The Undying Fire: Truth and Lies

by Boogum

Book 2. The scarred boy is found alone and half dead. All he has on him is a knife, a Pai Sho tile, and a bit of parchment with a riddle on it. He thinks he might have been searching for someone, and the wound on his shoulder and the fear prickling his heart tells him he was running from something. The problem is that he doesn't remember. He doesn't remember anything.

6. Echoes of the Past

Everything had went wrong very quickly during the trade for King Bumi. It had all started with one person as well: Princess Azula

"What's wrong with him?" Lee heard someone mutter, but the voice seemed so far away, like a whisper carried on the wind.

"I don't know, but he won't stop shaking!"

"Can't you do something to help him?"

"I already tried, but that girl in pink did something to my bending. I can't do a thing!"

"Well, at least we got him away from that crazy one with the blue fire. I just hope that Aang and Bumi are alright."

The girl said something in response, but Lee could barely distinguish the words. The world was fading in and out, drawing him back into the darkness. No, into the fire. He was wreathed in flames, sinking deeper into a tunnel of burning gold that wrapped itself around him like a web. There was no escape, no release. He was falling—falling just like he had done when lightning had pierced into his shoulder, sending shockwaves of white-hot energy throughout his body and squeezing at his heart. This time, however, there was no ocean to greet him. There was only fire.

"You'll never catch up."

The words were a whisper, a threat. It seemed important to remember this, but it was as if his thoughts had lost their anchor and were now drifting off in whatever direction the current took them, slipping from his grasp as fast as he clutched at them. He couldn't hold onto the memories any longer. As the flames dragged him deeper into unconsciousness, he saw an image of a girl with the amber eyes looming over him like some dark goddess painted across the skies, watching him as he fell.

She was smiling.

oOo

The room was swathed in red and gold. Azula stared at her reflection, meeting the amber eyes that stared back at her. Eyes that were just like her mother's. Even their lips were the same, but the expression that curved her mouth had always been sharper, more calculating. It was Zuko who had got all of Ursa's softness, Zuko who had always needed to be reassured and loved and who was so sensitive to other people's pain, even the stupid turtle-ducks that he and their mother had used to feed together.

Azula gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists on the dresser so that her knuckles flared white. It was his own fault that she had killed him. He should never have resisted her. He should have realised that he was completely outclassed, but Zuko had always been stubborn, idiot that he was. So she had decided to put him in his place once and for all. She had wanted to remind him why their father had always called her the only firebending prodigy in the family.

No one had ever mastered lightning so quickly. She knew Zuko would be impressed when he saw the technique, but ever since she had seen him fall over the side of the ship, there were moments where she wondered if she had ever really meant to hurt him that much. He had screamed so loud, and the way he had just crumpled like a paper figure crushed in her fist had seemed strangely jarring to her in her moment of triumph. Zuko had always been weak, but never that weak. Never that fragile.

"It was his own fault," she repeated.

But the whispers in her mind kept repeating "monster" over and over, because in her heart she had known that Zuko would not have been able to block the lightning. And she never made mistakes.

Did she?

Azula's expression hardened. "So what if I killed him?" she muttered, glaring at her reflection—at any scrap of Ursa that she could see upon the mirrored surface. "It was what Father had been hoping for when he first banished Zuko. Everyone knew the truth. Everyone except my idiot of a brother. Father had always wanted me to be the heir apparent, and now I am." Her mouth curved into a cruel smile. "Now I am."

She had no reason to regret her actions. Zuko was probably better off where he was and—

"Not one more step."

Azula's smile vanished. That masked swordsman had sounded just like Zuko. For a moment she had even thought it was her brother trying to block her from the Avatar, but the way he had moved was all wrong, and even though she was aware that Zuko had been interested in weapons as a child, she'd never seen him wield dual dao blades. Nor did she think that her brother would ally himself with the Avatar, especially not after spending three years searching and failing to capture the boy.

No, there was no way that the masked swordsman could be Zuko. Her brother had been killed that day on the ship. But that didn't change the fact that there had just been something so familiar about the warrior. It was a feeling that reached deep into her soul, as if he were an echo of some intrinsic part of her identity that had been lost a long time ago.

