Me: Congratulations to myself for getting this chapter done so quickly! I am proud of myself! Woo!
Zuko: Where are my fan girls?
Zuko fan girls: AEEEIIII! Zuko!
Zuko: (grin)
Sokka: Do I have fan girls?
Me: Yeah but it's less than Zuko.
Sokka: I bet they are hotter. I am a ladies man after all.
Katara: Pfft. Ladies man, yeah right.
Aang: Yeah Sokka. That's such a lie.
Toph: (laughing hysterically) Ladies man!
Sokka: Let me see them.
Me: )opens door and lets one mousy, blonde haired bookworm in)
Sokka fan girl: Sokka! I wan tot have your children!
Sokka: O.O;; (twitch)
Sokka Fan girl: (grabs his leg and sits on his foot) Sokka!
Everybody else: (laughing so hard they can't breathe)
DISCALIMER: Do I really have to say it?
"This is as far as I'm gonna take you fellas." The man panted. Zuko and Iroh climbed out of the pots and thanked the man for pulling them this far. He nodded and started back to the city. Iroh placed his hands on his lower back and leaned backwards until a loud cracking was heard.
"I'm too old for this." He complained to empty air. Zuko was examining the small bushes and ferns growing in the oasis.
"Uncle, there has to be water around here somewhere. I bet there is an underground spring." He stated as he searched through the bushes.
"Zuko, watch where you're-" Too late, Zuko had fallen face first into a pool of spring water.
"Water!" He pushed himself to his knees. "Do you think it's safe to drink Uncle?"
Iroh examined the water. "Yes."
Zuko grinned with joy at the newfound water and started to drink it thirstily. Iroh merely filled a small pot with water and then made a fire. "You know…" he started. "You wouldn't be as thirsty if you would have let me drink that cactus juice so I could see if it was the kind that was safe or the kind that made you hallucinate and act tipsy."
"Remember the last time you ate some strange plant?" Zuko reprimanded, lifting his head from the water. "I will never, as long as I live, let you try another strange plant." He vowed.
Iroh smiled, " And why is that?"
"One, you almost died. Two, we had to stay with that weird girl and her mother. And three, that rash was disgusting."
Iroh looked thoughtful. " I guess you're right."
"Of course I am!" Zuko said and he continued to drink the water.
Iroh shook his head and smiled. That boy, he never gives up does he? He's been through so much and not been recognized for it. First and the most traumatic was being banished. All the things that have blown up in his face and still he presses on to catch the Avatar and return home. I'd hate to tell him that even if he did catch the Avatar, there was no way he could get it back to the Fire Lord and live. He would be captured and put in jail then the Fire Lord would take the glory for the capture of the Avatar. Iroh watched Zuko fill his canteen then lean back against the bank, arms folded behind his head. The tea was ready now he poured it into two cups and gave on to Zuko then drank the other himself.
"Thanks Uncle." Zuko took a sip then looked at the drink. "You know," he raised and eyebrow at it. "I think I'm actually starting to like this stuff."
Iroh didn't say anything; he just smiled and looked pityingly at Zuko.
"What?" He asked catching Iroh's look.
"Nothing, nothing."
Zuko looked suspicious then turned his attention off to the left, the direction of Ba Sing Se. Well, that was the direction he thought it was. He leaned back and closed his eyes then opened them and squinted at the sky, staring at the vulture bees as they circled lazily in the air. He sat up and cupped some of the water in his hands and drank again.
"Zuko, why are you so restless?"
"I don't know." He replied as he wiped some water from his chin with a sleeve. He glanced past Iroh and saw two figures coming towards the oasis. "What are those?" He asked nobody in particular, he was just voicing his thoughts aloud.
"It looks like a man riding and emu horse and-"
"There's another one being pulled along with it." He finished for his uncle.
Quickly they both stood up, ready for a fight if it should turn out that way but lowered their guard when it turned out to be the man from before. He was riding a large ostrich-horse with another tethered to its saddle. It was the ostrich-horse that Zuko had stolen from Song and her family. Iroh walked forward and spoke to the man first.
"Is this ours?"
"Yeah, it took a heck of a time to catch it." He grinned.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. It has all your belongings in the saddle bags still so you should have everything you need."
"Why are you helping us like this?" Zuko demanded.
"Zuko!" Iroh reprimanded.
"No, it's alright. You see I am being paid a very large sum to help you." He winked and rubbed his fingers together for emphasis.
