you were found in your room."

The prince paled. Lieutenant Jee did not feel particularly good about this, but it had to be done. He wasn't going to let a group of irresponsible children kidnap his prince. They could go find their own.

When it became clear that Prince Zuko would be leaving, the children didn't fight them. The bison looked like it might have, but Zuko… hugged its nose. The lieutenant saw fit to be looking elsewhere as this transpired, though he was fairly certain Teruko was watching with a particularly unprofessional smile. The hardest part was getting the lemur off of the prince's head. Which was, it should be noted, not a phrase Lieutenant Jee had ever thought he'd use.

"No, you can't just live here, get off! Zhao will know if he sees you, you—stop looking for bugs!"

The prince glanced back at the other children, and scowled, and didn't say goodbye. Which made significant sense, given that he'd never been here at all.

"Hey, Zuko," the Water Tribe boy called after them. "Don't you even dare send another hawk to check our heading. I definitely won't fall for that again."

Lieutenant Jee missed his creaky armor. He settled for a sigh.

The prince started coughing on the way back. If they'd spent a bit longer up at that cave, perhaps the Avatar could have warned them how fast that particular symptom could escalate.

It was frankly disturbing how easily Prince Zuko could climb from a rickety rowboat up to a porthole while running a high fever. It was almost like he'd done this far too often before. It certainly answered the question of how he'd left unseen in the first place.

It had taken Zhao some time to organize troops—loyal troops, troops who could and would aim. It had taken more time to strategically position ships at the harbor's entrance, ones that would obstruct a certain Banished Prince's ship should it choose to flee.

It didn't. The Wani sat quietly in its slip throughout the morning as it had throughout the night, by all appearances the very model of a law-abiding rust-bucket.

Zhao was going to enjoy this.

"By the order of—" one of his men loudly hailed the ship. Really, there was no reason not to make a spectacle of this.

"Admiral Zhao!" a somewhat frazzled looking Dragon of the West greeted them. Without lowering the boarding ramp. "I'm afraid there is sickness aboard, and we have some cause to believe it's—"

"Contagious, General?" Zhao sneered. "Really, you could come up with something new. Lower the ramp at once. I will see Prince Zuko, no matter how indisposed he might be."

"As you wish, Admiral."

Zhao strode up the ramp, his best men around him. They should prove sufficient as lightning rods if it came to it. The Dragon of the West was powerful, but like any dragon, he was hardly immortal.

"May I ask what brings you here, Admiral? I fear our hospitality may not be up to its usual standard—"

"The prince is under arrest for treason."

"Just what treason could he have committed? My nephew has been bed-ridden."

"Dragon Pox again, General?" Zhao knew the way to the prince's room, and he took it, dragging his entourage plus one discarded heir behind him.

"Swamp Frog Fever. Or so our doctor thinks; Zuko is making the diagnosis… somewhat difficult. Causing difficulties is quite the talent of his, it would seem!"

The man smiled. Smiled. Zhao scowled at him, and pushed his way into Prince Zuko's quarters.

"I am not putting a frog in my mouth! Especially not one you dug out of your armor!"

The prince's supposed illness was clearly having no effect on his volume. Zhao paused a moment to take in the scene, to savor the last moment the little nuisance would have of freedom before—

Zhao was hit in the face with a pillow. He stood, blinking, as it fell to the floor. Then he really did take in the scene.

The prince had dragged his futon over to the front of his desk, and… barricaded himself in the space under it. His face was flushed and his shoulders shaking with fever. And when he was not shouting, he was coughing, though he seemed to be doing his best to alternate the two regularly.

The ship's captain and another crewman were trying to coax him out. Their armor was somewhat singed for the effort.

"What is this?" Zhao hissed.

"As I said, my nephew has been quite ill."

"Just—sir, stop—" the captain, one Lieutenant Jee, if Zhao recalled, made a grab for the boy.

Zuko responded by trailing his arms in a circle and threatening him with hands that crackled with seed lightning.

