(AN: YAY! Finally we get to the others. Sorry bout the wait….had to get all that in. if you haven't noticed I'm semi favoring her. But when (if) they get back together things will change.

I know some of you think I'm going to write a romance fic where Zuko gets all soft after awhile and then totally changes his personality and they fall in love blah blah blah. On the contrary, I intend to stay as true to his personality as possible (using my good friend as inspiration, lol). So don't expect any loving Zuko anytime soon.)


Josh walked with Tina silently as they traversed through yet another forest.

'When are all these trees going to end?' he thought to himself.

Tina was thinking also, but her thoughts were more productive than his. She was brainstorming ideas on how to get to the North Pole as quickly as possible. Last time they had stopped and asked she had discovered that they were only a fourth of the way up the earth kingdom, and at the rate they were going she wasn't sure if they would make it to the North Pole before Aang and the others left. Of course, they were going to the earth kingdom anyhow, so maybe they weren't in such a ruse.

However, she had a feeling that while Josh had been in there with Aunt Wu he had found something out that he was neglecting to tell her. Of course, it might not be any of her business. On the other hand, maybe it was. But now wasn't the opportune moment to inquire about such knowledge. She could save that for when they were both bored out of their minds.

'What am I saying?' she thought, 'we are bored out of our minds.'

Maybe he had been told he was an earthbender. But why would he be so silent about it? After all, if she had discovered that she would not only have leapt for joy but told everyone within the vicinity of the town the good news. But she had an ever deeper feeling that whatever he had been told was not good news at all.

Josh was wondering about what had happened to Alex. He had stupidly neglected to ask the fortune teller who she had been offered a job by, and if she had even accepted it for that matter. The only good news was that the Fire Prince – Zuko was his name, now that he knew – was dead. Of course, he was saving that juicy bit of information for when she was angry and needed to be steered clear of an explosion.

But now she seemed almost livid with a silent anger he could not decipher. She would not look him in the eye, and only spoke to him when she needed his help, or to stubbornly ask him to please pass the water canteen, even though she had her own strapped to her waist.

She knows. Was his first thought. But he shook it away, how could she possibly know? How could she even have an inkling about what was happening? Of course she didn't know.

But she suspects something. You shouldn't be hiding things like that from her. You should tell her that her best friend's in the Fire Nation. You shouldn't be hiding it from her, she'll be even angrier when she finds out you kept it from her all this time.

'Unless I never tell her,' he thought smugly. That was that, he had convinced himself that even he himself knew nothing of the now Fire bound girl. He had even willed himself to believe that maybe she never existed, that the only person they were trying to find was Kyle.

His thoughts turned to his friend and he wondered how he was doing.


Actually, Kyle was fairing better than all the rest put together. He was currently enjoying another one of the North Pole's fabulous feasts. He was laughing with Sokka, playing games with Aang, and occasionally flirting with Katara. It still fascinated him to see the Waterbenders perform for the feasters. He had given up all hope of trying to explain to himself how it was possible for them to move water around the air like that. It was incredible. Simply remarkable.

Everyone had quickly adapted to the newcomer with open arms, after seeing that he was a friend, a fellow water tribe citizen. Someone who was not born of fire.

His thoughts turned once more to the others. There was no doubt in his mind that they were here. But were they coming to find him? If he was were he thought he was (and he had confirmed his suspicions when he had found out that Aang was called "The Avatar") then he was worried that perhaps he would not be found. After all, if he had suddenly be sucked into a raging vortex into his favorite show, he'd be more apt to explore and have fun than to rescue his frightened friends.

Not that he was frightened. On the contrary he felt utterly at peace. Nothing could be any better.

"I bet the others are relaxing on a beach right now, sun on their faces, waves at their feet. I bet they haven't worked in days."


Alex awoke two days later to the aches and pains from the grueling training sessions she had had to endure. Every bone and muscle in her body hurt all over, and she was actually late, so she would have to be at her lesson in only a few minutes.

Not to mention the fact that the "cot" she was sleeping on was more like a lumpy ole sack. Whoever had said she'd be more comfortable on this thing? Oh yes, that was Zuko.

She sat up and looked over at his bed, he was gone, not that it surprised her. He was an extremely early riser. She shook her head, he was probably up on deck at this very moment, training for hours on end. And with all that anger he kept pent up inside (well, the anger he didn't unleash on her anyway), he was sure to be at his peak performance up there. She wouldn't be surprised if she saw Luke later on that day with several burns on his forehead.

She dressed quickly and started to walk down the long, empty, and very cold corridor to the stairs that opened into the bright, hopefully sunny day. For the last three days it had poured non stop throughout this part of this ocean. The upper and a few decks below had completely flooded, and they had spent hours drying out wet items. She had almost wished that Zuko's ca bin had flooded so that she could have spent the night elsewhere.

