Alara's Tale ~ Book I : Water

XI : Nightmares

Clouds, flying, freedom? I was on my glider flying Aang beside me. "Hey Egg head!"

We both laughed and did somersaults in the air. Suddenly a storm was brewing up ahead, "Aang?" I tried to look for him but he was gone. An image of Monk Pan was in front of me. "Why did you leave me Alara? You left us..."

"No...Monk Pan!" Lightning hit my glider and I was going down. Whispers were flooding my brain as I went down until I crashed the water.

I jolted up as I clung onto the blanket. "These nightmares are gonna be the death of me." I cupped my face and sighed. Shaking my head, I stood up and walked out the door. "Maybe a little fresh air would help."

I walked to the deck to find Iroh and Zuko there. Zuko was on his telescope, probably trying to find any sign of my brother. Iroh sniffed the air, "There's a storm coming, a big one."

"You're out of your mind, Uncle. The weather's perfect." He approached his Uncle. "There's not a cloud in sight."

"A storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest." Iroh turned and saw me. "Oh good morning Alara."

Zuko glanced at me before returning to his Uncle. "We know the Avatar is traveling northward," He pointed out. "so we will do the same."

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew." Iroh pleaded.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" Zuko argued but the Lieutenant was there. He frowned at Zuko's words. Zuko walked towards him. "Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety." With that he walked off.

"He doesn't mean that right?" I asked Iroh.

"He's just all worked up." Iroh assured us. "Tea Alara?"

"I'd love some." We walked back to the kitchen as Iroh was making some tea. I noticed the tea set looked quite familiar, then it hit me. That's the tea set I stole. "That's a lovely tea set you have there Iroh."

"Thank you Alara, my nephew brought this for me, though I'm still not sure how he got it." He smiled. "It's missing a piece though."

"Oh? What's it missing?" I smiled at the memory.

"A teacup."

***

I felt the cold breeze as the clouds begin to turn gray. "Well, looks like your Uncle was right about the storm after all." The Lieutenant spoke up as Zuko went on the deck.

"Lucky guess." Iroh smiled proudly.

"Lieutenant, you'd better learn some respect." He poked the Lieutenant chest. "Or I will teach it to you."

"What do you know about respect?" The Lieutenant questioned him. Iroh tried to signal to Lieutenant to stop but he didn't see it. "The way to talk to everyone around here, from your hard-working crew to your esteemed uncle, even to the airbender!" I tried to say something but Iroh stopped me. "Shows you know nothing about respect."

Iroh and I facepalmed ourselves knowing this won't end well. The Lieutenant continued, "You don't care about anyone but yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince?"

Zuko turned and got into a fighting stance, as well the Lieutenant. Iroh stopped at Lieutenant and I stopped Zuko. "Enough! We are all about tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles everyone will feel much better." Iroh looked at the both of them.