Misadventures in Narnia (Eventual Zutara,with a hint of Iroh Wit)

by AaralynnEmereldEyes30

Say,what happens when katara ends up in Narnia with Zuko and his uncle after they were attacked by a rogue firebender and two sandbenders? New adventures, funny moments,learning a whole new world and learning to work together with and get along with her groups personal enemy? and maybe eventual friend ship and or more? what in the world!

6. Chapter 6

Welcome to Chapter 6 everyone,

I hope you enjoy and please if you you would,leave a review!

~*~* Katara Pov*~*~

I woke up to a voice softly saying my name,and a hand gently nudging my arm.

"Katara, Katara wake up! You've got to get up, now! It's time to go so we can go hear the mermaids sing!" came Lucy's voice floating into my ear.

My eyes shot open and upon blinking a few times to focus, there was Lucy already dressed, and behind her Susan was dressed as well, looking excited and amused.

I managed to sit up then, and Lucy hopped onto the side of the bed smiling impishly at me as she said "morning."

I cracked a smile and half mumbled a "morning" in response.

This caused Susan to giggle slightly before telling me 'morning' herself.

I waved in response as I yawned.

I got off the bed and went to my wardrobe to choose my dress for the day.

I grabbed the sky blue one with wide sleeves that Susan had given me.

I looked back at Susan and Lucy who were both standing beside my bed and told them "be right back" as I went into the wash room to change and freshen up.

I changed into my dress and folded my night gown. Then I did my hair for the day, half up in a smaller braid with most of my hair still long and free,trailing down my back. I rinsed my face and gently pat it dry with a small fluffy towel before grabbing my night gown and heading back into my room. I draped it over my partially opened wardrobe door.

I went and slid my shoes on.

I turned to Lucy and Susan, "let's go" with a bit of awe and excitement in my voice.

Smiles broke out on all of our faces. As soon as Susan and Lucy were beside me I opened my door and they led the way towards the kitchen for our sneaking a very early tea stop.

Lucy stopped at the door to the kitchen before poking her head in , "psst, Kayleona!"

She then partially stepped through the door.

Susan and I could hear her talking softly but couldn't make out what she was saying. Susan looked even more amused as I glanced at her and saw her watching her little sister be her little sister.

After a moment Lucy withdrew herself from the door enough to talk to us, "come on, Kayleona is setting us up with a nice morning tea and some baked goodies to go."

She then held the door for us to step through after her.

It smelled wonderful in the kitchen.

At a counter off to the side, Kayleona was placing some sweet rolls n' such into a small basket with a handle, lined with a large napkin.

She looked at us over her shoulder to say, "tea is almost ready, this time we made a black tea with some dried orange bits and a little bit of honey suckle."

"That sounds great," I told her as she moved to kettle that had steam coming out of its spot lazily as it was steeping. She grabbed three large tea cups and brought them over next to the kettle, then checking the kettle and deeming it ready, poured the beautiful dark golden-orange tea into our cups. She brought over honey and sugar and a spoon for each.

She stepped away so we had room to fix our teas quickly to our liking.

Once we were done,teas and small basket of treats in hand,we were leaving the kitchen and making our way outdoors.

Once outside we found a dry place to sit in the grass to enjoy our treats.

We all grabbed a napkin and picked a pastry, our cups sitting in front of each of us.

The pastries were a half moon shape and had a small bit nice fruit filling inside. Peach, I think.

It didn't matter, though, they were very good either way.

We ate and drank our tea in silence, it was still early, and we were trying not to take too long.

Lucy finished first, dusting her fingers off then wiping them and her mouth with her napkin. She let out a satisfied sigh after her last sip of her tea. Susan and I smiled before ending up doing the exact same as Lucy had just done with finishing up.

We put our cups together and left them where they were. We would be back for them, where we sat was on the way back in after all.

Susan and Lucy led the way down to the mermaids. Mostly it was straight down the lolling grassy hills and past the direct clusters of trees that were there once it flattened out for the most part. We took a left past the trees and walked a bit until I heard water.

