It didn't take long for Zuko to track down the bounty hunter. An attractive woman riding a shirshu was not an image that was easily forgotten, or so Uncle Iroh claimed. As such, with a few questions and a little bit of intimidation, Zuko soon found himself striding into a seedy tavern and demanding her service as payment for the damage she had inflicted on his ship. The bounty hunter, June, did not seem too impressed with this plan; however, she quickly came around to their way of thinking. At least, as soon as it was decided that they would give her Uncle's weight in gold.

Zuko would have been more annoyed that he and his uncle had been out-manoeuvred by what he termed a piece of mercenary filth, but she was willing to help. In the end, that was what really mattered. He could have passed on the awkward shirshu ride that followed, though.

Of course, it was his uncle's fault. The ex-general had three great weaknesses: tea, Pai Sho, and women. Unfortunately, Zuko had forgot about that last one when he let his uncle take the middle position on the shirshu's harness. An hour later, Zuko was wishing that he had left Iroh back on the ship and that he himself was deaf, blind, and maybe dead too. At least then he wouldn't feel so mortifyingly embarrassed or have to listen to his uncle try to flirt with a woman who was at least half his age.

"Uncle, please!" Zuko hissed, some time after they had passed through Makapu Village and come across the fortune teller. "For the love of Agni, stop making a fool of us both and let the woman do her job. Remember, this is not a pleasure trip!"

"You're right." Iroh glanced over his shoulder and a crafty smile curved his lips. "But when business comes in the form of a beautiful bounty hunter with a taste for dangerous living, you don't waste the opportunity."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. Spirits, this was a nightmare.

"Nyla is getting twitchy," June observed, either not hearing or choosing to ignore the conversation happening behind her. "We must be getting closer."

"Good," Zuko muttered.

He kept an eye out for any trace of blue. Suddenly, the shirshu dashed through the trees and leapt off a small ridge, planting them in front of two alarmed teens. There was no sign of the Avatar.

Eyes wide, the brother and sister—Sokka and Katara, Zuko thought their names were—started backing away slowly as the shirshu advanced upon them, boxing them in against the wall. Zuko gritted his teeth. Where was that damned monk?

"So this is your girlfriend," June remarked, tugging the shirshu to a halt. "No wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you."

He ignored the comment and jumped down from the saddle, demanding the siblings tell him the Avatar's whereabouts. The idiots chose to run instead of cooperate. Nyla's tongue flicked out and hit them both on the back, making them keel over paralysed. Satisfied that they weren't going anywhere, Zuko glowered up at his uncle and June. "What are we supposed to do now?" he demanded.

He had been counting on the necklace to lead him to the Avatar through the girl's scent. He should have known it would not be so easy. Clearly, the spirit of luck was not on his side today.

"It's seeking a different scent," June answered, urging her shirshu forward. "Perhaps something that the Avatar held."

A roll of parchment slipped free from Sokka's pack, attracting Nyla's attention.

"That's it," June said with a smile. "We've got the Avatar's scent."

Zuko nodded and hauled Katara up by her waist, tossing her over his shoulder as if she were a sack of grain.

"Hey!" she protested, even though her voice was weak and her body remained limp in his arms. "What do you—put me down!"

"Get your hands off my sister, you jerk!" Sokka yelled, among other less flattering things.

Zuko ignored them both.

"What are you doing with that girl, Nephew?" Iroh asked, frowning at this strange proceeding.

"Bait," Zuko responded, keeping an arm firmly around Katara's thighs so that she wouldn't slip. "Just in case something goes wrong again."

"My, my," June said with a wry smile, "I never knew you were such a romantic."

Zuko scowled. He was getting sick of June's constant teasing. He was a prince, not some silly peasant boy she could mock. Instead of making a snippy retort, however, he carried his burden over to the shirshu and dumped Katara unceremoniously onto the saddle. The girl glared at him with a fury that could have frozen his blood and burned him to cinders, but Zuko remained unmoved. He'd faced far more threatening glares in his lifetime. He was not about to be intimidated by a poorly skilled waterbender who could do no more than blink at him.

