3

"Guys," Toph whispered harshly across to the sleeping boys beside her. She could tell from the heat that it was about midday, but that wasn't why she was trying to wake them up. Toph had felt something big – aside from the slowly-moving feet that they were about to start tracking – uncomfortably close to their current place of residence.

The Avatar rolled over, mumbling to someone in his dreams: "That's not the right bucket. I need a bucket of aardvark sloths, not sparrowkeets."

It was Sokka who woke up right away. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, looking warily around the temple. They'd all slept near the fire again, in the hopes that Katara might show up.

Toph crawled over to him, giving Aang a solid kick in the face. As he woke up, she whispered, "Someone's here. Not here, here, but nearby."

"Who?" Sokka's voice was low and hoarse from sleep, but his eyes were definitely awake. He turned to stare at Aang, who was blinking slowly, and said, "I'm assuming we need to worry."

"How do you know someone's here?" asked Aang. "I know you can feel it and all, but where are they?"

Toph pointed to the right of her. The foreign thing that had woken her from sleep hadn't moved since, but there was little time in between those two moments and she didn't want to delay their chances of escaping whoever it was.

Sokka followed her finger and saw beyond – the ocean. "Great," he muttered. "Now we can definitely narrow down the options." He ran over the list of the usual suspects in his head – Zuko, Azula, the Dai Li, some Fire Nation fleet…their number of enemies with ships was rapidly growing.

"I was going to say we should get out of here," Toph said without a hint of sarcasm.

"What about Katara?" Aang asked, eyes suddenly blazing. "She's out there all alone! We can't just run off without her!"

Sokka sighed, and it was a tired sigh, like that of someone who'd had to make all the tough decisions in life. If Katara were there, she might've noticed how it resembled their father, but she wasn't around, so it didn't matter.

"Aang. Katara's not here. If she's being held somewhere, she's probably safer there, anyways. You know she'd want us to go without her, so we're going to have to go," said Sokka, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know you don't like it, but we have to. It's you we need to protect, remember?"

"Yes," agreed Aang, after a brief silence. His shoulders drooped. "It just doesn't feel right, deciding to leave without her."

"We can still track down whoever was moving yesterday," Toph chimed in. She was pinching the ends of several strands of her hair and rubbing them in between her fingers, looking bored. "But we should leave before we find out who just docked at the edge of the island. I don't know about you two, but I really don't wanna have another confrontation with Prince Angst or Princess Crazy. Or both."

Zuko moved lithely through the tall plants like a wolf. He held his dao sword aloft even though there was no threat, and the hand that wasn't occupied with the blade was balled at his side; he raised it every now and then to rub at his neck.

Katara couldn't bear it any longer. "Zuko?" she asked, and her voice was an octave higher than she would've liked. The boy in front of her stiffened, halting his steps, and looked over his shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"Am I supposed to be bait for Aang?"

"What?" Instantly, his face took on the grouchy expression he wore so often.

"Don't play dumb, I've figured it out," Katara hissed back at him. "It's what every enemy of ours does whenever they capture one of the Avatar's friends."

"Y-You're not bait," said Zuko, fumbling for an explanation. He blushed at the sudden realization of how stupid his plan actually was: Return Katara, safe and sound, to the Avatar, in the hopes that he'll agree to let Zuko join them in the fight against the Fire Lord, and as Aang's firebending teacher? He was probably just going to get drop-kicked away by the scary earthbender. "Not exactly," he added in a small voice.

"That's it? I'm 'not exactly' bait for Aang? Wow, Zuko. You really do never give up." Katara put her hands on her hips and glared at Zuko, who had turned around to face her in full. She clenched and unclenched her teeth.

Zuko's blush, thankfully, went away. The embarrassment was placed with mild anger, both at himself for being such an idiot and for Katara's stubbornness. He groaned and said, "I'll figure it out."

"Figure what out?" Katara snapped, chasing after him as he turned and resumed walking. "That you're never going to get away with Aang without us stopping you?"

Zuko remained silent, keeping his pace ahead of her. He wanted to explain himself, but he was afraid that any hopes he had of reasoning with the Avatar would be squished by Katara's big, sarcastic mouth.