But she wasn't worrying about that now. As she came into the sunlight-arms wrapped around her waist, her jacket zipped up tightly and her hood over her face-she basked in the pleasant glow of the sun. That meant that today was the first day she would be safe in taking off her jacket. Already she felt the sun making her hot.

She looked across the bow from where she was standing by the door. The fire bending practice was running a bit late, and they were finishing up.

Eagerly, she shed her coat and placed it in a small box by the door for this purpose. She walked to the nearby rail and hoped onto it, sitting atop the upper bar. She watched enviously and also in wonder as the men bended their natural element. Balls of fire frequently shot through the air, and it seemed almost effortless.

They were taking turns doing solo fights. In a solo fight one person was selected, and the others would attack one or two or even all at a time. It was incredible to watch, but she had only seen the elder men do this feat.

She was startled yet somewhat thrilled to see that it was Zuko's turn. She saw he was relaxed, yet his muscles were tense, ready for any and all attacks.

All at once streams of brilliant fire shot at him. For a moment she shielded her eyes from the intense glare. But when she looked again she was surprised to see that he was handling this just fine. Several of the men had been hit by the fire, which meant they were "disqualified." Now she saw with a startled amusement that the only two opponents remaining were Lieutenant Jang and Luke.

Jang did not last long and was eliminated almost immediately. But what surprised her most was that the mini battle between Zuko and Luke not only went on for a great period of time, but with a great ferocity like she had never seen. She of course did not know for sure, but she suspected that these scrimmages were not supposed to be this violent. It appeared that each boy was actually trying to injure the other. In fact, it now resembled a full on Agnai Kai.

She got down from the rail and took a few steps forward. A few of the previous fighters were also watching in concern. She stood next to Iroh, who was watching very tediously, as if he might have to break it up at any given moment.

Luke dodged and extremely large stream of fire and sent the same one back in one fluent motion. Zuko jumped over this and sent another one at Luke, startling him. He took a few steps backwards in an attempt to escape the blaze. But he never made it.

He was hit with the full force of the blow, and he fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Alex immediately tensed, waiting and praying for him to get up. His body moved to get up, but slumped back to the ground as he moaned.

That was all that she could take. She rushed forward to his side. Kneeling by him she touched his arm gently. "Luke, Luke!" she said. But he did not respond. She noticed his face had several burn marks and her heart almost stopped dead. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. Zuko couldn't have killed him, he wouldn't have.

Or would he? Did she really know him well enough to say?

He opened his eyes and groaned. She sat him up gently and he touched his aching head, "Did you see all that?"

She nodded frightfully, "Everything."

He smiled weakly, "I'm ok Alex. A bit sore maybe but all right."

Zuko had felt such an exhilarating rush when he had knocked his opponent down. He did not know why, but he had wanted to—to kill him. But then he had looked over at his uncle and was surprised to see Alex there. It would have shocked him to see her without her jacket too, but the look on her face was enough to destroy all other thoughts. She had looked so terrified for Luke that it made Zuko feel a mixture of despite and regret.

No, he didn't regret hurting him. But why had he? What had possessed him to? Because he had fought back? No, he was trying to defend himself when he saw Zuko was serious.

Now he looked at her, embracing her friend, her body still shaking from the shock. He didn't know what to think anymore. And his uncle looked more than ashamed.

He suddenly wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.


They went on through the course of their day in a tense manner. Zuko had been walking across the deck when he saw Alex's lesson, which she had postponed until much later that night.

It was a beautiful thing to watch, especially in the brilliant light of the setting sun. short swords flew through the air gracefully, yet deadly. She was fighting one man, much larger and older than her. But he saw in her eyes a fiery hate that he knew could only be for him, for what he had done.

She was amazingly skilled, and her muscles stood out in the light. Her chest heaved a little as she took deep breathes to regain her stamina. She was wearing her jacket again, although it was unzipped much more. It startled him a little to notice that still he saw no other clothing underneath.

But her trainer smiled, "I think you are ready for the next step."

She bowed her head, "I'm more than ready."

Four other men walked out, Zuko's soldiers. They were holding swords and were heavily armored. This made him curious, and he abandoned his other tasks to lean against the wall and watch. Did they really consider her much of a threat that they were completely armored? She was ok at it, but not all that good compared to others he had met. If she even survived this round he might consider her abilities again.

She nodded and sheaved her sword. He looked on curiously, but his silent question was answer when to his surprise she fully unzipped her jacket and, pulling it off, threw it aside.

He gulped. He hadn't been expecting that. His eyes were naturally drawn to the low neckline of her tight fitting top. He forced his eyes away though, to watch her perform.

What happened was unbelievable, she was fighting all four of them while her trainer looked on. But she was defeating them as if there were twenty others fighting with her. And when they had collapsed she had barely broken a sweat.

