Hey, guys! I'm so, incredibly sorry for not posting last week! Homework caught up with me, and writer's block hit. Here's my next chapter, finally finished. It's pretty long, and I added it to make the story a little longer, and to count down to...Well, I better not tell you.

This story's dedications go to:

Writing for my Cat (HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Here's your present!) & Stargirlrox-hearts-Avatar

Also, if you have any suggestions, want me to add something, anything, please PM me. R&R! -Katybug

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Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. (Stupid Mike and Bryan. They won't let fans do anything...)

Chapter Seven: Three Days

Day One - Strange Behavior

Zuko's amber eyes slowly opened, letting sunlight in. He quickly shut them again, not wanting to get up after his long night. The dream flashed back in his mind. Azula's face was imprinted in his head, and so was Liz's. The way her arms were still beside her, while her long hair everywhere around her.

Sleep came back to him after relaxing a bit, feeling the morning's heat on his pale skin. Another dream flooded his mind once more, but it was a pleasant one this time. He was positioned in a beautiful field of grass, and he was wearing his old Fire Nation robes. Feeling his eye, he was surprised to find his scar was gone. "What..." he asked himself.

"Zuko..." said a voice in the distance. He turned around and saw a dark figure across the field of tall, soft grass. "Zuko..."

Recognizing the voice, he began to run towards the person covered in Fire Nation red. "Zuko..." it whispered again.

His eyes began to overflow with tears. "Mother!" he shouted. His arms flung open as Ursa became clearer, and he could see his gorgeous mother, her arms open as well. "Mother!"

"Zuko!" Suddenly, Zuko was being shaken. His eyes fluttered open in shock. He looked up to see Aang leaning over him, grey eyes wide. "Zuko! Finally, you're awake! Breakfast is ready." Zuko furrowed his brow, upset that it had all been a dream. "Get up." He watched Aang walk away, propped up on one arm. He took a deep breath and hesitantly stood up and followed the Avatar.

He found everyone sitting around the fire pit, eating more fruit. Glancing around the circle, his hopes failed. "Is Liz still asleep?" he asked in a tired voice.

Katara cocked her head to one side and said, "I'm afraid not. I checked on her this morning, and her burn hasn't improved much, unfortunately." He felt a blow to his chest, but nothing had hit him.

Zuko sat down next to Sokka, who was staring at the fruit that lay in his cupped hands. "Why aren't you eating?" Zuko asked him, surprised. Sokka didn't answer. A cold look could be seen on his face. It looked...unnatural, at least from Zuko's point of view. Aang passed the firebender a papaya, and he took a juicy bite of the side of it. He rubbed his arm across his mouth where juice was running down his chin.

"How did you sleep last night, Zuko?" Aang asked in his normal, innocent voice.

Zuko hesitated. "Uh...I couldn't sleep very...I had a nightmare, and I woke up." He wanted to leave it at that, but The Duke spoke up.

"What was it about?" the little one asked, rubbing his cheeks where juice was splattered all over.

"It was nothing. I can't even remember it," he lied, trying to end the conversation.

"I heard you talking in your sleep," Katara admitted, teasing him. "You kept rambling on about Azula, fire, and I think I even heard Liz's name." Zuko blushed bright red. "I remember you saying, 'I'm coming' and 'I'll save her', or something like that."

The scarred boy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it as Aang saved him. "Sokka had a bad dream last night, too," he said in a mocking voice. "It was about all the meat in the world disappearing." Everyone giggled, and Sokka narrowed his eyes, which were still fixed on his breakfast. He put his food down on the floor in front of him, and stood up, storming off to the balcony near them. "What did I say?" Aang asked. Katara shrugged her shoulders, and everyone continued to eat.

Toph, who had been listening carefully to the conversation, took a big bite of a mango, wiped her mouth and chin, and stood up. She bent her hands and placed them on her back, then leaned backwards, stretching. "I'm gonna go check on Snoozles, see what his problem is and stuff," she announced. She cracked her knuckles and slowly marched to the balcony Sokka had gone to. She could feel tension in his nerves.

"What do you need, Toph?" Sokka asked in a deep voice, which was strange for him.

"What's your deal?" Toph demanded, slamming a foot on the ground, causing a pillar to shoot up in front of her. Sokka didn't turn around to face her. "You didn't touch your breakfast this morning, and I can tell you're feel really down! Now, tell me what's going on, or I'll pound it out of you!" Sokka rolled his eyes, annoyed be her aggressiveness.

