FIGHT NIGHT

"What is he doing here?" Katara questioned as soon as the silence became all too encompassing. From her side, Suki swore she could hear Zuko gulping and she had to agree. It was truly a tragic picture, team avatar all together on one side, she and Zuko on the other with the fire spilling embers between them.

"He came here with me" She explained calmly.

"Well, we can see that" Sokka said.

"Huh… Look" Zuko started after a pause, his hands spread by his side, nonthreatening. "I know you must be surprised to see me."

"Not really since you followed us all over the world!"

A beat passed them by in which she saw the wavering of Zuko's stance, her own words felt like mud coming out of her mouth as she became torn between being Fire Lady Suki or Suki, the friend. Rubbing her eyes, she opted for the later.

"Guys look, I know you have many grievances against Zuko."

"Many, would be cutting short." Katara interrupted, to which Sokka suddenly brought his fingers up one at the time.

"Let's see if I remember well, he almost killed us, plenty of times, he burned down your island, he had us chased by pirates, bounty hunters." An accusing finger was pointed at Zuko. "Everything you ever did was try to hunt us down and capture Aang."

"I know! I know what I did was wrong."

"Do you!?" Katara screamed her lungs out now, and all-around Suki felt the air growing dry. "You have no idea! You have no idea what you've done to us!"

"I know what I did!" Zuko exclaimed, stepping forward and falling to his knees. "I know what I did. I fought for the Fire Nation, I fought to end the world's last hope, to subjugate innocent people and bring more pain and suffering. My actions caused harm that I can't even imagine, to bodies and souls alike, but I can't change that, I can only make it up for it as best as I can. That is why I want to join you."

At the end of his world, the emotion thick in his voice, Suki had to beat down on her lip. She knew then that Zuko had decided on being himself, on laying everything to their friends to judge him as they wished. It was an humbling experience to say the least, and, for a long while, there was only the beat of her heart, heavy and nervous, to fill her ears. The night whispered a silent breeze. Appa breathed in and out, blinking at them.

"What?" Toph shouted, clearly surprised.

"You've got to be..."

But Sokka stopped short because Zuko had gotten way too close, and the tongue of a bison suddenly moved to lick him toe to head once more. Oh Appa, I could kiss you now. Suki thought, giggling at the sight of his straight-up hair, the tension draining from her bones, completely unintentional.

"You are enjoying this" Zuko accused her.

"S-sorry..." She said. His hair was so ridiculous, she was almost sad to see him fixing it.

"Suki?" She looked over, and of course, now they suddenly remembered she was there, each stare a question, each set of eyes a suspicion. Composing herself, the warrior did her best to push her guilt away as she stared at Sokka, and then the others.

"Zuko helped me, I know how deep he must've hurt you guys, but it doesn't change the fact that he is here now. He deserted the Fire Nation, he committed treason for all to see." She stopped, licking her lips and smiling as the Flying Bison now allowed Zuko to pet his nose. "He saved Appa too."

"Appa does seem to like him." Toph pointed out.

"He is probably covered in honey or something!" Sokka complained, Suki sighed.

"I know this all seems crazy, believe me, but he needs to be in this group and you guys need him too."

"No we don't! We have everything we need right here."

"Sokka, you can't defeat the Fire Lord without Zuko."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that."

"The Invasion plan won't work" Zuko spoke grievously, and for a moment Suki wondered if it might be a mistake to reveal something like that so soon, but she understood his reasoning. Sometimes the only way to give bad news was to simply give them. "My father already knows about it. Azula heard it straight from King Kuei's mouth when she was in Ba Sing Se, you're expected."

Her heart broke as she watched their faces changing, from angry and confused to something akin to despair. She saw it in Aang most of all as his brow furrowed and his gaze fell to the ground. Suki couldn't remember the last time he looked his age that much.

"So that is it? You came here to tell us how much we need you just because our plan has gone south?"

"No" Still on his knees, her husband touched his head to the grass, his voice though, was still clear and loud. "Please, I know this isn't right. I know I made the wrong choice in Ba Sing Se, but I want to help you, I want to help you restore balance to my country and the world."

Suki watched Aang tun to Zuko, his eyes searching for something in the Fire Prince's eyes. She was praying now for that Avatar wisdom to show up, and, suddenly, it did as the kid met her eyes.

"Suki, why are you with Zuko? He burned Kyoshi Island, remember?"

"Of course I remember" She was an old woman these days, and the memory held now a levity, a joke she used so the Fire Lord would kneel and use his tongue to give her pleasure. She never forgot his apology when he visited her village though, his regret and sorrow thick in his voice as he sought to make amends. "He took me out of prison, and he helped me rescue the other Kyoshi Warriors. He has pledged his men, and himself to see to the end of the war, and I believe him. As far as I'm concerned whatever debts he has to Kyoshi are paid."

