You know those mornings when you wake up and the first thing you see is a present on your bed. Well my morning was one of those mornings. I woke up and saw a present at the end of my bed. I frowned at the wrapped box in confusion before crawling over it. As I picked up the present, I noticed a note attached to it.

I'm sorry

I read on the note, and immediately knew that it was from Zuko. He was apologizing for locking me in my room yesterday. I smiled at the note and opened the present. Inside the wrapped box, was a short sleeve, knee high, backless yellow dress. I immediately fell in love with the beautiful dress. The dress kept my shoulders bare and my back completely open. It was another perfect dress for an airbender. This dress would show off my tattoos just as much as the orange dress Iroh got me.

I quickly got out of my bed and got dressed into the yellow dress, and it fitted me perfectly. After getting dress and making up my bed, I walked over to Kai, who was still sleeping on my spare pillow. "Wake up sleepy head." I said as I gently shook him. But he groaned at me and snuggled deeper into the pillow. I giggled at the little sleepy head and picked him up. "Here we go again." I said as I held him against my chest and walked towards the door. I opened the door and there stood Zuko, ready to knock.

"Asami! Uh, hi!" Zuko said quickly, caught by surprise when he saw me. I giggled at the scar prince's flustered expression and smiled to him. "Good morning Zuko!" I said as I stepped out of my room. "Good morning." Zuko said before smiling a very, very, VERY small smile. "Sleep well?" I nodded yes to his question before smiling brightly at him and handed him Kai for a second. "I love my new dress!" I said and gave it a twirl, making Zuko chuckle. "I'm glad you like it." He said as he handed Kai back to me.

"Thank you for it by the way! Both you and your uncle have good taste." I said as I put Kai on my shoulder. Zuko blushed at my thanks and looked down shyly, which made me giggle. I was about to say something else, but stopped when I realized that he was in his sparing clothes. "You're gonna spar?" I asked as he and I started walking down the hallway. "Yeah, the weather is good outside for a good workout." Zuko answered as we started heading the direction to the top deck. After hearing his answer, I started thinking what a good idea it was for a good workout.

"Sounds good." I said as we got on deck. "Mind if I join?" I asked as Zuko started stretching his arms. "What?" He asked me in surprise as he stared at me with wide eyes. "Mind if I spar with you?" I asked him again. Zuko blinked a few times at me before shrugging. "Sure, why not." He said and continued stretching. "But just so you know, I won't be going easy on you." He added and started stretching his legs. I smirked at him and took Kai off my shoulder, and placed him on a chair that is always outside.

While his back was turned to me, I silently got into airbending stance and shot a blast of air at him, sending him face down. Zuko screamed as he fell down and glared at me after he turned onto his back. "I won't be going easy on you either!" I said with a smirk and got into to battle stance. He glared at me and jumped back up onto his feet, standing in battle stance as well. "That was an unfair move back there. I wasn't ready!" Zuko said as we circled each other.

"It isn't always about a fare fight against your opponent." I said as studied the scar prince for any weaknesses. "It's about victory." I added and shot a strong blast of air at him. Zuko quickly dodged the air and shot back his own element back at me, which I quickly dodged as well. "And I like to win!" I said cheekily and send an air ball with my leg at him. Zuko quickly dodged the air ball and shot two pare of fireballs at me.

I dodged the first and airbended the air away from the last fireball before it could hit me. "The airbend move I both love and hate." Zuko said as we started circling each other again. I dropped my hands in surprise when I heard his words and stared at him in surprise. "Wait, you like my airbending move?" I asked, but soon squeaked in surprise and dodged away when Zuko kicked a fireball at me. I somersaulted and blasted air at him, but Zuko just flipped away before it could hit him.

"Well... yeah." Zuko said and kicked a fire blast at me. "You're airbending move really unique." He added as he dodged one of my air balls. "Can you do it with other objects, or only with fire?" He asked in curiosity, while still standing in battle stance. But his stance soon dropped when he saw my face expression. "Are you okay Asami?" Zuko asked as he walked over to me. "Yeah..." I answered as I thought about one of the worst things the monks taught me.

