To guest reader LurkingLady, my sister and I have talked it over and decided we are going to adopt you as our sister for the following reasons.

We feel as though you have connected with us on many levels. You somehow managed to correctly guess that we actually do the narrating thing in real life and we also say "Le Sigh" but just like the cat that is running for Pepé Le Pew and you get all the Ref's.

P.S. Just a warning….there are some spoilers from the Comic, "The Search" in this chap.

So on to the story!

Happy Reading!

FILI'S POV

Today had to be the best day I've had here. Well, maybe not the best day. There was the day Zuko gave me the tea-cup. Oh, and the hand to hand combat training day with Fussy pants. The time I put Zhao in his place, the cave, our dinner together that ended with fireworks.

Last night when I caught Fussy pants trying to throw my bag overboard. Zuko apologized to me by agreeing to dance with me at music night. I had to teach him how to dance and he wasn't very good at first, but he had his arms around me the whole time so it was perfect to me.

Uncle Iroh made sure that last night's music night was twice as long as the other music nights. I would have to do something nice for him later.

But where was I? Oh yes, today was a good day. We were going to start heading to the North Pole, all was quiet, and it was a beautiful day.

You know what, scratch that! Yes, we were going to try and started to head north, but that was before we realized the damage June and her shirshu did was a lot worse than we originally thought. Many of the pipes needed to be replaced so traveling was very slow on our way north. What does going north equal? Cold! I hate the cold.

Plus, it was far from quiet because Zuko was being his normal, complaining, fussy pants self. He was far from pleased that we hadn't seen the Avatar, and I had no answers for him on where they might be. Also it wasn't all that beautiful of a day. It had in fact been cloudy since yesterday.

But all that aside, I was happy as a clam. My sister was safe, and that's all that really mattered to me. Even though she was far away, she wasn't unreachable anymore. It felt like a huge weight off my shoulders knowing I would see her again.

I can't wait to talk to her about everything she has done with the gAang. She said she talked to Aunt Wu, and she told Ally some very interesting stuff. I missed girl talks.

Don't get me wrong, I love teasing Zuko. He has lightened up a lot more. More than he had in the show, but I can't talk to him about him. That would be awkward.

While Zuko was throwing a fit about the slowness of the ship's movement I put in some training. Man, it was nice to be through with that major mental block. Uncle Iroh and I were both completely amazed at the block I had formed over the weeks over worrying about Ally.

My firebending was five times better. Making flames was so much easier and forms that I couldn't make flames at all were child's play by the end of our day of training. I was exhausted, but knowing that all my hard work all these months wasn't for nothing made it all worth it.

"Well done, Felicity," Uncle Iroh was sitting at his small deck table sipping tea as he watched over my forms. "I am confident that with a little more practice in your flame control you will soon be ready for the next set."

That was the highest praise I could hope for, "Thank you, Uncle Iroh, that means a lot. You wouldn't happen to have more of that tea? It smells like jasmine."

"Of course," Uncle Iroh was already pouring me a cup, "come and sit down, you have earned a rest."

I walked over to him and as I did something weird happened. The ear-bud, which was still in my ear, suddenly stopped playing my music. What I heard in my music's place was my phone's ringtone. By the time I had gone to look at my phone the ringtone had stopped and I saw I had a missed call….from Alice?!

I sat down at the table, "That is impossible," I stared down at my phone.

"What's the matter, Felicity?" Uncle Iroh watched me carefully as he handed me the tea-cup. "Is everything all right?"

"What? Oh, yes! It's fine, my phone is just acting strange." I smiled over at him as I set down my phone and took the cup.

Zuko stormed over to us as Uncle Iroh and I sat at the table. He looked angry, as always, but he didn't say anything. Zuko just sat down with us and huffed to himself in deep thought.

"How are the repairs going, fussy pants?" I smiled over at him.

"What?" He glanced up at me, "Oh, fine. Slow," He looked over his shoulder then went back to his thoughts. On the one hand, maybe it was just because I called him fussy pants so much that it just didn't faze him anymore, but I found that highly unlikely.

What is going on with him?

