Heki: Teehee, I love to end chapters in Cliffy.

Shadow: This Chapter is dedicated to you, because you were the only person to go back and actually spend the time to review the previous chapters. I hope that you liked it!

ArrayePL: They didn't recognize him because they hadn't really seen him much (I mentioned it in a Previous AN.) In this story, Iroh has mainly been a face in the background.

Dark fire: Thank you! Feel free to review all of the other chapters, too. ^.^ Or not, your choice. ;}

Crazy Dyslectic Nerd: I hate my Dyslexia. I have to work really hard to make sure that my stories don't get published with mistakes. Worth it, though! I HATE Ozai! HATE! HATE! HATE!

Treena: I don't know if that was good, or bad, but, um, thanks?

Amy white spot: Thank you!

BANDON-MAKES-A-START

It was a flurry of motion after a brief stillness; Katara bent their tea into whips and Aang used air to knock the aged General to the ground.

"Stop!" Toph screamed, using her power to form earthen prisons around her friends.

"Toph," Katara cried out, "What do you think that you're doing? This man is a murderer!"

Iroh wheezed on the ground, fighting with his weakened lungs to drawl breath, "You would so easily forget your words, children."

"Grandpa," Toph said, righting a chair and helping the old man into it, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what they were doing."

"Toph!" Aang gasped at his friend, "What are you doing? He's going to-"

"He's going to what?" Toph snarled, tightening the restraints on her friends, "Kill us with tea? Bore us to death with proverbs?"

Aang opened and closed his mouth as he stared between Iroh and Toph, "He's a fire bender, Toph. He may look harmless, but he's evil!"

"And what of you, Young Avatar?" Iroh said softly, holding his aching side, "I warned you before now that you would find this information difficult to digest. You gave your word, did you not?"

"But that was before we-" Katara began heatedly.

"Before you knew who I was?" Iroh finished, making her look away. "Did you not say that you would accept help, no matter who it came from?"

"You're Fire Nation," Aang countered, "How are we expected to trust you?"

Iroh sighed, "What was it that sent you on this quest, young one?"

Aang frowned at the change of topic, "Avatar Roku told me to find his Great Grandson."

Iroh nodded, "I had thought so. Only the late Avatar could know who became his descendant. All other information was buried beneath the Fire Bending temples long ago."

"Then how did you know, Grandpa?" Toph asked, relaxing slightly now that things had calmed down.

"I began searching for the truth when I came into contact with the last of the Dragons." Iroh said, "Dragons, who had been the spirit guides of the greatest men, have been nearly lost to extinction. Only two remain, the only ones of their kind who have been hidden for the last hundred years by the truest believers." Sighing, Iroh bent down to pick up the shattered remains of his favorite cup, cradling it in his hands, "They are gentle creatures, despite their fierce appearance, and they impart the most treasured of all knowledge."

"What?" Aang asked, curious despite himself.

"When you have earned their trust, they allow you to travel through their minds and into the spirit world. It was there that I met Avatar Roku, Zuko's Great Grandfather. It was he who told me where to find the records, he who showed me a path to the happiness that had been denied me with the passing of my son."

Rubbing his eyes, Iroh placed his hand on Toph's shoulder, "It was the same message that he gave to you, I suppose."

Aang exchanged a glance with Katara, "What did he tell you?"

Iroh shrugged, "Simply that Zuko had a power that could not be matched by any other. He told me that the only way for the war to end was with the survival of my young nephew."

"So that's why you went with him?" Toph asked.

"No," Iroh said, affronted, "I went with my nephew because he had no one else." Sighing, Iroh told Toph to let the others go, which she did after giving them both stern looks, "Zuko is a kind boy. When my son died, Zuko would go beyond the duty of a family member to make sure that I was taken care of. He would come to my house every day, eat with me in the gardens." Closing his eyes, the sadness was written clearly on the man's face, "When I had no hope, it was my nephew's innocence that saved me from myself."

"What power did Roku tell you that he had?" Toph asked, righting the upturned table and chairs.

"He didn't." Iroh replied simply, "Zuko has always been very special, though. I had no trouble believing that he held some greatness that hadn't shone yet."

"But how could you trust that he ever would?" Katara asked, "If you haven't seen it yet, doesn't that mean that it might not be there?"

