sobs I'm so sorry! I hic I've been neglecting this story . . .Sorry all. But don't worry, I have both this and the next chapter planned out, so they should come moderately quicker. Heh, please don't kill me! Read the chapter below first. Points down.

P.S. - Thanks so much Dracori for pointing out my mistake, politely even! I'll get right on that!

Finally

On deck stood a lone figure, small against the harsh outline of the horizon. The silhouette shivered and pulled a cloak tighter about her shoulders, protection against the abrasive spray of the sea. It was almost sunrise, and the girl looked toward the horizon, waiting for the sun to rise.

Zuko was having a hard time trying to go back to sleep. The prince tossed and turned, not making relaxing any easier for himself. He groaned and sat up, heaving his feet over the side of the bed. Glancing to his left, he grabbed his training shirt and slipped into it, morning at sea was always cold.

He stepped out of his room and made his way to the deck, his back to the figure. Zuko turned, upon recognizing the slim shape, snarled, and made his way over to the girl.

Katara glanced back when she heard the prince's footsteps. She winced as Zuko turned her fully around, rougher than necessary.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, his face set in a deep frown. "You should be in your cell!"

Katara wrenched her arm away from the boy's grip, her own face slightly creased.

"The cell door was unlocked, I didn't get much fresh air last night and I wanted to watch the sunrise." she said, her eyes slightly narrowed. "Is that so much of a problem?" Katara asked.

Zuko glared at the girl, and then looked over her shoulder toward the horizon.

"Well if you want to watch the sun rise you had better turn around."

Katara bit her tongue and turned around. She gasped and watched, amazed, as the sun rose among oranges and pinks. It was an amazing sight to see, the entire sky turning red as the sun ascended.

"I take it you've never seen a sunrise at sea before?" Zuko asked, whispering into Katara's ear.

The girl shook her head. "Never, we always slept on land when I was traveling with Aang." she said softly.

Zuko straightened and looked out on the sea, his frown deepening. "I have seen the sunset from this ship for nearly two years. It has lost its glory in that time."

Katara's eyes widened. "Two years?" she whispered her eyes still on the rising sun. "You've been searching for the avatar for two years? How old are you?"

Zuko's eyes remained narrowed. "I'm sixteen." he said. "And yes, I have been searching for two years."

The waterbender couldn't turn away from the awesome sight, scarlets and violets mixed with all shades of purple and magenta. "I'm sorry." she whispered, still not looking at the boy behind her.

The prince narrowed his eyes even more. "I don't need your pity." he growled, his eyes flashing.

"I wasn't giving it to you. I was just saying." Katara turned around and faced the prince, her face no longer in a frown. "That it must be hard, to do what you have done."

Zuko swallowed visibly, painfully aware of how close to one another they where. "I'll live." he said.

Katara sighed and looked at the ground. "How can you stand it?" she asked. "Day after day, with only one thing to do? You need to capture Aang to give to your father, I can understand that, what I don't understand is how you don't give up."

Zuko's face became a mask. "I have almost nothing to lose." he muttered, looking above Katara at the purple sunrise.

The girl glanced up at Zuko, searching the prince's face. "Almost nothing?" she asked, her voice low.

The prince returned Katara's gaze, his face slightly confused.

"Never mind." he murmured after a few minutes. "Forget I said it." he said, turning his back on Katara to go back to his room.

"Wait!" The girl exclaimed grabbing his arm and turning him around, her face knit together. "I want to know what you meant." she said slowly, her eyes almost boring holes in Zuko's.

Zuko quickly searched her face. Suddenly he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and pulled her to him, his mouth swiftly finding hers. Katara stiffened, her eyes wide, and then relaxed. She allowed her eyelashes to flutter closed and an arm to rise up to hold the boy who was giving her first kiss.

The prince suddenly broke the kiss and leaned down to murmur in Katara's ear. "You are already lost to me and yet I can not help holding onto you."

The firebender let go of Katara and headed below decks, toward his room, leaving a very confused girl in his wake.

