Hey! I'm back! This story isn't dead yet! Okay, so, just to review a little bit . . .

Tetra's mom dies, and the story starts about ten or so years (maybe less, I don't know) after that. She gets captured by the Helmorac King, and then the crew chases it to Outset, where it drops Tetra in favor of Aryll (well, not really, but I like how that sounds) After a telling off from Quill, the Rito postman, Tetra agrees to let Link on board the ship.

One more thing-the last page or two of this was written while I wasn't "inspired" or such, so it might be a little worse than usual.

I know it's been a while, but please review!

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I stood there for a few seconds before I heard Gonzo's shout.

"Hey! Zuko! You keep a strict watch up there, all right?! If you spot anything, give us a shout! A loud shout!" He paused, and I heard Zuko calling down to him. "Cause I can never figure out what you're trying to say! That's why you've gotta be sure to shout, Zuko!" He turned to me. "Are you all right, Miss?"

"Fine," I said.

"That kid bothers you." There wasn't a questioning tone in his voice.

". . . I guess."

"I don't know why you let him on board, then," Gonzo said. "I was against it from the very start, but once you say something, I'm not gonna object."

"I gave him my word, thinking that he wouldn't be able to meet my terms," I said. "And when he did, I had to keep my word. I don't go back on it, you know." Gonzo nodded. I scowled, remembering the Rito male on the island. "And besides, with that stupid postman nagging me every which way, there wasn't much else I could do." Irritated, I kicked at the wooden deck below me.

Gonzo became thoughtful. "You know, Miss, had you wanted me to, I would have given the men on the boat a signal to fire at him." He grinned. "Dunno if it woulda been good for our health, though." I smiled at the thought-it shouldn't have been an amusing one, but it was given the fact it contained a certain Rito postman burning . . . well, it was pretty self-explanatory for me.

I found myself wandering the deck, listening to the babble of the crew as they talked amongst themselves. As I came around the mainmast, I saw Link standing there, one hand on his hip, looking at Mako, who seemed irritated.

"Listen, I was doing what Tetra told me to," Link said, a hint of irritation painfully clear in his voice. "I went below decks to find Niko, but there was no Niko there. There wasn't anyone there, to be exact. So tell me, where is Niko?"

"He should be below deck, just like Miss Tetra said," Mako replied, completely unfazed by Link's obvious anger. He looked Link over as the kid in green walked away. You did send Niko below decks, didn't you, Miss?"

"I shouldn't need to tell him," I replied. "He's the swabbie, he should go down there without reminders and without complaints."

"Well, I hope you don't mind me saying so, miss," Mako began. "But it doesn't seem like Niko made out too badly, with that boy being the new swabbie and all." He paused as we watched Link yell at Niko, who was trying to sneak below decks before the kid in green could find out that he was missing. "Don't you think so, Miss?"

"Yeah. . . . " I muttered, completely unaware of what I was saying. Mako looked at me in shock as I watched Link vanish into the door.

"Erm . . . Miss? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I answered, feeling as though I were in a daze, or with a fever.

"Right then . . . I'm going to . . . go talk to . . . erm, Gonzo." He scrambled off, short legs going as fast as they could, but I didn't seem to notice. My mind was muddled, and my thoughts swam through a thick fog to get to the surface of my mind.

What the hell is wrong with me? I wondered, stepping forward. I found myself with a face full of wood.

"Are you okay, miss?"

"Ow. . . . "

I was walking below decks the next morning after my breakfast (I took breakfast earlier than the crew) when I heard talking from the mess hall. I stopped outside the closed wooden door and put an ear to it to listen.

"So. . . . " That was Link. "Is she always like this?"

"Miss Tetra?" That was Gonzo. "Nah. She's usually a bit nicer. Don't know why she's taken to hatin' you, though."

"Makes me feel good," was Link's sarcastic reply. There was silence for a moment, the only sounds reaching my ears were the clunks of the wooden spoons and forks hitting the wooden plates. "So . . . if she hates me so much, why did she let me come on board?"

"Wasn't her plan," Mako replied. "That Rito dude made her."

"So . . . she hates me then."

Nudge spoke next, and I could see the expression he had to be wearing on his face-his eyes would be wide with disbelief, his mouth hanging open slightly at whoever the previous speaker had been. "Don't say that," he retaliated. "Miss Tetra doesn't hate you, per say, she's just a little nervous around outsiders."

"Coulda fooled me," Link scoffed.

"Don't forget," Niko put in. "You did save her in the forest back there."

Link's tone was hopeful. "You saw?"

"Yep. The whole thing." Damn him. I swore that he'd have the worst time of it later in the morning when he reported for duty. Forget the fact that he technically wasn't a swabbie anymore, he was scrubbing the whole damn ship.

"Miss?" Senza, who was heading into breakfast, stared at me, flabbergasted, as I stormed away from the mess hall. "Miss? Are you . . . all right?"

All right? I didn't know if I was all right. I didn't know what was right or what was wrong. My thoughts didn't concern things like that anymore. All they focused on was Link this, Link that, what I would ever do if I let my guard down when I was near him. If he ever found out that I didn't hate him, that in fact I liked him, enjoyed his annoying little company. I felt my cheeks go red. Was this love? No, it was just a little silly crush. After all, he was the first male anywhere near my own age that had ever been on board, with all the others some decades older than me, so it was only natural that I react like this. Wasn't it?

While my mind ran over this, I realized Senza was still waiting for an answer. "No, Senza," I sighed. "I'm not all right."

A few strands of hair pulled free from the band tying them to the back of my head, blowing in the wind as I leaned against the ship's railing, staring out into the water. I shivered as a particularly hard gust of wind rocked the ship gently. I rubbed my hands over my forearms vigorously, trying to warm myself. Breathing out, I waited.

