A/N: I don't want to rant, but if it sounds like I am I apologize in advance. There has been some concern to how I characterized Aang in the prequel to this story "Run Away". For the record, I'm not bashing him or Mai, but I make no apologies for the way it was written. I don't believe in curtailing my creativity to appease the opinions of others. If anyone believes that I'm a "typical bitter Zutarian" than you are welcome to continue to think so. I don't care how the show ended. She could have ended up with anyone and this story still would have happened the way it did. So for Kataang fans reading this, or even sympathetic Aang and Mai fans, Run Away had to happen the way it did for this story to happen. Their behavior was solely in Katara's and Zuko's opinion. They were teenagers, so why should they act adult and be rational in breaking up with people they don't want to be with?

Now on to other business. You don't have to read Run Away to read this, but I would suggest for the back story of Katara's relationship with Zuko you do.

Disclaimer: Bryke owns the Avatar series. I just write for pure pleaure.

Sickness

It was the spring when it all began. Fire prince Lu Ten would often be found in the strangest places napping when the sun was at its height and the fire benders were at their most powerful. The servants convinced themselves that nothing was wrong. After all, Lu Ten seemed very healthy so he must have just played too hard.

No one thought to inform the Fire lord of this strange occurrence. No one thought to even make sure the prince got into bed when they found him. The servants of the palace just considered his behavior cute.

It was not until it had reached the summer in the Fire Nation that anyone learned to think differently.

~*~

Fire lord Zuko was exhausted. Fighting for stability in his country was at its most critical. Every decision he made had an immediate impact. The last thing he wanted to risk was starting another war that would throw the world right back into trouble, not when there was his son to think about.

Zuko sat back for a moment, rotating his neck to work the kinks out. Something was going on around the palace and he had no idea what it was. There were starting to be murmurs amongst his servants, murmurs that were beginning to worry him since no one seemed to want to tell him anything.

Any time he neared the speakers they immediately clammed up. Much of Zuko was angered by this. He was the Fire lord. The servants were his subjects. Who were they not to refer to him when it was clear that they worried over something?

He was angrier that his work took him away from his son, the only light that he was left with. By the time he finished with meetings, court, and paperwork it was well past the time his three year old son was in bed.

He was tired of having to put his nation before his child just because he needed the Fire Nation to be prosperous. He was sick of always missing dinner with his son. More than anything, Zuko wanted to be out in the sun with Lu Ten, training his son to be the best little fire bender that he could be.

Zuko decided that enough was enough. He was going to take a break and find his son. Then, they were going to have a picnic and relax for the rest of the day.

With that very thought in the front of his mind, Zuko left his office. The long walk to nursery was quite soothing. He was feeling able to relax the further away from his office he moved.

He barely paid attention to the activity around him. As long as it wasn't disastrous, he figured, it wasn't nearly as important as what he planned to do.

He stopped a maid as she tried to scurry about her business, informing her to run to the kitchen to get someone to pack a lunch for father and son. Once the girl left he allowed a small smile to touch his lips.

He wished his uncle were actually in the city instead of manning his tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Uncle would have enjoyed taking a break out in the sun.

Zuko pushed open the door to the nursery without bothering to knock. He was forced to stop at what he witnessed. The room was full of healers and the nanny, all huddled together whispering.

Zuko felt as if his stomach dropped. "What is going on?" he demanded. Everyone turned to him, surprise clear on their faces. Belatedly, people bowed to him.

His head healer stepped forward slowly to face the Fire Lord. "My lord we were informed of your son's collapse three days ago. His skin is cool to the touch as if his inner fire went out and we aren't sure how that happened."

Zuko pushed everyone out of his way as he approached his son's bedside. He was surrounded by idiots. Had no one thought to inform him of his son's illness?

He laid a gentle hand of Lu Ten's forehead. The healer was correct. His young son's skin was incredibly cool, much too cool for a fire bender. He was worried about the shallow pace of the heartbeat too when he check the pulse.

Furiously, he turned to everyone. "Get out." He then pointed to a servant that had entered with blankets. "You, inform someone that a ship, the fastest available, needs to be readied to sail immediately. If it's not by the time I arrive at the docks there will be hell to pay."

"But my Lord, your son," the nanny began to say.

Zuko snarled. "You tell me that my son has been unconscious for three days. None of you dared to say a word in all this time. Incompetence like this I will not tolerate. It is clear that all of you are bumbling idiots."

It had been so many years since people had witnessed this side of the Fire Lord. Zuko didn't care. They had put his child at risk without him ever knowing. It was time he took a closer look at what was going on inside his home.

He raised the temperature of his body before gathering his son to him. Without jostling the boy, he hurried as fast as he could toward the palace entrance. On the way he met one of the councilors. Once the situation was explained and quick plans for what to do in his absence Zuko rushed on.

