Chapter 7: Absorb

Zuko's POV

A.N- Hello my fellow FanFictioners! I'm not even going to try to explain why I haven't updated in so long. I'll just say four words: volleyball, softball, and art projects (wait isn't that five? Oh, well *shrugs shoulders*).

Anyways, My school is out this whole week for Madi Gras (if you live in Louisiana, like me, you know what it is), so I finally got a to write! I was like "Woohoooo!" and did a victory dance.

Well how was every holiday that passed in between this update and the last one for you? Mine were okay, I had sports interrupting every single one of them, so yeah... It kinda stinks, but hey, gotta do what you love to do.

Thanks for all the favorites and follows and the reviews! I really appreciate them!

So, on to what you really clicked to read, here is chapter 7! Dun, Dun, Dawwwww!

I glared down at Zia's form as she stirred from her sleep. After being soaked by a giant beast in the water, we reached my ship and I had Lee bring Zia to her cell. Uncle, being his normal tea loving self, complained that a cell was not a place for a lady. I, however, was still very angry with Zia for leaving. I had thought we had gotten a sort of truce when we meditated together. So, the cell would be part of her punishment.

Zia groaned and her eyes fluttered open. She stared at the ceiling with a confused look and then glanced to the side, looking at my face. A fleeting look of panic appeared and then it was gone. She squeezed her eyes closed and then reopened them. The red head looked at me again and sighed, "Hello, Prince Hothead. How are you?"

Huffing in irritation, I asked because a small part of me was curious, "What happened to you? Your head was busted up and that was not from the fall off the rhinos."

She gave me a little lopsided grin and said, "Is that concern I just heard in your voice?" Zia made a fake gasping sound, "It was, wasn't it?!" I clenched my hands and felt heat beginning to form. Laughing, Zia said, "Aang rammed me into a tree trying to escape a monster in the water." She paused and another cute look of confusion was transformed into one of panic. "Aang! Where are Aang and Katara and Sokka?"

"They got away when we attacked the village." I grumbled out, assuming she meant the two water tribe peasants and the Avatar.

"What village?" she asked.

"The village on the island, Kyoshi; it was named after the Avatar that was born there. It has the girl warriors and stuff. " I could tell that she had no clue that she was on that island by the way her eyebrows furrowed up. Pity started to form and I quickly got rid of it. She helped the Avatar escape. The only person who could bring me home escaped because she helped him.

Shaking her head, she sat up and asked, "How did you find us? I mean, we hadn't seen you since the Southern Water Tribe. And the last time I heard, Kyoshi Island stayed out of the war. But I doubt they would have sold us out to you, no offence."

I glared at her and wondered if it would hurt us later if I told her how I found them. "My cook found out when he went to a town for food. The person who sold him fish told him that he heard the Avatar was on Kyoshi."

She nodded as if that would make sense. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Uncle walked in. Zia's face brightened and she grinned, "Uncle, how are you?"

"Zia, my girl, I am fine. How are you?" The older firebender hugged Zia and then examined her.

"I could be better if I had a nice warm cup of jasmine tea and if Hothead over here would be quieter; my head is aching." She replied fondly to the old man. Uncle grinned and waved his hand at the door. Lee walked in and set down a tray of tea on the cell's cot.

Zia glared at Lee and his face appeared to have an apologetic look on it. I glanced at the two, wondering what was going on between them.

"No! You guys are not going to have tea in here. I have to interrogate this peasant to find out where the Avatar is going next." I said, angry at having been distracted.

Zia's startled expression slowly formed into a smirk, "Fine we won't have tea in here. We'll have it on deck. And his name is Aang, by the way; not just the Avatar. Oh, and I have no idea where they are headed. Bye now." She then proceeded to grab Uncle's hand and dragged him through the still open door.

Open mouthed, I stared at the door in surprise. I felt Lee's eyes on me and anger boiled up in me. I wouldn't have been surprised if steam wasn't coming out of my nose. I looked at the soldier standing next to me. He was, at the moment, looking at where Zia left in awe. I growled and said, "Get the tea out of here now." I then stormed out of the cell and headed to my room. I had enough of that rude girl for the day.

Zia's POV

I got lost on my way to the deck so Uncle took the lead, showing me how to remember the tricky hallways on the ship. When we finally reached the deck, I pulled away from Uncle and spread my arms out. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and soaked in the sunlight. I twirled around in a circle letting my hair, which was undone from its braid, fly behind me.

