Chapter 8: Stuck with You

Isla busied herself cleaning up her cabin, humming a tune. She was happy to be back. The ship suddenly rocked, causing her water to spill. Isla immediately put them back into their containers. She heard noises on the deck.

"Hmm?" she wondered.

She immediately ran up to the deck. She walked to stand by Zuko's side. There was a woman riding a shirshu.

"We're after a stowaway," she announced.

"There are no stowaways on my ship," Zuko said sternly.

Isla rolled her eyes. She did not believe him. The shirshu tore a hunk of the metal from the deck, making a hole for it to continue its search. Isla raised a brow curiously. A fugitive jumped up, attempting to run away. The beast whipped him with its tongue. The fugitive was paralyzed.

"He's paralyzed," Zuko remarked.

"Only temporarily. The toxin will wear off after an hour, but by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money," the woman replied.

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko asked.

"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away," she said proudly, getting on top of the beast.

"Well, I'm impressed," Iroh muttered.

The woman whipped her beast and they were off. Iroh and Zuko went off to the edge to keep watching. Iroh held his beard.

"Very impressed.." he said.

Isla shook her head at Iroh's behavior. Zuko's eyes met hers. She flashed a sweet smile, throwing him off balance from his cool self.

"Have you settled in?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm all done. Why?"

"You're coming with me tonight," he said.

"Okay…" she replied.

Isla hoped beside Zuko. He glared at her. She wondered why. Iroh was smiling at their behaviour. They were in front of a rowdy bar. Zuko stepped forward. Isla was hesitant.

"Can I wait here?" she asked.

"Suit yourself," Zuko said.

Zuko and Iroh entered the bar. Across the room, the woman with the shirshu, was arm wrestling.

"Out of my way!" Zuko shouted, pushing a few people to make a path for him. "Step aside filth!"

Iroh appeared after him. "He means no offense. I'm sure you bathe regularly."

Zuko approached the woman. "I need to talk to you."

"Well, if it isn't my new friends, angry boy and uncle lazy," she said.

Iroh laughed, happy to see her again. Zuko furrowed his brow. A discussion began.

Meanwhile, Isla was outside, leaning on the wall of the bar, waiting for them. She was staring at the sky, literally counting the stars. Two men approached her with smirks on their faces. She heaved a sigh and stood up straight.

"Hey, what is a little girl like you doing here?" one of them asked, whistling.

"She's with me," Zuko's voice was heard.

Isla was relieved to see him. She trotted to his side, holding his arm. Zuko froze. The two men bowed rapidly and apologized. They ran away after that. The woman came out after that. She introduced herself as June when Isla asked for her name. They followed her to the back of the bar where the shirshu was resting.

Zuko took out Katara's necklace, "I need to find someone."

"What happened? Your girlfriend ran off on you?" June teased.

"It's not the girl I'm after. It's the bald monk she's traveling with," Zuko explained.

"Whatever you say," June was indifferent.

"If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for," Zuko reminded her.

"Forget it," June replied.

"Plus, we'll pay your weight in gold," Iroh added.

June approached him. "Make it your way, and we've got a deal."

Iroh laughed. "You got it!"

"Get on!" she ordered.

Isla was squeezed between Iroh and Zuko. It felt awkward. She glanced up at Zuko who was not looking at her. They started off in search of the Avatar.

At dawn they arrived at the ruins of Taku, where a herbalist lived with her cat, Miyuki. Isla's eyes sparkled when she saw the cat.

"Out for some fresh air are we?" the herbalist asked.

"We're looking for someone." Zuko said.

"I hope it's not Miyuki," she said turning to her cat, "Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?"

The cat mewed and backed away. Isla cooed.

"The Avatar's been through here. Let's keep moving," June said.

The shirshu dashed off. By dusk they arrived at Makapu Village. The shirshu stopped at Aunt Wu's place. The woman was standing beside her door.

"Why are we stopping?" Zuko asked.

"Because the girl must have spent a lot of time here," June explained.

Zuko groaned. "We have no time for this." He jumped off and shoved Katara's necklace in front of the shirshu again.

The shirshu brought its tongue on Zuko. June remarked that the beast liked him. Isla was amused. Aunt Wu approached them. She looked at Iroh.

"Care to hear your fortune, handsome?" she offered.

