Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender because if I did, Music Night would be a full-blown disco affair.

Chapter 6: The Redemption

A cool breeze riffled through the treetops, far below the rocky mountain cave. A flock of silver birds lifted off into the air, squabbling loudly as they rode the zephyr into the clear blue sky. Huge chocolate eyes followed the departure of the birds from within the stony recess, sadly yearning for the same lightness of heart and freedom of spirit.

Grrmph. Appa grumbled softly. He had spent two nights in the secluded mountain retreat, hiding from the world and hiding from his shame. He had only a faint memory of himself fleeing blindly into the sky and finally landing clumsily on the rocky ledge that led into the cave. He had stumbled inside and collapsed, lying on the dusty ground for what seemed like an eternity as his wounds scabbed over and his aching muscles recovered. Finally, the haze that clouded his mind had burned off, leaving him with a single thought: the Avatar needed him.

Appa heaved a dull sigh and puffs of soft dirt swirled out from under his massive snout. He had violated his people's code of peace; no doubt about that. He had lost control and endangered another living being and then fled shamefully, leaving his human charge and companion alone – two serious transgressions in Air culture.

A lesser bison would have sneered that the Air tradition no longer existed; it was wiped out as mercilessly and efficiently as the ones who practiced it. Fortunately, Appa was not such a bison. He was an airbison of honor, integrity, peace, and courage. In the days before he had been trusted with the responsibility of being the Avatar's guardian, Appa had been the crown jewel of the airbison. He brought his sire and dam much honor; had been the pride and joy of all.

Now, those who had respected and loved him were gone, but that did not mean Appa could shirk his duties as an airbison and Avatar Guardian. He could spend a lifetime hiding away in the high mountains, a lonely and dismal existence of shameful dishonor, or he could return to his human and perform the rite of redemption. Hopefully, the Avatar would accept and forgive him.

Stiffly but steadily, Appa rose to his six feet. His wounds were still in the process of healing and he was a little sore, but he would not allow himself the disgrace of another day spent in idleness. He would return to his human. He would perform the redemption ritual. And with luck, he would be forgiven and allowed to serve the Avatar again.

The bison shuffled into the warm sunlight and blinked at the dizzying beauty of the landscape before him. Lush green trees spread like living carpet over the rounded angles of the soaring mountains. In the distance, a faint ribbon of steely blue marked the edge where land met sea. Far to the west, Appa's sharp eyes could make out the slight depression in the trees where the clearing was, setting of his sins. The Avatar and his human friends would be somewhere past the meadow. It would be a small effort to find them, but eventually Appa would see them from his perch high in the sky.

Yonder lies hope. Redemption.

The great bison leapt into the open air and flew.

It was just as well that Appa began his search for his friends when he did, because the humans were wearing down. Of course they had traveled by foot before, but even then Appa would be available to carry some of their packs in his saddle. The addition of Zuko to the party helped only slightly.

"And this, and this, and that, and…oh yeah, put this on top," Sokka instructed.

Zuko peeked over the pile of stuff in his arms just in time to catch the sleeping roll. "Sokka," he gasped, "This is all your junk. Why aren't you carrying it yourself?"

Sokka scratched his head and smiled. "I'm the leader of this group, right? I need to be free to lead! And move…and stuff. Oh! I forgot my parka. You can carry that, too."

The fur-trimmed item flew into Zuko's face. Setting everything down, Zuko snatched the dirty parka off of his head and growled, "I'm not your pack-mule! We split the load evenly!"

"HEY! Watch where you put my things!"

"You can't tell me what to do!"

In an instant, the two had their faces inches from each other, snarling and bristling. Katara looked up from where she was tightening the laces on her own pack. Rolling her eyes, she pulled a water-whip out and snapped it at Sokka and Zuko's ankles in one clean sweep.

"YOW!" her brother screeched, leaping into the air.

"Hey!" Zuko yelled, dancing back.

