A/N: I bring you yet another chapter! Thanks again to all those who reviewed, I love it all! Oh, and if there is a lot of text in italics, it represents a dream but, if it's like this: "words here, words here," then it's normally a thought or something of that nature.

Oh. And I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, much to my regret. I'm only writing about it. If I did, Zuko definitely would not have betrayed Katara and his Uncle like that. I mean, who thought of that? Anyway, onto the chapter…

Chapter Three

They were close.

Iroh glanced at his nephew. He was lying on a cot in the little sloop Iroh had procured. The young prince was so feverish, Iroh had to check to make sure the bedding didn't scorch. Zuko still battled fiercely with himself, but Iroh knew the boy would wake up soon; he had to.

Zuko was lost at sea, being tossed about the waves. But, oddly enough, the ocean seemed as if it were on fire, colored red and gold, as if the setting sun were hitting the sea. But it was night.

Suddenly, a great wave crashed onto him and Zuko found himself deep underwater, struggling for breath. What is happening? Abruptly, the scene changed and he found himself on a deserted beach, the full moon high above him. In the distance stood a lovely girl, with hair and eyes of the purest silver. She seemed familiar but, as with all dream-figures, Zuko couldn't remember her.

"Where am I?"

The girl cocked her head to the side. "You are where you need to be, Prince Zuko. You are where I called you to."

"But where is that?"

She laughed and motioned with her hand, Zuko's surroundings shifting from the beach to a mountain, to Ba Sing Se, to a cave, and back to the beach. "Everywhere. And nowhere. This is my domain, Prince Zuko."

He took a tentative step towards the girl. "Who are you? How do I know you?"

"I am the Moon Spirit. But I was once known as Yue, Princess of the Northern Water Tribe."

"The Moon Spirit? But…if you are the Moon Spirit, why are you talking to me?"

Yue laughed again, gently. "For Sokka. And Aang. And…for Katara. There is a battle raging in you, Prince Zuko. A battle for your very core. Many lives depend on your decision. But it is your decision alone." Her eyes turned sad and she began to fade. "Choose well, Prince Zuko. Choose well."

"Wait--" Zuko cried, reaching out. But it was no use. Yue was gone and he was left to stand on the beach alone.

"Not quite alone."

He turned and faced…himself. "What…?"

"Prepare yourself. We have faced before, Zuko. This time, I will not lose."

Zuko ducked as a ball of fire hurtled towards him. "This isn't real. This isn't real!"

His other self stopped, looking astonished. "What?"

"This isn't real! I'm myself, not anyone else!" And with those words, the other Zuko vanished.

Zuko woke, and sat up, looking at his strange surroundings. The world was tilting. "What?" he asked, in an echo of his dream. "Where am I?"

Iroh turned and looked at his nephew. "We're on a ship. Welcome back, Prince Zuko."

Groaning, Zuko looked around. The ship wasn't very big. He guessed it would take only a few people to properly sail it. He hoped his uncle had been discreet in his choice of a crew.

"Uncle?"

"Yes, Nephew?"

"Where are we going?"

Iroh grinned at Zuko. "We're following the Avatar, Prince Zuko."

The Prince was a bit surprised. He thought that the last thing his uncle would want to do would be to chase the Avatar again. Or even help him capture the young monk. After all, he had betrayed both of them. And for what?

"Why, Uncle? Why are you helping me?"

Uncle Iroh looked at Zuko for a moment and then sighed, sitting next to Zuko on the cot. "Because, Prince Zuko, you are my nephew. I would never leave you on your own."

"But…But I betrayed you! You shouldn't be taking care of me, you should be yelling at me, screaming at me. Anything but this!"

"Would it be easier for you if I shouted? If I yelled and cursed at you, Nephew?" Iroh asked quietly. "Would it clear your conscience?"

"I…" Zuko fell silent. His uncle was right. He would much prefer to be yelled at. At least then he wouldn't feel so damn guilty. He wasn't used to feeling guilty and he didn't like it all. No, not at all.

"I'm sorry, Uncle, for what I did."

Iroh waved his hand. "What's done is done, Nephew. What you do is your decision. And your decision alone." Zuko winced. Those words sounded too much like his dream. "You cannot always rely on me, or others, to make your moves for you. You are a grown man, now Zuko. You must choose your own fate."

"I know, Uncle, but sometimes it's just…" he trailed off.

"Difficult?" Zuko nodded and Iroh sighed again. "Life is meant to be difficult, Nephew. But that is what makes us stronger." He paused a moment and then brightened. "So, Prince Zuko. What are we going to do when we reach the Avatar?"

Zuko was quiet a moment. "I'm going to try to capture the Avatar," he answered.

"And what if you can't?"

He shrugged. "Then I'll have to join him. Either we bring the fight to Azula by capturing the Avatar, or we make her bring the fight to us. Either way, Azula is not going to dictate to me anymore."

"Are you all right, Katara?"

"Hmm?" Katara looked up into the anxious face of Aang. "Oh, yeah. I'm just thinking about things."