A few minutes later a certain general woke up, and upon finding out that Zuko still had his teakettle, made his way to the young prince's room.

'Thud . . . Thud. . . Thud. .'

Iroh frowned and slowly opened the door of his nephew's room to see a strange sight. He shook his head at the boy and tucked his arms into the long sleeves of his robe.

"Even if you beat your head against the wall a thousand times, Prince Zuko, it will not turn out to be a drum."

Zuko stopped his self-inflicted punishment and turned slowly toward his uncle, his teeth gritted and his fists clenched.

"Uncle," he said slowly. Iroh looked around for his tea supplies and upon spotting that the kettle was still slightly steaming, beamed and made his way over to the table

"Is that ginseng?" he asked, lifting up the top to smell the tea inside.

"Uncle," Zuko repeated, stepping a little closer to Iroh. The general ignored his indignant nephew and poured himself a cup of tea, taking a sip.

"Ah, delicious," Iroh praised, his eyes closed in appreciation.

"Uncle!" Zuko shouted, smoke issuing gently from his mouth.

"What, prince Zuko?" the Dragon of the West asked, serene despite his nephews rage. The prince suddenly seemed confused, he glanced quickly around the room and his face was a deep tint of red.

"I . . I . . I-"

"Spit it out." Iroh muttered, taking another swallow of his tea.

"Dammit, I kissed her!" Zuko yelled, his eyes wide and his mouth open, panting slightly .

Iroh merely blinked, then closed his eyes, taking another sip of tea. He lowered his cup slightly and looked again at his nephew.

"Finally."

After Zuko had left, Katara had turned and stared out towards the horizon, watching the sun rise. She shook her head and put a finger up to her lips.

"That stupid boy!" she suddenly screamed, turning around and stomping her foot on the hard deck. "What was he thinking! That. . .That . . That was my first kiss, damn him!" She screamed again, a few waves coming up from over the side of the ship.

She wouldn't admit it to herself but she was kind of relived to have gotten it finally over with. It wasn't even that big of a deal, to get your first kiss. It was just getting annoying, sort of nagging her in the back of her mind that she still hadn't kissed a boy. But why did it have to be him! A kidnapper, a fire nation prince, someone who she knew would trade her for Aang in an instant! Katara's fists clenched and her jaw tenced. The waterbender then slowly relaxed, controlling her anger.

She shook her head again and took off the cloak, folding it up and laying it neatly to one side. Katara took a deep breath in order to calm herself, and began to waterbend, drawing the liquid from over the side of the ship in front of her, forming it into a suspended puddle.

She breathed again and formed the water into a whip, lashing out at the air in front of her. Satisfied, she began a combined series of moves she had taught herself. Mostly creating shields and practicing control over the water.

After Katara had been practicing for about ten minutes she heard a faint sound from behind. She turned quickly and found Iroh to be applauding her.

"That was very good." he said, smiling and walking closer to Katara, "You are self taught am I right?" he asked, his tone kind.

The girl nodded and quickly bended the water overboard, waiting to hear what the old firebender had to say.

The general smiled, "I was wondering if you would like to be my nephews sparring partner, for the day at least. He is too proud to ask you himself and I believe the experience will be good for him."

Katara bit her lip. Could she still face him even after what happened? She glanced down at her hands and then suddenly clenched them.

"I will be honored to face Zuko." she said, a small smile on her face.

Iroh smiled and replied quickly. "Thank you, I will go get him now."

The waterbender watched as the old bender made his way beneath the ship. She began to stretch, making sure she would be able to do all the moves she had learned so far. Katara barely glanced up as the two firebenders came on deck, Zuko glowering and Iroh smirking slightly.

The young adults faced each other, waiting for Iroh's signal.

"Begin." he said, stepping back to act as a referee.

Zuko bowed slightly, more inclined his head than anything else, and then settled into the ready position, his feet shoulder width apart, one foot somewhat in front of the other. Katara bowed too, and although deeper than Zuko's she still never let her eyes wander off the prince. The girl slowly eased herself into a comfortable bending position, one foot far behind the other, most of her weight on her back leg.