"It's okay to be scared, Azula."

"I'm not scared. I just can't sleep with all of this stupid thunder making so much noise, and if I have to stay awake then so do you."

The young boy smiled and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into a loose embrace. She thought about pushing him away, because she wasn't afraid and didn't need to be babied, but the lightning was so bright and the explosions of thunder almost sounded like an army of firebenders storming the palace. Before she knew it, she was leaning in closer to his body, taking comfort in his solid warmth.

"I'm not scared," she repeated fiercely.

"I know," he murmured, resting his head against hers so that she could feel the smoothness of his left cheek brushing against her skin. "I just figured you might be cold."

She hid her face against his shoulder so that he would not see her small grin. Sometimes, she really liked her brother when he wasn't acting like such a big dum-dum.

Azula blinked, allowing the memory to fade back into the recesses of her mind. Suddenly, it was not her mother that she could see staring out from her reflection, but Zuko's face: unscarred and handsome, just as it had been before his banishment. Before she had been left alone.

Her eyes narrowed. "So, Brother, you think to haunt me as this Blue Spirit, do you?"

She'd heard stories about certain spirits entering the physical world to seek revenge for those who had been unjustly killed. It would be just like the spirits to take pity on her weakling brother. Precious little Zuzu who could never do anything right but whom everyone seemed to love, even with all of his imperfections. Still, that didn't explain why the masked warrior had fallen apart like that in front of her, as if he had started having some kind of fit. Spirits wouldn't do that, would they?

Azula was still pondering this problem when someone knocked at the door. "Enter," she said sharply.

There was the sound of a handle being turned and she watched on the reflective surface of the mirror as Mai and Ty Lee advanced into the room. She turned to face the two girls, her expression cold. "Well?"

Mai bowed her head. "No sign of them, Princess Azula. The Avatar and his friends have definitely escaped the city; however, they seem to have left King Bumi behind."

"Yeah, it was really strange," Ty Lee said, pressing her finger to her cheek. "We found him on the high platform just waiting for us to raise him back up on the chain."

"It could be worth investigating further," Mai observed. "It does seem odd that the Avatar and his friends would waste their time trying to rescue the king only to then leave him."

"Forget about the old man," Azula said impatiently. "Whatever the Avatar was wanting from King Bumi, he got it. You can be assured of that. Besides, we have much more important matters to settle."

Ty Lee grinned. "We're going to track down your uncle, right?"

"It's not just Iroh now." Azula's expression hardened. "We have a second target."

And this time she would not let the Avatar slip through her grasp. Blue Spirit or not, the last airbender would be hers to claim.

oOo

It was quiet inside the tent. Aang sat with Momo huddled on his lap, just staring at the boy lying unconscious on Katara's sleeping pallet. The Blue Spirit mask was still covering Zuko's face—no thanks to Katara, who had been ready to remove it before Aang had stopped her with much arm-waving and exclamations—but that didn't bother Aang. He was just glad that Zuko was no longer shaking. He was just glad to hear the soft inhale and exhale of Zuko's breathing, because there was no denying that something had gone terribly wrong. The worst part was that no one seemed to know how to fix it either.

"Don't worry, Momo," Aang murmured, giving the lemur an absent pat. "I haven't started getting those weird feelings yet, so whatever is wrong with him can't be that bad, right?"

Momo gazed up at Aang with big green eyes and then started licking his paw. Aang sighed and shifted his attention back to Zuko, or Lee as he was supposed to call him now. The thought still made his stomach twist with guilt. Sometimes, he wondered if it was his fault that Zuko was in this mess. Those girls had been Fire Nation after all, and it was only when Zuko had tried to confront that bender with the blue fire that he'd started to show any real signs of distress.

"Perhaps I should have told you the truth," Aang said. "It would have been easier then, back when you first told me about your amnesia. I just ... I just didn't know what would happen if I did." He swallowed, conscious of the painful lump in his throat. "I didn't want you to hate me again."

"Hate you for what?"

