Ch.10

Aang was sitting cross-legged with his food in his lap. Zuko, Sokka, Suko, and Toph were all sitting and eating. Katara cheerfully walked up, holding something in her hand. "I have a surprise for everyone!" she announced happily.

"I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Haru!" Toph announced, teasing the water bender.

Everyone looked at Katara, shocked, thinking Toph was serious. "Uh, no," Katara said. Everyone returned to eating. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this!"

She unrolled the paper that was in her hand. It was an adorable picture of a baby boy. "Look at baby Zuko, isn't he cute?" she said, trying to embarrass the fire bender. Everyone but Aang and Zuko laughed. Aang hadn't even looked at the picture.

Katara noticed Zuko's eyes closed. "Oh, lighten up, I'm just teasing," she said.

Zuko opened his eyes. "That's not me. It's my father," he admitted.

Katara, embarrassed, silently rolled the paper back up. Suki broke the silence. "But he looks so sweet and innocent," she stated.

"Well that sweet little kid grew up to be a moster, and the worst father in the history of fathers," Zuko said quietly.

"But he's still a human being," everyone turned when they heard Aang say that.

"You're going to defend him?" Zuko accused.

"No, I agree with you. Firelord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably be better off without him. But there's gotta be another way," Aang said.

"Like what?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know," Aang admitted. "Maybe we can make some big pots of glue and then I could use glue bending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore!" Aang said as if that was a good idea.

"Yeah, then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again," Zuko said sarcastically. Everyone giggled behind him.

"Do you really think that would work?" Aang asked hopefully.

"No," Zuko shot at him.

Aang sighed, "This goes against everything I learned from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like!"

"Sure you can, you're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you," Sokka said.

Aang turned to Sokka. "This isn't a joke, Sokka! None of you understands the position I'm in!" Aang yelled. Sokka cringed, not having expected the young boy to yell.

Seeing Aang yell at her brother made Katara a little angry. "Aang, we do understand. It's just-"

Aang cut her off. "Just what, Katara? What?" he yelled.

"We're trying to help!" She shouted angrily.

"Then when you figure out a way to beat the firelord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" he yelled and began to walk away.

"Aang, don't walk away from this," Katara said. She was hurt by him yelling but tried not to show it. She couldn't believe Aang was being this way. Since when was he so angry? She began to angrily march after the Avatar, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from continuing.

"Let him go," Zuko said quietly. Katara stood next to Zuko and looked at him. "He needs time to sort it out by himself."

Katara knew Zuko was right. She sighed and sat down by the rest of the group. Zuko returned to where he had been sitting. Katara closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them and began eating her food.

The next morning, Aang and Momo were nowhere to be found. They realized the Avatar was missing after they packed all of their things to leave.

"Okay, that's everything," Sokka said.

"No it's not. Where's Aang?" Toph asked.

All of them immediately took off in search of the young boy, but he was gone. Sokka had found his staff, which was strange; Aang always had his staff with him. They decided to check the beach. Sokka spotted his footprints leading out to the water.

"So, he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki asked, confused.

"Maybe he was captured," Katara said worriedly. Zuko heard the worry in her voice and looked at the water tribe girl.

"I don't think so. There's no sign of a struggle," Sokka determined.

"I bet he ran away again," Toph said.

"No, he left behind his glider and Appa," Sokka stated.

Toph shook her head. "Then what do you think happened to him, 'Oh sloothy one'?" she asked sarcastically.

"It's pretty obvious. Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle. He's definitely on a spirit world journey!" Sokka exclaimed.

Everybody stared at Sokka. "But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?" Zuko asked realistically.

Sokka's face dropped. "Oh yeah, forgot about that."

"Then he's gotta be somewhere on Ember island, let's split up and look for him," Katara suggested.

"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph announced. She wanted to question him about his… relationship with Katara. Everyone was staring at the girl. "What? Everyone else went on a life changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn," Toph said.

Sokka flew on Appa and searched the waters for Aang while Katara and Suki went into town. Meanwhile, Toph and Zuko were searching in the woods for him. "So…" Toph began. She felt a little weird asking about his love life or whatever he considered it. "Are you and Katara, like, together?" she asked nosily.

