Appa flew for as long as he could before he had to take a break. Something in the terrain stopped us from flying any further- so we had to walk

"This is humiliating." Katar sighed.

"What? Getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk the rest of the way to the Western Air Temple?" Sokka raised an eyebrow- his taunt having no real bite to it.

"Both."

"Sorry guys but Appa does get tired having to carry all these people." Aang affectioning scratched a part of Appa's fur.

Teo looked around quickly- assessing our emotional state as a whole. "I wonder how the rest of the troops are doing."

"Probably on their way to a prison." Haru said. "It seems like my dad just got out- not he's going back in."

"I miss Pipsqueak."

"I miss not having blisters on my feet."

"Hey we're here!" Toph suddenly cried out. "I can feel it!"

But the only thing in front of us was a foggy canyon- deep enough so that the clouds couldn't let you see the bottom. I blinked- taking a step back from the edge. "Toph I think you might want your feet checked."

"No- she's right. We are here!" Aang grinned.

"Guys it's amazing!" Toph grinned even wider. "Let's go check it out!"

Brenan shrugged and took his glidr out. "Can I check it out?"

"Go ahead." Aang nodded. "Everyone- back on Appa. It's the only way down."

"Down?"

He didn't say anything else, he just helped people back on board. I quickly followed suit as Brenan hopped over the edge and held my breath as the temple came into view. It was amazing! It looked like an upside down city built into the side of the canyon. For a second I thought that everything else was upside down as well until I saw the trees growing normally on the side of some of the towers. "It's beautiful Aang!"

"It's different from the Northern Air Temple." Teo looked around.

I grinned. "What did that one look like?"

"I was high on top of a mountain- it looked like it floated by itself in the sky. I wonder if there are any secret rooms."

"Let's go check it out then!" Haru grinned, running away. Teo and Naduke quickly followed suit but Katara stopped Aang and I from joining. "Let them go - we need to talk."

"About?"

"About what do we do next. Since you're the Avatar you should be there- Brittany- you're part of our group also- so you should also be there."

I sighed but nodded. "After though?"

"You can explore to your heart's content after." She answered me.

Aang sat down and crossed his arms. "Fair enough- so - what's the new plan?"

"Well if you ask me-" Sokka joined our group, quickly followed by Toph and Brenan. "-the new plan is the old plan! You just need to muster all four element and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes."

"Oh yeah- that's great- no problem- I'll just do that." Aang scrunched up his nose and turned away.

"Aang- no one said it was going to be easy." Katara tried to reason.

"Well it's not even going to be possible-" Aang retaliated. "-where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?"

"We could look for Jon Jon."

"Yeah, right, like we're ever going to run into Jon Jon again."

"Who's-" Toph and I started before "sharing a look" and stopping ourselves. 'We both came in later… there's a lot of people they know that we don't.' Toph sighed. "Nevermind, if it's important I'll find out."

"Oh well- guess we can't think of anybody." Aang shrugged and hovered away from us. "So why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?"

"What's up with him?" Toph asked as Aang glided away and out of our sight. Sokka sighed. "There's gotta be someone who can teach him firebending…"

The rest of us sat there for a while in silence just thinking of acceptable people to teach the Avatar the final element he needs to master. 'I wish Zuko was on our side… it would have made this so much easier if he hadn't betrayed us in Ba Sing Se.' I sighed. "Can I explore the temple now Katara?"

"Yeah… let's give Aang a few hours before talking about it again."

I beamed and ran away from the group, taking the first turn I saw and explored the place from top to bottom to the best of my abilities considering I havn't had a lot of time to rest since earlier until I was collected onto Appa to track Aang down again. The boy however was not easy to catch as I was and seemed to be almost running away. Katara groaned and called out after him. "Aang! Can we talk about you learning firebending now?!"

"What?" He screamed back. "The wind is too loud in my ears! Check out this loop!"

He then moved himself upward and backward and found himself in front of us again. From my side Brenan rolled his eyes and jumped off of Appa, catching up to the airbender in his own glider. "Come on Aang! We have to make a plan for our future!"

