Sokka sat up, rubbing his head tiredly. "Are you alright?" asked a concerned face.

Turning around, the young Water Tribe warrior saw with a shock who it was.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH! Fire Bender! Stay Away, Fire Bender! Away!"

The Fire Bender (Iroh, as you might have guessed) opened his mouth to reply, but didn't get very far.

"Relax, young Water boy. I am not going to…"

"I'd help Zuko, nothing new.

I'm not sure he'd believe me,

But there's not help, that's just how he be"

"Prince Zuko?" asked Iroh, sitting back on his heels and tilting his head towards the sound.

"That's Aang!" exclaimed Sokka, looking in the same direction that Iroh had. He instantly regretted that.

"Aang?" asked the Fire Bender curiously. Since Sokka obviously didn't want to tell a Fire Bender who and where the Avatar was, he was in a predicament with answering that question. "Who is Aang?"

"Nobody! I'm not telling you. I mean, uh, he's my friend. Yeah. From Water Tribe. My friend."

"The Avatar?" Iroh inquired, without a real question.

"Yeah," agreed Sokka, deflating as he realized that resistance was futile.

"But, Katara, rhyming is fun!

How long do you think my song would run

If I didn't have to pause

To make sure I keep within rhyming laws?"

"Katara!" Sokka sat bolt upright, another thing he instantly regretted. His head still hurt from… whatever had made his head hurt in the first place.

"Who is Katara?" asked Iroh benignly. Since he didn't seem much of a threat, (Fire Bender or no, they were both in the same situation) Sokka decided that lying would be simply a waste of time.

"She's my sister," he explained. "A Water Bender. And if you try any of your Fire Bender tricks, she'll kick your butt."

"I'm sure she will," Iroh agreed patronizingly. "I wonder why they're singing."

"Voice pitch," Sokka told him confidently. "I know all about this stuff. Let me try, old man."

"Aang, Katara, is that you?

This is Sokka, you know who.

That old Fire Bender's stuck here too

This singing idea is very new!"

A short pause, and then Aang's voice replied.

"Sokka, how nice to hear your voice.

I was thinking we wouldn't have a choice

But to never know where you are

This is the better option by far!"

There was barely a pause between the end of Aang's song and the beginning of the next one, which was sung by Katara.

"Sokka, you won't believe

Who Aang's with, I do not deceive

While I'm with the Omashu King,

He's with Zuko, who will not sing!"

Sokka leaned back with a start, too stunned to say anything. Aang, trapped in a small space with Zuko… and still alive?

Since it was obvious that he wasn't going to be singing anything anytime soon, Iroh took over the task.

"Zuko, are you really there?

I must ask: how do you fair?

Please leave this honor quest for later,

Or we'll be in the hands of Fate… er."

Sokka regained his voice in time to explain to Aang and Katara what was going on before they asked.

"Aang, Katara, guess what?

I have a problem, I'm in a rut.

While Katara's with our friend Bumi.

A Fire Bender is my roomie."

But Aang's response, while less than comforting to Sokka, was at least attempting to be helpful.

"Sokka don't worry, I think I know

Who you're with, it's just Iroh.

Zuko's uncle, he's really nice,

He really seems to like tea and rice."

Sokka flinched at that. Perhaps Aang didn't know exactly who Prince Zuko's uncle would be, but Sokka, for one, didn't appreciate being stuck with the Fire Lord's brother.

But the Dragon of the West was laughing quietly, and sung back to Aang before Sokka could point any of this out.

"Avatar, is that really you?

I liked your rhyme, it was unique and new.

I hope my nephew's being kind,

This is a situation that he will mind."

Sokka thought he heard Aang laughing as he answered.

"Don't worry, Iroh, Zuko's fine.

I don't think on me, he will dine.

He might disagree with that,

But so far, he's not being a rat!"

Iroh laughed cheerfully and turned to Sokka. "Young Aang's been trapped with Zuko before," he explained. "I don't think your friend is in any danger from him."

"Not in any danger?" snapped Sokka in disbelief. "Zuko has been trying to hunt us down and kill us since day one. What makes you think he'll stop now?"

"Oh, no, he hasn't been trying to kill you," Iroh assured him innocently. "You see, Zuko can only return home if he captures the Avatar. So if he killed him, then he would never be able to go home. It's in his best interests to keep young Aang alive."

Sokka frowned. "Wait… he can only return home… so he was banished?" Iroh nodded. "Well, his father's the Fire Lord, isn't he? Why didn't he just lift the banishment, or something?"

Iroh sighed, but he saw no reason not to explain Zuko's predicament to the young Water Tribe warrior. "My brother isn't a very forgiving person," Iroh told Sokka. "When his son insulted a general, he ordered an Agni Kai with him. After Zuko showed fear, he was banished, and could only return after capturing the Avatar."

"What did he do?" asked Sokka. "I mean, to insult the general. It's seems like, living in the Fire Nation his whole life, he'd have some idea how not to do that."

"The general wanted to send some untrained troops to fight the Earth Nation. They would be nothing but bait. Zuko disagreed with him, and, well…" Iroh shrugged sadly.

Sokka didn't say anything, for once in his life. But his thoughts were interrupted by his younger sister.

"Sokka, are you okay in there?

Bumi's insane, I'm splitting hairs.

I hope the Fire bender hasn't hurt you

Me, I'm just going to go coo-coo."

Sorry for the lack of updating, guys, I've been busy, and I'm suffering from severe writer's block. I don't think I'll be able to do much this weekend, either. I'm working on a project with some friends tomorrow, and I'm going to a play this evening, then my aunt and uncle are coming down with my foster cousin, and they're staying the night. I might be able to get one up on Monday, which is Presidents ' Day, so I don't go to school, but then again, I might not. Anyway, Aang should start his inane singing in the next chapter Also, to answer a question I got in a review, yes; this takes place after the first one. The first story is about halfway through season one; this is about a week after the season finally. As these stories are AU, should I still be writing this when season2 comes out, I won't bother changing things if they dare to contradict me. Sorry that this author's note was ages long, I sort of got to rambling. Hope you liked it, and remember to review!