A side note about moonlight: it will give you enough light to move around, but good luck seeing colors.

The Avatar Project
Chapter Four: The Moon-Peach Treeshar

Aang didn't know how long it had been since he stumbled into the backyard to sit under the moon-peach tree. It was where he always sat when someone had bullied him at school or when he wanted to ask Gyatso something serious. They were never going to have one of those talks again, where Gyatso made everything better like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Aang knew. He didn't have any evidence, but that didn't matter. All of the little tiny pieces had come together, and all of them meant that Gyatso was gone.

He probably should have spent more time thinking that it couldn't be true, but Jet would never lie about that. No one that worked for Iroh would even think about saying that, because Iroh and Gyatso were friends, and they played Pai Sho together all the time and talked about things that Aang wasn't old enough to know. If Pai Sho meant that people could just write about dying like it was the only way things could happen, maybe Aang was never going to be old enough to understand.

He wasn't even old enough to know anything, even when Gyatso had written everything out in a letter for Iroh. Aang had been old enough to carry the letter while he was running to hide with Hakoda, but Gyatso hadn't given any hints at all. Aang didn't care if it was rude to read someone else's letter, especially when it only proved everything. Jet might not even realize that the letter was gone, with the way the rest of the shop was probably a wreck, and it wasn't like Gyatso could be disappointed that Aang had read something meant to be private.

It shouldn't have been a secret. Aang was going to find out anyway, and was he supposed to have gone on for a whole week without knowing that Gyatso was dead?

Iroh's brother had killed Gyatso. Maybe airbenders didn't kill, but Aang was the Avatar, and Gyatso had said often enough that Ozai had to be stopped. Half-formed fantasies about revenge crept through his mind, but he didn't know enough about violence to make them any more specific than vague outlines. Maybe he could kill Ozai, but he didn't know just how you went about killing people.

Aang was the last airbender, maybe ever, and nobody was there to tell him that airbenders didn't kill. Gyatso wouldn't have any more chances to sit and explain things until the entire world seemed to make sense, and that was when the tears finally came. Gyatso wasn't going to come out to their tree. It wouldn't matter how long Aang stayed there, Gyatso was never going to come make him feel better.

He opened his eyes when something landed directly in his lap, and blinked when he realized how dark it had become.

"Momo?" When Aang carefully held out his hand, the bat-lemur nuzzled against it. "The peaches aren't even in season yet." The bat-lemur didn't seem to care, and it was hard to hold onto hazy ideas about killing somebody with Momo purring against him. He lost any homicidal thoughts entirely when the bat-lemur peered up at him.

Momo's eyes really were green. Gyatso had always joked that they should be, the way Momo got jealous if anyone else got one of the moon-peaches from the tree, but they'd never been close enough to tell. Momo had always been really skittish, but didn't look like he was going to fly back into the tree. He had settled into Aang's lap like they belonged together.

"I need to go to Chief Hakoda's house before Sokka and Katara get worried," Aang told his new friend. It was already dark enough to see the stars, but he had enough light to get back to their house again. The moon was full, and Gyatso had always said only a fool needed a flashlight when the sky would provide.

Momo chirped before Aang could start crying again, and scrambled up to perch on his shoulder. When Aang let himself out the side gate, Momo didn't give the moon-peach tree a parting glance.

Aang smiled a little when Momo rubbed his head against Aang's jaw. Maybe this was only for a couple minutes, but it helped a lot to have somebody with him that had known Gyatso at least a little. He could bring the letter back to the teashop later. He would be honest and say that he'd read Mr. Iroh's letter and apologizing for breaking things in the tea shop. Nobody would be all that mad at him, and he couldn't be upset with Mr. Iroh for keeping secrets. Jet had thought that Aang knew, and Mr. Iroh wouldn't have known anything else until he read the letter. Gyatso had been planning something, even if it seemed really, really dumb to get killed for it.

He was distracting himself with increasingly wild conspiracy theories about what Gyatso had been planning when he heard a weird sound. Half a second later, the left sleeve of his t-shirt was pinned to a lamppost, and Aang's eyes widened when he saw the arrow right under his arm. Momo shrieked and his fur bristled out, but he clung to Aang's right shoulder as he hissed. Aang jerked his sleeve away from the post, suddenly wishing that he'd brought a flashlight after all. He hadn't paid attention to the lampposts before, but he should have. Every single streetlight was out, even the ones around the corner, and the moonlight made all of the shadows blur together.