"Prince Zuko, I don't know if you noticed, but Felicity's firebending seems to have improved ever since she saw her sister." Uncle Iroh poured Zuko a cup of tea as well and passed it to his nephew.

Zuko took the cup and stared down at it for a moment, as if he didn't fully register what Uncle Iroh had said, "Hmm…"

"It…It is my belief that if her firebending has improved then her other talents will probably improve as well, don't you think?" Uncle looked from Zuko to me then back to Zuko.

"Probably," Zuko continued to stare down at his cup.

Ok, this is different.

"If you won't mind, fussy pants, I want to do some practicing," I moved closer to him. He didn't seem to notice. "Maybe you could help me with that."

"Of course," Zuko didn't look up at me, just nodded once. Uncle Iroh seemed to be just as shocked as I was, but before he could say anything Lieutenant Jee waved him over. When he left, Zuko and I were left alone at the table.

"Really," You can probably guess that I'm giving him the 'really' face right now, "but you hate it when I practice my other talents. Are you sure that you're alright with me practicing?"

"Mmhm," He nodded and sipped his tea finally.

OK, I'm not buying this for a second, "Also, Zuko, I was wondering if you wanted to start learning the basics to my type of writing tonight?"

He sighed and nodded again, "All right."

"Maybe tonight after dinner? We can eat in your room tonight if you like," I watched him closely.

"That will be fine," He set his cup back on the table and stared down at his hands.

What was he thinking about? I would have just got in his head, but I was so tired from my training, if I did get in his head I would probably pass out. "Yes, I owe you for our last dinner together. You ended it so perfectly. I'm not sure how I could top it."

He didn't say anything, just nodded again.

WHAT ARE YOU NODDING AT?! I mean really. I'm not asking a question, I don't need a nod. I need a reply. Are you even breathing right now? Do you need mouth to mouth….Because I'm… for it.

"I know what we could try. I can help you with a technique from my world. The French are famous for it. I'm a little rusty, but since you have never kissed anyone I'm sure we'll be fine." I wanted to see just how much he was or wasn't listening to me. "I know we haven't been able to finally get a kiss under our belts so maybe if we are in your room no one will interrupt us."

"Maybe," He sipped his tea again.

I moved closer to him and whispered, "But then again, we would be in your room completely alone. You and me, two alone people, together, alone… Things could get pretty heated, but I'm willing to risk it if you are."

Zuko stared out at the sea and signed, "It's up to you."

"You're not even listening to me are you? I could honestly say whatever I wanted and it wouldn't even register?" I moved away from him and back to my seat. There's just no fun in teasing him if he's like this. I need reactions. This, this is just…ahhh!

"Prince Zuko?!" Uncle Iroh hurried back to the table, "Have you read this?" Uncle Iroh was holding a message from a massagers hawk.

Zuko looked back over his shoulder at his Uncle, "Yes, Uncle, I read it."

"What is it, Uncle Iroh? What does it say?" I looked back and forth at the two of them.

"The Avatar was spotted at a fire festival and Admiral Zhao is personally going after him, but no location was given so we can't follow them. Zhao is smart. He knows we would have tried to follow him to the Avatar." Iroh handed me the message, but I couldn't read the characters.

"So…. that's why you were so spaced out," I turned to Zuko.

He just nodded. I could suddenly see the concern on his face. So I set the message on the table and reached over and took his hand. He didn't even flinch. He was still lost in his thoughts, but Uncle Iroh gasped quietly.

"Zuko, look at me," I reached over, took his face in my hands, and turned it towards me. "Zhao isn't going to get Aang."

Zuko's eyes widened slightly.

"Are you certain, Felicity?" Iroh quickly.

I nodded, "Yep, Aang and his group are going to get away, and he is going to make Zhao look like a fool." I smiled. "I promise, plus I can tell you all about it. Every detail."

Zuko looked like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He let out another sigh, but this one was a sigh of relief, "Do you know where they are?"

I wish I had an answer for them. Not just to brighten him up a bit, but also I might be able to see Alice, "Unfortunately not, but I do know that Zhao will fail. I can promise you he will never get his hands on Aang. Trust me!"

