Chapter 5

-Day 6: Over the Ocean-

"I'll admit, you're getting pretty good at flying." Zuko says from the back of the balloon.

"Thanks, it's nice that you let me fly the balloon so long I think I'm finally getting the hang of..."

'It was that, or try sleeping through the rest of this trip.' Zuko thought, trying now to block out the sound of the Aang's voice. This kid just did not shut up; he was constantly chattering away-he even talked in his sleep. Unable to take much more Zuko finally agreed to give Aang some flying lessons, hoping that if he gave him what he wanted he'd finally stop talking.

"Hey how about we play a game?" As of yet, Aang still hadn't stopped talking.

"Fine, how about we play 'Silent as the Grave' first person to talk loses. Ready-set-go!"

"..."

'Finally, sweet silence!'

"Zuko you didn't play much as a kid did you?" 'Crap.' "How about this, I'll look for something and you guess what it is okay?"

"Will you be quiet while I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, sure," 'beggars can't be choosers.'

"Alright then,"

"Awesome, okay I spy something...white!"

Looking quickly around him Zuko see's nothing but water sky all around them, "Is it the clouds?" he asks monotonously, knowing that that's the only possible answer.

"You got it. I spy with my little eye something...red!"

"It's me."

"You're pretty good at this game Zuko." 'Oh it's going to be a long, long, long trip.'

-Day 18: Over the Foggy Swamp-

"I spy with my little eye something...green."

"The trees,"

"I spy with my little eye something...grey."

"The fog,"

"I spy with my little eye something...orange."

"It's you, Aang will you let it go already it's been weeks."

"I spy something cranky and irritable."

"...it's me."

-Day 32: Deep in the Si Wong Desert-

"I spy something brown."

"The sand."

"I spy with my little eye something...blue."

"The sky,"

"I spy-"

"Aang I'm going to drop out of the balloon and this time it won't be an accident."

"Alright I'll stop."

"Good, now start looking. A huge decaying castle sitting in a canyon can't be that hard to find."

-Day 33:?-

"I spy something gold."

"Aang what did I say? Get up here so I can push you off."

"No Zuko look, I found it, the castle!" Looking in the direction Aang points Zuko cannot believe his eyes. There, a mere ten feet away, sitting in the middle of a vast canyon was the Dragon's Keep, sitting in a pillar of rock.

"Finally, let's go!" Zuko says giving the balloon some more gas...but the balloon does not go any higher, in fact it seems to be falling. Fast. Examining the burners Zuko can find nothing wrong and as they start to pick up speed he realizes what's happening.

"Zuko what's going on?" Aang screams over the rushing wind.

"It's the heat! The burner isn't strong enough, the air outside the balloon is just as hot as the air inside." he shouts over the rushing wind.

"We're going to die!" As they continue to fall Zuko decides to make a last ditch attempt to save themselves. He turns off the burner and climbs on top of it, shooting a column of fire up into the balloon. Luckily it seems to be just enough as the balloon slows down. Zuko manages to keep the fire going, but it'll only be enough for a crash landing.

Unable to stop completely the balloon crashes into the soft sand causing it to skid to a sudden stop and send up a large dust cloud. As well it sends Zuko flying off of it, into the sand.

"Zuko, Zuko are you okay?" Aang shouts, looking for Zuko.

"Super." Zuko says sarcastically while brushing sand from his clothes. "How close did we land to the Keep?"

"Um...I think we actually landed farther away."

"Perfect, let's wait until nightfall and then head for the Castle; it'll be easier flying then."

"We should probably walk. We might need all the extra fuel we can spare just to get out of here once we rescue the princess,"

"...Fine, we'll walk."

And so they settle in to sleep the day away in the shade of the basket, waiting for night to fall when they can descend on the dragons keep, rescue the fair princess, and Zuko can get his life back.