Aang jumped at the sound of the new voice. He spun around to see Katara watching him with a frown. He hadn't even heard her enter the tent. "N-nothing," he stammered. "I was just, uh—"

"I thought the Blue Spirit was your friend. He saved your life—twice, in fact. Why would he hate you?"

Aang lowered his head. "It's complicated."

"You mean you don't want to talk about it," she observed shrewdly.

He flinched a little but remained silent. He knew it was true.

Katara folded her arms across her chest. "Well, I just hope you know what you're doing. Gran Gran always told me that keeping a secret from someone is like walking over thin ice: eventually it's going to crack. If there is something that you've been hiding from Lee, perhaps you should tell him before it gets any more out of hand. At the very least, it might help him remember something about his past."

"I know," Aang said softly. "I just …" He sighed and shook his head. "Never mind."

Because there was no way that Katara could understand his predicament. She thought he was keeping secrets from Lee, the masked waterbender turned swordsman. She had no idea it was Zuko under the mask, no idea that the boy she had been trying to help was the same as the one she had grudgingly healed in the North Pole all of those weeks ago. Aang didn't like to dwell on the fact that the only reason she remained ignorant of this knowledge was because he had not been able to bring himself to tell the truth when she had first asked about the Blue Spirit's identity.

"Has your bending returned yet?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

Katara nodded. "I was going to try healing Lee now. I don't know how much good I'll be, since his condition seems to be more mental than physical, but I still might be able to get him to wake up."

"Well, you won't know until you try, right?" Aang gathered Momo into his arms and moved aside, giving her more space for bending. "Let's do this!"

Wordlessly, Katara took her place beside him and then summoned her element from the water skin hanging at her waist. Aang watched with interest as she placed her glowing hands on either side of Zuko's head, searching for his meridian paths to check for any sign of chi knots. In his mind, Aang could almost envision the water slipping through to merge with the fiery colours of Zuko's energy, blending in a swirl of gold and healing blue. But then Katara pulled back and the image he had been creating shattered as he saw the expression on her face. She looked terrified.

"What's wrong?" he asked, feeling his chest tighten in panic. "Can you heal him?"

Katara guided the liquid surrounding her hands back into her water skin. "I can't reach him."

"What?"

Her eyes met his, wide and filled with fear. "It's like there's this thick wall surrounding his mind and it's not letting anything through. Everything has been blocked."

Aang's brow creased into a frown. "Do you think that's why he's been having so much trouble remembering his past?"

"Maybe," she said softly, glancing down at Zuko. "But you want to know the scary thing?"

"What?"

"When I came up against that wall, it didn't feel like I was hitting just any old barrier." Her gazed locked with his. "It felt like fire."

Aang swallowed, conscious of the way his mouth had gone dry. "What do you think it means?" he asked, almost dreading her answer.

"I don't know." She stared back at Zuko, and this time he could see the concern hidden amongst the fear in her eyes. "I really don't know, but I don't like it."

Aang stared at the mask that covered the scarred features of the Fire Nation prince. He thought he could guess why Zuko's mind felt like it was surrounded by a wall of fire. What he didn't understand was whether the barrier was of Zuko's creation or something much more sinister.

What happened to you, Zuko?

Aang wanted to speak the words aloud, to beg the prince for answers, if only to ease the sick worry building in his chest. But he couldn't. He couldn't do anything, because Zuko only knew of himself as Lee, a non-bender or possible waterbender, and Katara was still there kneeling next to him, listening to every breath, every possible word. It was so frustrating, so distressing. More than that, though, was the ever-increasing knife of guilt being pushed deeper into his stomach.

Because now Aang understood that Katara's Gran-Gran had been right. Keeping secrets was like walking on thin ice, and the surface under his feet was already cracking.

oOo

There was no one in the tent when Lee awoke, a half-strangled scream choking his throat and his body covered in cold sweat. His heart was still pounding from whatever had jolted him awake, but he couldn't remember his dream now. Just that it had been dark and disturbing and filled with so much fire. So much pain.

