A/N: Hola, chicos! Wait, is that right? You know what, I'm done with Spanish so I don't care right now. Leave a message after the beep. Anyway, onto the story.

o0oOo0o

Katara stopped for a moment, leaning against a tree. Sweat beaded on her face and her ankle was throbbing beyond all belief. She suddenly wished she had had the patients to sit and listen to Yagoda in healing classes at the North Pole. She remembered the woman teaching about twists and sprains. That had been the day she lost the fight with Pakku and her concentration was next to nothing. Katara closed her eyes against the darkness. The faint light Zuko was giving off from his firebending faded slightly. He hadn't noticed she had stopped.

But soon enough he had. He came back for her, golden light showering them both. The flame in his palm danced and the waterbender opened her eyes, her gaze toward the flame. It eventually settled on his golden eyes. "Here." he said, turning and kneeling.

"What?"

"Get on my back. I'll carry you."

"No. I'm fine. And besides, if you get exhausted, I wouldn't be able to carry you."

Zuko's eyes shut tight in frustration. He fought back a growl. "Fine. Break your ankle by walking on it. I don't care." The man stood, walking further into the forest, taking the light with him. The girl sighed and continued on, grimacing against the pain. As much as it hurt, she didn't want to show weakness by needing his help. That was the sort of thing he would taunt her for later. But half of her wondered why he'd even offered her help. On second thought, why did he even come with her?

A sudden chill ran up the waterbender's spine. She looked around, turning a circle. She didn't know why, but it felt like she was being watched. Katara hurried to catch up to Zuko who was walking with clutched fists. "Zuko?" she said, still looking around.

"What, girl?"

"Doesn't it feel like we're being watched?" she asked, barely noticing what he'd called her. He looked across at the girl with an arched brow. Her blue eyes were scanning the forest around her. Was she paranoid or something?

"No." A simple monotone wasn't helping Katara in the least.

"It does to me. And could you call me Katara? It is my name after all." The waterbender briefly looked the firebender in the eyes. The young man shook his head. She was scared to death and still wanted to be called by her name. Swoosh. Katara panicked, jerking around to the bushes. They sat still now, but she could have sworn…

"Stop being paranoid. We aren't the only living things in this forest." the young man said. He didn't spare a glance toward the bushes or the girl; he didn't need to. There was probably some small critter out for a midnight snack and it was nothing to worry about. So why was this girl worrying? Was she scared of the dark? He shook his head. He figured after all this time traveling with the Avatar she'd have been used to the outdoors by now.

Zuko was pulled from his thoughts when a wolf-bat flew overhead, screeching like nothing he'd ever heard. He merely looked up at it, but the girl (what was her name? Katara?) nearly had a heart-attack. She grabbed his hand tight. The firebender swore she clamped off circulation within seconds. He looked down at her. She wasn't looking back, eyes only following the wolf-bat that flew away from Zuko's flame and into the darkness. Her head turned forward again, though she didn't release his hand. The firebender scowled. Just who did she think she was? He opened his mouth to shoot a rude remark, but she spoke first.

"I'm scared." she said, biting one of her nails. Well that wasn't much of a surprise.

"Why? There's nothing out here I can't burn to a crisp or you can't freeze in a block of ice."

"No. There is. Last night, my brother, Aang and I were… Something dragged us apart."

Okay, now Zuko was seeing her point of view. A little bit. But that didn't mean he'd admit it. "What?"

"Plants. Vines." The firebender rolled his eyes. Being in this swamp all day had exhausted her. She was getting delirious from lack of sleep. "I'm serious!" she snapped.

"Alright. Let's just sit for a little while, all right?" The firebender sat on a fallen tree, long and thick. It was half buried at the bottom, sloping up as the narrow trail went on. Katara stopped. That tree looked familiar… And it all came back to her.

"And Daddy says never to forget who I am because my heritage is special."

"Zuko?" Katara said feebly. They had gone in a complete circle!

"What?" The annoyance in his voice was obvious.

"Let's go. I'm fine now."

"What?"

"Is that your favorite word? Let's go!" she pulled him up by the hand and pulled him along the path. She really didn't think she should be here… Where had that girl gone, anyway? And had she actually imagined the entire thing? With every hurried step, Katara began to doubt it more and more. They turned down another path to the left, ducking under a low-hanging vine. She swallowed a dry lump in her throat as Zuko wrenched his warm hand from hers.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he exclaimed. "You're being paranoid and there is nothing to be afraid of out here! Just calm down!" He looked back at the vine.

