Mismatched

by Kimberly T

In Season One, when Prince Zuko unexpectedly becomes Papa Zuko, he rocks not just the cradle but his entire ship... and eventually a lot more! Chapter 11: Forewarned

10. Denounced

MISMATCHED

Chapter 10: Denounced

Up until seven years ago, Jeong Jeong had been a general in the Fire Nation Army. He had risen through the ranks for a variety of reasons, not least of which were his firebending mastery and his tactical skills; the general had been renowned for coming up with battle plans that resulted in victories with minimal casualties for the forces under his command. Many of those plans had also been designed to outfox, avoid or capture instead of kill the enemy forces, for minimal loss of life on both sides… though not all those plans had been approved for implementing, when they were reviewed in the Fire Lord's war room.

Seven years ago, Fire Lord Azulon had died quite suddenly; the popular opinion was that he'd died of heartbreak, when his grandson Prince Lu Ten had died in the Siege of Ba Sing Se and his older son Crown Prince Iroh had abruptly shown himself to be a weak-hearted failure, by abandoning the siege instead of avenging the loss of his own son. Azulon's last will and testament, changed only the day before his death, passed the crown to his second son Prince Ozai.

Just days after Ozai ascended to the throne, the differences in his war policy became evident at the very first war strategy meeting he convened among the top military staff. Ozai favored plans that annihilated the enemy, regardless of the loss of life for his own forces; Jeong Jeong's plan for the conquest of the city of Wúgū had been disregarded, and General Bujing's plan—which would result in a victory but with brutal losses for both sides—had been approved.

After only three war strategy meetings under Ozai, Jeong Jeong had abruptly deserted, declaring that his disgust with the Fire Nation Army's callous brutality and wanton destruction in the Earth Kingdom had finally reached a breaking point. He'd left a scathing 'letter of resignation' burned into the door of his headquarters in characters a quarter-inch deep, that condemned Fire Lord Ozai's policies as well as the military high command that carried them out.

As expected, when news of the high-level desertion reached him, Fire Lord Ozai had not taken it well. The Fire Lord's top 'death squad', elite paramilitary forces that answered to no one but the wearer of the Fire Crown, had been sent after the ex-general within the hour.

Jeong Jeong was not the first officer to desert the Fire Nation Army; others had also done so in decades past, sometimes taking entire platoons of loyal soldiers with them. But he was the first officer to actually survive the desertion by more than a week; the first to avoid the fate that had befallen so many others, that of being paraded back to the Fire Nation capital—sometimes the entire charred corpse being held up suspended between spears, sometimes just the head—as an example to the populace of what happened to such cowardly traitors to the nation.

Instead of parading Jeong Jeong's corpse back to the capital, the entire death squad had been found scattered between Yu Dao and Pohuai and in various stages of decomposition, with a note addressed to the Fire Lord left pinned to the forehead of the freshest corpse. The note said that Jeong Jeong was looking forward to the other death squads being sent after him, because he considered such coldly brutal killers to be a blight on humanity and he'd be pleased to personally execute the rest of them.

Enraged, Fire Lord Ozai sent out not one but three death squads all at once. …And those bodies were never recovered.

No more death squads had been sent after that, but wanted posters with Jeong Jeong's likeness had been put up on nearly every street corner, with a reward offered for whoever turned him in, dead or alive. But even nearly a decade later, Jeong Jeong still lived, albeit in hiding; never showing his face in public, though rumors of sightings abounded throughout all the colonies and even the outermost Home Islands.

And now there are additional rumors, that the former general has created a secret base full of other deserters from the army; someplace those ex-soldiers can go to after leaving everyone and everything of their old lives behind. "A sanctuary for cowards" is how some sneeringly refer to it, though others just look thoughtful (and a few even appear wistful if they think no one's looking just then.)

Of course, some people were quick to capitalize on the idea of the ex-general welcoming other deserters, seeing that as a way to get close enough to Jeong Jeong that they can capture or kill him for Fire Lord Ozai and/or the reward money. But whether they are disguised members of the death squads, professional bounty hunters or just greedy amateurs, none of them ever come back successful—and a few of them just never come back. The ones who continue to live in frustration will often ask themselves, how does he always know?

The answer lies in a conversation that took place in Jeong Jeong's first hideout after deserting, seven years ago:

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The ground opened up in the middle of the tent floor and a gnarled old man with wild hair popped up out of the hole, cackling, "If you've got the firewhiskey, I've got the gennamite!"

After he relaxed from his instinctive bending stance, Jeong Jeong growled at King Bumi, "Have you ever heard of an amazing concept called doors? Look, I've got one right there!" as he pointed at the tent entrance. "People go in and out of other people's homes through them! And if they're polite people, they even announce themselves before coming in!"

"Don't waste your breath," the waterbending master Pakku grumbled as he crawled up out of the hole Bumi had made in the floor, and brushed off his robes with an expression of distaste. "Bumi hasn't been conventional or polite to anyone since Avatar Kyoshi's days."

Jeong Jeong reminded Pakku with a raised eyebrow, "Avatar Kyoshi died over two hundred years ago; before even Bumi was born!"

"My point precisely."

Instead of being insulted, Bumi just grinned even wider and declared, "Pakku, you always say the sweetest things!" as he reached over to give a friendly whack on the other bending master's back

The waterbender smoothly dodged and flowed away from Bumi's hand before the blow could land, and then frowned at Jeong Jeong as he said, "Rather than talk about useless pleasantries, I'd rather talk about the main reason why he and I left our cities to track you down; to find out why you left your post! With a new Fire Lord on the throne, particularly someone as cruel as Ozai is rumored to be, we need eyes and ears in the war room more than ever!"

"You think I don't know that?" Jeong Jeong growled. "But you'll have to make do with Piandao, or the gardener and the scullery boy that were planted on the palace staff; see if they can get new postings that will let them get closer to the meetings. I left only because I knew what was coming next; Ozai was about to demand that I resign my commission. By leaving before he could do that, my resignation letter would actually have some impact; denouncing him afterwards would have been dismissed by all as just bitterness over losing my rank."

"Oh, you're mistaken, youngster!" Bumi said with a snaggle-toothed grin. "Ozai wasn't about to ask for your resignation!"

"With all due respect, Grand Lotus: I was there, I saw the differences between how he treated me and my strategies and how he regarded bloodthirsty bastards like Bujing, and I'm telling you-"

"Ozai was about to have you disappeared," as Bumi abruptly lost his maniacal grin, to look very grim indeed. "Just as he's already done for Lords Lianmin and Renci from his father's privy council."

"Lianmin and Renci?" Jeong Jeong echoed in surprise. "I'd heard Lord Lianmin had left for his annual vacation to Ember Island…"

Bumi shook his head. "His house is empty, but no one on any of the docks saw him leave the capitol, and his vacation home on Ember Island is still boarded up. As for Renci, he's supposedly come down with a severe illness, but no doctor has been summoned to treat him—and that doesn't explain why his lion-dog's bloody corpse was seen sprawled by the door to his home in the early hours of the morning, just before some nameless men who were not Renci's servants hauled it away."

Both Jeong Jeong and Pakku stared at Bumi in dismay, as Pakku blurted out, "Is that what was in the message you got yesterday morning? You said it was an update from your council on gennamite exports!"

"Oh, it had that too! And business for this season had better pick up soon, or I'll have to put my Flopsy on an all-he-can-eat diet again. But anyway, it's just as well that you got out when you did, Jeong. There's a death squad out after you now, of course, but we already picked off three of them for you on our way here. Now that you're out, let's see if we can use your example to encourage more officers to desert the Fire Nation Army. And as for getting another member of the White Lotus in on the war council, I'm thinking of recruiting the former prince and general Iroh for that."

Pakku started choking on his own tongue, while Jeong Jeong sputtered, "Iroh? The Dragon of the West? You want to try to convert the Dragon of the West into a force for peace and restoring balance to the world?! You really do have boulders for brains—and for balls, too!"

"Now, gentlemen," Bumi tut-tutted, "you really need to have more faith in your Grand Lotus—and in my sources. I have it on good authority from a certain guru that Iroh has journeyed to the Spirit World, to try to bring back his dead son-and the experience has definitely changed him. The Dragon has lost his fire for conquest, so now he's just perfect for the plans I have for him."

Jeong Jeong stared at him as he asked skeptically, "You're really going to try to recruit him as a spy, the same way you recruited me? Just pop up inside his home unannounced and declare, 'Come join the White Lotus; we have dumplings!' When he uses his lightning to incinerate you on the spot, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Bumi's grin got impossibly wider and more maniacal. "Ohhh, I'm going to do better than that! You would not believe the plans I have for Iroh—which is why I'm not going to tell you about them yet. You'll find out what they are soon enough. In the meantime, let's get back to you and your situation."

"You want to promote my example to encourage other officers to desert?" Jeong Jeong asked. "I can arrange for strategic 'sightings' from time to time, to prove that it's possible to survive the decision."

"And more than that. I want you to start building an army of deserters!"

"You're serious? …What am I saying, you're never serious…"

"Of course not! If I was a serious man, I'd be in my grave already! But what you're really asking is whether this is a solid strategy. And I believe it will be, with the aid of the White Lotus. We all know that once word gets out that you'll welcome other deserters to join you, Ozai will try to slip in spies that way to slit your throat. But you'll only welcome those deserters that have been thoroughly investigated and verified by members of the White Lotus first. Not that we'll make them members before sending them to you; that will be your decision, after you've observed them for a long period of time and decided whether or not they can be trusted with our secret. But our people can verify their intentions with a little cactus-juice-aided interrogation, and give them tokens of approval if they pass, or possibly a trip to the nearest graveyard if they don't. Then we'll either send word to you that they're coming, or send word of where they can be found and brought to your base."

After only a moment's pause, Jeong Jeong nodded agreement. "That sounds like a good strategy. Particularly the part about sending word to me ahead of their arrival; I've never liked surprises."

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No, Jeong Jeong did not like surprises. Which is one reason why he was not happy when his camp had surprise visitors.

It started when one of the camp sentries suddenly burst into his hut to breathlessly announce, "The Avatar has arrived just outside our camp! It's him, and no mistake; he's riding a sky bison, and he proved he can airbend too! But you'll never believe who he converted to our cause, just before he came to find us!" And when he walked to the small clearing where the Avatar and his sky bison were waiting, one of the first people he saw was the former crown prince and former general Iroh, chuckling while rolling a lotus tile over his knuckles.

