They were tense and quiet for a while after leaving Ba Sing Se. The saddle was by no means small, but it felt crowded and claustrophobic with four new additions to the group. Zuko was tucked into one corner, Iroh comfortably sat in the middle with King Kuei and Bosco, and the others pressed closer to the front, subconsciously forming a barrier between the firebenders and Aang.

The mood was unbearably tense, and Katara decided to choose the route of least resistance. She attempted a smile at Iroh. "thank you for your help back there." She started. "Both of you. I'm not sure how we'd have gotten out without you." Sokka made a little huff of distrust, but she elbowed him in the ribs.

Iroh surprised her by bowing deeply, head touching the saddle back. It surprised his nephew too, who watched him with wide eyes.

"I should be thanking you, Master Katara." He said smoothly. "How could we ever repay the debt we owe?" For the first time, he didn't seem totally in control of himself. His calm, genial attitude shook, and Katara shuffled forwards. Zuko's hands were clenched in the fabric of his tunic, and he didn't seem able to look at his uncle anymore.

"Debt?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"The scar," Aang said softly, not turning back to them from his position in Appa's shoulders. "You used the water from the spirit oasis to heal it, right Katara?"

"What?" Sokka turned to face her, his face turning interesting colours again. "You used the oasis water on Zuko's scar? The guy who's been chasing us for months?" He flailed his arms in exasperation and turned to Aang. "Aren't you angry?"

Toph frowned slightly, aiming her face towards the rough direction of Zuko. "Did you have a scar?"

Zuko blinked, looking surprised. "Uh."

"How could you miss it?" Sokka gasped. Toph frowned at him, waiting.

And waiting.

Sokka groaned. "Never mind." He scowled at Zuko. "I don't know what you did to trick my sister, but the rest of us are going to be keeping an eye on you." He pointed between his eyes and towards Zuko, causing Katara to roll her eyes with a sigh.

"I'm not. You're good." Toph chirped. Katara and Sokka looked at her. Katara frowned at the blind joke, but then realised with a slight start that Toph hadn't really had many encounters with Zuko before. She'd not been there when he burned the houses in Kyoshi, or threatened the South Pole, or tried to kidnap Aang.

Behind her, Aang nodded. "You're with us now." He said, turning around to look at Zuko and Iroh with a soft smile. "I'm glad Katara was able to help you, Zuko... and I'm glad we're friends."

It was meant to be reassuring, Katara knew it was, but Zuko scowled and turned to face the city behind them, curling into himself and hiding his face. Iroh smiled gratefully at Aang. "Thank you, young Avatar." He glanced back at Zuko with a smile. "It will take a bit of getting used to, but we are very happy to be with you. If you like, I would be happy to teach you firebending… as soon as we are able to find somewhere safe."

Somewhere safe.

Where was safe? The group sat in silence for a moment, all looking back to Ba Sing Se.

Ba Sing Se has fallen.

"Where can we go?" King Kuei said, speaking for the first time since they'd set off. "I've never… I never even left the palace until this week…" Bosco grumbled next to him, and he slumped against the bear.

"Let's head to Chameleon Bay. We can meet up with Dad and formulate a plan." Sokka said softly.

Zuko turned. "Chameleon Bay?" He asked. The wind made his hair whip back off his face, and he looked so, so strange without the familiar scar. He was almost unrecognisable. "That's a terrible idea."

Sokka scowled. "What? We need to meet up with our dad."

"The Fire Nation will be patrolling the area. Even with the rocks under the water, they'll be nearby." He said forcefully. "Azula won't leave any possible harbours open to hide in, especially not so close to Ba Sing Se."

"Zuko's right." Iroh nodded sagely. "There will be lots of patrol ships in the area, but they won't make it inside the bay. The water is too treacherous for the larger ships." He smiled at Sokka. "Your father should be safe, as long as he's careful, but we will have to exercise the utmost caution if we wish to go there ourselves."

Sokka hummed, thinking to himself. Toph flashed a tiny, devious grin as Appa changed direction slightly. King Kuei just looked thoughtful. "I can't come with you." He murmured thoughtfully. The others turned to him in surprise. "Can you set me and Bosco down on the way? I've never seen the kingdom outside of the walls, and how can I rule a kingdom I've never seen?" He looked out over the saddle. "I need to meet my people. I need to understand them so that if… when I return, I can be better."

