A couple of hours later, they spotted a small clearing and headed for it. Aang leapt off of Appa the moment they landed, eager to try the new game. Katara, Toph, and Sokka soon followed him. Sokka paused after running about ten feet and turned back to ask, "Do you want to play?"

Zuko looked up to give the non-bender a look of scorn, only to realize that he wasn't the subject of the inquiry. His uncle laughed.

"Perhaps later. I am still very tired, and would like to get some rest." Sokka nodded and ran off to join the others.

Zuko huffed resentfully and began to gather wood for a small fire. His uncle was starting to get on his nerves. Didn't he know that they were the enemy? He looked up to see a smirk on the older man's face.

"What?!" he snapped, almost dropping the wood on his foot in his haste.

"You know, they probably wouldn't mind if you went to join them. And you could use the exercise." He chuckled. "Actually, so could I."

"If I want exercise, I'll practice my bending."

"In the middle of the forest? That would be dangerous."

"So? Maybe I don't need exercise. I certainly don't need to play some game."

"Why not? It looks like fun."

"What is wrong with you? They're our enemies! The avatar and his friends! We shouldn't be sitting around playing games with them when we're supposed to capture them!" There was a brief silence. Zuko was about to apologize when his uncle spoke.

"Do you prefer them, or Azula?"

Wordlessly, Zuko finished building the pile of wood and brush. He paced for a moment, then spun around and lit the fire, letting out a muffled "ha!" Iroh's only response was to get his tea set.

…

A few hours later, Iroh was asleep. Zuko sat across the fire, nursing his stone cold cup of tea. It was beginning to get dark.

"Hey!" Zuko twitched at the sound of the avatar's voice, but didn't turn around. "He-ey! Iroh!" He was running closer to the fire.

"My uncle is asleep." Aang stopped dead when the prince spoke. "Don't wake him."

"Oh, um, okay." He rubbed his head nervously. "Say… could you help us with something?"

"What?" There was something rude and vaguely threatening in his tone that made Aang flinch, but the airbender ploughed ahead.

"Well, you see, that game we figured out is really fun, only it's kind of dark, and we can't see. None of us is really tired, but someone might get hurt if we keep playing like this, so-"

"Fine."

"Really?" Zuko's only response was to glare at him. "Right, I'll just… I'll just tell the others."

Zuko downed the rest of his cold tea, making a face, then slowly got up and followed the avatar.

…

Iroh was awoken by the feeling of heat on his face. He frowned and sat up. He did a slight double-take when he realized that the figure sitting beside him was not Zuko, but Katara. The heat suddenly became worrisome as he looked anxiously for its source. So, my nephew has disregarded my warning about firebending. I hope that he at least considered- well, that is something you don't see every day. He sat up and reheated the fire. He put the teakettle back on, but not before shifting his position so that he could better see his nephew and the Fire Nation's greatest enemies kicking a ball in the light of a circle of torches.