A/N: *ahem* I suppose it's been a long enough wait for this… Completely lost interest. Got some time. Read the entire Lost, But Never Forgotten. Felt like writing something for this. Hopefully I can get back into writing this, but don't expect chapters to come quickly. School is murder lately.

Chapter dedicated to anyone that has reviewed/alerted this story (especially if you come back and review this one…) Internet cookies for you! I understand if I have no readers left!

Enjoy the next chapter!

~Chapter Three:
Distractions and Destinations

Zuko was shocked still for the second time in a half hour. Only this time, the shock was far greater and weighted down with much more disbelief. Horror. That's what was shining in his eyes as he gazed at the spot on the floor where Raven had previously been standing.

What have I just done?

He rushed to stand.

"Sir?" Someone had entered the room from the far door. "You have a few visitors from the village that would like to speak with you."

Zuko let out a frustrated breath. "Now really isn't the best time. I have something urgent I need to get done at this moment. Tell them to come back tomorrow."

"I'm afraid that can't be arranged, my lord." The soldier interrupted Zuko's escape. "They come from a pretty far nation, and have to be back on the road later today. It would be very unwise to push them away and have them come here for nothing. "

The Fire Lord scowled. "Can they wait twenty minutes?"

"I shall pass on the message that you will be with them within the hour, sir."

"Thank you." Zuko continued his rush out of the doors and turned the way to which Raven had gone. From there, the hallways branched off and had many different pathways that the woman may have gone down. Taking a random jump, Zuko decided to try her bedroom first. He smashed the door open without any regard as to the privacy of anyone who might have been inside - not that anyone but Raven was permitted to go into the room, that is. Finding it empty, Zuko grunted in frustration. He spun around and paced in the hallway for moment, trying to think of another place she might have gone with her memory-less mind.

The beach maybe? He began walking toward the palace's exit as soon as the thought struck him. It would make sense for her to find a boat, if she had listened to what he had told her. Go to the South Pole, Raven. He hadn't meant to yell at her. He was just angry and high-strung about what had happened with Azula and Ozai, and he had taken it out on the only other person in the room. Regret and guilt filled his mind. What had he done?

As much as the two of them fought, never had it been serious or meaningful. They play-fought with each other like friends, but they knew neither of them actually meant what they were saying. And if they did mean it at the time, it was always forgiven later on. Never had they actually had a fight that had lasting repercussions for more than two days. This one however, might break that record.

Not that Raven had necessarily meant it. As much as Zuko wanted someone to blame for her lapses in memory, it wasn't Raven's fault, and he knew it. She blamed herself. She always blamed it on her performing her double ability in the fight with Azula five and a half years ago. This particular memory lapse had just happened at the opportune moment to make their little scuffle that much worse.

He had to find her before she did anything drastic with her lost mind. Like leave for the South Pole.

Alone.

He turned another corner in the hallway and ran head on into Ty-Lee, who had been barreling around the corner herself. "Ty-Lee? What are you doing going so fast?"

"Looking for you of course! I heard about the warden and his good for nothing lies! So what are we going to do about your rotten family members? We have to find them, right?"

"That's what I said…" Zuko mumbled to himself. It was exactly what had gotten him mad at Raven in the first place. Then he remembered what he was doing. He spoke back to Ty-Lee. "Yes. I'll be sure to make it a top priority as soon as I get back. If you'll excuse me." He made to move around her, but she caught his arm in a vice grip before he could get very far.

"I don't think so. I don't know where you're going, but we have some work to do, mister. There are some very nice people in the meeting hall that have come from a very far away place, and they would very much like to meet with you as soon as humanly possible. So come on." Ty-Lee dragged Zuko back the way he had come, the opposite direction from which he would like to have gone.

"Look, Ty-Lee. I already know about the people that have come here to see me, but I really need to get something else done first. I told the other messenger that came to get me to tell them I'd be there within the hour, so I'll see to it that I do so. You can leave me be."

"Uh-uh. You're coming with me now. No excuses."

"Ty-Lee—"

"No."

Raven walked out of the palace's dining room in a huff. Back to the Water Tribe, huh? Is that what he wanted? Well than fine. Back to the Water Tribe she would be going. Maybe along the way she could figure out what exactly why she had been thrown out of there in the first place. All she knew was that the guy had been madder than mad at her. For what?

No idea. Whatsoever.

Alas, he seemed to be of higher authority, and so she decided to comply with the 'order' so to speak. It wasn't as if she knew anyone else here. Why was she here in the first place? Funny… she couldn't remember how she had gotten into the palace at all. She couldn't even remember getting up this morning.

Shaking it off, Raven continued her stroll to the banks of the beach. She didn't exactly know where she was going, but her feet seemed to have a mind of their own, and she soon found herself in front of a small boat. It sat on the edge of the beach looking alone and lost along the other, larger ones in the distance. It wouldn't be enough to travel all the way to the South Pole, but it would suffice in carrying her to one of the larger ships that was docked farther out in the water.

