YAY! Reviews! I've already got more after four chapters of this storythan I have with my other story which is thirteen chapters long. Well, before I acknowledge my reviewers I want to tell a cruel story about my nephews seventh birthday which was today. He had asked me to get him Pokemon cards a while back, so I got him a deck of sixty cards and that was it. Then I found a HUGE box and filled it with newspapers and put his present on top, so he thought he was getting this gargantuan present when really it wasn't that much. Bwahaha. Anyhoo.

Starchild9876: I'm glad you liked my 'shammit' word. I kinda ripped it off one of my friends, but I'm sure she won't mind.

Zulaya: The whole snake thing was based on a true experience and I set it free last week. Teeheehee, you owe me ten bucks. JK.

MitaraiWaterDragon: Wow, I never expected to be called a god! Thanks for the compliment, for this I will not smite you.

Khazia: Yeah, I think most people would barf on Zhao in that situation, I would just take more of a personal pleasure of giving the family jewels a good kick.

Lovergal1227: I'm glad your friends are enjoying it as well. Tell them I would be glad to receive reviews from them too, I giggle maniacally when I see I have bunches of reviews. And tell your guy friend not to worry, the secret of the hats will soon be revealed.

Plutobaby 494: Yes, Zhao is rude. He should be dissected just because it would be cool to watch as a doctor ripped out his black heart.

Zukopunk: Sorry about the misspelling, I was too lazy to check the bottle. As for the chapter title, I never really meant for it to make sense, all the chapter titles are just some of the random sayings from the black hole that is my mind.

Now, play that funky music!

Katie had tried to freshen up as best she could before she left Zuko's room with her the Ukujo tucked under her arm. She was really beginning to feel gross from lack of shower and deodorant, but she had found by now that B.O was the most common thing around in the avatar world. In fact, in enclosed spaces the overpowering smell could peel paint and strip the lining from your nostrils. So she figured it really didn't matter if she contributed a little to the pungent odor. When Katie walked into the dining hall where music night was being held, it was extremely difficult to hold back her laughter. There were nearly a dozen grown men wearing the most outlandish, colorful hats she had ever seen. Iroh stepped forward happily wearing a hat himself and brandished something that looked like a frilly pink sombrero on steroids.

"Ah, miss Lin. For a while I didn't think you would be coming. I saved a hat especially for you. I find that if everyone looks silly one does not feel as foolish for performing." He plopped the hat on her head and it nearly swallowed her whole. She giggled and tilted it upward so she could at least see. Zuko had managed to evade the hats and was lounging against a cushion with a bottle of liquor in his hand. There were ten more minutes of laughter and confusion as the men swapped hats and poked fun at each other. Finally things settled a bit and Iroh stood up.

"Alright. Who's going first?" A few gazes shifted over to Katie, but a young soldier volunteered happily. He stood up in the middle of the room and after several cat calls from his friends he began singing a funny little ditty about a girl that left a man for a piece of cake. He was completely off key, but that just made it all the more hilarious. After him, several others volunteered to sing or play a tune on an instrument. But then they turned on Katie. She suddenly felt extremely bashful about getting up in front of all these strangers, but after several encouraging yells she stepped over to the middle of the room. She tried to think of what would be best to play and finally settle on a fiddle song called turkey in the straw. It was the fastest song she knew how to play and the men cheered as she played it through twice, steadily speeding up the tempo until she couldn't keep up with herself. They all laughed by the time she reached the end. She stood up and gave a sweeping bow before returning to her seat. The music night went on for a few more hours. She played a few more songs between the acts of others and she was offered alcohol by nearly every man there, which she refused. One man insisted more than the rest, Katie recognized him as one of the creepy guards. He got to the point where he was almost scary, but luckily some other soldiers set him in his place.

