Suki strolled around the Royal Plaza along the airship-designated area of the docks, watching the workers load supplies onto the airship. The industrial power of the Fire Nation had always impressed her, but now she had seen first hand just how capable it was. Despite losing its entire fleet of airships, the Fire Nation easily pumped out more, as if nothing had happened. Zuko shot down any attempts of constructing another Empire-class airship like his father's; instead opting for a slightly longer version of the normal airship, with a golden dragonhead instead of bronze. She narrowed her eyes when she neared the entrance of the airship and shook her head slowly, looking at the railing of the airship where a Kyoshi Warrior was sleeping. She had a peaceful look on her face, her hands behind her head. Suki lifted her foot and placed it against the dreaming girl's side.

"Wake up." The Kyoshi Warrior found herself falling. She stuck out both arms and legs and managed to soften the fall, her nose a couple of inches from the floor. She brought her feet close together and kicked up into a handstand. She let the momentum carry her before completing the front walkover effortlessly.

"Rude, but nice try," Ty Lee said, giving her eyes a rub.

Suki crossed her arms. "You're not meant to be sleeping while on guard duty." The acrobat dropped her head and scratched the back of her neck.

"Sorry." The Kyoshi leader rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today. At least try to stay awake for now; you can sleep for a week once we've set off." Suki looked at the huge airship and the long line of workers making their way into it.

"A week of sleep sounds lovely," the tired girl mumbled, glancing back at the small, makeshift bed she had made herself. "I can't wait to be back in Kyoshi Island. I missed the beach."

"I know all the best spots. I'll find us an area where we can just relax." She looked passed Ty Lee to the bright ocean beyond. "It'll be nice to have a proper break, and we'll get to see everyone. I'm excited to see how the new Kyoshi Warriors are coming along."

Ty Lee began to gently tap Suki at different pressure points."When are you going to let me teach them how to chi-block?"

"In a few years. A lot of them are still kids, so they'd just start chi-blocking each other all the time. I'd rather not deal with that." She took a step back while deflecting the acrobat's jabs. "I already have to deal with an annoying child." The chi-blocker flashed a smile when she slipped past her captain's defenses, catching her on the inside elbow, and the arm went dead at her side.

"I win." The Kyoshi leader rolled her eyes. Her arm tingled as feeling slowly began to return. The other girl simply grinned."I'll give them a lesson on the basics when we get there. Nothing dangerous."

"Fine, but I'm blaming you when half of the trainees are paralysed." Her friend gave a small shrug, then her eyes focused on something behind Suki and rushed passed her. The Kyoshi leader looked around and saw Ursa and Kiyi strolling over to them.

Ty Lee knelt down and hugged the small girl. "Came to say bye to your favourite big sister?"

"Yeah," Kiyi said, nodding quickly. "Can I talk to Suki?"

"Ouch." Suki laughed, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder. "That must have stung." Ty Lee quickly got to her feet and pouted. After a few moments, she winked at the wide-eyed young girl staring up at her, bringing a smile to her face. Suki rolled her eyes and bent down, pulling Kiyi into a hug. "So, are you going to take over as Fire Lord for Zuko while we're gone?"

She pulled a face and looked at Ursa. "I was going to, Zuzu even agreed with me, but Mom said no." Suki chuckled while Ursa shook her head, hiding her smile.

"We'll be heading off soon," Suki said, turning her attention towards the Fire Lord's mother. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine," Ursa said. "I'm glad I caught you actually. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course. Ty Lee?" The acrobat gave a quick nod and took Kiyi by the hand, leading her away. "Are you sure you're okay, Ursa?"

"There's no need to worry. I just wanted to speak with you." Ursa reached into her kimono, pulling out something wrapped in a cloth. "I heard about the reason for this trip." Suki's eyes widened and she glared at Ty Lee, who was showing Kiyi how to fight with her war fans.

"I told her not to—"

"She didn't tell me. Zuko did." Ursa raised her eyebrow as her guardswoman buried her face in her hands.

"He really is a bad liar."

"Actually, I knew something was up with him the moment I asked about the trip just from the way he looked at me. Consider it mother's intuition."

The Kyoshi leader sighed and let her hands drop to her side. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"Don't worry about it, I understand. Telling everyone that you set up a trip for Zuko to go on a date might not have been perceived well. I forgot to give Zuko something before he left." She unwrapped the cloth, revealing a golden headpiece with the element of fire engraved into the front. "Would you pass it on to him?"

Suki took the headpiece and examined it, running her finger along the carving. "It's beautiful. Where did you get this?"

"It was from Iroh when Ozai and I got married. He told me to think of it as a 'welcome to the family' gift," Ursa explained. She had a tight-lipped smile as she stared at it, then cast her eyes to the ground and shook her head. "I never wore it much before I was...had to leave." She looked up when Suki placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Sorry. I got a bit lost in my thoughts."

"It's fine. So just give this to Zuko then?" Suki said, wrapping the headpiece back in the cloth. Ursa gave a small nod.

"I thought it might be a nice gift for that Jin girl—obviously, if everything works out between them."

"I'll make sure..." Suki stopped in mid-bow, her brow furrowing. "If you don't mind me asking, do you not mind that the girl isn't Fire Nation?"

"Why would I?" Ursa said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well...I heard that the Fire Lord hardly ever marries people outside of the Royal Caldera, let alone outside of the Fire Nation." The Fire Lord's mother let out a small laugh and looked the Earth Kingdom girl in the eye.

"I don't care about that. I'll support my son in whatever he thinks will make him happy, like any good mother would."

