My hands are placed firmly on the sides of my head as I pace in front of the others. 'What's wrong with me?!' I think harshly to myself. 'He's gonna die in there! He's not gonna make it, he's gonna die, and it's all my fault! It's all my fault, I didn't even think about him! What is wrong with me, I didn't even think about him!' "This is all my fault... What have I done...?"

"No one could have known," Katara says. "It's not your fault."

"For once I agree with my sister," Sokka adds, "they fooled all of us."

"You don't get it," I exclaim, "I told him to follow that tunnel! I told him to go and now they have him! Who knows what they're doing to him in there!"

"They probably won't hurt him," Katara says. "They might use him as bait like they did with us and set up a better trap."

"But they did hurt you. Anyway, I don't remember you saying his sister is very thoughtful."

"Azula?!"

"I couldn't see, but she said 'our Uncle'. Unless you have any other siblings?" Zuko shakes his head silently, eyes downcast.

"It wasn't really her, was it?" Aang asks. "How did she escape so fast? Zuko?"

"It wasn't her..." he mutters quietly.

"Then who was it?" Toph grumbles.

Zuko shakes his head again. Toph looks about to say something, but me and Aang shake our heads and silence her. Sokka and Katara glance at us with a certain level of understanding. Zuko hasn't been the same since Iroh...

It's been a little over an hour since we escaped, and the sun's starting to come up. We've been collecting what wasn't destroyed at camp. Well, I have. Katara's been doing healing sessions with Toph, Sokka, and Aang. Zuko hasn't left his tent. I wish Kuzon was here... I can't imagine what they're doing to him right now... Every second that passes by hits me harder than that water whip. Stumbling to my knees from pure lack of strength, I feel myself begin to cry. How could I just leave him? What was I thinking? I sigh. How long is it gonna be until everyone's healed enough to go rescue him? Is he gonna make it that long? Are we...? I know they're going to come for us now that we're weak and vulnerable. How many are going to come? Will we make it through them? And if we don't, what will happen to Kuzon? What would they do to him? Even worse, what would he think if I never showed up? What does he think now?! Oh no, Kuzon! I'm coming, I promise! I'm sorry! "Elian!" I only hear it faintly, a desperate voice not unlike my own, before I realize that my vision has gone dark and... and... ugh... I don't feel right...

Whoa. Where am I? Oh no, that scream! That scream, it's -! "KUZON!" I sob, racing forwards as fast as I can go. But suddenly my feet stop below me, and I look down to see that I'm slowly being encased in ice. "KUZON! KUZON! KUZON, NO!" There before me, at the end of a long hallway, stands an open door, and through it... I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my head away. I can't look. There was blood... a lot of it. I feel like I'm gonna throw up... No... "KUZON!"

"E-E-li-an..." I shoot my eyes open and gasp at the sight – Kuzon, suspended by ropes, hangs ten inches from my face.

"Kuzon..." I sob. "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry, Kuzon, I tried to come back, I tried! I tried, Kuzon!"

Suddenly the ropes disappear and he tumbles to the ground. I kneel in front of him, hardly noticing the ice gone from my feet, and look into his face. His eyes ease open and slowly a shaky smile cracks over his face. "E-li-an... I-I..."

"Kuzon... I'm so sorry..." I pull him against me, clutching tight around his chest. It's too late...

"El-ian... P-Please... I-I... I... l-love you..."

I shoot my hand to his mouth. No... "KUZON! KUZON, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! KUZON, I NEED YOU! KUZON! Please! Kuzon, I can't lose you! I can't lose you... Please... Please... I only just met you... We've had so little time together... I was just getting to know you... Please... I can't lose you now... I can't... Kuzon? Please... I... I love you too."

"ELIAN!"

"Aang... Maybe we should just let her –"

"ELIAN! Elian, wake up!"

I can feel myself shaking, a violent knot in my heart and an ocean of tears pouring down my face. "Elian! Elian, what happened? Are you okay? Elian?"

Slowly, the blank sky begins to come into focus. Aang? What's...? "Please!" I beg, clutching his wrist desperately. "Please tell me it was a dream, please Aang! Kuzon! We haven't found him yet, right? Please!"

"Whoa, whoa, Elian, it's okay... He's fine. They won't have done anything to him yet. We have time. Elian, are you okay?"

I manage to nod through my shaking, but I can't make myself stop crying. I pull Aang into a hug and he gently hugs me back. "It's okay, Elian..."

