The Shoeboat had stopped to make repairs after the storm. For once, Zuko had allowed them to stay in one place for more than a couple days. Kali wondered if he felt as uneasy about casting off again as she did. She'd spent as much time on land since they'd reached the port as possible and dreaded the time she had to spend on the ship.

The sun gleamed off her dark, black hair now as she strolled through the port's markets. She thought about the conversation she'd had the night before with Uncle.

She hadn't been surprised to find Zuko's room empty when she'd brought him his dinner that night (he seemed almost to be avoiding her since she'd saved him in the storm). She was surprised however to note that the swords that should have been hanging on the opposite wall from the door were missing. Puzzled, she left the food in his room and proceeded to Uncle's room.

"Ah, excellent," he said as she entered and set his meal down in front of him, "Was my nephew in his room?"

"No sir."

He pulled at his beard and frowned.

"Ah…then he has not returned yet. That is…unfortunate."

"Returned, sir?" Zuko rarely spent any time ashore if he wasn't doing something that involved tracking the Avatar.

"Yes, he went ashore this morning. He did not say for what purpose exactly and I am growing a little concerned."

"I'm sorry to hear that sir."

"You look troubled, Kali. Is there something on your mind?"

Kali blinked in surprise. Where had that come from? Uncle looked up at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"You must forgive my sudden forwardness. I have just been somewhat concerned for you since the storm. I know it was a very trying experience, especially given you were already ill at ease on the ship to begin with. Are you alright?"

"I…yes, sir. How did you know about me-?"

"Being uncomfortable at sea?" he smiled slightly, "I have been around long enough to know when someone is more than seasick."

"Oh. Well, yes sir. I…much prefer to just look at the ocean from the shore over being in it."

Uncle gave her a searching look and she hesitated, wondering if she should confide in him. She'd had a lot on her mind since the storm.

"The truth is I have been considering asking the prince to end my employment as part of the crew. I am very grateful to you, especially, for convincing him to let me work aboard while I look for my sister, but we're so close to the Avatar now, according to the reports…"

He raised an eyebrow and she winced slightly.

"…which I haven't been listening in on at all. And the truth is…"

She sighed and Uncle gestured for her to sit down. She did so.

"Thank you. The truth is I'm not sure if I can…handle going back out to sea. Just being on board the ship now makes me feel a little sick."

Uncle put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I understand your position, Kali, and, if you wish to leave, no one here will oppose you. But, with all due respect, if that is your only concern, then I suspect you do not have much to worry about."

She looked at him in surprise, confused.

" Everything I have seen of you tells me that you are strong enough in mind and will that if you do decide to stay, you will not let your fear of the ocean overcome you."

She stared at him for a moment. The only people who'd ever shown that kind of confidence in her were her mother and Masami.

"Is that the only reason you wish to leave?"

For the second time, Kali hesitated.

"That's mostly it, sir."

"Mostly?"

Kali fiddled with her hands uncertainly.

"I've… been getting…accustomed to working here. With you and Zu-Prince Zuko and the crew. But, now that we're getting closer to the Avatar, I've been thinking…"

She realized well that what she was about to say would probably not endear her to anyone.

"…once we do catch up with Masami and the Avatar… I think it'd pretty safe to say sir that I'll be leaving the crew."

"I understand," Uncle sighed, his face solemn. She looked at the ground, knowing he understood perfectly what she was implying. If the Avatar and Masami were friends now…Kali might find herself fighting for her life against the very men she was now helping.

Following the storm, the group was surprisingly unhurt for nearly as bad of an ordeal as that had been. Settling into an abandoned temple for the night, everyone's attention was on Sokka. Throughout the day, he had seemed a little off. Then, he started sneezing late in the afternoon. From there, it had all gone down hill. It seemed maybe they weren't all so healthy after all. Katara leaned over him with a damp cloth trying to break his fever.

"This should bring your fever down."

"You know what I like best about Appa? This sense of humor!"

"That's nice, I'll tell him." After that, the large bison made a noise.

"Hehe! Classic Appa!"

Aang returned to the group, looking at the sick ones. He furrowed his brow,

"I couldn't find any ginger root for tea, but I found a map. There's an herbalist on the top of that mountain. I think we should go find help." He looked at Masami as he spoke, she nodded.

"I think that's a good idea." She nodded, looking at Sokka again.

"Take that, you rock!" He called, waving at nothing. She furrowed her brow, concerned.

Illness tended to make her skittish, but she really didn't want to get too far away from the group either. As the night wore on, the sneezing moved onto Jet who soon found himself under the care of a decently distant Masami and an overly protective Katara. But it got worse still when sometime in the evening she started to sneeze as well.