Katara smiled mischievously. "Now be useful before I hit the whip somewhere it'll REALLY hurt."

Zuko's cheeks tinged pink, but Sokka whined, "Aww. You know, ever since you became a Master, you're a lot less fun. I was just testing him!"

Still grumbling, he began gathering things and shouldering them himself. "Look at me, I'm Katara! I can tell my brother what to do because I can make freaky water toys!" he muttered.

Sokka yelped as Katara froze the water she had been sneaking stealthily down the neck of his shirt. Zuko barked a laugh but immediately clammed up when the girl turned towards the sound of his voice. After the Firebending fiasco yesterday, Zuko had kept his interaction with Katara to as much of a minimum as possible. He had avoided her for the rest of the day and all night and so lost his only companionship: Aang was withdrawn and unapproachable and Sokka only wanted to tease the amnesiac Prince mercilessly.

Lost and alone, he had been sitting by the campfire, absent-mindedly listening to Katara and Aang's Waterbending practice when he found himself pulling sheets of flame out of the fire and manipulating them with ease. He had stared, mesmerized, as his hands moved out of their own accord, flaring brightly in the dark night. Hello, fire. Can you tell me who I am?

He watched himself, as if in a completely different body, breathe deeply, in and out, and saw the fire swell in temperature and intensity. Somehow, something deep inside knew how to control the capricious flames; the fire was a part of who he was.

Zuko stood and the hidden Firebender inside of him told him what to do. His fist swung back and shot out with blinding speed; bright orange flames shot merrily into the darkness. The lost prince smiled. Without any true ally in this world, the fire was his only friend.

Gingerly slipping off his tunic, Zuko allowed his body to move him through the stances. Like a well-oiled machine, every part of him worked in sync with everything else and for that moment, Zuko forgot about his aching ribs, his lost memories, his spurned affections. All he saw and felt was the burning warmth inside of him, manifested in the fluid movements of the Firebending.

Breathe. Step. Strike. Breathe. Kick. Block. Breathe.

A strong hand gripped Zuko's shoulder, jerking him back into harsh reality. Zuko wheeled around, balance momentarily lost, and came face-to-face with the suspicious countenance of Sokka. "What were you doing?" he demanded.

Zuko wiped off the beads of sweat on his brow and reached for his shirt. "Just…being myself."

Unsatisfied, Sokka crossed his arms and cast a skeptical eye on Zuko, who was struggling to get his arms back in the sleeves. Suddenly, a sly look flitted across Sokka's features and he reached over and helped Zuko with the disobedient clothing. Zuko muttered his thanks, and the two sat down in front of the fire.

"You know," Sokka began, "I don't think you really know who 'myself' is for you."

Incredulous, Zuko looked up. Was the paranoid Water boy finally coming around? Or was he just mocking him? "Took you that long, huh?"

Sokka held up his hands in protest. "Hey, you gotta see where I'm coming from. A strange guy in the jaws of our boy Appa, who never attacks someone without good reason. Suspicious, my man, very suspicious. Either you were pulling a big scam or you weren't."

Gazing into the crackling campfire, Zuko mulled this over. Sokka, Katara, and Aang had recognized him when he woke up, even though he hadn't been able to reciprocate. Did they know him as a cheat and a liar? Was he a cheat and a liar?

Sokka watched Zuko ponder and stare at the fire. He forced himself into an appearance of comradely charity, but inside he was tense and very, very nervous. If Zuko decided to throw fireballs at him, he'd be unable to fend off the attacks due to their close proximity. He was taking a big gamble, coming to talk to the one who kept trying to capture him and his friends. Furthermore, if Zuko really had amnesia and didn't remember a thing, Aang and Katara might not stand for what Sokka was planning to do next.

"I'm not. Lying, that is," Zuko finally murmured.

Sokka leaned in conspiratorially. "You don't know who you are, but we do. You have no one, except us. If you want, I can tell you everything you want or need to know. But you have to swear complete fealty."

