"Amara, Kiri," Uncle bowed his head to both as he said their names, holding out cups of his infamous ginseng tea. He set one in front of me and took his own in hand. "I have invited you here to broach two difficult subjects."

I could feel Amara's eyes on me, and rubbed my scar without looking up. How had Uncle talked me into doing this? I couldn't do this. I wasn't good at apologies in the least.

I cringed when Amara said petulantly, "And why should we cooperate at all? We don't seem to have earned any respect of our privacy as it is."

Uncle nudged me until I brought my head up to glare at him, and then motioned with his eyes that it was my turn to say something. Sighing and touching my scar still, I could only bring myself to meet Kiri's blue eyes. "That is something for which I must ask forgiveness. It was not my place to listen in on your conversation. So…" I risked a glance at Amara, who seemed fascinated by the wall. "So, I'm sorry for that."

Kiri looked at her sister, who shrugged her shoulders without turning around. In a small voice, she said, "You are absolved of blame, apparently." She looked around furtively and leaned forward, beckoning for me to do the same. When I had, she continued in a whisper, "I don't think it was a bad thing, if you heard what we think you heard, Zuko."

Now Amara reached forward and quickly covered Kiri's mouth with her hand, dangerously close to a terminable blush. Deciding it best to just avoid the subject, she turned to Uncle and said through a half-forced, half-giddy smile, "And the other thing you wanted to talk about, venerable sir?" It was a bit of a shock to hear him called that.

"Oh, no, don't call me that, child. Only officers that want some sort of special attention or praise call me that. Call me Uncle," he grinned and patted my shoulder heavily, "everyone does."

I rolled my eyes, more than a little thankful for his well-placed sarcasm. "I'm the only one, Uncle."

"And I've always thought that the numbers should grow," he didn't miss a beat.

"Well, then, Uncle," Amara began again slowly. I saw that Kiri was holding tight to the light green sleeve of her sister's dress, and had a feeling that she already knew where the conversation was to be turned. "What else are we going to talk about?"

Uncle went from smiling in good humor to sobering up in seconds. "Where is he?"

"That was a little blunt, don't you think, Uncle?" I hissed in surprise. I had expected him to talk around it for a while. He always did so with me.

Defensively, Amara said, "Where is who?"

Uncle seemed to only hear her question and not mine. "The avatar. He was in your village before the Fire nation was. Where did he go?"

"I can't tell you. You'll hurt him."

Here, I interrupted. "We will do far less to him than our countrymen plan to. Would you rather he be captured, or killed immediately?"

Amara didn't reply. Which, as it happened, was still not the desired reply. She must have seen some emotion in my eyes and turned her head away, chin up. We sat in silence. Kiri looked from her to me, worried. Tugging resolutely on Amara's loose sleeve, she murmured, "I think we can trust him, Ama…"

Amara pulled her sleeve away sharply. Kiri turned her doleful eyes on me next, and shrugged helplessly. "She won't listen."

I gathered that, I thought, but I nodded solemnly and thanked her. I glanced at Uncle, but he was watching me, trying to gauge how I handled this. Damn, no help there. "Amara," I began, and she swung around angrily to glare at me, "Why won't you tell us where he is?"

"I swore that I wouldn't. And besides," she glared at me, one eyebrow raised, "if we tell you, we will serve no purpose and you'll probably either sell us or kill us altogether."

"Well, then," I risked quite a bit on my next question, "Will you lead us there? You'll serve a purpose that way, and I will have to protect you no matter what - though I would do so either way. I will not press you for information, but I will ask that we do travel at least one mile in a day. It makes perfect sense, from your standpoint."

The girls shared a glance for a long moment. Kiri closed her eyes and smiled with relief, and Amara nodded almost imperceptibly. "Fine," the older said decisively. "When will we leave on this journey?"

I managed not to look triumphant over this small victory. "Tomorrow. You two gather what things you have, and I must arrange a detail of soldiers as an escort. Is that alright?"

