Hi everyone! I am finally done with this chapter, and proud of it! OK, there are two new characters, and you'll find out about them as you read along. There's a small appearance of the Aang-ish" crush on Katara, but other than that, no romance. Just to warn people who haven't seen the episode The Fortune Teller, there IS a small (yet important) quote and spoiler in this chapter. My advice: don't read this chapter until you've seen the episode (unless you want to, of course). I'll recap on the next chappie for you guys who missed out…

Chapter 2

"Wakey wakey!" Sokka grinned. Aang turned over in order to hide his tired face from the unusually cheerful boy, but that didn't stop him. "C'mon, Aang! Wake up!"

The airbender turned his bleary-eyed vision upon the jaunty boy, who kept prodding him to get up and moving. He knelt down and hoisted the sleepy Aang over his shoulder. The airbender was immediately awake, and he wriggled out of the older boy's grip and fell rather clumsily onto the ground.

"OK, OK, I'm up!" he said, rubbing his stuffy head. "Why are you in such a good mood?"

Sokka beamed happily and pointed to a large pile of leechie nuts sitting at the base of a tree. "That's why! Breakfast!"

Katara walked up to her older brother, smiling. "Sokka decided to make his lateness up to us by going out and getting food. It's a sign that he's finally growing up." Sokka gave her a dirty look. The expression evaporated and he began grinning again.

"So, are you hungry? Because we have leechie nuts and-"

Sokka's incessant talking was cut short by a loud rustling in the brush. All three turned towards the sound, and Sokka withdrew his boomerang from its sheath. The movement was suddenly silenced, and the travelers were left to look at each other, bemused as to what the noise had come from. As they all began to relax, there was a loud crunching sound coming from the tree under which the leechie nuts were stashed.

A young girl, around the age of ten or eleven, sat enjoying the berries from under the tree. Sokka yelped at the intruder and went tearing up to the base of the tree. "Hey, those are our leechie nuts!"

The little girl looked up from the fruit she was eating and looked at the approaching boy. Her brown hair was neatly plaited on both sides of her head, and there was a hint of freckles from under her bangs. Her bright blue eyes fixed onto Sokka, and she hurriedly stood up. "I'm so sorry!" she gasped. I didn't know that these were yours! I honestly swear, otherwise I wouldn't have taken them."

He stopped in his tracks and surveyed her. She was wearing a scared and sincere emotion upon her face, and looked to be sorry for what she had done unknowingly.

Aang stepped up beside Sokka and also viewed her. The girl was wearing a light blue robe, with a thin brown belt around her middle. Her leather shoes had the style of the Fire Nation, though from the looks of her she was clearly not a firebender. The girl fell to her knees and pleaded. "Please don't hurt me! I only meant to fill my stomach before heading off. It's been days since I've eaten anything substantial."

The airbender took a step towards her. "Who are you?"

The girl looked up at his face. "Someone lost." Her eyes traced his tattoo and she gasped. "You're an airbender. You're the Avatar, aren't you?"

Aang tilted his head. "I meant, who are you? Where are you from?" Sokka then added, "And why are you here?"

She answered, "My name is Lai Sing. I've come looking for my sister. She was taken from our village, and I haven't seen her since."

The boys approached her further, and Aang went to sit down beside her. He looked down to the earth, and said, "Yeah, I'm the Avatar." His vision then turned to her. "Maybe I can help? I'm pretty good at solving people's problems, so…" The girl reached over and hugged him. "Oh, thank you, Avatar!"

Aang gently pushed her away, and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, no problem! Just…uh, please call me Aang from now on."

Katara, who stood there beside her brother, glanced at the sun's position. It was almost directly overhead, and its rays shone down through the treetops to make speckled splotches over the forest floor. "Aang, we better get going. It's almost noon, and we haven't traveled at all today."

The boy glanced up at her, then up at the sky. "Oh, right! Well, uh, Lai Sing, you're welcome to come with us while you look for your sister. We have plenty of room on Appa!" Aang motioned to the gigantic flying bison standing a few meters away from him. Appa grunted deeply and looked back at Aang, who beamed. "He says he'll be happy to carry you."

As the three travelers loaded up their possessions, Lai Sing was gazing curiously at a small furry animal sitting among the trees. "Oh, what's that?" she asked wonderingly, pointing at Momo. Aang looked up from the sleeping bag he was rolling up and looked to where her finger aimed. "Oh, that's Momo, my winged lemur." At the sound of his name, the lemur glided down from the trees onto Aang's shoulder. "See? He's friendly."

Lai Sing watched the small animal happily, and then helped the others with packing up their belongings. Her slender fingers worked well with tying the various knots that held the bundles in place, and she was done in barely any time at all. She grinned, satisfied with the work she had just completed, and looked upon the others.