Zuko's eyes went wide and he choked out, "What? Why would you ask that?"

Toph knew his heartbeat was speeding up. "Because, I can tell you really like her. Your heart always speeds up when you see her or when someone talks about her. Like now, your heart is beating really fast. She's the same way about you," Toph blurted out.

"She does?" Zuko asked before he could stop himself. "I mean, not that I care…"

Toph laughed. "Save it, I know how you two feel about each other. I think it's… cute. I mean, cuter than her and twinkle toes," she said.

She actually wasn't lying.

"Really?" Zuko asked. He smiled a little to himself, glad that Toph wasn't able to see the blush on his face.

"Yeah," she said.

Toph was glad to know that Zuko really did like Katara. She hoped that they would be together soon. Not just because she wanted to be with Aang, but because she didn't think Aang and Katara would last. Sure, they'd be the perfect couple for a while, maybe even a few years. But everybody knew that no matter how much she denied it, Katara always had a thing for bad boys. It was apparent that she liked the mystery of a bad boy, especially Zuko.

Katara had realized that, also. But what about when there was no more mystery? Would she still like Zuko the way she did? There was no way to know.

All of the kids continued to search for Aang.

A few hours later, they all met up and the steps by the camp. Sokka flew over to them on Appa. "Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you didn't find him either," he said.

Katara was getting very worried now. Everyone else was, but she was the most stressed of all of them.

"No," Zuko answered, "it's like he just… disappeared."

"Hey, wait a minute! Has anyone noticed that Momo's missing too?" Toph asked.

Sokka panicked, thinking that Appa ate Momo. He ran over to the giant beast and opened his mouth, screaming for Momo.

"Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang," Katara said reasonably.

"We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away!" Zuko said, worriedly.

"What should we do, Zuko?" Katara asked, looking at the fire bender.

Zuko stood up. "I don't know," he admitted. Everyone was staring at him now. "Why are you all looking at me?" he asked.

"Well… you are kinda the expert on tracking Aang," Katara hinted.

Toph agreed. "Yeah, if anyone's got experience on hunting the Avatar, it's you."

Zuko nodded. "Let's go," he said, climbing onto Appa. Everyone followed silently. "Yip yip," he commanded to Appa.

They began flying over the ocean. "Why are we flying towards the earth kingdom?" Sokka asked.

"You'll see," was all Zuko said.

In a few hours they reached the earth kingdom and Zuko led them to the destination. "And the reason you've brought us to a seedy earth kingdom tavern is what now?" Katara asked.

"Jun," Zuko said, pointing at the woman. She had been the one he went to when he wanted to track down Katara. She had found her easily, so he figured she could help them again.

"Oh yeah, that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole!" Sokka recalled.

"Mole? Her skin is flawless," Suki stated.

"No, she had this giant mole creature she rides around on," Sokka said.

"The Shirshu," Zuko corrected him. "It's the only animal that can track any scent anywhere in the world. It's the only shot we have at finding him," he said, looking at Katara.

"I don't know who this Jun lady is, but I like her," Toph said happily.

Zuko walked over to Jun, followed by the rest of the group. "Oh, great, it's Prince Pouty. Where's your creepy grandpa?" she asked, annoyed. Katara looked at Zuko, who looked a little sad at the mentioning of his uncle.

"He's my uncle, and he's not here," he said quietly.

Jun looked at Katara who was standing very close to Zuko. "I see you worked things out with your girlfriend," she said.

They both blushed and Katara said, "I'm not his girlfriend!" exactly when Zuko said, "She's not my girlfriend!"

Toph tried not to laugh at the way their heartbeats sped up. "Okay, okay, sheesh. I was only teasing. So what do you want?" Jun asked.

"I need your help finding the Avatar," Zuko said.

She laughed a little. "Hmm, doesn't sound to fun," she took a drink of her tea.

Zuko got angry, "Does the end of the world sound like more fun?"

Jun decided to help them. "Let's go," she said quickly. They went outside to where Nyla, the Shirshu, was waiting by Appa. "Okay, who has anything with the Avatar's scent on it?"

