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attackfishDisclaimer: If I owned Avatar: the Last Airbender, I would have the money to donate to charity myself.
Summary: Zuko needs to find the Avatar and regain his cat.
Author's Note: Written for carnistcervine on Tumblr as a reward for donating twenty-five dollars to RAICES, a charity that aids immigrants and refugees coming to the US and is fighting Trump's crimes against humanity. They wanted Aang adopting a kitten. Since I already had an AU about Zuko adopting a cat... [Link]
Warnings: None, this is a light-hearted happy fic for once.
Part Two
While the Cat's Away, the Mouse-Pigeons Will Play, Part One: A Game of Cat and Mouse-Pigeon
When Zuko came back onto the ship, Miyu wasn't there. That wasn't that rare. She rarely waited around for anybody. Zuko didn't think anything of it. She was probably in the hold hunting rat-snakes.
He also thought very little of it when she didn't come to to sit with him as he checked the log books, or with his uncle as he trained. She liked her solitude and she liked her freedom. After all she wasn't a pet, she was a ship's cat, and this distinction was by mutual agreement.
He missed her at night when he was getting into bed, but she wasn't always there when he got into bed. Often she came in later as he was drifting off to sleep. But that didn't happen either and when he awoke to find her still missing, that's when he began to worry.
o0O0o
"Uh guys, I think we stole the Fire Sages' cat," Sokka said.
"That is one ugly cat," Katara cooed. "Aren't you, sweetie?"
The cat drew its ears back and hissed in reply.
Sokka eyed her warily. "Yeah, I wouldn't try petting it if I were you."
"I know that, Sokka, I'm not stupid."
Aang turned around on Appa's head as Momo came over to bat the cat in the face. She batted right back, leaving a thin red scratch on Momo's nose. "It uh, seems friendly."
"What are we going to do with it?" Katara asked, putting her hand on Momo's head and petting him while he chittered sulkily. "We can't exactly take it back to the Fire Sages. They'll try to arrest us again."
"Well we're not keeping her. She hurt Momo."
"Awwww, I didn't know you cared, Sokka."
"Look, all I'm saying is he was here first. He has seniority."
"It's kind of cute," Aang said, peering down at her as Appa flew on toward the Earth Kingdom coast. "Anybody know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"I am not checking." Sokka shook his head firmly.
"Me neither."
"Cowards," Katara called them both.
"Hey, you're not checking either," Sokka pointed out.
"Okay, so we're all cowards." Katara held her hand out to the cat gingerly, and the cat studiously ignored her.
Aang slid down into the saddle. It turned its single unblinking yellow eye on him, its tail flicking in warning. When he quietly joined Sokka and Katara on the other side of the saddle, it curled up. But its eye stayed open and focused on them.
"I'm not sure it belonged to the sages," Katara said, examining it from a distance. "It looks like a stray."
"I don't know," Aang said. "It's kind of fat."
"Maybe it's a really good hunter," Sokka offered. "But yeah, it doesn't exactly act like a pet either."
Suddenly, Aang's face erupted in a gleeful grin. "I just noticed it kind of looks like Zuko."
At the name, the cat's good ear flicked toward them.
"Oh yeah," Sokka snickered. "Yeah, you're right."
It sat up to watch them, torn up ear and scared face making it look fearsome. It glared at them like it knew they were laughing at it.
Sokka grinned at it. "Actually, that would be a great name for it. Hey fella, do you think you're a Zuko?"
"No no." Aang's smile widened, and he held up one finger, nose in the air. "Prince Zuko. We should show him the proper respect."
They broke down laughing, and the cat hissed at the commotion.
"Well kitty cat," Katara told it. "I guess you're a him. I mean, until you yet us lift your tail, or go into heat or something."
"Gross, Katara."
"Shut up, Sokka."
"Welcome to the group, Prince Zuko," Aang said gravely.
o0O0o
The ship's hallways were lined with small bowls of fish guts, smelling worse by the second, but Miyu hadn't touched any of them. The cook reported she hadn't come sniffing around the kitchen either. "What if she's hurt and stuck somewhere?" he asked his uncle.
His uncle shrugged.
He stuck his head out of the control tower. "I want every inch of this ship searched," he commanded. "Check the bilge, the hold, the cabins, everywhere she likes to go!"
When the crew didn't immediately leave to follow his orders, he marched out on deck. "Now!"
