Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything related to it.

Chapter Twelve

Sitting across from his nephew, the old firebender waved his hand in front of the youth's face again and put on a slightly perplexed frown when there was still no reaction. He and Zuko often meditated together, but never for quite this long. Iroh's bones were already aching from sitting in the same position for what seemed like hours, but Zuko remained still as a statue. For the boy to not even notice a waving hand mere inches from his face, he must be extremely focused on whatever it was he was meditating about.

Iroh was about to resort to blowing on Zuko's face when the boy finally stirred. The old man quickly retreated, getting back into his meditative sitting posture before his nephew opened his eyes.

"Uncle?"

"Yes, Zuko?" Iroh replied with closed eyes, his voice filled with serenity as though he had been in deep thoughts the entire time.

"Do you think my people will accept me if I were to return to the Fire Nation?"

Iroh's eyes snapped open, and he blinked at his nephew's serious expression for a stunned moment. The question was unexpected. Unexpected, but not unwelcomed. "That depends on your worthiness. Do you feel you are worthy of your people?"

The prince cast his eyes downward as he gave that question some thought. "I've been so focused on myself these past few years, I'd completely neglected my country's needs. I've been so consumed by regaining my honor, I forgot why I lost it to begin with. I forgot who I was…" He looked back up to meet his uncle's eyes. "As I am now, I don't deserve the trust and respect of my people."

Iroh stroked his beard as he nodded. "Trust and respect are tricky things, for they require so much to earn, but so little to lose. If your desire is to earn your people's trust, you must be prepared to prove yourself over and over again. It is no easy task."

Zuko simply nodded. "I understand."

Sensing a certain amount of resolve in his nephew's voice, Iroh asked, "So, what will you do, Prince Zuko?"

The youth smirked. "I suppose I better get started." He got to his feet and brushed the dirt off his pants. "Where's Aang? I need to speak with him."

"He and Toph went off somewhere for earthbending practice," Iroh replied as he picked up the cold teapot that had been sitting beside him. Wrapping both hands around the pot, he heated the tea back up in no time.

"I'll go look for him then," Zuko said as he turned to go.

"But wait. Aren't you forgetting something?" Iroh asked as he poured himself a cup of steaming hot tea.

Zuko raised a questioning brow.

"It's almost sunset. You don't want to miss your little date with Katara now, do you?" The old man could barely hide his teasing smile.

Zuko stumbled. With his mind so occupied with various things, he had completely forgotten about his daily ritual with the waterbender. More importantly, how did his uncle know about that? But even more importantly… "Uncle. It's called a sparring match." With that, he whirled around and walked off as quickly as humanly possible before his uncle could say another word while trying not to appear hurried.

Iroh chuckled to himself as he took a sip of his tea. "It's a date."

After his spar with Katara, Zuko went to look for Aang. It took a while before he finally spotted the airbender and his earthbending teacher at the bottom of a small canyon. The two of them were lying on their backs with arms and legs spread out like they were about to make dirt angels.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked as he approached the lazily lounging pair.

"Oh, hey, Zuko," Aang greeted without moving from his position. "Nothing much. Just enjoying the night view."

"Yeah. The stars are quite spectacular from down here," Toph said. "I think that one's the prettiest." She pointed up into the night sky with a great big smile.

Watching the girl, Zuko couldn't keep the smile from tugging at the corner of his lips. However, he had learned by now when not to turn his head.

Toph smirked up at the prince. "Not taking the bait, huh? Well, there's always next time." She stood up with a stretch. "I think I've stargazed enough for the night. I'm going to head back.

"All right," the monk said cheerily. "See you later, Toph."

As Toph walked past Zuko, she shoved him in the side with her hand, earning herself a light shove on her head from the prince in return. She chuckled. "I'll get you next time, Sparky, so you better stay on your toes." With that she headed back to camp.

Zuko turned to Aang. "Were you two earthbending this entire time?"

"Actually, we got tired a while ago," the younger boy replied, still making no signs of wanting to get up.

"So, you're rested then," the firebender noted. "That's good."

Aang arched a brow. "Why?"

Zuko shrugged. "I just think that you and I are long overdue for another match, that's all."

