𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎

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"I still can't believe you let me sleep on the ship when there were hot springs!" If La'kea had been a firebender, she would have been spitting it as she marched behind Zuko. They were making their way through a thick bamboo forests to the hot springs Iroh been sitting in all day apparently.

When Zuko had woken her up in the middle of the day to go fetch his uncle, he had let it slip and now he was paying the price. She protested all the way up the beach, and now all the way through the forest. The prince finally whipped around, causing the dismayed islander to bump into his chest. "When we get back to the ship, I will personally heat your bath! Now will you stop!"

"Absolutely not!" La'kea scowled up at him, "There is a difference between a man-made bath, and a natural hot spring!"

"We weren't supposed to have stopped this long," The prince groaned, pushing aside some bamboo, "Uncle, it's time to leave. Where are you? Uncle Iroh!"

As they stopped at the edge of a simmering pool, on a tree branch hung the retired general's robes and boots. "Over here," Iroh called, leaning back against the pools natural wall.

"I am never going to let you hear the end of this," La'kea muttered.

Zuko rolled his eyes, "We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail, and I don't want to lose him."

Iroh just sank deeper into the water, "You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles? I'm sure Miss La'kea would enjoy it."

"My troubles cannot be soaked away." The prince's face scrunched up. "It's time to go!"

"La'kea," His uncle drawled, "How many hot springs have you been in?"

The islander eyed the bubbling pools, "I haven't been in a hot spring in seven years." She glared at the back of Zuko's head.

"Then, Prince Zuko," Iroh continued, "You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. Allow, Miss La'kea to relax. The temperatures just right, I heated it myself." The firebending master breathed heat into the water, causing steam to float through the air.

"Enough." Zuko waved his hand through the air, dismissing the steam, "We need to leave now, get out of the water."

"Very well." His uncle sighed, standing with a stretch.

The world suddenly turned dark as Zuko's hand clamped over her eyes. She struggled briefly before remembering Iroh's robes on the tree branch. Oh. Maybe she should give the prince a break.

"Uncle!" The prince sounded embarrassed, "On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes?" He started moving, pulling La'kea along with him, who stumbled blindly despite the hand on her lower back guiding her, "But be back in half an hour or we're leaving without you!"

La'kea waited until she was sure they were back in the bamboo forest before tapping the hand over her eyes. Zuko sputtered an apology, stepping a good far distance away from her, before continuing his march back to the ship.

She grinned behind his back, it was rare, if ever that she saw the prince flustered, and it was horribly amusing.

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The sun was well into setting when Iroh woke from his nap, and debated falling back into sleep for a split second. It was just so relaxing in the hot springs.

Just as his eyes were drifting shut, a meadow ball squeaked from the side of the pool, with a chuckle, the retired general let the creature crawl into his hand. "I should have known," He laughed, "You startled me, little one."

Shaking off the last of his sleepiness, Iroh yawned, "Seems I have missed my nephew's deadline, but it was a very sweet nap." Letting the little mouse go, he crossed his arms behind his head. "Although, he might not even have noticed, being distracted by a certain pretty waterbender." The old man hummed in thought, he was very grateful to the islander girl that had saved his nephews life. In the three years at sea, he had grown fond of her, she was a naturally gifted bender and had become a talented fighter. But most of all he was happy his nephew had a friend, even if they didn't admit it to anyone, especially each other.

Despite the warning shrieks from the meadowball, the former general's thoughts were interrupted, and he barely had anytime to react before he was suddenly entrapped in stone.

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"Uncle!" Zuko shouted as he swatted aside a tree branch. "Uncle, where are you!"

La'kea and a group of soldiers were combing the hot springs area for the missing general. The sun had long since set, the prince had let his uncle have extra time, but now he was no where to be found.

"Sir," A soldier spoke up, "Maybe he thought you left without him?"

Something was wrong here, she could tell, it wasn't like Iroh to vanish without warning. Spotting the tree branch Iroh had discarded his robes on early, she called Zuko over. "His robes, they're still here. Even Iroh wouldn't walk around without his clothes."

The prince's brow furrowed, "Something's not right here."

"The hot springs," La'kea murmured, pointing to where the soothing pool had once been, now destroyed by a jagged puzzle of rocks.

"That pile of rocks!" Zuko exclaimed, brushing against her shoulder as he crouched by it.

The soldiers gathered around it, "It looks like there's been a landslide, sir."

"No," La'kea insisted, running a hand over one of the rock spires, "Look at the edges, they're too even to be a landslide."

The prince held up a hand, "Land doesn't slide uphill. These rocks didn't move naturally." They looked at each other just as the same conclusion clicked in their mind.

"Earthbenders."

Shaking his head, Zuko looked away, hastily standing. "Get back to the ship and ready my rhino. I'm going after him."

"I'm going with you," La'kea trotted after him, falling in stride. Worrying was squeezing her guts.

The prince shook his head, "Absolutely not. I don't need you holding me back."

Her step faltered, that stung she wasn't going to lie, but she wasn't going to let him know either. "I will ride my own rhino if I have to," She grabbed his arm, and although he stopped he still wasn't looking at her. "I'm going."

When the prince only clenched his jaw, eyes on the tree's ahead, La'kea lowered her voice. "I owe my life to Iroh." That got his attention, so she continued. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be on this ship... I wouldn't have a chance to go home. So," She shrugged, letting the prince go, "I'm going."

Zuko relented with a, "Fine." And stormed off down to the ship, La'kea let him go ahead for a second, staring quizzically at his back. What was his deal? They had spent three years together on a ship, she'd like to think they were on good terms. He trusted her not to escape whenever she had a chance, and she trusted him to release her. Had she done something wrong?

