((Well I want to thank all of the people that have reviewed Sukkiri Mizu, Elexandros, fire wolf86, Ryuu Soba, Kaibathewolf, Red Hawk K'sani. You have no idea how much they mean to me. Well I hope that you all like this new chapter.))

Zhao looked at the men that had assembled in the chamber. The cold embers of the fire seemed determined to taunt him. Zuko had stay in that very chamber, and now the boy had vanished. And there was nothing he or his men could do about it.

"Commander?" one of the men asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure if the commander would like the fact that one of his men was challenging him, or even questioning the false plans laid hours ago.

"Yes?" Zhao asked his voice tight as he let his mind run around the facts again.

Zuko had been in the cave; the fire was proof enough for that. And, his men had been chasing the boy. Yet when they had arrived in the chamber all traces of the boy vanished, no more footprints in the dust on the hard ground. No more light bouncing off of the walls before them or loud breathing coming from the scared boy.

"Shouldn't we get back to camp before the others miss us?" he asked his voice soft, almost to soft for the commander to hear. He felt his body struggle to not shake but fear was a funny emotion. It gave him the strength to say what he needed and the racing heart for the consequences of speaking up.

Zhao looked at the man for a long moment, thinking about what had been said. True if most of his men where gone there would be questions, but that wasn't a number one concern right now. He looked at the man standing before him, his dark eyes wide with fear and his face set. He looked ready to go into battle over this one little comment.

"Five of you will stay here and keep looking for the boy. The rest will return to camp with me," he said in his commanding voice, the one that always got him what he wanted.

"Yes sir," the men said as one before several of them started to file out. He watched for a moment. Yet for all his watching he wasn't seeing a single thing. He couldn't figure out why he knew he had over looked something, but the feeling that he had kept tugging at the back of his mind.

He snapped out of his daze after a few moments, in time to see the last of his men leave the chamber. Turning to look at the ones left he noted that the five where not the ones he would have expected. All of them where new to his armada, had been moved after they survived an attack on a port close to the earth kingdom.

"You five? All right then, locate the boy. And don't come back until you have defeated him," he said still in the same tone before turning and striding from the room. He didn't look back, forcing himself not to question the actions he had taken.

Yet the fact he was missing something wouldn't leave his mind. Shrugging the thought off he light his own flame above his palm and calmly walked back to the entrance of the cave. He didn't stop until he was back out in daylight, the fresh morning air rolling around him and filling his lungs.

He blinked back a gasp as soon as he saw how much of the sun was already hanging above the ground. Walking briskly back to the camp he was sharing with the boy he started to come up with a reason for most of his men to be up and about so early. Training would work with most he figured but some would have to be homesick or something, as the thoughts rolled around his mind the thoughts of the prince vanished into thin air as camp came into view.

The men looked at each other, the flames above their hands cast flickering shadows over their faces, but the fear and worry that they felt was clear to any one looking at them. Slowly they came back to themselves to remember that the commander had given them orders. Moving to different points in the chamber they started to look for places Zuko could have hidden in.

Two of them stopped under the opening to the tunnel Zuko had been running down. The knew he had been there, his footprints where proof of that, what they couldn't understand was how the boy had managed to vanish without any prints farther then half way through the chamber. He hadn't even gotten close enough to the fire to light the stupid thing.

"Look if he was here he's long gone," one of them hissed to the other before turning to walk out of the cave his head held high.

"How can you say that?"

"Easily," he replied to his friend before stepping around a bend in the tunnel, and blocking him from the others view.

"You know what the commander said," his friend whispered to himself, knowing full well, he wasn't going to hear him anyway. Well the fool might hear him but he would never listen.

"Hey lighten up. Zhao isn't that bad. All we have to do is say that we lost the body in the river. Then it went out into the sea. No one is ever the wiser," a third man said stepping up and placing a comforting hand on the poor mans shoulder.

"And what happens when Prince Zuko comes back and tells Iroh what happened?" the second man asked glaring at the hand on his shoulder. He knew he was being immature, but heck he belonged to the fire. He was impatient and hated not having his way.

"That's why we change commanders as soon as we can. Ask to stay in the next port," the third man said retracting his hand, afraid it might burst into flames from the look it was getting. "Hey look, I know that this isn't the kind of thing that you might want, but it's either really look for the boy and kill him, or run for our lives. Which would you like? I mean the fire lord might had exiled him, but Zuko is still his son," the man said before starting out on his own.

The two other men looked at him with sadness in their eyes that he didn't need. Yet both opted to act like they where looking at the fire for a moment, acting like they where doing something.

"Sir?" one of them asked walking over to him. The other hang back, unwilling to face his wrath. Not that it was a surprise to any of them.

