Music Night

- because you cannot have an OC story, in which the OC is stuck on Zuko's ship, and not have Music Night. :3

It has been one year since I published this story… and I've come so far in that year. I'm getting emotional. TT_TT So I decided to be nice and update on the exact date I published this story a year ago, since it's Blue's first birthday! Am I weird for saying it's a story's birthday? Maybe, but I don't care! :D

What did all of you think of the last chapter? Just wonderin'...

Disclaimer: Nickelodeon owns Avatar the Last Airbender. TT^TT

All I own are my OC's.

"Wait, what?" I asked, looking up from my tea cup and staring at Iroh with wide eyes.

He smiled. "The crew and I are willing to have a second music night, because you missed what would have been your first one." Iroh gave me a look that said, 'I know you did something bad, I just don't know what'. "Why did you miss it, anyway? You never said."

I paused for a moment, thinking over my answer. "Zuko and I just wanted to check out the village nearby." I finally said. "But we got caught up… checking it out. So we couldn't get back till the morning."

It had been a few days, maybe five, since Zuko and I had freed Aang from Zhao's prison. Ever since the afternoon after that, when I had found myself covered in by a blanket and a note from Zuko telling me to put ice on my injury, we had been acting a little bit weird around each other. We would be almost pleasant towards each other, which I'm sure confused a lot of of the soldiers.

"So!" I said quickly, hoping to pull the topic of the conversation back towards music night. "Music night. When will this one be?"

Iroh quit giving me the 'look' and brightened up. "In a week's time. That will give everyone enough time to prepare for what they're planning on doing!" He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Of course, it will be hard to think of new songs to sing, given that we are usually given a month to prepare, and even then the soldiers come up with things at the last minute."

"Sorry."

"Oh, don't apologize!" Iroh laughed, waving my apology off as I took another sip of my tea. "We all love music night! It's a good thing that we have an excuse to have another one!"

~~Water~~

"Another music night." Zuko said flatly.

I nodded. "Apparently."

"Because you missed the last one."

"Yes."

Zuko and I were walking around the deck of the ship, and were, for the most part, ignoring the odd looks from anybody who saw us talking instead of shouting. I suppose it did look kind of weird, considering that up until a few days ago, Zuko and I were at each other's throats whenever we saw each other. But now it was different. For the most part, anyway. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It was incredibly weird - but, to be honest, it felt like a good thing.

Zuko let out an audible groan, and I elbowed him. I had a feeling that he barely felt it, seeing as he was wearing his armor again. "What's the problem? Now I get to see you play the tsungi horn!" I teased.

"That's exactly what is the problem." Zuko scowled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I'm not going to play. I'm just going to be there, and that's it."

"If you're not going to do anything, then why bother coming?" I couldn't help but ask him, smirking and placing a hand under my chin, propping my elbow up on my other arm as it folded over my waist. "Hmm? Do you have an answer for me?"

"Because if I don't go to this one, then Uncle will be pestering me for the next month until the next one." He said bitterly.

"Ah." I nodded.

There was a moment of silence between us. We were both standing at the bow of the ship, staring out across the water. It would be dinner soon. The sun was beginning to set. The sky was beginning to turn a combination of orange, pink, and red that reflected across the water. It was a beautiful sight, but I was able to tear my eyes away from it and give a sideways glance towards Zuko.

He looked more at peace than I had ever seen him. The scowl lines that seemed to be always present on his face were gone, and the corner of his lips had curled up slightly into a small smile.

After staring at him for another second, I looked back at the water and sighed. I don't understand him.

"What don't you understand?"

I let out a small squeak as Zuko suddenly spoke. When I looked, he was staring right at me, frowning slightly. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did. What don't you understand?" Zuko repeated, sounding a little annoyed at having to repeat the question.

"You!" I snapped. "I don't understand you! It's like-" I waved my hands around in the air, struggling for words. "It's like ever since That Night (the name we had come up with to describe the night we had freed Aang from the prison) you've been three different people! Around your soldiers, you're always snapping at them, just like before! But when you're talking to me, it's like you're a cross between that version of you, a slightly less irritable version of you, and a downright sweet version of you! I just don't get it! Spirits!"

