Aang saw the machine and his heart almost stopped.

They were en route to Ba Sing Se. He was flying his glider, tired of sitting around on Appa all day trying to think of new things to talk about. Scouting had just been an excuse to leave until he'd looked off into the distance and seen an advancing cloud of dust.

He'd suspected what it was right away, but had flown in closer just to make sure. His first instinct was right: it was Azula's train/bulldozer/Avatar-chasing-thingy.

'How did she find us?' he thought as he sped back to Appa, yelling for Sokka to wake up.

"Aang, what's wrong?" asked Katara, slackening her grip on Appa's reins to turn around.

"It's those crazy Fire Nation girls. Their big train is behind us again." There was a collective groan as the implications sank in, then everyone began to talk at once.

"And you had to wake me! When am I going to sleep now?"

"How long can Appa stay in the air?"

"Ugh, I don't want to be blind all day! How did they find us again?"

"Uh, guys? Guys. GUYS!" Aang had to shout to be heard. "I know that we all have questions, but we're not going to solve anything if we sit around arguing."

"Aang is right. Now, we have to figure out how they're tracking us and lose them somehow. Appa isn't shedding, and we're not destroying any branches. Sokka, do you see anything?" Her brother shook his head in reply. "Then let's fly down so Toph can check the ground." They swerved to the left in search of a clearing.

"Sorry, but there's nothing here," Toph said ten minutes later. "No tracks, no trails, nothing!" She kicked the ground in frustration, causing a rock to fly up and almost hit Sokka. Ignoring the ensuing protests, she called up to Aang. "Hey, Twinkletoes, see anything?"

The glider was landed, closed, and stored in a single, fluid motion. "Yes, but not what you'd think." The airbender had an odd expression on his face. "We're not leaving a trail."

"Well, what is it? Spit it out, Twinkletoes."

"I… They didn't follow us this way." At this, Sokka pushed forward.

"So? They'll catch on sooner or later."

"They turned right about a minute ago. We went left."

"So? Maybe they're trying to trick us or something! You know how sneaky they are!"

"No, I don't think that's it. I think they're following someone else." Suddenly, his glider opened. "And I'm going to find out who."

"Wait, Aang, we don't even know who they're following, or if they're going to come back later, or if it's a trap, or-"

"I'll be fine. You guys ride ahead. I'll catch up."

"No," Katara declared. "If you're going, then we're coming with you."

"Great, so we're all gonna get captured," groaned Sokka. "Fine, let's do it the crazy way. Come on, Momo."

…

They flew at an angle to cut off the machine, then went ahead of it, close to the ground, to look for people. It was about twenty minutes before they heard familiar voices.

"Come on! Keep running! She's right behind us!"

"I'm running… as fast… as I can… Zuko! I'm not… a young man… anymore."

"Just drop the tea set! I'll buy you a new one when we get there!"

"That won't… stop her! And I'll lose… a… fine set."

The argument continued as they approached. The sight that met them was little short of a shock.

They had never seen General Iroh worried, much less frantic. Now, however, he was hurriedly dashing through the forest, pushing branches out of his way with one hand and holding his pack over his shoulder with the other. Zuko was ahead of him, but only barely, carrying a satchel and trying not to stumble over tree roots. Despite his evident haste and the chatter of his nephew, Iroh heard the Gaang approach.

He turned around and almost dropped his pack in surprise. "Hello," he said, smiling.

"Uncle, who are you talking to? Is that Azula?" Zuko raced back to his uncle, arms raised in a fighting stance. But even a non-firebender could see that his stance was sloppy, his arms were shaking, and he was swaying. He dropped it when he saw Aang. "What do you want?"

"We were wondering who they were chasing."

"Us." Iroh stopped smiling as he spoke, and Aang realized that he was haggard and dirty. "They've been following us for the past eight days. We're hoping to lose them in Ba Sing Se."

"Uncle, we don't have time for this! Let's go!" Iroh's only response to the outburst was to raise his hand. Glaring, Zuko fell silent.

"Can we do anything to help?" Aang may not have cared for Zuko much, but Iroh was practically one of them, and he'd helped a lot the last time they'd seen Azula.

"Actually, yes." He made a sweeping bow. "Would you and your friends consider giving my nephew and myself a ride? I am aware that it is an imposition, but-"

"Are you out of your mind?" Zuko and Sokka glared at each other, irritated at being in agreement. After a brief contest of wills, Sokka continued the argument. "They're our sworn enemies! Remember all the times they've tried to kill us? No, no way, we are not-"

"Will you shut up?" snapped Toph. She looked at Aang. "Whatever you wanna do is fine by me."

"Katara?"

She looked at the disheveled firebenders and shrugged. "Alright, Aang. If you're sure about this."

He nodded and paused to think it over, then turned back to Iroh. "We would be honored to take you to Ba Sing Se," he said, making a low bow. "Let's get going."

"Thank you. Zuko…" He looked sternly at his nephew, making his intention clear. For his part, Zuko was shocked and more than a little dazed.

"But… enemies… avatar… we can't…" He trailed off into a confused silence, then forced himself out of it. "No! We can't-"

"We can't flee for much longer."

He looked like he was going to breathe fire, but a rumble not-so-far in the distance preempted any response he might have made. Instead, he simply nodded and followed his uncle to the bison.

"Oo-kaay. So, um, do you need any-"

"We can get up on our own!" snapped the prince. Thirty seconds of weak scrambling and clawing later, Aang boosted him with a little airbending and did the same for Iroh.

"Our apologies. We haven't slept since Azula began following us."

"No problem. How about you get some rest while we lose them?" He turned to the reins in his hands. "Appa, yip yip!"

As the bison rose into the air, Zuko's eyes began to droop. "Get some rest," whispered Iroh. He smiled and patted his nephew's shoulder. "We can sleep here." He then leaned back against the edge of Appa's saddle and pulled his straw hat over his eyes. Zuko thought of arguing with him, but decided that it wouldn't be worth it. It was surprisingly easy to drift off, holding his pack as if it was a teddy bear.