Iroh shook his head, "You have much to learn about my Zuko, Katara." Sighing, Iroh took a small picture from inside of his robes; depicted there was a boy of about seven and a much younger Iroh, "My nephew loves me, as I love him, but he has trouble trusting. He does not tell me of his strange powers because he fears that I would leave him; abandon him as so many other have."

Aang dropped into one of the chair, letting his muscles relax, though Katara remained in a defensive position, "Can you give us any hints about what Roku was referring to? You would know him best, being the person closest to him."

Iroh sighed, "I have trained my nephew since the time when he was a boy. Similarly, I have also taught Azula. Though the two of them are in different classes entirely, Azula a prodigy and Zuko slightly less skilled, one would be wrong in saying that it was Azula that held more potential."

Aang and Katara looked confusedly at him, "But if he's just a normal fire bender and Azula's a master, doesn't that mean that she had more potential?"

Iroh shook his head again, "You have it wrong, Young Avatar. Azula is a master, yes, but so is Zuko."

"But then why does everyone say that Zuko is weak in bending?" Katara asked, moving to her abandoned seat.

"Weak in comparison to his sister, maybe, but so much stronger than any other bender in his age range." Iroh smiled, "Zuko is fierce but he tends to let his emotions drive him. Not a bad thing, for a fire bender, but one that often damns him to defeat at the hands of those more thoughtful than he."

"So," Katara said condescendingly, "Zuko isn't as good as bending because he isn't smart?"

Iroh stood, hands balled into fists, "I will not sit here and listen to you criticize my nephew." And then he was headed toward the door, stomping his feet in aggravation.

"No!" Aang cried, placing his hand on the man's shoulder, "We need you to tell us more about Zuko. I'm sorry for what Katara said."

Katara snorted, but nodded her head, "I'm sorry I insulted his intelligence."

It was clear for her tone that she wasn't but Iroh sighed, sitting down again, though he gave Katara a chiding glare, "Zuko is very smart, but conflictions within him cause him to lose focus at times."

"What kind of conflictions?" Aang asked, thinking of the way that the different bending styles inside of him kept him on edge.

Iroh shook his head, "It is hard to say." Rubbing his side again Iroh looked at the ceiling, "When he was younger, his power would go out of control; if he tried to bend without concentrating, great plumes of flame would engulf the training centers. If he slept and had a nightmare, he would call up raging fire storms that would destroy everything within reach."

Aang frowned, "But I thought that you said that he wasn't that powerful."

Iroh nodded, "I said that he wasn't as skilled as Azula, which is true, but it is not because of a lack of power."

"What does that mean?" Toph asked, "How can he be powerful but not skilled?"

"Zuko has to fight to maintain his control." Iroh clarified, "Where Azula is allowed to unleash the full potential of her bending, Zuko constantly holds himself back."

"But why would he do that?" Katara said, trying hard to keep her voice neutral, "He doesn't seem like the type of person to hold back in a fight."

Aang gave Katara a warning glance, but Iroh waved him off, "I can understand animosity against my nephew. He has done many things in his quest to regain his birthright." Sighing, Iroh shook his head, "In all my years teaching, I have never found a student such as Zuko, who can create both billowing flames and the most miniscule sparks."

"Is that odd?" Aang asked, thinking of his one Fire Bending experience.

Iroh nodded, "Normally, when a child creates sparks, it means that their truest power lies in healing. When they create massive blazes, then they are most suited for battle."

Katara frowned, "Fire Benders have healing arts?"

Iroh laughed, "Of course, Young one." He said while patting his protruding stomach, "Much like the Water Benders' technique, Fire Benders manipulate the chi in a person's body."

"Is it the same principle, then?" Katara asked, "The wound disrupts the chi, and after clearing the path, healing becomes quicker?"

Iroh played with his goatee, "They are similar in some aspects, but much of Fire Bending is centered around the life force of the caster."

"What's that mean?" Toph asked, confusion making her face pinch.

"When a Fire Healer works on the wounded, they awaken the base instincts for survival that can be found in all people." Iroh explained, "Unlike Water Healing, where the chi is encouraged to flow, Fire Healing forces it to."

Katara nodded, thinking, "Does that make it faster, the healing?"

Iroh nodded, "It does, but it also makes it much more dangerous for both the Healer and the person being healed."

"Why's that?" Aang asked.

"Because, Aang," Katara answered, "The more of yourself that you put into healing someone, the more power it drains. And imagine how much pressure it would put on the patient, having so much of someone else's chi running through their body."