I could tell that that was what he needed to hear. Zuko held up his head a little higher and his back straightened. I could actually see the old Zuko come back in front of me.

I loved all the different sides of him. He has gone through so much, so much pain and tragedy, but he is still a very strong and honorable person. I know that Uncle Iroh is probably the main reason for that. Plus, he is very kind-hearted, and I know he gets that from his mother.

Zuko stood up and stared out over the sea, "Lieutenant Jee, keep my ship moving north."

"But sir, what about the Avatar?" Jee was beyond shocked as he looked back and forth from Zuko to Iroh.

"He's moving North, and so will we," Zuko looked at me and nodded once. "I don't have time to worry about Zhao." Zuko turned to face Jee, "He underestimates the Avatar and more importantly he underestimates me. We will head north, understand?"

"Yes sir," Jee bowed and turned towards the tower of the ship.

"Well, Prince Zuko, it seems Felicity isn't the only one who is improving." Uncle put a proud hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"Thank you, Uncle," Zuko started to walk towards the ship.

"Oh, one moment," Iroh turned back towards me, "Felicity, your break is over. Go back to practicing the next set of forms."

Aww man, "All right," I nodded and put my earbuds back in my ears. They turned back to ship and started talking about different strategies when we reached the Northern Water Tribe. I looked down at my phone and opened the spotify app. I really don't know how it still managed to work, but I'm glad that it did. It was just another mystery of me being here.

'Lord & Master,' by Apashe, started to play loudly in my ears. I slipped my phone in the pocket of my sweat pants and did a few quick stretches. My shoulders would kill me later if I didn't. There were so many firebending moves that required strong arm and leg movements. I'd have to get back to my yoga if I was going to keep all this up, but I could tell I was stronger now.

Just as the beat started to pick up the song stopped playing and was replaced by my ringtone, "What the?" I pulled my phone out of my pocket again. "Alice? How in the….?" I pressed the answer "button" and put the phone to my ear.

"Hello? Ally?" I didn't hear anything at first. Until…. I heard a loud male voice yelling. I knew that voice; it was Jeong Jeong, the Deserter.

"Silence! Talking is not concentrating! Look at your friends, are those girls talking? Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing!" Joeng Joeng was talking about Sokka. I know this episode, and the girls? That had to be Katara and Ally.

"Hey!" Sokka yelled in annoyance and both Ally and Katara laughed at them.

Ally? How is this even possible? I wanted to yell out her name, but there were too many people on the deck and I wasn't sure how Zuko would take it if he knew I could talk to Alice. Alice was with Aang so he might see it as spying or something if he knew I could tell her what I was doing.

A huge smile took over my face as I listened to the voices coming through my phone. I didn't know how it was possible, but I was thankful for it no matter the reasons. Going so long without my best friend to talk to, worrying about her every day, and then out of nowhere seeing her again. I waited to hear her laugh one more time. I put my hand over my mouth to cover my smile. She's happy and laughing. Hearing her laugh just reassured me ever more that she was safe. I felt happy tears fill my eyes and dip down my cheeks.

"Katara, look I did it!" Alice's voice rang through the phone. "YES, I can make the water shield!"

"That's amazing, Ally, I knew you could do it." Katara clapped and both girls laughed together. I wanted to cheer with them. I was so happy for her that I started to tear up even more.

"Felicity?" When I heard Zuko call out for me I hurried and pressed "End Call."

"We will talk soon, Ally-Cat." I wiped my eyes before I turned toward Zuko, "What's up, Fussy Pants." I sniffed and cleared my throat.

"What are you…." He stormed over to me, but then suddenly stopped. "Are you crying? What's wrong?"

"What? Me…crying? No!" I pulled my earbuds out of my ears and turned off my music.

"Your eyes are the amazing blue like when you cry," He walked closer to me. He reached out but then stopped before he touched me and cleared his throat, "You can't hide it from me. Why were you crying? Is it because of your sister? Do you miss her?"

I didn't realize he was getting so good at reading me. There was no point in lying about it, "Yes, it is and yes I miss her, terribly. But I wasn't crying! Well, not because I was sad anyways. It is because I'm happy. Don't worry your ponytail over it."