"Do you believe what the pirates say?"

I smiled. "You've got guts, asking me that."

"How so?"

"No one asks me what I think of them." I turned, resting my back against the railing, spreading my arms out across it. "Because it doesn't make a difference."

"I could contradict that, you know."

"You don't count."

He crossed his arms. "You do hate me."

"Perhaps."

"Why, though? What have I done to you?" The words struck me hard, harder than Link's glare as he narrowed his eyes at me. What had he done to me? Nothing, that I knew of. Saved me, perhaps, in a sense. Was that why I hated him? Because he had saved me, proving that I wasn't as invincible as I made myself and the others think. No, that wasn't it. They had known me when I was young, a helpless child. That couldn't be it. "Well?"

"Why do you even want to know?" I snapped, frustrated at losing my cool in front of this stranger. "Listen, as long as we get you where you want to go, you don't have to know what we think of you." He didn't respond. "We should be at the Forsaken Fortress by this time tomorrow. Be ready."

"Right," Link said, turning away from me. "Thanks."

I did not respond.

It was late the next evening when Zuko reported that we had reached the Forsaken Fortress. I thanked him, ordered the men to stop the ship, told Mako to go fetch Link and climbed to the crow's nest to wait, looking out over the Forsaken Fortress. Something intrigued me . . . when I had last seen the place this close, the security hadn't been so tight. It had one searchlight that made its way around every half an hour or so. Now they had an insane amount that cast beams onto every inch of the surrounding waters. There was no way we'd get in. Footsteps broke my thoughts, and I turned, looking down at the deck.

"Hey!" I called down. He jumped. "Link!" He looked around wildly, trying to spot me. "Here I am! Up here!" Link's head shot up, and he spotted me, nodded, and began climbing up. As he hauled himself over the final rung of the ladder, I wanted sorely to complain about how slow he was, but held it in. Either way . . . "What were you doing with Niko?" He didn't answer. "Don't tell me you were playing some stupid game for treasure . . . were you?" I added, seeing his face change.

"Well, kind of," he answered somewhat sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But . . . it's not like he gave me anything important, you know? Just a little something. . . . "

"Well, whatever," I retorted. "There's something you need to see! Have a look over there." I pointed in the direction my eyes had wandered before. "That's the cursed known as the Forsaken Fortress." To emphasize my point, I jerked my chin in that direction as well. Link put his hands on the sides of the crow's nest and blinked at it, taking it all in.

He hissed, suddenly, making me jump. "That bird . . . " he murmured, angry.

"There are all sorts of strange rumors about this place," I said, looking away from the bird that had captured both Aryll and myself. "What I do know is that long ago, it used to be the hideout of a no-good group of pirates we used to compete with." I growled. They were the ones that had shot my mother. "But they were just small-time." I felt better upon making the insult. "Now, the place looks like its pretty dangerous."

"No shit," Link replied. Meanwhile, my train of thought had moved on.

"Ah! I knew it! Look!" I pointed to the tallest tower of the Fortress. "Over there! By that window!" He blinked, confused, and then his eyes riveted to the same opening that I had been examining.

"Have you ever seen so many seagulls flock like that before?" I asked.

"Seagulls?"

"I'll bet you anything that's the place where they've got your sister locked up!" He grinned, excited, but I sighed. "But it looks like the whole place is under really tight guard."

"Can't you get in any closer?"

"Won't work," I replied. I pointed at the searchlights that flooded the place. "We'd be spotted before we got anywhere near landing there. Hmmmm . . . "

"Well, what do we do now?" Link demanded. "You can't tell me this was all for nothing!"

"Calm down," I said, an idea striking me. "I think I might have something here. . . . " When he looked over at me, I winked. "Follow me!" We climbed back down to the deck. "Gonzo!"

"Miss Tetra?"

I leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Ready the catapult. We're going to fire the kid straight over the wall and into the fortress." He nodded, and ran off. I located Link, and dragged him over to one of the empty barrels.

He looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "What's this for?"

"Climb in."

"WHAT?!"

"Listen, do you want to save your sister?" He nodded. "Then climb in and shut up." As he lifted one leg into the barrel, I fished in my pocket, and pulled out a crystal stone with a cord wrapped around it. Making the motion as if I were patting him on the back trying to comfort him, I slipped it into his pocket. He continued his climb and was none the wiser.

"So what's going to happen now?" he asked. At that point, Gonzo came in, grabbed the barrel, and headed over to the catapult. Link's eyes went wide as he registered where he was. "Hey! You're not seriously going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" He began to move around, either trying to get out of the barrel or knock it off the catapult, I couldn't tell.

"Depends on what you think we're going to do," I replied smoothly, then frowned. "Look, don't struggle. If you really want to get into a dangerous place like that, this is the only way to do it."

He looked over, but his motions didn't cease. "Really?"

"Trust me."

"We pirates do this all the time!" Gonzo put in, coming up beside me, ready to fire. "Never you fear, kid, we're pros."

"All right . . . " Link didn't sound convinced, but narrowed his eyes, an expression of readiness that couldn't be mistaken. "Do your best. . . . "

I smiled, in spite of myself. "Don't worry about it!" I reassured again. "It'll be a piece of cake!" I looked around. "Is everybody ready!?" Gonzo saluted, and the countdown began. "Three!" Link held his expression. "Two!" Link shut his eyes. "One!" He shut his eyes tighter and gritted his teeth. "Go!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The barrel went flying through the air, heading straight for the Forsaken Fortress.

If he screams like that, then the whole place'll know he's there before he even lands! I thought, somewhat amused as some of the crew half-waved their goodbyes. Speaking of landings . . . "Oh, shit!" I realized just then that I had missed my aim. He was heading right for a wall!