"Ok- we can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table." We finally got him to land. "Oh- and you're going to love the all day echo chamber."

"I think that'll have to wait." Topg glared straight ahead.

"Why?"

Appa then roared as Toph pointed behind us. We turned to look at what it was and there stood Zuko.

We gaped at him- our faces showing almost the full range of emotion except for happiness.

He raised his hand in greeting. "Hello...Zuko here."

We got into defensive positions."Hey so I heard you guys flying around down here… so I thought I'd just wait for you here…"

Appa stepped closer to the teen- roared once more and then licked Zuko. Twice more for good measure.

Aang and I dropped our positions ever so slightly.

Zuko took the slobber calmly (albeit disgusted) and turned to us again. "I know you must be surprised to see me here."

"Not really.' Sokka snapped. "Since you followed us all over the world."

"...right… well uh… anyway, what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed and I uh… I'm good now and uh… I think I should join your group and oh! I teach firebending- to you." Zuko stuttered. Aang lost any tenseness he might have had in his stance. "See I uh-"

"You want to what now?" Toph also dropped her stance.

Katara snapped. "You can't possibly think that ny of us would trust you, can you?! I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!"

I also dropped my stance. I looked at the older boy pleadingly- switching between my friends and the prince.

"Yeah- all you've done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang!" Brenan borderline snarled.

"I've done some good things!" Zuko defended himself. "I mean, I could have stolen your bison at Ba Sing Se but I set him free! That's something!"

Appa licked Zuko again.

Appa does seem to like him." Toph completely relaxed. I nodded in agreement. "Animals have a good sense of good people. If Appa thought he was a threat then I don't think he would still be standing."

"He probably covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him!" Sokka glared at him. "I'm not buying it."

"I can check." I offered- looking between the two groups. Desperately wishing despite the past evidence that they would get along. "He's out numbered anyway so it's not like he's able to try anything."

Brenan did a double take. "Brittany-"

"Ok Brittany." Aang lowered his staff. "Go check him out- go see if there's any honey or something on him."

I nodded and walked up to the older boy. First I checked the side Appa had licked him. Nothing seemed to be there- he was just wet and smelled like Appa's breath. His other side was dry- no stains- smelled like dirt instead of honey and frankly I would have lied in his favor if the claim hadn't proved to be false anyway. Zuko eyed me warily the whole time. Not saying anything that might expose us or incriminate himself as I poked and pulled a bit at his cloths. I turned to the others. "He's clean.. No honey."

"I know you guys have no reason to trust me." And I know I've made some mistakes in the past."

"Like when you attack our village!" Sokka accused the boy.

I blinked and looked at the prince. "Did you really do that?"

"Or when you used my mother's necklace to track us down and capture us?!" Katara yelled at him.

My stomach continue to drop deeper and deeper. 'It's not looking so good for you Zuko.'

"Look I admit I've done some awful things." He took a breath. "I was wrong to try and capture you and I'm sorry I attack the WaterTribe and I shouldn't have seen that Fire Nation assassin after you-"

"Wait!" Sokka growled. "You sent Combustion Man after us?!"

I took a full step away from him.

He looked at me- a little hurt but continued talking. "Well that's not his name-"

"Oh sorry! Didn't mean to offend your friend!"

Zuko snapped. "He's not my friend!"

"That man locked me and Katara up in jail and tried to blow us all up!" Toph screamed.

Seeing where this was going, Zuko took another breath and slightly turned to look at Aang. "Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends…"

The Avatar said nothing.

"You know I have good in me." He pleaded

Aang took one look towards the friends next to him and I realized that from where he stood, Zuko had no chance.

"Aang-" I said, stopping him from saying anything further. "-what will it take for Zuko to make it up to you? To all of you?"

"Brittany you can't actually be on his side!" Katara gaped at me. "After everything he's done?!"

"Well I once met a man who was nothing but evil his whole life but he turned around. He became a really nice man and good dad to his son and in the end he fought on our side." I stretched out the hem of my shirt nervously. "Zuko was never half as bad as him when we fought… not the army, Zuko specifically, and I was always told that people change so we have to keep giving them chances even if we might be only disappointed in the end."

