They clambered out of the bushes into a field full of koala-sheep. From his spot on Appa's back, Zuko could see the almost endless stretches of fluffball laden grass.

"This is it," Sokka announced, looking down at his map, "The official rendezvous point for the invasion force."

"How did you pick this place?" Toph asked.

"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map. It's uninhabited and the harbour surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place. Zuko do you want some help getting down?"

"Yes please." Zuko huffed quietly. Sokka quickly climbed up to Appa's saddle. He steadied Zuko as the Omega stepped out of the saddle and helped him clamber down Appa's tail.

"Nice choice, Sokka." Katara said. "And we're here four days ahead of schedule."

"Wait, four days?" Aang yelped, shooting up into the air. "The invasion's in four days?"

Sokka yawned widely, sinking down onto his sleeping bag. "Whatever, that's like, four days from now. Let's just calm down and…" He interrupted himself with his own snoring.

Zuko rolled his eyes. He refused to acknowledge how endearing he found the action. Nope. There was nothing cute about it all.

"Sokka's got the right idea, Aang," Katara said, "We're here, we're ready. The best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest."

Aang groaned. "I guess."

Zuko woke to Aang grunting and gasping. He cracked his good eye open. Aang was sitting upright, poking and tugging at his trousers. Then he sighed in relief.

Momo chittered curiously.

"It was just a dream, Momo," Aang said, "I still have my pants."

Okay then.

"Well, I better keep training then." Aang stood up and started to move away from where everyone was sleeping.

Zuko grumbled and starting heaving himself to his feet. When had that become so difficult?

He walked over to where Aang was kicking a bush. His footwork was good, but he was sloppy. His form was weak.

"Aang, what are you doing?" Zuko yawned.

Aang startled and whirled around. "Zuko! What are you doing?"

"I asked first." Zuko deadpanned.

"Oh. Right. I'm just training. Go back to sleep."

Zuko raised his eyebrow. "First of all, you're doing that badly. Second of all, you can't train when you're tired. You need rest as much as the rest of us."

"No, Zuko. I need to be ready. I have to face the Firelord in four days."

Zuko sighed heavily. "I get it. I really do. But part of being ready is being well rested."

"Yeah, okay," Aang sighed, "I'll go back to sleep."

"Good." Zuko said.

They walked back to the sleeping area together. Aang laid down on the ground, while Zuko lowered himself onto Appa's fluffy tail. He fixed the Avatar with a long hard look, before settling down to sleep.

And Zuko was officially going to murder the Avatar. When he woke up, Aang was repeatedly punching a tree. His shirt was off, exposing his lightning scar, and he'd clearly been awake for a while. Zuko scowled.

"Hey, how long have you been up?" Katara asked groggily.

"A couple hours." Aang said.

Zuko strode over, arms crossed over his belly. "I thought I told you to go to sleep."

"I did." Aang glared back. "For a little bit. But I got a lot of skills to refine if I'm gonna fight Ozai."

"You know, there is such a thing as overtraining." Katara said.

Aang hit the tree again. This time the impact had him falling backwards. A huge mound of leaves landed on top of him. Quite effective for proving Katara's point.

Aang popped up, looking somehow more tired. "You don't get it do you? My form is bad, I'm sloppy and I'm still way behind in my Firebending."

Zuko hated to admit it, but Aang was right. They hadn't had a lot of time to dedicate towards Firebending practice: Aang's other elements got in the way, and Zuko's pregnancy was making everything he did more difficult. Aang had the basics down, but they hadn't been able to advance much further than that.

"That's okay, Aang, the eclipse will block all Firebending anyway. You don't need any." Sokka said.

Zuko bit back a frustrated growl.

"Okay, well, I still have to work on everything else," Aang said, waving his arms about madly, "I better spend the whole day training." He bowed to Zuko, Katara and Toph and then whizzed away on an air ball.

Zuko, Katara and Sokka exchanged worried looks. Toph didn't seem to care.

