Sorry this has taken so long, I've just been a bit tired lately. Well, here are some reviews-
Harpygirl91- I'm a bit of a Zuko fangirl too, but having Aang say Zuko looked hot would put this story in a whole different category. I don't have anything against Yaoi, but this story isn't.
Zariena- if you read chapter 10, I explain that I cheated and Tsuyosa's chant was supposed to be in Chinese but it only came out as squares and I don't know the language well enough to attempt it myself. So, you got French because I thought it sounded a bit complex and they didn't offer Latin.
Red Hawk K'sani- Wow, you're still reading! Thanks for the compliment, and I hope these chapters are at least a little long (now I shall write a stupidly short chapter and be yelled at)
CHAPTER 11- Regrets
Almost the instant Zuko awoke; after he yelled at his supposed protector for drugging him, he and Sokka began a glaring match. Even as Tsuyosa tried to explain what was going to happen and how they were going to be on the same side for now on, the two boys never took their eyes off one another.
"…And then Aang began laughing at how you looked really funny with your hair down and I told him that you look even funnier when you get wet because you look like a drowned fish if there was such a thing and-" the prince punched at the goddess, which the girl dodged.
"And now that I have your attention, Scarface, you and Socky need to stop walking on eggshells." She said calmly. Zuko grinned at the mention of Sokka's new nickname.
"Why is it only we have stupid names! And stop grinning, Scarface!" Sokka yelled. The prince glared, but let it go.
"What? You expect me to give the Avatar a nickname? Calling Arrowhead Arrowhead would be a complete insult to the great Arrowhead! I'm appalled at how you could even suggest the idea of doing something so awful to poor Arrowhead! But, if you insist, I'll call him Arrowhead." Tsuyosa declared quickly. Aang frowned but still found it funny. He loved jokes, and those who couldn't take one weren't allowed to laugh.
"Does this mean you get a dumb name?" Zuko asked flatly. The dragon smiled.
"Of course not! Girls don't get weird names!" She laughed, pulling Katara into a one-armed hug. Zuko and Sokka gave them strange looks.
"Girls are weird." Sokka stated. The prince nodded.
"Got that right, Socky." The water tribesman threw his boomerang at the firebender who dodged. This time remembering that it comes back.
"Why do guys always feel the need to turn things into a fight?" Katara asked, she and Tsuyosa watching as Aang joined Sokka to tag-team Zuko, who still managed to hold them off.
"Dunno. But it's nice seeing Zuko act his age. Don't think he ever actually hung out with other kids before." The dragon said with a soft smile.
"You act like his sister, if not his mother." Katara grinned.
"Oh well. I here to help, and I think he needs someone like that. If for nothing else then to keep him from burning the bison and causing us to plunge into the ocean!" She amplified the last part so the boys could hear. The spar had quickly gone bad as Sokka and Zuko began insulting each other once again.
"Like I'm dumb enough to set the bison on fire." Zuko said quietly, flames around his fists disappearing. Sitting back down, he gave a final glare at the water boy before turning to Aang.
"What the heck made you name it Appa?" he asked. No reason, but seriously, who names a two-ton bison Appa? Aang shrugged.
"I just thought it sounded cool. You need something that you can say easily when you're training Flying bison." He answered. "What about those Komodo Rhinos? Don't they have names?" the prince thought for half a second.
"No, not that I know of, anyway." The Avatar was taken aback.
"But then, how do you ride them? Don't they get lonely? What makes them feel like part of the crew?" he asked energetically.
"Um, well… I think the stable keepers might've given them names. But no one ever asks…" The sudden questioning made the prince remember his uncle and crew and he fell quiet.
What in the seven hells was he doing? It had been what? Two days? Already he was feeling homesick. Or, whatever you called it. He wondered if Lieutenant Ji or any of the others had beaten his uncle at Pai Sho, or if they had made fools of themselves on that damned music night the old general had insisted on. They were probably out getting drunk with their days off. He just hoped they didn't do anything stupid by insulting….
Any…one…
"Oh, shit." Zuko cursed aloud. The others looked at him confused.
"Zuko? What's wrong?" Tsuyosa asked. Turing to the dragon, the teen had a concerned look on his face.
"Tsuyosa, what if that bastard Zhao went looking for my crew after you nearly blew up his ship?" The dragon's eyes widened.
"Guys, what are you talking about?" Katara asked.
"Before we washed up on that island, we had been captured by Zhao and I kinda…umm…"
"She nearly blew the ship up and made a fool of the Admiral." Zuko finished.
"Sorry…" she apologized sheepishly.
"But now this means that the bastard's gonna want answers and I almost guarantee the first place he'll look is my ship. And if he thinks they're lying he'll label them traitors and they'll be sent back to the Fire Nation! They don't know anything so they're gonna get killed! We've got to go back!" Zuko snapped at Aang. The young boy looked concerned as well, and the water sibs were taken back a bit when he jumped back on Appas head and he began turning around.
"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara asked.
"We can hold off on Ba-Sen-Se for a few more days." Aang said with a small smile.
"Do we even know where they are?" Sokka asked.
"If I know my uncle, he'll stop at a port with a whole bunch of useless junk for sale and a good stock of tea." Zuko said. The four, including Tsuyosa, looked at him strangely.
"I don't know why, ok? It's just this weird thing he has." Shrugging they went back to what they were doing.
"So, we need a place that sells tea." Sokka repeated, pulling out a map. "Unfortunately, they don't usually advertise that."
"There are a few that I heard of. There's Port Kanjin, Fasnl, and Jalin. They're all known for having almost everything." Katara pointed out.
"Yeah, but Fasnl is near Ba-Sen-Se and doesn't allow Fire Navy ships, and Jalin is pretty far from where we were. So, our best bet is probably Kanjin." Zuko sighed.
"But we should be careful. Kanjin is run by Zhao. That damn promotion." He said the last part under his breath.
"So, wouldn't they stay away from there?" Aang asked.
"No. My uncle is practically a legend after he led the attack on Ba-Sen-Se and doesn't have any reason to fear the admiral. If he didn't go on his own, Zhao undoubtedly invited the great Dragon of the West."
"That old guy is the Dragon of the West?" Sokka exclaimed.
"Cool! Everyone in your family's famous!" the group gave Aang a bland look.
"The Dragon of the West attacked the Earth Kingdoms capital for six hundred days. You're supposed to be against people like that." Sokka explained.
"Oh. Well, he's not a general now, is he?"
"No, he retired."
"Cool, then he's not bad anymore!" a cold gust blew past the others.
"This…this is the Avatar. My God, I'm not sure there's a way to help this kid." Tsuyosa sighed.
"You positive you just didn't find another kid in an iceberg?" Zuko asked. Katara and Sokka shook their heads. "God he forgives people too easily."
"Yeah, but that's just Aang. Never met a person that couldn't be a friend." Katara said with a smile.
"Yeah…We're all gonna be killed."
"Okay Appa! Yip-Yip! We're going to Kanjin!" Aang yelled.
I couldn't remember if it was the Dragon of the East or the Dragon of the West. I have a picture of the Avatar world (the one in the opening) and from what I could see, the Fire Nation's in the west. So that's what I went with.
Also, Lieutenant Ji- I heard his name mentioned somewhere in the show. He's the guy thatchallenged Zuko in "Storm"