I don't own Airbender or anything else except my own mind.

A/N: I'm so sorry it's been sooo long guys! Lots of things have happened and I haven't gotten the itch to keep writing. I want to say a special thanks to Breyannia, without you I wouldn't be writing this! You are my only repeat reviewer ever I believe, and you even went out of your way to kindly ask me to update long after I'd submitted the previous chapter. I sincerely thank you for your kind words. It worked. ;)

Now, on to the update everyone's been waiting for!

With a strengthened resolve and a definite feeling that he'd know how to find uncle, Zuko once again performed the difficult ritual of making his way out of the water and standing up on his crutches. Soaking wet, he began to move in the direction that seemed right to him. He couldn't be completely sure, but the feeling was strong enough he felt he could trust it. For what seemed like hours the hopeful boy trudged on with no solid destination in mind. Random images still floated in his mind from what he'd seen in the water but they were disjointed, fragmented; he couldn't quite put them together yet. His mind was filled with questions and worries, eating away at him like a caterpillar on a leaf. The biggest question being 'is uncle ok'? The impression he'd had when he was in the water made him feel like the old man might be ok, but since when did water mess with your head? The logical part of his brain reminded him that sort of thing didn't happen; however, considering what he'd already been through, he figured logic might not be the best bet currently. Zuko was going to follow his gut.

It had been about two hours since he had left the stream; he was dry now, and very hungry. "It's too bad that water couldn't have fed me food along with those images" he grumbled aloud as he trudged along. "How did uncle get so far out anyway?" he asked no one in particular. "I don't even know if I can find my way back at this point." He thought to himself, a tendril of worry threading its way through his chest. The feeling that he was going the right way had not diminished, and that was the only reason he was still moving forward. Eventually he came upon a large rock, large enough to make a perfect seat for a weary traveler. The tired boy was more than happy to allow himself to, albeit carefully, plop down onto the rock with a sigh that burst past his lips the moment his weight was off his leg. He peered up into the sky; it was getting to be early afternoon by now and he wondered how long it would be until he reached his destination. He didn't want to be caught outside in an unknown area of the forest alone, with no light, shelter, water or food. After a much needed rest, Zuko struggled into a standing position once again and continued on his way. He hadn't made it very far when he felt as if he recognized where he was, not because he'd been there before, but because the area was beginning to match those hazy, disjointed images in his head. It was as if he was putting together a puzzle and the picture was beginning to take form. Exhausted limbs surged with new strength as he began to move this way and that, trying to pinpoint the location he felt was the correct one.

Minutes later he moved into a small clearing that gave way into a cliff that he judged to be several hundred feet high. Zuko's heart sunk in his chest. Trudging for hours on one leg and two crutches he could do, fishing he could do, he couldn't do this. There was no possible way he could climb that cliff, he was certain of that. The old uselessness and helplessness began to sink back into him as he stared at the cliff face, his body beginning to feel heavier and heavier with every moment. Spying an outcropping of rock, he slowly hobbled over to it and eased himself down. Laying his crutches to the side he dropped his head into his hands with a moan. How would he find uncle now?

So deep was he in his depression and fear he didn't at first hear the strange sounds coming from part way up the cliff. One particularly loud 'boom' finally reached him and he jumped, nearly losing his balance on the rock he was perching on. "What was that?!" He nearly shouted in his surprise, "there is no way that was any animal." Could it be there were other people out here in the middle of nowhere too? He rather doubted that possibility. The sound came again, not as loud as the last, but loud enough that he was finally able to make a stab at a definition. It was an explosion, he was certain. To him it sounded like something or someone was trying to carve up the mountainside from the inside out. That was when it hit him. Someone WAS trying to carve up the mountain from the inside, and that someone had to be his uncle! The how of the matter was wholly unimportant at that moment, the only thing Zuko cared about right then was that uncle was alive, he was sure now, and that he would see him soon.