Masami sat by their sides, trying to do like Katara had done and break fevers. Panic seized her as her throat started to itch too, leading to a coughing fit.

"Not you too!" Aang said as she felt herself sneeze.

"'M fine." She wheezed.

"No, you're not. None of you are. I'll go find help. I'll be back soon." He promised, his hand lingering on her shoulder before he left. She wheezed again, flopping over onto the large creature behind her.

Kali returned to the present as she was jostled roughly by a man running by and yelling something about cabbages. She scowled and glanced at the sky. It had been a dreary day so it was difficult to tell for certain but she guessed it was getting close to the evening. Much to Zuko's dismay, the Shoeboat's departure from the harbor had been delayed further by the appearance of Fire Navy officials declaring that someone called Admiral Zhao had forbidden ships from entering or leaving the harbor at this time.

Later that day, Kali had watched enviously from above as Zuko angrily shot fire blasts about, venting his anger over being trapped in the harbor. Masami was the only person Kali'd ever told about her firebending and she'd always been careful to avoid letting anyone see her on the occasions when she practiced. Being a firebender without any allegiance to the Fire Nation was a dangerous thing. Not too long after Zuko's rage fest, she'd been cleaning the windows in the main cabin when she overheard him telling his uncle he was going ashore.

"Excuse me, prince, but, since we're staying here…longer than planned, may I go ashore to collect more supplies?"

"No."

"But, sir, since we're staying here for an unknown period of time, we might need more supplies than originally anticipated for when we finally leave, since we'll be using up what we already bought while we're here."

"Did I ask for your opinion?"

Kali frowned. That hadn't been an opinion so much as a prediction. And also, sort of lie, she admittedly reluctantly to herself. She'd made sure the ship was stocked with enough food to last them for a few weeks. But she really, really wanted to go ashore at least one more time before they left.

"Perhaps this might be wise," inserted Uncle, putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder, "We can always do with a little extra supplies and that way, she can be on hand to assist you while you are ashore."

"I don't need her assistance, Uncle."

"Even so, please, take her ashore with you. I never say no to an additional provision of roast duck."

As the night wore on, Masami felt weaker and weaker. She hadn't been sick in a long time, she groused. She tried to get up, and she get something for the group whenever they asked for it but by the time she came back with water the first time, she was wheezing and on her knees in front of Appa. Momo sat on her head as she pulled her knees up to her face, wobbling to keep up right. She didn't want to be sitting up and trying to help but at the same time she didn't want to just give into being ill. She shivered as she sat, and she pulled Momo into her arms to try to keep herself warm.

She rolled onto her back, and she found herself curled up by the arm of the sky bison. She hadn't ever really noticed the immense size of the animal until now. It was something amazing that all these kids were able to just spend this day lying on him and he couldn't be bothered to shake them off or anything of the sort. He just patiently laid there with them. She would admit these thoughts were slightly misplaced and out of sorts but she didn't really care. She just didn't have the energy to do anything else.

She found herself needing water more and more often. So she unfurled her arms released the lemur bat from her grasp. She looked at him,

"Can you go get water?" She asked, he tilted his head to the side, took her thermos and flew off. She swallowed, closing her eyes. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, Momo was back but he didn't have water. He had a clay pot, so she sent him off again, this time he came back with a diadem he placed on her head. She furrowed her brow, sending him off several more times, and each time he came back with stranger and stranger things.

"Where did you get this?" She asked him, as she pulled a deceased mole-squrriel off of Sokka. She hadn't seen one of those since she was a child, she didn't even know they lived in this part of the world. She closed her eyes again, dropping the animal a ways away from them, and she curled up. She missed Momo finally returning her thermos.

Zuko had surprisingly agreed to let her go ashore with him. This only once Uncle had started asking questions about what the prince was doing that he couldn't allow his uncle this simple favor. Zuko had finally snapped that she could come but she'd better not get in his way. Typical. Kali had started to wonder if she'd have been better off feeling sick on the ship and trying not to let the darkness of the sky remind her of the storm. Neither of them had spoken a word as Zuko piloted them to the shore. She'd waited expectantly for him to descend the gangplank first and had been startled when he'd angrily told her to go on ahead. She'd obeyed, having no interest in a pointless argument. She glanced back as she started down a street, concerned that this somewhat unusual behavior could be a bad sign

An hour went by as she idled about, feeling both even more thankful for Uncle than usual and even more conflicted about finding the Avatar and Masami. Evening was just settling in as she returned to the dock where she'd left Zuko, carrying more supplies than she should've been carrying by herself. In hindsight, she probably should've asked if one of the crew could help her. And also, she realized as she stopped suddenly, when exactly Zuko wished to return to the ship. She stared in dismay at the empty dock where the boat had been. Had he left her behind?! Surely, Uncle would protest if she wasn't there to cook dinner (it was nearly roast duck time, after all)?!