Of course, he doubted it would work, but this way, he wouldn't have to deal with her, shooting down his plans over every moment it took for them to find Aang, her brother, and the earthbender. What was that phrase that Azula would always say whenever he wanted to join in on her playing with Mai and Ty Lee? Ignorance is bliss.

Except that Katara didn't seem too blissful, right about now. She was rambling on, already shooting down the ideas she thought Zuko had. Tuning her out, he took the final steps through the bushes, bending the last pieces of tall grass back and exposing the tent.

He'd stopped, and Katara almost ran face-first into his stupid, firebender back. She scowled and followed him towards his small campsite. There was, conveniently, a log placed next to where he'd made a fire pit; sitting on the log was a tea kettle with a single cup next to it.

"Your tea's cold," he mumbled, stooping to fetch her cup.

Watching him dump it out into a nearby bush, Katara felt oddly guilty all of a sudden. What are you thinking? she thought, reprimanding herself. He's tried on multiple occasions to capture Aang. And he's holding you hostage. He's the one who should be harboring strange feelings of guilt.

Zuko's heart raced, and he realized that if Katara were to run, he'd actually have to chase her down and hold her in captivity. He prayed she'd cooperate, because he didn't exactly want to get blown around and pelted with boulders by her friends. A strange feeling – guilt? – came over him as he glanced over his shoulder at the waterbender.

Katara was standing near the tent, back facing him pointedly. He could tell that she was probably rolling her eyes, sighing and groaning, and frowning. It was what Mai did when she was cross with him. Also, Mai tapped her feet impatiently and crossed her arms.

I'm going to stay just a bit longer. Just to figure out the whole of Zuko's…plan. Then I'm going to get away when he's least expecting it. That's what I'm going to do. I hate him, thought Katara over and over again. Her fists were balled against her crossed arms, and her heart was pounding with anticipation. At least this was better than worrying over—

Aang. What if he wasn't getting enough to eat? Was he practicing his bending motions? Maybe Toph was keeping him in check – no, she probably was just giving him several beatings in earthbending combat. Maybe Sokka was teaching him how to use a sword – that could be useful, right? But what if Aang accidentally cut himself? Or someone else? She knew she could rely on her brother to wrap a wound…

And then the worst thought: What if June had found Katara's friends and taken them to a Fire Nation prison, or Azula, or the Fire Lord? Katara sat down hard on the ground. She crossed her legs and held her head in her hands, trying not to freak out.

"Uh…um…is…is everything okay?" came Zuko's voice from behind her.

"Of course not," she growled, seething. Spinning around, she stabbed a finger at him. "How can you even ask me that? I'm being held against my will by one of our worst enemies, I've been missing for almost five days, and before you came along, I was captured by the world's best bounty hunter!"

"I'm sorry," Zuko said before Katara got the chance to breathe and begin ranting again.

Her mouth fell into a delicate gape, and she stammered, trying to find something to say. Frowning and blinking rapidly, she said, "You're sorry? If you were sorry, you'd let me go."

"It's not like that." Zuko threw his hands up. "I know I should explain, but I can't."

"Why not?" Katara's eyes blazed with anger, but she'd stopped shouting. "Why can't you tell me?"

Toph kicked gravel across the ground, leading Aang and Sokka away from any movement she could feel through the earth. She would change paths abruptly, causing the boys to almost drop some of the things they carried. Of course, they'd only taken what they could carry.

"I miss the temple already," Sokka complained. "And Appa."

They'd left the flying bison, along with Momo the winged lemur, at the temple. It was risky, but Sokka had figured that traveling with a giant animal wouldn't get them very far, if the newcomers were enemies. So he and Aang had gathered plants to cover the bison, and Toph had crafted a very nice tunnel for their two furry friends right next to the temple.

"I miss Katara," moaned Aang, who was between his companions. He held his glider in one hand, and he fought to stay awake.

"Well, Twinkletoes, if you keep moving like that, you'll probably never see her again," muttered Toph.

Aang snapped into wariness and began to march alongside her. "Where are we even going?"

"Do I look like I know?"