Amara nodded and stood, grasping Kiri's hand and pulling her up as well. The younger paused before the door leading out of the cabin and bowed quickly. "I-I'm glad," she said unexpectedly. "That you were the one to buy us, I mean. I'm glad. And I think that Amara is, too…in her way of it."

I nodded in understanding and watched her go. Once the door shut with a soft click, though, I slammed my head on the table. "That went horribly, didn't it?"

"Ah," Uncle sighed sagely, taking a sip of his tea, "I know of no other way you could have handled it. If you had forced her, she would have hated and probably misled you. If you had left the issue drop, we would continue up and down the coast indefinitely, and then where would we be? And if you had just said please, she would have assumed that you were trying to con her into agreeing. Better just to reason with her."

"Uncle, I can never tell whether you're using sarcasm or not."

"I try my best, Prince Zuko."

I had a problem. Who would come with us on this journey? Who could I trust with Amara's and Kiri's safety? I wasn't sure I could, not with anyone. Especially not me. I couldn't decide.

Men that had more than a year's service under their belts but were still young and agile were ideal. I had only twelve of those on the ship; when I had been exiled I hadn't received the navy's elite. Every other man sacrificed either the able body parameter or the experience. I decided that youth was marginally more desirable, and so I was stuck looking along the assembled forces of fresh-faced obedience. Still, only twenty pairs of eyes followed me as I paced back and forth.

I stopped and considered Hao and Lon. Hao was staring straight ahead, but next to him Lon was fighting back a smirk and periodically elbowing him. Fire's smoke, I would have to take them with me, wouldn't I? If I didn't they would make trouble for Uncle - he would be commanding in my stead - and I didn't know for sure what he would do for a consequence. I couldn't subject my men to that sort of uncertain death, even if they did annoy.

"Privates Hao and Lon, prepare." They both immediately saluted and moved belowdecks. I looked back along the line and picked a man out at random, to round the detail off at a neat fifteen. "Private Niyu, you too." The man, eighteen, had shockingly red hair, green eyes, and an open smile. He winked cheerily at me - I grudgingly didn't hold it as insubordination - and bounced off. "The rest of you, back to your posts."

Right. The experienced men would have to make room for three rookies; Hao, Lon, and Niyu.

This was it. We were really leaving in earnest search for the avatar whose capture would give me free license to reclaim my place as heir.

I imagined more fanfare, to be honest. Just a few exchanged instructions - that I felt uncomfortable giving to Uncle in the first place - and a pat on the shoulder for luck. And we were off.

The first day was pleasant. We hiked for five hours, made camp in a thinly-forested area, and ate a good supper of gathered roots and game. Polite conversation was made, furs were unrolled, and we slept. It was pleasant.

The second day, I became blindingly furious and contemplated murder.

We fished for our food, because we were following a stream for the moment. Everyone but the girls chipped in, but only a few actually succeeded in catching anything. I caught three, and intended to give two to Amara and Kiri. But Lon 'accidentally' ran into me, throwing me into the river, and 'mistook' my fish for his. My armor immediately dragged me down, but I survived. I was ready to stop traveling, now.

The third day Lon complained incessantly, and I had a fairly interesting talk with Amara.

"Are we there yet?" I asked sullenly, lifting a branch to be used in the night's fire. Amara rolled her eyes, skirt hem in hand, climbing from hill to hill. "Lon is driving me crazy."

"Calm down, and just ignore him. I do. I told Kiri to, as well, but she's not as good at that sort of thing as I am. I would have thought that you could just block most things from mind, with that scar of yours."

I ran my hand out said disfigurement, and looked away. "Sorry that I'm not so beautiful as you."

"What? You're not. Not ugly, I mean."

I didn't believe her. Of course I was ugly.

I regarded her critically. She had a wide smile and an extra spring in her step. "Why are you acting differently, then?"

