I don't own ATLA.

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East Coastie1500 – Hopefully that means I'm doing a good job. I'll tell you that hearing things like that is truly encouraging because I want to try and get one of my original stories published in the near future and a good novel causes the reader to react with what's going on.

SalanTrong – Lol. Ya, if you're a fan of fantasy you'd pick it up easily enough. I'm a huge fan of dragons, so I couldn't resist. Besides for that, Drake plays an important role in this story, in both dragon and human form.

Chapter 3

Zuko paced up and down in his chambers, "Who does that girl think she is taking the Avatar away from me," he growled.

"I believe she said her name was Keara Avion prince Zuko," Iroh said before taking a sip of his tea.

"I know what her name is," he growled.

"I would not brewed over it," his uncle advised, "Come sit and have some tea, it will help with your nerves."

"There is nothing wrong with my nerves!"

Iroh took another sip of his tea calmly. "I would beg to differ prince Zuko. She seems to have shaken you up quite a bit."

The prince growled and roughly sat himself down opposite his uncle, but did not touch the substance his uncle loved. "I'll make her regret prolonging my mission."

"Now that seems highly unreasonable of you, she would defeat you easily."

"What! How can you say such a thing uncle!"

Iroh took another sip of his tea before speaking, "Simply. She proved to be your superior in a simple display of mending the ship. Her technique was very advanced."

"Then teach me the advanced moves," Zuko said a little louder than necessary, "I need them to catch the Avatar and now this girl."

"I cannot teach you beyond the basics until you learn some patience prince Zuko, as it is the bases of learning the advanced techniques properly."

Zuko slammed his hand on the table, rattling the china, "We don't have time uncle! I must catch the Avatar before Zoah!"

"And what does Keara have to do with that?"

"She's in my way," Zuko growled.

"Ah, yes," he sipped his tea, "But in what way?"

vvvvv

Aang held his arms to the side and relished the breeze that blew by him as Drake continued his journey, Appa right behind them. "This is great! I've only been on a dragon once before."

Keara laughed softly, "This is his calm and steady pace, you'd be amazed at how fast he can go when he's in battle."

The Avatar put his arms down and looked over his shoulders at her, "You battle?"

"Ya," Keara responded with a sigh, "Or I used to anyway. Before I came here I was the main General of my nation's army and led them to many great victories."

Aang nodded and turned his head back forward, "Did you enjoy it?"

Keara thought a moment before responding. "It all depended on the battle. If the enemy attacked my people first, in our domain mind you, I was all for striking back and striking hard. But I never was one to approve of attacking another nation in their home unless there was a really good reason for it."

The boy seemed pleased with the answer as he sighed and relaxed his shoulders. For several moments silence fell between them, but when it was broken it was done so in a slightly depressed manner. "There's a war going on now between the three remaining nations of the world and I'm supposed to stop it all. The problem is, I have less than a year to learn water, fire and earth bending or else I won't be able to do the duty I am supposed to."

"Well- say I never did catch your name," Keara found herself saying instead of what she had initially meant.

"Aang," The boy answered, "Though some people call me the Avatar, as you know from Zuko."

Keara nodded, "Well Aang, I don't think you should work yourself up over the matter just yet. If you do you won't get anything done and thus make matters worse, but since you know what is needed of you within a specific amount of time you can work on it at a reasonable pace. This would keep you from panicking and allow you to get everything done."

The boy looked to her and smiled, "You're really smart."

Keara laughed, "I'm just speaking from experience. You'll find that you learn a lot from wars and that knowledge is not just in category of battle. You learn about yourself, friendship, honor, life, death and many more things that belong to different categories. It's truly amazing what you can learn even from the most dreadful of things."

"If only all firebenders were like you," Aang mused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Aang tuned his gaze back forward, "You just don't seem as aggressive as the firebenders here. It was because of them the war started."

"I can't say I'm not aggressive because I know I am," Keara told him, "But I will admit that I am different from the fire users back in my world and from what I've seen from the fire users here they are little different when it comes to their attitude. Then again I've only met two here."

"Why do you say fire users and not firebenders?" Aang asked curiously

Keara shrugged, "In my world we call ourselves fire users, or fire warriors. This term of 'firebender' is new to me, but I suppose I'll pick up on it quickly enough."

"Why are you in this world?" Aang asked the question that had been brewing on his mind since he had heard of her being from another world.

"Um, that's a bit of a touchy subject at the moment," she said softly before patting Drake's side, "Right Drake?" The dragon gave a low roar in response.

"Oh, sorry."