Zuko crossed over to where Sokka was still lying flat on his stomach and picked him up just as he had Katara. Sokka was heavier than his sister—and a lot more vocal about being held by the Prince of the Fire Nation—but Zuko still had no trouble carrying him back to the shirshu. Soon, there were two Water Tribe teens glaring at him from the saddle. Zuko paid little heed to either.

"Let's go," he ordered, snatching the map off the ground and seating himself back behind his uncle.

June flicked her whip in a sharp jab at Nyla's flank and then they were off again. A muffled cry from behind had Zuko look around to see the girl nearly slip off the shirshu from the momentum. With lightning-quick reflexes, he grabbed at the back of her robe, keeping her in place with a strong grip. She still glared at him, but then he wasn't expecting her gratitude.

"Hey, Angry Jerk! A little help here would be nice!"

Zuko shifted his attention to her brother, who was now precariously perched on the edge of the saddle. Narrowing his eyes a fraction, he reached over and pulled Sokka back into a safer position. Then he gave a warning glare. "Watch your mouth, peasant," he said sharply, "or next time I'll let you fall."

Sokka mumbled something under his breath, but he apparently took the hint and didn't make any more antagonising comments. Katara also seemed resigned to her fate, which allowed Zuko to watch over his immobile charges in peace. Or, at least, as much peace as he could gain when travelling on a shirshu running at full speed with his uncle, an ill-mannered bounty hunter, and all the while having to alternate between stopping one or the other of the Water Tribe siblings from falling off the saddle.

Needless to say, Zuko was not in a good mood by the time they got back to the abbey. So, when the Avatar showed up and inadvertently knocked them all to the ground because the shirshu thought it would be fun to rear up on its hind legs to reach the floating boy, Zuko's ire only increased. He swore to himself in that moment that he was not going to let the little brat get away from him this time. His tortuous hunt for the airbender was going to end today.

"You're mine, Avatar!" Zuko growled, flipping back to his feet and sending a volley of fireballs his way.

Aang swirled his glider back into a staff, diffusing the attack, and then crouched into a defensive position. "What have you done to my friends?"

Distracted by the thought that the siblings might have got injured, Zuko glanced over his shoulder and saw that someone, no doubt the nuns, had dragged Sokka and Katara's limp forms to the far side of the abbey to keep them out of the thick of battle. As far as he could tell, the two still could not move but were otherwise unharmed. On the other side of the courtyard, June and her shirshu were fighting the Avatar's bison. His uncle was lingering near the perfume barrels.

Zuko glared back at the Avatar. "I haven't done anything to your friends," he retorted a little defensively. "They're just paralysed with shirshu venom."

To his surprise, Aang's face split into a relieved grin. "Oh, good. I didn't think you would hurt them, but—"

"Wait, what?" Zuko exclaimed, dropping his offensive stance as he frowned.

Aang shrugged and straightened to his full height. "Well, I realised from all the encounters we've had that you've never really tried to hurt us. Thrown a lot of fireballs maybe, but it didn't seem like you actually wanted to, you know, burn anyone."

Zuko just blinked. Was this kid insane?

"Anyway, I thought we could come to some kind of truce," Aang continued, quite heedless to the stunned glare he was receiving. He looked at Zuko hopefully. "It'd be great if you could give Katara her necklace back as well. I know it's important to her, and she really misses it."

For a moment Zuko just stared at him with a dazed sort of incredulity, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. Then he realised he was being distracted, again, and just like that a switch turned on in his mind and his blood was boiling with rage. He was not going to let this stupid kid get in his head with his friendly words and—and whatever it was that the Avatar was trying to do.

Snarling in frustration, Zuko brought his hands back up into a firebending stance. "Shut up and fight!" he snapped, and lunged forward with fire blossoming at his fingertips.