He exhaled shakily and went to rub his face, only to feel his fingers collide with the painted wood of his mask. The temptation to rip it off was overwhelming. Ever since he had become the Avatar's ally, he barely got the chance to remove the disguise unless he excused himself to eat, and even then he was wary. Right now he wanted nothing more than to wrench the mask off his face and toss it away. The heat combined with the pulsing, repetitive stab of pain being tattooed into his skull was all just too much. He needed air. He needed to breathe.

But he couldn't remove the mask. Not now. Not when he finally understood the reason for it.

Lee allowed his fingers to slip away from the wooden edges and then he buried his face, mask and all, into his knees. He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. Instead, his chest seemed to constrict with all of his pain, all of his despair, to the point where he felt as if his ribs were splintering inside of him. Now he knew why his memories had always been tinged with fire. Now he knew why people had stared at him oddly before he had hidden his features behind the cover of his Blue Spirit disguise.

"He has the eyes."

Lee curled his hands into fists, digging his fingers into the coarse fabric of his tunic. He didn't need to remove the mask to know what he would see: a scarred visage, too pale skin, and pale gold eyes.

Fire Nation eyes.

Heart clenching, he squeezed his eyes shut as if by doing so he could somehow erase the colour as well. He had travelled to Omashu to discover more about who he was and where he had come from, but not like this. Never like this.

Something heavy rustled in front of him, the sound of fabric being pushed aside. He heard a gasp and then the thud of knees hitting the ground. Two hands gripped his arms.

"Lee!" a voice cried, frantic with worry. "Lee, are you alright?"

Lee raised his face from his knees and met the concerned grey eyes that stared back at him. Aang smiled in relief. Half-forgotten words rushed back into Lee's mind:

"You're a good person, Lee. No matter what anyone else tells you, I hope that you will remember that."

"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

"It's complicated. Let's just say I think it'll be safer for everyone if you keep that mask on."

The pain squeezing Lee's heart intensified, but this time there was anger as well. "You knew," he accused hoarsely, breaking away from Aang's grip so that the boy almost stumbled backwards. "You knew this whole time!"

Aang regained his balance and stared at Lee with wide, startled eyes. "Knew what?"

Lee let out a hiss of frustration and removed the mask from his face, revealing his skewed features and pale gold eyes. "At first I thought you told me to keep the mask on because of my scar, but now I know that it's because I simply don't look like other people from the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes." His fingers tightened around the wooden mask. "I've seen green eyes, brown eyes, blue eyes, even grey like yours. But no one has gold eyes. The only people whose eye colour is similar are the—"

"Fire Nation," Aang finished for him, and then lowered his gaze. "I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Lee slipped the mask back on his face and looked the other way. "I'm guessing I must be of mixed blood," he said more quietly. "You get them sometimes in the Earth Kingdom. Not that many people like half-bloods." A bitter laugh. "No wonder I chose to wear a mask."

Aang started circling his thumbs round and round each other. "What if you weren't of mixed blood?" he asked, not raising his eyes. "What if … you really were just from the Fire Nation?"

Lee's head throbbed a little more violently, whispering of puzzle pieces of memory that still needed to be fitted together. However, the only image he could see in his mind was of the young girl burning the Earth Kingdom doll to ashes, the same girl who had later struck him with lightning on a boat made of Fire Nation steel.

Azula.

"I'm not like them," Lee said, clenching his hands into fists. "I—I can't be like them."

He hated the way his voice broke, exposing his distress and guilt. He didn't want to think that he had no scrap of redeeming blood in him. The people of the Fire Nation were monsters; he was living proof of that. The scar on the left side of his face had not been made by a waterbender, and it was their princess who had tried to murder him that day on the ocean. He couldn't, wouldn't, accept that his heritage could only ever amount to one of fire and blood. Besides, he could heal, couldn't he? That had to mean something, but—

But it didn't. Because water had never responded to him, and his skin was too pale and his eyes too gold, and—and he just wished he had never stepped foot onto that platform. He didn't want this. He didn't want this at all.

"You know," Aang said, choosing his words carefully, "I once told you that before the war I had a friend from the Fire Nation. His name was Kuzon."

"I remember."

"Then you'll know that I'm right when I say it's not our nation or our blood that makes us who we are. It's the choices we make."

