The gentle ebb and flow of her element did nothing to soothe Katara, who was practicing by the fountain in an effort to distract herself from her worries. Sokka had arrived hours earlier – before the sun had even risen – to help break the news to Jet about Iroh's true purpose in leaving the temple.

It hadn't gone well. Not that anyone had really expected it to.

Because Jet was Jet and his hatred of the Fire Nation was as much a part of him as her waterbending was a part of her. It was something he and the Freedom Fighters had lived with for years, had thought about everyday and probably dreamed about every night. If he was ever going to let go of his grudge, it would take a lot of persuasion and time and insane patience on their end.

And, really, who was she to blame him? It wasn't like she was exactly fond of their new allies; despite having (sort of) okayed Zuko's rescue and recruitment, she was nowhere near forgiving or trusting of him - or, for that matter, Mai and Ty Lee. Iroh she could accept, since he had always been more of a sideline character, not helping her or Zuko or Azula and just going along for the ride. It was hard to feel comfortable with the idea that her former-enemies-who-had-yet-to-prove-themselves-as-allies would be sleeping just down the hall from her and, more importantly, Aang.

Still, somehow, Katara found herself agreeing to give them another chance and annoyed at Jet when he refused to so much as budge in his stance against them.

Maybe Zuko had drugged her before setting her free.

The distinct sound of a thousand-year-old stone wall exploding behind her snapped Katara out of her thoughts.

"Sugar Queen!" Toph called, obviously the source of the destruction. "Get over here! Sokka says there's some kinda Fire Nation balloon headed toward the temple!"

That was all she needed to drop her water and hurry to the upper levels of the temple.

XxXx

A red balloon with the Fire Nation insignia emblazoned on it in bold black was drifting toward them, descending at a sluggish pace. Everyone waited for it near the edge, ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

"Something's off," Sokka muttered, though he didn't dare lower his boomerang. "They're not shooting any fire or anything. Isn't that the point of a war balloon? To attack from the sky?"

"Maybe they don't wanna hurt us," Aang suggested, earning many incredulous stares. Shrugging, he said, "What? They wouldn't be the first firebender's to come in peace recently."

"That's because General Iroh didn't come in peace," Jet spat. "Don't you get it? He just came here so he'd know where the Avatar was hiding, and now he's gone off and reported our location to the Fire Lord! I bet they didn't even imprison Zuko!"

There was no time for further argument, however. The balloon had landed on the earth above the inverted, hanging temple, and a rope had been lowered down the side of the cliff. Instinctively, the group prepared themselves for battle -

– Only to be greeted by Iroh sliding slowly down the rope, managing a broad smile despite the obvious strain when he saw them. Throwing his ample weight to the side, he swung the rope toward the temple and released his grasp, landing in a crouch.

Rising to his feet, he took a deep breath, arms spread wide as if to embrace the entire structure. "It's so nice to see familiar faces again! You wouldn't believe the trouble we ran into."

Smirking, Toph nudged Jet in the ribs and whispered, "Ooh, yeah, we're in huge trouble, Queen Bee. Might as well just surrender now."

The teen gave no response save for a low growl.

Behind Iroh came Ty Lee (who didn't seem to slide down the rope so much as flip from the top straight down), Mai, and finally Zuko.

It was then that Katara noticed the difference in their appearances – Mai's hair in a long ponytail instead of its usual style; Ty Lee's cut short and fluffed at the bottom; Zuko dressed in ragged prison clothes world's away from the regal robes he had worn back at the palace, his hair long and messy and in need of a good washing. All of them were peppered with cuts and burns, though none appeared to be badly injured.

Sighing, Katara crossed her arms and said, "I'm gonna have to spend all afternoon patching you guys up, aren't I? And I'll have to go into the market to get you –" she pointed to Zuko, whose muscles visibly tensed "– a new outfit."

"Oh, don't trouble yourself," Iroh said, waving a hand as if to bat the idea away. "I'm sure I can find Prince Zuko some proper clothing."

