"This is all your fault." Zuko growled.

"How was I to know." Shouto grumbled. It had been an innocent enough offer, how was he supposed to know that it was trap.

"I'm going to kill you."

"It was an accident."

"I hate you."

"I hate me too."

Zuko fell silent, unsure what to say to that. Todoroki always had a lot of remarks Zuko wasn't sure what to say to.

33 hours earlier

Shouto had been sitting, watching them dance around very slowly for over half an hour, and at first it had been interesting and sometimes even funny to watch. Zuko was shaky, his movements uncertain at first, and sometimes he would fall or misstep.

Funnily enough, after, he would always look up, probably to see if Shouto was laughing. But he'd always been good at hiding certain emotions, and he sensed it would not have been nice to laugh even though it was funny. So, he would only give Zuko a small smile in return each time.

Eventually though, Zuko was fluid in his movements and looking bored himself and while he was pretty to watch, Shouto decided to get up and go do something else anyway.

The town was completely empty but Shouto had a fun time exploring it. He felt like he was young again, and every single turn was a dangerous mystery about to unfold. He knew logically that the only thing here that would've been able to hurt him, was Azula, and she was long gone. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling, even after exploring the entire town.

The thrill of a new place to explore was slowly receding and Shouto found himself wanting to go further away. Zuko and Iroh would be training for hours longer, there was no shame and going onward. Besides, there was nothing left for him to do back there anyway except be bored.

So, with that in mind, Shouto started walking further out, further and further. The forestation and the chirp of the birds were calming his nerves and for the first time in a couple of days, Shouto had enough time to sit back and think.

Things had been going well so far but Shouto knew there were still hurdles to go through with Zuko. Shouto had been trying to make him see for a while now, that his father and home weren't good for him. That it was probably good he had been banished, even if Zuko couldn't see that yet, Shouto hoped he one day would.

What Shouto really hoped for though, was that Zuko would realize and do something about it, not relapse and still go back to the thing he thought he wanted.

If Zuko got to go back to the Fire Nation, if he was welcomed back as a hero and with honor, Shouto didn't even want to think about what that must mean. Didn't want to even think about what Zuko had to do to get that.

Because if that happened it would most likely be because Zuko captured the avatar or done something else unspeakably horrible.

Shouto only paused his thinking and started wondering how far he'd actually walked, when he entered a bustling little town. It was more in the desert than the forest though, but Shouto had been so caught up in his own thoughts he hadn't even noticed when the trees started thinning out, or even when they disappeared completely. But as he looked back, he saw no trees now.

Frowning, Shouto faced forward again and wandered into town. There was no going back now, he was lost, and he would probably get even more so if he just kept going.

"One of the locals will probably know where to go." He murmured to himself.

"Go where?"

Shouto jumped and whirled around to find himself face to face with a girl who looked to be around his age, but was very short still. In fact, compared to most of the townspeople that were passing him by, he was one of the tallest people there.

He had always felt a bit out of place, but never quite like this. He knew Zuko and Iroh were both much shorter than him as well, but even when meeting them for the first time, he had never felt like this. "Hi." Shouto eventually said after a long pause and then shut his mouth again, unsure of what to say next.

The girl tilted her head to the side. It was tied in a ponytail and braided down until it reached her back. She seemed very friendly, even if her pink outfit was a little strange.

Shouto didn't feel comfortable around her, at all really. There was just something about her that set his nerves on edge and made him want to walk away.

He ignored the feeling, however and after thinking of a response, replied to her question, "Well, I was with some friends, but got lost,"

"Do you know which way you came?"

Shouto shook his head, "I had to go through lots of trees to get here, and the town I came from was abandoned."

"Oh, I know that place." She smiled and stuck out her hand, "I'm Ty Lee, I can help you get back, but can you do something in return for me?"

Shouto thought about it and carefully asked, "What is it?" he didn't want to promise anything he would regret.

"Well, it's just this little thing that's happening in the village tomorrow." Ty Lee explained, "Basically everyone's gathering together for a huge celebration. It's just a party, and I would love it if you could attend it, with me."

Shouto was pretty sure going to a celebration together was supposed to imply… something, yet he couldn't seem to remember what that was. It didn't really matter, so he nodded. Some fun seemed like a small price to pay for getting back to Zuko and Iroh.

"Oh yeah, and I've also got some friends going too, so I would love to meet yours."

Shouto nodded, "I will try to convince them." He said 'try' because he wasn't sure if he could. But even if Zuko and Iroh wouldn't come, Shouto still would. He had promised after all.