"No need to apologize," Keara said with a small laugh, "I don't really mind since I have a choice on whether I want to answer your questions or not." She once again patted the dragon's side, "Hey Drake slow down a bit so Aang's friends can catch up, I'm sure they're worried about him."

Drake slowed down just enough for the flying bison to come up beside him. "You alright Aang?" Katara asked.

"Ya," Aang said with a laugh, "Riding a dragon is loads of fun!"

Keara laughed lightly, "It can be indeed." She looked over to the Avatars friends and sighed, "We should be getting you back on your way Aang."

The Avatar looked back to her, "I am going the right way. We were heading to the North Pole so that I can learn waterbending from a master before Zuko forced us to land with his attacks."

"Ah, that's why you were on his ship," Keara mused, "I was wondering why you would have been there since it seemed you were enemies." She shrugged, "Now let's get you back on board your bison… Aang what's the girls name?"

"Katara, and Appa is the bison's name."

Keara said a quick thank you and turned her attention to the bison's passengers, "Katara get Appa under Drake so Aang can just jump down to you."

For a moment Katara was confused but quickly moved to do as she had been asked. In moments Appa was flying under Drake, slightly to the side of him to allow the saddle to be seen from where Aang and Keara sat.

"Ready?"

The boy looked to her, "Why don't you come with us?"

Keara was taken by surprise, "You want me to come with you?"

"Ya," Aang smiled, "You're not like the other firebender's and besides you don't have a specific place to go to since you're from another world."

With a smile Keara spoke, "Thank you Aang, I greatly appreciate it." She patted Drake's side once again, "You think Drake could come with us? Not in dragon form obviously since he'd attract far too much attention."

"He has another form?" Aang asked in pure confusion.

"Indeed," Keara chuckled, "It's a rare trait among his kind, but he figured it out so he could be around me when I was little."

"That's so cool!" Aang cried in awe and glee.

With another smile Keara nodded, "It is." She looked down to the bison below, "You'd better get going before they think I'm being an evil fire user."

Aang nodded and swung his leg over so both of them were on the same side, "They'll see that you're not like the other firebender's, just as I have." With that he slid off Drake's back and in seconds landed soundly on the back of his flying friend.

"Ready Drake?" Keara questioned once she saw that Aang was safe. When the dragon gave a soft roar she slid of his back and landed on Appa. Drake turned human and landed ever gracefully on his feet.

"He's human!" Sokka yelled in surprise.

"No," was Keara's simple answer.

Drake smirked, "I'm very much a dragon, though I can appear as one of your kind at will."

Sokka moved as far away from him as possible without falling out of the saddle. Katara too showed great amounts of shock and had taken several steps back, but upon seeing that Aang held no fear of him she let herself relax.

"Guys," Aang began, "This is Keara and Drake," he motioned to each one as he said their name. "They'll be traveling with us."

"Are you crazy! She's a firebender!" Sokka yelled.

"But she's not like any fire bender we've met Sokka," Aang said calmly, "From what I can tell she's really nice and so is Drake."

"From what you can tell," Sokka cried, echoing his friend.

Keara held up her hands, "I promise no harm and I can say the same thing for Drake, however if you wish me to leave I shall."

Katara took a few cautious steps towards her, "I don't think you need to." She looked to Aang, "If he trusts you and you're a firebender than that has to mean something since we've never gotten along with them."

"Precisely the reason she should leave!" Sokka yelled.

"Sokka!" Katara yelled back, "Stop being so pig headed! She allowed us to get away from Zuko unharmed."

"Please don't fight on my behalf Katara," Keara said in a slightly nervous tone, "Truly it's alright. I've been yelled at my entire life for not being as hardened in my appearance and attitude as I should for a warrior, even if I have proved my worth many times over."

"See she admits to being a warrior!" Sokka cried as he pointed to her.

"Yes," Drake said calmly, "But not a warrior from this world." This seemed to shut the screaming teen up as it was obvious he had forgotten that important fact.

"Thanks Drake," Keara whispered. "Now- shoot I don't your name, oh well. I am a warrior and a very good one at that, but I am most likely not the same as the fire users of your world. Yes I can use fire to my advantage, but my personality is what makes me different. I don't know how I can prove to you that I'm different-" she stopped for a moment and looked to Aang, "Wait I do. Aang you said you needed to learn firebending or whatever it is you call it. I'm sure the principles I use are same as the fire users here, so I can be you mentor."

Aang's face lit up, "Would you!"

Keara nodded with smile, "Of course, it would be my pleasure."

So Zuko now want to capture Keara and she's going to teach Aang firebending. How long will it take Zuko to re-find them?

Find out in the next chapter!

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