Lee stared at him for a long moment. "Maybe you're right," he allowed, "but you and I both know that means nothing to the people who the Fire Nation has hurt." His voice took on a bitter edge. "Isn't that why you told me to keep wearing the mask? You were afraid of how your friends might react if they knew the truth."

Aang dropped his gaze to the floor, his face downcast. The silence that filled the space between them was tense and filled with unspoken words, but it was also the only confirmation Lee needed. He gripped his knees more tightly and looked the other way, conscious of the hard lump forming in his throat. "I want to be alone for a while," he said in a flat voice.

"But—"

"I said I want to be alone!" Lee growled, swinging back around to glare at him.

Aang held his hands up in an appeasing gesture. "Okay, okay. I'm leaving."

Lee said nothing and stared back across his knees at the tent. His eyes narrowed as the bubbling mixture of rage and hurt battered against his ribcage, screaming to break free. It was a relief when he heard the rustle of fabric being pushed aside, but then Aang paused on the threshold.

"I hope you know this doesn't change anything between us. I still want to be your friend, if you'll let me."

Lee remained silent. He thought he heard Aang sigh and then everything went quiet. When he glanced back towards the door, Aang was gone. It didn't make him feel any better.

oOo

The stars were just beginning to appear in the darkening sky like tiny pearls scattered on a sea of purples and blues. Katara frowned at the tent. "He still hasn't come out," she muttered, and stood up from where she had been sitting by the fire. "I'm going to go check on him."

"Aang said that Lee wanted to be left alone," Sokka reminded her, not raising his eyes from the ship he was carving in his hand.

"But—"

"He'll talk to us when he's ready."

She sighed and sat back down. "I guess you're right. I just hope he's okay. You saw what happened to him on the platform."

"I doubt that Aang would have left his side if he thought that Lee was still in a critical condition." Sokka turned his head to look towards the hills that surrounded Omashu. "Speaking of Aang, what's taking him so long? He should have been back by now."

Katara followed the direction of her brother's gaze. "You don't think anything happened to him, do you?"

"He was only going to drop the baby off at the governor's house. How hard can that be?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but then she saw a masked figure emerge from the tent. Suddenly, she was back on her feet. "Lee!" she exclaimed, walking towards him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." He paused and surveyed the campsite. "Where's Bumi?"

Katara frowned. "Didn't Aang tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Bumi stayed behind," Sokka explained, placing his knife and the wooden figure he had been carving down on the ground. "He said he needed to listen and wait for the right moment to strike, or something like that."

Lee's hands curled into fists. "I see."

Katara placed her hand on his arm. "You were hoping he could give you some information about the path of the ancient ways, right? Aang mentioned as much to us."

He wrenched himself free of her grip. "Well, it's nice to know the Avatar has seen fit to share everything about me with you. Tell me, is there anything he hasn't told you? Because I seem to be the only person who doesn't know anything around here."

She stared at his masked face, at his tense shoulders and clenched fists. In that moment, he reminded her of a coiled spring waiting to be unleashed. A crease formed on her brow. "Are you angry?"

He let out a small breath and turned his back on her. "No," he said quietly. "I just—it's nothing. Forget it."

She exchanged a glance with her brother, who shrugged and held his hands up in the air as if to say he didn't know why Lee was getting all worked up either. Katara frowned and took a step closer to Lee. "You know," she said gently, "Aang only told us about your amnesia because he didn't want us to bother you with too many questions; he said you wouldn't like that. And he only told us about your search for the path of the ancient ways because Sokka kept pestering him about what your intentions were for coming with us to find King Bumi."

"What?" Sokka demanded when they both turned to look at him. "No offence, Lee, but we've only known you for a few days. I was just being cautious."

"No, you were being rude," she responded, placing her hand on her hip.

Sokka opened his mouth to retort, but Lee got there before him.

"Look, I don't care about any of that. I'm sure I would have behaved exactly the same if I were in your position."

"Then what's wrong?" Katara asked, glancing back up at him in a vain attempt to meet his gaze.

"Nothing," he repeated. "I'm just tired and I wish this stupid headache would go away." He rubbed the side of his head, as if just mentioning it had made the pain worse.

