Author's Note: Hey everyone! As always, thanks to all of you for the continuing interest and support for this story. Reviews would be very much appreciated though. In this chapter we'll move on to the events under Lake Laogai and Zuko's fever. Maybe even a bit farther… Anyway, the point is, there's going to be some more nightmares in store for Zuko, so if you have a problem with such things, maybe skip those sections.

Ba Sing Se, 100 AC

Zuko and his uncle were working in Pao's tea shop. Iroh was serving tea while Zuko collected empty cups on a tablet. Suddenly some of the customers his uncle was serving stood up and approached the old man, "So, you're the genius behind this incredible brew. The whole city is buzzing about you! I hope Pao pays you well.", the most noble clothed man spoke. He seemed to be the leader of their small group.

Humbly his uncle answered, "Good tea is its own reward."

"But it doesn't have to be the only reward. How would you like to have your own tea shop?", the guy came to the point fairly quickly, the banished prince thought.

His uncle looked surprised, "My own tea shop? This is a dream come true!", Zuko could make out Pao behind them, panicking at what he heard.

The tea shop owner quickly went in between the men and Iroh, "What's going on here? Are you trying to poach my tea-maker?"

The other man sported a belittling expression, "Sorry Pao, but that's business for you, am I right?"

Pao now turned to Iroh, "Mushi, if you stay, I'll make you assistant manager. Wait, senior assistant manager!", he feebly tried to make a better offer than the other man.

The other one retorted, "I'll provide you with a new apartment in the Upper Ring. The tea shop is yours to do whatever you want, complete creative freedom.", at the mentioning of moving to the Upper Ring, the banished prince decided to listen more closely.

Still a bit baffled, Iroh asked, "I even get to name the shop?"

"Of course!", the other man replied.

Pao made a last try to convince Iroh to stay, "Uh, senior executive assistant manager?"

But Iroh handed him the tea pot he was holding and bowed to the other man, accepting the offer. Zuko walked past Pao and placed the tray with the empty cups on a table, laying his apron next to it. His uncle turned to him, "Did you hear, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the Upper Ring of the city!"

"That's right, young man, your life is about to change for the better!", the other man added.

Zuko walked out of the door, sarcastically he said, "I'll try to contain my joy.", then he slammed the door shut behind him. He needed some fresh air, think about everything and how this was going to play out. Of course, this was mainly a good thing, having a better and safer income as well as a nicer place to live would be great. Now he could really think about how he could sneak into the Fire Nation and… but that was also the part that would be harder because of this. It wouldn't be easy to just disappear for some days and come back with somebody else. He sighed, nothing that happened to him could just only be good. Then something caught his eye. Papers were flying through the streets. Quickly he caught one and looked at the poster. It showed a known sight to him, the Avatar's bison. It seemed; it was lost. He wondered how someone could lose a ten ton beast, but what did he know. Hastily he climbed on a roof and looked around, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. Then an idea shot through his brain, if he could get the bison, he could lure the Avatar into a trap. Maybe he could still manage to capture him. And then he could return home, return to Ming, to his child, and provide them the life they deserved. As he clenched to the paper he thought, screw the upper ring.

As he returned to their apartment, his uncle was packing his things, thinking loudly about possible names for his new shop. The former general turned to him, "So, I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about the Jasmine Dragon? It's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it…"

Zuko wasn't willing to debate shop names, he held up the flyer, "The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his bison."

Iroh grabbed the flyer. Somehow disappointed he turned to the banished prince, "We have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all good things that are happening to us."

Angrily, Zuko turned to his uncle, snapping at him, "Good things that are happening for you! Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"

"There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life and why.", his uncle lectured.

"I want my destiny.", Zuko whispered.

"What that means is up to you.", Iroh started, but was interrupted by his nephew.

"And Ming? Who asked her if she really wanted everything that happened? Doesn't she deserve that I return to her.", Zuko said sadly.

Iroh didn't have an answer for that. He pondered for a moment if he should tell him that his child was already a spirit, but then reminded himself that he promised the child not to do so. As Zuko walked out again, he continued brainstorming name ideas for his shop.

Later that night Zuko changed into his Blue Spirit mask and black clothing. He strapped his swords on his back and left the apartment through the window. He had spent the rest of the day thinking about where that bison could be. Such a large animal would for sure be noticed. He had figured that he was most likely hidden on purpose. And if something like that was going on, there was an organization in this city that would for sure know about it, if they weren't behind it themselves, the Dai Li. Zuko had noticed the patrolling officers now and then, and of course, he had seen one after his fight with Jet. What he needed now was information, their information. So, he made up a plan to get those.

