If finding a commandeered Fire Nation army vessel in the middle of the ocean sounded difficult in theory, then it was all but impossible in practice. Zuko and the others had been searching for over a week and they hadn't found a single clue as to where the chief might be. It was hardly surprising; Hakoda and his men were expert warriors and they knew better than to attract too much attention in enemy territory. There were no handy wanted posters, no burning buildings or terrified citizens left behind after raids to help Sokka track a course. It was like chasing smoke, or trying to track shadows. If only the invasion they had planned hadn't been doomed from the start, Zuko had concluded after the third day of fruitless searching, they would have probably stood a very good chance of pulling it off. That same day, Sokka had torn his schedule to shreds and given it for kindling for the camp fire; Zuko was not alone in his frustration.

They had stopped in at least four of five different towns, all of which Sokka had judged to be big enough to have a military garrison of some form or other. As far as Sokka was concerned, the main priority was finding his father and calling off the invasion before it was too late. Zuko had thought that knowingly going where the Fire Army would be was very stupid, but he had been forced to concede that it was probably the only way to get information. That wasn't to say that he had been jumping for joy about heading deeper into Fire Nation territory.

At the first town that Sokka had brought them to, Zuko had stayed back with Appa, adamantly refusing to go anywhere near a Fire Army outpost. He had been quietly panicking away to himself, debating whether or not he should take Appa and run for the Earth Kingdom, when a Fire Army patrol had walked right past the clearing where Zuko, Appa and Momo were not-so-well-hidden. The soldiers had hung around for a good few minutes, taking the mickey out of each other and working their way through a pair of noxious cigarettes, before they had finally gone away. Zuko had been scared shitless. He had been entirely defenceless, without a weapon, sat propped up against a flying bison whose picture was gracing wanted posters from the southern islands to fucking Ba Sing Se. When the group had returned later with dinner, several stolen changes of clothes and absolutely no information, Zuko had informed them that he would be accompanying them on any future excursions.

After that, they had fallen into a kind of routine. Whenever they reached a town, Sokka would stake out a bar, or a shop, or a drinking fountain until anyone in uniform wandered by. Then, bold as brass, he would wander over with Toph and loudly start bemoaning the fact that he was too young to enlist, lamenting that he wanted desperately to show the stubborn Earth Kingdom and the barbarian Water Tribes exactly why they should surrender to the glory of the Fire Nation. Even Toph thought he sounded ridiculous. Still, it usually got the military personnel talking and, after a while, Sokka would be able to twist the conversation back to Water Tribe raids and how dangerous they were and had anyone heard of anything like that in the area, recently? Toph would be standing by for the minute that Sokka's questioning got a bit too obvious, ready to drag him away from suspicion. After a week of this dubious espionage, Sokka had gained a crash course in Fire Nation racism and a whispered rumour that a Water Tribe raid had claimed seven whole fish and a barrel of ale from the quartermaster's stores on Kirachu Island, only the week before. Toph had dragged Sokka away before he'd even tried investigating that one any further.

A full week of unproductive sleuthing later and Zuko was beginning to get frustrated. He didn't see how they would find Hakoda before the agreed rendezvous- particularly not if they were intent on visiting every town in the Fire Nation that might have hosted a passing battalion sometime in the past five years. Zuko sighed and leant back against the saddle, trying to ignore Toph's bruising grip around his left bicep. He had to try and be more optimistic; it wasn't as if he had any better ideas. Still, he couldn't help but feel a familiar sense of dull hopelessness at the thought of repeating every all over again the next day.

The town they were currently flying over- the latest on Sokka's list of potential leads- was called Shu Jing. Zuko studied the town outline from his bird's-eye view. As far as he could tell, the only vague connection to the military was a large castle a few miles out of town; a castle that wasn't flying any military banners and looked, to all intents and purposes, to be either privately owned or entirely unoccupied. Zuko sighed once again and mirrored Toph's grimace of annoyance, as Sokka started to enthuse that this was the town for them and that this time they'd find a lead. Sokka was trying hard to keep the others motivated and he didn't need Zuko's natural pessimism making things more difficult. So Zuko kept his lips sealed and his thoughts to himself.

A few hours later, the sun had long since set and Zuko was lying on the top of a low hill, staring up into the night sky. It was late and a cool breeze blew across his skin, prickling goose bumps up along the backs of his arms. The campfire had long since gone out and the air was rapidly growing chilly, but Zuko didn't care. He was staring transfixed at the sky. Or more specifically, he was staring transfixed at the meteors falling from it like burning rain. They were beautiful and ethereal, as if the stars themselves were tumbling down from the sky, or like the moon goddess herself had let loose a multitude of floating lanterns, just to watch them dance across the heavens. Of course, Zuko knew better; he knew that the meteors were essentially space debris flashing past them at incredible speeds. There was nothing magical or spiritual about them; they were just pretty rocks. Still, there was something nice about taking the moment, in allowing himself to stare up at the stars in wonder and let his awestruck mind ponder the vastness of the universe. It was oddly pleasing, Zuko thought, that not all of nature could be brought to heel by bending; some forces were still too strange and powerful for humans to comprehend.

"Wow," Aang chimed up from somewhere to his far left, startling Zuko from his train of thought.

"Yeah," Katara sighed, gently. "It's incredible."

"Meh." Toph waved a dismissive hand, purposefully almost clocking Sokka in the face. "Seen one nothing, seen them all." Sokka let out a low groan of dismay at the joke; she had said the same thing no less than three times within the last hour.

Zuko fixed his eyes upon the sky. He could sense Sokka's gaze burning into the side of his face, but he chose to ignore it. The moment felt too…heavy somehow. He didn't want to taint such an incredible event with, well with the…whatever…that was going on between him and Sokka.

They hadn't spoken about that night, about the…kiss…since that awkward morning back at the river village. With the revelation about the fucking stupid invasion plan and the hunt for Hakoda, there hadn't quite been time. Aang was constantly demanding reassurance from his friends in the wake of the changed plans and what time Sokka had to spare away from his maps and charts and schedules was usually spent with Aang at his side. Zuko had started to think that Sokka just wanted to chalk the kiss up to the madness of the moonlight and forget that it had ever happened. Zuko wouldn't really blame him, after all. He knew his face was off-putting; he'd relied upon that simple fact to get him through three years as a skinny teenager in a prison camp. If it had driven Sokka off as well, well Zuko wouldn't exactly have been surprised.

Besides, Zuko had kind of been avoiding Sokka, anyway. Every night for the past week he had spent as little time in camp as possible, heading off to 'gather firewood' or 'scope the perimeter'- which really just entailed him wandering around just out of sight of the others and trying not to have a panic attack. Because, try as Zuko might, he couldn't get one thing off his mind: Hakoda. Or, to be more specific, the memory of a blade at his throat and a whispered threat "I don't like you being around my children." As much as Zuko wanted the others to find the Chief and call of the doomed invasion plan, he wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the idea of seeing Hakoda in person. Not after he'd quite literally jumped ship and run off with the man's children… and the Avatar. Fuck, Zuko was screwed enough already; even in the extremely remote eventuality that Sokka didn't regret the kiss, Zuko didn't think it would be very sensible to encourage Sokka any further. It was easier that way, and safer in the long run. Still, lately, whenever Sokka turned a beaming smile on Zuko or cracked some truly appalling joke, Zuko found himself wishing that maybe Sokka didn't regret the kiss, after all. So, Zuko had taken to avoidance.

Zuko let out a soft sigh, and breathed out through his nose. It wasn't very sensible to let his mind wander off on flights of fancy. He needed to keep his mind in the moment, or he would drive himself crazy.

Out of the corner of his good eye, he noticed that one of the meteors was burning brighter than the others, crashing through the sky at a furious pace. It would burn out soon, Zuko knew. Nothing that burnt that bright lasted very long. He watched the meteor as it got lower and lower in the sky, certain that any second it would fizzle out: a sad ending to a marvellous phenomenon. He frowned up at the blazing light, staring until spots danced across the vision in his good eye.