Soon after I saw a beautiful small river. It wasn't terribly wide, and I couldn't really tell how deep. Probably not terribly so. We continued following the river leftwards.

Then the sound of the water changed, it was louder, rushing harder not too far away.

After another moment or two we came to see where the river opened up to a rounded pool beneath a beautiful waterfall.

The waterfall was wide, and there looked like there was a small shelf of rock behind where it it made contact with the pool of water below.

It was so pretty.

I took in a breath of the fresh air near the water. It was relaxing.

Lucy found a moss covered boulder near the water's edge and sat down. Susan and I joined her.

There was a small 'shloop' sound in the water, then two more that followed after.

Seconds after there were ripples in the water that started at the waterfall and continued just past it. Then three heads broke the surface, one with turquoise blue hair, then another with periwinkle hair, and third with goldenrod yellow hair.

They glanced at us with peaceful expressions on their faces before coming a little closer to us as they began to sing.

It was in a different language, it sounded old and timeless and fluid all at the same time... like water. It was mesmerizing. Their voices complimented one another's perfectly with each rise and fall of each voice. It wasn't sad sounding, it was longing but filled with love also. Oh, I felt this.

I shifted so that I was no longer sitting,but laying on my stomach, and one arm hanging down over the edge of the rock we were on, and the other hand cupping my chin as I watched them sing.

I could do this all day, I found myself thinking. Listening to beautiful songs being sung, while being right next to my element in a beautiful place, and with my two new friends. Yes, easily I could spend days doing this.

I smiled lazily, feeling content within the moment.

The singing stopped and then they were swimming over to us, looking curious, and happy.

The mermaid with the blue-lavender hair swam ahead of the other two, right up to us and said, "Welcome back." she said to Lucy and Susan directly, her voice airy and joyful.

Lucy responded happily, "hi!" Susan smiled as she said thanks.

She turned me, "Welcome to our waterfall".

"Thank you," I told her softly before glancing at the waterfall behind them. "It's beautiful!"

The other two came up beside the other one,all of them smiling at us.

The one that came up to us spoke again, " I am Daloria, and this is Sylvie and Amaryl", gesturing to the aquamarine haired mermaid, then to the goldenrod yellow haired mermaid on either side of her.

"I'm Katara", I told them. "Also,that song was beautiful. What was it about?" I asked them, not able to contain my curiosity.

Amaryl spoke up, " I can sing it in English, if you want." Her voice was soft,pure,peaceful.

I nodded my head before telling her thank you.

She nodded before closing her eyes and taking a slow deep breath and then releasing it.

Then she began to sing:

" Though I'm far away, across the sea

This moon keeps haunting me

As I spread my wings and soar above

It's you, you're guiding me

And the morning sun still shines on me

I feel your power too

And the passing tides in paradise

As we stand beneath

This full moon

Though I'm far away, across the sea

This moon keeps haunting me

As I spread my wings and soar above

It's you, you're guiding me

And the morning sun still shines on me

I feel your power too

And the passing tides in paradise

As we stand beneath

This full moon"

When she finished, she opened her eyes. Then told us, " I like languages so at some point I just translated it into English and sang it from time to time."

"Wow, that's wonderful!" Lucy enthused, causing Amaryl's cheeks to turn a slight pink. She bit her lip as if trying to fight off the blush.

"My sister's right, you know, that really was wonderful, Amaryl." Susan told her fondly, causing Amaryl to smile.

"I agree with them" I shared, enthusiasm bubbling up into my voice.

"Thank you," She told us.

"Katara isn't from here, so when we told her about you, we offered to introduce her to you since she was curious and fascinated by what she had read about you in a book in our library, and from what we had told her as well," Lucy informed them, her tone colored with excitement, and almost a mischievous note as well, an impish grin on her face.

Sylvie spoke up, " Ah, I see," as she turned to look at me, then the others did the same.

"What would you like to know?" she asked, eyeing me as she came over closer to me.

I tired not to blush or squirm since all eyes were on me, and three of them total strangers that were absolutely zeroing in on me and the fact that I had questions about them as a species.