"What? You mean right now?" Aang asked, a bit confused.

The prince smirked. "Yes. Right now." He attacked immediately, sending a blast of flames at Aang.

The boy rolled back and jumped to his feet with amazing reflexes, stumbling back a few steps as he nearly lost his balance. After getting over his initial surprise, a grin spread across the airbender's face. Even though they had fought countless times before, this fight would be different. This fight would be about testing each other's strengths as friends and not thwarting each other's goals as enemies. It would be their first fight without freedom and honor at stake. There was no way he would pass up on this, no matter how tired he was. Aang was up for the challenge.

Zuko advanced, throwing another flame-laced punch at Aang. With an airbending-enhanced leap, the monk levitated himself above the flame's path. Placing his hands on the prince's outstretched arm, using it as support, he somersaulted over Zuko's head and landed behind his back.

Zuko tried turning to the left, then to the right. But no matter which way he turned, Aang would shift along with him in order to maintain his position directly behind the prince. Memory of their first fight aboard his ship floated to the surface of Zuko's mind. The boy had used the same technique back then. However, the outcome will not be the same this time.

Zuko feigned a turn to the left, then quickly whirled around from the right, catching Aang off guard. Fisting both hands into the folds of the boy's clothes, the prince picked him up off the ground and tossed him.

"AAHH!!" Aang hollered as he was about to meet the ground headfirst. However, instead of crashing onto the earth, he dived into it as though it was a body of water and disappeared.

Zuko's eyes widened, amazed. That was something he had never seen the airbender do before. He cast his eyes about, trying to look for any movement in the ground. Sliding his foot across the earth to widen his stance, he thought it might be appropriate to attempt Toph's tactics in this situation. Zuko was no earthbending master…or even an earthbender at all…but he should at least be able to detect something as big as Aang rumbling towards him from the ground.

What Zuko forgot to factor in, however, was the fact that Aang didn't need to approach him in order to attack. Before the prince knew it, a ring of earthen poles sprung up all around him, effectively trapping him in a makeshift prison about ten feet in diameter.

At this point, Aang resurfaced with a wide grin on his face. "What do you think? Pretty neat, huh?"

Zuko studied the "jail bars" around him. They weren't just loose earth that could be easily kicked down. The airbender had hardened them into stone. "I'll admit that the earth diving move was interesting, but did you really think that this could hold me?"

Aang shrugged. "Not really. But it'll be fun to watch you try to get out." He planted his butt on the ground and folded his arms, watching the prince with a grin.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at the boy before moving back to the middle of the circle. Taking a deep breath, he got down into stance. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure if this was going to work or not.

With a downward thrust of his hand, the firebender sent a wave of flames towards the ground, creating a small ring of fire around himself. Bringing his hands together in front of his abdomen with his palms facing up, he inhaled deeply, allowing the energy to gather at his center. Then pushing his arms out to either side with opened palms as he exhaled, he sent the ring of fire out to meet the ring of stones, setting them ablaze.

Zuko cast his eyes about, assessing the damage. Not enough.

Calming himself, the prince created another ring of fire around his feet and repeated the process, concentrating on the energy that channeled through his body before extending beyond. As he pushed the second wave of flames out, the color of the fire began to change. By the time it reached the stone poles, the flames had turned to blue. Under the intense heat of the blue flames, the poles began to melt at the base, toppling to the ground one after another.

Outside the now crumbled prison, Aang jumped to his feet with wide-eyed shock. "Zuko, when did you…?" He didn't get a response. With a contemplative look on his face, the firebender appeared to be lost in thought. Aang went over to join his friend.

When Zuko finally looked at the boy, he asked a question of his own. "Aang, do you know what sets firebending apart from the other bendings?"

The young monk blinked at the unexpected question. Then he gave it some thought, recalling his careless mistake as well as the words of Jeong Jeong. "Yes," he said, his voice sad. "Unlike the other elements, fire has a life of its own. Without control, it will simply spread and consume everything in its path."

Zuko raised a brow. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

"I got ahead of myself and tried to learn firebending before I was ready," the boy explained with downcast eyes. "The master I was learning from told me I lacked discipline, and…well…he was right. At the time, I saw it as learning a few new tricks to play with. I was fooling around, and…ended up hurting Katara."