Something about the way King Kuei spoke about wanting to provide for his people made Katara feel warm inside, and just beyond him, Zuko's face relaxed, and he stared out into the night. He was frowning, Katara realised, but it wasn't angry. More thoughtful than anything.

She wondered if he'd spent much time with ordinary people within the Fire Nation. Were there ordinary people in the Fire Nation?

They set down to prepare a camp. Aang and Appa were both exhausted, and the others weren't much better either. Toph had immediately warmed to Iroh, apparently, and had created a comparatively comfortable chair for him to sit on at their campsite. Iroh made agreeable noises and lit the campfire with a flick of his wrist.

"That… That does make life easier." Sokka grinned at the older man, stoking the flames with a stick. "Do we have any food in the saddle?"

"Not much," Katara admitted, producing a mouldy loaf of bread and eyeing it speculatively. "This isn't too bad. We can pick off the worst of it." She had a quick rummage through the pack. "There are some nuts and dried fruit, but we left most of the food behind… Do you have anything on you?" She looked to Iroh and Zuko.

"I'm afraid not." Iroh sighed. "I have a little money but no food." Zuko was stood awkwardly by his uncle, arms crossed. "I would so enjoy a cup of tea, alas I fear that I left it all at the palace."

Zuko blinked, and reached inside his tunic, producing a small brown parcel. He grimaced as he unwrapped what maybe once was a very nice cake. "I have this, but it got a bit crushed." Sokka beamed and clapped him on the back.

"Now that is being prepared." He grinned down at the cake. "Katara, I hope you're taking notes! May I?" He asked Zuko, who handed Sokka the cake with a surprised smile. "We have dessert!"

Thankfully, Sokka was in a good mood and only took a slightly larger piece than he gave to everyone else. Katara looked over to where Aang was already fast asleep on Appa and sighed softly. He'd been incredible in the caves, full of power and for the first time, the Avatar state hadn't been so scary. The Guru must have been a great help.

"Here." Zuko was stood at her shoulder, awkwardly holding out a worn blanket. "For the Avatar.." Behind him, the others were mostly bedding down for the night around the campfire. Only Iroh and Toph remained fully awake, talking to each other in low voices.

Smiling in thanks, she took the blanket and draped it over Aang. He looked so young when he was asleep. It made her chest warm to see him safe, undisturbed by the war around them.

She looked up to see Zuko watching Aang with a pained expression. He looked like he was in physical pain, watching Aang sleep. His shoulders were raised and he held the other blankets in his arms tightly to his stomach, resisting the urge to- what?

"Are you alright?" She asked, and he shook his head, grimacing. "Do you… regret what happened?"

He breathed out in a long, shuddering sigh that sent tiny flames out of his mouth. Katara tried not to stare, wide-eyed. Firebenders could actually breathe fire. Something about the casualness of it was so off-putting. "I don't know." He said eventually, turning to glance back at his uncle. "Part of me thinks it might not be too late to…" He turned back to Aang, and Katara forced herself to keep very still, not to move straight into a defensive position. "... Thank you by the way. I don't think I said it before."

He turned the left side of his face away from her self consciously, and she felt a strange, protective feeling for him then. For so long he'd been the face of the enemy, and the scar had been just… part of his face. It looked strange to her, seeing symmetrical eyes, ears and a smooth, pale cheek where he'd previously had warped reddened flesh.

"You're welcome." She said, awkwardly. "Does it- feel…" She wasn't sure what she was trying to ask. Does it feel different? Do you regret accepting the offer? He didn't look particularly happy about it. "Are you alright?" She said again, lamely.

He opened his mouth to say something but paused. He looked back at Aang and she waited, letting the silence stretch between them.

"You probably shouldn't have done it." He said eventually. "You had no way of knowing I wouldn't attack you. You might still need the spirit water another time. For something more… something else."

I've been saving it for something important.

"It felt like the right thing to do." She said softly. "I wasn't really thinking of other ways I might need to use it… Just… It seemed like it really bothered you. The scar." She waited for a response, but he didn't offer one, so she just looked back to Aang.

She kept expecting him to walk away but he simply stood there all tense, anxious stillness.

"I don't know if I regret helping you." He said eventually. "If I hadn't helped you, I could have gone home."

