Title: Toward the Rising Sun
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Aang, some Zuko/Katara
Warnings: uh, some kissing; probably some violence eventually
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to the nice folks at Nickelodeon.

Summary: Zuko and Aang need to learn to trust each other. Cue the road trip to find the Sun Warriors, with plenty of arguing, dirty jokes, and pirates besides. S3 AU. [Heals All Wounds #4]

A/N: Thanks to jin_fenghuang for the beta!

Zuko dispiritedly picked at the steaming food in his bowl – overcooked rice, pickled cabbage, and salted picken meat. Zhou aside, he hadn't quite mastered cooking yet, although the Avatar didn't seem to mind. Aang was chewing happily through his own dinner of rice and fermented tofu, thankfully with manners that Zuko could actually recognize as such. Not to speak ill of Katara or Sokka, but what the hell, Water Tribe? The men on Hakoda's ship certainly gave Zuko's own crew a run for their money in vile dining habits.

He hunched in on himself, not liking where his thoughts were going. From his crew, they circled to the North Pole, and then inevitably to Uncle.

Scowling to himself, Zuko stabbed his chopsticks into his food, forcing down several unpleasantly mushy mouthfuls before he gave up, dropping it to the deck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aang blink at him in surprise, opening his mouth to quote an airbender platitude on indigestion, no doubt.

Zuko ignored him.

He lay back on the deck – whose warmth had settled into something more soothing, if no less omnipresent – and held one arm straight out before him, thumb splayed outward. He squinted his left eye shut as he tried to orient his position based on the stars in the sky above. It was edging into summer, so the stars would be moving into the mansions of the vermillion bird of the south. And yes, there, he could make out the four stars of the high judge, and to the side, the one maid-in-waiting. Zuko held his knuckles directly under the maid-in-waiting, marking her mentally before counting out degrees, moving his hand in an arc across the sky.

Zuko let his hand drop back to his side, staring up at the stars.

He was really close. A night of drifting on the ocean would take them to the blockade. Two or three days of careful navigation could take them in to port at Ember Island, or even the capital itself.

"Almost home," he whispered, quiet enough that he almost couldn't hear the bitterness welling up in his voice.

"Wow," Aang said. Zuko turned his head to glare at the boy, who was leaning back, hand held out in front of him and face screwed up in concentration as he tried to mimic Zuko's calculations. He tossed a bright smile over at Zuko. "So, you're really good at astronomy, aren't you?"

"Firebender," Zuko said, pointing at himself. He pointed back up at the stars. "Fire. It's not just the sun, you know. We draw our power from the stars at night – even the moon, a little bit."

"Well, yeah, obviously. And comets," Aang said, bobbing his head. A pensive look past across his face, and he pulled at the leather wrappings around his legs. "Which you guys are good at predicting. In general."

"What are you asking?"

"Just…" Aang gulped, meeting Zuko's eyes worriedly. "This whole plan. It's sorta based on an eclipse and we never really bothered to ask before but…"

"Does the Fire Nation know it's coming?" Zuko filled in for him, rolling his eyes. "Gee, I don't know, Aang. We predicted the one hundred year cycle of a comet, but frequent solar eclipses that render us helpless are totally beyond our grasp."

"Why didn't you mention that earlier?" Aang demanded.

Zuko shrugged stiffly.

"Doesn't matter, does it? It's the one shot we have. Sure, Father and Azula will know the eclipse is coming, but they don't know about the invasion. I know exactly where they'll hide under the palace, and then you can…" Zuko trailed off. He didn't really know what Aang would do then; from the wide eyed, anxious expression on Aang's face, he didn't either. Zuko shook it off, continuing brusquely, "Whatever, you have the Avatar State, so that'll take care of that."

"Huh," Aang said. "That's a good question. Will the Avatar State work during an eclipse?"

"Why wouldn't it?"

Aang shrugged.

"The Avatar is all four elements. If one is blocked, can I really go into the Avatar State?"

Zuko stared at him. Agni, they really were going to die, weren't they?

"Guess we just need to discover the secret of firebending, so then I can finish the rest of my training with Katara and Toph," Aang said, forcing a broad smile as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah. The rest of your training."

