SO SORRY I took so long to update! I have been SO busy lately! Corpse Bride came out on DVD! WOO HOO! Must buy!

All right, so that 'new friend' I've promised is in this chapter. Plus, Jun and Zuko get pretty cozy.

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN APROVED BY MY AVATAR-HATING FRIEND!

Injoi!

Life progressed relatively smoothly aboard the stolen ship. Jun, Zuko, and Iroh spent the remainder of the day exploring. The ship's previous owners must have been very wealthy, because it was bursting with weapons and armor. The following day they traded away some of it for money and managed to attract a full crew, many thanks to Jun. Most of the smelly, dirty scoundrels hadn't seen a woman in months.

Later, Zuko decided to clear his head, exercise his body and mind, and get away from everyone for a while. He went up to the deck and practiced his Firebending. Breathing in the salt air, feeling the flame flowing smoothly felt so good. So right after all that had gone wrong. So peaceful to be alone. Except, he wasn't alone. Jun had skulked up to watch him. Iroh had told her Zuko was a decent Bender, but Jun, not a good judge, thought he was pretty good. Better than good… Something about how he whipped around, hair flipped around his head, bare chest rippling seemed very attractive to her.

"Can you teach me?" Jun suddenly blurted out.

Zuko spun around to finally notice her, surprise etched into his face. Jun flushed a little. She hadn't meant to actually talk.

"I mean the fighting style; you can't really teach me Firebending," she said quickly, sinking back into her mysterious personality. Zuko scratched the back of his head.

"I suppose so…"

Smiling slightly, Jun pulled off her boots and – to Zuko's very great surprise – undid her shirt to reveal a black camisole. She faced her teacher and waited his instruction.

"All right, try to block this."

Zuko abandoned his use of fire and kicked out with his bare foot right over her shoulder. He tried to go easy, figuring he'd hurt her. He didn't. Moving with catlike reflexes, Jun blocked his attack with her arm and forced him to the ground.

Shocked, Zuko jumped up tried again. He attempted to throw a punch, but Jun knocked him down again. Sparks in his eyes and temper rising, Zuko struck out by her side. A tongue of flame narrowly missed her. Now annoyed as well, Jun brought her foot up by his head, but he finally stopped her, sending out another burst of fire. Jun snapped. She threw herself onto Zuko, socking him in the jaw. Outraged, he fought back. The two of them tumbled to the ground, thrashing around violently. Just then, luckily, as both young adults were getting awfully bruised, General Iroh came up to the deck for a bit of fresh air, cup of tea in hand. He stared until Jun and Zuko stopped.

It was a strange scene. Zuko was lying on top of Jun, whose right camisole strap had burned in two, so that the camisole sagged slightly at her shoulder. She bent her head back so she could see the old general.

Iroh gave them a look that very clearly said "Get. A. Room" and went back below.

Zuko slowly rolled off Jun and laid on his back. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but smile. Here he was, lying on the deck of a stolen ship after having his butt kicked by a woman, and having his uncle walk in on what looked like an exploit sex scene. He heard a soft chortling by him and realized that Jun was laughing. He laughed too, for the first time in months. It took Zuko a moment to discover that he was happy, something he hadn't been in a while. The two of them got to their feet and went down below. While most of Zuko's brain focused on cleaning himself up and nursing his wounds, a small, private corner replayed the afternoon. It wasn't easy to forget how Jun's body had felt on his…

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In the world of Meanwhile, Sokka, Katara, and Aang were hard at work looking for an Earthbending teacher. At the time of Jun and Zuko's fight, they wandered through a thick forest.

"Come on, can we stop now?" Sokka whined. "We've been walking for three hours!"

"Sokka!" Katara gave him one of her Ultra-Mature looks. "We have to find Aang a teacher!"

"Well, what teacher in their right mind would live here!" he grumbled and gestured at their surroundings. Katara rolled her eyes and continued walking.

"You never know, Sokka," Aang said, optimistic as always. "We could find something really amazing our here!"
He didn't expect to right. But just then, a flash of purple light showed between two trees.

"Look!" Aang pointed it out. "It's coming closer!"

"What is it?" Katara hesitated a little.

"Hmmm, maybe it's an EARTHBENDING TEACHER!" Sokka was getting hungry and grouchy. The light shimmered closer. It was as tall as Katara, and moved rather timidly. It turned and made motions for them to follow them.

"Let's go!" Aang shouted and bounded after it. Katara went after him and Sokka, sighing and moaning complaints to himself, finally came too.