I let out a short breath. "How do you breath under water?" I found myself asking.

Daloria smirked behind Amaryl.

Amaryl pulled her long hair away from her neck and turned her head to the side revealing delicate gills on her neck behind and just a little below her ear.

"Gills?" I asked as I leaned in a little closer to look before looking her in the eye again. "Wow" I breathed out. "Incredible."

Daloria's smirk widened before saying "Yep!" the 'p' popping at the end.

Daloria then got a grin on her face as if she was ready to share something she knew I would love.

Leaning in closer she asked, " So, do you want to see my tail?"

"Yes!" I told her excitedly.

She then sunk lower into the water before arching her tail over her head and managing to hold her place in the water as she did so.

Her tail was a beautiful blue-lavender color much liker her hair, but lighter than her hair was.

Many scales covered her tail down til the fins. The fins were similar to a sea lions, but the shape a little more fluid,and the shape itself was many times more beautiful.

As soon a Daloria let her tail back down, Amaryl and Sylvie showed theirs to me as well, their own tails matching their hair but a paler version of as well.

I smiled at them. "Thank you so much for showing me, and thank you for your song."

They just smiled, nodding in unison.

"I have a question, do you have any powers? Can you guys manipulate water?" I couldn't help but ask, I was so curious to know if they could do similarly to what I can do.

"We can all manipulate water, and some mermaids have special abilities or talents aside from that. Like I am good a encouraging underwater plants to grow, and some land plants. And it may be an Amaryl thing, but she is good with languages. Daloria has a kindred-ship with any sea creature she comes across."

"Well, that's fascinating." I told them brightly. I then hesitated when I opened my mouth to share my abilities.

Lucy nudged me gently while placing a hand on my arm, " Go on, show them, Katara", with an encouraging smile. I nodded, biting the corning of my lip before turning back towards Daloria, Sylvie, and Amaryl and saw their eyes on me, curious and a little bit expectant, too.

I scooted forward so I was leaning over the rock a bit, letting my arms hang down in front of me.

I swirled my fingers in a circular motion and lifted my hand up slowly, a sphere of water rising from the river under my hand, then I sharply closed my fist causing the sphere of water to freeze before dropping back into the river again. I then lifted both hands and bent some water out of the river and made my hands do a flowing motion from left to right, causing the water to mimic my movements. I flicked my fingers, making the water fall like raindrops back into the river below.

I looked at the three mermaids.

They all had expressions on their faces that was a mixture of thrilled and amazed and curious.

Daloria rushed forward and said excitedly, "So, you're pretty much a land mermaid!"

I grinned at the comment, "Thanks."

The other two came up close as well.

"What do you call what you are able to do?" asked Amaryl.

"It's called water bending. Where I come from people can bend the other elements as well. My best friend is an air bender named Aang."

Sylvie said, " That sounds like an amazing place."

I smiled thinking about the times of harmony I had heard about rather than explaining I know only stories of the peace and am living admist a war back where I am from before saying , "Yeah, it really is."

Susan nudged me with a questioning look. I shook my head and mouthed that I would explain later. She nodded in understanding before saying encouragingly," Tell them about the other thing you can do."

I rolled my eyes at her before whispering okay before turning back our finned friends.

They looked expectant and curious again, mostly, but Daloria looked almost impatient which made me giggle.

"Okay, I also am on of the few water benders with the ability to heal. I didn't know about it until I healed myself once." I revealed.

Sylvie looked fascinated, well they all did, but Sylvie did above the others.

"Can you show us?" she asked.

"Do any of you have a cut or a scrape or a bruise?" I asked.

Sylvie came forward with a scrape on the side of her hand. "Scraped myself racing in the reef yesterday." she told us.

I gently took her hand in mine and with my other hand I drew some water from the river and made it form a watery glove on my hand. I gently placed my water encased hand to the scrape on Sylvie and the water glowed as it began to heal the scrape. I lifted my hand to check my healing work before flicking the water back down to the river below.

I gave her a soft smile, " Good as new."

She gently touched where the scrape had been with her fingers before looking up at me. " Thank you." She paused before asking , "How do you make it glow like that?"

