Here's the next chappie! YAY! (sorry I had too much sugar today)

Chapter 3

Zuko's Ship

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon when Zuko began to stir. He rose from the cot as quickly as he could without disturbing the girl. He turned around to pick up his shirt to put back on when he saw his uncle standing there was a huge grin on his face.

"What now Uncle?"

"Oh is there anything that says I can't come and check on this girl?"

"Yes and seeing me in bed with a girl I'm sure has nothing to do with it?"

"Why of course not Prince Zuko, but I'm not getting any younger you know and I would like to hear the pitter patter of little feet before I go."

At that comment all of Zuko's face turned almost as red as his scar. "Uncle Do Not Start That Again!" Zuko's fists were smoking (a lot) at this point.

Now as fate would have it now was the time that Trina began to wake up. As her senses returned to her she found that she hurt all over, even more so with each intake of breath. She moaned softly but neither of the two men heard because of the "conversation" they were having. The smoke from Zuko's fists was filling the room quickly and it was soon swirling all around Trina's cot.

At the moment the smoke entered her lungs she began coughing violently. Now that caught their attention. "Now look what you've done Zuko."

"Me? You started…Oh forget it"

Iroh moved to her bedside quickly. "Just relax you're alright," he reassured her.

Trina slowly opened her eyes but she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Surely this couldn't be real and it was just a trick her mind was playing on her.

"Where…….ugh," she managed before the pain in her ribs became too much for her again. She wrapped her arms around her protesting ribs and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Don't worry child, you'll be alright. My name is Iroh and this is my nephew, Prince Zuko and this is his ship," he said as he pulled Zuko into the girl's line of vision. "I would like very much to know your name."

"Tarrina," she gasped out between coughs. "Water, please," she rasped.

"Of course." Iroh moved to get her some water when she began coughing violently again. This time she started to cough up blood.

"Zuko help her sit up otherwise she'll choke on her own blood! Stay with her while I go get the doctor."

Zuko nodded and quickly moved forward to Trina. By the time he got to her not only blood was issuing from her mouth, but smoke and small flames as well.

As he helped her sit up her coughing finally subsided. 'So you're a fire bender,' Zuko thought as he sat beside her holding her upright. It took him buy surprise when she summoned the strength to turn slightly and clung to the front of his shirt trying to steady herself. Her grip was actually quite strong considering the condition she was in and the she was just a girl.

He was sitting on the cot in this awkward position when his uncle and the doctor entered the room. Zuko though he felt a blush rising in his cheeks but forced it away.

"Well, Zuko it looks as if Tarrina has taken quite a fancy to you."

Zuko didn't even bother to answer he simply glared at Iroh, but he knew he was blushing this time. "Get her some water, Uncle."

"Oh yes I had forgotten."

Iroh moved forward with the water as Zuko growled at the doctor, "get her off me, she's bleeding on my shirt."

"Yes, Sir."

Sure enough there was a spot of blood on Zuko's shirt where Trina had been. A rather large one actually.

"Oh, my," Iroh gasped upon seeing all the blood. No one had really realized just how badly injured she was until that point.

"Water," she begged again.

Iroh held the cup to her lips and she gulped it greedily spurring another fit of coughing. "Slow down or you'll choke yourself."

She settled herself and drank slower. She felt a little better and asked the question that had been burning in her own mind. "Where is Lomi Ka, is she alright?"

The men looked at each other not knowing who she was talking about.

"Who child? There was no one with you when we found you," the doctor said.

Trina groaned and felt like crying. So much for all her fantasies about being on Zuko's ship. She had lost her family, health, and her best friend all in one day.

"You mean she's gone?" Trina choked back a sob and let silent tears slide down her cheeks.

Iroh moved to her offering what comfort he could to this girl that they knew nothing about other than her name and that she had lost her friend. He sat on the cot beside her she threw her arms around him and sobbed on his shoulder. Her reaction startled all three of them.