"No your not." Zuko said, and gave me a pointed look when I was about to object. He took my right hand and softly drew with his finger on my 'freedom' word tattoo. "You're looking down at your tattoo." He said and looked at me knowingly. "Your looking down at 'freedom' and your looking unhappy. Meaning that your thinking about the monks." He stated the fact and looked me deep in the eye with his golden eyes. "What did they do?" Zuko asked softly as his thumb rubbed over my air symbol tattoo.

I looked up at Zuko with mixed feelings. I wanted to tell him, but I don't know what he'll think of me if I told him. The only people who knew about it, was Monk Gyatso and Zian, and I'm still surprised that they still looked at me the same way and not differently like most people would. I know Zuko aren't like most people, but besides Aang, Katara, Sokka and Kai, Zuko is the only friend I have, and I don't want to lose him.

Still looking at him with mixed feelings, I opened my mouth about to say something, but got interrupted when the ship suddenly dipped to the side. Both Zuko and I stumbled over to the dipped side and almost fell overboard but luckily got stopped by the rail before the ship dipped back up right. "What the heck was that?" I asked as Zuko helped me back up to my fee. "Someone's changing our course." He answered as he glared up at the tower, where the steering is.

"But why?" I asked with a frown as I walked over to the chair where Kai was still sitting. Luckily he didn't get hurt when the ship suddenly dipped to the side. "We're about to find out." He said and started marching back inside. I soon followed behind him after I checked Kai for any injuries and placed the fire ferret onto my shoulder.

***

"What is the meaning of this mutiny?" Zuko yelled out as he stormed into the steering room. "No one told you to change course!" He added, furious as he death glared at the helmsman. "Actually, someone did." Iroh suddenly said form over the Pai Sho table. Both Zuko and I stared at Iroh in surprise when he confessed to changing the course. "I assure you, it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko." Iroh said as he scratched his beard in thought as he tried to figure out his next move.

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" Zuko asked hopefully as he walked over to Iroh, along with me. "Even more urgent." Iroh said as he looked up from the Pai Sho table. What could be more urgent than the Avatar? I thought to myself with a frown. Kai seemed to think the same thing, because he moved his head to the side in confusion with his own unique frown.

"It seems, I-" Iroh started, but stopped as he rubbed his head in shame. "I have lost my lotus tile." He finished and moved a tile. Iroh lost his most price possession!?! I thought to myself as I stared at Iroh in shock. "You what!?!" I asked shocked while Zuko frown in confusion and asked. "Lotus tile?" "For my Pai Sho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ." Iroh said as he moved a tile on the game table.

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Zuko asked his uncle in disbelief. "The lotus tile is actually a very important tile in Pai Sho." I said as I started petting Kai as he sat on my shoulder. Iroh nodded to me in agreement before looking over at Zuko again. " See, you, like most people, underestimate it's value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call." He said and looked back at the Pai Sho table. "Hopefully, they will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life."

Zuko started breathing deeply in anger and then literally breathed fire out of his mouth. Kai squeaked in surprise at the sudden fire and jumped down into my arms, shaking. "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew." Iroh said with a happy smile as the whole room got covered in smoke. Whereas I tried to calm down Kai, who was busy shaking in fear. As best as I could, I airbended the smoke out of the room and glared at Zuko for scaring Kai.

***

"Is it just me, or does this place give off a pirate vibe?" I asked Zuko as we exited the ship, onto the dock. Zuko looked around with his usual glare before nodding to me. "Defiantly a pirate market." He answered and took a step closer to me. Before anything else, Iroh walked out of the ship with Kai on his shoulder and came over to us. "You kids ready to go?" He asked with an excited smile. Of coarse he's excited! He's about to go shopping! His favorite hobby besides making/drinking tea and playing Pai Sho.

"Uncle, there are pirates here. Are you sure that this market is even save?" I asked as I took Kai from him and held him in my arms. "Pirates?" Iroh asked and nods from both Zuko and I. "Good then!" Before we could question him, Iroh walked up to me and took off my yellow shoulder scarf, along with my yellow gloves. "Uncle!" Both Zuko and I exclaimed in shock as Iroh handed the items over to a crew member. Iroh then wrapped his arm around me and used the other one to take off my boots.