"I don't know, it's just always done that when healing." I told her, shrugging slightly.

"Oh, well that neat. And pretty!" Daloria chimed in. She and Amaryl had been watching over either of Sylvie's shoulders. Amaryl nodded in agreement.

Susan shifted beside me, causing me to look over at her.

"I think its bout time we get back, it will be time for real breakfast by the time we get to our tea cups at the top. Are you ready?" she commented, eyeing the sky around us, doing her best to get a rough judgment of time of day.

"Yeah." I said before turning back to my new water friends.

"It was nice meeting you! I will come back to visit soon, if you would want.." I told them.

"Of course we want to see you again!" Daloria exclaimed with exploding enthusiasm.

I laughed, "Okay good, I will be back in a few days then to spend time with you. Around the same time?"

They all nodded.

We all got up and dusted off our dresses.

"Bye!" they called out to us in unison,waving.

We waved back, all smiles.

Then they dove under water,their beautiful tails splashing once before we could no longer see them.

"That was great, thanks for bringing me down here to meet them. I really like them." I told Lucy and Susan as we began walking back.

Before long we were back to where our cups and the little basket was.

We took them in and dropped them off in the kitchen before heading to the dining table where the others were already seated and digging in.

We walked in and saw everyone else already at the table and making their plates.

The three seats left were those right in front of us when we came in through the door. From left to right of the occupied chairs sat Peter, Zuko, Iroh and Edmund.

I sat next to Peter, then Lucy in the middle, and Susan next to Edmund, completing the table.

Breakfast was nice and simple- eggs, sausages, and toast and jams. Tea was already made with our cups ready and waiting for us to serve ourselves.

Zuko looked at us for a few seconds as we sat down. " Why do you three look like you've been up for a while?"

"Lucy and Susan showed me a book last evening after telling me about mermaids and then asked if I wanted to go meet the mermaids they had met. I said yes, of course. They then had the idea of taking me early in the morning because that's when the mermaids are more likely to be singing at the surface. So we got up very early and snuck an early breakfast snack and tea and took them with is and enjoyed them outside before the walk to where the mermaids were. This was what a good hour before you usually wake up before going down to breakfast together?" I told them, finishing with a question directed at the girls to my left, and looking over at them as I did so while lazily stirring my tea with my finger with my water bending.

"Yeah, something along that," Susan confirmed, nodding.

Iroh looked intrigued, "Well,what were they like?"

I grinned hugely, "They were so beautiful and nice. I showed them my water bending and one of them got excited and called me a land mermaid. It was really nice getting to know them. I plan to go visit them again in a few days."

"How wonderful!" he replied.

So over breakfast I filled the guys in on the rest of the details of our visit.

Edmund looked over at Iroh before saying , "Hey I think we can check on the craftsman that's been making your Pai Sho set sometime today, it should be done or almost done at least."

Iroh drained his cup and set it down, "that's right!"

Peter finished up first,saying, " I've got some stuff to work on in the main study for a few hours. I will see you later on."

We all said bye or waved him off and then he was through the door.

Zuko pushed away from the table and got up, "I think I am going to explore the grounds a bit, take a walk for a little while."

Lucy and I waved and said in unison, "Have fun."

"Hey Lucy, don't forget, I told you I would do your hair, want to go do that once we finish up in here?" I asked her as I fixed my last piece of toast .

She nodded excitedly, currently dealing with her last mouthful of eggs.

After finishing up,and washing it down with tea, Lucy then looked at Susan, " and you, don't forget you promised to prove it to me that you haven't grown up too fast and got boring on me."

Susan looked caught off guard for a bare second before smiling at her little sister, "Got it," she replied air of cheekiness to her tone.

"Great, we can do that after Katara does my hair," She responded readily.

So I had my last piece of toast and we went up to my room so I could do Lucy's hair.

I opened the door and led the way straight to my washroom. I sat Lucy down in front of my mirror and started combing through her loose hair gently with my fingers. Susan leaned against my bathtub slightly, ready to watch.

