Zuko sighed in longing as he watched the Gaang lay around the campfire, seeming to all be sleeping peacefully. It seems that they had fallen asleep outside instead of in their rooms, like normal. Sitting on his vigilante post deep in the shadows and high above the group, he could easily see far into the distance, even a small chunk of the ocean at the base of the cliff, which was alternately highlighted with moonlight and shadowed by the craggy cliff. He turned back to the group, watching as each child huddled close to someone. Sokka and Katara were snuggled close to each other, while Toph was back to back with Aang, but not quite touching. Teo was wadded against Haru, with the Duke using both older boys as a bed. Zuko had crawled up into a broken wedge in one of the extremely thick support beams to play sentry, almost completely hidden by vines.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, but couldn't bring himself to a state of peace. The pain of being truly alone in this family of children sent a stabbing pain into his heart, viciously pointing out his lack of people skills. In his moment of self-pity, he almost didn't hear Aang beginning to struggle in his sleep, wriggling away from Toph, but not waking her. Zuko watched in interest as the boy gained a pained look on his face, before an unknown emotion seemed to pull him towards waking the child Avatar up. Was it... Compassion? Concern? Yup, must be concern. Certainly not compassion. 'I can honestly say that I am going insane,' Zuko thought as he climbed down from his little hiding place and used every ounce of his Blue Spirit stealth and grace to make his way to Aang without stepping or waking anyone else up. He knelt down next to the now whimpering boy, but hesitated. 'Maybe I should leave him alone, not reveal that I saw him in his time of weakness...' Zuko shook these thoughts off and awkwardly placed his hand on the young Avatar's shoulder, shaking him. "C'mon Avatar, wake up..." He mumbled, almost to himself. What he did not expect was for Aang to shoot upright and deliver a spike of air directly into his chest, sending him flying across the room and into a wall, effectively waking up the rest of the group. He heard a loud crunching noise as he slid to the floor and crumbled onto his side, coughing. There was a loud ringing in his ears and a strange tingling in his arm. He clamped his left hand over the spot and felt blood, lots of it.

-----

Aang was having a nightmare. A burning pyre of fire shone on the horizon as Aang seemed to hover in space, watching from a distance. A small boy with Air Nomad clothing was sobbing and struggling again an older man as he was forcibly carried away from the burning temple. Aang now recognized the place. It was the Southern Air temple. Aang sucked in a breath. No, there was no extensive fire damage to the temple, so how could it be burning so violently? Aang's thoughts were pulled away as he watched his people be viciously slaughtered by grim-faced Fire Nation soldiers. The last monk standing was Monk Gyatso, who turned away to face Aang. "Why did you leave us, my son?" He asked as an enferno engulfed him. Aang cried out, as if he were in pain himself. He readied a strike to attack the Firebenders when he heard a familiar voice.

"C'mon Avatar, wake up..."

Aang jolted into a sitting position, air-bending the intruder away from him as quickly and violently as he dared. How had the Fire Nation Prince gotten inside his santuary? After several tense moments, events from the past few days ran through his mind and he recalled taking Zuko under their wing, but not truly into their group. He looked up with sudden clarity and saw that the rest of the group was awake. Teo and the Duke were kneeling -in Teo's case, sitting- around him as Katara, Toph, Sokka, and Haru faced the lone Firebender, who was flush against the floor, gripping his upper right arm, as though in pain.

"Get up and fight like a real man, you lousy Fire Nation trash!" Sokka yelled harshly, boomerang in one hand and meteor sword in the other. He glowered at the downed ex-prince.

Katara turned to Aang and knelt down next to him, in between him and his view of Zuko. "Are you alright, Aang? He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Aang was stunned. He couldn't understand why Zuko had been sitting so close to him, unless... "Guys, stop! He was just trying to wake me up!" the boy shouted, pulling himself up, with Katara's help.

"Are you sure, Aang?" Katara asked, glaring at Zuko, who was still against the floor and making no move to lift himself up. His breathing was harsh and irregular, and there was a dark puddle around his prone form.

Toph's eyes widened in shock. "Guys, Sparky's heartbeat is slowing down!"

"What??" Aang exclaimed, running over to the older teenager, causing blood to splash under his bare feet. Aang felt the blood squelch between his toes and felt sick. He couldn't have caused this, could he? "Zuko, Zuko! Can you hear me?"

