Thanks for reviewing! There's still not too many, tho…sad. But! I love all those who did review! You are the best people in the world!! Anywho…here's my latest chapter…but you probably knew that already, huh? Sorry. I have a horrible habit of stating the obvious.

Note: I now have seventy-five cents. I'm getting closer to realizing my dream of owning Avatar: The Last Airbender. sigh. I don't own it. Yet.

Chapter Eight

Katara, finished with her romp in the water, trudged onto the beach, bending the seawater from her clothes. When she looked up and caught Zuko watching her, a blush rose to her cheeks. Quickly, she averted her eyes, pushing the memories of her dream out of her mind. She carefully avoided the object of her thoughts and stopped in front of Iroh.

"So are we going to wait here for Aang to come?" she asked softly.

Iroh nodded. "I should hope so." He glanced at his nephew. "Zuko really didn't have to kidnap anyone, but I think he was still debating on what to do."

Katara cocked her head to the side. "So he kidnapped me because he wasn't sure whether he wanted to play nice or not?" She threw her hands up and plopped down on the sand. "Great. Just great."

Zuko turned and glared at Katara. "He's standing right over here. I can hear you, you know."

The waterbender turned her head and stuck out her tongue. "I know. Why do you think I was talking so loud?"

Her eyes were sparkling with laughter and it took Zuko a moment to realize she was playing with him. At first he frowned but then a small smile worked its way across his face. Soon he was laughing and Katara joined in. How long had it been since he laughed?

Iroh watched as his nephew began to laugh. It had been a long time since he had heard such a sound. The old man sniffed and turned away, wiping a tear from his eye. It was a good thing. Zuko had faced so much hardship and confusion in the past four years that Iroh hadn't been certain there was anything to change him. Now he realized it wasn't a what but a who. Katara would work wonders on Zuko. Iroh was glad he hadn't been able to convince Zuko of a more subtle approach to join the Avatar.

After a moment, the laughter faded and Katara stood. "I'll go get some firewood," she murmured.

Zuko stood as well. "Why?"

Katara sent him a look that spoke one word. Duh. "I don't know about you, but I really don't like eating raw fish."

The firebender just stared at her. "Fish?"

"Yeah. You know, the little things that swim in the water. You cook them and eat them? Fish."

"But we don't have any fish."

At this point, Katara turned and began walking away. "Then you better catch some, huh?"

Zuko was in shock. He had caught fish before—of course he had—but he wasn't used to being bossed around by a girl. Or anyone, really. Still, he wasn't used to laughing, either. He sighed.

"Now. How to catch a fish from the ocean…"

Chuckling to himself at the confused look on Zuko's face, Iroh decided to take pity on his nephew. "It looks as if there might be a stream nearby, Prince Zuko. Perhaps there are fish there."

Zuko looked back at his uncle. "But what if there isn't?"

"I'll catch some fish just in case."

Knowing when his uncle was trying to help him, Zuko nodded and tramped off into the direction Iroh had pointed.

An hour or so later, both Katara and Zuko came back empty-handed. Well, not exactly. Katara had at least found some fruit. Zuko, on the other hand, seemed to have found his temper. He was seething, and wet. Steam was coming off of him in waves. Katara took one look at him and began to giggle. That sent more steam pouring from his clothes.

"What?" he growled, trying not to be distracted by how pretty Katara looked when she laughed. Her nose crinkled up a bit and her eyes…her eyes lit up.

Seeing that Katara had no firewood, Iroh's face fell. He had, of course, caught some fish. Suddenly, he perked up. Well, they could still cook the fish! And, the lack of firewood presented another wonderful idea. Though it was summer, it was sure to get cold at night. And, while they had blankets, they were thin. Firebenders, after all, managed to keep quite warm. Iroh's smile widened. But not waterbenders…

"Sorry, Uncle Iroh," Katara said as she spied his fish. "There's hardly any wood on this island." She sighed. "There was some driftwood, of course, but not nearly enough for a fire. Tress, too, but they were big and old and I didn't have the heart to cut them down."

