Disclaimer: I own m socks, my dead goldfish, my suicidal hamster…umm….oh ya, and mystical powers over waffles and other household items. Sadly, Avatar" The Last Airbender is neither a dead goldfish, socks, or a waffle, thus, I own it not. Tear

To MY reviewers: Unfortunately, I do not have the time to thank each of you personally, due to time constraints, however BIG THANK YOUS to my first reviewers , and in answer to your question Sakura Minamino, I am in a difficult school course, and am unable to write more than 1 story at a time, however, I'll be sure to fill the order for a Yu Yu Hakusho fic( which also isn't mine) as soon as possible.

And now, for 30 seconds of randomness, back without any demand….heh, go figure…

Iroh and WB are covered in protective gear from head to toe, watching something off stage. Iroh holds a remote with one large red button.

Iroh: Shall we begin?

WB: evil smirk DO IT.

Iroh o.0 Perhaps talking will fix this argument in a less………..unnatural way….

WB: NO!There is no other way. It must be done……eye twitches nervously

Iroh: -.- very well……pushes button

WB: takes off running, screaming in an unnaturally high pitch

particularly large fireball flies past Iroh, off stage in the direction of WB

assorted screaming, Zuko walks on set chuckling dryly

Iroh: -.- sigh Prince Zuko, I don't think your supposed to use fireballs in a game of tag……

Zuko: confused Why not?

WB walks straight up to Zuko, charred slightly with hair burnt off, slaps him across face

TAG, YOUR IT YOU following terms not suitable for young ears( or in this case eyes, but I digress)

WB stomps off set, mumbling naughty things

Zuko: 0.0 touches cheek gingerly, winces, then stomps off in opposite direction Girls are so weird.

Iroh: shifts uncomfortably -.- …..sigh I think I'll go make some tea to BLOW OFF STEAM! collapses in raucous laughter GET IT? TO blow..off………steam?

crickets chirp

Ummm…well…anyway….walks off stage, leaving empty set

FIN

No that wasn't the chapter, so here it is, so enjoy, or I'll have to eat you….no, seriously…o.0…..

Chapter 2

Patience. He had to be patient and prepared. The mantra echoed gently in his head, lost to the outside world, to the beating off the waves against the hull of his ship, to the light slapping of the ropes on the deck.

The bison had sunk lower in the sky, exhaustion finally taking it's toll on the beast. 3 days. 3 days, and only now was the creature beginning to show signs of tiring.

The candles on the table flared sharply, reflecting the mood of their master at the thought of the frustrating beast.

Taking a deep breath, he allowed the dank heavy air of the ship to soothe his temper, the candles returning to the small, flickering glow from before.

The beast was resilient and stubborn, he would admit as much. But it was still mortal.

Not like his ship. His ship was metal, harsh, cold, and calculating. Much as the young….man? teenager…. That captained it. It was vaguely staggering, the many parallels that could be found among the adjectives used to describe his ship and his self.

The comfortable quiet surrounding the Prince with it's soothing presence was shattered as the door to his chambers flew open and a stout, healthy man walked into the dark cabin.

"Meditating again, Prince Zuko? Surely you have time to captain your ship."

Prince Zuko took his time opening his eyes, standing, and turning to face the older man.

"I don't know what you mean Uncle Iroh."

A smile split the lightly wrinkled face of the sage. "Surely you are happy that you are so close to finally capturing the Avatar? You have not given orders to the men for hours. The soldiers are confused. With the bison so low in the sky, why do we not start firing the catapults. They are impatient to capture the young Airbender."

"Let them be impatient if they so please." The Prince snapped back curtly. "I am in charge of this ship, and it is my decision when we make our move. I have learned from these past years that haste results in failure. I will not make that mistake. Not when I'm this close."

Iroh nodded slowly. " You have grown much wiser Prince Zuko. You act as a man." Zuko's heart swelled with pride.

Zuko thought for a moment, contemplating his response, then carefully spoke. " I believe it is time to return to deck. My Judgement Day draws near." The Prince marched dutifully passed his Uncle, up to the hatch above them.

General Iroh's smile faded as he blew out a heavy sigh, and the heavy wrinkles of his true age appeared. " Yes Prince Zuko, you act as a man. But being an actor is not being a man, and until you find your true calling, you will not find this truth."

Reattaching his smile, Uncle Iroh followed his ambitious nephew through the hatch to the deck.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Katara awoke to shouting. Shaking herself awake, the first think Katara saw was a huge ball of tar flying over her head.

Katara turned to her brother, eyes wide with fright as the loud screams of the missiles slicing through air thick with smoke clouded her thoughts. "Sokka," she shouted over the terrible din" What's going on?"

Sokka swore colorfully as Appa barely dodged a large missile. " That damn Prince has been wearing Appa down by making him fly continually, and now that Appa's too weak to escape, he's trying to shoot us down!"

Another missile ended their conversation abruptly, and Katara scurried to help.

A weird place to stop, I know, but if I write anymore than I'll be typing for hours. Umm, if you got this far, then congratulations, yo uget the honor of submitting a review!PLEASE!I'll update as soon as possible.

I love all my reviewers,

WindBender