He seemed more comfortable when she wasn't looking at him, so she didn't. "How long have you been away?" He'd been obsessed with his search for the Avatar, but they'd not seen him and his uncle until Ba Sing Se. She'd assumed he had been back in the fire nation, but when she saw him in Ba Sing Se, he'd been in Earth Kingdom clothes, and Azula had thrown him into the cave as a prisoner.

She had no idea what their former pursuers had been doing for the last month or so. The realisation was unsettling.

"Three years."

"Three years?" She couldn't help looking back at him. "Why so long?"

"I was looking for him." He said with a sigh. "The Avatar. We were going to capture the Avatar to restore my honour."

The last part seemed like a strange condition. He was a prince of the Fire Nation. Had he fallen out of favour? Had he committed a crime of some sort? How does a prince lose his honour?

But Zuko wasn't really paying attention to her. He was watching Aang sleep. "But every time I got close I let him go."

"I don't know what happened." She said eventually, once it was clear Zuko wasn't going to say anything further. "But I'm glad you're with us now."

She paused, before taking one of the blankets Zuko was holding onto, tugging a little to pull it from his grasp. He blinked and looked down at them in confusion before letting her take it. He seemed lost in his own thoughts and she reached out instinctively. Gripping his upper arm firmly, she met his eyes with a firm smile. The physical contact surprised him, and she wondered why he flinched.

"Try to get some sleep. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

She walked away from him, back towards the rest of the group, leaving him with his thoughts. With Aang. She was sure she'd made the right choice in the caves. Even if he wasn't.

.

It took them the full day to get near Chameleon Bay. Zuko and Iroh had been right, Katara realised with a frown. There were definitely more Fire Nation battleships patrolling the sea than there had been the last time they were near the coast. A smaller ship Zuko called a sea viper was idling on the horizon, and they'd had to fly high in the clouds multiple times to avoid being spotted by other larger ships.

Sokka kept asking Zuko questions about the ships, their inner layouts and functionalities. It turned out that Fire Nation ships had three basic categories: there were the smaller patrol ships, the heavily armed destroyers and large carrier ships, which transported weapons and personnel across the ocean from factories and warehouses to the various colonies.

"That sea viper is a fast patrol ship - they tend to work light and will probably have a crew of around 25 soldiers, including at least 5 firebenders." Zuko narrowed his eyes at the dark shape on the glittering sea. "It can operate with just 10 people in an emergency, and maximum capacity could be as much as 70 or so."

"Hmm." Sokka squinted. "It looks a bit beat up."

"Yeah. It's an older model. Like the one I used to have" Zuko confirmed.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Can we take it out or not?"

Zuko glanced at her before signalling for them to go back to the others. They shuffled away from the cliff edge and crawled back into the wooded copse where they could stand, and Appa was obscured by various trees and thickets.

"Do you think it would be big enough for what we need?"

Sokka looked thoughtful. "It might get a bit tight, but if it's fast and blends in then it should be fine."

Zuko nodded. "Patrol ships don't tend to be used for high-profile missions. Most other ships will just salute and carry on." He smirked. "We'd be right under their noses, and we would be able to get away quickly if we ran into any trouble."

"I don't like the idea of taking over a Fire Nation ship," Aang said lowly. "It feels too dangerous."

"It's a really good plan, Aang," Katara said firmly. "This way it will be safe to go into Chameleon Bay and get Dad and the others out. There won't be any Fire Nation soldiers to see them escape and we can continue with Sokka's invasion plan."

Zuko nodded. "With more ships on the ocean, they'll probably all have lower capacity too. This is the best opportunity we're likely to get."

Aang made a slightly pained noise, and Sokka took that as assent. He and Zuko quickly retired to a felled tree and began sketching out plans together. Their heads bowed and conversation quick, low and eager. Katara watched them strategise with a raised eyebrow- it hadn't crossed her mind before but Zuko wasn't much older than them at all. The scar, armour and warships had previously given him an older, harder feel, but as he sat with Sokka, discussing ways to get onto the sea viper he looked almost the same age as her brother.

"Those two are getting along better today," Toph remarked with a smirk. Katara smiled down at the earthbender and shrugged.

"I think Sokka has more in common with Zuko than he'd admit." She nudged Toph with her elbow. "I'm honoured by your company Lady Bei Fong- where's your friend?"

"Looking for plants to make tea from." Toph shrugged. "He's a cool old dude, but his priorities are weird."