"A-and you don't have to worry about healing me," Zuko rushed to add, standing rigid and military-like, as though a single misstep could spell death. "It's just a couple cuts. They don't bother me."

As he spoke, a small gash on his cheek reopened. Blood trickled out, running down his cheek.

"Right," Katara said, rolling her eyes as she stepped closer, already uncorking her waterskin. Behind her, anger seemed to roll off Jet in palpable waves.

Shifting uncomfortably, Zuko glanced between her and – over her shoulder – Jet. "Um, maybe it can wait. I'm kinda tired."

Before anyone could question him further, he darted away, climbing the stairs on their left with the determination of someone who knew exactly where he wanted to be.

Or maybe it was the determination of someone who knew exactly where he didn't want to be.

Watching his retreating figure, Sokka frowned then – shrugging – said, "So, what kind of trouble did you guys run into? Anything we should worry about?"

"Yes, it's something we should worry about!" Jet snapped, moving to stand between his friends and enemies (well, who he considered enemies), stance tense and hostile. "Wherever they went, I bet they told everyone where we are, or made sure they were being followed when they left! We can't trust them, not when it endangers Aang."

Iroh, glancing from Jet to the other teens, began to shuffle away, muttering something about getting cleaned up. Mai and Ty Lee weren't far behind.

"And what do you think we should do?" Aang asked, grip on his staff tightening. "I need to learn firebending and right now we have two amazing firebenders to teach me. We'll deal with the risks when we have to."

"So you're not gonna do anything? You're just gonna let them try and snuff you out and –"

"No one's tried to snuff him out," Katara cut in, eyes narrowed. "They haven't done anything wrong yet."

"Nothing wrong? Did the entire week you were held against your will suddenly just slip your mind?"

"What I mean is they haven't given us any reason to believe their reform is faked," she corrected, tone slow and tight. "Until they do something to make us think otherwise, we should leave them be and let Aang get the training he needs."

This, however, didn't seem to soothe Jet's outrage.

"And what if we're attacked?" he said, gesturing toward the vast canyon behind them. "What if a whole fleet of Fire Nation ships swarm the temple while we're sleeping and wipe us out? What'll we do then? Oh, that's right – nothing, because we'll be dead."

"I guess I can see your point," Sokka sighed, arms crossing. "If it'll make you feel better, we can take turns being lookout at night."

"And," Toph said, punching her fist into her palm, "I can do some digging around to make sure there's nothing suspicious going on with our new friends."

Jet frowned, not seeming fully satisfied by their offers, but nodded nonetheless.

XxXx

The next morning came bright and early with the intense heat typical of the Fire Nation. When the sun rose Zuko went with it, as per Iroh's instructions the previous evening.

He changed into the clothing Katara had gotten him the night before (something he had marvelled at, since she bought clothing and only clothing, travelling to the market and back again in the same amount of time his uncle usually spent in a single shop). The dim rays of dawn were the only light to see by.

"Morning, Angry Freak," Sokka greeted when Zuko entered the kitchen, sitting at an antique table beside a large window. Soft daylight flooded the room, highlighting dust that hung on the air. Standing at a wood-burning stove on the opposite side of the room, Katara busied herself preparing breakfast.

A sharp, familiar pain assaulted Zuko's head as he took a seat across from Sokka. Rubbing his forehead, he muttered, "Where's Aang?"

"He's off with Iroh trying not to burn leaves or something," he said, waving his hand in a dismissive circle. Then, tilting his head slightly, he studied Zuko for a moment. "Are you alright? You look like you just swallowed a boar-cupine."

Another pang. Images flickered passed his eyes (a blue-eyed boy charging, wielding a spear, black and white paint covering his face).

"Fine, just . . . headache."

"First day here and already lying?" Toph asked as she entered the room. Clicking her tongue disapprovingly, she said, "That's not a very good start, Sparky."