Katara looked up from the bag she was tying shut and smiled at Lai Sing. "So, how long have you been around here?"

The girl's face fell slightly, and whispered, "Too long. I've been staying around this forest for weeks, hoping for my sister's return. But she didn't come home, so I went out looking for her." Katara glanced back down. "I'm really sorry."

Lai Sing smiled slightly. "It's OK, you didn't know. I'm sure she's fine. It's just that we've always been together, as one. Now she's gone, and I'm worried."

Sokka loaded up the last bag onto Appa's back, and proclaimed that everything was ready. As soon as everyone was on, Aang gave the command and Appa lifted off the forest floor and into the afternoon sky.

------------------------

Aang glanced over at the new girl, who sat with knees dawn up and face downward. She looked exhausted, and was resting her head upon her knees, eyes closed. Her braids hung down lightly and the gentle air played about them as it would with a loose thread.

The boy looked away, and focused his attention on Katara. She sat cross-legged while pouring over maps of the local areas. Her gaze shifted from the scrolls to Aang's watching face, and she smiled. He flashed a grin, and she returned to scanning her maps.

Aang shifted his weight forward, and leaned over so that the floor of the saddle was in view. He gazed into space for some time, and then looked at Momo, who was purring quietly by himself. The little lemur crawled into his lap, and Aang caressed his long ears gently, thinking again about his responsibilities as the Avatar. "You must defeat the Fire Lord by summer's end…"

He sighed and rested his chin in his palm. He glanced back over at Katara. She looked up just in time to see Aang staring at her again. "What?" she asked, puzzled.

Aang quickly looked away, blushing. "Oh, uh, nothing." After he was sure that Katara was wrapped up once again in eyeing the maps, he returned to watching her. Her braid hung to the side of her face as she tilted her head on way to get a better view of the scrolls, and his heart fluttered faintly at the sight. He recalled his past attempt at telling her the truth about how he felt, when they had spent a day or so at the fortune teller's village. "Now that I got you here, uh, there's something I want to tell you. I like you, but more than normal." She hadn't been listening, and his effort was made in vain.

Aang took his wishful eyes off of the busy waterbender, and looked off into the distance. The clouds hid the earth from view, but there was a parting in the white layer. A large area was visible through it, and the sunlight shone radiantly upon the beautiful green valley.

Not as beautiful as Katara, though, Aang noted silently as his mind wandered off in thoughts of the Water Tribe girl and the splendor of the day.

----------------------------------------------------------------

The iron ship shuddered to a halt as it approached the pier. As the other men got off in order to stretch their legs and get supplies, Zuko stayed aboard and looked over the ship's side to the busy marketplace below. He coolly placed a hand upon his forehead and sighed. Capturing the Avatar was going to be harder than ever, and Zuko was having trouble just keeping track of where he went.

"Prince Zuko!" his uncle yelled from below. "You're not going to believe my luck! I found the most delightful appendage for the galley. Come down and see!"

The boy slapped his hand to his face and groaned. Listening to his uncle rant about frivolous nonsense was also becoming hard to bear. He placed his other hand upon the cool steel of the balustrade and made his way down to the marketplace. There, Iroh awaited him happily before showing off a pair of decorated broadswords. Zuko only half-listened as his uncle went on about their "marvelous prices" and the bargains he had made so far, as thinking about the Avatar was much more important.

A crash emitted from nearby and the residents of the market directed their attention to a nearby cart. Sitting among the spilled pile of various items was a girl whose flushed cheeks clearly told that she was responsible for the mess.

"Oops."

The owner of the messy array of trinkets was beet-red. "What have you done! You messed up all my things! You're going to pay for this!" He lifted a hand as if to strike her. Before his hand came in contact with her, he was not knocked off his feet and thrown to the side. Zuko stood between the livid vender and the young girl, positioned so that his back was to the unfortunate mess and its creator. With clenched fists, he roared at the merchant. "You heartless and inhumane FOOL! Hitting an innocent child!" The seller quickly stood up and stumbled away. "If I ever see your face around here again, I'll make you wish you were never born!"

The prince turned around and faced the terrified girl. "And you! You have to be more vigilant, because next time, I may not be around to save you."

The girl turned her bright eyes to his face. "Thank you."

Zuko spun on his heel and made to head back to the ship, but a slender hand placed itself upon his shoulder. "Wait."

Zuko growled and turned back around. "What is it!" he snarled angrily. The young girl pulled her hand away quickly and winced from the unexpected hostility directed toward her. As Zuko saw the expression on her face change to a more fearful one, his temper dissolved a little.

"I wanted to ask who you are," she said, her blue eyes locking onto his scar.

"No one you'd want to know," he said crossly, starting to walk away. She blocked his path.

