In the morning, Zuko went looking for Sokka and Katara. He dodged lumbering trunks held up on human legs and nearly ran into an engineer carrying a large toolbox. The activity was different and Zuko wondered if it had anything to do with the messenger hawk that arrived for Lu Ten at breakfast. His cousin had said nothing about it, only abruptly left the table, taking Zuri with him.
Sokka and Katara were not present during breakfast, which is why he was now wandering around the campsite.
When he made it to their tent, Zuko found it in the process of being broken down. Not wanting to interact with the crewmen, he turned and wove his way back through the moving parts. They must have boarded the ship already, which did not bode well.
Distracted, Zuko once again collided with another person. He staggered backward and shrank.
"Hello your Highness. Looking for the tribals?" Zuri asked. Zuko nodded while Zuri smiled.
"They've gone aboard so that they wouldn't get lost in all the commotion." They said. Zuko still stayed quiet and Zuri regarded him.
"Do you remember the spirit attack on your cousin?" They asked. Zuko met their gaze and nodded again.
"I remember hearing about it. Koh the Face Stealer right?" He replied.
"Koh's presence was always a point of concern for the Fire Lord. Where had the spirit come from? The Spirit World has been closed off to our world for millennia, and only the sagest of people can send their essence over." Zuri said idly.
"There are a few spirits who live in our world." Zuko said. Zuri's grin sent frozen fear down his spine.
He wasn't supposed to know that. Only two people out of everyone that Zuko had met outside of the North Pole knew about Tui and La; Iroh and Zhao.
"Stories, of course." Zuko added.
"Yes, stories." Zuri agreed. They turned, standing staggered with Zuko to look at the ship.
"Yet Koh lives in the Spirit World." Zuri argued. "So he made it across."
"Are you worried about spirits?" Zuko questioned.
"Always." Zuri said with a laugh. "After you come face to face with one, and it's literally attempting to take your face, you tend to become a bit concerned."
"But you won." Zuko pointed out.
"That I did. But I wonder, seeing as how there's a face stealer, if there isn't one that can create faces." They said.
"Your face is fine the way it is Zuri." Zuko replied.
The shock of his statement caused Zuri to laugh, more genuinely than he had seen before. Zuko was used to keeping his emotions hidden, and had managed to get his fear down to nervousness when speaking with others. With Zuri, he knew he had to do better. Courtly machinations weren't going to work on someone that had also grown up in it.
Sokka, however, was very good at disarming people.
"Zuko, I'm more worried about your face. You don't seem to wear it comfortably." Zuri said pointedly. Zuko's left eye twitched.
"Why do you think a spirit would have any interest in me?" Zuko questioned.
"I think the spirits are more interested in your uncle." Zuri admitted. "But I am here to protect the Fire Lord's interests."
"And I don't?"
"As long as you are truly yourself Zuko, I have nothing to worry about."
"Everyone changes Zuri. You of all people should understand that."
"Do you remember what your uncle sent you from Ba Sing Se?" Zuri asked suddenly.
"The knife?" Confused, Zuko pulled a face. "He sent it to me after he breached the Outer Ring."
Zuri looked almost as confused, but settled their face into something more neutral.
"Your cousin thinks I'm being paranoid." They said.
"I don't feel like myself," Zuko said hesitantly. "But I'm still me. This trip has just been very confusing."
"Things will get better. Lu Ten received a message from Admiral Zhao. He'll be meeting our ship at the outpost." Zuri said.
"What?" Zuko balked and Zuri clapped their hand on his back.
"I know, he's a miserable old man, but I have good news! I'll be escorting you and the tribals to the Junhae colony in an airship. Your mother is there getting the gifts ready and Lu Ten doesn't see any point in dragging a trio of antsy teenagers across the ocean." They explained.
"But you? I didn't think you left Lu Ten's side." Zuko blurted. Zuri just shrugged.
"It's become a military thing now. While I am the prince's otter viper, the gilded uniforms aren't a big fan of mine." They said. Pushing lightly on Zuko's back, they urged him forward.
"Now onto the ship. The sooner we're back in proper sunlight, the better we'll all feel."
It took two days to get to the outpost, and Zuko felt just as guarded as his friends. When he left his room, a soldier was waiting for him. When he went to bed, a guard followed him through the hall.
He took his meals with Lu Ten and Zuri, talking about casual things. Trying to glean what he could, Zuko was careful not to attract more attention from Zuri. Having them think he was a spirit in disguise was exactly what he was hoping to avoid.
After breakfast, Zuri took him topside and practiced firebending. They were highly skilled, and Zuko focused on mirroring their steps. In this, he found more of a mental block than a lack of physical skill. Whatever physical training this version of himself had neglected had been replaced by firebending drills.
