AN: Sorry for the wait but /3 English + 1 History + 1 Science + Work >BUSY/. I now accept unsigned reviews (sorry 'bout that). Now, before we get to the story, I have one thing to say. To all those who have reviewed and to all those who have read, I thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Disclaimer: Something witty, something witty. Think. Think. /Takes a drink from her slurpee/ Ahhh! Brain Freeze! I… don't… own. /Collapses from the effort./

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It was before dawn when Zuko and Iroh went through the front gate unhindered. (The guards had recognized Iroh and wanted to stall another conversation on tea). Not far from the capital they met up with fourteen of their men. Everyone turned to Zuko for orders.

"Saddle up. We're heading south towards Midori Island. That's where the Avatar's headed. He's leaving tomorrow so we'll need to hurry."

Lt. Jee spoke up. "My Lord, there's high levels of Fire Nation activity in that area. If they're still looking for him, and I'm sure they are, how will we prevent them from finding the Avatar?"

"Simple. We send them off to chase smoke. I need eight men, volunteers because you might not rejoin us for a while." Eight men quickly stepped forward. "I want you each to go in a separate direction. Whenever you come upon a town or other Fire Nation soldiers begin to spread a rumor about the Avatar's whereabouts."

"The same rumor, sir, or do each of us tell a different one?"

"Different. I don't want people to be able to tell truth from rumor. The more confused we make them the better." Zuko looked to the men, his family for the past two years. There was a chance, a small chance, but still a chance that he wouldn't see them again. "Good luck. May Agni watch over you and protect you." The eight men scattered in different directions to begin their tales. The rest of them turned their mounts and followed Zuko and Iroh south. As they traveled, Zuko outlined his plan.

"We wait for them to set up camp and separate. If they stay together, we will need to separate them as we fight. I want one man on the water tribe boy. I want the rest of the benders on the Avatar. Be careful not to harm them too badly. The point of this is to teach, not to maim. I'll give a signal when it's time to fall back. Uncle, I want you to head toward the ship and have it drop anchor near there. We'll find you later."

Iroh looked over to his nephew, realizing that he left someone out. "What about the girl?" He was surprised when a faint blush crept over the prince's cheeks.

"She's mine." Iroh's eyebrows rose high in shock as he looked at his nephew. Then, with a chuckle and a satisfied smile, he looked forward.

The blush deepened on Zuko's ivory face. "Not like that, uncle. It's simply a rematch. I have a score to settle with her and I don't want anyone else to interfere."

Another chuckle. "Whatever you say, nephew. Whatever you say." His only reply was a low growl and the prince pushing his mount faster.

O.o.o.o.o.O

"Aang, why don't we stop for the day? It shouldn't be that much farther." In response to her words, Aang steered Appa to a clearing below. "Alright, let's set up camp. Aang, why don't you…"

He interrupted her. "I want to give Appa a bath. There was a lack back there so we'll be back soon. Plus I'll practice my water bending." His smile took up half his face, making Katara laugh. He does need some joy. "Alright. Have fun." She turned to her brother.

"I'll get the food." He was off like a shot.

"Fine! Leave me to set up by myself!"

She moved around camp, setting out the sleeping bags and setting a ring of stones for a fire. Just within the woods she found kindling and set about making a fire, with some difficulty. "What is wrong, why won't this light?" She picked up her flint to try again when a voice spoke up from behind her.

"I can light that for you."

O.o.o.o.o.O

Aang had finished giving Appa his bath and had let him fly off. Now he was swimming happily. He dove under the surface and shot himself out of the water with bending. His happy cry was cut short by a fire ball flung in his direction. He fell back down into the water with a painful splash.

He gathered water around him and pushed himself high into the air, coming down in the center of the five men. There was complete stillness as each gauged the strength of his opponent. Then the clearing erupted with fire.

Aang ducked and dodged the initial throws and produced a large burst of wind to push two of the men back into the forest. The other three came at him, hands and feet engulfed in flame.

