A/N: This story has come way further than I ever would have imagined; we're on the 20th chapter! I apologize for being so remiss about describing Umi! Here you go, for those who were curious. :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The lone scout knelt uncomfortably on the cool, dewy ground. The sun had not quite risen, but the gentle pre-dawn atmosphere bathed the sparse trees in the open forest with a warm glow. As he watched the camp of the traitors the loveliest woman he'd ever seen in his lifetime suddenly appeared, seemingly out of the air itself. The man rubbed his eyes; then pinched himself. No, not dreaming. He looked again, the beauty was still there. He blinked and simply stared as if trying to etch her features into his memory.

She was simply ethereal; her form slim, yet curvy and womanly, desirable in every way. Her heart-shaped face was that of an angel with flawless skin and hauntingly deep blue eyes framed with cascading tresses of shining white that seemed to almost move of their own accord.

The poor scout was certain he had somehow ingested some kind of poison and was surely hallucinating. No flesh and blood woman could possibly be so incredibly lovely. He forced himself to tear his eyes from her radiant beauty and remembered Azula. She would not forgive him, should he fail. Pinching himself one last time he turned his eyes back to the camp, only to find the enchanting creature, simply gone.

Once again his poor eyes were rubbed and his sore arm pinched as he blinked and craned his neck in an effort to locate her. Moments later, however, he was once again distracted, this time by a yawning Iroh and a stretching Zuko as they arose to prepare for another long day of walking.

The scout's features hardened as he recognized their faces and his resolve quickened in him. It was time to alert Princess Azula. Quickly and quietly he darted through the loose forest, hoping to reach the fire nation mini-camp as soon as physically possible.

"Uncle, did Umi say she was going somewhere?" Zuko asked, suppressing a yawn. "I do not think so nephew." Iroh shook his head. "Perhaps she has gone to visit the ocean as she loves to do, I am sure she will catch up quickly." Privately he wondered to himself, not about the fact of the water-bending spirit's strange absence, but the fact that he was having the oddest sensation that they were being watched. Something he simply couldn't shake, but could see no reason for it. He resolved to be on extra alert; it was highly unlikely that Azula could have caught them so very quickly, much less so very accurately.

His words were received with a slight frown of worry, but had his nephew seen the content of his thoughts, he might have frowned a bit harder.

Each lost in his own thoughts, they proceeded to pack up their meager supplies and remove as much sign of their campsite as possible before making their way East once again.

"Oh, is that so, lieutenant?" the crafty voice of one fire nation Princess softly screamed for all attention to be devoted to her. "You're trying to tell me that your scout is so incompetent that he 'looked away' and a woman simply disappeared?" She sneered up at the tall older fire bender as if she were somehow looking down on him from far above. "What you should be saying is that the scout fell asleep. I don't take well to lies, lieutenant. In fact…" she paused for effect "I rather dislike people who lie to me; do you know what I do to people I dislike, lieutenant?" She stretched the word, emphasizing it to prove a point.

The still sore and traumatized soldier was already feeling the fingers of fear stretching up his spine as her voice became softer and somehow deadlier at the same time. By the time she finished speaking he was one more word away from actually trembling. He looked at the ground in shame. This little girl had him cowering and groveling and shaking in his boots, a grown man, many times her age! It was beyond disgusting. For the second time he truly feared for his life as he braved to open his mouth and answer.

"N..no Princess.." he stuttered, and inwardly cursed himself for his weakness.

She threw back her head and laughed openly. "Oh don't worry lieutenant; I have other prey in mind today." Then her voice hardened. "That scout, he eats nothing for 3 days. He only gets water because he found the traitors. Make sure he knows what it means to fail the fire nation."

She gave him a short, pointed look and then proceeded to outline the battle plan for attacking the traitors. She would not underestimate them, it was to be a complete victory; she fully intended to totally dominate them, and then slowly kill them whenever the fancy decided to hit her.

Oh it was a good day to be the fire Princess.

For the next hour, Iroh continued to have a strange feeling. Something simply wasn't right, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. He had kept a sharp eye out but saw nothing that would indicate there was anyone or anything around. His nephew kept looking at him strangely and finally stopped moving, asking what was wrong.

His uncle shook his head. "I just don't know Zuko. I keep having a strange feeling, like there is danger lurking somewhere about, but we've encountered nothing at all. Perhaps it is just the imagination of an old man."

"Uncle, if you're reacting this way then there must be something wrong nearby." He smiled "I've learned to trust your instincts, besides, you're the smartest and craftiest old man I know."

Those words alone nearly made the strange feeling disappear with the sheer joy at hearing them from his nephew. Still, the feeling remained, and now that he had acknowledged it, dread was beginning to settle into his stomach.

"Zuko..I think we need to find some rocks for shelter, perhaps some water." The former general said somberly. "Water uncle? We have water…"

"Not for drinking nephew, we may need to somehow contact Umi. Knowing her, she is either in, or somehow connected to a body of water and will come assist us should we need it."

"Surely you don't think there is such a threat out there that at least you alone could not face easily!" Zuko exclaimed with bravado; Iroh chuckled. "I appreciate your faith in me, however, I am only one man, and I am not as young as I used to be. It is possible we may find that we face a threat that is more than we can handle, even together. No matter the threat, it is better faced with friends, don't you think?"

Zuko remained silent, while his thoughts seemed to scream. The old fire bender was filled with thoughts of his own as they moved onward in search of protection and water.

A few hundred yards from the current position of the fleeing men Azula scowled as the reports came in of the sudden change in direction and pace of their prey. That old man wasn't as stupid as she'd hoped; he'd somehow managed to sense their arrival and was even now finding a strong place to weather an attack. She had only been able to bring a small contingent of guards as her need for secrecy far outweighed her desire for a large unit. She'd been positive as long as they had the element of surprise, they would be victorious in destroying both traitors in a timely fashion.

