(NOTE) Well, I hate to say this, but I won't be posting anything new this week, after this chapter. I'll be writing, trying to get even further ahead, but I don't want to take away from Avatar returning this week. I know, that sounds very cocky, but that's me. I would like to mention, for those of you who liked the dance scene between Aang and Katara in the canon episode, you will be unhappy with me. Again, my thanks to all my readers. Without you, I wouldn't be able to smile as I read my reviews.

Adversus solem ne loquitor.

Two The Headband

A weird cloud floated over the ocean, falling rapidly toward an island. Settling just over the land, voices emanated from within.

"I think I see a cave below." Aang declared.

"Shush!" Sokka's voice rang out. "Keep quiet!"

The cloud evaporated, revealing Appa floating gently over the island, bearing the gang on his back.

The great white beast landed, and Sokka jumped down, eyes darting around. "Great job with the cloud camouflage, but next time let's disguise ourselves as a cloud that knows how to keep its mouth shut."

Toph snorted. "Right, Sokka, because we certainly wouldn't want any birds to hear us up there and turn us in."

Sokka pointed at the birds sitting on a small edge of rock. "We're in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds."

Katara looked up at Zuko. He was still standing on Appa's saddle, an uncertain look in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I haven't been home in over three years." Zuko replied. "I'm still banished. If I step foot on Fire Nation soil…" He trailed off.

"You'll be fine." Katara assured him. "We'll come up with a good disguise for you."

Zuko finally jumped down, and gestured at the military dress uniform he wore. "If I can cover my scar, this is just fine. People will think I'm an injured soldier on medical leave."

"Let's go check out that cave." Aang called.

They all turned to enter, and Sokka jumped over their heads, crashing into the dirt.

Everyone save Toph shared an amused look as Sokka peered into the cave, finally waving them ahead.

He gestured at the wide-open, dank cave. "Well, here's how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave...after cave...after cave..." His head dropped, and he sighed, disappointed.

"We don't need to become cave people." Katara suggested. She pulled at her water tribe dress. "We need some new clothes."

"Blending in is better than hiding out. With some new clothes we'd be just as safe." Aang agreed.

"Besides." Toph hit the wall, disturbing a bunch of white bugs. "They have real food out there. Who wants to sit in the dark and eat cave-hoppers?"

Momo slid along the ground, grabbing one of the bugs, and munched away, looking at the gang with a leg sticking from his mouth.

Sokka sighed. "Looks like we got out-voted, sport." Turning to the others, Sokka managed a smile. "Let's go get some clothes."

"Look at that!" Zuko shook his head. "That attendant is sound asleep! I'd fire him for that."

"But it's good for us." Sokka countered. "He won't notice anything missing until we're gone."

"I don't know about this." Aang spoke up. "I don't think its right to steal from these people…"

Katara slipped past him. "I call the silk robe!" She ran along the clothesline, grabbing clothing.

"But if it's for survival…" Aang raced after her. "I call the suit!" Toph and Sokka, each grabbing armfuls of clothing, followed him.

Aang tied the belt to his suit around his head, and spun around, grinning widely. "Ta-da! Normal kid!" He declared.

Zuko looked at him, snorting. He turned away, his shoulder shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

"What?" Aang asked.

Toph held up one of the shoes she'd grabbed. "I should wear shoes." She stated thoughtfully. "But I wouldn't be able to see…" A thought struck her, and Toph slid the shoe on, forcing the sole off of the bottom. The sole smacked into Sokka's face. "There! A fashionable shoe for the blind earthbender!"

Katara's voice caught their attention. "How do I look?" They all turned to her, and Sokka glared when he saw the smitten look on both Aang and Zuko's faces.

Zuko frowned, blushing slightly. "You look fine. But…your mother's necklace."

Katara touched her pendant. "Oh. I guess it's obviously water tribe, huh?" She untied the necklace, and stashed it away.

