Author's Note: First, I would like to point out that I did not mean for Zuko to get a little OOC in the last chapter. It just sort of happened, and I couldn't think of a better way to write the scene. But just so you know, he didn't think about it; he just did it before it even registered in his mind that he was kissing his enemy. And if I get them OOC anymore, I am very sorry. I haven't been watching any Avatar lately, and I've been watching/reading lots more Harry Potter and Twilight, so I'm feeling like me and my Avatar friends are a little off in our relationship right now. But I don't want any of ya'll to have to wait until I get a chance to watch Avatar again, so I'm just trying to go off memory. To xyzisme: thanks for the review! And thank you for the advice; I will keep it slow. I'm glad you like the story, though!

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, I would so NOT be writing fanfics about it…

Chase

(Zuko's POV)

Zuko snarled at the unsuspecting soldier who had unwittingly came to ask what was wrong.

A water pitcher followed the man's hasty retreat and smashed against the door. When he was alone once again, Zuko continued pacing his room, trying to relieve his frustration. A turmoil of emotions tumbled through him—and had, in fact, been plaguing him for the last ten minutes. Confusion and anger were the primary irritants. Anger that the Avatar had escaped yet again. Anger that the water peasant had tricked him. And confusion at his action.

He had kissed her!!! What had come over him?! He had kissed a peasant—he, a prince (granted, an exiled prince, but still, royal blood ran in his veins)! It didn't make any sense! He didn't find the girl at all attractive—and even if he, by some twisted humor of Agni, did find her worthy of a prince's amorous attentions, they were sworn enemies. Hatred was the only thing between them. His pacing intensified, and unbeknownst to him, his fingertips were slightly smoking.

A knock came on the door.

"Go away!!"

Iroh poked his head in the room. "Prince Zuko, what is wrong?" he asked in his gravelly voice.

"Nothing!" Zuko growled.

Iroh raised an eyebrow, taking in the fierce expresion and smoking fingers. "Of course. In that case, would you quit trying to melt the ship? I can feel the heat from the end of the corridor."

Zuko opened his mouth to reply, no doubt with rude and petty words, but a soldier appeared in the doorway behind Iroh.

"They've been spotted, Your Highness," he stammered.

Zuko froze. "Follow them. Don't let them out of sight," he ordered.

"Yes, Sir," the man said, looking relieved. He hurried away.

Zuko noticed Iroh's gaze on the bedside table.

"I wonder," the Dragon said curiously, "just how the Avatar managed to escape."

"It doesn't matter how," Zuko grumbled sullenly.

"But there was no way he—"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Zuko interrupted.

"Very well," Iroh relented, a twinkle in his wise eyes. He turned to leave, and Zuko thought he saw a grin on his uncle's face. As Iroh passed through the door, he spoke, almost to himself. "I wonder what happened to that beautiful blue stone…"

This time Zuko was positive—Iroh was chuckling. He glared at the retreating back of the old man and went above deck to prepare for the recapture of Avatar.

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(Katara's POV)

"Katara!"

The girl in question jumped, then glared at her brother. "What?!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied bluntly.

"Liar," Toph accused.

"I thought you couldn't tell on Appa!" Katara exclaimed.

"I can't. I listened to your voice."

"Oh."

"So what's wrong?" Aang asked from Appa's head.

"What makes you think I'm not okay?" she asked stubbornly. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Uh, maybe because you've been staring at nothing and touching your lips for the last five minutes!" he paused. "Blech! You're not getting airsick, are you?"

"Ew! No! I'm fine!"

"Well, why did Sokka have to yell at you to get your attention?" Toph asked.

"I…I was just thinking," Katara muttered.

"About what?" Aang asked in interest.

Katara avoided their gazes. "About…about that fireball headed this way!" she yelled suddenly.

Indeed, there was the Fire Nation ships behind them, and one had just launched a fiery missile at them. Aang leapt to the back of Appa and forced it back with a strong wind. It landed harmlessly far behind the ships. Sokka moaned in disappointment.

