Zuko was dreaming of the fountain at the royal palace. But it wasn't just a dream; it was a memory. Azula was chasing him while Ursa sat in the shade of a tree. He vaguely registered the servant who approached her with a scroll. Ursa read it before she stood up, tears streaming down her beautiful face as she beckoned her children to her.

Her expression was heartbroken as she said, "Iroh has lost his son. Your cousin, Lu Ten, did not survive the battle."

Zuko felt like the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. Tears poured down his own cheeks. Beside him, Azula stood, not reacting at all.

Zuko whimpered in his sleep, his brows furrowing as he continued to dream. He woke up a few minutes later, his dreams pulling him from sleep. He sat upright and saw Katara sleeping beside him, curled up beneath the blanket. He looked around and saw that his swords were missing.

Suspecting where they went, Zuko quietly put on his boots and ducked out of the barn, casting one last look at Katara before he did.

Zuko found Lee in the middle of a field of sunflowers. The young boy was swinging the swords around, cutting at the flowers and slashing the blades against a dead tree trunk. Zuko stood back and watched him for a moment, shaking his head. Normally, he'd be angry at the abuse his swords were enduring (seriously? That was not good on the blades), but Lee was so happy that Zuko couldn't bring himself to be mad.

Lee swiped at the tree again with a ferocious grunt as Zuko silently walked up behind him.

"You're holding them wrong," Zuko said.

The boy let out a startled yelp as he turned around. He saw Zuko standing there, and he hung his head as he offered the swords back to Zuko. He took them, feeling their familiar weight in his hands. He hadn't been much younger than Lee when he'd first started his lessons in swordsmanship, encouraged by his mother, and kept secret from his father. A fleeting smile passed over his face.

"Keep in mind, these are dual swords," Zuko said to the boy as he held the swords out away from his body, running through familiar movements. "Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, 'cause they're not. They're just two parts of the same whole."

Zuko dropped into a stance as the blades cut through the air, singing with the breeze they created. His swords easily lopped off the heads of a few sunflowers. Zuko showed off a bit more, feeling a touch of pride when he saw the awestricken look on Lee's face. Zuko straightened as he transferred both swords into one hand and offered them to the boy.

They spent some time practicing with the swords under the light of the moon before Zuko told Lee that he needed to go to bed. Together, they walked out of the sunflower field.

"I think you'd really like my brother, Sensu," Lee remarked as they walked. His eyes fell on the dao swords, resting in their rightful place on Zuko's hip. "He used to show me stuff like this all the time."

Zuko made sure that the boy went inside the farmhouse before he went back to the barn. He found Katara still sleeping. Silently, he laid down his swords and took off his boots before he stretched out on his back. After a while, he fell back asleep.

Katara slept uneasily, plagued by nightmares. She dreamed of the swamp, which had been dark and foreboding during her visit, but became downright frightening in her dreams.

The dark atmosphere was suffocating, and the vines tried to grab her, to pull her into the murky waters. Once she had been dragged down, the vines turned to hands, and she found herself back with her brother and Aang, but they were pushing her away, flinging accusations at her about how she abandoned them and that she would never find them. Suddenly, the scene shifted, and she was back in the desert, with the men tearing at her clothes and touching her.

She awoke with a start, a scream trapped behind her teeth. Her skin was slick with sweat and her heart was pounding in her chest as she flung herself into a sitting position, her hands outstretched as if to fend off her attackers.

Beside her, Zuko's eyes snapped open, pools of dark amber in the silvery moonlight that filtered in through the gaps in the wooden walls. He sat upright quickly, already alert for danger.

"I'm sorry," Katara managed to say, her voice thin and shaking. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Zuko's eyes landed on her again. He searched her face, his brow furrowing. "Are you okay?"

Katara rubbed her hands over the gooseflesh on her arms. "I just had a bad dream, that's all."

Zuko cleared his throat. "Do...you want to talk about it?"

"It's just...you know, the bad things that have been happening," Katara muttered, surprised that she was even telling him this. "The swamp, being separated from Sokka and Aang…" Her throat constricted painfully, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Those men."

A traitorous tear leaked from her eye and slipped down her cheek. Katara scrubbed it away, sniffling. Then she felt Zuko's hand on her shoulder, warm and inexplicably comforting. Katara peeked over at him, surprised to see sympathy and concern on his face. But it was clear in the furrow of his brow and the set of his jaw.

She turned towards him and burrowed against his side, pressing her face against his collarbone as she wrapped her arms around him. More tears leaked from her eyes and her shoulders shook with the weight of her emotions. After a moment, Zuko's arms snaked around her, pulling her closer.

Katara melted into his warmth, feeling comforted by it. She could feel his quiet strength as he held her, and for the first time in a long time, Katara felt small, more like a child who needed solace than the caregiver always offering consolation. Zuko's hand rubbed soothing circles against her back, and after a moment, she felt him rest his chin on the top of her head.

Once her tears had subsided, Katara lifted her head, but she wasn't quite ready to pull away from him. She dried her tears.

"I'm sorry," she said thickly.

Zuko shook his head. "Don't be. You've been through a lot in the last few weeks." He eyed her. "Do you think you can get some more sleep?"

Katara let out a breath. "Yeah, I can try. Maybe just...stay close to me? It...it makes me feel better."

He blinked, clearly surprised. He swallowed hard before he said, "Yeah, I can do that."