"It's nothing Toph," he tried to convince her, turning to see if she'd believe it.

"Don't lie to me, Whiney!" she growled. She walked a few steps closer to him until she was directly in front of his face.

Sokka scrunched his nose, wishing Toph had taken a bath in the past week, or at least had brushed her teeth. He sighed. "I don't want to talk about it, Toph," he whispered, hoping none of the others were listening. "It's complicated." He backed up, and walked away, leaving Toph alone on the balcony. The slight breeze kissed her cheek, and she sighed, letting off some of the steam inside of her.

- - -

After breakfast, Katara got up and walked to Sokka's sleeping bag, where Liz lay sleeping, still unconscious. She kneeled down next to her and brought her hands to the canteen of water that she kept beside the wounded girl. Taking a long breath, feeling the air rush in and out of her and shaking as the cool breeze tickled her throat, she curled her hand, lifting the water up once more. Katara dragged the clear wet blobs to Liz's burns that stretched across her leg.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Katara turned to look up at a dark figure above her, creating a shadow that covered her body. "What's wrong, Zuko?" she asked in quiet voice, still uncomfortable with the fact that Zuko was living with them.

The messy-haired boy stood, not answering, staring at the burn on Liz's leg. It wasn't bad enough to leave a scar, but it was terrible to look at. A dark, rust-colored patch was imprinted on her left leg, and a smaller burn was set on the right. It covered most of her lower leg, and her baggy pants had been burned into long shorts. A flashback played in his mind, showing the fire hit her leg. How she had grabbed her knee and fell into the sand...

"Zuko?" Katara asked, narrowing her eyebrows in confusion, interrupting his thoughts. "Zuko, is something wrong?"

He shook his head, making his moppy hair swish back and forth. "No," he said in his raspy voice. "I was just checking on you." Katara raised an eyebrow, but, as Zuko left, she shrugged and continued with the healing session.

Day Two - Help Wanted

The next day at sunrise, Zuko awoke early, sweating because of another dream. This one continued the dream of his mother that Aang interrupted the day before. His was standing in the green field once again, and saw his mother, this time dressed in golden robes, with patterns of lilies threaded in bright silk. He smiled as Ursa'a long hair flew in the breeze. He began to run to her once more, his arms open wide. Her smile was bigger than ever.

"Mother!" Zuko shouted gleefully. He finally reached her, keeping her in a loving embrace. "Mother, I've missed you..." he whispered.

"I've missed you, too, Zuko" came his mother's response. As the hug ended, and warm tears were dried from both of their cheeks, Zuko stood back to look at his beautiful mother. Unfortunately, when his eyes caught glimpse of his brutal reality, it turned out he was hugging Ozai, his father. Blackness dripped around them, finally engulfing his whole surroundings, as his father's evil chuckles filled his ears. It was at this painful moment, he awoke.

- - -

He couldn't go back to sleep. The dreadful sun kept shining in his eyes, keeping him up. Zuko groaned, still tired from his nightmare. He stood up, stretched, then decided to take a walk and clear his head. With a crick in his neck, he paced to a nearby balcony.

As he arrived, he noticed someone else had deiced to take a walk as well. The prince walked closer to the edge and sat down next to Aang.

Apparently, the young Avatar had been meditating when Zuko found him. Aang opened an eye to see who interrupted his thoughts. When he saw that it was Zuko, he relaxed and stopped meditating, wanting to at least try to engage Zuko in conversation. "Morning," Aang said in a peppy voice.

"...Morning," Zuko replied.

"Come to watch the sunrise?" Aang asked, resting his hands in his lap.

Zuko glanced at Aang from the corners of his eyes. He let out a deep breath and said, "Yeah." The bright sun already had risen, but there was still colorful rays of light around it, signifying the beginning of a new day. The orange sky was filled with purple and gold, as well as red. The great ball of heat that was in the middle of it all looked stunning. The sun's glare was intense, but neither boy could look away from it, admiring the beauty of it all. Especially Aang.

"It's really nice, isn't it?" Aang asked with a grin on his face, each corner of his mouth reaching a grey eye.

Zuko didn't respond. He hadn't seen a sunrise like this in a while. He'd almost forgotten how beautiful it could be.