"Brittany-" Brenan snarled. "-you can't be serious right now."

"It's Aang's choice." I stepped away from both groups. "It's his choice…"

I looked away.

"Was Azula telling the truth?" Sokka suddenly said. An arrow might have well have pierced my heart in the moment. "That whole spiel. Was she telling the truth? Were you friends with him? Is your homeland allies with the Fire Nation?! Your brother is the king of said allies to the Fire Nation?!"

"...yes." I looked down instead, trying not to cry. Big girls didn't cry. "In my defense I didn't know anything of what was going on- I just saw it as my parents going on business trips and talking during boring meetings...I was like four so I was never told anything. But I ran away because I wasn't happy there…"

"You didn't think to tell us?!"

"I didn't want to be reminded of what I was tired of being!" I couldn't stop the tears now. "I didn't want to be seen differently. You guys are so nice and I never had a lot of friends growing up in the palace and I didn't want to ruin our friendship with something I couldn't control."

"Does this mean that Brenan is a prince?" Katara then turned to him.

"I was pushed away and kicked out." My twin crossed his arms. "I'm not under that title anymore. Although if Adam's looking for you Brittany, it would just mean that we've got one more person after us."

"I didn't think he would come looking for me." I sniffled.

"We'll talk later, ok? Aang,... what's the verdict?" Brenan nervously turned to Aang who was watching this whole thing go down. Aang's stare hardened on Zuko as the topic was brought full circle. "There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us."

I looked back to the prince next to us. 'I tried Zuko… I did.'

"You need to leave." Brenan raised his staff again. "NOW!"

Zuko balled his hands into fists and tried to walk toward my friends. "I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!"

"Either you leave or we attack." Sokka pointed his boomerang threateningly.

Zuko looked down and got on his knees. "If you won't accept me as a friend then maybe you'll accept me as a prisoner."

"NO WE WON'T!" Katara blasted Zuko with the water she had on her person- leaving him on the ground. "Get out of here and don't come back! And if we ever see you again… well- we better not see you again!"

"Go Zuko- they're serious." I waterbended the blast away from him, trying to dry him off a little in the process. "Don't get hurt."

He said nothing as he stood up and walked away- raising a single hand in my direction. I returned it and looked back at my friends but they were too busy glaring at Zuko to even look in my direction. "Guys?"

Their glares turned to me instead.

I took a step back.

"So you admit it." Toph frowned.

"I've never liked lying- I was scared. I really didn't know."

"I can vouch for her if my opinion still matters." Brenan sighed. "She told me about it when we first met at the North Pole… I was the one who told her not to say anything."

"So you guys also aren't siblings?" Aang tilted his head.

"No- that one was the lie." We said unanimously. "S/He is my brother/sister. Nothing will change that."

"Have you lied about anything else?' Katara stared at us both. We shook our heads. "I want to keep trusting you two-"

"You can!" I sunk to my knees. "Since when have I ever fought against you Katara? Or any of you? I didn't want this to get in the way of having friends!"

"She has a point Katara." Toph shrugged, "Brenan is in a similar boat if we're questioning loyalty."

Katara then looked to the both of us before relaxing a little. Sokka then stared at us for a little longer before shrugging. "You two have been good to us and our friends and our cause. I don't think this should change our good standing just because we know more about you now."

I finally allowed myself to relax completely. "Thank you."

"What's still troubling is Zuko." Katara took to pacing out her thoughts. "Why would he try to fool us like that?"

"Well obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"This is just like when we were together in prison in Ba Sing Se." Brenan groaned. "He started talking about family and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings."

"He wants you to trust him so you'll feel sorry for him and you let your guard down, then he strikes." Sokka mimed the motion.

"You know what though- it worked." Brenan growled. "I felt like we had something in common if we didn't have parents for ourselves. He seemed confused and hurt but obviously when the time came- he made his choice."

"I think he's still confused but has done too much damage to try and change because you all shot him down." I muttered, hoping no one actually heard me.