Zuko laid down on his back. Katara settled herself along his side, resting her head on his chest. Zuko kept his arm around her shoulders as Katara pulled the blanket over them. She fell asleep with the even beat of his heart beneath her ear.

The next morning, Katara and Zuko thank Gansu, Sela, and Lee for their hospitality as they mount Dusty and prepare to head out. Sela held out a large package to Katara, who sat in front of Zuko in the saddle.

"Here. This ought to get you through a few meals," Sela said with a smile.

"You two take care of yourselves," Gansu said.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," Lee remarked as he sniffled, clearly holding back tears.

Katara took the package with a thankful smile. Behind her, Zuko tensed. She looked up and saw a dustcloud coming up the road. A moment later, Gow and his soldiers came into view, riding on ostrich horses.

Gansu's expression darkened. "What do you think they want?"

Zuko's voice was flat behind her. "Trouble."

The soldiers arrived. The chickens squealed and squawked, clearly irritated at the intruders. Gow and his men stopped right in front of them.

Gansu crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want, Gow?"

The bully had a smug look on his face. "Just thought someone ought to tell you that your son's battalion got captured." He glanced over at his men. "You boys hear what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"

"Dressed 'em up in Fire Nation uniforms and put 'em in the front line, unarmed, the way I hear it," another one said before he spat on the ground at Dusty's feet. "Then they just watched."

Gansu jabbed his finger at the soldier angrily. "You watch your mouth!"

Gow pushed his ostrich horse closer to Gansu, but then Zuko pulled Dusty in between them. Gow glared up at him, and Katara and Zuko glowered right back. Gow ignored her as he held Zuko's burning gaze.

Then Gow backed up, admitting his defeat. "Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs?"

The soldier turned his ostrich horse around. No one said anything as the soldiers rode away, but Katara could feel the tension in Zuko's body sitting rigidly behind her. She was angry, too.

Lee was the first one to break the silence, his voice small. "What's going to happen to my brother?"

Gansu squared his shoulder, his jaw tight. "I'm going to the front. I'm going to find Sensu and bring him back."

He turned and walked away. Sela hurried after him. Katara watched them go, feeling her heart break for this family, who had faced tragedies like so many others she had come across in her travels.

Lee looked up at them. "When my dad goes...will you stay?"

Katara dropped her gaze to Dusty's neck as tears stung her eyes. Thankfully, Zuko spoke the words that she was too much of a coward to say.

"No." His voice was gruff. "We need to move on."

Zuko dismounted. Katara watched as he pulled a sheathed dagger from the back of his belt. He knelt down until he was eye-level with Lee and held it out to him. The boy took the knife with a faint smile.

"I want you to have this," Zuko said, his voice still rough. He nodded towards the dagger. "Read the inscription."

Lee unsheathed the blade. "'Made...in Earth Kingdom.'"

Katara saw Zuko's unscarred ear turn pink. He cleared his throat. "Uh, the other one."

Lee turned the knife over. "'Never give up without a fight.'" He looked up at Zuko. "Thanks, Lee."

Zuko straightened before he pulled himself into Dusty's saddle behind Katara again. "Take care of yourself, kid."

Then he and Katara set off down the road. Neither of them spoke as they left the town, heading in the direction of the ghost town Gansu had mentioned. Katara thought that it was pointless. Her hope of being reunited with her brother and Aang had dwindled with each day that passed, but it was becoming more clear to her that the odds of finding them were becoming increasingly less.

"That was nice of you," Katara remarked after they had ridden in silence for an hour.

She felt him shrug behind her, but he didn't say anything. They continued to ride in silence.

Zuko wasn't sure why he'd given Lee his knife. He'd kept that blade throughout everything. It had been a piece of home during his banishment. Its carefully-etched phrase, never give up without a fight, had been a mantra he'd repeated when he felt hopeless. He thought Lee needed that.

He and Katara broke for lunch when the sun was at its zenith in the sky. The sun was hot and unforgiving, but it seemed more tolerable with good food and water to drink. They decided to rest for a few hours until the hottest part of the day passed. Zuko laid out on the grass and dozed off.

"Dad's going to kill you! Really, he is."

"Ha-ha, Azula. Nice try."

"Fine, don't believe me. But I heard everything. Grandfather said Dad's punishment should fit his crime. 'You must know the pain of losing a first-born son by sacrificing your own!'"

"Liar!"

"I'm only telling you for your own good. I know! Maybe you could find a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt you!"

"Stop it! You're lying! Dad would never do that to me."

"Azula always lies."

Katara looked over at Zuko. His eyes were closed and he was still sleeping. She frowned, wondering who Azula was. But then, she caught the sound of ostrich horse feet thundering across the ground. Katara pushed herself upright and saw Sela hurrying towards them on an ostrich horse drawn wagon.

Zuko woke up suddenly, disturbed by the noise. Sela pulled up beside them, tears streaking her red face and her breath hitching in her throat.

"You have to help!" Sela wailed. "It's Lee. The thugs from town came back as soon as Gansu left. When they ordered us to give them food, Lee pulled a knife on them! I don't even know where he got a knife!" Her sobs overtook her for a moment as she pressed her fist to her mouth. "They told me if he's old enough to fight, he's old enough to join the army. I know we barely know you, but…"

Katara opened her mouth, ready to tell Sela that they would help her. But then Zuko's shadow fell over her as he stood up, his expression grim and stony.

"I'll get your son back," he said.