She twisted her lips into a frown. "Is it because of what happened today when you, um—"

"Lost it?" Sokka supplied.

She glared at her brother. "That is not what I was going to say."

"No, but it's true," Lee said flatly. He sighed and sat on the ground, staring hard at the fire. "I don't know what happened. Sometimes I get headaches when I sense that something is familiar to me or when a memory returns. Today it was just worse, I guess."

Katara sat next to him. "You know, you really scared us this morning. None of us knew why you collapsed like that, and then you wouldn't stop shaking." She stared down at her lap. "I was really worried about you."

He gave her a swift glance. "You don't even know me."

"Maybe not," she allowed, "but that doesn't mean I don't care."

Lee said nothing. Instead he just stared at her, his mask glinting with the orange glow of the fire. Katara wished she could see his expression to know what he was thinking. The demonic grin painted onto his Blue Spirit disguise didn't exactly reveal much. Still, she thought she might have surprised him with her remark. Somehow, she got the feeling that no one had showed him much affection before. It made her that much more determined to prove to him that not everyone was out to get him. Some people genuinely did just care, like her.

Sokka rubbed his chin in thought. "Hold on. You said that you get these headaches when you sense that something is familiar to you. Does that mean you recognised those girls we fought today?"

Lee nodded. "That girl with the blue fire, Azula, she tried to kill me once. I don't know why or when. I just know that it happened."

Katara had to resist the urge to grip his hand. "I'm sorry. It's no wonder you had such a bad reaction to her."

"Don't be," he said dismissively. "I don't think that was the first time someone tried to kill me." He threw the bit of dried grass that he had been fidgeting with into the fire and his voice lowered as if he were speaking more to himself. "But if I ever see her again, I'll make sure that she pays for what she did."

Katara watched the grass shrivel to nothing as it was consumed by the flames. She didn't doubt the sincerity of his words, nor did she think it was a bad thing that he wanted to get revenge. Her fingers closed around the necklace hanging from her throat. There were some grievances that could not be forgiven.

Oblivious to his sister's darker thoughts, Sokka leaned back on his palms and considered Lee. "It's a pity you don't remember more of your past. It sounds like you've had a lot of dealings with the Fire Nation. We could use that kind of information."

Lee twitched. "What makes you think I know anything about the Fire Nation?"

"Apart from the fact that they all want to kill you?"

Katara frowned at her brother. "You know, Sokka, there is such a thing as having tact. Maybe you should learn to use it sometime."

He rolled his eyes. "Thank you, oh-condescending-one. Look, all I'm saying is that Lee obviously knew his stuff before he lost all his memories. How else would he have known where to find Aang when he got captured by Admiral Sideburns?"

"It's not exactly difficult to sneak into a fortress," Lee said with a shrug. "I got into Omashu fine without being seen and I'm pretty sure I've never been to that city before."

Sokka pursed his lips, perhaps remembering their own less than graceful method of entering the city through the sewers. "Right. Well, freakish stealth skills aside, that still doesn't explain why you were near Pohuai Stronghold in the first place, let alone how you knew that Aang had been captured."

"I guess we'll never know," Lee responded with a bitter edge to his voice, "because I don't even remember rescuing the Avatar, and I still have no leads for finding more about the path of the ancient ways."

Katara was about to speak when a flash of a different kind of orange caught her attention. She looked up to see Aang drop to the ground in front of them, spinning his glider shut as he did so. Momo and Appa immediately came over to greet their friend: Appa lathering the airbender with slobbery kisses while Momo chirruped and jumped up and down on his shoulder. Aang laughed and gave each a friendly pat, then paused.

"What?" he said. "Have I got Appa drool all over my face?"

"Well, yes," Sokka admitted, "but that's not the point. How did it go?"

"Oh, fine." A smile curved Aang's mouth. "The governor and his wife both seemed really happy to have their son back."

"What took you so long?" Katara asked. "We were getting worried."

Aang's grin faltered. "I was going to visit Bumi again—just to say goodbye, you know, since I don't know when I'll next see him again—but in the end I decided it was too dangerous. They've got guards swarming all around the place."

