Finally I get to sit down at the computer and write. With summer homework and soccer everyday I've had little or no time to get the next chapter written. So as my teacher's are currently striking and school seems to be never approaching I thought on this warm Wednesday afternoon I'd get cracking.

2 months later….

Yeah, I know. I suck.

You know what I forgot. Kya broke Zuko's kneecap. Since bones take awhile to heal, even with Katara's healing powers, let's just assume, like Kya, he's still slightly damaged but not as bad as Kya. Eh, I'll explain it in the chapter.

ALSO: STILL LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO DO CHAPTER ART!

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"Zuko…Kya's gone."

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Toph's words seemed to have left Zuko stunned, 'and angry,' she thought sensing his pounding heart rate. Toph felt it best if she'd explain herself before he started functioning normally again.

"She's been trying to get out of this temple ever since Aang left her. She just made it out a few minutes before you finished your story."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, his voice rising. "Do you know what you've done?! If Kya gets away she could totally compromise our–

"Calm down, Hot Head and let me finish!" Toph yelled, rising to her feet. "Look I didn't say anything because everyone doesn't trust Kya, and the fact that she was trying to escape might not help her case! Besides she can't have gone to far, with that leg of hers, even if she does have Aang's staff."

Zuko was silent, and he stood up, "Then I'll bring her back."

"You want me to come with you? You can't exactly move very fast with your leg either," she said motioning to his kneecap which Kya had broken in their last reunion.

"No. It's alright, Katara says it's basically healed anyway, I've been practicing running on it and it doesn't hurt to much. Just like a sore muscle maybe. Besides, I think this is something I should to do alone." Without another word the boy took off in the opposite direction into the darkness. Thunder roared ominously, Toph could only hope that Zuko would be alright.

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Kya stabbed the Avatar's staff into the ground, dragging herself slowly along. She had been walking for about an hour now and she wasn't making too much progress in making her way away from the temple. She could only pray that the group wouldn't notice her absence until the morning, which by then she would be long gone. She looked up as she heard the loud rumble of thunder which was soon followed by a bright flash of lightening. Kya sighed, "Great a storm's coming, well at least I'll have some time before it arrive–

The rain started pouring. Kya now soaked and cold attempted to warm herself with her Firebending, but the ice cold water that was pounding down on her was relentless made her bending useless. With another sigh she pulled her clothes closer to her body and pulled her staff out of the ground and continued on her journey. It would be a long night.

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The gale was relentless as Kya walked across the now muddy ground, the light slippers, something from the Kyoshi Warrior's stay at the Boiling Rock were no match and like the rest of her clothes were soaked through. The squelching that erupted from the now useless shoes at every step was beginning to get on her nerves so, balancing on the staff; she slipped them off, leaving them to sink down into a puddle. The muddy water, now removed off it's barrier, assailed her feet and although it was a minor comfort to feel her element swarm around her, it was still extremely cold water and her body tensed as shivers went up her spine, 'I'll just have to get used to it, that's all, just like swimming. She coughed loudly and continued on.

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Zuko kept a hand in front of his face to shield him from the wind and the rain, both of which seemed to be forcing him back to the comfortable Air Temple, but he needed to find Kya and he continued racing through the storm.

An hour seemed to pass and he was still unable to find his former friend. His clothes were soaked to the bone, but with his Firebending he was able to keep his temperature up to combat the cold. He hoped Kya was doing the same. He pushed blindly on, his boots splashing through mud puddles. Lighting flashed overhead illuminating Zuko's path. Something caught his eye floating in a puddle ahead. He rushed over picking up the soaked item of clothing. Lighting flashed again and Zuko frowned with worry. 'She must be freezing without shoes…But honestly, it's a good thing she left them. At least now I know I'm on the right path.' Zuko took off as fast as he could, battling the oncoming winds; Kya couldn't be too far ahead.

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She heaved, the cough racking her body. Every part of her felt cold; all she wanted was to get warm to be in a cozy bed waiting for the storm to pass. She should have waited or at least looked up to see the dark clouds rolling in, covering the moon and the stars. She wanted to go home.

'But where is home?' Kya asked herself.

'You have no home,' the now ever-present voice in her head answered. For some strange reason over the course of the night it had mutated from her own voice to that of her old, scarred friend. Anger surged momentarily, even in her own mind she couldn't get away from the boy. He'd even hurt her there. Apparently, the voice wasn't over, it laughed mockingly, 'Stupid Waterbender, so naïve. You honestly thought Zuko could love you.' The voice continued to cackle; everything started to swim before her eyes and she had to close her eyes to steady herself. She tried to walk forward but her foot sank into a rather deep puddle. She stared vacantly at the water, the hem of her pants swirling in the water, the fabric soaking up more and more of the dirty fluid. Kya closed her eyes, the water no longer felt cold but warm, as if it the puddle had been sitting out in the sun all day. She smiled and felt something tug on her sleeve. Her vibrant blue eyes opened and she saw that it was no longer raining but bright and sunny; 'the storm must finally be over' she thought absently to herself, smiling. She looked down at the thing which was pulling on her sleeve to see that it was in fact Zuko, smiling brilliantly at her. Her only glanced her mind that he looked younger than he should but then forgot immediately as the boy started talking.

"Kya!" he cried happily, "Come on let's play!" Before she could answer he took off at a run taking big leaps into each puddle. "Look, I'm a Waterbender!" Splash! He stomped through more puddles waving his arms in his imaginings of what a Waterbender would look like.