By the time midnight arrived she was so comfortable with the men and they were so drunk that she even began singing to the tunes she played. This was the first time she had ever sung a solo in public. She did Doug Kershaw's Cajun Joe and a few Weird Al songs, which were a tremendous hit. Then things began to slow down a bit and songs about love and tragedies began to emerge. They all laid around in a hypnotized stupor to listen to these songs. Then they turned once more to Katie when there was a pause in volunteers. She stepped forward and chewed on the tip of her thumb, which was growing sorer by the second from plucking the hard, metal strings. She wracked her memory for a sad song and finally one came to mind. She went through it in her head really quick to make sure she could remember it all and strummed an introduction. All the other songs she had sung had been really fast and goofy, so these guys hadn't really heard her actually sing. Now she softened her voice and laid in a little vibrato as she sang.

Listen children to a story

That was written long ago.

'Bout a kingdom on a mountain,

and the valley folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure,

Buried deep beneath a stone.

The valley people swore they'd have it

For their very own.

So the people of the valley,

Sent a message up the hill.

Asking for the buried treasure;

Tons of gold for which they'd kill.

Came an answer from the kingdom,

"With our brothers we will share,

All the secrets of our mountain,

All the riches buried there."

Now the valley cried with anger,

"Mount your horses, draw your swords."

And they killed the mountain people,

So they won their just reward.

Now they stood beside the treasure,

On the mountain, dark and red.

Turned the stone and looked beneath it,

"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,

Go ahead and cheat a friend.

Do it in the name of heaven,

You can justify it in the end.

There won't be any trumpets blowin',

Come the judgment day.

And on the bloody morning after,

One tin soldier rides away.

She let her voice linger on the last note. She looked up and grinned sheepishly as the crowd erupted into cheers. She bowed once more and sat back down. She caught Zuko staring at her, but he looked away hastily. She couldn't help but smile; she decided she really liked music night. Katie declined singing anymore slow songs and the pace began to speed up again as more drinks were passed around. Pretty soon Katie was the only sober one left. She plucked out song after song and laughed her head off as the grown men began dancing with each other, several pulled her in to dance as well which she joined in happily. They couldn't even hear the music over the noise they were making.

The sign that music night was over was when the first soldier passed out on the floor. Nobody wanted to be this first person, because those that remembered who it was the next day would give this person hell for stopping music night early. Tonight's case was the first young soldier who had sung. He was leaning back tipping a bottle into his mouth trying to get the last precious drops of liquid when he merely fell backwards with a thud. Those sitting next to him tried to cover him up so that nobody would notice that he'd keeled over, but Iroh accidentally tripped over his body and called music night to an end.

Katie was a bit nervous about sleeping in the same room with a drunken Zuko and was happy to see that he had only had enough to be slightly tipsy and still had a clear head.

"I don't see how you can't stand music night, I had a blast." Katie said as they walked back to his room together. Zuko merely shrugged, trying to focus all his concentration on walking straight. He lost the battle and swerved right into Katie. "Easy there cowboy." She said catching him. She put his arm around her shoulder to steady him and lead the way.

"You know, you're still wearing that hat." Zuko said. The hat in question was poking him uncomfortably in the side of his head. Katie giggled and took it off with her free hand, plopping it instead on Zuko. It was held up partially by his ponytail so it only barely covered his eyes. He looked down at Katie and gave her a goofy grin. She giggled again and fumbled with the doorknob. "I think that I have misjudged you, and I'm sorry." He murmured.

"What do you mean?" Katie asked once the door was open.

"I haven't trusted you and I have been quite a…" he stumbled for a word

"Raunch?" Katie said helpfully.

"Yeah, I guess. Mind you, I still don't trust you…but I'm willing to try to at least get along."

"Hmm, well that's good…I guess." Katie said. She deposited Zuko unceremoniously onto his bed and crawled into her own with a groan. She was sore and stiff from such a long day. She fell asleep almost instantly, her head still buzzing with music.

Katie woke up at around the same time as Zuko the next morning.

"Wow," he mumbled, "I had the weirdest dream about a rabid hogmonkey. It kept asking me for a new pair of shoes." Katie grinned over at him. This was the most normal teenage thing she had ever heard him say. She guessed he'd meant what he'd said the night before about trying to get along with her more. So she decided to go along with it and see how long this lasted.