"Yes?"

"Sir you might be the commanders second in command, but you don't belong here. Not with him at least."

"What are you saying?"

"You have heart..."

"Are you calling me weak?"

"No sir. I think your heart is what gives you your strength. But it also serves as one of your weaknesses," the man said after taking a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves. "It's just that you know what will happen if the boy gets back to his uncle, and you still won't hunt him down," the man said before slipping past him and out of the chamber praying that the waterfall had warmed up from earlier.

"You got anything to say?" he snapped at the last man, who shock his head no.

"Good," he said gesturing for the man to leave before him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath knowing that this day could cost him his life. "Good luck my prince. You're going to need it," he said over his shoulder as he moved to catch up with the four other men just outside of the cave, all grinning at the small ship in the cove.

"Maybe we weren't the only ones afraid of the storm," the men commented to each other as the sat down at the edge of the pool at the base of the fall. They allowed memories to be called up and told, knowing they had an hour to kill before going back to camp.

Zuko let out the breath he had been holding just about the entire time the second in command had been standing under him. He looked up at the ceiling of vines that had save his life. The rough fibber of two of them was still cutting into his hands as he slowly let himself start to count to see if they were, in fact, gone.

He mentally yelled at himself for his act of cowardice but he couldn't get his hands to let go. As he berated himself for acting like a child he noted that the men seemed to have left the cave, and showed no sign of coming back.

Counting to ten he finally forced his hands to let go of the vines and let his body fall heavily to the ground. He didn't try and land on his feet, his legs where still dead from the poor circulation that they had received during the stay on the ceiling.

Rolling as he hit the dusty floor he let himself lay there waiting for any sign that there had been a man sitting outside of the chamber waiting for him to make a move. Taking a deep breath before scolding himself, he was a fighter after all, if anything he would beat the men in a dual, he climbed to his unsteady feet.

As he tried to get his legs to work the proper way he lit a small flame over his hand looking at the chamber in the new light. He was surprised that Zhao had allowed the fire to burn until it had died out. But what surprised him the most, was the fact that none of them had thought to look up.

Though their stupidity had given him a chance to get even with them. Grumbling to himself he forced his feet to take a few tentative steps to the opening in the chamber before he was forced to stop due to the pain of his legs ' waking up'.

He opened his mouth to yell at himself for being so weak but closed it with a soft snap when the sound of scuttling feet grabbed his attention. It wasn't the sound of rats running about their day. More like boot shuffling down a dusty hall.

"What the…?" he asked as he moved to follow the sound back into the chamber and down the tunnel to the left. He made the light his flame cast diminish to the point where he could barely see more then a foot in front of himself.

He glanced both ways every few steps but found no hiding places, or signs that anyone else was in the cave. The Chamber he entered after a few minutes of jogging was smaller then the one that he had slept in but another fire was in it, in the same place as the one in his had been.

And the fact that this one was still going gave him a slight rush of adrenaline. He knew that someone else was in the cave with him. That they where up ahead and running for whatever reasons they had.

Silently he stood in the middle of the chamber and let his flame die for a moment as he listened to the sound of the footsteps farther own down the path to the left. He mentally wondered if he would have met up with them had he taken the left to begin with before he started to jog again, lifting his hand and flame once more to illuminate his path.

He stopped to listen to them at each chamber but they always seemed just ahead of him, always on the left. Silently cursing himself for being worried about being heard if he went any faster, he pushed himself to the point of his silent walking abilities, not sure how good they were but having nothing else to blame for how far ahead they always were, he settled on that.

He didn't slow down until after ten chambers passed him by. The fires in them all had fresh logs on them but he stopped to look at the one in the room he was in. He didn't know what but he could tell something wasn't right about it. Though the green wood and red-hot flames didn't show him anything but an unattended fire.

Shaking his head to clear it of thought he dashed down the left passage in pursuit of his pray, no longer caring if he made noise. No need to blame something if he caught the person fleeing from him.

He tried to figure out what it was that bothered him so much about how far ahead of him the person stayed, but even in an all out sprint he came no closer to his pray. And when he had to stop for a breath after several more chambers flying by without him paying attention to how many he stopped for a moment to catch his breath and to make sure he was going the right way.

The shuffling footsteps where still going down the left tunnel but there were slower now, walking pace. Zuko narrowed his eyes again as he let the flame over his fist brighten and flare up in a burst of anger and hatred at how he was acting.

The only person he needed to capture was the Avatar, not some little person hiding in a cave out of fear. But try as he might to convince himself that it didn't matter if he caught the pray, he was silently moving along without the use of his own flame.