"So the Avatar has converted you to join our cause, eh?" he sarcastically asked the current Grand Lotus, who'd been given that mantle by Bumi himself at virtually the same time that he'd been recruited to the Order. (It had taken two more clandestine meetings of the White Lotus Masters before Jeong had finally lost his conviction that Bumi had been not just crazy but doused on cactus juice when he'd made that decision.)

"It was the simplest explanation," Iroh said with a shrug, before turning to gesture to his left, where a scarred teenager was waiting with a tense look and a baby in his arms. "May I present to you my nephew Zuko, and my grandson Teiji?"

"Grandson?" the deserter general blurted out as both his eyebrows shot up to his hairline. He knew Prince Lu Ten had died without offspring, and Prince Zuko was hardly old enough to—wasn't he? Agni's ashes, the last time he'd glimpsed the royal family while attending a meeting at the palace, Prince Zuko had been a little lisping boy still trailing after his mother! Jeong had heard about the Agni Kai three years ago, so that explained the scar on his face, but when had that little boy turned into such a strapping young man?! And a father with his own child to care for…

Jeong Jeong suddenly felt very old. (And he didn't like that either.)

"By adoption," Iroh explained as his nephew stiffly bowed greetings, though that didn't make any difference to the way Jeong was feeling at that moment. "And of course, the Avatar, Aang of the Air Nomads, and his companions Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe."

"It is good to meet the Avatar, returned to the world at long last," Jeong said with a bow to the boy wearing Air Nomad clothes. "And to meet all those with him who are committed to ending the war of conquest and restoring balance to the world."

"Pleased to meet you too!" the Avatar piped up, grinning and bowing. The gesture he made as he did so was of a style that Jeong Jeong had only ever seen before in old scrolls, namely Sozin's instructions for the armed forces on how to detect airbender refugees trying to hide in the common populace.

"Well, come on in to our camp; we can talk over some tea and refreshments," Jeong said with a sigh, knowing that was expected of him. The newcomers agreed, and as they walked the quarter-mile through the woods to the base camp, he glanced sidelong at them repeatedly, watching how they walked and carried themselves, to get an idea of their abilities and attitudes.

Prince Zuko was certainly a firebender, but he had a swordman's habits as well; he knew how to use those blades he was carrying. And oddly, right now as he walked among strangers, his moves said he would be more inclined to go for those swords than his bending if trouble broke out. And the young man was definitely braced for trouble, or more accurately, trouble for that baby in his arms; Jeong was sure there was a story involved in his adoption, and not a happy one.

The Water Tribe boy—what was his name? Sokka? A nonbender, and just a fledgling warrior, but he showed promise. He moved more like a hunter than a soldier, but he knew where his weapons were, and he was keeping just out of arm's reach of the closest member of his escort—good situational awareness, and given the other boy he was traveling with, such wariness was to be encouraged rather than frowned upon.

The Water Tribe girl—he'd have to ask her name again later—was clearly a waterbender, but also clearly self-trained; her movements were sloppy compared to those of Pakku and the few other waterbenders Jeong Jeong had met through the Order of the White Lotus. And she too was wary of the soldiers surrounding her, but unlike her fellow tribesman, apparently not at all wary of Iroh or his nephew; the deserter general wondered how long they'd been allies. If anything, the girl was worried for them instead of about them—ah, that glance told him that her worry was centered mostly on the baby, rather than the royals themselves. But she apparently thought the baby was safe enough in the prince's arms, so what was the story there?

The Avatar was definitely an airbender to the core; he could have modeled for the illustrations and descriptions of stance and movement in those old scrolls Fire Lord Sozin had ordered distributed. And he might have had some waterbending training as well... but he clearly hadn't mastered it yet, and even more clearly knew nothing of Earth or Fire yet; his moves lacked the stern discipline needed for mastering those elements. And he was far, far too trusting of total strangers! Jeong Jeong could almost feel the next ambush for the Avatar lurking just over the horizon, waiting for this child to blithely skip right into it. And this was the being the world leaders were pinning all their hopes on?! Unless this boy wised up to the ways of the world as well as learned the discipline necessary to master all the elements, and did so very very quickly, they were all doomed…

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Zuko's head still felt naked and wrong without the weight and comforting soft sweep of his phoenix-plume against his scalp, but right then that was the least of his concerns; he had his heart in his throat the entire time they were walking into Jeong Jeong's camp of deserters. Uncle had told him time and again while they were planning their escape from the ship that they would all be safe with Jeong Jeong, including Teiji; that he'd met the former Fire Nation general enough times to know that he was not a superstitious man, and that he would never allow anyone to harm a child in his encampment. But Zuko knew too well that there was only so much any leader could do to control the people under him, without resorting to extreme and cruel tactics that no true leader would ever countenance. Jeong Jeong might not have any issue with Teiji's eyes, but what about the other deserters in his camp? Were they all sensible men like Lieutenant Jee and Colonel Shinu, or were there superstitious fools like Tadao who would make trouble for them?

Once they were all sitting down with tea (substandard compared to Uncle's) and rice balls (bland and a little stale-Zuko realized abruptly that he was really going to miss Chu Si's cooking), Uncle launched into the tale of how they'd found Teiji, while Zuko sat there with his son and pretended he was perfectly relaxed, not at all on the brink of grabbing for his swords and fighting his way back to the sky bison if necessary. But judging by the shrewd look Jeong Jeong gave him, the former general wasn't fooled by his pose, even if he wasn't inclined to call him on it.

Even with glossing over some Teiji-related events, like the disastrous encounter with the pirates, it still took nearly twenty minutes for Iroh to get to the point when they had received that terrible scroll from Fath-from Ozai, Zuko harshly corrected himself as his uncle continued, "We realized then that our charade of pretending to capture the Avatar could no longer be continued; that to stay aboard the Wani any longer would be to invite disaster in the form of assassins sent by Ozai, if not a mutiny from those members of the crew that are still loyal to the Fire Lord over their good captain and prince."

Zuko distinctly saw Sokka mouthing 'charade, huh?' to his sister, who rolled her eyes in response, and felt ashamed of himself. Uncle shouldn't have to twist the truth like that to make his nephew look better in front of strangers... If only it really had been all a charade for him; if only he hadn't been so blindly loyal for so long, to a man who was really a monster under the skin! If only he'd realized the truth as soon as he'd been burned and banished, and then helped the Avatar right from their first meeting instead of hunting and trying to capture him...

But then if he had, he would never have found his son. If he hadn't been chasing after that remembered glimpse of the sky bison, that night after rescuing Uncle... if he hadn't passed near that ravine at just the right moment, hadn't heard the sound of a baby crying where no child should be, then Teiji would have starved to death next to the corpse of his mother. Zuko shuddered all over at the thought, and hugged Teiji just a little bit tighter in response.

After Uncle explained how they'd found and formally allied themselves with the Avatar, he finished with, "And now we are here. Jeong Jeong, my nephew and I must rely on you now, to provide us with a place to stay and raise Teiji together until the Avatar is ready to train in firebending."

"And you shall have it," Jeong Jeong said as he nodded before standing up. To Zuko's surprise, he didn't ask for a look at Teiji's eyes, like everyone else who'd ever heard their story had done. Instead, he turned to a small squad of his troops and ordered, "Empty out the smaller storage hut, and put all the contents under tarpaulins for now; that hut will be a temporary dwelling for the royals and their child, until a better hut can be built for them."

To Zuko's relief, the four men just saluted and left to follow his orders, without any protests about housing a witch-child. There had been some curious glances thrown his and Teiji's way from the troops who'd been present to hear the story, but he sensed no fear or hostility, and none of them protested at all! Maybe Teiji really would be safe here...

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Aang was glad that Zuko and his uncle and baby had a safe place to stay, and even gladder that they were allies now, and had introduced him to an entire group of Fire Nation people who were against the war! It was really good to know that Fire Sage Shyu wasn't just an exception; that there were still lots of good people like his old friend Kuzon in the Fire Nation today.

...Well, okay, these guys were technically all in exile from the Fire Nation, but it still proved his point that there were good people in every nation! In the few times he'd argued with Sokka and Katara since coming out of the iceberg, their argument about people of the Fire Nation had been pretty much the worst. Since their mother had been killed by Fire Nation soldiers and their father had left them both to go to aid the Earth Kingdom against the Fire Nation, Sokka and Katara both tended to think that the whole Fire Nation was full of horrible monsters who liked to burn people alive for fun.

Aang had to admit, except for Fire Sage Shyu, pretty much all the Fire Nation people they'd met up to now had been horrible to them. But hopefully becoming allies with Zuko and his family, and meeting Jeong Jeong and his troops, was showing Sokka and Katara how wrong they had been to think that everyone in the Fire Nation was the same way.

But now that Zuko and his family had a safe place to stay, it was probably time for Aang and his friends to get going again, on their way to the Northern Water Tribe for waterbending training... though Aang sort-of hoped that Jeong Jong would invite him and his friends to stay for dinner first. Katara's cooking was all right, but she hardly ever used the spices Aang was more used to, and they kept having the same dishes over and over again. It would be great if the soldiers here put on a feast for them like the Kyoshi Islanders had done, but with some of the spicy dishes that he'd eaten with his old friend Kuzon way back when!

"Thank you for your generosity, Jeong Jeong," Iroh said to the other old guy as he stood up too, and gave a sweeping bow. "It will be good to be assured of a roof over our heads tonight! And we shall need only a few easily procurable supplies in order to make it a suitable home for us and little Teiji. Nephew, perhaps you could stay here with Teiji and see to setting up our few belongings in the hut once it's ready for us, while I walk to the nearby colony to pick up a few more things."

Because he was sitting so close to Zuko, only Aang heard him mutter under his breath "Any excuse for shopping" before saying aloud, "Uncle, it would probably be better for everyone if you didn't go into the colony today, or any time soon. What if you're recognized there? Maybe there aren't any wanted posters of you yet, but there will be soon enough once they figure out what we've done. And we don't want anyone who sees those posters to remember seeing your face in town, and giving Fath-Ozai's death squads a place to start searching from."

"But that's only if they see his face," spoke up a friendly guy who had introduced himself to Aang earlier as Chey, a former captain in the Fire Nation army and an explosives expert, and the second guy to successfully desert after the general's example. "They won't see it if he puts on a festival mask first, right? And I'll bet there are merchants selling dozens of masks right now, for the Fire Days Festival that's going on all week."