"I have a confession to make." Aang sighed. "Remember when you all got sick and I got captured by Zao?"

"And you made us suck on frozen frogs? How could I forget?" Sokka frowned. "I had a wort on the flap at the back of my mouth for a month!"

"Sokka I looked at it and told you there was nothing there" Katara rolled her eyes.

"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap!"

"Anyway- when Zao had me chained up it was Zuko who came in and got me out." Aang continued on with his story- refusing to make eye contact. "He risk his life to save me."

"No way!" Brenan crossed his arms. "I'm sure he only did that so he could capture you himself!"

"Yeah… face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him." Katara sighed.

"You're probably right."

"And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free?!" Brenan growled. "What I liar!"

"Actually he wasn't lying." Toph finally spoke up.

"Oh hurray!" Sokka cried. "In a lifetime of evil at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list."

"Thanks Toph.' I whispered close to her ear so only she could hear.

"You're right Toph." Katara became increasingly snarky. "Let's go find him n]and give him a metal! The Not- As- Much- As- A- Jerk- As- You- Could- Be Award!"

"All I know is that while he was talking to us he was sincere." Toph leaned against the wall. "Maybe you're just letting your hurt feelings from stopping you from thinking clearly."

"Easy for you to say!" Brenan cried out. "You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!"

"Or when he burnt down Kioshi Island!"

"Or when he tried to capture me at the fire temple!"

"Why are you even trying to defend him? I can at least expect that from Brittany!" Katara glared at the earthbender.

"Because, Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact!" Toph stalked toward them, pointing to Aang. "Aang needs a firebending teacher. We can't think of one person to do the job, now one shows up on a silver platter- and you won't even think about it?!"

"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher!" Aang walked away from Toph and stood next to Katara.

"You're darn right you're not buddy." Sokka stood next to his sisters. Brenan quickly joined their ranks-leaving it as Toph and me versus them. "Well Toph- I guess that's settled."

My friend growled. "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here!"

Then she walked away.

"I'm with Toph." I said, watching her retreat.

"Of course you are."

"But not because Zuko used to be my friend. While I'm not giving up on him, it's not like we have a lot of time before the comet. And I believe Toph if she says he was being sincere and he offered to help… even to be prisoner- to pay for what he's done." I wiped at my eyes- scratching them to the best of my ability. "Having a firebending teacher would help the group a lot."

"Brittany- walk with me- we're having that talk now." Brenan walked up to me- grabbed my arm and started to drag me away from the group. He created a sizable gap between us and our friends- bringing us to a hidden little room in the temple- easily losing our trail if we need to return at any given moment. "What is wrong with you?!"

"I'm sorry?" I blinked at him as he let me go- turning to me with a rage I've never seen directed at me.

"Zuko's not going to be my teacher either." He snapped. "They still don't know I bend fire!"

"It's process of elimination." I tilted my head- stepping away from his ire. "It's a miracle they haven't put it together- really. Besides if you had a teacher- you wouldn't have to hide your bending- you could control it."

"I don't want to."His hands sparked.

"But you could- you should! You shouldn't have to repress that part in you!"

"NO! I hate it! I refuse! The less I use it the safer people will be! What kind of benefits does firebending have anyway?!"

"Keep you warm- cooking- forging- a lot of things. If you knew how to control it- you wouldn't be so afraid of hurting people. Don't shut me out please- don't slam the door that's open for you Brenan. You don't have to live in fear. You can be one of the few people on this world that firebend with good intentions."

"Brittany stop it." Brenan shook his hands free of the sparks.

It didn't work. "I know you mean well but I don't plan on changing my mind. A teacher? Fine! But not Zuko- he's the last person that I would want to know that I firebend!"

"Actually he does."

"What do you mean he does?"

"I et the feeling you don't remember."

"What don't I remember?!"

He sparked with more intensity- the angrier he got, the brighter they showed.

I took a deep breath.

"Back in Ba Sing Se- when we were prisoners- your hands were on fire- right in his face. I don't think he could have missed that."

"What?"

"He looked at both Aang and you when he offered to teach firebending." A slight bluff. "It would benefit the two of you."