Something seemed off to Zuko. Not quite knowing why, he asked, "Does Katara know about this?"

Sokka was taken aback, but only for a split-second. Don't you even think about getting close to my sister, he wanted to say. Instead, he looked at the prince with solemn eyes and said, "Yes. She asked me to do this, in fact."

Zuko grimaced. Of course. She was telling him to stay away, to leave her alone. "Tell me all you can before I have to pledge loyalty."

"No can do, my friend. It's all or nothing."

The Fire Prince bit his lip and looked up, to the dark night sky. The stars shone so brightly above, distant beams of light indifferent to the inner turmoil of one lost Firebender.

Beams of light.

FLASH!

A blinding column of light, just off the horizon. It was cold, so cold all around him, but something hot roared to life inside as soon as he saw that beam of light. Redemption? Hope? Fear?

He had to get to the source of the glow. That's where the answers were.

"Helmsman! Steer towards that light!"

Sokka studied the other boy's face carefully. His eyes were clenched tightly shut and there was a hard edge about him, almost as if the old Zuko was returning. Sokka cautiously reached back to his boomerang and gripped it, ready to defend himself as best as he could.

Zuko's mouth tightened and his eyes flew open, burning intently. "Fine. Tell me everything."

Still wary, Sokka didn't let go of his weapon. "Do you promise to remain loyal to us, even in extreme circumstances?"

"Yes."

"All righty then."

Zuko shouldered his pack and stood. His ribs still hurt from time to time, but were practically mended already. Katara had prodded him this morning and declared it abnormal but convenient. Zuko thought it might've had something to do with his Firebending practice. When he Bent, things just seemed right.

He looked over to her. She was speaking quietly to Aang, who nodded and then smiled half-heartedly. She hugged the tattooed boy and Zuko felt a white-hot snarl of jealousy deep inside. Turning away in anger, he thought back on what Sokka told him.

They were a traveling group of students, en route to seek an education in the renowned Omashu University. Katara was a Water Master – Sokka had seen no way to hide this fact – and Aang was a fluke, an Air Monk who happened to be able to bend water as well. Zuko was their hired man, charged with protecting the trio. After only a couple of days of joining the group, Zuko had somehow angered Appa, who attacked and wounded him, causing his memory to short out.

Zuko sighed. It was good that he knew a little more about himself and his circumstances, but Sokka's explanation filled in woefully little of his past. He ached to know more about who he was as a person: his childhood, his home, his friends and family. He also wished to know – Zuko gritted his teeth – why he had that awful scar, why he was looking for redemption, why he felt unloved.

Maybe I'm a rogue who committed some crime in the past and is now trying to redeem himself through helping others.

Zuko scrunched his nose at the thought and discarded it, although he lingered over the brief mental image of himself as a masked assassin, clad in black and wielding razor-sharp broadswords with deadly accuracy. Aah, that's stupid.

The four had begun trekking forward. Aang led the way with Momo perched on his shoulder, followed by Zuko, looking thoughtfully into the distance. Sokka walked between the ruminating Firebender and his sister.

"Sokka," Katara said, catching up to her brother. "What's with him?"

She indicated Zuko, lost in thought. Sokka winced. He knew he would eventually have to tell Katara what he told Zuko, but he had been putting it off. She might get mad at him for lying to Zuko.

Quickly and quietly, he explained what he had told Zuko last night.

"What!" Katara screeched.

Aang and Zuko turned at her voice. Katara grinned apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. Sokka just told me that he had been trying on some of my clothes. Keep walking; don't embarrass the poor guy!" she fibbed.

Zuko looked at Sokka with a mixture of confusion and scorn but continued walking. Aang, on the other hand, hopped excitedly over to the siblings, showing the first spark of emotion since Appa had fled. "You didn't know, Katara? That one time, on Kyoshi Island –"

Sokka silenced his friend with a glare. Katara said in a low voice, "Oh, I know about that. Any ways Aang, I just said that to get Zuko to go back to staring off into space. Do you know what Sokka told him?"