The Kyoshi leader stared at the floor and bowed. "Of course. I'll make sure he gets it." Her eyes widened slightly when Ursa pulled her into a gentle hug.

"Thank you." The older woman released her as the engines of the Fire Lord's airship came to life. "You and Ty Lee should get going."

"I'll let you know what happens," she told her, giving another small bow before turning and hurrying over to Ty Lee and Kiyi. "Time to go."

"Oh, okay. Bye," Kiyi said, quickly walking towards her mother.

"I'd like my fans back," Ty Lee called after her. The young girl slowly turned and walked back to the two Kyoshi Warriors, a sheepish smile on her face. She held out the weapons to the acrobat, who grinned as she took them. "Nice try."

"I'll see you soon." Suki bent down and pulled the girl into another hug. Kiyi squeezed as tight as she could before running back to Ursa.

"She's so adorable," Ty Lee said, making their way up the ramp and into the large airship.

"She'd make a good Kyoshi Warrior," Suki noted. "She's always asking about how to fight."

The grey-eyed girl raised an eyebrow. "You think Zuko would allow you to train her?"

"I doubt she'd allow him to say no." The Kyoshi leader stopped and looked down a corridor. "I should go let Zuko know we're about to head off. Go check with the rest of the girls." Ty Lee nodded and continued on. Suki made her way towards Zuko's room and gently knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she slid the door open and peered in. The Fire Lord was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with an uncertain frown on his face. "Zuko?" The Fire Lord raised his head from his pillow.

"Suki?" Zuko sat up and pulled his legs in, sitting cross-legged. "Is everything okay?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." She stepped through the doorway. "Nothing's wrong. I was just letting you know that we'll be taking––" She steadied herself as the airship began to rise into the air. "-off soon," she finished, grinning at him.

"Oh. Okay," he mumbled absently, lying back down and looking up at the ceiling once more. She frowned at him and walked over, sitting at the end of the bed.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm just thinking." He sighed and pushed his hair out of his face, examining it between his fingers. "Do you think my hair is too long?" His bodyguard rolled her eyes and covered her mouth to hide her smile.

"Your hair is fine. Nervous about seeing Jin?" she asked him as she lied down on her side, her head resting in her hand. The Fire Lord looked down at her before moving his legs out of the way and adopting a similar position.

"It's been nearly three years since I last saw her. I never even told her my real name." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "Maybe this whole thing was a mistake; it's ridiculous to think there could be something between us after all this time."

"You're being depressing again," Suki stated, getting a small chuckle out of the sombre man. "Chances are she figured out you were a firebender from what happened at the fountain. She'd know who you are by now, anyway. She'd understand why you had to keep your identity a secret." Zuko was quiet for a few moments.

"And if she heard I had a hand in helping Azula take over Ba Sing Se?"

"Then she'll also know you helped the Avatar to defeat Ozai and end the war." She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you suddenly so against going to see her?" Suki sat up and shifted closer to him when he didn't respond, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're worried about what she'll think of you, but I've constantly told you that you need to stop living in the past."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "You're right, like usual." He looked up at her, the slight smile she'd become used to on his face.

"She only ever met Lee, anyway," Suki said, standing up. "She never got to meet Zuko." He nodded slowly, wondering if there was much of a difference. Suki glanced to the headpiece, still wrapped in cloth that she had left on the bed. "Ursa wanted me to give you something, by the way." His eyes widened when she unwrapped the headpiece. "She said it was a gift for Jin when things worked out between you."

"When..." he mumbled, tracing the carving. He leaned over and placed it next to his own headpiece, smiling softly. "I'll have to thank her when I get back."

"You're lucky to have her. I'll be sending a letter before we return. You can write thanks to her in it if you like," she said, giving him a smile.

"Thanks. I know I am." He glanced back at the headpiece. "Even if nothing comes of it, it might have been nice to have someone other than Mai on my mind for a while."

The Kyoshi leader changed to a more neutral expression and crossed her arms. "Do you still have feelings for her?"

"Of course I do. We both do," Zuko muttered, thinking back to the moments between the two of them during the Kemurikage Incident. "As a Fire Lord, I should already be—" He was cut off by a knock on his door. Suki took a step away from his bed and straightened up. "I'll explain later. Come in." The door opened, and a servant carried two boxes into the room.

"Oh, Suki, you're here. Good. Would you explain this to the Fire Lord? It was your request, after all." The Kyoshi leader rolled her eyes, but nodded, and the servant quickly left.

"Explain what to me?" She grinned sheepishly at him, picking up one of the boxes and placing it on a nearby desk.

"Well, I didn't want you to come back to an even larger backlog of work, so I had them bring what work you had left with us."

The Fire Lord frowned and cocked an eyebrow. "So, I get to spend the next week sorting through paper, while you and the other Kyoshi Warriors get to relax."

"Not exactly." The blue-eyed girl took out the first stack of papers, dividing it in two, and handed one to her annoyed friend. "I'll help you get through them a bit. Shouldn't take more than three days or so." She plopped down next to Zuko.

"Are you allowed to sign things for me?"

"I'm pretty good at forgery." He stared at her for a few moments. "I'll make sure to check with you before I sign anything, of course." He didn't respond, shaking his head as he read the first page of his stack.


Well, we're finally travelling to Ba Sing Se; Poor Zuko must be feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing, at least he had Suki with him. :)

Thanks to Serenity for being my beta on this story, she's fantastic!

I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, and as always would love to hear your opinion on it so far, or any little comments you may have. Don't be afraid to PM me either if you'd like to ask a question. Consider following if you'd like to keep up with the story. Thanks for reading!