The men scattered, whether to follow his orders, or simply to find something to do out of the way of his temper, was impossible to tell.
"Did you check the skiff?" His uncle asked from inside the control tower. "Could she have slipped in before you locked it back up?"
Vaguely, Zuko remembered rubbing her ears as he sailed to the sanctuary island. He ran off to check.
The whole way into the skiff's hold, he imagined opening the skiff up to find Miyu staring back at him, eye full of betrayal for leaving her trapped there for a whole day and a half. But when he opened the skiff up, she was nowhere to be found. He searched every inch of it before a horrible idea struck him.
He bolted back to the control tower and took the stairs into the cockpit two at a time. "Helmsman!" He shouted, out of breath. "Turn this ship around!"
"What are you doing, Prince Zuko!" his uncle demanded, raising his voice in alarm.
The helmsman, Zuko noted, hadn't started on the process of turning the ship."
"I left Miyu on the island with the Fire Sages," he yelled.
"Calm down and stop shouting," his uncle said kindly. "We can't go back."
"What do you mean?" Zuko shouted. "We have to go get her!"
"The Fire Navy blockade is in the way," his uncle explained patiently. "Remember what happened when you tried to run it?"
Zuko flushed.
"Besides, we are following the Avatar. Do you plan to leave his trail and let him slip away."
Zuko looked at him, torn.
o0O0o
Prince Zuko jumped out of the saddle before Appa's feet even touched the ground. He darted off into the trees. "Well that takes care of that problem," Sokka said.
Aang stared off into the underbrush sadly. "I guess."
o0O0o
But a few hours later, Prince Zuko was back, with a fat mouse-pigeon clutched in his jaws and a smug gleam in his eye.
"Hello, little guy," Katara whispered. "Good to have you back."
Prince Zuko glowered at her.
"Maybe it's all the splashing around you did," Sokka said. "Maybe he can tell."
"Maybe he's just shy," Katara shot back. "He doesn't know us."
"Either way, thanks to your splashing, we have to go into town to buy more supplies," Sokka reminded them, folding his arms. "Because somebody splashed all our supplies down the river."
"Sorry, Prince Zuko, you're going to have to wait here with Appa," Aang said, opening his arms and letting Momo scurry into them. "Unless you let one of us carry you."
The cat eyed them all disdainfully.
"Yeah, I didn't think so."
o0O0o
"What's the meaning of this mutiny?" Zuko shouted, marching into the cockpit. "No one told you to change course!"
His uncle cleared his throat. "Actually, someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."
"Is it something to do with the Avatar?"
"Even more urgent." His uncle didn't smile. "It seems I've lost my lotus tile."
"Lotus tile?" Zuko sneered.
"For my Pai Sho game," his uncle told him, as if the words he was saying made any sense. "Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."
Zuko stared at him, shocked and enraged all at once. "You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?"
His uncle smiled expansively. "See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life."
Zuko gritted his teeth. "So when I want to change course to rescue Miyu from where I accidentally abandoned her, it's a foolish waste of time, but when you want to change course to buy a Pai Sho tile instead of hunting the Avatar, like we're supposed to, it's perfectly reasonable!"
"Thank you for understanding, Nephew!"
Zuko let his feelings be known in a great jet of flame from his mouth to the ceiling, but his uncle's smile never faltered.
"We'll find you a kitten while we're there," his uncle promised.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" he snarled. "It's not going to be Miyu."
o0O0o
Katara slipped the scroll out of the bag and padded down to the water. In the darkness, one yellow eye glowed, as its owner followed her down to the riverbank.
The water refused to cooperate. Her water whip collapsed over and over again. Prince Zuko sat at the edge of the water, out of reach of her splashing, licking his paw and watching her.
"Okay, Katara, shift your weight through the stances," she told herself. But the water collapsed again. The sound of metal grinding against the ground startled her. She whipped around, and started running before she even realized what she saw, the pirates, and Zuko. When one of the pirates grabbed her, she bent water right in the face. The water whip. It worked.
But as soon as she was free, Zuko caught her by the wrist. "I'll save you from the- Miyu!"
Katara stumbled back as he let go. "Miyu?"
"You stole my cat!" he squalled, fire wreathing his fists.
Ignoring his spitting fury, the cat, apparently named Miyu, strolled over to Zuko and headbutted him in the legs, nuzzling his boots with a purr.
"We did not," Katara retorted indignantly. "He just showed up a few days ago. We didn't steal him!"
