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Iroh sat there for a long while after his nephew had fallen asleep against him. He did take the time to shift the young man to have him laying with his head in Iroh's lap, but otherwise didn't really move. It spoke a great deal of Zuko's exhaustion when he didn't do more than stir slightly at the moment and that Iroh was able to calm him again with a few quiet words. Once they were settled Iroh turned his gaze back out to the waters while one hand stroked through his nephew's hair in a soothing fashion. He was honest enough with himself to know that he was trying to soothe himself as much as he was Zuko.

This day had been...a lot. First, their crew was taken away, under threat of being labeled deserters, then for several horrible minutes he'd thought Zuko dead, and now it seemed Zuko had finally come to understand the truth about his father, Iroh's brother. Iroh wasn't entirely certain how he felt about that last part. A part of him was relieved that his nephew had realized the truth and would likely stop striving for the impossible, but a larger part worried about what Zuko would choose to do next. The last thing he wanted was for him to lose purpose entirely. Thinking the boy he considered his son was dead once was more than enough. He certainly didn't want to risk Zuko giving up on life due to this. Iroh had a couple of thoughts on where they could go from here, but he would wait for Zuko to wake again and see if he has any plans.

Zuko stirred awake to the feeling of someone gently shaking his shoulder and the sound of his uncle's voice calling his name. He groaned and reached to try and grab his pillow so he could pull it over his head, but winced as pain flared at the movement. Why did he hurt? With another, more pained groan he opened his eyes and blinked several times in confusion. Above him was his uncle, frowning in concern. The angle was wrong though. He wasn't standing, he seemed to be sitting overly close. And past him, he could see the night sky. Then the memories hit him and he bit back another groan, reaching you to rub his face. Lowering his hand he answered the question on his uncle's face.

"I'm fine Uncle," he said as he sat up "Just sore." Iroh looked uncertain for a moment, but smoothed his expression out and nodded.

"Alright Nephew," he replied, "I apologize for waking you, but we should probably make plans before the sun rises."

Zuko nodded slowly, turning to look out at the water, frowning in thought. His mind whirled for a while before he glanced at his uncle hesitantly. Seeing the calm, encouraging expression on his uncle's face allowed him to gather himself.

"Did you...mean what you said earlier?" he asked after a moment, voice faltering slightly.

"I very rarely say things I don't mean," his uncle asked, frowning slightly "But which instance are you referring to?"

Zuko grimaced and turned to look back at the water uncomfortably. He wanted to change subjects, but he needed to know. So, face flushing in embarrassment, he pressed on, not looking at his uncle.

"You said you couldn't lose another son," his voice was quiet and he easily heard how his uncle's breath caught slightly but made himself finish "You...consider me your son?" There was a pause and his shoulders hitched up protectively "Sorry. That was stupid. Forg-" He cut off as a gentle hand touched his shoulder firmly.

"Zuko," his uncle's voice was fond, but firm "Look at me." Zuko hesitated, but slowly did as he was told. His breath hitched slightly as he met his uncle's gentle, reassuring gaze.

Iroh's heart broke at the guarded hurt on his nephew's face, mentally scolding himself for the brief hesitation he'd created by gathering himself to respond. So once he was certain his nephew was really looking at him he did his best to put all his sincerity into his voice and expression.

"Zuko you have held an important place in my heart since the day you were born. You were a kind and wonderful boy and always a joy to be around. I don't know if you are aware, you were very young, but when," he faulted here before forcing himself to continue "when Lu Ten died I came very close to following him." He saw the horror in his nephew's eyes then but pressed on "I went to the spirit world in an attempt to bring him home, but it was impossible. I very nearly stayed there as well, but the spirits showed me something." His free hand came up to lay on his nephew's other shoulder, wanting to be sure he understood "They showed me you. Back at the palace, alone and hurting. Your mother was gone and Ozai was crueler than ever and Azula was growing to be the same. I could not abandon you to that. I would not. So I returned to the mortal realm and to the palace. To you."

"Uncle I-" There was something akin to wonder in Zuko's tone, but Iroh shook his head, determined to finish, so Zuko fell silent once more.

"I can't really say when my affection, my love for you shifted from that of an uncle to a beloved nephew to that of a father to a beloved son, but it did." He met his nephew's hauntingly open gaze and smiled warmly "I love you Zuko. Just as much as I ever did Lu Ten. And nothing will ever change that. Do you understand?" Zuko's nod was shaky, but there and moments later Iroh pulled the boy to him in a tight hug, ignoring how wetness grew on his shoulder where Zuko pressed his face for several long moments, drawing deep breaths. It wasn't like Iroh wasn't crying a little himself. It felt good to say that all openly. To have his nephew, his boy, actually listen and accept the words. After a while Zuko pulled back, visibly flushing as he quickly tried to scrub his face, not meeting Iroh's gaze. Once he had finished he glanced at Iroh for a moment before flushing again and averting his gaze.

"Thank you, Uncle," he said, voice rough with emotion "I." He cleared his throat awkwardly "I care a great deal for you as well." Iroh beamed at that and patted Zuko's arm.

"I know Nephew," he said, smiling warmly. The answering smile he got was small and looked awkward and almost painful as if Zuko had forgotten how to do so, but it filled Iroh to the brim with warmth. It was the first time he'd seen his nephew smile in almost a year. Knowing that saying anything else would likely make Zuko close back up he simply squeezed his arm warmly before sitting back and watched the young man in front of him.

"So, now what?" He asked, spreading his arms out in front of him to indicate he would follow Zuko's lead on this.

Zuko was surprised by the warm feeling that filled him, chasing away the residual chill from the frigid waters. His uncle loved him. Like a son. He'd given up following Lu Ten for him. And that wasn't counting how his uncle had gone with him into banishment and put up with him for almost three years now. Zuko could never repay him, but he could try. Starting now. Gathering his thoughts he looked back over to where his boat had been and then to where he knew Zhao's ships were. Several thoughts swirled in his mind so he started off slowly, testing the waters and his uncle's thoughts.

"I think..." he paused, glancing at his uncle to judge his reaction, "I think I'm done chasing The Avatar." He was gratified to see what looked like a flash of hope and relief under the surprise on his uncle's face. That likely meant he was on the right track, so he refocused his gaze on the water "Even if I had managed it I'm uncertain if Fa-...if the Fire Lord would have actually accepted me back." He shook his head "I'm not sure where we can go, somewhere in the Earth Kingdom probably. Try and start over." He flashed his uncle a wry smile "I know you've mentioned wanting to open tea shop before. Perhaps we could do that. Or not." He shook his head "There will be time to plan for all of that later. Right now we have more important issues to attend to." He hesitated and looked more fully back at his uncle "If we offered them a chance...do you think our crew would follow us away from the Fire Nation? I fear that Zhao intends them to die in the battle against the Northern Water Tribe." He felt a great deal of relief when his uncle beamed at him and patted his arm.

"I believe most of them would, yes. We just need to give them a chance. We can't do it right away. Zhao will be watching. This will take careful planning." His smile grew slightly sharper "I believe I have a plan." Zuko nodded and sat back to listen, but before his uncle started explaining he paused and gave Zuko a smile like he hadn't seen in a long time.

"I am very proud of you, Nephew." And in the end that meant everything.

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Chapter Text

Zuko couldn't quite believe how cold it was as he made his way to the icy walls, careful to try and avoid being spotted by the alert guards patrolling the walls themselves. He was lucky that none of them seemed to notice his small boat, probably because they were watching for larger threats. But once he reached the wall and exited his small craft he had a new problem. How to get in without being captured right off. He knew that his best chance of being believed would be the Avatar. The kid was a little too trusting, but he could use that right about now. Anyone else would likely toss him in a cell without listening to a word he said.

Shaking his head to clear it Zuko lowered his face covering and let out a small breath of fire to help warm his body before he put his mask back in place and began to look around for a way into the city. He knew that going over the wall would be suicide. After several moments he caught sight of some turtle-seals diving into a hole in the ice near the wall and made his way over. Peering into the hole he took note of how it sloped. It seemed to be going into the city. Turtle-seals needed to breathe air so it would have to come up for air at some point. The only risk would be that the air space was too far for him to make it to. If he chose to go down this path there'd be no changing his mind. He frowned for several long moments and looked around to see if there was any other way in that he could use. Finding none he took a steadying breath and nodded. He didn't have the luxury of time to keep looking around. Zhao would resume his attack at sun up. Mind made up he lowered his mask and took a deep breath, casting a prayer for safety to Agni before diving in and beginning to swim.

Zuko did his best to ignore the aching cold that made his body want to give in even as he pushed himself to swim through the dark waters. Just as he was starting to honestly think that he'd made the wrong choice his head broke through to air and he took several gasping breaths. Once he had enough oxygen to think properly he began quickly pulling himself from the frigid water. Once he was out he collapsed to his side on the ice, shivering and gasping. He was going to pay for this later, but for now, he let out several breaths of fire in a row, raising the temperature of the air around him as well as his internal body temperature.

Groaning quietly he pushed himself to his feet. He had to keep moving, despite how his body protested. He didn't have time to rest.

"Be quiet!" He snapped at the nearby turtle-seals that were barking at him. The cold had given him a fierce headache and they were not helping. Growling to himself he made his way deeper into the cave, looking around for where to go next. Eventually, he realized that his only way forward was through another tunnel of water that was on the wall. This one was flowing more swiftly and was a good deal smaller, but he should be able to use it. Sending a quick mental thanks to his uncle for teaching him how to keep warm and to the spirit of his cousin Lu Ten for teaching him how to swim properly he began making his way into this next part of his journey. Part of him wondered why he cared so much about this, but he pushed that aside for now. He didn't have time for that.

All in all, it took him a good hour and two more channels before he hit the end. The dead end. He was still underwater, but there was nothing but ice above him. He couldn't see any further way to go and he didn't have time to keep looking for one. He needed air or he was going to drown. Refusing to give up without at least trying to get out Zuko pressed his hands to the ice above him and began pushing heat outward from his palms. It was thin enough that he could see light through it easily enough so maybe...There! He almost cried out in relief as his hands melted through the ice and gave him a way out. He wasted no time in hauling himself out and gasping for air as he knelt over in what looked to be some sort of tunnel. He quickly pulled himself over to the tunnel wall and curled his arms around himself as he looked around. He did his best to get his bearings as he let out several small breaths of fire. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, just stop his body from shutting down from the cold. He knew he'd have to deal with consequences from this whole mess later, firebenders weren't meant to deal with the cold after all, but that would have to be put aside for now. Gritting his teeth he forced himself to his feet and began making his way through the city.

It was times like this that he was very grateful for all the effort he'd put into learning how to be stealthy. His blue spirit training truly came in handy in times like this. As it is it takes a bit of work and a great deal of luck to find The Avatar and when he does he curses quietly under his breath. The Avatar, from listening to his waterbending friend, was in the spirit world. This could be a problem. He grit his teeth and tried to think. He didn't have many options here. Letting out a short sigh and bracing himself for what would be, almost certainly, a fairly unwelcoming and painful welcome he made his way into the strangely warm cavern.

"You're going to have more problems than waiting for The Avatar to return to his body very soon." Ok, so that was probably one of the worst ways he could have started this conversation, but he really wasn't good at words. And he wasn't really sure what he said would have made a difference in the water bender's response. The girl (only Azula's age, how had he missed that before?) spun around to face him with wide, panicked eyes.

"No..." She sounded properly horrified and it made a small part of Zuko feel absolutely awful. He pushed that aside for the time being. He didn't have the time to be dealing with that.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," Zuko tried to calm her down, putting his arms up in a calming fashion, but that didn't seem to do him much good. From the times they'd fought against each other she seemed to automatically assume that he was about to attack her and he couldn't fully blame her for that fact. She immediately reacted to the perceived threat, lashing out with a set of water whips that Zuko automatically summoned small blasts of fire to ward off. That...probably wasn't his best choice of responses all things considered, but the accuracy and force behind the water caught him by surprise. She hadn't been nearly that good before. The nearly full moon had to be helping, but still.

"Would you just," he cut off to block try and block another attack but was knocked flying, landing on the ground face-down. Ok. That hurt. His body was already aching and unhappy with him from moving as much as he had with his injuries. That most certainly hadn't helped. He grimaced and forced himself up again, finishing his sentence "Let me talk!"

"Why should I believe a word you have to say?!" the girl spat back. And. Ok. That was fair. To a point. It wasn't like he'd ever lied to her or the others, but he had been their enemy. It didn't keep him from being frustrated though. Before he could reply he was knocked flying again, sideways this time. Rolling as he landed he jumped back to his feet.

"Gah!" he let out a frustrated breath, fire shooting from his mouth in his anger "We don't have time for this!" Darting forward he went on the offensive. He'd hoped to just talk to the girl, but it was looking like he would need to knock her out and wait for The Avatar to wake up. They exchanged blows for several quick moments and he suddenly realized the obvious reason for her increase in skill. She must have found a master here! Of course! He didn't really have time to contemplate this fact though because moments later he was slammed backward by several consecutive waves of water, crashing him back against the nearby wall and continuing to press him back before it froze around him. He didn't realize any of this though. As he hit the wall his head slammed back and the world dimmed to black.

Iroh was careful to bury his fear long before he met Zhao at the bow of the ship once more, watching as the sun rose and the battle prepared to start once more.

"It's daybreak at last," Zhao smirked, "Let's write history." Iroh watched him with some guarded wariness. He still hadn't gotten Zhao's plan out of the admiral, but he felt it wouldn't be long until the boastful man let it slip. He knew Zhao would want to brag. He was simply that kind of man. Looking back at the city in front of them his heart clenched as he watched Fire Nation ships move forward and press their fronts into the ice and snow, making paths for soldiers to disembark and attack the city on foot.

"I don't need to remind you we have a time limit. If we don't defeat the Water Tribe before the full moon rises they will be undefeatable," Iroh pointed out mildly, hoping that Zhao would speak up. He gets his wish, but he honestly wished he hadn't.

"I assure you I have everything under control," Zhao replied dismissively "I intend to remove the moon as a factor." Iroh's eyes widened in shock and horror but forced himself to ask further questions. He needed to know as much as possible to stop this.

"Remove the moon? How?" Before he could get an answer a young man came onto the bow and made a reckless charge at Zhao. The doomed attempt almost made Iroh sigh as the young man was tossed overboard. He clearly had no training in this sort of mission. He shook his head sadly. Another young life lost.

Zhao, on the other hand, seemed completely unbothered "As I was saying. Years ago I stumbled upon a great and powerful secret: the identity of the Moon Spirit's mortal form."

"What?" Iroh asked, heart in his throat. So Zhao did have information about the location of the Ocean and Moon Spirits.

Zhao didn't notice or didn't care about, Iroh's obvious horror as he continued to brag. "I was a young lieutenant serving on General Shu in the Earth Kingdom. I discovered a hidden library. Underground in fact. I tore through scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration and the words "Moon" and "Ocean". I knew then that these spirits could be found and killed. And that it was my destiny to do so."

Iroh turned fully to this cruel man and allowed some of his anger and horror to show "Zhao! The spirits are not to be trifled with!" He intended to kill the spirit of the moon! Not just attack or hideaway. Kill! He was insane! There was no other explanation.

"Yes, yes," Zhao said patronizingly "I know you fear the spirits, Iroh. I've heard rumors about your journey into the Spirit World. But the Ocean and Moon gave up their immortality to become a part of our world. And now they will face the consequences." Iroh fell silent as he stared at Zhao. It was clear that Zhao wasn't going to be persuaded to give up this suicidal mission of his. Iroh took a moment to decide on a course of action. He could take out Zhao now, but he didn't know where the information about the Moon and Ocean spirit was located and couldn't risk it being found by others. Besides Zuko was already inside the city (he had to be, Iroh would consider no other option) and Iroh needed to get inside. So he would bide his time. Go along with this fool plan until he needed to step in. And step in he would. He would not allow the Moon to be harmed if he could help it.

Chapter Text

Zuko bit back a groan as consciousness came back to him. He could feel the sun dawning against him, the warmth from it brightening his inner flame and bringing him to wakefulness. Part of him wished it hadn't, his whole body hurt and he was so very cold, but he knew he needed to wake. Opening his eyes just a slit he took in the situation. The water bender was just walking away so he hadn't been down long. He was pinned to the wall with ice, which explained why he was so very cold. If nothing else he couldn't stay in this ice so he took a slow breath, wincing as his chest flared in pain. Ok, one of his ribs was definitely broken. He was pretty sure he'd had some that were cracked from the explosion and this hadn't helped. He pushed that aside for now and slowly blew out warm air, melting the ice around him and sliding down to the solid ice below him. As he landed on his feet his chest flared again and he let out a quiet gasp of pain despite his best efforts not to.

The sun was up and the moon was down so he knew he would have the advantage over the waterbender now, but he couldn't bring himself to try fighting her again. Instead, he sank down to sit on the ground, leaning back against the ice that had held him up. He was shivering badly and began working to try and warm himself up, closing his eyes and letting out slow, steady breaths of warm air. He knew it would start melting the ice behind him, but he really needed to warm himself up before he did anything else.

"What are you up to?" the waterbender's voice was suspicious but less hostile as it came from a short while ahead of him. Zuko opened his eyes to find her standing at the edge of the solid ground, watching him with a confused frown.

"Currently I'm trying to warm up," he replied shortly, glaring at her "You might be used to the temperature caused by being trapped in ice, but I am not." She frowned at him, obviously trying to look threatening, but he could catch the flash of guilt in her face. Well, she should feel guilty. He came to try and help and she attacked him.

"Well it's your own fault," she told him, though she didn't look like she fully believed herself so Zuko just glared at her until her face flushed slightly and she glanced away.

"Yeah, no," Zuko said after a moment "You attacked first. I was just trying to talk to you."

"Since when do you just want to talk?" she spat, glaring at him again.

"Since we have a shared problem," he replied, aggravated "Zhao is completely insane and unless he's stopped he's going to ruin things for all of us." She paused at that, looking rather confused, but before she could ask anything further The Avatar's flying bison landed heavily just behind the waterbender.

"Katara!" Right. That was her name. He probably should try and remember that. Her brother was clearly concerned as he jumped down and ran over to her, glaring at Zuko as he did so "Are you alright?" Zuko could see the water tribe warrior's weapon in his hand and really didn't feel like dealing with that on top of everything else so he made sure to stay where he was.

"I'm fine Sokka, really" the waterbender, Katara, reassured him and Zuko made note of that name as well "He didn't touch me." She frowned and thought back, visibly running through their fight in her mind before she added "I'm honestly not sure he was trying to." Her brother's expression indicated that he didn't believe her "I mean it. He says he just wants to talk."

