(A/N): Hello readers! I apologize it has been so long since the last update, but I lack motivation sometimes. Please give this a read and let me know what you think. I want to continue this story, but I would like to hear your comments and thoughts. Enjoy!

Zuko was in the trunk of the sports car; his hands and legs both bound together and a gag stuffed in his mouth. He watched Aang hit the ground and roll into the ditch, vanishing from sight. As Aang slid down into the muddy road runoff, his body began to sink into the deep, thick mud. His head wasn't yet submerged, but he was well on his way to going under. Cars were passing by, but no one bothered to look off into the trenches on either side of the street.

By now, the sun had set, and Azula was just getting home from her day out with Ty Lee.

"See you tomorrow?" Azula called back to the other girl, as she approached her empty house.

"Of course!" Answered Ty Lee, smiling. "Have a good night, and tell the boys I'm sorry for keeping you out so long."

"I will, and more importantly, I enjoy spending time with you, so to me its always a pleasure. Goodnight," Azula said.

Ty Lee blew her a kiss, and then left.

When Azula walked in, she put her bag down and went into the living room thinking her brother and his boyfriend might be in there. Noticing they weren't, she went upstairs to knock on Aang and Zuko's door.

"I'm back guys!" She said; loud enough so that her voice would carry through the thick wooden doors.

After not hearing any response, she slowly opened the door, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything intimate.

Where could they be? She thought, seeing that the two of them weren't in their room either.

Next, Azula checked the kitchen, the garage, and the back porch. She wasn't going to find them.

"Hey, if this is some kind of practical joke, its not funny! If you're hiding, just come out here! I'm not going to search for you all night," Azula yelled, starting to get slightly worried, but still received no reply.

Maybe they're really not home, after all. But, wouldn't they have left a note or something? She thought to herself. They couldn't have gone far; both cars are still here.

Thinking of the last possible place where Aang and Zuko might be, Azula walked down to the beach behind the mansion. She looked left and right, down the shoreline on each side as far as she could see, now that it was dusk, and there was no one in sight.

I'm sure they'll be back soon. They probably just went for a walk somewhere. The now tense girl continued to try to calm herself down but she could feel a tight knot in her stomach, and she didn't feel good about Aang and Zuko's absence.

Meanwhile, Zuko was still riding in the trunk of his father's car. They were now hours away from the fire nation. Ozai had been sporadically going on about the place where he was taking his son. From the sound of it, it was a religious camp where the primary focus was to prepare individuals to confess their homosexual tendencies. Not at all a pleasure cruise.

Even so, he didn't care what he had to do, because all he wanted was for Aang to be safe, and if it meant faking his identity for escape, then he was more than willing to comply. All Zuko could picture in his head was the replay of his boyfriend hitting the ground, trying to catch him. He was so angry, but had no energy to put up a fight. He hadn't even thought that Aang's life was in grave danger again.

Aang was now starting to drown in the mud, as his lungs were starting to fill up with murky stagnant water. There wasn't much time left before it would be too late.

Luckily, the cool temperature of the muck and mire had begun to wake the boy up. He was inhaling more and more water with each breath he took. When Aang was finally conscious enough to realize his position, he began coughing loudly; his body convulsing as he desperately tried to rid his lungs of the soiled water. He managed to get enough of it out so that he could start to breathe again, but he still found himself unable to take full breaths. His feet were already buried deep into the soft, swampy ground beneath him, so he grabbed a low tree branch, hoping to muster enough strength to pull his tired body out of the ditch to give him back the use of his legs and feet.

After much triumph, Aang made it out. He was caked in wet sludge from head to toe, breathing very shallowly, and completely exhausted. The boy slowly started on his way back to Azula's house in the dark. He hadn't realized how much time he'd been out for, but clearly several hours. The last thing he remembered was seeing that car speed off with Zuko held captive.

That had to have been him, Aang thought.

When he finally made it back to the house, Azula was sitting on the front porch with the front lights on. She'd been waiting for he and Zuko to return, although she didn't recognize the dark, slumped figure slowly looming towards her from the end of the driveway.

"Who's there?" She called out into the darkness.

"A-Azula?" Responded a very weak voice, but very familiar voice.

"Aang?!" She yelled, running towards him. "Oh my gosh, Aang! What happened to you?! And where's Zuko?!"