"You won't be needing these!" Iroh said as he handed my boots to the same crew member. Before the crew member left, Iroh quickly ordered him to bring my sandals. "Uncle Iroh! There's pirates around here!" Zuko exclaimed as he and I, including Kai, stared at Iroh as if he's crazy. "Exactly! Pirates are thieves! But not smart thieve. The Avatar can be standing right in front of them while doing airbending and they'll still won't know that he's the Avatar." Iroh said with a big smile.

Before either Zuko or I could say anything, the crew member came back, with my sandals and handed them to Iroh. "Thank you!" He said and handed them to me. "Here you go!" Before I could even say something, Iroh grabbed my foot and placed one of my sandals on it, and quickly repeated on my other foot. "Let's go!" He then said and grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the market. "We have no time to waist! We need to get a Lotus tile and maybe a dress or two for you."

***

After trying on a few dresses, I was able to escape Iroh and went looking for Zuko. Luckily, it didn't take me long to find him. "You're uncle is going out of control." I said as I stood next to him while he paid the shopkeeper. Zuko chuckled at me as he the bag from the shopkeeper and started walking. "How many dresses did he buy for you this time?" He asked as he took out a moon berry and gave it to Kai, who was sitting on my shoulder.

"Ten." I groaned, making him chuckle in amusement. "You're like a daughter to him. He likes spoiling you like most fathers do." Zuko said and offered me a moon berry. I said thank you to him as I took the berry and took a bite. "I know..." I said after shallowing, "But buying me 10 dresses everyday is just too much!" I added, making Zuko chuckle even more. "At least he's not going overboard on buying things for Kai." Zuko as he took out a moon berry for himself. "Don't give him any ideas." I groaned, getting another chuckle from him.

Zuko and I continued walking around the stalls until we found Iroh again and stood next to him. "I've checked all the shops on this pier. Not a lotus tile in the entire market place." Iroh said to us, making Zuko annoyed and crossed his arms. "It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone!" Zuko snapped as he glared at his uncle while I petted Kai, who was laying in my arms. "Quite the contrary." Iroh quickly objected.

"I always say, the only thing better than finding something you are looking for," Iroh said and not a second later a long line of soldiers started walking towards our ship with arms full of purchases. "is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!" How many stuff did he buy? I thought to myself as Zuko, Kai and I stared wide eyed at the line of soldiers. "Is that a jungle gym?" I asked in disbelief when a crew member walked past with jungle gym that is for small animals. "It's for Kai! Can't have bored on the ship!" Iroh answered happily.

"You bought a tsungi horn?" Zuko asked when a crew member walked past with the very instrument. "For music night on the ship. Now, if we only had some woodwinds." Iroh said and started walking through the market again while Zuko and I still stared at him as if he's crazy. "Is your whole family have a shopping problem, or only your uncle?" I asked as we started following the retired general. "Only Uncle Iroh." He answered as he looked to his uncle and shook his head."

"Oh, this place looks promising!" Iroh exclaimed and pointed at a ship that just screamed pirate. "That is totally a pirate ship." I muttered to Zuko as he and I followed after his uncle. "This whole market place is pirates." Zuko said as he turned his head to look at me. "How bad can a pirate ship be?" I shrugged and tightened my arms around Kai, who was still laying in my arms. "I don't know. Probable try and get me to sell Kai."

Zuko stopped and stood in thought for a moment. "Yeah, we should keep an eye out." He said and started walking into the ship, along with me following from behind. Everything looked okay so far, but soon stopped when Iroh stopped in front of an creepy statue monkey with red gems for eyes and around its neck. "Oh, that is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?" Iroh asked us as he picked up the monkey and showed it to us. "Uh ah!" I said as I shook my head no while Kai squeaked in fright and hid his face in my neck.

