Well, Chapter 4 is a bit more action-y, and there is an intense encounter with Zuko, made on Aang's part. No real lovey-dovey stuff happens here (except that Aang gets caught a few times making googly eyes at Katara), and guess what? I made Kiyo a bender! Yay benders!

Anyway, there is also a bit more humor in this one, just to make the light parts a little happier and easy.

Don't forget, this Friday is the new eppie, called The Deserter (Aang learns how to firebend). So be sure to watch!

Chapter 4

It was a wonderful morning. The birds were singing, Appa was already chewing happily on the edge of Sokka's bed, and everything felt in place for once. Lai Sing opened her eyes to see Kiyo walking around outside the barn, watching the glorious sunrise while levitating a rock over his open palm. She slipped out of the pallet and placed her bare feet upon the earthen floor, and quietly made her way over to him. The others were still asleep, as the girl saw after looking back to them. Aang was drooling all over his pillow, Katara's head was just barely poking out from under the covers, and Sokka was sprawled out over the slobber-drenched bed that was already half-way into Appa's mouth. She smiled slightly and walked over to where Kiyo was standing.

"Morning," she said quietly. The boy turned around and grinned at her.

"Nice day so far, isn't it?" he asked cheerfully. The sun was peeking out from the horizon, and the sky was turning a light pink-peach color.

"Yeah." The movement of the rock caught Lai Sing's eye. "You're a bender?"

Kiyo turned to her. "Yep. Inherited it from my mother's side." He stared out at the growing horizon. "So, why are you traveling? You never told me the story."

Lai Sing continued to watch the rising sun. "Well…let's just say that I'm looking for my sister."

"Sister?"

"Yeah. I guess you could call us identical."

Kiyo looked at her curiously. "You have a twin?"

The girl tilted her head. "Well…uh, not really."

"Huh? Then how can you be identical?"

Lai Sing turned her head back towards the horizon. She sighed quietly and made it clear that she didn't want to explain herself. "I told you already; it's kind of a long story."

"Tell me."

The girl whirled around to face Kiyo. "I told you already- NO!"

Kiyo was taken aback from the sudden hostile and aggressive behavior that was directed toward him. He looked to see that Lai Sing was wearing an unidentifiable expression on her face, but it was obvious that there was something she wasn't telling, or wasn't willing to. The boy lowered his head and gave up trying to get her to explain.

"Hi guys!"

Both turned to see Aang cheerfully walking up to greet them. He was wearing his trademark grin, and looked as if he had a great night's sleep.

"Sooooo. What'cha guys talking about?"

Lai Sing mumbled irately. "Nothing."

Aang glanced from one person to the other. The girl was looking quite cross, and Kiyo was still white from the unexpected outburst. "Uh, is there something going on that I should know about?" he asked.

"No."

The young airbender had his doubts, but knew not to press the matter further. He waltzed back to where Katara and Sokka were sleeping, and began to pack up his things. Something was up, and he knew it. The problem was, Aang didn't have any way of finding out what. Neither of the two seemed willing to talk. Just then, the far-off sound of a furious and immensely disgusted Sokka erupted from within the barn.

"Eeewwwwww! Bison slobber!"

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

After the last of their belongings were packed up, the gang climbed upon Appa and waved at Kiyo, who stood watching them.

"Thanks for everything!" Katara shouted to him. He raised a hand in response.

"My pleasure." He started to turn away. "And, uh, Lai Sing?"

She swiveled her head around and looked blankly at him.

Kiyo looked down at the ground, and let his eyes trace the trail of rocks and dirt lying near his feet. "I really do hope you find your sister."

"Thanks."

With that, Appa rose from the ground, sending a dry pile of dust flying upward. Kiyo watched as the bison flew up and out of view.

‹-------------------------------------›

Katara looked curiously at Lai Sing, who sat watching the view of the earthbender fade away. She seemed to be oddly silent and troubled. Katara tilted her head and asked, "Lai Sing, are you OK? You've been awfully quiet lately."

Lai Sing raised her own head and looked Katara in the air, eyebrows raised. "Naw, I'm fine! I'm just…uh, thinking…about some things. Really."

The waterbender shrugged her shoulders and let out a breath. "Well, uh, OK. I just wanted to make sure." She watched as Lai Sing once again returned her view to the distance, and then looked over her shoulder at Aang, who she found eyeing her rather vacantly once again.

"Aang…" Katara mused. "You're staring at me again…"

The young airbender suddenly straightened up as if he had been totally unaware of it. "Oh, uh, I was?" He then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Hehe. Oops."

Hm, Katara pondered. I keep seem to catch him doing that. Wonder if he's feeling OK, too. She glanced back at Aang, who sat holding Appa's reins and looking out to the direction they were headed. He looked perfectly fine and peaceful, with nothing bothering him.

Oh well, she thought. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to that awkward silence. It's-

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, standing up. He started digging in the group bag furiously with a determined and resolute expression pasted across his face.

"Sokka, sit down! Remember the last time you stood up and we told you not to?"