The light moved with staggering speed. The group had to run to keep up. It went over a stream, through trees, and went into a huge stone cave. It stopped to make sure the party had kept up. Then the light went straight up a rock cliff. Aang, Katara, and Sokka climbed up after it, Sokka with some reluctance.

"Wow," Aang reached the top first and peered around. Though it was still sunny outside, the top was shadowed in darkness and wound into a maze of tunnels. The purple light waited for the others to catch up and plunged into a pathway. As they traveled, Katara noted that the walls were coated with dust and cobwebs, souvenirs of years of neglect. Longer and longer they walked, right down to the end of the rock hallway. They came to a large room. The light moved to the middle of it so they could see what was inside. Aang, Katara, and Sokka all gasped. Seated on a boulder was a girl. She looked to be about Sokka's age and was very pretty, with dark skin and black hair. But she wasn't breathing. Her eyes were closed. She wasn't dead, but she certainly wasn't alive either. The light motioned to Aang. He stepped toward the girl and held out his arm. This seemed to be what the light wanted, because it quickly moved between the Avatar and the girl.

Whoosh! The light magnified a hundred times, filling the room and creating a burst of energy. Katara and Sokka were blown back against the wall. Then, suddenly, it was quiet again. The light was gone, but the young travelers noticed the room was lined with torches that had become ignited in the blast. The girl stirred. She opened her eyes and got off her boulder. She smiled. Her eyes were a deep brown and her hair was tightly corn-rolled to her head. Her outfit consisted of a simple light brown shirt that wasn't long enough to cover her navel, and pants, unusual at the time. But the girl's most distinguishing feature was a purple swirl that decorated her stomach. Her forehead also had a swirl.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "My name is Latifa. I'm a Lifebender, you're the Avatar, and I'm really glad that you found me."

The group was stunned.

"A Lifebender? So you're real then!" Aang said.

Lifebenders were thought to be myths, a fifth nation. The other nations had told stories about them, years ago, about strange encounters and occurrences with them. But the stories had stopped before Katara and Sokka were born.

"What's a Lifebender?" Katara asked.

"The Fifth Element," Latifa explained enthusiastically. "We were once a proud group of people. But now…" She seemed to wilt. "Now I guess they're all gone."

"What happened?"

"Fifty years ago, my people lived here, on this land. And we were happy. I was happy. But then…" she looked away. "The Fire Nation attacked. They outnumbered us seven to one. Yet, we fought back. But we could see that we were going to lose."

"Now wait a minute," Sokka interrupted. "You mean to say that you were there, fifty years ago?"

"Yeah, Mr. Skeptical, let me finish my story! Now then, a few weeks before the attack, my grandmother taught me a new Lifebending move. It was very difficult, so I worked relentlessly to master it."

"What was the move?" Aang asked, always interested in learning new skills.

"We called it hikihanisu; separating one's body from their life. That's easy when it comes to separating other people; a five-year-old Bender could do it. But separating your own self is something quite different. I learned it just in time. When the Fire Nation attacked, my mother told me to run. Just to run away. I was so scared, I did. I ran here, my old hideout. I used to come here all the time as a little child, where my brothers couldn't find me. But as an extra precaution, I did hikihanisu to myself. And I waited. For three weeks."

"You can do that?"
"Yeah. When you are separated from your body, you don't need food or anything. So after three weeks, I decided that the Fire Nation really was gone. I tried to return to my body, but it had been so long, that my body had forgotten me."

"Forgotten you?" Sokka crossed his arms over his chest. He definitely wasn't buying any of this.

"YES! God, you don't believe anything, do you? ANYWAY, what could I do? My family was dead and I couldn't get back into my body. So I waited some more. In fact, I went into a trance and waited in this cave for fifty LONG years."

"So what made you wake up today?" Katara asked. Latifa smiled.

"I heard you guys. Stomping around outside, COMPLAINING ABOUT THINGS, MR. SKEPICAL, and so I came to see what was going on. When I saw that Aang was the Avatar, I led you here."

"Hey," Aang was taken back. "How'd you know my name?" Latifa smiled again.

"Another basic Lifebending skill. I can see into your mind." She came up to Katara and looked directly into her eyes. The swirl on Latifa's head glowed a little. Then she pulled away.

"You're Katara. From the Water Tribe. Your dad's at war and your mother was killed in a Fire Nation attack too."

"That's right," Katara said, genuinely impressed.

"Lucky guess," Sokka scoffed.

"Excuse me?" Latifa's smile lessened.