By the time Aang returned, the others had all settled down for bed. Zuko was still sitting awake: partly because he was waiting for Aang and party because the baby would not stop wriggling.

Aang yawned widely and flopped onto the ground. "Good night Katara. Good night Sokka. Good night Toph. Good night Zuko. Good night Appa. Good night Momo. Good night Appa and Mo-"

"Go to sleep already!" Toph snapped.

Zuko just wished the baby would listen to her. Every time he would get into a comfortable position, it would kick or roll, and he'd have to move again. "Please Firefly," he whispered, "Just let me get some sleep."

Aang and Katara weren't helping. Aang was up again and Katara was trying to coax him back to bed. Zuko supposed he could go and help her; but that would definitely set the baby off again. He could only deal with one person's insomnia at once. He should prioritise Aang, but right now, he just wanted a moment for himself.

When Zuko awoke at dawn, he was glad to see Aang was at least asleep. The Avatar's face was marred with a troubled frown. It wasn't a restful sleep then. Zuko sighed heavily. He slowly sat down and began to meditate. He soaked up more and more of Agni's rays as the sun peeked further over the horizon. The baby was quiet. The world was quiet. He could really get used to this.

"Sokka, get up, I need to know what day it is!"

And there it went.

Zuko opened his eyes as Aang shook Sokka awake.

"What? Who's talking?" Sokka leapt to his feet- only to smack his head into a rock and fall back with a groan. "Ow."

"Relax, it's still two days before the invasion." Toph grumbled.

Aang started tugging on Sokka's leg. "Sokka, you've got to get up and drill your rock climbing exercises."

"What?"

"In one of my dreams, you were running from Fire Nation soldiers, trying to climb this cliff but you were too slow, and they got you."

Sokka stood up with a frown. "But that was just a dream, I'm a great climber."

Aang pointed to the rock face next to them. "Then climb that cliff and climb it fast."

Sokka huffed indignantly but stalked off to climb the thing anyway. "Stupid Avatar, stupid cliff, stupid dream. I can climb fast."

Toph lifted her canteen to her lips. Aang whirled around and yelled, "Don't drink that!"

Toph threw the canteen away and spat the water out all over Katara. "Why, is it poisoned?"

"In my dream, we were right in the middle of the invasion and you had to stop to use the bathroom. We died because of your tiny bladder." Then Aang rounded on Zuko. "Don't have the baby during the invasion. In my dream, when the baby was born, the eclipse was over early, and we lost because the Fire Nation soldiers had their bending back."

"Aang, I'm not due for nearly another three months. Besides, I don't think my baby would have any effect on the eclipse."

Aang didn't acknowledge he'd spoken and turned to Katara. "And you need to start wearing your hair up. In my dream, your hair got caught in a train and…"

"Aang, I know you're just trying to help," Katara sighed, cupping his face with her hand, "But you really need to get a grip. You're unravelling."

Aang sighed. His hair was a mess. Dark bags hung under his eyes. He did look rather demented. "You're right, I'm losing my mind."

Sokka screamed as he fell down the cliff.

"It's like every time I think about how stressed I am, I just end up more stressed," Aang raved as he paced, "I'm like a big growing snowball of nerves."

"Of course you are," Sokka said, "That's cause you gotta fight the Firelord, the baddest man on the planet and you better win, or we're all done for."

"Sokka!" Zuko snapped.

"You're not helping." Katara chastised.

"What?" Sokka shrugged, "It's true, that's the deal, he knows it."

Katara smacked his head and shoved him back onto the floor. Aang started whimpering and shivering. She gently clasped his shoulders.

"You know what, I've got just the thing. Get ready to be de-stressified."

The yoga exercises Katara had planned didn't work. Instead, Aang shuffled off to Sokka and his newly reacquired beard. But Zuko thought he would take advantage of the hot springs himself. Hopefully it would ease his aching back just a little. He stripped down into his underclothes; and stopped. He debated taking off his undershirt. He knew no one would judge him, but he still wasn't eager to show off his huge belly covered in stretch marks or his slightly swollen chest. He bit his lip, deciding to take the shirt off.

