The atmosphere was tense, there was no time for hesitation, but there was no room for mistakes, it was all on the line, he knew it too well as he faced his opponent who had not broken a sweat. All his moves, his tactics had failed him and now he had to make one last move, it would save or doom him, he saw it, the opening he was looking for and he capitalized on it.

The pai sho piece moved to its place on the board, the player, a dark haired fire nation soldier leaned back in certainty that in his victory.

"Oh, an interesting technique, seems I have been blind sided." Said the soft voice of his opponent who was a portly elderly man, who had a tri-pointed grey beard and his grey hair in a topknot, wearing a similar uniform to him.

"Ah well, we all have a bad day, it's nothing to worry about, no hard feelings" the young soldier said smugly, he had done it and won the hard battle after so long and his reward would be so sweet.

"True, but as they say, every dark cloud has a silver lining."

The young soldier froze and watched as the old man moved a single piece.

"I believe that should be my silver lining."

The young soldier blinked at the pai sho board before looking at the dragon of the west again and then taking a deep breath, removing a gourd bottle from his hip, uncorking it and taking a large wig of the sweet sweet sharp test of the alcohol within.

"I would take it easy with that, after all, I seem to recall the wager means you would be getting me some more tea when we next got our supplies." Iroh said with a grin, prompting another swig from the irked soldier.

"Laugh while you can now, dragon of the west, the Drunk of the east will best you in this new round." He slurred as he put away his bottle and grinned cockily.

"Naosong! Will you stop playing games with my uncle and help me keep a lookout for any signs!" Barked a voice of authority, Naosong sighed and Rose from the deck of the ship and turned to face the source of the voice, a teenage boy with a single pony tail in regal fire nation armour, a snarl on his face that grew when Naosong got closer.

"And what did I tell you about drinking!?" He snarled, looking from his telescope for a moment to glare at his subordinate who didn't flinch under the look.

"I don't seem to recall, Prince Zuko, I may have been drunk the last few dozen times you spoke to me about it" Naosong said nonchalantly as he cast his eyes to the white and blue horizon, ignoring the feral growl of the Fire Nation Prince.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out, okay, I see ice, ah, there's some water, ah look my Prince! More ice!"

Zuko growled at Naosong's verbal jabs and was going to berate him again when a bright beam of light shot into the sky from the horizon, it caused both boys to stare stunned for moment before Zuko felt his stare harden with determination, while Naosong held up his bottle and gave it a hard look.

"We found him."

"How strong is this stuff?"

Zuko ignored the question and turned to Naosong.

"Go and tell the captain to change course, make sure to give him navigation." He ordered the older boy who gave him a blank look, before turning away.

"Hey Naosong, please tell the captain the right way to go, sure no problem Zuko." He grumbled as he walked away and headed for the bridge, but not before whistling as he knew that things were gonna be interesting, if this was the Avatar this time, then Zuko had his chance and Naosong could drink to that.

--‐--

It was cold, so cold, it was like was she was at the temple, her lungs sucked in air like there was no tomorrow, her eyes shot open and she was greeted by a bright blue sky that she knew well, but the ground she lay on was not, it was ice and unwelcoming against her Monk gi, her wild dark hair covered in snowflakes.

"W-where am I?" She asked aloud, sitting up and coming face to face with a familiar wall of fur, she reached out to the sight, her heart beating out of hope and to her joy she felt the thick fur in-between her fingers.

"Appa?" She asked hopefully, a low grumble answered back, she smiled and hugged the massive behind of the flying bison who remained asleep on the icy floor.

"Appa! Are you alright?" Another voice, it sounded young and very familiar to her ears, she ceased her hugging as she walked around Appa, only pausing when she felt Appa rise and wake then another voice appeared.

"What is that thing?" Said an older male voice, in clear confusion an attempting to sound brave that amused her.

"This is Appa, my flying bison" said the familiar voice, now she was closer, she knew who it was and was so glad he was okay.

"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." Said the older voice again, the way he said it almost ripped out a laugh from her, but she stayed quiet to observe. Suddenly, Appa started to sniffle before he let out a monstrous sneeze, oh she knew something shot out and by the disgusted cries she heard, she was right.

"So, do you guys live around here?" Asked the young Monk innocently, before a spear was shoved in his face.

"Don't answer that, did you see that beam of light, he might have been trying to signal the fire navy!"

Her eyes narrowed in confusion at that statement, what was the issue there, she wondered before she heard a female voice cut in.