A few minutes past, neither of the two benders wanting to make the first move. Katara frowned. She had agreed to fight so she would give this boy a fight! She suddenly spun around, bending water from over the side of the deck in front of her and sending it crashing toward Zuko.

The prince neatly sidestepped the wave and sent three fire punches at the girl. The waterbender was just as fast as Zuko, probably faster and she reacted quickly, drawing the water she had already sent toward Zuko back at him while ducking under the fire blasts. The prince grunted as the water hit him in the back, sending him crashing forward.

Zuko fell on the palms of his hands, allowing him to get back up quickly. He got to his feet and jumped, avoiding a whip sent at him by Katara. The prince then used the jump to propel him forward, his foot drawing a fire circle in the air.

Katara gasped as the fire blast hit her in the stomach, pushing her backwards. She snarled at the prince who had rapidly advanced toward her while she was being assaulted.

They where now too close for Katara to bend anything, she blocked the first few punches from the prince, even throwing some of her own at the boy. She didn't expect the prince to sweep her legs out from under her and she landed heavily on the deck, still glaring at Zuko.

"Dead." the boy said, standing over her, one foot parallel to her chest the other on her opposite side, near her hip.

"Rematch," Katara growled.

Zuko nodded and lowered his arms, stepping away from the girl and allowing her to stand up. He was about a foot away from her and about to turn around when Katara bended an ice ball in front of her, sending it hurtling toward Zuko.

The prince snarled and tried to melt the sphere, but it was too big to completely evaporate. It hit him hard in the chest, sending him sprawling onto the deck. Suddenly the ice melted, swiftly trickling down Zuko's arms to pin him to the deck.

Zuko growled at the girl who had tricked him, struggling against the water-bonds as Katara froze them from her position five meters away. She bended a strand of water from the sea into her hand, walking over to the trapped prince.

The firebender began heating up his arms, seeing the icicle pointed at his chest.

"Dead," Katara said, standing over the boy in the same position he had her a minute ago. Zuko smirked.

"Not quite."

Before Katara had time to gasp Zuko swung his legs around, simultaneously unbalancing the waterbender and pulling his arms free of the ice. He landed with one arm steadying himself on the deck. He stood up in an instant and stepped over the girls breathless form. He settled again in a ready firebending position.

"Dead." he stated again, the infernal smirk still on his face. This time instead of being disappointed at her defeat Katara seemed almost amused, matching the princes smirk with one of her own.

Behind them came a small noise that they both ignored.

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "What's so entertaining?" he asked, breathing hard.

Katara glanced at her right hand, still holding the icicle. Zuko frowned, suspecting a trick, then looked at where her eyes were resting. He took a deep breath, reeling in his temper.

"That's cheating." he said, glaring at the girl.

Katara laughed slightly. The icicle had never fallen from her grasp and when she had been thrown to the deck; She had made sure to hold onto it. The razor sharp piece of blade-like ice now pointed directly at where Zuko's legs came together.

The noise from behind them intensified. Zuko glanced over to where his uncle was standing, although how he managed to stay upright was anyone's guess.

"Well I'm glad you two are amused." he snapped.

Katara raised an eyebrow. "So what do you value more Zuko? Your victory or your manhood?"

Zuko gritted his teeth and backed up off Katara. He quickly turned toward his nearly-hysterical uncle, his eyes blazing and smoke emerging from his mouth in short bursts. The prince shook his head and stormed below decks, more annoyed that anything else.

Katara propped herself up on her elbows, letting the icicle drip back into the ocean.

"Do you think we made him angry?"

A/N - Mwhahahaha! I'm so evil. Anywho; Do you think Katara/Zuko/Iroh is in character? Please tell me, I honestly do look at the reviews. Ack! I need feedback, all my other avatar-obsessed friends aren't honest with me!

Anyway, I hope you laughed, the next chapter should come slightly quicker. (Maybe a week I have the ideas in my head already.)

Read/review/give me feedback.

- Word Bender! -

P.S. -check out my drabble-fic, 'Annoying Avatar,' You might like it!