I leaned against the railing, running my fingers through my dark brown hair. Zuko opened his mouth to say something, but I continued. "And That Night - you explained it to me, and I still don't get it!"

"Get what?!" Zuko snapped, looking angry. Good! That's the him I was looking for!

"I don't get why I don't remember what happened! Damnit! You said I-" I swallowed. "I did something I swore I would never do again! But I don't remember doing it! I don't remember anything after I fell from the tower until I woke up the next morning! And I don't get why you didn't leave me! You had a chance to get back everything you had lost! But you didn't take it, just so you could save me!" I turned back around to face him, and resisted the urge to punch him in the shoulder. Or the face. Either would work.

For a moment, his angry expression disappeared and became a look of confusion, but then it faded and his anger returned. "Why would I leave you? I made you a promise! Promises are made to be kept! You would do the same for me, wouldn't you?!"

"Yes, I would, but not just because of a promise! It's because I know what it's like to be left behind! I will never make anyone ever feel like that!" I fired back. "But you - you could have taken Aang anyway! You could have brought him to your father! You could have gotten your honour back, you could have maken up for the Agni Kai-"

I froze, realizing what I had just said. Zuko had no idea that Iroh had told all of us - how Zuko had gotten his scar, and how he had been banished. Oh… no.

"How do you know that?" Zuko asked, his voice a deadly whisper. I kept a hand clamped over my mouth, refusing to answer. "Tell me now - How do you know about that?" He hissed, glancing sideways to see if any of the soldiers were watching us. A few of them were, and Zuko wasn't about to start shouting and everyone's attention. For once.

"Uh…" What do I say?! I screamed in my head. I didn't want to mention Iroh and have Zuko get angry at him. But I couldn't just say that I figured it out by myself. How could I have figured it out by myself? "I… asked." I finally said.

"Who did you ask?" Zuko demanded through clenched teeth.

"A little boy." I blurted. "In the village. The last village we went to. I asked him what he knew about you - the Fire Lord's son. He said that, um, the Prince did something bad, and you were sentenced to an Agni Kai, but when you showed up, it was the Fire Lord… and he burned you. Ad he banished you." I finished lamely.

"A little boy in an Earth Kingdom village knew about that?!" Zuko yelled, finally losing every ounce of self control he had.

"I… guess so?"

Zuko let out a yell of fury, turned around and punched two gouts of fire off of starboard, before turning around and storming away. Probably either to the dining hall, or back to his room. Most likely the latter.

I sighed, and turned back around to face the sunset. "Nice going, Tora…" I said quietly. I must have just broken whatever bond had formed between us.

~~Water~~

Iroh poked his head into his nephew's room, observing Zuko carefully. The angry teen was lying on his bed, flat on his back, with his arms crossed over his chest as he glared up at the ceiling. "Prince Zuko?"

"What do you want, uncle?" Zuko spat, not taking his eyes off the ceiling.

"Are you feeling alright? You didn't come to dinner." Iroh said, now walking into the room and shutting the door behind him. "And some of the soldiers told me they saw you arguing with Tora before dinner."

"And you're wondering what I did wrong?" Zuko snarled, sitting up and glaring at his uncle. "Isn't it always me who insults the girl? Has it ever occured to you that maybe she's the one who insulted me?"

"Oh, no, no!" Iroh said quickly. "I was just wondering what you two were arguing about, since you haven't had a fight with her for a few days."

Zuko placed his feet on the floor, but didn't get up from the bed. "She knows."

"Knows… what?"

"Tora. She knows how I got my scar. The real reason." Zuko said quietly. His voice got louder and angrier as he continued. "She said she found out from an Earth Kingdom child, from the village. If a small-village boy that isn't even from our Nation knows the story, then the whole world must know." He bowed his head, shutting his eyes. "I'm the laughing stock of the entire world!"

