The cold snap went on for about three days. Very little progress towards Ba Sing Se was made during that time. Not that anyone really minded. Rie was tired of the constant motion, as was Iroh, and the crew was glad for the rest. As for Zuko and Katara, they just spent time in the cabin they shared.

When the weather finally warmed up, the helmsman put on double speed and stayed that way for about two days.

On the third day, the captain called Zuko, Iroh, Katara, and Rie to the navigation headquarters.

"In order to get to Ba Sing Se, we'll have to abandon the ship right here," the captain told them, pointing to a small stretch of shore. "The Earth Kingdom builders weren't idiots. Ba Sing Se is landlocked on all sides, with the exception of the Mei Qing Yuan River, but no ship could navigate it. It's too shallow."

Iroh nodded. "I remember that river. Nearly drowned in it. It wasn't shallow when I laid siege to Ba Sing Se."

"For a human, it's quite deep," the captain agreed. "But it's too shallow for our ship. My advice would be to take food, medicines, and some sort of weapon. The area surrounding Ba Sing Se is a breeding ground for plants that can cancel out Firebending for a few hours. Yet another wonderful invention of the Earthbenders," the captain said with bitterness.

The general nodded again. "I remember those plants as well. A quarter of my men were out because they couldn't bend for hours. They were also quite bothersome, since they attracted mosquitoes," Iroh added.

Rie pointed out something. "There's a problem. As soon as the guards see Iroh, they'll go ballistic. He's kinda hard to forget. Zuko mightn't have any problems, but Iroh will."

"Good point, Madam," the captain said. "Any suggestions as to solving this problem?" The five stood thinking.

Finally, Zuko spoke up. "There are three options. Wait until the Avatar leaves Ba Sing Se to learn Firebending," he said, pausing.

Rie shook her head. "That could take all spring. We don't have that amount of time."

"Leave my uncle here until we come back."

"That might work," Rie mused. "That is, if General Iroh would be willing. Next idea."

Zuko looked out the window. "We give up on capturing the Avatar."

This shocked everyone, even Rie. Prince Zuko was offering to lose the Avatar.

"Zuko, did I hear you right?" Iroh asked. "You are willing to give up on the Avatar?" Zuko nodded.

To shock everyone even more, Katara spoke out against that idea. "Zula or someone else could get Aang if you gave up on him. I don't want anyone to capture Aang, but if someone has to capture him, I'd rather it not be Zula."

Rie looked at Zuko. "She has a point. Zula would more than likely kill him as soon as look at him." She shrugged. "Looks like we have to leave Iroh behind until we return, with or without the Avatar. You do realize as soon as he gets word of your arrival to Ba Sing Se, the Avatar will more than likely go on to the next city."

Suddenly, Iroh exclaimed, "The Avatar will not be heading to Ba Sing Se. When we were docked at his harbor, Zhao said that the city will be the Fire Nation's by summer's end."

That makes sense, Rie thought. Sozen's Comet is coming at that time.

"Where else would he get training?" Zuko asked. "All of the other cities have been taken."

"Omashu hasn't," Katara blurted. "It was free when we stopped there a few weeks ago, after Kyoshi."

Rie's sight suddenly switched from the room she was in to a picture of Sokka's map. In red, a city was circled with other Earth Kingdom cities crossed out, Omashu one of them. When she could see the room again, Rie demanded a map. Laying it out in front of her, she looked for the city she had seen.

"There. What's the name of that city?" she asked, finding the one she was looking for. Iroh looked at it.

"Chang Li. Why?"

Rie rolled the map up. "I have a funny feeling that the Avatar will be going there.

Soon, the ship had turned slightly east and was on course to Chang Li in search of the bison that denoted the Avatar's presence. However, that would prove slightly unnecessary.

About an hour after Rie had told them where to go, Rie was on deck. Suddenly, a shadow fell on the deck. Looking up, she saw Appa above her. Running, the poor girl shouted, "Prince Zuko! There's something you need to see!"

Rie could distinctly hear Sokka above her tell Aang to "blast her with an Air Ball". Aang must have obeyed, because Rie was hard put to stay in front of the current of air that began to chase her.

Zuko, Iroh, and Katara came rushing onto the deck. "The Avatar!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Obviously," Rie remarked.

Above them, Sokka had spotted his sister. "Katara!" he called down.

Katara looked up and shouted back, "Sokka! Aang! What are you two doing? You could get hurt!"

"We're trying to save you!" Aang called back. "Hang on!" The young Airbender floated down to the deck and ran over to Katara. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Katara said. "Aang, you should be heading for an Earth Kingdom city, not playing the hero!"