To her utter relief, she watched Aang's lips actually forming into a thoughtful smile, that was when Sokka caught on to something.

"Wait a minute, the other Kyoshi Warriors are here with you?"

"Yes, and a small crew of trustworthy people. We had to hide because we were afraid you would leave if you saw us"

"Wait another minute!" Sokka jumped, sword at ready. "You mean there is a whole Fire Nation crew sneaking up on us while we're talking?"

"Oh please, no one sneaks up on me" Toph bragged, Suki was glad.

"They are allies" She pressed. "They are all willing to work against the Fire Lord, as is Zuko." Expressions soured all around her and years of dealing with politicians and noblemen instantly told Suki that they wouldn't accomplish anything today. Grievances here were too fresh, the scars too deep, this needed time. Maybe we should have waited until morning. Looking over her friends she chose her words carefully. "Listen, this isn't going anywhere, why don't we go to sleep? I mean, tomorrow, with a clear head we can come back to this… Right?"

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "No way we're going to sleep with a Fire Nation ship nearby,"

"They won't harm you, we're safe here" She answered. "Please, trust me,"

She knew she said it right when they all sat down, Aang still seeming thoughtful, blinking his eyes as if to stay awake. "Suki has a point I think, what do you guys say?"

"Fine" Katara agreed, glaring at Zuko. "But I'm not sleeping close to him"

"It's okay, I can go back to the ship and come back in the morning" Suki bit her lip and looked down.

To anyone else it would seem he was a composed Fire Prince, but with so much practice, Suki could see the telltale signs of his hurt. She could guess why that was. Katara and Toph were both last seen charging into battle, Sokka and Aang were ghosts, dead friends whose presence was but a memory, and to be there, and not feel the bond bringing them closer and smiling, it hurt more than she could have guessed. It was only the mission after all that kept the Kyoshi Warrior composed, it was the mission that stayed her feet and stilled her resolve. It was the thought of her family that kept her tears at bay. Now, at this point, they were friends, Zuko an enemy. She knew, it was ten times worse to see them and be rejected. When he turned around, she could see the gathered tears threatening to spill from his eyes and her body seemed to move on its own.

In hindsight, she should have held herself back, but she couldn't help it. As Zuko went to pass by her she reached out, taking his hand in a gentle squeeze.

He smiled and then he left.

"What the heck!?" She sighed. "Suki, really are you mad? Has he gotten something on you? Is he threatening the other Kyoshi Warriors?"

"That didn't seem like something someone under threat would do meathead" Toph said sitting over her blanket.

Suki nodded, watching over her friends. Katara clearly was the most wound up, with Sokka a close second. Aang however, was staring into the fire and she wondered if the kid would get any sleep at all that night.

"We should probably leave before he comes back, you know. We take Suki, find the Invasion force and warn them this island is not safe." Sokka was saying thoughtfully. "We could work on a plan to rescue the Kyoshi Warriors together."

"So you're not waiting for him to come back?" Toph asked.

"What is there to wait, just because he says he is sorry, doesn't mean we won't get burned." His eyes moved over to her. "Suki, you didn't buy that, did you?"

Suki dropped her bundled blanket to make a pillow and closed her eyes. "Zuko wasn't lying."

Everyone glanced over the earth bender who nodded. "She is right, he didn't lie, none of them"

"Aang..." She called out, the boy exchanged a look with the rest of his friends. She could see Sokka shaking his head, Katara's severe eyes as the boy looked down.

"I have a confession to make, remember when you two got sick and Zhao captured me?"

Sokka almost jumped at the mention. "And you made us suck on frozen frogs? How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month!"

Katara sighed. "Sokka, I looked at it, and I told you, there was nothing there!"

"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap!"

Aang shook his head, smiling. "Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me."

"No way! I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!" No way to argue with that, thought Suki.

Aang sighed. "You're probably right."

Katara huffed. "And what about all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free? What a liar!"

"I told you guys, no one lied." Toph reminded them.

"Oh, hooray! In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list."

"I'm just saying that, while he was talking to us, he was sincere." The small girl poked inside her nose, falling back to the ground. "Considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse."

"You're right Toph! Let's go find him and give him a medal. The "not as much of a jerk as you could have been" award!"

"All I know is that I believed him and Suki. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly."

"Easy for you to say! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!"

"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island! Right, Suki? Suki?"