A man was walking across the street, with greasepaint smeared around his eyes in some weird pattern, and a bow with an arrow already pulled against it. He wasn't coming from the right direction, though, because someone had shot his sleeve from the other side. When Aang turned again, trying to keep watching the crazy guy in the street, he saw three more men, all with bows, and this time he could see the shine of guns at their sides.

Aang couldn't panic. If he ran right to Kanna's house, they might follow him, and he couldn't put anybody in danger, and even right now all of his neighbors might be in trouble. He moved his arms up slowly. It wasn't his fault that one of his strongest airbending moves might look like surrendering, if people didn't know much about air stances. None of the bows lowered, and he could see the arrowheads glinting.

Aang breathed in, and he could have sworn that he heard Gyatso's voice in his ear. Sometimes, it isn't enough to catch the wind. You must be the wind. That was the closest they'd ever come to the idea of flying, because Aang would have wanted to try and they couldn't do it in the basement. Gyatso would have wanted him to fly, now, and that gave him the strength to throw his arms down to his sides and shoot into the sky. He couldn't go to Kanna's house right away, but he knew how to get there from the park.

The problem with his plan was that there were more of the crazy people at the park. Two of them were close enough to a light that he could see red paint smeared across their faces, and they were standing next to men in bulky dark green vests. Aang didn't stay still long enough to figure out what the green vest guys did. He flew away, but there were two facepaint guys at the school playground, and a guy with a weird skinny moustache and a long braid was on the street by the teashop. By the time Aang finally found an alley without anybody wearing a vest or carrying a bow, he was completely lost.

Momo chittered at him disapprovingly as Aang peered at the street sign. The alley didn't have a name, but he'd heard of Ember Avenue. He wasn't supposed to go anywhere near that street because Sozin Labs was really close, and he hadn't even gone on the field trip to the museum because it was two doors away from the lab. Gyatso had told the school that Aang had the flu, and they'd spent the whole day playing airbending games in the basement. Aang didn't know how to find his house from there, and Katara and Sokka's was probably even farther away.

Momo quieted abruptly, and Aang froze when he saw someone at the entrance of his little alley. The man didn't have a bow or a green vest, but he had really strong arms under a red button-down shirt, and the little Aang could see of his expression didn't look promising. He was scowling, and glaring at the ground like he'd very much like to set it on fire.

Aang backed away carefully. It was dark, and the man hadn't seen him, and Momo was huddled down against Aang's neck. Just when Aang thought he was deep enough in the shadows, a piece of trash crinkled under his foot. The man looked up sharply, and when his hand lashed in an arc fire lit up the entire alley. Aang had time to see the yellow eyes and the suspicious expression before the fire disappeared along with Aang's night vision. He rubbed at his eyes, but after the bright light he couldn't see anything at all.

"I didn't mean to startle you," the man said stiffly. He sounded a lot younger than Aang had guessed, and he wasn't moving any closer.

"You're a firebender." Two seconds later, Aang realized that it might have been smarter to pretend he'd never seen bending before in his life, but the man stayed just as far away.

It was too dark to see the man's expression. "Yeah. You know about that?"

Aang flushed, and reminded himself that airbending would be a very bad idea. All the other people might be working for Sozin Labs. Gyatso had said that Ozai had a whole lot of employees, and Aang didn't know who else would decide to chase him. "Uh huh. I'm friends with a bender."

"Yeah?"

There was no way that he could bring up Katara, but it'd be weird to refuse to admit who it was. He didn't want to let a firebender know about anybody- except maybe a really strong firebender that had a really big house outside the city with guards. "Mr. Iroh. He's a firebender, too, and he can do all kinds of neat things with it."

The firebender held out his hand slowly, and a little ball of flames flashed into his palm and stayed there. "What is that thing?" he asked, gesturing with his other hand at Aang's new friend.

