wow it has been so long since I updated this. I changed this chapter a tiny bit from what it was before. Its only like 3 lines soif you already ready read it before you really don't have to read it again if you don't want to. ok I guess I'm done rambeling for now.


Chapter 9

ZUKO'S SHIP

Zuko was awakened in the middle of the night by movement. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that the movement that had woke him was Trina who had rolled into his arms. 'I must have rolled over too for us to be in this position,' he thought Zuko briefly considered pushing her back to her side of the bed but her quickly decided that he enjoyed this feeling far too much for it to end so soon (despite the promise he had made to stay away). He was soon asleep again.

Zuko was unaware that they were being watched. Iroh had slipped into the room unnoticed while the two were sleeping. He smiled at the scene before him. It only further validated the fact that they were indeed attracted to each other. Having seen what he wanted to see he slipped silently form the room.

It the morning Iroh knocked softly on Zuko's door, when no one answered he decided to let the two teens sleep. It was about noon before either of them started to stir. Trina started to wake first and felt herself wrapped in pleasant warmth and there was some sort of weight around her waist. She opened her eyes so she could discern the source of the warmth and weight and found herself staring at Zuko's still sleeping face. She realized that the weight must have been Zuko's arm and that he must wrapped it around her in the middle of the night. She knew she should do something to make him more but she really didn't want to. He looked so peaceful she hated to disturb him plus it felt good to just lay there against his bare chest.

Zuko was just starting to wake up, so Trina pretended to still be asleep (which she was quite good at mad college skills yo). When he made no move to let her go she opened her eyes. She found herself staring into his golden eyes, and they were uncomfortably close. She blushed and rolled away from him. "I thought you said you would stay on the other side of the bed."

It was his turn to blush now. "I'm sorry I didn't realize that I had moved," he said stubbornly. He knew it was a lie but she didn't. "So did you sleep well?" He asked cautiously, afraid that she would tell him to stay away from her.

"Quite well thank you, especially with a big, strong fire bender to protect me." In a way the logical side of her couldn't believe that she was lying in Zuko's bed flirting with him, but the fan girl side of her certainly could.

He pulled her back into his arms and smiled. She smiled back at him. Trina felt her heart pounding in her chest because she had never experienced closeness like this with anyone of the opposite sex. Heck, she had never even had a boy friend. She decided that she liked this feeling very much. The moment was spoiled however by loud knocking on the door.

"Prince Zuko it's nearly noon don't you think you should get up?" Before either of them had a chance to move Iroh opened the door. He immediately saw the position the two were in and asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," they said together a bit too quickly only managing to sound guilty.

"You're sure now? Because I can come back later if you want to-"

"Don't say it." Zuko growled.

Trina moved out of Zuko's arms and went to the other side of the room. She realized what Iroh was about to say and needed to move because she couldn't stand being so close to Zuko and thinking about what Iroh almost said.

"I'm coming Uncle." Zuko was still growling as he put on his shirt and his armor and left the room.

"You see I told you that she likes you." Zuko could have hit Iroh then but he restrained himself. "I can tell that you care for each other, that was clear when I entered your room last night."

"YOU WHAT!"

"I snuck into your room and saw her asleep in your arms, and then after what I saw this morning I'd have to be a fool not to see that she might just love you."

"Uncle that's crazy," he was trying to deny it but why he tried he didn't know because what his uncle was saying was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"No it's not stop denying it. You love her too don't you?"

"I…I don't know."

"Yes you do. I can tell. You can't hide it from me and you shouldn't hide it from her. Tell her."

"I can't."

"Why not Prince Zuko? Don't tell me that the great prince of the Fire Nation is afraid of his own feelings."

"I just can't!"

"Don't make me tell her for you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?"

"Alright fine, I'll tell her later."

The day passed uneventfully. Trina and Zuko spent lunch together and much to Iroh's disappointment they didn't speak to each other. It was soon evening (the day goes by fast when you don't get up until noon) and Zuko returned to the room he was sharing with Trina. He paused at the door trying to gather the strength to tell her how he felt. When he opened the door and entered the room he found her to be asleep. A whole lot of worry for this?