"Sure," the boy, Sokka, said sarcastically "And I want to give up meat and become a vegetarian like Aang." Aang. Vegetarian. The Avatar? Zuko was pretty sure he'd heard the two Water Tribe siblings use that name several times before. It would make sense for it to be The Avatar's name since it clearly didn't belong to either of them. And he was pretty sure he'd read that the air nomads didn't eat meat. Zuko kept quiet for now, storing these names in his mind and simply taking the time to breathe for a bit. He did take note of the white-haired girl on the back of the bison as well. She was new, probably a member of this tribe. He'd seen her running off once he had been noticed. She must have gone to get the boy, Sokka.

"I'm serious Sokka," Katara turned to glare at her brother, putting her hands on her hips "He wasn't putting nearly as much effort into the fight as he normally did and kept on the defensive almost the entire time." She'd noticed that then. That was good. Sokka, however, just glared.

"Great! So he was a little less aggressive and you decide he's a good guy?"

"No," Katara replied, clearly exasperated "But I think we should hear out what he has to say!"

"Katara he's probably here to grab Aang and haul him back to the Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"I'm not here for The Avatar," Zuko spoke up firmly, though he knew they had no reason to believe him.

"Suuuure you're not," Sokka drawled sarcastically, shooting him a glare, which Zuko returned.

"I'm not." Zuko repeated stubbornly "I'm here because Zhao is completely insane." Sokka looked ready to shoot back an angry retort, but Katara touched his shoulder in a manner that seemed to ground him. So instead Sokka let out a sharp growl-like sound before fixing his glare on the fire nation prince.

"Fine! What's Zhao doing that brought you here?" He didn't seem like he really wanted to hear it, but he was willing to let Zuko explain, which was better than before.

"I don't know his exact plan," Zuko admitted "Uncle stayed behind on the ship to try and figure it out. But he said he was going to make it so the moon was no longer a factor. To weaken the waterbenders. I don't know if that's even possible, but Zhao seems to think it is. And he must have enough proof to convince my-" he paused and grimaced before changing words "to convince the Fire Lord. I don't know exactly what he plans to do, but if he intends to harm the moon spirit in some way he has to be stopped. Attacking one of the spirits is insane." He shook his head, clearly frustrated "He must be insane if he thinks that harming the moon will help the Fire Nation more than it will cause harm. Everyone needs the moon." The three other teenagers were staring at him, looking completely horrified. The white-haired girl looked the worst off, but Katara wasn't much better. Even Sokka looked sick.

"He wants to attack the moon?" Sokka asked "There's no way! That's not possible!"

"Maybe it's not," Zuko agreed easily, though he did notice the flash of fear (and perhaps guilt?) on the white-haired girl's face at that "But it was too high of a risk for Uncle and I to just let it go. If there's any chance that he's right and could actually do the moon harm we had to try and stop him." He shrugged and gestured vaguely around him "So here I am." Sokka frowned at him, clearly trying to process through all of this, but before any of them could say anything further another voice came from behind the bison

"Appa! Where are the others? We need to-!" the voice cut off as The Avatar, Aang probably, jumped up on top of the bison (Appa?) and caught sight of the other people. His eyes widened he almost fell as he caught sight of Zuko leaning against a melting ice wall. His eyes scanned over the clearly injured firebender before he looked at the two Water Tribe siblings.

"What's going on?" he asked warily, jumping down to land next to the siblings with a small gust of air to slow him at the end.

"Prince Jerkbender here says Zhao is planning to try and hurt the moon," Sokka told him, sounding rather disbelieving about the whole thing. Zuko couldn't help but glare at the term but kept quiet with some effort. It helped when The Avatar turned to look at him with startled eyes. Much like shortly after he'd broken the boy out of Zhao's control those eyes didn't hold any grudge or anger. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, Zuko couldn't remember many times, if any, where The Avatar had really seemed angry or hateful towards him. Sad, frustrated, and tired sure, playful even sometimes. But never hateful or even really suspicious. For some reason that did something funny to his insides, but he pushed it away.

"How?" The Avatar asked him, looking bewildered and Zuko shrugged slightly, not enough to cause his ribs to really flare, but enough to be visible.

"I don't know. Uncle is trying to figure that out right now."

"No," The Avatar said, shaking his head "How did you know?" He paused before adding "And why did you come to tell us?" Zuko blinked in shock.

"You know." It wasn't really a question, he could see the knowledge in those wide eyes, but The Avatar nodded anyways.

"I found out while I was in the Spirit World."

"Wait!" Sokka cut in "So you mean Zhao really is trying to hurt the moon?!" He looked at The Avatar in confusion "Is that even possible?" Aang nodded but didn't take his eyes off of Zuko.

"You haven't answered my questions."

Zuko huffed slightly and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away. "If I'd know you would already know I wouldn't have gone through all that effort to get here," he grumbled. Great. So he hadn't even needed to do this. Perfect. He shook his head in aggravation, but answered The Avatar's questions anyways "Zhao took my uncle on as a military advisor. He mentioned something about taking the moon out of the picture to make it possible to defeat the Northern Water Tribe. Zhao didn't share much, but Uncle and I decided that it was too much of a risk to just let it go so I came here to try and get some sort of warning delivered. Even if you didn't believe me it should have made some of the soldiers suspicious enough to keep guard. Assuming there's even a way to hurt the moon here." The Avatar looked rather startled by all of this but shook himself slightly.

"Why come warn us though? Why turn against your people?"

"I'm no traitor!" Zuko snarled, cutting The Avatar off as he straightened and glared at the boy, furious "I would never turn against my people!" The two Southern Water Tribe kids stiffened and he saw the boy grip his weapon again, but The Avatar just held up his hands calmingly.

"Sorry, that probably wasn't the best way to say it," The Avatar said soothingly "I'm just trying to understand."

Zuko growled quietly and looked away "Zhao is insane. He thinks that harming the moon will give us a better chance to take out this tribe. And maybe that's true, but you can't just go around attacking things like the moon!" He looked back at the group, glaring "The Fire Nation needs the moon just as much as any other country. Sure we don't draw power from it as waterbenders do, but the moon affects the tides and currents and we need those. Besides, you have to be completely insane to think that attacking the ocean's wife and the sun's sister is going to bring anything but misery to our people." He shook his head with a grim expression "The spirits of La and Agni would seek vengeance against the entire Fire Nation if Tui is harmed by one of our own. Of that, I'm almost certain." He was surprised to see that the three in front of him relaxed at that. The siblings as well. Perhaps knowing his reasonings made more sense to them? He didn't know, and he didn't particularly care.

"Well you're probably right," Aang agreed, straightening "So we need to-" he cut off as the white-haired girl let out a frightened cry, staring at something on the other side of the bison. Moments later something horrible happened. The moon in the sky turned blood-red. Alarmed, Zuko jumped to his feet. In a strange show of solidarity, The Avatar, the two Southern Water Tribe siblings, and Zuko all dashed around the bison (or in The Avatar's case, over the bison) and came to a skidding halt as they stared at Zhao who was holding up a wet cloth bag that clearly had something alive in it from the way it was shifting.

"I am a legend now!" Zhao crowed triumphantly, staring at the bag with a manic gleam in his eyes "The Fire Nation will, for generations, tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon! They will call me, Zhao the Conqueror, Zhao the Moon Slayer, Zhao-!" He cut off as he caught sight of Zuko and his eyes widened to almost comical proportions. "You! You're still alive!?" Zuko narrowed his eyes and snarled at the other man.

"You tried to have me killed!" he spat at Zhao, furious, completely blind to how The Avatar's eyes flickered to him in horrified shock.

Zhao's eyes narrowed "Clearly I should have just finished the job myself," he hissed and Zuko couldn't fully push down the hurt that caused, but he didn't let it show. Before he could say anything Zhao straightened with a smirk "But no matter. I can deal with you here along with these savages." Zuko snarled again and took a step forward, fire forming in his hands, but quickly froze as Zhao raised the bag and shifted his other hand into a fist, clearly threatening harm to the moon spirit

"I wouldn't," Zhao said coldly. Zuko could hear the others behind him quickly shifting and the sound of The Avatar's staff hitting the ground. Zuko grit his teeth and released his own flame, taking a small step back to try and indicate that he wasn't going to move closer.

"Zhao don't!" The Avatar spoke up, taking a small step forward with his hands out in a placating gesture. Zuko wanted to scoff at the thought that Zhao would bother listening but kept it to himself. He wasn't surprised by Zhao's response though.

"It is my destiny to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe," Zhao replied, clearly bragging and Zuko mentally confirmed his theory that this man was completely insane.

The Avatar shook his head "Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world." Zhao didn't look like he cared much about balance, but another voice cut in, and Zuko was relieved to catch sight of his uncle not far away from the group of firebenders with Zhao.

"He's right Zhao," Uncle said simply, firmly, his gaze fixed on the crazy man holding the moon.

"General Iroh," Zhao sounded far from surprised "Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Those words made Zuko stiffen in anger, but his uncle replied in an even voice.

"I'm no traitor, Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on balance." His expression and tone shifted to one that was far less calm and far more threatening "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold. Let it go, now!" Zuko had to mentally shake off the slight chill that hit him from hearing his uncle sound so angry. It wasn't often that he heard that tone of voice from the generally kind and gentle man. Thankfully, it seemed to be getting through to Zhao and he slowly crouched down and opened the bag, allowing the white fish to swim back into the water of the oasis. Zuko relaxed slightly at that, and that was his mistake. Moments later Zhao's expression twisted in fury and he lashed out, flames blasting into the waters and out across them as well, barely missing Iroh as the older man jerked away, horrified. Cries of horror echoed around them and for several long moments, Zuko could only stare at the burned fish as the sky grew impossibly dark.

But he broke free of his stupor as his uncle lunged forward, fire lashing out from his hands in angry blasts as he took out the soldiers around them. Unfortunately, he was too slow to catch Zhao. Zuko, however, was not. As Iroh took down the soldiers Zuko took off after the monster who had killed the moon and brought the fury of the spirits down upon them all.

Zhao didn't seem to notice he was being followed at first, but as he turned a corner Zuko vaulted over a low wall to land in front of him, cutting off his escape path and blasting fire in his direction. Zhao came to a skidding halt and stumbled back, out of the way of the flames. It didn't take long for Zhao to recover though and they were soon exchanging blows and blasts of fire.

It's uncertain how long the fight would have lasted if everything hadn't suddenly started glowing. It started both of them, but Zuko managed to snap out of it first and lashed out, burning Zhao's leg and sending him tumbling to the ground. He quickly darted forward and pinned him to the ground mere moments before what looked like a giant catfish monster made of water came into view. Inside of it Zuko could see The Avatar, eyes glowing with power. The creature's gaze slid over to them and suddenly Zuko knew exactly what he was looking at.

"La..." it was a choked, awestruck, and terrified word that fell from him without him meaning it to, but he could tell he wasn't wrong. And somehow he knew exactly what La had set out to do. Moving quickly he slammed a fist into Zhao's temple, knocking him out. He couldn't risk the man running on him, burned leg or no. Scrambling slightly ahead of the unconscious man Zuko dropped into a low, subservient bow. The same kind, he can't help but note, that he had given his father during their Agni Kai. But he couldn't think of that right now. He knew that what he was planning to do could be suicide, but he had to try.

"Lord La," he called out in a stronger voice, not straightening up from his bow, no matter how terrifying it is not to see the powerful being or how much the position hurt. His voice was trembling with fear and he knew it was obvious, but it didn't matter "Lord La please." He swallowed hard and continued "Please don't punish my people for the actions of one man. Please." He was begging, he knew he was, but he would beg all he needed to if it would save the lives of some of his people "They should not have attacked here, that is true, but I swear to you most would never have done so if they'd know what Zhao intended to do." And that was something he was certain of, actually. Despite everything, most of his people were fairly spiritual. Most would never dare to consider harming one of the spirits, let alone one as important as the moon. There would have been a full out riot if it had been mentioned. Of that Zuko was sure. What he wasn't sure of, though, was if La was listening to him at all, or if he cared. The bright light that he knew was coming from La and The Avatar hadn't moved away so there was that at least.

"Look at me." That was The Avatar's voice, but not quite. It was layered with something far older and more powerful. Zuko obeyed without question, raising his head and body slightly to meet the gaze of the being above him. The large catfish shape had lowered some so that The Avatar was now level with him, just off the side of the bridge he was on. "You bargain for their lives." It wasn't a question, but Zuko nodded anyways.

"Nothing can make up for your loss," Zuko replied, knowing it to be fact "That is impossible. But if there is anything I can give you I will. Just please, don't punish all of them for his actions." There were several beats of silence where both the large fish's eyes and The Avatar's eyes are fixed on him, seeming to read into him far deeper than what most could see. Zuko didn't dare move as he waited for a reply.

"Would you give up your quest to capture The Avatar in exchange?" The Avatar/La asked and Zuko almost laughed, though it would have been a hysterical one.

"I would," Zuko replied, voice breaking "But I cannot." He could tell that The Avatar/La didn't like this answer so he quickly explained "My uncle and I already decided to be done with that mission before we came here. So I cannot fairly include it in any bargain." There were several beats of silence and Zuko barely dared to breathe before The Avatar/La actually smiled at him.

"Very good, Son of Fire." He/They sounded almost proud. Had that been a test? It sounded like it. "I will not punish the rest of your people. There will be a cost. For now, take Tui's killer to my waters." He/They straightened up again to his/their full height and turned to make his/their way away.

Zuko was still for several moments after he/they are gone before he managed to start properly breathing again. He hadn't died. That surprised him, but he was grateful for the reprieve, though he wasn't sure it would last. Shaking his head to clear it he moved to haul Zhao up and begin dragging him back to the oasis. He was pretty sure that was what he was supposed to do. Otherwise, The Avatar/La would have just taken Zhao into the water with him/them.

It was slow and painful going as he made his way along, ignoring the confused and hostile looks he got from any of the natives who caught sight of him. Though strangely none of them moved to stop him. When he was about halfway back something breathtaking happened, the moon returned to its rightful place in the sky and Zuko had to pause to look up in relief and wonder. He didn't know how that happened, but he was grateful that it had. He couldn't dwell on it though and continued making his way back the way he'd come. At some point, he heard a familiar voice call his name and looked up to see his uncle hurrying towards him with visible relief.

"Zuko!" Iroh's breath caught in relief when he caught sight of his nephew, still blessedly alive, making his way back towards him. Why Zuko was carrying Zhao as well Iroh wasn't sure he wanted to know. Especially since Zuko's expression looked rather grim. "Are you well?" He asked as he neared the boy.

"I'm fine Uncle," Zuko replied firmly, though he did manage a slight smile in what appeared to be an attempt at comforting his uncle. There was a pause where Zuko visibly hesitated before he spoke again "I need to get Zhao back to the oasis. Can you help me, Uncle?" Iroh didn't have a clue why Zuko would need to do that, but he wasn't going to argue so he simply nodded.

"Of course." And with that, he carefully lifted the man from his nephew's grasp. Zuko was injured after all. Zuko huffed what might have been a complaint, but it was a half-hearted one. Iroh was certain that carrying Zhao was not good for Zuko's injuries. Iroh wanted to ask what had happened, but Zuko was clearly drained and seemed focused on the task at hand so Iroh left it alone for the time being.

When they arrived back at the oasis they were met by uncertain looks from the two remaining teens, but Iroh paid them very little mind.

"Put him near the edge of the water," Zuko instructed him tiredly "La wants him." Iroh startled slightly at that and looked at his nephew in concern, but all he got back was a tired glare. So Iroh frowned and did as he was told, placing the admiral, none too gently, on the ground near the water. He was going to turn and ask Zuko something just after that, and he could see questions, or perhaps comments, on the lips of the other two teens as well, but what they would have said is drowned out as the glowing being that was both La and The Avatar reappears in the waters near them. They sunk into the water for a moment before The Avatar reappeared standing on the water of the oasis, much like he had been shortly before joining with La. But it was clear from his eyes and posture that it was still La in control.

"Put him in." It was an order and Iroh wasn't entirely surprised to see his nephew move to do as he was told, shoving Zhao the rest of the way into the oasis waters where the man promptly vanished in a flash of light. However, Iroh was surprised, and frightened, by how Zuko then stepped back and dropped into a low bow.

"What else is it you want from me?" Zuko didn't sound argumentative or angry, simply resigned. He must have made some sort of deal. Iroh's heart clenched in fear, but he forced himself to be as calm as possible and stay silent. He didn't want to make things worse. The Avatar/La turned to look more fully at Zuko and Iroh clenched his fists against his sides to keep himself still.

"You have brought me Tui's killer," It was a statement of a fact "And you and your uncle fought for Tui's safety. You nearly drowned to bring a warning of the danger to her." Iroh almost felt like he'd stopped breathing for a moment. Zuko had nearly drowned?! He forcefully pushed that away for the moment and continued listening. "You will not continue to hunt The Avatar." Again, a statement of fact. "Your debt is paid."

Zuko's eyes widened and he looked up at the glowing eyes of The Avatar/La. That was all? He didn't say anything, but it's clear that the spirit understood his disbelief because he/they gave him an amused smile.

"You will have to deal with the consequences of your choices," he/they told him simply "But I will not take anything more from you as my price. Your soldiers are on their ships, alive and far from here. I will not seek vengeance against the people of fire."

With a small nod of what could be mistaken as respect, The Avatar took a step onto the land just in front of Zuko before the light of his eyes and tattoos died and he collapsed forward. Zuko didn't really think, he just darted forward the small distance to catch the smaller boy before he hit the ground. He forgot one thing though, his own body was far from in the shape for catching anything, let alone a twelve-year-old boy. A cry of pain escaped him as his ribs informed him of his folly and his legs gave out underneath him. Despite the abrupt fall he managed to stay on his knees and not drop the boy or collapse on top of him and moments later his uncle was next to him with a steadying hand on his shoulder. The Water Tribe siblings hurried closer then too, still watching him warily, but with far more confusion than anger. Katara stepped closer and carefully took The Avatar from him, holding him as the boy opened bleary eyes for a moment before seeming to fall asleep against her.

The current trial seemed to be over so Zuko leaned slightly into his uncle with a slight breath of relief.

"Are you well Zuko?" Leave it to his uncle to get to the crux of the matter, and in the middle of enemy territory too.

"I'll live," he was a little short in his answer, but he knew his uncle would understand. And as he looked up he caught sight of what looked like two elders of the Northern Water Tribe making their way into the oasis, followed by several guards. He barely managed to bite back a sarcastic complaint as he narrowed his eyes warily at the newcomers. This was going to be interesting.

Chapter Text

Zuko almost groaned as the Water Tribe men made their way towards them, expressions severe. As it was he closed his eyes for several moments to gather himself. There went his hopes of getting off this frozen rock before more threats came. He could fight again if he had to but really didn't want to. His whole body was throbbing, some areas worse than others. After a moment to gather himself, he opened his eyes again to glare at the oncoming men, but before he could really try and decide what to do next his view of them was blocked as Katara physically stepped between him and the members of the Northern Water Tribe. From his position on the ground, he could tell her back was ramrod stiff and her chin was raised slightly, defiant, proud. She was still holding The Avatar, but that did nothing to keep her from looking like some sort of protective guardian.

