I hope all of you loyal readers are enjoying this story! Thank you SO , much to all of you reviewers who keep up and those of you who don't, I would REALLY appreciate it if you did! Thanks and here is chapter 20-a milestone! CONGRADULATIONS TO ME, YAY! It is a little short, but here it is!

Apologize

Zana walked Sokka back to the rest of the slowly rousing group. She was so glad that he was ok, but found herself feeling slightly guilty when she realized that she had hoped more so for Zuko. She knew the Fire Bender was much more capable of taking care of himself and everyone else around him, but Zana couldn't help but feel that way.

When the two of them were no more than a stone's throw away from the others, Katara sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and spotted her older brother safely on Zana's arm. Quickly, she sprang to her feet and went to meet them. Aang soon followed in her wake. "Sokka! You're ok!" Katara exclaimed happily. Jokingly, he replied, "What? Don't think I can take care of myself?" None of the others answered… "Hey!"

"So, what happened to you?" Zana interjected before Sokka had a chance to go on a rant. "Well, there I was…looking for any sign of food," he began-pleased to redirect a more flattering light on himself. Zana tried to listen intently, but she was slightly distracted as Zuko walked up beside her. There was no denying that she was still stung by the fact that he hadn't told her that he loved her. The more she thought about it, however, Zuko redeemed himself by not just saying what she had wanted to hear to get what he wanted.

Throughout the duration of all of the cheerful greetings that welcomed Zuko and Sokka back to the rest of the campsite, Zana had a difficult time controlling her drooping eyelids. Staying up the entire night had finally taken its toll on her mind and body. Her head nodded slightly, but she quickly straightened her spine at the light touch of Zuko's fingers grazing the back of her arm. He had tried to speak with her back when he and Sokka had first returned from the forest, but they had been interrupted. Zana suspected that Zuko was attempting to strike up another conversation with her, but she refused to make it that easy for him.

Zana shifted her weight slightly so her arm was just barely out of Zuko's subtle reach. "Zana?" came Katara's voice. It was then that Zana realized that she had lost track of the conversation because of her own sleep deprivation-shortened attention span. Her mind was not as sharp as it should have been and she felt slightly vulnerable, especially since she was unable to multitask-as in ignore Zuko and pay attention to the others at the same time. "Are you alright? You look kind of dazed." Katara said. "I am just tired, that's all," Zana attempted a smile at her. "Well you should be, " came Katara's concerned voice with her realization, "You didn't wake any of us for our shifts, did you?" The Water Bender looked over to Aang for some sort of confirmation. In return, the boy shook his head. Zana had no idea that her companions would have reacted the way they had. She didn't know that they cared enough.

"Why don't you rest for now-I think we can handle the two deserters," Katara smirked, "Besides, we have spent enough time here that I don't think that a few hours will make that great of a difference." Zana gave a weary but thankful glance to her friend and turned away to find a quiet place to sleep. All the while, she ignored Zuko's subtle advances towards a conversation that he was obviously very anxious to have. She knew that he really wished to speak with her, but she was simply too exhausted to care that much.

Inside, Zuko was furious at how he was being treated by Zana, but outwardly, he was a picture of apathy. Though he wanted so badly to deny it, Zuko knew that she had a right to treat him the way that she was. The whole point was that he was trying his best to apologize for the whole messed-up situation the two of them were muddled up in, but Zana was just being to damn aggravatingly difficult.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko was able to slyly watch Zana's every move. He saw her pace for a short time before deciding on settling down beneath a large, overhanging tree near the bank of the river. As he glanced in her direction, Zuko really did his best to listen to the congratulatory words being chirped at him by the Water Bender and his Uncle. It was difficult because once Zuko put his mind to something; it was hard to convince him otherwise.

He heard something being said about breakfast and all he could do was roll his eyes-it was exactly how the whole delay had started; by sending an idiot out into the forest to look for food alone. "You and Sokka must be tired, huh, Zuko?" Iroh placed a hand atop his distracted nephew's shoulder. Looking back into his face, Zuko realized that his Uncle mistook his wandering eyes for exhaustion. He opened his mouth to speak up, but Iroh spoke over him, "Well, then, it is settled. The Avatar, Katara, and I will find something to eat while the two of you and Zana get some well-deserved shut-eye."

"Fine by me," Sokka piped up at the chance for more laziness. Realizing his chance at finally being able to speak with Zana, Zuko agreed to the plan. As Sokka got comfortable, Zuko watched the retreating backs of the tiny group of three…plus one Flying Lemur. He proceeded to sit where he stood to make it seem as if he really were going to rest so as not to alert Sokka to his intentions. Zuko sat there, completely motionless and staring in Zana's general direction until he was certain that Sokka's breathing had evened out and the snoring that came from his chest showed that he was in a deep enough sleep that it would be a trial to wake him.

Zuko stood slowly and quietly made his way over to where Zana lay. As he walked, he planned out what he was going to say. His thoughts were halted when he finally came within a stone's throw away from the sleeping girl. Zana was on her back and her chest heaved with each steady, sleeping breath while her long, dark hair fell tousled across the cloak tucked beneath her head as a sort of makeshift pillow. Zuko's eyes wandered to her midriff where her hands were draped listlessly and then back to her soft and resting features. He jumped in surprise as one of her crystal eyes sprang open and stared at him while her once pristine mouth gave a slightly harsh, "What are you staring at?"

