Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or any of its characters. If I did, Sokka and Ty-Lee would be together. (Pink cart wheeling girl that's Azula's friend) They would look so cute together! LOL!

Thanks to my reviewers for Ty-Lee's name. (Bows) I don't know what I can do without you people.

Liz, I saw that you left a IM, sorry I couldn't answer you, I had a Biology paper due. But next time you see me, leave a message and I'll try to respond. (Peace)!

Chapter 21

Spirit of the Shadows

Zuko looked out the porthole window at the night sky and the port lights, had Koima come back yet? It was late and he hadn't seen or heard her. Zuko left his room and went down the hall to Koima's room, he knocked on the door… no answer. She shouldn't be out this late, Zuko frowned, 'Maybe she decided to stay over at their house?' But Zuko shook his heard, dismissing the idea. She would've told them the instructions to her home in case they needed her.

"Uncle?" Zuko went into his Uncle's room. He saw that Iroh was already asleep, snoring lustily. He wouldn't know. The last place to check was the infirmary.

"Koima?" He went to the infirmary. It was dark and Zuko lit up his fist. The flame's illumination cast shadows over the faces of the four men in their beds, but no sign of Koima.

'She shouldn't be out this long!' Zuko started to get worried, scratch that- he was always worried about her! Zuko made a quick decision: He went back into his room and pulled out the blue mask.

: Time Gap:

The Blue Spirit was undetected as it slipped from shadow to shadow, blending in to nothingness as he searched the market for any sign of Koima. Not many people were out, most of them inside their homes in their beds. Only an odd person was out, walking through the barely lit streets, but where was Koima?

'I should put a bell on that girl!' Zuko thought wryly. He reached up, grabbing the rooftop edge and flipping himself over onto the roof. There, he would have a better vantage view of the whole market. Zuko scanned the streets; he frowned when his eyes settled on one particular spot. The lights in this spot was brighter then the rest of the lights. Shadows rapidly flickered in and out of focus.

Zuko moved from housetop to housetop, stall to stall till he reached it. He heard a man laughing, not a jolly one, but one that made his skin crawl; this wasn't good. Zuko peered over the roof edge and saw why the man was laughing. His blood ran cold when he saw Koima.

"Give me all your valuables you little bitch!" The man growled, he had Koima pinned to the wall of a stall; he held his flaming fist closer to Koima's frightened face, "C'mon! Give me what you got!" He was robbing Koima!

Koima clutched her bag, "I don't have any money!" She cried, trying to break away. The man made it impossible for her to move. Zuko didn't know if Koi was telling the truth or not, he had given her money earlier today.

The man grabbed her bag and upended it on the ground. Bandages, bottles, and splints fell out onto the dirt ground. The man kicked them aside bad temperedly, breaking a few of the bottles in the process. "Rubbish! Nothing worth stealing!" The man's eyes fell on Koima's neck, a crystal necklace glinted in the firelight. The man's eyes widened with greed and he snatched the necklace off her neck, "Mine now."

Koima tried to slide away, sidestepping away from the man, but he grabbed her arm, "Oh no you don't!"

"Please, let me go." Koima pleaded, "Keep the necklace, just let me go."

The man grinned sadistically, "Not yet. We have one more thing we need to do…" He threw Koima to the ground and unbuttoned his pants. Realization about what the man was going to do hit Zuko like a thunderbolt, his temper flared, "KOI!" He jumped down between the man and Koima, he brought out the twin broad swords, "Don't you dare touch her!" He yelled, but remembered to mask his voice.

The man stepped back and glared at Zuko, "Go away, I won't fight you. Leave and I'll spare your life." He said, setting both his fists on fire and stepping menacingly towards Koima.

"Get away from her!" Zuko pointed a sword at the man's face.

; Koima;

It was him…. The man in the blue mask, he and the thief circled each other, both looking for a gap in which they can attack. The man in the blue mask made a slash at the thief; the thief pulled away in time to save his life, but suffered a gash across the arm. He growled, "You've asked for it, now you deal with me."

The man in the mask looked back at me, "Run, run for the ship. Now!"

I nodded and scrambled onto my feet and took off in the opposite direction from the men. My legs pounded almost in rhythm with my heart, I was so scared, 'Be safe.'