Any second now, it would fizzle out. Disappear suddenly into the dark of the night, as if it had never even existed. Except… the meteor wasn't stopping. Instead it seemed to fall quicker and quicker through the sky, coming closer and closer towards them. Zuko sat up in alarm. Fuck, it was going to hit them. This was the end. He knew it was a fucking omen… He braced himself, waiting for the inevitable collision. He closed his eyes as a searing heat soared overhead. Katara let out a scream of alarm and Zuko's eyes popped open. He wasn't dead; the meteor had passed over them, mere feet above their heads. He spun around and watched as it finally crashed down to earth a few hundred yards from where they were sat. The force of the impact had created a deep, smoking crater, and flames were beginning to lick at the dry grass around it.

"Fuck!" Zuko growled, rolling to his feet and backing away from the crash site. The fire was spreading quickly.

"We've got to do something!" Aang yelled, running past Zuko. Katara and Toph were hot on his heels.

"Right!" Katara yelled, pulling water from the nearby creek and launching herself full at the flames.

Toph stopped a few yards from the fire and stomped heavily, collapsing the ground into around the blaze into trenches. Aang quickly joined her and they soon had carved a deep gorge around the fire, stopping it from spreading any further across the grass.

Zuko stared at the blaze in dim horror. This was out of control. He had to do something. He could feel the pulse of the fire's energy, and it was overwhelming. He reached out both his arms, fighting against the rising panic in his chest, but he couldn't get a grasp on the flames, they were too wild, too powerful; he wasn't strong enough to fight them. Just like last time. Fuck, it was going to happen again. It was happening again. The sharp smell of smoke filled his nose and then he was back at the mine, crawling over the scorching ground, flames licking at his heels. No, he was crying, cold stone beneath his knees as he howled in agony, the smell of burnt flesh filling his nostrils and…

"Hey, you okay?" Sokka's voice pulled him back to the present. Zuko stood still for a few long moments, gasping in a few deep breaths and pinning his mind to the present with an adamantine will. Finally, he nodded shakily at Sokka; the other boy shot him a wry, knowing look.

"Seems like they've got it covered," he commented casually, though Zuko could make out the edge to his words over the roar of the fire, could see the downward turn to his lips in the flickering glow of the flames. Sokka wasn't okay, either.

"Yeah," Zuko acknowledged quietly, forcing himself to breathe through the tight band around his chest.

"Wish I could do something," Sokka confessed quietly, kicking bitterly at the grass beneath their feet. "Stuff like this happens and it just reminds me how useless I am."

"You honestly think that this is any better for me?" Zuko asked grimly, as the Avatar shot about, raining water and earth down onto the quickly dying flames. "I'm a firebender."

"So? You can still bend!" Sokka's tone was as bitter as Zuko had ever heard it. "I bet you could do something."

Zuko let out a low growl of frustration, but the challenge stung. Maybe he could do something to help. Maybe he just wasn't trying hard enough. He reached out once again, feeling for the energy of the flames and trying to force his chi to smother them, to shut them down. They didn't even need to struggle to break free of his pathetic control. His focus slipped and the fames surged back, blazing even stronger. Katara let out a sharp cry of alarm and Zuko flinched back, surrendering the firefighting to those who actually could do it.

"See!" Sokka exclaimed. "What fucking use am I? I can't bend anything!"

"And what use is bending anything if I can't control it?" Zuko spun around, fixing Sokka with a frustrated glare.

"But-"

"Don't even try to pretend that you know anything about it, because you don't!" Zuko's chest was heaving, his chest tight with panic. Those flames had been so strong.

Sokka's face fell and he let out a quiet huff.

"Yeah, you're right." He turned and looked over at the others, as they put out the last few errant flames with quick and efficient bending. "What do I know?"

It only took another few minutes for the others to finally finish their work; Zuko and Sokka stood in silence throughout, watching the whole process. Sokka let out a few customary congratulations and then sat quietly to himself for the rest of the night. If any of the others had noticed that their friend was out of sorts, they didn't say anything about it. Although, Zuko had noticed Katara shooting her brother concerned glances as they settled down for the night.

It was a bad night. Zuko struggled to sleep and when he did finally manage to drift off, a few hours before dawn, his dreams were occupied by the memory of roaring flames at his back and thick, black, choking smoke filling his lungs. He woke up gasping for air, the minute that dawn broke over the horizon.

Later that morning, they headed into town. The whole group was quiet and on edge, Katara kept sending concerned glances at her brother. It wasn't a long walk as far as distance went, but the awkward silence made it seem as though it would never end. Zuko kept his head down and his eyes on the ground in front of him, his thoughts tripping over themselves in an attempt to force back the memory of the night before.

The sharp scent of burned meat filled his nostrils and Zuko sneezed, violently. A few feet ahead, Sokka turned around, laughing. Zuko looked up for the first time, shaken from his thoughts. They were nearing the outer limits of the town, and the buildings were in full view. The houses were short, squat and simple structures with terracotta roofs and plain white walls: simple, utilitarian and exceedingly non-military. Zuko sighed; he suspected this was going to be a long day.

Just ahead, one of the houses threw open the back window and billowing smoke and bellowing voices rushed out into the open air.

"I told you the fire was too high, but would you listen?"

"Oh calm down, your mother won't be here for hours. I'll nip to the butchers later- they'll have another joint."

"With what money, huh? You think coins just drop out of the sky, don't you?"

Zuko forcibly tuned the argument out as they continued on into town. Soon enough they had wandered into the main square and the sounds of the fight were long behind them.

"Lovely place," Toph commented drily.

"Yeah, the people seem great," Sokka agreed with a grimace.

"Hey, maybe they're just having a bad day," Aang cut across, admonishingly. "I'm sure the rest of the people here are friendly."

Zuko cast his eye around the square; it wasn't an encouraging sight. There were a good many stores around, of course, shopfronts all shouting in painstakingly painted characters about the clothes, jewellery, bread, spices, meat, armour and so on that they had to sell- all of which were the finest in the Fire Nation, or your money back. There were even a few nicely dressed families rushing in and out of them, all with heavy bags and upturned noses. It didn't look like the town was doing too badly; certainly not compared to some of the places they'd been recently. Even so, there was a weighty sense of dilapidation about the place.

At the weapons shop just to their left, a merchant waved one of the fine families away from his establishment, a brilliant smile painted on his lips. The young master of the family had clearly just been to purchase his first sword, judging by the bright grin on the boy's face and the carefully wrapped parcel that his father was keeping out of arm's reach. The merchant was all beaming smiles and polite bows of thanks as the family walked away. The minute they were out of sight, however, his posture sagged; his shoulders slumped and his face crumpled like a broken marionette, his forehead sinking into a deep frown and his lips drawing thin and tight. He looked tired and drained, even though it was only a few hours past dawn. Zuko turned and gave the man a more thorough once-over with his good eye. On closer inspection, the merchant's professional clothing, whilst still red and not obviously patched, looked washed out and faded. The shoes on his feet were thin-soled and looked uncomfortable for standing around in all day.

No, Zuko judged quietly to himself, this town was not quite as prosperous as it would like to appear. Whilst that actually increased the likelihood of a military presence, he didn't think the people would be all that willing to help a bunch of strange, clearly foreign-looking children.

"Oh look, there's a weapons shop!" Katara exclaimed following Zuko's gaze. She turned to Sokka with a bright grin. "Why don't we take a look?"

As Katara had just finished cooing over the jewellers across the square and the delicious smell of freshly cooked bread from the backers a few shops down, her sudden enthusiasm for a weapons shop was a little suspect.

"We don't really have time, Katara," Sokka sighed, but his eyes were bright with longing, rather than dull with fatigue, for once. "Toph and I should probably start asking around…"

"We can give ourselves an hour," Zuko found himself agreeing with Katara. "We can try and get a better feel of the town." The dual dao swords he'd spied just inside the shop were definitely not swaying his opinion on the matter, either.

Katara turned to look at him with outright shock. He thought, vaguely, that this might be the first time he'd actually agreed with her about something.

"But…" Sokka argued.

"We've not stopped for days," Aang commented gently. "We need a break, or we'll just burn out."

"But…" Sokka attempted again.