Aang scratched between Momo's ears, but after a moment the bat-lemur pulled its head away to look toward the firebender. "He's a bat-lemur. His name is Momo." Aang might have said something else, because the man did look a little interested, but Momo leapt out of his hands and scampered over to the firebender. Before Aang could say anything, Momo had climbed the man's legs and was hanging off of the collar of the man's shirt to look at the fire.

"Hey, watch it!" the man said, closing his fist just before Momo's paw came in reach. "Does this thing know anything about fire?"

Aang opened his mouth to reply, but Momo had decided that the firebender wasn't scary at all. Aang giggled when the firebender tried to make Momo stop grooming his shaggy hair, because for all that the man grumbled, when he finally did catch Momo he was nice about putting the bat-lemur on the ground. Aang had already taken a few steps closer, and he smiled at the firebender after Momo jumped back up to Aang's shoulder.

"I'm Aang," he said, holding out his hand.

The man shook it carefully, like he thought Aang's fingers might break off if he held on too hard. He looked more grumpy than he did friendly, but Momo liked him. "Zuko. What are you doing out this late?"

Aang was close enough to see that Zuko was still a kid, and he didn't need someone just a few years older acting like he was the adult. "What are you doing out this late? I was going for a walk. With Momo."

Zuko's eyebrows went up. "You were walking your flying bat-lemur, at night, and somehow got into an alley without going near the street," he said, stepping out of the alley. When Aang followed him into the light, Zuko's eyes went straight to the ripped sleeve. "What happened?"

"Um..."

"The Yu Yan," Zuko guessed after another moment. They were standing close enough that Aang could see the surprise in the firebender's expression. "Red facepaint, dark outfits, really good at archery?"

It probably would make more sense to run the other way and get out of sight, but Momo liked Zuko, and Aang was lost. "And guys in these really thick green vests," he admitted.

"You definitely didn't want to get stuck in this part of town," Zuko guessed. His yellow eyes looked very sharp, but maybe that was because the yellowy streetlights made it almost look like the irises were glowing. "It's not a good place for an airbender."

"Not at all," Aang agreed with feeling. "Um. That I don't want to be here, not- not the other part."

Zuko shook his head. "There's only one airbender your age, and I saw you flying. You can help me, I can help you. I'll get you anywhere in town that you need to go if you can tell me something."

Aang backed away a few steps, but didn't try to fly away yet. Zuko wasn't following him, and it would be really good if he could get somewhere close to Katara and Sokka's house before the guys with facepaint found him again. He remembered the street right behind their house, and that would be close enough. "Maybe. What do you want to know?"

"Tell me where to find Gyatso."

Aang was about ready to tell Zuko exactly what he thought about a firebender talking about Gyatso, but not one of the really angry words came out when he opened his mouth. All the words had been replaced by a really shaky breath, and he actually felt his eyes start getting all wet even when Zuko was watching. Zuko looked confused, like he hadn't expected that at all, and that was what made Aang angry. "Like you don't know!" Aang yelled, taking a step forward. "You might've even been there when it happened. Gyatso said I couldn't trust any firebenders except Mr. Iroh, and he was right. You and all your friends killed him last night, I know it." Aang's voice sounded much more deep than usual, but he only thought to be happy that the words sounded menacing. "He's dead. He's dead, and Ozai killed him."

None of the streetlights had changed, and Zuko hadn't done anything with fire since Momo reached too close, but it was easier to see all the little details. He could see that there were little crests on every single one of Zuko's shirt's buttons, the little three-tongue flame that Sozin Labs used as a logo. He could see a burned patch on the cuff of the shirt, and he could see that Zuko looked very surprised- probably that Aang knew already. Maybe all the firebenders had thought that Aang wouldn't know about Gyatso for days.

"I know." Aang's voice sounded very odd in his ears, almost like it was echoing, and Momo sprang off of his shoulders. Aang barely noticed. He was watching Zuko, until it felt like he didn't even have to look up to meet the firebender's wide yellow eyes. All of his vision faded into those eyes, those eyes like the ones that had watched Gyatso die. Aang's had moved before he had made a conscious decision, and suddenly a thousand voices were whispering in his ears even as the blue-tinged light chased the last of the shadows away from him.

