My apologies for how late this chapter came.

I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.


Fire Lord Zuko was grateful, he really was. It was less than 14 hours since he had scrawled off a hasty reply to his uncle, and already in that time he had accomplished so much. As the wind streamed through his hair, his hands numb from clutching at the hair around the beast's neck, he was grateful. Terrified, but grateful. Because with his new dragon, he could reach Iroh before night fall.

/ / /

Aang had wasted no time either, though he had no way of knowing what his Firebending friend was doing half a world away. Katara hasn't questioned him when he sprang out of bed, his mind whirling with what he needed to do. And though he had tried to convince her to stay, and attend to political matters and their own personal affairs, she insisted on going. Everything could wait, she had told him. We have people that can take care of things until we get back.

She was right, of course. She always was.

They took off in the earlier hours of the morning, Appa grumbling still from being woken up so early. He had grown slower in his old age, but Aang thought it was Appa's way of testing him. They both knew though, that Aang would not choose another sky bison, no matter how much of a rush he was in.

"Aang? Will you tell me where we are going?" Katara's clear voice rose over the sound of the wind in their ears.

Aang chuckled in embarrassment, having just now realized he hadn't explained his plan. "Well, sweetheart, first we have to go to Forgetful Valley."

/ / /

Sokka's head felt the full force of the hand slamming onto his desk. He yelped and shot up, the movement knocking his chair over and causing him to tumble to the ground.

"Really Snoozles, sleeping with your head on the desk? When will you learn?" The blind Earthbender scolded him as he lay crumpled and tangled amongst his chair legs. One of her hands was solidly on his desk, the other clutching a poorly rolled up scroll.

The Water Tribe man rubbed the side of his head. "Hi, Toph. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

The woman crossed her arms over her metal chest plate. "Sokka, how long have you been asleep?" Though her eyes were partially obscured by the black bangs, he could see her eyebrows were drawn together in a glare.

He was going to ask her what time it was, but stopped himself just in time. If she was already irritated, the question would have only served to further aggravate Toph. He could hear her in his head just thinking about it. I'm blind. How am I supposed to know what time it is?

"Is everything alright Toph?" He settled on asking as he managed to stand up, righting the chair as he awaited her answer.

But it didn't come. It was then that he really looked at her. The parchment in her hand was crumpled from her clutching it so tightly, her hand shaking. "Toph?"

She flung the scroll in his direction. "You are never there when I need you! I had to have one of my officers read this to me!" She exclaimed, anger masking the other emotions in her voice. He hastily picked it up and unraveled the mess of paper, glancing over the neatly written words.

The parchment slipped from his fingers, understanding dawning on him simultaneously as dread settled in the pit of his stomach. "Iroh."

/ / /

Iroh tossed and turned, unable to wake from his fitful slumber. Even with the medicine to lure him into deep sleep, the dreams still found him.

Night after night he had to search for his son. Each nightmare built on the last, until finally he found his son only to watch as Lu Ten's face would melt away. Iroh could see the terror in his son's eyes just before they were absorbed into his head, or slipped off with the rest of his face, or burst into flame. The end result was always the same though, staring in horror at his son's featureless face.

Ira tried what she could to comfort him, waking him up throughout the night with more medicine, or tea, or merely providing a comforting presence. There were times though, that he mistook her for his deceased beloved, leaving him more melancholy as he sent her away, unable to cope with the reminder.

It was unfortunate, how Iroh was surrounded by so many reminders of the people who loved him, and he could only focus on those he had lost.

/ / /

The dragon cut through the sky faster than Appa ever had, and he made Ba Sing Sei soon after nightfall. Landing was another adventure in and of itself, the juvenile dragon not eager to lower itself into the maze of streets and people. He was grateful it was dark out, for most people would not have been prepared to see a mythical beast descend upon them. But it took far too long to find Iroh's tea shop in the dim light.

Landing in the back garden, the beast grumbled and rumbled as Zuko slid off its back. He apprehensively patted the beast on the snout. Druk's head was already as long as Zuko's body, and the fangs overhanging its mouth were difficult to look past. But the dragon nuzzled against him, seeking approval for a job well done. Zuko couldn't deny the beast.

Fire Lord Zuko made his way into the dark house through a side door, once he had gotten Druk to understand he could not come in. There was only a small bush set on fire, quickly extinguished, and Druk had settled in its ashes and fallen asleep.

Fire Lord Zuko entered his Uncle's humble bedroom, needing to see the man before he could settle for the night.


My thanks to BlueLion for pointing out that my formatting did not carry over when I published my chapters. This has been corrected.

Please let me know what you think of my story!