Chapter 1
Prince Zuko angrily looked over the waterfall. His boat, the only way to get back to his ship, was at the bottom, shattered into shards of steel. His uncle, Iroh, voiced in behind him.
"Prince Zuko, you are really going to get a kick out this... The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" He held the tile in front of him, smiling triumplantly. Zuko huffed loudly, then snatched the tile clean from his uncle's fingers. Iroh looked at his fingers, as if to wonder if something was there. Zuko hurled the tile over the waterfall as hard as he could; it had practically caused all of this trouble. He felt himself smile as the jinxed lotus tile splashed into the water below. He was about to turn and walk away, but something stopped him. He looked down the waterfall once more, and eyed the flow of the river, as if to look for something. He had not seen Aang, Katara, and Sokka fly away on Appa moments before.
He told himself what he was looking for was a sign of where they went, where he was going next. When he found nothing, he looked into the sky, searching for the flying bison among the clouds. He grunted, then turned to walk away. Uncle Iroh continued to stare at his empty hand, until Prince Zuko looked over his shoulder and barked, "Come on, Uncle! Our only way is to walk back." He had said "walk" with obvious displeasure in his voice; he was used to riding in a large ship, rather than hiking. The trees, the grass, the clouds and animals- All so boring!
They continued to walk until Prince Zuko stopped in his tracks. He dug around in the loose places in his armor where he normally kept his small trinkets, and quickly pulled out a necklace. The blue satin with a beautiful, intricate water charm pinned to it was just big enough to fit around someone's collarbone. His deep, topaz eyes gazed through the translucent charm. "I never gave it back," he said flatly.
His uncle stopped and glanced at what Zuko was holding. He looked up at Zuko, whose eyes were still transfixed into the necklace. "Hmm? To who? ...That girl?"
Zuko grunted at the comment. "That girl" did not do her any justice. He thought for a moment, trying to remember the girl's name... "Yes. Katara. I never gave the necklace back."
Uncle Iroh chuckled. "And why does it matter to you?" He then added playfully, "Since when did you care about someone other than yourself?" Zuko glared at his uncle and snarled, causing Iroh to draw back a bit, though he didn't show regret for that comment. Saying nothing, they continued onward to their ship.
Appa gave a yawn that, frankly, sounded more like a groan of distaste. He flapped his tail lazily in the air. Katara looked over the back of Appa's leather saddle, back to where Zuko was walking away. But from so far away, all she could see was a dark red figure. She blinked in silent shock as Zuko stopped, but turned around when he continued. Sokka turned from digging in his bag for some food, and said dryly, "Whatcha looking at?"
Katara shrugged. "Nothing, just enjoying the view," she said with a tiny smile. Now it was Sokka's turn to shrug, as he continued to dig around in his duffel pouch. Momo hopped from Aang's shoulder and sat next to Katara, and purred as he rubbed against Katara's side. Katara giggled and began to stroke his large ears.
She reached up to her neck, where her mother's necklace usually hung, but sighed in discontent when she ackowledged that Zuko still held it in his possesion. How had he gotten a hold of it, anyway? Perhaps they would meet again... She almost hoped they would. Momo blinked.
Sokka looked from his bag once more and spoke to Aang. "Where to now? 'Cuz we're out of food again." Aang rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure there's another village close by..." he said, unsure. Sokka groaned.