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Chapter 11: Aang
"I think we're probably far enough away now," Aang said, after he and the Red Spirit had wandered in silence for about five minutes. "You can go ahead and take the mask off, now."
Líng Hún hesitated.
Aang rolled his eyes. "Come on, you and I both know I already know who you are."
The other man pulled out his notepad and wrote, "It's one thing to know, it's another to know."
"What are you afraid of?"
Líng Hún stiffened. "I'm not afraid," he scribbled in response.
"Then take the damn mask off, it'll be easier to talk."
After a long moment, he reached up and pulled it off. Despite what he'd said earlier, Aang felt an all-too-familiar jolt of fear, and the air crackled with tension, like right before a thunderstorm. He forced himself to relax and said, with forced lightness, "Um, hello again, your highness."
"What do you want, exactly?" the prince said, a little hoarsely, and still guarded.
"I…well, I've actually been looking for you for a while. Since about a year after you disappeared."
Zuko said nothing, as had become his habit, and just watched him.
Ok, that's a little creepy, Aang thought, then continued out loud. "Well, at first, it was mostly because…I guess we figured you were the lesser of two evils," he said, almost apologetically. "And if I couldn't fix what I'd screwed up, I could at least try and salvage the situation, you know? But then…well, I started digging, trying to figure out where you might have gone. I…found some stuff out." The Avatar stared at his hands for a minute, and didn't elaborate on whatever it was he'd found out. A few moments of somewhat uncomfortable silence passed, then Aang shook himself. "Sorry, just…yeah."
"It's okay," Zuko said, quietly.
"You're really going after her?" the other asked after a long moment.
"I have to."
Another pause. "…D'you remember when you broke me out of Zhao's fortress?"
"Yeah."
"I asked you if you thought there was a chance we could be friends."
After another uncomfortable silence, Zuko answered. "I can't. I just--I don't even know if--I can't. I'm sorry."
"Ok," Aang said, a little disappointed. He hadn't really expected any other response--there was something odd about this whole thing. Especially since Zuko didn't seem to have changed--or aged, or grown--at all the last five years. If he hadn't, that meant he hadn't had the time to gain a little distance from everything that had happened, the way Aang and his old friends had. The two of them were silent for yet another long moment. "There's just…one thing I don't get."
"What?"
"Where have you been all this time?"
"I…don't really know," Zuko admitted, after thinking for a long minute. "It's…weird. I mean, I thought it had only been a day, then…I came out, and it had been five years. I have no idea how that happened."
"…Came out?" Aang asked, puzzled. "…Look, maybe you should start at the beginning."
The other man thought for a minute, then sat on the ground, picking up his mask and idly toying with it. After still another long pause, he spoke.