"Hey, if Sparky and the Sugar Queen agree, then it has to be a good idea." Toph smiled widely and shoved past the others, walking straight into the shop. Zuko paused for a moment and then gave a mental shrug, following her in.

"Good morning!" The merchant exclaimed, jumping up from behind his desk and plastering back on his salesman's smile. "What can I help you with today?"

"We're just looking," Sokka replied quickly, hurrying in behind Zuko. Katara and Aang followed on his heels with small, knowing smirks. Zuko suspected this was some sort of plan that the two of them had concocted. A deep sense of unease flooded through him, and he began to regret agreeing with Katara- even if the dual dao were absolutely beautiful and needed to belong to him.

The others browsed around him, but Zuko only had eyes for the dao. He stood and stared at the blades for an indecently long period of time. Had he been raised differently, Zuko was pretty sure he would have been drooling. If he listened very carefully, he was sure he could hear them pleading with him to take them away from this awful shop and run them through some proper katas.

Somewhere over his right shoulder, he was aware of Sokka trying a frankly ridiculous number of weapons out for size, but the lure of the dao was too great for him to pay Sokka's antics any real attention. It was only when a sickening crash echoed through the shop that Zuko was jolted out of his reverie. He turned around and felt his jaw drop at the sheer mess that the others had made. Sokka was lying in an ungainly heap in the middle of the floor, trapped under a flail so large that the chain had wrapped around his torso twice, the spiked head resting worryingly close to his face. He smiled sheepishly up at Zuko. Zuko slapped a palm to his face.

"What are you doing?" he grumbled, stepping away from the dao to examine the mess. He had half a mind to leave Sokka stranded on the shop floor, but he wasn't entirely evil. Instead he heaved a sigh and set about helping Sokka to untangle himself from the incredibly deadly weapon he had just dropped on himself.

"I was just trying it out," Sokka grumbled back. "Seeing how it felt. I thought I might try something new."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"You have your boomerang, don't you?" Zuko asked. His brow furrowed in confusion, as he tried to figure out just how the chain had looped back over Sokka's shoulder.

"Well yeah," Sokka conceded, "but Katara and Aang suggested I try something else." Zuko finally managed to find some slack in the chain and Sokka was able to wriggle loose. Sokka gave him a quick thumbs up in thanks. "I was thinking," Sokka continued, "that if I can't bend, I can at least still fight."

Zuko frowned. So that had been Katara and Aang's grand plan? Okay, so Sokka could get excited about sharp, pointy, lethal bits of metal as much as any teenage boy (Zuko pointedly did not think about how long he himself had spent staring at the dual dao), but why was he trying a flail of all things. Zuko was pretty certain that no one had used those for anything other than wall decorations since the days of his great-great-great-great-great grandfather, and for a very good reason.

"Is that really the best idea?" Zuko hedged quietly, trying not to stare for too long at the fucking flail.

"What do you mean?" Sokka's bright grin was slowly starting to droop. Zuko tried to ignore the painful twinge that gave his gut.

"Learning a new weapon in the middle of a war?" Zuko said gruffly, gesturing to the pile of spears, clubs, bows and daggers that Sokka had abandoned in the corner. "Wouldn't you be better practising the weapon you already know?"

Sokka frowned and looked down at the floor. "You're probably right." He glanced up and met Zuko's eyes for a brief second, before looking away. His tongue darted across his lips. "I just want to be useful, you know?"

Zuko didn't really know what to say to that; he'd never been very good at comforting people. Instead he just grunted awkwardly and shifted from foot to foot as Sokka cast one last longing look around the shop. Finally, the other boy heaved out a great sigh, and called the others over, getting ready to leave.

The merchant who had beaming joyfully as Sokka had tried weapon after weapon, hurried over, an intensely worried look on his face.

"Is everything okay young sirs?"

"Yeah," Sokka replied. "Just realised I probably shouldn't get something I don't know how to use." He gave a wry shrug. The merchant's eyes widened in alarm.

"What about you, sir?" The merchant turned to Zuko, trying his very best to hide desperation behind a professional smile.

"No."

"I saw you looking at the dao there earlier, sir. They're a fine choice and beautiful blades, if I do say so myself. Could I convince you to try-"

"No." Zuko cut the man off again, deliberately forcing his eyes away from the dao. He couldn't exactly be a hypocrite about this. One fumbled battle with a stolen sword aside, Zuko had not practised with a blade in years; he had no idea of his level of skill, and walking around with swords strapped to his back would only draw attention.

"If it's a matter of training, there's a master swordsman in the town," the merchant continued. "Master Piandao is always happy to take on new students." The man's voice wavered slightly on that last line, and Zuko strongly suspected that that was indeed a lie. Spirits, but why wasn't this man leaving them alone?

"We don't have time," Zuko stated harshly. "We're just passing through town."

"All the more reason to learn to protect yourselves, young sirs." The merchant's eyes were so bright, they were almost glowing.

"Thanks," Sokka said with a small, forced smile. "But we really are just passing through."

"Well, if you change your minds, boys." The merchant sighed and ran a hand through his hair, idly rubbing at the bald spot growing on his crown. He headed over to the doorway of the shop and beckoned for them to follow him. "Master Piandao lives up in that castle." He pointed to the hill just out of town. "He'll train you up good and proper, tell you everything you need to know." Then his face broke out into a grin once again. "Then when you're done, you come back to me and we'll see if you still like the look of those dao." He shot Zuko a knowing look.

"Right, will do," Sokka agreed with a polite smile. They took that moment to escape, ducking past the man and out of the doorway as quickly as they could. They headed over to the small fountain on the other side of the square and settled down around it whilst Katara and Aang refilled their water flasks.

"Well that wasn't at all suspicious," Zuko remarked grimly, after a few moments. The others all looked towards him, faces matching pictures of disbelief.

"What was suspicious about that?" Aang exclaimed, stoppering up his flask and turning back towards the group. "He just seemed like a nice, helpful man."

"He was trying to keep us there," Zuko acknowledged quietly. "He really didn't want us to leave."

"He needed the sale," Toph snorted cynically. "Trust me- I've known merchants act waaaay more pushy than that!"

"Then why was he so insistent about us going to see that Master?" Zuko asked.

"He wasn't insistent," Sokka drawled, "it was just a suggestion."

"Maybe you should go and speak to the master, Sokka," Katara suggested suddenly. "I mean, you were so excited about learning a new weapon, and the best person to teach you anything is a master."

"I guess…" Sokka rubbed at his face. "But we don't really have time…"

"Well…" Aang began, shooting a quick glance at Katara. "You were probably going to go to the castle anyway, weren't you?" His eyes lit up, and Zuko's stomach sank. "What if they've heard some news? Your dad could have sailed right past them for all we know!"

"In the creek?" Zuko deadpanned. "A Fire Navy warship?"

"It's a possibility…" Sokka remarked, rubbing at his chin. "And I should probably check it out."

"This is ridiculous," Zuko slammed his palm against his forehead. "You can't seriously be going along with this? What happened to finding your father? To stopping the invasion?"

Sokka's face fell. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Sokka," Katara cut in suddenly. "You've been working non-stop for days, and…well… we aren't any closer to finding dad. Maybe you need a break."

"A day or two won't hurt, right?" Aang cajoled, smiling brightly up at Sokka.

"Well…maybe…"

"I can't believe this!" Zuko growled, throwing his hands up in the air. A young couple who had been making their way over to the fountain suddenly veered off in another direction. Zuko planted his palm firmly on the bridge of his nose and took a few deep, calming breaths. "If you want to learn to swing a sword so badly, I'll teach you. Your dad can teach you. When we find him. Which is what we should be doing. Right. Now."

"It's not about that," Sokka argued, but he wouldn't meet Zuko's eyes. "I did want to go to the castle, anyway. It has a great view over the surrounding area-"

"So does Appa."

"Ah…well." Sokka conceded the point.

An awkward silence fell over the group.

"It's your call, Snoozles," Toph finally said, cutting through the tension. "Do you think we can spare a couple of days?"