"Where are Zuko and Katara?" Sokka asked, sliding a top-knot piece into his hair. He, Toph and Aang were standing in an alley, putting finishing touches to their outfits.

"Trying out his disguise." Toph replied, sliding a tiara into her hair.

Aang smoothed back Momo's ears, and stuck his friend into her jacket. "We're supposed to meet them in the village square." He grinned. "Just follow my lead, okay? I used to visit my friend Kuzon here a hundred years ago."

They walked around a corner, Aang waving jauntily to a man they passed. "Flameo, my good hotman!"

The man looked confused. "Uh…hello…I guess."

The vendor looked at the bandages around Zuko's head. They covered the entirety of his scar. "You poor man." She shook her head. "Did you get that it the war?"

Zuko nodded, frowning. "My unit was at Omashu. An earthbender got a lucky blow in."

"My old man was crippled in the fighting." The woman clasped Zuko's hand in her own. "We're so proud of you brave men, fighting for the cause."

She turned to Katara. "You look lovely, dear. You must have met him in the colonies."

"Wha…" Katara began. "Oh…yeah. That's where we met." Trying not to blush, she took Zuko's arm, and pointed out the necklace she wanted.

Zuko paid, and they walked off, the vendor cheerily wishing them a good life together.

"That was uncomfortable." Zuko said as they walked toward the center of town.

Katara toyed with her new necklace. "Not for me. I got a free necklace."

Aang saw where Sokka was walking, and stopped. "We're going to a meat place?"

Sokka turned around, grinning. "Everybody here eats meat, Aang. Even the meat!" He pointed over to where a large cow-hippo was munching away on fish heads.

Aang stuck his tongue out, disgusted. "I'll just go find some lettuce in the garbage. You guys go ahead."

"Suit yourself, Twinkeltoes." Toph followed Sokka, and Aang went his own way, greeting the people he passed with an enthusiastic "Hotman!"

Three large, imperious men surrounded Aang. One of them spoke. "You really thought we wouldn't catch you?"

"Huh?" Aang's heart began to race.

The speaker sighed, and poked Aang on the chest. "Honestly, we aren't stupid, Boy. You don't belong here. Next time you want to play hooky, change out of your uniform!"

"Where's Aang?" Katara asked. She and Zuko had just joined Toph and Sokka at the fountain.

"You let him wander off?" Zuko asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Why shouldn't we?" Sokka said. "He's been here before. Who could know he's the Avatar?"

Zuko began to laugh, but managed to control himself. He smirked. "Well, Aang may get caught for truancy."

"Huh?" Sokka asked, lost.

Aang stumbled into the classroom ahead of the officers. "We have one of yours, Ms. Kwan. He was playing hooky."

"A new young mind to mold." Miss Kwan sighed. "You are here to be molded?"

Aang grinned. "Empty and ready to mold!" He tapped his head.

As the officers turned to leave, Miss Kwan's eyes narrowed. "You are not Fire Nation!" She sniffed, and approached Aang. "Clearly, you are from the colonies."

"Right…The Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom." Aang replied.

"Your etiquette is simply horrible." Kwan sniffed again. "In the motherland, we bow to our elders…like this." She demonstrated, and Aang copied her. The teacher waved him to a seat.

Aang walked away from the school, pulling his jacket open. Momo's ears peered up at him. "We made it through the day, Momo…and it wasn't all that bad."

"You better not let the headmaster catch you with that monkey." A girl said, and Aang jumped, stuffing Momo back into his jacket.

"What? What monkey?"

The girl laughed. "Don't worry, I'm no tattletale." She smiled. "I'm On Ji. I like your headband."

Aang was about to reply when he was jostled from behind. A large, somewhat ugly boy stepped around him, an arm wrapping around On Ji possessively.

"You don't have to baby-sit the new kid."

Aang looked up at the taller boy. "You must be one of the popular kids I've heard about."

"That right, and let me help you get one thing straight." The boy got in Aang's face, and spoke menacingly. "On Ji is my girlfriend. Stay away from her."