Iroh frowned. "Tora didn't find out from a child."

"That's what she said, uncle!"

"She found out from me."

Zuko's head snapped up, and he stared at Iroh in disbelief. "From you?"

"Yes. The night of the storm, some of the soldiers were…" Iroh rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Drunk, and being rather rude. So I stepped in, and I told them the story. I only wanted them to see things from your point of view, not so they would pity you, Prince Zuko."

The banished Prince continued staring at his uncle. "You were the one who told her? Not some Earth Kingdom child?"

"Yes."

"So that means… the story hasn't been widespread at all." Zuko muttered. His shoulders sagged in relief. Then he realized something. "Then why would she not tell me that?"

Iroh shrugged. "Who knows? Why not ask her for yourself?" The old man then rubbed his chin, smiling. "Perhaps you could ask her to dance on Music Night. Then she would tell you."

"Uncle!" Zuko yelled, leaping to his feet. "I'm not going to ask her to dance!"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to!" Zuko headed for the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Not before Iroh caught the very, very, very faint blush on his nephew's face. "Ah, young love…" He sighed.

Tora, who happened to be walking past Zuko's room, stopped and poked her head in through the door. "You say something, Uncle Iroh?"

"Nothing, nothing…"

~~Water~~

A Few Days Later

And then, before I knew it, it was music night.

It was set up after dinner, when it was completely dark out, and the only light source besides the fire in the center of our circle of soldiers were the stars and the moon. (Very poetic sounding, don't you think?) The soldiers and the rest of the people working on the ship had set up a small fire on deck, while they all sat around it, either on barrels, stools, or on the ground. Zuko was sitting across the fire from me, glaring into the flames, while Iroh sat at his side, smiling. Katsu and Ryuu sat at my sides, exchanging bets over whether or not Zuko would play the tsungi horn. I decided not to take part in this bet, but was internally debating with myself over whether or not he would.

"Now, everyone, I know it is highly irregular for us to have music night twice in one month." Iroh started. "But, for reasons unknown to us, since Tora missed what would have been her first one, we are having another one! So, enjoy it!"

Everyone clapped a little (except for Zuko), and I joined in. There was a short pause, before Iroh turned to me. "And, because it's Tora's first night, then why not have her perform first."

I froze in mid-clap. "Wait, what?" It felt like I had been saying that a lot lately.

"Tora, you're up." Katsu said, nudging me in the side gently.

"No." I said instantly, shaking my head and laughing a little bit. "No, no, no, no. No! No no, no, no. No, no, no. No. I am not performing. No. No."

Then I found myself the victim of several stares. "Come on… Tora? Please?" Ryuu said, nudging me over and over again in the ribs. "Please? Please? You don't have to do much… just sing or dance or play an instrument or something… Please?"

"Okay, fine!" I huffed, finally getting to my feet. I managed to keep a flush from exploding on my face, and began brushing my hair behind my ear. No way was I going to dance. I couldn't dance if my life depended on it. And I couldn't play an instrument. Not even the drum. So… singing. Yay.

I racked my brain for something - anything - that I could possibly sing. I didn't know that many songs. The ones that I did know had words in them. I wasn't planning on singing anything with words. I wanted something else.

"Uh, there's this one song I kinda know…" I began slowly. "It doesn't need any instruments or anything… I guess you could play them if you thought you could make it work with the song. But, anyways…" Here it goes…

And I opened my mouth and began to vocalize. I wasn't singing any words, I was just singing sounds. Every eye was on me - and I hoped that it was because I wasn't terrible. I knew I wasn't the best singer, but I hoped I wasn't terrible. I was determined not to look at anyone's face, so I kept my gaze straight ahead, staring out over the ocean.

I heard a soft noise being played, and I shifted my view a bit. I saw Katsu plucking the strings of a pipa, playing the four-stringed instrument beautifully. I kept vocalizing, quickly moving my stare away from Katsu as I saw him glance up at me briefly. I tried to focus solely on the song, not on the fact that I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

Finally, I finished the song. As soon as Katsu had finished playing the last note, I sat back down in my seat as fast as I could, keeping my eyes on the flames of the fire in front of me.

