A. N. : Shout out to past-me, who wrote down this chapter in advance and allowed me to post this through my unending tiredness. I might not have said it earlier, but about 5-6 of the latest chapters were written much in advance in my notebook, and I still have more. That way I can keep updating every 2 weeks no matter what. That's the solution I found to my schedule troubles and honestly I think it works rather well.

Something is wrong.

It's night, and Zuko should be sleeping – was sleeping until about two seconds ago actually –

Someone is sneaking in the camp.

Zuko rises slowly, makes sure Lin is still asleep. He sees Jet in the corner of his eye, pointing to Katara's empty sleeping bag, then to the darkness up the river. Oh.

Now, normally Zuko would let Katara do whatever she wants – maybe she just wants to take a walk, who knows – but Jet is following her and there's no way Zuko is letting him go anywhere on his own, especially with an army facility nearby.

Wait. Isn't the facility in that exact direction ?

Oh come on !

Zuko hesitates for a second before taking Lin with him. There is no one to take care of her left in the camp – no one he can yet trust not to fuck up and he is so stupid, how could he ever think making the Avatar babysit was a good idea when he doesn't even trust him to watch her sleep – and maybe the risk of putting a baby in danger will make Jet think twice before doing anything too reckless.

And if push comes to shove – well, Zuko doesn't know what he will do. Fighting with Lin strapped to his chest is something he wants to avoid at all costs. But he also knows he will have to fight at some point, and in his situation, finding someone to babysit while he commits acts of high treason is pretty much impossible.

The day of the eclipse draws near, and he still doesn't know what will happen of Lin then. They will need all the fighters they can have, and anyway Zuko is not staying behind – he knows the plans of the bunker, will need to lead the others there, and anyway he knows himself. There is no way he will run from this, even if it means fighting father.

Zuko won't say it out loud, but he is afraid. The idea of facing father, of going up against him, not because of a misunderstanding, but of his own volition – it terrifies him.

He will do it, for Lin's sake, for himself – he never deserved this, he was a child – he will help the Avatar take down the Fire Lord, and maybe he will even tell father how terrible and unfair he was – he's always been – and maybe he will even feel good about it, beyond the fear.

But he doesn't want to risk Lin's life for this. He can't.

He also can't leave her on her own while he fights, she's a baby, she can't survive without him, there's just so much that could happen –

But he can't keep her on his chest, that would be just as dangerous. The back ? In a one on one it would be better, but he can't defend that spot and if someone comes from behind –

There is no solution. No way to ensure her safety.

Zuko hates this.

He reaches the top of the hill and finally catches up to Jet, who is smiling. And there is no way this is a good thing, because the army factory is just in front of them and – and Katara seems to be trying to sneak into it. And if she does that, Jet will follow her, and Zuko is not dealing with more of his stupid stubbornness – stubborn stupidity ? yeah that works too – so he walks up to Katara and asks what the fuck she thinks she's doing.

And apparently she didn't notice him before, because she almost unleashes a water whip at him. That would've been a pretty stupid death, but thankfully she stops before the water touches Zuko.

Jet moves closer and Katara glares at him and says she only wants to get some food for the villagers. But of course that's not enough for him, and he proceeds to talk about how the source of the pollution and the village's problems is the factory, and how nothing Katara does will change anything so long as it's still standing, which – well. It's not wrong. And from the way Katara winces, she knows it too.

But Zuko also knows that the blame for this kind of thing won't go to the mysterious travelling kids. No, it will go to the villagers who have all the reasons to do it.

The blame always goes to the obvious people, Zuko learned that early – Azula learned it earlier still and took advantage of it as often as she could. Mother was the only one to never fall for it.

Anyway, the point is, destroying the factory would do the exact opposite of helping, so Jet can keep that idea and put it back in the limbo where it belongs.

Katara is still going to steal food no matter what though, and Zuko looks at Jet's smirk and sighs. Well. Someone has to watch out and make sure no one dies in the endeavor, right ? Maybe they'll even find some food suitable for Lin.

Maybe Zuko also feels somewhat excited at the thought of infiltrating a forbidden place again, like Pohuai Stronghold, like the ferry, and maybe ensuring Jet doesn't do anything stupid is only part of the reason he participates. Maybe.

But hey, it's not like he is used to being the responsible one.