Sokka and Katara both hesitated when they reached the boat. The pair stood together while they watched the soldiers load the cargo, moving up and down the metal ramp with rhythmic clanking.
Zuko, as much as he wanted to stay with them, walked around till he found Lu Ten. His cousin was overseeing the loading, or pretending to. It was another soldier who went down the line, marking things on a board, while Lu Ten watched. He didn't seem to notice Zuko as he approached and Zuko stood quietly by his side.
"So now we see the real Zuko." Lu Ten remarked idly and Zuko snapped to attention.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Lu Ten smiled and moved leisurely to look back at him.
"We all have to act a certain way at the palace. Once we get far enough past the wall though," Lu Ten drifted, and his gaze seemed to be looking past Zuko. He held his silence, and Zuko felt awkward but made no reply. Then Lu Ten shook himself and his smile brightened.
"I'm just glad to see that you're not such a prissy little brat outside of the palace." Lu Ten finished and clapped Zuko's shoulder with a friendly weight. Zuko hesitated for a fraction of a second, before blundering ahead in his thought.
"What happened in Ba Sing Se?" He asked. Lu Ten looked surprised, and a little scared. Zuko shrank a bit under the face, working out what the repercussions might be from slipping. Lu Ten settled into a sadder disposition and put his arm around Zuko's shoulders.
"Your father still going on about that is he?" Lu Ten asked and shook his head. "The siege just wasn't worth it. Especially after Grandfather passed."
"I just." Zuko didn't have a point to end with and decided just to keep quiet.
"It's a shame, what happened. And trust me, I'll do everything I can to get you back in the palace." Lu Ten added hurriedly and put a hand to Zuko's chest. "I won't abandon my favorite cousin in the barbaric North Pole."
Now Zuko looked confused and a little scared.
"The unpleasantness is over, but there's still bad blood. You know your father, he's very vengeful." Lu Ten ushered him away from the loading ramp and back to the gangplank on the side. "And I know you're sad about Mai, but father does care about you and he doesn't think it would be a very good match. Especially since Azula was already in Omashu."
"But." Zuko sputtered and Lu Ten laughed.
"Look, this trip will be a lot of fun. Let's not worry about the rest right now." He said and then stepped away from Zuko. They had come around the ship and now stood across from Sokka and Katara.
Zuko felt irrevocably sad, seeing his friends watch him with mistrust. He didn't know how it would be possible to befriend them in this current timeline.
"It's time to board, your Highness." A guard said from beside Zuko. He nodded and turned away from the siblings.