Hey, thanks everyone for the reviews! I've been really busy with finals and everything...but now that's over, so hopefully I'll have more time to write and reply. Enjoy!

"Where's Katara?" Aang asked Sokka. He was fed up with meditating and needed a break. Sokka was slowly roasting the once fluffy animal, and even though Aang didn't eat meat, it was smelling delicious.

"For a walk," Sokka answered, not looking up.

Aang stretched and looked around. "Ok…where's Zuko?"

This time Sokka looked up. "He was over there a little while ago," he pointed. Sokka looked around. "He must've gone into the woods too." He went back to his meat.

Aang suddenly was worried. Why are they both missing? What is happening? Aang didn't know why he was worried, or even bothered, for that matter, but he was about to head into the woods when he saw by the moonlight Katara and Zuko walk out together. They walked up silently, Katara going back to the fruit and Zuko going back to his duty of keeping Toph warm. Aang could feel something had changed between the two, and he didn't like not being in the loop.

"So…" he said awkwardly. "What did you guys do?"

Katara started to mash the fruit again. "Just went for a walk. Zuko's legs were asleep and I needed to get some more water."

That's a lie, Aang thought. She didn't take her water pouch with her. "Oh, ok." He said out loud. Aang did not like this at all. He knew that Zuko had changed, he felt that for sure, but that didn't mean that he trusted Zuko. And even though Katara had defended Zuko, Aang had felt sure that deep down that she hated him. But seeing them together with a secret that he didn't know, Aang felt this new feeling he didn't recognize. Am I jealous of Zuko? Aang groaned inwardly. Why would he be jealous? Of course Katara wouldn't feel anything for Zuko! They were just walking in the woods, that's all…

Toph moaned in Zuko's arms and kicked out. It was her first movement since the Rugaru had left her body. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. After a moment, she stopped moving and went limp.

"That was weird," Sokka said. "I wonder what…" He trailed off as they saw the look on Zuko's face. Aang had never seen so much fear in the fire bender before, and immediately all his thoughts of jealously vanished. Her face was facing up towards Zuko…I wonder what he saw…

"Zuko…" Aang asked quietly. "Zuko, what did you see? What happened?"

Zuko looked up at Aang. "You need to get into the Avatar State soon…she's leaving, Aang."

Aang groaned, frustrated. "Yes, I know this! You're powers of detecting the obvious are overpowering."

"Hey, you asked," Zuko snapped back. "It's not my fault you're thingy is closed and you can't get into the Avatar State." As soon as Zuko said this his eyes went wide. Why do I never think before I speak??

Sokka and Katara were silent as Aang stared at Zuko. His face seemed to get redder and redder as the Airbender contemplated the horrible things he could do to the firebender.

"Oh, right, it was someone else's sister that nearly killed me…someone else betrayed us in Ba Sing Se…I always get you and Someone Else mixed up."

"I didn't mean that," Zuko said quietly. "I didn't think…"

Aang let out a yell, bended a rock up and launched it into the forest. "Of course you didn't think! No one was thinking! Least of all me! Why didn't anyone see her sneaking up on me?"

The others looked at him in silence. He growled again, and kicked another chunk of earth into the trees. "Why didn't I learn to get into the Avatar State before?"

"Because we were all fighting, there were just too many Di Li," Katara said, trying to calm Aang down.

"No!" Aang shouted again. "No! None of you understand! I had to open up my last chukra to get into the Avatar State, and I didn't do that with the Guru! I did it right there in the middle of that fight, and if I had just done it earlier I wouldn't've needed to take the time and I could've kept an eye on Azula, and she'd be gone by now, and we'd have the Firelord…" Aang trailed off as the weight of his duties became too heavy for him. He sat down and put his head in his hands.

"It just seems like the time for the Avatar is over. No matter what I do, things get in my way, and I can never do anything right for the world. The universe just doesn't want an Avatar anymore."

After Aang's explosion, the only movement in the small camp was the flicker of the firelight, but eventually that stopped too. Katara looked at Zuko and saw that he was meditating and concentrating on not letting the fire flicker. She then looked at Sokka, who was laying on his back with one hand in the air, tracing the old constellations that their mother had taught them so long ago. She felt at a lost. This entire journey, Katara had given everything she had to help Aang: she taught him waterbending; she was a shoulder to cry on; she was a mother, a friend, and even a potential love. But sitting in that dark, strange forest, her strength was beginning to die. She thought about her father and the other prisoners back in the Fire Nation; she thought about her grandmother back home, alone and without any family; she thought about Toph dying. Silent tears slid down her checks.

