AN: I'm back! O.k. just like I promised I'm gonna write to make up for the chapters missed. Thanks for reviews!

Disclaimer: Do you really have to put these things? Nobody here owns Avatar. Which, unfortunatly, includes me...

Chapter 4:

It was morning now and everyone, save Iroh, was awake. Sokka was eating, Aang was practicing his waterbending, and Katara was trying to finish healing Zuko's leg. Yes, I said trying.

"I don't need help from the likes of you." Zuko growled.

"Sure you do. If it weren't for us, you'd probably be dead by now." Katara said it as if it were fact, not a probability.

"No I wouldn't. I would have gotten to land." His temper was rising, and as we all know, this is never a good thing.

"Not with your leg broken up that badly. Plus, you would have probably starved before you could even catch sight of land."

"I would not."

"Yes you would."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Quiet!" Both were startled at the outburst, even Sokka and Aang looked over. Iroh had finally awoken.

"Your constant bickering is giving me a horrible head ache!" The man put his hand to his head where the wound had been. Katara talked to him as if Zuko had never been there.

"Would you like some tea and something to eat?" At this Iroh smiled.

"Very much, thank you."

Katara went right to work preparing a meal for the old man. As she did so, Iroh and Zuko started talking.

"How long have you been awake?" Zuko asked, curious of the man's actions.

"A while actually. It's impossible to sleep with you being so loud. Which," He added." I do not approve of."

"You don't approve of being loud?"

"I don't approve of you fighting with a young lady." Iroh stated simply.

"Uncle, that 'young lady' is the enemy!" Zuko argued. "And I don't approve of the enemy helping me."

Through all of this the men had been whispering, which aroused suspition in Sokka.

"What if they're planning an attack on us!" He whispered to Aang, who really wasn't paying attention.

"Calm down,Sokka." Was all he kept saying.

The smell of the soup Katara was cooking was carried to Sokka as the breeze blew by.

"Thanks Katara, I sure was getting hungry." He said as she got to her feet.

"This isn't for you Sokka, it's for Iroh." His jaw dropped.

"What?" He said a little too loudly, causing Zuko and Iroh to look over. "That has got to be the first descent meal you've cooked since we left the South Pole, and your giving it to the enemy?"

"Looks like he shares your views on things, Zuko." Iroh whispered before Katara turned to face Sokka.

"One," She said. "If you don't like my cooking, why do you eat it? Two, I prefer to think of them of guests until they are well enough to travel on their own. Three, I have fixed blueberries for desert, which you have refused to eat since Mom was killed!"

"Yeah, and she still cooks better than you!" Sokka shouted back. That did it. Katara was so angry the tray in her hands shook. She took a steadying breath, set the tray gently before Iroh, drew the water from Aang's hands, and - Whap! She water-whipped her brother with so much force that a drop of blood leaked from the spot on his forehead.

"That's it!" He grabbed his club and rushed at his sister with a battle shout. Katara rolled her eyes, and with the same water, formed a ball and shot it at Sokka. It drenched him from head to toe. She then thrust her hands forward as she exhaled, encasing all but his head in ice. She decided to leave it so that he could hear her words.

"In case you've forgotten, Sokka," Katara said so that everyone could hear her." I was proclaimed a master waterbender by Master Pakku, back at the Northern Water Tribe."

Sokka struggled against the ice, yet it was impossible to break free. Katara sighed and moved her hands around, melting the ice and bringing the water over to her.

"Aang." She called and the boy came to her side. "Do you remember what Master Pakku said about-," And that began the day's lessons. Iroh and Zuko watched silently, and Sokka sat far away from everyone else, eating nuts that Momo had brought him.

Five more days until they reached the North Pole. Five more days until her plan was put into action. Five more days until she killed the greatest waterbending master of the Northern Water Tribe.

Zula sat in her quarters meditating, the red mask in her hand.

Five more days until my quest truly begins...