"We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with." A pirate suddenly said to what seemed like to be his captain. "Are they talking about Aang and Katara?" I asked Zuko with a small frown as he turned to the two pirates. "Let's find out." He said to me before walking over to the pirates. "This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?" Zuko asked the pirates while Iroh turned to me with monkey statue in his hands and made a face similar to the monkey's creepy face.

"Yeah... what's it to ye?" The captain answered as he eyed Zuko suspiciously. "I happen to be after the monk." Zuko answered as he stepped closer to the pirates. "Maybe we can help each other." The captain's eyes narrowed down in even more suspicion before his eyes flickered over to me. "Who's she?" He asked as his eyes moved back to the Fire Nation Prince. "She's none of your concern." Zuko answered as he glared warningly at the pirate captain.

***
"Are you sure about this Zuko?" I asked him in a whisper as we went back to the ship. "These guys are pirates. They cannot be trusted." I added as I nervously looked over my shoulder and saw that Pirate Captain looking at me. "I know." Zuko said as he walked aboard the ship. "Then why are you asking them to help while you know that they can and will betray you?" I asked him while nervously petting Kai in my arms.

"They don't know that your brother is an airbender, much less the Avatar. They'll help me capture the Avatar, and in exchange they will get their waterbending scroll back." Zuko said, trying to ease my worry, but it didn't do much. "But what if they do figure out who we really are?" I asked nervously as I brought Kai closer to my chest. "They won't." Zuko said as he turned to face me. "But if they do?" I asked again.

"Then they will feel the power of my wrath."

***

"Shouldn't we stop to search the woods?" Captain asked with his iguana parrot on his shoulder as we moved down the river on Zuko's boat. "We don't need to stop. They stole a waterbending scroll, right?" Zuko asked as he kept looking forward. "Mm-hm." The pirate captain hummed a 'yes'. "Then they'll be on the water." Zuko said as we continued going down the river. We all stood there for a few minutes in silence before the pirate captain's eyes moved over to me.

"You know... that is a fine specimen of ferrets." The pirate captain suddenly said to me as he eyed Kai. "That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering." I send Zuko a knowing look before looking back to the pirate captain with a neutral face expression. "Thanks, but I'm not interested." I said as I took Kai from my shoulder and hugged him. "Kai is not for sale." Kai yipped in agreement and rubbed his cheek against mine.

"Yeah, but-" The pirate captain tried to bargain again, but stopped when Zuko walked over to us and took Kai from me. He gently scratched Kai behind the ear before placing him on his shoulder. "Like she said, Kai is not for sale." Zuko said as he wrapped his arm around me and gave the pirate captain a warning look. The pirate's eyes flickered over to Zuko's arm around me before looking back to Zuko and gave a nod before looking back in front of him.

"Thank you." I whispered to Zuko and gave him a small smile. Kai yipped a 'thank you' as well and rubbed his cheek against Zuko's, which made the Fire Nation prince smile slightly. "Well, I can't let him take our favorite fire ferret now, can I?" Zuko joked as he scratched Kai behind the ear while keeping his arm around my shoulders.

***

It's after sunset, and we were still on the river searching. "How much longer are we going to be?" I asked as I held a sleeping Kai in my arms. "You and Kai can go inside and go get some sleep." Zuko said as he turned to me. I was about to comment to him, but stopped when I heard a familiar voice. "Ouch! Stupid scroll!" We heard Katara exclaim in frustration and followed her voice. We anchored the boat on the beach and stepped off the boat.

"No! Let go of me!" Katara exclaimed when a pirate grabbed her arms from behind. She quickly bends water up into the pirate's face, making him release her. Katara started running again, but was this time grabbed again on the wrists by Zuko. "I'll save you from the pirates." Zuko said as he glared at Katara while she looked up at him in fear.

Zuko pulled Katara over to where out boat and the pirates boats are. He pulled her then over to a tree and tied her hands behind the tree. "Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your brother." Zuko said as he stood in front of Katara. "Go jump in the river!" Katara exclaimed furiously as she glared at Zuko. Zuko glared at her for a moment before looking down in thought. "Try to understand." He started saying gently as he walked over to Katara.