Zuko couldn't help but feel a bit lost and very vulnerable in his position so he moved to stand, leaning in a way that he was hoped was subtle on his uncle to do so when the older man put a hand on his arm to steady him. From his now standing position, he could see the expressions of the Northern Water Tribe again. One of the older men looked curious and almost amused while the other looked far more suspicious and wary. The fighters had a variety of expressions from closed off and severe to openly confused. Zuko took all this in in a matter of moments, gauging threats as he did so.

"Katara? What are you doing?" Sokka voicing the same question that Zuko wanted to be answered had to be a first, but Zuko fought to keep his own expression even in his surprise.

"They didn't do anything wrong and I'm not going to let them be treated like they did," Katara replied fiercely.

"Have you forgotten that they chased us around the world trying to capture Aang?" Sokka asked, flabbergasted.

"No," Katara huffed "But the ocean spirit seems to believe that they won't be doing that anymore. And even if that wasn't the case that has nothing to do with what's happening right now. They came here to warn us and tried to protect the moon spirit. They fought against their own people to do that. I won't let them arrested for that." It was...strange listening to the Water Tribe girl defend them, but from the almost defeated sigh that came from her brother Zuko could only guess that she was doing a pretty good job.

"Fine," Sokka groaned before, to Zuko's further surprise, moving to stand next to her, putting himself also between the two firebenders and the other Water Tribe men. "You owe me though Katara," Sokka grumbled. Zuko could only blink and stare in shock. He must have hit his head on that ice harder than he originally thought. That was the only way any of this made sense.

'What happened here?" The words came from the angrier looking old man and were more of an order to explain that a question. The tone made Zuko somewhat nervous, but he hid it behind his scowl, not wanting to show weakness.

"Aang wanted to speak with the spirits," Katara explained "So," she faltered for a moment and her shoulders drooped slightly before she continued "So Yue brought us here. She said it was the best place for Aang to meditate to reach the Spirit World." Yue. Was that the white-haired girl's name? For that matter where was the white-haired girl anyways? Zuko's mental questions stalled out as Katara continued. "Aang managed to get to the Spirit World and Yue and I were going to keep an eye on him, but that's when Zuko arrived." She gestured back at him slightly before hesitating again. When she continued she sounded slightly ashamed "I assumed he was there to fight or try and kidnap Aang so I attacked him and ended up freezing him to the wall." She tilted her head over at the ice that hadn't fully melted "He hit pretty hard and fell unconscious." She paused again and shifted slightly, seeming uncomfortable "It didn't really click until afterward that he'd been acting strangely. He didn't really make any aggressive moves, just blocking my attacks. And he said something about wanting to talk, but I didn't listen." She honestly sounded guilty and this time it didn't give Zuko the same thrill. She was defending him after all.

"Then what happened?" The calmer looking older man prompted when Katara was quiet for too long, causing her to shake herself slightly and straighten her posture before continuing her story.

"He woke up a little while later and melted himself free, but he still didn't attack me, even though my back was turned when he got free. Instead, he sat on the ice, trying to warm up I believe." Her head tilted towards her brother then, glancing at him. Seeming to take that as a signal the boy took over the storytelling.

"That's about when I got here," Sokka started up, sounding both serious and somewhat somber for some reason "Yue came and got me, saying that Katara was fighting with a firebender. So we rushed on Appa to get here only to find Katara standing and looking at him as he just sat there." He shrugged "I was skeptical, but Katara wanted to know why he was here and I could see the logic in that. I kept my weapon on me of course, but we let him talk." He shook his head, shoulders stiffening slightly "He told us that he and his uncle had learned about a plan that Admiral Zhao had to attack the moon. He didn't have any specifics, but knew enough that he wanted to come and bring a warning." There was obvious skepticism on several of the faces in front of them and Sokka's tone shifted to one of wry agreement. "Yeah, that was about what I thought. It made no sense, but the reasoning he gave made some sense. After Aang woke up and asked him. Aang woke up right after he finished explaining why he was here. Apparently Aang had gotten the same warning from one of the spirits, or something like that. He just wanted to know why Jerkbender here came to warn us." He shrugged again "He said that harming the moon would cause harm to the Fire Nation too, plus piss off the other spirits. It made sense to me." He stiffened some and shook his head "But while we were talking to him none of us noticed Zhao and his men arriving until they were grabbing up the moon spirit in a bag. We tried to convince him to let it go, all of us." He gestured at the small group, including the two firebenders "General Iroh arrived not long after Zhao and threatened to pay Zhao back in kind if he hurt the moon." He paused before seeming to force himself to continue "So Zhao let the moon spirit out of the bag, but he attacked it moments later." He was clearly getting very upset and Katara quickly stepped in to take over the story.

"The moon was gone and General Iroh attacked the other firebenders, but Zhao ran off. Zuko chased him and we lost sight of them for a while." Her shoulders were tense too, but not angry as far as Zuko could tell. Sad perhaps. She looked down "We thought we were done, but Yue remembered that she had been given life by the moon spirit when she was very young so." She took a deep breath and visibly forced herself to continue "So she decided to give it back. The moon came back to the sky and Yue vanished. I think she became the moon spirit. Or merged with it." She clearly couldn't meet the gaze of the two older men and Zuko couldn't blame her. The angrier man's expression had been growing stiffer and stiffer, but at the explanation of what happened to Yue, Zuko caught sight of a flash of bone-deep grief. He was no expert, but Zuko would guess that it was sheer determination keeping the man on his feet and composed. There were several long moments of silence before the calmer of the two men spoke up.

"I will take the two firebenders into my care, Arnook," it was a simple statement, but it seemed to hold some amount of extra meaning. Zuko was surprised to feel his uncle relax slightly as the other man nodded his agreement. Katara stiffened some and seemed about to speak when the man cut her off by raising a hand "They will not be harmed Katara. They are, at least for now, allies." A slight smirk flickered across the man's face for a moment before it vanished "And besides. There are so few people who still play a good game of Pai Sho. It would be a shame to harm one of the few remaining decent players. Isn't that right General Iroh."

"Very much so Master Pakku," Iroh's voice was calm, but Zuko detected a slight flicker of amusement in it. Zuko almost groaned, but a larger part of him was relieved. One of his uncle's allies then. Good. They were less likely to be frozen or drowned that way. Katara seemed to hesitate before nodding slowly.

"Alright," she agreed, sounding rather confused, glancing back at the two firebenders with a question on her face. Zuko was too tired to try and figure out what that question was so he simply shook his head before looking at his uncle, who gave him a slight nod. Uncle did trust this man. That was good. He allowed himself to relax at that, finally fairly sure that they weren't about to die from one thing or another. And as he did so he suddenly became freshly aware of just how unhappy his body was with him. His chest felt like it was on fire, his body ached, and he'd never felt so cold in his life. The world seemed to sway in his vision and then he was somehow half laying against his uncle's chest and his legs weren't supporting him. He could hear his uncle calling his name, worried, but it was fuzzy, distant. He was so very tired. He was tired, Uncle was there, and they weren't about to die. He allowed his eyes to drift close and slipped into unconsciousness.

Iroh allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief and relax as Master Pakku spoke up. He could tell the other man intended to help them on their way. The defense from the Water Tribe siblings was an unexpected blessing. Zuko must have made quite the impression. He hoped that his relief and pride were visible to his nephew when Zuko looked at him in question and perhaps it was because Zuko seemed to relax at his reassurance. But then it became obvious that something was wrong. Zuko's gaze unfocused and he tipped forward. Iroh had to react quickly to keep the young man from hitting the ground.

"Zuko?!" he called with some alarm, carefully pulling the unsteady young man closer and trying to support his weight "Zuko what's wrong?" But Zuko didn't reply. He seemed to give a distant smile before his eyes slid closed. Iroh's heart caught in his chest for a moment, but it soon became obvious that Zuko was still breathing and his breathing didn't seem shallow. Slightly off and pained perhaps, but not of someone nearing death. He frowned to himself as he moved to try and shift his grip and pick the boy up, but was surprised when the water tribe boy stepped closer to help.

"Here, let me help," he offered. He was surprisingly gentle as he helped Iroh reposition Zuko so that Iroh could lift him up into his arms properly and carry him.

"Perhaps you should take them to Yugoda first," Cheif Arnook's voice was dry as he made his suggestion, but Master Pakku justed nodded.

"This way," Master Pakku instructed as he turned to start walking. Iroh followed easily, quickening his steps at the beginning to catch up behind the other older man, falling into step just beside and behind him. From behind him, Iroh could hear that the two Southern Water Tribe children have a quick discussion before there were quick, light feet that hurried after them. Not long later Katara caught up with them, still carrying The Avatar with her.

"I should probably have Yugoda make sure Aang is ok too," she said by way of explanation. Iroh nodded his understanding, noticing with some interest that Master Pakku looked at her with some amount of pride.

"You did well." Yep, there was pride in his voice too, and it clearly meant a great deal to the girl because she broke into a wide smile at his words. It didn't take long to reach what Iroh assumed was the healer's house and made their way inside. Along the way, they, or rather he, had been given many unfriendly looks, but it was clear that Master Pakku commanded some respect in the Tribe because no one tried to stop them or harass them. Iroh had noticed a couple who looked like they wanted to say something but cut themselves off when Pakku shot a look their way. Once inside the building, they were met by a friendly-looking woman who looked up from where she was treating an injured member of the tribe. She opened her mouth, clearly about to give some sort of instructions, but faltered as she caught sight of Iroh and the boy in his arms. Or, perhaps, their obvious fire nation clothing. She seemed bewildered for a moment and glanced at Master Pakku in question.

"General Iroh and his nephew did our tribe a great favor at risk of themselves," Master Pakku explained briefly "They are under my care until it is safe for them to leave. The boy is clearly injured. I believe Avatar Aang is merely exhausted from housing the spirit of the ocean, but it's probably best if you look him over as well." The woman, Yugoda, straightened and nodded sharply as she stood.

"Come this way," she instructed, turning to make her way past her current patients and what appeared to be her assistants treating them. The followed her to a back room that held a smaller number of pallets "Lay them down here and I'll look them both over," she instructed firmly. Katara and Iroh both obeyed without a word, laying the two unconscious boys on separate mats. Once Zuko was safely on the mat Iroh moved to sit by his head, leaning against the icy wall and stroking his boy's hair.

"How can I help?" Katara asked as she moved out of the way for the older woman to kneel and look over The Avatar. Yugoda just shook her head as Master Pakku settled down to sit on the floor near the door to the main room.

"Nothing right now dear. Just stay here until he wakes. He seems to just be worn out." The girl nodded at that, visibly relieved, and moved to sit on the floor not far from The Avatar, clearly worn out herself. Iroh watched as the healer shifted and moved over to kneel next to his nephew, giving him a friendly smile and nod in greeting as she did so. "General Iroh," she said in greeting as she coated her hands in glowing water "A pleasure to see you again."

"And you," Iroh replied simply "Though I would have preferred more pleasant circumstances." Yugoda nodded her understanding as she began to work, starting at the ex prince's head and working her way down. Iroh was silent as she worked, not wanting to interrupt or disrupt her work. She had to stop several times and he noted that she focused on his nephew's ribs as well as a couple of other locations along the way. More seriously injured areas he could only assume. Once she was done she sat back.

"He should be fine. I've healed his ribs as well as a concussion and several other injuries. Though I'm uncertain where he got most of these. They seem several days old." A dark look stole across Iroh's expression, but he forced his tone to remain light as he replied.

"I fear General Zhao took it upon himself to try and be rid of his competition for capturing the young Avatar and blew up my nephew's ship, with my nephew still on it." A quiet, horrified gasp drew his gaze over to Katara, who was staring at him in some sort of horrified shock, but Yugoda just nodded.

"That explains some of the burns and other injuries," she noted with calm ease "Either way he will likely sleep for the next several hours at least. You should rest as well." Iroh gave her a slightly worn smile in reply.

"Thank you," he replied simply "But I believe I'll wait until he wakes." He certainly didn't want Zuko waking up in a strange place without him being there to help calm him. Yugoda nodded her understanding and stood.

"Very well. The only other thing I'd suggest for him is that he would probably do better if he is kept warm. I imagine you can handle that yourself?" Iroh smiled and nodded.

"Of course," he agreed easily "And I will do my best not to melt anything while I'm at it." He is gratified by her amused huff before she makes her way back out into the main room. As she left Iroh glanced over at the young waterbender, who was watching him with something akin to uncertainty.

"Thank you," he told her simply, causing her to blink in surprised confusion "For speaking up for him." The clarification cleared up her confusion at least.

"It's the least I could do after...everything," she replied with a self-conscious shrug and he could see the guilt in her posture. It was obvious she was speaking about her reaction to Zuko bringing the message. She must have a gentle heart to feel guilt for one who had been her enemy for so long.

"Thank you all the same," he replied simply, not bothering to argue "It warms this old man's heart to see someone else stand up for him. I fear it does not happen as often as I wish it would." He got a quizzical look at that, but she didn't ask so Iroh moved around to lay next to his nephew and carefully pull him against his chest, sharing warmth. Zuko stirred, but settled again quickly enough. A testament to his exhaustion no doubt. Once they were settled Iroh closed his eyes and began focusing on his breathing. He carefully raised his own body temperature as well as the air just in front of him, around Zuko's head and core. He couldn't raise the external temperature by a large amount without risking melting things, but he did his best to help stave off the cold that was clearly getting to the boy that was shivering in his arms. Eyes closed and mind focused Iroh settled himself to wait until his nephew had recovered from this most recent bout that life had thrown their way.

Chapter Text

Zuko slept through the night and into the next day with Iroh keeping watch over him with calm, protective patience. Once Zuko's body temperature had reached a more normal level Iroh allowed himself to sleep but didn't move from his position next to his boy. When he woke Zuko was still sleeping peacefully, but the two other children were no longer in the room. Master Pakku had taken up using the emptied furs and was resting as well. Iroh was quite content to stay where he was, watching Zuko sleep until the boy woke, but after a time Yugoda came in and found him awake. It took some work, but she convinced him to sit up and eat something while he waited. In the end, Iroh was hungry and he knew that food would help rebuild his reserves after he burned through so much of them the night before. He simply didn't want to accidentally wake Zuko by getting up. So he moved very carefully as he disentangled himself from his nephew and tucked the boy back in to keep him warm. Once he was sure that the young man wasn't going to wake up he settled into a more comfortable sitting position to wait for Yugoda to return. To his surprise, Yugoda wasn't the one to bring the food in, instead The Avatar and his two friends came in. Sokka seemed the most hesitant, but even he didn't put up much of a fuss as they sat down not far from the old general and offered him a bowl of some kind of soup.

"Is he going to be alright?" The Avatar asked, eyes flickering over to the sleeping firebender, and Iroh can only smile at the strangely kind and forgiving boy.

"He will be," Iroh reassures him simply, keeping his voice quiet "Yugoda healed the injuries that were of concern and his body has reached a more natural temperature. Now he just needs rest." The Avatar seemed to relax some at that and nodded, causing Iroh to smile warmly at him "Thank you for your concern Avatar, it warms an old man's heart to hear someone else care for him, even just a little." The boy's face flushed at the praise and he ducked his head slightly.

"Aang," The Avatar spoke up after a moment "My name is Aang."

"Aang then," Iroh agreed warmly "Thank you Aang." Aang ducked his head again and returned his focus to eating. Iroh did notice that the boy seemed to be eating a different broth than the rest of them. One without any meat in it. Interesting. Iroh casually stored that information away for later.

"So..." the Water Tribe boy spoke up slowly "General Iroh-"

"Just Iroh, please," Iroh cut in smoothly "I retired a long time ago." The boy nodded and continued.

"Iroh. Any chance you're willing to explain the sudden change of heart? I mean just a short while ago you two were chasing us around the world and now well," he gestured around them vaguely, clearly frowning. He seemed like one who didn't appreciate not knowing things. "And for another thing," he added quickly "How do you know Master Pakku? I mean, you're Fire Nation and he's Water Tribe." Iroh can't help but grin, eyes lighting up with a mischievous light.

"Now don't you know? All old people know each other." Before any of them could reply to that clearly non-answer there was a groan from the mat beside them. Not a groan of pain, but one of age-old frustration.

"Uncle please," Zuko spoke up, opening his eyes with an exasperated glare before looking at the other teenagers and huffing "He just doesn't like talking about his little group of pai sho loving, flower nonsense spouting, information sharing old people." He sat up with a quiet groan and looked over at Iroh, clearly about to say more, but stopped when he noticed the blatantly shocked expression on Iroh's face. "What? Is there something on my face?"

Iroh can't help but stare at his nephew in shock "What? But? How did you? I never?" He kept cutting himself off before he could properly finish a sentence, clearly flabbergasted. He'd always been careful to keep things casual so how? How had Zuko noticed? Once Zuko seemed to work out what Iroh was asking his expression twisted from one of confusion to one that clearly indicated that he felt insulted, and a little hurt, and Iroh winced slightly. That was never a good sign.

"Come on Uncle," Zuko said, somewhat shortly "You regularly would seek out specific people at ports, sometimes insisting that we went into certain shops or pubs for whatever reason you could come up with at the time. Then you'd sit down and play pai sho and say stupidly cryptic things that are obviously some sort of code or password since they say similarly stupid and cryptic things back. It's always about flowers or tea or something else planty." He glared at Iroh then "And then you come up with some reason to go off on your own or with the other pai sho player or to have me leave. And I can't count how many times you came back with supplies or information that helped us out of a tough situation. You'd always have some excuse for how you found the information or supplies, but it was too convenient considering how often it happened. Or you'd be able to get us somewhere we needed to go, access to a healer, or some other sort of thing that you shouldn't have been able to do since we weren't anywhere near fire nation owned lands." Iroh just stared in shock until loud laughter echoed through the room, originating from off to the side. Looking over Iroh found Master Pakku doubling over with deep bellied laughter. Iroh didn't even remember the other man waking up.

"He got you there Iroh," He laughed "You always said he was a smart boy. Guess you were right."

Zuko flushed and looked between the two older men, one laughing as if he'd just heard the funniest joke ever and the other shifting from shock to a strange mix of embarrassment and pride. His uncle had told them he was smart? He suddenly felt a little guilty about his half-truthful answer so he cleared his throat.