In an instant, Katara had crossed the room to loom over him, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed. "Why are you lying?"

"Yeah," Sokka said, leaning forward over the table. "What've you got to hide, Angry Freak? Why so curious about where Aang is?"

Elbows rested on the wooden table top, Zuko pressed his fingertips to his temples, managing a grim smile. "Which is it – Angry Freak or Sparky?"

"Don't change the subject!"

"I'm supposed to help teach him. I can't do that if I don't know where he is."

The sibling's gazes darted toward Toph, who – apparently sensing their stares – shrugged and said, "Truth. I was more concerned about his headache."

Turning the full force of her glare on him, Katara snapped, "Well? What's with the headache? Why lie about it?"

"It is a headache, just . . . different."

"How? Why?"

Wincing at the volume of her voice and new images flitting through his mind, Zuko said, "It's just a side-effect of what the Dai Li did to me. I get these awful headaches when I start remembering things."

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd gotten all your memory back when your uncle snapped you outta that weird trance."

"It's kind of . . ." he paused, searching for the right word, ". . . complicated. I do remember most things, but if I haven't been around a person or a place for a while, it all gets kind of . . . fuzzy."

A pat on the shoulder alerted him to Toph standing at his side. With a grin and another pat, she said, "That's all I wanted to know. See? Telling the truth isn't so bad, is it?"

Throwing him on last narrow-eyed gaze, Katara turned on her heel and stalked back over to the stove, where a pot of rice was bubbling away. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Leaning back in his chair – only the back two legs remaining on the ground – Sokka crossed his arms and kicked his feet up on the table.

If he wasn't treading a minefield when it came to the other boy's opinion of him, Zuko would have pointed out how unsanitary and impolite it was to put one's boots where everyone ate.

"So," Sokka started, rocking his seat back and forth, "what exactly are these flashbacks about?"

"You."

Turning toward the pair, one hand holding a wooden spoon and the other on her hip, Katara said, "Why didn't you – Sokka! Get your feet off the table!"

In his haste to obey her (the pot of boiling water would make a terrifying weapon), Sokka threw off the precarious balance of his chair, tipping it backwards and toppling onto the floor.

Half-a-second later he scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off. "I'm okay! I'm okay!"

Despite his attempt at nonchalance, Toph cackled wildly, a noise that did nothing to ease Zuko's pounding head.

"I'm gonna see what uncle's up to," he muttered, suppressing a groan as he rose from his seat. Maybe some fresh air and quiet would help.

XxXx

He found Iroh and Aang in an open air courtyard by a gurgling fountain, no roof above their heads to fend off the sun's merciless heat. Sitting off to the side with arms crossed over his chest and back pressed against the wall, Jet watched Iroh – and now Zuko – like a dragon-hawk. At that moment the Avatar was practicing one of the more basic firebending techniques, his flames small and pathetic.

"Breathe!" Iroh barked from where he sat on the edge of the fountain. "You cannot have proper fire if you do not feed it!"

Aang hissed air passed his teeth, running through the motions again only to achieve the same results. "I'm trying!"

"You're not putting enough energy into it," Zuko said as he moved to take a seat beside his uncle, finally catching his and Aang's attention. "Give it some juice."

"I-I am," Aang insisted, not quite as convincingly. His eyes had widened slightly, mouth forming an uncertain frown.

Another jolt of pain hit Zuko, images flashing through his mind (a bald boy, arrow tattoos, wooden staff spinning flames away, peasants shrieking in terror –).

"Is something wrong, nephew?"

Meeting Iroh's worried gaze, he managed a weak smile. "Fine, just . . . headache."

Recognition flickered over his face, expression and posture softening sympathetically. He had, after all, been with him when his memories of family and home were restoring themselves. "Perhaps you should lie down."

"No, I'm fine. It'll pass."

From where he sat slouched against the wall, Jet snorted. "What good are you to us if you're sick?"