Then, soft clapping.

More clapping.

As the clapping got louder and louder, I finally looked up, and saw each and every one of the men clapping for me and Katsu. Said Fire Nation man ruffled my hair up, and I combed it back in place irritably.

"You show great promise, Tora." Iroh said, beaming. "You weren't perfect, but well done!"

I smiled. "Thank you." I clapped my hands together once. "Alright! Now that's out of the way, let's move on!"

"Yeah!" Ryuu cheered. "Katsu, you go."

"What?" Katsu looked like he was about to choke. "No! I play the pipa, that's it!"

"Come on, Tora went, now you go!"

"Why don't you go!"

"I'll go, if no one else is willing to." Iroh said, getting to his feet. "Katsu. You know the song."

Without a word, Katsu lifted the pipa back up and balanced it on his leg, and began to pluck the strings, closing his eyes in bliss as he played. Iroh began to sing. "It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, But the girls in the city, they look so pretty!"

I ducked my head, stifling my laughter with my hand. I don't know why, but I just found the song funny. "And they kiss so sweet, that you've really got to meet, The girls from Ba Sing Se!"

~~Water~~

Zuko was still regretting his decision to come.

He was sitting across from Tora, with his arms crossed over his chest. Although he was mostly glaring at the flames, every so often he would glance up at Tora.

She wasn't a perfect singer. Her voice was a little wavery and hesitant, and a little hoarse too. But she was doing her best, and if she trained a bit, then she would become much better. It wasn't that he actually cared about whether or not she got better - she didn't seem like the kind of girl who would spend hours practicing tones and pitches - it was just that he needed to think about something besides the thought of possibly asking her to dance, just so he could ask her in private why she would feel the need to lie to him about how she had found out about his Agni Kai with his father.

He didn't want to dance with her. At all. Besides, he doubted she wanted to dance with him, which he was perfectly fine with.

The looks Uncle was shooting him wasn't helping. Nor was the fact that two of the men not playing instruments had gotten up and began dancing around the ships deck. Zuko glared at the dancers, half-hoping that Agni would make them both self-combust where they stood. No such luck.

Zuko glanced back at Tora, who was watching the dancers and smiling. The flames cast orange light across everyone, including her. The fire rubies in her necklace glinted, looking darker than usual, but brighter at the same time. Her dark brown hair was a mess, strands of hair falling in her face and coming loose from the ponytail she had put her hair into. She was wearing the clothes that she had been wearing when he first captured her, a Fire Nation tunic that was dirty and torn and wrinkled, black leggings that had a hole in the knee, dirty brown boots, and a dark blue long-sleeved undershirt. Tora was hardly the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

Zuko paused, tapping his fingers against his cheek in boredom. If he left now, Uncle would be pressuring him into going to the next one (that was how they worked - Zuko went to every other music night, and Iroh was happy.). He didn't want to go to any of them, but if he skipped out on this one, he would have to spend the next month dreading the next music night. But Zuko was bored. He wasn't going to perform, that much was certain. But he needed something to do.

What do I have to lose? He finally sighed.

Your dignity, the rational side of his brain responded.

Zuko decided to ignore the comment his mind had made, and grudgingly got to his feet. As he made his way around the fire, he ignored the stares he was getting from Iroh, and mostly everyone on deck, as he stopped right in front of Tora.

Tora looked up at him, staring at him. "Yes?" She asked, raising an eyebrow very slightly.

Without a word, Zuko looked off to the side, and held his hand out for Tora to take.

Tora stared at the hand, then up at Zuko, then back at the hand again. She felt her cheeks heat up - just a little bit, not enough to be noticeable - before slowly placing her hand in his. Instantly, Zuko had pulled her to her feet, and then they were standing on the deck, looking very awkward. And then they were dancing.

