"Uncle why are you drinking tea? I'm certain Zhao has already invited us to his quarters for some anyway." I rolled my eyes as Zuko blatantly changed the subject. Iroh smiled and winked at me slyly as the healer waved a hand in front of my face.

"How many fingers?" I looked and counted them in my head as they continued their conversation.

"2." I replied being polite as she only had one and a half. She frowned then looked at her hand and smiled.

"I wish it was 2, but I guess you're right. You should be fine, you don't have the sleeping sickness, but you shouldn't have gotten up and gone gallivanting off like you did. Don't do it again, understand?" I nodded in reply and noticed Zuko cast a glance at me, his face then flushed as he looked away. I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Iroh who only smiled.

"Zhao invited you to tea?" I asked as the healer left the room. I don't even think about moving from my seat, I could tell that I was too weak to move, I just pulled my legs up and sat crossed legged as Zuko leant against the wall next to his uncle.

"After accusing me of losing the Avatar, yeah he did." I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"The Avatar's alive? You found them?" Zuko glanced at me as he spoke.

"More like we got lucky." His frown pulled at his scar, triggering a memory from years long past. I shook my head to stop it before it started and looked back at him, his eyebrow was raised at my actions.

"What do they look like, maybe I can help you look for them." I sat up straighter in my seat and put my cup down. Zuko let out a sharp breath and turned his head away. I raised an eyebrow at Iroh who shrugged his shoulders.

"He was a child, all those years of training, with you and uncle,and he beat me." He pushed off the wall and let out a string of curses as he lay down on the bed. I pushed myself up using the table and took a wobbly step forwards.

"What do you mean he's a child, he should be over a hundred by now?" I stopped walking and leant my back against the table. Zuko sat up and glared at me, his gold eyes boring into my own.

"Exactly what I said, he's a child. An air temple monk."

"Then how did he escape the genocide?" Zuko shrugged his shoulders and slumped back against the bed, his phoenix plume making him take up more space on the bed than he actually did. I sighed and pushed off the table and started to walk towards him, sitting down next to my old friend. He looked up at me as I spoke.

"So what if you underestimated him? He looked like a child, you assumed. It won't happen again, will it?" I looked into thin air as I pulled my hair over my shoulder.

"No, it won't." his voice was barely a whisper as I laid down on the bed next to him, closing my eyes as a sigh of relief escaped my mouth.

"That's alright then." I opened my golden eye and looked at him. "Everyone's allowed a screw up, Zuko." A small smile appeared on his lips and I knocked my knuckles against his forehead. " Now, can the pair of you get out of my room, I want to sleep." Iroh nodded and put the teapot down as he left. Zuko gently grabbed my hand, which was now lying close to his head, and brought it to his mouth. He pressed his lips against it as I blushed and turned my face away in a failed attempt to hide the blush.

"Thank you." He let my hand drop and I felt him get up. The door slid closed between us as he left me to mull over the events of today.

Fire. Burning metal. I was the only one awake, I knew that much. My feet pounded down the hallway as I ran to the engine room, my legs still barely holding my weight from the 'punishment' Uncle had given me. I didn't care though, this ship was not sinking if I could stop it.

I was stood outside the door now, I could feel the heat rolling off of it, I would have to be fast. Be ready. It would meet me at the door and it would be faster than me. I would have to be ready for the pain.

I took in a breath and undid the latch on the door, burning my hand in the process. Stepping inside was the biggest mistake I made. The pain was immediate. The flames danced up my right leg, burning it with its too hot kiss. I hissed but held my hands out, taking control of the fire. I willed it to shrink, to become the type of fire that you see in homes, the warming kind, not the destroying. I bent it, reaching out with my chi, and let out a sob, a prayer.

The fire shrank and dispersed as I fell to the floor, cradling my leg. I had wiped out most of my bending and I now had no way of escaping the toxic fumes.

The door had fused closed and the smoke was filling the small space, I struggled to breath and think, let alone move. I was dying. I couldn't move my leg, this wasn't the type of thing you could run from anyway, all I could see of it was blood and a mess of muscle and nerves. I reached a hand down to feel how bad it was, my vision tunnelling due to the fumes, and …

I woke up screaming in a cold sweat. I quickly closed my mouth and looked out of the window, it was sunset.

"Are you alright? Who's attacking you?" The door opened and an Agni Kai ready Zuko entered, hands blazing.

"I'm fine. What are you wearing? Isn't that Agni Kai wear?" Zuko nodded solemnly and extinguished his hands.

"I just finished with Zhao. Why did you scream?" He asked as he sat down lightly on the bed next to me.

"You had an Agni Kai with Zhao!?" He nodded again, his hair falling over his shoulder. " It was a nightmare, that's all." my hand unconsciously went to my scar, and I noticed his eyes following it.

"Must've been pretty bad to make you scream." He lifted his eyes to meet mine and I nodded. We sat in silence for a minute before he spoke up.

"Your hairs loose." I looked up at him and pulled my hair over my shoulder. It was knotted from where I had pulled at it during my nightmare, so I winced as I pulled my fingers through it.

"I can't sleep with it up." I replied, a small smile tugging at my lips.

"I'd forgotten how long it was." I laughed as I looked a him.

"Are we really talking about hair? If so, I have a question." he raised an eyebrow at me but nodded. " When did you shave your hair?" the small smile that had been there vanished, and I realised the answer to my question.

"Not long after I got this." he gestured to his scar and I winced, unable to meet his eyes. How stupid could I be?

"Sorry, I should've guessed really." I looked up from the cover and met his eyes, wanting him to know that the apology was sincere. He nodded curtly before getting up to leave.

"Is that what happened to the friend I knew, did he vanish when you got burnt?" He turned to face me, his eyes blazing. Then his face softened as he realised that he was only proving my point.

"I guess he did." He crossed his arms and looked at me as I thought about the way he had acted since I had met him again, both mean and kind.

"I- I don't think he is. I think you buried him, as soon a being kind became a weakness." He looked at me then, his eyes full of confusion and pain, as he took a step forwards.

"Are you calling me weak?"

"No, I'm calling you smart, and kind. Though I don't think many see that." His features relaxed and he sat down on the bed again. Another silenced followed as neither of us knew what to say.

"Were leaving in the morning." I looked at him and realised that he was already looking at me.

"What are you implying Zuko?" He sighed and looked down at his hands.

"Come with us, its not safe or good for you to stay here."

"Just me, what about Cana?" He pondered this for a second before he responded

"She can come as well, its not safe for her either. We'll drop you off at the next port." I nodded at his reasoning and smiled as he got up. He paused at the door.

"Will you be alright, sleeping?"

"Are you offering to stay with me until I fall asleep?" He was silent but he nodded as a blush coloured his cheeks. I would have said no to the offer if I hadn't still been shaking from the fear, if I couldn't feel the phantom pain in my leg.

He started to turn when I didn't speak.

"Please stay." He turned around again at my voice.

"Okay."