"Fine," Sokka agreed after a few moments. "I'll go." He whipped round and pointed a very stern finger at Aang. "But only to find out what they know about dad. I'll be a day or two, at most. If I haven't found anything by then, we're back on the road."

Zuko almost growled in frustration.

"This is not a good idea-" he cut in urgently, but trailed off at the look on Sokka's face. The other boy clearly knew the risk that he was taking; he had also clearly decided that it was worth it. Zuko swore.

"Right-" Toph cracked her knuckles and started striding off across the square- "let's go!"

Aang followed quickly after her. Sokka waited back, fiddling with his pack and shooting surreptitious glances back at the still-seething Zuko. Katara made to follow after the others, but stopped when she sensed her brother wasn't following. She glanced over at Zuko, rolled her eyes, and then set off across the square, hurrying after Toph's heavy footsteps. Zuko lingered at the fountain. Sokka was being stupid. This was so fucking stupid. He needed to listen.

"I don't think-"

"I need to give you something," Sokka cut him off, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him along and into an alley a little way to the left. Zuko watched warily, as Sokka reached once again into his pack. He pulled out a small satchel and held it out to Zuko. Zuko had seen it before; it contained all of Sokka's plans and information- their schedule, the invasion plans, maps, the lot of it.

"What?"

Zuko was almost entirely certain that his mouth was gaping open, his jaw somewhere probably closer to his knees than his nose. His thoughts had stumbled to a halt; all careering together in an ungainly pile and completely failing to compute whatever Sokka was trying to communicate to him.

"What?" he asked again, numbly.

"I need you to hold onto these. Now I'm not saying there will be, but... but if…" Sokka swallowed heavily and met Zuko's eyes, his voice dropping to a surreptitious whisper. "If there is something weird about this Piandao guy, I don't want these anywhere near him. This stuff is too important to fall into the hands of the enemy."

Zuko snorted incredulously, glancing pointedly down at his own hands. He was the son of the fucking Firelord.

"You are not the enemy," Sokka told him firmly and thrust the rolled up papers into Zuko's left hand, grabbing onto his right and holding it tightly.

"This is such a bad idea," Zuko spat out, trying to ignore the pounding in his chest and the feel of Sokka's palm against his. "What if this is a trap? I know what happens to prisoners here, Sokka." He glared at the wall, unable to meet Sokka's eyes as his breathing grew more and more ragged. "Besides, we don't have time. The eclipse is weeks away."

"Zuko-"

"No! Listen!" Zuko growled, and felt Sokka's hand tighten around his. "Look I get you feel shit after last night- you're not the only one! But-"

"Hey," Sokka replied, his hand tightening around Zuko's. "Listen. I know it sounds stupid, but I- I think I need this." He sighed, his gaze dancing around the walls of the alleyway. His hand tightened around Zuko's once again. "Katara was right. We've been at this for days and we've got nothing. I think we could do with a break. And…well I kind of need a win right now."

Zuko let out a strangled hiss of irritation. Not thinking about the warmth of Sokka's hand and why hadn't he let go and-

"Fine. You want to waste time, that's your call. But when this all goes wrong, I am not coming to your rescue."

"Don't worry," Sokka's lips twisted in a wry smile. "I'll come back in one piece."

"You fucking better."

Zuko hadn't meant to say that out loud, and he felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

Sokka's eyes lit up and he beamed at Zuko. Zuko bristled slightly and looked away; he was all too aware of the fact that they were still holding hands. Sokka simply let out a low chuckle, and stepped closer, resting his other hand on Zuko's arm. Sokka kept inching closer until they were almost nose to nose. Zuko's breath caught in his chest and then stuttered out in little flurried gasps. He stood completely transfixed, as Sokka leant forwards, his eyes burning and-

"What's taking so long?" Toph's irritated voice cut through the air. Zuko and Sokka leapt apart, backs crashing into the opposite walls of the narrow alley.

"Urgh," Zuko said awkwardly, "we should…"

"Yep," Sokka agreed, a dark blush blooming across the tops of his cheeks. "One second."

They hurried out of the alley a minute later and quickly spotted the others; Katara was tapping her foot in irritation. They'd crossed back over to the fountain and were standing very close to the entrance of the alleyway. Agni, Zuko hoped that they hadn't heard the conversation. But, judging by the wicked grin on Toph's face, she definitely had.

"Come on boys," she cackled, grabbing hold of the edge of Zuko's cloak and dragging him away from Sokka.

"I can walk on my own," Zuko grumbled, as she dragged him along through street after street, her quick steps keeping a good distance between them and the others.

Toph cackled. "Oh, I know Sparky." Her steps didn't waver as she pulled him along through the twisting back streets. "But I think Snoozles needs some time to get his head on straight."

"I don't know what you're…"

"Oh I think you do, Sparky." Toph smirked and let out another wicked cackle, taking a perverse delight in his discomfort. Zuko remained diplomatically silent as they made their winding way through town. As they walked, he slipped the papers that Sokka had gifted to him into his own pack.

He forced himself not to look back over his shoulder at the other boy. Zuko had thought that they'd mutually agreed to forget about that moment by the pond, and he'd been fine with that. Kind of. Maybe. But then… what had that been back there? He had been sure Sokka was going to kiss him again and Zuko…well…Zuko had wanted him to. What the fuck was that all about? His head hurt. He didn't really have the brain space to think through all of the implications, not when his mind was screaming at him- over and over like a fucking siren- that this Piandao was bad news, and that Sokka was walking into a trap. In the end he just surrendered, and just let himself be pulled along by Toph.

Their undignified traipse through the streets ended abruptly at the edge of town. Toph stopped abruptly at the base of a very steep hill, and released her vice-like grip on his robes. Zuko craned his neck back, following the slope up to the very top of the hill and the building perched on top of it.

The ground level view made the castle seem a lot more intimidating than it had from Appa's back. Resting high above the town, the imposing structure cast a deep shadow down onto the path below. The walls were built from strong, pale stone- piled high- and they stood cold and aloof in the morning sun. Zuko let out a long breath. Sokka would be fine, he told himself firmly. They had Toph and Aang with them. If the worst came to the worst, they could just punch a hole through those seemingly impenetrable walls and have Sokka out in minutes. It would be fine.

"Wow." Aang remarked, craning his neck to look up at the fortress, as soon as he and the siblings caught up. "That's one biiiiig castle."

"Thanks, Aang," Sokka said faintly, his own eyes tracking up and up and up from the base of the hill to the top of the castle walls.

"You don't have to do this," Zuko muttered quietly in Sokka's ear. Sokka flinched and shook his head once, sharply. He swallowed and took a few deep breaths, before squaring his shoulders and forcing a blindingly fake smile across his lips.

"It'll be fine," he drawled, walking a few steps backwards up the slope. "Don't worry about me!" With an attempt at a wink and a jaunty salute, Sokka spun round and made his way up the steep slope; he didn't slow his pace until he had reached the door to the castle.

From the distance and with his poor vision, Zuko almost missed the moment that the door opened and another figure stepped out to greet Sokka. Zuko held his breath, unable to tell one blurry man-shaped blob from another, but they didn't seem to be fighting. Zuko only hoped that Sokka was convincing enough to get through the door and not end up getting himself stabbed on the welcome mat. After a couple of minutes, the man stepped aside and let Sokka in. The heavy wooden door clanging ominously shut behind them, and Sokka was swallowed up by the castle. Zuko let out deep breath and sent a quick prayer up to Agni.

After that it was a waiting game. They retreated further away from the hill and from the town, until Aang spotted a small wooded area that they could hang around in. It would keep them out of sight, if anyone were keeping a lookout for any suspicious activity, but it was also close enough to the castle that they could hear if anyone sounded an alarm. For all Aang was painfully naïve about many things, he was a child fighting a war; some habits were simply ingrained.

A few yards in from the tree line, they stumbled upon a clearing. With a silent but unanimous consensus, they decided to stop there. They all barely acknowledged one another, as they found comfortable spots on the grass to settle down on. Toph had immediately lain flat on the dry, dusty grass and gone to sleep. Aang had initially sat cross-legged on the grass, meditating, and Katara was busying herself laying out a blanket to lie on. Zuko was glad that no one was trying to be chatty. He was pretty pissed at Aang and Katara for encouraging Sokka in this stupid scheme, for making the other boy feel like his only worth to the group was how well he could hit things with a pointy stick, and he didn't want to have to talk to them.