So there they were. The two of them, enemies, who had, just a week ago, busted out a boy who, not only was the Avatar, but was a friend of one of them and the enemy of the other. And one of them had saved the life of the other, letting the Avatar leave and head back to his friends. And just a few days ago, the two of them had been at each other's throats like squirrel-cats and fox-dogs.

And now the two of them were dancing. To a slow song. That was being played by the uncle of one of them, and, who was currently looking very amused by the pair's current position, while the rest of the men on deck were staring at the pair, their jaws dropped wide open.

"Ow!" Zuko hissed suddenly, halting the dance for a split second. "You stepped on my foot!"

"Well, sorry!" Tora snapped back through clenched teeth.

"How is it someone who can take on a dozen soldiers with only a single farming tool can't-OW! You did that on purpose!"

"Don't bring that up!"

"How can you be able to take down a dozen soldiers and not have a single scratch afterwards, when you can't dance without stepping on your partner's toes?"

"Well when you're fighting, you don't have to worry about stepping on your partner's toes, and when I think about that, it just makes me more nervous and I end up stepping on my partner's toes!"

"Oh, no, when you're fighting you just have to worry about getting killed. A lot less stressful than worrying about your partner's toes."

"Shut up! I didn't grow up dancing in Fire Nation ballrooms!"

"Neither did I!"

"So you have no right to judge!"

"Well, at least I'm not stomping all over your feet!"

"OW!"

"That was your fault! You're dancing too slow! OW! My foot! You did that on purpose!"

"No I didn't! Your tempo is off! Pay attention to your uncle, will you?! He's trying to sing!"

"Stop leading! The male is supposed to lead!"

"I'd let you lead if you were capable of it!"

Meanwhile, Iroh was taking a brief break from his singing, and sat down next to Katsu, and chuckled to himself as he watched his nephew and Tora dance (however awkwardly and stiffly) around the ship's deck - though something seemed a bit off. "Isn't it wonderful how they're getting along so well?" He asked Katsu.

Not even five seconds after he said this, Zuko yelled, "HA! Found your weak spot!"

And with that, the two of them began spinning in circles around the ship's deck, furiously stomping their feet around in attempts to smash their partner's foot. Finally, Zuko managed to pin Tora's foot down, and she let out a yelp. In retaliation, she kicked him in the shin. "Now we're even!"

"What are they doing…?" Iroh mumbled to himself as he watched them physically attack each other. There were two odd things about this:

1. They hadn't stopped dancing for a moment.

2. The two of them were smiling.

It seemed like everyone had stopped what they were doing as they watched the two of them dance. The music was still playing, and everyone's eyes grew wide as Zuko suddenly picked Tora up by her waist, spun her around in the air, before placing her back on the ground to continue fighting. The two of them spun in a circle separately, before their hands met again and their feet continued stomping. Tora let out a laugh as she suddenly pulled away, twirled around and letting her red tunic whirl around her legs, before she grabbed onto Zuko's hand again.

Finally, the two of them seemed to realize that they were being watched by the entire crew, and quickly pulled away from each other. Tora quickly sat back down next to Ryuu, while Zuko disappeared down the staircase. Presumably, he was going back to his room. He didn't even care that Uncle would make him go to the next music night if he skipped out on the rest of this one - he just wanted to get away from the stares.

Though neither of them could hide the faint blush on their faces.

~~Water~~

When music night had finally ended - not that I hadn't enjoyed it - I helped pack up the instruments. It was pretty easy to do, since there was a limited amount of them.

"I didn't know you played the pipa." I said to Katsu, holding the pipa in my arms carefully.

"Only a little." Katsu muttered, ducking his head.

"Are you kidding?" Ryuu shouted, lunging forward and swinging an arm around his friend's neck. "This guy is the best player you'll ever hear! Guarantee!"

"Shut up!"

The next thing I knew, the two "grown men" were exchanging punches to the shoulder, insulting each other teasingly.

"Have you two been friends for a long time?" I asked, raising an eyebrow very slightly.

They both paused in mid-punch and looked over at me. "This idiot's been by my side ever since we joined the military." Katsu said, slapping Ryuu upside the head teasingly.