Aang looked uncomfortable. "Yeah."

"You knew!" Katara shrieked again, loud enough for Zuko to hear.

A chuckle slipped out of Zuko, but he didn't turn around. He sensed this was something he wasn't a part of. Sokka has some issues of his own, I guess.

Katara took in three deep breaths and fixed Aang and Sokka with a stern look. "That isn't right!" she protested, quiet once more. "We're lying to him, manipulating him to suit our needs –"

"Would you have it any other way, Katara?" Sokka interrupted. "Do you want to tell him that he's the Fire Prince who's been chasing us all over the place? Do you want to tell him Aang's the Avatar, the one that he's been trying to capture? Do you want to give him a reason to turn us over to the Fire Nation?"

"I still don't think it's right!"

"We saved him from Appa, healed him, let him stay with us! Do you think the Fire Nation would have done as much for us? Do you think he would have? We're trying to avoid capture and death, not make friends and have tea and cake!"

"By lying to him and using him, we're just as bad!"

"Katara, you don't get it, do you?" Sokka fumed. "Lying so Gran-Gran won't find out that I tried her hookah is different from lying to save Aang and you and me from the Fire Nation! It could be our lives at stake!"

Katara opened her mouth to argue some more, but Aang cut in, "Katara, Sokka's right. I wasn't happy when he told me earlier, but it's what has to be done. Zuko can't know the truth. We'd never get to Bumi's, or anywhere else. Besides, this way he thinks he's our bodyguard, right? We have some protection, and if things get bad with the Fire Nation, we can use him as a hostage."

Katara turned to gape at her friend. "I can't believe what I'm hearing! You want to lie to him and then betray him?"

"What else can we do?" Aang countered. "We're in the middle of the forest. There are no towns within a day's walk. Appa's gone, and we're still weeks from getting to Omashu. We can either leave him or bring him with us. And if he comes with us, he can't know that the guy he's been chasing across the globe, me, is sleeping across the campfire from him!"

The Waterbender glared at the two boys. Even though she knew she was fighting a losing battle, she opened her mouth again, only to be cut off by the immense, six-legged shadow that swooped over their heads. "Appa?" she ventured.

"Appa!" Aang cried. "Appa, hey buddy! We're here! Hey! We're here!"

Naaargh! Appa called back. No matter how great his shame was, he was still overjoyed at the sight of his human friends.

The huge bison landed on the soft forest ground and whuffed a greeting. Aang leapt up and embraced his steed's soft forehead mane while Katara and Sokka crowded around the sides, disagreement temporarily forgotten.

Katara, not lost in all of the excitement, was petting Appa and patching his remaining wounds when she heard a strangled squeak from behind her.

Zuko had never been more terrified. This thing had just dropped out of the sky, barely missing him on its landing. He was almost positive it was some freakish bison-of-prey, come to snatch him up and fly off with him for supper. A hand touched his arm softly. He turned and gaped at Katara. "Wah? Wuh? Wabluh."

She giggled, in spite of herself. "Zuko, meet Appa."

"That's Appa?"

"Yep."

"That's what chewed on me?"

"Yep."

"Who are you people!"

Katara's face darkened. "Just some students, like Sokka said."

Zuko, too dazed to notice her bitter tone, stammered, "Well, do you guys study enormous, six-legged, flying monsters or what?"

"Nah. It's a long story. Let's go say hello instead."

Taking his hand firmly in hers, she pulled him to where the bison stood, still enjoying the reunion with his friends. Zuko didn't really want to go anywhere near the gargantuan beast that had gnawed on him, but the persistent tugs of Katara's arm were too great to resist. I must really like her to be going towards that.