His hands reached out before him to hit that wall and lead him to the left tunnel. He felt like getting out of the chamber took forever but he knew it to be silent for he could hear the sound of the footsteps closer then before.

He pushed himself, trying to listen with all his might. And he could hear the person turning around. Before freezing in what he could only assume was a dead end. Smirking to himself at is victory he entered the last chamber and stopped.

There was no fire in this one, but that wasn't his problem. The waterfall out side seemed to have leaked into the ceiling of the final chamber, pooling on he floor a few feet from him. And while he couldn't see the water, he could hear it, as loud as the fall outside when one entered the cave.

Slowly letting the light and ember had come to his fist he let the flame fan into a brighter light silently gasping at the sight that met him before something moved under his foot ad he fell backwards, smashing his head on the ground.

He closed his eyes in pain as he struggled to get to his feet but found that his body wasn't working. And nothing he did was going to change that.

Iroh paced his hut again. He sat down in the chair he had clamed as his as the door was opened up and Zhao came striding in. The man just looked at the retired general, before bowing slightly in respect for one of the heroes of his nation.

"Commander Zhao, please come sit and have some tea with me on this morning," he said in way of greeting knowing full well what the commander had been doing last night and early that very morning.

"Thank-you," Zhao said as he moved to sit in the chair offered to him before taking the cut Iroh handed to him. He knew how much the old man loved his tea, and was slightly honored at the thought that he had been asked to join him.

"Commander, I assume that the storm has past?"

"No sir, this is a big storm. We are merle in the center of it, a pocket of fair weather. It's shouldn't last more then another few hours," Zhao said slightly shocked that Iroh hadn't noted that. Maybe being with the boy had sapped some of his perception.

Iroh took a deep sip of tea. He mentally sighed as he wished for more of his favorite tea, but figured that jasmine would have to do for now. "How long do you think we will be forced to stay on this island?" he asked after a moment of his beloved silence. He hadn't got that much of it since Zuko had been banished, the boy just wouldn't sleep.

"Another day, two at most," Zhao said taking a sip of his tea so as not to be rude and offend the older man.

"Tell me, Commander, have you seen Prince Zuko toady? He seems to have run off. Most likely to train," Iroh said in a light voice that showed none of his concern. He hoped his acting as if this were a common thing for him to deal with. But after the disaster that had happened the last time he had tried lying to the commander he didn't feel that much hope.

"No Sir, I have not seen the prince. If I do I will tell him you wish to speak with him," Zhao said praying he didn't show how much he meant by seeing the boy.

"Thank you, Commander," Iroh said stressing the post that had been given to the man. He wasn't sure if he had truly earned it or if he had faked his way to power as he believed he had. Commander Zhao was a decent fire bender but nothing overly great. And for all his strengths he had lost to Zuko when the boy had yet to master his basics.

Commander Zhao took that comment as a dismissal and got to his feet. He bowed again before striding to the door, the purpose for him going to see the retired general forgotten for the time being. But he was sure it would come back to him.

"Zhao," Iroh said when he reached the door, stopping the taller man in his tracks. "You and your men might wish to train. And I know that the ones from my ship wish to battle with people other then each other," he said before nodding his head good-bye to the other man.

"I'll set something up," Zhao said before stepping out of the tent mentally insulting himself for his actions with the older man. He had had an agenda but he had forgotten that for some odd reason. And now he had said that he would set up a training session for the men of both ships.

Sighing heavily he moved to go to his own hut only to be stopped by one of the men he had taken with him.

"Commander, the Avatar has been spotted," he said simply not bothering to take the time for formalities.

"Where?"

"An island to the north west. It's UN-populated and UN-charted," he said softly worried about the light behind the commander's eyes. The passion for capturing the avatar and bettering himself, in the fire lords eyes.

"How long will it take to reach?"

"Two days in good weather, but with this storm before and behind us about a week. If we leave after the storm it shouldn't take more then three d..a..y..s…" he said but trailed off on the last word due to Zhao walking away from him to him hut.

"Or ignore what I have to say. It's ok I'm not important anyway," the man hissed before jogging back to the area that had been used by Zhao and Iroh the night before. The rest of the men where standing around watching as two brutes went at each other, striking out with blows that would seriously harm and possibly even kill.

"Welcome to the fire nation," he muttered under his breath as he moved to stand next to his friends not taking the time to glance back at the commander or the five men coming back from the cave waving their arms franticly.

None of the men turned to look at the new ship as it sailed into the harbor and set down anchor. They found nothing about it odd, nothing wrong at all. And besides, watching the two idiots trying to kill each other was much more entertaining then anything else they could think of.