"Well...to be fair...there was the one time I followed you," he told his uncle, causing the eyes in the room to shift back to him and he just knew he was flushing even brighter so he averted his gaze to look over at a nearby wall "It was fairly early on. We were in pretty dangerous territory and you kept insisting that you wanted to go on a walk by yourself. You wouldn't let any of us go with you. I was already kind of suspicious about the strange things you had going on, but that didn't' mean you were safe to be wandering around alone so..." he shrugged self consciously "I followed you on your walk and watched you meet up with a couple of other older folk and talk about all sorts of things. Some more important than others. It seemed...rather secretive and important." He shrugged again, not meeting his uncle's gaze "I stopped fighting it when you tried to slip off after that." There were several beats of silence and he dared to risk glancing over at his uncle. He honestly looked even more flabbergasted than before.

"But that." Iroh blinked in shock. He clearly knew which instance Zuko was speaking of. Zuko's change in behavior after that night had been rather obvious "You overheard that meeting?" At Zuko's nod, Iroh raised his hands slightly, looking baffled and a little lost. "But. You never said anything? That was. You would have heard a lot during that meeting. And you never...told anyone?" Zuko visibly stiffened and turned to look at his uncle more fully, hurt, and offended.

"I would never!" Zuko's voice was sharp, angry and some sparks danced around his hands as he jerked them in a furious motion "I know what the Fire Nation does to traitors! I'd never let them do that to you! You're-" He cut off, breathing heavily as he suddenly remembered there were other people in the room, staring at them in various levels of shock. So Zuko took a slow, deep breath and closed his eyes, fighting down a firey mix of anger and hurt that his uncle even had to ask that. He was so focused on calming himself down that he didn't notice anyone moving until familiar arms pulled him into a swift hug. He couldn't help but stiffen for a moment before he let out a slow breath and relaxed into the hold, resting his head against the warm shoulder and raising a hand to pat his uncle on the back. He let his hand rest there afterward, not quite returning the hug with so many people watching, but not pushing the older man away. Uncle Iroh had been a lot more into hugs the last several days than before, but perhaps that had more to do with Zuko accepting them than Iroh wanting to give them.

After a while, Zuko cleared his throat awkwardly and his uncle pulled back, beaming at him, causing Zuko to flush once more and look away. He suddenly couldn't really feel offended anymore. Not with that bright smile aimed at him. So instead he quickly glanced around, looking for some way to change the subject. What he found was three young teens staring at him with some amount of shock and fascination. His embarrassment rushed back, but he tried to hide it by stiffening his shoulders slightly.

"What?" He snapped at them, but instead of causing them to pull back, he got reactions that seemed close to amusement.

"Nothing," the water tribe boy, Sokka, replied with a clearly amused smile "It's just weird seeing you act like a human being."

"Of course I'm a human being!" Zuko said, scowling "What else would I be?" Sokka shrugged with a wide, amused grin.

"Don't know. An angry boar-q-pine I guess?" Zuko stared at him in confusion, but by the groan and eye roll that came from his sister Zuko could only guess that was some kind of attempt at humor. If a poor one.

"Right..." Zuko drew out, somewhat flabbergasted.

"Don't mind him," Katara spoke up with an amused huff "Sokka just doesn't know how to keep from putting his foot in his mouth." She ignored the indignant response that got her and pressed on with a smile "It's good to see you up and about. You gave General Iroh quite a scare there for a bit." Zuko shifted uncomfortably and gave a one-sided shrug in response.

"I was fine," he insisted uncomfortably "It wasn't that bad."

"Bad enough to pass out," Katara pointed out, raising a single eyebrow and he grimaced at that.

"It was cold," he pointed out, clearly embarrassed "I hadn't raised my body temperature enough to compensate." He wasn't fond of the idea of explaining anything beyond that. But thankfully The Avatar spoke up, changing the subject.

"Anyways. I'm glad you're awake. I wanted to say thank you. For helping us here. And for saving me before. I never did get to say thank you back then." Zuko flushed again as The Avatar's two companions looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean before?" Katara asked, frowning at The Avatar. It was only then that it seemed to occur to the younger boy that maybe he'd messed up.

"Well..." The Avatar started, flushing slightly "You remember when you both got sick? And I had to go get you frogs?" The disgusted look that flashed across the two Water Tribe siblings had Zuko wondering what the story behind that part was, but they nodded so The Avatar continued "Well...while I was out I...might have been captured...by Admiral Zhao..." The horror that flashed across the faces of the siblings was obvious and Katara moved to put a hand on The Avatar's shoulder.

"What?! Are you ok? You didn't seem hurt! What happened?!" The Avatar actually seemed to lean somewhat away from the attention, bright red.

"I'm fine! I was fine! I didn't get hurt. Promise. Zuko saved me." This had the two siblings, and his uncle, looking at Zuko in shock. "I didn't know it was him at first. He had a mask on and he didn't use his firebending at all. Just a pair of swords." Understanding flickered across Iroh's face at that, but he didn't say anything as The Avatar continued "He snuck in and broke me out, and then we had to fight our way out and almost got caught. But I didn't get hurt. So it's fine." Zuko huffed when the eyes turned back to him a moment later.

"Look," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away "You don't need to thank me. It wasn't like I was trying to free you or anything. I just didn't want Zhao to catch you before I could. And besides. Even if I had planned to let you go you already paid me back when you didn't leave me behind after I got knocked unconscious." He grimaced and visibly shuddered slightly "You could have left me behind for Zhao when I was knocked out. It would have saved you a lot of trouble later, but you didn't. So. Don't worry about it."

"I wasn't going to just leave you there!" The Avatar protested "Not with him! That man is crazy!" Zuko huffed a laugh at that and glanced over at The Avatar, meeting his eyes hesitantly.

"Was," he corrected "Zhao was crazy. It's not like he's around anymore." The Avatar frowned slightly at that and was silent for several moments before he spoke again.

"What..." he paused, not looking like he was sure he wanted to know the answer "What happened to him? Everything after the moon died is kind of fuzzy for me..." Zuko glanced around at the others, but they seemed to be waiting for him to reply so he huffed a sigh and shifted to sit more comfortably, crossing his legs in front of him.

"La wanted him. He killed Tui so he wanted to have him for...whatever spirit revenge I imagine he panned to intact. I don't pretend to fully understand what a spirit like La plans to do. He told me to bring Zhao back and put him in the oasis, so I did. Zhao vanished after that, I assume he was pulled into the spirit realm where La could deal with him however he wants." The Avatar looked uncomfortable at that for some reason but nodded. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke up.

"What about the others? The soldiers I mean." The Avatar asked, glancing around "I noticed that there weren't any in the city anymore." Zuko nodded evenly, though a slight shudder went through him as his mind flashed through the image of the large water being staring down at him.

"La said he put the soldiers on their ships and sent them far enough away they won't cause trouble for a while. I imagine several ships might have been slightly damaged in the process so they won't be coming back for a long time. If they come back at all. This attack was a complete failure and the Admiral that led it is dead. I doubt they'll deem it worth attacking here again for a very long time." The Avatar looked visibly relieved at that, but Katar spoke up before anyone else could.

"That's right!" she looked at Zuko with bright, interested eyes "I was meaning to ask you! Did you make some sort of deal with La or something? Because that was all pretty strange when you got back." And all the eyes in the room were fixed on him again.

"Yes. Well." Zuko shifted uncomfortably before crossing his arms again and scowling "Yes. I made a deal with La."

"What deal?" Sokka asked, visibly curious "What do you have to offer the ocean that made him accept."

Zuko shrugged slightly "Honestly I have no idea," he admitted somewhat sharply "I had to try though. He had me bring him, Zhao, that's all he asked from me. Maybe he felt lenient because Uncle and I were trying to stop Zhao before it happened. It's not like I understand the mind of spirits." Sokka nodded slowly, frowning in thought.

"What were you bargaining for?" The Avatar asked curiously and Zuko blinked at him in confusion.

"What do you think?" he asked before shaking his head and answering the question anyways "The lives of my people. If not the ones here then the ones back on the mainland. And the other ships at sea." He stiffened his shoulders some and looked away, not wanting to see their reactions "I know the Fire Nation is your enemy, but they're still my people and I had to try and protect them. Who knows what La would have done to them. Nothing good. I hoped that even if he didn't spare the soldiers here he might spare those back home. The last thing my people need is an angry ocean spirit lashing out at them with storms and waves. We're mostly a bunch of islands. That could do unfixable damage." There was a long pause before anyone spoke.

"I guess I can understand that." It was Sokka that finally broke the silence "The common people don't necessarily need to be punished because Zhao was a maniac." Zuko glanced over at that, somewhat surprised. Sokka didn't necessarily look like he agreed with what he was saying, but he looked like he understood at least. Katara looked thoughtful. His uncle was beaming at him with obvious pride and he felt a flush crawling up his neck at that. The waterbending master just looked thoughtful. The Avatar caught him by surprise though, he was grinning at Zuko, eyes bright and happy. Zuko didn't know how to deal with that so he just looked away awkwardly.

"Anyways," he cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly "Any chance I could have some of that?" He gestured at the pot vaguely. He had no idea what it was, but he was hungry enough not to really care. His uncle grinned and immediately began serving him some while the others went back to eating. Zuko couldn't help but notice that even as they ate the three kids kept glancing at him from time to time, but he did his best to ignore it.

"So..." Sokka spoke up after several minutes of quiet eating "You're done chasing Aang then? You said something about that yesterday, but didn't mention it in your deal today." Zuko stiffened, he couldn't help it. That was going to be a painful subject for a while. But he forced himself to meet the young warrior's steady gaze with his own.

"That's because it wasn't a part of the bargain," he said simply "It couldn't be." He paused for a moment but pressed on before anyone could ask any further questions "Uncle and I had already decided that we were finished chasing The Avatar before we came here. We were just here to try and get my crew. Zhao had ordered them to come with him on this attack. They couldn't refuse, but we hoped that they could use the beginning of the invasion to break away and commandeer a ship to escape." He paused and grimace before adding "I hope they all managed to get on a ship before things fell apart. And that it wasn't damaged by the wave La caused to push the ships away. We told them to wait for us a good distance back, but I imagine they were pushed away with the rest of the fleet." Sokka blinked at him. He clearly hadn't expected that much of an answer.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Sokka asked after a moment and Zuko grit his teeth. It didn't look like the Water Tribe boy was going to be giving up on his questioning.

"Because catching The Avatar will no longer do me any good," he replied shortly before grimacing and looking away "If it ever would have in the first place."

"What's that even supposed to mean?" Sokka asked, exasperated "What good would catching Aang do you."

"Perhaps we should let Yugoda know that everyone is awake," Iroh cut in quickly, obviously trying to change subjects, and Zuko felt a rush of gratitude for his uncle at that, but shook his head.

"It's fine Uncle," he reassured the older man, who gave him an uncertain and concerned look that warmed him more than firebending ever had "All things considered they're probably the only people who deserve to know." He had put them through a lot after all. And they were just kids. He could acknowledge that now as he looked across at the three of them. The Avatar only looked between twelve and fourteen. Barely a teenager if he even was. Sokka was the oldest and he might be Zuko's age at most. So Zuko bit back a sigh and rolled his shoulders to loosen them and buy himself some time.

"My father," he paused and grimaced before changing his words around some "The Fire Lord banished me around three years ago. I was told I could only return if I captured the Avatar and brought him back with me." There was visible shock on the faces of the three younger people in the room. The Waterbending Master in the back looked unsurprised. So he already knew. Somehow that didn't surprise Zuko.

"But," The Avatar started, looking and sounding more horrified than Zuko had ever seen him before "That was long before I woke up. I'd been missing for almost a hundred years. You-he- There was no way to know I'd show up." Zuko grimaced and looked away.

"I wasn't supposed to succeed," he admitted, voice slightly raw. It was still a painful thought "It took much longer than it should have for me to realize that. But I was meant to fail. He didn't want me to come home. He made that very clear after you did show up. Once it was known that you were back he assigned the job of capturing you to Zhao." He couldn't bring himself to look at them as he looked back down at his food. He didn't need their pity.

"That's-that's awful!" It's Katara's voice that time and she sounded honestly angry, surprising him enough to look at her. Her eyes almost seemed to be sparking in her visible fury. Next to her, the other two looked similar enough, though The Avatar looked more sad than angry "He's your father! Why would he? How could he?!" Zuko couldn't help the startled laugh that escaped him as he stared at them in shock.

"What?" He asked, baffled before mind caught up with his words and he shook his head "I mean. He just-" He shrugged, cutting himself off and looking away again. He knew he was turning bright red, but didn't know to respond to their anger. Their anger for him. "I wasn't a very good son. At least, not the one he wanted. He wanted Azula to take the throne." He paused and looked at them "My sister. She is a much better firebender than me. Ruthless too. She takes after him. I'm too much like our mother."

"For which I am very grateful," his uncle cut in, causing Zuko to flush again and look away. This was far too personal a conversation for him. He hadn't meant for it to go this far. He just wanted to explain why he'd been chasing them as he had, not dive into his life story.

"Anyways," Zuko said firmly, looking back at them with a firm expression "That's why I was chasing you. But I won't be anymore, so don't worry about it." He wanted to move on so he turned his attention to his uncle and faltered at the warm smile he found there. He coughed awkwardly and pressed on, trying to ignore the warmth that caused again "So. When are we leaving? And how are we going to make our way? I doubt our ship is waiting nearby after everything that happened yesterday." Thankfully his uncle allowed the subject change and no one else tried to stop it.

"We'll be setting out once Yugoda is comfortable with you traveling. Later today I imagine." Iroh explained easily.

"We'll be providing transportation," the waterbending master spoke up evenly "It won't be as fancy as the boats you're used to, but it should get you by long enough." Zuko couldn't help but relax some at that and turned to give the man a bow in reply, though it was slightly awkward from his sitting position.

"You have my thanks," he said formally, but the man just waved it away.

"You helped us so we'll help you. Simple as that. Besides," he smirked "Us pai sho and flower folk can't risk losing your uncle. And he'd be a mess if something happened to you. So it's in our best interest to see you two safely back to solid land." Zuko couldn't help but snort quietly in amusement at that.

"I see," Zuko said easily "Thank you all the same." The man simply nodded in reply before getting to his feet.

"I'll go get Yugoda," he informed them before making his way out. There were several more minutes of silence as they all finished eating before The Avatar spoke up.

"So...what are you going to do now?"

Zuko looked up at them and hesitated for a moment before replying "We haven't fully discussed it yet. Try and catch up with our crew first I imagine. Then find somewhere to settle down." He glanced at his uncle uncertainly before looking back at them "We haven't made any solid plans." The Avatar nodded slowly.

"I guess that makes sense," he replied after several moments and silence fell again. It wasn't a completely comfortable silence, but it wasn't hostile at all either, which was somewhat weird in Zuko's mind.

"Have you kids ever heard the story of the fire ferret and the gopher bear?" Iroh suddenly spoke up, startling Zuko from his thoughts and making the others all to look at him in surprise. After several moments the three younger teens shook their head and Iroh grinned, shifting to get in a more comfortable position. "Well then. It goes like this..." Zuko couldn't quite hide his smile as he settled back to listen to his uncle do what he did best, settle tension with crazy stories. If they had tea it would have been a perfect image, but as it was he was just happy to see his uncle smiling and enjoying himself like this. Closing his eyes he settled in to listen.

Chapter Text

Zuko couldn't remember ever feeling as content as he did sitting and listening to his uncle tell stories around a pot of stew to three avidly listening kids. Maybe he had been back before his mother had vanished, but he wasn't sure. The irony that he was sitting in a Northern Water Tribe house and the three children had been his enemies until a very short while ago was not lost on Zuko, but he couldn't begrudge the fact. It helped that his uncle sounded happier than he'd heard him in a long while as well. He didn't bother to open his eyes as his uncle moved into a second tale at The Avatar's happy urging and a small smile twitched at his lips at his uncle's booming laugh. When had he last let himself relax? He honestly couldn't remember. He'd spent so much time focusing on one goal or another. The last three years had been searching for the Avatar, before that trying to be the perfect prince. Why hadn't he let himself take a break before? His uncle had tried to convince him to many times, but he'd always refused. Now he couldn't help but think himself a fool. This felt amazing, and that was with the chill in the air still biting at his skin. What would it have felt like to rest in one of those many hot springs his uncle so loved? He would have to try that out at some point after this. There was no reason not to after all. Not anymore. He honestly had no idea where they'd go from here, but at that moment he couldn't only revel in the moment of calm, he refused to think too far ahead.

The beginning of a third story was interrupted by the sound of someone entering the room and Zuko opened his eyes to find an old woman in Northern Water Tribe clothing making her way closer. She seemed friendly and the others in the room seemed to be unbothered by her so Zuko just watched her with slight suspicion as she drew near and knelt down between his uncle and The Avatar.

"How are you feeling Prince Zuko?" the woman asked him with a friendly smile. She was clearly trying to be respectful, but Zuko grimaced and looked away.

"Zuko," he said firmly "Just Zuko. I'm not a prince anymore, my father has made that clear." He paused for a moment before answering her question a little awkwardly. "But I feel fine. Thank you." The woman nodded easily at his response.

"That is good to hear," she told him "Would you mind if I check over your injuries once more? I like to be certain my patients are fully recovered before I send them out into the world again. And if you are going to be traveling by boat anytime soon I'd like to be doubly certain." This woman had to be Yugoda then. Zuko knew he needed to have this happen before they could leave, his uncle would never agree to anything else, but he really wasn't comfortable with the idea. Yugoda seemed to guess the cause of at least part of his discomfort and straightened to make a shooing gesture with her hands at The Avatar and his friends "Out out, all of you," she instructed. She turned towards Iroh but seemed to catch how Zuko's shoulders stiffened some and turned away from him once more to make sure the others left the room. Thankfully they didn't argue as they made their way out and soon it was just the three of them left in the room, allowing Zuko to relax some. He was thankful that she didn't draw attention to the change when she turned back to him.

"Now, let's have a look at you," she instructed simply and he gave a slight nod. He held himself stiff as she made her way closer, but didn't try to move away. The more he cooperated the fasted this would be over. He did watch in some fascination as water coated her hands and began to glow before she touched his head. It felt strange and cold as she ran the water along his head and down his neck. She followed it down to his chest and spent extra time on his ribs and he caught himself feeling a bit of surprise that she didn't seem to need him to remove his clothes at all for her to look him over. He was grateful for that fact though. And for how the residue ache in his chest dulled as she worked. From his chest, she moved along to his arms and then down to his hips and legs. He couldn't help but stiffen some as she reached his hips, but she was nothing if not professional and soon she finished up, pulling away with a satisfied nod.

"I'd say you've healed nicely," she said with what sounded like some amount of pride "you are safe to travel as long as you don't do any heavy lifting for the next couple of days." Zuko was no fool. He knew how bad his injuries had been before and he felt practically brand new now. He moved into a more appropriate position with his legs under him and pressed his hands together to give her a respectful bow of thanks.

"Thank you for your care Lady Yugoda. You do me a great honor and I doubt I can ever fully repay you." He was surprised by the bright laugh this brought from the woman and looked up to see her grinning at him.