Iroh nodded, "One must have immense control over their bending to be able to heal this way."

Aang nodded finally understanding, "Air benders had a method similar to this, but I never had time to learn it."

Iroh sighed, "There is much that you need to learn, Young Avatar, much of which I think Roku means for Zuko to teach you."

"How will he be able to teach Aang?" Katara snorted, "If anything, Zuko has to learn how to Air-"

"No, Katara!" Aang shouted, causing his friend to clamp her mouth shut, if only too late.

"So it is true," Iroh sighed wearily, "You seek my nephew because he holds, not only the power of fire, but the other gifts as well."

Katara sputtered, but Aang simply nodded, seeing no need to hide what they already knew, "Avatar Roku told us that the Spirits made another Avatar, one that could not be corrupted." Rubbing his eyes, Aang ground his teeth, "Since I had been lost in the ice for so long, the Spirits had no choice but to break the cycle." Closing his eyes, Aang clenched his fists, "I understand why they did it, but I can't condone their choice."

Iroh's eyes snapped liquid fire, but he said nothing, merely stood and walked into an adjacent room, returning minutes later with a small box. "In here, Young Avatar," He said in a tight voice, "You will see why it is that the Spirits choose Zuko." Melting the padlock with his hand, Iroh opened the lid, showing the group various trinkets tucked between cloth and papers.

Aang and Katara exchanged frowns, but Toph smiled, "Is that a Bing Sack?" She asked, picking up a tiny doll from the very corner, where it had been stashed underneath a tin can.

Iroh smiled, "That was a gift. Zuko saved a kitten from being trampled under an ostrich horse." Grinning broadly, Iroh took the doll form Toph's hands, "Zuko had tried to flee before anyone noticed his involvement, but a young girl had proclaimed him her hero." With an impish light in his eyes, Iroh continued, "Zuko was, of course, mortified, both with the attention and the proclamations of love that the girl gave to him, but he couldn't run away with so many people watching him." Running his fingers through the doll's hair, Iroh sighed, "I had thought that he had thrown this away as soon as he had managed to get out of eye-sight." Iroh placed it gently on the table.

"What's that?" Aang asked, pointing to a small metal set of keys.

Iroh shrugged, "I do not know what is in this box. Zuko has kept it with him since we began our journey." Sighing, Iroh removed a silken sash from the very top of the small pile, "This was his mother's. One of the few things that Ozai didn't destroy after she left." Placing it on the table, he started to pull out other things, either smiling or frowning at them as he arranged them on the table.

By the time the box was empty, the table was only half covered in a random assortment of things. Aang frowned as he took in one specific object, "A Kuna?" Reaching forward, his hand brushed the small medallion and he smiled, familiarity seeping into him.

Iroh nodded, "I believe that that is one of the relics that Zuko found on his search for you." Iroh scratched his chin as he looked at it, "I had no idea why he was fond of it when he had first taken it into his possession, but now. . . "

"What?" Toph asked, curious as to what the strange medallion meant.

"It's Avatar Roku's." Aang said softly, remembering the statue that they had seen in the Air Temple. "This represents the Fire part of the Avatar Cycle."

Iroh nodded, "Zuko found that in the Northern Air Temple. It was in a massive room with many other artifacts."

"Wait," Katara gasped, "You went to the Northern Temple? Why didn't they tell us that when we saw them?"

Iroh shrugged, "It was at Zuko's request that we not alert the inhabitants of the temple to our presence. My Nephew, two soldiers, and I went into that place looking for the Avatar. We talked to the Mechanist, and he told us that he had not heard of the Real Avatar, so we left." Iroh shrugged again, "Though some of the men wanted to take the Mechanist with us, Zuko wouldn't allow it."

"Why?" Toph asked frowning.

"He did not want to disrupt the lives there. We had our answers. The Mechanist was gracious enough to give us three days of rations, along with a couple of the gliders that the children played with." Iroh nodded his head with a smile, "Zuko was entranced by that thing. He would go up impossibly high and then plummet down." Shaking his head, Iroh grinned, "It scared me half to death when he did it, but the joy in his eyes kept me silent."

"How long did you stay there?" Aang asked, "Didn't anyone wonder why you were there?"

Iroh nodded, "We were there for three days, time spent learning about the lives of the inhabitants. We told them that we were refugees looking for traces of the Avatar." Iroh motioned to their sparse surroundings, "Not entirely untrue, but the deception was necessary."

