Book 1: Water

Chapter 15: Bato of the Water Tribe

A/N: I Know, I know, this took me ages to upload. I honestly do not know why this chapter was so hard to write! I have an all day photo shoot to do with my friend tomorrow and then I leave on vacation the next day, So I am not sure when I will get the next chapter up...hopefully within the next day or so:) But, for now, Enjoy!


"See, Prince Zuko," Uncle began as he poured himself, Zuko and Emi some tea. Zuko sat scowling at him and Emi looked rather amused. "A moment of quiet is good for your well-being." Just as Zuko lifted the tea up to his mouth, a large bang came from the front of the ship, shaking it and knocking the tea all over him. He growled angrily and leapt from where he was sitting, wiping the tea from his face while he stalked off towards the noise, Emi following after him, giggling. They walked outside to see a woman dressed in all black riding a giant beast.

"What is that?" Zuko asked as she neared them.

"Shirshu." Emi provided the answer easily with her love of animals. "He has the best sense of smell in any nation of the world." Zuko put a hand on her arm in warning, since she looked like she was dying to pet the monster.

"Get back!" The woman shouted. "We are after a stowaway!"

"There are no stowaways on my ship!" Zuko told her. The shirshu seemed to have another idea however, because it lowered its snout and ripped a huge chunk of metal away, revealing the inside of the ship. He stuck his nose into the opening and soon after a very frightened man clambered out, attempting to escape. The long, venomous tongue of the shirshu shot out and paralyzed him, sending him tumbling to the ground

"He's paralyzed." Zuko said, shocked.

"That's so awesome." Emi said, smiling wide eyed at the Shirshu. Zuko looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"You scare me sometimes Emi." He told her. She gave him an innocent smile.

"Only temporarily." The woman said, having not caught the end of their conversation. "The toxins will wear off in about an hour, but by then, he will be in jail and I will have my money."

"The sense of smell, that's how you found him on my ship?" he asked.

"Yep. My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away. Oh, and I'm June, by the way."

"Well…I am impressed." Uncle said. The woman said nothing, instead steering her shirshu in the other direction and leaving the ship. "Very impressed." he said slyly, earning him a strange look from both Zuko and Emi.


The building that Zuko, Emi and Uncle were approaching didn't seem very pleasant to her. She could hear cheering and yelling coming from the crowd. Zuko seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he draped an arm around her waist as he pushed through the drunken gamblers.

"Step aside, Filth." He snarled, pushing one patron out of the way. Emi looked up at him, disapproving, and she could hear Uncle apologizing behind them.

"He means no offence, I'm certain you bathe regularly." She heard him say.

"I need to talk to you." Zuko snapped June, at the woman they had seen earlier. She was currently arm wrestling with a man at least twice her size. The crowd pushed in closer to see the action that was unfolding and Zuko pulled Emi closer to his side.

"Well if it isn't my new friends; Angry boy and Uncle Lazy." She said smoothly. "And Emi, the one who knows what she's talking about." She added. Huh, she must have heard that conversation after all Emi thought. Uncle laughed at her…nicknames, and Zuko, as per usual was scowling. June slammed the man's hand down to the table and the entire place cheered, tossing gold, silver, and bronze pieces down to her.

"Your beast trashed my ship; you need to pay for the repairs." Zuko snapped at her.

"Well I would love to help you out, but I seem to be a bit short on money." She said as she gathered the coins in her arms, unfazed by Zuko's command. "Drinks on me!" she added to the pub, earning more cheers. As she went to raise her drink to her lips, Zuko's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"Money isn't what I had in mind." He growled. They made their way out of the pub the back way. Her Shirshu was lying up against the wall and Emi immediately dropped to her knees, stroking its neck and snout. Its tongue lashed out of her and she skillfully dodged it, knowing that that was a Shirshu's way of showing affection.

"Well that's strange; he doesn't usually like people other than me." June said. Emi smiled and planted a kiss on the top of the beast's head before standing.

"I need you to find someone." Zuko said. He held out his hand to Emi and she offered up her wrist, which had Katara's blue Water Tribe necklace tied to it. He dangled it in front of June for her to see.

"What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you? I could have sworn that was Emi." She said mockingly.

"It's not the girl I'm after; it's the bald monk she's travelling with." Zuko said, studiously avoiding the part about Emi.