After double checking all the other docks to make sure she hadn't just made some kind of foolish mistake, she finally plunked down on one and stared out at the distant ship gloomily. Now what? Abruptly and without invitation, a thought occurred to her. She was, for the first time in weeks, completely alone and on the shore. Customarily when she went into the port cities, Zuko had at least one if not two of the crew go with her to help her with supplies and, she suspected, to keep an eye on her. Today, however, he'd been so angry about having to take her with him at all that he hadn't bothered to think of that. And now she was alone. The last reports of the Avatar had said he was somewhere in the area not too terribly far from this port. She stood and squinted. In the fading light of the day, she could just make out the outline of a mountain not too terribly far from the city. The reports had said the Avatar had last been spotted somewhere near it. As she stared at it, among the confused thoughts that came to her, it occurred to her that for Zuko to not have taken a team of rhinos up that mountain by now was strange. Why? Why was he keeping strange hours well into the night instead and not willing to tell even his uncle where he was going? She glanced back at the ship. Now was the perfect time for her to leave. The odds of them being this close to the Avatar again without a team of rhinos were next to nothing. Even if they did get this close again, she realized, the odds of Zuko letting her go with him when he confronted the Avatar were probably equally as small. He knew, as well as she and Uncle knew, that if Kali's sister was still with the Avatar, then she was his friend. And Kali would have to remain loyal to her sister. There was no better time for her to strike out on her own than this time, alone on the dock of this port.

And yet…she couldn't help but think of Uncle. He was the one who'd convinced Zuko to let her go with him. He was the one who'd been so kind to her throughout the entire voyage, in spite of knowing she'd likely become only a problem later on. He'd trusted her. Guilt welled inside of her. Or, had he planned for this? Had he deliberately helped her get to this position on this dock now, knowing it would be the best time for her to leave? Beneath his kindness and sometimes outright goofiness, she'd always sensed there was more wisdom and, perhaps, shrewdness than he let on. He had been a great general once after all.

By now she was pacing the dock, torn on what to do. Leave and begin her own search for the Avatar? Wait here until the crew noticed their lack of dinner and came looking for her? The thought of betraying anyone made her ache, especially since not only Uncle but the entire crew had seemed to accept her. Only just this morning, Adar had insisted that since Music Night had finally come around once more, Kali would have no choice but to dance with him, to which she'd replied that would be impossible.

"I can't dance."

The rest of the crew had, of course, insisted that she could. And besides, whether she could or not, she was the only woman on board. And quite frankly, Garron had asserted, they were all getting a little tired of looking at beards and mustaches while spinning around to romantic songs in firelight.

Kali kicked one of the containers of supplies in frustration, struggling to reason with herself that it was probably better to leave now without any goodbyes anyway. It would be easier for everyone. She fell to her knees to reload the food, which had all spilled out when she'd kicked the container. Then she sat down beside it.

An hour, she thought. I'll wait an hour.

As the night drew to a close, and the sun came up from beyond the mountains, and Masami was roused when she felt a hand on her face. Her garnet eyes blinked open, and she spied that Aang had come back though he looked slightly worse for wear than when he had left. She furrowed her brow, but wasn't aware enough to noticed he had shoved a frog between her lips. As she listened to the group, it dawned on her that whatever she was given was now moving. She belched, and the animal hopped away. She made a face, but was relieved to be able to finally move around again.

As some of the other group started slowly getting up, Aang collapsed somewhere close to her. She crawled over to him,

"Thank you...for the frog." She said quietly, he rolled over and scooted in a bit. He looked exhausted, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. He smiled, a sort of sad smile at her. She started to leave him alone when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She looked down at him, and she looked away, starting to release he.

"You want me to stay?" She asked him, he said nothing but nodded. She took the diadem off her head, and she lowered herself back to the bison-bed she'd just gotten off of. She curled herself lightly, shielding him sort of. He seemed more than alright with the idea, because he bent himself back towards her so they were fitted together somewhat awkwardly, but comfortably all the same.

Before dozing off again, she heard Sokka coming towards them to say something but Katara pulled him away. She was thankful for that.

An hour had nearly passed when the man stumbled up to her. Instinctively her hand went to a knife on her belt and once more she deeply regretted not having her swords on hand. He was speaking but his language was heavily slurred. She stood slowly, her eyes wide.