Kya laughed gaily, following him; trying to copy his movements, "Zuko! We're both Waterbenders!" She continued to laugh but suddenly everything felt warm again, too warm and her mind started swimming. She clutched her head in an attempt to steady herself. "Whoa, kind of dizzy," she laughed weakly. Zuko turned and smiled again.

"You should sit down, cool off." Zuko said, taking her hand and sitting her down against a log.

"Yeah. You're right. Just rest for a bit," she murmured her eyes closing as she laid her head back against the wood. "Just for a minute…"

Zuko nodded, satisfied and then went back to his playing in the puddles. Kya smiled to herself and listened to his laughter. She let it consume her, fill her with happiness. 'This is so much fun,' she thought, 'I've missed this…' Exhaustion swept through her body begging her to fall asleep. She tried feebly to stay awake but she succumbed to the request. She would rest only for a moment; then she would get back to her best friend Zuko and they would play just like old times. She would only rest for a moment.

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Zuko's heart plummeted towards his stomach and shivers went up his spine, but it was not due to the cold; crumpled on the ground in a shaking heap was Kya. He rushed over to her trying to shake her awake but with no results. She remained still, her body shivering. Instinctively he moved his hand to her face but had to pull back, her skin was on fire with fever. 'She's dying, she needs to wake up!' Zuko thought desperately to himself as he lifted her into his arms. His legs screamed in pain from the exhaustion of running and now the extra weight added onto his bad knee. He knew he wouldn't make it far with the pain; he had overexerted himself earlier trying to find her. Slowly he walked off the path, deeper into the forest, looking for shelter.

"Zuko…" Kya muttered, her voice weak, barely above a whisper.

He sighed, glad she was awake, "Yes Kya. You're safe now."

"I'm cold…"

"We're going to find somewhere to sleep, to get warm, and just hug yourself closer to me for now."

He felt her frail body tighten its grip, her arms snaking around his neck and burying her face there. "Keep talking to me…I need to stay awake," she said softly, her hot breath tickling his skin, sending a strange feeling to the pit of his stomach. Zuko laughed weakly, trying to think of something to talk about.

"Do you remember our favorite game?" he asked.

He felt her nod. "The Dragon Warriors. We used to play that all the time. You were–

"Shan the warrior prince," he finished.

She laughed weakly, "You could control all dragons, and you had a pet one named Mushi."

It was Zuko's turn to laugh, "I wasn't the best with names…"

Kya smiled into his neck, "And I was Oma, the warrior princess from the rival kingdom."

"Two people who should have been enemies–"

"But became best friends and –

"THE DRAGON WARRIORS!" they shouted laughing, Kya's ringing in his ears like chimes causing the sense of déjà vu of a time when they were so young, so innocent. Everything was so different now.

They continued laughing and retelling stories of the epic adventures of the Dragon Warriors while Zuko walked. As they trudged deeper into the forest Kya's voice got weaker and weaker, her yawns became more frequent along with her shivers although she was warmer than when he found her. Soon she was drifting to sleep and he had to keep shaking her awake every so often. Luckily, one of these rude awakenings was one that brought good news: Zuko had seen a cave up ahead during a lightening flash.

"Come on, let's get dry."

The cave was small but warm, the opening small enough to block out most of the wind and rain. He set Kya down against a rock face and collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. He turned his head over to hers and she was smiling weakly at him through half-lidded eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments before Zuko seemed to shake himself out of his stupor.

"There's enough old twigs and leaves in here to start a fire." With that he set to work collecting all the brambles and assorted foliage, throwing it into a growing pile. Then with a short fire blast, the dry brush erupted into flames. Zuko sat back next to Kya, who inched close to the fire. She shivered again. "You're still cold?"

She looked to him and sighed, "I don't know," her voice soft, "I'm too tired to Firebend," she coughed loudly, taking a few minutes for the rasping coughs to subside, "and my clothes are soaked."

Zuko nodded, and the two sat in silence. His mind had come up with an idea how to keep him and Kya warm but the thought made him blush. He closed his eyes and sighed, exasperated. If he didn't want her to get sick he would have to do something.

"Take off your clothes," he said bluntly.

There was a long pause before Kya responded, she seemed stunned. "Excuse me?!"

"Look we both need to get warm and staying in these clothes won't help. I can still Firebend to keep us warm if we just sleep close together. I'm not asking you to get naked or anything," he said, the blush growing on his face, "You can keep your under wrappings on, I'm sure those will be fine and dry quick." He took off his shirt, "Come on. We're both tired and I don't want to have to go back to camp explaining why you're sick after running away. If we get some sleep now we can wake up early and get to the temple before they even know that we were gone. I won't tell them what happened."

She looked at him for a few silent moments, her blue eyes shining and wide with surprise. Then without another word she stripped down as well. "I'm too cold to complain," she stated trying to sound aloof but her hands were shaking as she settled next to Zuko.

He laid back against the cold ground, turning on his Firebending full blast. Kya laid down next to Zuko, bringing her body next to his. Zuko was asleep faster than she was, and she couldn't blame him, he had been running around all night. 'Searching for me…' Her eyes traced Zuko's body, something of total perfection except for the scar on his face, but even that in a way was beautiful, an amazing contrast to the rest of him. While others had always joked about it, saying it was a mark of stupidity, of weakness, Kya had always thought it was one of strength. She knew how much strength it would take to stand up to his father like that. She spent a few more moments following the contours of his face and out of impulse brushed the hair out of his eyes. Then she settled into his warm chest and everything was dark.