"Miyu's a girl!"
Katara didn't care. She took advantage of Zuko's distraction as he picked up Miyu, and bolted away. Straight into the arms of a waiting pirate. She screamed with frustration and tried to kick his shin. He lifted her clear off the ground.
Holding Miyu one handed, Zuko dug something out of his pocket and dangled it in front of his cat, letting her bat at it. Katara gasped. "My mother's necklace! How did you get that?"
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering," he told her. "I don't do that, unlike some people here."
Katara thrashed in the air, but the pirate held on tight. "For the last time, we didn't steal your stupid pet!"
"Miyu is not a pet," the bald prince yelled.
"Uh huh."
"She's a ship's cat. She's very useful!"
Katara kicked hard into the pirate's leg, but he swung her away from himself before the blow connected. She landed in the dirt and scrambled to her feet. "Give me my mother's necklace!"
"You know, I was going to offer it to you in exchange for telling me where thr Avatar, is," he sniped. "But I think I'm just going to give it to Miyu as a cat toy. She deserves it after you stole her and traumatized her."
"We didn't traumatize-"
"Enough of this garbage," the pirate captain cut in. "You promised the scroll!"
Zuko put the necklace away and pulled out the waterbending scroll. Hitching Miyu into the crook of his arm, he held a handful of fire under the scroll. "I wonder how much money this is worth?"
Gasps from the pirates accompanied a strangled "No," from the captain.
Zuko smirked. Katara wanted to hit him. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."
He passed the cat to his uncle, but before he walked away, he planted a kiss on her forehead.
o0O0o
Zuko watched helplessly as the skiff sailed straight over the waterfall. "My boat!"
Then, his uncle started laughing. Zuko was ready to murder him. It wouldn't be too hard. He was a soft old man, he told himself. "Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this."
Zuko glowered at him, certain he would not get a kick out of it.
His uncle held up a Pai Sho tile. "The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"
He snatched the tile out of his uncle's hand and threw it as hard as he could, vibrating with fury. Miyu mewed loudly at his sudden movement.
"I don't know why you're so angry, Prince Zuko," his uncle chided. "You got your pet back."
"Miyu is not a pet!"
His uncle shook his head. "If anything, this whole mess proves that's not true, Nephew."
Zuko put a hand on Miyu's head and rubbed her tattered ear. Mollified, she stopped squirming. "Just shut up, Uncle."
"You know," his uncle said. "Now that you've done that, I'm going to have to get a new white lotus tile."
"Absolutely not," he snapped, beginning the long trudge back to the ship.
His uncle followed with a smile. "It's your own fault, Nephew, if you hadn't thrown it in the water..."
"It's a stupid waste of time, and it serves you right if you never play Pai Sho again!"
"Oh believe me, Nephew," his uncle said wryly. "The white lotus tile is not a stupid waste of time. It's more important than you can possibly imagine. Now come on. Let's get your pet back to the ship."
"She's not a-"
But his uncle only laughed.
o0O0o
"Hey wait a second..." Aang said, once they were in the air. "Where's Prince Zuko?"
Sokka waved his hands back at the waterfall. "Over there somewhere, probably still throwing a tantrum."
"I mean the cat, Sokka."
"Yeah, I knew that," he said unconvincingly.
"She's probably in the same place," Katara told them, fighting back a grin.
"Why do you look so happy?" Sokka asked. "I thought you liked the little one-eyed monster."
"Her name's Miyu." Katara couldn't keep it in any longer. She grinned from ear to ear, snorting with laughter.
"It doesn't matter what you named it, since we're probably not going to see it again," Sokka said sulkily, almost sad.
"I don't know about that," she said, then paused for effect. "She's Zuko's pet."
"No way!"
"Yes way," Katara snickered. "You should have seen him cuddling her, and kissing her, and telling her how sorry he was that she got kidnapped by us big meanies."
"Seriously?" Sokka asked, delighted.
"That's us." Aang doubled over laughing. "Big mean cat kidnappers!"
Katara tried to look stern. "I hope you're ashamed of yourself, Aang. There's no excuse for kidnapping someone's cat."
Momo hopped down from the rim of the saddle and chittered at them, rubbing the still healing scratch on his nose.
"It's okay, Momo," Katara told him. "No more mean cats."
With a soft burbling coo, he slipped under Aang's arm, blinking sleepily at Katara, and curled up contentedly, closing his eyes as Aang rubbed his ears.
