"Your Majesty, there still hasn't been any sightings of the apprentice ever since her escape from the Boiling Rock." The war minister bowed in front of the Fire Lord, anxious from having delivered news of failure. "I have the best men looking for her and scouring everywhere she could possibly hide—"

"There's no need. I know where she is."

"M-my Lord?"

Fire Lord Ozai stared into the depths of the fire that separated his throne from the rest of the room, its light shining against the tall pillars, casting shadows all around. "She's with my treacherous son, and the Avatar's band of misfits."

"What shall we do, my Lord? The Fire Sages and the Council insist on having her during the coronation ceremony."

He stood up, clenching his fist at his sides, rage evident in his face. "Apprentice or no apprentice, once Sozin's Comet comes, I am THE PHOENIX KING!"

Aang was fast to master the basics of firebending, but not fast enough, making Zuko restless. Sozin's Comet is a few days away, and he still has a long way to go if he wanted to stand a chance against the Fire Lord.

"More ferocious! Imagine striking through your opponent's heart!"

He continued demonstrating fire fists, jab after jab sending waves of fire towards an unseen enemy. "I'm trying!"

"Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo!"

Aang twisted in place; extending his arms and breathing out, he released an arm's length breath of fire. But it was still lacking.

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest. "That sounded pathetic! I said ROAR!"

He repeated the action, this time forcefully shouting from the bottom of his gut. The second time was successful enough, but it took a lot of energy from him. Satisfied, Zuko nodded his approval.

"Who wants a nice cool glass of watermelon juice?"

Perking up instantly, Aang half-ran towards Katara, only to be stopped by Zuko grabbing onto his clothes. "Hey! Your lesson's not over yet! Get back here!"

"Come on, Zuko! Just take a break!" Suki said as she took a sip of her own juice with Sokka. "What's the big deal?"

He growled in frustration and let go of Aang. "Fine! If you want to lounge around all day like a bunch of snail-sloths, then go ahead!"

"Maybe Zuko's right. Sitting around all day has made us lazy." Sokka straightened up after leaning against the stone steps of the villa's front yard. "But I know just the thing to change that." Standing up, he stripped down to his shorts and shouted, "BEACH PARTY!"

Everybody agreed and went down from the mountain towards the beach, all except Zuko who sat by the stone steps, resting his head on top of his folded arms.

Chiyo returned from the market with a basket full of food and other necessities, and found him sitting alone. "Zuko?" She set down the basket and sat beside him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just... so frustrated!" He shouted, clutching his hair, wanting to rip them out in anger.

She reached up and took his hands in hers, the rough, calloused palms warm against her own. "Tell me about it."

He looked at her, searching her eyes. "Can you move over a bit?"

Chiyo blinked but did as she was told. She shuffled away from him and he laid himself down on the stone steps, his head on her lap. His frustration slightly dissipated as he looked up and saw her flushed cheeks and wide eyes. "Zuko?"

"I feel so much better already." Zuko gave her the best smile he could muster and closed his eyes.

Her hand felt like it had a life of its own as it almost automatically went for his hair, combing through the dark locks. A smile found its way to her lips as she remembered having done a similar action for him years ago. "Why were you so agitated, Zuko?"

He sighed deeply, focusing on the feel of her fingers in his hair. "You know that Sozin's Comet is mere days away, right?"

"Yes." She shuddered inwardly, remembering the events that were to transpire during the arrival of the comet.

"And you were at the palace before the eclipse, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, do you know of my father's plan to burn down the Earth Kingdom?"

Her fingers froze mid-comb and she nodded. "Yes. After the coronation ceremony and supposedly, the wedding, the Phoenix King will take the imperial firebenders as well as most of the firebending soldiers and journey to the Earth Kingdom on airships."

"Aang and the others are all so calm about everything." He opened his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Their down at the beach, enjoying and having fun."

Chiyo felt Zuko's frustration as well. Once the comet arrives, the Fire Lord will be unstoppable. If they stood any chance at all, the Avatar has to defeat him before the comet. "I have a plan."

Sokka worked tediously with the sand, picking out the best shells and shiniest seaweed for his sculpture. Aang and Toph approached to see his work. "Tadaaa!"

No matter which angle they look at it, they had no idea what it could be. "Is that a blubbering, blob monster?"