"Nonsense young man," she replied "You helped us and your uncle is a good man. There is no debt owed." Zuko hesitated uncertainly before giving a slow nod.

"As you say My Lady," he agreed with another bow. He wasn't sure how to take the second bout of laughter, but let it go as he straightened up. She gave him a clearly amused smile as she stood.

"I'll go let the others know that they can come in," she told them easily "And tell Pakku to start setting up your travel plans. You two rest up. You'll have a long day of travels ahead of you."

"Of course, thank you again Yugoda," Zuko couldn't help but notice the lack of title when his uncle spoke to her but kept it to himself as she bowed slightly in reply before leaving the room. He didn't have time to question after that because The Avatar and his friends came back into the room. He couldn't help but notice the slightly uncertain expression on The Avatar's face as he came over. Zuko couldn't think of any reason the boy should be uncertain, but he was sure he'd find out soon enough. And he was right.

"So..." The Avatar started, shifting nervously "I was thinking..." There was another long pause as the boy looked at his two friends, who clearly knew what he was going to say, but wanted him to be the one to say it. Sokka looked somewhat put upon though Katara only looked thoughtful. After several moments The Avatar continued "Well I'm going to need a firebending teacher at some point...and you two are the only two firebenders I know that...well, don't want to kill or capture me. You know, anymore." Zuko blinked at him in complete shock. He had to be hearing things, but the boy kept going. "So I was just thinking that, maybe, you two might want to travel with us? We're going to head out once I finish mastering waterbending and you said you didn't really have any plans so..." This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. They'd barely stopped being enemies and The Avatar wanted them to start traveling with him and teach him firebending? That was full-on treason. It was one thing to not be able to go home, but help the top enemy of his country?

Iroh couldn't help but smile at the well-meaning offer, but he could tell without even looking at his nephew that this would be a step too far. Zuko would need time to adjust to his current situation before he would even consider something like this. From the silence, he could guess that Zuko was in shock so he took it upon himself to answer.

"Thank you Aang," he said warmly, noting in amusement how his nephew looked at him in surprise at the use of the boy's name "for your very generous offer, but I fear we must decline. My nephew and I need to find our crew and take some time for ourselves. And besides, you still need to master earth before you can start learning fire. Perhaps if you find us after you've mastered earth we can discuss it again? We'll likely settle somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. Somewhere small enough not to be a target, but large enough that we won't be too out of place." He could practically feel his nephew's relief beside him but didn't look at him, instead, he took in the disappointment on Aang's face.

"Oh. Ok," Aang sighed "I guess that makes sense." He paused before brightening. He really was a happy child "But you're right. Maybe we'll find you once I master earthbending. That would be fun." Iroh nodded his agreement with a warm smile, noting the slight relaxing to Sokka's shoulders as well.

"It would be fun," he agreed easily "I'm sure the fates will bring us together again if it is meant to be." Those words seemed to brighten the boy's smile even further, though Sokka simply rolled his eyes. Deciding to change subjects and help his nephew relax again Iroh settled back "Now, I believe we were interrupted before I could get into the story of the dragon and the turtle-duck." He felt a rush of contentment as the children moved to sit across from him again, clearly willing to listen. And he couldn't help but notice how Zuko's shoulders relaxed and he closed his eyes to listen as well. It brought joy to his heart to see him so relaxed. They stayed that way for a long while, sharing stories. After a time he managed to convince the other children to share some stories of their own. The Water Tribe siblings had stories very different from the ones he knew and the young avatar had a wide variety of stories from long ago, even some Fire Nation stories lost to time and war. Iroh made sure to take note of each tale, storing them within his mind and heart. He did notice that his nephew listened intensively to these stories too. He was sure that the others thought his boy wasn't paying attention, but Iroh knew him better. They passed the time this way for several hours until Pakku returned to the room.

"Your boat is ready," Pakku said simply as soon as he entered the room "We have supplies packed up onto it as well. It's probably best that you leave as soon as the tides are good to depart." Iroh can easily read the disappointment on the expressions of all four children in the room, though Zuko hid his behind a typical, for him, scowl and looking away.

"You need to leave already?" Aang asked sadly.

"It seems so," Iroh replied with an easy smile "But don't worry. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"Right," Katara agreed with a sharp nod as she patted Aang's back reassuringly "We've just got to have faith. We'll all be fine and we'll see each other again someday. We'll be traveling the Earth Kingdom soon enough. I'm sure we'll run into each other."

"Right," Sokka agreed, though Iroh got the feeling that the boy was more trying to cheer up his friend than really agreeing with the idea. It did seem to work though, Aang's expression brightened and he nodded.

"You're right," Aang agreed far more cheerfully, leaping to his feet with a small gust of air "We'll see each other again. And by that time I bet I'll have earthbending down pat." Zuko huffed a laugh at that, though he tried to cover it with a cough, and stood himself.

"Right, well. You three stay safe." It was obvious he was rather uncertain how to interact with the other three even after the time they spent talking. Though, Iroh did have to admit that Zuko hadn't exactly done much talking during the time either. The poor boy simply did not know how to interact with others close to his age. To help take the pressure off his nephew Iroh stood as well and gave the other three a slight bow.

"Yes, be careful, all of you. I expect to see each of you at a later date, alive and well." As the siblings stood up Aang smiled and bowed, a proper Fire Nation bow at that, eyes warm and friendly.

"Of course, you both stay safe as well," the sincerity in the young monk's voice and expression was obvious and made Iroh smile at him as well. Even Zuko relaxed enough to give a slight smile and formal bow in return.

"Yeah, what he said," it seemed Sokka wasn't much better at words than Zuko was "Just, without the bowing. I don't do bowing." His sister rolled his eyes at that and swatted him on the back of the head before turning to give them both a slight bow of her own. It wasn't Fire Nation, but it was clearly respectful.

"Don't mind him. Sokka's got a big head sometimes," she grinned as she straightened back up "He's just worried that if he bows it'll unbalance him and he'll fall over." Sokka's indignant cry managed to cover the quiet snort of amusement that Zuko was clearly trying to hide as he turned his head away so Iroh let out a loud laugh himself.

"So I see," he chuckled merrily before smiling at the three of them "Well, we had best be off. We don't want to overstay our welcome. Cheif Arnook has been very gracious to let us stay here this long." With another bow, which was mirrored by his nephew beside him, Iroh turned and made his way over to Pakku, who immediately turned and began leading them out the door.

"I expect to see you both at the training grounds in one hour," Pakku called back into the room at the two training waterbenders "Don't be late." Iroh couldn't help but chuckle as he overheard Sokka grumbling about being ignored, but soon the voices of the three young fighters were lost behind them as they followed the master waterbender out of the building and down towards the ocean.

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It took another two weeks of travel to reach the city they planned to make their new home. Gaoling was a fairly busy, bustling city, for all it was relatively small. Zuko, who had taken to going by Lee, and Iroh, who had taken to going by Mushi, were easily able to blend into the crowds. They received some slightly uneasy looks, but there were enough mixed-race people in the Earth Kingdom that no one really questioned their appearances.

Once they had arrived they set about trying to find the best way to get settled. They managed to make a deal with the owner of a vacant building in the city that allowed them to start using it for the tea shop that Iroh so wanted to have. They would sleep on the upper floor and use the bottom floor as the shop. If the shop went well they would be able to pay the man in installments until they owned the building themselves. Between the first payment on that building and buying the supplies to start the shop, they were completely out of money. So they were short on food for the first day or so as they got the shop up and running, but not for long after that.

The shop quickly took off. Iroh truly was a master tea maker and the building was nice enough. Paired with Iroh's friendly and cheerful attitude it didn't take long for them to make a name for themselves. It was easy to say that the Jasmine Dragon was a roaring success in a relatively short time. Even Zuko's awkward attempts to socialize with the customers didn't harm business, if anything the patrons found him somewhat endearing as he fumbled through any conversations that they tried to bring up. Thankfully, business was heavy enough that he didn't have much time to stand around and talk. He had to keep moving to keep serving the many customers. After a couple of weeks, Iroh began hiring others to help out around the shop. He was picky when it came to who he hired to help make tea, but less so on who could help serve. Soon there were six others helping Zuko bustle the tea around the shop. They were able to take breaks and have days off. Not that Zuko tended to take advantage of either of those.

It didn't take long for them to fully settle into their roles, though Zuko had to admit, if only to himself, that he wasn't fully satisfied with his new life. He knew his adopted father adored the new life they were building. Serving tea, and occasionally playing a game of pai show with a traveling guest, suited him well. Zuko didn't know why he couldn't fully enjoy the life they were building, but he constantly felt like something was missing. Perhaps it was the lack of bending, they couldn't risk bending in the Earth Kingdom after all, or perhaps it was the mundane nature of it, he wasn't sure. Not that it mattered, he had no other life available to him. And it wasn't awful. They were safe, they were well-fed, and his father was there.

So Zuko did his best to enjoy what they had and find ways to do away with the disquiet in him. During slower days Zuko took to attempting to cook various things that could be served along with the tea. There were several disastrous results, but with time and several scrolls, his attempts slowly improved. After about a month of stubborn efforts, he and his father deemed his results good enough to serve to their customers. It had taken longer for Zuko to be comfortable with the idea than Iroh. Zuko was well aware that he tended to be a perfectionist, but he didn't want to serve anything that might hamper his father's dreams. This new change led to Iroh hiring a couple more servers so Zuko could spend more of his time in the kitchen, making the various cakes and treats that their customers offered. Zuko found this slightly more fulfilling, but he still wasn't completely content.

It was around that time, a month after they'd opened The Jasmine Dragon, when a messenger came to their shop with an invitation. It seemed that word of their success had reached the Lord and Lady Beifong. They were being invited to serve tea at their manor. Zuko was slightly uncomfortable with the idea, but he knew his father was happy at the indication of their success. So they went.

They were allowed into the estate with very little fanfare, though Zuko had to leave his dual dao blades with the guards. He never left home without them, but they weren't allowed into the building. Zuko could understand that, there had been similar rules at the Palace after all, but it still made him uncomfortable to be without them. Even at the shop they were always somewhere he could reach easily if needed. Iroh never questioned Zuko's dependence on the blades. Zuko got the impression that the older man understood.

Their time serving tea was uneventful. The Lord and Lady were polite and full of compliments for the tea and cakes being served. Their daughter had been a slight surprise, Zuko couldn't remember anyone ever mentioning the Beifong's having any children. And the family was well enough known that he had heard of the name even back in the Fire Nation. The girl was only a couple of years younger than himself and held herself with a regal air. She barely talked unless prompted by her parents, and even then said only the bare minimum to be polite. And she was blind. Completely blind. Even so, Zuko couldn't quite believe how they treated her. There was a maid that cut up her food for her and blew on her tea and led her to and from the room. It made very little sense to him, sure she was blind, but how did that keep her from being able to do the most basic of tasks? Did her parents think that being blind meant she wouldn't be able to tell when a bite of food was too large? She was fourteen! It baffled him, but she was clearly used to it and he wasn't in the place to question anything. So he stayed silent and did his best not to stare.

They stayed with the Beifongs until evening came and then began making their way back as the sun set in the sky. Zuko was very grateful to have his blades back on his back. Two blocks from the estate Zuko found himself even more grateful that he had his blades on him. Their attackers weren't terribly skilled, just common thieves, but they had numbers on their side and neither Iroh nor Zuko wanted to risk using fire to help deal with the situation. So they were left with Zuko's blades and Iroh's knowledge of hand to hand combat. That wouldn't normally be something to scoff at, Iroh was far from a novice at hand to hand combat and Zuko was near mastery level with his blades, but numbers sometimes trumped skill.

Iroh went down from a blow to the head with what looked like a pipe and Zuko saw red. He leaped to his father's defense and was more than ready to bring flames to bear against their attackers. Their cover wasn't worth Iroh's life. But before he could draw out a flame someone else stepped in. The ground shifted and moved, sending several of their attackers flying as it rose up under them in sharp pillars. Several more sank into the ground up to their necks. When a series of large rocks shot out from behind Zuko to slam into four of the others, knocking them flying, the remaining fighters decided to cut their losses and flee the scene. Zuko was wary as he turned to face the person who had driven off the thieves, still crouched defensively over the dazed man on the ground. After all, just because this person had driven away their attackers didn't mean that they didn't want something themselves. His stance faltered in surprise when he saw who it was.

The Beifong girl, Toph, was standing not far from them in the alleyway. She was dressed in the same fancy gown that she'd worn for the tea ceremony, but she almost seemed like a different person. Gone was the meek, helpless little girl who had eaten in near silence. This young woman oozed confidence and skill from her powerful stance to the proud smirk on her face. She was still clearly blind, her eyes didn't focus on him, but she still seemed to know where he was as she straightened out of her bending stance and placed her hands on her hips.

"You two are pretty good," she told him in a voice completely different from the mild-mannered one she'd used before "I've never known a couple of non-benders to keep that many thugs at bay for so long. But I figured you could use some help." Her smile slipped slightly "Is he ok?" Zuko slowly lowered his blades and straightened out of his own stance as she spoke. He was silent for a moment after her question before he decided to trust her for the time being. If she meant to harm them she could have taken them out before they had known she was there after all. So he stowed his blades and knelt next to his father, helping him sit up.

"I am fine, thank you, young lady," Iroh replied for them both, blinking several times as if to clear his vision "My son and I appreciate your assistance." The smirk was back in full force then.

"No problem. It wasn't like it was hard. I am the greatest earthbender in the world after all." She was bragging, but a quick glance around told Zuko that she might not be too far off the mark. She was a master at least. None of the people on, or in, the ground were dead. Nor did they appear to be dying. At least not from anything she had done. A couple of the injuries he had inflicted could be deadly if not treated soon enough.

"So we see," Iroh's slightly amused, yet grateful tone pulled Zuko's gaze back to the older man. He was clearly still rather dazed, but he was recovering thanks to Toph. So he turned his attention back to her and nodded, though he knew she couldn't see it.

"Yes," he said after a moment, uncertain what to say exactly "I don't think either of us are going to be doubting your skill any time soon." He couldn't understand how this girl was the same one who let her parents cut up all her food before she ate it, but it wasn't his place to ask.

"You'd better not," she laughed, bright and loud before making her way closer. She moved with far more ease than she should without sight, strides never faltering as she moved around the unconscious men "You two going to make it back to your shop alright? Grandpa here doesn't feel too steady." Zuko couldn't help but blink at the term and the implied offer, but he was saved from having to respond by Iroh's easy laughter.

"A little assistance would be appreciated," Iroh told her as he moved to stand. Zuko quickly gripped his father's arm, helping support him. Iroh was clearly still unsteady on his feet. "I fear I won't be much use if those men decide to come back for a second round."

"Well, then I'll just have to come with you to make sure they don't," she grinned at them again "Lead the way."

Iroh wasn't entirely certain how their night had turned out the way it had, with him leaning slightly on his son for support as they made their way back to their shop and a loud and confident earthbending girl walking beside them with ease that belayed her sightless eyes. He didn't understand it, but he was never one to question the gifts that the spirits sent his way. From watching young Toph back with her parents and here outside the estate walls he was getting a fairly clear picture on her. Here was a young woman living in a gilded cage of her parents' making. She was clearly uncomfortable being herself in front of her family for some reason or another and she was lonely. He could see that from the way she was so quick to offer to walk them home. An offer of assistance and protection, yes, but also an offer of companionship.

She reminded him fiercely of another young nobleman's child. One that he knew still ached for company the same way this young woman did. He couldn't be sure that they would get along, but he had a good feeling settling in his gut as they reached the shop and he invited her in for a second cup of tea. This one without her parents or servants watching over her shoulders, not that he said that part. The slight flash of surprise on her expression, quickly hidden behind a confident grin, was all the confirmation he needed as he ushered her into the closed shop and had her sit at one of the tables closest to the kitchen. Soon they were sitting around it with a fresh pot of tea and a set of cakes from earlier in the day.

"You're not going to cut it up for me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she touched the whole slice sitting on her plate with a fork.

"Do you want us to?" his son's voice was dry and skeptical and raised another loud laugh from the girl before she flashed him a wide smile.

"Nah, I was just teasing you." Yes, Iroh had the feeling that this would work out quite well.

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Iroh couldn't help but wonder on his current situation. Here he was, sitting in his tea shop with his son sitting next to him, a blind earthbender beside him, and the Avatar and his companions across from them. Clearly, fate had more in store for them. He couldn't think of any other reason that would bring the Avatar right back to their doorstep. Considering the full truth of Zuko's ancestry he supposed he couldn't really be surprised. No descendent of both Sozin and Roku (something he should probably inform Zuko of sooner rather than later, come to think of it) could be forgotten by fate. That would be too much to ask. Pushing such introspective thoughts to the side for the time being he refocused on the strange gathering of children around the table with him, noting with some pride how quickly they had taken to the tea and cakes put in front of them.

"Now then," he started off reasonably, drawing the eyes of all five children to him "I'm sure you three are quite curious about how we got here, but how about you share with us your tale first. I'm sure it's far more interesting than ours. And I would love to know how it is you came to having young Toph with you on your way out of town." He watched as the young Avatar and his two Water Tribe companions shared looks before focusing back on him.

"Well," Sokka began "You know we needed to find an earthbending teacher for Aang, since he's got waterbending pretty well down, though Katara is still working with him on it some most days." Iroh nodded easily as he scanned over the group. He was starting to get an idea about why Toph was with them at least. Sokka nodded as well before continuing. "Well, we made it to the Earth Kindom and figured we'd make our way to Omashu to get Bumi to teach him." Here the young man paused, seeming to notice the somewhat somber expressions on both Iroh and Zuko's expressions. "Yeah, well, I guess I don't need to tell you that things didn't go quite as planned, but before we even got there we ran into an Earth Kingdom general who had a different idea on how to beat the Fire Nation. He wanted Aang to get access to his Avatar State and use that." The young man paused again, glancing at Aang, which made it rather hard to miss the clear grimace on the young Avatar's face. Sokka grimaced as well before shaking his head.

"Let's just say it didn't go well," he finished "Either way, we left there and made our way to Omashu. As you seem to know, it's been captured and renamed 'New Ozai'." Sokka scowled, clearly making quotation marks around the new name of the city. Iroh couldn't really blame the boy. "We managed to make it inside but when we finally caught up with Bumi he said he didn't want to escape and he couldn't teach Aang. Said something about...um..." he looked over at Aang in question.

"He said I needed to find someone who would listen and wait," Aang supplied simply before looking at Toph with a grin "And we have." 

"Right," Sokka agreed with a nod "That." He paused and grimaced before looking at the two firebenders, though focusing more on Zuko. "Oh, by the way. We ran into your crazy sister and her friends." Iroh couldn't help it. He froze, his breath catching in his chest for a moment. That little bit of information hadn't reached them yet. Beside him, Zuko wasn't faring much better, his good eye widening in something close to horror.