"I'm just saying," Sokka put on his usual Power Stance-I know Everything act. "How do we know you're really who you say you are? Who are you, really?"

"I…" Latifa drew in a deep breath. "Am…" She raised her arms up and took a step toward Sokka. "A…" She took another step and scowled. Sokka looked scared. "LIFEBENDER!" Latifa's swirls glowed and with a great sweeping motion, another shimmery light came into the room. Sokka's body sagged against the floor and Latifa twisted and pushed the light around in fantastic shapes. With complete concentration, she returned Sokka to his body. The shock made him fall to the ground.

"That was incredible!" Aang cheered. Sokka groaned and sat up.

"You deserved that." Katara smiled.

"Yes, well, do you believe now, Mr. Sokka?" Latifa looked triumphant.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got me, amazing, now if you'll excuse us, we must be on our way. We have an Earthbending teacher to find." Sokka stumbled to his feet.

"Oh," Latifa's smile instantly faded. "You really have to go?"

"I'm sorry," Katara said. "But we really do have to find Aang a teacher.

"Okay, I understand. Well, I guess I'll be going then. See you guys later." With a sad little wave, the Lifebender turned to leave.

"Wait," Aang stopped her. "How about you come with us?" Latifa whirled around and grinned.

"Yes! I'd love to! I'd go pack my stuff, but I don't have any stuff! Yes! This is great! When can we leave? Can we leave now? Can I meet your flying buffalo, Aang? Appa?"

"What!" Sokka fumed. "We can't take her! There isn't enough…Appa! There isn't enough Appa to go around!" But nobody heard him. Katara and Aang were too busy bombarding Latifa with questions to pay attention to a grouchy Water Tribe warrior. Grumbling to himself, Sokka followed the chattering group outside into the sunlight.

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It was quiet. And dark. But peaceful. The ship gently rocked back and forth into the night. Jun rolled over in her sleep. Her eyes lazily opened. There was so much cargo aboard, some of it was being stored in Jun's room. She watched it now, several crates sliding around at the foot of her bed. She heard the clink of glass, then the sliding sound. Clink, slide, clink, slide. Suddenly, there was a louder crashing noise. Instantly awake, she sat upright and stared at the crates. Slide, crash! Green smoke misted out. Jun leaped put of bed and ran out, slamming the door behind her. Slide, BOOM! There was an explosion inside. Breathing heavily, she slumped against the door, and tried to decide what had just happened. Luckily, Iroh heard the crash and came to investigate.

"Jun! Are you alright?"

"I…fine. Wha…what happened?" She gasped. "Something blew up." Iroh took a scroll out of his pocket and studied it.

"Hmmmmm, yes, we were using your room to store 500 liters of toxic gas. The movement of the ship must have broken the bottles." Jun groaned.

"Great. Now what?"

"What's going on here?" Zuko boomed down the hallway to see what was disrupting his ship.

"Oh, nothing. My room is full of poisonous gas. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Great. Don't we have another room for her?" Iroh consulted his scroll again.

"No. Between the crew and the cargo, everywhere's full. There's no extra space. Except…"

"Except what?" Zuko did not appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night and was getting aggravated. His uncle looked up from the list.

"Except for your room, Prince Zuko. You have the largest on the ship." Zuko's eyes widened.

"No way! She is not getting my room!"

"Uh, hello! She's right here! And I don't want your room anyway!" Jun put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Well, where are you going to sleep?"

"Well, maybe I'll just sleep on the deck!"

"Fine!"

"Or maybe I'll sleep in the kitchen!"

"Fine!"

"Or maybe I'll just sleep on the floor of your room!"

"FINE! That's just fine with me! Great! Fantastic! I can't wait! Fine!

"Fine!"

"Good night Uncle!"

"Good night Iroh!" Zuko and Jun marched down the hall together. In spite of the situation, Iroh smiled. Teenagers.

"All right Hot Stuff, I know that you must be simply thrilled at the idea of sleeping in the same room as a woman as beautiful as myself, but do try to keep those teenage boy hormones to an absolute minimum." Jun finished unrolling her blanket on a cot and scowled at Zuko. He pulled off his shirt and glared back. Okay, so he did feel a little shiver of pleasure as he stared at Jun in her camisole and shorts, but he did have self-control.

Without another word, they both crawled into bed and Zuko blew out the lamp. Once more, it was quiet, dark, and peaceful aboard the stolen ship.

Well, there you have it! Tell me what you thought!

I think Jun's a brat-Zuko

I think Zuko's a pervert-Jun

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