A/N: Okay, I managed to get chapter three up in record time, but I'm not too satisfied with it. Tell me what you guys think! Thanks!

Chapter III: Why He Does What He Does

As Zuko and Shaiya flew through the sky, Onya yelled "HEY! SHAIYA! RACE YA BACK TO THE SHIP!" The wind was flying past their ears so fast that the yelling was barely able to be heard. Shaiya nodded in agreement to the challenge.

"Zuko, hang on! Onya just challenged me to another challenge she'll lose!" Shaiya yelled back to Zuko, and Zuko's arms slowly reached around her waist again. Shaiya gave her sujio a swift kick, and the three sped to a nearly immeasurable speed. About 200 mph. Weaving in and out of the waves that were crashing in mid-ocean, Onya was putting up a good fight, but Shaiya and her natural competitiveness wouldn't yield. Shaiya guided her sujio directly into a line of waves and sent them crashing and sloshing around them. Apparently challenged by her friend's move, Onya did the same maneuver, through more waves, however. The last wave was strongest, and sent Onya's sujio careening dangerously off course. No 'ground' was lost however.

The ship wasn't too far away now, and the race reached speeds of 225 mph. Iroh slipped slightly, and almost fell, if it wasn't for Onya's sujio turning sharply, causing Iroh to regain his seat. Onya at a speed of 224 and Shaiya behind, but gaining on them quickly, at a speed of 229, the race was almost over. Onya, intent on preventing her friend from beating her yet again, swerved at Shaiya, causing her to swerve as well. Onya landed safely, Shaiya following closely behind.

"Wow. I didn't think you would actually beat me. Well, Kagouya," Shaiya turned from her friend to her mount, "Vei has finally won. Don't take it too roughly. We'll beat them again." Zuko dismounted, followed by Shaiya, and Iroh followed by Onya. All six were completely soaked to the bone, and to add insult to injury, Vei and Kagouya shook violently, spraying the four benders with a mist of water. Just what they needed.

"You idiots! We're already wet and cold enough as it is!" Onya yelled kindly at the beasts. Both girls took their mounts back down to the livestock hold and attempted to towel them off in the least. Didn't work out too well.

Zuko and his uncle headed to their shower rooms to dry off before breakfast. After changing, Zuko headed out to the deck to check his telescope. Nothing. He headed back down to the galley to fill his now painfully empty stomach. The girls hadn't made it back yet, but Iroh was sitting down… drinking some ginseng tea nonetheless. Zuko sat down at his end of the table as four plates of cinnamon rolls and biscuits were brought out. Zuko filled his cup and raised it to his lips when Shaiya came in, still wet, but in dryer clothes.

"Where's Onya?" Iroh questioned.

"Attempting to dry off as best as she can. She'll be down in a sec." Shaiya sat down nearer Zuko, filled her own cup, and drank deeply. All sat in silence until Onya came in. She sat down, shivering, still in her wet clothes.

"What happened to 'Oh, I'm just gonna go up and try to dry off. I'll be down in a sec.'?" Shaiya asked.

"Oh, shut up." Shaiya glared at her. "Okay, I f-figured I'd try to sit on Vei bareb-back. Happy?"

"Yes, very. She almost killed you, didn't she?"

"I s-said ssssshut up."

"Which tells me she almost killed you." Onya didn't have a comeback to this final comment. She just nodded. Shaiya donned a smile, which revealed she knew Onya's plan the whole time. All ate in reserved silence.

About three weeks later, after the Avatar attempted to escape, and almost got himself killed in doing so, Iroh and Zuko were seated in the galley finishing lunch while the girls were out flying around to the south.

"Sir! The Avatar has awakened!" Lt. Jee burst in. Zuko jumped, almost dumping his tea. Calmly, he walked out of the galley to go talk to him. As he reached the doctor's room, he could hear the faint voice of the Avatar, the punch that took him out was, after all, very powerful. He could also distinguish the water tribe girl's soothing voice. Wow, she must care for that little… person. It's almost so cute it's sickening. Zuko's train of thought ended as he opened the door.

"Oh, look, it's Prince Zuko. Should I run, or just hide my sister's eyes?" Sokka greeted him angrily.

