Boiling Point
Playing Around

Of course, for some time Lu Ten thought himself lucky as Sokka didn't discover any information regarding the old man.

Instead, Lu Ten watched and observed the Avatar's training while working towards feeling a little less rusty with both his bending and movement. He quickly learned that the young Avatar wanted to do anything but train. On one side, Lu Ten understood, as Aang was a twelve-year-old child, and no child should have the weight of the world placed on their shoulders, but Zuko was never this unfocused as a child.

Lu Ten also found himself wondering if the lack of an age gap between Aang and his actual masters played a factor in him not listening to them, yet in the back of his mind, he also understood better why there was that rule of thumb of not telling the Avatar until they turned sixteen. Except, Aang wasn't the only child there thrust into the war, but one might argue every child there was forced into the war because this Avatar disappeared from the world.

The answer as to why that happened, Lu Ten didn't ask for, but he couldn't help but feel that Aang was running from his duties as Avatar, let alone facing the reality of the situation.

He also felt something was off regarding Aang's behavior towards Katara, something he couldn't place quite away beyond the fact Lu Ten knew he wouldn't ever treat a master he was learning from the way Aang treated any of his masters. Sometimes he tried explaining it away as an Airbender thing, but something told Lu Ten that what was going on was an Aang sort of thing.

Then he realized.

Lu Ten didn't know the exact moment when he realized the Avatar was crushing on his Waterbending Master, meaning Katara wasn't simply dealing with a lack of age gap between her and her pupil, but also her pupil crushing on her, yet from what he understood she was the only one of Aang's three masters who was declared a master by their former master. "Though, not sure if one can say that a Badgermole master could indeed declare their student a master, but then Toph is quite unconventional in all regards. Father would also be quite proud of his student."

Such thoughts made Lu Ten realize just how much Zuko needed to see Iroh, but he watched how Katara and Zuko talked with each other as if they were old friends, which in turn felt a bit strange given the fact he'd assumed when he watched Sokka and Zuko interacting with each other that their relationship was the most like his and Akio's growing up, yet there was also dynamics of that friendship there between Katara and Zuko.

More specifically, she'd started talking to him again once she'd had her say about Zuko going and talking to his uncle—in reality, his grandfather—once they found where Iroh was after he escaped, but not before chewing him out for lacking confidence in himself, particularly after Lu Ten declared he was a fit master for the Avatar. He'd also overheard the two talking about the loss of their mothers, something they had in common yet set an ache in Lu Ten's chest.

"When the war is over, I'll help you find her," Katara said more than once. "You helped me come to terms with my father's killer after all." He'd learned that she'd not gone and killed the man, although Aang and Sokka thought she would.

And, despite how easily distracted the Avatar could get, they were definitely on their way to the end goal.

Distraction though came fluttering in on the wind, as a piece of paper fluttered through the wind to the beach house from who knows where, almost as if the spirits were calling, and Ty Lee responded to the cruel calling and somersaulted through the air, catching the paper, before becoming excited and displaying the poster for everyone to see, a smile on her face. "It's a play about all of you!"

The fact quite a few wanted to go didn't surprise Lu Ten, but he couldn't help but say, "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" Sokka asked.

"Chances are you won't like what you're going to hear or see. I mean, do you actually think Ozai would let a playhouse perform a play which didn't fit with the Fire Nation propaganda?"

He watched Zuko lean in, catching the same interest in the boy's eyes as he had in Ursa's when it came to anything involving the theater. One of his eyebrows shot up. "It's the Ember Island Players. Of course, they'll butcher it. They always butchered Love Amongst the Dragons. Emphasis on always."

Of course, him pointing out that it would be disappointed didn't prevent the young ones from falling into the distraction, but he couldn't leave them to their own devices, so they headed into town making sure to keep distinguishing features hidden behind hats and hoods. Lu Ten went, cloaked like Ty Lee and Zuko to the play, completely on guard. He watched Aang carefully, deciding when Katara sat down that he would sit next to her, noting the rather dejected look on the boy's face, confirming Lu Ten's suspicions that the boy liked his Waterbending instructor.

Aang's eyes blinked, his mouth opened in protest as Zuko took a seat next to Lu Ten, his entire body tensed up. He pointed, almost as if wanting to protest to the adult in the room that was where he wanted to sit only for Lu Ten to let an eyebrow raise. "I wonder what Kadoka would think of this situation?"

He would get his answer later, but not before gagging at the bad acting in front of him, only to find himself forcing a hand over his mouth at his father's parts. He heard a voice from next to him, letting out a whispering hiss. "Lu Ten."

He turned his head, looking at Zuko who seemed far from pleased. "You've got to admit that he'd find the way he was portrayed hilarious."

"That..." Zuko stopped. "Fair enough."

Yet, some of the things he thought were hard to digest, such as the actor playing Zuko not respecting the man playing Iroh on the stage, but Lu Ten now understood better why Zuko felt as if he betrayed Iroh. "I see though a boy who was angry at the world, so unlike himself at the time. A boy I couldn't help like I should have, that I wasn't around for like I should have been." The second act honestly made Lu Ten feel that way even more, yet made it quite clear all of the things Toph said that were upsetting Zuko. "I really messed up, but I was right in thinking this a bad idea. I should have been the adult and said no to this."

All of that went out the window when he saw Aang nod his head at the line regarding Katara being the Avatar's girl, making Lu Ten glad he'd sat down next to Katara. He also watched how Aang left, not thinking about the scene in the cave beyond the way Aang acted and why Zuko kept saying he betrayed Iroh. Lu Ten's stomach lurched. "That is my fault for not being there, for not letting him know. I should..."

There was, however, another issue troubling Lu Ten other than his son that he needed to take care of.