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"There on the road."

Zuko pulled on the rhino's reins, bringing it to a halt and jumping off while La'kea stayed seated. He knelt down next to the discarded sandal the islander had keenly spotted. They had been travelling all night and all morning, and they had been awake the whole time. If he was going to admit it, he was impressed she managed to stay sharp.

The prince gagged at the smell emanating from the sandal, "Yup, that's uncle Iroh."

The girl laughed lightly from atop the rhino, "Better you than me."

"How can you laugh at a time like this," He swung a leg over the saddle, grabbing the reins. "My uncle has been captured by earth benders."

"And we're going to find him," She insisted, hoping to placate him. "But being pessimistic about it won't make it go any faster."

The prince snapped the reins, "I'm just being realistic, this is a time to be serious."

"You're always serious."

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La'kea seriously didn't know what was suddenly wrong with Zuko. They had traveled the whole day, it was well into dusk and he still hadn't said a word to her. Not even light conversation about the best way to disarm and subdue an opponent. They were both worried about Iroh, but there was nothing much to do besides follow the trail left behind.

She hadn't slept all night, or all day. Three years and her sleep schedule was still out of balance. She was losing a grip on her mind, her thoughts were becoming sluggish, as well as her motor control. Twice now, the islander had caught herself about to fall forward into the prince's back. She didn't think he'd appreciate that. How in the spirits had he remained lucid enough to steer the rhino?

"Would it be out of place to suggest stopping for a moment," She wouldn't beg, but at this rate she was afraid of falling out the saddle. With each second her eyelids were becoming heavier, she contemplated tossing her waterskin onto her head. Zuko had specifically threatened that if she was a liability he would dump her on the road.

"Depends on why you need to stop," The prince answered stonily.

"I'm about to pass out," La'kea hated the pleading tone that creeped into her words. "How are you still awake."

He grunted- unsympathetic, "Unlike some people, I maintain a normal sleep schedule. I won't rest until I find my uncle."

She tried not to let the dejection settle too much, but the prince must have sensed it because he finally relented a sigh. Pulling on the reins, the rhino slowed to a stop and he slid off the saddle. "Sit forward, I'll keep steering, and you can sleep. If uncle has been captured by earthbenders, I need you to be ready to attack."

"You'll wake me if anything- I mean anything- Happens?" The islander scooted forward in the saddle, body heavy with fatigue.

"Sure," Zuko answered curtly, pulling himself back up into the saddle behind her.

"Thank you," She sighed. In another lifetime, the prince would have enjoyed being pressed against a pretty girl while she slept in his arms. But he shook his head, trying to chase away the intrusive thoughts. This is exactly what he didn't need, a distraction from a distraction that was already preventing him from capturing the Avatar.

For three years he had done more than tolerate the islander, they had gotten along well as allies, as companions. She understood how important capturing the Avatar was, even if her honor wasn't dependent on it. She believed he could capture him, and they had kept the other focused. Both of them wanted to go home as much as the other. Nothing had changed.

Nothing had changed, right?

An animal growl rumbled through the air behind them. Zuko looked around to see the flying bison drifting through the air. "The Avatar!"

Just as he was pulling on the reins to pursue, he stopped. Looking back at the trail of ostrich horse tracks, he thought of his uncle, still trapped. Gritting his teeth, the prince turned to continue his chase of the earthbenders.

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"I can see Iroh," La'kea whispered to the prince. They were crouched at the edge of the crater they had tracked the earthbenders too. Five in total, surrounding Iroh who was encased in rubble.

"These hands need to be dealt with immediately," The captain boomed, slamming his foot against the ground, he lifted a boulder into the air, hovering it over Irohs outstretched hands. "And severely."

Zuko saw red. He leapt down the side of the hill despite La'keas warnings, all she could do was follow after him. Luckily, the earthbenders were so focused on the general they didn't notice either of them until the prince was leaping through the air.

Wrapping a tendril of water around the captains torso, she yanked him off his feet, breaking his concentration and allowing Zuko to kick the boulder to the side. Swinging his leg around in an arch, the prince brought his heel down on his uncle chains, shattering them.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko," Iroh commended as he stood by his nephew and La'kea.

Zuko raised his hands to the earth kingdom soldiers, "You taught me well."

"Surrender yourselves," The captain demanded as his team surrounded the trio. "It's five against three. You are clearly outnumbered."

La'kea dared the nearest soldier to come closer, threading her hands through the air, the whip curled.

"Ah, that may be true," Iroh scowled, it was rare to see the general with anything but a smile, let alone a fighting stance. "But you are clearly outmatched."

The soldiers attacked from all sides, boulders flying through the air. She only had so much water from her canteen, and they were in the middle of a rock gorge, she had to be resourceful. Her whip of water separated into blunt spheres of ice, small but hard enough to knock out the soldiers.

Iroh wrapped his shackle chains around a floating boulder and swung it against two soldiers. While Zuko drove back a soldier, she hurled the pellets of ice towards another earthbender. As he was dodging one orb he fell right into the path of another. It collided with his temple, sending him to the ground where he would not stir for a while.

That just left the captain, who slammed his feet into the ground, throwing his arms into the air pulling two massive pillars of rock. Just as La'kea was pulling back the spheres of ice into a shield, the captains legs were yanked out from under him, courtesy of Iroh. He went down with his pillars collapsed on top of him.

Zuko put his hand on his uncle's shoulder in relief as La'kea jogged over, the islander's smile was radiant. "Iroh! We're so glad you're okay."

"Now would you please put on some clothes," His nephew pleaded.