- - -

That evening, as everyone gathered around the fire, Sokka was acting strange again.

"Sokka, are you gonna eat your leechy nuts?" The Duke asked in what seemed like a squeek.

The Water Tribe boy held four leechy nuts in his palm, rolling them around like marbles. Hearing The Duke's voice, he perked up and asked, "What? What did you say, Duke?"

The Duke opened his mouth to correct him, but held his tongue. "I...I asked if you were gonna eat your leechy nuts."

Sokka sniffed. "Oh. Okay, here, you can have them." The Duke held out his tiny hand, and Sokka dropped the nuts inside of it. The young boy quickly gobbled them up, smacking as he did so. Sokka stood up, careful of the flames he was close to, and turned to Zuko, who was sitting next to Katara. "Zuko, can I talk to you for a second?" The firebender nodded and stood, walking with Sokka outside of the fire ring and into the darkness of night.

While the two boys were outside, Aang asked Katara, "How was Liz doing today?" He popped a leechy nut in his mouth.

"Well, she was actually looking better today. Her burn's gonna leave a mark for a while, but the skin is healing. She might wake up pretty soon, but I'm still not sure..." Her voice trailed off.

"That's the longest I've ever seen any sleep because of an injury, and just think about how many guys I've knocked out," Toph commented, picking her dirty toes by the fire. "Well, not really. Twinletoes slept for way longer when he got hit. I'd forgotten to count that." Katara giggled slightly, but Aang didn't say anything.

Haru decided to change the subject. "Aang, how have your firebending lessons been going?"

Aang's eyes widened, surprised. "Oh man! I forgot all about that! I guess Zuko will start up again tomorrow. I hope two days off schedule won't make Sokka angry. You know how he is." Everyone laughed, and the mood was lifted. The crackle of the fire now sounded lighter, and not as harsh. Silence overcame the group, as they watched the flames grow and darken, grow and darken, grow and darken...

After a few minutes, Sokka and Zuko returned to the rest of the kids. They sat down, and everyone seemed to notice that Sokka had a hard expression on his face. A determined expression.

Day Three -Croaks of the Badgerfrog

Katara awoke the next day, feeling better. She'd gotten over the trauma of two days ago, and was convinced Liz would recover once she gained consciousness. The girl sat up in her sleeping bag and stretched her arms reaching for the ceiling above her and bent her fingers back and forth, flexing her most-used weapons. She bent her back, releasing knots that built up during the night. The sunlight from outside looked welcoming, and the balconies around her looked like nice spots to do a little yoga. Katara stood up and headed for Liz for her morning healing session.

Liz was lying peacefully, a slight smile on her face. Katara grinned, knowing that was a sign of recovery. Liz was going to be fine. She was sure of it. As she neared the sleeping girl, she noticed something bundled up on her side. Looking closer, Katara saw it was Momo, curled up next to Liz, sleeping like a log. Katara laughed to herself, but tried to be quiet.

She kneeled down and pulled back the cover to examine the burn. It was noticeable, but barely. It looked brown now, a large bruise. She figured Liz was sleeping off the shock, which was common. Glancing at her patient once more, something caught her eye. Liz wasn't breathing.

Katara gasped. "Oh no..." she whispered. Katara gently picked up Liz's wrist. Her chest wasn't moving, and her pulse was slow. "Oh no..." A trickle of sweat could be seen on Liz's forehead, and Katara wiped it away with her sleeve. Her forehead wasn't warm, so there wasn't a fever, but a breath still never escaped her lips.

Suddenly, a loud roaring sound came from Liz's mouth. A ringing began bashing in Katara's ears, and she closed her eyes to try and block out the noise, cringing as she did so. "What in the world...?" Katara wondered. As she opened her eyes, she saw Liz was breathing again. "W...Was that a snore?" Katara asked herself. She let it go and decided to begin the healing session as she did every morning.

- - -

Katara found Aang looking at a piece of paper grasped in his hands. "What's that?" she asked, walking towards him.

"It's a note from Zuko and Sokka. It says they went on a fishing trip," Aang replied.

"Anything else?"

"Uh, yes. It says, 'Aang, do ten hot squats every time you hear a badgerfrog croak.'" He let out a groan. "Nobody else has homework..." A croak came from the distance. Aang rolled his eyes and began to train as Zuko instructed. "One hot squat, two hot squats..."