Chapter Four:
Zuko shut the door of his room and began to take of his armor until he was only wearing pants and a shirt.
"It's to hot to be wearing armor at this time of year." He grumbled. He walked over to the wooden table beside his bed and picked up the old map that was lying on it. He unrolled it and sat down.
"Hmmm." He examined it; it was a copy of the map in the cabin where his Uncle was currently drinking tea. "At this rate we should the next fire nation strong hold by the day after tomorrow. We'll have to stop there for supplies."
"Prince Zuko!" his Uncle yelled as he passed his shut door on the way to look for a midnight snack, "You're talking to yourself!"
"I am not!" Prince Zuko snapped back.
"Whatever you say Prince Zuko."
Prince Zuko began to pace his room. "But I must take measures to ensure that the girl and her brother don't cause any problems. I cannot let them go until I have captured the Avatar and the comet has passed. The boy is of no concern but the girl……she could be a problem, with her water bending." A picture floated through his mind of the girl. He remembered seeing her water bend before. He could picture it in his head, how graceful she moved as the water flowed through the air.
"What!" he stopped pacing, startled, "What am I doing!" He shook his head vigorously back and forth to clear the thoughts from his mind. "This heat is getting to me. I need some rest." He blew out the lanterns, lay down, and promptly fell asleep.
Aang stared up at the sky as the stars drifted slowly past. He knew he needed to get some rest but he couldn't. There was to great a sense of lose and anger inside him from the capture of Katara. Everywhere I go I put the people I care about most in danger. He thought sadly. He rolled over and sat up. Sokka was lying beside him asleep. He had suffered from a bad burn on his arm but other than that was alright. After Sokka woke up and Aang had made a hurried explanation of what was going on, they had decided they didn't have any time to lose. They needed to catch up with Zuko as soon as possible so they had agreed to sleep on Appa's back and fly all night to a near by earth bending village where they would stop for provisions.
Aang leaned over and patted Appa's back. "You're doing great buddy."
Appa grunted happily.
Sokka sat up with a start. "I didn't eat it!" he shouted looking around wildly.
Aang stared at him. "Sokka?"
"Oh, sorry. Guess I was dreaming." Sokka glanced around. "Why are you still awake?"
"I couldn't sleep. I'm too worried about Katara."
"I know." Sokka looked down sadly. "Tell me again what happened? Why did he take Katara?"
"I've been thinking about that. His plan is to force me to follow him to the fire nation where we will arrive when the comet comes, so that I have no chance to stop them. If I try to take Katara back he will hurt her and once the comet comes it will be too late. But I think I may have thought of a plan that might save her and stop the fire nation before the comet arrives." He bit his lip, worried.
"How's that?" Sokka asked quietly, looking at Aang.
"Well….it's a long shot and we would have to be very secretive about it. If Prince Zuko found out it would be bad news for Katara. We have to make him think we're so worried that we're thinking of nothing but rescuing her. But perhaps we could go on to the North Pole by ourselves and I could try to learn the other bending skills, at least, the basics. Then I could practice while we follow Katara and Zuko to the fire nation. We know Katara will be safe for the moment because he needs her to use as bait for me." He stopped and sat thinking.
"You know that might work. It is a long shot, but it's the best plan we've got. What are we going to do when we get to the fire nation though?"
"I don't know. I guess we'll figure that out when we get there."
Sokka watched Aang and realized how sad he was over Katara's capture. "Don't worry, we'll stop for some supplies tomorrow and be at the North Pole in two days. It'll be ok. We've always managed before."
Aang gave him a half smile. "Yeah, I guess so."