Zana reveled in the stunned look that was on Zuko's face, but she did not show it. She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. All the while, though Zana refused to break her confrontational gaze with Zuko's amber eyes. She had to give him praise for the way he had the guts to speak to her though she was giving him such a hard time. To her astonishment, Zuko moved towards her and sat just a finger's width from Zana's hip. Her eyes flicked for just a second to his side, but quickly returned her gaze to Zuko's face. Zana intertwined her fingers to giver her body something to do as her mind waited for an apology that she hoped was coming.

She had known that Zuko would come over to her, which was why she did not allow herself to fall into a deep sleep-though her body was screaming out how badly she desired the rest. Zana was certain that she looked positively grizzly from being sleep-deprived for so long after traveling so hard. Zuko didn't seem to mind, however. He simply continued to look back into her face. His gaze was so intense that it soon became unnerving and she had to look away.

Instead, Zana focused on the wilting branches of the tree they were sitting beneath. Their spindly branches trailed bright green, pointed leaves into the deep blue river. The current was swift there and it tugged at the resistant tree in a never-ending struggle. The dappled light was constantly shifting along with the branches in the water and the slight breeze that cooled their exposed flesh. Zana could still feel Zuko's eyes boring into her side and she could no longer take it. She either wanted him to say what he had to, or leave her be.

Zuko was trying his best to collect his thoughts before he actually spoke them out loud to Zana, but when he tried, all that he could compose was a jumbled and miscellaneous mess. In the meantime, she had looked away and given him more time to think. Besides, Zuko hadn't counted on her actually being awake. All of a sudden, Zana turned back to glare at Zuko and that caught him off guard yet again, "Well?" she said, "You came over here for a reason, didn't you?" Zuko pressed his palm harder onto an unearthed root and its roughness bit into his flesh. He suddenly wasn't so sure he wanted to apologize to her any more. Zuko felt himself inhale deeply to keep his calm and he opened his mouth to begin, "Zana…I know that I have been saying this a lot lately, but I really am sorry about pressuring you. It was not the right thing to do. I guess I am just getting a little more stressed out as we get closer and closer to getting off of this island and on our way to the Fire Nation."

Zana's heart began to melt. It was true that Zuko had been saying he was sorry a gret deal since they had first met, but, no matter the amount, this one seemed just as-if not more-sincere as all of the others. She held back her grateful smile as she continued to listen to him. "I guess everything just got misplaced," Zuko said while resisting every urge of his to wring his hands together…he had never gotten that urge before. "I was just not able…to-you know…say…," he stuttered slightly.

Then Zana finally released her smile, saving him from having to say what he wasn't quite ready to, "I get the idea. I kind of overreacted as well, Zuko." It felt so good to him to hear her say those things. It let him know that she didn't really hate him as much as he had thought she did. Zuko was unable to control the excited pang that he felt with the hope that he still might get his way in the future. He quickly cleared his throat to rid himself of the thought. Zana's eyes lit up, "Well, at least now we are on speaking terms." With the words her entire body loosened up and all her previously taut muscles relaxed as she sat back again and her cloak provided a comfier cushion than the pebbled beach. Zuko watched as her legs stretched out forward, towards the water and he allowed his gaze to linger as it slowly returned to her face. Zana made an amused noise from the back of her throat and tipped her head to the side. "So…what changed your mind?" He was a little confused and his face gave it away. "About the whole stubbornness thing…I never thought you would give in on something like…what we were fighting over," Zana clarified. "Some great revelation with Sokka out in the pitch-black forest?" she giggled.

Zuko sat himself back and rested his head against the trunk of the great tree. He gave a half-hearted, lop-sided grin, "Actually, yes…" Zuko closed his eyes and reveled in the serenity of everything around him. "What?" Zana laughed out loud that time. Zuko shrugged, his sight still blocked by his heavy eyelids, but just the sound of Zana's surprise beside him was enough to elicit a smile. "I just...figured out what was bothering me and why it was so important for me to make it right," Zuko opened one of his eyes. He saw that Zana was sitting forward and staring at him. "So hard to believe?" he asked coyly. "No," Zana said in a low tone, "Not at all," she leaned forward and placed an arm on either side of Zuko's broad chest. He was a caught off guard at what Zana was doing and his other eye sprang open. "I think that, deep down, you will eventually do what is right," Zana's voice was soft and her breath warm on his face. Zuko couldn't help but hold his breath as he tried to deduct what her intentions were.

His golden eyes focused on Zana's parted lips as she leaned forward. She lifted one of her hands and her fingertips grazed Zuko's jaw line. He couldn't help but lean forward to reach her touch sooner, but just as their mouths were about to meet, there came a cry from behind them. They immediately pulled away from each other and rushed around to the opposite side of the tree. With Zuko by her side, Zana rushed over to the woods where the sound had come from. Within a few moments, Aang, Katara, and Iroh burst through the tree line. "What? What is it?" Zana asked, mentally preparing herself for an encounter with Fire Nation troops. Aang panted, "It's Appa! We found him!"

I know that this may disappoint all of you loyal readers and reviewers, but my life is a little chaotic right now with my Sweet 16 coming up, so I think that this story will have to take a slight break… At the very latest, I will have a new chapter by September, but probably sooner! I will try to get the new chapter finished sooner if I get good responses and reviews, so if you want more chapters faster, you have to REVIEW! Sorry about this, but I would rather let you all know what is going on than leave you hanging!