Hello, all!

Man, I am so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been insanely busy these last few months. You hear about the detection of gravitational waves? Yeah... I'm a part of that. The preparation for the announcement, the announcement, and the aftermath has been incredibly time consuming.

But now I've finally finished up a chapter! It's not my greatest, but hopefully it's adequate.

Enjoy Chapter 9!

It was just a few days before spring break. It would be a full week of unadulterated bonding time, and Iroh had to admit that the prospect was a bit intimidating. While their relationship was good at the moment, Iroh knew that too much time together could be a strain on even the closest of families. He and Lu Ten had had their share of fights on these trips, but they were usually able to reconcile by the next morning. If he and Zuko were to get into a fight… Iroh wasn't sure it would be as easily resolved.

But there wasn't much point in fretting over what-ifs. All Iroh could do was try his best to be prepared. Which was why he was going to consult Dr. Jian.

While he was pleased with how Zuko was doing, Iroh could tell that they had hit a wall. Zuko wanted to trust him, but he obviously had no idea how. And Iroh didn't know how else to convince the boy that he was… well, safe. If anyone could help Iroh find a way to get through to the traumatized, hard-headed, young teenager, it was his therapist.

Dr. Jian was a busy woman, but she managed to find a half hour in which he could call and talk to her. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Iroh said.

"It's no problem, Mr. Ryusai. As long as you realize that I can't talk about any of the specifics from my sessions with Zuko," she underlined.

"Of course. I'm not calling to pry." He has done quite enough of that lately. "I'm simply here to seek advice."

"Which I'm more than happy to give. How can I help you?"

Remaining purposefully vague, Iroh described his progress with Zuko. He made sure to express his satisfaction with how their relationship had been progressing. He didn't want to give the impression that he was frustrated or annoyed with Zuko. But then he got to the crux of his concerns: how could he help Zuko open up and trust him. "We have come to a… stalemate of sorts, and I am uncertain as to how to break it."

"And you want to figure out how before your vacation next week?"

"That would be ideal."

"I see. What have you tried?"

Iroh frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... what strategies have you tried so far to break this stalemate?"

"Well, I've been doing my best to have a stable routine. My hope is that he'll start talking to me once he feels secure."

Dr. Jian chuckled. "The problem with stability is that there's little incentive for change. I have encountered a similar problem in our sessions. Zuko was initially quite resistant to my attempts at an open conversation."

Iroh's eyebrow quirked up. "Initially?"

She sighed. "Zuko may not like 'opening up', as you put it. But when you ask him something, his response is always honest. Even his most vague responses contain some insight."

Iroh understood what she was saying, but he wasn't certain what she trying to imply. Though when he thought about it, it was true that Zuko had never lied when Iroh would ask a direct question.

"My advice for you…" Dr. Jian went on. "... is to ask him questions. As long as they aren't too probing, I'm willing to bet you'll learn more than you expect about Zuko."

It seemed more like common sense than actual advice, but Iroh had seriously thought that asking Zuko too many questions would push him away. But perhaps Iroh had miscalculated.

After thanking Dr. Jian for her time, Iroh spent the rest of the morning contemplating her suggestion. Asking questions seemed simple enough, but Iroh was still going to exercise caution and avoid asking anything too weighty. He was flipping through Zuko's folder for the umpteenth time, looking for… Well, he wasn't sure what he was looking for. Perhaps some inspiration; a stepping stone that might help him formulate some appropriate line of questioning.

He wanted to strengthen their relationship. What kind of conversations foster trust? And what questions would promote those conversations?

Seeing nothing helpful, Iroh was about the close the folder when something caught his eye.

DOB: 20/03/86

Zuko's birthday was on the last day of break. Iroh felt a brief flash of shame that he had not taken note of it before, but it was quickly replaced with a brewing excitement.

He had an idea.

The school day started normal enough. Teachers droning on in the classrooms, Zuko barely following the material, and his frustration at his own inadequacies slowly growing.

But five minutes into trigonometry, Zuko realized that Aang wasn't in class. At first, he was a little disappointed. He had grown accustomed to the frequent and usually non sequitur notes that the airbender would float his way during class. It made his days just a bit more bearable. Figuring that Aang must be sick, Zuko resigned himself to the fact that he would have to bear the day without him.