Zuko's eyes were barely open, but they locked onto Aang's, his gaze strangely too lucid for the situation. Aang offhandedly noticed that Zuko's eyes were mismatched, his right eye was the color of the sun, the scarred one the dark gray of stormclouds, not unlike his own. "A-avatar?" Zuko groaned, his brow furrowed. He seemed to be trying to focus on something Aang couldn't see. His grip on his arm loosened, revealing something white that was jaggedly piercing through the skin, gleaming pale silver in the light. Aang felt the nausea wash up and he turned away, retching.

"What? What is it?" Sokka asked, warily walking over to the two. He also felt the hot, sticky blood on his feet and he spotted the bone protruding from the torn skin of Zuko's upper right arm. He raced over, knelt down, and shoved Aang away. "Get Katara. Now!" Sokka barked, ripping the sleeve from his shirt and tying it securely around Zuko's right arm just above the broken skin.

Aang willingly drew back and feebily called to Katara, who raced over to him. She noticed the blood staining his clothes, and the angry look returned to her eyes. "Aang, did he do something to you?! Are you hurt?!" She asked, feeling along his arms and torso for any type of wound she believed Zuko had caused.

Normally, he would be pleased with the way Katara was running her hands along his chest, but he was too shocked to instantly reply. When her words registered in his mind, he seemed to snap. "No he didn't, Katara!!" He shouted, much to everyone's shock. Aang could feel tears burning their way down his cheeks. "I attacked him for no reason, and now he's bleeding to death!"

The room burst into chaos as everyone began crowding around Zuko, save for Katara, Aang, and Toph. "Hey, back off!" Sokka yelled at them, shooing everyone away. "Get out of here! He needs space to breath, and I need Katara! Get over here!"

Katara reluctantly walked over, her nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell and at her patient. "What happened?" She asked, crouching down next to her brother, trying to stay as clean of blood as she could.

Sokka seemed worried. "I think that when the bone pierced the skin, it hit a major artery. I'm surprised he hasn't bled out."

"Well, lucky him." Katara grumbled, drawing water out of her trusted waterskin. "Sokka, is his awake?"

"'M awake, Waterbender." Zuko groaned, his breath still wheezy. His eyes were not focused on either of them, but he seemed lucid.

Katara's grin was slightly sardonic. "This is going to hurt, 'Prince Zuko'. Do you think you could handle it?"

Zuko nodded easily, which shocked the Watertribe siblings. The older teen blinked up at them in confusion, as if he wondered what the hubbub was about, but he had to know, right? His arm was broken and he was bleeding to death for goodness sakes! "...What are you going to do, anyway?" He asked, his speech slightly slurred.

Katara nodded to her brother, who was a little concerned about his sister's expression and Zuko's apparent confusion. Sokka glanced apolegetically at Zuko before pulling the bone back into the flesh, fully exposing the torn artery and nerves to the cold air before setting the bone in place, accidentally causing the bones to grate almost audibly against one another.

What happened next caused the others to recoil in horror and turn away from the threesome, discomfort and or pain etched into their expressions. They were expecting a groan, maybe, a bitten lip as a scream was forcibly swallowed, probably, hell, even howls of pain would have been better than what Zuko had done. Zuko began to laugh. The sound caused Aang to weep all the harder and Toph had a pained expression on her face, feeling every ounce of agony that Zuko should have been feeling. She stood in silence, shuddering with every laugh that tore its way from the ex-prince's lips. Hearing an almost good natured laugh escaping the proud warrior's tight composure in a situations where he should be in pain shocked and disturbed her to the point of nausea.

Katara shook her head while placing her water-gloved hand over the puncture wound, healing the tissue and pulling it back together. Next, she worked the water deeper into Zuko's flesh, slowly knitting the bone back together. She wouldn't heal it completely, but she would start the process. She wouldn't admit it, but she felt a tug of compassion for the teen, who continued to laugh, as if to mock her and her apparent lack of healing. She viciously squashed the feeling and stood up, blood-bending the blood into the air and over the side of the cliff. Confused when more blood continued to appear, she began to check him for other wounds. She soon found the wound on the back of his head, which was very severe. She was actually worried that it could cause lasting damage. "Sokka, get me more water." She demanded, taking her sleeve and absently brushing blood from Zuko's face. "Toph, come here and make a stone splint for me."

Toph uneasily crawled over and bended the earth she was so fond of. It slowly creeped up the teenager's arm, encasing the entire limb in stone before she turned and fled, burrowing her head into the returning Sokka's chest, still shuddering. Sokka looked shocked, but he tossed his sister the full water skin before his arms wound around Toph, comforting the blind girl.