Aang dodged the attack and held his palms up in an appeasing gesture. "Wait, Zuko! I don't want to fight you!"

"Too bad!" Zuko created fiery daggers in both hands and slashed at his face. "Because I want to fight you!"

Aang side-stepped and parried Zuko's daggers with his staff, then let out a yelp as he almost lost his balance and fell into an open well. He jumped over the hole and took up another defensive stance, holding his staff out like a shield.

"Please," Aang begged, ducking a stream of fire. "I don't want to fight! Can't we just—"

"Shut up!"

Zuko slashed through the wooden planks that framed the well and advanced upon him, smoke curling from his nostrils. Aang's eyes widened and he tried to leap up onto the abbey roof to put some distance between them, but Zuko stopped him with a ruthless axe kick that trailed in a wall of flames, forcing him back.

"I don't think so, Avatar," Zuko said with dangerous softness.

Aang made a strangled noise of exasperation. "Listen." He darted under Zuko's arm to narrowly avoid being punched with a fireball to the head. "I know you're angry, but—"

Zuko growled and brought his foot down in a powerful fire bomb, forcing Aang to roll back with a gasp as flames burst up from the impact.

"Hey!" Aang cried indignantly, bounding back to his feet. "Would you stop trying to burn me to a crisp for just one second so I can talk to you!"

"I'm not here to talk!" Zuko retaliated with a series of quick jabs that had the younger boy dodging and ducking in a bizarre dance that would have been comical were it not for the seriousness of their situation. "Now stop jumping around like an idiot and fight!"

"No!" Aang side-stepped a missile of flame. "I won't fight you!"

Zuko gritted his teeth. "Then you're a fool!"

With raw grace, he dropped to the ground and performed three reverse roundhouse kicks in succession, starting off low to shake Aang's balance, then sweeping his leg around from the middle, and then finally lunging up in a high, spinning kick that aimed for the head. Aang managed to evade all three kicks, but the arcs of fire that streamed up and around Zuko in a shadow of the forms were less easy to dodge. In desperation, Aang brought his arms down in a great gust of wind, parting the flames as if they were water, and shoving Zuko back several paces from the force.

Zuko dug his feet into the ground to regain his balance. "So you can fight back," he observed with a twisted smile.

Aang shook his head. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Well, you're just going to have to because I'm not going to hold back!"

Flames curled around Zuko's fists, forming gloves of fire as he charged. Aang brought his staff up, blocking the blows and ruffling them both with the echo of wind that surged between them. Growling, Zuko swung his arm around in a back-handed punch, but Aang checked that too and then used the momentum to push him in the stomach with the staff, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Stop this!" Aang yelled, lowering his staff. "We don't have to fight each other!"

"Enough!" Zuko snarled. "The Fire Lord has ordered me to capture the Avatar and that is what I am going to do!"

Planting his feet firmly on the ground, Zuko breathed in deeply and moved his hands in a circular motion around his body, gathering his energy into a single, formidable attack. His eyes locked with Aang's, grim and unforgiving, and then he thrust his arms outward, unleashing a powerful ring of flames that closed in on Aang like blazing chains pulled tight. Aang's eyes widened with dismay. Zuko's own heart quickened a beat as Aang didn't raise his staff to deflect the attack with airbending.

Why wasn't he raising his staff?

Zuko paled as the flames crept closer, threatening to tear through orange and yellow fabric to the tender flesh underneath. Suddenly, an image flashed before his eyes of a young boy kneeling on a hard arena floor, tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked up into his opponent's face.

"Stand up and fight, Prince Zuko!"

"I will not."

"Coward! Will you not fight for your honour?"

"Please, Father. I meant no disrespect. I am your loyal son."

"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."

Zuko exhaled and stared at the boy in front of him. In his mind, he could see that innocent face becoming twisted and bloody as fire seared through tissue and membrane with sickening ease. With a half-strangled growl, he held his hands palm-up and called the blazing ring back towards him, extinguishing the fire with a downward stroke of his arms. Shakily, he lowered his hands back to his side. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted in a hoarse voice, taking a half-step towards him. "Why didn't you block the attack?"