She felt their eyes on her back and slowly turned around from where she was already lying down. "Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep." She watched them gently, wavering a little a how much they reminded her of children. As their friend, she wouldn't trust anyone else with the fate of the world, but as Fire Lady, she couldn't help but feel bothered that the burden had fallen to them in the first place. "I was serious before. You're all tired and stressed, there is no way you can make a decision in that state."

"Yeah, well..." Sokka yawned suddenly, Aang followed. "Maybe you're right, but we need… Someone to..."

"I'll stay up to watch over you guys."

"All right."

It was with an uncomfortable twist in her guts that she felt Sokka plopping down right by her side, mumbling a goodnight before falling asleep. Slowly, the others followed suit, Katara offering one last suspicious gaze her way before lying down.

The chill of the night was weirdly ineffective on his now young bones, as Zuko weaved his way through the woods. He walked with purpose, not willing to stop and be engulfed by a myriad of feelings that were pieces of a puzzle somewhat completely different.

Ahead of him he could see the shape of the airship stationed down in the clearing, and then the shadows of people waiting for his arrival. Walking down the hill, he slowly came to distinguish his uncle's gray beard and Mai's shape. Fay was the other one, her scowl clear under the torchlight. He couldn't help, but sigh at that, his hand coming up to rub his temples. They would all want to know what happened, even if they didn't ask anything and with that in mind his steps faltered. Of course, the reunion hadn't gone as bad as those flimsy memories told him about, his friends hadn't just lost a massive battle and Suki was there, and yet, he had forgotten this stab he felt when Katara glared at him. He had forgotten how much it hurt, no matter how much he deserved it.

It was his doing after all.

Chuckling, Zuko shook his head. Whatever his jumbled feelings might be, they would have to come later. He would need to deal with them later. Later with everything else, everything that mattered and that he wished, like Izumi's wise eyes, Avani's free grin whenever she was amused by something and Ryo's delight when he produced his first flames.

His steps faltered all of the sudden, his soul wandering into dangerous territory, one of darkness and wanting, a selfish path that would paralyze the body, and then the shiver came, the warning of a warrior overwhelming the grieving father. Immediately, his eyes darted to his surrounds, seeking out the source of the danger. He breathed in and out, feeling his chi running through his body, fueling the flames.

Around him, the night offered no answer, the cicadas kept on singing and the koala-sheep slept soundly across the field. Woods and planes remained the same, while the moon and stars waited. Zuko baited his breath, and turned around.

His hands clenched into fists.

"WAKE UP!"

Aang jumped from his resting place as soon as the voice cut through his dozing. He hadn't really been sleeping much anyway, and yet the sight of Suki's eyes as she rose the camp, made him suddenly alert.

"What is it? What?" Sokka mumbled.

"Something is happening." Suki said and he followed her gaze all the way to the other side of the small island where he could see burning light twinkling against the night veil.

Aang blinked, uncertain of what he was seeing, barely listening when Suki whispered the Fire Prince's name and burst into a run towards the glow. It took only a moment for Sokka to cry out her name and go after her. When Aang meant to follow, he felt a grip around his arm and met Katara's worried gaze. "What if it's a trap?"

"We can't know for sure" Toph said.

"Sokka and Suki are there though." He argued, seeing the conflict brewing in those warm blue eyes. He knew she was afraid for him, but at the same time he knew Katara would never abandon Suki and Sokka.

"I'll go on Appa, if anything happens, we'll be ready to flee." She explained and Aang nodded quickly as he and Toph moved to pursue.

His steps racing down the hills and plains, Aang slowly breathed in, connecting his energy to the air around him. It would be for the best if he got there first, he wanted to get there first and so he begun exerting his control over the wind, pushing and pulling his limbs while the drowsiness of sleep was taken over by shots of adrenaline, In the blink of an eye, the world became a blur, and he burst past Sokka and through the edge of the forest to find a field raging with battle.

Firebenders were everywhere, and spears and swords were singing under the light of the stars, fire was pushed against moving shadows, burning grass and patches of bushes, and his first instinct was to run away or to strike at those things he so easily perceived as enemies,

"What the hell?!" By his side, he realized Sokka and Toph had arrived, the first gawking at the gigantic structure parked in the middle of the clearing, bathed in orange glow. "That is my war balloon! They stole my design!"

"Seriously? That is what you're worried about?"

"Guys..." It wasn't fire that finally struck at him, but a massive shadow that emerged from the ground, standing on two legs like a huddled platypus-bear, purple eyes and teeth roaring his way.

Before he could move to defend himself, he heard a loud battle cry and Suki was coming down from the treetops, her knee crashing on the shadow's head with a sickening crack. Her fans struck out, slashing and cutting until the shadow roared and stepped back, running away into the darkness. She didn't stop to say anything, a mere glance over her shoulder was all it took before she was diving into battle, kicking another monster away from a firebender clutching his bleeding arm.