However, throughout the class, Zuko noticed that people were glancing pointedly at him and whispering. More than usual, that is. He didn't think much of it until the bell rang and the whispers became louder murmurs which Zuko couldn't help but overhear.

"You mean the gay airbender?"

"I heard he just snapped…"

"... friends with the scarred freak, right?"

"... sent to the hospital…"

They were vague and some of the rumors conflicted, but the main message slowly became clear: Aang had gotten into a fight. And it had been bad.

With every murmur, Zuko became more and more agitated as he unwittingly began to imagine the various possibilities. Did one of those bastard bullies go too far? Aang's pacifism meant he would just stand there and take it. And it was so bad that he was sent to the hospital? With images of his friend bruised and bloody in some bed flashing before him, Zuko could barely pay attention to the rest of his lectures.

By lunchtime, Zuko's appetite was nonexistent. He was anxious to figure out what had happened to Aang. So he spent the period walking around the cafeteria, listening to conversations in his periphery. However, his frenzied pacing drew a lot of sneers and staring, so he eventually left. The hallways were mostly empty, so there wasn't much opportunity to eavesdrop.

Then Zuko realized that if someone had been sent to the hospital, they would probably be sent to the nurse's first. Right? In that case, Nurse Puja would be able to confirm or deny these rumors and put Zuko's mind a bit at ease.

When he walked into the clinic, it appeared to be empty. The curtains separating each bed were pulled back, revealing only vacant beds covered in undisturbed paper. The only person there was Nurse Puja who was working on paperwork at her desk. When Zuko gave a small rap on the door, she looked up and gave a small frown. "Mr. Haruyama. Shouldn't you be in class?"

"It's the lunch period."

"Then you should be eating. We don't want you passing out again."

Zuko cringed. "It's Wednesday; cross-training. Not much chance for me to pass out."

Nurse Puja sighed, placing her pen aside. "Very well. Then how can I help you? I doubt you're skipping lunch just to have a friendly chat."

"Um…" Zuko stepped forward as he tried to figure out the best way to approach this. "I've been hearing some rumors. And I was wondering if you could help me confirm or deny them."

"You mean that fight earlier today between your friend and Sho Xinzhu? Yes, I imagine that would generate a fair amount of gossip."

Zuko's stomach dropped as his fears were confirmed. Aang had been in a fight, (with Sho, that cowardly bastard!) and since Aang wasn't in the clinic, that meant it had been bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. "H-how bad was it?" He asked earnestly. "Do you know if he's going to be okay?"

Nurse Puja raised an eyebrow, then her face broke out in realization. "I think you're a bit confused, young man," she said with a chuckle.

Zuko bristled in anger at her mirth. "What's so funny!?"

She stopped smiling, considered him for a moment, and then shook her head. "You're right. There's nothing amusing about a kid in the hospital." But then she smiled again. "But somehow, I doubt you're this angry on Mr. Xinzhu's behalf."

Zuko frowned. Sho's behalf? "What are you talking about? I'm asking about Aang!"

"I know you are," she replied, her voice just a bit softer. "And I can tell you that Mr. Minami is fine. Well… he's in some major trouble, but physically, he came out of the fight without a scratch."

Zuko blinked. "So… you're saying… Aang sent Sho to the hospital?"

There was an amused twinkle in Nurse Puja's eye as she nodded. "Mr. Xinzhu will be alright. If you want any details, you're going to have to talk to Mr. Minami himself."

Reeling at the thought that Aang had done something so violent, Zuko flatly stated, "Aang's not here."

"No, he was sent home." She looked over at the clock. "You should get going. Warrior's training is going to start in less than ten minutes."

Stiffly nodding, Zuko gave a quick bow. "Thank you for speaking with me."

"Of course." He turned to leave when Nurse Puja added, "And don't even think about skipping. Aang is fine. You can wait two hours."

At first, Zuko had no intention of listening to her. But when he got to the entrance of the school, he realized that Katara, Sokka, and Toph probably had no idea what had happened. Even if they heard the rumors, they had no way of knowing that Aang was actually okay.

Turning his heels, Zuko ran back towards the main arena. He might not be very close with Aang's friends, but they were Aang's friends, and they deserved to know what had happened.