"I'm so happy out here, you have no idea! The ship was unpredictable, it could sink, so many things could go wrong, but out here…nothing can! Everything else seems so bland in comparison." She spread her arms wide and twirled dreamily. I'll never understand earthbenders.

"Oh?" I grinned, and tossed the branch into the air. Going into three stances smoothly, I held my hands together and the branch burst into flame. "Now tell me that's not beautiful."

Her face contorted and she shook her head quickly. "It's dangerous. I always get this feeling that it will get out of control, and then what can I do to stop it?"

"You could always throw dirt on it," I suggested. I felt myself smiling, for the first time in a very, very long time.

She stomped her foot on the ground and lifted a strong fist. A portion of earth lifted and wrapped around the burning branch, extinguishing the flames. She looked at it quizzically, and over at me. Just like in the ballast chamber, I became acutely aware of how close together we were - I could have wrapped my arm around her shoulder if I wanted to.

It was a small shock to discover that I truly did want to.

"Amara," I breathed, and tried to gain better control of my voice. "If that doesn't work, I can always stop it. I can always protect you."

She didn't try to move away or take her eyes from mine. "It's…not as if you'll always be around."

"Why not?" My voice unrolled and expanded across the clearing. It was a quiet moment. Nothing could happen, and nothing couldn't. I felt almost free.

Now she looked away, at the log smoldering under the dirt. "Because a fire can't burn in just one place for very long. It eats away all the fuel."

"I'm not fire." I touched the back of her head, and she raised it quickly, mouth open to say something else. Giving in to temptation, I dipped forward and kissed her. It lasted less than a second. And then I straightened and rubbed my scar and refused to look her in the eye.

I'd ruined everything, hadn't I?

"Um," she said slowly, "did you just -"

"No." I turned away and scooped up a pile of wood and started back to camp.

She ran to keep up, skirt lifted so that she wouldn't trip, saying quickly, "You did!"

"I did not."

"You just ki-"

I dropped the wood and rounded on her, certain that I was blushing furiously. "Nothing happened. Forget it. It was a mistake. You hate firebenders, I know that."

She stepped back, affronted. "I-I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry." I turned away again. "I want to ask…" I turned back and she trailed off. "Why?"

I closed my eyes and pressed the heel of my palm to my scored left eye. "Because you're too much. I've never been around girls. You're too argumentative and too beautiful and too strong and too somehow too vulnerable at the same time. It's…hard, for me. Everyone I've ever known has either been utterly subordinate or had dominion over me. Uncle was my first friend. And now with you and Kiri, it's almost too easy to forget everything and try to have fun because at some level I know that people our age do things like that, but I'm the commander of a ship and I have to worry about getting the avatar and earning back my inheritance. I can't… deal with you."

"Oh." She was crestfallen, even I could see. "So, if you had nothing else to distract you, what happened back in the clearing…wouldn't have happened?"

"It would have," I answered immediately, not pausing to think. I'd ruined everything a second time. The scary thing was, I was getting good at it. "I mean…never mind."

"You said it, you can unsay it. You still would have kissed me." She had an arrogant curl to her smile. It wasn't evil so much as it was cute. "And I'll bet you'd do it again." She closed her eyes and stuck her jaw up, joking smirk now firmly in place. It was a challenge if ever I'd seen one.

"I…don't pressure me!" She couldn't be serious!

"Too weak and nervous, Zuko?" she laughed, but didn't take it back.

I gritted my teeth, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her forward. This kiss was better than the last, and more fervent. I grew adventurous, and touched her closed lips with my tongue, seeking entrance. It was granted almost instantly. Suddenly, tongues were touching and sliding against each other, and I pressed closer, and belatedly remembered about air and all its comparable joys. We parted slowly, breathing heavily, touching in every conceivable direction.

"So," Amara panted, smiling with somewhat swollen lips, "I take it you kind of like me, hmm?"