"Hey there, sugar boobs. Mind if a strong, young buck like me joins you?"

She raised an eyebrow and tried not to make a face. The man gave her a crooked smile. He was worn and decidedly not young. Before she could reply, however, he plummeted face first into her supplies, knocking about half of it into the water. She yelped and scrambled, without thinking, to try to save some of it before it sank, but it was too late. She bounced back up, aware she'd just turned her back on a drunken stranger, but was relieved to find him still laying on the dock, apparently half asleep, still slurring some words out. She pulled the supplies a little ways to the side around him and watched him uneasily, uncertain what she should do. Then, he rolled over in his sleep.

The water was somewhat cold in the night air as she jumped in after him. She'd apprehensively watched the water where he'd disappeared for a moment when he'd rolled off the dock. He'd resurfaced but it quickly became obvious he was struggling to remember how to swim and which way he should swim when he did remember. For a moment she panicked as she went under, her mind flashing back to the storm, the vastness of the dark and cold around her, the feeling of her chest seeming to shrink as the air left her lungs and the water pressed against her. Then she was at the surface again and there was only the man flailing beside her, shrieking and gurgling. She tugged at him, trying to keep him from clinging to her and pulling her down with him as she tried to lead him back toward the shore, knowing she'd never be able to haul him onto the dock. Fortunately, the water was relatively calm and after a certain point, what waves there were helped her in gradually getting closer to solid ground again. Then abruptly, she felt strong arms grip her and help guide her back to the docks, where more hands lifted her and the man out.

Several minutes later, she was in a nearby tavern, shaking with a towel slung over her, attempting to reassure everyone there that she was alright and really needed to return to the dock where her remaining supplies sat, unguarded. They had nearly been in the tavern before she'd been able to let go of the man who'd pulled her to the feet once she'd been lifted on to the dock.

"What's a girl like you doing out on a dock at this hour anyway?" the tavern keeper wanted to know.

"I'm…waiting. My ride back to the ship I work on left me and I've got no way of telling them."

The tavern keeper crossed her arms.

"Which ship would that be?"

Kali hesitated, not wanting to explain she was on a Fire Navy ship and distracted by the fact that her hands wouldn't stop shaking, even though she wasn't cold anymore.

"Hang it a sec, you were with that Fire Nation prince, weren't you?" croaked a man from the other side of the bar, "I saw'im drop you off earlier, b'fore he took his boat and sailed on further down the harbor."

Further down the harbor? Kali's brow furrowed. Why would he have left her at the only city in the harbor and then sailed somewhere else that wasn't the ship?

"What exactly do you do on a Fire Navy ship?" the tavern keeper's voice had gone from warm to suspicious.

"I cook and clean…and entertain sometimes," she added, thinking of her Pai Sho games with Uncle, "I'm…not a regular member of the crew. I just needed a ride to the same place they're going and this was the fastest way to get there."

She looked around nervously, hoping they believed her. Some of the faces stayed suspicious or uncertain but the tavern keeper's eyes cleared a little as she looked Kali up and down, noting the lack of a Fire Nation uniform.

"I've seen that prince around here a couple of times now. Seems like pain in the ass to work for. And you really want to get back to that ship?"

Kali looked at her mutely then nodded uncertainly as the door behind her swung open.

"Has anyone seen a tall, dark-haired girl, bandana, nice smil-hey!"

She looked behind her as Obi and Garron ran up to her.

"We've been looking all over the place for you! General Iroh sent us when dinnertime had come and gone and you and the prince hadn't returned. Jee ended up having to cook and to make things worse we're missing Music Night!" exclaimed Garron.

"Are you alright, Kali?" asked Obi, looking concerned.

"I'm okay," she responded, relieved, startled and uncomfortable at seeing them all at once. After a few minutes of explanation and some thank you's on her part to the men that had pulled her out of the water, she followed Obi and Garron back to the ship, her feet dragging as she did so, unable to shake the uneasiness away. Back on the ship, she sat quietly, eating the half-done food Jee had cooked and listening to Uncle play a beautiful, sad tune on the Tsungi horn. The relief he'd expressed in seeing her and the quick hug he'd given her had only made her feel worse. That night, for the first time since well before she'd been separated from Masami, a few hot tears slid down her face as she lay waiting for sleep. Hours passed before she finally managed it, her head filled with colliding thoughts of Masami far away from her, Uncle and the crew here, the ocean, and the missing Prince Zuko and where he could be.

Waking early the next morning, she went as usual to bring the prince his breakfast. He wasn't there. And neither were his swords.