He spent a while preparing a straw stuffed puppet in one of the tiny streets and then waited for the Agent to come by. As the man appeared, Zuko ran past him, shoving the man, "Out of my way skinny!", then he as he was sure the agent followed, he ran towards the puppet.

A rock glove was fired at the stuffed figure and knocked its head off. The shocked agent stumbled a few steps back. Suddenly there was someone behind him and a blade at his throat, "If you don't want to end up like him, you'll do what I say."

Interrogating the agent Zuko found out that there was a secret Dai Li headquarter under Lake Laogai, a lake just outside the city. It was there that they held the bison. Since the entrance was only approachable with earthbending, he forced the agent to lead him there and let him in. Then he knocked the guy out. He didn't want to kill him, but he also couldn't let him run free and alert everyone.

Then he entered the secret base. Greenish light tried to combat the everywhere looming darkness. He wondered what chemicals they used to turn the fire green. Sneakily he walked through the tunnels, always careful of patrolling agents or whatever else was kept here. But the Dai Li seemed to think that they were safe here, since the entrance was not only secret, but also only approachable for earthbenders.

After a while he saw two ceiling high doors. One could fit a ten-ton sky bison through that, he thought. So, he approached the gate and opened it. And really, the white-furred animal opened his eyes sleepily in the little light that shone through the door. It moved away from him. "Expecting someone else?", he asked. The animal moved, tried to strike him, but failed since it was chained. "You're mine now.", Zuko said in a commanding tone.

Suddenly the door opened again and Zuko immediately changed into a fighting stance. Surprised he lowered his swords at once as he saw his uncle standing there. "Uncle?", Zuko asked in disbelief. How did the old man find him here?

"So, the Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask…", Iroh began.

Zuko sighed and took off the mask, "What are you doing here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison? Keep him locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?", Iroh asked sarcastically.

"First I have to get it out of here.", Zuko mumbled almost to himself.

"And then what!?", his uncle yelled at him, "You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!"

"I would have figured something out!", Zuko yelled back.

"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!", there was a hurt undertone in the old man's voice.

"I know my own destiny, Uncle!", he knew it was a weak argument, but a part of him just wanted this conversation to be over.

His uncle wouldn't let him go that easily, "Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?", Zuko knew who he meant. Of course, his father had sent him on this mission. It was the only chance he had to go back home. But what did that change?

"Stop it, Uncle! I have to do this! For Ming, for our child! I need to go back home!", he couldn't help the desperation in his voice.

Iroh shook his head, "I'm begging you, Prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you, and what do you want?"

"But Ming…", he started weakly.

His uncle interrupted him, "Don't use her as an excuse. What would she say if she'd see you now?"

Zuko dropped his head defeatedly, he thought about how she had been adamant about returning the waterbender her necklace, how they argued on his ship times and times again when he had put the lives of them and their crew below his goal. In the end he pictured her smiling at him, holding an infant in her arms and he heard the little spirit's voice, "doing the right thing is easy when you think about it.". Screaming frustratedly he dropped his swords and mask.

A while later Zuko helped his uncle out of the Dai Li headquarters. He still couldn't believe what he had just done. He had freed the Avatar's sky bison and just let it go, without any possibility to track it or somehow capture its owner. He turned to look at the lake and then at the mask in his hands. He felt his uncle's hand on his shoulder, "You did the right thing, nephew. Leave it behind.", he closed his eyes, then he tossed it in the lake and watched it disappear below the surface.

As they returned to their apartment, Zuko felt sicker and sicker by the minute. The whole world seemed to turn around him once he walked through their new door. He heard his uncle close it behind him, but his voice sounded dull, like through a wall, "You did the right thing. Letting the Avatar's bison go free.", Iroh said proudly.

"I don't feel right.", was the only thing Zuko managed to reply, before the world got dark around him and he collapsed. He heard something break besides him and his uncle calling out his name before he fell unconscious.

When he woke up again his head hurt, and he felt dizzy. He was laying in his new bed; his uncle was by his side. "You're burning up. You have an intense fever. This will help you cool down.", the former general said as he gently placed a wet cloth on Zuko's forehead.

"So thirsty.", he choked out, surprised how raspy his own voice sounded. He wanted to sit up, but his uncle held him down.

He held a spoon with water close to him, "Here's some clean water to drink. Stay under the blankets and sweat this out.", he helped him sit up more carefully and Zuko drank the water from the spoon. Then he grabbed the bucket and drank from that instead. He tossed it aside as it was empty and laid back down. The last thing he remembered was his uncle pulling the blankets over him.

The next days he remembered only in parts, divided by fever dreams, one more terrifying than the other. Once he dreamt that he was Fire Lord. He had no scar on his face as he calmly sat in his throne room. Three white clothed women entered. They bowed down, while the one in the middle spoke, "Your Royal Highness, the Crown Prince has been born."