I opened my eyes and sighed, it felt like I hadn't felt the suns energy in forever. For a firebender, that was not a good thing. We got some of our power from the sun, kind of like the waterbenders get their powers from the moon. I looked at Uncle, who had a knowing smile on his face. I shrugged my shoulders and lowered my head so that my hair fell onto my face.

"Shall we have our tea here then? And you do realize that my nephew will be very upset with you later." Uncle reminded me.

Nodding, I walked over to him and sat at the small table for two. "Well, I figured that I couldn't make Hothead any angrier at me than he already was; so why not go for the loop hole?" I gave a slight giggle and then sighed, "We left our tea in my room."

Uncle grimaced, "Please do not call that cell you're room."

"Why not? It's where I'll be sleeping for however long I will be a prisoner on this horrible ship." I said a little confused at Uncle's tone.

"A lady should not sleep in a cell, no matter who they are. I will try to get Prince Zuko to agree with me and let you have a room." He pronounced.

"Good luck with that." I mumbled to mostly myself.

Apparently, Uncle had excellent hearing for his age and joked, "Thank you; I am going to need it for this difficult challenge."

I burst out laughing and had to wipe the tears in my eyes when the second most annoying person on this ship walked out onto the deck, holding Uncle and I's tray of tea. Lee strutted out and my good mood quickly deflated.

"Lee." I said. He gave me another apologetic look and some of my anger at him dissolved.

The man walked over to Uncle and me and set down the tray of tea. I reached for a cup but Uncle beat me to it and grabbed the pot also. Pouring me a cup, he glanced at Lee and me. I shook my head but Uncle either ignored me or didn't see. I, personally, believed he purposely ignored me.

"Would you like to have a cup of tea with us, Lee?" Uncle asked the man with a smirk on his face. I gave a playful glare to Uncle but looked at Lee for his answer.

Lee was staring at me, trying to gauge whether he should or shouldn't. I shrugged; I didn't care as long as he didn't try another move. He would definitely get burned if he did, though.

I could tell by the way Lee straightened up that he was going to join us. He nodded while still staring at me. I guess that boy had more backbone than I thought.

Because there were only two chairs, Lee left to go get another chair. As soon as he went through the doorway, I slumped and let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I reached for the cup of tea and glanced at Uncle. He was smiling at me and I knew he knew what had happened between me and Lee.

"So, what was that about?" the old man asked with an innocent smile.

I took a sip of the cold tea and grimaced at it and his question. I heated up the hand holding the cup and gave a disbelieving frown at Uncle. "Oh Uncle, stop pretending. I know that you know what that was about. I'm not buying what you're trying to sell."

The wise man gave a deep chuckle and I had to smile at it. His laugh was somewhat contagious to me. "I have no clue what you are talking about, my dear." Uncle said with a wide smile.

"Yeah, right; whatever you say, Uncle." I snorted and almost spilled my tea. Uncle got a horrified look on his face and I laughed. "Sorry." Uncle nodded but took my hand and made me set down the cup. I gave him a flabbergasted look and said, "But I want a sip."

He looked at my still shaking form from holding in giggles and shook his head, "Not until you calm down." I laughed and nodded.

Lee came out holding a chair and I scooted mine over to make room for him. Setting down his chair, he glanced at me and scooted as close as respectively possible to Uncle. I laughed on the inside and reached for my tea, but at Uncle's look, I slowly retracted my hand. I stared desperately at the tea, wanting a drink.

There was a large awkward silence between the three of us. I, hating the silence, choose to give Lee a second chance; but still not completely forgiving him. I looked at him and gave him a little smile.

Lee smiled back and scooted a little closer to me, figuring that it was safer now. "So, Can we start over? I apologize for what happened between us. Can we be friends?"

I pretended to think it over for a minute just to see Lee squirm in his chair and then let a smile slowly form on my face. "Fine," I stuck out my hand for him to shake. When he did, I pulled him forward in his chair so there were only a few inches separating our faces. I stared into his wide eyes unblinkingly for a second. Then, shaping my face into a serious one, I said, "But if you ever do anything like that without my permission, again, I will burn you to a crisp and then bury you. Alive." I let go of his hand, shoved him back against his chair, and grabbed my cup of tea. Taking a sip of the warm tea, I looked at Uncle, who was struggling to keep in his giggles. I smiled, "So you guys know where we are headed too? 'Cause I really need some new clothes. These are getting dirty."

