"So Sparky, how'd training go?" Toph asks as they settle around the fire with their dinner.

"Real well actually. He's got the basic principle down so we should be able to start of the beginning forms tomorrow." Zuko reports, pleased with his student's progress.

"That's good. If you need any advice on training him, let me know. Sweetness likes to coddle him, but I found that pushing him past his limits works best for me." She punches her hand as she turns her sightless eyes toward Aang, who gulps nervously. Across the fire, Katara rolls her eyes.

"I think I can manage him, thanks though." Zuko flashes a half smile at the brash young girl next to him.

"Aang, I tried to make that mangopeach pie we talked about. I hope it tastes alright." Katara says sweetly to the young boy next to her. She'd been pretty pleasant during meals today and had only glared at Zuko once. He hoped that maybe after saving her brother, she might start trusting him a little.

"Thank you Katara! I'm sure it's delicious! Guys, I can't wait for you to try it! Monk Giatso and I would bake them all the time and then airbend them at the other monks while they were meditating!" Aang laughs heartily at the memory, wiping a happy tear from his eye. The group exchange confused looks and a few giggles at the absurd statement.

"You threw pies at your instructors?" Zuko asks stunned by the thought alone.

"Yeah! Giatso thought it was Hilarious!" Aang smiled fondly remembering his eccentric old mentor. "Didn't you goof around with your mentors?"

"Really Aang? The teachers at the palace are not playful or patient really. We'd be punished harshly if we weren't focused at all times." The young prince informs, frowning slightly at the thought of the strict old men snapping directions and criticisms. Aang winces at the thought of someone punishing a kid for not being constantly focused.

"Well…what about your Uncle? He was your mentor when you left the palace right?" Aang offered, trying to cheer up the teen.

This time Zuko smiled fondly at the memory of his eccentric mentor. Uncle had been so patient with him, even when he would lose his temper and demand to be taught the next set. He'd encouraged him and tried to make him lighten up.

"Yeah. Uncle was very different. He was strict with my training but patient, he was honest with me when I wasn't getting things right, but he was kind about it too. He took the time to explain everything to make sure I understood it fully instead of just criticizing. Honestly, I only started getting good once he began teaching me. But he never encouraged me to throw pies at anyone." He smirks at the Avatar who giggles happily.

"He sounds a bit like Giatso! We would train hard but he made it fun too! He always made everything better. Like when the monks told me I was the Avatar and the other kids didn't think it was fair for me to be on anyone's team so I couldn't play with them. Giatso would play pai sho with me to make me feel better. He always tried to cheat though!" He laughs, remembering the old man's antics.

"Uncle is crazy about pai sho! One time, he even made us pull into a port way off course to replace a tile he'd lost. We spent hours looking for it in the shops and he ended up buying a bunch of junk instead. And it turned out that the tile was in his sleeve the whole time!" He smirks to himself at the silliness of the old man then feels another wave of guilt. He'd been so harsh with him over the delay. If he could go back, he'd gladly spend days searching the shops with him!

Seeing the sad look on the teen's face, Aang tries to coax him from his thoughts. "Are you any good at pai sho?"

"No, I'm terrible at it! Uncle was amazing though. He always won. He said it was more about strategy and figuring out the way your opponent thinks than about luck."

"He sounds like smart man." Aang says, seeing Zuko smile and talk about his Uncle was heartwarming to the boy.

"Yeah, he is." Zuko smiles. "Very wise. Though, when we were fugitives, he did make tea out of the white jade bush hoping it was a different plant! I couldn't believe him!" He laughs, shaking his head at the memory. It had been terrifying back then but it was actually pretty amusing looking back.

"The white jade bush?! That's deadly!" Haru asks concerned.

"Oh, yeah it was pretty awful. He broke out in a rash and started swelling! But we found an Earth Kingdom town with a healing center. They treated it before it got too bad. He actually charmed the healer so much that she asked us to join her and her mother for dinner! Everyone always likes Uncle Iroh." He drifts off, longing and affection momentarily stealing his voice. "I mean, the day we arrived in Ba Sing Se, he'd gotten jobs for us at a tea shop. The owner met him and instantly loved him! His tea was amazing, but people really loved talking to him."

