Disclaimer: Sigh. Don't own. If I did, I'd be the happiest person alive.

Note: Challenge fic.

Warning: You guys know already. It's the fifth chapter, jeez. You must've memorized the warnings already.

I really appreciate the reviews. Even the ones with threats in them for me to update…O.O

Till everything burns
While everyone screams
Burning their lies
Burning my dreams
All of this hate
And all of this pain
I'll burn it all down
As my anger reigns
Till everything burns

Everything Burns; Ben Moody

"I am going with you." Zuko declared stiffly and loudly. "I will not be left here like some house-wife or something."

Sokka and Katara glanced at Iroh, who had his arms folded and was looking none-too pleased. Aang, meanwhile, snickered at the comparison.

"It would be safer here—"

"The village is a neutral one. They will not arrest us."

There was a silence as the two Firebenders glared at each other, as if each one was trying to silently force their will on the other. The trio watched with fascination. They had heard Firebenders could be very stubborn, but they never actually witnessed just how stubborn they could be. This argument had been going on ever since dawn. It was now noon.

Katara quietly nudged Aang. "Do your Avatar-thing, or we'll never get to the village!" She whispered to him. Aang nodded and took a breath to ready himself. He had heard Firebenders could also be violent when interrupted in an argument.

"Zuko has a point." The airbender started to say, but the words died in his throat as the glares now fixed themselves upon him. He gulped but continued, although he was getting very unsure of himself now. "And you two would be in disguises…"

Iroh sighed, closing his eyes. "Fine. But any trouble and we are leaving immediately."

Zuko nodded in agreement then frowned. "I am not wearing that cloak."

Aang turned to look at him and crossed his arms. "Do you want to go or not?"

"Yes…"

"Then you'll wear it." Aang stated calmly.

Zuko snarled. "But it's ugly! And it's this disgusting brown, and it's baggy and—"

"Nephew, stop whining." Iroh said as he tossed him the cloak. He already had his on. "And put it on."

"I'M NOT WHINING!"

"Zuko…" Iroh warned.

Zuko growled as he glared at the brown cloak. "I hate you all." He muttered as he tossed it on.

"Now, now, nephew. That's not a very nice thing to say." Iroh lectured.

"I don't care." Zuko muttered. Then, "I feel stupid."

Aang laughed and the others couldn't help but smile as well. The cloak was definitely too big for the Firebender. It was very baggy and covered his form completely. Luckily, though, it wasn't very long, but it did hang below his knees. The sleeves, however, covered his hands so that only his fingertips could be seen. The style of the cloak reminded the trio of Jeong-Jeong's cloak.

Zuko huffed angrily. "Will you all stop staring? Stupid cloak." He tugged impatiently at the cloth.

Iroh chuckled. "You will get used to it, nephew. After all, you will be wearing it from now on."

Aang and Katara laughed as Zuko let out a groan.

"Right." Aang said finally, after getting himself under control. "Let's go!"

Appa snorted as he laid himself comfortably on the ground. He and Momo weren't going with Aang; they were to wait at camp until the group returned.

Yun, though, squeaked angrily at being left behind and jumped onto Zuko, his paws catching the edge of a pocket. Squeaking, he pulled himself inside the huge pocket and then with some difficulty, pocked his head out.

Zuko smiled down at the little animal and patted it on the head, before tugging at the cloak again.

Sokka chuckled a bit as he slowed his pace and waited for the (now scowling) Firebender to catch up. The senile General was far ahead, chatting with Aang about something that probably involved tea, animals, tea, pai-sho, tea, childhood stories…and did he mention tea?

Zuko glanced up at him and scowled. "What?"

Sokka grinned. "Nothin'." He paused and looked the Firebender over. "You look cute."

Zuko stopped. Did he just hear that? A small blush crept up his cheeks and he was speechless for a moment. Then he haughtily raised his chin a little higher and huffed as he strode past Sokka.