"Fire Days Festival?" as Aang perked his ears, suddenly hopeful. A festival would be even better than just a fancy dinner!

"Sure! They put up a poster for it on a signpost just outside of town," Chey explained cheerfully. "It said they're going to have all kinds of entertainment; jugglers, magicians, puppet shows, firebending masters, and lots of cultural exhibits to remind the colonists of life back in the Fire Nation! Me and a couple other guys were going to get masks and go there later, see a show or two and maybe get some fire flakes."

Zuko perked up almost despite himself as he echoed 'fire flakes?', but Aang wasn't really paying attention to him just then; instead he was turning to Sokka and Katara. "Guys, you have to come with me to the festival!" he told them excitedly. "You need to see this, to see that Fire Nation people like to relax and have fun too, just like people everywhere else in the world!"

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Zuko had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he listened to the Avatar persuade his companions to go to the festival with him. At first the Water Tribe people demurred, said they really had to get going, and Zuko silently agreed with them; the Avatar needed to learn all the elements as fast as he could, and he needed to not get caught right in the middle of a colony! But then Uncle joined Aang in persuading them, said they needed to see that the Fire Nation could produce beauty and happiness as well as war and aggression, and Zuko silently groaned in resignation. Uncle Iroh could talk anyone into anything if he had a mind to...

And not even five minutes later, five people were setting off for the colony; Uncle to do some shopping (and enjoy the festival food and sights; that went without saying), Jeong Jeong's soldier Chey to show him where to find the shops that carried what he wanted, and the Avatar and his friends to just have fun. Iroh saw Zuko's look as they departed and said cheerfully, "Don't worry so, nephew! We'll all put on masks, so no one will know who we really are. We'll be careful to not draw attention to ourselves... and yes, I'll bring you back some fire flakes too!"

"Okay," Zuko muttered with some embarrassment, and then he helped Teiji wave to his grandfather as they departed.

Soon after they were gone, Jeong Jeong's men came back to say they'd emptied out the storage hut, so Zuko took Teiji and their saddlebags of supplies to see about making the hut into something resembling a home for them. It didn't take long to lay out the bedrolls and the few possessions they'd been able to bring with them: a few changes of clothes for each, the portraits Cheung had made for them, a cleaning & oiling kit for his dao sword, the heart-shaped stone Mai had given him, a few toys for Teiji, and Uncle's favorite tea set.

He couldn't help giving an unhappy sigh as he looked at all that was left of their old lives, and the unfamiliar straw walls of what would be their home now. He suddenly found himself desperately missing not just the sight of the Fire Nation banner that hung on the wall of his cabin, but the old steel bulkheads that the banner hung on. Then he snorted in self-derision as he thought that if someone had told him three years ago—even just three months ago—that someday he'd be feeling homesick for a rusted old hulk of a ship…

But it wasn't just the ship itself that he missed; it was his crew. Lieutenant Jee, Ming-Hoa, Joben, Taozu, Jiro, Tetsuko, Sheng… Cinders, he even missed that superstitious fool Tadao a little! And three months ago he would never have believed he'd miss any of them, either. But since he'd adopted Teiji, the crew's attitude towards him had really changed. They'd respected him more, actually respecting him instead of just his rank, and a few of them even seemed to genuinely like him! It made him feel sick, cold and heavy inside, having to lie to them and leave them behind like that…

Then Teiji burbled at him while waving the wooden dragon, the incense burner that he had repurposed as his son's first toy. Zuko dredged up a smile for his son, and took the toy to make it fly through the air and breathe fire for Teiji as the toddler squealed and clapped with delight.

At least he could still make the small wisps of flame needed to make it appear as if the tiny dragon was breathing fire; that was probably what Teiji liked best about this toy. But he really, really hoped his uncle was right about what had happened to his firebending, and how to fix it! Even as he played with his son, his mind kept drifting back to that conversation he'd had with Uncle Iroh, right after receiving Fath—Ozai's letter telling him to kill Teiji and send the baby's head back to the capital as proof…

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Uncle Iroh had insisted on brewing tea before discussing the letter and their options, so Zuko waited to talk while his uncle brewed in his quarters. But he didn't just stand there while waiting; instead he went through his and Teiji's belongings, deciding which items he could afford to take with him while fleeing with Teiji into the Earth Kingdom, and what they'd have to leave behind. There was only so much weight he could carry along with his son while walking for days on end. And the more stuff he carried in a pack, the more of an attractive target they'd make to bandits on the roads. So they'd have to make do with only the bare essentials, a few clothes and his weapons… and one or two toys; he had to have something for amusing and entertaining his son as they traveled…

He had a carrysack packed and resting on the bed by the time his uncle came back with the tea tray. Iroh raised an eyebrow at the sight, but didn't tell him to unpack it and put everything back; instead, he only gestured for Zuko to sit down at the table with him.

Uncle poured the tea, and they both sipped at the hot beverage, though Zuko could have been drinking engine oil just then and not noticed; he was still too agitated about the letter, preoccupied with thoughts of fleeing for his son's life. Then after that first sip, Iroh set his cup down and said flatly, "Prince Zuko, now that you've read that letter, and his cursed instructions to you… do you agree with me that Fire Lord Ozai—yes, your father, and also my younger brother—that Ozai is a monster in human skin?"

Once he could think again, Zuko thought numbly, Is this what it's like, to be hit by lightning? Because the jolt of shock that had run though him at his uncle's words, felt like it had burned a channel from his ears and brain down his spine and clear through to his legs and feet. In that second, if someone were to physically pick him up and move his paralyzed body aside, he was sure they'd find scorch marks on the deck plate.

After he got his lungs to working again, and then his lips, and finally—it took two tries—his vocal cords, Zuko whispered, "Yes."

Iroh gave a grim smile. "Good. Because I've been wanting to say that for nearly three years now; since the day he cornered you into facing him in the Agni Kai. And now that we are agreed on that: do you also agree with me that any man who would be so cruel and heartless as to tell his own son to commit an atrocity like this," as he pulled the scroll out of his robs and slapped it down on the low table, glaring at the offending document like it was a spider-snake that had somehow slithered aboard their ship, "can not possibly possess the wisdom and compassion that a good ruler should have for his people, and therefore should not be reigning over an entire nation?"

Zuko froze, both inside and out. He couldn't move a muscle as he stared at his uncle, and he suddenly felt so cold inside, colder than he'd been since they'd left the South Pole behind. His uncle was talking about deposing the Fire Lord. He was talking about High Treason.

And he was right. Zuko knew in his cold aching bones that Iroh was right, and that his father—that Ozai should not be holding the throne.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, and bowed his head as he let it out. "H-he should not." ...There, that made him a traitor along with Iroh. No matter what happened next, he would not let his uncle suffer alone.

Uncle Iroh nodded and gave a grim half-smile of approval at his words. But oddly, the smile disappeared entirely when Zuko said next, "You should be Fire Lord, instead."

His uncle shook his head. "There was a time when I would have demanded the crown, as my birthright... but those days are past, and now I know better." He picked up his teacup again as he continued, "If ever I sit on the Fire Throne, Prince Zuko, it will only be as a temporary regent, until you are ready to resume your royal duties," as he gave him a meaningful look.

"M-me?" Zuko blurted out, "But Uncle, I can't be Fire Lord! I... I've lost my bending!"

Iroh almost dropped his teacup. Then he set it carefully down on the table again as he demanded, "Explain."

"I wish I could... all I can think of is that this is a sign from Agni, that he took my bending away-well, most of it; there's still just a little left-but it's gone precisely because there's no way I could challenge Father without it. Agni decided to remove any doubt that I'm unfit for the throne," Zuko said miserably.

"And when did you lose your bending, if it's truly lost?" Iroh said with a raised eyebrow. Because that was a fine fire-shield you erected the other day, when we warned Zhao away from trying to take Teiji from us."

"I honestly don't know just when it happened; all I know is that just before the hawk arrived, I was warming up for the sparring session, when... all I could produce was this!" as he turned his hand palm up. He willed for a blaze of fire fully twelve inches high, but all he produced was a small puff of flame better suited to topping a candle wick, no bigger than a firebending toddler's first efforts.

"Hmmm..." Iroh eyed the flame in his hand, and then raised a bushy eyebrow as he asked, "Tell me, nephew, what were you thinking just before you started the warm-up?"

Bewildered by the question, Zuko answered honestly, "I was thinking that it was a really good day; the ship's running great, Teiji's behaving well and had even learned some new words this morning, and we have another opportunity to capture the Avatar! ...Or we had an opportunity," he finished dejectedly. The only way that he'd be able to capture that airbender now, would be if the Avatar saw what had become of his bending and just laughed himself to death.

"I see. Well, see how long you can maintain that bit of flame, while I think about what may be causing it," Uncle said as he got up and began pacing around the room. Zuko obediently maintained the candle's worth of flame while watching his uncle, afraid to hope...

And then Iroh stopped right in front of the porthole, and scowled at whatever he saw out on the horizon. "Zhao's ship is coming back... probably to steal Teiji from us."

"What?!" as Zuko leaped to his feet-and as the wisp of flame in his hand abruptly shot up and out to become a blazing torch nearly three feet high, scorching the ceiling of his cabin.

He stared at the fire, dumfounded, even as his uncle immediately said with a wry grin, "I lied. And you did exactly what I expected, at the idea of anyone threatening your son. Your bending isn't gone, nephew; you have all the potential you've ever had, possibly even more than before. But you are going to have to learn a new method of fueling your firebending, now that you have learned how to be happy instead of constantly angry."

His uncle came back to sit at the tea table as he said, "But instructing you on how to do that can wait for a bit longer; there are other matters to discuss with you first. For now, just believe me when I say that you do indeed possess enough firebending to be considered a contender for the throne. And in order to take the throne from Ozai, I believe our best option is to ally ourselves with the Avatar."

"To ally…what?!"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Zuko was abruptly drawn from his reverie by a wet blatting sound, and an unmistakable odor; Teiji had just soiled his diaper again. Zuko sighed as he set down the toy dragon and dug out the diaper-changing supplies, while muttering under his breath, "Still don't know what's causing the diarrhea, either. At least you're not dehydrating..."

He quickly cleaned up his son's butt and put a new diaper on him, and then grimaced as he dropped the soiled one into the small sack of other soiled diapers waiting to be washed. He was not looking forward to that, but he'd better do it soon; they were down to only three clean diapers.