He led the girl away, and a smaller boy approached Aang. "I don't believe it, Kuzon! Hide didn't beat you up, not even a little!"

"I guess I'm just lucky." Aang replied.

"I'm Shoji. Me and the guys were going to play Hide and Explode. Want to come?"

Aang grinned. "Sure!"

"You hear that?" Zuko asked, looking up. He slid his bandage disguise over his head, and stood up with the others.

Aang slid down from the top of the cave. He was covered in soot, and grinning tiredly.

"Hey guys."

Sokka poked at him. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick!"

Aang rubbed his head. "Sorry, Sokka. After school I went to play hide and explode with some of the guys."

"After what?" Sokka screeched, paling.

"I was enrolled in a Fire Nation school." Aang replied. "I'm going back tomorrow."

"What?" Sokka asked before keeling over. Toph poked at him with her toes.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Katara asked Zuko.

Later, around the fire, they all discussed Aang's announcement. "I'm trying to not burst your bubble, Aang, but this sounds like a terrible idea." Sokka declared.

"We've got clothes." Toph said. "What do you need to go to school for?"

"I'm learning about the Fire Nation." Aang replied. "Look, they even gave us a picture of Fire Lord Ozai." Aang held up a large ink portrait. "And here's one I made out of noodles!" He held up another piece of canvas.

Zuko snorted at the image of his father done in thin noodles. "That's…impressive…" He commented. "But this is dangerous, Aang. You could accidentally let something slip."

"Okay…" Aang sighed, then looked at them slyly. "I guess we'll never learn about the secret river, then. It supposedly leads right to the palace. We were supposed to study it in school tomorrow."

Zuko blinked. "What river?" He asked.

Aang grinned. "See, it must be really secret if Zuko doesn't know about it!"

"Or it could simply not exist." Katara spoke up. "What about that?"

"Wait." Sokka leaned forward. "Let's just let Aang go. If the river exists, it could be important to know where it leads. But only for a couple more days at most."

"Flameo, Hotman!" Aang ran off.

"Flameo?" Sokka wondered, looking at Katara.

"Hotman?" She finished. The siblings looked at Zuko, who shrugged.

The next day, Aang found his seat, grinning at the new friends he had made. Miss Kwan walked in.

"Good morning, class. Let's begin by reciting the Fire Nation oath."

Aang looked around. When the others began speaking, he tried to keep up, but failed miserably.

The others stopped reciting; laughing at his attempts to fill in the gaps, and Miss Kwan slammed her ruler down on her desk.

"I suppose it is fun to make a mockery of the oath!" She exclaimed. "Well then, let us have a surprise exam on the Great March of Our Civilization!"

The whole class groaned.

"First question: In what year did Fire Lord Sozin battle the Air Nation Army?" Miss Kwan asked.

Aang raised his hand. Miss Kwan sighed, and called on him. "Is that a trick question? The Air Nomads didn't have a formal military. They were defeated by ambush."

All around him, jaws dropped open, and Miss Kwan rose from her seat, eyes wide. "I do not see how you could possibly know more than our national history book!" She scoffed. "Unless you were there a hundred years ago."

Aang sank back to his seat. "I'll just write my best guess." He murmured.

Later, Aang adjusted the sungi horn around his shoulders. The music instructor tapped his baton, and the class began playing. Aang took a deep breath, and sound blared out from his horn as he shuffled his feet in tune with his own horrible music.

The rest of the class stared at him, shocked, and the teacher waved for Aang's attention. "Kuzon?"

"I know, I'm a terrible sungi hornist." Aang answered.

The instructor shook his head. "No, no. That hullabaloo with your feet. Is that a nervous disorder?"

Aang looked down at his feet, then back up. "I was dancing. Don't you dance in the homeland?"

The instructor closed his eyes, sighing. "Dancing is not conducive to education, Young people must have a rigid, strict regimen." He seemed to consider. "If you are so moved by your love of the Fire Nation, you may march quietly in place."