It's been a day since I was captured by Zuko's men. Lee told me how I got on the ship. Apparently, one of the Kyoshi Warriors was carrying me, but she had to drop me when one of Zuko's men attacked her. Lee had picked me up and carried me to a rhino. He said that I was out for four hours when I slipped off the rhino.

Speaking of Lee, he was now on his way of being my best friend, but I still don't think I had completely forgiven him for the bathroom incident. When he thought I wasn't looking, I saw him give me looks that a drunken man would give a pretty girl; just like his eyes were in the bathroom. I don't completely trust him not to do anything if we were ever alone.

Iroh was my best friend and had become like the uncle I never had. Somehow, he actually persuaded Zuko to give me a room on the ship. It was nice; a queen sized bed, a window without bars on it, an actual bathroom to myself. There was one down fall to the room, Zuko's was right next to mine.

Speaking of the angry prince, he hadn't said a word to me since yesterday in the cell. I was completely surprised that he hadn't coming storming into my new room and given the whole, 'take one wrong move and your back to the cell, peasant' speech. Not that I was complaining at all; it was nice not having to deal with his angry butt. I just thought he was planning something to do with me. I'm fine with it as long as they don't throw me off the ship. I would have been completely lost and alone. My stuff was with Aang and the others; that means my food, bag, and more important, my swords. I missed their now comforting weight on my waist.

It was almost sundown when I first saw Hothead, and I bet you can guess what he was doing; training. The Fire Nation Prince was in the middle of a sequence which I had completely mastered when I was twelve. I sat down at the table; the same one that I had drank tea with Uncle and Lee at yesterday, to watch him.

It didn't take me long to get completely entranced by his rolling muscles in his back. Didn't I mention he was in the same clothes as when I last sparred with him? I jerked myself out of the trance and studied his stance. My dad and other old master had always said that you can tell a person's skill on how their stance it. I didn't understand that when they told me, but I did now. Zuko's right foot was a little too far close to his left one for this move and I knew he was about to fall when he performed the Fire Tornado. As I predicted, one second later, Zuko grunted and firebended a powerful tornado of flame. His right foot twisted inward and he was pushed off balance, falling on his butt.

I couldn't see his face, only the tensed muscles in his back as Zuko stood up to his feet with smoking hands. Zuko looked around for anyone, in embarrassment, I guess, when he finally spotted me sitting straight in my chair, hands folded in my lap. He glared at me and looked away from me.

"Get out of here, peasant. Go hang out with Uncle and talk about tea or something." He snarled at me.

I smiled and slowly got out of my chair. "Finally, you talked to me. I was starting to think you were avoiding me."

Zuko whipped around and gave me a fierce glare that made me give a small smile. "Get out of here. This is your last warning, peasant." He growled in a low voice that made me shiver, but not in fear.

I ignored him and walked closer, "Your right foot was too close to your left. Widen your stance a little and your foot won't turn and you won't lose your balance. See watch. This is your stance." I got into his old stance and made the firebending motion without actually bending. My right foot twisted and I fell on my butt. When I got up, I said, "But, if I widened my stance a little," I did, "I won't fall." I did the move again and this time I stayed upward.

Zuko was staring at me with an expressionless face. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed, surprised, or angry so I just shrugged, waved and walked away. When I was almost at the door, I heard him call out.

"Thanks." It wasn't very loud and I knew that he hadn't wanted me to hear that. However, because of the wind bringing Zuko's voice all the way down the deck, I heard him.

"Welcome," I said softly as I opened the door. My cheeks were burning up as I walked down the hallways, trying to find my room. I was in desperate need of a long meditation. I had no clue I was going to help Zuko with his bending; it was completely random. I don't know what I was thinking, helping him; he tried to kidnap Aang. He even kidnapped me! Twice!

I got lost three times and still was lost when Lee spotted me wandering the halls like a lost soul in the Spirit World. "Hey what are you doing down here?"

I shrug, "I got lost…" Lee laughed at me and I felt a small smile form. "Don't laugh at me! This is a big ship!" I giggled while Lee just laughed and shook his head at me.