The palanquin waited right at the front. The Fire lord wasted no time jumping in. The ride to the docks seemed to take forever. Every time Lu Ten gave a shudder, Zuko worried. He tried his best not to allow his emotions to get the best of him, but it was very difficult. He felt sick to his stomach knowing that while his son was sick and possibly dying, no one thought it important for the Fire Lord to know.

He pressed his lips to his son's forehead. He prayed to Agni that his uncle had a solution to this or knew someone who could help him. Zuko wasn't sure if he dared make his way to the Southern Water tribe unless it was absolutely necessary that he do so.

Thinking about the water tribe made him think about Katara. Years ago she'd been by his side after he'd broken it off it Mai. She helped him learn how to be an even stronger ruler of his nation. And then, she decided to return home simply stating that it was time.

Sometimes Zuko felt as if he could have married her. She'd been perfectly suited to his needs as both a man and the Fire Lord. It pained him to admit that she'd been right when she left. A marriage between them would have had catastrophic results.

Lu Ten's birth eased the absence of his best friend where the royal mistresses had failed. But more importantly Lu Ten's birth had eased some of the fears of the people of the Fire Nation. No longer was it so important for him to find a wife. The boy was an absolute joy and he had potential to be a good fire bender.

All he needed was for Lu Ten to continue to breathe until he could find a cure. He couldn't live with himself if he lost his son.

"My Lord we have arrived."

Zuko put the thoughts back where it belonged and turned his attention to the future he held in his hands. Without his son there was no reason to continue. There would be nothing else that would ever bring him joy.

~*~

Uncle's best tea did absolutely nothing to relax Zuko. Uncle could do nothing to help Lu Ten, which left both males in a deep depression. There was no one in the city of Ba Sing Se who knew how to treat the prince of the Fire Nation.

The sounds of whimpering drew Zuko's attention from the cool cup in front of him. He rushed to his son's side full of hope that this was a good sign of his son's recovery.

Instead he found that Lu Ten was still in an unconscious state. His head shifted back and forth as he kept whimpering. Zuko tried to see if he could calm his son's obvious suffering when a name slipped past Lu Ten's lips. "Kuzon."

Zuko sucked in a deep breath. He turned wild eyes to his Uncle. The elder man stared back at his nephew without saying a word. Zuko closed his eyes hoping to hide from the headache pounding through his skull.

Kuzon was not a name that he wanted to think about. It was the past. But it was also not something that he'd ever told Lu Ten about either.

Zuko did not know what it meant, but one thing was for certain. He had to make it to the Southern Water tribe and that meant having to face Katara again.

~*~

Once more Zuko found himself at sea, this time headed to one of the coldest regions. He was tired. Sleep kept eluding him as he spent most of his free time at his son's side, making sure that the boy did not suddenly worsen on him.

Uncle tried to make him take a break, but it was useless. He knew that it was impossible to rest for long when anything further could happen. When Zuko was younger he never thought he would be a parent. With examples like his father Lord Ozai he had been especially worried that he wouldn't make a very good father.

It was so much more difficult than he had thought imaginable. Yet every time he glanced at his son he felt so rewarded, so blessed to have a child like Lu Ten.

He wondered if this was how his uncle had felt when he had lost his own Lu Ten. Was it the name that brought about this strange curse? Was he destined to lose his son just like his uncle?

Zuko hoped that it wasn't his destiny. He wiped away the tears that fell onto the back of his hand. Holding Lu Ten's tiny hand showed just how small his son was. His son was too young to lose his life.

Zuko wasn't ready to have to mourn the death of his child. He never wanted that at all.

He felt the hand of his uncle brush against his shoulder. "I didn't want this. I couldn't have imagined something like this would happen to my son."

His uncle slowly sank into a nearby chair. "We don't ever expect to feel the loss of a child. By very definition the parent should never outgrow their children. Yet it happens too often. But, Lu Ten is not lost yet. There is still a chance that Lady Katara could know what illness he could be suffering from."

Zuko nodded absently. "Yes, she may yet. But I don't necessarily worry about that Uncle. It's been years since I've seen her. I couldn't imagine how time would have changed her."

"Ah," Iroh said as he leaned back in his seat. "There is still some affection for the Water bender then? Is that what it is I am hearing?"

Zuko allowed himself a slight smile. "I wasn't the one who left her remember. She left me in the Fire Nation alone."

Iroh frowned. Zuko knew it was because his uncle was still unaware why the split between Zuko and Katara happened. Zuko did not wish to explain it for fear that the reason might be interpreted the wrong way.

It didn't matter really what anyone thought. After all, he and Katara had made their pact not to turn their relationship into anything serious after breaking up with Mai and Aang. It would have been silly if they hadn't kept their words.

"We should be arriving soon in the Southern Water tribe's lands," Zuko said. "We should probably send a messenger hawk ahead to warn them of our imminent arrival. The last think I need is for them to think that I am invading their lands again."

Uncle nodded. "I will take care of that. You stay with Lu Ten until we dock." Zuko nodded his agreement. There was no place else he would have rather been.