"Wait, you were a fugitive? And you worked at a tea shop? But you're a prince!" Haru looks thoroughly confused by this new information.

Looking back at the earthbender, Zuko shrugs. "Yeah…it's uh…been a weird few years." He explains lamely. Haru stares at him for a few moments, wondering. The prince was turning out to be a lot different than he'd thought he'd be.

"Ok guys, I'll go get the pie." Katara breaks the silent revere. *****

It's very late but he just can't turn off his mind. He gently removes the sleeping lemur from his stomach, placing him on the bed and gets up. Quietly, he makes his way down the hall with resolve. It's not pleasant but he needed to know. "Hey buddy, you up?" Sokka knocks on the ancient door.

"Hey, Sokka, what's up?" Zuko responds from the other side. He was lying on his bed but hadn't gotten under the sheets yet, deep in his own thoughts. The boy pushes the door open and enters the dark room with a lantern in one hand and paper in the other. He looks deeply perplexed and Zuko is instantly concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asks firmly, worried about his friend. He places the lantern on the small side table and turns to Zuko. "Can I sit down?" He asks solemnly. The prince moves over on his bed, coming closer to the wall and propping himself up on his elbows. Sokka sits down next to him and for a few moments, the boy stares at the open doorway, debating how to break the news.

He sighs heavily and starts. "When we were in town…I saw this posted…" He lifts up the rolled paper. "You're not gonna like it…but I think you should see it." He finishes apologetically, turning the paper over in his hands as if deciding whether or not to hand it to him. Zuko smiles at his friend. "Let me guess…it's a wanted poster of me?"

He'd expected them to appear sooner or later but apparently the younger boy hadn't. Sokka looks at him with a shocked and apologetic expression, opening and closing his mouth a few times. It was very strange to see the boy at a loss of words. He laughs darkly. "Well, did they get my good side?"

Sokka lets out a choked laugh, relieved that his friend was taking the terrible news in stride but also nervous how he'd react when he saw the poster's commands. With an empathetic smile, he gives the paper to Zuko who unrolls it slowly. He looks down at himself for a moment then reads the commentary. His chest tightens when he reads the "kill on sight" part, but he keeps his face neutral for his friend's sake. He wasn't really surprised by the order, after all his Father had said that banishment wasn't a good enough punishment for treason and proceeded to shoot lightning at him. Sokka studies the prince's face while he read, nervously trying to read his reaction. He feels guilty for being the bearer of such awful news.

"Hm! They think I'm highly dangerous huh?" He muses in a playful tone, looking sideways at Sokka whose mouth has fallen open again. "You're…you're okay with this?" He asks exasperated.

He takes a deep breath and places the poster on the bed between them. "I'm not okay with it. But I can't say I'm surprised. I mean, in the last three years, my Father's banished me, sent my sister to capture me as a prisoner so he could throw me in prison, and shot lightning at me. He's not above ordering my people to kill me on sight." He finishes darkly, laying back down on the bed.

Sokka looks distressed again, hearing the teen talk so casually about his Father wanting him dead was deeply unsettling. "Your Father…spirits, he's a monster! Has he always been like that to you?" He brings his knees up to his chest, hugging himself.

He considers the question for a moment. "Yes and no. He's always been harsh but he wasn't really cruel until I turned about five or six. When I was real little, we went to our vacation home on Ember Island. We were on the beach and I don't remember how it happened, but I got caught up in the tide and was being pulled out to sea. I was terrified and kept getting dragged under. I thought I was going to die. But then my Father was there…pulling me up and bringing me back to shore. I remember being in his arms and feeling safe…like nothing was able to hurt me." He voice is soft and pained as he shares the memory. The weight of the broken relationship presses heavily on his heart and knowing that his Father had to be killed by the kid he was training…his gold eyes fill with unexpected tears and he blinks hard to keep them from falling.

Sokka considers the story for a few minutes. He'd heard the longing in his voice as he shared the memory and his eyes fill with sympathetic tears for the boy next to him. But he has to ask the question pressing on his mind. "Did…you ever love him?"

He takes a few moments, trying to sort through the complicated tangle of emotions connected to his Father. "I…I don't know. I respected him and wanted to please him…to make him proud. I wanted him to be fond of me…but that might have been because I was afraid of him." He confesses with shame in his voice. "I do remember a few times that he held me when I was real little. But he wasn't ever loving…not even to my Mother…or Azula really. He'd praise her but he never really showed affection." He trails off, suddenly feeling very empty.

