A/N: Sorry for the wait folks, took a break for the 4th of July but here's the next chapter, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Airbender, I just like the sandbox in their playground (and their playground).

Despite the mild greeting he gave Umi, Zuko was anything but calm. His stomach was doing some kind of crazy bending forms without him, and he was relatively sure it was somehow on fire. After how cruelly he'd treated her earlier, he hoped she would be able to forgive him; or at least speak to him again. Despite his stomach's antics, he managed to notice her nod in acceptance of his greeting as she quietly moved to stand in front of the fire that was casting ever-changing shadows across their faces in the blackness of the night. Zuko noticed she stood a bit closer to his uncle than to him, and his heart began to sink.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw his uncle pinning him with a stare, one that most likely meant that it was time for him to stop hiding and apologize, no matter the consequences.

Quietly he took a deep breath and said the first thing that came into his head. "I'm sorry Umi!" he exclaimed, and blushed deeply at the bluntness of his sudden apology. He hadn't meant to just blurt it out there like that! He looked at the ground. He was unable to even look her in the eye as much as he wanted to know how his awkward apology was received. Somehow the feeling that had been taking a hold of him had rendered him unable to act normally around the lovely waterbending spirit, and now, he felt like he was drowning in a whirlpool of his own making.

Before he could completely self-destruct, he nearly jumped when he felt gentle, warm hands on his shoulders, and realized Umi was now behind him. In her melodious voice she asked him if he would like her to soothe his shoulders once again, just as she had before he had blown up at her. "When did I notice her voice sounded so beautiful?" he asked himself in a daze, nearly forgetting to even answer her question.

Before he could somehow ruin the tentative truce his apology had secured for him, the nervous young man practically stuttered his acceptance. "Ah..of course.. Yes, thank you!" he quickly stammered, once again turning a very bright red, and desperately hoping she was unable to see his face.

The portly older man standing directly across from him was, however, fully able to see the face of his nephew and unable to keep himself from smiling. "He's d done it" Iroh thought to himself; "he's learned from his mistakes and is maturing, oh how I have hoped for this. Now perhaps his heart can begin to heal at last."

His musing was interrupted by the subject of them suddenly pulling off the hide shirt he had been wearing and tossing it to the ground next to him. Iroh's eyebrows shot towards his regrettably gray hairline and his nephew caught the look, blushing once again as he sputtered "ah, uh…well, she..that is Umi, er, she asked me to..that is, well…for waterbending!" A very confused Dragon of the West stared at his nephew in shock, wondering just where the young man had gone, and who he'd been replaced with!

It was the water spirit who finally put both men out of their misery with a smile in her voice as she explained that to heal the strained muscles in Zuko's shoulders and back she needed to access his skin with her water. Iroh's eyebrows dropped back to their former neutral position with an "ah, of course" and a nod, and Zuko just lowered his head slightly and wished he could disappear; that is, if he could do that without moving. She asked him to please sit, and as he did so he could already feel the soothing touch of Umi's water on his upper back and around his shoulders and slowly began to relax.

Umi was finding it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. The gentle attraction that had been swirling through her recently for the young man whose back she was currently touching (sort of) was quickly growing into a far stronger pull than she would have thought she could feel again. She longed to allow her sensitive human form fingers to trace the scars that marbled his pale skin so uniquely. It was with great effort that she forced herself to attempt to ignore the clearly defined muscles underneath those scars. There was no doubt she found Zuko very attractive; not only his physical form but his spirit, his fire, his heart…

She caught herself before she sighed openly as the previous events of the evening flowed through her mind. It had truly hurt when he'd spoken so harshly to her. She'd dispersed and gone to the ocean for comfort. She could always count on the ocean to calm her with its steady, everlasting quality, and the ocean dwellers she knew so well.

There, in the calm embrace of the ocean she loved below the bright light of the moon she had realized that the angry young man had not meant to hurt her. She knew he had gone through something horrific, it was very plain to see if she tried, but it had long since ceased to be something she noticed. After only a short time of knowing Zuko, his disabilities had faded into the background of her mind and she only saw the handsome and fascinating young firebender she was growing fonder of with each passing day.