He straightened and looked like he was going to start scolding me. I couldn't help but grin as I waited for it. "I don't know how many more times I have to tell you, Felicity," Zuko grabbed my forearm and pulled me closer so he didn't have to talk so loud and risk others hearing him. "You can't just say things like what you said before."

"Say what things?" I pressed my hand against his rib cage. Jeez, he's so warm. Just the heat coming off him fighting against the cool air made me shiver. "I don't know what you mean, fussy pants. I'm sure I didn't say anything out of character. Honestly you should be used to my teasing by now, but at the same time I'm glad you're not."

I shivered again but harder this time. It really was getting very cold now. The sun was starting to set so the temperature dropped almost instantly.

"You should get inside. It's getting too cold for you to be out without warmer clothes, but I promise you can train tomorrow." Zuko noticed the chill bumps on my skin. Then he grinned down at me. It made me shiver again but not from the cold, "We will have to see just how much better your firebending has gotten now that your mental block is gone."

I nodded and turned towards the tower.

But Zuko called after me, "Oh, and Felicity?"

"Hmm?" I looked back at him.

He hadn't moved, just looked at me with a serious stare, "We will have dinner in your room, not mine. Understand?"

I couldn't help but chuckle, "Whatever you say, fussy pants."

LATER IN FILI'S ROOM – JUST AFTER DINNER

"Good, now what is this one?"

Zuko stared at the extra-large letter on the page of my notebook, "It's an F?"

"Yes! Perfect! See you're getting the hang of this, fussy pants." I patted his shoulder, "What is a word that starts with the letter F?" I had written a list of simple words on a sheet of paper for him to practice.

Zuko looked over the list carefully, "F…Fire?"

"Yes and how do you spell fire?"

"Why do you have to teach me like this? I feel like a child," He put the list down on the trouble and gave me an annoyed look.

"Oh, come on. Don't whine. You have gotten a lot farther than I thought you would," I put the list back in his hands. "Just spell fire, my Fire prince! If you get in right I'll get you a reward."

He gave me an interesting look, "What kind of reward?"

I almost felt like I might be blushing, "Well, this is a little word so you only get a little reward." I pressed my index finger to my chin, "Hmm…how about I tell you something about your future."

"You tell me things about my future all the time." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well…umm," I can think of quite a few things, but I was hoping for a more romantic moment, "it's not like I really have anything to give you. My future-knowing wisdom is really all I have."

Zuko cocked an eyebrow at me, "That doesn't really sound like you. I was expecting you to try and torture me with something. Like a kiss…or something like that."

"Well, I umm…like I said, fussy pants, this is a little word," Snap out of it Fili! "If you want a kiss from me," I poked his shoulder and grinned, "You are going to have to work a lot harder than this. If you can spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious then you can have a kiss. Two kisses even."

"Wait, what did you just say? You made that up," He looked like he hadn't even registered my kissing comment.

"Oh, I wish I could take credit for that one, but no, I did not make it up." I laughed. "Now how do you spell fire?"

"What about my reward?" He started to protest.

"Tell you what; I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me on varying topics, right?" I waited until he nodded, "You pick one question, on anything you are curious about and I'll answer it."

"Anything?" Zuko watched me closely.

"Yep, whatever you want to know, but you have to spell fire. Correctly." I pointed down at the piece of paper.

"How do I know you won't just say I spelled it wrong," He still had his arms crossed.

"Zuko?" I dramatically put my hand on my chest, "You wound me. You really think I would do something so sneaky?"

He just cocked his eyebrow at me again.

I couldn't help but laugh. I crossed my finger over my heart, "Cross my heart, if you get it right I will keep my word."

He turned back to the desk after staring at me for a moment longer, "F..I…R…E?" I tried to look serious and not give anything away, but he gave me this grin that told me he knew that he was right.

I clapped in a very Sokka-like manner, "Flameo, goodsir, flameo."

Fussy pants just shook his head at me, "So, I'm right?"

"Oh, don't give me that… I could tell by that devilish grin of yours that you knew you were right."

"Well, of course I was. I am the FIRE prince. It's the first word I learned," He just chuckled at me.