They resumed playing, and Aang marched slightly, now bored.

After music class, Aang walked out into the sunlight, ignoring the kids pointing at him and whispering.

He was kind of worried about that. It was like they didn't know how to really have fun.

"Hi, Kuzon." On Ji said, smiling at Aang. "I liked that crazy dance you were doing."

Aang grinned. "Really? I could show you again…" He yelped when flames spurted up in front of him.

Hide walked across the yard. "What was that, Colony Trash?" He demanded. "You gonna show her something?"

"Just a few dance steps." Aang replied innocently.

Hide snarled. "No shows my On Ji anything…especially movements!" He swung on Aang, who stepped aside.

Hide struck again, and again, Aang gracefully moving out of the way each time. Finally, Hide overswung, and fell on the ground.

Unfortunately, the headmaster showed up right then. "Picking fights on your second day of school?" He helped Hide up. "We shall have a conference to discuss this unruly behavior. Bring your parents to my office after school."

"But…" Aang was cut off.

"No buts! Just do it." The Schoolmaster walked off, Hide shooting Aang a victorious smirk.

"You are awfully young to have a child this age." The headmaster said.

Zuko smiled slightly. "He's not my son, sir. My older sister, may she rest in peace, passed away from illness in the Colonies. I was returning home for medical leave, and brought Kuzon with me."

"Ah." The headmaster picked up a sheet of paper. "Kuzon has been enrolled here only two days, and already he has argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and bullied one of our star pupils." He adjusted his glasses. "If this keeps up, I shall have him sent to reform school…" The man leaned forward. "By that I mean the coal mines."

Zuko glared at Aang. "Trust me, sir. I'll straighten him out. He's going to be punished…severely."

The headmaster looked satisfied. "Excellent."

"You know, Zuko could have told me this was a school uniform." Aang said. "Then I wouldn't have been taken to school to begin with."

"That may be." Sokka tugged at the beard he'd made as a disguise, but it hadn't worked. "But it's time for us to go, anyway."

"No!" Aang crossed his arms. "I'm having fun being a normal kid for once. You get to be normal all the time, Sokka."

"Ha ha!" Toph called, and Zuko tried to turn his laugh into a cough.

"Those other kids are the future of the Fire Nation. If we really want to change the Fire Nation, we should start with them." Aang continued. "I want to help them."

"What could you possibly do to help a whole nation of depraved little fire monsters?" Sokka demanded.

"Hey!" Zuko exclaimed indignantly. "We're not all depraved!"

Sokka raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. But still, what do you plan to do?"

Aang jumped up. "I'm going to throw them…" He tap-danced. "A secret dance party!"

Sokka, when he recovered, pointed toward Appa. "Go to your room!"

The cave looked different. Sokka walked around, placing candles to lighten the place up, and Toph bent a large bandstand from the ground.

"Are we actually throwing a party?" Zuko asked, setting a large bowl of punch on the table for Katara. "It seems kind of…silly."

"Don't think of it as a party!" Aang called, helping Sokka. "Think of it as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy feet."

"Hey, they're coming!" Toph called. "Everyone stop bending."

Aang dashed over to Appa. "You should hide in the back, buddy." Appa groaned. "I know, you have fancier feet than any of them…and six of 'em too!"

The band assembled on the stand, playing through a few songs, and the kids mingled, talking with nervous excitement.

Aang jumped on the bandstand. "Ladies and gentlemen…the Flameos!" This ought to get everyone moving.

The band kicked up a lively tune, but no one moved.

"What do we do?" Shoji asked.

Aang scratched his head. "Uh…this is where you start dancing."

"I don't think my parents would want me dancing in a cave." One boy spoke up, his head shrinking into his collar.

"Yeah, what if someone finds out?" Another kid called.

Aang frowned. "Dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of expression that you just do. No one can take it from you."

"Maybe in the colonies, Kuzon. But we don't have dances here." Shoji insisted.