Getting into the warm water was blissful. He sank deeper into it, relishing the feel of his tense muscles uncoiling. The baby finally calmed, but he knew it was perfectly alright. He relaxed back against the edge of the pool, letting the tip of his bump poke out above the water.

From the side, Katara laughed lightly. "You look comfortable."

"This is nice. I've missed this."

"Yeah. You give up a lot when you travel, huh."

"We didn't have this on my ship either. The bathing water was never hot for very long and there wasn't very much of it."

"Weren't you all Firebenders?"

"Not everyone. And it's hard to enjoy a nice bath when you're focusing on keeping the temperature decent."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense."

They both looked up to the sound of Aang screaming.

"Do you think he's okay?" Zuko asked.

Katara sighed. "I'd better go and check."

"Okay," Zuko huffed sleepily, "I'm going to stay in here a little longer."

He was nearly asleep by the time Katara called him for lunch. He answered with an intelligible mumble. He would get out in just a minute. Just one moment to muster up the energy.

Sokka's approaching laugh made him at least open his eyes. "And Toph calls me Snoozles."

"I'm growing another human. What's your excuse?" Zuko huffed.

"Very true. Are you coming to eat or not? Also if you don't, Katara will drag you out. I'm pretty sure she's already convinced you're drowning in here."

"Yes, I'm coming." With a grunt of effort, Zuko clambered out of the pool and stretched.

His eyes narrowed at Sokka; the Water Tribe Alpha's gaze was directed intently at his exposed belly. "Is there a problem?"

Sokka shook himself out of his stupor. "No. You're just really big- no, sorry! It's just so cool to think there's a real, live baby in there." The sincerity glimmered in Sokka's eyes.

Zuko relaxed. "I guess. I'm not doing anything special, though. People have babies all the time."

Sokka shrugged. "And its special every time. Now come on, I want lunch."

"Sokka, I'm dripping wet."

"Katara will dry you off, don't worry."

Zuko just managed to pull his shirt back on, before Sokka linked arms with him and pulled him out of the cave.

"See," Sokka called out, "I told you he was still alive."

Katara raised an eyebrow. She lifted her hand and all the water dripping from Zuko was pulled away.

"Thanks, Katara."

"No problem. Now come and eat, you must be starving."

Now that she'd mentioned it, Zuko's stomach growled for sustenance. Sokka and Toph laughed. Zuko blushed. Katara passed him a bowl with a knowing smile.

"Hey Zuko, do you have any relaxing ideas for me to try?" Aang asked wearily.

Zuko snorted. "Aang, do I really look like I know anything about coping with stress?"

"Well..."

Look, my advice is you're overthinking things. Just give your mind some time to process and you'll be fine."

"But I don't have time." Aang groaned.

"There's my point." Zuko deadpanned, taking a long sip of his soup.

Aang just groaned again.

Zuko spent the afternoon running through his adapted katas. Most of them still worked with the accommodations in his position he'd made for his growing belly.

"How much bigger am I going to get?" he complained under his breath.

Katara laughed. "Quite a bit. The baby still has a lot of growing to do."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Sorry, no."

"I officially hate being pregnant." Zuko sulked, stepping into another form. The baby took that moment to strike out at his insides. An irritated growl rose in his throat.

"Do you want to come and sit down?" Katara asked.

"No. I need to be on my feet for a while." The absolute last thing Zuko wanted to do was sit down. He'd go mad if he did. He just needed to spend some time actually moving. Maybe he'd wear himself out enough to be able to sleep through whatever nonsense Aang pulled tonight.

After an hour of practice, Zuko let Katara shove more food and tea at him, which he took without argument. Then he surrendered himself to another one of her check-ups. As she went to start on dinner, Zuko flopped down next to Sokka with a groan.

"You doing okay, there?" Sokka asked.

"I'm fine. I just don't bend much at the waist anymore."

"Oof."

"Yeah. The baby's kicking up a storm. Do you want to feel?"

