3- Meditation Fail

Despite Zuko's previous determination to do nothing but hug a dark corner and leave the moment he could, he found himself directly in the middle of the festivities alongside Katara. Both of them stuck to each other's side for the rest of the night and Zuko found himself enjoying music night for the first time. They were some of the last to leave the deck and Katara had been so tired from dancing that Zuko had to just about carry her to her room.

"I had fun tonight," she mumbled in his shoulder when they made it to her room.

"I'm glad. I did to," he said surprised.

"I told you so," she lectured his shoulder before lifting her head up and starting to pull herself up toward his cheek. But, she gave up half way there and slumped back against his chest before turning her head and kissing his shoulder instead. "Good night Zuko," she said sleepily climbing into her bed.

"Good night," Zuko said while chuckling at how cute she was at that moment.

Zuko was still in his good mood when he woke the next morning. And he still had a slight smile on his face when he sat down to start his morning meditation. His good mood quickly changed to frustration however. Meditation is extremely important for fire bending. Fire can easily get out of control, so the person wielding it has to be in full control of their emotions. The biggest way to do that is meditation. It is the first thing every fire bender learns and every single one knows how important it is. Zuko hasn't had trouble meditating since he was five years old. That's why he was so frustrated now.

No matter how hard he concentrated he couldn't get his mind to clear and focus on training. Every time he thought he was finally focused, he would get a flash of swirling red skirt or Katara's laughing face as he dipped her and he was brought right back to last night. And while they were absolutely pleasant thoughts, he did not like being distracted while trying to train. After unsuccessfully trying to concentrated for over an hour, Zuko angrily huffed out a puff of fire before giving up.

He felt as though his whole body was somehow messed up. He knew how important meditation was, but had never known what it was like to go without.

No longer in a good mood, Zuko makes his way to the bridge to check on their progress. When he arrived, he almost backed out. The only other person in the room was Hachiro. Zuko knew he had completely overreacted last night to Hachiro dancing with Katara and he felt awkward seeing him again.

No, Zuko finally decided. This was his ship and he would go where he pleased. So he lifted his head, pushed his chest out just a little and stomped straight to the map in the middle of the room.

He clearly startled the young helmsman with his armored boots suddenly stomping on the metal floor. Good, thought Zuko giving his sole attention to the map in front of his face. "Prince Zuko," Hachiro greeted stiffly yet respectfully while deeply bowing. Zuko merely noded slightly in his direction still pretending to be fully immersed in the map.

After a long awkward pause Zuko turned to address Hachiro who had been standing at attention the whole time. "How far from the earth kingdom are we?" he asked stiffly.

"Only one week, we've been keeping good time, sir" Hachiro replied.

"And how are we on supplies?" Zuko continued.

"The Southern Water tribe was very generous,sir. We are well stocked and will not have to stop for several weeks." Hachiro replied.

"And the wounded soldiers from the battle. What progress is there on that end?" This had absolutely nothing to do with Hachiro's responsibilities. But, Zuko was determined to win this new type of battle.

"They're all faring very well. I understand Katara has even been down in the infirmary to help our doctor care for them all. With her help their recovery has sped up tremendously," he responded before seeming to realize how bad of an idea it was to bring up Katara at that moment. But Hachiro cut Zuko off when he saw his eyes narrow and his mouth open to begin to yell at him. "I'm sorry Prince Zuko." That stopped Zuko short and he looked back at Hachiro in stunned confusion. "I never should have tried anything. I should have realized that you…I mean I would never want to be in a competition with you. You don't have to worry about me, sir, I'll back off. I didn't realize. I should have, I'm sorry."

Zuko was extremely confused until Hachiro's meaning dawned on him. Zuko's eyes widened and he inhaled in surprise. Hachiro cared for Katara, Hachiro believed he cared for Katara, in that way. Did Katara care for Hachiro? So many questions swirled in his head before he realized Hachiro was waiting for a response. He had to set him straight. He was a good guy and what if Katara really liked him.

But, for some reason it just didn't sit right with Zuko. So, he decided to let him continue on believing what he will. "It's alright Hachiro, I've always known I've been able to trust you. I don't want any bad blood between us." He moved forward while offering his hand and Hachiro jumped forward to shake it with a smile.

"Thank you, Prince Zuko," he said clearly relieved. "And I'm sorry about the map."

"What?" Zuko asked confused glancing back at the forgotten map only to groan in annoyance. There in the middle of the map where he had previously been resting his hand was a palm size burn mark. Zuko's previous irritation grew again. It was his inability to meditate this morning that was responsible for that. His bending had gotten out of control in his anger. "No, that's my fault," Zuko told him while gathering up the ruined map and setting it ablaze. " I'll head down to the scroll archives to get a replacement. I'll be right back."

The scroll archives were not very far from the bridge so it didn't take Zuko very long to get there. Most of the scrolls were maps so it took no time to pick out what he needed. But, just as he was about to leave something caught his eye. He knew every scroll in this room, he had chosen them all himself. So, how was it possible for him to not recognize one. It was the seal that caught his eye. Standing right out from the sea of red and black, it was the bright purple color that first caught his eye. He pulled the scroll out to get a better look, still confused as to how it could have found it's way in here. Maybe it had been one of the many of Iroh's treasures he had found at markets only to forget. But, the symbol was something Zuko had never seen before and couldn't identify what nation it was from. Purple while beautiful, didn't belong to any nation. The symbol, three wavy lines was also nothing he recognized. Intent on learning more he tucked the scroll into his belt before picking up the map he had come for and heading back to the bridge.

I'm back! Sorry again. I promise though, even if I'm the only one still interested in this story it will eventually get finished. If anyone else is still interested let me know what you think.