"Oh I'm sure he's a fire nation spy, you can tell from the evil look in his eye." She said,

"There's no evil in them, just a lot of mischief." She said loud enough for them to hear as she emerged from her hidden spot, she noted the two strangers, a boy and a girl, siblings as she heard and she could see the resemblance, they were in fur lined clothes to battle against the cold, in her mind she also noticed the vast expansion of water surrounding them. Yet, it all paled to the thing occupying her mind right now as the young bald Monk stared wide eyed at her before the sweetest grin appeared on his face as he leapt towards her with open arms.

"Itika! You're okay!" He said with joy as he hugged his best friend who hugged him back, patting his bald head.

"Aha! Look he has back up! Very cute back up!" Said the boy who pointed his spear at them in suspicion, while the girl, Katara, did not and sighed.

"Sorry, the paranoid one is my brother, Sokka, who are you two?" She asked politely, Itika liked this girl.

"I- ah ah! Achoo!!" Aang had started to introduce himself before a power sneeze launched him into the air, surprising the two members of the southern water tribe and amusing Itika who stepped out of the way when Aang landed back on the ground.

"I'm Aang." He finished, sniffling a bit.

"You just sneezed and flew ten feet into the air," Sokka said incredulously.

"Really, felt higher than that" Aang commented, looking at Itika who shrugged.

"You're an air bender!" Katara realized with a gasp.

"Yeah, we both are." Itika chimed in, making a small air ball within her hands, much to Katara's amazement.

"Giant light beam, flying bison, air benders, I think I got midnight sun madness, I'm going home where stuff makes sense." Sokka said with a huff before walking towards the edge of the ice and being reminded by their complete isolation.

"No, please don't stop, I always wanted to see a person who could swim like a fish." Itika said sarcastically, earning an irritated look from Sokka and chuckle from Katara and Aang.

"Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift." Aang offered before air jumping onto Appa's head and grabbing the reins, Itika mimicked and kicked it back onto Appa's saddle.

"Sure we'd love a ride." Replied Katara who Aang and Itika help climb aboard.

"Oh no, I'm not getting on that fluffy snot monster!" Sokka stated firmly.

"Hey!" Itika snapped, causing everyone to flinch at the tone. "...He's an adorable fluffy snot monster." she said sweetly, as she reached over the saddle and pet the bison prompting another round of giggles from the kids.

"Besides, do you want to wait for another monster to show up, ya know before you freeze to death." Katara said sarcastically, leaving Sokka with no room to argue as he was forced to get onto the saddle, not noticing the sneaky high five Itika gave Katara, once they were all situated Aang called out.

"Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight, Appa, yip, yip!"

Appa stretched his long tail as he heard the words and readied to take off, with a mighty jump they soared into the air before coming right back down into the water, much to everyone's disappointment.

"Come on Appa, yip, yip!" Aang pleaded to his furry companion, but nothing as Appa continued to merrily wade through the frigid waters.

"Wow, that was truly amazing." Sokka mumbled sarcastically, once again flinching when Itika fixed him with a stern glare.

"Appa is just tired, a little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky, you'll see!" Aang protested gently.

Itika took this moment to think about their situation, her mind had been a bit fuzzy when she awoke, but now that she had a few minutes, she could feel the her last few memories return to her, how she, Aang and Appa ended up in the ice, she chuckled at Aang's staring at Katara, she knew why he ran, the responsibility he held, she understood how he felt, but they needed to talk when they could, Aang needed to know he was not going to be alone. with a deep breath, she decided now would be a good time to meditate, it was going to be a long trip, why not work on her spiritual side as she drifted and let her body become still.

--

While this was happening, back aboard the small metal fire nation ship, Prince Zuko stood atop the crows nest, staring out into the distance, Naosong stood him, staring into the distance as well, only his mind was on anything but the vast emptiness that lay before him, no he was thinking about something that had him more concerned, it required his focus completely.

"...10,000 bottles of rum on the wall, 10,000 bottles of rum, take one down and pass it around, 9,999 bottles of rum on the wall." Naosong sang to occupy the painful silence that surrounded them, he kept singing till another person entered,it was Iroh who seemed tired.

"Well, I'm going to bed, yep a man needs his rest." Iroh yawned before pausing, waiting for a response from the ever brooding prince.

"Prince Zuko, you need some sleep, even if you're right and the Avatar is alive, you won't find him, your father, your grandfather and great grandfather all tried and failed." He said sagely, Naosong nodding in agreement.

