"Zuko?!" Katara cried. "And here I was thinking he'd finally given up on capturing Aang after Ba Sing Se."
"Well, if he thought Aang was dead like the rest of the world did..." Toph said.
"No," Katara replied. "I told him about the spirit water. He'd have to be a complete idiot not to figure out that I'd revive Aang with it."
"Well, he DID opt to join sides with his psycho sister," Sokka said. "I'd say he's pretty high up on the idiot meter."
"Like you have room to talk?" Katara teased.
"Um, excuse me," Teo interrupted. "Who's Zuko?"
"The Prince of the Fire Nation," Katara answered. "When I found Aang in the iceberg, he showed up in my village looking for him, and he's been tracking us all over the world ever since. In Ba Sing Se, his sister Azula threw us into the catacombs together, and I thought maybe he had changed for the better. But then he betrayed us, and Azula almost killed Aang thanks to his help."
"It figures that as soon as we lose Combustion Man, some other jackhole shows up to be a thorn in our side," Toph remarked.
"Hey guys, it looks like he's by himself," Aang interjected. "It's just Zuko in this rinky-dink little air balloon. I think we should land at the Western Air Temple as planned, and confront him."
"Are you sure? Maybe you should rest up," Katara worried.
"No," Aang said. "I failed to take down the Fire Lord on the Day of Black Sun. The least I could do is confront his son. Appa, yip yip!" Aang cracked the reins and Appa took off towards the Western Air Temple.
Zuko furrowed his brow and opened up the furnace in his balloon. Firing a blast into it, the engine picked up speed, turning the propellers faster. He refused to lose track of the Avatar this time.
As the group touched down at the air temple, they scanned the horizon for signs of Zuko. He was little more than a speck in the sky. The gang quickly unloaded and prepared to face the Fire Lord's son. They were ready and waiting when Zuko's balloon touched down on an adjacent outcropping. Determined, he made his way towards where the gang had set up camp.
Aang pointed his staff at Zuko defensively as he approached. Zuko removed the swords from his back and dropped them in front of him. "I'm not here to fight you," he explained. "I want to join you." The gang's jaws dropped simultaneously.
"You WHAT?!" Katara squeaked. "Why?"
"I want to join you," Zuko repeated. "I've made some bad decisions recently, but I finally figured out what I really want from life, and where my place is in this war. My place is to help end it, by helping the Avatar take down my father."
"So... how exactly did you plan on helping us?" Aang asked warily.
"For starters, I can teach you firebending. That's the last element you need to master, right? And I can tell you all sorts of things about the palace, and my father, that will help you defeat him."
"This is great!" Aang gushed. "Not only do I have a firebending teacher, but a member of the royal family to boot!"
"Aang, don't get ahead of yourself," Katara cautioned. "How do we know we can trust you, Zuko? How do we know you won't turn on us again like you did in Ba Sing Se?"
Zuko frowned. "I didn't turn on you, because I was never officially on your side to start with," he growled. "If anyone broke any promises in those catacombs, it was you!" Zuko pointed a finger accusingly at Katara.
"Excuse me?!" she cried indignantly.
"You made such a big deal about healing my scar, but the second HE showed up it was like I didn't even exist! Would it have killed you to stick around for 2 more seconds?" Zuko trembled with anger.
"I didn't owe you anything!" Katara snarled. "You should have thought about THAT before you spent half a year chasing us all over the world!"
"Guys, guys!" Aang interrupted. "We can't be fighting like this if we're all going to work together to take down the Fire Lord. I'm not going to pretend Zuko wasn't a total jerk in the past--"
"Hey!"
"--but what's done is done. If Zuko wants to turn over a new leaf, we owe it to him to give him a second chance."
"Fine," Katara sulked, crossing her arms. "But I'm not letting my guard down just yet."
"How hard do you think it was for me to defy my father, turn away from everything I've ever known, and seek out someone I once thought of as an enemy to help them defeat my own country, my own family?" Zuko asked. "I know you're angry at me, and you have every right to be. But I'm trying to make up for my mistakes here." Zuko scanned the crowd and raised his eyebrow. "Who are all these people? They weren't with you in Ba Sing Se, were they?"
"These are some of our friends from around the Earth Kingdom," Aang explained. "They helped us with the invasion. That's Teo, Haru, and the little one's The Duke."
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to make camp already," Toph said.
"You're right, Toph," Aang replied. "We should get all our stuff inside the temple before it gets too dark out. I'll show everyone to the rooms."
"We're going to sleep in the beds of dead airbenders?" Zuko asked. "Isn't that... I don't know... disrespectful or something?"
"This temple has been devoid of life for a century," Aang replied. "It would be disrespectful to refuse that which our ancestors have left behind for us." With a smile, Aang led the group into the temple. As everyone split off to pick their bunks, Toph lingered next to Zuko.
"So, Sparky, why the sudden change of heart?"
"My name is Zuko," the prince groused.
"If you're trying to tell me I can't give you a nickname, Sparky, you and I are gonna have problems." Toph leaned against the wall nonchalantly.
Zuko opened his mouth to argue, then thought better of it. "After Ba Sing Se, Uncle refused to look at me. I'd never seen him so ashamed of me before. Then a few weeks ago he told me my maternal great-grandfather was Avatar Roku--"
"Wait, what?!" Toph shrieked. "You're RELATED to Aang?"
"Not by blood," Zuko replied hastily. "Just... spiritually. I guess." He scratched his head nervously.
"So that's why you decided to switch sides?"
"I don't know. I just knew, somewhere inside me, that this was the right thing to do."
"I guess you're not all evil after all."
"Hey, the Fire Nation isn't EVIL," Zuko protested. "We've just been under some bad leadership. But I don't want to live in a world where we're universally feared and despised. I want the world to love the Fire Nation as much as I do."
"Well you've really got your work cut out for you, Sparky," Toph said, slapping him forcefully on the back and sauntering off to find a bunk.
"I don't like this, Aang," Katara murmured in another room.
"You don't? Well there are plenty of other places to sleep--"
"No, not that. I mean Zuko joining the group. Do you really think we can trust the Fire Lord's son to help us?"
"The Fire Lord's son turning against his father is the best thing we could've hoped for," Aang countered. "Not only has he had the best firebending lessons money can buy, but he knows the palace and the Fire Lord himself better than anyone. If there are any more bunkers or secret passages Ozai tries to escape to when we come back, Zuko will be able to lead us straight to them. Zuko knows Ozai's habits, his strengths and his weaknesses. We can use all of that to our advantage."
"And that's exactly why I'm worried he'll feed us misinformation," Katara replied. "The Fire Lord could have sent Zuko to deliberately mislead us. I mean, what incentive does he have to betray his country like that?"
"Deception is Azula's bag of tricks, not Zuko's," Aang said. "Isn't it possible that he just wants what we all want? An end to this ridiculous war and a return to peace and freedom?"
Katara sighed. "I suppose."
"C'mon, Katara, just give him a chance. Iroh told us there was good in Zuko. I think we're finally seeing it."