"NO! It's Suki!"

The two erupted in laughter, grabbing their stomach and knees for support. "Suki, we'll all understand if you break up with him over this!"

The Kyoshi warrior looked at the sculpture with love-filled eyes. "I think it's sweet!" Sokka slid across the sand to reward her with a kiss on the cheek.

"But it doesn't even look like—" Before Aang could finish his sentence, the sculpture exploded, sending sand flying in every direction. He lowered his arms that he used to shield his eyes and looked up at the cliff.

Zuko jumped down from the cliff and sent fire fists in his direction, the flames missing him bare inches as he ran away from them. All the while that he was confused, he did his best to hide. "What are you doing?!"

"Teaching you a lesson!" He attacked Aang's hiding place, Appa's sand sculpture, reducing it back to loose sand.

Aang refused to attack Zuko, choosing instead to run back up the cliff. With the use of airbending, he easily jumped from one rock to another, retreating back to the safety of the villa. He was glad to spot Chiyo sitting by the stone front steps. "Chiyo, I need your help! Your boyfriend's attacking me!"

From her feet, she kicked up Aang's folded glider. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed it." She smiled sweetly before lunging at him to attack.

Alarmed, Aang avoided his own staff as Chiyo swung it at his feet. He thanked his fast reflexes that he managed to swerve out of the way when she tried to chi-block his side. "Chiyo, stop it!" He got slammed back against the trunk of a tree, which he climbed steadily to get away from her.

As he reached the top of the tree, he jumped off it, landing on the tiled roof of the villa. Zuko scaled the railings and the posts of the house to reach the roof, pulling himself up and on his feet.

Aang stood his ground, getting into a fighting stance. "Get a grip before I blast you off this roof!"

"Go ahead and do it!" Zuko dared him, then sent three kicks of fire hurtling towards Aang, all he barely dodged as he slid down the roof.

Chiyo went back inside the villa to check on the situation, running up two flights of stairs to follow the commotion. As she turned the corner at the end of a hall, her vision filled with bright flames as Aang ran towards her, Zuko behind him.

Sensing her to be in danger, Aang stood in front of her and quelled the flames with a flurry of air. "ENOUGH!" Harnessing the air around the hallway, he sent a strong gust of air back at Zuko. The force of the impact had him crashing through the walls and out back to the front yard.

"ZUKO!" Chiyo pushed Aang aside and ran through the scorched corridor. She let out a sigh of relief to see that a thick bush had broken his fall.

The others had made their way back up from the beach, surprised to see the villa in such a state. Katara trudged up to where Zuko had landed. "What's wrong with you?! You could've hurt Aang!"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you?!" He spat back as he got to his feet, glaring at them with sharp eyes. "How can you sit around, having beach parties when Sozin's Comet is only three days away?!" Nobody could answer him, nor meet his gaze full-on. "Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?"

Aang helped Chiyo back down from the villa to meet up with the rest of the group. "About Sozin's comet... I was actually going to wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came."

Zuko and Chiyo had identical expressions of anger and confusion on their faces. "AFTER?!"

"I'm not ready." Aang confessed with shame and guilt. "I need more time to master firebending."

"And frankly, your earthbending can still use some work too." Toph admitted, making his already low self-esteem dip lower.

"So you all knew Aang was going to wait?!"

Sokka stepped towards him, hoping to calm Zuko down. "Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord right now, he's going to lose. No offense, Aang."

"The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war." Katara held Aang's hand and squeezed it to give him some comfort. "But they pretty much won the war when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse."

"You're wrong." Chiyo crossed over to stand by Zuko. "It's about to get worse than any of you can ever imagine."

Zuko told them of his father's plans upon the arrival of Sozin's comet. He told them how the Fire Lord planned to burn down the entire Earth Kingdom, and possibly all its inhabitants, to the ground. He told them his father's vision of a world where all lands were Fire Nation. And he told them how he sat there in suffering silence, watching as everyone applauded his wicked plan.

Everyone was too stunned to speak after Zuko's explanation. It took a full minute before Katara could speak. "I-I can't believe this..."

"I always knew the Fire Lord was a bad guy, but his plan is just pure evil..."

"What am I going to do?" Aang could only look at his feet. All this time, he thought he had the luxury of time to figure out how to deal with the Fire Lord. But now, he had all but less than three days to stop him.