"I do. That's why I asked." A perplexed expression crossed Zuko's face. "Please, I'd like to know." As the prince began to open his mouth, she stepped back and her forehead creased. "Wait a second. I do know who you are! You're the banished Fire Nation prince!" The girl looked carefully at his face again. "You're Zuko, aren't you?" she inquired.

He let out a breath impatiently and said, "What's it to you?" The girl tilted her head and her brown braids hung to the side.

"I just wanted to know." She held out a hand. "My name's Sing Lai." Zuko looked at her outstretched arm. She then realized that he wasn't about to shake it, and awkwardly put it down. "I'm looking for my sister. Have you seen her?"

"I don't even know what she looks like."

"Like me." Sing Lai motioned to her brown hair and freckles, evidently pointing out that she and her sister were identical. The girl placed her hands on her hips. "So, have you seen her?"

"No."

"Oh." Zuko watched as the girl's curious expression faded and was replaced with a more disappointed one. She hung her head and sighed. "I was hoping that someone would have spotted her by now. You see, we got separated a while ago, and I've been looking for her ever since."

The prince frowned at Sing Lai's cumbersome position. He knew quite well what it was like to lose something.

"Oh, Prince Zuko! I see you've made a friend!" yelled Iroh from a nearby shop. The two turned their heads toward the approaching general. His arms were full of assorted curios, and he was beaming cheerfully. He strolled right up to Sing Lai and pumped her hand merrily. "Ah, it's so nice to know that my nephew has made an acquaintance!"

The girl smiled awkwardly and said, "Uh, sir, I wouldn't exactly consider myself his friend…"

The retired general continued to grin. Zuko looked rather distastefully at his uncle and snorted. "Uncle, I barely know this girl. Why are you making such a big deal of it?"

Iroh glanced at his displeased nephew. "Well, it's rather pleasing to think that you are not picking fights with everyone you come in contact with, Prince Zuko." Zuko scowled, and looked down.

The girl smiled at Iroh. "Well, my name's Sing Lai. I'm looking for my sister, who's been missing for a while now. I thought that perhaps you've seen her?" she asked hopefully. The general shook his head.

"No. But maybe my nephew and I could help you."

Zuko looked at his uncle, who was stroking his beard thoughtfully. He suddenly smiled and put a hand up in the air, obviously sporting an idea. "I know! You can come with us!"

Zuko heard what Iroh said and turned upon him. "Uncle, you can't be serious!"

Sing Lai looked at the two of them and exclaimed happily, "I'd love to!"

Iroh shrugged cheerfully in his nephew's direction. "Well, it's too late to take back the invitation, Prince Zuko! She's coming. Besides, it will be nice to have a girl on the ship for once."

Zuko's fists flared and he stormed off in the direction of his ship. Iroh looked at the young girl, who stood beaming happily. "Oh, thank you, General! This means so much to me!" She hugged the older man, who grinned back in return.

--------------------------

Zuko angrily strode back to the docks. He was upset, not only because his uncle had invited a girl onto the ship without his permission, but that he had enough problems to deal with already. One more person aboard meant one more person to bother him while he was working. He trod up back up to the deck, where he wrathfully pushed aside one of the men standing there.

"Out of my way!" he spat furiously. The guard looked at him through his helm and stepped aside quickly. The enraged prince then stormed away to his room, where he slammed the door and threw himself upon the bed.

"Aarrgghhhh!"

After a few minutes of ranting heatedly, throwing various possessions at the wall, and pacing around the room, Zuko felt a little more accepting of his uncle's unanticipated offer to the little brown-haired girl. He still didn't approve of it, but after venting his anger upon the limp pillow lying against the wall and the worn Fire Nation carpet, the incident was a little more bearable to consider.

There was a knock at the iron door. "Prince Zuko, may I come in?" Iroh inquired from outside the room. The prince walked over to the door and opened it. There, an embarrassed-looking general stood with his hands behind his back. "I want to apologize for my earlier behavior, Nephew. It was wrong of me to not check with you before inviting someone onto our ship." The older man slowly backed out of the room and walked off.

The prince sat on the edge of his bed. Maybe he had given his uncle a bit of a hard time about letting Sing Lai on. He stood up and strode back up to the deck, where the girl and Iroh awaited him.

Sing Lai looked over at him, and then turned her head towards the docks. Zuko approached her and his uncle. He took a good, hard look at the girl, who lowered her eyes, and then turned toward Iroh. "Uncle."

The general glanced at him. "Yes?" he mused.

"She can stay."

Sing Lai began to smile, and ran over to hug the defeated prince. "Thank you!" she squealed happily. Zuko cringed at the unfamiliar touch and awkwardly removed himself from the girl's tight grasp.

"Just…don't push it."

Well, I'm not gonna be around this weekend- I have to go to some dumb rehearsal (long story), but I'll update as soon as I get back. Chapter 3 is on it's way, so be aware! Check you guys later!