"We met when I firebended at a spider-rat that was by his head. Lucky he ducked when he did." Ryuu said, rubbing his injured head while he grinned.

"And we've been best friends ever since." They finished together.

"Well… that's possibly the weirdest story I've ever heard. Then again, a weird story for weird people." I said bluntly.

The two men looked at each other, before grinning at me. "We'll take that as a compliment."

I laughed as I shook my head. Ryuu leaned over, peering at me. "You go to bed now. It's late, and teenagers need their sleep." He ruffled my hair - why do they keep doing that?

"Don't treat me like a child." I said, slapping his hand away, but I was grinning. "See you two in the morning." With a final 'good night' to Iroh and Jee, I headed off to bed.

But I halted in my steps right outside Zuko's door. That dance - the dance that had lasted less than ten minutes and had given both me and probably him numerous amounts of bruisings - had been weird. I mean, it made me feel weird. Instead of us ending up shouting insults at each other and me ending up slapping him, it had ended with us still dancing, despite the fact that we had both kicked and/or stepped on the other person's toes several times. And it made me feel weird. Inside. Like, not butterflies, or like I was about to throw up or anything. Just weird. My heart didn't pound, or flutter, or skip a beat. It didn't feel anything. I just felt weird.

Weird.

I thought he was still angry with me.

That thought was enough to get me to open the door to his room. "Zuko?"

I saw the prince sitting on his bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Were you asleep?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"No. What do you want?" He muttered, stifling a yawn.

"I guess - I wanted to apologize." When Zuko looked up, I continued. "For kicking you. And stepping on your toes. And for the other day."

"What - oh. You mean this." When Zuko gestured to his scar, I nodded. "You didn't tell me the truth."

I laughed unconvincingly. "What do you mean? A little boy told me how you got your scar, I wasn't lying!"

"Uncle told me that he told you." Zuko said bluntly. "He said that he told you and the crew on the night of the storm."

"Okay, yeah, so Iroh told us." I said tiredly, leaning against the wall. So glad to let the truth out. "So what?"

"Why'd you feel the need to lie?" Zuko asked, narrowing his eyes as he watched me. He seemed to be calculating for my next move. At least, that's how I felt. "I wouldn't have gotten so upset if you had just told me Uncle told you."

Somehow I doubt that. I thought dryly. But out loud, I said, "I didn't know how you'd react, so I lied. I didn't want you to get angry at Iroh." At his questioning look, I continued. "He cares about you. And I know you care about him. I didn't want to make the wrong move and have you get angry with him, and ruin your relationship because of one of my stupid comments." I shrugged. "Just thought I was doing the right thing."

Zuko looked at me for a long time. Neither of us said a word.

Finally, I cracked under the silence, and turned away. "Well, that's all. See you tomorrow, Zuzu." I smirked as I said the last word, putting an intentional emphasis on his nickname. I wanted him to get angry. It was weird for us to be so… so pleasant to each other.

Nothing. Not even an irritated snort.

Disappointing.

"The reason I got mad was because I thought that if a small boy from another Nation knew the story, then the whole world would know."

I stopped in my tracks when I heard Zuko begin speaking.

"If you had just said that Uncle had told you and the crew, then yes, I would have been angry, but not for that long. I thought that I was the laughing stock of the whole world because you didn't tell me the truth."

I didn't say a word for a moment. Then, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"No, you didn't."

Another long silence. Then I silently walked out of Zuko's room, only giving him a brief "Good night" as I left.

"I'm sorry too."

Quit making me stop walking, Zuko! I screamed in my head as I paused right outside the door.

"I captured you. And I forced you into not telling your friend who you were. I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

Then I finally left. When I made it back to my bed, I stared at the mattress for a moment. Then I fell, face first, onto the mattress.

I have a headache… Damn, I wish Katara was here. She'd know what to do.