"She's right," Rie, who was standing nearby, whispered. Aang looked at her, and in that instant, Rie knew that someone other than Roku knew that she wasn't from that world.

Suddenly, two of the crew had Aang's hands pinned. "What do you want with the Avatar, Prince Zuko?" they asked.

Both Rie and Katara looked up to Sokka, a sixth sense triggered. He had his boomerang out and was aiming at Zuko's head. "Duck!" Rie cried instinctively. Everyone on deck ducked, even Aang. The boomerang missed its target. Zuko turned to Sokka, not seeing the boomerang come back around.

The speed of the boomerang would kill Zuko if it made contact, Rie knew. Iroh realized that as well and was yelling at Zuko to duck, but Zuko wasn't listening. (Rie supposed she could have burned the boomerang to ash, but it was a gift from Sokka's father.)

Suddenly, the boomerang froze. Literally. Katara had frozen the boomerang. She then used sea water to water whip the two holding Aang and knock them out. Breaking the boomerang out of the ice, Katara shoved it at Aang, saying, "Get outta here! Take Sokka and get to an Earth Kingdom city!"

"But what about you, Katara?" Aang asked, worried. Katara gave him a small shove forward.

"I'll be fine! Get! Earthbending is more important than me right now! And tell Sokka not to throw that boomerang at Prince Zuko that fast again," Katara cried. Aang obeyed, but he was clearly upset.

"Yip yip!" Aang called out as he led Appa higher. Sokka looked down at Katara, his eyes full of confusion.

After the bison was out of sight, Katara ran off crying to her cabin. Zuko made to follow, but Rie and Iroh stopped him. "Let Madam Rie talk to her first, Prince Zuko," Iroh advised.

Rie agreed. "It would be best right now. Seeing you might just make her more upset at this moment. I'll only be a minute," she called as she followed Katara.

The Waterbender was on her bed, crying. "Katara? It's me," Rie said as she entered. She got a sniff in reply. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you see what I did?" Katara asked, teary. "Sokka probably thinks I've either lost it or betrayed Aang, Aang's worried about me, and Zuko will probably never speak to me again."

"Hey, who said that?" Rie asked. "Your brother is being a big brother. He's worried for you. It's in the Avatar's nature to worry about those he cares for. Zuko will more than likely ask you why you water whipped the crew members, but you'll be able to handle it." Rie sat down. "And everyone, or most of us, will understand if you feel like doing what you did was the only way to not show loyalty to one side and not the other. I mean, you're a Waterbender in love with the Fire Prince. Common sense."

Katara looked at Rie. "What?" Rie gave Katara a look.

"No one else knows, but remember? I get visions. Hiding something as important as this is not gonna work, Katara," Rie said. Katara smiled through her tears.

"We can try, can't we?" Rie laughed and shook her head.

Zuko entered the room. "Katara?" Katara looked at him, then looked down at her lap. Rie slowly got up and made her way to the door. Zuko didn't notice Rie's movement and shut the door behind him as he made his way to Katara. Rie shrugged and hid in the shadows.

Katara kept her gaze averted. "Katara, are you okay?" Zuko asked.

Katara shook her head. "No. You must think I don't know where my loyalties lay." Zuko lifted Katara's chin.

"Not really. I wonder some days if my loyalties really belongs to the Fire Nation," Zuko admitted.

Rie could tell that this was going to be a very private conversation and wished there was some way she could get out without being noticed. Thankfully, the door blew open with a huge gust of wind (Zuko hadn't shut the door tight enough). Rie quickly made her way out of that cabin and to her own.

"Whew," Rie breathed as she shut her door. "I need a drink of water." She took a glass from the pitcher beside her bed and lay down. She instantly had a vision.

It was not on the ship, that was for sure. Looking around, Rie realized she was on Appa. She squealed with delight and sat back to watch what Sokka and Aang were doing.

Sokka was sitting, stretched out over Appa's saddle. "I'm tellin' ya, Aang, something's up with Katara. She willingly stayed with Zuko? I don't believe it."

"She did," Aang called from Appa's head. "Zuko sure didn't tell her to, nor did that lady with them."

"About that lady. I don't like her. She called Zuko out, then told you to go to an Earthbending City? That's weird."

"I told you, I don't think she's from here."

"Where else could she be from? The Spirit World?" Sokka scoffed.

"Well, I got something connected to the Spirit World from her alright," Aang said, shrugging. "She could be a Seer, though."