"Azula?" Zuko asked, voice strained "You ran into Azula?! In Omashu?!" The four other teens blinked, clearly surprised by the reactions.

"Yes?" Sokka agreed, looking uncertain. And a little more worried than he had been earlier. "Her and her two friends. One with knives and one that could turn off Katara's bending."

"She could what?!" This time it was Toph that cut in, sounding utterly horrified.

"Ty Lee," Zuko agreed with a slight grimace "Ty Lee can block chi points, which makes it impossible to bend for a little while. She's...a pretty nice girl actually. At least she was last time I saw her, but she follows Azula's every word. Not that I blame her. Azula is terrifying." He shook his head "The knife girl is probably Mai. The three of them have been pretty close since we were kids. Mai and I were actually engaged for a while."

"You were engaged to crazy knife girl?!" Sokka repeated, looking shocked. Beside him, Katara and Aang looked rather confused as well. On the other hand, Toph looked unsurprised. She was high class as well, so Iroh imagined it wasn't as big of a deal to her.

"Mai isn't that bad," Zuko protested "She's...a bit easily bored and, again, quick to obey Azula, but still. I didn't mind being engaged to her too much, not like it matters now. I'm pretty sure that ended when I was banished." He shook his head, dismissing that train of thought. "Anyways. That doesn't matter. If the three of them are together and out and about then things could get really bad really fast. Do you know what they were there for?" Once again the three who had been in the city exchanged looks before shaking their heads.

"We didn't exactly stop to ask questions," Sokka pointed out "We were too busy running for our lives."

"Actually I think kife girl, Mai right?" Aang looked at Zuko for confirmation and, upon his nod, continued on "I think Mai was living there with her family. We ran into her baby brother too. No clue about the others though."

"Does it matter why they were there?" Katara asked, "They caused us a bunch of trouble either way."

"It matters," Iroh cut in grimly "Azula is as brilliant as she is cruel. She is also very focused. Once she sets her mind on something she won't stop until it is done. If her goal is your capture or destruction she could cause you a great deal of trouble."

"Way more than I did," Zuko cut in "Azula has always been the better bender and the better analyst. And Mai and Ty Lee aren't slouches either. They may not be benders, but they're still incredibly dangerous in a fight and the three of them work well as a team." This news seemed to unnerve the three youngsters who had fought against the dangerous girls, if their exchanged look was anything to go by. 

"Well," Iroh spoke up again "There's nothing we can do about that now. We just need to keep an eye on things and you youngsters need to do your best to stay alert and aware. Just to be safe." Thankfully, this earned a collective set of nods. Their expressions also told him that they were taking his advice seriously. Good. "What happened next?" 

"Right," Sokka seemed to shake himself for a moment before continuing on with their story. "We still needed to find Aang an earthbending teacher so when we ended up here we heard about the Earth Rumble and that sounded like a good place to find a teacher, so we went there." Iroh had to bite back a chuckle at that. The Earth Rumble being a good place to find a teacher? He couldn't say he would have thought the same, but it seemed it had worked out for them. Aang nodded, bringing Iroh out of his thoughts as the young Avatar took over the story.

"We ended up having to find Toph at her house and talked with her parents for a while. Toph didn't want to help us at first, but then we both got captured and-"

"You got what?!" Zuko cut in, eyes darting over to Toph in visible concern.

"Chill your flames Sparky, I'm fine," Toph rolled her eyes as she bumped against him "They didn't hurt me. My dad came and paid the ransom to get me free and then I knocked out the rest of the Earth Rumblers so Twinkle Toes here could leave too." She grimaced a bit, causing Iroh a bit of concern. And Zuko too, based on his expression. "My parents didn't like that too much. They wanted to add more restrictions. So I left."

"I thought you said they changed their mind!" Sokka squawked, sitting up straighter, which caused Toph to roll her eyes again.

"Yeah, well. I lied. Get over it. I didn't want to stay and you lot were leaving. Even if you don't take me with you I'm going to head off for a while. And you need an earthbending teacher so," she shrugged "Take it or leave it." Sokka and Katara clearly didn't like the idea and the two Water Tribe siblings exchanged uncertain looks, but Aang cut in before they could say anything.

"Of course you can come with us!" the young avatar told her with a bright grin "And maybe after you've been away for a while your parents will calm down and things will go better with them."

"Yeah, maybe," Toph didn't sound convinced, but she seemed willing to let it go. There was a couple beats of silence before Katara spoke up.

 "Well, that's settled then," the young woman said firmly, seeming to settle her brother with her words as well. That said she turned to look at Iroh more fully. "We've told you our story. I would like to hear yours now if you don't mind."

"It's certainly nothing as adventurous as yours," Iroh told the children with a small smile "But if you're sure you want to hear it..." he trailed off as he got a set of quick nods in reply.

"And I want to hear all of it," Toph cut in "I'm missing all sorts of pieces here."

"I'm not sure we have time for the whole story," Zuko put in with a small frown "Not if you're all going to be out of town before  your parents come looking for you." Toph visibly scowled at this before slumping.

"You're probably right," the young noblewoman huffed, clearly not happy about it.

"We'll start with how we got here," Iroh decided "Maybe we can tell you the rest at a later date." He was starting to get the idea that this wasn't going to be their last interaction with the Avatar and his friends. Especially not if young Toph was going to go with them. In fact... As the group settled back to listen again he allowed his eyes to flicker to his son for a brief moment, taking in the unhappiness lingering underneath his polite posture. That made sense...his closest friend was about to leave...that was something to think on, but for now. Turning to look back at the other children he gave them a warm smile. "I'll start with us leaving the North Pole, yes?" Another set of nods had him sitting back and picking up his tea, warming it slightly with barely a thought.

"Alright, things were fairly calm once we left the North Pole..."

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The group settled back again as his father began to talk, telling them about what had transpired since they'd last crossed paths with the three young travelers. Zuko took this time to watch the expressions and reactions of the rest of the group around the table. He could only be grateful that Toph already knew who they were, otherwise this would be so much worse.

"So you've both just been here most of the time?" Avatar Aang asked once Iroh had finished the basic explanations.

"That is correct," the older firebender replied easily "We've become quite established here now. Our tea shop is quite popular." There was obvious pride in his voice as he spoke about his shop. Not that Zuko blamed him. They'd put a lot of work into getting this shop up and going. And his father was good at this. And it made him happy. Zuko may not always fully enjoy the quiet life as a tea shop worker, but he did appreciate how much it clearly meant to the older man who meant so much to him. Paired with Toph's companionship and his time working with the White Lotus it was enough.

But now Toph was leaving. Zuko couldn't stop the small frown that came to his face as he thought on this, tuning out the conversation going on around him. He would miss the rowdy earthbender. She was the closest friend he'd ever had. Sure Mai had been nice when he was younger, but she'd always been more Azula's friend than his. Things would be quiet around the city without her. He'd miss their regular spars. And her witty attitude. And watching her fight in the rumble. And....well. He'd just miss her. But he didn't want to keep her from getting away from her parents if that was what she wanted. Especially if, from the sounds of it, they were going to get more strict. Plus the Avatar did need an earthbending teacher and Toph was probably one of the best he could get all things considered. He was just-

"Zuko?" His father's voice cut through his thoughts, causing him to jump slightly and refocus on the older man. From the way his father and the others were all staring at him, he rather got the impression that wasn't the first time his name had been called. Heat flushed up the back of his neck as he let out a quiet, embarrassed cough and met his father's concerned and amused eyes. "Is everything alright Zuko?"

"Yes, of course." Judging by the raised eyebrow he got in reply he probably replied too quickly. "Did you need something Father?" There was a pause before the expression watching him gentled slightly.

"Would you mind helping me gather some snacks for our guests son?" Iroh's voice was fairly typical, but Zuko was certain that his father was pulling him aside to talk in private for a moment.

"But we already-OW!" Sokka's confusion was cut off as he suddenly jumped and reached down to rub his leg, clearly in pain. "Hey! What was that for!" Zuko couldn't help but huff a quiet laugh as Toph rolled her eyes in clear exasperation.

"Is he always this dumb?" the blind earthbender asked her waterbending counterpart, clearly exasperated.

"Unfortunately," Katara drawled back, earning an offended exclamation from her brother and a laugh from the young Avatar. Not wanting to interrupt, Zuko quietly stood up and nodded to his father before starting towards the kitchen. He could hear the older firebender making a quiet excuse to the three still at the table before following him out of the room. Zuko was unsurprised when his father shut the door behind him before coming over to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright Zuko?" Iroh's voice was low and concerned and Zuko found himself leaning into the comfort offered by the hand on his shoulder. He knew his father wouldn't push things if he refused to talk, but he found himself not really wanting to keep this to himself this time. Strange as that feeling was even now.

"I'm..." he trailed off for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. Thankfully his father stayed quiet, letting him collect himself. "I'm going to miss her," he finished after several long moments. "it's been nice having someone my own age around. A friend." Iroh let out a low hum in acknowledgment and tightened his grip slightly. There were a few more beats of silence before the older man spoke, making sure Zuko was done talking first.

"That is understandable," his father's voice was low and soothing, a familiar comfort "You were denied real friends of your own age for most of your life." There was another pause, but this one felt like the older bender was thinking, searching for words, so Zuko turned his head to look back towards him, allowing a silent question to form on his face. After a moment Iroh seemed to come to a decision and continued speaking. "There is a way you could avoid missing her if you wanted." Zuko furrowed his eyes a bit at that, uncomprehendingly, but didn't bother to ask. He knew his father would clarify soon enough. He always did. Even if he sometimes....took the long way around to get there. Hopefully he wouldn't take quite as long this time, considering they had guests. Guests on a time limit at that. Thankfully he seemed to be aware of their time constraints because the older man moved onto the point after only a brief pause.

"The Avatar does need a firebending teacher after all," Iroh prompted gently before continuing on, cutting off any protests Zuko might start making "You are more than accomplished enough to teach him. And I think it do you good to spend time with others your own age. I can manage the shop well enough here without you if needed. And we can still communicate through the White Lotus as needed. On top of that, the resources and connections you have as a Lotus member now could do them a great deal of good on their travels."

Zuko's first instinct was to protest, loudly, but he clamped down on it quickly enough. He'd gotten pretty good at controlling those first impulses, and his temper, over these last several months. Meditation and finding a better way to control his inner flame had been a major part of that. On top of the other various lessons, his father had been teaching him. So, instead of just reacting, Zuko took a beat to let the words sink in. Allowed himself time to think about them properly. He knew his father wouldn't bring this sort of thing up lightly. So it was probably something he had thought about before.

So...what would be the benefits if he went with The Avatar and his group. There would be Toph of course. And that was no small benifit. He would miss her fiercely if he didn't go. And it would be nice to be able to directly help the war effort. It didn't get much more direct than assisting The Avatar himself. And he could find the group allies in various places. And with all the traveling the small group did he'd also be gathering intel to pass on to the White Lotus as well. That wasn't something to overlook.

The negative effects weren't anything to sneer at either though. Well, mostly just one negative effect. He hadn't been away from his new father for any extended period of time since his banishment and they'd been apart even less since leaving the military behind. The separation would be painful. He knew that even now. But would it be worth it? He wasn't sure. It was possible. Coming back out of his thoughts he refocused on the man in front of him only to find himself hit full blast by the pride Iroh was practically broadcasting at him. The visible approval of his action caught him off guard and temporarily derailed his thought process, leaving him floundering for a moment. 

"Er. Well. Yes." He faltered before clearing his throat and trying to gather himself. "That's certainly an option..." He paused for a moment, frowning slightly. "Are you sure you'd be alright with that? I mean...we built this shop here. The two of us."

"We did," Iroh agreed warmly, moving his hand down from Zuko's arm to take his hand instead. "And I am very happy we did.  I love what we've built here together. But I also know you weren't really content here until you met Toph. Lotus work helps, but it only does so much. And that's ok. I want you to be happy Zuko. And I believe you will be happier traveling with them. At least for a time. I will be alright here. I promise." Zuko continued to frown, but it grew more thoughtful than concerned (though the concern didn't entirely leave). He couldn't say his father was wrong... Agni's sun! This was quite the decision to have to make on such short notice, but he was short on time. He allowed himself a couple minutes longer before he let out a slow sigh. A moment later he straightened up with a short nod.

"Right," he agreed "I'll go get my things. I won't be long." He hesitated a moment before giving the other man a brief, fierce hug. He allowed himself to hold on for several moments before pulling away and hurrying upstairs. He had some packing to do. Thankfully he already had some basics packed. They always kept emergency bags packed, just in case they were discovered.

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Iroh watched as Zuko turned and darted up the stairs, marveling to himself at the changes that his boy had gone through in just a few short months. Despite all the pain it had caused, Zhao blowing up their ship may just be the best possible thing that could have happened to them. It forced Zuko to face the reality of what Ozai really was and allowed him to grow in so many ways. Zuko’s caring and protective side was back in full force, if tampered by caution born from experience. And he has a much better hold on his impulses and temper now too. Even a month ago Zuko would have lashed out at the suggestion that he leave their new home before taking time to consider it. A month before that he wouldn’t have been comfortable with the idea of helping train young Aang either. Yet here they were. Iroh was under no illusion that all this growth was thanks to him. Much of it was Zuko’s innate nature shining through now that he was allowing it to. And a good chunk came from his friendship with young Toph as well. It would be interesting to see what growth and changes came from his time traveling with these young folk.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Iroh made his way to where they had the last remaining treats from the day and gathered them up. He had promised the visiting young folk more snacks after all. Once he had them he made his way back to the dining area and was greeted by inquisitive looks from the three newcomers, to which he smiled in reply.

“Zuko will be rejoining us shortly,” he informed them, setting the tray of cakes on the table for them. “He just needs to get some things from upstairs first.”  Thankfully, the newcomers seemed to take this in stride. Toph, on the other hand, seemed to have figured out a bit more than the others had. At least that’s the impression her slight eyebrow raise gave him when she turned her head his way. She didn’t question it though, so Iroh let things be as he settled back onto his previous seat.

“So,” he began easily “Do you have any plans on where you’ll be heading next?” To his surprise, this question seemed to throw the little group for a loop. Toph looked towards them, clearly expecting them to know more than her, but the other three just exchanged uncertain and questioning looks. Eventually, Sokka looked back at him.

“We…haven't gotten that far in planning,” Sokka admitted, face going a faint red tint and barely able to meet Iroh’s eyes “Our goal was to find an earthbending teacher, we didn’t discuss what we were going to do after we found one…” Well…that wasn’t the best, but all things considered, perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised. They were kids after all and many adults struggled with planning steps ahead. And…if this was how they normally went about it might explain the erratic travel path these children had taken while he and Zuko had been following them. A path that had made it nearly impossible to track them. So it did have some benefits. 

“I see,” he spoke up after taking a few moments to process everything. “Well. Would you allow an old man to give you a couple of suggestions?”

“Sure!” The young avatar’s voice has a tendency to be bright and chipper, and this time was no exception. Paired with the bright and easy smile on his face the child seemed to have a way to light up the area he was in. An admirable trait to be sure. Iroh allowed himself to return the smile with a warm one of his own.

“Thank you,” he told the boy before refocusing on the group as a whole. “Since young Aang here needs to take time to learn earthbending it might not be ill advised to take some time in a secluded area, somewhere you won’t be bothered by others while that training happens. To my understanding earth tends to be the hardest element for an airbender avatar to learn. Because it’s the element that works in a manner farthest from airbending. Standing firm instead of moving and dodging.”  Unsurprisingly, this brought about another bout of the three youngsters sharing looks.

“That makes sense,” Sokka acknowledged after a moment before looking back at him.

“You really think it’ll be harder for him to learn?” Katara spoke up, sounding more curious than anything else. Iroh allowed himself to shrug.

“I can’t say I’m certain,” he allowed “But that is what I’ve read. And it makes sense. The two styles are very different from each other.” Aang huffed a sigh, looking a bit put-upon, but didn’t argue against the idea. Which was good. A few beats passed as the children seemed to process this before Sokka nodded decisively. 

“We’ll do that then. It shouldn’t be too hard to find somewhere we can hide out to train. There are plenty of mountains. One of those would probably work.”

“What about a mountain?” Zuko’s voice came from the stairwell, causing everyone at the table except for Toph (who almost certainly knew he was coming down) to jump and look his direction. Zuko was standing at the base of the stairs with a pack slung over his shoulder and his dau swords attached to his back. It was the same pack that they’d packed for emergencies. Considering how short of a time Zuko was up there Iroh was fairly certain the boy had just swapped a couple of things out of the bag and maybe added a couple of things, at most. But that was how his boy was. And, to be fair, they’d lost so much over the years that it was very possible that Zuko just didn’t want to bother with many physical possessions.

Zuko shifted on his feet as his father and their guests turned to look at him. He could easily see the confusion forming on the faces of both Water Tribe siblings as well as The Ava-er, Aang’s. This was…uncomfortable. But he knew what he should do, what he wanted to do. Now he just…had to make it happen. Using his words. Yay.

“So…is the offer to travel with you still open?” he asked awkwardly, using the proud smile his father was giving him to bolster his courage. “I know Aang needs to learn Earthbending first, but…I can help out with other things until he’s ready to learn firebending.” There was a few beats of uncomfortable (for him) silence before Aang visibly brightened and jumped to his feet, beaming.

“Of course it is!” the young airbender said happily, darting over to grab Zuko’s hand and pull him back to the table, much to his bemusement. Glancing over at the Water Tribe siblings Zuko caught some uncertainty in Sokka’s eyes, but they were both smiling. If a bit indulgently.

“You’re coming with us then Sparky?” Toph asked, a grin stretching across her familiar face.

“I would like to, yes,” Zuko replied, voice firm despite his lingering confusion at Aang’s exuberant response.

“I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Sokka told him, but his tone was mostly playful. “It’s going to be a crazy ride. Aang’s easily distractable and Katara’s bossy. And Toph here seems like she’s going to be a handful as well. Who kn-OW!” Sokka jerks back from the table, eyes wide as he pulled one leg up and rubbed at it. “What was that for?!”

“I’ll show you a handful if you’re not careful,” Toph told him, raising her chin defiantly. Zuko blinked before a laugh escaped him and he shook his head, still chuckling. That was Toph alright.

“And it’s not like you’re any better,” Katara cut in, giving her brother a dirty look “So you’d better watch out, or you’ll be washing your own socks.” There was… definitely a story there. Especially since Aang also grimaced at the mention of Sokka’s socks. He’d learn it eventually if he had any guess. But for now, he settled down to sit between Toph and his father once more, placing his bag on the floor behind him as he did so.

“So…mountains?” he prompted, smiling slightly when Toph nudged him with her elbow as he sat.