...The boy could do lightning now.

"Last night the Banished Prince broke into Pohuai Stronghold, and freed the Avatar—" Zhao began hotly.

"My nephew locked himself inside his room yesterday morning. Very shortly after your visit, Admiral. We have had quite a long night, trying to reach him."

"There are dozens of witnesses—"

"Oh? What did they see?" The General, it should be noted, was still smiling. His own hands were tucked innocuously up his sleeves. Lightning, he did not have to say at all, because every relaxed line of his body reminded Zhao just how quickly it could be produced, how unblockable it was. Cold fire was the ultimate in firebending, grasped by only a few masters in every generation.

And a twelve year old boy who was currently ranting about how he wasn't a lemur and he wouldn't lick a frog.

Zhao had dozens of witnesses who saw a twelve-year-old sized boy (or spirit, as some insisted), wearing dark clothes and a mask. Using swords, and perhaps airbending, but no flames. No lightning.

Of all people, Zhao did believe in spirits. But… it was Prince Zuko. It was.

The boy wobbled under his desk fort, behind the safety of his futon shield. His eyes darted between Zhao and Jee and back again, the pupils large and unfocused. "...Sideburn children."

In this moment of inattention, his officers pounced him. They dragged him out, pinned him down, and… shoved a frog into his mouth. The prince kicked. The frog kicked. The old general hmmed. "That frog may have defrosted too much. Perhaps we must acquire a fresher one?"

The prince spit, and coughed, and turned desperate eyes on the man who'd come to arrest him. "Admiral Zhao, I order you to help me. Zhao—"

Admiral Zhao left.

An hour later, he began coughing.

Ozai was beginning to dread any mail that came from the vicinity of Zuko's ship. He was tracking that location very closely, these days.

From the newly promoted Admiral of the Northern Fleet, Zhao:

—escaped with the aid of the spirits, evading or outright blocking even the countless arrows of the Yuyan. This only exemplifies the need to address the other spirit issue I brought to Your Majesty's attention, before the Avatar entrenches himself in the north and the target becomes unreachable. Or worse, sides directly with the World Spirit against Your Majesty's subjects—

Zuko got a letter, too. Once he'd sent Fire Flake out to take a heading.

We'll be at the northernmost town on Blue Orca Harbor by the seventh of Seal-Turtle Moon. Don't know what that is in your calendar, don't care. Join us or don't, but stop skimping on the paper, there's something undignified about writing titles on the same line as the message. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Advisor to the Avatar, Smallest Writer in Four Nations, I Don't Know Who Glued An Arrow To Momo But It Wasn't Me (Though It May Have Been Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis the Fourth, Junior, Knight-Champion of Earthbendia)

Later, he heard that the Avatar saved a town from a volcano. It wasn't a Fire Nation town, but he supposed it was a start.

AN: Replies to Guesties:

Lol, ch 25: Your musical suggestion is in good taste, and the Yuyan adopt it as their private theme song. Colonel Shinu pretends not to know that they now have a private theme song, and quietly drinks to forget that it is Pirates of the Carribean Yakety Sax.

Waterlily573, ch 25:

Dearest Waterlily of the Titular Waterpond, Flowery Beauty Whose Radiance Makes The Sun Hide Its Bashful Face Behind a Cloud (Almost) as Fluffy as Appa, Gracious Home of of Wayward Frogs, Supreme Ruler of the Realm Most Watery and Kind Patron of This Story Most Humble:

The author is cheered by your gracious comment and kind words, particular those upon style and character portrayals. Your abundance of praise has brought joy into her life. Please accept this gift of one (1) fuzzy yellow turtleduckling as a token of thanks, and as the newest subject in your watery domain.

With Fondest Internet Regard,

She Who Encourages You to Laugh On Trains,

But Is Slightly Unclear On How to Visualize a Sentient Waterlily Either Riding a Train or Laughing,

But Supports Your Life Choices Anyway,

Especially the Ones That Led You to Add Titles To Your Missive,

The Author