During a lull in the blasting the excited boy stood back up on his crutches, his previous exhaustion from the long trek completely forgotten, and proceeded to draw a huge lungful of air in preparation to shout. He couldn't wait a moment longer to make sure it was really his uncle, and that he really was ok. "UNCLE!" The word nearly exploded from his bursting lungs in a loud cry that seemed to bounce back at him from the cliff face, mocking him. The sound of another explosion came almost at the same time, and he feared that he might not have been heard. He yelled again, "UNCLE, IS THAT YOU?!" this time his words not punctuated by another explosion, but instead silence reigned. In the next moment he felt as if time had stopped. The voice sounded so far away he could scarcely make it out, but it was unmistakably familiar, oh so familiar that his throat nearly closed up and he began to blink rapidly. The voice was none other than that of his beloved uncle. He was alright, uncle was ok! The young prince could only stand there a bit stunned, trying to swallow the lump in his throat and quickly swiping a hand over his eyes. "Zuko! Prince Zuko my boy can you hear me?" Swallowing hard again he tried to choke out an answer to the frantic call from his uncle. "Ye..s, YES! I..I'M HERE!" He didn't have to wait long "are you alright?" came the faint reply. He gave an involuntary choking sob as he tried to laugh. Uncle was apparently trapped inside a mountain halfway up a cliff face and he was worried about how Zuko was? A fierce, overwhelming love gripped his heart for the man who had been a true father, far more than his own had ever been. Suddenly, in that moment, it was as if a dam had burst, and the rest of his memories returned in a great rush. He remembered the times he had treated his uncle Iroh badly and he felt the sharp sting of regret. Suddenly he heard several blasts in quick succession, a short pause, and then several more. Shaken from his reverie he realized he hadn't answered uncle and took a deep breath; "I'M FINE, ARE YOU OK?" he shouted when there was a break in the explosions. "I am ok" came his answer, "getting tired of blas…rock….ry hot in …" the last part he could only hear small snippets of, as if the man had moved back, or was becoming exhausted. Instantly he began to worry. Of course, uncle had been through a lot in the past couple days, if he was blasting trying to make a way out it must be extremely hot from his bending, most likely even the air inside the cave he must be in was hot, making it hard to breathe. His chest clenched almost painfully. He was absolutely not going to lose his uncle now, not after he'd just found him again. Instead of replying right away he waited a minute to see if uncle would say anything else or if he was simply getting fresh air from farther back into the cave. After several minutes went by and he heard nothing, not even sounds of blasting, he shouted back up the cliff face once again, realizing that he needed to warn the older man that he was very high up just in case he blasted through with too much zeal and fell. An answer wasn't to be had as quickly as he'd hoped, and again he worried, but after a minute or so uncle thanked him for the warning and told him either to get comfortable because he had awhile to wait, or that gum was taboo because it was bait. He figured it was probably the former and went back to the rock outcropping to wait.

Soon he was hearing renewed sounds of blasting, some of them occasionally even strong enough to make the tremors reach him where he sat. A leaden bubble of worry settled itself in the pit of his stomach. In an effort to distract himself he once again shoved himself into a standing position and this time stepped back from the cliff face and began to carefully study it. He remembered where the sounds of uncle's voice had come from, and the blasts were pretty simple to pinpoint. Staring at what looked like a thin crack in the solid stone of the cliff he wondered if that might be what had allowed uncle's voice to reach him. Considering that the crack was at least over two hundred feet straight up the cliff, he hoped it wasn't. After several more large explosions he stared closely at the rock around the thin crack, and realized there were several small fractures that hadn't been there a few minutes before. In the same moment that he felt excitement at the possibility of seeing his uncle soon, his heart sank. It was way too far up. The old man couldn't possibly climb down the cliff face after all that excavating and what he'd been through the last couple days. How could Zuko possibly help him? He was powerless to do anything but stand, or sit, and watch. He ground his teeth in anger and frustrated helplessness. He was so sick of being helpless, worthless, and useless! What good was he if he couldn't even help his uncle who had done so much for him? The grip he had on his crutches tightened into a death grip, his knuckles turning white with the exertion, his mind already spiraling down in a self-defeating spin. Suddenly he saw the smallest of flames flicker between the sides of the thin crack on the sheer cliff. In that moment his downward spiral halted. NO! The word sprang unbidden into his thoughts. He was Prince Zuko, he did not give up! Kicking, fighting, clawing and even biting if he had to he would keep getting back up and coming back for more because he was a fighter, he was a fire bender and there was a flame burning in his heart that could never be extinguished! They would figure out a way to get uncle out of this and they would get out of this forest and they would move on with their lives.

His resolve strengthened so, he waited eagerly for more explosions to signal that uncle was about to blast through the cliff wall. All was silent. Just as he was about to question him, his uncle called back down faintly that he was about to blast through and to get as far back as possible. Excitement and worry tightened his chest as he quickly moved back to the edge of the clearing after yelling an acknowledgement. A few short blasts later and several more spidery thin cracks appeared in the cliff and a medium sized chunk of rock flew out of the wall it had spent eons in and fell in a gentle arc to the ground, landing with a thud. Zuko's eyes widened and he strained to watch the face of the cliff, hoping to see another face soon. Several more chunks, some larger, some smaller blew out from the same area and flew off in different directions. It wasn't long before the hole was decently man-sized, and the small bits of vegetation that had been around the area were smoking with the heat. He waited anxiously for uncle to appear but he was nowhere to be seen. "Maybe it's the heat", he thought. After waiting several more minutes that seemed more like hours to him, Zuko was becoming increasingly worried. "UNCLE!" he yelled, "ARE YOU OK?" An eternity later, or so it seemed to him, uncle replied, haltingly. "Tired…too much….heat…bending. Resting…" Knowing his uncle would be at the opening on the cliff if he were able to be, the worried prince leaned against a tree and reminded himself to have patience. It wouldn't hurt him to think of a way to get uncle down either, he realized, and his brow furrowed as he considered possibilities.

A/N: I'm sure he would also remind my readers to have patience with me! :) I promise it's not going to end there for too long because I'm already writing more. I'm sorry this is such a short chapter but I wanted to get something up quickly. More is coming soon, I promise!