Maybe Uncle Iroh could get this deserter camp's laundry personnel to take on the extra work of washing diapers? Uncle had said he couldn't use his status as the Grand Lotus—which still boggled Zuko's mind; the idea that his uncle was actually the leader of a secret organization that had members in all the nations! But he'd said it had to stay secret still, because most of the people in this camp weren't members of the organization, just ordinary soldiers and sailors who'd decided to leave their old lives behind forever rather than kill anyone on the Fire Lord's orders. But even if his uncle couldn't use his secret rank on the people here, and Zuko had been strongly advised against trying to use his royal rank at all, maybe Iroh could use that golden tongue of his to persuade them to take on the extra duty anyway…

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

"Here ya go; masks for everyone!" Chey said cheerfully after he walked up from the colony to the small clearing just off the main road where the Avatar, General Iroh and the Water Tribe kids were waiting, and showed them what he'd brought them.

Everyone thanked Chey as the kids quickly put on their festival masks, and then the Water Tribe girl switched the Avatar's mask with her kinsman's mask for some reason. General Iroh chuckled as he tied his mask in place, and then he gestured grandly down the hill towards the village. "Come, my new friends; good food and great fun await!"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

But not even two hours later, Chey stood lined up with the Avatar and General Iroh in front of a scowling Jeong Jeong and face-palming Prince Zuko, as they tried to explain just what had gone wrong. "It was sort-of my fault," the Avatar explained sheepishly. "See, this firebending entertainer took Katara on stage to be his assistant for a stunt, but when he said he was losing control of his fire-dragon, I kind-of panicked when I thought she'd be burned, and I blew it away with airbending. That's when the crowd recognized me, and we started running. And when we ran right past General Iroh and Chey while they were shopping, I didn't think, I just told them to run because the guards were after us..."

"It perhaps would have been wiser to feign complete ignorance of both the Avatar and the meaning of his words, and then quickly find new masks to wear," Iroh acknowledged with a heavy sigh. "But instead, first Chey and then I began running as well. Which, I must regretfully admit, let everyone know that the Avatar has gathered more companions than the two Water Tribe people already known."

"But we still got away, thanks to the Avatar's sky bison!" Chey insisted. "And I blew up a stack of fireworks to keep them too busy to even try to follow us. We didn't fly straight in this direction, either, so the camp should still be safe."

"But in the time it took for all five of us to climb aboard Appa, our pursuers came in too close. Just as the sky bison took to the air again, one firebender scored a lucky hit on the underside of his tail," the general said with regret.

"It's not a really bad burn, but Appa's in pain right now, and flying just make it worse; he shouldn't be flying for a few days until it heals," the Avatar said earnestly, finishing with a sheepish, "So... is it okay if we stay here with you guys until he's better?"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

The deserter camp didn't have another hut to spare for them, but Aang told them it wasn't a problem; they had a tent and supplies for setting up their own camp if necessary. Then he walked back to the clearing outside the camp where Appa was lying on his side, groaning in pain while Katara was applying burn salve to the burn on the underside of his tail. (That was one nice thing about having a camp full of Fire Nation people as allies; they always had plenty of burn salve handy.) "They said we can stay here until he heals, but we'll have to find some way to feed him ourselves; they don't keep any komodo-rhinos or hippo-cows here, so they don't have any hay for Appa to eat," Aang informed them with a concerned frown while stroking his buddy's broad nose to comfort him.

"That's going to be a problem, if he can't fly off to forage for himself like usual," Sokka agreed.

"Maybe we can get another soldier to go into town and buy some hay for us?" Katara asked hopefully. "We still have some money left in that purse the nuns at the abbey gave us."

"Save your coins for later; I will see to it that some hay is purchased for your sky bison," someone said right behind Aang, and he spun around in surprise to see General Iroh there. How did somebody that old and fat move so silently? The general continued, "After all, he would likely not have been hit and burned if you had not waited that extra few seconds for me to climb aboard before leaving."

"Thanks, General," Sokka said somewhat warily; Aang knew he still didn't trust the firebenders, even though they were allies now.

"Please, call me Iroh," the elder urged, before reaching forward to stroke Appa's nose too. "Just rest and heal, noble steed of the sky; we'll make sure you're well taken care of."

And sure enough, before the sun had set the general had arranged for a soldier to buy for them not only three bales of hay, but a bushel of cabbages and a bushel of apples as well. And when Appa showed his gratitude at having a whole bushel of apples by happily licking Iroh, even when he was covered from head to knees in bison slobber, the general just chuckled and said he'd been meaning to take a bath anyway. In Aang's considered opinion, if that didn't prove that Iroh was a good guy, then nothing ever would!

The soldiers let them eat dinner with them, too; the food wasn't the really tasty stuff that they would have had at the festival, but it was still a nice change from their usual dinners (though when Katara started to frown, Aang hastened to let her know that her cooking was still great! It was just nice to have something really different from time to time.)

It was a little odd, but not in a bad way, that for once Aang wasn't the center of attention at the feast. He still got a lot of curious looks aimed at him, but more people were paying attention to Prince Zuko's baby, Teiji, and all the antics that the prince was pulling while trying to persuade the baby to eat his vegetables. "Yum yum, Teiji! Don't you like bok choy? Come on, open the barn doors so the komodo-rhino can pull the cart in… Come on, open your mouth; it's good for you, I promise! Don't you want to grow up big and strong? Uh oh, Teiji, the spoon is fighting me! See? The food's trying to get away from you now; you'd better eat it before it escapes!"

Katara leaned her chin on her hand and watched with clear amusement, while Sokka leaned over and whispered to Aang with a wry grin, "Hard to believe that's the same angry jerk who chased us clear from the South Pole, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Aang agreed, though his smile was a little sad; he was remembering a few of the elders at the temple, the ones in charge of the little Zephyrs, doing stuff like that to persuade the new babies they'd just gotten from the nuns at the Western and Eastern Air Temples to eat their food. He still missed the temples, and Monk Gyatso especially, so much…

But remembering the good times and being sad that they were gone forever, wasn't helping him any… and besides, he didn't want Katara to start worrying about him again. Instead of looking back, he had to look forward, to what had to be done in the future. He had to master all the elements, fight the Fire Lord and end the war! And while they were here for a few days to give Appa time to rest and heal, while he was in a camp with firebending masters, this was a good time to start learning firebending.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Zuko was a little disappointed in the camp of former soldiers, though he didn't say so aloud. Back aboard his ship, he'd had men practically lining up for the privilege of minding Teiji in the nursery, but here only two people had approached him and volunteered to watch Teiji for a few hours so he could do other things, like train with his uncle in firebending. Still, two helpers in minding Teiji were better than none.

Provided the helpers were actually good with children in general and Teiji in particular, that is. He closely questioned the two volunteers on what they knew about childcare, as well as questioned Jeong Jeong about their characters and backgrounds. And then, since his uncle was far more diplomatic, he let Uncle Iroh tell the first volunteer, the ex-captain Chey, that while they greatly appreciated the offer, they weren't ready to leave little Teiji alone with him yet; they'd need to supervise the first few attempts at minding.

Chey had a good heart, and at one time he'd reportedly been a damn good captain, taking better care of his men than most officers who possessed a similar fascination and talent with explosives. But just before deserting six years ago, his brains had been scrambled by a subordinate's poorly set explosive going off at close range. And even six years later, as Zuko was quietly advised by another ex-soldier, "Well, he gets a little vague sometimes." Chey's attention would unexpectedly wander, he'd forget to watch what he was saying around others, and… Well, he tried hard and everyone in camp respected that, but he couldn't be trusted with critical duties or critical information anymore, and Zuko just couldn't trust him to take care of his active and danger-prone toddler for hours on end.

He had better fortune with the second volunteer, Komori, a good-natured man in his early twenties who had been a corporal in the 92nd Division, before deciding to desert rather than participate in burning down an abbey full of unarmed monks. Komori said he'd never heard of any superstition about mismatching eyes until Zuko himself brought it up, but even if he did believe in witches, a toddler was clearly too young to be a threat to anybody. He also said he had a little brother and little sister back in Yushu Colony, and had not just played with them but fed and changed diapers on both of them when they'd been toddlers and he'd been a responsible pre-teen.

Jeong Jeong vouched for the man's character, and quietly added that Komori was one of the twelve men in camp that he'd deemed not just trustworthy but discreet enough to become a White Lotus member. Then Komori proved he still knew how to change diapers efficiently, when Teiji made a mess in his pants while the personal interview was still going on. (And the former corporal recommended his mother's remedy of ash bananas mashed with rice, for stopping the diarrhea.)

So the next morning, Komori came to their little hut to mind Teiji for the better part of the day. Zuko made sure he knew where the teething toys and clean diapers were, and the blanket Teiji liked to curl up with for naps. "The only other toys we brought with us are the stuffed panda that he's holding right now, and this wooden dragon here—actually, it's an incense burner, but it really does work better as a toy. Teiji loves it when you hold it and make it fly through the air for him, and breathe fire—but only very small flames, and stay out of his reach when you do! He's still too young to learn fire safety," Zuko explained.

Komori gave a wry smile as he said, "I'm afraid making the dragon breathe fire will have to wait until you get back, your highness; I'm not a firebender."

"Oh, that's fine, just make it fly for him then. And he can play with it himself too, but if he starts teething on the wings, give him one of the teething toys instead, right away." Then he picked up Teiji for one last hug and kiss, murmuring, "You be good for Komori, okay, little man? I'll be back later, after your naptime."

Then he left them alone in the hut as he walked out, shivering a little in the cold morning air since he wore only his sleeveless workout tunic and pants, and the paper-thin layer of what Uncle called 'peach fuzz' now starting to grow on his scalp was doing nothing to keep his head warm. But he'd be warmed up soon enough, he reminded himself as he headed for where his uncle was waiting for him to come and resume his training.

Yesterday evening Uncle had picked a clearing far outside the camp perimeter as their training spot, saying he wanted privacy for their lessons and little to no chance of them being disturbed. Considering how embarrassing it would be if anyone found out that a prince of the Fire Nation was currently having trouble with even basic firebending, Zuko was more than ready to agree to keep the place a secret and make sure no one followed him there. But just before he arrived, he heard his uncle's voice just past the last stand of trees in the way, saying firmly, "The boy is not yet ready!"