"Sure you do." Aang replied. "I happen to know several classical Fire Nation dances."

He began to demonstrate.

"Who knew Twinkletoes could dance?" Toph asked, sitting with Katara on the side.

Aang landed in front of On Ji, and laughing, she began to copy his moves. Everyone else finally gave in, and began to dance.

Sokka chugged some punch. "Hey, they look pretty good together."

"If that's what you like." Katara commented. She blinked. A hand was held out to her. Following it, she saw Zuko looking at her intently.

"Come dance with me." He said.

Katara blinked. "I don't know…these shoes aren't really…"

"You'll be fine." Zuko insisted. "Come on. It won't kill you, I promise."

Katara let him lead her out onto the floor. "People are looking!" She insisted, feeling her cheeks starting to redden.

Zuko looked at her intently. "It's just you and me right now. Do what I do."

He took her right hand with his left, and rested a hand on her waist. Moving slowly so Katara could get the hang of the steps, they began to waltz, moving in a small circle.

"Where did you learn to dance like this?" Katara asked.

"From Uncle." Zuko replied. "Don't ask me to explain…it's kind of embarrassing."

He spun Katara suddenly, catching her off guard, and she latched on to him. Katara glared at his smile. "That wasn't funny! Warn me next time!"

Music floated up the hill, and the headmaster shook his head, placing a hand on Hide's shoulder. "It is a dance party. You were right to come to me about this." He turned to the truancy officers. "Let's go."

Aang stopped dancing, and looked to where Katara had been sitting. He intended to ask her to dance, and he frowned when he saw she was gone.

Looking around the crowd, Aang saw an open circle. Zuko and Katara were dancing in the middle of it…and it looked like they were having a lot of fun. His shock barely had time to register before he heard someone shouting over the music.

"All of you stop!" The headmaster was standing in the cave, surrounded by officers. He spotted the boy he thought of as Kuzon. "There, that's the one! Get him!"

Aang dodged into the crowd. "Guys, scramble!" He shouted. He heard the offices behind him grabbing kids, thinking they were him, and Aang smiled gratefully at his new friends as they slipped their own belts on as headbands.

He followed the others out the back, stopping only to look back once. Shoji was there, and the boy grinned.

Aang bowed Fire Nation style, and ran down the tunnel, bending it shut behind him. He could picture the look on Soji's face, and grinned.

The headmaster glared at all of the students. He couldn't believe they would be this disrespectful. He saw one of the officers moving slightly to the beat of the music that was still playing.

"Stop that! And someone get that band down!"

Appa soared through the night sky, his passengers safely on his back. Katara looked at her brother.

"We're safe, Sokka. The beard can come off." She declared.

Sokka rubbed his beard, pleased. "No it can't. It's permanently glued to my face…" Zuko reached out, and took hold, tugging sharply. "Ow!"

"He wasn't kidding, it's glued on well." The prince confirmed.

"Good job, Twinkletoes." Toph said to Aang. "I think you really helped those kids."

"You really think so?" Aang asked. "It was just a dance party, after all."

"It was some dance party." Katara yawned, wrapping up in Zuko's cloak, quickly falling asleep.

Sokka looked up at the moon grinning goofily. "All I can say is: Flameo, my good hotman. Flameo."

Azula hated the industrial district. But it was a good place for a secret meeting. She walked down a dark alley, and dropped the hood of her cloak.

Hard clanking steps came toward her, and a huge man appeared in the dim light, stalking toward the princess.

He stopped a short distance away, and waited, his stare very near that of a permanent glare.

Azula walked up to him, unafraid. "I won't bother to ask if you were followed." She walked around the man, inspecting him. She met his stare. "I've heard many stories about you. You are very good at what you do." She reached into her tunic, and removed a heavy sack. "Consider this a down payment. I want you to find my brother and end him."

The man stuffed the money away, and began to clank off but Azula spoke again. "And if the Avatar happens to be alive, dispose of him as well."

The assassin clanked off into the night.