Aang gripped the reigns tight as he steered Appa around the palace at the last minute. He could practically see Roku shaking his head at him. "I know, I know, I'm avoiding again." He sighed in frustration. "It's not easy getting over shame you know. And that's not counting the fact that the Fire Nation is out for my blood with much more intensity this time as opposed to when I first woke up."
He sensed an object coming and instinctively made an air sphere around him and his bison. Not wanting to be spotted, Aang had to land Appa and infiltrate the palace. "Stay here until I get back Appa." He pulled the grass over his bison so he could blend in with his surroundings. He opened his glider and with a quick scan around the premises, he deemed it was safe enough to walk through enemy's territory. Aang made sure that all of his senses were on high alert as he trudged along the side of the palace.
"What am I doing? I have to get inside the palace."
He spun whilst jumping from window to roof scanning the windows to see if they were occupied in which some of them were. He saw a window that was empty and stealthily slid through only to run into the very person that he was trying his best to avoid.
"Yikes," he murmured as he stood like a deer in the headlights.
Zuko facepalmed and sighed before hurrying Aang to his room before his servants could come. He closed the door behind him and faced him with irritation and a glint of fear in his eyes.
"Are you seriously trying to get yourself killed?" he whispered harshly.
"Not necessarily," Aang replied rolling his eyes to the top left corner.
"Your highness," a masculine voice called from a distance.
Zuko swiftly shoved Aang under his bed as soon as the footsteps neared his door.
"Come in."
"I'm sorry but who were you just talking to?"
Zuko pressed his palms together as he tilted them down and in front of him. "That is none of your concern. What do you need?"
"We're afraid that she isn't anywhere in the Fire Nation your highness. We've literally searched everywhere that we could think of over the past few days."
Zuko gave a heavy sigh. "Thanks for trying. You are dismissed."
Aang slid out from under the bed once the door was closed and didn't speak until he was sure that they were far enough so they wouldn't hear his voice at normal volume.
"If she's not in the Fire Nation, did she go to the Earth Kingdom?"
"Even if she was, when I was living up there as a refugee, I didn't see her anywhere," Zuko replied bitterly.
Aang bit back a stinging retort at Zuko. He may be a patient monk, but Zuko's attitude was really starting to test it. He was almost tempted to leave him to his own devices and find Ursa by himself. The nomad was already haunted by the image of Ozai's bleeding body but coupled with the fact that Zuko both told him to kill him then had the gall to get angry with him left a bitter taste in his mouth. Another knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, he turned to the bed to hide but before he could do so he heard his name.
"Aang?"
He looked back and saw Iroh and Katara entering the room. Zuko closed the door and broodingly stood off to the side.
"I never thought I'd see you over here again," Katara noted.
Aang shushed her. "That's because I'm not supposed to be here."
"I can see you two are at least on speaking terms," Iroh noted.
Aang rubbed his arm uncomfortably. "Uh, I, um can't be too sure of that Iroh."
"You can say that again," Zuko agreed as he walked out of the room.
Aang turned to Iroh. "Is Ursa in the Earth Kingdom?"
"I don't remember seeing her during our stay at the Earth Kingdom," Iroh replied scratching his beard. "But you can go check and see for yourself."
Aang looked at the door where Zuko went through then at Katara. "I think I need to do this alone."
Katara smiled and nodded in understanding. Taking a deep breath Aang followed Zuko to the balcony and spoke.
"Zuko?"
Zuko swiveled his head in his direction so fast that it caught Aang off guard. Zuko turned his head back but nodded curtly to indicate that he was listening.
"I want you to come with me to the Earth Kingdom so we can cover more ground. Tomorrow morning I'm leaving on Appa."
Zuko nodded but still refused to look at him. Aang backed off as fast as he could.
"Have you talked to him?" Katara asked.