Aang moved quickly; dodging, leaping, and blocking strikes. His glider was back at camp so he was stuck there. He drew water from the lake behind him and sent a whip at one of the men, sending him to the ground, stunned. The other two quickly evaporated the whip and pressed him back.

Two were on either side of him, preparing to fire. Aang timed it right and leapt at the last second. One was fast enough to dodge but the other wasn't. But the fire hardly did more then scorch his clothes. Aang filed that into the back of his mind.

By this time the first two began to move back into the clearing. He brought up another wave of water and froze the feet of the two closest to him in place. It wouldn't hold them long but just long enough. Two quick bursts of air sent them down for the rest of the fight but the one who was struck by the whip began to get up shakily.

The two steadier ones closed in for hand-to-hand combat. Aang surrounded his hands with water and met their attack. He dodged as much as he could but he was tiring. They finally connected with his stomach and was pushed to the ground, winded.

Suddenly, a large fireball was seen in the air. Instead of advancing on him as he was expecting, the two soldiers picked up their unconscious companions and all five disappeared into the forest. Aang blinked in surprise and got up. He was sore and scorched badly in places but, all-in-all, he was fine.

He rummaged through his clothes and pulled out the whistle. He needed to call Appa and get back to camp as soon as possible. He had a bad feeling about this.

O.o.o.o.o.O

"Man, I love these things." Sokka had found a fruit tree and was eating half of what he was collecting. He was oblivious of surrounding while filling his pack and his stomach when a fireball struck the tree next to his head.

He turned to see a lone fire bender taking up a fighting stance. He filled with white hot rage and struck blindly at the man. The attack was easily sidestepped and Sokka was shoved to the ground. As he regained his feet, he remembered what his father told him when he first began training. 'Fighting in anger always leads to defeat. Don't let it rule your head. Channel it as strength.'

Sokka took a deep breath and focused. He drew his boomerang and aimed it at a point just to the side of the bender's head. The bender almost rolled his eyes at the 'bad' aim and moved forward to engage in hand-to-hand. Before he got too far, the boomerang returned and struck him in the back of the head, sending him to the ground.

Sokka chuckled softly. "And Katara says I don't use my head." He picked up his weapon, turned to retrieve his sack and head back to camp. He was tackled from behind.

"If you used your head, you'd realize that wouldn't knock me out if I had a helmet on."

Sokka wriggled around, pulled his legs up and planted them in the soldier's stomach. With an audible grunt he pushed him over his head. He didn't spend all his time up north with Yue.

The fire bender grinned. "Not bad boy, but you've still much to learn." They came together in a beautiful but deadly dance. Sokka had his club in one hand and his boomerang in the other. With the club, he blocked swing after swing and he deflected a few flashes of fire with the boomerang. He was concentrating so hard on watching his opponent's arms that he didn't notice the flames licking at his feet.

The bender brought his leg around in an axe kick to Sokka's shoulder. He crumpled with a cry of pain. "Always be aware of your surroundings. Notice every part of your opponent's body. Remain focused." Sokka looked up at the bender who was a few feet away. This was starting to sound like one of his training sessions up north.

Sokka struggled slowly, painfully, to his feet and dropped into a stance. The bender smiled, almost a proud smile, and mirrored Sokka's stance. A large fireball erupted in the sky, drawing their attention. The bender gave him a cocky salute and took off through the trees.

Sokka stood there, blinking after him. "Well… That was odd." He went over to pick up his sack when a thought came to him. "Katara's all alone." He sped back towards camp.

O.o.o.o.o.O

Katara watched as the prince appeared from the shadowed woods. "I was wondering when you would show up. What do you want?"

An arrogant smirk touched his lips. "What do you think?"

Her body thrummed with anger. "I know you're intelligent, I know you believe in your uncle's ideals. So why are you continuing with this idiotic plan?" He simply smirked as he began to circle her. Her body flushed with anger. "You arrogant, pompous, moron!"