Which was obviously more important. No firebending on the day of the invasion pretty much meant this whole venture was a waste of time, didn't it? Zuko crossed his arms, scowling up at the stars as he stewed. Of course, the trip wasn't really for Aang's benefit, anyway. It was to fix him, fix Zuko's as ever mediocre firebending, as Katara had made clear. If they couldn't count on him in a clinch, then there was no point to bringing him along.

He was well into his sulk before he realized that Aang had scampered off below decks. He was just levering himself up, frowning as he tried to figure out what the Avatar could be up to – dishes would be nice, but unlikely – when the boy popped back above decks. He flew forward on an airscooter, book grasped between his hands, before he settled excitedly on the deck before Zuko.

"I know what'll cheer you up!" Aang exclaimed, thrusting the book forward.

Zuko took a moment to dust himself off, climbing to his feet, before he accepted the proffered book suspiciously. At least it wasn't a puppet. He frowned down at it, fingers tracing over the title.

"'Apple-pears to Zebra-bears'?" he read. He turned the book over. It felt old, and not altogether well made. The binding was falling apart, and the leather just felt… weird. He leaned in close, reading the smaller inscription on the side. "'An Illustrated Field Guide to Earth Kingdom Animals and Vegetation, as transcribed by Telik'. What is this, Aang? We're not going to the Earth Kingdom!"

"But Katara, Sokka and I did at the beginning!" Aang grinned nostalgically. "That's the book they took with them to help us. It's hilarious."

Curious, Zuko flipped it open. He could tell right away that the title hadn't lied – to a certain extent, anyway. It was definitely illustrated. What precisely those pictures were, though… He frowned, peering closer, before giving up. The light wasn't good enough for reading. He transferred the book to one hand, holding the other up as he lit a small flame above it.

"Oh, heh, right. Sort of ran into a similar problem the last time I tried to show this to someone," Aang said sheepishly.

Zuko gave him a questioning look.

"Who did you… You tried to show this to Toph?"

"Yeah. Didn't work out so well." Aang stepped closer, taking the book from Zuko to leaf through it, eventually pointing to a two-page block print. "Anyway, this is what I wanted you to see!"

Inked in careful detail, a young Water Tribe warrior in the full regalia of his people was poking at what appeared to be a hedgehogbit. Curly, flowing characters right above the animal's floppy ears explained: "Pears are as prickly as their name implies. Approach with caution!"

Eyebrows rising in surprise, Zuko paged through the book, eyes skimming quickly over several similarly ludicrous passages. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. It wasn't hard to imagine Sokka in the illustrated warrior's place, poking strange, completely harmless wildlife with the corner of his boomerang. Or, for that matter, to envision Katara trying to coax over a "sea-star fruit" with the gentle sound of waves and the smell of its native ocean habitat – as depicted on page eighty-four.

And that was hilarious.

Zuko gave Aang a cautious smile, before asking, "Why are you showing this to me?"

"Well," Aang drew out the word, "I felt a little bad and wanted to make up for the shoelaces thing."

Zuko processed this as meaning: I felt a little bad, and I'm going to feel worse when I tell Sokka and Katara and Toph, but please don't kill me before I get to do that. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Aang, but he seemed oblivious to the look.

"You have to remember," Aang began, half-apologetically, despite the wide grin on his face, "They'd never been outside of the South Pole before. There was no way for them to know what the Earth Kingdom's really like."

"Uh huh."

"So, you know, it's sort of mean to laugh. Like, if you laughed at me for saying 'hotman' or 'flameo' – that'd be mean."

"No, it wouldn't," Zuko replied automatically. It wouldn't be mean the next time, it hadn't been the first time, and he really wished Aang would stop it already.

Aang nodded, eyes wide and innocent as he went on.

"Oh, good point. Then I guess it's alright if I tell you about the time with Sokka and Katara and the humming-squirrel of doom…"

Zuko nodded.

"… and if I tell them about your shoelaces," Aang finished gleefully.

"I should have known," Zuko muttered. He looked down at the book in his hands and back up at Aang. He really didn't want to be humiliated in front of Katara – but he also really wanted to know about the humming-squirrel, and Aang's deal made him feel less guilty for that. He pursed his lips and then nodded again, adding, "Yeah, okay."

Aang beamed at him.

Before he could start the story, Zuko asked, "Do you talk like this about me?"

