Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender I'm just sort-of giving ideas to the writers ;0P

A/N: Just so you know this takes place after my last fic. But incase you didn't read it this fic takes place after Book 2: Earth, meaning Water bender has already been mastered by both Katara and Aang. Also this is a Zuko/Katara fic. Umm that's about it . . . Please enjoy. :0D Also this is slightly modified from the original due to Zhao's promotion.

"He's going to get there before us!" I mutter to myself in disgust. "Speed things up!" I shout to one of the men on the deck who hastily runs to the engine room to see if this boat could travel faster.

"This boat can only go so fast Prince Zuko. Let's not push it past its limits."

"I don't care about its limits! I care about getting to the island before Zhao, but it seems I'm a little late for that already!"

"Patience, patience, we'll get there."

I sharply turn my head away from my uncle and back towards the town some distance away. It seems the Zhao's ships have just landed and those under his command are running around from house to house, burning every building in sight.

"Animals . . ." I mutter to myself, disgusted by their "tactics" for capturing the small village.

Normally I wouldn't care what my father or his raging army is doing. Normally I would only focus on catching the Avatar, but this was a special case. A few days ago my men caught word that, upon the request of the Avatar himself, this island was harboring and protecting the Avatar girl, and even more so, that Zhao was going to take her as bait in hopes of capturing the Avatar. I feel my blood boil just thinking about it. How dare he! He will never lay a hand on his "bait"; and only I will capture the Avatar!

I light up my right hand and stare at it for a while, memories of her quickly flooding back to me.

"You can be part of our family!" . . . "Why would you kill someone who can help you stay alive?" . . . "I had fun, getting to know you . . ."

I shut my fist and discard the fire in it. I can't forget her smile, her trusting, loving, smile. Plus she's the closest thing I have to a "friend" and I'm not going to let anything happen to her. "Katara . . ." I whisper softly to myself. Be safe . . .

I turn around and find another boat man. "Why Aren'tWe GOING FASTER!" I shout.

"Yes, my Prince!" The man scurries off to the engine room. They better be doing work in there and not just trying to hide from my anger. After all if Zhao captures Katara there will be no where to hide from me.

"Whoa! Prince Zuko you should look at this." I hear my uncle call. I turn my head and see that he moved from his normal tea stool to the front of the ship. My uncle rarely leaves his tea stool when drinking tea. I quickly walk over towards him.

"What is it uncle?" I ask, my anger leaving due to the shock of my uncle actually finding something of interest.

"Look." He says quickly nodding his head forward before taking a sip of his Ginseng tea. I inwardly sigh; as I said he let his stool, but he never leaves his tea.

I look ahead of us and see a massive amount of water floating in the air. "What!"

I look around for my telescope, but it's not on deck at this moment, so I pull out my pocket size fold out telescope from a slot in my chest armor. I unfold it and look towards the floating water.

"So what do you see?" I hear my uncle calmly ask. "The amount of water keeps increasing by the looks of it."

"Yes, yes. I know." I say, seeing the water grow with each passing second. The waves on my ship are getting rougher because of this disturbance. I look down from the blob of water to the root of it. It's a girl in a blue fur jacket. "Katara?" I quietly ask myself.

"Who?" I hear my uncle ask.

"Oh!" I forgot he could hear me. "It's the waterbender that travels with the Avatar. Just like our source said."

"You know her name Prince Zuko?" Good thing he's on my bad side, I don't want to see the questioning look that matched the sound of his voice.

"We were stuck in a cave together for a full day . . ." I say.

"Still . . ." I hear my uncle say, "Interesting . . ."

"ERG! Don't look too much into it!" I shout at him. I feel a faint blush on my face, which isn't helping my case.

"Ah! Look."

I turn my head back towards Katara and see that she stopped collecting water. The total water above her head is easily enough to flood half the village. What are you doing Katara? I keep watch on her body and see her legs wobble.

"Hmm . . . It looks like we're about five minutes away from the island Prince Zuko. It shouldn't be much longer . . ."

"Yet it's not soon enough uncle." I bring to view of my telescope to see what's in front of Katara. "Zhao . . ." I mutter angrily. I see her move the water towards the sky in front of her, and suddenly a massive beam of water is shot up into the sky. She keeps some water, the amount she has left is enough to flood a house. I see her legs wobble more intensely than last time as she pulls the rest of the water in front of her and, as Zhao closed enough distance between the two, she lets it go in a water cannon.