Sokka's eyes lit up excitedly. Zuko rolled his shirt up and pressed Sokka's hand to the side of his belly. As always the baby thumped hard. Sokka laughed. "Does it always do that?"

"All day, every day." Zuko replied dryly.

"It's amazing." Sokka said.

"Yeah. I guess it is."

Toph charged over eagerly. "My turn, move over Snoozles!"

Zuko and Sokka exchanged looks. Sokka reluctantly moved back and Zuko offered his belly towards Toph. She never needed him to guide her to where the baby was kicking. She always knew. Her small hands roved his belly. A tiny foot thudded against her. She grinned in delight.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes, get over here! You're missing out!"

Aang obediently padded over and blinked uncomprehendingly at what was going on.

"Do you want to feel the baby kick?" Zuko asked.

Aang nodded. Toph moved out of the way so that Aang could sit down and Zuko guided his hand to where the baby was kicking.

"Awesome." Aang breathed.

"Dinner's ready!" Katara called.

"Thanks for everything, guys." Aang said.

"So do you feel less stressed? Ready for a good night's sleep?" Katara asked.

"Uh, I kind of think I sort of might slightly feel a little better. Maybe."

So not at all then.

"Then our work here is done." Sokka said.

Sometimes, Zuko swore Sokka had the observational skills of a spoon.

Aang screamed.

Zuko leapt to his feet; fire in his hands. He stumbled and overbalanced, but his mind was sharp, ready for an attack.

Behind him, Appa curled into a defensive ball. The others rushed over to Aang. Zuko breathed out a long, steadying breath and extinguishing his flames, before jogging over to join them.

"What happened, Aang?" Katara exclaimed.

Aang turned away, ducking his head. "It's the nightmares. They just get worse and worse."

"Looks like it's time for another therapy session." Sokka said. Zuko was going to burn that wretched beard.

"No, that won't help. Nothing helps." Aang snarled. "There's only one thing I can do. I'm gonna stay awake straight through to the invasion."

Oh, Agni. Was there no end to the madness?

Aang stalked off to sulk in a corner. Katara decreed that there was nothing they could do and that they should get some rest themselves, as she hoped Aang would. Zuko wanted to do something about the Avatar's dumb, reckless plan; but Katara and Sokka cajoled him into going back to bed.

Zuko was hoping that Aang would have fallen asleep during the night. One look at him the next day thoroughly dispelled any notions of that. Aang paced in swaying circles, mumbling incoherently to himself. "Invasion… All aboard for the invasion…"

Zuko sighed, leaning back against Appa and rubbing his belly. He looked over as Sokka plonked down next to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zuko shrugged. "Aang. I know what it's like, being afraid to sleep. The nightmares after," he gestured vaguely to his scar, "Were so bad I would scream every night. I didn't want to sleep at all."

"How did you get over it?"

"Time mostly. Uncle was always patient. He spent every night with me, holding me, talking to me, whatever I needed, he was there."

Sokka put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you had that. Your uncle sounds awesome."

"He is. I just hope he's okay."

"We'll get him back, Zuko."

"He might not even still be alive. I wouldn't put it past my father to kill him and get him out of his way."

"Zuko," Sokka turned Zuko's face towards his, "We are going to get your uncle back. You've got a lot to catch up on." He said, nodding to Zuko's belly.

"Yeah.."

As if he could read Zuko's mind, Sokka smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. He's gonna adore your baby, okay. He's not going to judge you or be mad at you."

Zuko tried to picture telling Uncle: though at this point, it would be more showing him. Logically, he knew that Uncle will be most likely ecstatic. Maybe he'll be disappointed at first, but he'd probably get over it quickly enough.

But, the fearful, untrusting part of Zuko was sure that Iroh would be very disappointed, and furious. That he'd condemn Zuko and his child.

Zuko shuddered. "I hope so."

"Hey, if he has a problem, I have a space sword he can take it up with."

Zuko laughed. As good as Sokka was with his sword, he was no match for the Dragon of the West. "Thanks, Sokka."

