It was warm that afternoon, and all the windows had been opened as wide as possible to let in the breeze. Zuko felt weird; warm physically, but as if his inner flame was too small. Dr. Kage had told him to sit in the sun next to the open window to strengthen it. The breeze was nice, and it certainly had a stunning view. Zuko leaned his arm across the sill, looking idly down across the main plaza and the surrounding body of the palace, and beyond it to the rim of the Caldera and the looming volcano behind.

It was very pretty, but he was bored and frustrated beyond belief. He wasn't good at doing nothing, and this enforced inactivity grated on his nerves. And not knowing what Qin was up to, and what was happening with the Earth Kingdom. If the War restarted, would anyone bother telling him?

Useless! He might as well be a caged sparrowkeet for all the good he was doing right now. He'd joined the Avatar to stop the War and make a difference. If it was just going to start up again, what was the point of everything the Gaang had done?

And not a thing he could do to stop Qin. Though if he escaped... it would be really awkward for Qin if Zuko turned up with, say Hina or Mak, obviously in his right mind and very angry with Qin... Zuko was a very good climber. He couldn't escape right now, not in the middle of the day, still prone to dizzy spells, and unsure that he had somewhere to go, but perhaps he could take a look.

He glanced back out the window. He'd never climbed the central tower. The regular palace walls many times, and the lesser towers a few, but not the central tower. A pity, really. It would have come in handy.

He pushed up from the chair, and leant on the sill, looking out. He looked back into the room, and smiled. His current nurse/minder, Mira, had gone into the bathroom. Perfect. Zuko scrambled up onto the wide sill and knelt there with his head out into nothing.

It was a long way down and his head swam just slightly, but Zuko had climbed taller things. The walls were near vertical for much of the distance, with the uppermost and lowermost parts a mostly-easy climb with lots of detailing to hold onto. Between them... Zuko took hold of a handy piece of decorative work and leaned a little farther out. The mostly-wooden tower was almost sheer and undecorated. If nothing else, he should be able to burn handholds into the wood -

Someone grabbed him round the middle, pulling backwards suddenly. Zuko twisted in their grasp and kicked out at his attacker on instinct, seeing it was Mira too late to stop. Both of them crashed to the floor in front of the window, Zuko half on top of Mira.

"Oh no, I'm sorry!" said Zuko, rolling off her and feeling his face flush. "Are you okay?"

Mira sat up, clutching her middle and trying to get her breath back.

"What is going on in here?" Guardsman Ryu asked, opening the door and peering in. The other guard looked in over his shoulder.

"The Fire Lord," gasped Mira, "just tried to kill himself."

"What?" said Zuko. "No I didn't."

"I took my eye off you for two seconds, and found you on that tiny little window ledge," gasp, "leaning out..."

"I barely get dizzy at all anymore, and I had a good hold on the detailing. I was in no danger."

"Yes you were! You're still unsteady on your feet, how could you think of climbing around hundred-foot drops like a lemurbat?" said Mira. "Why were you even up there?"

"I... er..." Zuko didn't want to explain that he'd been scoping out a possible escape route for later.

Mira and the two guards exchanged glances, then Ryu lunged in between Zuko and the nearest window, slamming it shut, as the second guard went to grab Zuko. Zuko ducked under the reaching arm, rolled, and came to his feet on the other side of the man. The world tilted a bit, and he stumbled, shifting into a firebending position as he regained his balance... the others froze, and then even lowered their guard slightly.

"Fire Lord, please calm down. Put your hands down," said Ryu, his voice shaking a little.

"Things will get better. You don't have to do this," said Mira.

Zuko abruptly realized that he was in a combat firebending stance in a wooden tower. Oh. Could he use their fear to let him escape? And then what? A mental voice that sounded suspiciously like Uncle asked. You'll get jumped as soon as you get to the stone stories – assuming you make it down the stairs without falling over. Can you bend effectively right now? There are more guards at the bottom of the tower. This has no chance of working. None. There is no shame in waiting for a better opportunity.

Zuko let his hands fall slightly. "It isn't what it looks like, I was ju-"

At which point Guardsman Ryu tackled him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. "Let go of me," gasped Zuko once he got some of his breath back. Then he was forcibly held in place by both guards while a vial of something was poured down his throat by Mira. Zuko coughed and growled, a few sparks coming with it.