"Sorry." He gazed up at the darkening sky. "It's been almost a week…"

"We'll find her, Aang. I promise," said Sokka, resting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "She's my little sister. I know it always seems like she's older than me, but still."

"I wish I had an older sibling," both Aang and Toph said in unison.

They set off.

Zuko floundered for words. Katara's glare was unwavering, and he suddenly felt a lot smaller and younger than he actually was. Ignoring the fact that she was indeed younger than him, he surrendered.

"Okay," he said. "I guess I can tell you." Already he was cringing; his previous thoughts of her criticizing his intentions came back, uninvited, into his mind. They swarmed around like scorpion bees, but he paid them no attention. "Sit down," he said, taking a seat at the very end of the single log.

Katara obeyed, sitting on the opposite side and putting as much distance between them as possible. "I knew you'd give in," she muttered, to which Zuko rolled his eyes. They both fidgeted for a moment before she said, "Now, Zuko. Before I decide to hurt you."

"You can't hurt me, even if the moon is up." Zuko cleared his throat. "I…uh…"

"What is it, Zuko? For Tui's sake, spit it out," Katara snapped.

"I want to help you guys," Zuko spat, tongue almost getting ahead of the words. "I want to teach Aang firebending and I want to—"

"No." Katara's voice was cold and final. "Absolutely not. I knew there was something more to it, but really, Zuko? Really?"

"Just let me explain—"

"There's no need for an explanation further than that! There's no way Aang would ever accept you as his teacher and friend, and there'd be no decision for him to make because I'd kill you before you even got within fifty—"

"I've changed. Ever since that night under Ba Sing Se—"

"Oh. Now you're bringing Ba Sing Se up? I can't tell whether to hit you or to be impressed."

"Katara," Zuko warned, voice dropping dangerously low. "You said you wanted to know, so I'm telling you. Shut up."

"What?" Katara hissed.

The ex-prince took a deep, calming breath, and exhaled steam through his nose. The nighttime breeze moved the air towards Katara, and she shivered. The temperature was dropping, and the winds made it even cooler. "I'm sorry," he said. "I can't light a fire, or June might—"

"I know."

"I'd really like it if you'd stop interrupting me," Zuko grouched. He folded his hands in between his bent knees and began. "I guess I always knew that what I was doing was wrong. I'm not proud of it, but I thought I would be, and that was wrong, too."

Katara opened her mouth to say something snippy, but he raised a hand, cutting her off. "I know I deserve all the hatred I get, and I'll never be able to make up for it, but at least, can't I try?"

"What exactly are you saying?" Katara asked.

"I'm saying that I want to help you guys in defeating my family. Honor isn't so important to me anymore," he replied wearily. He hunched over, maybe because he was getting cold, or because he was cowering away from what Katara might say. Steeling himself, he straightened his posture and raised his chin.

"I want to teach firebending to Aang. And I want to stop my father. For the longest time, I thought that I should join him and Azula in hunting Aang and taking over the other nations. But now I know that the reason I was so hesitant isn't because I was weak, but rather because I knew it was wrong. And what you guys – you, your brother, the earthbender, and the Avatar – what you guys are doing is right. So I want to help. And I guess I'll need to convince you first, since you're so passionate about not letting me near him."

"I'm not convinced."

"I gather that."

"Then why are you making me stay here? I need to go find Aang – are you planning on following me to him?" Katara's voice raised; she gave Zuko an incredulous look.

"No!" Zuko said, once again raising his hands. He leaned towards her a little. "I'm not, I promise."

"Your promises are worth nothing," Katara snarled. Her fingers curled, like talons, into fists, and she threw him a tight-lipped smile. "And all this is just a bunch of your usual lies. You're trying to get me to take you to Aang, so you can finish him off for good."

Zuko let the fact that he couldn't remember ever promising her something, but he knew that lying was enough to tarnish the value of one's word; he'd learned that, like most things related to deception, from his sister.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you wouldn't understand."

"And you think Aang will?" Katara's face grew more and more disbelieving.

Zuko slumped, rubbing his left forearm with his right hand. "He seems to be a lot more forgiving than you are."

"He's just a boy," Katara shot back. "He's naïve."

