“How do you suppose she got there? She can’t possibly be from the Water Tribe. And look at her clothes!”

               “I don’t know, Prince Zuko. But all we can do is wait for her to wake up.”

               Prince Zuko? Where have I heard that? Could it be…?

               I opened my eyes and sat up. I was in a rather uncomfortable bed with a red blanket that had the Fire Nation emblem on it. Was it the Fire Nation emblem? It couldn’t be! I noticed a teenage boy about my age with a ponytail and a huge scar that I’ve seen before, and a shorter old man with a gray beard. That must be Iroh. General Iroh. But was this all a dream? This stuff doesn’t exist! It’s a TV show!

               The two men noticed me sitting up, and they both rushed over to the bed.

               “Who are you?” Zuko asked. I was totally sure now of whom they both were. Scenes from Avatar suddenly played in my head. Hm. They’re more…er… handsome than they looked on TV. More realistic. Suddenly I remembered the fire. Did I die in that?

               “Well?” Iroh snapped me out of my racing thoughts.

               “I’m Elizabeth. But you can call me Liz.”

               Zuko looked at me as if I was an alien. “That’s your name? What kind of name is that supposed to be?”

               “Well, what kind of name is Zuko?” I challenged. Both he and Iroh widened their eyes at me. Before they could ask how I knew his name, I asked, “So, uh, where am I? How did I get here?”

               Iroh spoke up. “I saw you lying on an iceberg, along with this bag.” He held up my backpack, and I widened my eyes. “Prince Zuko rescued you. And I’m-“

               “Iroh,” I interrupted, snatching my bag away from him. “General Iroh.”

               “Just Iroh is fine.”

               “Did I have any burns on me? You know- when you rescued me?”

               They looked confused. “Uh, no. you didn’t. But you did smell like smoke. The smell wore off though.”

               “Okay…” I said. I swung my legs over the bed and stood up, but fell back with a really dizzy feeling.

               “Er… maybe you should stay in bed.” Zuko insisted. I sighed and swung my legs back onto the bed and leaned my back on the wall behind the bed.

               “You look a tad pale,” Iroh observed. “I’m going to go get some tea and a hot meal. I’ll be back.” He walked out of the room, leaving Zuko and I alone. There was an uncomfortable silence between us, and so I unzipped my bag. Everything- the clothes, the notebook, the pencil case, the pictures, and the cat stuffed animal were there. My eyes immediately started watering up as I looked at the pictures, which were of my friends and me, and also of my parents. A tear slipped down my cheek. What happened to me in the regular world? Did I die? There was no way I could have survived that fire!

               I had forgotten that Zuko was still in the room, so when he spoke it startled me.

               “Hey, uh, Elizabeth,” he said awkwardly. “Where are you from?”

               That question stumped me. What was I supposed to say, that I was from another realm, a whole different world? That would cause many other questions, though! And who would believe me if I said that? Yeah, I decided, I had to lie. I mean this is Prince Zuko, the Fire Nation’s banished prince who is after the Avatar! He’s an enemy. Well… until Season Three. I smirked.

               “What are you smirking at? Just answer the question!” he said impatiently. Just then, his uncle walked in holding a tray with a pot of tea and two teacups, also with what looked like a plate with rice and some sort of meat or fish. He placed the tray on the night table next to the bed.

               “What was going on here?” Iroh asked.

               “Elizabeth was just going to tell us where she’s from.” They turned to me.

               “I’m from… uh… Whale Tail Island.” I lied. They both looked at me in disbelief.

               “But… those clothes aren’t even close to anything anyone wears! And you have light hair! No one has light colored hair!” Zuko exclaimed. Darn, I thought. Busted.

               “Also, you’re eyes are bright green.” Iroh noticed.

               I sighed and took the plate of rice and fish. There were chopsticks as the utensils, which I never figured out how to use. I picked up the fish and ate it like it was finger food. Zuko got bored of getting me to answer, so he shrugged and walked out of the room, with Iroh following.

               “If you want to come up on deck with us, come along. You really should change clothes though. There are some extra clothes in the dresser,” Iroh said before he closed the door.

               I put the precious items back in the bag except for my coat, which I put on. There was no way I was going to wear Fire Nation clothes. I poured myself a cup of tea before getting up, for I was really thirsty. I never really liked tea, but I didn’t see any water bottles or pitchers. Taking a sip of the warm liquid, I could feel my insides warming up. To my surprise, the tea wasn’t bitter or watery, but it was a bit sweet with a calming scent.