"Come on, Zia. I'll bring you to your room." Lee said, taking my arm and still shaking his head at me. The nonbender let go of my arm a few seconds later and stared making a conversation with me.

We were talking about his two brothers when an idea struck me. I gave a sly grin and slowed down my walk. Lee, being distracted, didn't notice and kept on waking. When he was a good yard ahead of me I ran forward, put my hands on his shoulders, and jumped while yelling, "Piggyback! Woo!" Lee's muscles tensed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Lee shouted at me.

I rested my chin on top of his shoulder, "I have no clue." Lee laughed and spun me around on his back.

I giggled and Lee stopped spinning me around, carrying me to my room. I rested my head in between the boy's shoulder blades and took a deep breath. Lee smelled like the sea and soap. I smiled and raised my hand to ruffle his hair. His long black locks were soft under my touch.

Lee groaned, "No! Do you know how long it takes to do this hair in the morning?" I laughed and fixed his hair to make it not stand straight up in the air. "Very long."

"Sorry." I giggled and looked around, trying to figure out where we were. "Oh, I recognize that tapestry! Oh wait maybe I don't because the same one is on every hall on this ship! How do you not get lost?"

"Don't worry; it only took me a whole year to find my way around," Lee laughed evilly and I groaned playfully, dropping my head back onto Lee's warm shoulder.

It only took us about five minutes before we reached the hallway to my new room. Lee dropped me to the ground without warning and I landed on my ankles wrong. My body crumpled to the ground and glared up to Lee. He wasn't looking at me at all. I followed his gaze down the hall to see a shirtless boy standing in front of my door. It was Zuko.

I couldn't do anything from the ground so I grabbed Lee's arm and pulled myself painfully to my feet. When I grabbed his arm, Lee glanced at me apologetically and I gave him a knowing look. If I was him, I probably would have done the same thing.

Looking at Zuko, I was a little embarrassed. I had no clue what to say to him about earlier.

Zuko's POV

Looking at the two people down the hall, I was a little surprised. The last I had seen, the peasant was angry at Lee, yet there they were. She was even on his back, like they were something more than friends. But I didn't care what the peasant and Lee did as long as it didn't ruin my plan.

I walked forward, past the room I was forced to give the ungrateful little peasant, and kept my eyes on the other two people in the hallway. Lee was, as he should be, avoiding my eye contact. However the red head next to him met my eye contact for a second, looked away, and then slowly looked back. I could tell she was a little nervous and uncomfortable by the way she had one hand hanging down and the other rubbing the other's elbow.

I was a little nervous also, because I had no clue if I should say something about earlier or just let the silence consume the three of us. I decided that the silence will do, just in case I said something to make the air in this passageway even thicker.

When I was merely two yards away from my door, I heard the peasant call out, "I never got to thank you for the room." Her voice was shaky, as if she had second thoughts on saying anything at all, like mine would have been.

"You shouldn't thank me. Uncle told me that if I didn't allow him to give you a room, he would make us go to the nearest port and make me go shopping with him." I said sharply as I opened up my door, walked in, and slammed the door shut.

Aang's POV

"I wish Zia was here to see this." I said sadly. "The great earthbending city of Omashu. I used to come here to visit my friend Bumi." I sighed, thinking of my two friends. One was more than likely dead and the other was taken by the Fire Nation Prince. I had tried to rescue her but Sokka and Katara convinced me to wait for Zuko to find us. I knew that they were right, of course, but it felt wrong to abandon her like that.

"It's wonderful here, Aang, and I am very sure that Zia's been here before." Katara said to me, compassionately. "That girl has been almost everywhere."

I sighed, and stared at the beautiful city sadly. Memories of Bumi and I hit me and I grinned, straightening my back. "Well, let's go then! The more people who see us, the more chance Zuko has to finding us, and the more of a chance we can get Zia back!"

"Wow, there. Slow down. Not that I don't want Zia back and all, but we could get more people after us if they know who you are." Sokka said, grabbing my arm when I was about to walk past him. "You need a disguise. Not every boy has arrows on their head."

I rolled my eyes and sighed, slumping my shoulders to look back at the water tribe siblings. "How am I supposed to disguise myself? All we have is Zia's Fire Nation cloak and it's not like I can grow a mustache and hair in five minutes." Turns out, I was partially wrong. I get a wig and fake mustache in exactly seven minutes.