"I'm gonna go tell the others," Katara mutters.

I'm starting to lose track of time. How long has it been? That was a dream, right? Kuzon... He has to be okay, he has to be. Miserably, I clutch handfuls of Aang's outfit and sob. He has to be... The time we had isn't enough... I'm not ready to lose him yet... I'm not ready to see that again. How he hung so limply from those ropes... How he collapsed in front of me... How... how strained his voice was as he struggled to talk... I can't see that again... I squeeze my eyes shut, take a deep breath, and let go of Aang. "I'm sorry," I whisper through a silent sob.

"We'll find him," Aang says. "We'll get him back, I promise."

"I know," I respond quietly. "I know you can get him back. I know we can him back. All of us. But what if we don't? What if we're just not ready? What if we're not strong enough and they attack us? We can't defend ourselves in this state. If they attack, Aang... They know how vulnerable we are, and they know where our camp is. By the time we're ready to go back and rescue him... I don't know if you'll be there... I don't know if they'll be there..."

"Don't think like that," he says. "Remember what you told me? They're strong. They're gonna be okay. I'll be alright, Elian. And so will he."

I nod slowly and a long silence echoes, filled only by the hushed voices of Katara, Sokka, and Toph. "How... how are your arms?"

"Oh! I'm fine, see? Katara healed it completely! Awesome, right?"

I grin, knowing that he's not talking about the waterbending. "Yeah..." I mutter. "It doesn't hurt at all?"

"Nope! So... are you okay?"

"Yeah... We'll... we'll get him back." I quickly wipe the fresh tears off my face.

"He's gonna be alright. I know I can't know for sure, but... I have a good feeling about this. Ya know, you were right about one thing – it's not safe here. We have to find somewhere else until we're strong enough to go back in. Come on, let's go tell the others. It'll be alright."

I nod and follow Aang to the group. Katara speaks before Aang can. "Aang! Just in time, I was about to go get you. We decided on a plan."

"Us too."

"We need to find somewhere safer until everyone's recovered," they both say at once. Everyone bursts into laughter except for me and Zuko. He's still in his tent.

"Well I guess that's decided," Toph says.

"Yeah," I say, "but who's gonna get Zuko?"

Everyone went quiet. Then Zuko himself steps out of his tent with a large bag – that must be all of his things – to join us, and mutters, "I heard," before turning to pack up his tent. Sokka quickly rushes over to help him.

We decided as we left that we're going to Ba Sing Se. They said it was probably the safest place we could go. Once we got to the city we were all welcomed immediately. It sounds like they've done something amazing here... People have been thanking them everywhere. I haven't asked Aang about it. I don't really care right now... "Are you sure they'll be okay...?" I ask again.

We had left Appa and Tiki in an enclosure in the Agrarian zone, where Aang assured me they would be safe. I don't like leaving Tiki with people I don't know... "They'll be fine," Aang says again. "Like I said, Kenji's a good friend. I know he'll keep them safe."

"If you say so..." Cosmo nuzzled my face reassuringly. Him and Momo are sitting on either shoulder. They've taken to both hanging with me. I guess they like having each other.

Suddenly I notice Katara glancing carefully at Zuko, and I nudge Aang as she leans close and whispers, "I've been thinking – what do you think happened to Iroh's tea shop?"

"The Jasmine Dragon?" Aang whispers.

"The Jasmine Dragon?" I copy in a whisper. "You mean that?"

"Whoa." The three of us stop, making the others stop and look too. A poster for The Jasmine Dragon.

"But it looks new," Sokka mutters, confused. "You don't think it'd still be open, do you? Who would even own it?"

"It can't be..." Zuko mutters.

"It says someone named Kyro owns it. Do you guys wanna check it out?"

They agree that it can't hurt anything just to check, and so we soon find ourselves in front of a very not closed Jasmine Dragon tea shop. People enter it and leave it like nothing ever happened to it's owner. But who is Kyro? The others didn't seem to recognize the name when I said it. Slowly, silently, we all enter, and a man that looks to be in his late sixties or seventies shows up in front of us, looking so much like Iroh in his laugh lines and gentle smile that it's suddenly not a surprise that Iroh would pass his shop off if it was to him. He brushes back his disheveled brown hair and his golden-brown eyes, matching perfectly in shade to Zuko's own, shine brightly as he says, "Hello. My name is Kyro, and I will be your host today. Welcome to The Jasmine Dragon."