"No problem."

Zuko slipped into his own thoughts. It seemed from their conversation that Sokka was assuming he was keeping the baby. In fact, they all seemed too. In truth, Zuko really didn't know what he was going to do. He loved his little Firefly, but he didn't see how he could raise a baby.

He sighed. He could already feel the tears brewing.

"Hey, wanna help me build some armour for Appa?"

"Sure. Did you have an idea in mind?"

Zuko had to admit, the armour was coming along very nicely. For only a few hours of work so far, it was looking good: both aesthetically and practically. They were testing it against his Firebending as they went, adjusting it so that Appa would avoid being burned.

"You're pretty handy to have around." Sokka grinned.

"Uh, thanks." Zuko blushed.

A sudden gust of wind knocked Sokka to the ground. "Hey, we're trying to build Appa some armour here, so he doesn't have to into the invasion naked. He's your bison." Sokka complained.

Aang ignored him, muttering away to himself.

Zuko and Sokka exchanged glances.

Aang launched a round of air punches at the tree stump. They all missed. He proceeded to yell at the tree stump. He paused, looking around in confusion.

Zuko knew what that look was. The Avatar was officially hallucinating.

The group gathered to watch him chitter at Momo. Zuko just face palmed.

"Aang?" Katara said, "We're all staring to get a little worried about you."

"You've been awake too long." Sokka added.

"And you're acting downright weird." Toph said.

"You're starting to hallucinate." Zuko sighed.

Aang groaned. "Look, I appreciate what you guys are saying but the stress and the nightmares, they were just too much. Staying awake is the best way for me to deal with it."

Before anyone could say anything else, Aang was glancing worriedly between Momo and Appa. "Guys, come on."

Zuko exchanged looks with Sokka and Katara. "He's hallucinating." He shrugged.

Aang grabbed at Sokka's lapels. "Sokka, what should we do?"

"About what?" Sokka asked.

"About that." Aang said, pointing at empty space. "Come on guys, we're all on the same side."

Aang was sweating now, glancing around in confusion and whimpering.

"I just need to jump in a cold water fall." Then he ran away screaming.

"What was that all about?" Toph asked.

"Appa and Momo were sword fighting." Zuko shrugged.

"Uh.. what?" Sokka said.

Zuko just shrugged again. "Appa and Momo were sword fighting. I'm the most sleep deprived person I know. I know these things. Now, do you want to finish Appa's armour or not?"

It wasn't until dark that Aang came back, stumbling through the fog. He went straight to the woolly bed, poking it suspiciously. "Oh look, another hallucination… An imaginary bed made out of clouds…"

"Hey, it's real," Toph snapped, "We spent hours working on it."

"We made it for you." Sokka said. "A good night's sleep will probably take the crazy away. We hope."

"Look, you guys keep telling me I need to sleep, but I can't." Aang protested. "The invasion's tomorrow."

"Aang..."

"No, Katara, there's still so much I haven't learned. I don't need to sleep, what I need is practice. Quick, hit me." He swayed on his feet.

"I'm not going to hit you." Katara said softly.

"You want me to do it?" Toph offered.

Sokka elbowed her.

"I could-" Zuko said.

Sokka shook his head with a firm look.

"Listen to me," Katara soothed, "You've been training for this since the day we met. I've seen your progress. You're smart, brave and strong enough."

"You really think so?"

"We all do." Sokka grinned. "You can do this. You're ready."

"You're the man, Twinkle Toes." Toph added.

"If I couldn't stop you at least once, my father doesn't stand a chance." Zuko said.

"Thanks, guys." Aang smiled. He yawned and let Katara settle him down into the fluffy wool. "You know what? I think I am ready." He was asleep in minutes.

"Great," Zuko yawned, "Now that that's sorted, the rest of us should get some sleep too."

"You said it, Zuko." Sokka said.

Zuko laid down on Appa's tail and curled around his belly. "Good night Firefly," he whispered, "We're going to be alright. I love you."