I then went to my my pile of my original clothes from my world and grabbed a small bag that I kept tied to the inside of my dress, though hidden easily. It had a few pins and string bits and beads for my hair. Gran Gran tied it into my parka on my last birthday as a gift. I just replicated the method for my every day dress. I am glad I did, it's come in handy from time to time when I needed to re do my hair after a spar or a fight.

I went back into my wash room and set out all my stuff in front of the mirror.

I gave Lucy a looking over to decide what I wanted to do and was able to do with her hair that was just brushing past her shoulders a small bit.

I pulled a small bit of her hair back into a small bun just slightly past the top of her head, then I sectioned some of the hair that was on front of and above her ear slightly, then braided it, and secured it with a bit of twine. I did the same to the other side. It was cute.

I looked at Lucy who had been waiting very patiently while I did her hair, and asked, "Ready to see?"

"Yes!" she told me eagerly.

I stepped out of the way of the mirror so she could see.

She looked at her reflection in wonder for the first few seconds before tilting her head to the side then back and smiled. She looked over at me , "Katara, I love it!"

"Good, it really looks good on you." I told her, happy she liked it.

Susan walked over and put an arm around her shoulder and look at their reflections before looking down at Lucy,smiling. "It really does, Lu!"

Lucy was beaming.

Then she looked over at me and I swear a mischievous glint showed up in her eyes as I caught her gaze before she looked up at Susan, now with a grin to match the look in her eye.

"Hey,Susan, you're fairly decent at hair,right?" she asked,eyeing me again.

"Yeah," she said slowly.

Lucy said, " Hey Katara, would you like us to do something to your hair? We won't do anything weird or crazy—we promise!", looking hopeful and a little bit excited.

I thought about it for a few seconds before drawing out my answer, " Nothing too crazy."

Then we were all smiles.

Susan then told Lucy to run to her wash room to get her bag of hair stuff.

She then sat me down in front of the mirror and gently started undoing my small braid I had in my hair.

She started gently combing her fingers through my long hair until Lucy came back.

A few seconds later Lucy was back and handed her sister a small bag. Susan took everything out of it and laid it out on the the edge of the stand of the wash basin.

There was a brush,a comb, some hair pins and ribbons and a few pretty looking things which I guessed could be little hair ornaments of some sort.

She gently started brushing my hair after I gave her the go ahead.

Her hair could be considered long, though mine was a good bit longer.

I think she was enjoying brushing my long hair. She was humming softly as she did so.

"Okay, I think I know what I am going to do." Susan finally said.

She had me tilt my head back.

After a moment it felt like she was braiding my hair, but not at the same time, and from the top of my head, too. It felt odd to me.

She kept grabbing my bits of hair from either side of my head. Left, then right.

Finally it felt like she had all my hair in whatever she was doing. It felt more like a normal braid now. Hmm.. I waited patiently, trying to not be too confused about it.

I saw her grab a bit of ribbon and tie it off securely at the end.

Then she came around to the front of me and gently swept the fine tiny hairs down a little bit at a time so they gently framed my face.

I heard Lucy say softly, "It looks good". Susan must have gotten her opinion.

I felt Susan step away from me as she told me, "You can look now."

I looked curiously at my reflection,trying to figure out just what Susan did to my hair.

Susan handed me a small hand mirror and showed me what the back looked like by using the hand mirror and the main mirror.

I finally decided it was pretty and that I liked it.

I looked at Susan, "What do you call this?", I asked as I trailed my fingers down the end of the braid.

"It's called a french braid." she told me then briefly described how she did it.

I must have looked interested or intrigued because she said, " I will show you sometime."

"Okay," I told her as I helped her gather the hair stuff to put back in her bag.

"How about I drop this back off in my room, and we go outside to the small stream and hang out for a while?" Susan offered.

Lucy and I agreed and off we went.

~*~*~*~ In the Library, Edmund's Point of View~*~*~*~

Iroh and I had just collected his Pai Sho set from my craftsman and had come to the library to the table at the window so he could explain the game to me and begin to teach me how to play.