Aang let out a small breath. "Because I knew you wouldn't hurt me."

Zuko's jaw dropped. "Do you mean to tell me that you did that on purpose?" he hissed, barely containing the flames trying to escape his clenched fists.

Aang nodded.

"You idiot! Do you want to get yourself killed?"

"But you didn't kill me," Aang pointed out, not quite able to suppress a grin. He held his arms up as if to form make-shift wings. "Look, you didn't even singe my clothes."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Make no mistake, Avatar. I will not go easy on you again!"

Summoning his fire daggers back to his hands, he made to lunge forward when a large, fluffy tail thumped down in front of him. Zuko leapt back in alarm. He glanced up to see a ten ton bison glaring down at him with bared teeth, preparing to attack.

"No, Appa!" Aang cried, shoving Zuko out of the way.

Before Zuko could react, a venom-coated tongue flicked past him and hit the Avatar squarely on the back. Zuko's eyes widened and he watched as if in slow motion as the monk faltered in his steps, limbs seizing up with a puppet-like rigidness before falling to the ground with a dull thud. Appa let out a roar and bounded forward to attack the oncoming shirshu, but Zuko remained where he was, half-frozen in shock. The Avatar had just saved him again.

"Why?" he found himself asking. "Why did you protect me?"

Their eyes met. Though Aang was now paralysed from head to foot, he managed to give a tremulous smile. "Because you saved my life," he said weakly, his voice half-choked by the toxins surging through his blood. "You healed me even though I was your enemy. I can't just forget that."

Zuko swallowed hard. He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Aang!"

The screams came from behind. Zuko turned in surprise to see a wave of greyish liquid come rushing towards him. He barely had time to react before the waterbender released her hold on the liquid, letting it wash over the two boys and drenching them with an overwhelming scent of perfume. Zuko rubbed at his stinging eyes, half-stumbling from the impact.

"No!" a voice yelled that sounded a lot like his uncle's.

Steadying himself, Zuko looked up to see June fall in an immobile heap on top of his uncle. That was when he noticed the shirshu coming straight for him, wild in its movements and making enraged sounds of panic from all the scents distorting its senses. Zuko tried to roll out of the way, but something still lashed against his cheek and his body began to shut down, slowing his blood and numbing all feeling in his limbs. His back hit the ground, though he did not feel the impact, and then he found himself staring up at an evening sky. He blinked once, twice, but he could not move. He was paralysed.

Zuko breathed in deeply, trying to calm the panic pressing on his mind. Vaguely, he was aware of footsteps coming towards him. Katara peered down at him with an unreadable expression. He watched her warily, wondering what she would do, but she just reached down and uncoiled the necklace that had been wrapped around his wrist.

"I'll be taking this back now," she said, straightening to her full height.

She walked away to join her friends, leaving him staring at an empty expanse of sky. He could hear the younger teens talking. The nuns waved a small bottle under the Avatar's nose, allowing him to regain his mobility. Zuko gritted his teeth and willed his body to move, but his limbs remained numb and motionless. A part of him wondered if he could call upon his strange fire healing to remove the toxins in his blood, but he immediately recoiled from the idea, remembering how cold and empty he had felt after the last time he had healed someone, how fragile and weak his firebending had become. No, if he could help it, he would never use that power again. Still, he didn't want to remain in such a defenceless position either.

Another face appeared before his vision. Zuko bit back a growl when he recognised the arrow tattooed onto the kid's forehead.

"Hey," Aang said softly.

"Come to gloat?" Zuko muttered, averting his gaze.

"No. I just wanted to thank you for, you know, not letting those flames burn me earlier."

"That's great. Now leave me alone."

Aang sighed as if he had expected such a remark and settled down cross-legged beside him. Zuko repressed the urge to yell in frustration. If only he had the use of his limbs.