But when he stepped into the clearing and looked around, all he saw was his uncle, sitting in a meditating position with his eyes closed and a frown on his face; there was nobody else in sight. He cocked his head and listened carefully, but he didn't hear footfalls of anybody running away, either. "Who were you talking to, Uncle? And what am I not ready for yet?"

Uncle Iroh opened his eyes and blinked at him for a moment, before giving him an uneasy smile. "Actually, nephew, I wasn't referring to you just then… and now isn't really the time to discuss the matter. We're here to help you learn a better fuel for your firebending. And after you've demonstrated to me once more than you have mastered all the basics, we will begin your true advanced training—including some moves and techniques that are known to no one else in the Fire Nation! But first, sit with me," as he gestured to a spot directly in front of him.

As Zuko sat down, his uncle said conversationally, "Tell me, nephew… what do you think is different about you now, compared to two months ago?"

Zuko shrugged; wasn't the answer obvious? "I'm a father now."

Iroh nodded. "Yes, quite true. And what else?"

"...I'm not hunting the Avatar anymore?"

"Also correct. And you are also not frowning, or scowling, or grimacing, or making other expressions of anger and frustration nearly every waking moment. Instead, nephew, you are smiling; certainlynot at every moment, but several times a day. Oh, you still have your bad moods now and then, as do I. But before you became Teiji's father, I sometimes worried that you had completely forgotten how to enjoy life, instead of raging against it. But you are enjoying it now, except for the last two days... and except for this change's effect on your firebending."

"So what happened when you mentioned Zhao back in my cabin wasn't just some weird accident? I really can only firebend when I'm angry? But Uncle, you're always smiling and laughing and stuff, and you're a master at firebending!"

"Because the source of my fire is not rage or anger. Yes, I know what your first firebending instructors taught you; that our fire is fueled by aggression, anger, rage, and the more destructive emotions. That is what the firebending instructors have been teaching, not just to the royal family but all over our country, since Sozin's reign… and they have all been wrong. And doing great damage to our country with their teachings," as he frowned heavily. "Not to mention the rest of the world…"

"So what fuels your fire, Uncle?"

"Life itself, nephew; Life, and joy in living it. Fire burns, yes, but it also warms; on a cold night, people huddle around the fire for its warmth, and even watch the dancing flames with pleasure. And there is the greatest fire of all, Agni," as he looked and gestured skywards. "Without the sun, our world would die in cold and darkness. Fire is Life, Zuko! You've heard me say it before, but perhaps now you are ready to truly understand."

Iroh continued, "Less than two months ago, your mission in life-what drove your every action and indeed every waking moment-was to hunt the Avatar. And behind that mission… great anger. Anger you had a right to feel, nephew, for your father had treated you most cruelly, betrayed the love and loyalty you had for him, then cast you out and gave you a nearly impossible task to do before returning. But you refused to admit it, for to do so would have been to lose all hope of going home again… and without that hope, you would likely have never survived those years of forced exile. Nearly three full years of hardship that would have broken lesser men, Zuko, I can assure you.

"Then Teiji entered your life… and began teaching you that there were more important things than Ozai's approval. I suggested when we first found him that the kirin-spirit had chosen you to raise him because you could teach him that there is no shame in having mismatched features, but I think that first, he is teaching you that lesson. He has already taught you that it's all right to show affection for someone, just as he taught all the crew that you are far more than just the 'Royal Pain' that they had called you while scorning your command."

Zuko's heart painfully twisted at the mention of the crew they'd had to leave behind, but his uncle wasn't finished yet. "Rather than directly teach you, he has helped you teach yourself, that Ozai's style of parenting is not only harsh but cruel and completely wrong for children. And Teiji has helped you learn that you have worth beyond what Ozai thinks of you; beyond your rank and title of Prince of the Fire Nation. That you have worth far beyond your firebending, regardless of the Fire Sages' insistence on the ruler of the nation being a master of firebending! But I assure you again, your current difficulties in bending will pass as soon as you realize your new focus, and make that the fuel for your fire."

Iroh reached into the small sack he'd brought and pulled out a candle, lit it and set it in front of Zuko. "Now, meditate. Start with the usual, feel the candle flame's heart and breathe with it; then focus on your inner fire. See where it comes from, or rather, where it came from."

Zuko obediently assumed the basic meditation position, closed his eyes, and sensed the candle's fire; found the tiny 'heartbeat' in the candle's flame, and slowly matched it with his own heartbeat and breathing. He knew without opening his eyes that the candle flame was now rising and falling in time with his steady breathing. Then he looked inwards, into his own fire, his own heart…

Uncle was right. The rage, the anger and self-hatred that had ruled him for so long was mostly gone, just a few painful lumps remaining of what had been a towering mountain. And he absolutely didn't want it all back, even at the cost of his firebending. But… but how could he make his newfound happiness and the reason for it, the fuel for his fire? He couldn't quite figure it out, couldn't see how…

His uncle spoke softly. "Zuko, open your eyes."

He opened them, and gasped. His uncle had backed up and was now sitting ten feet away but facing him, and fire-sculpting. One of the most advanced techniques of firebending, something that Zuko had tried but never been able to do before; not just creating and directing the flame but shaping it, into fancy figures limited only by will and imagination. But as with every other aspect of firebending, his uncle was a master. And now Iroh sat with his hands curving and twisting, generating a ball of fire that grew limbs, and then a head, and then features on the head…and it was Teiji! Incredible mastery; Uncle even cooled one small patch of fire a little bit, to give the flame-toddler different-colored eyes!

The fire-Teiji waved to him, and then began running and bouncing through the air between them, dancing in a circle while soundlessly laughing with joy…

And he knew. He understood.

He started laughing and crying at the same time, as he reached out his hands…

He reached out with his chi, he pushed with his heart, and great gouts of flame rose from his hands to become a roughly shaped human figure, a fire-Zuko that picked up and embraced fire-Teiji, surrounding his son with warmth and affection.

He heard Uncle say as if from a great distance, "Well done, nephew!" And then a recognizable fire-Iroh sprang into existence beside the pair, crackling / chuckling as he reached in to tickle Teiji's chin. Fire-Zuko lifted an arm from around his son to embrace fire-Iroh as well, drawing them into a circle….

Fire is Life. Fire is Loyalty. Fire is Love.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

After breakfast the next morning, Aang went looking for Iroh, but the guy in their hut minding the baby said that both the royals had gone off somewhere to train, but he didn't know where, only that they wouldn't be back for hours. Since he was only going to be here for a few days, rather than waste time looking for them or waiting for them to come back, Aang went to the hut of the other guy that he'd been told was a firebending master, and asked Jeong Jeong to train him in firebending.

At first Jeong Jeong flat-out refused, and was both weird and mean about it; first he compared Aang to a fish in the river (the weird part), and then he accused Aang of not having the discipline to master even water or earth, let alone fire. But then, in the middle of his ranting… something changed; Aang wasn't sure exactly what happened, but next thing he knew, Jeong Jeong was agreeing, "Yes, I will teach you." Even if he didn't look at all happy about it. But hey, an unhappy teacher was better than no teacher at all!

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

It was early afternoon by the time Iroh and his sweat-drenched, exhausted but happily grinning nephew returned to camp, with training for the day well accomplished. He had begun the training by drilling Zuko in all the basic firebending moves, and at almost every turn, the prince had been surprised and delighted to find out that his fire was even more powerful than it had ever been before. Though Iroh had not been surprised at all; unlike Azula, Zuko had never been an aggressive child, always more ready to protect and defend others than attack them, so his nature had been at odds with the palace trainer's teachings from the very beginning.

After declaring the basics mastered once more, they'd taken a short break, so Zuko could guzzle water from the waterskin Iroh had brought with him and so Iroh could tell him about the city of the Sun Warriors, how he had been taught the Dancing Dragon moves, and who he had performed the moves for before being judged worthy to learn more.

Zuko had been overjoyed to learn that there were still dragons in existence, and that his uncle hadn't slain the last one after all! He'd gone so far as to wonder if they could persuade the Avatar to fly them to the city of the Sun Warriors, so he could show his son the true first firebenders. Iroh had to regretfully tell him that would have to wait until after they'd won the war; until after they'd defeated the Fire Lord and put an end to all the decrees Sozin had made that had resulted in the slaughter of so many dragons, and the skies over their homeland were safe for them to return once more. But in the meantime, Zuko was ready to learn the moves of the Dancing Dragon.

He'd drilled his nephew in the Dancing Dragon and other techniques for hours… including the technique that no other person in existence knew, the technique that Iroh had created himself for redirecting lightning. Now that Zuko was opposing his father and sister, it was imperative that he learn the technique immediately, so it would be ingrained in him long before he had to face them and the lightning they wielded.

"What about making my own lightning? Am I ready to learn that too?" Zuko had asked eagerly.

Iroh had shaken his head as he replied, "Possibly, but I won't be teaching you that today. For two reasons, the first and greatest being that there is no quiet way to practice lightning-bending. The explosion of a lightning-strike will draw the attention of anyone within hearing range or who sees the flash of light, and our hosts' existence depends heavily on secrecy. We cannot afford to draw attention to ourselves or to them. Practicing lightning will have to wait until we have stormy weather, or better yet, until we have the opportunity to leave the camp and Teiji behind for a few days while we travel much deeper inland, far from any possible observers."

Zuko had frowned, but nodded. "That makes sense… but you said that there are two reasons. What's the other reason?"

"The second reason is that lightning is a pure expression of firebending, without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is, which is why some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is as precise as it is deadly, and to perform the technique requires peace of mind. And while you have made great progress in the last few weeks, nephew, I do not believe you are truly at peace with yourself yet," as he had eyed his nephew knowingly. "Your decision to oppose your father and ally with the Avatar to end the war is too new, and too raw in your heart; you are still in turmoil inside."

After looking at the ground in silence for a few moments, Zuko had reluctantly agreed. "I know you explained to me before we left about the need to restore balance to the world, and why it was so important that we work with the Avatar to overthrow my fath—Ozai, but… it goes against everything I was taught since I was old enough to learn. Even things you taught me, before you left for the Siege of Ba Sing Se!"