For a moment the Avatar shivered, a sudden cold had bloomed inside his guts at that presence, and then he knew he didn't have time to think about it. Snapping out of his uncertainty, Aang jumped forward and sent blasts of air at the monsters. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew the Fire Nation was hardly causing harm in the fray. Behind him, he heard Sokka's war cry and the rumbling of Toph's earthbending, and felt the usual calmness of having his friends backing him up, as it soon became obvious this wouldn't be an easy fight.

He dodged out of the way of claws and teeth, tentacles tried to wrap around him and he jumped out of the way. He blew air left and right, kicks and punches disappearing into massive glowing bodies of dark blue and sick red. He got firebenders out of the way, while Toph helped the spearmen defend the balloon. He saw glimpses of girls in battle formation, shields and swords as they pushed the monsters away, Zuko's uncle breathing fire and Zuko himself fighting back to back with Suki, their movements so in synch that he couldn't tell if they hadn't done this their whole lives. Then he heard Appa's roar as Katara descended to do battle, her water whips clearing a path that gave Aang enough time to breathe.

"You okay?" Sokka panted by his side, and Aang nodded.

Looking around he almost froze. He thought the battle might be over, but it felt like there were more monsters than before. He felt the cold again as well, taking over his body as each presence seemed to glare at him specifically. Anger, he felt anger and fear and rage against shackles, feelings coming from them, and with that realization he understood.

"T-they are spirits!"

"Come again?" Sokka said, throwing his boomerang over the spearmen's heads. "In that case can't you do that 'bridge between worlds' thingy that you do?"

Aang watched one of the shadows struggling to attack Mai, the girl dodging out of the way of the bloodthirsty spirit. "I-I don't know"

"Usually, someone did something to them right? We just have to figure out what they're angry about!"

Sokka was right, of course. Hei Bai had only need to be shown hope, but these spirits felt different, and Aang had no idea if they would even listen. The Fire Nation men were slowly drawing a perimeter around them, Zuko and his uncle's voices blaring orders left and right to keep their defenses up, and Aang knew he had to try anyway. A snake like spirit suddenly broke through the line, and he jumped ahead, his voice sounding shrill to his own ears as he tried to communicate.

"Spirit, tell us why you're angry!" But the snake gave him no heed, and Sokka's boomerang hit it in the head. The spirit hissed, fire hit its face and it recoiled. Zuko kept on the barrage, he and Suki suddenly were at his side, keeping them away and yet Aang could feel the anger rising within him. "Y-you did something, didn't you? Spirits don't do that! What did you do to them?!"

Zuko looked at him over his shoulder, he opened his mouth, but Suki cut through whatever explanation he might give.

"We don't have time for this!"

"I need to know what is wrong so I can..." Her scream hit him hard, like a knife tearing through his soul. He forgot Zuko, he forgot the spirits, he didn't even hear what Sokka had to say, his eyes were only at Katara's form plunging from the sky while Appa was overwhelmed from all sides, by pitch black birds.

With one burst from his airbending Aang was above the line and jumping over the dark spirits, using the wind to move towards Katara. She was using her water to defend herself from the enemies when he slammed into her, falling down and sliding along a curve of frozen water which brought them to the ground. Unbalanced, they tumbled down on a throng of limbs, Aang looking at her where he met a smile.

"Thanks" Her gratitude dissolved when she looked over his shoulder, and the Avatar quickly got up again. They had fallen away from the rest of the group, and were surrounded, by his side Katara had her octopus formation in place and he was ready to bend the earth to push the spirits away when the sky suddenly lit itself on fire.

It wasn't something Aang had ever witnessed before.

It started out fiery and red, angry, and then the fire became a hurricane, showering light all over the island as it morphed into green, blue and a dozen other hues and colors such as he had never seen. The sight alone made Aang lower his guard, it was the most beautiful fire, it pulsed as it transformed, pulsed like a million hearts and souls.

"Aang, look"

He followed Katara's motion to find the spirits equally entranced by the sight. Their eyes changed from purple to soft colors, their shady bodies dissolving into light and animal like forms, trees and strange unique shapes. In the time of a heartbeat the spirits were all calm, and then they were leaving, slowly fazing out of sight, crossing a bridge invisible to the eye.

Inside him, Aang felt the cold vanishing, turning into soft warmth and then, leaving.

"Is it over?"

"I-I..." Aang hesitated, his eyes following the source of the fire, to where Zuko suddenly dropped on Suki's arms. "I don't know."