"Hurts……ribs……,"she forced out between sobs.

"Don't you have anything you could give her for the pain?" Iroh asked still holding the girl.

"Prince Zuko would you bring me the bottle of brandy out of the medicine cabinet?"

He nodded and got the bottle and handed it to the doctor. "It should help to numb her senses." He poured some of it into a cup and gave the bottle back to Zuko to put away.

The doctor moved to her and spoke softly to her, "Tarrina, I need you to drink this down. " She took a sip and made a face. "I know it doesn't taste very good to you, but you need to drink it. All of it now."

She downed the liquor and continued clinging to Iroh still crying. She felt the pain subside slightly and she cried herself to sleep.

Iroh laid her back down on the bed when he felt he breathing even out signaling that she had indeed fallen asleep. "One of us should stay with her tonight in case she awakens or has another coughing spell."

"You're right General Iroh," the doctor said. At that point both he and Iroh turned and looked at Zuko.

"What? No I stayed with her last night. You can't ask me to do it again."

"Maybe I can't ask you to stay the night here, but I can tell you to."

"Uncle," Zuko then made and annoyed and unhappy sound that sounded very much like a growl.

"Oh come now Prince Zuko you know we can't leave her here by herself."

"Why not?"

"I already gave you a reason but besides them who knows what would happen to her if we left her unguarded of a ship full of men who haven't seen a woman in a long time."

"Well we don't need to worry about that yet because I'll tend to her today," the doctor said. "She'll need to have her injuries tended to so don't worry about it until later. Now gentlemen I believe I no longer need your help at the moment."

Both Iroh and Zuko left the room at that point and left the doctor to his work. The doctor looked down at the girl on the cot. He started to reexamine all of the bindings on her broken bones to make sure nothing had shifted during any of her fits.

While he was checking her bandaging he noticed that forearms had been bleeding. It had stopped itself but the bandage needed to be changed. He unraveled the wrapping and examined them to make sure that they would not become infected. He spread some salve on them to minimize the scaring that the burns would cause but he knew that it wouldn't get rid of them completely.

She was breathing normally and evenly now so he discerned that whatever had caused her to cough up blood had rectified itself.

Trina was beginning to stir slightly and slowly woke up. She groaned softly and her green eyes began roving the room. "wha…., where…." she whispered then she remembered what had happened the day before.

"How are you feeling Tarrina?" the doctor asked.

"A little better that before but not great. By the way don't get struck by lightning, not fun," she groaned.

"I imagine not."

"You have no idea," she managed to smile weakly.

"So child, are you hungry. Is there anything that I can get for you?"

"Yeah, I guess I am a little hungry. Heck I'm really hungry. I'll eat whatever you give me."

The doctor laughed a bit at what Trina had said. "I'll go see what I can find for you to eat."

With that he left the room and she was left in the room by herself. She started to sit up so she could get a better look at the room she was in but because of the pain it caused her she quickly decided against it.

Iroh entered the room at about that time. "Now you should not be moving around so soon young one. Just tell me what you need and I'll help you."

"I just want to sit up."

"Alright. You know that after what you've been through you can expect yourself to heal overnight," Iroh said as he helped her up.

She hissed slightly in pain. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," Iroh told her softly.

"It's not you; it just hurts no matter what."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll feel better and be back to your old self in no time."

"I'm not sure you really want that," Trina said with a slight laugh that turned into a groan.

"So child, you're a fire bender?" At Iroh's comment Trina cocked her head questioningly. "You don't know if you're a fire bender? But my nephew said he saw you coughing up smoke and flames earlier this morning."

"I've never been able to bend anything before."

The door opened and the doctor reentered with a tray with a bowl of noodles and a cup of tea. He set the tray down across Trina's lap and she immediately began eating ravenously.

"I guess I was hungrier than I thought," she said. She had finished in practically a matter of seconds. "Thank you. You have all been so kind to me."