"You think that's weird. I just had a dream that I was home and my family was waging a war against the red coats in our back yard. I went inside our house to check on my nieces and nephews, but while I was in there, queen Victoria, who was up in my parents' room, died. I tried to get outside to help fight the battle, but Legolas was guarding the door and he was wearing red socks." Zuko gave her a bleary eyed stare.

"Did you know that I didn't understand a word of that?"

"Yeah, I figured as much." Katie said sitting up and stretching. Every muscle in her body was sore and stiff. Her ribs were killing her and her throat was throbbing. She stood up and stumbled over to Zuko's water basin to wash her face and caught her reflection in a small mirror. "Holy crap, it looks like I got bashed in the face with a two-by-four. Repeatedly" She said fingering the cut and bruises.

"It doesn't look that bad." Zuko said. He sat up with a groan and pinched between his eyes trying to get rid of his hangover. Katie watched for a second then walked up behind him.

"Here, hold still." She murmured.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked suspiciously.

"My brother is a cranial massage therapist. Just trust me okay." She didn't wait for his answer. She placed her thumbs at the base of his skull and pressed gently; kneading the pressure points her brother had shown her there, at his temples and at the bridge of his nose. Zuko leaned back into her touch and let out a soft groan as she began massaging a tender spots in his scalp. "Better?" She asked.

"No." he lied, hoping the massage would go on. But Iroh chose that time to rap gently on the door. Katie immediately stepped away from Zuko and was pretending to be straightening her bed. Zuko grunted in reply and Iroh took that as permission of entrance.

"How is everyone feeling this morning?" Iroh asked cheerfully as he entered the room bearing a tray with three mugs of steaming liquid. "I know I have a headache all the way down to my toes." He sat down and rested the tray on Zuko's dragon shrine. He passed one mug to Zuko who took it gratefully and another to Katie, she took an apprehensive sniff, it was coffee. As Iroh began rambling on and on about something or another, Zuko drained his mug and Katie quickly switched his empty one for her full one. He gave her a queer look, but drank it all the same. She had received enough comments about not drinking alcohol; she didn't need more about not drinking caffeine.

"…and then there's that pesky Zhao who is still close behind us…" Iroh was saying.

"WHAT!" Zuko said nearly sloshing the remains of his coffee on the floor.

"Admiral Zhao is still right behind us prince Zuko. I think he's following us to our next stop. You did tell him we would be selling miss Lin there, and he did tell you that he meant to purchase her." Zuko groaned and rubbed his face muttering a few cuss words.

"I'm going to speak with the helmsman." Zuko said. He stood up with a grunt and left the room.

"Anyways. Did you enjoy music night last night my dear?" Iroh asked putting the mugs back on the tray.

"Heck yes I did." Katie said grinning, trying to push Zhao out of her mind.

"We began music night a year and a half ago. It has been held once a month ever since. I can't tell you what a relief it is to actually hear something new, especially coming from a pretty voice." He said grinning at her.

"I was hoping everyone would have forgotten about that." Katie said, blushing.

"Singing for others to hear is nothing to be ashamed of miss Lin." Katie looked down at her feet and began picking absently at her blue toenail polish.

"Um, General Iroh?"

"Please, I'm retired. Just call me Iroh."

"Iroh? What's going to happen to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just that. What's going to happen to me? I know you guys can't haul me around with you forever." Iroh sat back and thought for a moment. He wasn't going to tell her what Zuko had planned for her.

"I'm not quite sure yet. We'll just see what the circumstances are in two days when we reach our next port." Katie nodded and looked out the window biting her bottom lip. How am I gonna get home. Was the main thought on her mind. She was surprised to realize this was the first time she had really asked herself that. Her first day here had been spent freaking out, the second was spent feeling sorry for herself and yesterday was too hectic to really think about anything. How could she have gotten here anyways?

"Would you be kind enough to help me with this tray? That coffee was quite strong. My hands are now shaking so badly I don't think I could hold it straight." Katie nodded and picked up the tray. I guess I'll just have to go with the flow and hope it takes me home.

There you have it. Maybe the chapter wasn't as great as I led on that it would be, but I had a great time writing it. Please review.