The Airbender sat down next to her. "What about?"

She sighed. "Just things, Aang. I'm a bit worried about staying here so long. I mean, we've been here for two days. Don't you think that's a little long?"

Aang's face fell. "Well, yeah, but we all need the rest." He smiled as Momo landed on his shoulder, chattering nonsense. "Even Momo agrees."

The waterbender laughed, looking out into the woods. "I know. But I can't help but feeling that something big is going to happen." After a moment, Katara sighed and turned to her friend. "Promise me something, Aang."

"Yeah?"

"If anything happens to me, if I get left behind, I want you to promise me you'll go on without me."

"What? Katara, no—"

She held up her hand. "Just hear me out, okay? Nothing is more important than you getting to the Fire Nation before the end of the summer, Aang. And if that means leaving me behind, then I want you to do it, all right? We can't afford to waste time."

Aang frowned. "How can I do that, Katara? You're my friend. I can't just leave you behind."

"You can and you will, Aang." She sighed wearily. "Just promise me, okay?"

"Okay," Aang said reluctantly. "But right after I defeat the Fire Lord, I'll come back for you. I promise."

Soft laughter came from Katara and she smiled gratefully at Aang. Throwing her arms around his neck, she whispered. "Thank you, Aang."

The boy blushed and lowered his head when Katara pulled back. His crush on her had all but gone away but it was still there, just a little. He looked away, back towards the camp. Now another bender had caught his attention. He sighed. It seemed there were always too many distractions. He would never reach the full potential of the Avatar state. Then again, he didn't really want to, especially if it meant letting go of the people he cared about. There had to be another way. Another way to defeat the Fire Lord.

"Aang?" It was Toph. "Come on, Twinkle Toes. We're supposed to be practicing, remember? Not sitting around staring off into space."

Aang nodded and pushed himself up with a puff of air, his earlier thoughts gone. Though it was hard work, he liked practicing his earthbending with Toph. Now if only they could find a firebending master…

Ty Lee wandered around the village, peering into the shops with a curious expression. Though Azula thought these small towns were not worth her time, Ty Lee loved them. You could always find the oddest shops and the coolest stuff.

Turning away from all the little stores, the acrobat sighed. She was supposed to be with Zuko right now, tracking the Avatar, not running around the countryside alone.

"Well, at least I'm doing one of the things I'm supposed to."

"Oh, so running around by yourself is okay?"

"Yes."

And that was the end of that conversation. Ty Lee had never been one to argue with herself for very long. It wasted time, in her opinion, and time was best spent by having fun. But she wasn't having much fun right now.

A couple of nights ago, she had run away from Zuko, mainly because he was a stuffy sort of person and was no fun whatsoever. It wasn't even fun to make him mad anymore. So Ty Lee had slipped away. Oh, she wasn't worried that Zuko would miss her much; she had seen his funny uncle slipping into the camp. So everything was okay. But she still wasn't having any fun.

"That might be true but if you catch up with the Avatar, everything will get better. They seem like fun."

Okay. That was settled. Now she knew what she was going to do. That only left Azula. Ty Lee didn't think the princess would take too kindly to one of her friends going over to the Avatar's side.

"But it's not as if you actually are joining the Avatar. And, if worst comes to worst, you can always tell Azula you were captured."

"All right then." Ty Lee smiled and her step regained its usual bounce. She hopped on her ostrich-horse and faced west. According to the latest gossip, the Avatar was still headed in that direction. She would catch up with the Avatar, join up with his group to save herself from boredom, and maybe have a lot of fun while she was at it. Azula wouldn't mind…much.

"We haven't heard from Ty Lee and Zuko in a while," Mai stated in her usual flat voice.

Azula glanced towards her friend, a scowl on her face. "That's rather…interesting," she responded.

"Do you think it was wise to let go of your uncle?"

The princess narrowed her eyes. "With our dear Uncle Iroh around, Zuko will be more prone to try and run off. And that's what I want."

"So you can arrest him."

A smirk lighted Azula's face. "Exactly."

Mai sighed. "You could have arrested him before."

Azula laughed. "Yes, but it wouldn't have been as fun."

"You never meant what you said to him, did you?"

"Of course not. Now we're about to go after my dear brother, and handle this ourselves, as my father wishes."

Mai's eyebrow rose slightly, though her face was still impassive. "And what about Ty Lee? Why send her along? Why not keep her with us for our little hunt?"

Azula let out a breath of air and shook her head at Mai. "Ty Lee was a show of good faith. Besides, she won't stay with my poor brother the whole way through; she'll get bored. No, she'll find us soon enough."

"And then what?"

"We'll get both my pathetic brother and the Avatar."

A/N: another chapter down...lots more to follow. do you like that i've been updating so quickly? sorry to say this, but it might change...school and all, you know? but, I will persevere, and all that. so, you know the drill...review, review, review! I love them all, even if they yell at me...I've had quite a few so far...woohoo!!!!!! well, i'm off to write more. bye-bye!