Morning turned to afternoon with a languid insouciance, minutes stretching into hours, as time often did when Zuko was unoccupied and his thoughts restless. Aang had long since given up trying to meditate. Instead, he had started running through what looked to be airbending katas, as Katara watched on. Toph was still asleep. Zuko didn't really know how to occupy himself, either. He had tried to meditate, as Aang had done, but his lungs felt too tight and his head too busy for him to calm his mind and his breathing. The minute he closed his eyes, his brain threw up image after image to tear at his anxieties: Sokka bound and terrified, held at sword-point; Sokka in camp uniform: gaunt and pale, bruised and beaten; worst of all, Sokka still and silent, lying on a cold stone floor as blood pooled thick and dark beneath him.

Zuko forcibly steered his thoughts away from that particular path, and gave up on meditation entirely. Katara and Aang had joined forces and were moving in perfect synchronisation through some fluid dance that Zuko knew was a waterbending move. Toph hadn't moved at all.

Zuko smoothed the folds of his cloak around him, his fingers ghosting over the edge of the bundle of papers that Sokka had given to him. He still couldn't understand that. He knew that Sokka trusted him, but the ease with which the other boy had handed over their entire strategy and battle plans took Zuko's breath away.

He didn't know quite what was going on with Sokka. He knew the other boy felt something for him, something more than mere camaraderie or friendliness. Still it was a unique experience for Zuko, and he couldn't quite figure out how he felt about it in return. The kiss had startled him, certainly, but Sokka had definitely been leaning in for another earlier and… and… Zuko had wanted it. Physical contact had never been something pleasant for Zuko, outside of the hugs from his mother, cousin and very occasionally, his uncle. But they had been a long time ago and time and experience had taught Zuko to associate touch with pain. Still, when Sokka had crowded him earlier, he hadn't felt fear, so much as anticipation. He hadn't known what was going to happen, but he'd wanted to find out. He hadn't been scared of Sokka; he had felt alive. Was that normal? Was that was people were supposed to feel?

He shook himself and sighed, heading over to the treeline and fixing his gaze on the hill in front of him. Just in case something happens, he told himself. Sokka might send up a signal, or something. The castle cast a shallow shadow in the midday sun; it looked cold and deadly, despite the heat. Sokka was in there all on his own. Best case scenario: he was trapped in a fortress with a master swordsman who could eviscerate him in the blink of an eye. The worst case scenario didn't bear thinking about. Zuko settled back against the tree, letting the rough bark scratch into his shoulder. Agni, but he hoped Sokka was okay.

Eventually Katara decided that it was time for lunch, and roped Aang into a search for kindling. Zuko sighed deeply, and wrapped his arms around himself. He contemplated keeping his watch going, but common sense told him that there was very little point. If Sokka were in any immediate danger, they would have heard something by now. Besides, he knew he couldn't avoid the others for ever. By the time he had pulled himself away from the treeline, a small pile of wood had appeared in the centre of the clearing. Zuko took a seat on the ground a yard or so from Toph and watched Katara as she busied herself with stacking the kindling into a small pyramid. It was oddly therapeutic, watching her work, and it helped him to keep his thoughts from more unpleasant things.

After a few minutes, she started rooting around in the small bag on her hip. She pulled out a small knife and laid it out on the floor. She went back into her bag, rooting deeper and deeper as her movements grew more and more frantic. Finally with a sharp cry of frustration, she upended the bag over the clearing floor. Small parcels wrapped in pale linen, loose coins, and strips of jerky tumbled out onto the grass around her. Katara stared at the mess around her, her brow creased. Suddenly, her bright blue eyes welled up, and she let out a shout of frustration. Zuko instinctively backed away, edging towards where Toph. He was not good with anyone crying, let alone women. He had no idea how he was meant to react. Toph sat up suddenly, rubbing at her eyes.

"What's wrong, Katara?" Aang asked, masterfully stepping up to the plate. He edged closer and put a tentative hand on her shaking shoulder. Zuko's shoulders slumped in relief.

"I forgot the flint," she all but whispered. "I must have left it back with Appa. How could I be so stupid?"

"Hey," Aang cut in quickly. "You're not stupid; it's just a silly mistake. People make them all the time." He smiled warmly at Katara, even though his own eyes were looking a little too wide for him not to be panicking himself. Zuko felt his respect for the boy shoot up.

"You were right, Katara," Toph said in an oddly gentle voice. "I think we all need a break. We've not stopped for days and none of us are properly sleeping."

"I know-"

As Toph had been speaking, Zuko had been breathing deeply, sinking into the patterns of his chi and coaxing a gentle flame up into his palm. If a fire was all they needed to cheer Katara up…well that one he could manage.

He carefully fell to his knees and crawled over to the fire. Bringing his hand up to the pile of kindling, he let the small orange flame catch on the twigs and strips of bark; after a few seconds, it caught, and small flames began to lick at the edges of the wood. Letting a small, satisfied smile push its way onto his lips, Zuko sat back on his heels and let the energy from the bright flames course through his body. It was strange feeling, a mix of both his own energy and that contained within the scraps of bark and wood, but it was strangely comforting nonetheless.

He slowly realised that the others had fallen into silence around him. Peering out of the corner of his good eye, he noticed that Katara looked a little stricken, whilst Toph had a considering pout on her face. Zuko swallowed heavily, and reminded himself to keep his breathing steady. He picked up a log and fed it into the fledgling fire, as if he had done nothing untoward. As if he hadn't just bent fire in front of them for the first time.

"Thanks!"

Zuko startled at the cheery exclamation from Aang.

"Um… you're welcome." Zuko coughed awkwardly, pulling himself to his feet and brushing his hands together to rid them of the light layer of ash.

"That was really cool!"

Zuko winced at the sheer delight in the Avatar's voice.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Aang continued on blithely. "I've only really had one firebending master and it didn't go all that well… but I hadn't even thought about asking you! You can teach me all about firebending and then I'll be a master of all the elements- like a proper Avatar!"

"No!" Zuko and Katara exclaimed at exactly the same moment. Katara blushed, and refused to look at Zuko, focusing her attention on Aang.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Remember what happened last time you tried to bend fire? Besides, you're still learning how to earthbend, aren't you?"

Aang frowned at her in disappointment for a long moment. "You still don't trust Zuko, do you?" His face was heavy with grave disapproval. "That's what you mean."

Despite the fact the Avatar was all of twelve, there was a weight and a gravitas to his disappointment that made the hair on the back of Zuko's neck prickle.

"It's not that…" Katara began.

"It is." Zuko cut across her, not really wanting to get into another discussion about his loyalties, or whether or not he could be trusted. He took a deep breath and forced down the rising irritation in his chest; they were just children, they didn't understand. "But it's doesn't matter. I can't teach you, anyway."

Katara and Aang spun around to face him at that, and Toph cocked her head in his direction.

"That's basically all the firebending I can do at the moment," he admitted quietly, gesturing to the low fire crackling and popping away at his side. "I have no idea if I can even remember the katas, let alone if I can do them."

Katara's shoulders slumped in obvious relief, and Zuko tried not to feel too stung. Sokka hadn't flinched at his firebending. He'd liked it. But Sokka wasn't here right now; he was off in a fortress with a master swordsman.

Aang frowned for a long moment, before a bright grin split across his face once again.

"Well, why don't you teach me what you know?" He beamed, coming to sit by Zuko's side. "It's not like I've got much to work with already. Even knowing how to make a flame would be better than nothing!"

"No," Zuko shook his head before Aang had even finished speaking. He stood, pointing to the fire as he continued his explanation. This was important; he needed Aang to understand him clearly. "Fire is dangerous, Aang. What happens if you lose control? I can't help you rein it in."

"But-"

"It's dangerous." The crackle of wild fire reared up once again, from his memory. This wasn't up for discussion.

Aang dropped to his knees, extravagantly. "Please Sifu…"

Please, Father.