Zuko was late, and the first fight had already started. Thankfully, the others were easy enough to find in the packed bleachers since they usually sat in the same area.

Katara was the first to spot him. "There you are! Where have you been?"

"Around." Zuko slid onto the bench next to Sokka. "Actually, I was going to skip. I don't know if you guys heard the rumors about Aang, but…"

"Yeah, we heard," Sokka said. "We were actually about to skip out as well so we could check up on Aang. So good thing you found us before we left."

"Well that's thing. I came back to tell you guys that Aang's okay. I mean, he's not injured or anything. It was Sho who got sent to the hospital."

Katara and Sokka stared at him for a moment, which caused Zuko to frown. Shouldn't they be relieved at the news?

"Right… We know that, Sparky," Toph piped up. "That's why we were gonna visit him at his house." She crossed her arms and had an almost pleased look on her face. "I gotta say, I'm super curious what finally made Twinkletoes grow a pair."

"Toph!" Katara chastised. "This isn't funny! Aang could be in serious trouble for this!"

"I'm not saying it's funny. I'm just saying it's about damned time."

"I kinda agree with Toph on this one," Sokka said. "Maybe the rest of the school will think twice now about beating on Aang."

"Wait…" Zuko interjected. "You guys already knew that it wasn't Aang in the hospital? How? Who told you?"

Another silent pause. "No one told us," Sokka replied. "I mean, you've been hearing the rumors too, right? It's been all over the school."

"No. I mean, yeah I've been hearing the rumors, but…" Zuko trailed off, wondering how the others figured this all out while he had been floundering with the wrong conclusion all day.

Pisa laughed. "Wow. You really are an idiot."

"Well, regardless," Sokka went on, "I think we're all on the same page here. Let's ditch cross-training and see how Aang's doing."

It was a twenty minute walk to Aang's house. Most of the journey was made in silence, Zuko lagging a few steps behind the others. He didn't know what the others were thinking about, but he couldn't help but see that he was… unnecessary. They didn't need him to figure out what really happened. Apparently all the facts they needed were in the rumors, and Zuko had just been too stupid to put all the pieces together correctly.

And he wasn't really needed to check up on Aang. Of course, the selfish part of Zuko wanted to see that Aang was alright, even if just to make himself feel better. But if Aang really needed some support, it would be his closest friends that would give it to him. The years of cultivated friendship between Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph were much more meaningful than just a couple of months' worth of trig classes and lunch breaks.

They rounded the corner, and Aang's house was in sight. Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, Zuko crossed his arms across his chest and tried to will away the sharp pressure in his chest.

There was an unspoken agreement to allow Katara to take the lead on this. She rang the doorbell, and it was only moments later that the door was opened by Gyatso. "Ah, hello there, young ones. I assume you're here to visit Aang."

"Hi, Mr. Minami. Yes, we heard about what happened at school, and we just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

The old man nodded grimly. "There will certainly be consequences. But please, come in." He stepped aside and allowed the four of them entry. "Aang is in the basement. Hopefully you all can lift his spirits. He has been understandably sullen all day."

As they climbed down the stairs, they found Aang playing video games with Momo curled up in his lap. Momo apparently heard them first, as his ears perked up. He leapt up with an excited chirp and flew over to land on Katara's shoulders. Aang saw them, and he quickly turned his game off and stood up. "Um… hi, guys…" he said sheepishly.

"Hey Aang," Katara said, walking toward him and wrapping him in a hug.

"I guess this means you heard what happened…" Aang replied when Katara let go.

"Just the highlights," Toph said. "Though I'm dying for some details. Did you send him flying down a hallway, or did you just shake him around a bit?"

"Toph," Katara warned. She turned back to Aang with a smile. "We're just glad that you're okay. Rumors aren't exactly reliable."

"Thanks," he replied weakly. "I'm just… upset that I lost control like that."

"Yeah, dude, what happened?" Sokka asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong: I'm glad Sho got what was coming to him. But you've never fought back before."

Aang glanced at Zuko, but he quickly turned away with a grimace. "I don't really want to talk about it."

Zuko's stomach lurched uncomfortably, and he unconsciously took a small step back. He knew he was a bit of an interloper here, but he had hoped that Aang would be okay with that.

