Open Your Mind

Chapter Five

Previously on Open Your Mind

The other three nodded and Sokka grabbed the two bags of fruits and nuts then they all climbed up onto Appa, Xiaodan taking the reins while Aang, Sokka, and Katara sat in the saddle.

"Yip-yip!" Xiaodan called out and Appa grumbled, smacking his tail against the ground then leaping into the air.

The white-haired girl looked over her shoulder as she steered Appa away from the Southern Air Temple, memorizing it as best she could as it began to get smaller and smaller. She could see Aang doing the same thing at the back of the saddle, Momo on his shoulder.

'Don't worry, Aang.'She thought determinedly, 'We'll be back, I promise.'

In his room on the warship, Zuko sat in front of a low table with four burning candles on it, carefully breathing in and out as he meditated while the candle flames grew and shrank with each breath. The door to his quarters creaked open and Iroh poked his head inside, causing Zuko's eyes to open.

"The only reason you should be interrupting me is if you have news about the Avatar." Zuko said softly, his voice calm.

Iron opened the door further and stepped into his nephew's room, pulling a scroll from his sleeve he entered.

"Well there is news, Prince Zuko," Iroh stated, looking at the scroll in his hands, "But you might not like it. Don't get too upset."

"Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader." Zuko said, voice still calm, "Now whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it."

"Okay then." Iroh muttered rubbing his bearded chin with one hand, "We have no idea where he is."

The candle flames exploded upward suddenly and Zuko whirled around to face his uncle, who had lifted his arm to shield his eyes from the light of the flames.

"What!" Zuko demand as he leapt to his feet, towering over his uncle.

"You really should open a window in here." Iroh commented flippantly as he pulled a fan from his robes' sleeve and fanned his face, the scroll clutched in his other hand.

"Give me the map." The banished prince snapped, snatching the rolled up scroll from his uncle's hand.

"Uh, there have been multiple sightings of the Avatar," Iroh reported, still fanning his face, "but he is impossible to track down."

Zuko looked over the map in his hands, "How am I going to find him, Uncle? He is clearly a master evasive maneuvering."

Iroh shrugged slightly and looked at his nephew with a slight quirk to his lips, "Perhaps it is that charming Airbender girl you were ranted about when you first found the Avatar."

Zuko felt his good eye twitch at the mention of the annoying white-haired girl.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka asked turning his gaze from the map in his hands to where Xiaodan and Aang were sitting on Appa's head.

"Well," Aang said, looking over his shoulder at the Water Tribe siblings sitting in the saddle, "I know it's near water."

Xiaodan snorted and down at the sprawling ocean below them, her lips quirked in amusement as she shook her head and reclined on Appa's large head with her hands behind her own head.

"I guess we're getting close then." Sokka muttered drily, also looking over the edge of the saddle at the ocean below them.

Aang looked up at Katara sitting at the front of the saddle, stitching the hole in Sokka's pants with a peaceful expression on her tanned face.