"Lessons I now regret teaching," Iroh had agreed with a heavy sigh. "But I cannot change the past; all we can do now is look to the future, and the part we must play in shaping it. Now, let's practice the technique for redirecting lightning again. You must learn this so thoroughly that it becomes automatic for you; there can be no hesitation in performing it, in the instant that you truly need it! Take your stance again…"

They'd drilled, and practiced, and continued practicing until Iroh saw the way Zuko's muscles were starting to twitch under his skin and declared an end to training for the day, before he collapsed from exhaustion. But by that time Zuko had truly mastered the basics and the Dancing Dragon, and his technique for redirecting lightning appeared smooth and flawless. His nephew had a long way to go before he would be truly ready to face either Ozai or Azula in battle, but now he had at least a small chance of surviving such an encounter.

So they returned to camp, tired but happy… or at least, Iroh was happy until he heard from Chey that the Avatar had started learning firebending under Jeong Jeong.

Chey thought that was great news, but Iroh knew better. Casting a wary eye at where the Avatar was standing in horse stance on a river rock with his face turned towards the sun, the Grand Lotus strode past and into Jeong Jeong's hut, to demand of the other master, "Why are you teaching the Avatar firebending, when he hasn't even mastered waterbending yet? He's nowhere near ready to learn Fire!"

"Do you think I don't know that?!" Jeong Jeong growled, looking both angry and worried. "My first answer to him was No! But when Avatar Roku manifests and then drags you into the Spirit World for a lecture, before demanding that you teach his current incarnation, how would you answer?"

"I would answer 'he's not ready'-and I did!" Iroh growled, glaring at the open tent door as if Avatar Roku would pop in through it to get the lecture he deserved. Iroh really should have known that Roku wouldn't be satisfied with Iroh's answer, and would go after the only other firebending master handy-one who had never been to the Spirit World before, and would therefore be easier to dominate and intimidate into agreement. So impatient, demanding for the Avatar's current incarnation to learn what the boy was just not ready for... now he knew where Zuko got his impatience from!

On the other hand... it was an unavoidable fact that Sozin's Comet was due to return at the end of next summer, less than a year away. If the Avatar did not defeat and dethrone the Fire Lord before then, there was absolutely no doubt in Iroh's mind that Ozai would use the comet's return and its effect on all firebenders to wipe out another nation-likely the Northern Water Tribe since the Southern tribe was nearly wiped out already—as well as conquer what remained of the free world. And in order to have even the slightest chance of defeating Ozai before he destroyed the world as they knew it, the Avatar needed to learn all three remaining elements in less than a year.

There was also the fact that the Avatar, though still barely more than a child, had earned his tattoos signifying airbending mastery before the Air Nomads were wiped out, which meant he'd been twelve years old or even younger when he'd mastered his native element. Iroh knew the history of the last five Avatars, and none of them had achieved mastery of their native elements before their sixteenth birthday.

Aang was clearly a child prodigy when it came to bending. Perhaps he was so talented at it, that he really could master elements out of their proper sequence in the Avatar Cycle! So rather than override Jeong Jeong's authority and cease the Avatar's training in firebending, Iroh opted to just let the boy learn, and see what came of it.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Nothing good came of it.

Jeong Jeong tried his best to teach the Avatar the discipline he would need for firebending, before teaching him how to firebend. But the student just did not master that lesson in time…

Returning from another private training session, Zuko and Iroh were just in time to see Aang on the riverbank a short distance ahead of them, playing with fire that he was clearly not in full control of. "Uh-oh," Zuko muttered as Iroh frowned while reaching out a hand and his chi, seeking to control the flames with his own bending before they could spread out of control. But they were still thirty yards away, out of even a master's firebending reach. They hurried closer…

But Katara reached Aang first, and got a careless wave of flame flung at her. They could hear her scream of fear and pain as it hit.

Sokka was nearby as well, and he went straight for the Avatar in a rage for the boy who'd burned his sister, but Zuko and Iroh had more experience with fire accidents and had their priorities straight. "Get her into the water to cool the burns, while I get the salve and bandages!" Iroh ordered his nephew as he left to run towards the larger supplies hut, where the camp kept their medical supplies.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00

It Hurt, Spirits, it hurt so much! Katara instinctively ran away from Aang, but she couldn't leave the pain behind.

Then instinct told her to go to the water; to the river running to her right. But as she veered in that direction, she looked up and saw—firebender! Prince Zuko was running up the riverbank, coming right at her, he would burn her even more! She cried out and veered away, into the forest, to start running blindly through the underbrush. She had to get away, had to hide—

But then the firebender crashed into the woods after her while shouting, "Don't run, curse it, I'm trying to help!" And then he caught her, hauling her back with his arms around her waist, and wouldn't let go no matter how much she hit him and kicked him and screamed. All he did was grip her tighter, while shouting, "Stop fighting me, dammit! I said I'm trying to help!"

But then he did something crazy, for a firebender; he carried her under his arm right into the river! Carried her in until he was waist-deep in the water, and then he set her down on her feet right in front of him, facing the current that was nearly chest-deep on her, while keeping his hands on her waist and bracing himself at her back. And all the while saying, "Cold water will help with your burns, cool them down and keep them from getting worse. You're a waterbender; how can you not know that?! Just keep your hands in the water, until Uncle comes back with the burn salve. How about your face and chest; were you hit anywhere else?" as he abruptly turned her in his iron grip to look searchingly at her face—and Katara realized with a shock that he really did look concerned.

"I don't see any redness, maybe your hands blocked it all… but if anything feels painful or even a little hot, duck it in the water right now, okay?" as he spun her around and braced himself at her back again. He continued talking, really almost babbling, "Don't worry, I won't let the current take you away. If your face got burned at all, then duck all the way under for thirty seconds at a time; you can hold your breath that long, right? And Uncle Iroh is on his way with the burn salve and bandages, I promise. You'll be okay, Katana—no, there's an ar sound, it's Katara, right? Sorry about that, I'm not always good with names. Just keep everything that got burned in this really cold water until Uncle gets back; he'll be here soon…"

The water was helping, cooling her poor hands… and Zuko was really helping her. She hadn't thought he cared about anything but his son Teiji, but… he really was a good guy! Katara felt both immensely relieved, and ashamed of her earlier reaction. But rather than apologize for the way she'd acted before he got her into the water, she decided to focus on cooling the burns on her hands.

Her… her tingling hands. She looked down and her eyes widened as she saw her tingling, glowing hands…

Zuko was still talking nervously behind her, first about how there should be minimal scarring and then about how sometimes there weren't any scars at all, maybe she'd be one of the lucky ones, when she interrupted him while taking her hands out of the water. The glow faded as soon as they were out of the water, but "The burns… they're all healed!"

"No, that's just shock setting in. Don't take them out of the water yet; put them back in until Uncle gets here!" Zuko ordered her. "Hands in the water, now!" She would have bristled at taking orders from him, but hearing the worry in his voice, Katara obediently put her hands back under while he continued, "For at least another couple of minutes, until he gets here, and then we'll both get out of this cursed cold water and get warm and dry again. Don't worry, we know how to treat victims of shock, too!"

"They might actually be healed now," someone spoke up unexpectedly from the right, and she turned to see Jeong Jeong standing on the riverbank, looking at them. "Show us your hands, child…"

Katara brought her hands up again, this time high enough that Zuko could see them as well. "They were glowing, just for a minute… and now they're all healed!"

Zuko's voice came over her shoulder in a hushed whisper. "How did you do that?"

"You have healing abilities," Jeong Jeong said simply while beckoning for them to come out of the water. Zuko promptly slung an arm around Katara's waist and hauled her out with him, splashing through the water until they were standing dripping on the riverbank next to the firebending master. Under other circumstances, Katara would have objected to still being hauled around like a sack of rice when she wasn't half-crazed from pain anymore, but right then she was still too stunned.

Jeong Jeong said as they got out of the river, "The great benders of the Water Tribes sometimes have this ability." He looked sadly right in her eyes as he continued, "I've always wished I were blessed like you - free from this burning curse."

"Burning curse?" Zuko muttered, but Katara ignored him as she reminded the elder, "But you're a great master! You have powers I'll never know."

Jeong Jeong sighed sorrowfully, "Water brings healing and life. But fire brings only destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart."

Zuko cleared his throat, sounding uncomfortable. "Pardon me, but with all due respect to such a renowned firebending master, I-"

But whatever he'd been about to say was cut off, as the water they'd just climbed out of was blasted with gouts of flame.

Jeong Jeong instantly took a defensive bending stance, and broke the wave of flames that was about to wash over all three of them, while Katara spun around with Zuko to see who was attacking. Three Fire Nation riverboats were heading upstream, right for them!

Jeong Jeong said urgently, "Go get your friends or family, and flee!"

Katara didn't need to be told twice. But as she ran, she heard Zuko start to speak, only to be cut off by Jeong Jeong's harsh, "You have a son who needs you! Run, and do not come back here or you will all be destroyed. Hurry!"

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When Jeong Jeong had come up right after Aang had burned his sister and told them they had to leave, Sokka didn't have to be told twice. He hadn't wanted to stay in a camp full of firebenders anyway, because he'd had a hunch that something like this would happen! Now that Appa's tail had been given a few days to heal, it was time to leave all this Fire Nation stuff behind and get back on course for the Northern Water Tribe. He knew that later on, Aang would need to come back here to learn when he was actually ready to learn firebending, but Sokka would be perfectly happy if he didn't see another firebender for the rest of his life.

He didn't see which way Katara had gone, so he decided to focus on packing first, before tracking her down to see how badly she was hurt—particularly since he'd never learned how to treat burns, other than to pack them in snow, which they didn't have here dammit! But hopefully Katara could magic up some snow for herself with her bending…

He was still getting Appa saddled and loaded with their packs when Katara came back, soaking wet and out of breath but not screaming or crying anymore. "Katara! Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, but we've got to get out of here! Where's Aang?" she asked, looking even more anxious than he was.

It bothered him that, even when she'd been burned, Katara worried more about Aang than herself. Sokka wordlessly jerked his thumb in the direction of the old firebending master's hut on the river island, where Aang had gone to hide in shame. Katara ran into the hut… and less than a minute later, Aang came running out of the hut, heading downriver at a fast clip.

Katara started to run after him, but Sokka sharply called her back. "Katara, let him go for now! You said we have to get out of here, right? So help me finish packing, and then we'll go after him!" Biting her lip in worry, Katara gave a jerky nod and complied.

It took them only a couple more minutes to get everything packed. And as they finished up, Sokka finally let his furious focus go beyond just packing to leave, instead of punching out every firebender in sight because his sister had been burned. That's when he finally listened to the noises coming from all over the camp, and realized that they weren't the only ones packing up and leaving in a hurry; everybody was!