Zuko opened his mouth to challenge the man but Iroh spoke before him. "We appreciate your kindness. Thank you." The man nodded and kicked his feathery steed into a run and was gone.
Zuko grabbed the animal's reins and mounted it. Iroh climbed up behind him and Zuko kicked the animal in the Direction of Ba Sing Se.
OOOOOOOOOOO
The man was riding happily back to the city pondering the older man and his nephew. The younger boy was very hot headed indeed but the older man didn't seem like he tried to stop him. What was the boy's name? Oh yes, Zuko.
He smiled as he thought about the money he would get when he returned to the city. He hopped off his steed and led it through the city to the flower shop. He tethered the animal outside the shop and walked inside.
"I gave them their ostrich-horse and all their supplies. Now, where's my money?" he announced. I large man with dark hair stepped from the shadows chuckling.
"Now, which way did they go?" he smirked.
"You! I won't tell you anything!" The man defended.
The burly man grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "Oh, but I think you will. Which way did he go?"
"I think…they were headed…for Ba Sing Se." The smaller man choked.
The large man chuckled again, "Trying to hide among a crowd. The Boulder will surely have to look hard."
Another man stepped from the shadows. "But we are after the blind girl, Toph. Remember?"
"Huh? Oh yeah her. That will be easy." He laughed and dropped the other man, letting him land in a heap on the floor clutching his throat. "Let's go. Ba Sing Se is a few miles and The Boulder wants to get there soon."
The man nodded and they left the flower shop.
OOOOOOOOOOO
"Uncle quit moaning! We'll rest here." Zuko slowed the ostrich-horse.
"No not here. There is not enough cover. Keep going."
They moved ahead a few more paces. "Here?" Zuko asked.
"No." Iroh replied.
Zuko scowled. "What about here?"
"Hmmm." Iroh thought, rubbing his chin.
"Pick a spot already!" Zuko shouted waving his arms in the air.
"I think back there was better." Iroh pointed out.
"Argh!" Zuko jerked the reins of the beast so hard that it made a tiny squeaking noise from the pain and tried to jerk its head away. "Stupid animal!' he yelled at it. "Go that way!" He pulled harder on the reins until the ostrich-horse dumped them both on the spot. Then tossing its mighty head it started to eat some of the ferns in the tiny forest.
"I'm gonna kill that stupid thing!" Zuko shouted, shaking a fist and rubbing the back of his head.
"This spot is perfect!" Iroh said happily. He then started to build a tiny fire and set a pot on top, and then he poured some water in it and boiled it.
"You wanted to stop for tea?" Zuko asked amazed at his uncle's persistence at drinking tea three times a day.
"I have to drink tea three times a day to stay calm." Iroh replied calmly. "You could use it six times a day with your temper."
"I don't have a temper," he growled. Iroh merely smiled and started to make the tea. He handed Zuko a steaming cup of tea and Zuko just looked at it. "Can't you make some iced tea?"
Iroh sputtered, "What? You want me to make my tea cold? That's crazy!"
"But it's so warm out that drinking something hot makes me sweat." He mumbled.
"I know but I'm not going to make iced tea! The heat is getting to you. You're going insane." Zuko frowned and took a swig from his canteen.
A rustling in the bushes caught his attention as well as Iroh. A deep chuckle was heard as a large man stepped from the shadows. He pushes back a curtain of black hair, revealing a degrading smirk. A smaller man appeared at his side, distracted by a thorn stuck in his finger. The large man chuckled wickedly; he seemed unfazed by the thick brush and prickly bushes he was walking through.
"You!" Zuko shouted, readying himself for a fight.
The large man merely smirked and stood taller. A ball of fire whizzed by his head and he frowned. "You can come the easy way, or the hard way. It looks like it's the hard way for you."
Me: Well there ya go. I bet you have guessed who the man with the dark hair is. He didn't say his name…. (Looks around with shifty eyes)
Sokka: (being attacked by crazed fan girl) Help!
Me: (pulls fan girl off him and shuts her outside)
Toph: aw! It was just getting really funny! Even though I can't really see it.
Aang: (comes back with popcorn) Darn! You made her leave!
Katara: yeah! It was getting to the good part!
Sokka: Thanks for helping guys.
Zuko: Hello my loyal fan girls! Don't forget to review this story for Jessie! She's my biggest fan girl. Review my fans! (Waves)
Me: Oh darn you caught me. I'm your biggest fan. (Rolls eyes)
Zuko: I knew it!