"No!" Bile rose in Zuko's throat. His clenched fists were starting to smoke; he looked down at them in alarm, before opening his palms out and shaking the sparks from them. "You see!" He turned to Aang. The fire flared bright and hot by his side. "If I still can't learn control, how am I supposed to teach it to you?"

He hadn't realised that he had been shouting until the words had left his lips, leaving a ringing silence in their wake. Sparks danced across his fingers, and his heart was pounding painfully in his chest. Aang flinched away from him, refusing to meet his eyes. A heavy pang of guilt ran through Zuko. He hadn't meant to shout, he'd just been frustrated and Aang wouldn't let it go and… Zuko trailed off. Agni, he sounded like his father. And with Aang on his knees and flinching and…

His stomach churned, guilt giving way to nausea. He bolted for the trees, stumbling through the foliage, until his stomach finally rebelled. His knees gave out and he ended up hunched against a tree trunk, heaving. Finally after what felt like hours, he collapsed backwards and ran a shaking hand over his face. The sharp spike of acid prickled his throat at burnt the back of his nose. Tears prickled in the corner of his good eye, and a high pitched whine was buzzing in his bad ear. He was exhausted, and his hands were shaking.

It took a while for him to calm down, but he finally managed to slow down his desperate sobs. As his breathing calmed so, slowly, did he. He had no idea how long he'd been outside, but the sky was already dark above them. Zuko allowed himself a few more minutes to come back to himself. He had to go back and apologise. He knew that. But what was he supposed to say? He had been worried about Sokka, he had been frustrated that the other boy was making stupid decisions and confusing him and… No, that wasn't an excuse for losing his temper. There wasn't ever an excuse for that.

Shaking himself, Zuko forced his recalcitrant limbs into action and levered himself to his feet. His knees felt weak, but he forced one foot in front of the other until he got back to the clearing. He lingered on the tree-line, mustering his courage. He shifted from foot to foot, awkwardly until Katara finally spotted him. She narrowed her eyes at him and turned away, but she didn't reach for her water flask, so he took that as a sign of encouragement. He wandered up to the fire, taking deep, steady breaths. He didn't want his panic to overwhelm him with a fire so close. If he wasn't careful, he'd make it flare and scare them all over again.

Toph and Aang were sat by the fire, Toph warming her toes. They had been chatting quietly, but they fell silent as soon as Zuko walked towards them.

"I'm sorry," he began hesitantly, pitching his voice to address Katara too. A log popped on the fire behind him, spitting sparks up into the cool evening air. "I got angry and I lost control. Fire is a dangerous element and I need to be more careful." He bowed to each of them in turn.

No one replied. The silence grew more and more cloying as time drew on. Zuko felt a warm blush grow up the back of his neck. They didn't want his apologies, he realised. And why should they? After how he'd behaved, after who he'd behaved like? He'd done it; he'd driven them away. He knew he'd fuck things up eventually, so he had no right to be surprised. He nodded tightly to himself and sucked in a sharp breath. He'd left a few things back with Appa. He would go back there straight away. Maybe if he was lucky, Appa would give him a lift to another island, somewhere with a bigger port, where he could fade into the background until he could find a ship to the colonies. If not, well, he would manage. He would have to. It was probably for the best that Sokka wasn't around, in the end; it would just complicate things even more.

Turning to head out of camp, Zuko reached into his pack for the bundle of paperwork that Sokka had trusted him with. He would muster his courage and hand it over to Katara. He could do that. He wasn't that much of a coward.

"You missed Sokka, you know?" Toph spoke suddenly and Zuko froze in his steps. "You've been gone for hours."

"He's okay?" Relief flooded through Zuko at Toph's words.

"Oh yeah," Toph's tone was arch, a smirk twisting at the corner of her mouth. "He's learning how to swing a sword- he's golden." She scoffed loudly. "He thinks that this Piandao guy knows something, but he doesn't want to push too hard." Zuko hesitantly turned around, as she kept talking. "He's staying there overnight, said he'll give it one more day. If he doesn't get anything by then, we'll leave tomorrow."

"Oh…" Zuko shuffled his feet and ran a hand through his hair. "That's…um… that's good."

Toph raised an eyebrow and continued on with the same arch tone. "He wanted to go looking for you-" Zuko swore his heart stopped pumping for a moment at Toph's words "-but I told him you needed to brood on your own for a bit." She scoffed. "So, are you done?"

Zuko froze, really not sure what was going on. Toph was talking to him like a friend…she hadn't told him to leave, hadn't thrown rocks his way until he scrambled his way out of their clearing and their lives.

"Um, I-"

"Aren't you going to sit down?" Aang asked; his voice was shy and tentative. "Katara's making dinner soon."

Letting out a shaky exhale and barely daring to hope, Zuko looked between him and Toph. She smirked wryly and patted the floor at his side.

As soon as he was sat, Aang turned to him, and bowed, making the sign of the flames with his hands. Zuko nearly choked on his own spit.

"What are you doing?"

"Apologising." Aang replied, his head still lowered. "I shouldn't have pushed things earlier. You asked me not to and I didn't listen. I'm sorry."

Slowly, barely daring to breathe in case he shattered the tentative peace, Zuko stuttered out a quick, but suitably formal acknowledgement. Aang looked up, a bright smile on his face. Zuko felt himself returning it, surprised beyond all reason at how the evening had turned on a dime.

Toph yawned. "Now you're done being idiots, can we focus on something actually important." She waved a nonchalant hand in the air, almost thwacking Zuko in the chest. "I've got a cool metalbending trick to show you," she grinned wickedly, and reached into her tunic. "Who wants to see me juggles knives?"

An hour or so later, which Zuko and Aang had spent trying to hide every sharp object in a hundred-yard radius from a cackling Toph, Katara passed round the bowls for dinner. She handed Zuko's to him with only a small scowl and a muttered "apology accepted".

The next morning, Zuko was already awake to welcome the dawn, worn and exhausted after a night with little sleep. He had spent the night on the tree line, propped up against the body of some ancient evergreen in a sort of half-doze, his good eye trained on the faint silhouette of the castle walls against the starry sky, and his thoughts drifting. He hadn't dared let himself fully drop off. The creeping black tendrils of memory had been clawing away at the back of his mind, and Zuko knew better than to give them free reign over his dreams. He had spent hours sat like that, just watching as the trees around him cast flickering shadows in the pale moonlight and sinking into meditative breathing.

Finally the sun was high enough in the sky that the ethereal blue haze of dawn had faded into the pale light of morning. Zuko sat up from the tree and cricked his neck. If the others weren't up by now, he wasn't going to feel guilty for waking them. He was restless after the long night, and he needed to feel the fire stirring in his veins. Breathing in deeply, Zuko coaxed his chi to ignite, revelling in the feel of the energy surging through his body. With the next exhale through his nose, he forced the flames down to his fingertips, watching them flicker and dance across his knuckles and twist and turn between fingers. After a few minutes, he shook out his hands, extinguishing the flames.

Drawing himself to his feet, he inched over to the trees and picked as many leaves as he could carry. Moving back to his spot, he sat back down and dropped two small handfuls in a rough pile before him. Slowly picking up the first leaf, Zuko sucked in a deep breath, and set fire to the corner. He had always failed at this exercise as a kid. Control had never been something he was particularly good at. It had always felt as if he had too much emotion, too much anger, too much fear, too much...everything, bubbling up inside of him. His fire had always been harsh and hot and furious, but it had always burnt out quickly: flash in the pan rage- impotent, ineffectual rage- that left him exhausted and frustrated and empty. Zuko sucked in a deep breath once again, and forced his concentration back to the leaf in front of him. He could do this.

The flames were obnoxious and stubborn; they didn't want to listen to him. They wanted to burn, to eat up the fragile leaf, to take in all that extra energy and grow and spread and burn. It took a lot of effort for Zuko to hold them back. It was an entirely new exercise to anything he had attempted since recovering his fire. The first few attempts failed miserably, and he was almost halfway through his pile before he managed to even halt the flames.

