disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!

Fire XIV, Pt. I

"Fine, go ahead and lay around like a bunch of snail-sloths; see if I care!" He ground out, storming away.

She watched him leave and sighed, grabbing his glass of juice along with hers as she stood, trotting after his leave with Ayu at her heels. "What's with you? You're being grouchier than usual during training." She asked when she caught up to him, handing him his glass.

Zuko scowled slightly down at the drink, huffing. "It's complicated." He answered.

"'Complicated' how?" Mariko wondered dubiously, sipping her drink aimlessly and then grimacing; she forgot she hated watermelon. "What's more complicated than your current standing with everyone at home?" She added dryly, pouring the contents into a nearby bush.

"Something worse than what happened during the eclipse." He grumbled.

She neared his side, grabbing his sleeve and looking at him when he turned to her. "Like I'm going to tell? Zuko, what is it?" She asked, the tone in her voice gentle and concerned.

He held her amber stare for what felt like hours before exhaling, taking her hand and leading her further away from the others towards the beach, telling her of what was said during the war meeting he'd attended the day before the eclipse, of what his father's intentions were in regards to Sozin's Comet.

By the time he finished she was practically shaking, but not with fear; no, fear had fled after Ba Sing Se fell months ago… It was with anger. Anger at how the invasion had backfired like a stink-bomb, anger at what the Fire Lord's true intentions were, anger at how cruel and just-plain-evil Ozai truly was.

"Is that why you want Aang to be more adept at fire-bending? Before the comet comes?" Mariko asked quietly as they sat on the cliff overlooking the beach, watching everyone else having fun and playing in the water without a care, without knowing about the horror that was to be Sozin's Comet.

"Yeah. But I don't know if he's ready just yet… He has to be, though, to face my father. We all have to be." Zuko replied with a slightly grim tone, scowling at the clear blue sky that stretched for hundreds of miles beyond them.

She exhaled softly, looking at him. "It's not just him, though, your father. Azula, too; you know that nightmare's not going to end if Aang simply defeats your father. She's going to be a problem." She said.

His eyes hardened at the reminder and he nodded. "I know. As much as I don't want you to get hurt, let alone anything worse than that, I know you and I have an unfinished score with her." He mused darkly.

Mariko smiled wryly, taking his hand that rested on his knee and squeezing. "I'm not going to leave your side, even if you face her… Or your father. You couldn't get rid of me for three years straight so trying now would be pretty stupid." She half-joked.

Zuko's jaw tightened at the image of her facing off against either his sister or father, exhaling wearily. "I hate when you get like that." He looked at her and smirked determinedly. "But I wouldn't have you any other way." He added.

She smiled, perking up as he looked down at the others again and pulling her hand back; she sighed. "Might as well let you break it to them... gently." She added the last bit vainly, letting him get up.

He smirked wryly, "Yeah, 'gently', because that works every damn time." He joked, hearing her laugh quietly before he hopped down over the cliff, sending a blast of fire screaming onto the sand-sculpture Sokka made.

Mariko shook her head, petting Ayu as she'd nestled on her left side, watching the scene unfold.

::::::::x-x::::::::

"I have a surprise for everyone!" Katara said as she came back from hunting in the kitchen, stirring everyone's attention.

"I knew it; you did have a secret thing with Haru!" Toph beamed.

Sokka, Suki, Mariko and Zuko gave her odd looks.

Katara deadpanned, "Um, no. I was looking for cooking pots in the attic, and found this! Look at baby Zuko; isn't he cute?" She teased lightly as Sokka, Suki and Toph laughed, smirking at the sore look from said prince. "Lighten up, I'm just kidding."

Mariko snorted and shook her head with a chuckle. "I'm not sure if that's Zuko…"

"That's not me, that's my father." Zuko corrected grimly, quieting the group.

Suki spoke up, "But he looks so sweet and innocent."

"Well that sweet little kid turned out to be a monster, and the worst father in the history of all fathers." Zuko replied blandly.

"But he's still a human being." Aang spoke up.

Mariko raised both brows in mild surprise, "You're going to defend him?"

"No; Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably be better off without him. But there's gotta be another way." Aang defended as he turned to face the group.

"Like what?" Zuko bit out.

"I don't know… Maybe we can make some big pots of glue, and I can use glue-bending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore!" He said, his face brightening at the idea.

The prince refrained from snorting, going along with it (albeit sardonically), "Yeah, then you can show him his baby pictures, and all that will make him good again!" He agreed even as Suki, Mariko and Sokka snickered quietly in the background.

"Do you really think that'll work?" Aang wondered.

"No!" Zuko snapped, shooting down the notion at the drop of a hat.

Aang sighed, getting up and starting to pace, "This goes against everything the monks taught me. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like!"

"So what? You're the Avatar; if it's in the name of peace, I'm sure the universe will forgive you." Sokka said nonchalantly, ignoring the annoyance building up inside his friend.

"This ISN'T a joke, Sokka! None of you understands the position I'm in!" Aang exploded, glaring at him, at all six of them.

"Aang, we DO understand! It's just…" Katara hesitated.

"Just what, Katara, what!?" He barked.

"We're trying to help!" She exclaimed.

"Then when you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" Aang shouted, twisting on his heel to storm off back into the house.

"Aang, don't walk away from this!" Katara began to go after him before a hand was placed on her shoulder.

Zuko regarded her confused expression patiently, "Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself."

"Oh no; I knew it was only a matter of time… APPA ATE MOMO!" Sokka wailed, zipping over to look into the maw of the bison. "Momo, I'm coming for ya, buddy!" His voice echoed from inside the beast's mouth.

Katara deadpanned, "Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo; he's probably with Aang."

Mariko slapped her forehead, straightening from her spot lounging against the prince's left side, flexing her knuckles. "Besides, Appa's a vegetarian; he doesn't eat meat, let alone his best friend… That would be Ayu's job." She added dryly.

"Ayu wouldn't eat Momo; a chew-toy, maybe, but not food." Toph pointed out.

"That's just what Appa wants you to think!" Sokka declared before diving back in.

"Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka!" Zuko snapped impatiently, "Right now we have a big problem; Aang is missing and the comet is only two days away."

Katara looked at him, "What should we do, Zuko?"

"I don't know…" Zuko began, straightening, blinking once at noticing three out of the four girls present had their eyes on him questioningly. "Why are you all looking at me?" He demanded, starting to feel odd at being stared at.

Mariko looked up at him from letting Ayu nuzzle her cheek, "You're the genius that's adept at tracking Aang, remember? If any one of us knows how to find him, it'd be you, Zu." She explained patiently.

It was a few hours later that they were flying in the direction of the Earth Kingdom territory with Zuko leading.

"Um, Zuko, I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but why're we heading to the Earth Kingdom?" There's no way Aang's there," Sokka asked confusedly from the saddle.

Zuko stared ahead at the intended destination, "Just trust me."

Mariko had an idea of what he was thinking of and exhaled, slouching down in the saddle between Toph and Ayu, folding her arms. "Here we go again."

::::::::x-x::::::::

She rolled her eyes at the familiar sight of the brawl that had calmed down (even if momentarily), keeping to his side out of reflex as their group neared the bounty-hunter seated at a table in the middle of the seedy tavern.

"Oh great, it's Prince Pouty and Sword Girl; where's your creepy grandpa?" Jun greeted the rag-tag group blandly.

"He's my uncle, and he's not here." Zuko answered in the same tone.

"I see you made up with your girlfriend." She huffed.

"SHE'S NOT MY/ HIS GIRLFRIEND!" Zuko, Mariko and Katara bellowed in unison.

Jun snorted quietly, "Okay, okay, sheesh! I was only teasing… So what do you want?" She looked at her drink idly.

"I need your help finding the Avatar." The prince replied.

She drank from the glass, "Doesn't sound like much fun."

Zuko glared at her, "Does the end of the world sound like 'fun' to you!?"

Jun glanced up at him before reluctantly complying, ushering the teenagers out of the bar and to where she'd left her shirshu.

Appa growled at the shirshu before licking its face, calming, as they approached; Jun held up a raw steak, "Nyla." She cooed, tossing the meat to her pet, who ate it happily.

Ayu nuzzled up to her master, whether out of protection against the shirshu or some vain jealousy, the earth-bender wasn't sure; she rubbed her head gently, smiling.

"Okay, who's got something with the Avatar's scent on it?" Jun asked of the group before Katara scrambled onto Appa's saddle to show she had kept his glider, taking it with her as she hopped down.

Nyla sniffed it carefully before shuffling around the area to sniff more, retreating near her master to plop down and cover her snout with her paws, whimpering in her failure.

"Well, what does that mean?" Zuko wondered.

"It means your friend's gone." Jun replied.

"We know he's gone, that's why we're trying to find him." Toph piped up.

"No, I mean he's gone, gone: he doesn't exist." She pushed darkly.

Sokka spoke up, "What do you mean Aang doesn't exist? You don't mean that he's… y'know, dead?"

"Nope, we could be able to find him if he was dead. Huh, it's a real head-scratcher; see ya." She shrugged, hopping onto her shirshu's saddle.

"Helpful; really helpful." Toph groused.

"Wait; I have an idea. I know of one other person who can help us face the Fire Lord." Zuko piped up, looking at Jun, "I'll be right back with a smell sample."

Mariko watched him hop onto the saddle to rifle through his bag, lifting a brow in mild curiosity before he returned with something that had flies buzzing around it.

All seven teenagers grimaced at the stink coming from the sweaty sandal in his hand.

"You seriously kept your uncle's old sweaty sandal?" Sokka demanded.

"I think it's kinda sweet," Toph said.

Mariko grimaced again and covered her nose, "I can't believe you kept that thing! I coulda painted a portrait of Uncle if you wanted a memento of him that bad!" She complained.

Zuko rolled his eyes and let the shirshu sniff it.

Once getting the scent registered in her snout, the mole creature sniffed the air before jetting off into the forest.

"Oi, wait up!" Mariko barked before they boarded the bison's saddle again and soon followed the shirshu.

::::::::x-x::::::::

She heard Ayu growling quietly next to her.

Rousing, she looked over her shoulder to see him lying next to her with his back facing hers, slightly surprised he didn't hear the tiger-dillo's growling; she looked at said pet and saw that her amber eyes were narrowed, her ears twitching back and forth.

When Ayu growled to wake her that usually meant something was coming.

"Ayu…" She murmured, perking up as the rock tent Toph had put up dropped instantly; she jumped to her feet just as Zuko, Katara, Sokka and Suki also did the same, a ring of orange flames encircling the group.

Two figures clad in white and navy appeared ontop of the rubble that used to be the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, and another two joining them, as the quartet looked on at the teenagers.

Mariko blinked as her eyes focused on one particular member of the quartet that had graying black hair… "Piandao?" She murmured, confused.

"Well, look who's here!" Another of the quartet, one with a hunched back and green eyes (one eye looked bigger than the other, she could swear that much…) chortled, grinning oddly at them.

It appeared that only Sokka and Katara recognized three of the four of the quartet of elders.

part two is still in the works, ladies. this part is mostly dialogue and, as mentioned in the A/N of the previous chap, getting the board pieces into motion. part two is going to be mostly action, some family reuniting moments, and a lovely epilogue. anyway, reviews are well-loved here and all. (: later!

*edit: also, yes i had make fun of Jun's snarky comment regarding Zuko and Katara (: and srsly, 3k+ views? AWESOME~