"Whatever you say." She replied, bored.

"If you find them, I will consider the damage to my ship paid for." He offered. She rolled her eyes.

"Forget it." she said, beginning to climb onto her shirshu.

"And we will pay your weight in gold!" Uncle added. June tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Make it your weight in gold, and we have a deal." She said as Uncle laughed.

"You got it!" he told her.

"Good, Hop on." Uncle hurried to clamber onto the shirshu, Zuko following after him. Zuko reached down a hand to help Emi up, and once she was situated, they watched as the woman held Katara's necklace up to her shirshu's snout. She leapt up to the front of the saddle and shook the reigns, causing the shirshu to take off. Emi wrapped her arms around Zuko's waist as they rode so she would not fall off.

The first place the shirshu took them was a deserted Earth Kingdom town that looked strangely familiar to her, although she couldn't tell why. A woman with long white hair stood up and faced them, not at all concerned that three people from the Fire Nation were there riding a giant monster of an animal. Emi took one look at her fluffy white cat and was down on the ground with it in her arms in a heartbeat.

"Out for a bit of fresh air are we?" The old woman asked, smiling as Emi stroked the cat and nuzzled the fur behind its ear.

"We are looking for someone." Zuko told her, also seeming to watch Emi fondly.

"Well, I hope it's not Miyuki." She said, turning to the cat in Emi's arms. "Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the fire nation again?" The cat meowed loudly and Emi giggled.

"The avatar's been through here, let's keep moving." June said. Emi kissed Miyuki's head one last time before setting her down and making her way towards the shirshu.

"I want one." She informed Zuko as he helped her up. He smiled a bit when he answered.

"Then I will get you one." He said, amused. Emi beamed at him and then turned to wave goodbye to the woman before the shirshu took off again.

The next place they arrived in was another Earth Kingdom town, surrounded by a crater of what Emi assumed was volcanic rock. It was actually really cool looking. They rode in to the back of the town, coming to a fancy red door where an old woman was standing.

"Why are we stopping?" Zuko demanded.

"The girl must have spent a lot of time here." June told him.

"We have no time for this!" Zuko snapped, frustrated. He leapt down from the shirshu and held Katara's necklace up to its snout. The Shirshu's tongue lashed out at him and he barely jumped out of the way in time.

"Oh look, he likes you." June said.

"Care to hear you're fortune handsome?" the woman asked, smiling up at Uncle Iroh.

"At my age, there is only one great mystery left, and I would just a soon leave it a secret." Uncle told her. Zuko clambered back on to the Shirshu and they took off again, this time riding for a bit before crashing through the doors of a small abbey, where several women seemed to making perfume. The shirshu raised its snout in the air and growled, turning back to the entrance.

"We are getting close." June said. The shirshu ran down the path leading to the abbey and before long, they were crashing down into a small ditch. Emi saw Katara and Sokka try to run from the shirshu, but the cornered them easily.

"This is the girl you chose over Emi? Huh." June said, obviously gaining amusement from teasing Zuko. Zuko hopped off of the Shirshu, but Emi stayed put.

"Well? Where is he?" He demanded. "Where's the avatar?"

"We split up, he's long gone." Sokka snapped.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko snarled. Sokka gave him a cocky half-smile.

"Pretty stupid." He answered, and Zuko growled. "Run!" he called to Katara, grabbing her hand and taking off. They didn't get very far before the Shirshu's tongue snapped out and paralyzed them both, sending them tumbling down to the ground.

"What do we do now?" Zuko asked angrily. Just then, the Shirshu nudged Sokka's tunic, knocking a crumpled piece of paper out of it.

"He's picking up a different scent, maybe something the avatar held." June answered. That scent lead them back to the abbey and again they crashed unceremoniously into the small area. The shirshu put his nose to the ground but did nothing but track around in circles.

"What is it doing?" Zuko yelled. "It's just walking around in Circles!"

Emi was the first one to look up and managed to leap off of the shirshu, trying to pull Zuko with her but not quite managing it. Aang was flying towards the Shirshu, causing it to rear up and throw the people on its back off.