"I know you're scared, and I know you're not ready to save the world. But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the comet comes, there won't be a world to save anymore."

"You'll have to take the Fire Lord's life." Chiyo stood before Aang, her tone filled with urgency. "Before he takes yours, and everybody else's."

That afternoon, Sokka arranged a tactical practice and huddled them to relay the strategy. "Gather round, Team Avatar! In order to take out the Fire Lord, or in this case, the Melon Lord," He pointed behind him at a scarecrow wearing red robes, with a watermelon for his head. "Our timing has to be perfect. First, Suki, Chiyo and I will draw his fire. Then Katara and Zuko charge in with some liquidy-hot offense, and while the Melon Lord is distracted, Aang swoops in and BAAM! He delivers the final blow."

Everyone was so focused on Sokka's plan that no one saw Aang cringe.

"What about me?" Toph wondered as she went over the plan again in her head.

"For now, you're the Melon Lord's forces."

"So I get to chuck flaming rocks at you?"

"Whatever makes the training feel realistic."

"Sweetness!"

They got into their positions as Sokka had planned, and they waited for his signal. With a wave of his hand, the three non-benders charged forward. Toph earthbended Fire Nation soldiers to attack them. Sokka and Chiyo defended using swords, while Suki brought the soldiers down with high kicks and jabs.

Katara and Zuko followed. They destroyed the rest of the soldiers using waterbending and firebending techniques, making sure to have each other's backs, and watching out for sneak attacks.

As Sokka struck down another stone soldier, he shouted towards the last person. "NOW, AANG!"

He jumped down from a stone edifice and raised his glider over his head, ready to strike the scarecrow's head. Just as he was a few feet away, he heard the voices of the monks that had taught him all that he knew.

"All life is sacred, Aang."

"Even the smallest of flies in the densest jungles,"

"Even the unknown creatures at the depths of the vast sea."

"Even the wickedest of men that walks the earth."

"What are you waiting for?! Take him out!"

Aang stood in front of the scarecrow and lowered his staff. "I... I can't..."

"What is wrong with you?!" They were all shocked by Chiyo's outburst as she sheathed Zuko's dual broadswords behind her and trudged towards Aang. "If you hesitated like this in the real fight, the Fire Lord would have killed you by now!"

"Chiyo—"

"You have your shot, your opportunity, and yet, you're just gonna blow it?! Next thing you know, you'll be shocked with lightning and you'd be dead!"

"I'm sorry, but it just didn't feel right! I didn't feel like myself."

She scoffed at his excuse. She forcefully grabbed Aang's glider and struck the scarecrow's head, sending the watermelon tumbling off the cliff. "That's how it's done, Aang."

Dinner was a silent affair back at the villa. The tension, especially between Chiyo and Aang, was so thick one could cut it with a knife.

Katara cleared her throat before pulling out a scroll from her robes. "I have a surprise for everyone!"

"I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Haru!"

"Uh, no, Toph." The earthbender shrugged and resumed eating. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this!" She unfurled the scroll to show them the portrait. "Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute?"

Everyone laughed and cooed, seeing a plump baby enjoying by the beach. Zuko closed his eyes and shook his head. "That's not me. It's my father."

Their laughter ceased and they stared back into the portrait wondering what happened and what went wrong. "But he looks so sweet and innocent..."

"Well that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster, and the worst of all fathers."

"But he's still a human being." Aang spoke up from his silence.

"You're going to defend him?"

He stood up and clenched his fists at his sides. "No. I agree with you. Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably better off without him. But there's gotta be another way—"

"Like what?"

"I don't know... Maybe we could make big pots of glue and use gluebending to stick his arms together so he can't bend anymore!"

Zuko smiled sarcastically. "Yeah! Then maybe you can show him his baby pictures and the happy memories will make him good again!"

"Do you really think that would work?"

"NO!"

Aang sighed and paced around the courtyard. "This goes against everything that I learned from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like!"

"Sure you can!" Sokka said as fast as he can, sensing that Chiyo was about to retort venomously. "You're the Avatar! If it's in the name of keeping the balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you!"

"This isn't a joke, Sokka!" Aang shouted, having finally snapped. He glared at everyone, angered by their lack of empathy. "None of you understand the position I'm in!"

