AS Katara walked through the forest back to their camp, a figure hid between the trees following her, watching her.

With stealth he moved between trees, silent and swift.

She, of course, had no idea, she was concentrating on getting back to Aang and Toph before they set out to find her.

The trees were starting to thin out and he began to worry about losing his cover.

The trees broke and led into a rather large opening.

He sought cover behind large tree, near enough to still watch the girl and the Airbender,
but far enough out of their sightline.
Goal one: acomplished.

Now goal two was going to be even harder. Following her was no problem,
but how was he going to approach them? This wasnt a situation where he could waltz up to them.
It just wasnt that easy.
Nothing was ever that easy.
Especially after all he'd done to them...

Prince Zuko sighed and sank down onto the forest floor and ran hand through his hair. He had long since abandoned his pony-tail. He had thought of it as sort of a sign to starting anew. His hhair had grown out alot since then, nearly covering his eyes.

He stuck his head around the tree to watch them. The trees ahead of him gave him cover. They weren't doing much. The water-tribe girl was just talking to the Avatar and the blind earth bender. He turned back. and stared at the ground.

How to do this? What if he did just try walking out there? No, no, they'd just attack him. What if he caught one of them alone?
NO, they'd probably attaack him. He went through a few more ideas in his head,
but each seemed to end in him being attacked.
Silently, he cursed himself.

"Aang, you know if theres a village nearby?"

"I think theres one to the north of here." He yelled back.

"Okay, good, we're out of supplies."

A lightbulb started to flicker in his head.
Maybe he could find them at the village. Maybe....

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When Katara walked back into their camp, Aang and Toph were up andlooking around for her.
Well....Aang was. Toph was just lounging around, looking more bored than anything.

"See, I told you she wasn't far, but would you listen? Noooooo!" Toph said, crossing her arms,

"Katara! Where were you?" Aang asked, walking over to her.

"I just went for a walk, is that a problem?"
She said, She knew Aang meant well and cared about her, but he got a bit overprotective at times.

"You know I don't like it when you do that."

"Aang, I'm not a kid. I'm older than you, and I can take care of myself." Katara was glad her voice stayed steady.
stared at her for a few second. He seemed to understand, or at least give the impression of.

Katara walked off and went to her pack. Might as well start breakfast.
She rummaged in her pack, there wasn't much left, just enough for breakfast.

"Aang, do you know if theres a village nearby?"

"I think there's one to the north of here."

"Okay, good, we're almost out of supplies."

"We'll leave in a little bit." Aang said.

"See, I told you she wasn't far, but would you listen? Noooooo."

Oh course no one ever listened to the Blind girl.

Aang and Katara started a mild argument and she was completely forgotten.

Things had been getting a little tense between them recently.

She didnt know the whole story, but apparently, Sugar-queens family was dead,
and with all the added stress of comet coming and world go boom-boom stuff, tensions were running high.

She sighed and obvserved the surrounding area through her feet.

The usual ants and rocks and birds and whatever. But-oh! What was this?

"Well well well, what do we have here.....?"
She said quietly.

If it wasn't prince hot-air.
Katara and Aang sounded like they had just barely avoided another fight.

"Hey! If anyone is interested, we've got company."

"What? Who" Katara said.

Toph pointed toward the trees.

"Dont bother getting up. I got this one..." Toph said, already moving into Earthbending position.

She thrust her hands outward, clenched them, and pulled them back toward her chest.

The resault being, Prince hot-air being dragged into the clearing by rocks, with his hands and feet bound by rocks.

Katara sprang up from her pack and Aang ran over. Both were putting on their mean faces.

"What're doing here?" Toph demanded, standing over him, enjoying this moment of authority,

"I-I-uh......" He said,

SOmething was a bit off about him. He didnt seem so full of the hot-air that had earned him his nickname.
He seemed different.

"Spit it out!" Katara demanded behind her.

"I......." He sighed. "I want to join you...."

Well that was quite the plot twist.

"We've got company...."

Zuko began to panic. He cursed under his breath How could he forget the Earthbender?!

He scrambled to his feet, but not before rocks sprang up form the ground, binding his writs and ankles. He yelped with surprise.
The rocks pulled him to the ground and dragged him to the clearing.

He looked up at the earthbender, who was very short, but looming over him.
And Katara and Aang, rushing over.
So much for his almost completed plan.
"What're you doing here?" He planned to just spit it out and say what he wanted, but instead all that came out was,
"I-I uh......"
Such poetry....

"Spit it out!"

He sighed. NO use in beating around the bush.

"I......I want to join you....."

He looked up to see their reactions, expecting the worst.
They looked shocked, to say the least.

"You WHAT?!!" The water-tribe girl screamed.

Oh boy......