Sokka snorted and stopped talking for a minute. "What did Katara tell you to tell me again?"

"What? Not to throw the boomerang at Prince Zuko that fast again?" Aang replied.

"Yeah. That's not like her. Usually she wants him dead," Sokka mused. Suddenly, Rie saw a look of dawning on his otherwise clueless face.

"I can't believe it!" the warrior exclaimed.

"What?"

"Them! I can't believe it!"

"Who?" Aang asked.

"My sister! She's in love with Zuko!"

"Oh," Aang said. It took a minute to register. "What? That's ridiculous, Sokka. Have you been eating lichi nuts again?"

"I'm serious, Aang. Why else would Katara willingly stay with him and then freeze my boomerang when I was this close to killing him?" Sokka asked, his fingers about two centimeters apart. "Plus, Zuko would have had her tied up, not running free, if he was really keeping her prisoner." Sokka sighed. "Looks like we'll be going without my sister for a while. I hope you learned enough Waterbending moves to practice with, Aang."

Aang looked crestfallen. Rie felt sorry for him. He had had a crush on Katara for the longest. I wish there was someway Aang could find someone else, Rie thought. Suddenly, Roku's face popped up, winked at her, then vanished. Rie had a funny feeling that Aang was going to find someone else as she woke up back in her bed on the ship.

She was only up for a few minutes when she had another vision, this one of Zuko and Katara in the other room.

Katara was no longer crying. Instead, she was sleeping. Rie assumed that the excitement from the morning had zapped her. Zuko was by his bed, meditating. With every breath, the flames of the candles would either fill the whole room or nearly go out. Why Rie was having this vision was beyond her until she heard Katara stir.

Zuko turned from his meditating. "You're awake."

This guy loves to state the obvious, Rie thought.

Katara sat up and nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Sorry for passing out. With all that had happened…" Katara trailed off. The prince got up.

"It's fine. You were trying to tell me something before you, um, fell asleep. What was it?"

"Oh, Madam Rie knows what happened during the cold snap a few days ago," Katara said.

"She's getting to be aggravating," Zuko said. "Always knowing things she has no business knowing."

"She told me that, as a Seer, hiding important secrets from her is not going to work," Katara explained. "Though how what happened then is important is beyond me. Unless it's, like, a first or something." She smiled, but it quickly faded. "This is too confusing."

"What's confusing?" Zuko asked.

"Everything. I miss my brother and Aang, but if I went with them, I'd miss you, and," Katara laughed, "even your uncle and Madam Rie, infuriating as she is." Katara paused and looked away for a few seconds. Turning to face Zuko, who had seated himself on her bed, she said, "Prince Zuko, I don't think that-" She was cut off as the prince's lips touched hers.

Slowly, Katara pulled away. (That shut her up, Rie thought.) Riecould tell by the looks on both Zuko and Katara's faces that it was the first kiss (real kiss) for both.The Waterbender looked away. "I wish you hadn't done that, Prince Zuko. We'll both regret it."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you realize that now, even if you do capture Aang and take him to your father, the likelihood of you getting the throne is almost nothing? And that, if my brother finds out, he'll probably disown me?" Katara said.

Rie flinched. Why does she always have to point out what I was trying to forget? They were doing soooo good, too. She had a visual of the stock market graph with a sharp downward turn.

Zuko looked at Katara. "If I was back in the Fire Nation, my father would have arranged who I was going to marry on my sixteenth birthday."

Katara cringed. "Another stupid tradition. What is with people and arranged marriages?" she asked. "Do they ever really work?"

"It did for my uncle," Zuko replied. "But in most cases, it doesn't. Look at my parents. But that's not the point, Katara," he said. "If my father captures Ba Sing Se, it will only be a matter of time until the North and South Pole fall as well. And I have a feeling that, no matter what, my father won't restore me to my rightful place on the throne."

He's admitting it? Rie thought. I can't believe it. Aang had better kill Ozai, and I mean, kill him.

Katara whispered, "I'm sorry. It must have taken a lot to admit it."

Zuko nodded. "Anyway, since Zula will inherit the throne, she's going to be his main priority, as always. He might forget all about me, leaving me to do virtually as I wish."

Katara got his point, as did Rie, still unseen. The Waterbender looked away again, then back at the prince. Katara was leaning closer to Zuko as Rie's vision ended.

:-) Sweet... I thought it was time that I let Sokka's opinion be heard. Of course, I had give Rie a vision so she could see what Sokka said. (After this, no more 3rd person limited for me. Too hard to get the whole story.) Tune in for Chapter 13!