“Right,” Aang refocused on him with a grin “Iroh suggested that we go somewhere where people won’t bother us so I can train my earthbending for a while. Like a mountain.” Zuko nodded as he took that in. That made sense.

“Somewhere private to practice is probably best,” he agreed “Especially if Azula is in the Earth Kingdom.”

“What about you?” Sokka asked, gaze turning towards Iroh, causing Zuko to look his way as well.

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Iroh replied with an easy, dismissive smile “I’ll be here. And if things go south I’m more than capable of getting out.” He turned to meet Zuko’s gaze before he continued “And I’m sure we’ll keep in contact as things go, so I’ll let you know if something happens.” Zuko forced himself to relax and nodded. He knew his father could take care of himself.

“If you say so,” Katara agreed, sounding a bit uncertain, but Iroh gave her an easy, reassuring smile and she seemed to relax. They settled then as everyone seemed to pause to take in some of their tea and treats, but eventually, it had to be broken.

“You youngsters should get going,” Iroh told them, putting down his cup. “It’s probably best if you’re not here when the sun comes up. Less chance of trouble that way.” Zuko’s shoulders dropped some at his father’s words, but he straightened them a moment later and nodded, putting down his own cup.

“You’re right,” he agreed before looking at the rest before starting to stand “I’d rather avoid getting Father tied up in this. The last thing we need is for him to be blamed for Toph leaving.” He caught Toph’s slight grimace at the reminder, but she covered it with her usual bravado a moment later.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” she agreed, putting down her fork and standing “I’m sick and tired of this town anyways.”

“Thank you for the tea and cake Iroh,” Aang spoke up as he stood as well “We really appreciate it. And it’s good to know you both made it here safely.”

“It was no trouble at all Aang,” Iroh replied with a reassuring smile “I am glad to see you all safe as well.” Zuko took this moment to gather everyone’s dishes with practiced ease, carrying them to the kitchen to give them a quick rinse while the rest of the group said their thank yous and goodbyes. He made his back Sokka and Katara had finished up as well and were waiting by the door with Aang and Toph. His father was standing just to the side. Several sets of eyes turned his way as he came back over, grabbing his bag as he did so, but he disregarded most of them to focus on the set that had been his only real constant in the last three years.

“You had better take care of yourself while I’m gone,” he told the older man firmly as he came to a stop in front of him “The shop is important, but your health is too. Take breaks and make sure to eat. And don’t let Rimu touch the baking tools. I don’t want them ruined before I get home.” Iroh let out a low chuckle and reached out to take Zuko’s hands in his own and Zuko didn’t fight the urge to squeeze those hands back, glad this position hid the slight tremble he was sure was starting in those same hands.

“I will take of myself and things here,” Iroh reassured him, voice and eyes both impossibly kind “As long as you promise me that you will take care of yourself as well.” Zuko swallowed hard against a lump forming in his throat and nodded, tightening his grip slightly. 

“I will, I promise,” he swore before clearing his throat to try and get rid of the roughness there “And I’ll be back before you know it.” 

“I know you will,” Iroh soothed and Zuko did his best to ignore the slight sheen in the older man’s eyes. He knew he was making the right choice here, but he hadn’t been away from the man who had become his father for longer than a couple of days since the day he’d been banished from the Fire Nation. He wasn’t sure how he was going to manage without having him around. But he knew he’d have to find a way. He swallowed again before stepping closer to pull the older man into a tight hug, feeling those familiar, warm arms wrap around him in return.

“I’ll see you soon Father.” His voice was quieter now, spoken into his father’s shoulder “Please be safe.”

“I will,” Iroh reassured him again, hands pulling Zuko close and safe “I love you my son.” Emotion caught in Zuko’s throat and he forced himself to nod tightly against that comfortable shoulder.

“Love you too,” he managed after a couple of beats, voice tight and rough despite his best efforts. He held on for a few moments longer before pulling back to give Iroh a slightly shaky smile. Reaching up he sheepishly whipped at his eyes, clearing away the lingering moisture there under his father’s smile. Only then did he glance around. To his surprise only Toph was still in the building, lounging by the door with her face turned outside. Zuko couldn’t help but appreciate the gesture, despite the fact he knew her turned head made no difference in her attention.

“Where’d the others go?” he asked a moment later, once he was fairly sure he had himself under control. Toph shrugged easily and gestured outside.

“They went out to call Appa,” she told him easily, making no mention of the fact that they’d probably stepped out to give him and his father some privacy. He appreciated her even more for that.

“We should go join them then,” he told her, shifting his bag to his shoulder once more. Toph nodded and straightened before turning her head towards him and Iroh.

“See you later Mushi,” she told him with a wide grin, belayed only slightly by the slightly softer expression on the rest of her face. “And don’t you worry about Sparky here. I’ll keep him on his toes.”

“I’m sure you will,” Iroh’s warm rumble was both amused and fond as he folded his hands together “Take care of yourself as well.”

“Well duh,” Toph rolled her eyes, but it was still playful, easy. With that, she jerked her head out toward where Zuko could now hear the other three waiting outside. “Time to go, Sparky. We’ve got adventures to have.” That said she turned and walked out

“I’m coming,” Zuko rolled his eyes as he started after her, Iroh following behind them with a fond smile on his face. They came outside just in time to see the large sky bison land next to the others he was now going to be traveling with, shaking the earth slightly as it (he? He was pretty sure the bison was a boy. He really should learn the bison’s name…) did so. Aang was clearly happy to see the large animal again, even after such a short time, and launched himself up onto the creature’s head with what could only have been airbending. There was no other way he jumped that high. Moments later Katara began making her way up to the saddle, movements as fluid as her bending and obviously practiced. Sokka began climbing up the side as well, with far less dignity, but he still clearly knew what he was doing. 

“Here we go again,” Zuko’s gaze snapped over to Toph as he caught the quiet grumble from her as they approached. A keen glance over her posture told him that she was a bit tense and all of a sudden it hit him that there was no ground up on the bison. Which, obviously, but that meant she was going to be blind, actually blind, whenever they traveled like this. Tough as he knew she was that still had to be unnerving. He didn’t want to embarrass her, so he didn’t verbally respond to her muttering, but he did step up to walk a little closer to her side and nudge her with one arm. He was unsurprised when she shot him a look before elbowing him in the side in return. 

Neither of them said anything further as she moved forward and carefully began climbing up the bison’s lowered tail until she got to the saddle. Zuko waited until she was safely on top before clambering up as well. Once aboard he turned his gaze to his father once more, pushing down the flare of something far too close to panic for him to be comfortable with it. They were really doing this. He was really doing this. He was going off with these people, leaving his father on his own in the Earth Kingdom. He knew why he was doing it. Knew why he needed to, but for a brief moment his chest tried to seize on him and he gripped the edge of the saddle just in front of him to steady himself some. The others were saying something, probably farewells based off of what he could see of his father’s responses, but the words were lost on Zuko as he just did his best to regather himself and take in the way Iroh looked to the best of his ability, storing the image in his mind. Burning it there. 

A touch on his side good startled him enough to break his gaze away and turn to look. There was Toph, leaning against him like it was something they did all the time. A small, wry smile twitched across his face. Even without being able to ‘see’ up here she still had a good read on him. He didn’t bother trying to pull away or getting her to move. The feeling of her leaning against him was nice, and she probably needed the grounding too, all things considered. So he let her be and looked back toward the man on the ground. It felt easier to breathe now, with his friend pressed to his side, so he slowly eased his hold on the saddle and raised a hand in farewell as the bison leaped into the air. He kept it there as the tea shop got smaller and smaller in his sight, taking with it the only adult who’d really stuck with him. 

Eventually, though he had to lower his hand and turn to sit more fully in the saddle. Toph grumbled when she had to move, but settled against him again soon after he was seated. Only then did Zuko allow his gaze to scan over his new traveling companions, taking in how the three others had settled easily the ride. They were rather used to it he imagined. He’d get used to it as well he was sure. A slight smile twitched across his face. Despite what he was leaving behind he was kind of excited. Who knew what the future might hold for them next. And by Agni he was looking forward to finding out.

Chapter Text

Zuko had known that things wouldn’t just be smooth sailing once they started traveling together. Really he had. But he could honestly say that he hadn’t expected things to fall apart this badly quite so quickly. They’d only been traveling together for a couple of hours before they had to find a safe place to settle down for the night. And that was things started falling apart.

It started simple enough. Toph, Aang, and Sokka had started off playing in the shedded fur Appa had dropped all of their camping spot, much to Zuko and Katara’s mutual disgust, though Zuko could admit to finding some humor in their antics as well. Then they had started setting up camp. Zuko, used to pulling his own weight both on the ship and in the shop, immediately checked with Katara to see what he could help with. He had a number of things he was good at after all, but he didn’t want to take over something someone else typically preferred to do either. 

Unsurprisingly, he was put in charge of setting up the campfire. And he had no trouble with that, or with assisting Katara in the cooking once she had the water in the pot either. The problem came when it became obvious that Toph wasn’t doing anything similar. The younger bender had taken up a spot next to a nearby rock, and was laying back, relaxing. While the rest of them worked at setting up camp. Katara, clearly used to being the one directing their little group, had gone over to try and explain things to Toph ans, well. Things had escalated from there. It ended up with Toph snapping at Katara, causing the waterbender to turn and storm off.

When Katara had come back with the water, she had attempted to apologize to Toph, but it hadn’t gone over the best. There weren’t any further angry words, but Toph had been fairly dismissive before shutting down to go to sleep. Zuko was already worried then, that sort of disagreement could spell disaster, but it didn’t take long for him to figure out that the night’s troubles were far from over. 

Settling down to sleep on the hard ground after so long of enjoying a real bed was an uncomfortable adjustment, but Zuko had finally been starting to drop off to sleep when Toph’s voice suddenly cut through the night’s peaceful atmosphere, waking everyone from the beginnings of their rest.

“Something’s coming this way!” Zuko was sitting up before he fully processed her words, turning to look where her head was pointing. “It’s almost like an avalanche, but not quite.”

“That’s very descriptive, Toph, thank you,” Sokka snarked, but Zuko was already climbing out of his sleeping bag.

“How far away is it?” he asked, trusting Toph to be able to judge that. “And how long do you think it will take for it to get to us?”

“Not too far,” Toph replied, brow creased in what looked like concern, but also could have been concentration. “And with how fast it’s moving I’d say it will be here within the hour. It’s big, but it’s moving fast.”

“Then I suppose we had better move fast ourselves,” Katara decides, getting up and starting to pack up their belongings once more. With far less enthusiasm, but far more urgency, than they had unpacked them. Zuko couldn’t help but notice that, once again, Toph made no effort to help. Instead spending her time staring off in the direction of the approaching…whatever it was.

But, with Toph’s help or not, they were soon in the air once more. And it was there that they were finally able to get a glimpse of what had created the strange not-earthquake sensation through the ground. A large, metal tank pulling some sort of metal trailer was barreling across the ground with an alarming speed. With the smoke pouring out of its chimney giving an obvious clue as to who owned the metal monstrosity. Zuko took a moment to describe what it was they were seeing to Toph before turning away.

“It’s obviously Fire Nation. And probably belongs to someone with a decent rank. We should put some distance between us and them,” he advised “And travel a different direction than they are. That way it will hopefully pass us by completely.” No one had any issues with that, so soon enough Appa was turned to fly a completely different direction. Soon causing the large metal machine to fall out of their sight once more. They flew for a while more, not wanting to risk accidentally ending up in that thing’s path again, before landing in a new area. More than ready to sleep.

Once again, Toph quickly moved to settle down for the night, dismissing Katara as the older girl attempted to request her assistance again. And Zuko could practically see the fury that bubbled up in the Water Tribe girl at the response. But Zuko really didn’t want to watch how badly that might fall apart, so he stepped forward, touching a hand on Katara’s shoulder. 

Katara spun around to glare at him at the touch, allowing him to get a good look at the bags forming under her eyes, but he didn’t let it make him do more than flinch slightly. Katara was not Azula, no matter the similarities he’d noticed over the time he’d followed their group. She may glare, but she meant no real harm. So, stealing himself, Zuko simply shook his head. Katara maintained her glare for several beats before shuffling angrily and turning and storming off to start setting up camp. Only then did he turn towards Toph, walking over and passing her without stopping.

“Walk with me, Toph,” he requested.

“What, are you planning to scold me?” Toph snapped, glaring up at him. Zuko didn’t bother to reply, allowing his heartbeat and their months of knowing each other to speak for him. As he expected, it didn’t take her long before she groaned and launched herself back to her feet with a rock, starting after him. They walked in silence for several minutes, leaving their campground behind and wandering into the surrounding trees.

“If you’re going to scold me, then go ahead.” Unlike before, Toph sounded almost defeated instead of angry, but Zuko still shook his head.

“I’m not going to scold you,” he insisted, making his way over to a nearby tree and taking a seat. “I do have a question though. Why don’t you want to share tasks with everyone else in the group?”

“I don’t need anyone’s help! I can handle myself just fine!” Well, he’d certainly gotten her hackles up again, and Zuko knew himself well enough to know that not too long ago he would have responded back in kind. He could still feel the anger that wanted to bubble up in reaction to hers, but he’d learned a lot over the last several months. And one of those things was how not to immediately respond to his own anger. Instead, he let her words sit for a bit as his own temper cooled back down. Only then did he reply.

“Did anyone in this group say you couldn’t?” This response seemed to throw her off guard, cutting off the head of steam she had been building.

“What?”

“Did anyone in the group say you couldn’t handle yourself?” Zuko repeated. “Or that you needed help?”

“Well…no,” Toph admitted, after taking a moment to actually think on his question.

“Then that doesn’t answer my question, why don’t you want to share tasks?”

“I just…” For once the young Earthbender seemed to be at a loss for words. “If I don’t need help, then why do I need to help?”

“Ah,” Zuko frowned. His father would probably use some sort of metaphor to help her understand this, but that really wasn’t something Zuko was good at. So he would have to try and be straightforward and hope for the best. “I guess I can see that. And I guess you don’t need to help, but can I tell you why I do at least? Why I think it’s a good idea to choose to help?”

“Fine, I guess,” Toph agreed with a huff, dropping down to sit across from him. 

“There’s two main reasons,” Zuko told her. “One of them is that it builds cooperation and teamwork. We’re going to be working and fighting together for at least several months. Helping each other outside of combat helps us learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And builds connections. Connections that will last and help us understand each other in and out of combat. A crew, or a team, that works together almost always fights together more effectively than they would otherwise.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Toph frowned, brow furrowed in thought as she took that in. “And the other reason?”

“The second reason is more immediately beneficial,” Zuko informed her. “If we all work together and use your skills then everyone’s day goes a little easier and we all have a better time. At the Jasmine Dragon, Father and I both work off our strengths to make the tea house as good as it could be. Here, while all of us could do everything to keep each of us alive independently, that will lead to everyone working a little, or not getting as good of results, or both. For example, you could make your own sleeping space and gather your own food and water just fine. You’ll be perfectly able to live like that, no one is saying you can’t. Your other option is to help set up camp, which involves a little bit of work each time we settle down, and you’ll have a warm, filling meal most days. At minimum.” He paused to let that sink in before smiling wryly. “Plus working tougher tends to make the whole group happier. Less arguing that way.”

“Ugh! Fine!” Toph groaned, flopping backwards to lay on her back and scowl up ward. “I’ll give it a try I guess. But if I don’t like it I’m going to go back to just taking care of me.”

“Ok,” Zuko agreed, glad she was willing to at least try. Toph might not be as bad as he had seen, but she was still an Earthbender. She could be as stubborn and unmoving as her element if given the right motivation. They stayed there for a time, just relaxing in the night air and each other’s presence before Zuko finally broke the easy quiet. “Thanks, Toph.”

“Yeah, yeah, you owe me, Sparky,” Toph told him, barely bothering to lift her hand up from the ground enough to point at him. “Just you wait I’ll-shit!” The drastic change in her tone was more than enough to tell Zuko something was wrong, but the way she shot up to a sitting position certainly added to his concern. “That things back!”

“The tank?” Zuko asked, getting to his feet in alarm. “We completely changed paths! There’s no reason it should be anywhere near here! Unless…”

“Unless it’s following us,” Toph finished for him, getting to her feet as well. “Come on, we need to go tell the others.” Neither bothered saying another word as they turned and raced back towards camp, finally breaking back into the clearing Appa had landed in to find the rest of their crew had already called into bed.

“Everybody up!” Zuko’s voice, trained for calling across a ship as well as a busy shop, had them all scrambling out of their bedrolls in alarm.

“What’s going on?” Katara, weary as she was, was clearly the most alert, already looking around for any possible threat while her brother still struggled to get free of his bedding and Aang was staring at them in confusion.

“That thing is back!” Toph informed them. “And it’s heading straight for us!”

“I thought we left it behind!” Sokka protested, before proceeding to topple to the side thanks to his legs being all tangled up.

“It’s got to be following us somehow,” Aang fretted, voicing all of their fears. “But how?” And that was the question, wasn’t it? Zuko frowned as he scanned across their group. A spy was out of the question. Not only were the three people in front of him frighteningly loyal to each other (as he and Toph had become to one another as well), but there simply hadn’t been nearly enough time for a message to be made, received, and then acted upon to get the tank to them this quickly. So what could it-oh!

“Appa’s fur.”

“What?” The whole group was looking at him now, but it was Toph that asked the question.

“Appa is shedding,” Zuko reminded them, gesturing around at the fur that had already taken up a good chunk of their campground, despite how little time they had been there. “He’s got to be dropping fur when he flies too. It would leave an easy trail for them to follow. And since we typically stay in a straight line after we change directions all they have to do is use his fur figure out which direction we turn in and then go that way until they find us or the fur disappears, meaning they have to look around to see which way we went next.”

“You mean the reason I’m not getting any sleep is because Appa decided he wanted to lose some weight the easy way?” Sokka complained.

“Hey!” Aang’s voice was sharp as he defended his large friend. “It’s not his fault! It’s just hot!” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Katara cut them off before the two boys could get going. “Now that we know the problem we can fix it. We just need to find somewhere to give Appa a good bath, so he stops dropping so much fur.”

“After we’ve flown for a bit,” Zuko added. “Preferably in at least two different directions. That should slow them down some, since they’ll probably have to backtrack at least once.” No one seemed happy about the situation, but soon enough everyone was moving to get things repacked and back on Appa. Even Toph got into helping gather things up, much to Katara’s visible approval. 

Getting back up in the air was simple enough, as was making a couple of abrupt direction changes in their flying. The hard part was locating a river large enough to bathe Appa in, while being shallow enough for them all to stand safely. Zuko insisting that they fly downriver some before bathing the large sky bison added time as well, but in the end they settled at a shallow bend in the river. More than large enough for all of them, but shallow enough that it wouldn't risk drowning any of them as they bathed the large creature’s fur off of him. 