She felt like she could understand why he might say what he had, if she thought about what he must have been through and how it must be affecting him. He seemed to be someone to which pride was very important, although he had never seemed overly prideful to her. Still, in a weak moment her offer to help must have felt to him like asking him to prove a weakness.

Umi regretted that she had caused him feel that way, but she'd still felt the sting of his hasty words and truly hoped she was right about the reason for them and resolved to be more mindful in the future.

It was a much-renewed water spirit who had rose to separate from the balm of the sea waters and moved decisively and steadily back in the direction of their small camp.

When she'd arrived she felt the atmosphere was completely different from when she'd left. They were preparing to sleep for the night and she was glad she had not tarried any longer.

"Welcome back Umi." Zuko had spoken calmly to her, and she had blinked in surprise but still managed to incline her head in response, unable to trust herself to speak at that moment. She'd quickly moved to stand in front of the fire, ready to help put it out since it seemed they were planning on turning in for the night.

There was a strange tension in the air when suddenly the person she had been thinking about the entire night burst out an apology from the clear blue. She hardly knew what to think, never would she have imagined he would apologize to her, and she hadn't even considered that it was necessary. She had already forgiven him. Still at an unusual loss as to what to say, she'd finally hit upon something safe, and simply asked him once again if he would like her to work on his shoulders and neck with her waterbending. It had been her way of saying that she forgave him. She would show him, with her water.

Once he'd agreed, she couldn't in any way say that she was sorry she had asked him to take off his shirt. She had to, after all, to reach his skin, but the fact that she was enjoying it immensely was simply a perk. The shock and confusion that had sped across the face of the kind gentleman across the fire had been quite amusing, as well as the obvious embarrassment of the owner of the strong shoulders she was currently healing from the stress of the day.

She smiled secretly inside and ended her musings focusing on healing and soothing her favorite firebender.

Zuko was pretty sure this was just about as close to wonderful as he'd ever known, and he felt suddenly bereft when Umi finished and he felt her water pull away. He had been a little unsure as to whether she had truly forgiven him or not, but after a short time he had sensed her soothing water speak to him as she hadn't done in some time, before she had regained her ability to form a physical body. He'd felt her forgiveness like a cleansing tide, filling him and washing over him and he was still humbled at the realization it had created.

Umi was special, and he resolved to always treat her with the respect and care she deserved and never to allow his insecurities to overcome him again.

They rose with the sun the next morning and carefully removed any sign that they had camped there to the best of their ability. Zuko was feeling a bit shy around Umi, but the extra aches and pains from the previous day were all gone and he was eager to be on their way.

For days they performed the same routines over and over; awake, destroy the camp, walk, make camp, sleep; it became the new norm and they were all rather tired of it.

There were times as they walked when Zuko would almost glare at the ground he walked on thinking of the reason they were fleeing to begin with. Azula, his sister, his own sister; he know uncle was right. Azula wouldn't hesitate to torment him. It shamed him, but right now, he felt fear; fear of Azula, of what she might do to him, more than had already been done. Would she take his other leg? Make him completely helpless? His arms? Would she, could she kill him? Her own brother?

Walking gave one ample amounts of time to think, and thinking was not Zuko's friend in those moments. He had no way to know that his uncle was having the very same thoughts as he. Iroh knew more about some of the things Azula had done than Zuko did, however, and the old general knew that Azula wouldn't hesitate to cruelly torture and then kill the only human being standing between her and succeeding the throne of the Fire Lord.

The cold and heartless young woman could never be allowed to have the banished prince; the Dragon of the West would make sure of that, even to the point of sacrificing his own life.

Little did he know that his thoughts would be prophetic, for the one they all feared was at that very moment closer than they ever would have imagined.

A/N: I'm sorry! I know it's short, especially after skipping the holiday weekend, but, hey, it's better than me leaving you hanging later..right? lol :)