Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender and am making no profit from this story.
A/N: Hello again! When I wrote Fireside, I was planning on it being a oneshot... but I was recently inspired to make it more. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it!
I've taken some liberties with cannon timing in this fic (mainly concerning season 3 and what happens after Zuko comes into the picture). Any changes to cannon should be clear, but if you become confused at all, feel free to let me know! I'm a big fan of clarity! :)
xxxxxx
The day dawned bright and clear, and one by one the group awoke to join the still awake fire prince.
Zuko hadn't slept the night before, his emotions too strong and thoughts too busy after talking with Katara to settle down for rest.
"Morning," Sokka mumbled, grabbing breakfast and joining the circle around the fire, plopping down next to Zuko.
"Now that we're all awake," Katara began, shooting a glare at Sokka, "what's the plan?"
"We're on the run, Sweetness," Toph drawled. "I say we keep running."
Chewing didn't stop Sokka from contributing. "Exactly," he stated, returning to his meal. Katara huffed.
"Maybe we could talk to them instead."
Sokka snorted at Aang's comment. Katara met Zuko's eyes, recalling their conversation the night before. This was exactly like Aang, to try and try again, even though it'd never worked in the past. She opened her mouth to let him down gently, but Zuko beat her to it.
"Aang, trust me, Azula isn't going to talk things over with you."
"Maybe after she turns you into an Avatar Roast she'd stop long enough for you to get a couple words in," Sokka laughed.
"Very funny," Aang deadpanned.
Katara let out a long breath. "Fine. We keep running. Let's keep our head start and leave soon."
Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, Toph stood up and stomped, collapsing her stone tent. "Well, I'm ready," she announced.
xxxxxx
"How far behind do you think they are now?" Toph asked.
Zuko sighed. Between Toph, Sokka, and Aang, the question had been asked like an "Are we there yet?" for the past few hours. They had mutually decided to go as far as they could that night to put as much distance between them and their pursuers as possible. Not three days ago, they'd had a brief run-in with the newest trackers Azula had hired. Luckily, they'd gotten away quickly, leaving - hopefully - no trace of their direction. Luck had gotten them out of a lot of messes. Aang had a knack for attracting it. The kid had a ridiculous amount of luck, something Zuko had never had much of.
"How about we go a little bit longer and then Appa can find a place to stop," Katara suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Sokka said. "I'm ready to get stretch my legs."
"And I'm ready to see where I'm going again," Toph added from her perch gripping Appa's saddle. "My hands are getting tired from holding on."
"You could let go, you know," Aang said, "Appa won't drop you."
"Give it a rest, Aang," Sokka said. "She'll never believe you."
"Hey!" she protested, "I believe you - mostly - doing is another thing though."
"We'll get off soon." Katara repeated.
Dusk was upon them and the darkening sky blurred what they could see in the distance, as well as nearby. Zuko was having a hard time deciphering Katara's features at the moment. Was she frustrated? Angry? Annoyed? Tired? It was hard to tell. Her tone wasn't giving anything away, and he didn't want to be on the wrong side of her rage anytime soon. So he kept silent.
He wanted to say that they should keep going, get as far ahead as possible. Although he understood everyone's tiredness, the military training drilled into him told him that the long-term plan was more important than everyone's tiredness. Not that he would say that now. The group was accepting him, sure, and he and Katara were finally getting to be on better terms with each other, but he wasn't going to get in the way of their plans for sleep - especially when Sokka and Toph could give as good as they got when they wanted to.
Theoretically though, they should keep flying long into the night. Far after the sun was down and everyone was tired and wanted to sleep. Strategically, night gave them the best advantage. The darkness hid their movements and made them more attuned to the sounds around them. But he didn't expect anyone else to share his opinions. Aang and Toph weren't likely to understand the subtlety, and even though Sokka and Katara weren't really water tribe peasants, they were sure as ignorant as one sometimes.
"There's a spot up ahead," Aang's voice broke into his thoughts.
Zuko was suddenly glad he hadn't opened his mouth earlier. In spite of all his grandiose thoughts, he was feeling his lack of sleep from the previous night. He probably would have sounded angry. Although the group knew of his anger, they hadn't really experienced it, something he had no intention of changing. He didn't want them to get the wrong idea, especially so soon after his talk with Katara the night before. It was nice to be agreeing on something with her, especially as she seemed like the only other logical one in the group.
There were some days he really didn't know how they were going to win this war.
Appa slowly lowered them to the ground, and Toph let out a happy cry of, "Finally!" when her feet touched the soft earth. Zuko was relieved as any of them to be back on the ground again.
Aang hemmed and hawed as the group methodically pulled together sleeping arrangements. "So, tomorrow . . ." he began uncertainly.
"Sleep first, talk later," Sokka stated, earning an assenting grunt from Toph and a glare from Katara.
"As much as I want to plan too, Aang," Katara said, "tonight I think it's better if we all get some rest. It'll be impossible to live with some people if they don't get their beauty sleep."
Sokka stuck his tongue out at her. Zuko snorted and Aang let out a loud laugh.
"Goodnight!" called Toph meaningfully, already inside her impromptu stone tent.
"Sorry, Toph," Katara called out. She sighed and glanced around the group before plopping down to unroll her blanket for the night.
"You should be . . ." Toph's sleep-heavy voice carried across the clearing.
Katara smiled.
Zuko followed suit and prepared for the night as well, followed shortly by Aang and Sokka.
"Goodnight, guys," he heard Katara mumble before drifting off to sleep.
"Goodnight, Katara!"
" 'Night."
"Goodnight," Zuko added.
xxxxxx
Katara was trying hard not to regret opening up to Zuko that night around the fire. She'd probably said too much. She'd been overwhelmed with the impossibility of their task. Her emotions were high. It had been late. And he had been there.