He decided to meditate. He sat cross legged in front to his dragon shrine and lit the candles with his bending. He concentrated on willing the small flames and soon because of the size he was making the flames grow to the room was becoming quite warm. Zuko stripped himself of his armor but was still uncomfortably warm so he took off his shirt as well. He continued meditating and didn't notice that the girl was waking up.

Trina woke up slowly because of the change in temperature in the room. She opened her eyes and saw Zuko of the other side of the room. She yawned and asked, "Prince Zuko, what are you doing? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

He was startled by the voice and he extinguished the candles. "I was meditating and I took off my shirt because I got hot."

"It is hot in here I guess, but I thought you were always hot." As soon as the words left her she clasped a hand over her mouth because she couldn't believe she just said that out loud.

"What do you mean?"

She head slapped herself. Me and my big mouth. "Awwww man." She couldn't see any other way out of this one other than telling him the truth. "OK look, I can't believe I just said that out loud but here's the deal, where I come from "hot" can mean a lot of things, but what I mean is that you're very good looking." Her cheeks were flushed bright red because she couldn't believe she had just explained "hot" to Prince Zuko of all people.

"Oh. Do you really think that?"

"Why would I have said it if I didn't mean it?" Her face grew even warmer.

"In a way you just made what I need to tell you a lot easier for me."

"Glad I could be of service," she said sullenly. "So what do you need to tell me?"

"I wasn't really sure how to say this but now I see that you feel the same way about you as you do about me." Zuko looked at her and saw that her features were filled with confusion. "I think that you're 'hot' as you so eloquently put it"

"Hey now lets not get too carried away now. I wouldn't go that far." Did he really just say that I'm hot?

"But I would. You are a very pretty girl." Guess so. Zuko could feel the blush burning in his face. He looked at Trina, who's own face was currently burning with a growing blush as well. "Surely this is not the first time that you've ever heard that."

"Actually… it is," she cast her eyes down at the floor. At this point she was willing to look anywhere but at Zuko.

"What? You can't be serious?"

"Do you think I would lie to you about what guys think about that way I look when it's that bad?" She was looking at him again only this time she was glaring daggers at him.

"I well…um…." He stumbled over what to say. "Now don't get yourself all riled up, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I didn't mean to offend you."

Her anger deminished almost immediately and she spoke, "I'm sorry about my short temper. It often gets the best of me."

'Sounds a little familiar' he thought to himself. "I'm not really sure how to say this…I really don't know what else to say right now other than maybe," he hesitated a moment, "I think I might love you." He turned away when she didn't say anything, thinking that it was rejection. His face was hot and he knew that he must have been red with embarrassment.

Now Trina's moment of silence was not rejection (definitely not rejection), she was simply too surprised to say anything for a moment. She noticed that he had turned away. She stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "Prince Zuko," she started, he braced himself for the verbal rejection he thought was coming, "I think I love you as well."

Zuko turned around to face her. A large smile was now plastered across his face. She smiled back at him. He took her in his arms and they simply stood there for a while holding each other. Zuko savored her presence for he hadn't felt this happy since before he was banished. He liked the way it felt when her smaller frame was pressed against his.

He decided if there was ever a time to make a move this was it he lifted her chin with a gentle finger and leaned in to kiss her and-

"Prince Zuko you're needed on deck," Iroh burst through the door. The two released each other and glared angrily at him. Iroh realized that he had interrupted something rather personal. "Oh my, I am sorry."

"Not as sorry as you will be if you don't leave right now!" Trina shouted, flames were beginning to blossom from her fists. Zuko put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Why am I needed?"

"There is another ship approaching fast. Admiral Zhao's ship."

"What?" Zuko quickly pulled his shirt back on and put his armor back on. He didn't know what Zhao wanted but odds were it wasn't simply a social call. "Tarrina no matter what stay here until I come back. This man is bad news; I don't want something to happen to you,"

Trina nodded, she knew exactly what Zhao was, (but we won't say what she thinks about him in order to keep it kid friendly). They held each other for a brief moment again before Zuko silently left the room and locked the door behind him.

He moved out onto the deck and was surprised to see the Zhao was already there waiting for him.

