Azula picked up Zuko's trail easily enough.

He'd sold his ship, then stole a ship from a bunch of pirates. He'd then sold that ship and bought another one.

Actually, that was probably all Iroh's doing. Still.

He'd actually renamed the new ship Prince. If that wasn't a dead giveaway, Azula wasn't a prodigy.

Azula sighed.

Then she looked back at the pirate captain. Tien.

He'd almost lost control of all of them not so long ago, Azula could almost respect how easily he'd managed to put that rebellion down.

She'd respect him more if it hadn't happened in the first place.

"Who do you think is really going to win this war?" Azula asked. "Do you truly believe the Earth Kingdom will last much longer? They are falling." She left the How much longer will they be able to pay you? remain unsaid.

Tien was listening, but not talking yet. Smart man. In that at least. "Iroh is now a traitor to the Fire Nation." She didn't add Zuko into the mix, the captain wasn't after her brother. It wouldn't do to give him targets when he decided to betray her.

"You'll help me find him. I'll bring him back to the Fire Nation. And you'll get paid the same as if you'd delivered him to the Earth Kingdom. Oh, and you'll earn some good will from the Fire Nation royal family." She felt that it would be superfluous to point out that good will from the Fire Nation was worth a lot more than goodwill from the Earth Kingdom.

After all, the Earth Kingdom would be gone soon enough.

…-…

"We're going to the North Pole next. We've got some contacts there." Li said.

Sokka gaped at him. "How'd you get contacts there? Haven't they isolated themselves for like- ever?"

Li shrugged. "Uncle plays a lot of Pai Sho. And drinks a lot of tea. He's great at making friends."

Aang seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Sokka was pretty sure his air magic made his hearing way too good. Or maybe it was Avatar stuff that let him pop up whenever anyone mentioned anything fun.

He'd already snuck off to go penguin sledding again. And he'd taken Katara with him.

Though, Aang probably needed stuff like that. Because everyone he'd ever known or loved was dead. Ouch.

"You're going to the North Pole!" Aang said, and he was grinning. "Can we travel with you then?"

"We?" Sokka asked, even as something inside of him sank.

"Well, me and Katara of course! She wants to learn Waterbending too!"

…-…

"How'd your deck end up so… burnt?" Aang asked, looking at the black marks dotting the otherwise spotless wood of the deck.

Li blushed, his whole face turning the color of his scar. Well, not quite. But nearly.

"We- ah. We got in a fight."

"With Fire benders?" Sokka asked. He looked horrified for a small moment, then a grin overwhelmed his face. "And you won!"

Li looked extremely uncomfortable. He glanced sideways, then grabbed his uncle, pushing the man in front of him. "Uncle can tell you all about it!" he said. Well. Shouted. Then he ran to his room.

…-…

"We are not going to Kyoshi Island!" Zuko shouted. He tried to be nice. He really did. But this was the third time Aang had asked. So far. This morning.

Firm. He needed to be firm on some things.

"But I want to ride the Ug-"

Zuko held a hand up in front of Aang's face. "No."

…-…

"They went to Kyoshi Island." Zuko said, looking at the place on deck where Appa really should have been sleeping.

Stupid alternate methods of transportation.

…-…

"I told you it was a bad idea to go to Kyoshi Island!" Li shouted.

"How were we supposed to know that a crazy Fire Nation guy with ridiculous sideburns would find us there?" Sokka asked. He was being reasonable. The only reasonable one here actually.

"You weren't supposed to know- you were supposed to listen to me! Why do you think I talk?"

He didn't seem to talk much. He shouted a lot. And spent a lot of time depressed in his room. For all that though… he wasn't half bad.

And those swords.

Fans were cool. And apparently super effective. But swords.

…-…

"I want to visit Omashu!" Aang said.

Zuko stared at him for a long moment. "Why?"

"Me and my friend Bumi- well. We always went on these rides around the city you see-"

Iroh's cup almost spilled on the table as his eyes widened. "Did you say Bumi?"

…-…

"I am not leaving this ship!" Zuko shouted. "You think I want to go anywhere near that crazy guy with his crazy crystals? No thank you!"

Iroh sighed.

…-…

"To be fair," Sokka said, "Bumi did use the crystals. You can't blame Zuko for being worried."

"I still think he should've had to go on a ride with us. It's important. For bonding." Aang actually sounded concerned.

Which was… fair. Li was about as tightly wound as people got- which was saying something. Mushi was much for relaxed.

…-…

"My Avatar sense is tingling."

"You don't have an Avatar sense! Uncle- tell him that doesn't exist!"

…-…

"So what? There actually was a Spirit. That doesn't mean you had to go after it."

"I'm supposed to be a bridge between this world and the Spirit world! Of course I had to go!"

Zuko glared at him. Aang looked back, unrepentant. "Besides," Aang said, "I got to talk to Roku. He told me to say hi to his great- grandson or something."

"Do you even know who that is?"

"No idea."