As she stepped inside of it hesitantly, she gazed at the water underneath. Pausing and looking at her reflection briefly, she shook off a random thought that she couldn't decipher.

I wonder if Katara will be mad that I'm not bringing Zuko with me.

Grabbing on to one of the oars, she set out to the group of ships farther out. She couldn't have been thirty feet from where she had pushed off when someone back on shore called out to her. Raven twisted to look at the voice. Its owner was standing close by, but she couldn't see the person's face at all. The figure was wearing a long black cloak that touched the ground at their feet, with a hood that hid their face from view. Raven frowned. That was suspicious.

"Who are you?" She called out to them.

She received no answer but a hand that gestured for her to come closer to shore. Although wary, she complied to the request, her curiosity overriding her suspicions. She came within ten feet of the person before her boat grounded. Raven stepped out of it cautiously and finished her trek to the stranger's side. Once within a reasonable distance, she asked her question again. "Who are you?"

"That is not important to you." She could tell by the voice that the figure was a man. He sounded older, and was calm and concise in his words. Confident. He pulled back his hood to reveal a haggard, old face surrounded by shaggy, unkempt black hair. He looked repulsing to Raven, and she backed up a few steps in shock.

"Well then what is important to me?" Raven retorted.

"You need to leave this nation, but you cannot go to the South Pole like the Fire Lord told you to."

So that was the Fire Lord. I knew he seemed authoritative. Raven pondered as the man spoke. But how would I have known the Fire Lord? And why was I in the palace with him? The answer to one question just made so many more pop into her head unanswered. It wasn't fair!

"You need to go to Ba Sing Sae. An earth village. They will help you to regain the memories that you have lost. They will help you figure out what it is you need to get done."

"Ba Sing Sae? I don't know where that is."

"Almost straight East. You'll find help along the way. But don't stop unless you need to."

"Don't stop unless I need to…? Why not? Wait! Hey! Come back! I'm not done talking with you!"

The man had begun to walk away, swiftly, and did not turn back to acknowledge Raven's insistence one bit. He was gone within twenty seconds. Raven took a deep breath and let it out with a heavy sigh.

"Fine then. Ba Sing Sae you want? Ba Sing Sae it is. I want my memories back." With a fierce determination in her eyes, Raven waded back to her mini boat and continued paddling to the larger ones. As she came closer to the major ships, she paused and looked at them each in turn. Which one to take? She looked back and forth between a few before catching a glimpse of the tail end of one hidden behind another. Intrigued, she paddled viciously until she had it in full view.

The sight of it in all its beauty humbled her. For some reason, it called out to her, and hit her straight in the heart. She that felt longing for this ship, although she couldn't fathom where that longing would have come from. She had never been on a boat in her life. Right? She circled it a few times, and on her third go around, she found herself staring at an insignia on the ship's hull with a significant feeling of belonging. It was the shape of a bird in flight- a Sea Raven.

She had to get onto the ship.

Upon getting close enough to touch it, Raven hoisted herself up by a rope that had been dangling down its side, as if beckoning her to choose it for her vessel. As she pulled herself over the railing, she was immediately assaulted. Her assailant was behind her, and she was prevented from turning around by the presence of a dagger at her throat. Her breathing sped up in fear, but for some reason, as soon as her attacker spoke, she no longer felt threatened.

"I don't take kindly to trespassers, miss. You just get yourself back down that rope, and we won't have a problem." The British accent calmed Raven down significantly, to the point where she was beginning to get a smile on her lips.

The words that came out of her mouth were foreign, and Raven had no idea where they had come from. "Is that any way to treat your captain, Willis?"

"Captain? We don't have a female captain… wait… a… minute…" He trailed off. Willis spun the woman in his arms around and stared dumbfounded at her face. "Raven?" He spoke exasperatedly. "Impossible! The princess took you ages ago! What you doing back on this ship? We thought we'd lost you for good!"

"Can't get rid of me that easily." Raven grinned largely up at her first mate. As she did so, she couldn't help but wonder what the heck had gotten into her. There was a strong part of her that was utterly and completely lost with the current events. However, there was a noteworthy other side of her that felt completely at home on this ship, with this man, and with speaking these words. Her mind was completely bewildered, but her mouth kept moving without her consent. She wanted to ask how she knew this man, how she knew this ship, and what the heck was going on, but other words were popping out as if everything was completely normal.

"Are you comin' back to our Raiders, Raven? " The man asked, completely excited with the prospect.

Once again, Raven's mouth acted without approval. "As long as you can take me somewhere."

"You come on back, we go where our cap'in goes." Willis nodded dutifully.

"Well then get the group together, Will, because we're heading to Ba Sing Sae!"

A/N: I need to watch some Avatar (:

Review? If you're still there, that is. Thanks for reading!