"Then what would it take to get you all to trust me?" Zuko's voice was pained, his face exasperated. He was tired and he was desperate, and it wasn't like he didn't understand why Katara felt the way she did about what he was trying to do – he felt the same way, after all – but he wished it would be a little easier to make her see his point.

Zuko sat back and mirrored Katara in crossing his arms; he stared at her with a bleak expression. "Look. I know I'm not the most trustworthy guy around, and in fact, you have no reason to trust me at all. If I were you, I'd be having the same thoughts. But believe me when I say, I want to help you."

"How would I even know I could trust you around Aang?" she whispered haggardly. Her hands were folded in her lap, playing with her tunic. She wished she were home, where it was cold and she had her cozy anorak to cuddle up to. But here, she had to wear a sleeveless top that didn't even cover her stomach and pants. Here she had to wear the colors of the enemy.

"You can't. I understand that," Zuko said gently, like he was telling her that her beloved pet had died. He watched as the muscles in her throat worked; she swallowed hard before raising her eyes to his.

"I never will."

Zuko looked down and away, knowing that his suspicions had been correct. Katara wouldn't budge, so who knew how much harder it would be for him to persuade the Avatar without Katara backing him?

He fell deeper into his worries and almost missed what Katara said next. What he caught of it were the last few words, which didn't make sense at all. "Huh?" he asked, squinting up at her.

"I said you're taking me to find Aang. We're going. Right now." Katara's voice was harsh and dismissive, and he knew that this might be his only chance.

"O-Okay," Zuko stammered. "I'll just need to gather the, the tent and the blankets…" He gestured behind them.

"Do it," Katara ordered. As he stood up and walked away, Zuko wondered when his control of the situation had become hers.

Another pack of wolves, deadlier than Zuko, moved through the grass as he did; all the same, in such a simple motion, the family resemblance was obvious. It showed in the silky dark hair, the golden-brown eyes, the pale skin…even their bone structures – though different in the ways that one was male and the other female – were alike, were delicate yet fierce.

Strength was something they shared, as well. Courage, blood…there were so many similarities between the siblings who were as different as black and white, night and day; the usual opposites.

The absence of morality was visible, like rising smoke, in Azula's nighttime eyes. They smiled a thousand dangerous smiles; saw enough with both vision and intellect to make deductions.

And deductions are what led her to this place, where she was right now. They crept through the darkness of the night towards a valley on the island, and she spotted something. On closer inspection, her thoughts became reality.

She turned to her friends, grinning wickedly, and said, "Girls, we've found him." Moving aside so Mai and Ty Lee could see, she exposed what lay below, in the bowl of the valley; she showed them three small forms that moved through the grass like elephant rats. Two of them were short and one was bald: the Avatar.

Nyla's nose was to the ground, and he was sniffing vigorously. Crawling, he led his master down the path that the scent she had given him went. The scent had come in the form of a small, forgotten cup – one they had come across just moments ago.

June had picked it up and sniffed it, sighing in delight. "It's not exactly the same, and I suppose it's the nephew's fault, but even without Nyla's nose, I'd know Iroh's recipes anywhere."

Having given it to the shirshu, who'd immediately started tracking the scent, June, like Azula, was fabulous at making deductions. The pitiful man who'd fallen asleep at the job had said a boy had grabbed the Avatar's girlfriend, and he'd bore two long swords.

She'd heard the rumors of the Blue Spirit. And she had heard Iroh boast about how good his nephew was with dao swords. June licked her lips and minced alongside her pet.

Nyla nipped at the air and growled here and there; June could tell they were getting close when the creature stopped making noises at all and focused solely on the hunt. The black streak that marked his back shone in the moonlight, and June motioned for her boys to stop the wagon, even though it made almost no sound.

They followed along behind her on foot, leaving one person behind to act as guard of their belongings. Coming to the edge of a small clearing, June peered out through the tall blades of grass and saw exactly what she had hoped to see: the girl and Iroh's nephew, exiting the clearing on the opposite side.

She turned to her fellow bounty hunters, smiling impishly, and said, "Boys, we've found them." Turning back to face the kids, she wondered vaguely how much bounty was placed on the Blue Spirit's head.