"Sure! I mean, we did before when you were all," Aang made a hand gesture that Zuko felt was probably approximating a ponytail. Badly. He frowned back at him and Aang shrugged. "But it's different now. We're all friends – so it's okay if we joke about each other."

"Oh."

Zuko decided to take Aang's word for it. He probably had a much firmer grasp on what friendship entailed than Zuko did, after all. He'd yet to see the younger boy fake poisoning anyone, for instance, despite the fact that Zuko's childhood had been made up of many such "friendly" incidents.

They settled down onto the deck, although Aang bounced up to his feet from time to time as he acted out the story. He airbent the puppet he'd smuggled aboard to approximate the dive-bombing attacks of the humming-squirrel, put on a falsetto that Katara would surely kill him for if she heard, and made plenty of references back to the book. It was almost enough to distract Zuko from wondering exactly how far off their trail he'd been when all of this happened. If they'd known how much danger they'd really been in.

At the end, exhausted by his overly energetic storytelling, Aang collapsed happily back onto the deck. He finished off his cold meal in a few big bites, before grinning back at Zuko.

"So, are we even?" he asked.

Zuko pondered for a moment, tapping a lip. He thrust a hand out quickly, fire jetting from his palm to ignite the puppet left on the deck. Aang's jaw dropped in horror.

"Now we're even," Zuko said with satisfaction.

The puppet burned merrily for some time, before extinguishing with a last, pathetic puff of smoke. Aang gave him the wary shade of smile over its embers which Zuko was careful to return. He couldn't deny that it was a relief, however, when they parted to their different shifts. He wasn't that good with the social thing. He helped Aang lay out a bedroll and said goodnight, collecting his shirt before settling into the pilot's cabin for the first watch of the night.

He nudged the stick bracing the wheel aside, taking the wheel to keep himself wakeful. The stick had been Ensign Hong's trick – no matter how many times Lieutenant Jee yelled at him for sleeping on duty, the next night, he'd be snoozing away with the wheel braced and his feet up. Zuko grimaced at the memory. As if there wasn't enough bad about this trip already. He didn't need to start remembering his crew, or their treachery.

Zuko slouched his shoulders, leaning against the wheel as he peered out over the black ocean. His eyes skipped down to the deck, and for the first time, he found regretting his earlier thoughts. It would be nice if Aang were there to talk to him. Anything would be better than being along with his thoughts. And anyway, the kid wasn't that bad of company.

When it was his turn for sleep, Zuko roused Aang before curling up on the deck, half-wishing for an excuse to stay awake himself. Sooner than he thought he would, he fell into a restless, unpleasant sleep.

The next morning, Zuko rose not quite with the sun – instead, he rose in the half-light of pre-dawn as Aang unceremoniously nudged him awake with a foot. His dreams had been strange and disturbed. Half-formed images of Uncle Iroh in chains, Azula's sneer and his father's strong, shadowed outline chased him through the night. He wasn't sad to wake and leave them behind.

"Your watch," Aang said, voice as unforgiving as it was weary. There were dark smudges beneath his eyes, and he leaned on his staff like it was the only thing keeping him up.

Groggily, Zuko stretched and stood, allowing the Avatar to curl up on the deck he'd just vacated. Walking to the starboard side, he looked out toward the rising sun. The horizon was dark yet, only the slightest tinge of purple breaking through night. Zuko shut his eyes, exhaling as he sought the sun's power. It was easier now, as the stars began to fade into the background, moon already set and its touch on his chi distant.

Up north, he'd been out of his element. It was better near the Fire Nation, where the intensity of the sun and the heat of the air could almost match the vicious, swirling power Zuko felt inside. It felt familiar, in every sense. The sea air smelled the same as the air on his ship – the air on Ember Island. The sun felt as strong and volatile as the sun at the palace, when he'd still sat at his father's knee.

It was too much. He felt tight, bursting with fire he almost didn't want to control and memories he wished he could.

It didn't really matter what they learned about firebending. There was no fixing him.

Zuko let out a long breath and, opening his eyes to glare out toward the sun – and the lost civilization of the Sun Warriors – he turned away, holing himself up in the pilot's cabin.

Studiously following the maps and the scant landmarks they had out the porthole, Zuko steered the ship through the dawn and well into mid-morning. He set the course to take the past the outer edge of the Western Blockade, his hand scrawled calculations putting them well away from the Boiling Rock. Just as planned.