It was disappointing to see how improved he was.
"Your form is sloppy." Zuri said part way through their first session. Zuko frowned; he knew he was much better than he had been prior to his exile.
"How?" He asked.
"You're swishing through your stances." They said. Zuko looked to his side and saw Katara watching him intently. He looked away, embarrassed.
He had picked it up from her, hadn't he?
Sokka soon found his sister and lounged, clearly bored, through the rest of their practice. Then again, when Lu Ten took Zuko to the deck for sword practice, Sokka perked up.
On the second day, when they could see the outpost from the deck, Lu Ten remarked upon their audience.
"You have to promise me not to become too enamored with their ways." He said, moving Zuko way from his friends during a break. "Fire doesn't fare so well in the ice."
"I think I'll be fine." Zuko snapped and wiped his face. His nerves were frayed and he felt peevish. Everyone kept hovering around him and it was getting harder to breathe.
Lu Ten was stone faced as he looked back at him.
"That's what I'm hoping for." He replied.
They arrived at the outpost as dusk settled over the rocks. Lu Ten, flanked by Zuri and Zuko, walked down the iron ramp wearing their full court attire. Seeing the crown in Lu Ten's topknot hurt, but the crown in his own was bizarre.
It was the one created for Ozai, the only second son to be born in their line for generations. And as second in line for the throne, with his father exiled, Zuko's scalp buzzed under its presence.
At the end of the ramp stood another familiar figure, one who also should have been dead.
"Admiral Zhao! How good it is to see you well." Lu Ten greeted, throwing his arms out. Zhao and his men bowed low as they all approached.
"Welcome your Highness." Zhao replied and stood.
"I was expecting more nerves." Zuri remarked and Zhao scowled.
"Of my best admiral? Likely he thinks of this next task as another sort of occupation." Lu Ten replied.
"Marriage isn't something to be afraid of." Zhao said.
"So why have you been avoiding it?" Zuri shot back.
Zuko furrowed his brow at the back and forth.
"I've simply had more important things to do than take a wife." Zhao said.
"I'm sure your cold nature will be perfect for the Ice Princess." Zuri laughed and Zhao growled low in his throat.
"I do believe my father has similar thoughts on marriage, all things considered." Lu Ten interjected, smiling at the darkening of Zhao's features. "Now, Admiral, may we talk, man to man?"
Zuri drew on an ugly face, looking like an oni for the briefest of moments. Lu Ten ignored them, moving to Zhao and turning him to walk back to the outpost.
"Yatsu." Zuri hissed under their breath. Zuko didn't know if they were talking about Zhao or Lu Ten.
The men Zhao brought with him ushered them inside, taking them away from where Lu Ten and Zhao were heading. Whatever the military importance, Zuri's exclusion had already begun and they weren't happy about it. It made them more talkative, though most of it involved swearing and calling down curses.
"Your uncle wouldn't do this to me. He knows how valuable I am." Zuri remarked as they continued further into the outpost. The soldiers were ahead of them and Zuko kept glancing to see if they were listening.
"I really thought you and Lu Ten were, close." Zuko said hesitantly. Zuri snorted.
"No one is close to your cousin." They said, then paused. Looking over at Zuko, they regarded him with suspicion.
"I am close to him, more than anyone else." They stated before facing forward. "Closer than even his own father."
A form of lover's jealousy then, instead of power grabbing.
"Whose idea was it for you to take me to Junhae?" Zuko asked. Zuri recoiled and glared at him.
"I told you, we all have our parts." They said. "Plus your mother likes me more than the military brats."
Zuko held his tongue and only mumbled through his goodbye when Zuri shoved him into a room. When the door shut, he moved over to the bed and sat down.
It was another dark metal box, with red banners and red lanterns. There was little difference between this one and his room on the ship; the size and window were reprieves.
He fell backward, staring out the open window and seeing the thin sliver of the waxing moon. Steps were being taken out of order, but he was marching down the same road. Zhao would be in the North Pole and there was a plot simmering in Lu Ten's mind. Surely they wouldn't attempt the same gambit; killing Tui would have a devastating effect on the entire world.
Except there were so many variables. Almost all of the Fire Nation family would be in the North Pole, his living mother included. Zuri suspected that he was a spirit, which put him in immense danger. Aang was missing, which felt more agonizing than when Zuko had initially begun his search for the Avatar. Yet the biggest, and most horrifying, was the knowledge that Zhao was now Yue's intended.
Zuko unpinned the crown and held it above his face, turning it in his hands. His father had worn this, sitting in every royal portrait at Iroh's side. They always made Iroh look taller.
"Why am I here?" Zuko asked of the crown. It didn't respond.
He had always asked too much of the crown.