After Katara healed the wound to Zuko's head, he slowly began to stop laughing, soon resorting to slight snickers and giggles. He sat up with difficulty, but Katara refused to help him up. She had already gone over to Aang to comfort him. The scarred teen wiped the tears from his face, still grinning slightly. "I didn't know you were so good with broken bones, Sokka." Zuko snorted, leaning against the wall for support, scaring the hell out of everyone.

"How the hell did you know my name?!" Sokka asked, looking startled. "And what the hell are you doing, getting up?! You need rest!"

Zuko snorted again, waving his left hand carelessly at Sokka and his unneeded bout of concern. "Bah, you're too serious, I'm fine. Besides, I've dealt with worse, quite obviously." He deadpanned, motioning with an unneeded flourish at his scar, causing Sokka to look away. He continued. "What I'm surprised about is that the Avatar would be so violent, even in a nightmare-induced stupor." Zuko rested his head in his left hand in thought, his next comment scaring the others. "Now if he could only put that kind of energy into training..."

A waterwhip dangerously close to Zuko's head sent his train of thought off a cliff to explode into shock. He looked up and noticed a VERY angry waterbender glaring at him. "Are you saying you want Aang to end up like this," She said, looking down at Aang, who still had his head buried in her shirt, "after every training session with you?!? Are you truly heartless!?"

Zuko didn't answer her. He had slumped over and seemed to be asleep. The only hint that he hadn't fallen that way naturally was the fact that Toph was on her knees next to him with one of her hands balled into a fist. She turned and glared right back at Katara. "That's not what he meant and you know it! He wasn't in his right mind due to the CRAPPY job SOMEONE did with setting it!" She shouted waving her hand in Sokka's direction, causing said boy to flinch. "Not to mention the even CRAPPIER job YOU did with healing it!" Before Katara could reply, Toph continued, in full rant mode now. "I know you can heal broken bones! You've done it before, for just about all of us, but you're willing to let you stupid little prejudices get in the way of Aang's only firebending training?! His only chance at gaining mastery of all elements?! His only chance at SAVING THE WORLD?!?!?" Toph's voice rose in volume and octaves with each word.

"But Toph-" Katara stopped when Toph's blind but clouded green eyes locked accurately with hers, causing the Waterbender to flinch and turn away from the unnerving gaze.

"Besides, all Zuko has been is nice and helpful since he came here, and EVERYONE," She turned and glared at everyone, but none would would look her in the eye, "but me and Aang have been nothing but untrusting and pissy-pantsy since he showed up! Why the hell can't you just trust Aang and I?! I'm a fucking human lie detector for freakin' sakes! I would know if he had something up his sleeves, and Aang's usually a pretty good judge of character! Yes, he may be a little too trusting sometimes, but he's a smart kid! The rest of you need to grow a pair and treat him with some fucking respect!"

"Toph!" Katara shouted, the only one truly unnaffected by the girl's speech. "Watch your tongue!"

Toph just growled in frustration, sounding not unlike a irritated saber-tooth moose-lion before she grabbed Zuko by the shoulders and tried to drag Zuko over to the mass of sleeping rolls while still on her knees. Sokka, seeing her plight, placed his hand on her shoulder. She stopped, and the coffee-colored teen easily hefted Zuko up, bridal style. They were shocked by how easy Sokka could do that, when he had trouble trying to heft Katara or even Aang up.

"Where to, Toph?" He asked. "His room or one of the unused sleeping mats?"

"If we put him in his room, we wouldn't be able to keep an eye on him, so over here. Put him by me and Aang, I don't trust him with the rest of you." Toph's harsh words struck a small dart into everyone except for Aang, who had calmed down and glanced over at Zuko with puffy, red eyes. "Alright!" She snapped, causing everyone to straighten up in attention. "Go to sleep. NOW. Forget this happened, and don't mention it in the morning. If Sparky can't remember it when he wakes up, then no one tell him the truth. Do we all agree that he fell out of his little hide-a-way and broke his arm that way?" A chorus of 'yes ma'ams' from everyone but Katara satisfied her. Sokka made Zuko comfortable on one of the pallets before going standing up and leaving the room, heading for his own resting place. Katara followed him as well, angry stormclouds hovering over her head. Toph made herself comfortable against Zuko's chest, stealing his body heat while Aang leaned against the firebender's back. The rest also left for their respective sleeping places, tension hovering over everyone until only Aang, Toph, and Zuko were left near the dwindling fire. Soon Aang was the only one awake.

Aang turned back and looked at the Firebender, whose breathing was still wheezy. 'How does Zuko have a gray eye? I should ask him in the morning.' Aang thought before rolling away from the exiled prince to fall into a dreamless sleep.