Part Two
Summary: Zuko needs to find the Avatar and regain his cat.
Author's Note: Written for carnistcervine on Tumblr as a reward for donating twenty-five dollars to RAICES, a charity that aids immigrants and refugees coming to the US and is fighting Trump's crimes against humanity. They wanted Aang adopting a kitten. Since I already had an AU about Zuko adopting a cat... [Link]
Warnings: None, this is a light-hearted happy fic for once.
Part Two
While the Cat's Away, the Mouse-Pigeons Will Play, Part One: A Game of Cat and Mouse-Pigeon
When Zuko came back onto the ship, Miyu wasn't there. That wasn't that rare. She rarely waited around for anybody. Zuko didn't think anything of it. She was probably in the hold hunting rat-snakes.
He also thought very little of it when she didn't come to to sit with him as he checked the log books, or with his uncle as he trained. She liked her solitude and she liked her freedom. After all she wasn't a pet, she was a ship's cat, and this distinction was by mutual agreement.
He missed her at night when he was getting into bed, but she wasn't always there when he got into bed. Often she came in later as he was drifting off to sleep. But that didn't happen either and when he awoke to find her still missing, that's when he began to worry.
o0O0o
"Uh guys, I think we stole the Fire Sages' cat," Sokka said.
"That is one ugly cat," Katara cooed. "Aren't you, sweetie?"
The cat drew its ears back and hissed in reply.
Sokka eyed her warily. "Yeah, I wouldn't try petting it if I were you."
"I know that, Sokka, I'm not stupid."
Aang turned around on Appa's head as Momo came over to bat the cat in the face. She batted right back, leaving a thin red scratch on Momo's nose. "It uh, seems friendly."
"What are we going to do with it?" Katara asked, putting her hand on Momo's head and petting him while he chittered sulkily. "We can't exactly take it back to the Fire Sages. They'll try to arrest us again."
"Well we're not keeping her. She hurt Momo."
"Awwww, I didn't know you cared, Sokka."
"Look, all I'm saying is he was here first. He has seniority."
"It's kind of cute," Aang said, peering down at her as Appa flew on toward the Earth Kingdom coast. "Anybody know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"I am not checking." Sokka shook his head firmly.
"Me neither."
"Cowards," Katara called them both.
"Hey, you're not checking either," Sokka pointed out.
"Okay, so we're all cowards." Katara held her hand out to the cat gingerly, and the cat studiously ignored her.
Aang slid down into the saddle. It turned its single unblinking yellow eye on him, its tail flicking in warning. When he quietly joined Sokka and Katara on the other side of the saddle, it curled up. But its eye stayed open and focused on them.
"I'm not sure it belonged to the sages," Katara said, examining it from a distance. "It looks like a stray."
"I don't know," Aang said. "It's kind of fat."
"Maybe it's a really good hunter," Sokka offered. "But yeah, it doesn't exactly act like a pet either."
Suddenly, Aang's face erupted in a gleeful grin. "I just noticed it kind of looks like Zuko."
At the name, the cat's good ear flicked toward them.
"Oh yeah," Sokka snickered. "Yeah, you're right."
It sat up to watch them, torn up ear and scared face making it look fearsome. It glared at them like it knew they were laughing at it.
Sokka grinned at it. "Actually, that would be a great name for it. Hey fella, do you think you're a Zuko?"
"No no." Aang's smile widened, and he held up one finger, nose in the air. "Prince Zuko. We should show him the proper respect."
They broke down laughing, and the cat hissed at the commotion.
"Well kitty cat," Katara told it. "I guess you're a him. I mean, until you yet us lift your tail, or go into heat or something."
"Gross, Katara."
"Shut up, Sokka."
"Welcome to the group, Prince Zuko," Aang said gravely.
o0O0o
The ship's hallways were lined with small bowls of fish guts, smelling worse by the second, but Miyu hadn't touched any of them. The cook reported she hadn't come sniffing around the kitchen either. "What if she's hurt and stuck somewhere?" he asked his uncle.
His uncle shrugged.
He stuck his head out of the control tower. "I want every inch of this ship searched," he commanded. "Check the bilge, the hold, the cabins, everywhere she likes to go!"
When the crew didn't immediately leave to follow his orders, he marched out on deck. "Now!"
The men scattered, whether to follow his orders, or simply to find something to do out of the way of his temper, was impossible to tell.