At that moment Zuko's angry voice echoed through the hall. "Uncle, Uncle where are you?" He burst through the door startling the occupants of the room. "Uncle what are you doing!"

"Well aren't you a regular ray of sunshine," Trina said (it did not improve his attitude at all.)

"You shut your mouth! I wasn't talking to you!"

"Prince Zuko there is no excuse for that! Calm yourself. She's been through a lot," Iroh scolded his nephew.

"Uncle Iroh, I told you to keep watch for the Avatar!"

"You will not find him today Zuko. The storm will have forced them to take shelter somewhere and they probably won't have come out yet."

Zuko blew some smoke from his nostrils in frustration. Trina wondered if she could do that too since she was a fire bender. She gathered what strength she had and what concentration she could muster, which wasn't really that much (stupid ADD), and she tried it for herself. Of course she had not idea what she was doing but she actually ended up doing it.

"What are you doing? Are you challenging me?" Zuko yelled at her.

"No, not while I'm bed ridden at least, and you're lucky that I am or I'd be whoopin' on your ass!" She yelled back at him, ignoring the pain the exertion was causing her.

"Like you could really whoop my ass."

"Now, now. Children you both need to calm down."

"I'm not a child!" Both Trina and Zuko shouted at the same time.

"I am 18 I'll have you know. I bet Mister High-and-Mighty-Prince," Trina mocked, "isn't over 16." Trina knew she was right and had a smug grin on her face.

"Now you just see here," Zuko's fists were flaming by now and he was yelling. "This is my ship an-"

"Zuko enough. Stop it both of you. Tarrina we don't need you injuring yourself further by arguing with my nephew."

"Whatever," she huffed.

Zuko stomped out of the room and slammed the door. As soon as he had left Trina collapsed back onto the cot, moaning in pain, breathing heavily.

"You really shouldn't have pushed him like that. If you get him mad enough I won't be able to stop him from hurting you." The doctor nodded his agreement to what Iroh had just said.

"I'm sorry. I let my temper get the best of me."

"You and my nephew have something in common then."

Trina rolled over on the cot and turned away for Iroh. "I am very tired Iroh, I'm going back to sleep." Iroh could hear her voice quivering when she said that but understood that she needed some time alone. The doctor saw this as well and left the room with Iroh.

As soon as Trina heard them leave the room she dissolved into tears. She was beginning to wonder what she ever saw in Zuko. Her horrible experience was causing her façade to break. She couldn't help but wonder what had become of Caroline.

With Caroline

Caroline was awoken at dawn the next morning when Katara gently shook her shoulder. "Lomi Ka, wake up. Aang and I are off to the marketplace. As soon as we get back we'll be moving on. Could you help Sokka pack up camp?"

"If you eat the lembas, I'll give you my pirate shirt!" Caroline mumbled, still mostly asleep. With that said she rolled over and snuggled deeper into Sokka's sleeping bag so Katara couldn't see anything but the tip of her blonde ponytail.

Katara sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just like Sokka, great." She grumbled sarcastically, looking around the cave for her brother. As usual she found him still asleep by the fire, curled in an extra blanket they'd found in Appa's saddle. "Oh, why do I even bother? Come on Aang, they can survive without us for a few hours."

Aang nodded and the two of them crawled onto Appa's back and were off.

A little while later Caroline finally woke up fully. Despite the warmth that Sokka's sleeping bag offered, she crawled out of it and went to stoke the fire. She groaned as she moved for she felt like she'd done 2,000 sit-ups, run a marathon, and lifted a ton of weights. Thankfully nothing felt broken, so she ignored her sore muscles and stood up.

She was about to step outside into the fresh morning air when Sokka's voice sounded behind her. "Where are you going?" He asked. "And where are the others?"