"Yeah, nice to see you, too. Not that I can say it ever was." Zuko was about to continue when Lt. Jee burst in, again.

"Sir, Admiral Zhao's ship has just been spotted about 30 knots away. What should we do?"

Zuko answered, worry in his voice. "First, we need to determine whether or not he's seen us. Then, we should probably…uh…go ask my uncle what he would do. I'm busy at the moment."

"Yessir. Right away sir." Jee left the room in a hurry, pushing the doctor out of his way as he did so. All three kids looked at Zuko, dumbfounded.

"I thought the great Prince Zuko was never at a loss for words." Katara said sarcastically.

"Very funny." Zuko sat down as he said those words. "So, why are you aiming to learn the rest of the elements in such a hurry anyway?"

"If Aang wants to end this war, he needs to defeat your father by summer's end, before Sozin's comet arrives. Why do you want to know?" Katara answered.

"Curiosity always gets the best of the cat, doesn't it?" Zuko faintly joked, something he still needed to work on. "So, how old are you anyway, Avatar?"

"First off, I have a name, and it's Aang. Second, why should I tell you, and third, oh well, it wouldn't hurt to tell you. I'm 112. I was frozen in an iceberg for 100 of those years. Barely mastered airbending, not that I'll have a chance to finish." Aang tried to sit up, but dizziness caught him half way up, and he had to lie down again.

"How far are you in your studies?"

"I have 'mastered' airbending, and am still learning waterbending from Katara," Aang pointed at Katara lazily, "I still need to learn Earthbending and firebending, although I'm sure you won't let me."

"Where were you headed?"

"Omashu. King Bumi was hopefully going to teach him to earthbend." Katara answered this time. The conversation began to get a little uncomfortable for her. "Why are you after Aang?"

"So I can restore my honor and my throne. Why else would I be after such pointless game?" Zuko whispered.

"Oh, I dunno, for the pleasure of tormenting a young boy and his best friends!" Sokka butt in.

"Okay, listen up. If I had a choice, I would be back home in the Fire Nation palace with my family. Playing Pai Sho with my uncle, kicking my sister's butt at Agni Kai's, and trying to prove myself as not being a total waste of space in my father's eyes."

"Your father sounds like a jerk. Why would you try to prove yourself to him if he doesn't even see you as fit to take the throne? I sure wouldn't." Sokka and Zuko were trading glares of pure loathing.

"He is, but he makes all the decisions, and until I'm Fire Lord, I can't do jack about it."

"Why don't you just rebel? Seems like a lot better use of your time than what your doing now." Sokka's voice cracked a bit, and Zuko merely glanced at the door.

"I'd be sentenced to death if I did rebel. We had a rebellion three years ago, and not one of the rebels survived. I don't want to die at the hands of my father." Zuko ended his sentence as Lt. Jee burst in yet again.

"Sir, Admiral Zhao is pulling his ships up beside ours. You should report to the deck."

"What do you mean by 'ships'?"

"The admiral has ten total ships under his command at the moment."

"I'll be up in a moment." Jee whisked away with a final "Yessir." and Zuko made to leave before Sokka caught him, forcing him to sit down.

"Why would your father even kill you?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"My father was the one who banished and scarred me, why wouldn't his heart be cold, rocky enough to kill his only son, who's always been a step behind, always been struggling to keep up, always getting in his way? I've never been as good as my sister, the little firebending prodigy. She was daddy's little girl, and probably still is. But I've had to struggle, to fight to survive, and that's given me something not even the greatest amount of money can buy - experience. I need to go." As Zuko left the room, the three kids traded glances of total astonishment and Sokka began to wish he hadn't asked.

A/N: So, what did you think?It seems to me that Zuko was a little out of character, and I'll try to fix that. I was just in a hurry to post my third chapter that I kinda might've went too fast.I'll try retyping it in my spare time, but for now, you get an idea of how things are going for our heroes. I think I might toss Onya in this chapter some more. More than she already is. Voice your opinions, please! This will probably be one of my shorter chapters, since I'm used to writing all I can when I can.Read On! And chances are, my next update will be Jan. 12th or later (or sooner, I hope!). R&R y'all!