The hit knocks the pathetic admiral down to the ground. I smirk at this result. I knew Katara was strong; she'll even stand up to Zhao with no reinforcements. Admiral or not, he has no chance of beating her. I keep my eye on her and see her fall to her knees, then fall flat on the ground. KATARA! ERG! Zhao's going to get it!

"I'll be below, waiting until we land." I say to my uncle as I toss him my telescope and start speed walking towards the door towards the decks below, a respectable prince doesn't run.

"Shouldn't be too long." I hear him reply.

"It better not be." I say to myself as I walk downstairs. I walk towards the exit, waiting for the mechanical door to open. Hurry. Hurry! FASTER! Why can't we be there right NOW! I finally hear the clicking of gears and see the door before me lower.

"About time . . ." I walk outside and begin to walk up the small hill, hoping to see Katara safe and out of Zhao's hands. I feel something fall on my face. I touch where the liquid landed, wipe it off and examine it. Regular water . . . I begin to run up the hill while it's still relatively dry. For the moment I think being strategically smart is more important than being respectable. The rain gets harder and I feel it pour when I reach the top of the small hill.

I see Zhao is a safe distance from Katara, now let's keep it that way. He gets off his sorry rear and I can visibly see his anger rising.

"Why! You little . . . !" I hear Zhao grunt. "When I get my hands on you . . ! I'm gonna . . . I'm gonna . . . !" His voice grows more threatening and I see his hands tighten up into frustrated fists in front of his chest.

"You're not going to do anything!" I shout. I walk through the mud closer to Katara, and get in between the two.

I plant my feet firmly in the ground, guarding Katara from this selfish and ruthless man. "The Avatar's friend shall be my prisoner!" I shout at him.

"Unless, my dear Admiral Zhao, you wish to face me once more in another Agni Kai." I say mockingly. "But I'll warn you now, I've only gotten stronger," I shift my right foot forward and my left foot back, ready in a fighting pose. "I wish I can say the say the same for you but it seems you can't even beat one, simple, waterbender without reinforcements." I finish; a slight smirk on my face.

The anger on his face grows at my insult. "It'd be useless to fight in the rain; no firebender can produce adequate flames in a damp environment."

"Heh," I say in disgust. I turn around and pick up Katara and throw her over my left shoulder. "I'll take my prisoner now." I start to walk in the direction of the ship. Still . . . I know he won't give up that easily.

"You can't just walk off like that!" I hear him order me.

I sharply turn back around to face him. My right arm swings with my body and builds up heat along the way. I feel my breath get released from my mouth in a slow constant pace. Then I release it. I throw the long built up fire at his feet. I told him last time I wouldn't hold back but this isn't an Agni Kai so his pathetic life will get spared. He falls to his rear and gawks at me. I turn back around, he can't flame my back like he tired to before, after all even though it's not as hard as before, it's still raining.

"I can do whatever I want." I warn Zhao in a low threatening voice.

I start to walk down the hill and back towards my ship. I slowly move her body down so she can get more comfortable. Her legs rap around my lower chest and her hands rap themselves around my neck as her head rests on my shoulder. I feel her cheek brush up against mine. I faint blush rushes towards my face. This is ridiculous, a simple brush of the cheek and I blush! My behavior is no better than a lowly teen's! Well . . . I guess I am a teen, but I should be more focused! Still . . . She did feel a little cold, and I hear her teeth chattering in my ear. I keep my left arm rapped around her waist to hold her safe, but I slowly move my right hand back and forth across her back making sure my hand is hot but not on fire. The further away from the village we get the more the rain dies, so catching fire is a possible danger. I begin to walk on sand again and the boat grows nearer.

"It's okay Katara, just rest; I'll take care of you." I say reassuringly.

"Z . . . Zuko . . ." I hear her mumble. She was conscious? I stop and rotate my head so I can see her. Well, she might've been but not anymore . . . I continue walking, feeling the softness of the sand cushion my armored feet. "Sleep well, Katara . . ." I say as I stop and wait for the ship's door to open. "You'll be safe with me."

End of Chapter 1

I REALLY want to thank everyone who reviewed on my last fic, since it's a one shot I couldn't really properly thank anyone so I'll say thank you now.