"Did your father really order you to capture me?" Aang asked after a moment.

"Yes."

"And I suppose I can't persuade you to not try to capture me, right?"

"No."

Aang sighed. "Well, I'm sorry then."

Zuko said nothing.

"Aang, come on!" Sokka shouted. "We've got to leave before the toxins wear off!"

"Coming!" Aang responded, grinning as he waved to his friends. He was still smiling when he turned back to Zuko. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

"Right," Zuko said dryly.

Aang's grin widened. "I'd say I hope we could see each other again soon, but then you'd just attack me, so maybe not."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Just go away. I'm being tortured enough as it is not being able to move without having to listen to your inane babbling as well."

Aang's smile got so big it was a wonder his head didn't explode. "So you do have a sense of humour."

Zuko glared.

"Aang!" Sokka and Katara called, this time more insistently.

Aang scrambled to his feet. "Woops! Gotta go!"

Zuko was about to sigh in relief when Aang swivelled back around to face him.

"Oh, before I forget—"

To Zuko's astonishment, the Avatar placed his fists together and bowed in the way of the Air Nomads. A clear mark of respect.

"We might fight on opposite sides," Aang said seriously, "but I will not forget the mercy you showed me today." A warm smile touched his eyes. "You're an honourable warrior, Prince Zuko. I only wish that we could have …"

He trailed off with a sigh, gave one last smile—though it was really more of a grimace—and then raced back to his friends. Zuko frowned and stared back up at the sky, just catching a glimpse of the bison as it flew off into the distance, along with its frustratingly confusing master. The kid was clearly insane, yet his parting words stuck in Zuko's mind long after the Avatar had left and the toxins had worn off his body.

"You're an honourable warrior."

Zuko closed his eyes. "And you're still just a naïve child."

oOo

Aang smiled and rested his hands behind his head, stretching out on Appa so that he was cradled in a cocoon of the bison's fur. It felt good to be reunited with his friends again. He'd been so upset after they'd discovered he'd hidden the map to their father and had chosen to leave him. Even listening to Sokka snore wasn't so annoying tonight. In fact, for Aang, everything was just about perfect. Katara and Sokka had told him that they had actually been coming back to join him when they had run into Zuko and the others. Still, even with that little hiccup, it had all worked out in the end. Well, mostly.

"Hey, Aang," Katara said, leaning over the side of the saddle.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, Katara," Aang said brightly.

She should know by now that he would do anything for her.

Katara tugged on her plait, playing with the loose strands of hair at the end. "Well, I just wondered what you were talking to Zuko about. You know, before we left the abbey."

Aang frowned and sat up properly, rubbing the back of his neck as he pondered how to respond. "You really want to know the truth?"

She nodded.

"I was thanking him."

Her eyes widened. "For what?"

"Because he could have burnt me to a crisp and he didn't."

"So what? You just go and thank him?"

Aang shrugged. "It seemed the right thing to do."

Katara's mouth pulled down into a frown. "Aang, he's our enemy! He wants to capture you and take you back to the Fire Nation!"

"I know, I know!" Aang exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "But I just think—"

"You just think what?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

Katara placed her hand on his shoulder. "Aang, I know it's in your nature to not want to fight, but Zuko is dangerous. You can't trust him."

Aang pulled his knees up to his chest and looked the other way. "I know," he said sadly.

But that doesn't mean I can't have hope.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Sokka called in a grumbling tone. "Do you mind keeping it down? Some of us are trying to sleep here!"

Momo chittered in agreement.

Katara rolled her eyes and looked back at Aang. "You'd better take us down so we can set up camp, otherwise Captain Grumpy over there might have an aneurysm—never mind that his snoring keeps everyone awake!" she added in a much louder voice.

"Hey, I resent that!" Sokka retorted.

Aang laughed and pulled on Appa's reins to guide the bison down to find a good camping spot. It really was good to be with friends again.