She was attempting to feign nonchalance, but Katara could tell the girl had taken to Iroh- ever since their first meeting.

"Hey, Sugar Queen… I know it's none of my business but why exactly did you heal Prince Sulky?" Toph asked abruptly. "What happened to you guys in the cave?"

Katara was silent, looking over to where Zuko was trying to illustrate some obscure point for Sokka, eyebrows knitted together as Sokka gestured at him wildly. "I'm not entirely sure." She said eventually. "We had… I guess our first proper conversation, and it seemed strange not to offer, at least…"

The green crystal glow had made him look pained, and the way he'd reacted when she'd mentioned his face being that of the enemy had kind of broken her heart. I've been saving it for something important.

It had seemed important.

"Your priorities are weird too." Toph scoffed, clearly impatient with Katara's conversation. "Personally, I think having firebenders in the group is a good thing. Twinkletoes will have to learn fire soon, right?"

"Right…" Katara frowned. Aang had been incredibly against learning fire ever since he'd burned her, but as he progressed in his earth and water bending it was becoming more and more obvious that he had a knowledge gap. The Avatar couldn't fulfil his destiny without all four elements, and his aversion to fire was cause for concern.

Where Jeong Jeong had hated fire and warned of its destruction, Iroh seemed to use it in completely different ways. She'd seen Iroh fight but he didn't have the same aggression in his movements that other firebenders had. Zuko, for example, had much more aggressive movement and his bending seemed angrier somehow, but Iroh was almost like an Airbender.

"We've not got that long, have we?" Toph said with a faint frown.

"No, we don't." Katara agreed. She might have said something reassuring, but she wasn't sure how.

.

They'd managed to persuade Aang to stay out of sight with Appa, Momo and Iroh as the others infiltrated the ship. Toph brought them down the side of the cliff and Katara was responsible for actually getting them to the ship unnoticed.

"This would obviously be a lot safer if we had more people." Zuko pointed out, and the boys exchanged a significant look. "But I'm sure this will be… fine." He grimaced at Sokka, who clapped his back in what was probably intended to be a show of camaraderie but seemed to just make Zuko even more uncomfortable.

Katara sped them through the water, trying to keep the ripples and movement to a minimum so as not to attract attention. They reached the ships hull where, sure enough, the rungs of a ladder were just as Zuko had told them. "You go first Toph," Sokka said. "Don't go on deck if there's anyone too close."

"Yeah, I know Snoozles." Toph scoffed, but her body relaxed a little once she was in contact with the ship and she could 'see' again. "No one's on deck." She clambered up the ladder, followed closely by Sokka, then Katara and Zuko at the rear. The ship was old, Katara realised. It had a few noticeable seams of rust along the side, and there was a smattering of barnacles near the water level. That was a good sign though, it meant the ship wasn't weighed down by crew members and weapons.

They slipped onto the deck and Toph grinned. "There's a few downstairs, but most of them are in the bridge."

"How many?"

Tops frowned. "Four downstairs. Eight on the bridge."

They were in luck. "Right." Sokka nodded. "We'll take the guys downstairs first and then head to the bridge. That way we can keep things contained."

The inside of the ship was familiar enough to put Katara's teeth on edge. She'd been inside Fire Nation ships before- first, the abandoned one in her village, and then in Zuko's. If Zuko's face was that of the enemy, these iron ships were the dragon's den.

Her body was screaming for her to run back, and she could see from the tense set of Sokka's shoulders that he felt the same. The dark, straight corridors allowed little in the way of hiding places, and each doorway felt like a threatening unknown- only Toph seemed totally sure of herself as she led the way down into the belly of the beast.

"We're heading into the sleeping quarters," Zuko whispered. "I'd expected the crew to be in the engine room but…" He paused thoughtfully and didn't continue.

His reticence was beginning to grate on Katara's nerves. Why couldn't he just say what he was thinking instead of these stuttering half-sentences? He'd never had problems speaking to them before.

Making demands, rather.

Downstairs, they heard it- the crewmembers' low hum of easy conversation. There was the occasional burst of laughter and it sounded strange- not mocking or cruel, just easy and carefree. "... The lieutenant said we can have music night tonight." Someone- a woman, said clearly, and her compatriots gave a cheer.