"He responded with his body but he's still too angry with me to speak," Aang replied. "I guess three days wasn't enough time for either of us."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"I can wipe the floor with him if he attacks me Katara. But do you think you can convince him to come with me tomorrow? I think he'll be more inclined to talk to you and Sokka rather than me."
"I'll see what I can do."
Aang went into his room sneaking past any guards that might be down the hallway. "Might need to block the door so I won't get roasted in my sleep."
"Zuko?" Katara opened the door.
"Yes Katara, I've already agreed to go with Aang," Zuko replied before she could finish her sentence. "Do me a favor and go in the room with him so you can guard it."
"Will do."
In the room Aang was meditating to reach the spirit world so he could talk to his past lives again, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't focus on contacting any of them. "Ugh, if you didn't force me to kill Ozai then we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place!" He suddenly felt arms wrap around him and flicked his eyes to the side. Katara was squeezing him in an attempt to calm him down. He saw that in the midst of his frustration his tattoos were flickering on and off. "Thanks, Katara." He forced himself to keep the winds at bay and turn the avatar state off.
"Is everything alright in here?" Sokka asked as he and Toph burst through the door.
"He nearly entered the avatar state in a rage," Katara replied as she released him.
Aang looked down to avoid eye contact as he stood next to Katara.
"How hard can it be to look for his mother?" Sokka asked.
"For starters, the place is crawling with firebenders who want my head for a trophy," Aang replied with a hint of bitterness. "So, I can't really move around the palace like that because of the guards here. Then I don't know what his mother looks like and I can't rely on my past memories because Roku never saw his granddaughter before."
"So why don't you let Zuko take Appa so he can help with the search?" Toph asked.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Aang and Katara said in unison.
"Why not?"
"I'll show you later, but right now I need to figure out where Ursa is. Or better yet figure out what she looks like first."
"Okay but please control the avatar state before you get killed," Sokka told him.
"You really expect him to control the avatar state when their friendship is strained?" Toph asked with an edge of sarcasm.
"Not unless he wants to be alive."
"But seriously Aang," Toph said focusing on him. "Your best option is to take Zuko with you. He knows what his mother looks like and from what I heard from that brief moment you two had together he doesn't want you to get killed."
"Kind of hard to tell when he's being harsh towards me," Aang replied sarcastically. "But taking Zuko with me is not on my list. We're not on speaking terms and what would happen if we don't find his mother soon enough?"
After a moment of silence Katara spoke.
"So why would you ask him to come if you're just going to avoid him?"
"He knows what her face looks like. But the more I come around the less he's speaking to me. If anything he's getting harsher towards me."
"He said that he already agreed to go with you."
"Just because he agreed to go doesn't mean that he's going to be friendly towards me."
"If you would stop cutting corners and just talk to him you would find his mother faster," Toph explained. "I'm sure you're tired of walking on eggshells when your near Sparky. Yes, he's still angry with you but he also doesn't want you to get killed. How many times have he protected you when you came to the Fire Nation?"
Aang's temper rose a bit as he spoke once more. "Let me ask you again: if I take Zuko with me what would happen if we don't find his mother?"
Sokka paced back and forth as the gears started turning. "If you ask me there's only two places where she can go: the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation."
"I know that but the places and population are so vast that there's no way I can pick out one individual out of thousands."
"When we were in the Earth Kingdom she wasn't in the palace and we already know that she's not in the Fire Nation palace."
"Sokka, that still leaves the villages and the wealthy which is still a lot of people."
"So just go search the villages and wealthy places. If she's the Firelord's mother then she'll be in the palace but if she wants a quiet life then she'll be in a village somewhere."
Aang interlocked his fingers. "So how can I identify her when I don't know what she looks like?"
"You're best option is to take Zuko with you Aang. Even if me, Katara, and Toph come with you we don't know what she looks like either so it's not going to do you both no good."
Aang looked down then gazed at the window. Appa was busy munching on grass while Momo was sitting on his head eating a peach.
"If he isn't on Appa by the time I get up I'm leaving, with or without him," Aang snapped walking away.