His eyes widened; he hadn't known that Ming was even in labor. A slight smile was seen on the women's faces, Zuko now remembered that style of clothing, midwives. He closed his eyes for a long moment, he didn't want to tear up in front of them. Then a wide smile crept on his face. Still, he wondered, "How is Ming? Can I go visit her?"

Suddenly the smile on the women disappeared. Worriedly they looked at each other. "My lord, Lady Ming, she… she didn't make it."

His smile fell apart. "What?!", he asked in disbelief, almost whispering. That couldn't be true, not her. Staggering he got up on his feet and made his way to the infirmary. Everyone in his way hastily stood aside when he approached, a sad expression on their faces. He saw an open door and went towards it. He saw her before he entered the room, Ming laid on white bedsheets, just a thin blanket covering most of her body, her black curls spread out over the cushion. She wore a high collared nightgown, her hands folded on top of the blanket. She looked like she was sleeping, but there was absolutely no movement, no breathing, no life.

Whimpering he collapsed at her side, grabbing her hands, clenching them, but they felt all cold. Then he stroke her cheek, moved a single strand of hair out of her face. He was outright crying by now, but he could care less what the servants might think. Then he remembered that he now had a child. That she would've wanted him to care about their son. So, he wiped the tears out of his eyes and put a kiss on her forehead, "We'll see each other again, Qing Qing."

Suddenly someone stormed into the room, a servant. Out of breath she cried, "Sir! Sir! The ´Crown Prince! He just stopped breathing!"

"What?!", he turned around, this couldn't all be true.

The woman collapsed to her knees crying, "We don't know why, he just stopped."

Zuko hurried over to the next room, a few midwives and nurses stood around a crib, crying. He shoved them aside. A black-haired child laid in the crib, peaceful as if it slept. But it didn't breathe. Tears streaming down his face, Zuko took the child from the crib and held it close to his chest. No movement, nothing. He began to rock it, no reaction. He continued to rock it, whispering to it, begging it to open its eyes.

The dream slowly faded and Zuko looked up, right into two blue translucent eyes. It was a child's face, framed by curly hair, and everything a different shade of blue. He needed a moment, then his eyes widened. It was a spirit; he was seeing a spirit. And from the looks of it, it must be the child spirit he had been talking to all that times. Still staring at her he noticed her eyes widen as well, as she got aware that he saw her. He felt something cold on his temples, looked to the side and saw her little arms, as she held her hands to the sides of his head. He felt unable to speak, but tried to reach up to her and caressed her cheek. She slung her arms around his arm, and he swore that there were little ghostly tears in her eyes. Then she leaned down and put a cold kiss on his forehead, before he fell back to sleep.

When he awoke later, the smell of tea filled the room and his uncle sat next to him. As he saw that his nephew was awake, Iroh smiled at him and poured him a cup. "You should know that this is not a natural sickness, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea.", he said as he helped Zuko drink it.

"What's happening?", the banished prince asked, his whole body ached and his mind seemed to be clouded.

"Your critical decision. What you did beneath that lake. It was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body.", his uncle explained, handing him a second cup of tea.

Zuko drank it, coughed and lied back down, "What's that mean?", he asked, already drifting off into sleep.

"You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be.", Iroh said, wiping the sweat from his nephew's forehead with a cloth. He smiled slightly as he saw that the teenager was already sleeping.

A child's voice popped up, "What does that mean, uncle?", he looked up and his smile widened when he saw the little spirit standing in the room. She held her arms behind her back and leaned towards him curiously.

"That is a long story, Zhinu. It has to do with your father's forefathers, which are yours as well, thinking about it. You must know, his great-grandfather was Fire Lord Sozin, but his other great-grandfather was Avatar Roku. This causes good and evil to be at war within your father.", he tried to explain.

"So, in extension, they are at war within me too?", she asked, pointing at herself.

Iroh chuckled, "Maybe, but I don't think it's that pronounced in you. Your mother's heritage softens that, I think."

"But my grandfather was a really bad guy. Thinking about it, both of my grandfathers are not good people.", she looked almost comically sad.

"Zhao wasn't a nice man, and my brother isn't exactly nice either, that is true. But on the other hand, I've known Lady Ursa, your grandmother to be a very nice woman, and I bet, your other grandmother was too.", he tried to lift her mood.

She still frowned, "I've seen Zhao's spirit, he too is in the realm of the lost souls. I've hidden myself from him, because I was afraid. He killed the moon spirit, there will never be redemption for him.", she said in a dead serious tone.

"But there will be redemption for your father.", Iroh said determinedly.