"There's quite a few maneuvers, my favorite is the white lotus," Iroh informed me while showing me a round tile with a white lotus carved into its face.

"They all take a considerable amount of patience and strategy, though the white lotus takes more than others to master it. Actually, back in my world there is a secret society that is associated/acquired through many of us older and serious players. The White Lotus Society. I am a member myself. You can go through certain maneuvers and say certain phrases accordingly to see if someone is a member or not in a discreet manner. There are members all over the world in my world, and if I were to find myself in a position in need and I see someone playing a Pai Sho board in say a pub or an inn and I sit down to play and get asked the question and answer the answer that members only know then they would be in the know and then I could ask for help and they would help me discreetly, which in many situations makes it much safer for the both of us" he explained further.

"That quite interesting, maybe one day we can develop something like that here but through chess perhaps. It would no doubt come useful from time to time," I told him.

"How wonderful that would be,Edmund. Now lets begin."

So he taught me how to set up and started off with simple maneuvers, explaining as we went along.

I enjoyed it. It was neat to learn a different type of strategy game.

He won over and over. I thought I had almost won once but he pulled a sneaky patience strategy on me and got me right when I thought I was on the road to victory.

"I really like this game, Iroh, I look forward to getting better at playing it. Perhaps we can try to play once or twice a week." I told him after our last game ended, he had taught me the waiting dragon strategy maneuver. It was interesting.

"Great! You ready to call it a day,Edmund?", he asked me.

I pushed my chair away from the table to get up as I answered, " Yeah."

"What are you about to go do?" he asked me as he got up as well.

"Probably some sword practice with some of my guys, you are welcome to come along to observe or give pointers." I said with an easy smile and a shrug.

We all could learn a lot from Iroh I felt.

Iroh and I walked out to the armory,where a few guys around my age were already prepping for some sword practice.

~*~*swap to Peter in the main study,some time later*~*~

I was wrapping up working on the documents I had to go over and take notes from

that one of my advisors had brought to my attention this morning and said they were on the desk in the main study in a neat stack for me.

I checked my notes then stacked the papers back neatly, placing my notes on top before putting the ink and pen away .

It was documents noting progress that had been made and more things that were in the works from several people, and families. It would just be smart to help ourselves by documenting whats been done and what's happening.

As I was going through one of the main hallways after leaving the main study, I came across my advisor. "Hey, I got those documents read and got my notes done—they are where you left them for me, my notes stacked neatly on top." I stopped him long enough to tell him.

He thanked me before carrying on .

I decided to walk outside, fresh air sounded good right about now.

I ended up just walking and came across the armory , where I heard the clacking of wooden practice swords and the overlapping voices carrying on with both encouragements and taunts/jibes.

I went and stood in the door way closest to me to see. Inside Edmund and one of the guys around his age were practicing in the center, Iroh watching and commenting occasionally from one side, and the few other boys watching and learning from the other side.

I waved when Edmund paused to wipe sweat from his head with the swipe of an arm and looked my way. He nodded before turning back to what he was doing.

I smiled to myself as I walked on. It was good to see the good Edmund was doing, and now apparently with help from Iroh.

I walked up to the horse stables, making my way to my favorite horse once I was inside.

There she was, on the very end. A soft gray pony with a darker gray marking across her face, and for that her name is Smudge.

I didn't have anything going on right now so I thought why not go for a small ride.

I opened her stall and when she saw it was me she butted her nose to my palm instantly in an affectionate gesture.

"Hey girl, lets go for a little ride, hmm?" I asked her as I ran my hand across her nose and pat her jaw gently, which she leaned into.

I went and grabbed her bridle, I didn't want to mess with a saddle and stirrups and the pad, etc. Today it would be an easy, light ride, and not too long, so bareback it was.

I led her out gently,and once we got onto the grass that was near the stable, I swung up onto her back and urged her forward further into the greenery with a few trees dotting the area. It was too nice today to not go for a short ride.

We began walking outward,more towards some of the gentle loping hills that were a bit here and there.

I let out a slow breath.