I scratched my head through Appa's fur, which was my hair at the moment. "Wow this stuff is itchy. I can barely deal with this stuff on just my head; how do you even live?" I asked Appa, who moaned in response. Grinning, I told Appa to wait for us on top of the hill and started the long walk to Omashu.

Katara and Sokka followed behind me as I practiced my fake limp on the way to the city. "You know," Katara called to me, "from behind, you could actually pass as my grandfather. I mean, technically, you are a 112 years old." Sokka and I laughed and kept walking.

Zia's POV

I stared at the door Zuko had practically ran into and frowned. That rude little—

"Well that was awkward," Lee said interrupting my thoughts. Nodding, I turned to Lee. I opened my mouth to say something but he interrupted me. "Anyways, I think you can get to your room without getting lost, hopefully."

I playfully punched him in the shoulder and gave a small chuckle. Lee winced and gave me a smirk, "I know. I was being too hopeful." My mouth dropped open and I glared at Lee in shock. He laughed and grabbed my forearm, gently pulling me to my door. Yanking my arm out from under his grip, I crossed my arms and pouted.

But I couldn't hold in my laughter for that long; he one had won that one. I unfolded my arms and we walked together in comfortable silence. We passed Zuko's room and I didn't hear any noise coming from within.

When we finally reached my room, Lee opened my door and I walked in. I turned to say goodbye, but Lee had followed me into my room. He glanced around, looking at the plain room. "Yours is better that mine. I have to share my room with three other guys. They work in the engine room and don't tend to shower that often. It is disgusting smelling in my room."

Wrinkling my nose, I shivered, "Ew." Lee laughed and nodded his head. Tension was in the air and if I had my father's dagger on me, I could have used it to cut the tension in half. Sitting down on my bed, I nervously twiddled my thumbs together.

"Well, um, I better get going. I have some work to do around the ship that I have to finish before the end of today, so, um, I'll be leaving now." Lee said, speaking in the silence. He turned and walked to the door. On his way out, we exchanged our goodbyes and told each other we would see each other the next day.

When the door was finally shut, my body relaxed and I fell back onto the bed. I knew I couldn't stay like that for long, so I sat back up and walked over to the window. Sitting sown in lotus position, I made a small flame in my hand. It was bright green and I focused on it until it turned to a deep red. Then closing my eyes, I began to breathe deeply. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold, inhale, hold, exhale, hold, inhale, hold, exhale, hold…

"Inhale, now hold, and exhale. Good, Zia. Keep doing it and you won't need me to tell you when." said a deep, calm voice. "Remember, the point of this is to let your emotions and thoughts to go away; that way, you can control what color your fire is. This is very important, Zia. Most people don't react well to different colored flames. Your bright green comes from your anger and grief mixed together. You must learn to control your emotions so people don't see your green fire."

I nodded my head but was completely confused about what the Master was saying. I was only nine; my emotions are going to do what they want.

"This is good, Zia. Now, open your eyes." I did what the master said and saw the cave walls around me still reflecting the green light of my fire. "Look at your fire carefully, and focus really hard on it. Let everything go." I brought my hand up to my face and concentrated really hard.

"It's not working!" I whined to the Master. I heard a deep chuckle and felt the heat of the Master looking over my shoulder.

"Oh? Do you not see the red tint to the base of the flame?" He asked in a teasing voice.

"What red ti—"I cut myself off when I saw what he was he was talking about. At the very bottom of the flame, there was a thin line of a dull red color. Although, it quickly faded into a green, it was there. I grinned and continued to stare at my flame.

From behind me, I heard the Master say, "Well done, my little fire-lily, well done."

A.N- Well, there it is, Chapter 7, in all it's glory. Sorry for the short POVs, but it's not my fault. Blame my fingers-they have a mind of their own.

You must be asking, "Who is the master? Will Zia and Lee get together? Will it ever stop being awkward between Zia and Zuko? Will she ever stop asking questions? The answer to that one is now.

So, what do you guys and girls think? Great chapter or a horrible one or an okay one?

Please click, that pretty little review button and leave me some advice, criticisms, questions, ideas about the story, your thoughts on the chapter, anything, anything at all. I'm all good with it.

So, Goodbye readers! Have a nice day, night, morning and review on! Thanks! :D