"See you there then." She paused and then added, "Now, I'll take you back to your friends. I know exactly where you're talking about, though I'm not sure what you guys were doing way out there anyway."

"Just passing through. My companions don't really like people though. So they were okay with not spending the night in a traditional… uh, inn or something." Shouto wasn't sure of the term people used here, but he hoped he used the right one. Ty Lee didn't say anything, so Shouto assumed he'd said it correctly.

They started heading back towards where Shouto assumed he'd come from. He hadn't been paying much attention, but he trusted Ty Lee. She seemed nice, and bubbly. Almost like another brown-haired girl he knew.

Shouto smiled at the thought. He wanted to help Zuko here, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss UA and all his friends. "So, what are your friends like? Mine are kind of strange." She giggled a little.

"I suppose mine are not what you'd call ordinary." Shouto said, frowning a bit as he thought of their personalities. If he truly thought about it, Zuko and Iroh completely clashed, but because of Iroh's personality they worked out. Zuko and Shouto didn't compliment each other quite as well, but Shouto's knack for taking things either too lightly or too seriously, helped to balance out Zuko. Zuko who took everything seriously.

"I guess we're alike then, Shouto."

Shouto paused while they were walking, only a small falter before he hurried to catch up. Had he told her his name? He couldn't quite remember, but he didn't think he had. So how had she known it. He hadn't met her before now. "So, what are your friends like exactly? What makes them strange. One of my companion gets angry at nearly anything, though he's getting better, and the other has some sort of tea addiction." Shouto allowed himself to laugh a bit, hoping he didn't sound too forced.

"Oh, well one of my friends is kinda sad all the time, which makes me sad. And the other always has to have everything her way, she's a bit too much of a perfectionist." That second description could've been Azula… but taking another look at this sweet girl, she couldn't possibly be friends. It was probably just his paranoia talking.

Finally, they came out of the forest, back to the abandoned town they'd been staying in. "Thank you, Ty Lee." He said, and bowed slightly. Ty Lee blushed but managed to maintain her upbeat attitude.

"It really wasn't any trouble. See you at the party tomorrow?"

"See you there." Shouto waved and watched her go. He thought a little more about it. She was interesting, that was for sure, but she couldn't be friends with Azula, just couldn't be. She was much too nice. She would've just taken Shouto right there and taken him if she was with Azula right? Yes, that had to be the case. Shouto bit his lip, he had a bad feeling, but the offer was innocent. It was just a party, after all. Just a party. Iroh and Zuko might not even go, that was always a possibility too. And even if they did go it didn't matter because it was just a party.

He went up the hill, the sun setting to find Iroh alone in the little house. "I can sense a storm coming soon." he said. Great, there was a storm and Zuko was nowhere to be found. Maybe he could go find him before the storm hit.

Or hopefully, the storm would go away, that would be the best outcome. "Where's Zuko?" Shouto asked.

"Trying to get hit by lightning." Iroh said, sounding very regretful. Shouto had to admit, even he knew it was stupid to try and get hit by lightning. Even if you could supposedly redirect it.

"I'm going to go looking for him then." Shouto said standing up. Iroh didn't say anything and Shouto left. When he came outside, the previously clear sky was darker, and he could hear thunder in the distance. Shouto started towards higher ground, where he thought Zuko was most likely to be.

Half way up it started drizzling and then like the universe had learned it's crying techniques from Izuku, buckets started pouring down on him, lightning and thunder flashing up ahead. And when he got to the top, Zuko was there, standing in the middle of it, screaming and telling the sky to throw everything it had at him.

Shouto could only watch for the next few seconds as lightning didn't strike anywhere near him. The wind was blowing so hard, Shouto couldn't even hear Zuko's words anymore, not unless he got closer.

He came and crouched beside Zuko, putting a hand on his shoulder. Zuko stopped screaming for a moment to turn and look at him. "Let's go back." He shouted so Zuko could hear over the raging winds. Zuko shook his head and said something Shouto couldn't hear but he assumed it was an 'okay'. So he helped Zuko up and started pulling the both of them back towards the little house. Shouto wasn't completely sure it would hold during this terrible rainstorm, but he sure hope it did.

They were both drenched when coming back inside, and Shouto used all his strength to close the door again. Zuko sat on the floor and didn't say anything, so Shouto took his silence as a 'thank you'. "Your welcome."

If looks could kill, he'd be dead, but the words never actually came out of his mouth. So they sat and waited for the storm to pass, no more words spoken that night.

A/N Yeah... ummm, I don't have anything to say except sorry *cue nervous laughter* (Rewritten because I'm stupid) Shouto doesn't find out about the ambush... so yeah.