Sokka chuckled at the behavior, knowing full well that Zuko was embarrassed. But being Zuko, he would rather die than admit it.

But he did note that Zuko no longer tugged at the cloak nor complained about it.

"Wow…" Aang stared wide-eyed at the gold coin he held. Being a monk, he never really had money, and while traveling to the Northern Water Tribe and back, he only had had copper coins, and if he was lucky, silver coins.

The two Water siblings were the same way. They, too, had not yet seen a gold coin, much less actually had one. Their tribe was much too small and poor for that kind of money.

Zuko, however, frowned at his. Being a Prince, he had seen gold coins before, a lot of them too. But that was not why he was frowning. "Uncle, where did you get these?"

Iroh grinned at him as he put the small bag of more gold coins back into his sleeves. "You know, nephew, having served as a General on Admiral Zhao's ship had far more use than we thought."

Zuko groaned as the trio looked confused. The two Firebenders had not really mentioned anything of how they got to the Northern Water Tribe, nor how they got away from it.

"And where was the money when we needed it?" Zuko growled.

Iroh just smiled. "I was saving it for when we really needed it."

Zuko slapped his forehead. When we really needed it. Tea. His uncle had most likely been saving it for that. "You and your tea…" He muttered as he pocketed the coin and pulled the hood over his head.

Iroh just chuckled as he did the same. Truth be told, they really hadn't had time to shop…nor a place to shop while on the run. The villages had all been Fire Nation ones…and they couldn't just walk in there. But let Zuko think what he thinks. He was partially right, of course. Iroh would do anything for tea.

Anything? Iroh paused at that as he followed his nephew into the village. No, not anything. There were many things he would not do. But…almost anything.

Aang and Katara almost immediately stopped at the first stand to buy some supplies. Sokka, meanwhile, had almost immediately run off to the first hot food stand to buy something to eat. Zuko, however, kept on walking, glancing at the various things to buy without much interest. Iroh walked beside him calmly, enjoying the variety of things.

Once or twice they almost stopped at a stand where there were weapons of all sorts displayed neatly. But Zuko just glanced over them and then continued on, leaving Iroh to pout about how he got no time to view things.

Then, a little while later, they came to a stand where they were selling noodles. Zuko hesitated for a second. He loved noodles…

"Hungry, nephew?" Iroh asked as he glanced at the stand. Truth be told, he was hungry too. They had not had lunch yet.

Zuko watched the seller hand a bowl of noodles to a man, who quickly paid him and began to eat. Suddenly, though, at the sight of those white noodles in the soup, Zuko felt his stomach churn. Quickly turning away, he put a hand over his mouth as he fought to keep from throwing up. The sick feeling, however, didn't last long. But when he tried to look at the noodles again, or even think of them now, he suddenly felt sick.

Zuko shook his head in confusion as he wearily continued on. What was going on? He almost jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning a bit, he looked at the worried face of his uncle.

"Are you all right?"

Zuko nodded. "Fine…I think." He hesitated in asking why he felt so sick, but Iroh beat him to it.

"The noodle soup didn't seem to agree with you, did it?"

Zuko shook his head. "But why Uncle? I mean, I like noo—" There was the sick feeling again. "Them. I like them." He quickly corrected.

Iroh chuckled softly. "Pregnancy can alter a few things in appetite, nephew. Sometimes the food you like the most is the one that you can't eat." Iroh paused a bit. "Come, let's find something that you can eat."

Sighing, Zuko followed his uncle.

Zuko had to heave another sigh as he glanced around the many, many stands filled with steaming hot foods ready to go. He was hungry, yes, but nothing here seemed to interest him. Glancing around again, he caught sight of a small stand hidden between two larger stands. Stepping a bit closer, but not too close, he looked at the dishes offered. They were exotic foods, foods that weren't so easily found in the world. They probably cost a lot.