It felt like a lot has happened right after we started to get our feet underneath us as young kings and queens in this beautiful world. Strangers pop into our woods by magical means from another world, and they are at odds with one another, and their world is stuck grimly in war just like back home for me and my siblings. Frustrating to say the least I'm sure. I hope Aslan comes to visit so they can get some answers or at least a mysterious and oddly helpful conversation that only Aslan can provide.

I took Smudge around a gentle curve in the path, and speaking of our guests, I see Zuko up ahead leaning against a tree enjoying its shade.

He looked over and leaned up slightly upon recognizing me.

I stopped Smudge once we were only a few feet away from him. "Hey."

"Hi," he responded. He got up and walked over to us, offering his hand to Smudge to sniff/inspect if she wished. She let out a huff before sniffing his hand and lifting her head up slightly so her nose nudged his palm gently. He smiled.

"How's it going?" I asked as I watched him gently run his hand along Smudge's face, which I could tell she was enjoying thoroughly.

"Uh, its.. alright" he told me slowly as if taking the time to think to put accurate words to mouth.

"It's peaceful here; I'm not used to that so I don't really know what to do with it." He looked away slightly as he continued, "Back home it was just endless stress of chasing after the avatar for my father's favor. I'm not a child, but at the same time—I'm only a kid, trying to do the impossible."

He sighed and met my gaze," so its nice to experience peace even if only as a guest."

I nodded in response, thinking of what to possibly say to that.

Finally, words found me that I felt were decent enough to respond out loud with. " I'm sorry, that's not easy, I'm sure. I am glad you are enjoying the peace we are fortunate to have here, finally. From what so many told us it was cold and dreary and hopeless for a very long time. Maybe its time you do something for yourself, and not chasing your father's favor. I know he is your father, but you matter as well, no matter what he's got you believing.

Zuko ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know , maybe you're right."

I gave a small understanding smile. His uncertainty reminded me of Edmund a little bit.

"Maybe that's part of why you're here, you're meant to find some answers, learn some things." I told him.

He looked to the sun in the distance, "Yeah, maybe. I hope so, some answers would be nice."

"Hey", I told him,causing him to tear his gaze from the sun. " Aslan will also help. He can give you answers. Thought you might appreciate knowing that. I recall not having answers when we first came here, and its frustrating, so at least a little, I get it."

"Thanks," he replied.

"Don't worry about it. Say, its pretty nice out here,want to walk with Smudge and I for a little while?" I asked him as I was ready continue on and wouldn't mind his company.

"Sure." he said as he he stepped away from in front of Smudge and waited to the side a bit so I could start the pace.

I started her on a slow walking pace,and Zuko easily fell into step beside us.

We walked and talked for a while, going nowhere in particular, somewhere in between small talk and real topics.

I must admit we both seemed to enjoy ourselves. I think it was nice for him to have some stress free company to enjoy.

We finally headed back to the stables and parted ways after I dismounted and started to lead Smudge inside to brush her down and give her a piece of carrot some of the stable hands kept handy for them.

~~at the stream with Katara,Susan and Lucy ~~

Katara, Susan and Lucy made it down to the stream not far from where she showed them water bending, chatting and occasionally laughing.

Susan took off her shoes and set them down a few feet from the stream where they stood. Lucy and Katara followed suit.

She then looked into the small stream before taking a careful step into it, making sure she got her footing. She looked expectantly at Katara and Lucy who were just watching her, curiosity clear on their faces. "Come on, you two!" she called out before leaning down and scooping her hand in the water and flinging some of the droplets at them with a grin on her face.

Katara and Lucy shared a look before hopping in to join Susan and return the favor of flinging water.

Soon there were shrieks and loud laughter from all three.

Katara lifted a hand and did a sweeping pushing motion towards both sisters, a wave following her hand's becoming shortly after, effectively soaking them both more than just splashing with out bending had done previously.

Lucy swiped the water from her face fast and furiously, "Hey, no bending, that's cheating!" she exclaimed, eyeing me intensely.

Susan nodded from slightly behind her while trying to cover a short laugh with a hand, her sister calling Katara out was all fair, but still a bit amusing.