Outside the door to the bunk room, Katara and Toph took the lead, with Katara preparing a large orb of dark water. Taking a deep breath, she nodded to Zuko and Sokka, wheeling around the doorframe and pulling the surprised soldiers into a group, icing their hands. One reacted quickly, kicking an arc of flame towards Katara but Zuko was close behind, diverting it to the side.

Toph tore a band of metal from one of the bunk beds, wrapping it around the four crewmen even as a second soldier tried to breathe fire at her. The technique didn't quite work though, and she only succeeded in slightly melting her ice prison as the metal band tightened further.

Sokka and Zuko began to gag the captives, using strips of bedding and discarded clothes. "Please, not that…" One cringed as Sokka lifted an unfortunately crusty looking set of underwear. "Anything but that."

Sokka winced and dropped the offending item with a cringe, tearing off a strip of bedsheet instead. "You're lucky I'm not some sort of sadist."

"Ssh." Toph hissed. "Someone's coming."

Katara fixed the gags with ice and Toph lifted the floor of the room to fix the four crewmen in place, holding them still and silent as she listened at the door. Katara's ears rang as she tried to listen for footsteps beyond the door. The sounds of the ship were drowning out any hope she had of hearing advancing threats, but luckily Toph had other ways.

The desperate need to escape was overwhelming.

"Heading down," Toph whispered. "The engine room I think."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "We can't leave these ones unattended, anyone could come down and find them if we go down to the engine room."

And the person in the engine room could come back up if they went upstairs.

"I'll go to the engine room," Katara said. "I have plenty of water and you guys need more hands on the bridge."

And that was how Katara found herself alone in the ship. Toph had bent the metal door to the sleeping quarters to keep their captives contained, and Zuko had found twin Dao blades that he deemed good enough for a temporary measure, and in an effort not to waste any more time, they'd separated with little more than a brief hug and a quiet 'good luck'.

She slipped down the stairs, keeping her eyes peeled for movement. The noise of the ship was deafening down here, roaring fire and the clanging sound of off metal walls. There were further tell-tale signs of disrepair here- the machinery creaked and groaned, the walls had little rivers of rust running vertically up the side and the floor shone with moisture. Katara quietly tucked herself into the shadows and slowly crept down the main gangway. There was a middle-aged man in Fire Nation armour making notes on a scroll, looking closely at a valve or gauge system by one of the furnaces.

She watched as he rolled up the scroll and rubbed at his temples as though deep in thought. She tried to subtly freeze his feet to the ground but, although the water here was abundant, it was too hot to freeze.

The movement caught the soldier's eye, and he turned quickly, sending a fireball straight at her hiding place. Katara jumped out to one side and brought up a wall of water to deflect the next two. "Waterbender!" He cried, and ran towards her, dragging a line of fire behind him. Katara dodged the first whip and sent a low blast of her own at his ankles. The soldier stumbled, and she swept him across the floor. The water here was slick with oil, which made it difficult for the firebender to regain his proper stance but he struggled valiantly against her.

A burst of fire erupted from the furnace to her left, forcing her to roll away to one side, and she tried again to break his stance, but the firebender gripped onto a railing and managed to remain standing. He kicked an arc of fire towards her, and she raised herself up in a column of oily water, charging him. He released the railings and desperately sent a blast of fire at her, but she deflected it and swallowed him in the warm, slick water.

Casting her eye around the room for something to bind him, she tried to drag him towards the door, but he struggled against the water and she lost her focus. She barely heard the crashing water behind her and her only warning was a bright orange light casting her shadow against the wall by the exit. She dropped to the floor, fire roaring above her and the oppressive heat singing her hair.

She kicked a sloppy wave of water back at him and scrambled towards the door- he was a better firebender than she'd expected and she wasn't able to use ice properly with the heat from the furnaces blasting at her like this.

The furnaces.

She sent a better, stronger wave of water at the older man, pushing him back into the room and halting his advance, and she separated the wave into smaller columns, throwing them against the furnace grates. The furnaces hissed and spat inky black smoke as they were smothered and died.

"You fool!" The firebender shouted and charged at her again, but Katara stepped back and brought water rushing from behind him. He fell face first to the floor and the dark, shimmering water crashed over his back.

He didn't stir, but Katara kept hold of his hands and feet until the room began to cool. Their fight had caused a lot of noise, and she wasn't sure whether someone else would make it down to the engine room to investigate- it would depend on how her friends were faring upstairs.