The fact that they were now on guard was not something she had expected. The possibility of her losing to either her weak older brother or her doddering uncle was completely zero. That being said…she frowned, something bothered her. It was that inane scout's report of a third person. Was it possible that the third person actually did exist, and wasn't a trick of the light or such? Even with a strong unit of battle-hardened fire nation benders behind her, the unknown element did give her pause.

This was to be her complete coup. She couldn't afford any mistakes, it had to be perfect!

With the niggling doubt clawing at her mind, attempting to ruin her normally razor sharp focus, Azula waited. They weren't close enough to cut them off out in the open yet, she'd been almost overly cautious in keeping her soldiers at a distance where she believed they couldn't be detected.

It wasn't too long before the scouts ahead reported a large rocky area. The traitors would reach it before they were able to catch them due to the slower speed the rest of the still-mounted unit had to travel to avoid creating dust and commotion.

The frustration rolling off Princess Azula was almost palpable. She'd wanted to surprise them, out in the open, defenseless, and make them BEG for her mercy and then kill them while she laughed at their pathetic faces twisted in agony!

Iroh would pay, oh yes he would pay and she would enjoy it.

Gasping for breath, they finally reached a wonderful sight; some rocky hills they had practically run into upon exiting the thickening forest. The Dragon of the West had been hoping for only some large rocks, but this was perfect. Here, they could make a much better stand than out in the open where they ran the risk of being surrounded and overrun. Here, they stood a chance.

As quickly as possible they searched for a spot with a good vantage point and cover, yet where they would not get trapped. Finding such a spot was but the work of minutes, and soon the two had dropped to the ground, lungs heaving. For a few minutes neither spoke; then Zuko made a frustrated sound.

"We forgot water!" he exclaimed. "If we can't contact Umi for help…" he looked at the ground, "I'm…useless in a fight. I can't move easily and I can mostly only bend with my hands or breathe fire; I won't e able to help you at all uncle!" The despair and self-loathing in his voice was very evident and iroh's heart ached for his nephew. "Do not despair, all is not lost. We are still here, and we, yes we, can still fight. Never give up hope, and never stop fighting for what you believe in!" He nodded emphatically. "There is always a way, but you must fight for it."

There was silence for several moments as the old general was lost in thought. It was time. Iroh struggled to his feet, standing on slightly shaky legs.

He turned around; feeling shame that he could not say these things to the boy's face, and folded his arms. "I love you, Prince Zuko. I have not said this often enough. My own son, I could not say this to him, I did not have the courage; now he is gone and I can never say it. So I say it now. I love you, my beloved nephew, and I truly wish you were my son instead, for I wish I could have sheltered you from the horrible things that have befallen you during your short life." There was complete silence for a few moments as Zuko sat in shock, listening to his uncle's heartfelt words.

"I don't know what will happen, but I fear that Azula may have indeed caught up to us, for there is a dread in my heart that will not leave." Iroh turned around and finally looked the stunned Zuko in the face.

"I cannot lose another son without speaking my heart. I am an old man Zuko, when you reach my age, things begin to be very clear. Family, true family, may not always share blood, but they will share your heart. Search for your true family, the people who will love you for who you are, those are the people who will stand by your side no matter what."

After he stopped speaking there was complete silence between them. Zuko sat with his mind whirling and twin tears running down his cheeks. He reached a hand up to touch his face; he didn't realize he'd been crying. Uncle loved him. Of course he did, he knew that..but, to hear it out loud, how much he was loved…it was overwhelming.

After everything he'd been through…somehow..something in his twisted, broken heart began to mend and fill up at that moment, and he grabbed his crutches and practically sprang up to stand in front of the man who he knew was one of those people he'd just spoken of.

Zuko took a step towards his uncle and threw his arms around him, carelessly allowing his crutches to fall away as he lunged forward.

"I love you too, uncle!" He exclaimed, his voice cracking. "Thank you for always being here for me, and for loving me. I would have been honored to call you father."

It was Iroh's turn to be completely shocked as he opened his arms automatically to gather the young man into his embrace. There were tears running down his cheeks as well as he held his nephew and wondered in awe at the mending being done in both their hearts.

He so hoped they would both live to see many more days ahead, for he truly wished to be there for him as Zuko continued to grow and become the man he should have always been and Iroh always knew he could become.

"Aww, isn't this sweet…hug it out you two, it'll be the last one you get before you DIE!" The cruel voice of Azula cut through their minds like a razor sharp knife; shattering their calm and bringing dread to their hearts.

Zuko pulled back from Iroh as if he'd been stung, the tears still drying on his face, the shock freezing his mind. His crutches, where were his crutches?! He hardly paid attention to his sister as he frantically looked around for where they'd fallen. Iroh, in his wisdom, helped to hold Zuko standing, and somehow, by some unbelievable luck, his back was to the terrible girl, and his girth, what was left of it, was shielding the panicking banished prince from her intense gaze.

He shuddered to think what she would say, when she saw; how she would try to break his spirit as she would try to break his body. He would fight as hard as he could, yet he only hoped Zuko was truly ready, because this would be his hardest battle yet.

A/N: I know I'm a horrible terrible cliffhangery person! :) Finally a longer chapter too! Aww, aren't Iroh and Zuko so sweet!? Iroh totally should have been Zuko's father, but , of course, that kinda woulda ruined the story and all.. Anyway….!

Yay! So, next week, the fight!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I live for reviews, so if you liked it, let me know!