Apparently, not.

Zuko took a deep breath and tried to ignore the small pain stabbing his chest. "Um… I-I can leave."

Katara and Sokka both turned to him, and Aang gave him an almost stricken look. "What? We just got here," Sokka said.

Zuko shook his head with a deadpanned laugh. "I mean, Aang, I know you'd probably prefer to be with your friends. I'm glad you're okay, but I don't want overstay my welcome."

Aang paled and then sputtered. "Y-You're not! You're welcome! You're always welcome!"

Zuko frowned. "I just… I don't want you to feel that you can't talk to your friends because I'm here."

"You are my friend!" Aang insisted. "The reason I didn't want to talk about it was because I was embarrassed. It has nothing to do with you! Well, except for the part where is does…"

Now more confused than upset, Zuko just stared at the airbender.

"Uh… Did anyone else understand that?" Toph asked.

"Zuko has nothing to do with it," Sokka repeated. "Except… he does…"

Aang cringed and then let out a long sigh. "Sho came up to me. Nothing unusual. Thought he would get it out of his system then go. But he… uh…" Aang looked up at Zuko, his face red. "He started talking about you."

"Talking about me," Zuko echoed.

"Yeah. Insulting you, actually…" Aang cast his gaze back downward at his wringing hands. "I don't know why, but it made me really angry. And I kinda… acted without thinking."

The uncomfortable feeling in Zuko's stomach came back, but this time it was a bit warmer. In fact, it wasn't even that uncomfortable. And for some inexplicable reason, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

There was an extended pause before Toph gave an approving nod. "Nice."

Sokka shrugged. "Well, either way, hopefully this means that those other jerks will think twice before messing with you."

"Will you guys stop it!" Aang begged. "This isn't a good thing. Fighting goes against everything I believe in!"

"Aang, I understand your position," Katara said hesitantly. "But… think about it. How many fights have you gotten into in just the last month alone? None of it is your fault!" she added when Aang began to protest. "But it's not good for you. I mean, we care about you so much, Aang! And we've all been standing on the sidelines at your request, watching you suffer… you can't blame us for being a little relieved that maybe everyone will finally stop tormenting you!"

Aang's eyes widened, his mouth silently opening and closing as he tried to find his voice.

"Sorry," Katara amended. "I didn't mean to go off on you like that..."

"No, I'm the one who's sorry," Aang said. "I g-guess I didn't think about it. I didn't want you guys getting hurt on my behalf." His gaze shifted to each of his friends, lingering just a second longer on Zuko.

Toph pounded her fist into her other hand. "Does that mean you'll finally let us beat on those dunderheads?"

"No," Aang stressed. "I lost control today, but that doesn't mean I'm suddenly okay with fighting or violence." He sighed. "Hopefully you guys are right and the, uh, dunderheads will leave me alone now." Before anyone could reply, Aang grabbed his game controller and held it out. "Now, do you guys wanna play some Super Smash Ni?"

It was an obvious attempt to change the subject, but everyone decided to roll with it. While Sokka and Katara set up the game and Toph loudly proclaimed that she was going to finally kick their butts, Zuko grabbed Aang's arm and held him back for a moment. "Hey, I just wanted to say… thanks. But you didn't have to do that for me. I'm used to the insults."

Aang gave a weak smile. "I know. And I didn't mean to, but when Sho said…" His voice tapered off, and he sighed. "You're one of my best friends, Zuko. I care about you and hate hearing people talk about you like that."

The warm feeling in Zuko's belly swelled, and he smiled again. "I care about you too, Aang. And I really am glad you're okay."

"Hey!" Toph barked at them. "You two pansies gonna keep chitchatting or you gonna come play some Smash?"

Zuko and Aang exchanged a quick glance. "Coming," Aang said.

Just like that, it turned into a typical evening for them. They played video games, chatted, and socialized as usual. The incident with Sho still hung over their heads, but it was in the background. Resolved for now, if not forgotten. All of them hoped that Aang would be left alone from here on in.

Zuko stayed there with Aang and the others, hanging out with them like it were normal. And for the first time, he felt as if he actually belonged.

So what did ya guys think? Review and let me know :)