With that, he plopped himself rather forcefully upon Appa's saddle and persisted with searching thought the bag's contents. "I can't believe it! Where'd my bag of nuts go?"

Aang turned around to look at him while Katara and Lai Sing stared. "What bag?"

Sokka glared up at him and then quickly back down to the bag. "What do you mean, 'what bag'? The one we keep the nuts in!"

Katara's eyes wandered over to Aang, who s face was twisted up in concentration. He then opened his mouth, shut it, and reopened it again. "Didn't you have that last night?"

"Yeah, I did! I was carrying it when we got ready to go to sleep, and then I placed it on the bed, which means…" A strange, wide-eyed expression crossed his features as all turned to stare at the giant fluffy bison. "…it's in Appa's stomach."

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

Zuko clipped his hands over his ears to drown out the sound of the repetitive knocks raining against his door. After a full day of having to put up with Sing Lai's insistent banging upon the only barrier separating him from the world, Zuko's patience was wearing dangerously thin.

He stamped furiously over to the door and swung it open with such a force that it crashed against the side of his room, and resonated with a powerful boom that ricocheted off the walls of the dimly lit hallway.

"WHAT?" the enraged prince thundered.

Sing Lai merely smiled at him. "Hi," she said, curling the tips of her fingers in a waving motion. She then realized that he was a little more than annoyed at her behavior. "Why are you breathing so hard?"

Sure enough, Zuko's chest was rising and falling with such rapidity that he looked more than ready to blast her into infinity. "You came and knocked on my door for SEVEN HOURS STRAIGHT BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO SAY HI?"

Sing Lai nodded her head happily, braids swinging vigorously. "Yup!"

Torrents of blazing flame erupted from Zuko's clenched fists as he roared for the nearest guard to take custody of her and throw her in her room. The awaiting, and slightly perturbed, soldier rushed over and took the young girl by the shoulder, leading her away from the flaming prince.

Iroh, peering around the corner, just caught a glimpse of the prince as he stormed swiftly back into his room and as the thunderous sound of a door slamming echoed once again throughout the hall.

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

"AARRRGGGHHHHHH!" With that, Zuko threw himself upon the bed and buried his aching head in his pillow. He swore that if he ever got the chance to go back to the day that he met Sing Lai, he would have just scared off the merchant and thrown her and her petty questioning aside like an unwanted piece of broccoli on a child's plate. Nothing, nothing, was worth this amount of agony.

One single knock made its presence upon the already battered door, and the metal hinges creaked as a head was thrust through the opening. Zuko blew hot air through his teeth forcefully and lifted his head to see who had entered. Iroh gazed out from the crack and mentioned that a sighting of the Avatar had been made just recently. Zuko stared at the general for a moment, then slid from the bed.

"Tell the guards to keep a close eye on the Avatar's positioning. I don't want to lose him."

The door quickly shut as the general's head disappeared from sight. The Fire Nation prince stood up straight with determination glinting in his amber eyes. Finally. Something to take his anger out upon. Something to rid Sing Lai and her awful annoyances from his mind. Nothing was going to stop him now.

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

"Hey, isn't that Zuko's ship?" Aang noted as they flew over the water. Everyone leaned over to get a closer view as the prince's ship did indeed appear below them.

"Aang, we have to get out of here, now!" Sokka exclaimed. Aang pulled hard on the reins as Appa shot farther ahead of the approaching vessel. A gasp came from the saddle, and he looked back to see what created the sound. Lai Sing was sitting there, pale and wide-eyed. "What's wrong?" he said, worried. She gasped once again and clasped the side of Appa's saddle with a trembling hand.

"My sister. I – I feel her. She's near. Very near." Everyone, including Momo, turned to look at the girl.

Sokka's eyebrows pinched together. "What do you mean, you 'feel her'?" he asked suspiciously. Something funny was going on. Everyone sitting there could sense it.

The girl shook her head. "I can…I can tell she's close by." Lai Sing evidently was covering up something that she wasn't saying.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a massive flaming ball of putrid odors and earth came shooting up and glanced off of Appa's hide. The fur burst into flame, and he roared painfully while Aang tried to create a wind strong enough to put the searing hot fire out.

--------------------------------

Zuko strode briskly from one side of the deck to the other as three of his men got ready to launch another ball of the reeking rock.

"Ready, men…" They all waited as the ship flew directly underneath the already declining bison. "…Fire!"

The catapult launched the burning mass and it hurtled toward the large animal.

--------------------------------

"Appa!" Aang shouted as the bison took another tremendous hit. The entire belly of the animal guide was blazing with flame, and his descent slowly progressed. Appa started flying directly to the water, probably to purge the blistering heat. He crashed into the salty water and sent up a spray of salty mist.

--------------------------------

"Finally," Zuko said with satisfaction. The stupid beast had finally been defeated, and the Avatar and his daft friends were stranded, not even 50 feet from the prince's ship. "Keep going towards the Avatar!" he shouted up toward the galley. The helmsman nodded in response, and the ship continued to progress toward the fallen bison and his riders.