His hand was starting to cramp when Aang finally woke up again, greeting Zuko this time with a cheerful smile before disappearing into the galley to make breakfast.

It was actually a relief to sit down next to him, wheel braced again for auto-pilot, and eat with the Avatar. He didn't quite feel up for conversation, though, despite the progress toward friendship they had made the night before.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Aang asked between bites.

"Sail. Train. Eat."

"Oh." Aang seemed disappointed. "I thought you said we'd be coming up on the Western Blockade? Aren't we going to have to do some sneaky maneuvers to get around them?"

Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Hardly. The Western Blockade is where they send all of the wash-outs from the Academy. They'll be easy enough to get around."

The Eastern Blockade was formidable – particularly back when Zhao took it over – but the Western Blockade was a different matter altogether. Ba Sing Se had no formal navy, and they were too cowardly to mount an attack anyway. They were too busy throwing parties for bears and building jade ships in the Center Ring to be any kind of threat.. The blockade ships along that route had gotten used to doing nothing more than cursory checks that the correct flags were being flown long before Ba Sing Se had been conquered. It was hard to say if there was even a rock bottom for them to hit, but if it was possible, they had surely reached it since the fall of Ba Sing Se.

Zuko himself had run that blockade more than once, back when colony prices got too steep, or Zhao shaved the last jiang of rice off his supplies just because. He had no concerns on that front.

"So… nothing exciting then?" Aang said. His eyes had drifted over Zuko's shoulder. He pointed. "Not even that?"

Zuko whipped his head around, dropped his zhou to the deck, and fumbled for the spyglass at his belt. In the distance, almost at the horizon, two ships almost appeared to be moored together. Zuko frowned. It was too far out from the blockade for a prisoner transfer or a supply run. No one would sail that close to another ship on purpose unless…

He raised the spyglass to his right eye – habit – and peered through. His eyes both narrowed immediately into a glare.

"Pirates," he spat.

"Really?" Aang asked. Zuko's hand clenched around the spyglass; the Avatar somehow managed to sound hopeful and apprehensive at the same time. "Do you think they're the same ones who…"

"Who Zhao hired to kill me?"

Zuko moved the glass infinitesimally to the left, trying to catch any details on the ship, anything he could recognize. He was all for sailing to the Sun Warriors' ruins and back as quickly as possible, but he couldn't deny that fighting those particular pirates would be pretty damn satisfying. He tightened his grip around the leather of the spyglass, trying to will it to reveal more. But no. The ship was too far away. He saw a brief, nearly invisible flare of fire against the blinding blue sky and black dots of men moving on the far ships.

When he lowered the spyglass, Aang was watching him, an abashed and curious look on his face. Zuko fidgeted under the attention.

"What?" he demanded.

"I just… well, I was gonna say 'the pirates we stole that scroll from.' Zhao really did that to you?"

"Yeah. You're surprised? You know better than anyone that Zhao and I hated each other."

Aang nodded silently. A conflicted look passed over his face, brow furrowing. Aang looked down, picking at the Water Tribe bindings around his legs.

"I know. But I … I don't know, for a second there, when you said his name, I remembered something else. Like… a flash? I remember you trying to save him."

Zuko blinked in surprise.

"You remember drowning Zhao?"

Aang jumped to his feet, eyes going wide as he looked at Zuko in shock.

"What? I didn't do that!"

"You're the one who just said you did!" Zuko shot back.

"But that wasn't me! That was just the Avatar State. Or the Ocean Spirit! Or something," Aang protested, looking more unsure as he went. "I don't know… Maybe it was me."

"Trust me. When my crew died, they knew it was you," Zuko said shortly. He shot one last glower toward the ships on the horizon, before turning away. Anger barely leashed, he added, "If you'll excuse me, I need to make sure we don't sail into that battle."

A/N: Apologies for how purple Chinese astronomy is. And also probably for how wrong I got it. The jade boat in Ba Sing Se is a reference to the jade boat Empress Cixi's commissioned for the Summer Palace in Beijing, at great cost to the public.

At the moment, the pirates are Chekhov's gun. They will return, but next chapter there is a much more pressing concern for Aang and Zuko – dragons!