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When they'd received a quick tour of the camp right after their arrival, Iroh had been told that the larger supplies hut held all their bandages and other medical supplies, but he hadn't looked inside to see how it was organized. When he'd opened the door to get the burn salve Katara needed, Iroh was appalled at the sight of the hut's contents, strewn here and there on ramshackle shelves; what a mess! If anyone had even tried to organize this chaos in the last few months, he'd eat his own sandals. Who had Jeong Jeong appointed the camp's quartermaster? Whoever it was, should be demoted immediately!

But instilling better discipline in camp would have to wait until later; Katara needed burn salve right now, so he started digging into the chaos, shoving crates and baskets this way and that, to find the medical supplies. It wasn't until he had found the right basket and emerged back into the sunlight that he realized that there was chaos outside the hut as well. Jeong Jeong's troops were running into and then back out of their huts with packs tossed over their shoulders, scattering into the woods… Somebody had given the command to Bug Out!

Tucking the basket of medical supplies under his arm, Iroh sent a mental apology to the Water Tribe girl, hoping that Zuko would keep her calm and her burns in cold water for a few minutes longer; proper medical treatment would have to wait, because right now, securing his grandson and their few belongings took priority. He ran straight for their small hut on the other side of the camp…

But when he got there, the hut was empty; Teiji was gone! And only one of the saddlebags was left lying on the floor; the other saddlebag that held all the baby supplies was missing too.

Zuko came running up just moments later, water steaming off him as he ran, and when he saw the empty hut he went white as a funeral sheet. "Do not panic, Zuko," Iroh said forcefully, while hurriedly clamping a hand over his mouth. "And don't start shouting for your son! The bag with Teiji's belongings is missing as well, and that means that our babysitter was thinking of the baby's wellbeing while evacuating. Komori didn't know if we would get back in time before whatever forces that are threatening the camp arrive, so he took the most responsible course of action, and took Teiji with him to safety."

"But where's safety?" Zuko hissed after removing Iroh's hand, his eyes still wide and frantic. "Where are they now?!"

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If the camp is discovered, do not fight; run. Do not engage your former brothers in arms unless there is no other choice. Keep your emergency bags packed and ready. If the word is given to Bug Out, then flee, scatter into the woods, get at least three hours' walk away from camp, and hide for at least two days. Do not head for the fallback site until you are sure you won't be followed there.

Those words had been drilled into Komori's head when he'd first been welcomed into the camp of deserters, and he remembered them now, as he ran into the woods with two packs slung over his shoulder and somebody else's baby in his arms… all the while grinning like an idiot and trying to pretend for the baby's sake that this was just a new game for them to play. "Hide and seek, hide and seek! Okay, shhhh, we're going to be sneaky-sneaky now," he whispered with a strained smirk and a finger to his lips, as little Teiji giggled and mimicked him.

He hoped the baby would stay quiet long enough for them to get away. He hoped the royals had been told the location of the fallback site. And he really hoped that they wouldn't set him on fire when they finally did rendezvous, for essentially kidnapping their child… But that worry would have to wait for a while, maybe a very long while; first, he had to get both himself and the kid to somewhere safe.

Once he was out of sight of the camp, he paused to fish the map and compass out of his emergency pack and consider his options. When their old fallback site had been compromised last year by the Army deciding to build a new garrison close by, Jeong Jeong had selected a new fallback site. The new site was not circled on anyone's map, for security reasons, but Komori remembered where it was; four days' travel further inland, east-by-southeast. …Make that six days' travel, with a baby tagging along. And his emergency pack only had three days' worth of travel rations for one; he was going to need more food, at least for the baby.

Right after Master Jeong Jeong had secretly inducted him into the Order of the White Lotus, he had introduced him to the colonial nearby who was also a member; an elder who helped in screening deserters to determine whether they could be trusted with the knowledge of Jeong Jeong's operation. The man had a small potato-choke farm not far outside the colony's gates, and Komori had no doubt he'd help them out with free food and supplies, if not for human decency's sake, then because Teiji was the Grand Lotus's adopted grandson.

Going so close to the colony would be especially risky now that the deserters' camp was known to be more than just an idle tavern rumor; Komori didn't think they'd ever made posters with his likeness on it, but any stranger would be viewed with extra suspicion for a while. But he had to think about the baby's wellbeing; they needed food at the very least. And he could reduce the risk of being captured by laying low in the woods until after sunset, and sneaking up to the farm under cover of night.

If he waited until nightfall, hopefully all he'd have to worry about were any wolfbats and platypus-bears that might be in the forest between the camp and the colony. And with any luck, all the big animals were being spooked by all the noise currently being made by that battle on the river—he spared a moment for a quick prayer to Agni, for Master Jeong Jeong—and were already seeking quieter places to hunt and forage for a while. So, where to lay low until nightfall?

Laying low… that was a great idea! Last time he'd been on patrol on the western perimeter, he'd noted a ravine that had been formed by erosion over the decades. Not a really deep ravine, probably only ten feet deep, and the rope in his emergency pack was over twenty feet long. If he rappelled down with the baby, they could hide at the bottom of the ravine and be completely out of sight of anyone searching the forest, unless the searchers already knew of the ravine and just where to look.

Hiding in the ravine would mean heading towards the sounds of battle instead of away from it, but their destination was still out of sight of the river, over twenty yards off the riverbank; they should be fine. "Come on, Teiji, let's go find our hidey-hole. Remember, we're being sneaky-sneaky," Komori whispered as he checked the map once more before putting it away and setting out.

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"Jeong Jeong said you had no restraint," Aang taunted Admiral Zhao before diving off the prow of the already-burning riverboat into the water. Then he used what little waterbending he and Katara had figured out, to help him swim upstream fast; in just a few seconds he was well out of a fireball's reach. There was no way for Zhao to catch him now, not after setting fire to all three of his own boats… He surfaced and shouted gleefully downstream, "Have a nice walk home!"

"Aang, come on!" Sokka shouted from close by, and he turned to see Appa there with Sokka and Katara on his back. He got out of the water and hopped aboard, and with a cheery "Yip yip!" they were in the air. Then he remembered, "Wait! Where's Jeong Jeong?"

"He disappeared," Sokka said grimly. "They all did."

"I hope little Teiji and his family will be all right," Katara said worriedly. Perched on the saddle rim next to her, Momo chittered as if he was worried too.

"I could tell those Fire guys knew what they were doing when they evacuated. They probably have a fallback site already picked out, like our tribe has its summer camp back home," Sokka reassured his sister, as Aang set Appa on course before floating back to the saddle. "If they stick together, they'll be fine."

Katara didn't look convinced, but as Appa started gaining altitude, she almost visibly decided that such worrying wouldn't do any good and it was time to focus on other things. Things like "Aang, you're burned!"

Huh? Aang looked down to realize that she was right; his sleeve was all torn and burned, and the skin underneath was bright red. He hadn't even noticed in all the excitement, but now that it had been pointed out to him, it started really hurting.

"Let me help you," Katara urged as she opened her waterskin and wrapped some water around her hand. And then the water started glowing, white as moonlight!

She laid her hand and the glowing water over the worst burn, and it didn't just cool the skin... it healed it! "Wow! That's good water," was all Aang could think of to say.

Sokka was just as surprised as he was. "When did you learn how to do that?"

Katara just shrugged and smiled a little. "I guess I always knew."

"Oh..." and then Sokka's face drew into a scowl as he glared at her. "Well then, thanks for all the first aid over the years," he told her, with sarcasm nearly dripping from each word. "Like when I fell into the grease briar bramble, and that time I had-"

But whatever else Sokka was about to say got interrupted by Momo, who suddenly started chittering again while facing the area of forest that they'd left, with his ears perked forward-and then laying back in distress. "Huh? What is it, Momo?" Aang asked.

Sokka shut up as both he and Katara turned to face the flying lemur in concern. The lemur's sharp ears had saved their collective hides before, but what was he hearing now? Then they looked from Momo to Aang, who had plenty of experience in hearing things over the rush of the wind. Aang strained to listen...

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Somebody would die for this! His riverboats destroyed, his troops in disarray, and the Avatar had not only escaped him but turned him into a laughingstock in front of his men! Zhao was nearly blinded by humiliated rage as he shouted to the few men he could still see on the riverbanks, "Back to the colony, and double-time all the way!"

That would be at least an eight-mile run in full uniform, but nobody dared to question his order, let alone refuse to obey; they just turned and started running downriver. Zhao followed at a slower pace, seething with fury at every step.

In less than a minute his troops had all run far enough ahead that they were no longer in sight or within range of his hearing. Which was fine with Zhao; the last thing he wanted right now were to see their looks and or hear their whispers about what the Avatar had made him do...

Somebody would die for this! He sent fireballs into the river as he walked, raising gouts of steam and occasional dead fish, but it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy his rage.

But then he stopped in his tracks, and turned to the east. Had he just heard…?

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The next few days were going to be miserable, Iroh could already tell; Zuko would be as impossible to live with as a komodo-rhino with a sore tooth—make that a half-dozen sore teeth, until he had Teiji back safely in his arms once more.

"We'll rendezvous with the White Lotus agent I know of, who lives outside the colony gates, and we'll send word through the entire network to be on the lookout for Komori and Teiji," he whispered to his still-agitated nephew for the third time as they crept westward through the woods, on the lookout for Zhao's troops… If that had indeed been Zhao in charge of the riverboats that Zuko had glimpsed before Jeong Jeong had ordered him to run. "And if we're lucky, the agent will also know the location of the new fallback site Jeong Jeong chose, so we—mmph!" as he was cut off, by Zuko's hand being clapped over his mouth.

He didn't protest or fight the sudden grip, because he knew what it meant; Zuko's sharp ears had picked up something at the very edge of his hearing range, far beyond Iroh's own aged and war-battered hearing. He stood silent, and waited—

And then was abruptly left standing there as Zuko charged ahead at top speed, running with absolutely no effort to keep quiet. His heart leaped into his throat as Iroh immediately started running as well, though his nephew outpaced him and left him behind in seconds.

Running as fast as he could, Iroh had no breath left for cursing when he came into range, and finally heard what Zuko had heard…

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This kid just would not stop screaming! Everything had been fine, Teiji had been giving every indication of enjoying their little forest adventure, until Komori had slid with him down into the ravine. And it hadn't even been a rough landing at the bottom! But not five seconds after they'd landed down here, the baby had started crying, screaming with terror, and shouting "Mamaaa! Dadaaa!" with all the power in his tiny lungs. As well as frantically yanking on everything he could reach, and biting Komori every time he tried to muffle him!