… Come to think of it, she'd probably suggest freezing Zuko to the wall and then running out.

~~~Extended Ending~~~

Aunt Wu took Katara's right hand into her own, holding it carefully. "Your hands are so smooth. Do you use moisturizer?"

Katara grinned. "I actually use this seaweed lotion I brought with me from home. I could get you some if you want to try it." The Water Tribe girl mentally shook her head. Focussing on the future, not my hands! Right! "So, do you see anything interesting?"

Aunt Wu 'hmmed', running her finger over Katara's palm. "I sense a great romance in your future. The man you are going to marry."

"What do you see?" Katara asked eagerly, leaning forward a bit.

"The man you shall marry," the Fortune Teller paused, feeling the girl's hand a bit more. "Will be a very powerful bender. Very powerful indeed!"

"Really?" Katara exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "A powerful bender? That's amazing! Anything else?"

"Hmm… I see… you have suffered a great loss."

The waterbender's other hand absentmindedly flew to her neck, where her mother's necklace had once been. Now it was in Zuko's filthy firebending hands. "Yes." She said softly.

"Two great losses, actually." The old woman said, peering at Katara's hands thoughtfully. "One was long ago, the other fairly recent."

Katara froze. Tora… She still didn't believe that Aang had seen Tora on Zuko's ship the night of the storm. "My friend…" Katara said, looking down.

"And you feel guilty about her death."

"It was my fault she died." Katara stated, glaring at the floor. Stupid Jet. "There was a boy, and he tricked me, and now she's dead."

"Hmm. I don't know about that, young lady." Aunt Wu smiled upon seeing the younger girl's head snap up in shock. "I'm not positive, but I have a feeling that you will be a very surprised and happy girl in a few days time." Aunt Wu stood up, pulling Katara along with her. "Now, I think that's all you want to hear for today."

"She's alive?!" Katara squawked, gaping at the fortune teller in disbelief. "Tora's alive?! She isn't dead?"

"I never said anything like that." Aunt Wu smiled. "I only said that you would be very surprised and happy in a few days time. Nothing more."

Katara was unable to hold back a loud squeal. "Oh, thank you, Aunt Wu!" And with that, the waterbender ran out the door, back to her brother and Aang. But she wouldn't tell either of them about this. Sokka would be entirely skeptical about it, and tell her not to believe any nonsense, while Aang… she wasn't positive on how Aang would react. But she still wouldn't tell them.

For once, Katara was going to keep this piece of information to herself.

And that's the end of the chapter. I hope you liked it. I'm still getting back into the feel of writing Blue again after so long, but, guess what - next chapter is Bato of the Water Tribe.

And I think you'll enjoy it.

No spoilers though.

And about the little scenes between Tora and Zuko - I was never really one for those "my hearts beating faster, my heart skipped a beat in my chest, I felt butterflies in my stomach" kinds of stories. I wanted to be different. So Tora just feels weird.

And if you're thinking that Zuko was lying to himself when he kept saying he didn't want to dance with Tora, or that Tora was hardly the prettiest girl he had ever seen, and that he was fine with Tora not wanting to dance with him, he wasn't lying to himself. He really was okay with it. Just saying. :) Sorry if you were hoping otherwise. Don't hit me, no da!

Oh! And if you're wondering what song Tora was singing, she was singing "Inuyasha's Lullaby". I've never watched the anime, but I heard the song. And I liked it.

Dancing can be hazardous to your health. Especially when dancing with an angry Fire Nation teenager, and an irritable teenage girl.

The Aunt Wu part - I have had that part stuck in my head for days. I pictured it better. That's all I'm gonna say.

Please review. They make me happy. Please?

Oh, and by the way. Not that it's gonna make a difference, but I'm going to be gone for the majority of next week. Christmas Break. Going to Los Angeles. :) Going to be awesome. At least… I hope so.

And if you guys ever come across the anime film "Garden of Words", watch it. Seriously. It's amazing. It's almost better than Hayao Miyazaki's films. Seriously.

And if you ever see the manga/anime "Fushigi Yuugi- The Mysterious Play" - read/watch it. Honestly.

Love you guys! Read and Review! Please?