Night had fallen, and the stars were once again glittering brightly, twirling in their eternal dance across the heavens. Zuko lay on his back, gazing at the sky. Katara lay to the left of him, breathing evenly and peacefully in her sleep. Sokka had placed his sleeping roll between her and Zuko, once again making every effort possible to stand or lay between his little sister and the crazy Fire Prince. Aang and Appa had flown off shortly after talking Appa out of trampling Zuko to bits, promising to return by dawn. Something about a redemption ritual, Zuko remembered. So what and where is my redemption?

A rustling from Sokka shook Zuko out of his thoughts. He sat up and looked to his left. Sokka had just stomped out of the campsite, presumably to relieve himself. Zuko took the opportunity to study Katara while she was in his view, unobstructed. He still had no idea what to do about her; he couldn't just keep ignoring her. Something in him didn't allow it. She pulled at him, a gentle but unrelenting force like the ocean tides.

Katara stirred lightly in her sleep, as if she could feel the intensity of Zuko's gaze. A stray lock of hair hung lazily on her face and he yearned to reach out and brush the soft strand back. If only I didn't disgust her.

Zuko was so intent on the sleeping girl that he didn't hear Sokka return. Suddenly, he was shoved roughly back against the ground and was staring into the Water boy's angry eyes. Distantly, he remembered the last time he had looked into Katara's blue eyes. The siblings shared the same vibrant color in their irises, but while hers had been clear and cool like a bubbling stream, her brother's were dark and turbulent, like the raging sea during a storm.

Sokka's eyes gleamed madly in the dim starlight. "You stay away from her, do you hear me?" he hissed. "Just stay away from my sister. Don't talk to her, don't look at her, don't touch her."

Irritated, Zuko pushed Sokka back. "I wouldn't touch your precious sister for two copper pieces. Now get off me, you crazy nut."

A fierce grin flashed over Sokka's face, more a baring of teeth than a smile. "Good. Because if you do, Appa might just lose control, and we might not be around to save you this time."

Sokka rose and clambered back into his sleeping roll. Zuko sneered at him and rolled onto his side, facing away from the Water siblings. Gradually, his anger subsided and he began drifting towards the fuzzy edges of sleep. As he teetered on the brink of consciousness, he thought, What a lie.

­­­­A/N: So Sokka's got a manipulative side to him! Devious. My response to the LJ icon I saw that said, "Sokka: I'm not just for comic relief!" Before everyone starts ripping into me on how I corrupted our favorite Water warrior, let me reassure everyone that he's still the same old Sokka. We're just going to take a look at his protective and darker side.

Hoho! Appa's back! See, I didn't leave him in the lurch! Before you know it, Iroh will make his grand re-entry and the whole gang will be together again! Or will they?

Updates will be few and far between, as I'm going to be in the midterm stretch of the semester. I apologize, and promise goodness to come towards the end of March. In the meantime, go enjoy the lovely spring weather. Fly a kite! Walk a dog! Have an epileptic fit over a cupcake!

Rashaka: I'd think that Zuko wouldn't fall for Katara so quickly if it weren't for the fact that he's in the middle of nowhere with no idea who he is, and she's just the nicest of the bunch. By the way, I finally got around to reading "Culture Clash" and I think it's spectacular. I la-la-looove it!

wilderness-writer: Dedicated, yes. Makes good decisions, no. My poor parents, paying thousands of dollars for me to go to one of the best universities in the world…and sleep. Professional training? I am flattered! I mean, I write papers and stuff, sometimes put my experiences into the third person, but I've actually never written fiction until now.

Melodiee: I don't think Zuko would be so wussy if he hadn't been messed up by good ol' Fire Daddy Ozai, but he'd definitely be gentler and nicer, yeah. He's a little skittish right now because he's still getting his bearing on things, but as you can see, he won't take Sokka's crap any longer!

Hazey247: Yes, I am in college. I study English at UC Berkeley in California, one of the best places in the world. I highly advise anyone who will be thinking about college to consider Berkeley, because it's a magnificent school to be at, and I will ramble on and on about it to you, if you ask (right, Melodiee?).