"He knows?!"

"It could help smooth things over between the two of you if you accept."

"No!"

"Give him a chance!"

Flame.

"No! Shut up!"

"Brenan-"

"Not everyone is as nice and happy and willing to help as you want to think Brittany! Those ninja or whatever were nice but there are just bad people in the world or world's- where ever you go- you have to accept that as fact!"

Fear.

"Brenan your-"

"No! I'm talking! Usually you make so much sense but this is the one time where it's just plain stupid! You're stupid! How blind do you have to be to see he just has bad intentions for us?! He'll never change! The person, however good, that you knew is gone!"

Brightness.

"Brenan your ha-"

"SHUT UP! He's not good! He'll never be good! You're faith in people is misguided and you're too stupid to see it! You've blinded yourself to only see the person you want to see but he's not there!"

Heat.

"Brenan your hands!"

"Can you for once listen to me?! I'll never trust him! I won't let that evil freak hurt you! That's all firebenders ever seem to do! Jon Jon was the only one! Literally everyone else was determined- is determined to bring destruction on everything good here!"

"BRENAN!"

Growth.

"YOUR HANDS!"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"

I ran.

The fire that had been accumulating in the air and going from Brenan's hands suddenly came into one concentrating missile and was thrown in my direction at Brenan's last scream. I was almost out of the hidden room- turning on my heel as a searing pain struck my shoulder- sending me to the ground. My screams were the only thing that was registering other than the pain and the flames that were eating away at my shirt. Ina panic I flipped myself onto my back and tried to put out the fire- ignoring the hearts on my health bar disappearing- going from ten to five. Most disappeared with the initial blast.

I cast one look at Brenan as I tried to sit up- scooting myself away from the boy. He looked shocked- scared and couldn't seem to look away from his hands. Until he saw me again- regret instantly filling his features.

I ran again.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have but I was hurt and scared and half expected him to hurt me again. I wouldn't survive a hit like that twice.

The sun had nearly set completely at this point when I finally made my way out of the temple. The darkness had taken over by the time I reached a small creek in the middle of the closest forest. While I was no longer fire- I jumped inside. Using my waterbending- I surrounded myself in a bubble of healing and stayed there until I needed air.

"Who's there?"

I gasped and got out of the two foot deep river… "Zuko?"

Suddenly he came into my line of sight- nearly sprinting to my side when he saw my tears and half destroyed shirt. "What happened to you? Who did this?"

"I got into a fight with Brenan." I cried- trying to clean the flaking skin and the blood off of me. "He didn't see what he was doing."

"I have some cloth- I'll help, just hang on." Zuko looked as if he saw a ghost and ran back to what I think was his camp. I tried futilly to hold onto my shirt but not let it touch the wound. When Zuko came back, he started to rip some red cloth in half and used the first half to clean the places I couldn't reach even with my bending, since the skin seemed to be deeply damaged. "It's almost like when I got my scar."

I sniffled- starting to no longer feel the pain but knowing the damage was still there. I was still down four hearts. When the one half was used up- Zuko took out the there half and ripped it into a long thin strip of that, he started to wrap my shoulder to the best of his ability, around the wound trying the keep it moist to help with the inflammation. When he was done, I pulled the remnants of my shirt together and noticed that the "bandage" covered what my shirt couldn't. "Thank you Zuko."

"You probably shouldn't be seen next to me." He said. "I accidentally just burned your earthbender friend."

"Toph? Why'd you burn Toph?"

"She startled me… I didn't… it was just reflex!"

"Ok."

"Wait, what? I burned your friend and you just ...say ok?"

"What do you want me to say? You said it was an accident... I want to believe you." I rubbed my running nose and wiped it on my pants. "I think you need friends. I want to be one of them again."

"You've always been really kind to me." Zuko sat down as I water bended the water out of my clothes, (albeit slowly and painfully as I pulled the muscle from my shoulder).

I sneezed.

Zuko lite his hand with a small flame and held it close to me. I flinched and scooted ever so slightly away from it.

"My offer extended to Brenan as well."

"I figured."