"Really," I said in a very sarcastic tone, I would have thought the first word you'd want to learn would have been HONOR! "So what's your question?"

Zuko stood up and paced across my room. I had to stop myself from laughing as he rubbed his chin, in deep thought. He was putting some serious consideration into this. He turned to me very serious all of a sudden, "You are going to tell me the truth right?"

I chuckled a bit before I answered, "Yes."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise." I took his hand and looped my pinky with his, then pressed our thumbs together, "I pinky promise, and if you don't know, that is a promise I don't take lightly."

He just gave me a confused look but nodded nonetheless. Zuko sat down on his knees in front of me and suddenly got very serious. "I know you know more about me than anyone else, and you know about my family. Now if you do know about the members of my family then you know about my mother."

I knew where this was going. Zuko's mother was the most important person to him.

"I know you only promised one answer to one question, so I'm going to ask the most important part." Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he was preparing himself for the worst, "Is….Is my mother…. Alive?"

I couldn't stop myself. I reached out for him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I turned my face to his ear and whispered as I hugged him tightly, "Yes, she is." I heard him inhale sharply. "And I promise you, Zuko, you will find her. I will help you in any way I can."

He didn't say anything. Zuko wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me to him. His breathing had changed. Something inside me thought he might be crying. I knew he probably wouldn't want me to look at him. I know I hate it when anyone sees me cry. So, I just held him until he calmed down. Holding him like this made me want to cry. I knew I had probably changed things in some way, but I had promised him the truth.

Before letting me go, Zuko squeezed me tightly one more time, "Thank you, Felicity." He pulled back. His face was blank apart from his eyes. They told me all I needed to know. "Thank you."

I bit my lip to stop myself from crying or smiling or anything that would be the wrong thing to do at this moment. I just nodded and took a deep breath.

He stood up and walked over to the other side of my room. I turned my back just to give him some space. I just stared down at my notebook for a moment before I came up with an idea. I tore the two pages with the letters and numbers I had written to teach him, plus the pages with all the simple words.

"What are you doing?" I heard Zuko ask over my shoulder.

I could feel his body heat at my back. It made me almost dizzy, "I…umm…had an idea. So you can practice." I tore another three blank pages from the notebook and pulled a pen out of my bag. "There, this is all the letters and numbers plus three blank pages to practice writing. Do your homework, and I'll give you another reward. Same thing….any question you want to ask."

Zuko took the pages and pen then nodded down at me, "Thank you, really."

I stood up and hugged him one last time, "Of course, now it's time for bed. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." He just nodded with a calm smile, but then that smile turned into a wicked smirk, "I'm going to wake you up when I do. You have training to do."

"Aww….Don't be mean to me…."

"No… You're the one who wants to see what you can do now, so you have to train just as hard as I do." Zuko walked to my door and opened it. "Goodnight, Felicity."

"Yeah, yeah, night, fussy pants," I waved him off and closed the door behind him.

I waited a good ten minutes to make sure he was gonna. I jerked my phone out of my pocket and jumped on my bed. OK, here goes nothing.

I slid my phone to unlock it and typed in the key code. I had two missed calls since this afternoon from Alice. I pressed her name and my phone began to dial. The ringing started but no answer.

Once to voicemail….

Twice….

Three more times…. I had to talk to her. I know it was somehow possible. I just want to hear her again. I felt tears form in my eyes.

Please, Ally, answer your stupid phone.

One more voicemail…

Damn it, ANSWER!

I laid my head down on the pillow. I had called her a total of six times with no luck. The phone was ringing but she just wouldn't pick up. I felt my eyes start to get heavy as I listened to the ringer.

Those hot tears slid down my face, "Please, just answer the ph…."

"Hello?! Felicity? Is…is that really you?" I jumped up when I heard Ally's voice reaching through the speaker.

"ALLY?!"

DU..DU…DUMMMM! What will happen next? Again, I'm sorry it took so long! I hope you guys can forgive me for it and for the cliff hanger. I'll try to get back to my super fast updating time like I used to do! Until next time, I love you all and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. It's mostly just kind of a filler before the heavy stuff starts.