Aang had been her friend long before Zuko had arrived to help them. In a way, she felt like she was going behind his back, talking about his weaknesses with someone who used to hunt them. Not that Zuko did that anymore, but still . . .
The tediousness of flying wasn't helping either. It gave her much too much time to think - and worry. Being in close quarters not able to do much besides stare and talk to each other put them all on each other's nerves, which was not something they needed right now.
"How far behind do you think they are now?" Sokka's drawl cut into her musings and she grit her teeth at his teasing smile.
"Sokka," she warned. "Shut. Up."
"What?" he asked innocently.
She huffed and chose to ignore him.
"Well, while we're all just sitting here, why don't we figure out what we need to do next." Katara suggested - again. It seemed like she'd been trying to get the group to plan for ages. She darted a glance at Zuko. Back me up on this.
He looked vaguely surprised but said, "Katara's right. We need a plan."
"Um, I need to learn firebending still," Aang called from the front.
"And then?" Katara prompted.
Aang's quiet voice floated back, ". . . Bring peace."
"And we need to defeat Ozai to bring peace," Katara gently reminded.
"Hey, it's okay, Aang. We'll figure something out," Sokka said, shooting a glare at Katara.
"We always say that," she argued. "Fire is the last element. What are we going to do afterwards? Sit around and wait for something to happen? We have to make something happen."
The group stayed silent, knowing the truth to her words, but not wanting to acknowledge the enormity of their task.
Zuko spoke up to break the silence. "We should find a place to stay for a while, preferably by an Earth Kingdom town. Aang can work on firebending, and we can get information about what's been happening in the war."
Katara mulled it over, nodding her head slowly. "Somewhere with a stream or lake would be nice," she said smiling.
"I'm good with anything that gets me off this thing," Toph added sourly.
"Then we're decided," Sokka announced after Aang's hesitant nod of assent. "Looks like Sparky was good for something after all!"
Zuko narrowed his eyes at the water tribesman and Toph, who followed his statement with a guffaw.
"Whatever," Zuko said. "Just as long as we do something soon."
oooooo
To their delight, the next day found them near a suitable Earth Kingdom town. Katara groused about the lack of water, but she was as enthusiastic as anyone else about staying put for a while.
Camp was quickly put together and tasks delegated. By nightfall they had a sizable stack of wood, jars of water, and food purchased from the nearby town. Knowing they weren't going anywhere for a while put everyone's temper at ease.
The following morning dawned bright and early. Zuko quietly rose with the sun and prepared himself for a quiet argument with a sleepy Avatar before starting to train. To his surprise, Aang was already awake and stirring the coals of the fire from the night before.
"Morning," Zuko greeted, wiping sleep from his eyes.
"Good morning," Aang's smile had a slight hesitation to it this morning.
"Ready?"
"Ya, let's go."
The two of them stepped far enough away from the camp so that they would not be heard by the others and started their morning meditation.
After a few minutes, Zuko became distracted by shifting cloth.
"I can hear you fidgeting. Stop."
The noise ceased immediately, only to begin again a few minutes later.
"Aang," he warned.
The noise stopped again.
The third time, Zuko opened his eyes in defeat.
"Okay, no more meditation for today," he looked over at a guilty-faced Aang. "What's wrong?"
"Out of practice?" Aang tried.
"You weren't even this miserable meditating when we first started," he called his lie.
Aang gave a grimace. "Sorry, I'm distracted this morning."
"I noticed," Zuko said dryly.
"I'll try harder," Aang said, but the determination usually present in his voice was absent.
Zuko heaved a sigh and collapsed back on the ground, laying flat.
"Listen, Aang," he paused. "I'm not blunt like Toph. I haven't known you from the beginning like Katara and Sokka. And I'm not your companion in the same way Appa is . . . but I can tell when something is wrong. You learn a lot about someone by tracking them," he added with a wry smile.
Zuko let the silence grow. He wanted Aang to fill it.
"I don't know if I can do this."
Aang's tone took Zuko off guard. He wasn't sure he had ever heard the Avatar speak so despondently about bending.
"I don't know if I can firebend." Aang paused and looked around him. "Out of all the elements, it makes the least sense to me. It's harsh and destructive. It hurts people. I'll hurt people. I don't know if I can do it," he repeated.
Zuko supposed that recently, Aang had had too much time to think. They all had, but if this is what Aang had been thinking about . . . Zuko wished someone else was having this conversation with the Avatar.
He understood where Aang was coming from. The Fire Nation's history was full of war and political intrigue - much more than the other nations - and his nation currently at war with the rest of the world. Aang had seen enough of the Fire Nation's destruction to last a lifetime. But Zuko worried about Aang saying that he would hurt people. Yes, fire was dangerous, but in reality, it wasn't any more dangerous than water, air, or earth.
Zuko slowly pushed himself up. He held his hand out in front of himself and lit a small flame.
"Let me tell you something," he said. "In the Fire Nation, we burn the dead and spread their ashes out on the earth. At the palace, we have a special garden where the ashes of past Fire Lords are scattered." Zuko glanced over at Aang and held his gaze. "It is one of the most beautiful on the grounds. It reminds us that life can come from death."
Aang mulled over his words while Zuko continued.
"This is true in nature too - sometimes the only way for something to move forward is to rid itself of its past," he leaned down and quickly burnt a dying weed. "Uncle used to tell me that we use fire to protect people. That while it's the strongest offense, the Fire Nation has forgotten that it's also the strongest defense." He paused to emphasize his next point. "That is what firebending is about - protecting those who cannot protect themselves."