Zuko heard the dirt shift as he stepped backward. His reaction made Yue pause and a look of confusion flickered over her face.
"You should leave." She said quietly, turning away from him and looking down at the pond. Zuko tried to walk back to her, but found someone holding his arm. Turning, he found her guard.
"Time to go prince." The woman said, her voice gruff and thick with irritation. She shoved Zuko back toward the bridge and he went. He looked back over his shoulder at Yue, but she was still staring at the pond. The guard shoved him again and he walked obediently with his face forward.
Exiting the oasis, Zuko suddenly did not appreciate being alone with the armed escort. There were a thousand ways someone could disappear on the ice, and not every person working in the palace cared about politics.
"Zuko?" Katara's whisper broke through his apprehension and Zuko looked around. His pause made the guard grumble, but luckily Sokka and Katara appeared from around a corner.
"Oh." Katara said, seeing him with a guard.
"Where were you?" Sokka demanded, rushing up to Zuko and ignoring the guard. "You can't just go sneaking off in the middle of sleeping hours."
"That has been made apparent." Zuko replied dryly, tilting his head back to reference the guard.
"Thank you for finding him. We'll take him back to the room now." Katara said, pulling on Zuko's arm. The guard hesitated for a moment, looking between Katara and Sokka.
"He's not to leave again." She said and Sokka nodded.
"Of course." He replied. The guard grunted and left, walking back toward the oasis.
"Where were you?" Sokka asked again, as soon as the guard was out of earshot.
"I ran into Yue." Zuko answered.
"You were with the princess?" Katara questioned. She looked disappointed and Zuko knew he had overstepped.
"I promise, it was nothing Fire Nation related." He said. She still frowned, looking down with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Let's take Katara back and head to our room." Sokka said.
"I can find my own way." Katara snapped and walked off, leaving Sokka to stand watching her go. He looked as confused as Zuko felt.
"So what's Yue's deal again? Turns into the moon?" Sokka asked and then faced him.
"Yeah, but that's not going to happen here." Zuko replied with a sigh.
"Why not?"
Zuko looked around, then put his hand on Sokka's shoulder and looked knowingly down the hall. They started to move in silence, heading to the shared sleeping quarters.
"Yue's bound to the Ocean spirit here. I don't know how that would work if Zhao kills the Moon spirit, which," Zuko sighed again, rubbing the back of his head and shrugging. "I don't think is the plan anymore."
"Well duh, the Fire Nation doesn't seem to have brought an invasion force this time." Sokka replied.
Zuko stopped, his hand now frozen at the back of his head. Sokka looked at him, waiting.
"Didn't they?" Zuko asked.
Sokka frowned and they started walking again. Zuko's hands went limp down by his sides as he thought.
Yue had called him a tribute, Lu Ten said he would try to get Zuko back in the palace, and Ursa had told him he was meant to be an ambassador. Zhao would leave after the wedding and Zuko was going to be installed permanently here, but for what reason? Why bring a Southern Waterbender and leave a Fire Nation prince in the North Pole?
"I don't know why I'm here." Zuko murmured.
"You've already said that." Sokka retorted.
Zuko blanched and shook his head. "I mean this me, this Zuko. Why was he meant to be here?"
Blazes it was weird to consider himself as something else.
"Clearly there's some nefarious plot going on." Sokka said nonchalantly. "But what are we going to do about it?"
"Yue said I should stay with you and Katara after the wedding." Zuko said.
"That's ominous."
"Absolutely. So I don't know if we have to do anything." Zuko paused before adding on. "Yet."
They walked back to the sleeping quarters and settled in. Sokka dropped off almost immediately while Zuko lay awake listening to the sounds of the other men. It was warm, without him even needing to worry about his breathing. The pallets themselves were thin and dropped haphazardly in places, but the furs were laid out in abundance. Heaps of them disguised the lumps of men buried under them like polar bear dogs in their snow dens. There were a few blankets, which were more like woven sacs filled with some arctic bird's down. Everything was lumpy, a touch too hot, and overall suffocating.
It was a completely different experience than what Zuko was used to. Even during his time with his friends he had never been so closely encamped with other people.
Thinking back to his own life at the palace, Zuko mused over the rightful Zuko's reaction to this situation.
At least they would have something in common.