Her teacher smiled, "I am very impressed." Neither of them noticed Zuko watching.

Her trained was none other than Lieutenant Jang, the man who had fought Zuko previously.

As Alex un strapped her fighting bands from her wrists he asked very seriously, "Are you all right, you seemed very tense out there."

"I'm fine," she said coolly.

"Does it have to do with what happened today?"

She froze over the bandage box in the process of taking off her first one, as she continued she swallowed, "Why would that affect me?"

He shook his head, "I know you won't admit it. No one expects you to. But I wanted to tell you that I admire your fear for your friend. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did."

She closed her eyes, biting her lip as she started the other wrist.

"Fire, it is a beautiful thing to witness. I think it might be the most breathtaking bending art in the world."

She finished and turned to him, "I think it's horrid. Who would ever want to do such a thing," she sighed, "No matter what, fire is always burning something, that's how it stays alive. Whether it's oxygen or the flesh of a human being, it destroys."

Jang smiled, "You are very wise for your age. But tell me, what would you do if you were to suddenly become a bender?"

She laughed, "All right. Let's pretend for a moment I found out I could." She looked at him seriously, "I think I'd kill myself."

He sighed, "Have you ever attempted it?"

She scoffed, "Fire bending? No way, wouldn't dream of it."

"So you don't know if you can or not?" he said, "Interesting."

She gaped at him, "There is no way I'm—one of them."

He walked over to her, "Give me your hand."

Cautiously she handed her left hand over. He started to move it around slowly, making patterns in the air, "I want you to think of the strongest emotion in you right now, and when I release you I want you to exert that energy. Whether or not it creates fire, it can still be very powerful."

She did what he asked, feeling absurdly ridiculous. She had a flurry of mixed feelings. But the one that stood out most was sadness, and it gave her no energy. She opened her eyes and looked at him, "I told you nothing would happen. Goodnight Jang,"

Zuko quickly stepped inside the door as she went below deck. He wondered where she was going and followed a few moments later. She had walked far past his own room, where she was supposed to return at sunset.


She opened a nearby room and stepped inside, leaving the door ajar. Zuko stepped up to the crack and was angered at what he saw.

She was in Luke's room again, even though she knew the penalty for breaking such a rule. He was lying in bed, his face was badly burned Zuko noticed with satisfaction.

She walked over to his bedside and perched herself on the edge, by his arm. He opened his eyes and smiled, but suddenly frowned and sat up quickly, "what are you doing here?" he demanded.

She shushed him, "it's all right." She pulled out a small jar from her pocket.

He eyed it, "what is that?"

She smiled sadly, "Burn salve. Hold still." She dipped a finger in the cool gel and reached out to his forehead, she hesitated for a moment before gently applying the salve to his burns.

He hissed at first at the sting but relaxed, "thanks."

She smiled, "It's nothing really, turn around."

He eyed her, "Do you want to get kicked off?" he hissed.

She glared at him, "I'd rather swim than stay here any longer. Now do you want my help or not?"

He nodded and positioned himself in a cross-legged position on the bed, his back facing her.

She winced at the sight of the burns on his bare back. Some were much worse than she had expected. He was going to have some nice scars later on.

She climbed onto the bed and – walking on her knees – sat behind him.

She was close to her and he could feel her body heat behind him. He suddenly felt very self conscious at the moment. But when her fingers touched his back he closed his eyes and relaxed as her fingers massaged the gel onto his sores and across his back.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked, wincing slightly as she hit a tender spot.

"Sorry." She whispered as she touched the tender burn, "It was ok. I took down four guards." She laughed.

"Oh yes, only four," he said in a mocking tone, even though they both knew he was joking.

"and then Jang tried to convince me I could fire bend," she laughed and applied the salve to the last burn, "turn around."

He turned and faced her. She was sitting on the bed, her legs tucked underneath her. He was serious now, "Well how do you know you can't?"

She laughed and replied, "Hold still, this might sting."

She took a larger glob and gently touched his chest with her fingers. He blinked slowly for a moment as she gently rubbed it in.

'He's very well built,' she thought briefly as she ran the gel over his abs. she gasped inside her mind and virtually smacked herself. What was she thinking?

She reached for his neck, and after she was done she started to pull away, but he gently grabbed her cool hand. He held it in front on him and smiled at her, "Hold out your hand,"

Normally she would have told him to forget it, but for some reason she felt no need. She obeyed, holding her palm face up near him.

He opened his hand and a small flame lit up his hand, she naturally leaned away from it but he soothed her, "It's all right. I won't hurt you."

She believed him. She watched in awe as he gently placed the small fire ball into her palm.

She felt no pain, no need to move away. In her heart she knew she wasn't bending, but every notion about firebending escaped her right then and there. She closed her hand gently and looked up at him, smiling, "It's amazing."