He was about to leave, but something caught his eyes. It was a plate holding a small reddish-gold fish covered with hot spices. Next to it, were small red berries covered with caramel. Zuko stared at the plate, trying hard not to drool. It was a Fire Nation dish, a traditional one at that. At every festival they would eat this meal. The fish was a little Nao fish, and a very rare catch. The berries were little Lotus berries, and they only grew near the rim of an active volcano. Suddenly, his stomach growled. He was really hungry and that dish looked so good… But it cost ten gold coins. Zuko winced at the price. If he were back home, he wouldn't have cared about the price. But now… But he really, really, really wanted that dish.

Zuko frowned. His uncle had mentioned that he would get something called 'cravings' during his pregnancy. And he was pretty sure that he was having these so called 'cravings' for that dish. He groaned. Why couldn't it have been noodles? They were a hell of a lot cheaper! Just two copper coins!

Turning sadly away, Zuko caught sight of his uncle making his way towards him.

"Nephew! Find anything to eat?" Iroh greeted happily. Zuko just frowned as he glanced back at the dish again and clenched his teeth. "No." He answered quietly. "Let's go uncle."

Iroh raised an eyebrow as he looked at his nephew and then followed the quick glance to the dish. Realization flickered in his eyes for a second. "Actually Zuko," Iroh spoke up, smiling again. "I thought I saw a tea stand over there somewhere…" He hinted behind him.

Zuko groaned. "Not again… Fine. Go get your tea. But I'm going ahead."

"All right." Iroh said as he watched his nephew disappear in the crowd.

Zuko wandered around the village market, heading nowhere in particular. However, his feet seemed to have led him to the docks. Glancing around, he realized that most of the ships were stores as well, with different signs hanging above the entrances, all inviting customers in.

Sighing, he was about to turn and walk back to the heart of the market, when a sign caught his eye. Exotic animals.

Curiosity overtook him, and he walked slowly towards the dark mahogany ship.

Once he stepped inside, however, Zuko realized that he had made a mistake. This ship did not have exotic animals. It had exotic animal parts. The entire shop was filled with skins, mounted heads, stuffed animals…

Scrunching his nose, Zuko quickly turned to go. He'd rather not be here. Azula liked this sort of stuff. He did not.

Suddenly, however, Yun leapt from his pocket. Zuko whirled around and quickly ran after the little fox, which had scampered away. "Yun!" He called quietly, but the fox paid no heed to him.

When Zuko finally found the little fox, he saw why he had run away. The little fox stood on a table, its forepaws on the wall as it gazed upward at the two things before it. Zuko slowly came up behind the little fox and he too stared.

A beautiful fox skin was stretched out on the wall, pale white with faded spots of blood. Next to it was a beautiful white fox head, its jade eyes wide and teeth barred.

Zuko felt his temper rise as he raised a quivering hand to touch to head.

Yun's mother and father.

"Can I 'elp ya, 'suh?"

Zuko slowly turned around to look at the man behind him. The man wore a bandanna and simple torn clothing, with a dagger and sword tied around his waist. A pirate.

"Yes. You can help." Zuko spat. "Where did you get those?" He hinted angrily at the head and skin.

The pirate grinned, not realizing the danger. "Oh 'ose things. 'dey came from not so far. 'dem foxes were mighty mean things… But jus' a simple—" The pirate trailed off as he noticed smoke rising steadily from Zuko's nostrils.

The pirate took a hesitant step back. "You'se okay, 'suh?"

Zuko snarled at him. "No." He hissed as he clenched his fists, his temper rising along with the room temperature.

The pirate jumped backwards, fear etched on his face. "You'se a damned Firebender!"

"Of course." Zuko replied curtly as flames burst around his fists. The pirate quickly drew his sword, but Zuko simply grabbed the metal and melted it in his hands. Then, with a sharp kick, he had the pirate down.

"How dare you…" Zuko hissed, his rage now clouding his mind. "You piece of scum… How would you feel if I suddenly killed your family or your children?"

The pirate quivered on the ground, but in possibly a moment of stupidity, said "I donst got no kids—" But he immediately seemed to regret it when Zuko let out a cry of fury and hurled a fireball at him. The fireball missed the pirate's head by mere inches.