Lee stood up. "Maybe too dangerous for you, but not for me. I'm going back. I can't just sit here when there's still a chance that old man has the information I need."

"Wait." Aang gripped his arm. "I already asked Bumi about the path of the ancient ways for you."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? What did he say?"

Aang frowned. "Well, actually he just laughed and told me the same thing that he always says."

"Which is?"

"That you had to stop thinking about the obvious and open your mind to the possibilities." Aang shrugged. "He said that only then would you find what you're looking for."

Lee made a frustrated noise. "Great. A riddle to answer a riddle. Now what am I supposed to do?"

Katara had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Why don't you come with us?" she suggested.

"What?" Lee said, sounding quite surprised.

"You might as well," Sokka said, leaning his chin on his hand. "We'll be leaving tomorrow to look for a new earthbending teacher for Aang. Maybe we can help you find what you're looking for as well."

Lee shook his head. "I work better alone."

But it was an empty excuse at best and as the three of them continued to pressure him into staying, Katara could tell that he hadn't quite dismissed the offer from his mind. In the end, it was Momo who made the decision for him. The winged lemur landed on Lee's head and made a few chirrups before curling up into a ball so that he resembled a furry hat.

"It seems that Momo has spoken," Katara observed, looking at Lee with a smile. "I guess you'll just have to stay."

And somehow that really was that. A bed was made for him inside the tent and the bag he had collected that morning from outside the city walls was placed beside their own. He didn't speak much to them for the rest of that night, but Katara still thought it was a good beginning. For some reason, their little gang just felt more complete with him there, as if the space he had come to fill had always been designed for him. She knew that they had made the right decision to let him join their group.

Still, there was one thing that troubled her. She had not forgotten about the wall of fire she had sensed surrounding his mind, nor the peculiar whisper of energy she had felt intermingled with the flames.

"You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun."

Katara shoved the thought aside before it could take proper root in her mind, refusing to even indulge in the idea. It was just a coincidence that their energy felt similar, just like it had at first surprised her to hear Lee speak in those raspy tones she had only ever associated with one person. For all she knew that might just be what fire felt like, and who was to say that a firebender hadn't done something to Lee's mind?

Stop being stupid, Katara, she scolded herself. You know that Lee isn't Zuko, so why do you keep fretting over the matter?

She had no answer for that, but in the end it didn't matter. She'd already banished the thought from her mind once; it was easy enough to do it again. And if it took her a bit longer to fall asleep that night, well, she chose not to dwell on the reasons for why. What mattered was that Lee was with them now. What mattered was that he was safe, and Katara knew that she would do her utmost to help him.

After all, Lee was part of the family now.

oOo

The moon stretched her hands far into the night, bathing the world in a veil of silver. Lee frowned and glanced back towards the tent where the others were sleeping. He wondered why he had agreed to stay with them. He wondered why he even wanted to continue with this mad journey.

You could still turn back, a voice whispered in his mind.

Lee resisted the urge to clamp his hands over his ears. He was sick of hearing that voice. It had been pestering him from the moment he had first woken up and realised that he had Fire Nation blood in him. It was the voice of fear, of cowardice and weakness, and it was far too persuasive for its own good.

Back in Fei's town, he had been offered a chance to forget about his past and start again as Lee the Earth Kingdom boy. It would have been a new life, one that was still possible for him to have if he just gave up this quest for knowledge and returned to the healer's house. He knew that Fei and her family would welcome him. There was nothing to stop him from going back, nothing but his own inexplicable need to keep moving forward. There were still things that he didn't know, and even though it frightened him to think what else he might learn about his past, it seemed so much worse to just turn back now simply because he didn't like what his memories were telling him.

Lee pulled out the dagger from his tunic and unsheathed the blade, examining the characters that had been etched onto the side. Someone had given this dagger to him. Someone had wanted him to read that message and let it sink into his heart, so that he would know what to do when those difficult decisions were placed before him.

So that he would know how to face his fears, even when all hope seemed lost.

He closed his eyes, tightening his grip on the dagger. "I won't give up," he whispered.