The concrete two feet below his shoes shuddered, and all windows within twenty yards shattered. The shards of glass were caught up instantly in growing winds, and the glittering shrapnel whirled around Aang and Zuko in a tight circle. If Zuko said anything, it was lost in the roar of hundreds of voices, and the only thing that existed was the broad stripes of light twining down the back of Aang's arms. Sight disappeared last, until every one of his senses was lost in light.

Something collided with his arm, and the feeling of tiny claws gripping was quickly followed with the sound of furious chattering. When Aang opened his eyes, he barely had time to realize that he was hovering before he fell back down to the ground, with the sound of glass falling around around him. Momo, apparently satisfied that Aang was no longer a problem, ran over to Zuko to sit on the firebender's tennis shoes.

Zuko didn't say anything. Aang rubbed at his hair uncomfortably, because what did you even say after you were going to... he didn't know, but he thought that Zuko might have died if Momo hadn't helped. "Um..." Aang didn't know what to say, but Zuko hadn't run away yet. That might be because Momo had a firm grip on the firebender's shoes, but maybe it was because Zuko wasn't done staring at Aang. "Sorry."

"Ozai killed Gyatso," Zuko said quietly. Aang didn't understand all the emotions that he could read in the firebender's face, but he could see sadness mixed in with some kind of decision.

"Yeah." Aang didn't try standing up, but Zuko still wasn't doing anything threatening. Zuko definitely wouldn't have deserved... whatever that was. It definitely hadn't been airbending, but Gyatso had barely said anything about what being the Avatar really meant. "Last night."

Zuko didn't say sorry, which Aang liked, but that left them with nothing else to say for a couple minutes. Zuko was the one to break the silence. "Every single one of the Yu Yan and the Dai Li probably saw the light from the Avatar State. You answered my question, I can get you out of here. They're already on their way over here."

"Why'd you want to know about Gyatso?"

"It's not important," Zuko said, sounding grumpy again. "Do you want a ride or not? I have a jacket you can wear, so they won't recognize the shirt so easily, and I won't tell anybody where I drop you off."

Aang usually would have bounced right up, but his legs felt all shaky. He didn't feel any better when he followed Zuko, and didn't think it was worth commenting that Zuko wasn't wearing a jacket, and it wouldn't matter if Aang was wearing a really bright color if they were in a car. Half a block later, Aang realized what Zuko meant. Zuko had pulled two helmets out of a compartment on the back of a motorcycle before Aang realized that Zuko wasn't looking for a car. Aang looked doubtfully at the battered red motorcycle, but he put on the helmet.

"Do you know Mr. Iroh?"

"Not really. He doesn't have much to do with anybody in the company, but I met him a few times when I was little." Zuko grimaced at the memory. "All I know is that he's obsessed with tea and Pai Sho. He did get me a cool knife, though."

Gyatso's letter was still in Aang's pocket, and the edges seemed to press against his leg. Gyatso had said to trust anybody that talked about the old game- that had to be Pai Sho- even if they had an enemy's face. A firebender that wasn't Mr. Iroh definitely counted, and Aang was much more cooperative about putting on the black leather jacket Zuko held out. It almost went down to his knees, but Zuko didn't say anything about it. Aang didn't say that Gyatso didn't like leather, so maybe they were even.

Zuko helped him adjust the chin strap on the helmet, but it still didn't quite fit. "The helmet's a little big, but I'll stick to the slower roads. The Yu Yan won't bother chasing me unless they're really desperate, and the same goes for the Dai Li. They're guards for Sozin Labs. The Yu Yan are just as good with guns as they are with the bows, when they have to be, and the Dai Li are all earthbenders. They know I like riding around at night, so they won't care."

That was more than Zuko had said all night, nearly, and he seemed to realize it. The rest of the explanations were much shorter. He sounded grumpier than ever when he told Aang how to sit and hold on and deal with turns, but he was tense enough that Aang thought he might be nervous. Aang was a little nervous, too, but he trusted Zuko. Momo did, too, and looked happy enough to curl right between Aang and Zuko inside the jacket.

Zuko looked kind of scary, and he was a firebender, but he hadn't hurt Aang and Momo liked him and Gyatso had said to trust anybody that knew about Pai Sho. When Zuko asked where Aang wanted to go, Aang told him Katara's address.