"I need to capture him to restore something I've lost, my honor." He said as he walked to the back of the tree and started talking close to her ear. "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." He said and held up Katara's necklace up to her neck. "My mother's necklace! How did you get that?" She asked as she looked to him in shock as he moved back in front of her. "I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering." Zuko said as he smirked mockingly at her.

"Tell me where he is!" Zuko ordered her once again, but Katara just death glared at him. "No!" Katara exclaimed firmly as she glared at him. "Enough of this necklace garbage! You promised a scroll!" The pirate captain exclaimed annoyed. "I wonder how much this is worth..." Zuko said as he took out the scroll and held it above the fire in his other hand. The pirates gasp in fear while some even cry out 'no'.

"A lot, apparently." Zuko said with a smirk. "Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here!" Zuko ordered while he kept the scroll above the fire. "Fine!" The pirate captain exclaimed in annoyance before he and the other pirates move out and into the woods in search of Aang.

"You sure this is a good idea?" I asked as I walked over to Zuko. "Asami!" Katara exclaimed when she saw me. I send Katara a small smile before looking back to Zuko as he killed the fire in his hand and placed the scroll away. "The second those pirates find out that Aang's the Avatar, they won't care about the scroll." I said while petting a sleeping Kai in my arms. "They won't find out." Zuko said as he stepped closer to me and laid his hand over mine.

"But what if-" I started of, but got interrupted by Zuko when he placed his hand gently against my cheek and looked me deep into the eyes. "They won't find out." He said as he gently rubbed his thumb against my cheek. Before I could say anything else, Zuko surprised me by kissing my forehead before walking over to his soldier and started planning with them.

"You and Zuko!?!?" Katara exclaimed in shock while I stared at Zuko's back with wide shock eyes before snapping out of it. I quickly turned to face Katara and shook my head. "Its not what it looks like!" I started of but Katara just shook her head in disbelief. "Yeah, its not like he just kissed you!" She exclaimed with a glare. "Hey! I'm just as surprised as you!" I defended myself without waking Kai, but Katara just continued glaring at with a look of betrayal.

"What about when Zhao called you Zuko's fiancé?" Katara asked as she still looked at me with a disapproval and betrayal look. "We were at Zhao's harbor to repair the ship. He saw my engagement ring and thought that I'm engage with Zuko. For my safety, we went along with it, that's it." I explained to her. "Okay..." Katara started of slowly before giving me a disapproving look again. "But why are guys acting like friends then?"

"Because we are friends." I answered without even thinking. "You and Zuko friends!?!?! Are you crazy!?!" Katara exclaimed in shock. "He's trying to capture your brother!" She exclaimed in anger at me. "I know that!" I snapped, which woke Kai up. I sighed softly and gently calmed Kai down as I spoke. "And believe me, we fight about it every time!" And it's true. Zuko and I fight about it every day almost. I try to convince him not to go after Aang and capture him, but it always ends up with the two of us screaming our lungs out on each other.

"Well, not enough apparently." Katara muttered under her breath before looking back up at me with a disapprove look. "Why are you even friends with him?" I sighed softly as I brought Kai close to my chest and looked down in thought. "Because Zuko and I have more in common than you think." I said without looking up to her. Before Katara could say anything, I just turned around walked over to Iroh.

***

"Nice work." Zuko said to the pirates after they came back with Aang and Sokka. "Aang, this is all my fault." Katara said in shame as she looked over to Aang and Sokka with 'sorry' full eyes. "No Katara, it isn't." Aang said, trying to cheer her up slightly. "Yeah, it kind of is." Iroh said suddenly, getting a glare from Katara and a shaking head from me. "Not helping Uncle Iroh." I said as Kai jumped over from my shoulder to Iroh's.

"Give me the boy." Zuko ordered the pirates as he held the waterbending scroll in his hand. "You give us the scroll." The pirate captain said as he stood next to Aang. "You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" Sokka suddenly said out of the blue. Both mine and Zuko's eyes widen in shock and worry. "Don't listen to him, he's trying to turn us against each other!" Zuko quickly exclaimed while I prepared myself for anything.