"Sun in Eclipse! Stop that!" said the other guard, bringing his hand towards Zuko's face from the left. No, not my face, don't- Zuko thrashed wildly and bit him. The guard swore and let go.

"Easy, easy, calm down! Sharyu, stop, you're making him worse," said Mira. The hands relaxed a little, and Zuko struggled into a sitting position, each guard holding one of his arms.

Zuko closed his eyes, trying to regain control of his breathing. "Don't touch my face," said Zuko.

Sharyu shook his head. "The Fire Lord bit me." He held up a toothmarked hand as evidence.

"What?" said Ryu. "Seriously?"

"Yes. It's not that bad, but..."

"You didn't need to knock me down and drug me," Zuko complained. "I wasn't going to kill myself. And don't touch my face."

"Yes, we did need to," said Ryu. "You could easily have fallen, even if you didn't mean to. You're still having dizzy spells. And you tried to firebend while standing in a wooden tower. That was really dangerous, Fire Lord."

"I did way more dangerous things in the War," said Zuko.

"Why did you get up there?" Mira asked.

"I... I was..." Zuko really didn't want to explain. "I wanted to get a better look at the tower."

Mira raised an eyebrow and gave him an unimpressed look.

Though jumping would have been one way to thwart Qin. He can't be regent for a dead Fire Lord.

Zuko looked away.

"Maybe he can't give a rational reason right now. This could be the Dai li's fault," said the other guard.

"I don't think he's fully rational right now," said Mira. "He nearly killed himself, maybe without really intending to, threatened all of us, and bit Sharyu."

Zuko glowered. It sounded so bad when they said it. "Sorry for biting you. But seriously, don't touch my face."

"We get it. No touching your face or you go berserk," said Ryu. "But you need to calm down and let others handle things. You're in no condition to run anything right now, and you won't be sixteen forever."

"As-Assuming the War doesn't get us all killed," said Zuko. "If I could pick a regent I actually trusted, it would be different." Zuko blinked, feeling so very tired.

"Why don't you trust Qin?" asked the other guard. "He has decades of political experience, and is devoted to the Fire Nation."

"He doesn't like the world situation rightn-" Zuko stumbled over the words. "The world situation right now," he enunciated slowly and carefully, "and instead of dealing with it as it is, he's sticking his head in - in the sand and demanding the world behave. That's stupid." Zuko yawned, and blinked hard.

One of the others had said something, and he'd completely missed it.

"What?" said Zuko.

"You're half asleep, Fire Lord. Leave this to others, at least till you're awake again."

Zuko glared at them, but this was spoiled by another yawn. His muscles relaxed, and the other guard released him as Ryu shifted his hold so Zuko was resting with his head against Ryu's shoulder. Zuko tensed, then relaxed. Ryu was a lot broader across the chest than Zuko, firebender-warm, and smelt like tea. Uncle.

Why couldn't Uncle have taken the throne? Qin would never have managed to trap Uncle in a tower like he had Zuko. Uncle had been counting on Zuko – he was probably so disappointed right now. And it had all fallen apart. Like everything always did. Zuko's eyes prickled. He hid his face in Ryu's shoulder. "Sorry Uncle," he muttered.

"Just sleep, kid. Things will get better, I promise." A hand stroked Zuko's hair.

"You think his uncle ordered the Dai li to mindbend him?" asked the other guard.

"I sure hope not," said Ryu. "His own nephew? Even Ozai didn't stoop that low."

"General Iroh has always had a mind as crooked as a corkscrew. And Zuko did get him locked up at the capture of Ba Sing Se. Could be some kind of payback."

"No," slurred Zuko, pulling his head away from Ryu and glaring. "He for – forga," his words just wouldn't come out. He shook his head violently, then fell back against Ryu. Stupid drugs made the dizziness way worse.

"He obviously disagrees," said Ryu, hugging Zuko. It still reminded him of Uncle.

"Sharyu, you need to go and get the Regent and Doctor Kage. This is not a safe place for the Fire Lord," said Mira. "A suicidal firebender, in a wooden tower with lots of big windows?"