'I wonder what having a loving Father is like' he thinks to himself then remembers his real Father figure. His eyes close as he smiles warmly at the thought of his Uncle. "Not like Uncle Iroh anyway. He was always loving and supportive, even when I didn't want him to be."

"I'm really glad you had him. He sounds like an amazing man. Much better than your jerk Father!" Sokka adds spitefully.

"Me too." He agrees softly. "What about you? What's your Father like?"

A large grin spreads across the water tribesman's face. He lays down next to his friend and rests his arms behind his head, getting comfortable.

"Our Dad is the best! He's the Chief of the tribe and a natural leader. He's strong and smart but he was always so loving and gentle with us. Even when we did something wrong! He would sit us down and explain why what we did was bad and that we weren't bad…but we would be if we kept doing it. Which made us never want to do it again! He'd play games with us and he taught me how to fight and be a warrior in the tribe. And he was hilarious! This one time, he and his best friend, Bato, played a prank on Gran Gran…it was great! Dad put an octopus on his head and Bato made a creepy voice and they convinced her he was a water spirit!" He cracks up at the story and Zuko can't help but laugh at his friend's sheer delight. He was obviously extremely fond of his Father and that made Zuko happy for him.

Slowly, the younger boy's face falls. "I miss him so much." His voice strained with sorrow.

"I miss Uncle." Zuko agrees, allowing his voice to relay his grief as well. The boys fall into a comfortable silence, both lost in thoughts of their loving guardians and hoping desperately that they were safe. They sleepily begin retelling stories of their beloved Father figures, sighing longingly and laughing together. *****

"Hey, Sokka, are you up?" Katara knocks softly on her brother's door. After a few tries, "Sokka, I really need to talk to you." Still no answer. It was very late but she needs to talk through her thoughts, so she pushes the door open.

"Sokka, I'm sorry but I…" Momo lifts his furry head from the tangle of sheets but there's no sign of her brother. 'Great! Where could he have gone now?' She thinks to herself, annoyed that he isn't there for her. She quietly stalks down the bedroom-lined hallway, heading for the courtyard. 'Maybe he went to sit by the fire?' she suggests to herself.

She stops in her tracks as she sees a soft light shining in an open doorway. Zuko's room. 'Ugh! Why is he up?! I don't want to have to talk to him!' she fumes to herself and weighs her options. She had to pass the room to get to the courtyard and she really wanted to find her brother. But she really didn't want to talk to the firebender. If she passed quietly, he might not notice her. But maybe he knew where Sokka was.

'Ugh! Ok, I'll look in and ask him if he's seen Sokka. I'll just be assertive and short so he doesn't try to talk to me.' She decides. Resolved, she clenches her jaw, balls her fists, and puts on her most domineering expression. She chooses to just walk in to assert her dominance but stops in the doorway when she takes in the room. There's a dying lantern on the table, illuminating the room with a very soft glow. On the neatly made bed is Zuko and her brother, both fast asleep with the wanted poster between them.

She gapes at the boys for a few moments. She didn't like how close her brother had been getting to the prince and this was just too much! He was far too vulnerable being asleep when the enemy was that close! …But he had saved Sokka from the Fire Nation jail. She stares at the sleeping firebender. He looked so…peaceful…not at all like the angry prince that had once tied her to a tree.

Quietly, she walks over to her brother's side and gently shakes his arm. "Sokka…Sokka wake up."

"Hm? What…what's going on?" He says still half asleep with his eyes closed.

"You tell me!" She whispers, nodding her head toward Zuko's sleeping form.

"Hm?" He looks around sleepily and spotting his buddy he explains. "Oh, we were talking…I must've dozed off." He says innocently with a yawn. He quietly gets up, trying hard not to disturb his sleeping friend and follows Katara to the door. Hesitating, he turns back and pulls a blanket over Zuko to keep him warm. Katara shakes her head with disbelief at the affectionate gesture then chalks it up to sleep deliria. Sokka grabs the lantern and heads out, gently closing the door behind him.

"You're out of your right mind, Sokka." His sister whispers as she walks him back to his own room. ******