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation would have given up ages ago, would have lost the grapple against his own power and have been left shivering, as the pale, cooling ashes disappeared in the wind and the unavoidable crash of a cane came down across his shoulders. Prince Zuko would have failed. But he was not that child anymore. He picked up yet another leaf and started again. If the camp had taught him anything, it had taught him patience. These days he knew how to hold back, how to sit and wait, and how to hold onto his reserves for when he most needed them. As he continued to breathe, deeply and meditatively, Zuko fought the eagerness of the flames and forced them to follow his will. He was doing it. Finally. With every exhale the flames crept slowly forwards, dancing delicately across the pale green surface of the leaf, painting it a deep, charred black. Zuko smiled; he was in total control.

"That's amazing!"

Zuko started, and the flames surged forwards, racing forwards to claim the last half an inch of unburnt leaf, before flickering out. Zuko swore and dropped the smouldering stem to the ground.

Aang was standing a foot or so to his left, on his bad side. Agni only knew how long the boy had been waiting there, watching him. Zuko bristled, feeing distinctly uncomfortable.

"I-" Zuko turned to look at the young Avatar. "I was just practising."

"It was really cool though." Aang's smile was bright and beatific. "You were there for ages. I didn't realise fire could burn that slowly." Aang bounced on the balls of his feet, looking enthralled and… curious. Zuko felt his stomach drop.

"I meant what I said last night," Zuko said lowly, fixing the boy with a stern glare. "Fire is dangerous. I'm learning to control mine." Aang only smiled wider. Zuko brought a hand up to his forehead. "I am not teaching you how to do that."

To his surprise, Aang only nodded solemnly.

"I understand," he acknowledged. "I…well you're not the first person to tell me that." He shuffled his feet, eyes flickering between Zuko's face and the ground.

"Hey!" Toph's voice cut across their conversation. "It's time for practise, Twinkletoes!"

The young Avatar, not renowned for his love of conflict, jumped upon the excuse like a Raven Eagle on a squirrel toad. He ran off, leaving Zuko to watch as his pile of leaves slowly scattered on the morning breeze.

Zuko heaved out a sigh, and headed over to help a half-awake Katara build a fire. It was easier to light than it had been the night before. It seemed that with every day his strength was increasing, every time he reached for his chi, it reacted quicker and more accurately. Katara shot him a cautious, but grateful look, and something strange jolted in Zuko's chest. She had deep bags under her eyes and she still had leaves trapped in the braids of her hair. He doubted he was the only one who had been avoiding sleep all night.

The rest of the morning plodded on slowly. Katara showed Zuko how to prepare breakfast and he repaid her by not commenting on how similar the porridge was to the slop they used to serve back in camp. It was edible, so he wasn't complaining; not that he would have done if it wasn't.

Toph and Aang had broken for breakfast, but had been right back to work the minute that Toph had finished her second helping. They were working on fine control, Toph emphasising the grounded stance and steady, slow movements necessary for precision and detail. It was fascinating, and Zuko found himself drawn into the lesson. Toph's feet stomped and slid over the grass and minute, exquisitely detailed figurines sprung up from the dirt at her call. It was incredible, and it stole the breath from Zuko's chest. Toph had boasted often, and loudly, that she was the best Earthbender alive and Zuko hadn't had any reason to doubt her. But this…this was something else. This was…this was sunbeams dancing over the crashing waves, the soaring green flames of a sage's solstice fire, the roiling ooze of magma from a freshly erupted volcano. It was sublime. Zuko couldn't help but look at Toph with newfound awe; her power and skill were incredible.

The exercise continued until the early afternoon when Katara insisted that they stop for lunch. Aang collapsed to the floor in relief, clearly bored by the need for stillness and patience that Toph had been trying to drill into his flighty little skull all morning. Toph rolled her eyes, and started stomping at the ground, erasing all evidence of the morning's practise. Zuko's stomach flipped weirdly at the sight of such incredible artistry disappearing into the dirt once again, but it was stupid to leave such obvious evidence of high-level earthbending just lying around in the middle of the Fire Nation. Suddenly, Toph paused in her clean-up, one foot still raised in the air, ready to stomp. Slowly, she put it down and titled her head. Her brow furrowed as she listened to something only her impeccable ears could hear. Katara and Aang exchanged a tense, worried look over the camp fire.

"It's Sokka," Toph said grimly. "It sounds bad."

They didn't even bother to pack up camp. Barely stopping to grab their bags, they set off at a dead run, clearing the tree line and reaching the slope to the castle within seconds. At first Zuko couldn't hear anything but the pounding of feet, the ringing in his ear and the sharp rasp of his own breathing. But as they ran further up the hill, he began to make out the sharp ringing of steel on steel and the rasp of a blade against stone. There was shouting too, the faint sound of Sokka's voice high and panicked on the wind. Toph had been right: it sounded bad.

Katara set her shoulders and pushed ahead with a wild yell. Zuko gritted his teeth and focused on his own breathing, forcing the chi through his body to lend his legs what extra power he could muster. Something swept by on Zuko's left and he startled. It was Aang. The avatar raced ahead of the group, his airbending lending a boost to his steps that sent him streaking ahead of them. Katara called out to him, urging him to wait for them, but he wasn't listening. Zuko swore loudly and picked up his pace, racing after Aang as quickly as he could.

When they finally got to the castle, Zuko's muscles were screaming. Aang had already knocked a hole through the outer wall with his earthbending, and was nowhere in sight. Zuko waited a tense few seconds until Katara and Toph caught up with him, taking the chance to flip his hood up and over his head, and then they breached the castle together. The sound of crashing blades was almost frantic now, and a low, sickly feeling of dread coagulated in Zuko's stomach. No one was speaking any more, but Zuko could hear Sokka's muffled yelps and cries with every ringing blow of steel. Zuko cast a silent prayer to Agni to let Sokka hold on just a bit longer. They raced down corridor after corridor, Katara leading the way, as they headed further and further into the bowels of the building , Sokka's cries growing more and more frantic. Then, rounding one last corner, they came to a staggering halt in a small courtyard.

Sokka was stood in the middle, his chest heaving and his arms trembling as he held his sword in a basic duelling stance. The tip of the blade was pointed at a tall figure- a man, adorned in a long, deep red robe and caped in shadow. The stranger's hair was dark, almost as dark as Zuko's, and it was tied in a perfect topknot. Zuko couldn't help but notice that not even a strand of it had fallen out of place during the fight. Sokka's own bangs were loose and pasted haphazardly across his forehead with sweat. He looked exhausted; Zuko doubted he could last much longer.

Off in the corner there was another man, this one heavyset and with greying hair. He wasn't intruding on the fight, but he didn't take his eyes off Sokka. Zuko quickly catalogued the threat, but as long as he stayed over in the corner, he wasn't the biggest concern. For now, that was the master swordsman eyeing Zuko like a hungry catagator; Sokka never would have stood a chance. Zuko sent up a silent thanks to Agni that they'd arrived in time. Only- Zuko cast his eye around the courtyard and couldn't see anyone else around- where the ever-loving fuck was Aang?

"You fight very well," the man addressed Sokka directly, ignoring the sudden arrival of three other teenagers in the courtyard. Zuko snapped his eyes back to Sokka's trembling form. "You've learnt a lot."

Sokka didn't reply, but the tip of his blade dipped closer to the floor; he wasn't going to be able to hold the guard up much longer.

"Come on, Sokka, you can do better than that." The master stared down his blade at Sokka's quivering form. "Or is this the best the Water Tribe can expect from their warriors?"

Zuko felt his stomach churn. Sokka had been discovered! Then his brain processed what the master had said. Had Sokka really given the master his own name? A boy names Sokka, in the middle of the Fire Nation? Why hadn't he just gone with Lee? There were plenty of Lee's. Zuko stepped forwards. Across the room, so did Piandao's assistant. Fuck. Zuko didn't move again.

Sokka's arm was shaking; he was exhausted. The master smiled and shook his head. Zuko snarled. Piandao was toying with Sokka; he could finish this fight in a heartbeat if he wanted to, but he was dragging this out. He wanted to see how long Sokka would last.