The firebender chewed on those words for a moment. "Are you afraid of it, then?"

Aang looked up at Zuko with a small smile. "Maybe. But I know it's something I have to do, so…I have to get over it. It would be silly to tell the world, 'sorry, I can't save you because I'm afraid to light a fire,' right?"

The prince smirked. "If that's how you think, then you won't lose control of it again."

The monk gave him a confused look. "Huh?"

"Your answer to my question…it's not wrong, but it's not really the key either," Zuko explained. "When you're bending the other elements, you're manipulating things in your surrounding. But with firebending, the fire comes from inside you." He held up his palm and summoned a small flame to demonstrate. "It's the only form of bending where you have to create the element yourself."

"Yeah…" Aang said, clearly not understanding where this logic was going. "So…?"

"It means that the power of a firebender's attack is the most dependent on the bender himself. A waterbender could make a bigger wave if there were more water. An earthbender could throw a thicker slab if there were more earth. But with firebending, whether your fire comes out as a flicker or a blaze depends solely on what's inside you. There's no outside source to rely on."

"Ah," the monk said as the lights came on. "I get it now!"

"Good. So, here's my next question. If the fire has to come from within you, then what's the thing inside that dictates the strength of that fire?"

Aang scratched his head. He wasn't sure how he ended up in this question and answer session. "Uh…aggression, right? Firebending's all about aggression."

The prince smirked. "It's will. The stronger your will, the stronger your firebending. People tend to think it's aggression, but that's because strong will and aggression often go hand in hand. But aggression without will is just recklessness, and recklessness can never truly tame the fire. However, if you have a strong will, the flames will listen to your command. You might have been reckless before, but...right now, I think you fall under this category."

"Really?!" Aang perked up. It was unusual for the prince to say anything remotely praise-like. In fact, it was unusual for him to say any of the things that he'd been saying so far…

"Yes," Zuko said with a thoughtful look. "You have a goal that you're determined to reach. Everything you're doing, you do for that purpose. That takes a lot of will power. Focus on that strength whenever you firebend, and the flames will remain under your control."

Aang simply stared up at him, speechless. Something in his mind was starting to click…

Zuko raised a brow. "What? Don't believe me? Try it, then."

The airbender shook his head and waved his arms. "Woah, wait a minute! Wait a minute! Zuko…are you…are you teaching me firebending?" he asked, somewhat hopeful but uncertain.

The prince heaved a small sigh. "Patience has never been one of my defining attributes, so you better be a fast learner."

"YES!!" Aang exclaimed as he leaped into the air and did a happy dance. "I've been waiting for this forever!!" He was overcome with excitement. "But tell me this first…that blue fire from before? How'd you do that?! I'd only seen Azula use it. Will I be able to do it, too?!"

Zuko thought back to his little stunt earlier. It seemed strange, but, despite it being his first time calling forth the blue flame, he hadn't been all too surprised by it. It was almost like he knew it would happen. He had sorted through his feelings and made his decisions. With the resolution of his inner struggles finally came the mastery of his element. Now the blue flame was his. "My uncle told me that in order to be able to use the more advanced firebending techniques, I had to straighten out my inner turmoil and gain balance within myself." He cocked a brow at the younger boy. "I don't really see that as a problem for you. You are the Avatar after all, and you have a much better grasp on this balance stuff than I do anyway. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to do it."

Aang's smile only brightened. Even though Zuko's tone of voice was more analytical than anything else, his words told Aang that he believed in him. "So…if you can summon blue flames now, then does that mean you figured something out?"

At that, Zuko gave a slight grin. "I know where we should go from here."

The next morning, Katara went out looking for Zuko and Aang since neither of them had returned to camp the night before. Despite Toph's assurance that they were both fine, Katara had to make sure for herself.

When she spotted the two of them sparring where Toph said they'd be, she breathed a bit easier. Had they been sparring all night? Then as she got closer, she gasped when she realized that both boys were firebending. Excited, she broke into a run. "Aang!"

The sparring stopped as Aang turned to Katara with a great big smile. "Katara! Look what I can do!!" He immediately demonstrated some firebending moves.