"Your friend is the Avatar?" The pirate captain asked Sokka as he turned to look at Aang. "Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll." Sokka answered as he smirked brightly, making my eyes widen even more in shock and worry. "Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" Zuko snapped as he shot Sokka a death glare. "Yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth." Aang said while I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like really shut!" I said as I made a 'quit it' motion with my hands across my neck.

"I'm just sayin' it's bad business sense. Think how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life." Sokka continued as he looked over to the pirates, who's eyes were growing bigger and bigger from excitement. "Keep the scroll; we can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid." The pirate captain said to Zuko before smirking evilly. "Get her." Before I could even react, I was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Hey! Let go of me!" I screamed as a pirate held my hands behind my back and started pushing me towards the group pirates. "Asami!" Zuko exclaimed when he saw me get captured. "I knew the second I saw your tattoos that you and the monk were either related or the same nation. You're an airbender." The pirate captain said as he smirked at me evilly. "The Water Tribe boy is right, we'll be set for life for the Avatar's reward. Just imagine how much we'll get for the Avatar and an airbender."

"You guys are making a big mistake." Iroh said suddenly as he looked nervously over to me and to Zuko, with Kai yipping worriedly for me. "Taking Asami is literally a death wish." The pirates laughed as they turned to look back to Iroh. "What? Should we be afraid of what her boyfriend will do for taking away his precious girlfriend?" The pirate captain asked mockingly as he laughed. "Yes." Iroh answered in a serious voice. "And what she'll do to you when she escapes from her bonds."

The pirates laughed again and then pulled me back with a strong grip. "There's no way she'll escape these bonds." "Clearly you don't know my sister." Aang said as he smiled at me knowingly. "You'll regret breaking a deal with me and for trying to take Asami away from me." Zuko said with a growl and a death glare before he and two his soldiers send a blast of fire at the pirates. The pirates quickly jumped back before the fire could hit and started charging at Zuko and his soldiers.

One of the pirates threw smoke bombs and jumped into the cloud that quickly surrounded us. Before anyone could grab me or fight me, I fell down to the ground with a split and tripped the pirate behind me. The second he fell down, I lifted my leg up and kicked him in head face, knocking him out. I jumped back on my feet and grabbed his sword to use it to cut my binds. "Asami!" Before I could react, I was grabbed by the hand and got pulled out of the smoke.

"You're okay!" Zuko exclaimed and brought me into a hug. I blinked a few times before snapping out of it and returned the hug. "Of course I am." I said as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Zuko pulled out of the hug and was about to say something to me but stopped himself when he turned around and jumped back, dodging a sword that was about to strike his head. Both Zuko and I glared when we saw the owner of the sword was the pirate captain.

We got in battle stance and charged at him. The pirate captain strike and slashed at us, while Zuko and I used our bending to attack. As we fought, one of the pirates used a rope weapon to grab the waterbending scroll from behind Zuko's back. Before the pirate could grab it, a flying lemur, who I heard was called Momo, grabbed it and flew away with it. But unfortunately, the pirate captain's pet iguana parrot started flying after him.

Catching me by surprise, the pirate captain went to strike my head, but I quickly backflipped back before he could. I send him glare and shot air at his legs, making him fall down on his back. "This pirate is getting on my nerves!" I said to Zuko as I glared down at the pirate captain on the ground. "You and me both." Zuko said as he stood next to me, also glaring down at the pirate captain.

The pirate captain growled in frustration and jumped back on his feet before charging at us again. We all started fighting again until Iroh suddenly cut in and pushed us away from each other. "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?" Iroh said in frustration as he glared pointedly at the pirate captain. "We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" Zuko snapped at his uncle while I frowned at his uncle's words.

"It's no proverb!" Iroh said and pointed to the river. We all looked to the river and saw Aang and the Water Tribe siblings stealing the pirates boat. "Bleeding hog monkeys!" The pirate captain exclaimed in shock and started running after his boat along with his crew members. Both Zuko and I started laughing as he pointed at them. But our laughter quickly stopped when we saw the pirates stealing Zuko's ship and sailed after Aang and the others.