Caroline jumped in surprise, cursed herself for doing so, groaning at the pain it caused. "I vaguely remember Katara saying something about the marketplace." She answered. She didn't turn around for she was blushing in embarrassment. "I was just going outside for some fresh air….um….want to join me?"

Sokka paused for a moment and Caroline was afraid that he'd say no. "Um, sure." He finally answered. He walked up beside the girl and suddenly noticed her height compared to his. They were roughly the same height, though Caroline may have been an inch or two taller. "Wow, you're quite tall, for a girl I mean."

"Uh, thanks." Caroline replied, unsure of what else to say.

Sokka continued to study her and she began to blush again. "You know? Katara's clothes don't seem to fit you very well." Sokka remarked. "If you're feeling up to a walk we could head down to the marketplace ourselves and find you something new."

"Sounds like fun!" Caroline smiled and followed Sokka down the steep pathway from the cave to the village. Though she wouldn't admit it to many people, her new companions least of all, she'd always had a certain fondness for the boy. Why, even in her current situation she couldn't help but stare at him and grin like an idiot. Spending time alone with him was going to be so wonderful!

"Uh, Lomi Ka?" Sokka inquired when they reached the bottom of the hill. He waved a hand in front of the girls face. "What are you staring at?"

"Oh, uh, nothing." Caroline said, stumbling over her words. She felt heat rising into her cheeks and quickly looked away. "Oh, look, we're nearly to the market! Let's go!"

She grabbed Sokka's arm before he could say another word and dragged him into the marketplace. They stopped into the first shop they found that sold clothing and began to browse around. They'd barely had time to look when they heard Katara's angry voice from behind them. "What are you two doing here? Sokka did you make her walk all the way down that hill? We don't even know if she's fully recovered yet, she's---."

"She's fine," Sokka finished much to his sister's annoyance. "And incase you haven't noticed, your clothes don't exactly fit her."

Katara looked at Caroline. The robe was far too tight on her and the pants were short, coming halfway up her shins. "Fine, buy her some clothes and then meet me and Aang at the fruit stand." She motioned to Aang and the two of them left Caroline and Sokka alone once again.

"What was that all about?" The shopkeeper asked Sokka.

"My sister has an attitude problem." Sokka replied. "Don't pay any attention to her."

The shopkeeper nodded and Sokka returned to helping Caroline pick out an outfit. Finally she chose out a blood red robe, the style quite similar to Katara's, and some bluish, gray pants. Sokka paid for the items and led Caroline from the shop. As she admired her new garments Sokka asked, "Hungry?"

Caroline paused as she realized just how hungry she really was and then nodded vigorously. Sokka led her to the fruit stand where they were supposed to meet Aang and Katara and bought them each a peach. She immediately ate the whole thing, the juice dripping down her chin. Smiling at Sokka's shocked expression; she wiped her face on her sleeve.

Sokka just stared at her in a stunned silence. Never before had he met someone who could rival his own speed at eating as this girl just had. Caroline just grinned in embarrassment and walked to where Katara and Aang were waiting on Appa.

As she approached Katara asked, "Did you two pack up camp like I asked?"

"You never asked!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Yes I did, I asked Lomi Ka."

"You did? I don't seem to remember that. I can remember hearing about the market, but after that…nothing." Caroline replied, standing up for Sokka.

Katara mumbled something to herself and turned her back on Caroline and her brother. Aang merely shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you two continue walking around for a while? Katara and I will handle the campsite."

"Thanks Aang!" Caroline cried. She grabbed Sokka's arm and pulled him off towards the forest. Aang climbed up onto Appa next to Katara who was still mumbling something about her infinitely annoying brother and his new friend, and they set off for the cave.

Once they were gone, Caroline and Sokka began to take a leisurely stroll through the woods. Sokka immediately began to look for nuts because both of them were beginning to get hungry again. As Caroline followed him around she let her mind wander as she always did. Before she knew it she had strayed off the path and wasn't sure which way to go to find Sokka.