               I placed the teacup back on the tray and slowly arose from the bed. Thankfully, I didn’t feel dizzy like before. I left my bag on the bed, because I didn’t want anything to happen to it. I opened the steel door and stepped out into the eerie hallway. Well, it looked pretty ominous to me, with the dark gray metal ceiling, floor, and sides of the hall.

               I quietly walked down the hall. I didn’t know exactly why, but I felt like I was in a place where if you made a sound, something will happen to you. Great, I thought. I’m lost on this weird Fire Nation ship.

               Turning a corner, I accidentally bonked straight into a Fire Nation solider, making me fall to the floor with a thud.

               “Who’re you?” a deep, intimidating voice rang out from under the mask.

               “Uh… I’m Elizabeth. Can you tell me which way to the deck?” I asked awkwardly, getting up.

               “You must be the rescued girl,” the man concluded to himself. “Down this hall, turn right, and the stairs are right there.” The man continued walking without waiting for an answer or even a thank you.

               “Er… thanks!” I called after him. I quickly walked where he told me to, and before I knew it, I was outside in the cold, dry air. The sky was filled with light gray clouds, and we were passing small icebergs. We must be nearing the South Pole! And then Zuko sees the beam of light and finds the Avatar…

               The Avatar! I realized I wanted to go help him. Well, eventually.

               “Well, look who joined us,” Iroh said, taking a sip of tea. He was sitting at a small table with a pot of tea, a teacup, and some sort of card game with wooden cards.

               “Hey, that looks like solitaire!” I exclaimed. Iroh gave me a confused look.

               “And what is ‘solitaire’?” he asked me.

               “Oh… er, nothing. Just forget it,” I said, looking down. Different world. Gotta remember that.

               Zuko barely acknowledged my presence, which didn’t bother me one bit. He was too stubborn and he had bad anger issues. Just didn’t work out with me. Suddenly, there was the giant beam of light, I gasped, knowing exactly what it was. Zuko’s eyes widened.

               “Do you know what this means, Uncle?”

               “That I won’t get to finish my game?” Iroh was concentrating on the game.

               Zuko ignored his Uncle’s comment. “It means that my search… is about to come to an end.” Iroh sighed at this. “That light beam came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be him!” Zuko was getting a bit excited.

               “Or it could just be the celestial lights! We’ve been down this path before, Prince Zuko!” I giggled when Iroh called him Prince Zuko. I had always noticed how much Iroh called him by that name. Zuko adverted his gaze to me for just a few seconds, but switched back to his uncle. “I don’t want you to get excited over nothing,” Zuko turned his back to his uncle, fuming. “Why don’t you sit down and enjoy some calming jasmine tea?”

               “I don’t need any calming tea!” he yelled to his uncle. “I need to capture the Avatar to regain my honor!”

               “Zuko, take a chill pill. Or have some calming tea.” I laughed.

               Zuko ignored me again. “Helmsman! Head a course for the light!” he brushed past me.

               “What’s it take to get this guys attention?” I muttered. Iroh chuckled, and motioned me over.

               “Why don’t you tell me about this ‘solitaire’ game? It sounds very interesting.”  We went off into questions and explanations.

               An hour or so later, I lay in the bed in my room. This world was weird. But how could I get back to mine? I sighed and rolled over. There was a clanging on my door, which I assumed was someone knocking. I sat up and yelled, “Come on in!” I was joined by none other than Zuko, which was the last person I wanted to see right now. Him with his random angry outbursts and impatience and obsession with the Avatar.

               “What do you want?” I glared at him.

               “Uncle told me to come visit you and check on you.” His face reddened. I could perfectly imagine Iroh hinting at him and telling him that.

               “…and so you just came. Okay then.”

               “You have a problem with that?” he raised his voice.

               “Actually, yes, I do, Zuko. I don’t feel like dealing with you and your irritation and obsessions. You’re like a stubborn child.” I snapped.

               “H-how dare you! And what do you mean ‘obsessions’?” he yelled.

               “Oh, how could you not know? The Avatar! Duh!”

               “I rescued you and gave you hospitality, and this is how you pay me back?”

               “Then how am I supposed to pay you back? Deal with your drama? Yeah, I don’t think so!”

               “Arg! You’re so infuriating!” he stomped out of the room and slammed the door.

               “Right back at you!” I screamed. I laid back on the bed and took a deep breath. “He’s so annoying…” I said to myself. I yawned. Was it late already? Oh, whatever, I thought. Might as well try to sleep.

               I surprisingly fell asleep into a deep, exhausted, dreamless sleep. 

*AUTHOR'S NOTE*

I hope whoever's reading this enjoys it. Sorry if there's mistakes, i can't always reread and edit a lot. Have a good day...