We sat in silence- in the dark with the only light being the moon and Zuko's lame.

"You know when I first met him- I thought he was you. I heard you ran away...I said some awful things to him."

"I also figured that...you almost didn't want to believe it was me when we actually met again. It would also explain why Brenan hates you more than Katara does…" I looked over to him slightly, looking just under my eyelashes and into his face. "Did you tell Adam about me?"

"You mean King Sky? Your brother?"

"Azula said he was looking for me.. I don't want to go back with him… I miss home sometimes but the palace was so lonely!" I sniffled again- a new wave of tears appearing. "I want to keep helping people- I want to keep making new friends… I don't want him to find me."

"Azula was the one who said something. I remember how long those journey's took and if he's only now coming here- I wasn't even back in the Fire Nation at that time. I hope you know that I had almost no contact while I was banished- it wasn't me."

"Ok." I nodded. "I should probably go back before they start looking for me. But I still want to be your friend… is that ok? Only if you don't hurt people anymore though! I'm still sad about Ba Sing Se."

"Of course." Zuko smiled a bit, ruffling my hair- brushing the burt pieces away from my shoulder. "Do you need help standing?"

I shook my head.

"Do you need help finding your way back?"

I looked around the forrest and at the darkness we were surrounded by. I looked back at the boy next to me and stood up. "I don't want you to get in trouble anymore than you already are with my group… just point me in the right direction- I should be fine."

"You sure? I don't like that idea."

"You could… stay with till morning...at my camp…" The boy blushed lightly- obviously embarrassed from eason my younger mind couldn't fathom. "Only because there's no other option! The night isn't safe to be alone in and if you-"

"Ok- I'll leave in the morning then." I nodded and stood up, bracing myself with my good arm and following Zuko to his camp fire. He was awkward the entire time but nicely made me a small bed in his red camp and helped me lay down. The morning was just as awkward but he helped me make a small breakfast for the two of us before walking with me through the forest and to the Air Temple. Suddenly he stopped walking and pushed me behind him. "The down is that way to the right and you'll see a staircase. I have to take care of someone."

I nodded, a bit weirded out but went the way he sent me. Sure enough there was a way to simply climb down into the temple. It took me a while to get through the the eroded stairs with minimal tripping but it was all for naught. When I got to the bottom of the long staircase. An explosion erupted though the area- sending me once again to the ground. 'I was just up to eight hearts!'

"Stop!" I heard Zuko yell. "I don't want you hurting the Avatar anymore! The mission is off! I'm ordering you to stop! Woah!"

I pushed myself up to the best of my ability before another explosion sent me down again. "Ow!"

"Brittany? Britany!" Brenan ran toward me as the rubble landed around us.

I blinked and gasped when Brena stood in front of me. He had obvious tear streaks down his face- the edges and front of his shirt was slightly burnt from the heat he expelled. He moved to reach out to me but held his hand back in a moment of self realization. "Hi… I'm back.."

Another explosion.

"What's going on?" I tried to stand up again. "Where is everyone?"

"This way!" Brenan grabbed the hem of my shirt- luckily missing my left side entirely. He probably would have burst into tears again if he touched the burn. Sokka started to lead the way out of the area with Toph in his arms as Aang and Katara dealt some blows to Combustion Man- giving us time to find cover away from the blast sight. When he sent another explosion it clearly wasn't aimed at us but the building instead. Toph looked up in horror. "He's going to blow the whole temple off of the cliffside!"

Another blast.

"I can't step out to waterbend at him without being blow up! And I can't get a good enough angle at him from down here!" Katara snarled before resting her eyes on me. Her eyes widening in shock as she took in my appearance. "Brittany- oh my god! What- Why- "

"Long story!" I leaned up against the wall, enjoying the coolness of the stone on my left shoulder. "Bigger fish to fry!"

"I think I know how to get an angle on his." Sokka warrily looked away from me as he turned to his sister. Slowly he looked around the corner- waited after a few more blasts before throwing his boomerang out into the fray. "Ok buddy- don't fail me now!"

It went flying out of his hand- successfully knocking the assassin in the head.