"Because their honour didn't hinge on the Avatar's capture, mine does, this coward's hundred years of hiding is over." Zuko stated firmly, unmoved by the wise words of his uncle who sighed and left the pair to head to his quarters and once again, silence filled the space.

"...10,000 bottles of rum on the wall, 10,000 bottles of rum." Naosong sang and Zuko snarled as he spun to face his subordinate.

"You already sang that part!" the exiled prince snarled, glaring at Naosong who shrugged at the statement.

"Yeah but I lost my place, so had to start again." he said nonchalantly, earning another roar from Zuko.

"Maybe if you didn't drink so much, you'd remember!" Zuko snapped.

"Maybe, but then I wouldn't be half as fun to be around!" Naosong said cheerfully, taking a quick drink from his bottle, Zuko sighed heavily and returned to brooding.

"Is my mission such a joke to you? All the times I've known you, you never have taken it seriously." Zuko said sullenly, the silence returned once more, before a hand rested on Zuko's shoulder before laughter erupted from its owner, prompting another snarl from Zuko.

"What's so funny!?" He barked at his laughing henchman who shook his head with a sigh.

"Zuko, we have been searching for three years, that's three years of standing guard as you brood, train and talk about your honour, if the fact I signed up for this knowing that is not a sign of being serious then I don't know what is." Naosong said jovially, not amusing Zuko. "Besides, I understand the importance of honour, after all how would my honour fair if I let my friend search for the avatar alone."

Zuko blinked at the sudden seriousness in Naosong's voice before turning to find his guard gone.

"Get some sleep Zuko, I got a good feeling about this lead, I'd bet my bottle on it." Naosong called from the entryway as he headed back into the ship, leaving the prince with his words.

--

It had been a long trip back to the Water tribe, everyone had fallen asleep by the time they arrived, Itika let Katara and Sokka handle letting them in and focused on Aang, he was in deep sleep, sounded like a bad dream too, Itika picked up the young airbender and took him it one of the tents Katara pointed out, speaking of the young water tribe girl, she came to Itika after she put Aang to bed.

"Hey, Itika, how is Aang?" Katara asked, Itika could not help but smile at the sweet girl.

"He's still asleep, he seems to be dreaming, I plan to do that myself, thank you again for the tents, Katara." Itika said warmly.

"Oh, no need to thank me, least we could do since Aang helped us get back here safely, but anyway, I'll let you catch some sleep, I'll introduce you two to the tribe tomorrow." Katara replied.

"I look forward to it, see you in the morning." Answered back Itika as moved into her own tent, but did not get into bed and instead got into a meditative position again, she was on the cusp of something she knew it, since the storm, she could feel her spirit leaving her body, while they traveled she focused as much as she could, but the same feeling did not come again, she wanted one last go before she retired for the night.

She breathed in and out, focusing on it before letting the action happen without thought, she slowly felt everything fade away, the cold of the ice, the warmth of her tent, it all faded into nothingness, she could feel nothing, not even her own body, she focused on her spirit and let all feeling fade until she felt her last breath.

She felt lighter than air, as if she was connected to nothing, she dared not open her eyes as she continued to focus solely on her spirit, then she felt it, something tugged at her very spirit and she glided, she felt no wind on her face or her hair even tussle, she simple gilded until she came to a stop, here she dared, she slowly cracked open her eyes and was met by a metal wall, she was confused as she looked down to see she was an ethereal colour and was floating in the air.

She smiled as she observed her surroundings, it seemed to be a room, there was a small chest, an uniform of a soldier and a barrel sitting on a small desk, she was fascinated by what she saw and turned around to look more before she paused and her eyes widened because another pair were staring back at her equally shocked, holding a gourd bottle, wearing a red headband and was half naked. Both did what they felt was right and screamed, half naked soldier leapt backwards tripping on a empty bottle of rum and hitting his head against the wall, prompting collapsing, where as Itika vanished and opened her eyes to find she was back in her tent, breathing heavily and here face burning from sheer embarrassment, she had so many question about what just happened, part of her wanted to cheer at her success, another part of her wanted to die from embarrassment after seeing the half naked man, another part was outraged why he was so brazenly in his underwear and the small part found him cute before the screaming.

Itika took a calming breath before letting all the air out, creating a small gust that shook her tent, put her hands together and said.

"Nope."

Before getting into bed and sleeping to forget this night.