"Did you check the skiff?" His uncle asked from inside the control tower. "Could she have slipped in before you locked it back up?"
Vaguely, Zuko remembered rubbing her ears as he sailed to the sanctuary island. He ran off to check.
The whole way into the skiff's hold, he imagined opening the skiff up to find Miyu staring back at him, eye full of betrayal for leaving her trapped there for a whole day and a half. But when he opened the skiff up, she was nowhere to be found. He searched every inch of it before a horrible idea struck him.
He bolted back to the control tower and took the stairs into the cockpit two at a time. "Helmsman!" He shouted, out of breath. "Turn this ship around!"
"What are you doing, Prince Zuko!" his uncle demanded, raising his voice in alarm.
The helmsman, Zuko noted, hadn't started on the process of turning the ship."
"I left Miyu on the island with the Fire Sages," he yelled.
"Calm down and stop shouting," his uncle said kindly. "We can't go back."
"What do you mean?" Zuko shouted. "We have to go get her!"
"The Fire Navy blockade is in the way," his uncle explained patiently. "Remember what happened when you tried to run it?"
Zuko flushed.
"Besides, we are following the Avatar. Do you plan to leave his trail and let him slip away."
Zuko looked at him, torn.
o0O0o
Prince Zuko jumped out of the saddle before Appa's feet even touched the ground. He darted off into the trees. "Well that takes care of that problem," Sokka said.
Aang stared off into the underbrush sadly. "I guess."
o0O0o
But a few hours later, Prince Zuko was back, with a fat mouse-pigeon clutched in his jaws and a smug gleam in his eye.
"Hello, little guy," Katara whispered. "Good to have you back."
Prince Zuko glowered at her.
"Maybe it's all the splashing around you did," Sokka said. "Maybe he can tell."
"Maybe he's just shy," Katara shot back. "He doesn't know us."
"Either way, thanks to your splashing, we have to go into town to buy more supplies," Sokka reminded them, folding his arms. "Because somebody splashed all our supplies down the river."
"Sorry, Prince Zuko, you're going to have to wait here with Appa," Aang said, opening his arms and letting Momo scurry into them. "Unless you let one of us carry you."
The cat eyed them all disdainfully.
"Yeah, I didn't think so."
o0O0o
"What's the meaning of this mutiny?" Zuko shouted, marching into the cockpit. "No one told you to change course!"
His uncle cleared his throat. "Actually, someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."
"Is it something to do with the Avatar?"
"Even more urgent." His uncle didn't smile. "It seems I've lost my lotus tile."
"Lotus tile?" Zuko sneered.
"For my Pai Sho game," his uncle told him, as if the words he was saying made any sense. "Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."
Zuko stared at him, shocked and enraged all at once. "You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?"
His uncle smiled expansively. "See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life."
Zuko gritted his teeth. "So when I want to change course to rescue Miyu from where I accidentally abandoned her, it's a foolish waste of time, but when you want to change course to buy a Pai Sho tile instead of hunting the Avatar, like we're supposed to, it's perfectly reasonable!"
"Thank you for understanding, Nephew!"
Zuko let his feelings be known in a great jet of flame from his mouth to the ceiling, but his uncle's smile never faltered.
"We'll find you a kitten while we're there," his uncle promised.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" he snarled. "It's not going to be Miyu."
o0O0o
Katara slipped the scroll out of the bag and padded down to the water. In the darkness, one yellow eye glowed, as its owner followed her down to the riverbank.
The water refused to cooperate. Her water whip collapsed over and over again. Prince Zuko sat at the edge of the water, out of reach of her splashing, licking his paw and watching her.
"Okay, Katara, shift your weight through the stances," she told herself. But the water collapsed again. The sound of metal grinding against the ground startled her. She whipped around, and started running before she even realized what she saw, the pirates, and Zuko. When one of the pirates grabbed her, she bent water right in the face. The water whip. It worked.
But as soon as she was free, Zuko caught her by the wrist. "I'll save you from the- Miyu!"
Katara stumbled back as he let go. "Miyu?"
"You stole my cat!" he squalled, fire wreathing his fists.
Ignoring his spitting fury, the cat, apparently named Miyu, strolled over to Zuko and headbutted him in the legs, nuzzling his boots with a purr.
"We did not," Katara retorted indignantly. "He just showed up a few days ago. We didn't steal him!"
"Miyu's a girl!"