Komori had heard of some people having a fear of heights, but never a fear of depths before! And not in little babies, either; what was wrong with this kid? But right now that didn't matter; what mattered was getting back out of this ravine as fast as he could, before Teiji's screaming drew the troops right to their location! "Okay, kid, we're climbing back out, see? Just hang on, and we'll be back up in the forest in no time, okay?" as he stuffed the baby back into his sling and started climbing up the rope he'd anchored and let down into the ravine before sliding down the side.

He did the fastest climb while burdened with gear that he'd ever done in his life; his old drill sergeant would have been proud of him for making it to the top in less than four seconds. "Okay, we're up out of the hole now, so please shut up," he hissed as he covered Teiji's mouth again. Thankfully, this time the kid complied and stopped fighting him, though fat tears of misery were still trickling down his tiny cheeks.

Komori felt horrible at the sight of those anguished eyes, and he spared a little breath to mutter as he started running southwards along a fox-deer trail with his precious burden, "I'm really sorry about scaring you like that; I didn't know you have a problem with ravines. And I'm sorry I can't take you back to your daddy right now, but-" And then he cut himself off abruptly when a fireball cut them off, blazing through the air not six feet in front of him. Oh ashes, it was the prince coming for them, thinking he'd outright kidnapped Teiji—

And then the firebender stepped around a tree and into view, and this was So Much Worse. Some officer Komori had never seen before, high-ranking judging by the gold on his collar… and that violent grin on the officer's muttonchopped features promised Death for him and the baby both.

His spear was back at camp, because he couldn't carry that, two packs and the baby as well; all Komori had for a weapon was his standard-issue belt knife. Even as he quickly set Teiji down behind him and drew it, he knew he was doomed… but he had to try!

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"FOR HONOAAAAGGGH!"

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It felt good, venting some of his rage on that deserter. Zhao contemptuously kicked the still-smoking corpse aside, and looked down at the baby he'd been protecting. The screaming brat was trying to run away, but only got a few steps before it tripped over a tree root poking up in the trail and went sprawling hard.

He'd ordered entire families to be slaughtered by his troops more than once in his career, but Zhao had never personally killed a baby with his own bending before. He found himself hesitating…

Such hesitation was not worthy of an admiral favored by Fire Lord Ozai! And it would be a mercy killing anyway; the brat couldn't possibly survive alone in the woods, so better a quick death by fire than a slow one from starvation and thirst. He'd give it his hottest fireball, to make death that much quicker.

He readied a fireball for the brat as it turned over where it was still sprawled, to look at him with wide, terrified eyes…

Eyes that were mismatched; one brown and one blue! Could this be Prince Zuko's brat?

"TEIJIII!"

That was Zhao's answer, and his only warning before another fireball hit him; just barely enough time to turn his own fireball into a fire-shield to block and absorb it. To just barely absorb it, as the power of the raw chi behind the blast forced him back a few steps—and then before he could recover, the banished prince burst out of the undergrowth and leaped right over the brat to attack him!

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Kill Zhao kill him he hurt my baby tried to kill my boy KILL HIM FIRST!

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Only two months ago, Zhao had faced Prince Zuko in an Agni Kai. He'd known exactly what he'd been facing then; an arrogant brat, a teenager who had far more bluster than skill, and had no stomach for killing.

That was then. For Zuko, things have changed a lot since then. He'd become a father. A father whose son was screaming in pain and terror…

Zhao abruptly realized that this time, he was facing a demon. A demon, because it was impossible for so much sheer fury to be contained in a stripling youth's form! Zuko came at him with fire burning nearly white-hot around his fists, and blows coming at him so fast and hard that the older man, a firebending master, was instantly forced on the defensive. There was no chance for him to go on the offensive and attack back; he was far too busy just trying to stay alive.

Only two months ago, lying flat on the ground with a burning fist hovering inches above his head, Zhao had taunted Zuko with a hissed, "Do it!" But even then, he'd known that the prince would not.

This time, even though he was still on his feet, Zhao sang a very different tune. "No! Stop!" as he frantically backpedaled away from the raging prince. "I didn't mean—Stop! I-I surrender! I surAAGCK!" as the fire-demon got through his defenses and pounced on him—

And shoved a white-hot flaming dagger straight down his throat.

His pharynx burned out first, Zhao could not scream his agony, as his world ended in fire.

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They'd directed Appa to follow the sounds of a baby screaming, but the forest was too dense here for the sky bison to land; Aang grabbed his staff, handed the reins to Sokka and dived off to find the source of the terrified screaming while they landed Appa on the riverbank nearby.

Then the screaming died down… but that didn't mean the baby wasn't in danger anymore; Aang kept searching, peering through the leafy canopy. And then he heard from just a little way further south, someone with an adult voice start to shout—a shout that ended in a scream, and that other sound must have been a fireblast! His heart in his throat, Aang headed straight south—and then almost right below him, Prince Zuko screamed his son's name; oh monkeyfeathers, Katara was right, little Teiji was in danger!

The tree canopy was just too thick; he couldn't see! Aang finally folded his glider and dived down through the leaves, hoping he wouldn't hit any thick branches on the way down. Luckily for him, all he got were scratches from small twigs and leaves, and he was able to pull out of his dive about six feet before hitting and float the rest of the way to the ground. He hit the ground running, heading straight for the sounds of a screaming baby and a fire-fight up ahead.

He came upon the fight scene just in time to see Zhao frantically backing away from a raging Zuko, babbling "No! Stop! I didn't mean—Stop! I-I surrender!"-

And in time to watch with horrified eyes as Zuko killed Zhao anyway.

Zhao's smoking corpse fell to the ground, and Zuko stood over it with his chest heaving and fists smoldering. Aang whispered, "Zuko... what have you done?!"

Zuko whipped around at the sound of his voice, and then started looking around wildly and shouting, "Teiji! Where's Teiji?!"

The baby started crying "Dada!" again, and Aang looked down in surprise; Teiji was almost right under his feet! He was lucky he hadn't accidentally stepped on him. He quickly picked the crying toddler up, giving him a quick-once-over to look for injuries; his face was scratched up and dirty like he'd fallen down face-first, and one of his arms was looking really red, like maybe he'd been burned by a stray fireball during the fight...

During the murder...

"Give him to me!" Zuko demanded, stepping closer.

Aang glared at him as he asked, "Why; so you can hurt him some more?"

The firebender stopped in his tracks, looking shocked, as Aang went on angrily, "I saw it, Zuko, and heard it with my own ears; Zhao was trying to get away from you, trying to surrender, but you killed him anyway! You murdered him! And what about him?" as he pointed to the other corpse in the small clearing, a guy with just a charred ruin for a chest. "Did you kill him too? You're a murderer, Zuko," as he held the baby protectively to his skinny chest. "You're unfit to be a guardian!"

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Red-faced, huffing and puffing, and feeling as if his thundering heart would burst out of his chest from all the exertion-he really needed to lose weight!-Iroh finally caught up to his nephew, in time to hear the Avatar say...

Say what were possibly the cruelest words that could be spoken to Zuko just then; that he was unworthy of being a parent to Teiji. Iroh was sorely tempted to swat that airbending brat upside the head while yanking the baby free of his arms, and then follow it up with a boot to his arse that would be hard enough to knock him back into the air. If it had been anyone besides the Avatar that they needed to remain allies with…

He restrained himself, barely, while coming up abreast with the Avatar to survey the scene. Two corpses lay along the trail, one on the ground in front of Aang (poor Komori, Agni grant his spirit rest), while another lay several feet away and just behind his nephew (Zhao—and good riddance.) Teiji was wailing and bleeding in the Avatar's arms, but at first glance the injuries seemed minor. Still, Iroh seized the opportunity and said to the Avatar, "Here (huff), let me treat (huff) treat his injuries."

Just as he'd figured, the airbending boy was still used to letting elders take charge if they acted in a calming manner; he immediately handed Teiji over, without hesitation—and then gave an indignant squawk of "Hey!" when, with the baby in his arms, Iroh strode past him and right up to Zuko, saying as calmly as he could while still out of breath, "Here, (huff) nephew, calm him down while (huff) while I get out the first aid supplies." It was fortunate that he'd taken a few seconds to dump all the contents of that medical supplies basket into their saddlebags just before they'd left camp.

Zuko took Teiji into his arms, though very gingerly, as if afraid that even his mere touch would hurt him. But when Teiji threw his arms around his neck, Zuko gave an almost-sob as he hugged the baby close, rubbing his unscarred cheek against that downy mop of hair, and then started rubbing Teiji's back to soothe him.

Iroh turned to the scowling airbender and said very firmly, "It is wrong to (huff) to so abruptly condemn people, Avatar, without (huff) without first learning the full story of their supposed misdeeds. (huff) So why don't you tell me what you believe happened, and then Zuko can explain-eh?" as he glimpsed a bright blaze of movement off to his left.

He turned his head and saw a kirin-no, the spirit of a kirin, almost certainly the one who had been present when they'd first found Teiji! He opened his mouth to declare its presence to those who couldn't see it for themselves-and then froze in dismay as a thought struck him. What if the kirin agreed with Avatar Aang, that killing Zhao somehow made Zuko unfit to be a parent, and was here to tell them who should be little Teiji's father-figure now?

He watched as the kirin-spirit strode rapidly across the small clearing, right up to the Avatar who was still glaring at him and Zuko, and apparently oblivious to its presence-

And then lowered its head, to plunge its glowing antlers right into the boy's chest.

To be continued!

Author's Note: I swear, I didn't start this chapter with the intention of ending it on a cliffhanger! They drive me nuts too, so normally I don't write cliffhangers unless I have the next chapter ready for posting within 48 hours. That is, unfortunately, not the case this time. But this really was the best place to divide in half, the plot of a chapter that just kept growing, in detail and backstory and etc., until it promised to be an eighty-page behemoth! Which is really too long for most folks to read in just one sitting.

As a kindness to you readers, to avert and defuse the worst of the cliffhanger drama: No, the kirin-spirit is not in the process of killing Aang. Or severing his connection to the Avatar Spirit, or anything like that. It didn't come to punish the Avatar, but to teach, and to warn. Warn about what, you might ask? Well, that will be revealed in the next chapter...