Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This episode originally written by John O'Bryan.

Book 3: Fire; Chapter 2: The Headband

Zuko tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw flashes of faces before him – his father saying he was proud of him, Azula smirking as she explained why she lied, Uncle Iroh looking away in disappointment, Katara looking completely shattered as she held the fallen Avatar, the Avatar's body twitching as lightning coursed from the entry point in his foot, through his heart and out the back. There was no question that it was a lethal blow, but could Katara have healed him with the spirit water? The uncertainty was driving him mad. He had to try to talk to Uncle; only he could help sort through the confusion.

Zuko rose and grabbed a hooded cloak. He made his way to the Capital City Prison, then paused to consider his actions. Maybe visiting Uncle was not the best idea while his position in the palace was still precarious.

"Who's there?" A guard called from the parapet above.

Forget it, Zuko thought, I'm not doing this. He turned and walked away without saying a word, and the guard resumed his patrol.

...

Toph, Aang, and Sokka stood outside the cave in their new Fire Nation outfits.

"Ta-da! Normal kid," Aang said cheerfully as he tied his belt across his forehead like a headband to cover his arrow tattoo.

"Hmm, I should probably wear shoes. But then I won't be able to see as well." Toph sat on a nearby boulder and grabbed hold of one of the shoes on her feet. "Sorry, shoes," she said as she pulled her foot throught the bottom, launching the sole at Sokka's face. "Finally, a stylish shoe for the blind earthbender."

Katara emerged from the cave then. "Do I look Fire Nation enough?" she asked.

Wow, she's so beautiful, Aang thought. I can see her midriff and shoulders, and … Aang scratched the back of his head, trying to control the blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Uh, your mom's necklace," he said, quickly recovering.

"Oh," Katara reached up to touch the stone at her throat. "Oh yeah, I guess it's pretty obviously Water Tribe, isn't it?" She took off the necklace and clutched it in her hand. She hated having to take it off, but it was necessary for the time being. At least it was still in her possession this time, and not lost, or in the hands of … Zuko. To his credit, he seemed to have taken care of it while it was in his possession. There wasn't a scratch on it.

...

After their afternoon in the village, Sokka, Katara, and Toph had returned to the cave. They were hoping to find Aang there, but he was still nowhere to be found. They had decided against going out to look for him, and Sokka had started a fire when the sun went down and the evening chill set in. Finally, Aang dropped down from the hillside in front of the mouth of the cave.

Katara snapped to attention as he entered. "Where have you been? We were worried sick," she said.

"I got invited to play with some kids after school," Aang said casually as he undid his headband.

Sokka sprang to his feet. "After what!?"

"I enrolled in a Fire Nation school," Aang said excitedly, "and I'm going back tomorrow." He fisted his hand on his hip and smiled with pride.

Sokka put his hands to his head in disbelief. "Enrolled in what!?" He exclaimed again, and dramatically fell backwards in shock.

The group all collected themselves and gathered around the fire on rock seats that Toph had created. Sokka was the first to speak.

"Aang, I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea, but it sounds … really terrible."

"Yeah, we got our outfits," Toph added. "What do you need to go to school for?"

"Every minute I'm in that classroom," Aang explained, "I'm learning new things about the Fire Nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai." Aang held up a copy of the official portrait. "And here's one I made out of noodles!" He set down the portrait and held up his own noodle version.

"Impressive, I admit," Sokka said, "but I still think it's too dangerous."

"I guess we'll never find out about the secret river then," Aang smirked. "It goes right to the Fire Lord's palace. We were supposed to learn about it in class tomorrow."

"Hmm," Sokka considered. "I am a fan of secret rivers … Fine, let's stay a few more days."

Aang jumped up and threw his hands in the air triumphantly. "Flamey-o, hotman!" And with that, he ran off.

"Flamey-o?" Sokka repeated. Katara just shrugged and shook her head.

She noticed that the portrait of Fire Lord Ozai was still next to Aang's rock seat. Katara had never seen the Fire Lord before. She picked up the portrait and studied it, noting that the Fire Lord looked both beautiful and cruel. Clearly, he governed his people by intimidation and fear. His children definitely had his eyes, and there was no denying that Zuko and Azula were both beautiful. So this is their father, she thought. What would it be like to have this guy as your dad? Katara did not relish the thought. She wondered what their mother looked like, and if Zuko bore any resemblance to her. Does he see anything from his mother when he looks in the mirror? she wondered.

...

Aang spun through the air as he demonstrated different dance styles for his classmates. He spotted On Ji with a friend and walked up, offering his hand. She blushed and accepted.

He pulled her to the middle of the dance floor, saying to everyone, "And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Omashu." He started tapping his feet from side to side and moving his arms the same way. On Ji joined him as they moved across the floor together. Aang was pleased to see her smile as she danced with him.

"Wow, they look pretty good together," Sokka said to Katara as they watched.

"Yeah, they sure do," Katara agreed, happy to see Aang with a girl his own age. Especially with his dark hair that matched hers, they really did look cute together.

A few other kids started to join them. "Yeah, that's it!" Aang encouraged. "That's the sound of happy feet." Soon, the majority were either joining in the dance or playing musical instruments. "All right, go with that! Everybody freestyle!"

Sokka, still wearing his Wang Fire disguise, stood and extended his hand toward Katara in invitation. "How 'bout it, Sapphire?"

Katara's eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't sure about calling attention to themselves.

"Come on, don't leave me hangin'," Sokka urged. Katara giggled and took his hand.

"Okay," she said, smiling at her brother. They started with the hand-to-hand dance from Omashu that the other kids had been doing, then branched out as Sokka hooked her arm in an elbow swing. After a few minutes of dancing, Aang came bouncing over to them.

"Isn't this great?" he beamed. They turned to him and smiled back.

"I have to admit, it is pretty fun," Sokka said.

Aang turned to Katara. "So, uh," he started awkwardly, "do you wanna dance? With me, I mean?"

"Um, sure," Katara said, hoping she wouldn't give Aang the wrong idea by dancing with him. His crush was sweet, but she didn't want to encourage it when she didn't feel the same. "How should we start?" she asked.

"Waterbending kind of looks like a dance. Let's start there. Just follow my lead," he asserted.

"Okay," Katara agreed, stepping around in circles with him. "You know, we'd better get our story straight," she said as they danced, "in case anyone asks any questions." Aang nodded. "I'll keep the name Sapphire for now, but I don't look like your mother dressed like this. Let's say I'm your big sister. That's pretty close to the truth, anyway," Katara laughed and smiled warmly at Aang.

Aang tried to hide his disappointment at being thought of as a little brother. "Uh, yeah, okay," he said. Aang had had enough of talking. He took Katara's hand and spun her around. They danced and twirled around the room until they were both out of breath and dizzy and laughing between breaths.

...

Katara looked down on their former hideaway from Appa's saddle as they flew away.

"We're safe, Sokka," she said, turning to her brother. "You can take off the mustache now."

"Oh, no I can't," Sokka replied. "It's permanently glued to my skin." He stroked the beard as if with pride.

Toph turned her attention toward Aang beside her. "Way to go, Dancy Pants. I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free."

"I don't know," Aang shrugged, "it was just a dance party, that's all."

"Well, that was some dance party, Aang," Katara chimed in. "You and that girl looked really good together," she teased. "I wonder if we'll ever see her again."

Aang blushed at the teasing and smiled in satisfaction. It had been a fun time, and he was glad the others viewed it as a success.

"Flamey-o sir," Sokka clapped, "flame-ee-o."