"Ah Prince Zuko so nice of you to join us. Just who I wanted to see."

"What do you want?"

"Answers. The Avatar was in my custody but a certain blue masked individual helped him escape. Any chance you know who it was behind that mask?"

"No Zhao I don't. I'm glad to see this has been a waste of my time."

"For some reason I don't quite believe you. Search the ship men."

"Admiral Zhao you have no right to do this!"

"On the contrary Prince Zuko, you are a suspect for this crime so I can do whatever I please."

"You won't find anything."

"We'll just see," Zhao said smirking at Zuko.

Zhao's men were very through in their search, starting in the lower levels of the ship and working their way up. When they eventually made their way to Zuko's room they forced the door open and they were surprised to see a girl sitting on the bed. They sneered when they saw the fear in her eyes. Two of the men grabbed her, one on each arm, and dragged her out of the room.

"NO! STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE! TAKE YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME! FUCK OFF!" This only encouraged the men to be more rough with her.

"Admiral Zhao it seems that we've found something," one of the men said as they hauled Trina out onto the deck. It was no easy task because of how forcefully she was trying to fight back all the while snarling at them like a caged predator.

"Yes it seems that you have."

Zuko moved to put himself between Zhao and Trina but Iroh grabbed his arm. "Let us see how she handles this."

"But Uncle-"

"Look at her. There is no fear of him in her eyes."

Trina had stopped struggling and was simply glaring at Zhao, who was starting to circle her as if he was inspecting her. "You are quite a find." She growled at him. "Now, now have you any reason for that?"

"Let's think about that one for a minute… oh yeah your men just brutally yanked me for my room, I don't have any reason to be mad." Trina stuck her tongue out at him and mumbled "Bastard."

He struck her across the side of her face and grabbed her by the chin. "Now there's no reason for that." He sneared saying, "I think I just might take you with me."

She moved suddenly, jerking her chin out of his hand and before he had a chance to move she bit down on his fingers as hard as she could. Zhao pulled him hand back quickly, but not quick enough to avoid a bloody hand. He winced slightly.

Trina spit his blood out of her mouth and said sarcastically, "oh you poor thing."

"Now I think you can step in Zuko."

Zhao moved to hit her with his uninjured hand but Zuko caught his arm. "Don't," Zuko said icily.

"I see you've found yourself a treacherous little snake, Zuko." Zhao spat, he was now holding his injured hand.

"I am a bit bitey and you've got red on you." She said in an English accent, in a reference to Shaun of the Dead (not that any one but her got it). Zhao glared at her but at that point she was rather pleased with herself.

"Leave. Now." Zuko said shortly. Zhao stood there for a moment longer. "OFF MY SHIP!" Zuko shouted.

Zhao boarded his own ship and called for his me to follow him. "Leave the girl, she'll only be trouble."

As soon as she was free and stood safely next to Zuko, she called after Zhao, "you never know what diseases I might be carrying so you might want to get that checked."

He heard her but decided to ignore the comment. Instead he said, "don't worry we'll finish this later when you don't have that traitorous prince to protect you."

When the ship started to sail away Zuko turned back to Trina. "Are you insane?"

"M-maybe…" she said shakily. Zhao's last comment had shaken her badly.

"You'll be alright. I won't let him hurt you. I'm right here. I'll never leave you," Zuko said softly.

She threw her arms around his neck as silent tears slid down her cheeks. "Come on, lets go back to bed," he whispered. He felt her nod against his shoulder. He picked her up gently and carried her to their room. He had Iroh open the door so he wouldn't have to put her down until they were inside the room.

As he stepped into the room he bid his uncle goodnight and kicked the door closed. He was surprised to see that Zhao's men hadn't torn the room apart. 'They must have left as soon as they found Tarrina.' He felt terrible for having left her in the room by herself. He laid her down on the bed took off his armor and shirt and lay down beside her.

"I swear to you as long as there is breath in me I'll never let him touch you again. I'm sorry that this happened." He could see a darkening bruise on her face where Zhao had hit her.