Katara held up her hands in mock defeat, "Okay, Lucy, that's fair."

Lucy only had time to smile in satisfaction for mere seconds before she was getting splashing from both sides by Katara and Susan.

"Hey! I don't want double bombarded, either!" she exclaimed, a fierce gleam in now in her eyes as she glared between her sister and new friend before doubling down on splashing both of them fiercely.

Their yelling and laughter grew louder as their water fighting antics was all out, hair was trying to come out of place on all three of their heads, and dresses pretty much soaked, but they didn't care. They looked a mess, but happy as ever, even so.

Finally, they all got out and then proceeded to gently ringing water from their hair.

Katara looked down at herself then at Lucy and Susan before tossing her braid back over her shoulder as she said, "Hey I can bend the water out of our clothes real quick, and our hair a little bit if you want as well.."

Lucy and Susan agreed, holding their arms out beside them and standing still while Katara quickly wicked the water from their clothes, and then her own.

Lucy grinned as she looked herself over in satisfaction that she was now very dry, "Much better!"

Susan nodded in agreement before walking over and slipping her shoes back on. "Shall we go back in, then?" she asked Katara and Lucy as they were getting their shoes on as well.

"Sure!" they responded in unison, causing all three of them to laugh as they started back.

~~~ time skip to the tail end of dinner time,where everyone is just talking~~~

^General/Reg POV^

Dinner went by with ease, by now everyone was either polishing off their seconds or their desserts, which this time was a multi berry cobbler.

The conversations were easy as everyone shared bits of their day that wasn't with one another.

Peter and Edmund and Iroh complimented Lucy and Katara's hair. Zuko nodded in agreement that they looked nice.

The girls smiled as Iroh and Edmund shared their experiences of Iroh teaching Edmund Pai Sho.

Katara perked up in particular as that's a game from their world, one she had heard of a few times but never got to learned it. She had yet to come across someone that could teach her, and time usually wasn't on her side to be in one area long enough to find someone to teach her since Aang's learning was important and that required not staying anywhere for very long usually.

"Would you mind teaching me sometime, Iroh?" she asked, her eyes lit up with interest.

"Why of course, we can start tomorrow, perhaps? We can request tea and snacks." he answered happily.

"Great!" she agreed.

Soon after everyone was done and pushing their plates away from themselves and taking last sips of their drinks.

"That cobbler was the best yet!" Lucy lazily exclaimed.

Agreements were had all around the table at that.

Katara yawned, "Oh today was such a full day. It was great."

Lucy yawned next, a hand lazily covering her mouth, "Agreed."

"It was a nice one for sure," Edmund chimed in,draining his cup of tea and pushing his chair back slightly so he could slouch in his seat a bit, full and content.

The rest of the guys agreed.

~*~*~* short time skip,Lucy and Susan walking up to bed*~*~*~

**Lucy Point Of View **

Susan and I walked down the hallway toward the bedrooms after dinner making small talk. I wanted to bring up the conversation we had the other day but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. I had noticed her trying to show me she wasn't growing up too fast again and I wanted to comment on it.

I decided to just jump right into it. "Susan," I said catching her attention.

"Yeah Lu," she replied smiling.

"I wanted to thank you for yesterday and today. I could tell that you really are trying not to grow up too fast this time. Today was really fun. Wonderful, actually."

A beautiful smile lit up her face, and she hugged me.

When she pulled away, I studied her face. She looked truly happy, and a little relieved as well.

"Good, I'm glad." she told me before pausing and then telling me not as loud, "Told you!" a slightly cheeky tone in her voice for that last part.

I smiled.

We started walking again and soon came to our doors. We hugged once more and both bid each other a 'good night' before heading into our rooms for the night.

I left the braids Katara put in my hair instead of taking them out before laying down.

I rather liked them. I may ask her to redo them in the morning.

I finished getting ready for bed, and hopped into my comfortable big bed, and blew out my candle on my little table at my bedside.

Soon after snuggling into my covers I was drifting off to sleep.

– End of Chapter 6 -

A note from your author: I hope you liked it! Got exciting things coming up!

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