Katara starred at him open mouthed, "How did no one notice that you were fire Nation?"

"How would they know?" Toph asked, "Most people now-a-days don't really know much about Fire Nation people."

Iroh nodded, "And what they do know is misleading. I have heard more often than not that Fire Nationals have tan skin and Brown eyes" Here he motioned to his own pale skin and Amber eyes, "Or that our hair is red," he pointed to his top knot.

Katara looked unsettled; she hadn't thought about how ordinary Fire Nation people looked. How they could so easily blend in with the normal people.

"And since they're so pale," Toph said, "They can be over looked in a group of Earth Kingdom citizens."

Aang shook his head, "We're getting off topic again," He sighed, "We need to get to Zuko and try to convince him to help us stop the Fire Nation."

Iroh nodded, "It will be hard, getting my stubborn nephew to work with you."

"So we might as well get on it," Toph said, standing, "Can you take us to him, grandpa?"

Iroh shook his head, "I cannot do that, Young One."

"But-!" Aang started, only to have Iroh raise one hand in the air.

"When you first came here, I left to the place where I had been staying with my nephew. I packed his things and asked that a friend of ours take him to a safe place; somewhere I didn't know about." Iroh shrugged.

"Then can't you just ask this friend where he is?" Katara said.

"I cannot." Iroh sighed, "I told them to hide. To go to somewhere safe form any information that I could give."

"We said that we wouldn't hurt him!" Aang protested, "You didn't need to move him!"

"You said that you would accept his help, yes," Iroh said levelly, "and then you attacked me at first opportunity." Iroh waved away their feeble protests, "Whatever your reasons, the safety of my nephew means more to me that the future of any nation."

"Even your own?" Katara asked heatedly.

"Especially my own," Iroh growled out, "It was our nation, if you recall, that banished Zuko. That forced him to lead this kind of life."

Aang shook his head, worry making his face tight, "What are we going to do, then? We need Zuko, and if was can't find him in time, all is lost."

Iroh sighed, "We will have to look for him, of course. Ba sing Sei is a large city, though."

Toph cringed, "It will take us weeks to find him. Even if it were more than just to four of us."

"I have many contacts in this city. I will ask them to look for any information about a boy matching Zuko's description. I can only hope that he will remain where I have him, and not come looking for me."

"Why's that?" Toph asked, "Wouldn't that make things easier for us?"

"My nephew is hurt gravely." Iroh said wearily, "Several nights ago he was attacked and seriously injured."

Horror dawned on Toph's face, "Oh, spirits," She gasped, "I know how Zuko got hurt, Grandpa."

"You do?" Iroh inquired, "Zuko has not been awake long enough to tell me who it was that attacked him."

Toph looked down, biting his lip, "I- I'm the one that did it, Grandpa." She whispered, "He was outside of our house, and I thought that he was going to try to hurt us. I couldn't- you must understand-"

"I understand, little one," Iroh sighed, "Zuko told me that the spotted your friend and had followed him, but that was all I could get on the matter."

"I-is he really hurt?" Toph asked anxiously.

Iroh seemed to be picking his words carefully, "Several of his ribs were shattered by the impact, and one of his arms was dislocated, but it was the concussion that has caused the most difficulty."

"Oh, Spirits," Toph moaned, "I almost killed someone."

"He will heal," Iroh said consolingly, "But you must learn to be less forceful with your strikes. Had Zuko not been able to find help, he would have died."

Toph turned green, "I didn't mean to really hurt him; I was just scared."

Iroh nodded, "And he will forgive you, I think. It is one of the things that you will learn to admire about Zuko. He can forgive the greatest infractions, even though he is fond of using them to make his points." Sighing, Iroh stood, "I must be going. I have many things to do before the day is out, and I still have to be here come morning to open my shop."

"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that," Aang said, his voice unusually hard, "Now that we know that you're a Fire Nation soldier, we can't allow you to run through Ba Sing Sei free."

Though Toph gasped and tried to stop it, Aang used his air bending to send the aged general crashing against the wall, where he collapsed unconscious. Little did they know that someone was watching all of this, someone who could change the fate of the war itself.

As that person slunk away, crawling over roof tops silent as the night, a choice was being made that would have more repercussions than anyone could imagine.

BANDON-MAKES-AN-END

In the next chapter: Sokka makes friends, Zuko finds a family, and Lynn creates mischief!