Disclaimer: Do you think I'm a millionaire? No? Well then, why would you think I own Avatar?

Warning: Er…nothing horrible in this.

Zuko stared up the darkening sky in disdain as he munched on some caramel covered berries. They were sooo good…although he had no idea how his uncle got them for him. He had checked the small money bag, and all the coins were still there…meaning… Zuko quickly shook his head and focused back on the dark clouds. He'd rather not know.

It was early morning and the sun was not yet up. But for some reason, he could not sleep. His thoughts kept on wandering back to the kiss. Sure, it had only been a peck, but still. He did not regret it, but he still wondered why he had done it.

Was it a spur of the moment?

Or…

Something else?

Zuko sighed as he petted Appa on the nose as the overgrown bison nuzzled against him. The camp was silent, save for the low grumbling of thunder in the distance. Glancing up at the clouds again, Zuko stood, dusting off his cloak, and went to wake the others. They should try and get some flying done before the storm hit.

"Wow." Aang said, staring at the sky. "Those are some dark clouds." There was a low growl of thunder to emphasize his meaning.

The small group halted in their packing for a second, all of them looking up at the sky too. Iroh frowned. "We should probably find shelter…"

Aang shook his head. "We've already wasted too much time. We can handle a little rain."

"A little rain, eh?" Sokka sulked, but he was not the only one either. Zuko was huddled in the back of the saddle, with a scowl on his face. No one else seemed to be very happy either and it was no surprise either.

Huge drops of rain were pouring down mercilessly from the sky and there were low growls of thunder echoing loudly all around them, but luckily there were no bolts of lightning.

Aang sighed, giving in. "There's a city nearby. We'll take shelter there."

"Can we have two rooms please?" Katara asked politely, shivering a bit from the cold. The others stood silently behind her (Iroh and Zuko had their cloaks on and there hoods up) shivering as well. Luckily though, Katara and Aang had waterbended the water from their clothes, so they weren't wet. But it was still very cold.

The middle-aged lady looked up from the wooden counter. "I'm sorry, but we only have one room free." She stated in a bored tone.

Katara glanced at the others and sighed. "I guess that's fine, then. We'll just have to manage."

The lady shrugged and handed her a small bronze key. "Top floor, the last room on your right." She muttered as she turned back to sharpening her nails.

Katara muttered her thanks as Aang approached the desk. "Excuse me," He began. "But we have two animals—"

"There's a barn out back." The woman interrupted, looking up, then quickly called out, "Sir, no animals are permitted inside!"

Zuko looked down at Yun, who was peeking out from his pocket, before fixing his infamous glare at the lady.

The lady gulped and sinking back into her chair, she hurriedly corrected herself. "But we'll make an exception for you, sir…go ahead."

Zuko shot her a smirk, and followed his uncle past the small round tables filled with guests as they headed towards the wooden stairs at the back of the small inn.

Sokka couldn't help but smirk a little as he watched the Firebender disappear up the steps. Yep. He'll definitely make a good mother… He thought, before silently laughing at the thought.

"Well, we're stuck here." Aang stated gloomily, as he closed the door from having returned from taking care of Appa and Momo. The lady downstairs had refused to allow the lemur inside, and Aang didn't have Zuko there to threaten her.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, as she and the others looked up from unpacking their stuff. They were currently inside their room, which had turned out to be a small, drafty wooden box, with a simple tattered futon shoved against the wall. Nevertheless, they had managed to fit inside, and were currently in the process of unpacking their blankets and sleeping bags.

Aang sighed. "I talked to one of the locals downstairs and he told me that we're caught in the Spring rain."

"Oh. That's okay then." Katara answered cheerfully. "We'll just set off tomorrow."

"No, we won't." Aang answered gloomily, causing Katara to frown. "It'll keep raining like this for two or three months."

Everyone just stared at him. "What?"

Aang nodded, looking none-too-happy. "If we're lucky, it'll be only two months. But the man said it'll keep raining like this without letting up. Meaning, we can't fly because Appa won't be able to steer with this rain pouring down our backs… and we won't be able to walk, because the townsman said the roads are starting to flood…"

"Aang…" Katara began. "It'll be okay. We'll wait out that two or three months and then get to Omashu—"

"But I need to learn Earthbending! We've already wasted too much time!"

"And you'll learn it, Aang. I know you will. But as you said, we can't fly or walk to Omashu. We're going to have to wait." Katara said. "Besides, you haven't even mastered waterbending yet! And look, this is the perfect time to master it! We're surrounded by water anyways…"

Aang sighed, ignoring the sarcastic 'yippee' from Zuko. "Okay. We'll wait." But he didn't look too happy about it.

End chappie. Yeah, yeah. Short, I know. :yawns: I'm so tired... it's been such a hectic week...and more to come. Great.

R&R please.