"Aang, we do understand, it's just—"

"Just what, Katara? What?!"

"We're trying to help!"

"Then when you figure out a way to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" He gave each of them a glare before heading back inside the villa.

Katara moved to follow him. "Aang, don't walk away from this!"

Zuko stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Let him go. He needs time to sort it out himself."

"Chiyo, can't you run any faster?! Mai is already waiting at her house!" Azula shouted at her as she ran through the halls as fast as she could.

She was breathless when she reached the princess. "W-why aren't we taking... the royal... palanquin again?"

Azula rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Because we are going to surprise Ty Lee for her birthday, duh! If she sees the royal palanquin, she'll know something's up! Now come on!" She grabbed the apprentice's hand and they ran out of the palace gates.

The surprise party was a blast! All the girls from the academy, as well as other daughters of nobles were invited. There was all sorts of food and drinks to choose from, and music was non-stop.

As Chiyo went to get a refill of her drink and Azula's, she accidentally overheard a couple of girls talking about the princess.

"Did you hear that her mom left her?"

"Yeah, and her brother got banished last month."

"Really? Well, I guess she got what she deserves."

"Yeah. Serves her right for being such a spoiled brat!"

"I bet Mai and Ty Lee are only friends with her just because she's the princess."

"In my opinion, they're just as bad as that bratty prin—"

"SHUT UP!" Chiyo snapped at them, setting down the glasses at the table before she could throw them at the girls. "How could you say that to Princess Azula? She's your friend! She's your classmate!"Her hands shook with anger, but she tried her best to rein it in.

"What do you care, loser? You're just a nobody tagging along with them!"

"Yeah! It's like you're their pet! Oh! Can you show us some tricks?"

"Woof woof woof!"

"Awwooooo!"

Little did the girls know that Azula was right behind them, her arms crossed over her chest, her glare piercing through the girls' backs. "Really? I never heard Chiyo howl like that before."

They all turned around, shock written on their faces and bowed their heads. "P-princess Azula!"

Azula held out her hand, blue flames engulfing her fingertips. "On the count of three, I'll set your ugly hairs on fire. One..."

In less than a second, the girls ran away screaming out the front door, much to the entertainment of everyone else. Azula approached Chiyo and took the drink. "I wondered what was taking you so long. Now what did you do to make them turn on you like that?"

She gritted her teeth, looking down on the floor and wondering if it was a good decision to tell her the truth.

"They were talking about me, weren't they?"

Chiyo nodded and bit her lip.

"Don't mind them, Chiyo. They're just a bunch of nobodies. They're jealous because they aren't us." The princess took the apprentice's hand once again and they went back to Ty Lee and Mai. "We are your friends. Who needs them when you have us?"

They retired to their rooms for the evening but Chiyo was restless from her dream. She went out of her room and paced through the long hallways of the villa.

"Can't sleep?"

She whipped her head around and saw Zuko walking towards her. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No. I just can't sleep either." He held her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. "Walk with me."

The full moon was high up in the dark sky and the cool breeze from the sea made her shiver a bit as they walked along the shore. Zuko held her close, wrapping an arm around her and rubbing her arm to spread some warmth. "You know, back when we thought you were... dead-" Zuko let out a shaky breath, glad that it wasn't the case. "Azula and I made a memorial for you here on this beach."

"Umm... thank you?" Chiyo said awkwardly, not knowing how to respond.

They sat down and dug their feet into the warm sand. "It was the first time I saw her..." He searched for the right words. "Emotional. It was weird... to say the least."

She looked up at him. "How about you? How did you feel... when you thought I was... gone?"

He sighed deeply and leaned his head on top of hers, gazing up at the full moon. "I felt cold. Like the fire inside me has been put out. And my heart felt like it was ripped out of my chest. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think straight. I held on to the slimmest hope that somehow, you were out there. But it was so hard... And I lost hope..."

Chiyo turned her head and buried it against his neck, seeking his warmth. "I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere."

They laid back down on the sand, looking up at the star-dotted sky. It had been a while since either had the chance to admire the beauty of the evening sky.

Zuko kissed her forehead gently, his eyes sliding closed at this temporary moment of peace, wishing it would never end. "Stay by my side, Chiyo. Forever and always."

"As you wish, Prince Zuko."