The group sat like this for a long while, until Katara noticed that Zuko stopped meditating and the fire was flickering again.

"The sun is going to be up in an hour," he said. Katara and Aang seemed not to hear him, so he addressed Sokka. "Is there a town nearby? Particularly, one with a tavern?"

Sokka got out his map and studied it for a moment. "Yeah, actually. It's about an hour's walk north through the woods. Why? Up for a drink?"

Zuko started to wrap Toph up again. Every time he set her down and then picked her up, he could feel her get lighter and lighter, as though so were losing weight as her soul was being drained.

"She'll be fine for a few hours here. If not, just have Appa move to the fire and wrap her up in his tail. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Katara asked, registering that something was happening.

Zuko stood up and stretched. "To the town. I think I can find people who can help us find my uncle. He would know an alternate way to get the Rugaru out. I need to buy a White Lotus tile first…Sokka, can I have some money?"

Sokka's face brightened. "I can do you one better." He dug in his sack until he found the pouch that held his White Lotus tile he'd received from Piandao. "Here, I don't know why you need it or what it means, but I got this a while back from a sword master named Piandao."

Zuko opened the pouch and looked inside. "Piandao's in the White Lotus too?" He asked as he took the tile out.

Sokka shrugged. "I don't know what the White Lotus is. He just gave it to me."

Zuko put the tile back in its bag. "It's a secret society. I don't know what for either, but I know that my uncle is in it, and I'm sure that they would know where he is. If we can get Toph to him, he might have a different solution."

"But that might take a while," Katara interjected. "Does she have that much time?"

"I don't know," Zuko said. "We might. I know that Azula would want us distracted as long as possible, so she probably told the spirit to take it's time. I'll be back soon."

Zuko turned to head to the village when Aang suddenly spoke. "Don't waste your time."

"Aang," Sokka said. "You know Iroh's good…he must know something…"

"More than Avatar Roku?" Aang asked bitterly. "I doubt it. Roku knows everything about the spirit world…everything I should know. I like Iroh too, but I think it would be a waste of time to find him. He wouldn't know what to do."

"GAA!" Zuko growled, flinging the White Lotus tile at Aang. It bounced off his head, but Aang didn't look up. "At least I'm trying to think of an alternative! You three are feeling sorry for yourselves while your friend is dying! Get up and get going! You can't just give up on her!"

Aang looked up at Zuko. "I don't have any get go left in me."

Zuko saw the dispare in Aang's face. He looked around to see Katara's silent tears and Sokka's tiredness in his eyes. He sighed and knelt down next to Aang.

"Look, I'm not any good at pep speeches…in fact, I hate them. They encourage cheap emotion and I'm not one for that. But I can tell you the truth. You three are stubborn, you are annoying and sometimes not the most talented people in the world. But that's what has helped you. I may have only been with the group for a week, but I've followed you all over the world, and time and time again I was awed by your ability to adapt and over come."

Aang turned away so Zuko couldn't see his face anymore. "It wasn't enough."

"It wasn't your time!" Zuko said. "My uncle always preached to me about destiny, and how there is always a plan. All these things getting in your way…they are a plan. Think about it…you couldn't have possibly beat my dad then…you don't know firebending. But it was important that you invade the fire nation. I overcame a lot of my…well…stupidity and stubbornness…and now you have a firebending teacher!"

Aang was silent. Zuko shook his head and stood up. Why am I even trying? It's too late…

"How do you explain me not getting into the Avatar State with the Guru, and then almost ending the cycle when Azula hit me?" Aang asked.

Zuko shrugged. "Hey, all I said was that there is a destiny…there is always room for human error. And that's what you are, Aang. Human."

Aang spun around on his butt to look up at Zuko. "Usually I'd expect that speech from Katara."

Zuko smiled and looked over at Katara, who was smiling back. "She's getting a well deserved break. I'm sure it's very stressful keeping the Avatar in good spirits."

"Ok…all this happiness stuff is nice…but what about Toph?" Sokka asked, as he reached over to smooth her hair. Zuko was touched by the tenderness Sokka showed towards the girl.

"Let's just keep trying to get Aang into the Avatar State," Katara said. "Maybe if we talk it through, we can figure out what was blocking your chuckra to begin with and open it that way."

Aang blushed as he looked at the beautiful waterbender...his friend...his love. "Actually, I know what blocked it…"