"I'm not sick," Zuko said, narrowing his eyes at him and clenching the red fabric of his pants. "It's a headache it'll –"

"Pass. I know. I just think it's awfully convenient that you got a headache the first day you're here and can't teach Aang."

He opened his mouth to protest – to say that he was fully capable of training the Avatar his current condition – only to realize that he couldn't. Clamping his jaw hut, he scowled down at his knees.

Jet's smirk was practically audible. "See? I knew it – you're not here to help us; you're here to sabotage us."

His head jerked up, every muscle stiffening at the accusation. "I'm not –"

"Guys!" Aang yelled, stepping between the pair. Despite the considerable distance already separating them, it worked. It was harder to argue with one person when you had to look at another. Gaze darting between them, Aang said, "It's not gonna help anything if you guys can't get along. Fighting the Fire Lord is gonna take teamwork, not hostility."

Glaring somewhere to his left, Jet muttered something about already facing the Fire Nation, but otherwise listened to the young Avatar.

Beaming, Aang then turned to Zuko, saying, "You can teach me, right?"

"Uh . . ."

"Not at the moment," Zuko supplied for him, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Because of his sudden reform, he has lost the drive that once fuelled his firebending. However –"

A loud bark of laughter interrupted him. All eyes turned to Jet, who merely shrugged. "Can't help appreciating the irony."

"However," Iroh continued, sending the boy a disapproving glance, "I know how he can regain it. But first –" he turned to Aang, whose expression immediately fell "– Avatar Aang must learn this technique. I'll make a lesson of it tomorrow."

"Wait," Zuko said, looking between himself and the tattooed monk. "You're going to train me with the Avatar?"

Iroh nodded, smiling.

"But he still has his bending – it won't do him any good."

"Oh, I think this is a lesson all firebenders could benefit from. And frankly . . ." he paused, sending Aang a sidelong glance, "the Avatar barely has his firebending.

Aang pouted, crossing his arms and opening his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Katara appearing at the door that lead to the inner parts of the temple.

"Breakfast is ready!" she called, one hand on the doorframe and the other at her hip, a smile stretched across her lips. As Aang darted passed, followed (much slower) by his male companions, she wrinkled her nose and added, "Ugh. Maybe you should wash-up first."

XxXx

Zuko's first meal in the Air Temple proved both painful and uncomfortable, for a variety of reasons.

The pain sprung from his flashbacking-headache, which focused mostly on Sokka and Aang. There was also the matter of Jet's heated, unyielding gaze, which made him wonder of the teen wasn't a firebender himself and trying to burn a hole in his head. The only moment Zuko was free of the intense stare was the occasional instance of Ty Lee or Mai (but usually Ty Lee) doing something that warranted the attention of the most anti-Fire Nation person at the table.

The headaches were one of the many discomforts, along with his uncushioned chair, sitting across from Katara and beside Mai, the crazy lemur (Mama, was it?) using his hair as a nest, and being forced to endure his uncle telling stories about his and Azula's childhood.

If breakfast took longer than fifteen minutes, he surely would have been a dead man.

"So, Sparky," Toph said, shoving her empty bowl to the side and kicking her feet up on the table. All scolding from Katara fell on deaf ears. "Any memories of me poppin' up yet?"

"No," Zuko said, doing an impressive job of hiding his revulsion at her dirt-caked feet. "I don't know you well enough to have lost any."

"Really?" She almost looked disappointed at the prospect of not being the cause of his headaches. Jabbing a finger at Jet, who sat beside her, she asked, "What about Queen Bee?"

Briefly meeting the other's gaze (well, death glare), he shook his head. "None of my memories of him were altered, since he knew me as Li when it happened."

"Well . . . Is there anyone besides Snoozles making your head hurt?"

"Just Aang."

As if on cue, a sharp, excruciating pain assaulted his mind along with a dozen images flashing passed his eyes. Spots of dark and light clouded his vision. He barely registered the others' voices as he gripped is skull and gritted his teeth.