"I have Aang's staff," Katara volunteered. Nyla sniffed the staff then began to walk towards Appa. The Shirshu grew confused and walked around the group a few times before dropping to the ground.

"Well what does that mean?" Zuko asked.

"Means your friends gone," Jun replied.

Toph said, "We know he's gone, that's why we're trying to find him."

"No I mean he's gone gone. He doesn't exist," Jun admitted.

Katara gasped, she didn't mean Aang was dead… did she?

"There's only one other person in this world who can help us face the firelord. I'll be right back with a smell sample," Zuko said. He walked off to retrieve something. He returned with an old, stinky sandal.

"You saved your uncles sweaty sandal?" Sokka asked.

"I think it's kinda sweet," Toph said.

Nyla sniffed the sandal the immediately began to track the scent. "Let's do this," Jun said.

They began their descent towards Iroh. It took them about twenty four hours to get there. A whole day was spent looking for Iroh. They made it to Ba Sing Se. Jun decided to turn back, knowing she needed to return. "Good luck," she said.

"It's been a long day. Let's camp and start our search again at dawn," Zuko said quietly.

They quickly fell asleep, each of them lying on Appa's legs. They didn't sleep for too long before being awoken by a ring of fire around their campsite. Toph was the first one to wake, sensing that there were people near. Everyone else quickly rose as the saw familiar faces. They saw Bumi along with Master Pakku, Piandao, and Jeong Jeong.

"Pakku," Katara said, bowing to him.

"It is respectful to bow to an old master, but how about a hug for your new grandfather?" Pakku said with his arms open wide.

"That's so exciting! You and Gran-Gran must be so happy to have found each other again," Katara said.

Zuko watched as she happily exchanged chit-chat for a few seconds. He was amazed by how happy she could be for someone. He loved it when she was happy, it made him happy. Zuko snapped back when he heard one of them say they were all members of the white lotus.

"We all came together when we were summoned for something very important by a grand lotus," Pakku looked at Zuko, "your uncle, Iroh of the fire nation."

"Well that's who we're looking for," Toph interjected.

"Then we'll take you to him," said Piandao.

About half an hour later, they were there. Zuko took a deep breath as he walked towards his uncle's tent. He sighed and sat on the ground. Katara walked over to him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No, I'm not okay," he admitted. "My uncle hates me, I know it. He loved me and supported me in every way it could and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?" Zuko asked.

Katara's heart ached seeing Zuko in so much pain. She looked around to see if anyone was there. No one was, so she scooted closer to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "Zuko, you're sorry for what you did, right?" she asked.

"More sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life," he answered.

"Then he'll forgive you. He will," she said.

He still looked unsure. "But-"

Katara cut him off by brushing her lips against his. He was shocked for a few moments, but he kissed her back. She kissed him for a few more moments, the taste of his sweet lips so appealing to her. Neither of them wanted the kiss to end; for it was so delicate and sweet. They both wanted more, but Katara pulled away. She smiled at him and watched him stand up and walk to the front of the tent. He took one more deep breath and looked back at the water tribe girl. She smiled again and nodded for him to go in.

He opened the tent and walked inside. "Uncle," he began, and then saw he was asleep. He smiled a little and sat on the floor a few feet away from Iroh. Zuko sat there until his Uncle awoke hours later, right after the sun rose. Iroh stretched his arms out and saw Zuko from his peripheral vision. He did not turn, only he closed his eyes.

"Uncle, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me. But I want you to know, I am so, so sorry Uncle," Zuko said, tears spilling over onto his cheeks. He hated himself for hurting his Uncle. He only hoped his Uncle could forgive him for betraying him. "I am so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you."

Iroh had tears rolling down his cheeks also. He turned around quickly and grabbed his nephew and pulled him into a tight hug. "How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me," Zuko said, still crying.

"I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you'd lost your way," Iroh said truthfully.

"I did lose my way," Zuko admitted.

"But you found it again," Iroh said, pulling away from the hug and putting his hands on either of Zuko's shoulders. "And you did it by yourself. I'm so happy you found your way here."

Iroh hugged Zuko again, patting him on the back. "It wasn't that hard, Uncle. You have a pretty strong scent."