"Yeah boomerang!" Sokka caught it from the air. A pause. He whined instead. "Awww boomerang."

"Did you not hit him?" I called from around the corner.

"No he did. Combustion Man just stood back up." Aang called back as those who were not injured ran back around the corner.

We waited for him to attack again and while we heard the explosions, they weren't by our platform. Within seconds, we saw the lower half of the building he was perched on, fall into the canyon, taking the assassin with it. We looked down in shock and back up when we could hear a low but loud grunting sound. Zuko wasn't dead!

"Call him here." Aang said. "I want to talk to him."

I looked at the boy before doing a double take. "Me?"

"Can you?"

I looked at the bandaged shoulder before walking forward. With my good hand, I cupped my mouth and yelled. "Zuko! Come down here! We want to talk!"

He raised his hand in response and started to walk his way in our general direction- moving every now and then out of our sight when he crossed buildings. While we waited- Katara had a look at my shoulder, getting me out of the boys view and actually patching it up with real bandages. "Brenan did a number on you- didn't he?"

"Wait you-!"

"He told us this morning about the time Toph came back- crying and panicking about how you just run away after he hurt you. He feels really bad about it." She hummed.

"I know he didn't mean to- he's not that kind of person." I winced at the change in pressure. "It only proves my point though- if he learned then this wouldn't happen."

"Perhaps- why didn't you come back? We all thought you were with Toph."

"I went to find a river away from the temple- I found Zuko instead and he helped patch me up." I answered honestly as Katara finished her healing and rewrapping.

"I see…"

I then stood up feeling a little better about the whole thing and turned to my friend. "I still think he's trying to do good you know- he's just bad at it."

"He's here!" Sokka called out to us. Katara didn't reply but lead the way to where the GAang went to meet the Fire Nation prince. When we got close enough- Aang sighed and started to speak. "I can't believe I'm saying this but… thank you Zuko."

"Hey- what about me? I did the boomerang thing." Sokka raised an eyebrow but we ignored him.

"Listen I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday. I've been through a lot in the past few years. It's been hard." Zuko looked right at Aang. "But I'm realizing that I had to go through all these things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor and that somehow my father could return it to me but I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know that my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world. I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident." Zuko bowed to Toph.

"Fire can be dangerous and wild- so as a fire bended I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally."

"I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher." Aang said at last. "When I first tried to learn firebending I burned Katara and after that I never wanted to fire bend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love."

Aang bowed.

"I'd like you to teach me."

Zuko bowed back after a second of processing this information. "Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."

"Not so fast." Aang frowned. "I still have to ask my friend if it's ok with them. Toph- you're the one who Zuko burned- what do you think?"

She didn't even look up. "Go ahead and let him join- it'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning m feet." She pounded a fist into her hand.

Aang smiled. "Sokka?"

Sokka looked like he wanted to disagree but hung his head and shrugged. "All I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it- then I'm all for it."

Aang nodded before turning to me. "Brittany?"

"Sure!" I grinned. "I think he also needs a teacher but it's for how to be good. What better people than us?"

Aang laughed a bit. "Katara? What do you think?"

She did not look happy at all but also relented even if she continued to glare. "I'll go along with whatever you think is right."

Aang smiled.

'Clearly he was the most worried about her reaction. She was the game breaker.'

Aang looked to the final person. "Brenan? What do you think?"

He looked at his hands in hinted fear before looking up to glare at Zuko. My twin turned to Aang. "I won't be happy about it but I have one condition." Brenan stole a quick glance in my direction. He sighed- clearly dreading his next words. "He has to teach firebending to me too."

"I won't let you down!" Zuko suddenly beamed. "I promise!"

My friends walked away, leaving me there last. I watched them leave before turning to the older boy. "Congratulations."

"To be honest I think you did most of the work." He smiled sheepishly.

"Nah-" I said, hopping off the rock. "They all knew I was on your side- it's not like they were listening to me."

Sokka then come back Toph-less. "Come with me- I'll show you your room."

Zuko looked at me before following Sokka away. I smiled and took a nap.