They had been given a boat to travel on. Or better, they had been taken onto Paku's boat, since he was leaving anyways and was heading in the right direction. So Appa could have some rest. They also could travel by night this way. But Aang woke up every night from nightmares, and so did Zuko. Both for different reasons, though. Aang had nightmares of the Avatar-state, and Zuko had nightmares of people dying. As it was finally time for their departure, Zuko was kind of glad about it. Maybe flying would bring him to other thoughts.
Katara was handed a vial with water from the spirit-oasis from Paku, who told her that the water had special properties and that she shouldn't waste it. Aang was getting a box with waterbending-scrolls, but was warned that he would still need a Master to train him. To Zuko Master Paku handed new broad-swords, for his had kind of suffered from the war a bit. Master Paku smiled at him, telling him that they had found the swords with one defeated soldier, and since he had watched the young Firebender fight, he had guessed they would be more use to him than any of the watertribe. Sokka only got a pat on the shoulder, which upset him visibly.
Paku told them to fly straight to the earthkingdom-base east of their present location. The General there was informed of their arrival and had promised to provide them with an escort to Omashu, where Aang would start training with King Bumi. It didn't took long to get to the earthkingdom-base luckily. Zuko really now longed for a real steady ground beneath his feet. He had been feeling dizzy for some time now. So he was really glad as they closed in on the base. They were greeted by the whole force of the base, including General Fong. He called them heroes and brave, mighty and fearless. Zuko was kind of already fed up by that guy. Why would all people they ran into, … well, most people they would run into, think they had to courtship them?
The rest though seemed to find it nice to be treated like royalty. There even was a firework in their honour. "Do they WANT to call the Firenation here?" Zuko whispered "They could as well tell all the world where we are…" Sokka though was fascinated by the show. Then they were invited into the General's throneroom, for lack of better word. Because for an office it was far too noble and huge. The General told them how impressed they all were about how Aang single handily wiped out an entire Fire-Navy fleet. Aang stood humble like most times, but the General didn't. He decided that Aang was ready to face the Firelord now.
Despite Aang and Katara putting in that Aang still had to master earth and fire, the General didn't listen and tried to convince Aang that with the power of wiping thousands of ships out in a matter of minutes, he could destroy the Firelord now. So Sokka explained that Aang needed to be in the Avatarstate to do such things, and that he hadn't figured out how to trigger it willingly yet. The General got it all wrong too. "So it's decided then." He stated "I help you figure out how to get in and out of the Avatar-state, and then you will face your destiny." He turned towards Aang.
"I don't think so." Zuko put in, standing up "We haven't agreed on that, so nothing is decided." The others got up too and Katara took his side. "Aang's pursuing his destiny his way." She stated. So the General tried to go on Aang's conscience. "Alright, while you take your times, learning the elements…" he said calmly "the war goes on… May I show you something?" He led them to a window to look down to a courtyard. "Those soldiers are the lucky ones…" he stated, as they looked down at some men in pretty bad shape and a lot of bandages. "They came back. Every day the Firenation takes lives. People are dying, Aang!" he went on "You can end it. Now! Think about it."
"Don't listen to him, Aang…" Zuko whispered, as they were guided to their room. "This is not the way it's supposed to be, right? Roku would have told you, if you would be ready now, wouldn't he?" But Aang was deep into thoughts and didn't answer. As the rest ate and went to sleep, Aang didn't eat and also didn't go to sleep. Zuko wanted to help him, but didn't know how, and since he was tired, he decided that it was better for everyone if he would go to sleep. His sleep was not long, as he was woken by bad dreams again. This time the girl appeared again. The one who would laugh at him, making him feel dumb, angry and scared at the same time. His gasp as he pulled himself out of the nightmare woke Katara. "Where is Aang?" she whispered.
Aang came in a bit later, telling them that he had agreed to the General's offer. Katara was not happy with this, but Sokka was fine with it. So it turned into a sibling-discussion again. Until Katara went angry and rushed away. Zuko sighed. He knew he was supposed to follow her to see if she was right, but he was so damn tired. The next morning the General started his tests on Aang. Zuko went to question the soldiers. He really didn't want to be part of this. The blue, glowy being that Aang had been at the North-Pole had scared him, and it had killed. This hadn't been Aang. Aang wouldn't kill. He wouldn't even eat dead animals. If he was in the Avatar-state, he was no longer himself, and that scared Zuko.
It appeared the soldiers were really nice, and they showed him some fighting-techniques. They also gave him new clothes, so he would fit in better. "Now you can pass as an earthkingdom-citizen any time." One of them laughed, tousling his hair. "The girls will run after you, believing you are a war-hero with that scar…" "I don't think I would want this…" Zuko put in, but was laughed at by the soldiers. "Wait until you get older." They said "You will love it then…" They also urged him to show his skills with his swords, and praised him for his show. "Not bad, kid. You should join the army, you know? We could really need fighters like you." "I don't think that would be a good idea…" Zuko decided.
Zuko spent the night with the soldiers, since they were nice and better company than his friends right now. They stood up late, feeding him with meat and some liquid that made him feel dizzy and warm and safe at the same time. They made him forget about Zhao and the girl from his visions. And for he had not heard any news from the group, he was sure they were still trying to stick to the plan on finding out how to trigger the Avatar-state. And he was really not interested in that.
The next day he awoke by loud cracking and bumping noises and his head hurt badly. He tried to feel his forehead, but found his hands unable to move. As he opened his eyes he saw exactly nothing. "What…" he muttered to himself, wincing at the echo of his own voice. Where was he? What had happened? The bumping and crashing noises would not stop. And his head pounded like it would explode any minute now. He finally lost consciousness as the floor beneath him started moving.
The next time he awoke was because someone was dragging him into far too bright light. "Well, Avatar, if you don't want to help us, he will…" Someone shouted right next to him, causing him to wince because the noise rang in his ears painfully. "Zuko!" Aang cried. "I'm sure the Firelord will start to see reason, when we threaten to kill his son." The voice continued. "Don't count on it…" Zuko murmured. "Let him go!" Katara shouted from somewhere near Aang. He couldn't really see him. The light was far too bright. "No." the voice next to him stated "Only if the Avatar is going to stick to the plan." "Your plan has a mistake in it, though…" Sokka put in "As far as we know, the Firelord does not really care for Zuko… Otherwise he would long have tried to get him back home, wouldn't he?"
The General was not willing to listen to reason. He went on with how he was going to let the Firelord see the execution of his own blood, when Zuko finally decided he had heard enough and using the voice of the General for locating the guy, he simply blew fire at him. Good thing if you knew how to bend without your hands… He felt as the guy let go of him, screaming in horror and pain, and found that he was not able to stand on his own. Before he hit the floor though, he found himself being caught by strong hands and someone freeing his hands and feet. "Sorry, kid…" a familiar voice stated, and as Zuko was finally able to shade his eyes and open them, he saw one of the soldiers kneeling next to him. "He is crazy, you know…" the soldier went on, while Katara put out the fire on the General's clothing and Sokka was bashing his boomerang over the guy's head.
The soldiers offered them to guide them to Omashu, but they declined. Zuko was helped up on Appa by Aang's bending and they took their leave, happily to leave this horrible base behind themselves. Katara made Zuko drink a lot, but he still felt sick and only wanted to sleep. So they let him. Unluckily his nightmares wouldn't and he would wake ever so often because of the beasty grin of the girl.