"Aang!" Katara said happily. June was the first to recover, lashing out her whip at the shirshu and commanding 'Up!'. Emi helped Zuko up while June ran at Aang. She watched as Appa crashed into June and her shirshu, throwing them into the wall and rendering them both useless for the time being. Zuko was fighting Aang now, and Uncle was attempting to wake June. Emi was torn. She didn't want to fight, at all. When Aang and Zuko both got thrown against the wall, she got an idea. She ran over to the roof where Aang had fallen, sending a blast of fire at him that made it look convincing even though she had no intention of hurting him. She felt a strange discomfort when she did this, but didn't think about it too much. Aang leapt up and faced her, and she realized she had never faced off with Aang before. She took her stance as well, holding up her wrist so he could see clearly the necklace dangling off of it.

"You have something I want." He told her in a hard voice.

"I know, I want you to take it." She threw another fire blast at him with more discomfort than before, but this time the blast hit a little closer to Aang. He blew a very strong gust of air at her that almost knocked her off balance, so she did a small backflip on the small space of the roof, regaining her balance. She struck out with her hand that had the necklace and Aang met her blow straight on. As their wrists pressed together, Aang snatched the necklace and went to jump from the roof. Emi lunged after him, sending a blast of fire his way, but momentarily forgetting that she had very little space to move. Her next step forward had her losing her balance and sliding down the roof, falling with an 'oomph' on the ground. Unable to move and momentarily winded, she watched as Aang and Zuko faced off over a well. Uncle ran over to her and helped her up. She gratefully leaned against him as a small shoot of pain went through her. Appa had rejoined the fight against Zuko and June, but the venom of the Shirshu soon brought him down. Then, Katara and Sokka poured out great amounts of perfume, sending the Shirshu into a frenzy. His tongue lashed out, taking down both Zuko and June. Uncle wasted no time in catching June as she fell and the trio wasted no time in escaping on Appa.

"Uncle? I didn't see you get hit with the tongue." Zuko muttered. Uncle winked at him and pressed a finger over his lips in the universal 'shh' sign. Emi rolled her eyes and stiffly walked over to the sisters of the Abbey.

"I'm so sorry about all of this." She apologized quietly to the head woman.

"It's okay child. You helped the avatar, I saw. You are a good girl." The woman said, smiling. Emi smiled back.

"Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, do you have any water?" she asked.

"Of course I don't mind dearie." The woman responded. She went inside one of the buildings and when she came back, she was carrying a pouch that looked like it came from the water tribe.

"I have had this for quite a while. I think that you will need it in the future. Don't forget to stay true to yourself, my dear." The woman said fondly, handing her the pouch. Emi blushed and took the pouch from her, murmuring a quiet 'thank you'. How the woman had known she was a water bender, Emi would never understand. "And take this too." The woman added, handing her a small bottle of perfume essence. "We don't want anyone else to know your secret know, do we?" Emi smiled and nodded another thank you, making her way back to Zuko after she did so.

Blocking her hands and his body from everyone, she pulled the water to her hands in the form of a glove and placed them on his chest. Closing her eyes, she pulled at the venom in his system until it diffused and he could sit up.

"Thank you." He said, putting his hand over hers. She simply smiled and moved on to June, waving the perfume bottle under her nose so she could move.


"So…where do we go?" Aang asked hesitantly.

"We are getting you to the North Pole." Katara answered, smiling.

"But don't you guys want to see your Father?"

"Of course we do Aang, but you're our family too, and right now, you need us more." Sokka said.

"And we need you." Katara added. A mischievous look crossed Aang's face.

"I wish I could give you something to remind you of home Katara." He said smugly.

"It's okay, I will be fine." She said sadly.

"No, really." He insisted. "Just a little trinket…something like…this?" He asked, pulling out her necklace from his sleeve. Katara gasped happily and took the necklace from him while Sokka rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"How did you get this?" she asked, beaming.

"Emi said she wanted to make sure I got it to you." Aang said.

"She did?" Katara asked, shocked.

"Yeah. She's a good person, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is." Katara answered.

"Then why is she running around with Zuko?" Sokka asked.

"If only we knew!" Aang answered.


A/N: All the fluffy cuteness between Zuko and Emi3 I'm sorry, I just can't seem to help myself when it comes to those:) They aren't technically supposed to be in there, but Zuko and Emi have other idea's I suppose! And Emi and her animals3 I find it adorable! Sorry, gotta stick with me when I do things like this:) Hope you liked it, and I will try super hard to have the next one up tomorrow, I will. Reviews pretty pretty please? Thanks:)

Much Love,

Em