The day had gone by with Katara teaching Aang more about waterbending. They trained well into the night until Aang was too exhausted to carry on. It was morning now, well afternoon really, everyone had slept in, and once again Katara was fighting with Zuko about healing his leg.

"It's going to take another two weeks to heal on its own."Katara was trying to get the point across.

"I'm not letting you heal it, and that's final." He crossed his arms and looked away. Katara sighed and stood up.

He has got to be the most stubborn anything I have ever seen!

She went to her bag and retrieved a roll of bandages. If he wasn't going to let her be nice and heal it he would at least have to let her wrap it up. Wrong. As soon as she sat in front of him, before she could even open her mouth to speak, he grabbed the bandages from her.

"I can do it myself." He growled. Katara sat back and watched as Zuko unraveled the bandages and started wrapping them around his leg. He actually did it right. Zuko looked her right in the eyes. "See?"

She nodded. "I didn't think you would know anything about something like that."

"Waterbenders aren't the only ones who can heal, and firebenders aren't the only ones who can destroy." His voice wasn't angry, or even annoyed. It was full of - something she just couldn't put her finger on, and yet, understood.

"Well said." She got to her feet and went to find something to cook for dinner. It didn't take her long, but Aang was having trouble starting a fire. So, Katara walked through the trees to the shore, to watch the sunset. She loved the sunset. It was beautiful. It was a sign of her gaining strength. Yet she had to rush back through the trees when she heard Aang screaming something. She couldn't make out what he was saying until she was in the campsite.

"I did it! I did it!" Aang was jumping around a blazing fire screaming the words with utmost joy.

"So you made a fire, it's not that big of a deal." Zuko said to the boy.

"Yes it is a big deal!" Aang stopped jumping and a huge grin spread across his face. "Because I did it with firebending!"

"So what." Sokka's voice could be heard now. "It's not like you haven't firebended before. Remember Jeong Jeong? That was the first time you could actually firebend, when you nearly burnt Katara's hands off."

All eyes went to Katara. "But that was an accident, and she forgave me, right Katara?"

"Of coarse, Aang." Katara replied. "But you do remember what you learned from Jeong Jeong don't you? Trying to light the fire with bending could have been dangerous."

"We were really only with him for a day, and all he really told me was that fire was a very difficult element to control, and dangerous. Which is exactly what you guys have told me a million times."

When dinner was ready, and they had all started eating, Sokka decided to strike up a disturbing conversation with Zuko, just to get on his nerves.

It was time to tell the crew of her plans. She had kept them in suspition long enough, not that any of them had objected. Cowards.

Zula enter a room of the ship where all of her crew was assembled, except the helmsman for obvious reasons. All were crowded around two maps - one of the world, the other of the Northern Water Tribe.

"We will enter the Northern Water Tribe by stealth, not by force. I will need the strongest firebenders," Half the men in the room raised their hands. "Who can swim." Only two men kept their hands raised. "Now, we are here," She pointed to a place on the world map. "The helmsman will anchor the ship here," She pointed to a spot on the Water Tribe map, just out of sight of the city. "You two, and myself, will sneak into the city and go here," She pointed to another place on the same map. "And interrigate the greatest waterbending master in that city, the one I know trained the Avatar. If he does not cooperate, we kill him. He will be surrounded by his element, so we will go at sunrise when we will be stronger." Zula straightened and looked around.

"Any questions?"

A man in the back raised his hand. "How will you get into the city?"

Zula had that evil grin on her face. "You can all leave that to me."

AN: Was this good? I don't know.. I'm going to write all I can possibly fit in. Was this a good size for chapters? And I know I say this every authors note but thanks for reviewing! If your getting sick of that just say something, but I speak the truth. Remember, I do take flames. Don't like 'em, but I take 'em.

Preview: The gang is ready to leave, what will happen to Zuko and Iroh? Zula is ready to put her plan into action, what is Master Pakku in for?