"Hey Shoku! What's goin' on up 'der?" Another pirate, twice the size of the one cowering on the ground, stuck his head up from a trapdoor leading below. "Shit!" He cried, however, when he barely avoided a fireball courtesy of Zuko.

"You should ALL be ashamed!" Zuko shrieked at them, now throwing fireballs at everything in sight. "Those foxes had kits!"

A stuffed falcon burst into flames. A jar of dragon talons shattered on the floor. A box of beetle eyes turned to ash.

But Zuko saw none of this. In his mind, he only saw the bloody bodies. Snarling he hurled another fireball at the first pirate, who was crawling towards the trap door. He could hear yells below, but he didn't care. Let everything burn.

Yun, who had been watching his 'mother' silently, now squeaked quietly. But Zuko heard it. Slowly turning around, he looked at the little fox then glanced up at the head and skin. Snarling in anger again, Zuko quickly tore both off the wall. Yun squeaked again as he hopped onto his 'mother's' shoulder.

Zuko strode quickly through the fire clutching the head and skin tightly to his chest.

"Zuko! ZUKO!" Cries echoed through the forest as the others searched for him.

Zuko winced at how loud and panicked they were. He sighed as he clutched the skin and head tighter to his chest. Yun was back in his pocket. "Over here."

"Nephew! There you are! We were—" Iroh paused as he stared at the boy. Stray tear marks could be easily made out on his pale face and he looked tired. "Zuko?" Iroh's gaze wandered to look at the white skin and head. "What are those?"

The other three had by now caught up with Iroh and had gone silent at the sight of the Firebender sitting on a tree stump, staring at the ground.

"Yun's mother and father."

Katara gasped as Aang's eyes widened. "What?"

Zuko snarled at the ground as he stood. "Stupid pirates killed them."

"So you were the 'crazy Firebender who burnt down a whole ship'?" Aang questioned. "The whole town's talking about it."

Zuko snorted. "Yes." He paused. "I'm going for a walk."

Iroh silently watched his nephew's retreating form. It was rare when the boy showed emotion, but when he did, it was intense. Although…the ship burning was a first. Almost fearfully Iroh wondered if it had something to do with mood swings…

It was dark now, with stars shining brightly amidst the many branches of trees. Yun was now fast asleep in his pocket, but he was far from sleep. No. He had more important things to do.

He had spent the past four hours searching for the perfect spot. Now, he found it under a red oak.

Carefully kneeling, Zuko lay the head and skin down before pausing a bit as he glanced up at the night sky for a moment. Then, he began to scoop the earth near the base of the tree away with his hands. But a soft rustling in the bushes behind him made him stop and look up.

Sokka stepped out of the bushes, stumbling a bit, but said nothing. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Sokka slowly walked up beside him and knelt down. Wordlessly, he began to scoop the earth away.

Zuko watched him for a few seconds, a bit surprised at the kind action, before smiling a bit and helping as well. It didn't take them long to make a hole big enough for the head and skin.

As Zuko gently sprinkled the dirt back over the hole, which now contained the head and fur, he sighed a little. He should have burnt them, it was only tradition. But he was most likely in enough trouble with the villagers. The smoke would only draw them here.

Silently he glanced at the Water Tribesman next to him. They had not spoken a word to each other at all, but there was no need for words. He knew the other understood and accepted it.

He hesitated for only a second, before quickly leaning over and pecking the other on the cheek. Then he stood and quickly slinked away into the shadows, his cheeks blazing.

Sokka blinked at the sudden action, staring after the Firebender in surprise. Did that really happen? He raised a hand to his cheek and grinned. Yes it had.

Grinning, he glanced up at the crescent moon peeking out from amongst the branches. It was a start.

End chappie.

My parents are weird. One day they are not letting me watch Avatar, the next they want to watch the new DVD with me. Talk about mood swings.

R&R please.