The ship was still loud, but with the furnaces extinguished it felt like the engines were getting quieter too. She experimentally tried to freeze the firebender in place, but the heat was still too much- metal held heat, she remembered, and there was a lot of metal in this room.

The door slammed open behind her and she turned quickly, fearfully. Sokka winced at the heat of the room but grinned when his eyes fell on the unconscious firebender. "Nice one Katara." He praised. "Toph and Zuko are finishing up on deck, but we've got everyone rounded up. Need a hand?"

"Thanks." Katara grinned back. "It's too hot go get proper ice down here, but he's out."

Sokka tied the firebender's hands behind his back with a thick length of rope, as Katara did the same to his ankles. Then they managed to lift him between them and half-carried, half dragged the older man up the stairs.

It was slow going, and annoyingly the firebender stirred as they emerged onto the deck. About a dozen or so soldiers had been rounded up by Sokka, Toph and Zuko. Katara found herself feeling a little embarrassed it had taken her so long to defeat the firebender on her own.

"Unlucky," Zuko said sympathetically as he spotted them. "It looks like you had the commanding officer."

That made her feel a little better, but as the firebender looked up to see his captors she saw Zuko's face go pale.

"Lieutenant Jee?" Zuko breathed, and Katara stiffened. "Is that you?"

"Who -?" The older man hissed, trying to turn to see who had spoken. "How do you know me?"

Zuko looked stunned and walked over to the captured soldier. Katara saw Sokka's eyes narrow at Zuko's approach and could feel the suspicion in his glare. Nervousness coiled in her belly, and she took hold of a water whip… just in case.

It was one thing having Zuko help them take over a ship of his countrymen, but if he knew one of them... His connection with Katara and the others was barely a full day old, and he'd said it himself that he wasn't sure he'd made the right choice, defecting from the Fire Nation and his family.

Katara wished Iroh was with them.

"Prince Zuko?" One of the other soldiers said finally, and Toph tightened the band of metal holding the captives together. "It's the prince!"

"Your Highness!" The man called Jee's eyes widened. "It's so good to see you!" That clearly wasn't the response Zuko expected, and he froze in place. "Where's your uncle? We were told he'd kidnapped you, but of course, we didn't believe that" Jee smiled, and looked around the others. "I see the rumours about you joining the Avatar are true though."

"What?" Zuko managed. "How would you-"

"I can't say I would have ever expected you to defect like this, Prince Zuko, but it is so very good to see you well." Jee was looking into Zuko's face with a strange expression. "Your face…" Zuko looked thoroughly self-conscious now, and he glanced up at Katara with slightly frantic eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sokka cried. "How is this possible?" They had somehow attacked the one ship in the whole world that was manned by Zuko's old crew,

"Right. I don't know what's going on here." Toph declared. "And I couldn't care less. Prince Sulky, I'm taking these guys to the hold, are you going to join them?"

"He's fine," Sokka said in a low, warning voice. "Let's get these guys downstairs."

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Zuko snapped, as the door closed behind the last of the Fire Nation captives. Katara said nothing and he growled in frustration, punching an arc of fire out towards the sea. "This is just… typical." He seethed.

"Did you know this was your old ship?" Katara asked, eyeing him carefully. He turned to face her, furious.

"This is not my old ship. I had an old cruiser- the crew have had an upgrade since-" He swallowed hard, and held his fists to his temples in frustration. "This is unbelievable. Uncle is going to… Ugh!"

He punched two fireballs into the desk and spun, as though he couldn't find where to aim next.

"That's enough Zuko," Katara warned. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down?" He turned on her but she was quicker, wrapping his hands in water and dragging him to the floor, icing him in place. He scowled at her but didn't try to break free. "You don't understand- that is my crew. And they- What am I supposed to do?"

"We'll figure something out," Katara said, melting the water away and kneeling beside the firebender. She took his point though- the crew knew Zuko and Iroh, and they would be able to report back to the Firelord what had happened.

Were they supposed to kill the crew?

It was different, she mused, the idea of getting rid of a group of faceless enemies. This was too close to home for Zuko, and Iroh too, most likely. She'd deliberately not thought what Sokka and Zuko had planned for the captives of the ship, but they were now faced with the ugly reality of war.

The soldiers had seemed so happy to see Zuko.