CHAPTER 8

"I'm going to search for my uncle. Stay on the ship," Prince Zuko ordered.

It's been three hours since we've seen Iroh, and I could tell that Zuko was worried about him. Iroh was never one to be late, but he also knew that his nephew would never leave him behind. Or that I would let him. Iroh's been nothing but nice to me since I met him. There's no way that I would just let Zuko leave him behind. Not that he would anyway, but still. That's sort of redundant. Sorry.

Prince Zuko looked at me again and sighed. "Never mind. You're coming with me."

~~~
I sat behind Zuko on the rhino as we searched for his uncle. Earlier, he had jumped down to investigate a sandal that was on the trail, ending up sniffing it and giving a disgusted look at the smell. I had laughed at his facial expression, and it was still in my mind, making me have to suppress my laughter. A few times, he glared over his shoulder at me, but I could see the playfulness in his eyes. We were finally back to normal.

Above, I heard a roaring sound, making me look. It was the Avatar's flying bison.

Why now, of all times? Zuko stopped the reptile we rode on, ready to turn around and pursue his honor. But then he looked back to the trail of ostrich tracks we were following. After once last glance in the direction of the Avatar, he decided to follow the tracks. I think it's safe to say that I was proud of his choice. Was family more important at the moment?

~~~
I watched as the prince sneakily approached the outer edge of a group of Earthbenders surrounding Iroh. One of them was holding a boulder over the old general's hands, ready to drop it, ready to crush the hands of the Firebender. And he did.

But before the rock could land on his uncle, Zuko jumped in, forcefully kicking the rock away, shattering it against the rock wall near the group. With another kick, his heel broke the chain binding Iroh's hands together. Iroh rose with a smile, looking at his nephew.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko," he said.

"You taught me well," the prince replied.

The boulder guy (that's what I'll call him) got into a battle stance, along with the rest of them. "Surrender yourselves, it's five against two. You're clearly outnumbered."

I wanted to laugh, but I didn't.

Zuko and Iroh stood back to back, surrounded by the Earthbenders. "Uh, that's true," Iroh said, "but you are clearly outmatched!"

All five Earthbenders launched stones at the pair. Iroh swung his chains and broke them into pieces mid-flight, while Zuko blasted the two nearest him with fire. Zuko was about to be hit when the stones that were thrown at him were wrapped in Iroh's chains. He swung them around his body and released them back at their captors. They were hit in the stomach and were both knocked out. The boulder guy launched several rocks at Zuko, who dodged them and returned fire. The fire blast is blocked when the boulder guy lowered his head and the fire broke harmlessly over his onion shaped helmet. The boulder guy rose two huge sheets of rock and Zuko looked afraid, but then chains wrapped around the boulder guy's feet and he was pulled to the ground by Iroh. The rocks landed on top of him. The Earth Kingdom soldiers were groaning and buried in dirt, Iroh and Zuko standing over them. They looked at each other and smiled, Zuko putting his hand on his uncle's shoulder.

I came out of my ordered hiding place then, running to the old man. He was half naked, but I was glad to see him okay. So I hugged him, shocking the prince. "I'm so glad you're okay!" I exclaimed, earning a deep, throaty laugh.

"Uh... Kiara?" Zuko sounded confused. I looked at him and saw a dumbfounded look on his face. That made me laugh. "Why are you-?"

"Prince Zuko, Kiara and I are friends now. I've given her permission to call me Iroh," his uncle explained.

"Besides that, he's been nothing but nice to me since I met him. I grew up without a father, and Iroh was there as a sort of father figure," I added. "Shouldn't we get back to the ship?"

Zuko nodded, still dumbfounded. Then he looked at his uncle. "Now would you please put on some clothes?" Again, I laughed, receiving a playful glare from the teenager beside me.

I was happy again, as happy as I could be in this situation. Prince Zuko and I were going back to normal, becoming friends again after such a bad fight, and that was perfect. I'd rather him order me around in the presence of an official and joke around in private, than have him ignore me all the time, only ordering me around. But his determination to please his father will always come first.