"You think so?", she asked.

"You don't?", Iroh asked worriedly.

"I don't know. Mommy believes in him. But… everything seems so, so, complicated and difficult. Everybody's hurting, Mommy's sick from time to time and now Dad is sick too, it's a bit much at the moment.", she slumped down and buried her head in her hands.

Iroh went over to her and petted her little head, "Don't worry too much, Zhinu. In the end, everything will play out, trust me."

Zuko couldn't remember how many nights he had suffered through those terrifying fever dreams now. All of his demons, all of his fears came up in them. The ones that shook him the most were always those where he saw the people he loved, his mother, Ming, the child, scream for help, but couldn't do anything to help them. But this new dream seemed different. In his dream, he laid in a crème-colored room. The golden sunlight was softened by white, half-transparent curtains that were moving slightly in a breeze. He laid in a white bed that was incredibly soft. The banished prince remembered it from somewhere. Then the memory came back to him, he laid in the infirmary of the Royal Palace, where he had also awoken after he got his scar. And just like then, someone held his hand, someone that sat on one side of the bed.

Ming looked tiredly out of the window, as one of her hands held his, the other one rested on her pregnant belly. She wore a light pink silk dress that was held by a deep red girdle beneath her chest and fell in smooth folds over her form. Her curly hair hung openly down to her shoulders. For a long moment he just looked at her, taking in every little detail, before he decided to make his presence known, "You look wonderful."

She jumped a little, but her expression quickly turned into a wide smile as she saw that he was awake. "You can't imagine how happy I am to look into your eyes again.", she said, reaching up and stroking over his scarred cheek. Carefully he cupped her cheek as well and pulled her down into a kiss. She leaned her forehead against his and whispered, "I missed you so much.", suddenly she shrieked back with a small, surprised yelp. Zuko's eyes widened in shock, but Ming just put both hands on her belly and let out a long breath, then she smiled and giggled a little, "I'm sorry, I guess, we missed you so much.", then she took one of his hands and laid it where hers had been a moment ago. He stared at it; he could feel something moving beneath it. Zuko looked up and found Ming smiling at him. "I'm really glad you're alright again.", her voice suddenly sounded translucent, and he drifted out of the dream and back into reality.

The light that shone into his room was the same as in his dream, but he was back in the Earth Kingdom, in their new apartment, and most importantly, his body had stopped aching and his head was not clouded anymore. He felt good, energetic, positive even. The smell of food filled the air, so he quickly dressed himself and went out of his room.

As he entered the kitchen, he approached his uncle and asked, "What's that smell?"

"It's jook. I'm sure you wouldn't like it.", his uncle answered.

Zuko walked up to him and took in the smell, "Actually, it smells delicious. I'd love a bowl, Uncle.", he grabbed a bowl and held it up.

"Now that your fever is gone, you seem different somehow.", Iroh said cautiously, he didn't trust that positive minded nephew of his just yet.

"It's a new day. We've got a new apartment, new furniture, and today's the grand opening of your new tea shop. Things are looking up, Uncle.", Zuko said in a bright, optimistic tone as he sat down next to a table and drank the jook. Iroh raised an eyebrow at him but smiled.

Later that day they stood in the back of the Jasmine Dragon, watching the waiters roam through the buzzing shop. It seemed pretty popular right from the start. "Who thought when we came to this city as refugees, that I'd end up owning my own tea shop? Follow your passion, Zuko, and life will reward you.", Iroh said happily.

Zuko smiled at the old man, "Congratulations, Uncle."

"I am very thankful.", Iroh smiled back at him.

"You deserve it. The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city.", his nephew praised.

"No. I'm thankful because you decided to share this special day with me. It means more than you know.", he said, pulling Zuko in a hug.

On a sudden sad note, the banished prince added, "If only Ming was here too. She'd love all of this."

Iroh's smile saddened a bit as well, as he reached out and stroke his nephew's arm, "I'm sure, you'll see her again. And then you can bring her here."

That managed to lift Zuko's mood again, "Yes, uncle. For now, let's make these people some tea!", he said energetically.

A bit surprised, Iroh watched his nephew walk into the kitchen. Overjoyed, he added, "Yes, let's make some tea!"

The next evening, just as they wanted to close the shop for the day, a royal messenger entered, "A message from the Royal Palace."

He handed a scroll to Iroh, who read it, his face first turning to shock and then a smile crept onto it, "I … I can't believe it!"

Slightly worried, Zuko asked, "What is it, Uncle?"

His uncle's gaze shot up, excitedly he called out, "Great news! We've been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!", hastily he ran off into the kitchen to start preparing everything needed as Zuko looked after him, smiling contently.