With concerned eyes did Iroh look around the place. Seeing the scorch marks on the ground and on the plants.
Toph frowned. "It does seem like the work of a firebender." she commented.
"It looks like Zuko letting off some steam." Iroh agreed. "Though I still wish he would learn how to do that without resorting to firebending." he closed his eyes. "Still no control over himself." and he frowned deeply.
"I don't feel Sparky or Twinkletoes anywhere." Toph then admitted. "Sparky's foot prints goes that way and then they just stop." she pointed to her left.
Iroh nodded as he followed the direction Toph had pointed out, where true enough he saw some soft foot prints. They were far apart though… Zuko had been sprinting.
Towards the Avatar? Away from something? Iroh didn't get far though before the foot prints, true enough, just stopped.
Iroh frowned as he stepped forward. Glancing around.
"Maybe Aang picked him up and they flew away?" Toph commented.
"Maybe." Iroh commented as he looked in front of himself and then walked forward, reaching forward a hand.
"What is it?" Toph asked.
"The veil between the human world and the spirit world is thin here." Iroh commented.
"Huh?" Toph asked.
"There are places… Specific places in the world where the veil between the human and spirit world is thin." Iroh calmly informed. "Sometimes specific phenomena makes these places react. The fullmoon affects the North poles sacred spirit pool. A cometh affects Agni's resting place in the heart of the fire temple. It's in a volcano." he held out his hands. "I wonder what made this one react."
"Wait… You think spirits may be involved?" Toph asked.
"I think it's a possibility." Iroh said. "But I can't be sure."
"Well.. If that's the case it's a good thing Zuko is with Aang isn't it?" Toph asked. "Aang is the bridge between the human and spirit world after all."
Iroh nodded. "Quite correct." he agreed. "How-ever…" he frowned. "Spirits rarely take commands… They do have minds of their own."
And Toph frowned deeply as she nodded.
Aang kept glancing at the young Zuko walking next to him. Trying desperately not to stare.
The young Zuko was back being Aangs own age, and he was carrying around with the turtleduck in a protective manner while the two older Zukos walked behind him.
"So erhm…" Aang cleared his throat. "You thought of a name yet?" he asked.
Young Zuko nodded. "Can we call him Lin-Lin?" he asked.
"Lin-Lin?" Aang asked. "That's a great name! Sure! Lin-Lin it is!" he grinned. "Where's the name from? I haven't really heard it before."
"This play I watched with my mom." Young Zuko replied. "It's about a young boy who befriended a dragon!" he gasped. "And they form a friendship. But then by the end, the dragon sacrifices himself to safe the fire nation from the greedy earth kingdom lord! The dragons name was Lin-Lin!" he beamed.
"Evil earth kingdom lord?" Aang asked.
"Uhu." Young Zuko nodded looking fondly at Lin-Lin in his arms. "The earth kingdom is jealous of all the wealth the fire nation has. That's why they call us evil and wants to kill us."
"I don't think that's really how it is." Aang tried to say.
"What else would it be?" Young Zuko asked. "Father wouldn't attack if there wasn't a good reason. He's just trying to protect us."
It shivered down Aang shoulder. The way Zuko was saying it. Clearly there was no evil intention behind it at all. There was even an outright childish innocence to how he said it. And that was the creepy thing. Then Aang looked behind his shoulder to look at the Raggedy Zuko.
How come he looked so thin? He looked outright skeleton. Each foot step heavy, his back slouched and his eyes exhausted.
The scarred Zuko marched right on with a straight back and a scary look on his face. Fire almost seemed to flare from his nostrils as he huffed.
Then a coldness came over Aang as he gasped. A purple air came toward them and Aang gasped. "PROTECT YOURSELF!" he shouted grabbing his staff as suddenly Desiree reformed in front of them. Towering over them.
"You." Desiree hissed. "Foolish avatar! How dare you! YOU THIEF!"
"You're the thief!" Aang shouted. "You need to put Zuko back together again!"
Desirees eyes swept across the three Zukos, then he grinned. "Oh… What have we here?" he asked. "It can still be salvaged." he sighed relieved. "Come here." he reached for them.
"Guys… RUN!" Aang shouted grabbing Young Zuko and started running.
Scarred Zuko pulled out his swords as he faced Desiree. "A true fire nation soldier never runs!" he shouted.
Only for Aang to let go of Young Zuko so he could ran back and grab scarred Zuko. "Come on!" he shouted pulling Scarred Zuko with him. Giving him no choice but to run.
The four of them ran across the fields and it was not for the first time that Aang cursed that there was no bending in the spirit world.
"Help!" Aang shouted. "I NEED HELP!"
And then it came, sailing from the sky. A dragon! Rokus animal guide.
Young Zuko stopped as he gaped up into the air. "Is that….. A dragon?" he asked.
Raggedy Zuko halted as well. "I thought they had gone extinct."
"Maybe they have. This is just the spirit of a dragon." Aang informed truthfully. "But he is here to help!"
And finally the big dragon landed between the group and Desiree who hissed.
"THIS WAY!" Aang gestured and they ran to the left into a dense forest where they kept running until they were out of breath. Gasping for air.
"How…. How did he even find us?" Young Zuko asked as he squinted his eyes.
"Quite simple actually." A gentle female voice sounded as Yue herself stepped out from the shadows. "He was drawn to you Zuko. To your disharmony. As long as you are in such disharmony he will find you. You must find harmony and become one again. Otherwise, Desiree is never going to give up." she looked seriously at them with her blue eyes.
Aangs heart fell. Trying to make these three people find harmony together? It seemed like an impossible task.
Then he sucked in a deep breath. Okay! They had to try.
"Guys! There's only one way I can think of to solve this." Aang stated. "You guys need to talk to each other!" he stated. "And find common ground! You are all the same person. Surely there has to be something!"
Scarred Zuko glared at Aang, while young Zuko backed away clutching Lin-Lin. Raggedy Zuko just slumped down on the ground.
"This isn't good." Yue said. "If you can't find harmony you have to keep moving. Desiree is going to find you."
Aang sighed deeply. "I suppose we just need to move forward for now." he said. "Come on Zuko." he said to the young Zuko clutching his turtleduck. "And erhm… Zuko and Zuko." he addressed the other two.
None of them seemed happy to move but finally they were on their way again.