Thankfully, he came out in one piece, feeling much better he said. I was pleased, and propped him up where I had been sitting. I looked over to see Uncle sound asleep at the table, head flat on the counter. I walked over and blew out all but one candle which I moved into the window above Zuko's head.

"You don't want to try and sleep anymore?" I asked gently. His silence told me no. "Are you hungry for some rice now?" Once again he was silent. I plopped down on a cushion at the end of his mat, and sighed. I rubbed my eyes, they were heavy from my interrupted sleep pattern.

"In my dream," the prince started, "I was the Fire Lord, and my scar was gone. There were two dragons, one was Azula and the other was Uncle. They were arguing, telling me what to do. Then I heard my mother screaming. I never saw her, but she sounded terrified."

As he talked, I watched him carefully; he looked worried as he talked about his mother, and proud when he told me was the Fire Lord. I spoke slowly, "Dreams are interesting things. They show the contents of your unconscious mind, your deepest desires." He said nothing to this but stood up and walked to the mirror at the end of the room. He stood stock still, looking at his reflection in the full length mirror. I saw he stared mostly at his face. He ran his fingers through his hair, touched his scar and let his hands fall to his side. "Who am I?" he said quietly, unmoving.

I stood up and walked over to my master. I put one hand on his shoulder. "Is this Prince Zuko?" I asked, looking into his eyes in the reflection. He hesitated before answering. "I don't know who I am at all," he remarked sadly. "I don't do things for fun, I have no friends, I don't have a sense of humor," he stopped. "And I've never been in love." He walked away from the mirror, and looked out a window over the sleeping city.

My heart went out to my master; all he was saying was true, regrettably. It was hard to think of the right things to say. "Zuko, it's not too late to define yourself. It's what you do and think that makes up who you are," I said softly.

He wouldn't look over to me. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Better. My throat's just sore," he replied without much thinking.

An idea was beginning to form in my head, but I wasn't sure if Zuko would go for it. "Are you feeling good enough to take a walk?" I asked slowly.

He looked at me with and odd look in his eyes but said, "Yes, I think so. Where?"

I smiled, "You'll see when we get there." I wrote a note to Uncle, and gave Zuko his clean shirt to put on while I changed into different clothes, appropriate for an outing. I packed two blankets and a cushion into a bag with I slung over my shoulder. I made sure Zuko was comfortable, and then we quietly headed out the door into the dark city. We strolled through the streets, in the quiet of early morning. Slowly, we exited the busy part of the city during the day and entered a small area of farmland with fenced in animals in rolling pastures. I looked around, then crawled over the fence, peering back to see if Zuko would follow. Reluctantly, he did, and asked, "This is where we're going?"

"Not here, up ahead," I motioned, referring to the top of the highest hill in the pasture. The incline was so steep, we nearly crawled on all fours to reach the summit. At the top was a massive fruit tree, fully in bloom. The thick branches reached the edges of the hill, and stood steadily, protecting the pasture and the dairy cattle inside it. I helped the prince up the last few steps as he grew tired, and laid out a blanket for him to rest on. Morning dew soaked the grass but not us, thanks to the blankets. I stood and leaned against the tree, looking towards the brightest part of the horizon, due east. "The sun will be rising soon," I said happily. "And we have the best view in the whole city."

Zuko nodded approvingly, and leaned back on his hands. I went around to the other side of the tree, and climbed up onto the lowest branch. I climbed up cautiously, seeking the biggest branch with the most abundant cheeko fruit. I went far out on the branch, and plucked the biggest fruit I could reach. Aiming carefully, I dropped my bounty beside Zuko, startling him enough to make him jump to his feet. I giggled and waved when he looked up.

The consistency of an apple, cheekos were deep red with a creamy, citrus taste. It felt good to the throat, and freshened breath. I dropped down to the ground, and laid out my blanket to sit on next to my master. I grabbed a fruit and raised it to my mouth, taking a hearty bite. The blissful taste warmed me up inside. I glanced over to see Zuko enjoying a cheeko as well.

I finished my fruit, and looked satisfied at the horizon. The sun was closer than before; I didn't realize how much time had passed. "The sun should be rising any minute now," I said to Zuko, growing excited.

"That's another thing I've never done," he said gloomily.

"What? You've never seen the sun rise?" I asked turning to him.

He shook his head. "I've been awake while they're happening, but I've never stopped to watch one."

"Well, today will be your first sunrise!" I told him optimistically. "Don't miss it!" We directed our attention to the colorful sky, full of deep reds and bright oranges. We waited silently until the sun burst out over the flatlands outside Ba Sing Se. I smiled warmly as the sun moved up towards the cold sky. Without looking too obvious, I stole looks at my master, staring in awe at the sky before him. There was almost nothing to interrupt our view. We were so high, only a few towers behind us stood taller.

I asked Zuko quietly, "Was this what you thought it would be?"

He didn't answer immediately. "No, it wasn't."