"To that big tree with the vine hanging down?"

They'd gone in a complete circle!

A chill ran up his spine. It seemed suddenly colder as if a gust of wind had come by. He saw a shadowy figure come down the path from the side with the vine. Katara screamed and he threw a fireball out of instinct. The fireball missed his target and succeeded in plunging them both into darkness. Zuko lit his fists in flame, stepping in front of the waterbender.

"Wow! Can you show me how to do that?" The noise came from behind them. The two benders whipped around to see the little girl from earlier in the day.

"Lily?" Katara said, nearly fainting. She hadn't imagined it, which meant the girl had been wandering around the forest for half a day all by herself. And it was perilously dark out! Zuko's roaring flames calmed as he knelt down in front of the little girl.

"Where have you been? I couldn't find you." he said. Katara smiled in knowing the young man had some sort of fatherly instinct in him. Wait… He knew her?

"You know her?" the waterbender asked. The firebender turned to face the older girl.

"I ran into her before I ran into you."

"Literally." Lily interjected with a giggle. "Do you like each other?" Zuko's good eye twitched while Katara held back a laugh. Finally, Katara couldn't take it anymore and broke into a fit of laughter. The older firebender only stared at the young girl. "What? I only asked." Lily said with a small shrug. A hint of mischief sparkled in her copper eyes.

"She's young!" Zuko exclaimed, motioning to Katara. The waterbender's laughter instantly ceased. If looks could kill, Zuko's ghost would have been dead.

"I'm fifteen, Zuko!" The ex-prince stared at the waterbender. He hadn't guessed her older than thirteen! What was going on with all of the small-for-their-age people today? Lily started humming while the two elder benders started arguing. This was going to take a while.

o0oOo0o

"Where are they? I can't take it any longer!" Sokka cried, falling on the tree branch. Momo sat on the water tribe warrior's shoulder, chattering. Since nightfall, the group had gone into the small village that was hidden in the swamp. Oddly enough, the group was a bunch of waterbenders that had captured someone important to the Avatar: Momo. After Aang had rescued his pet and they all had a bite to eat, they returned to their post to wait. Zuko and Katara couldn't take that incredibly long.

His blue gaze went back to the other two men and boy that sat huddled around some sort of wooden board game. What had they called it? Pea Chow?

"Use the Lotus Tile." Aang was saying. "It doesn't seem to be that important, but it can set you up for a win with strategy." Iroh threw his arms into the air.

"That is what I have been telling people for years but they never understand! Why, once, I lost my Lotus Tile and…"

Sokka covered his ears. He was tired of all of their stupid talk. They had got bored with their tea and moved onto this game, trying to teach Sokka how to play. That quest was cut short. The game was way too complicated for him, especially with everything on his mind. Was his sister really with that brat of an ex-prince? And would they do like Iroh had predicted and fall in love? He hoped that wherever his sister was, she was not falling for that guy. Maybe if someone else was around to distract them or if they were arguing…

o0oOo0o

And Sokka had both wishes. After about ten minutes of the two older benders arguing, Lily had finally gotten bored. "You know what my uncle would say right now?" she interrupted, looking up at the two. They stopped, staring back at the girl. "He'd say: are you too busy to notice your own ship has set sail?" They both blinked. Lily sighed.

"It means are you too busy to notice your friends and family are waiting for you." Her hands were on her hips but she soon arched an eyebrow in thought. "But I don't think he meant that the first time he said it…"

Zuko let out a breath of frustration, smoke filling the air. He walked past both girls and down the path. Katara hurried after him; after all, he had the light. "Lily, come on!" she called over her shoulder. The girl came after them, mumbling to herself, still trying to figure out what her uncle meant by the proverb. The lead firebender soon came to a fork in the road, stopping in his tracks. Before he could even ask, the little girl had stepped forward, pointing to the left.

"Let's go that way." she said. "The big tree is that way and we can see everything from there." Without waiting for agreement, she set off again. Katara chuckled, seeing the expression on Zuko's face. He rolled his eyes, waiting for the waterbender to walk on before he followed.

o0oOo0o

A/N: I know it seems like my chapters are getting really short. Sorry. I just know what I want to happen and I want it to happen. You know? And I hate making the 'fall in love' thing take like twenty three chapters.