He stopped moving and faced her. "I'd watch your mouth, Katara. You have no idea of what you're talking about." In response, she drew a ball of water from the stream behind her. He smirked again. "So, you want a rematch? I won't go as easy on you as last time."

The smirk she sent him was a reflection of his own. "I'm doing this to protect Aang, not to play with you."

Without waiting for a response, she sent a tendril of water out to snap at his head. But he had already ducked and rolled away. His response was to send a wave of fire in her direction. She simply drew more water from the stream, creating a shield.

They moved together, as if they had done this hundreds of times before. Each could read the other's intentions as easily as breathing. They were perfectly in synch. The elements they controlled began to blend, making it difficult to say where one ended and where one began. It would have been beautiful to behold if any, other than the two benders, was there to witness it.

What is he doing? He's calmer then he usually is. Normally he is more aggressive. Katara flung one arm out in front of her, fingers spread wide, sending five darts of water out. Before they reached him she froze them into five deadly spears.

Zuko sent out flames, melting four of them. The fifth one, however, sliced his arm. He sent her a wicked grin. "First strike."

He ran towards her, flinging fire as he went. She moved her arms left to right, sweeping the flames away with waves of water. There was a break in his assault so she sent a water whip at his head. He dropped to the ground and swept her legs out from under her.

She landed flat on her back, the wind knocked out of her. Before she could regain her breath, Zuko pinned her down. He straddled her waist and held her wrists to the ground with his hands. "It seems I've won this rematch."

Katara wriggled underneath him, trying to throw him off, but his grip was firm. This close, she began to notice things about him. First was the sheer weight of him. He was heavier then he looked but he was careful not to crush her. Then there was his scent. Slightly smoky but clean. It reminded her of the fires her father would light on the cold nights back home. His hold on her hands was firm but gentle. His hands… his body… was warm, comforting. But it was his eyes that caught her. They had changed since she last saw him; they had lost their haunted look.

She realized she'd been staring and a flush spread over her cheeks. She scrambled for something to say. "You haven't won anything. We're not done yet."

He leaned in closer to her so that his breath tickled her cheek and her breathing hitched. "Well, it doesn't seem like you can do anything."

"What do you want? If you came for Aang, you would've left already." Her heart was beating rapidly and her voice was breathy.

He merely looked at her. "You're the one who said I was here for him. I never said anything."

Her gaze slid to his lips then flew back to his eyes, her breathing increased. His head moved closer to hers and her eyes slid shut in anticipation. "You're bending still needs work."

Her eyes flew open in shock and she flushed in anger. "Why you…"

"I'll be back when you're better." He rolled off her and sent a blast of fire high into the air. Katara just sat there, shocked and confused, and watched him move through the forest. She was still there when Aang and Sokka stormed into the clearing.

"Katara, are you alright?" Sokka had to shake her in order to gain her attention.

"I'm fine. But you'll never guess what happened."

"Fire Nation." The siblings turned to Aang.

"You too?"

He nodded. "It was weird. They showed up, attacked me and then left. I wasn't even really hurt."

Sokka snorted. "You think that's strange, listen to this. This guy shows up and starts to fight with me. Of course, I had no problem handling him." Both Aang and Katara rolled their eyes. "But all through it he was giving me tips. It was like I was in a training session. Odd. What about you Katara?"

She looked away to hide the blush gracing her cheeks. "Nothing really. Zuko and I fought nothing else."

"You fought with Zuko? Who won?"

"Sokka! That's not important. Let's eat and get some sleep. We'd better set watches tonight, I'll take first." Katara thought back to her meeting with the prince. What did he really want? And what's wrong with me?

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AN: Well that's it. Again, I'm sorry, but this was my first fight scene and I wanted it to be good. On another note… did you know that in Hebrew the name Atara means crown and Kitra means crowned? Are they trying to tell us something or am I reading too much into things? Anyways, thank you for reading and please review!