"At my age, there is really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery." Iroh replied.

Isla assumed he meant about his death. She kept on staring at Aunt Wu. Zuko hopped back up behind her. They were on their way again. They passed by the abbey where perfumes were in the making.

"We're getting close," June muttered.

They soon caught up with Katara and Sokka.

"So this is your girlfriend? No wonder she left. She's way too good for you," June remarked.

"Where is he?"" Zuko asked, getting down from the beast, "Where is the Avatar?"

"We split up. He's long gone," Sokka said.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko asked.

"Pretty stupid." Zokka smirked. Isla nodded at his comment.

"Run!" Sokka pulled Katara with him.

The shirshu used its tongue to paralyze them. Zuko felt like he reached a dead end again.

"What are we supposed to do now?" he wondered.

"It's seeking a different scent," June said, observing her shirshu.

The beast went closer to the two siblings. Isla was ready in case it wanted to harm them.

"Perhaps something that the Avatar held," June continued.

Isla voluntarily got down as Zuko and Iroh picked Katara and Sokka onto the shirshu as well. She climbed onto a tree and started her way off, jumping to another tree, to follow the shishu. They arrived at the abbey. The shirshu circled the area. Isla looked around, everyone was hiding. She was glad.

Aang came flying in. The shirshu fell backward, causing everyone to fall off. June was back up on the beast and they charged towards Aang. Appa came in crashing onto them.

"Whoa, it meets its match," Isla muttered.

Zuko confronted Aang. They started a battle, exchanging fireballs and airballs at each other. Isla was making sure no buildings were getting burned. Zuko and Aang clashed. Explosion was heard, sending them both off, opposite of each other. Iroh ran to June's side. She woke up and got her shirshu. Their target was also Aang.

Isla assessed the situation. "Zuko will not win…" she muttered.

Appa came to cover for Aang but got paralyzed. They soon cornered Aang against a wall. A large wave of perfume was splashed onto them. The shirshu was overwhelmed by the smell. It lashed out haphazardly with its tongue, striking and paralyzing Zuko and June. Iroh pretended to have been paralyzed as well in order to get close to June, holding her in his arms as he laid on the ground. Isla shook her head at the old man's behavior. She turned to Aang, who was ready to fight her.

"Fight him, you're gonna have to fight us too," Katara said.

She and her brother came to Aang's side. Isla smiled, gazing at Aang.

"I'll see you guys at the North Pole," Isla said, turning to Zuko, "I'll go get your men."

Isla was busy minding her own business when Zuko barged into her room. She looked at him with a questioned expression. He was angry.

"Do you need something?" she asked.

"If you had frozen the Avatar, we would not have lost!" he shouted at her.

"Do you hear yourself?" Isla asked.

"Can't you be more helpful in my mission?!" Zuko shouted to her.

Isla took a deep breath. She was about to say something but Iroh came in before she could.

"Prince Zuko, why don't you join me for a cup of jasmine tea?" he chimed in.

"Now is not the time for tea, Uncle," Zuko muttered, his eyes still on Isla, "Come to the deck."

Isla obliged. She saw the worried look on her father's face. She smiled and shrugged. As she stepped out onto the deck, a fire was aimed at her. She blocked it with water. Zuko was in his fighting stance.

"Okay, let's let out some steam…" she muttered, stepping forward.

They started their training. Zuko was very aggressive; a fiery kick, fiery fist and then a back kick. Isla pushed away his first kick, dodged his fist and jumped away from his back kick. He threw fireballs at her a few times. She created a wall of water to act as her shield as she advanced towards him.

"General Iroh, are you sure that's okay? The Prince seemed very tense," a soldier asked Iroh.

Iroh was calm. "Do not worry. She can handle him."

Isla swiped Zuko's leg. He toppled backward. She then circled him with water. He tried shooting fire, but all turned into steam when met with her water. He fired a fireblast through his mouth and fell to his knees. Isla returned the waters to the ocean. She approached him.

"I'm sorry. I'll be more helpful at the North Pole," she said. Holding out her hand.

Zuko surprisingly accepted her gesture. "You were trained by Uncle. Make yourself useful."

He walked away after that. Iroh came up to Isla who looked sad.

"He really is blinded by his mission," she muttered.

Iroh patted her shoulder to comfort her.