Katara didn't care. She took advantage of Zuko's distraction as he picked up Miyu, and bolted away. Straight into the arms of a waiting pirate. She screamed with frustration and tried to kick his shin. He lifted her clear off the ground.
Holding Miyu one handed, Zuko dug something out of his pocket and dangled it in front of his cat, letting her bat at it. Katara gasped. "My mother's necklace! How did you get that?"
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering," he told her. "I don't do that, unlike some people here."
Katara thrashed in the air, but the pirate held on tight. "For the last time, we didn't steal your stupid pet!"
"Miyu is not a pet," the bald prince yelled.
"Uh huh."
"She's a ship's cat. She's very useful!"
Katara kicked hard into the pirate's leg, but he swung her away from himself before the blow connected. She landed in the dirt and scrambled to her feet. "Give me my mother's necklace!"
"You know, I was going to offer it to you in exchange for telling me where thr Avatar, is," he sniped. "But I think I'm just going to give it to Miyu as a cat toy. She deserves it after you stole her and traumatized her."
"We didn't traumatize-"
"Enough of this garbage," the pirate captain cut in. "You promised the scroll!"
Zuko put the necklace away and pulled out the waterbending scroll. Hitching Miyu into the crook of his arm, he held a handful of fire under the scroll. "I wonder how much money this is worth?"
Gasps from the pirates accompanied a strangled "No," from the captain.
Zuko smirked. Katara wanted to hit him. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."
He passed the cat to his uncle, but before he walked away, he planted a kiss on her forehead.
o0O0o
Zuko watched helplessly as the skiff sailed straight over the waterfall. "My boat!"
Then, his uncle started laughing. Zuko was ready to murder him. It wouldn't be too hard. He was a soft old man, he told himself. "Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this."
Zuko glowered at him, certain he would not get a kick out of it.
His uncle held up a Pai Sho tile. "The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"
He snatched the tile out of his uncle's hand and threw it as hard as he could, vibrating with fury. Miyu mewed loudly at his sudden movement.
"I don't know why you're so angry, Prince Zuko," his uncle chided. "You got your pet back."
"Miyu is not a pet!"
His uncle shook his head. "If anything, this whole mess proves that's not true, Nephew."
Zuko put a hand on Miyu's head and rubbed her tattered ear. Mollified, she stopped squirming. "Just shut up, Uncle."
"You know," his uncle said. "Now that you've done that, I'm going to have to get a new white lotus tile."
"Absolutely not," he snapped, beginning the long trudge back to the ship.
His uncle followed with a smile. "It's your own fault, Nephew, if you hadn't thrown it in the water..."
"It's a stupid waste of time, and it serves you right if you never play Pai Sho again!"
"Oh believe me, Nephew," his uncle said wryly. "The white lotus tile is not a stupid waste of time. It's more important than you can possibly imagine. Now come on. Let's get your pet back to the ship."
"She's not a-"
But his uncle only laughed.
o0O0o
"Hey wait a second..." Aang said, once they were in the air. "Where's Prince Zuko?"
Sokka waved his hands back at the waterfall. "Over there somewhere, probably still throwing a tantrum."
"I mean the cat, Sokka."
"Yeah, I knew that," he said unconvincingly.
"She's probably in the same place," Katara told them, fighting back a grin.
"Why do you look so happy?" Sokka asked. "I thought you liked the little one-eyed monster."
"Her name's Miyu." Katara couldn't keep it in any longer. She grinned from ear to ear, snorting with laughter.
"It doesn't matter what you named it, since we're probably not going to see it again," Sokka said sulkily, almost sad.
"I don't know about that," she said, then paused for effect. "She's Zuko's pet."
"No way!"
"Yes way," Katara snickered. "You should have seen him cuddling her, and kissing her, and telling her how sorry he was that she got kidnapped by us big meanies."
"Seriously?" Sokka asked, delighted.
"That's us." Aang doubled over laughing. "Big mean cat kidnappers!"
Katara tried to look stern. "I hope you're ashamed of yourself, Aang. There's no excuse for kidnapping someone's cat."
Momo hopped down from the rim of the saddle and chittered at them, rubbing the still healing scratch on his nose.
"It's okay, Momo," Katara told him. "No more mean cats."
With a soft burbling coo, he slipped under Aang's arm, blinking sleepily at Katara, and curled up contentedly, closing his eyes as Aang rubbed his ears.
Part Two