"That's fine, Miss Katara. Prince Zuko and I are firebenders, after all." Iroh patted her hand. "We can cook the fish. Right, Nephew?"

Zuko tore his eyes away from Katara. "What? Oh, yes. Of course."

Katara beamed, feeling better, and handed out the fruit. "There's more where that came from, so eat up."

They did, with Iroh and Zuko each taking turns frying the fish in a flat rock nearby. All in all, it was a good meal. But Katara couldn't help but wonder how much longer they'd be on the island before Aang came. She sighed as she watched the sun slip beneath the horizon. If he came at all.

"Come on, Sokka. I want to find Katara as much as you do, but it's getting dark! We can't search in the dark!" Aang's stomach began to growl. "Besides. I'm hungry. And I bet you are, too."

"I'm not," Sokka protested. A second later, his stomach moaned loud enough to send Momo into frightened chatter. "Okay, maybe I am," he admitted sheepishly.

Beside the boys, Toph snorted. "You're always hungry," she said, walking off.

"Where are you going, Toph?" Aang asked, bounding after her.

The earthbender turned. "Where do you think I'm going? I've been on Appa all day."

Aang looked confused and then he blushed. "Oh." He fell back. "Okay."

Behind him, Sokka was snickering. "Even I got that, Aang."

Without saying a word, Aang walked over to Appa and buried his face in the flying bison's fur. That had been embarrassing.

"Aang, why are you sniffing Appa?"

The airbender turned and saw that Toph had come back. Flashing an embarrassed smile, he scratched his head. "Uh. No reason. I just thought that Appa might need a bath, so I was, uh, checking how his—how did you know what I was doing?"

"Sokka told me," Toph answered. "Let me know when there's some food ready." With that, the earthbender made herself another earth tent and crawled inside. She was tired.

As Aang lit the fire with a small spark, he asked, "How many islands did we search today?"

"Three," Sokka answered dully. "It could take at least a week to find Katara."

"What if they didn't stop, Sokka? We could be wasting time. Katara could get hurt."

Sokka sighed. "I know, Aang, but it's the best plan we've got." Suddenly, he growled. "Why did that crazy firebender take Katara on his ship anyway? If he really wanted to catch you, Aang, all he needed to do was walk into camp with Katara as his prisoner. Why did he run?"

"Maybe he wanted to talk," Aang suggested. "Katara fought him; we know she did. Maybe he panicked and ran."

"Talk? TALK!?" Sokka stood, yelling and flailing his arms. "Why do you think he'd want to talk, Aang? Do you really think he wants to join us and teach you how to firebend? You heard Katara; she gave him the chance and he threw it back in her face! No. I think he's just a coward and doesn't want to face you in a fair fight. That's all."

"You don't know that Sokka."

"Aang, you're grasping at straws. You have to get it through your head that Zuko is not a nice guy! He's been trying to capture you for over a year now! We can't rest; he's always after us. And now he has Katara! Why would he kidnap her if he just wanted to talk?"

Aang hung his head. "I don't know. But I just don't think he's that bad. I mean, I know he's been chasing us around, but maybe he has a good reason."

"Fine. Believe what you want, Aang. But, when we find him, that bastard is going to have to deal with me, no matter what he wants to do." Sokka grabbed some freshly cooked food and stomped off, yelping when the food burned his fingers.

After a moment, Toph poked her head out. "Is the food ready?"

"Yeah."

Did you like it? I was asked why Zuko kidnapped Katara if he really just wanted to talk to Aang. Well, I think he was still a bit confused about what he was going to do and sort of kidnapped Katara for a "just in case" thing. You know, just in case he decided to capture Aang or whatever. But! I'm happy to say his good conscious won over. All right. You know the routine. Review!