"Zuko, just hold me. I don't want to think about him anymore." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

"I'll do you one better," he said as he leaned closer. His lips descended on hers in a lingering kiss. He was startled by the passion with which she returned it. When he finally drew back both of them were smiling. "Feel better?"

"Much. That's just what I needed." She waited a moment before she spoke again. "Zuko?"

"What?"

"Will you train me and help me improve my bending and better control it? I want to be able to defend myself."

"Of course. But you need to heal first; I don't want you to get hurt any more. Now try to go to sleep."

She yawned, "No problem there." She quickly fell asleep and Zuko simply lay there watching her for a short time before falling asleep himself.


WITH CAROLINE

Caroline was back down at the stream early the next morning. Sokka and Katara were both still asleep and Aang hadn't returned yet. Caroline knew that he would come back soon, so she decided to give herself a break from making tea and go wash her hair.

In all her free time she'd devised a fairly amusing way to do so using her water bending. She would pluck a string of water from the pool, stream it straight through her hair, and let it drop to the ground on her other side. It came in handy because she didn't have to strip off all of her clothes and submerge herself entirely into the cold water. After she did the process once, she repeated it several times, mostly because it was fun.

Meanwhile, back at the campsite...

Aang had just returned and cured Sokka and Katara with the frozen frogs he'd gotten in the bog. Once the two realized what they were sucking on they gagged and tried to wipe the 'frog germs' off their tongues.

Sokka was still in the midst of doing just this when he realized that Caroline was absent. "Where's Lomi Ka?" He asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Aang replied. "I haven't seen her since I got back."

"I'm going to go look for her." Sokka said, standing. "You two wait here incase she shows up."

Aang and Katara nodded and watched as he hurried down the hill towards the stream. "Follow him?" Katara asked, feeling the need to do something.

"You bet!" Aang replied cheerily. "This should be some fun stuff!"

Back at the stream...

Caroline was about to bend the water one last time when a voice sounded behind her. "Well, what sort of magic and bizarre rituals are we practicing down here?"

Startled, Caroline lost control of the water and it went soaring straight into Sokka's face. It was only then that it registered in her mind who'd spoken. "Sorry Sok--." She paused when it clicked in her mind. "Sokka! Oh my goodness! You're better! I was so worried!" Without thinking she ran towards him and hugged him fiercely, knocking him to the ground.

Giggling could be heard in the bushes and Aang and Katara came walking out. "Oooh! Looks like someone has a crush on Sokka!" Katara said in a sing-song voice.

Caroline blushed, the shade of her cheeks nearly matching that of her robes, and she stepped away from Sokka. "Lomi Ka likes Sokka! Lomi Ka likes Sokka!" Katara continued as she began to dance around in circles.

"So what if I do?" Caroline cried, her fists beginning to smoke. She turned and ran into the forest, too embarrassed to stick around.

"Good job, Katara!" Sokka yelled at his sister. "Now look what you've done!" He ran off in the direction Caroline had went.

Katara made as if to go after him, but Aang stopped her.

"Let him handle this one, Katara" He said. "Perhaps we did push that a bit too far. After all, its none of our business who Lomi Ka or Sokka likes."

"I guess I did get a bit carried away..." Katara admitted. "Come on, lets go." She and Aang walked back to the campsite together, leaving Sokka to find Caroline.

Somewhere in the woods...

"Lomi Ka!" Sokka called when he caught sight of the girl. Despite her embarrassment Caroline stopped and allowed Sokka to come up beside her. Several moments of awkward silence followed before Sokka asked, "Is it true? Do you really have a crush on me?"

Caroline blushed and looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "Yes..." She mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Yes!" Caroline said louder, finally turning to face him.

Sokka smiled at her. "Good," He replied. "Because I kinda, sorta like you too."

Caroline gasped, hesitated for a moment, and then threw her arms around Sokka. He returned her embrace and they stood there for several moments locked in each others arms. Reluctantly, Caroline pulled away and sighed. "We should probably be heading back to the campsite now." She said quietly. "No need to make Aang and Katara wonder what on earth we're doing down here."

"Good idea," Sokka replied as he took her hand. She smiled softly and the two of them walked out of the woods and up the hill to the campsite.