Sokka sucked in a deep breath and lunged forwards, only to have his sword swatted aside by the master. It fell to the floor with a sharp clang that sent a stabbing pain through Zuko's bad ear. Katara's hand flew to her hip and Toph raised her foot, ready to stomp. But, before either of them could move, something came hurtling down from the roof above them and landed between Sokka and the swordsman.

"Aang!" Katara hissed in terror, as the young boy shifted into a basic defensive stance. But Aang ignored her, entirely focused on the man in front of him.

The swordsman regarded the new arrival for a long moment, before he stepped back and slowly sheathed his sword. A quick lift of a finger and the man in the corner hurried over with a small towel and a cup of water. Zuko watched the master warily. It seemed as if the man had stopped his assault, but Zuko knew all too well how quickly masters could move. He had no doubt that if Piandao wanted to, he could have that sword out and heading straight for Aang's heart in the blink of an eye. Zuko did not want to test the man's speed against Aang's ability to dodge. Avatar or not, airbender or not, steel was steel and dead was dead.

"I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar," the master smiled, turning back towards Aang.

Zuko's heart stopped. How had the man known? As far as the Fire Nation was concerned, the Avatar was dead, right? He didn't want to hear anything else. He was done. Darting forwards, he grabbed Aang's arm in his right hand and caught the fabric of Sokka's jacket with the other. He spun around and heaved, all but throwing them towards Katara and Toph.

"Run!" He bellowed and charged towards the doorway. His feet, trained by the twisting pathways of dark mines, found the path through the corridors with ease, the others following on his heels. Then they were at the hole in the outer wall and they scrambled through it, half running and half stumbling down the mountain path and back towards town.

"We've got… to get back… to Appa!" Sokka said through gasping breaths. His legs shook and he looked like he might faint any second. "I asked…about ships…he said…Water tribe…he knew…"

The others just nodded in agreement. They needed to get off the island immediately. Who knew how long it would take for Piandao to spread the word that the Avatar was still alive and in the heart of the Fire Nation?

The run back through town was fuelled by pure adrenaline. Zuko kept Sokka on his right hand side, so that he could watch him from the corner of his good eye. By the time that they reached the town square, Sokka had started to lag a bit and Zuko slowed down alongside him. Sokka was gasping for breath, so Zuko let them pause for a quick thirty second break, just off the main square. But after those thirty seconds were up, Zuko forced them both back into a jog. They couldn't hang around.

Soon they had reached the edge of town, only a few hundred feet from where Aang was waiting with Appa. Katara and Toph already climbing up into the saddle. Something was wrong. Aang was trying to tell them something. The young airbender was waving his hands and shouting something, but Zuko couldn't make it out properly. Aang pointed behind them, and Zuko glanced over his shoulder. His blood froze. Not too far behind them, the merchant from the weapons shop was chasing after them, calling for them to stop. Zuko swore loudly; he had known there was something fishy about that man. Had he known about Aang the moment they stepped into his shop?

"Stop!" The man shouted as he ran towards them. Zuko swore under his breath and doubled his pace, feeling Sokka do the same at his side. "Wait!"

They were getting closer to Appa. They just had to make the last stretch. Thirty yards. Zuko concentrated on sucking air into his lungs, forcing his tired legs into the fastest sprint they could manage. Twenty yards. Zuko could hear Aang screaming for them to hurry up. Ten yards. Almost there. Five yards. Zuko staggered to a halt in front of Appa.

"Come on, let's go!"

Zuko dropped to a knee, lacing his fingers together to offer Sokka a boost into the saddle. The other boy didn't hesitate. He planted his foot in Zuko's hands, pushing off as Zuko stood, and heaving himself upwards into the saddle.

"Wait!" The merchant was nearly on top of them. Zuko jumped, forcing his chi down through his feet and using it to boost his leap into the saddle. He landed with a jolt, and the hood slipped back from his face.

"Wait!" The merchant shouted once again, his voice hoarse from the exercise.

Aang picked up Appa's reins.

"Please!" The man begged in desperation. Zuko turned without thinking and looked down from the saddle. The man was only about ten feet away, still sprinting towards them. He looked up and met Zuko's eyes. The man's jaw dropped and his face paled with horrified shock.

"Fuck!" Zuko swore, quickly moving to pull his hood back up, but he knew that it was too late. The man had seen him, he'd recognised him.

Aang turned round, quickly checking they were all in the saddle, before calling out to Appa. They were in the air in seconds, the bison sensing the urgency of the situation.

"Please," the merchant cried one last time. He had stumbled his way up to Appa's side and was hurriedly pulling something from behind his back.

"Here," the man cried and threw something up into the saddle. Zuko flinched back, expecting some kind of explosive, but it was a simple package. It landed at his feet with a heavy clunk. The leather ties around the bundle fell apart to reveal a sturdy and sharp straight sword, some small parcels of what looked like dried food, and a flask of water. But nestled behind them, Zuko caught a flash of shining silver that stole his breath. There, underneath the layers of smaller parcels, peaked the handles of two other swords: the dual dao.

Zuko spun around and stared over the side of the saddle. The merchant was still standing below them, but when he saw Zuko turn, his hands quickly made the sign of the flame and he fell into a deep bow. Zuko watched in incomprehension as the man shrunk smaller and smaller, his back still bent in deference even when Zuko could barely make out his shape against the dotted rocks around him. Zuko sat back, his jaw still hanging open. Had that actually happened? That merchant had seen his face, had recognised him and had bowed to him? Spirits, was he… what did that mean?

"What's that?" Sokka's voice tore Zuko from his startled thoughts. The island was far below them now, and Appa slowed his pace, coasting along on a current of warm air.

Zuko looked down at the package at his feet, beating back his panicked thoughts and trying to focus on the present. Sokka had picked up the straight sword and was balancing it in one hand, testing the weight like a professional swordsman.

Zuko tried to remember how to put words together, but his mind was too busy replaying the image of the merchant bowing to him, acknowledging him, a traitor, as royalty.

Finally, he managed to stutter something out. "The merchant…he threw it to us."

"Yeah, I saw that much," Sokka drawled sarcastically. "Must have been on our side after all, huh?" Sokka let out a laugh, but his voice was still tight with tension. When he took a quick glance at Zuko's face, however, whatever he saw there made his brow furrow concern. "You okay buddy?"

"Yeah," Zuko replied quickly. He was, it was just… he was just a bit…shaken. He'd be fine. Was fine. Whatever. "Are you?"

Sokka let out a tight, incredulous laugh, but didn't reply. Instead he jabbed the tip of the sword into the heap of assorted packages.

"I meant," he said. "What's that?"

Zuko followed the point of the blade and stared down into the bundle. There, nestled amongst the small, cloth-wrapped packages, lay a small tile. Zuko picked it up and examined it closely. It was circular, about the width of his thumb in diameter and painted with the image of the lotus flower. A sudden, overwhelming surge of hurt rushed through him as a single bright memory crashed to the front of his brain with the force of a speeding cart. A familiar garden, turtle ducks in the pond, the taste of chamomile tea and sweet biscuits on his lips, the relief of a kind touch spreading salve across bruised knuckles, a warm laugh, and a large circular board.

"It's a pai sho tile," Zuko supplied finally, his voice quiet and hoarse. Sokka looked at him questioningly. "It was my uncle's favourite game."

Katara and Aang had scrambled over and were rifling through the parcel with interest. Toph hung onto Katara's shoulder with a white knuckle grip.

"Well…" Sokka began, his eyes not leaving Zuko and the tile that he was slowly turning in his palm. "What does it mean?"

Zuko frowned down at the lotus pattern, willing it to make some kind of sense, but he just came up blank. If it was supposed to be a message, he didn't understand it, and if it was supposed to be a signal, he had no idea he could trust it. For all Zuko knew it was just a random piece from a game he had never learnt how to play and would prefer to forget.

He handed the tile back to Sokka, meeting his eyes with a deep sigh. "I have no idea," he replied quietly, watching as the tile disappeared into a pouch on Sokka's belt. "But that's not important right now."

Sokka nodded. "I know." He swallowed heavily and turned to address the others. "What do we do now they know that Aang's alive?"