; Zuko;

'At least Koima is away.' Now He had to pa attention to the problem at hand. The man, thief, and would be rapist aimed his fists at Zuko, "Oh she won't get away, I'll track her down and have my fun with her once you're out of the situation." He fired a blast and Zuko avoided it easily, side stepping to the side. Smoke curled up out of the masks mouth; Zuko's anger wads over boiling, "I'll kill you before that happens!" Zuko jumped at him, swinging his swords in a wide arc. In a flash, the man brought out a metal staff ands blocked his blows.

"You are scum!" Zuko spat in the man's face, they glared into each other's eyes, "I will enjoy killing you!" The man smirked, "Let's see you try."

They pushed away and Zuko's broad swords sliced through the air towards the man's unprotected middle. Before they tasted the blood the man's staff twisted cunningly and the blades banged against the metal and dropped out of Zuko's grasp. Zuko's hands sang with the reverberation, making him grit his teeth. Now he had no weapon…. Zuko stood unarmed, naked to the man's attacks. Zuko held up an arm to block the metal staff and he grunted in pain as the staff hit him hard. He tried to fight back, but he couldn't get to his dispatched swords, he had to do something quick or he would lose more than this match. The man stepped back away from him and smirked contemptuously, "Not so tough now are ya." He spat. The man brought his staff down, Zuko rolled out of the way and shot a wall of fire at the man. He dropped his staff and put his arms up in an X, absorbing the blast: Now he didn't have a weapon. They were even.

The man started throwing punches left and right at Zuko, each one punctuated by a flare of fire. In Zuko's mind he could hear his Uncle's advice, "Use your head, find his weakness!" What was his weakness? Zuko avoided another poorly aimed punch….wait! That was it! This man wasn't even watching where his fists are flying, Zuko noticed, 'He has no coordination.' This was his chance, he had discovered the man's weakness.

Zuko ducked to the left and caught the man's fists between his wrists, stopping the man's attack. The thief's face was a mask of shock as Zuko swept his foot under him and made him lose his footing. He fell to the ground with a thud, and found Zuko's dagger at his throat. The man stared up into the black slits of the mask; the realization that he was defeated hit him. He was at the masked man's mercy now. All the fight went out of him, and he resorted to pleading for his life….his pathetic, useless life, in hope that the man was stupid enough to grant him leave.

"Don't kill me!" The man begged, "Please! I beg of you! Don't kill me! I'm sorry!"

Zuko was disgusted, "Why should I? Koi begged, yet you were going to rape her! You don't deserve to live you disgusting son of a bitch!" And with that, Zuko slashed the man's throat. The man gurgled and coughed, his attempts to throw Zuko off slowly grew weaker, and his struggles ceased. He was dead. Zuko got up off the man as the blood pooled underneath them.

Zuko stared down at the dead criminal, "I only wish you were Zhao." He reached into the man's pocket, and pulled out Koima's necklace. She must have bought this today, he had never seen it before. It was a pretty necklace. Zuko retrieved his swords and he ran down the same street that Koi had taken, the necklace clutched tightly in his hand. He had to find her.


Where'd you go? I miss you so. Seems like it's been forever that you've been gone…. Where'd you go? I miss you so. Seems like it's been forever that you've been gone…. Please come back home…please come back home…please come back home…

I love that song. Fort Minor is awesome, he had to be if he was apart of Linkin Park! I gotta get that CD.

Hey yall, tomorrow is my last day of skool! YESSSS!

And here's an extra plus, I got a Bearded Dragon! She's awesome. I named her Tiamat. She's 17 inches long, including the tail. She's sleeping on top of my computer because it's obviously very warm up there. I want a boy one too, I will name that one ZUKO! Hehe. I love reptiles with a PASSION!

Thank you all for the reviews! They're awesome. I'm in pain right now, I had to get part of my gums burned away at the dentists office. They didn't drug me up enough and I JUMPED in the chair, it hurt so fucking bad!

I went to go see Shaun (Hispanic older brother) In McDonalds yesterday. My mom now knows him as my big brother too, because of 'The Talk' with Brandon. LOL.

Well….leave a review please!