The boy's eyes glowed, arms moving, flooding the ship with a torrent of water –

The boy stood, arms and legs in chains, mouth opened in a scream –

The boy sat beside him ("Do you think we could've been friends?"), knees hugged to his chest –

He stood in an ancient temple, bandaged, angry, determined ("First, we'll check each of the air temples. Then we'll scour the world –")

Something cool and soothing pressed against his temples, easing the pain just as it grew unbearable. The memories, rather than flooding through in a chaotic mess, slowed to an easy flow, each one clear and distinguished.

Zuko blinked the stars from his eyes, noting that he was now on the floor beside the table and that everyone was staring at him.

"Is that better?" he heard Katara ask, quickly connecting the subsiding of his massive headache to her healing abilities.

"Y-yeah," he said, surprised at the tremor in his voice and body. "That's a lot better. Thanks."

Katara responded by returning her water to its pouch, getting to her feet, and crossing the room, saying, "You wouldn't have been much help in that condition."

"What exactly happened?" Mai asked. A glance up told him that she, too, was out of her seat, standing a cautious distance away. As usual, her expression remained blank.

"A lot of flashbacks at once," he said, rising to his feet unsteadily, using the table for support. Glancing around the room with sudden recognition, he murmured, "I think I've been here before."

Still seated, cheek resting against his palm, Sokka raised an eyebrow. "You mean this morning?"

"No, a long time ago. I think –" another flash ("The only view I'm interested in seeing is the Avatar in chains."), then he blinked and returned to the present " – I think I came here looking for Aang."

"Aw," Ty Lee cooed, clasping her hands together and staring dreamily toward the ceiling. "And now that you've finally found him, you wanna help him. That's so poetic!"

If Mai were anyone but Mai, she may have scoffed.

Since Jet was Jet, he actually did. "Right. And we're supposed to believe everything's changed."

Toph tapped her foot on the floor in the manner someone might cup a hand over their ear. "Hm . . . Nope. Sounds like Sparky's telling the truth to me."

"Guys," Aang said, sending both scolding glances. "I think we need to be more concerned about Zuko instead of what he might be planning." Turning to the Zuko, he asked, "Are you alright? Do you think you can still train with me tomorrow?"

Pressing his fingers against his temples, Zuko closed his eyes and tried to will away the dull ache that still lingered after Katara's healing. It refused to budge. ". . . I don't know. We'll just have to see how I'm feeling then, I guess."

"Do you really think it could last that long?"

"I don't know. It only lasted two days when I got back to the palace, but the headaches were never this bad and I was a lot closer to the people there in the past than I ever was with you guys. I don't know how that'll affect things."

Iroh hummed thoughtfully, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. "That could be problematic; the technique I wish to teach you and Aang requires peace of mind and focus. I don't want to waste our limited time trying to teach you because of a headache, but . . ."

A heavy sigh brought their attention to Katara, who – crossing her arms and scowling at no one in particular – said, "I can keep an eye on him while you train. If things get bad, I can use my healing to help."

The thought of Katara watching him practice made his heart do summersaults and his intestines tie themselves in intricate knots. What if her burned her again? Not only would it kill any chance at forgiveness (she was mad enough already), but it would result in at least half the group being out for his head.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Jet said, seeming to read his mind. When Katara turned to him, hands on hips and eyebrows raised, he added, "It's two firebenders against you. They could catch you by surprise."

"I'll keep my guard up," she said, tone full of ice.

Observing the less-than-blissful couple, Zuko fought off the tiniest of grins. Maybe things weren't all bad . . .

Author's Notes: Sorry for the supreme lateness. Didn't have enough computer time last weekend. xP I made this update extra-long, though, so hopefully that makes up for things.

School is slightly ridiculous but managaeable. I may or may not have to sacrifice some of my freetime to do volunteer work for French class, though.

Disclaimer: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and all of its contents are property of Nickelodeon, which I am in no way associated with.