The actual bathing process took longer than any of them liked, even with two waterbenders involved, but eventually they got it done. Much to Sokka’s disgust, they managed to finish very shortly before the sun started to rise. 

“All night,” Sokka lamented. “This thing has kept us up all night!” 

“We shouldn’t have to go for too much longer,” Katara reassured him. “If this works we should be able to get some sleep really soon.”

“It should work,” Zuko  said, glancing around the area. “Toph and Katara, can you get this place looking like we weren’t here?”

“On it!” Toph got to work right off, quickly followed by Katara, returning the river and its bank to its original state (or at least close enough that it wouldn’t be obvious that an air bison had been here).

“I’m going to lay a false trail,” Aang decided, gathering up all the fur that wasn’t in the water and putting it in his bag. “That should help us out too.”

“Go up the river first,” Zuko advised. “At least until you find another area big enough that we could have used for this. Then veer off from there. Drop the fur and then meet back up with us. If you can catch a glimpse of who has been following us, great, but don’t try and confront them. You’re not rested enough and they’re probably fully rested, since they’re riding around in that thing.”

“Alright, alright,” Aang agreed with a huff, proving to Zuko that the warning was probably needed. “I’ll see you all soon.” And with that, the kid was off, snapping his paraglider open and taking to the sky to fly upriver. The rest of their group wasn’t far behind, loading onto Appa and taking off in a different direction.

They flew for a while, leaving the river far behind, before turning to head towards an abandoned town Zuko had seen once before and had told Aang about. That would be their meetup point. And hopefully where they would get to camp for the next day to recuperate. 

They were lucky to reach the town when they did, even with the bath break (during which Appa did take a small nap, with his head resting on the bank) the air bison barely made it to their destination. Starting to dip out of the sky shortly after it came into view.

Upon landing, Toph quickly set to work moving fallen debris out of their chosen spot and making sure the walls wouldn’t fall in on them, but past that they did very little to set up camp. And it didn’t take long for Appa, Toph, and Sokka to be fast asleep in their chosen spots. Leaving Katara and Zuko to sit up and wait for their remaining member.

“You don’t have to stay up as well,” Katara told him after they had settled down to wait.

“It hardly seems fair to leave you sitting up on your own,” Zuko disagreed. “Besides, I’m used to staying up late to watch Toph compete. At least today I should get to sleep in after.”

“As long as we managed to shake that tank,” Katara pointed out, frowning back in the direction they had come.

“Right,” Zuko grimaced. He really, really hoped they had. They were all dropping hard. And Appa didn’t look like he would be able to fly much farther.

“But we probably have!” Katara hurried to reassure him at his distress. “Your thoughts on Appa’s fur look spot on. So with that gone we shouldn’t be trackable.”

“As long as Aang doesn't accidentally lead them back here,” Zuko pointed out, earning a grimace from Katara as well.

“Yes. As long as he doesn’t, but Aang is pretty fast. And good at hiding. So we should be fine.”

“Right. Should be.” They both fell silent after that, neither liking the idea that they might still be followed, but knowing they couldn’t rule it out entirely. They needed Aang to get back soon. So they could know if it was safe to sleep or not.

“Tell me about your time in Gaoling,” Katara requested, after a couple minutes of silence. “Your…father and you opened a tea shop. What was that like?”

“What was it like?” Zuko repeated, looking over in confusion. “Pretty boring mostly.”

“Oh come on,” Katara protested, glaring at him with black-rimmed eyes. “There has to be something you can tell me about it. Some interesting stories. We need to stay awake here!” 

“Oh. Um,” Zuko faltered. Right. Talking to stay awake made sense. “Well…we did have some annoying customers from time to time. I could tell you about them?”

“Perfect.” Katara grinned. “Tell me all about them.”

“Right,” Zuko nodded, turning to face her more fully. “So. Back when we first started there was this woman who….”

Chapter Text

What started with Zuko sharing stories about his time working at the Jasmine Dragon soon shifted to a strangely companionable back and forth where he and Katara swapped stories about dealing with annoying people or with strange situations. Apparently most of the men of the Northern Water Tribe had a lot in common with a number of customers he had met in the shop. And some of the stories she had about dealing with them, as well as stories about earlier days in her travels with the others, were a hoot to listen to. In exchange Zuko intermixed his stories of the tea shop with ones from his years on his ship as well as a couple from his childhood in the Fire Nation. All in all it was an engaging conversation that went on for a couple of hours, allowing them to stay awake as the sun made its way higher into the sky. Until, finally, they caught sight of a familiar and welcome small shadow passing over them. Quickly followed by a visibly exhausted airbender dropping down to land next to them.

“Aang!” Katara cheered, stumbling to her feet to help stop him from collapsing as he landed (though to be honest, Zuko was surprised they didn’t both fall over with how unsteady she was as well). “How did it go?”

“I think it went well,” Aang told her. “I spread out the fur from the river just like Zuko told me too. I think I caught a glimpse of them following the trail too, but I didn’t stick around too long after that.”

“That’s good,” Zuko praised the boy, pushing himself to his feet as well. “Now we can all get some well deserved sleep.”

“Sleep sounds amazing,” Aang agreed before squinting at them blearily. “What are you two doing still up anyways?”

“We were waiting for you to get back,” Katara told him simply, starting to lead him over to where they had laid out their bedrolls shortly after landing.

“You didn’t need to do that!” Aang protested, but Zuko just shook his head.

“We wanted to,” he told the boy as he followed them over. “So don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah,” Katara agreed. “Besides, I got to learn all sorts of things about Zuko here while we waited.”

“O—” Aang cut himself off with a yawn as he placed his staff against a nearby wall and sank onto the bedroll he’d been led to. “—oh?”

“I can tell you them later,” Zuko told the boy, sinking onto his own bedroll with a yawn of his own. “For now, sleep.”

“M’kay,” Aang agreed, all but collapsing down onto the cushioned roll. “Night.”

“Goodnight,” Katara responded, quickly laying down as well. Zuko was pretty sure he mumbled a response as well, but he could have dreamt it, because he was asleep mere moments later.

Considering how late they finally went to sleep it probably shouldn’t have been surprising, but it was still weird to open his eyes to the late afternoon sun. Especially since he was still so tired as he woke. Despite the time, he would have preferred to sleep for another couple of hours, but it was hard to do that with Sokka and Toph making their way around their temporary shelter. Plus Sokka was grumbling. Loudly.

“What’s a guy got to do to get some grub around here,” Sokka muttered, much louder than Zuko felt was necessary. 

“Well since an obnoxious Fire Nation machine kept us up all night I imagine a guy needs to either go out and get himself something to eat or wait until Katara gets up to make some,” Toph shot back.

“Katar isn’t going to be making food for anyone if you two don’t shut up and let her sleep!” whoops. It looked like they’d woken Katara too. And she wasn’t happy. Zuko couldn’t say he blamed her. He wans’t feeling too happy either.

“How am I supposed to be quiet when I’m starving?” Sokka whined in response. “We haven’t eaten since yesterday and it’s almost night again now!”

“Maybe you could go out and find yourself something to east then,” Toph told him, sounding a bit vindictive. He’d probably been at this for a while then. “Instead of sitting around here and whining.”

“Fiiine!” Sokka huffed before a bit of skuffled noises followed by footsteps. Probably him going off to do just that. Relieved, Zuko settled back to try and sleep again since the noise seemed to be finished for the time being.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t the best at falling back asleep after waking. So, after several long minutes of fruitless attempts to fall back asleep, he pushed himself up from his bedroll with a quiet groan. Careful not to disturb his two still-sleeping companions, but unable to keep at least the small noise to himself. Acoss from him, he caught an amused smirk directed at him by Toph from where she was leaning against part of a collapsed building. She didn’t say it, probably so she wouldn’t further anger Katara, but Zuko could practically see the teasing words on her face. ‘Why good morning sleeping beauty,’ she was probably thinking. So Zuko promptly rolled his eyes, tracing a specific circle on the ground as he did so to make sure she got what he was doing. Toph, naturally, only grinned wider in response. The jerk. 

Fighting back the desire to tell Toph exactly what to do with that grin (both out of respect for their sleeping companions and because thefirst thing he thought og was ‘bite me’ and she’d probably actually do it) Zuko pushed himself to his feet took a moment to stretch and work the kinks out of his back. That done, he took another moment to scan around their camp and take everything in.

Unsurprisingly, Katara and Aang were still out and Sokka was nowhere to be seen (probably still out looking for food). The abandoned town they were in was as collapsed as it had been when they arrived, but looked ever so slightly worse in the deeper shadows of the slowly setting sun. He imagined it would probably look kind of spooky once the sun set in a couple of hours. But it had done it’s job in giving them some cover and some shelter for them to rest in after that mad chase.

Now that he was moving he could feel the hunger setting in. Annoying as it had been to wake up to it, Sokka was right. It had been almost a full day since they had eaten and his body was not happy about this fact. Quickly coming to a decision, he made his way over to stand much closer to Toph.

“I’m going to try and find something to eat,” he informed the only other awake and present member of their little group, making sure to keep his voice pitched low.

“You do that,” Toph told him in way of agreement, though she did lower her own voice to match his. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on our sleeping beauties.”

“Thanks Toph,”  he smiled at her. “You’re the best. See you in a bit.”

“Yeah yeah,” Toph waved a dismissive hand. “Tell me something I don’t know.” Her words were dismissive, but Zuko couldn’t help but catch the light flush that colored her face even as she tried to brush him off. Toph may be confident in her skills as an Earthbender, and her ability to take care of herself, but compliment her for being kind or helpful and she would suddenly become flustered. Zuko didn’t think he’d ever tire of it.

Still smiling to himself in victory, he turned and made his way out of camp. If he was lucky maybe he’d find enough for Katara and Aang as well. Especially Aang. The poor kid had spent most of the morning bending instead of just riding on Appa’s back like the rest of them. There was no way he wasn’t going to be hungry. The only difficulty might be finding enough non-meat food to do the job. Zuko could admit that he wasn’t the most skilled at foraging after all. But he was going to do his best.

Chapter Text

Gathering food hadn’t been easy, but at least Zuko hadn’t brought back poisonous mushrooms the way Sokka had. Everything he’d brought back to camp had been edible, there just hadn’t been that much of it. Thankfully between what he found, Sokka’s non-poisonous collection, and what they already had in their packs there had been enough for them to all have a fairly decent meal before breaking camp.  Now they just had to figure out where they were going next. 

Zuko’s father had suggested a mountain, which wasn’t a bad idea, but after their run in with the tank following them it wouldn’t hurt to make sure it was a well-forested one. With any luck the thick trees would help hide them from any unfriendly eyes. Thankfully, there were plenty of nearby mountains that fit the bill.

Since they were trying to avoid detection, plus avoid ruining anything important with serious earthbending, they decided against any mountains that held abandoned air temples on them. Instead they eventually settled on a somewhat nearby mountain that was located in the opposite direction from where they’d last seen the tank, and a different direction than Aang had left the false trail on.

It wouldn’t do to be careless though, not with everything going on. So after gathering up their gear and supplies, the group made a thorough check of the camp. Any and all shedded fur that could be found was gathered up and stored away before Toph used her bending to erase as many other traces of them being there as she could. Then, and only then, did they load up on Appa and take to the sky, with Zuko keeping a sharp eye out for any falling fur as they went.

Somehow, despite the misadventures from the previous days, the group managed to locate a suitable location to set up camp in less than a day. A small, secluded clearing along a densely forested mountainside, far from any beaten roads may not be ideal for most people, but it suited their needs perfectly.  The clearing was just large enough for Appa to land in and take off from without issues, while also being big enough for the bison to move around and stretch some. There was even another area just to the side of it where they could lay out their sleeping bags and other gear without taking up the space Appa had to move around in. They’d have to take some time to locate the nearest water source, but outside of that Zuko didn’t think they could have found a better location if they’d tried. 

Relieved, and still a little worn from the previous day’s adventure, the group set about setting up camp. Even Toph, who had given them so much difficulty before, stepped up to help setting things up. Maybe Zuko’s words the day before had helped some, Zuko could only hope.

That done, Toph didn’t waste any time in grabbing Aang by the wrist and proceeding to drag him out of camp for some one-on-one Earthbending training. Well aware of Toph’s somewhat-abrasive nature Zuko mentally wished Aang luck before turning to figure out what needed to be done to settle them in for a long stay.

Finding a rythm with Katara in setting up camp was both more complicated than it should have been and simpler than he'd feared. From what he was able to gather from talking with her and observing how things had been done over the last couple of days it was abundantly clear that she had been left in charge of much of the standard tasks of camp. Cooking, cleaning, and keeping order seemed to all fall to her, something that didn't make much sense to Zuko himself.

Sure, if Katara hadn't had any other things she needed to get done for the group then her being in charge of the cooking in cleaning might make sense, but she did. Aang might be moving onto focusing on earthbending now, but Katara was still his waterbending master. To be honest, Zuko couldn't really wrap his head around the dynamic, but it did make figuring out what he (and Toph, when she came back) would be in charge of a bit more difficult. In part because he didn't want to step on any toes if he could help it.

They did manage to figure it out eventually, though. For now, since Aang was focusing on learning earthbending, Toph wasn't in charge of much past making sure he learned what he needed to from her and helping him work towards mastering earthbending (or at least getting it pretty well figured out). Past that she was in charge of keeping watch for anything or anyone that might try to come at them from the ground as well as setting up shelter as needed. They'd figure out what else she could do when Aang transitioned to learning firebending later.

Unlike Toph, who was focusing on teaching Aang, or Katara, who still made sure to check on his capabilities from time to time, Zuko wasn't doing any bending tutoring yet. So to make up for that he did his best to step up into other necessary roles. Cooking wasn't that different from what he'd done at the shop, though without as many ingrediants, so Zuko quickly offered to step into that role. Something Katara seemed more than happy to hand over to him as quickly as she could. Cleaning was harder, dishes he knew, but clothes and bedding were beyond his knowledge. Thankfully Katara was willing to teach him how to get that done as well, grateful for the help that came with his lessons. As well as the flameless hot water he could provide for the job.

There was one non-chore related duty that Zuko stepped into, though. During his time following the group, an now traveling with them, it had quickly come to his attention that Sokka had gone without any real combat or weapons training. That wasn't to say that Sokka was a bad fighter, of course. Zuko had seen the younger boy hold his own many times, so it would be foolish to say that Sokka was without skill. But despite that, the Water Tribe warrior's movements and technique was…rough to say the least. So, since he couldn't really work on trying to teach Aang any bending at the moment, Zuko turned his attention to working with Sokka on his weapon training instead.

To Zuko's surprise, once Sokka had gotten over his surprise at a bender focusing on non-bending combat the younger boy had been quick to agree to the training. It wasn't simple, of course. Sokka didn't have a sword, and Zuko wasn't trained in any of the weapons that Sokka owned, but after a couple days of working at it, the two of them eventually figured out what worked for them.

In the end, they settled on working on two seperate things on alternating days. On the first day, Sokka would pull out his club and his boomerang and the two of them would actively work to sharpen up the Water Tribe warrior's technique and method with his native weaponry. They were both well aware that he was learning things that were probably quite different from what he would have learned if he'd been taught by one of his own people, but Sokka assured him that he was willing to make that sacrifice if it helped him learn how to better defend himself and the others in a fight.

On the alternate days, Zuko would pull apart his own blades and hand one half over to his pupil to use. It wasn't perfect. The duel blades were meant to be used as a single weapon or split into two blades weilded by the same person, not to be split between two people, but they made it work. Sokka was a quick and eager student, very rarely complaining with any real seriouslness when it came to weapon or combat training. Honestly, it was impressive. And Zuko made sure to let the younger boy know as much. He knew from experience what it was like growing up with a younger sister who seemed to excel at things you never could reach.

Not that Zuko thought Katara was anything like Azula, of course, but the similar struggles between himself and Sokka were hard to miss once he started looking.

After that they settled into an easy pattern. In the mornings they'd get up and eat before Toph would drag Aang off to train. Sokka would then wander off to hunt while Katara and Zuko cleaned up from the meal and did some basic chores. They'd have lunch together before breaking off to train again. Zuko and Sokka would branch off to do their own training while Katara either relaxed at camp, did some training of her own, or pulled Aang aside to drill him on a couple waterbending things. Then, in the evenings, they'd gather around to eat whatever it was Zuko had made for dinner before spending the rest of the evening relaxing.

All in all, it was a busy and exhausting schedule, but it was rewarding all the same. Aang had visibly struggled with earthbending for the first several days, but once he got the basic concept down the rest started to fall into place with much less work. Sokka was showing marked improvement as well, quickly reaching the skill level that Zuko felt it was time that the younger boy got a blade of his own. That would have to be something that they worked on getting the next time they made a stop at a town.

Things were going pretty good outside of bending and combat training as well. Despite the buppy start, their little group eventually settled into comradership that Zuko couldn't remember experiencing anywhere else. It wasn't perfect, of course. Toph and Katara still clashed from time to time, as did Katara and Sokka. But once Toph decided to start trying to be a part of a group the girl never went back. Zuko wasn't sure what part of it she decided was worth it, but once she began helping out with the varous things around camp things between her and Katara settled for the most part. Zuko even caught a couple moments when Toph seemed to be enjoying helping set up something for camp, whether it be a small stone oven or a more perinant shelter from the eleements off to the side of the clearning.

Unsurpsingly, despite how well things fell into place, Zuko found himself missing home more than once. He hadn't been away from his father for this long in a very long time. And the knowledge that he wouldn't see the man for a long time yet didn't make the seperation any easier. The others were great, but they weren't his dad.

One thing that did catch him off guard, though, was how much he missed having Toph to himself. Back in Gaoling the two of them would spend hours bending together, or just hanging out, and now he really only saw her at meals and after dinner. And even then it was never just the two of them. And despite how much he was enjoying getting to know the rest of their little group he still found himself missing her. She was right there, often times just to his side at the circle they made to eat at camp, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't just…them.

He made it work, obvoiusly. Pushing aside his homesickness and what felt like jelousy with the cold logic that they were doing what they needed to do. Once this war was dealt with he'd be able to figure out how to see his father as often as he liked. And he could spend time just hanging out with Toph instead of always focusing on training. But that was then, and this was now. For now he needed to focus. Focus and ignore how her attention seemed to follow him around camp sometimes, especially when he was feeling low. Ignore the part of him that wondered if she missed their time together too.

There were plenty of things he could do to distract himself after all. Things like planning a trip down to a nearby town about two weeks into their self-inposed isolation. They needed some supplies, and Sokka needed a sword. Plus Zuko was hoping that he could find an informent that could let him know hong things were going in the wider world. It was risky to try and visit anywhere where people were, but in the end they decided it was necessary. There were things they needed to get, and things they needed to do.