"Yeah, it is," he whispered. Somehow, he felt so natural in this situation, even though he was sitting only a few inches away from a beautiful girl who had just massaged half of his body, and he was also half naked. Yep, totally natural.

He got that feeling again, that funny feeling he had gotten when she had first been in this very room, on this very same bed. He knew right then and there that he was falling in love with his best friend.

And he wanted to kiss her, oh so badly.

She was looking at him in the dim light and felt the strangest feeling in the world. She felt lightheaded as she looked at him. Instinctively, she placed her hands on his muscular chest, shaking ever so slightly.

That was all he need. He drew her closer to him and bent down towards her.

She knew she had to do something, no matter what either of them wanted (and she wasn't even sure she knew what that was), she had to stop this.

She looked up at him and knew he wanted to kiss her. And for some reason she felt both afraid and thrilled. As he bent closer to her she whispered, "You'll need to apply that every night."

He looked at her, not sure why she had broken the moment. For a moment it had seemed like she had wanted this as much as he did.

He touched his forehead to her's, "Can't you help me?"

She pulled away and got off the bed saying, "I'm sure you'll manage, good night Luke,"


Zuko walked quickly back to his room, using a shortcut. He was feeling so many things right now. Outrage, spite, anger, confusion, resentment—jealousy?

You see, you see what I told you? She doesn't care about you. She was about to kiss him, you and I know that.

'I don't care.' He thought bitterly.

Oh of course not, it seemed to be mocking him, which is why you tried to kill him. You hated him for having her. And besides, I was right all along. Even if she momentarily thought you were better than what everyone else says, that thought sure is gone now.

Grumbling, he undressed and sat on his bed, head bent over his knees, arms dangling between them, elbows resting on his legs and his hands clasped tightly.

The door opened silently and he walked to the door, not making a sound.

She was trying to be as quiet as possible. As she quietly closed the latch she sighed and turned around.

She gave a small scream as she was face to face with Zuko. One hand was above her head, as he was leaning against the wall. It was lit with fire, casting an eerie glow on the two faces.

He was very close to her. And he was a little taller. She noticed he had undressed. She had always been asleep when he came in and she gulped. His shirtless chest was very muscular. He looked at her, not angrily but coldly.

"Tell me," he said, "Where were you that caused you to come here and hour after your lesson ended?"

She looked up at him, breathing silently yet heavily, "I was out."

"I realize that, out where?" he leaned closer to her face, "tell me the truth and I won't be forced to take action."

She wondered if he knew where she had been, "I told you. I was out. It isn't any of your business." She said coldly. She moved to leave but he moved closer, forcing her to press herself against the wall to keep from touching him.

"Are you sure that's all?"

She glared at him, "I'm not saying anything else. After what happened today it would be a blessing to kick me off." She mimicked him and moved her face closer until it was a mere few centimeters away, "I'd rather die then tell you."

She noticed he wasn't moving so she willed herself to do something that both disgusted her yet excited her all the same. Since he was so close to her she couldn't freely move about. Her arms were trapped against her stomach.

Taking a deep breath she moved her hands the only place they were permitted to go: up his chest. She slowly ran her hands up his strong muscles, willing herself to not think about how strong he was. Her hands moved over his shoulders and around his neck.

He was very surprised and almost smacked her. But when her hands had touched him he had felt so relaxed and content. But now she was pulling him close to her, until he was pressing right up against her, the wall blocking her escape.

She was breathing heavily and he could feel her chest moving against his in a slow, deep manner.

He didn't know what he was thinking, his mind was blank. He didn't know why, but he was allowing her to do this. The voice screamed inside his head but he turned it to Mute. He didn't want to think about anything else right now.

His face was so close to her's that if either of them moved a fraction of a hair they would touch. He had moved his hand away from the wall, and somehow it had made its way around her waist, pulling her against him the same way she was doing to him.

Inside her mind her plan was beginning to fade away. She was actually concentrating more on Zuko than on what she had planned to do by doing this. But somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, something told her she didn't want to move.

Zuko was trying to figure out what was going on. Was it possible she wanted this? Did he want it?

But before he could think anymore she spoke, "I'm going to bed," she pushed away from him quickly and almost collapsed on the cot. Her back was turned to him, and the only sound she made was the shallow breaths she took every few seconds.

He wanted to smack himself. What had he been thinking? He should have stopped it right then. But she had done it too, although he suspected that what happened wasn't what she wanted to in the beginning.

The voice was right, after what he had done to her friend; she would never speak to him again.


Well, I certainly hope that was enough romance action for you all. I might have to up the rating, but I don't want to unless neccessary, although now that I read the rest of the story( which is near completion) I don't think I have to. Hope ya'll liked.

gaurdiangirl1: lol, I think "normal" refered to home. lol