"That's wonderful, Aang! I'm so happy for you!" She pulled the boy into an embrace.

Then she turned around and hugged Zuko with gratitude. "Thank you!" In the flow of things, she planted a kiss on his lips. It wasn't until she had turned around and was about to talk to Aang again that her actions registered in her mind. She froze. That didn't just happen. She immediately whipped around, staring at Zuko with wide eyes. "Uh…" It really didn't help that he just stared back at her, his features void of emotion. Blushing uncontrollably from embarrassment, Katara inwardly cursed herself. "I…um…just got caught up in all the excitement…sorry." She laughed nervously.

"I don't know, Zuko," Aang chimed in, a smile tugging at his lips. "She never kissed me like that by accident."

Katara turned and glared at the boy. "Aang! Not helping!"

The boy only grinned.

Katara placed a hand to her temples. "You know, I'm…I'm gonna go. Breakfast is ready if you guys want to eat." She figured now would be a good time to go find a nice big rock to crawl under, but she didn't get very far before Zuko grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. Hardly even had time to yelp her surprise before he sealed his lips over hers. With one hand on her waist, his other one found its way behind her head. As graceful as Katara usually was, her arms flailed awkwardly about before finally resting on his shoulders, if only just to keep herself from falling since her legs didn't seem to be providing adequate support at that moment.

When their lips parted, Katara blinked a few times, feeling a bit hazy and disoriented. "Wh…what the heck was that?"

Zuko simply shrugged. "Rematch?"

Katara couldn't help but laugh. That was probably the most unromantic thing that he could say, but she supposed that was also a part of his quirky charm. She shook her head and smiled. "Zuko: one. Katara: zero."

The prince gave a slight smirk. "That's what I thought."

Beside them, the forgotten airbender burst out into laughter. "Good one, Zuko!" When Katara glared at him again, the boy just laughed harder then took off on an air scooter. When he was at a safe distance away, he called back, "I'm definitely telling Toph!"

At that prompt, the waterbender gave chase. "Get back here, you!"

Zuko would have followed them back to camp if it wasn't for the dark presence he was suddenly sensing from behind. He turned around to find that dark presence in the form of Sokka, glaring daggers at him. How he managed to get this close without any of them knowing was beyond the prince. This can't be good. Zuko braced himself for what's to come.

Sokka stomped up to the firebender, fisting both hands in his clothes. "Do you have any idea what you just did?! I can't believe I just watched my own sister…!" He roughly let go of Zuko and placed one hand on his forehead. "Ugh, I'm gonna have to go wash out my eyes!"

Zuko frowned, a bit perplexed, when the punch he was expecting didn't come. He was relieved, of course, but confused. "…are you all right?"

Sokka sank to squatting position, sighing in agitation as he rubbed his temples. "Yeah, just…you know…I saw it coming, but…I just wasn't prepared to actually see it, all right?" He shook his head. "My poor eyes!"

Zuko raised a brow. It seemed Sokka's train of thought was on a completely different tangent. Thinking out loud, he mumbled, "I suppose it would be traumatizing if I were to see Azula…" Zuko's eye twitched. The image that sprung up in his mind prevented him from finishing his sentence.

Sokka narrowed his eyes, his face twitching as he turned his head slowly to look up at Zuko. "That would be traumatizing for anyone…" he said in a strained and horrified voice. "Not just you… Don't even go there."

Zuko blinked down at him and couldn't help a small chuckle. "That's probably true."

To that, Sokka chuckled with another shake of his head.

Zuko didn't ask, and Sokka didn't try to explain. It became something of a silent understanding between the two. The lack of rage on Sokka's part was enough of a confirmation that he had accepted Zuko as part of their team. And it wasn't until this moment that they both truly realized that.

A/N: That's right, people. A kiss in the name of rematch. Sorry if it may seem lacking in any way, but lovey-dovey just isn't my specialty. That's about as much as you're gonna get out of me. Haha! In any case, I don't see Zuko going all out at this stage in his life anyway. He's such a blockhead. Haha! The firebending conversation was surprisingly difficult to work out, so I hope it makes sense. Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated!