I woke up and got out of the tent, looking to see if Zuko was still sat outside Katara's tent. The sun had long been up, normally I was awake by now but I wasn't surprised that I had stayed asleep.

I looked around and saw Aang and Sokka talking to each other, it looked like Aang was trying to teach him some form of martial arts.

"Kila, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"It's noon, normally you're up the earliest." Aang commented.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sokka asked as I sat down. My head span and I realised that I was very not okay.

"No. Where are Zuko and Katara, he wanted to talk to her?"

"They are talking, all's fine. What's wrong?"

"I feel dizzy. And like I'm going to be sick."

"That's not good, no training today." Aang said making me smile.

"Do we have any food?" I asked as I struggled to stay awake.

"Yeah, we have some-" I heard someone walk up behind me and gently grab my shoulders before I passed out. I blinked my eyes and looked up at Zuko.

"-ila. Kila? Are you okay?" he asked as he pulled me so that I was sat up again. I blinked and nodded.

"I'm just hungry. I haven't eaten in a while."

"Why didn't you tell anyone, cinders Kiki." Zuko said as he sat next to me. Aang grabbed some food from their breakfast and handed it to me. I ate it slowly, trying to stay awake long enough to finish. I smiled and leant against Zuko's shoulder.

"Are you okay now?"

"I will be fine." I replied in an equally quiet tone. I tried not to fall asleep as I leant against him. I must have fallen asleep at some point because Zuzu was waking me up as the sun set.

"Kila, you're not okay are you?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine, just ill."

"I should stay here, look after you till you feel better." he replied reaching for the bowl of soup that had clearly been set aside for me.

"Or you could do what you were going to do, I can look after myself Zuzu." I said as I sat up and took the bowl from him. I warmed it up before taking a sip whilst pointedly looking at him. He blushed and turned away.

"Okay. Just don't do anything that could make you feel worse. Promise me that."

"Promise." I replied. He let out a breath before leaning forwards and kissing my forehead then standing up. I drank the soup and walked over to the bowl of water Katara used to wash the bowl up. I knew that the sea was also an option but I wasn't going to do that, so I washed the bowl out in the basket before going back to my tent.

I pulled my roll over me and listened to the crashing waves. Though I feared water, the sound of waves always brought happy memories, of when I had jumped in and out of them as a child with my father.

I woke up as Aang poked his head through the flap.

"You okay?" he asked, coming in and sitting opposite me. I noticed the lack of roll next to me and realised that Zuzu hadn't come back.

"Where's Zuzu?"

"He went with Katara, to go do something. They'll be back soon." Aang replied as I sat up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now, all the better for eating."

"Then come on, we have to pack up. Katara sent a letter saying we were going to Ember island."

"Do you even know where that is?" I asked as I rolled my roll up.

"No, that's why I was hoping you did."

"I do. I visited a couple of times." I replied as I strapped it onto my bag and got up. Aang smiled and walked outside.

I packed away the tent and walked over to the others as Appa landed. Zuko jumped off first and was quickly followed by Katara. Zuko walked over to me and looked me up and down cautiously.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better. I just needed to eat. What were you doing?"

"Helping Katara. We need to move though, we need to get closer to the Fire nation before we attack." He said as he took the tent bag from me. He walked over to Appa and strapped it in as I walked up to him.

"Is everything between you and Katara okay now?"

"Yeah." he said as he took the bag from me and tied it on. "Ember island isn't that far, we'll be there within an hour."

"I know. Zuko, is something bothering you?" I asked, the way his shoulder were tensed was not normal for him anymore.

"No, I'm fine." he said, consciously relaxing his shoulders.

"Zuzu, what's wrong?" I asked again as I stepped closer. He let out a long sigh and turned to face me.

"How are we going to do this?" He took in a breath and stepped towards me. "The comet is less than a week away and Aang is far from perfecting fire bending."

"He'll be fine. He has you as a teacher." I said as I opened my arms. He stepped into them and leant his head against my shoulder.

"I wish he could have you. You would have taught him all of it by now."

"I doubt that. Iroh taught you. You had the dragon of the west, I just had my father."

"At least you didn't chase him around the world." Zuko replied as I felt a drop of water hit my robe.

"I did Zuzu, I did, with you."

"Kiki, I mucked up. i-" I pulled back and forced him to look at me.

"Zuko, you were only doing what you believed was right." I got in before he could finish his sentence.

"I know, but how- could I have been so blind. Cinders, if I had known what father was planning." he didn't finish and instead went back to the hug. We stayed like that until everyone else was on Appa.

"We have to go." I said gently.

He stood up straight and nodded, jumping onto Appa and offering me a hand up. I took a couple of steps backwards before taking a running jump. Zuko pulled me in when I didn't quite make it. He smiled as we left the place and I couldn't help but feel a weight lift from my shoulders too, I didn't want to stay anywhere near that house.

We reached Ember island as the sun came up, Katara, Zuko, and Aang getting off first. I let out a yawn and stretched before getting off Appa and joining the others on the ground.

"I haven't been to Ember island in years." I heard Zuzu say as I walked towards him.

"Didn't your family have a house here?"

"Yeah, they did. We haven't been here for a while. We could probably use it as our house for a while."

"Are you sure? Won't that be a bit risky? What with it being right on his doorstep?" Sokka asked. While he did have a point I knew that the likely hood that his father would come here was low.

"We'll be fine." Zuko said before grabbing his things and walking towards the large house at the top of the small hill. I grabbed mine and followed behind him. He was still tense about what would happen if we failed.

"Zuzu." I said as we reached the door.

"What?"

"Are you sure about this? Is it a good idea?"

"Yes. He won't come here."

"I meant for you." I said as I stood in between him and the door. He looked at me before sighing.

"I don't know."

"Then maybe we shouldn't-"

"We have no other choice. This is the closest we can get without getting too close. Besides, if you stay with me the nightmares won't happen." he added on, the last barely a whisper. I nodded and stepped aside. He opened the door and started down a corridor. I followed him, if he wanted me to stay with him then I would.

He pushed open a door and stalled at the sight inside. It was his room. It was lavishly decorated, with lots of reds and oranges. He walked over to the bed and dumped his bag on the floor next to it before falling onto the covers.

His room was similar to the one I had had in my house. I walked over to him and dumped my bag on the other side before sitting next to him. We sat there quietly for a while before I reached over and gently pushed his hair out of his face. Then he started to cry. Then he broke. I moved closer and lay down next to him, wiping away the tears as they fell.

"We can't do it." he said quietly.

"Yes we can." I replied as I leant forwards and kissed his forehead. He closed his eyes and wiped away the tears on his cheeks that I had missed.

"How?"

"The comet will work on us as well. The fire lords son, a prodigy, and Iroh if he's still fighting, all effected by the comet." I replied before pulling him into a hug. He calmed down after that.

"I'd loose my head if it weren't for you." he said, his voice still croaky from the crying. I smiled and pulled away, he grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"I'm just going to get changed, and put on my ointment." I said. He let go and I opened my bag, reaching for my comfortable pyjamas and the ointment. I stood up and undid the tie that held my top closed. I took it off and started to rub the ointment into the top of the scar.

"I don't think I've ever seen all of your scar." Zuko said. I spoke without thinking.

"I'll show you."

I finished rubbing in the ointment and untied the string around my trousers. I poured some ointment into my hand and rubbed it in before turning to Zuko, feeling very naked, though I wasn't.

"Wow." he said as I walked over. He reached up and gently touched the skin on my ribcage. He almost withdrew it as his other hand reached up to feel his scar. I sucked in a breath as he gently ran his fingers over it, feeling every crack and split. I could still feel his touch, long after his fingers had moved to a different place.

"They feel different." he said, his voice an octave lower than before. I nodded and reached over to touch the skin near his eye. He closed it and let me feel the scar.

"They do." I said, my ears turning red at how breathy it had come out. I pulled my hand back and stepped away. He opened his eyes and watched me as I grabbed my other clothes and put on my bed wear. I could hear him getting changed as well as I pulled out my wheels.

I ran my hand over the edge, not hard enough to cut, but enough to see if it was sharp. It was. Zuko sat on the bed and my weight shifted, sending me over the blade.

"Ah cinders." I said as I brake rolled and held my hand to my chest. I could see it was bleeding badly as I looked down at it. Zuko jumped off the bed and landed next to me, pushing the wheel away. He gently took my hand and looked at the cut. It was pretty deep and bleeding a lot. Zuko got up and walked towards the door.

"Put pressure on it, I'll get Katara." he said before running down the hall. I applied pressure near it and watched the blood trickle down my hand as I heard Zuzu yell for Katara. There were two sets of footsteps then and the door opened. Katara had her orb of water out as soon as she saw my hand.

She knelt next to me and placed her hands over mine, the water turning warm as it worked its magic. I closed my eyes as she asked me a question.

"What happened?"

"I was seeing how sharp my wheels were, but I lost my balance and fell onto it." I replied as she lifted her hand off, the wound healed. I smiled up at her as she stood up.

"Be more careful next time." she said before leaving.

I looked at what remained of the wound as Zuko sat down next to me. I leant my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry. I should have been more careful." he said. I shook my head.

"It's not entirely your fault, I knew you were getting changed, I should've thought ahead."

"It was both of our faults then." he said before standing up and offering me his hand. "We were going to sleep." he said as we walked over to the large bed. I fell onto it and pulled the cover over me. It had been so long since I had slept on a bed. I heard Zuko laugh as I rolled over and watched him get in. We lay next to each other, just breathing, not quiet asleep, but not awake either.

It was morning before I realised I had fallen asleep. I stretched and almost hit Zuko in the face before pulling back and rolling over to look at him.

"Hey, Zuzu." I said in a whisper. He stirred slightly and I smiled as his eyes opened. "Good morning." I said as he sat up and stretched.

"Good morning." he replied, his voice husky and halfway through a yawn. I sat up and got out of the bed, grabbing my training clothes before standing straight.

"Where's the bathroom?" I asked.

"Down the hall, I can't remember which door."

"I'll find it." I replied as I started down the hall.

I showered and changed as Zuko came out of the room. I smiled as I passed him, looking inside Aang's room to see if he was awake yet. He wasn't. I walked in and poked the avatar until he got up. I wouldn't be teaching him today, I was training on my own, but Zuko would rather he was up.

"Alright, I'm up." he said as he finally opened his eyes and stood up. I smiled and walked out of the room, walking towards the back of the house, where the garden was.

I started slow and simple, testing if it was a good leg day, or a bad one. It was a good one, I realised as I started to do harder, more challenging moves. Spinning kick, Axe kick, double punch. Normal blasts of fire. Back flip into front flip with blades made of fire. Front flip into back flip with throwing knives made of fire. Walls of fire. Turning fire punch.

I stopped and took in several deep breaths.

"I have never really seen you fight. That was amazing." I heard Katara say. I turned to look at her as she walked over and offered me a drink.

"Thanks." I replied as I took a long sip.

"You really should be training Aang, but I understand why you can't." she said as she started back into the building. I would have continued training but I was already tired. I walked inside and followed Katara, she seemed to know where she was going. When we stopped I could see Zuko training Aang.

"I'm still not sure that this is a good idea." she said as she sat down.

"This would be the last place he would check." Zuko said as he sat down and grabbed the towel from nearby. He looked calmer than he had yesterday, maybe Aang had progressed faster than he had thought.

I heard a pair of footsteps coming down the hall and turned to be met with Sokka and Suki.

"Guys, look what we found." Sokka said as he held out a piece of paper. It was a poster with the words, the boy in the iceberg, written on it.

"It's a play." he said with a smile.

"About us." Katara added with a frown as she got up and walked over.

"Can we go and see it?" he asked with a smile.

"The group is terrible." Zuko added as he walked over.

"Please, It'll be fun." Sokka asked. I shrugged.

"It could be a well needed break." I said. The others pondered this and eventually they all shrugged.

"Sure. Not sure if its a good idea to see a play about us, but it could be fun." Katara conceded. Sokka jumped up and let out a whoop.

When the sun set we all slowly started towards the theatre. We had all changed out of our normal clothes, so that we could walk amongst them without causing a stir. I had put on a short cloak over my old fire nation clothes that I had brought with me. They were cropped and showed the last part of my scar so I wore my boots instead of my training shoes. I wore a sleeveless shirt under the cloak, which I regretted quickly as the sun went down.

The place was packed with people, Sokka and Suki had managed to get us a booth in the upper circle. I watched as Toph, Katara, Zuzu, and Aang claimed the first row. I sat next to Suki and Sokka as we waited for it to start.

"When do you think they'll introduce me?" I asked, leaning forwards so that I was leaning on Zuko's shoulders.

"Probably at my Agni kai with Zhao." he replied as the curtains went up. The crowd went quiet quickly. I sat up straight and watched as the play started with Katara and Sokka in a boat.

I let out a laugh when Zuko appeared on the stage.

"I didn't think your hair was that long." I said as I leant forwards.

"They got the scar on the wrong side." he replied. I smiled and sat back. The scene changed to Kyoshi island and I saw someone who hadn't been on stage yet. They performed a kick and a few of the kyoshi warriors went down.

"I think that's you." Zuko said as the crowd realised who was on stage and booed. At one point the Kila on stage got knocked down and then as Aang was running away from Zuko she jumped out of the way.

"You could have caught him!"

"Traitor!"

I flinched and gripped my seat hard.

The scene's continued with little of myself or Zuko, I was glad. Until we reached the scene on crescent island.

Kila and Zuko were shown getting caught by Zhao, though Kila snuck under the chains and went to free team Avatar.

"Traitor!"

"Traitor!"

"The Morning star reached a new low!"

"Betrayer!"

I stood up and walked out of the booth. I looked for a way out to the decking I could see. I walked and eventually found one before I sat down and cried. It was bad enough hearing those thoughts in my head, it was worse hearing it from people I had never known.

I sat there for a while until I heard others come out in large amounts. I started when I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder.

"Kiki." Zuko said gently as he sat down next to me.

"I'm sorry, I'm probably ruining this for you." I said as I swiped at my eyes.

"There's not much to ruin. You were crying?" he said as he placed his hand under my jaw and made me look at him.

"Sorry."

"Don't apologise." he said before letting go and pulling me into a tight hug.

We stayed like that for a minute before he let go and got up.

"Come on, the other's are probably wondering where we got to." he said as he offered me a hand up. I took it and we walked over to where the others were sat.

"Well, that was terrible." Katara said from where she sat.

"Agreed." the others said.

"I sound nothing like that." Katara continued. I heard Toph laugh as I sat down. I watched as a kid ran around wearing an air nomad costume. He stopped and looked at me before speaking.

"That's a good costume. Do you have the scar?"

I flinched and tightened my fist before shaking my head, almost choking on the lie I was about to tell.

"Too much work." I replied. "Probably quicker to have it burnt than paint it." I continued before standing up. Zuko reached for my wrist as the boy ran off.

"Kiki."

"I'll be back, give me some time, okay?"

"Okay." he said before letting me go. I ran, trying to ignore the pain in my leg and the fact that I could feel the knee going.

I reached the beach before looking around and checking to see if anyone was around. There was no one. I screamed and let out a white hot blast of fire. Then another before kicking and sending a wave towards the sea. After several heaving breaths I noticed the footsteps on the stairs.

"It was the boy wasn't it?"

"Yes Zuzu."

"I didn't know you could use white fire."

"Only on occasion." I replied as I walked over to him. I leant my head against his chest and he placed his hands on my shoulders which I hadn't realised were cold.

"You're cold."

"I know, I'll warm up." I replied as he let go and started up the stairs. I followed after taking a deep breath and relaxing my hands. I know that if I had been closer to the theatre someone would've noticed me, would have realised who I was.

We all walked into the theatre and took our seats as the second part started. Aang and the others were looking for an earth bending master. Aang flies off and finds Toph. I stifle a laugh at the sight. The others seem equally amused, though Zuzu seems shocked.

"-ter than a flying bald lady." I caught the last part of Toph's sentence. Aang seemed marginally annoyed by the comment.

"Hey at least you're not getting booed." I said, leaning over towards the avatar. He looked up at me and smiled slightly.

"That is a good point." he replied.

We fell silent as Toph said that they don't see through their feet but instead they scream. I flinched as they let out a loud scream, I noticed Zuko reach to cover his ears.

Its a little while before anything interesting happens. The scene is Zuko and Iroh splitting up. I lean forwards and speak quietly.

"You two split up?" I asked, startling him slightly. He turned before nodding.

"For a couple of days. He was dawdling and we needed to get to Ba Sing Se. We met up again afterwards." he replied.

"I think I remember the letter, you ended up in a small village didn't you?"

"I did." he replied. I smiled and leant back into my chair.

The play continued, Azula was cornered but escaped, Aang and her fought on the drill at Ba Sing Se, Jet was crushed. The next scene was Zuko and Katara imprisoned. I sat up straighter.

"You were imprisoned?"

"Yes." he looked like he wanted to continue but the scene continued with Katara flirting with him. I stifled a laugh as both of them tensed and moved away from each other. Aang got up and left, I almost stood up to grab him but I decided against it, he needed time.

Zuko then pushed Iroh away and sided with Azula in the ensuing fight. I leant forward to ask if he had actually said that, but Katara beat me to it.

"I might as well have." he replied. I placed my hand on his shoulder and rubbed it gently.

The scene continued, Aang going into the avatar state, then getting shot down by Azula. I flinched.

"Did that happen?"

"Yes." Katara replied. I sat back and watched the last few bits before the intermission started. I heard Sokka ask Suki if she could sneak him behind the stage as we left. Iw walked out towards the fire flakes stand and bought some with the little money I had on me.

"That's a good costume, but why of that traitor, you could play Azula pretty well." they said as the filled the small bag. I smiled slightly and clenched my fists.

"My hair is too long for Azula."

"Hey, I think I recognise you." a voice behind me, one I didn't recognise. I turned slightly and pulled my cloak closer around myself.

"Really?" I said. They looked me up and down before shaking their head.

"You look like this girl I knew, five years ago now. Her name was Luka, heard of her?"

Luka. Oh god, she had been dead for five years. no.

"Of course, she was of the noble families wasn't she?"

"Yes. Left behind a little sister, Kila, the traitor."

I flinched and attempted to cover it up with a shiver.

"You're cold?"

"No I'm fine." he seemed to ignore it and gently reached out to touch my shoulder. His hand was warm and I tried not to jump away from him, I failed and took a small step away. He moved his hand and smiled slightly.

"Here, have this." he said before taking off his cloak. I shook my head but he put it on over my shoulders and I sucked in a hard breath. Inhale. 1. 2. 3. Exhale. 1. 2. 3. he placed his hand back on my shoulder and then I don't know what happened. I don't remember it. All I could think about was uncle.