"Just once! Can't you hit him just once?"

Aang grinned and went back to Appa's head. Katara ignored the following banter, instead focusing on the dark ships below them. As she watched, all three ships began preparing another launch.

"Um, Aang?" she called. "We might want to go faster!"

"Appa's flying as fast as he can!"

Sokka came to sit next to Katara. "AHHHHHH!!!!"

Aang immediately jumped to the back again. "Whoa!!!"

"WHAT?!" Toph yelled, causing Momo to hide under their packs.

"We're in trouble," Katara explained. "There's three Fire Nation ships firing at us."

"Sokka, guide Appa!" Aang said, raising his voice to be heard over the sudden roar Toph emitted. He then focused entirely on blocking the fireballs.

Toph was clearly unhappy. "Haven't I told you we should keep our feet on the nice, sturdy, dependable ground!"

Appa suddenly tilted to the side, making Toph shriek and grip the nearest thing in reach, which happened to be Momo (who had at that moment unfortunately decided to venture out from under their packs.) Toph turned ghostly pale, then bloodred.

"SOKKA!!!"

"What? I didn't make him do that!"

Katara ignored Toph's grumbling. Aang was having trouble defending their "Ship." He wasn't going to be able to keep this up, and Appa was probably going to tire soon. Suddenly she had an idea.

"Sokka!" she said, running up to him, not realizing she had interrupted Toph mid-sentence.

"What?!" he yelled, eyes bugging. "Are you going to scream at me too?"

"Turn Appa around and get him closer to the water," she ordered.

"WHAT?!" Sokka and Toph yelled in unison.

"Just do it!"

"No! Are you crazy?!" her brother shrieked. "That's called suicide!"

"Do it, or I'm never cooking again," she threatened.

"But Katara! They're throwing FIRE at us!"

"Sokka, listen to her. I am not eating anything you cook," Toph said flatly.

"But…it's fire," he whined.

"If you don't listen, I will pelt you with as much rock as I can find when we land."

Sokka looked as if he was going to argue more, but apparently the thought of cooking his own food was scarier than facing alomost certain death.

As soon as Sokka started the descent, Aang lost concentration.

"What are you doing?!"

"Trust me!" Katara replied. Aang yelled in surprise when he realized just what they were doing.

"Are you crazy?!" he asked, voice an almost perfect echo of Sokka's.

"No, I am not crazy! Now be quiet and get over there," she replied shortly, pointing to the other side of Appa. Aang sighed, looking doubtful, but moved to stand behind Sokka. He hadn't argued near as much as the other boy had. Of course, he probably understood what she had in mind.

"Just so you know, I think this is a really bad idea!" Sokka informed them.

"Thank you, Sokka. Later, you can say 'I told you so.' If this doesn't work I'll remember that you were against this."

"If this doesn't work we'll be dead!!!" he screeched.

Toph clamped her hands over her ears. "Easy on the decibels! You sound like a girl."

"Yeah, well, you'd be freaking if you could see!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Aang and Katara yelled. Surprisingly, the other two listened.

—A few seconds later—

"A little lower, Sokka."

"Why?"

Katara sighed. "Because I can't feel the water yet. If you don't get lower, we are going to die."

When she had a good feel on the water, she told Sokka to fly them as slowly as possible towards the ships. He was visibly shaking.

"If you get us killed, I'm never speaking to you again," he said with a tremble in his voice.

"Yeah, me too, Princess" Toph said. Sokka grinned at her. As usual, he missed the sarcasm.

Meanwhile, the ships were moving ever closer.

Katara looked at Aang. "Ready?"

"Yeah?" he replied, sounding excited.

The ships fired again.

"Now!" Katara yelled as she gathered as much water as she could and shoved it all towards their enemy. At the same time, Aang tossed the fireballs back.

"Okay, Sokka, let's go now." Katara said, grinning at the look on his face.

"Okay," he answered in a small voice.