--------------------------------

"No! No no NO!" Aang hollered, slamming his fists down upon Appa's saddle. The guide grunted exhaustedly in response, and Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder. The monk slapped a hand to his face, upset. "What are we going to do now? Appa's hurt, and even if I was able to fly you all back to land, we'd be leaving Appa behind."

The waterbenders worried face told that she did not have a solution. Aang sighed, wearing an apprehensive expression. "We're going to have to fight him. We're stuck."

--------------------------------

The corners of Zuko's mouth lifted into a dark smile as they approached the sight. He raised his hand to his soldiers, who all watched carefully for him to give the sign to attack.

"Wait until I give the signal. We don't want any mistakes this time." Just as the ship halted next to Appa, the prince rammed his hand down upon the steel. "Go!"

He watched as a blast of fire came exploding from his men's waiting fists and towards the Avatar.

--------------------------------

Lai Sing drew her breath in sharply at the sight of the huge flames leaping hungrily at the group. Katara sat paralyzed, Sokka pulled back as far as he could, and Momo screeched loudly.

Aang flew upwards to meet the attack with staff in hand. Sweeping the wooden pole in one hand, he created a fantastic arc that sliced through the flames and demolished them in a single blow. The airbender shot himself up and out, towards the waiting ship.

"Aang, don't!" Katara yelled as he rocketed off of Appa's back and into the mass of firebenders. "You can't do this alone!"

As he flew over the water below and away from the injured bison, he hollered back, "Stay with Appa! I know what I'm doing!"

--------------------------------

The sight of the approaching Avatar made Zuko almost leap in the air. His adrenaline level shot up drastically, and his breathing became shallow and quick.

Finally! He thought. I will be able to regain my honor once and for all. With the thought of the nearing prize in mind, the avid prince created a curving bow of fire and launched it toward the Avatar. The boy used his staff and pole-vaulted over the wide attack.

Tucking the pole between his legs and twisting his hands in a whirlwind-shaped motion, Aang created a flurry that knocked Zuko onto the steel ground. The agitated prince quickly jumped back to his feet and slammed his foot down hard upon the floor. Hot flames sprang from his boot and leapt for the Avatar's ankles.

"Agh-" Aang breathed quickly while propelling himself up and over the inferno below. With all the power he could muster, he spun around and swung the staff towards the prince. A powerful force of air exploded from the staff's movement and sent Zuko flying to the other side of the deck, smashing him against the steel barrier lining the ship.

"Ughhh…" Zuko groaned, trying to stand up after the overwhelming attack. He staggered to his feet and yelled for the crew to attack the Avatar from all angles.

Surrounded by firebenders, Aang couldn't help but feel slightly alone. The young airbender rotated swiftly while bending his arms, creating a colossal wind shield from the oncoming fire balls. Then, twisting his body in such a way as to create a small cyclone to distract and confuse the Fire Nation soldiers, he gathered up all of his strength and formed a thick ball of air. The air mass expanded, and demolished every obstacle coming his way. While blowing off the fire, it knocked most of the crew off their feet and the rest flipping head over heels into the water below.

"Get up!" Zuko snarled at the sprawled firebenders. "Don't let him get away!" He rushed over and immediately hurled a large fire ball at the Avatar's head. He easily dodged it, but narrowly escaped the next one.

"Aang!" Katara yelled from over the water. "Let's get going!"

The shouting had distracted the Avatar, and Zuko seized the chance to send a white-hot arc of flame heading his way. Aang looked just in time to see the wrathful blaze of fire sweeping towards him, and he impelled himself off the ship's deck and back towards the bison.

Aang shot over the water, away from the infuriated prince and his insane line of firebenders. He formed a bubble beneath him, and glided back over to Appa and the rest. The airbender positioned himself behind the animal guide's head, who looked quite refreshed after dousing his belly-flames in water.

"Appa, boy, do you think you can do this?" he asked, glancing down at the shaggy head hurriedly. The bison grunted in response, which sounded much like a yes.

"OK, then. Yip yip!"

--------------------------------

The animal slowly rose out of the water, only to pass directly in front of Zuko's ship. The prince made ready to shoot another fireball in their direction, but stopped. He stared dumfoundedly as he witnessed who exactly was riding in the beast's saddle. Not the two Water Tribe siblings. Not the lemur. The girl who looked exactly like Sing Lai.

Then it hit him.

The Avatar had her sister.

Well, that's enough for one day, don't ya think? The action scene was really (and I mean really) hard to write, to pick the exact words to match what I'm picturing in my mind. As Einstein said, "The right word compared to the almost right word is like comparing lightning with a lightning bug." (yawn) Whew, I am tired. It's like 11:47 right now, and I have to get up at 5:00 in the morning. Not to mention the big day I have tomorrow, with the parent-teacher conferences and all…God, do I hate those things…I have to host it myself- all the 10-graders do in my school. Well, to make a long story short, I'm tired. So…I hope I can update soon, but I still have my website and costume plus like a million other things to do…so, uh, see you guys later…zzzzz……