"Hey! That's my boat!" Zuko yelled out in anger and started running after his boat. "Maybe it should be a proverb." Iroh muttered to himself with a frown as he held his chin, while Kai jumped over from his shoulder over to mine. "C'mon, Uncle! Asami!" Zuko called out to us as he continued running after his boat. Iroh quickly snapped out of his daze and followed his nephew, with me following behind them.

As we run after the boat, I watched how Aang fought the pirates with both waterbending and airbending. "Aang learned waterbending!" I exclaimed excitedly, proud that my brother was finally learning how to bend his other elements. "That's most probable why they stole the waterbending scroll." Zuko said over his shoulder. I was about to comment on that but got interrupted by Kai who was squeaking in worry.

"What's wrong Kai?" I asked my fire ferret on my shoulder. "I think he's seeing the waterfall." Iroh said while running. "What waterfall?" Both Zuko and I asked as we looked at Iroh without stopping running. We looked in front of us and saw the river ending at the clip, making it a waterfall. "They're going to fall over it!" I exclaimed in fear and started running faster after the boats.

As I run closer, I saw that Aang and Katara started using waterbending to slow the boat down and kept it from falling over the waterfall. But before I could cheer, Zuko's boat that was stolen by the pirates run right into their boat, sending both boats over the waterfall. "Aang!" I screamed and used my airbending to run faster. Luckily, by the time I got there, I saw Appa grab them and flew away. "Thank you Appa!" I whispered to myself while Kai yipped excitedly.

Zuko finally caught up to me and stopped to catch his breath. "My boat!" He exclaimed as he looked over the waterfall. Iroh stopped behind us and started breathing heavily before standing up straight and moved his arms into his sleeves. "Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. That lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" Iroh exclaimed as he smiled a huge smile. Zuko breathed deeply to control his anger before grabbing the lotus tile and through it over the waterfall. "Now we really have to a new lotus tile." I said to Kai, who yipped in agreement.

***

"Hey Asami..." I turned from the view of the ocean and saw Zuko walking over to Kai and I. "Hey Zuko!" I said with a smile before Kai yipped happily and jumped over to Zuko's shoulder and rubbed his cheek against the scar prince's cheek. "Hey to you too Kai!" Zuko said with a chuckle and scratched Kai behind the ear. I giggled as well before looking back to the ocean. "What a day, huh?" I said as Zuko stood next to me and watched the view as well.

"Don't remind me." Zuko groaned out, making me laugh before Kai jumped back over to me after Zuko laid his arms on the railings next to mine. "Come on! It wasn't that bad!" I joked as I gently hit my shoulder against his. "We met pirates!" I added, expecting an eye roll, but got the opposite reaction from what I expected. Instead of laughing and joking along, Zuko was looking down on his and looking, well... down.

"Zuko, you okay?" I asked him as Kai climbed down from my shoulder and jumped down to the ground and walked over to the chair next to the door. Instead of answering me, Zuko just kept looking down. "Zuko..." I said and placed my hand on his shoulder. "They almost took you away from me." Zuko said under his breath. "What?" I asked as I frowned a small frown. "The pirates... they grabbed you and almost took you away from me." Zuko said and finally looked up from his hands and looked to me.

"But they didn't." I said gently and gave him a small smile, but Zuko just shook his head. "No Asami!" Zuko said as he looked back down to his hands. "I promised you that the pirates wouldn't figure out who you or your brother are and that I would protect you from getting caught from them!" Zuko said as his hands formed into fists. "Zuko," I started as I grabbed him and turned him to face me. "It's not your fault that they found out who we are, and those pirates didn't get away with either of us."

"I can't imagine what I would have done if they took you away from me." Zuko muttered as he looked me deep into my eyes. "You didn't lose me." I said softly as I stared deep into his eyes as well. Zuko continued staring deep into my eyes before he suddenly grabbed my face and crushed his lips against mine. My eyes widen in shock before they slowly closed as I started kissing him back. As our lips moved together in sync, my arms slowly moved up and wrapped themselves around Zuko's neck while his arms moved down and wrapped them around my waist.