"Lightning is a pure form of firebending, without aggression," Iroh said. "It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly. To perform the technique requires peace of mind."

Zuko and Iroh were sitting on a hill far from any towns and villages. Aang and the others had left to go to a nearby river while Zuko and Iroh trained.

"Peace of mind," Zuko repeated, looking down at the cup of tea he held in his hands. "So that's why we're drinking tea. To calm the mind."

Iroh glanced at him, surprised. "Oh yeah, good point!"

Zuko raised an eyebrow, and Iroh coughed. "I mean, yes."

Zuko just shook his head. "You were going to show me the technique?"

Iroh nodded. He set down his cup of tea with obvious reluctance and pushed himself to his feet. Zuko stood too, taking a step toward him, but Iroh waved him back.

"There is energy all around us," Iroh said, raising his hands in front of him. "The energy is both yin and yang. Positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance, and in the moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, creating lightning."

Iroh took a deep breath in and brought one hand up, pointing with two fingers. The air around his fingers began sparking, blue lines of electricity forming around him as he moved his other arm up as well.

Zuko took an involuntary step back, his eyes widening as his uncle shifted his stance and pointed upwards. The electricity that was swirling around him coalesced into a lightning bolt, which shot into the open sky.

Iroh made it look so easy.

"I'm ready to try!" Zuko said, stepping forward eagerly.

Iroh looked over at him appraisingly. "Remember," he said. "Once you separate the energies, you do not command them. You're simply their humble guide. Breathe first."

That sounded a lot like what Aang had taught him about airbending. Zuko stared at his uncle in surprise, and Iroh frowned. "What's wrong?"

Zuko shook his head. "Nothing." He turned away.

He tried to center himself, to breathe in deeply and feel the energy around him, and copied the movements Iroh had made. He could feel pressure building, but electricity didn't spark from his fingers the way it had when Iroh did this.

When he pointed ahead of him, he felt the energy release, but instead of lightning, the air exploded, knocking Zuko back several feet.

"What was that?" Zuko demanded, pushing himself up once he regained his bearings. "I did exactly what you did."

"Hmm." Iroh stroked his beard, looking thoughtful.

Zuko grit his teeth and fell back into his stance.

Every time he tried to create lightning, though, all he got was an explosion. Finally, after several failed attempts, he spun around to face his uncle, frustrated. "Why can't I do it? It just keeps exploding in my face… like everything always does."

Iroh bit his lip, not answering for a long moment. "The technique requires peace of mind. You must first deal with the shame and turmoil within yourself before you can master it."

Zuko felt old, familiar anger rising up inside him. A little voice whispered that his uncle was right, but he shoved it away violently. "What turmoil?" he demanded. "I'm as proud as ever. And I've… I've accepted what I am. It should work."

Iroh raised his eyebrows. "Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but it's source. You say that you have accepted that you are the Avatar"—Zuko had to force himself not to flinch—"and yet you cannot bring yourself to say the word?"

Zuko glared at him. "That doesn't matter."

"I know how hard these past few years have been for you, and I can only imagine how difficult this new revelation has been. I think it is better for you to focus on accepting your role as the Avatar before you attempt to progress any further with firebending."

Zuko growled. "You just don't want to teach me!" he said, marching forward. "You think I'm not good enough to do it!"

"Zuko—" Iroh began, but Zuko spun away.

"Fine, just go off to the Fire Nation," he said, stomping off. "Have fun on your spy mission." Have fun leaving me behind, just like everyone else.

He felt a hand on his arm and tried to shake it off, but Iroh's grip only tightened. He pulled Zuko into a hug, which Zuko did not return. Instead, he froze in place, shocked, staring down at his uncle.

"I hope you understand that leaving you will not be easy for me, but it's necessary to keep you and the others safe," Iroh said, squeezing him a little tighter. "I will miss you, Zuko. Promise me that you will be safe."

Zuko's mind was racing with a thousand confused emotions. He blinked hard. "I—I will, Uncle."

He pulled out of his uncle's grasp, and Iroh let him go with obvious reluctance.

"I will see you again, my nephew," Iroh said, with a tearful smile. Zuko couldn't meet his gaze, for fear that he would tear up as well. "Tell the others I said goodbye."

With that, he picked up his pack and walked away.

Zuko just stood there for a long moment, staring after him until he disappeared from view. You be safe, too, Uncle, he thought.

He finally took a deep breath and forced himself to turn around and walk down the hill to where Aang and the others waited.


When Zuko arrived at the camp, the mood seemed to drop instantly. Katara frowned at the fire, where she was using a stick to poke at some fish cooking over the flames. Sokka shifted uncomfortably from his seat next to her, where he was carefully cleaning more fish and laying them out for Katara. Neither of them met Zuko's gaze.

Luckily, Aang didn't seem to notice. He hopped up from the campfire, excited. "Zuko! You're back! How'd the lesson go? Can you shoot lightning now?"

"No. My uncle said to tell you all goodbye for him."

Aang frowned. "He left already?"

Zuko nodded. He pointed at a spot on the ground next to Sokka. "Can I, uh...sit there?"

Sokka looked up at him with a shrug. "Sure."

Zuko avoided Sokka's gaze as he clambered down onto the ground by the fire. What he really wanted was to run away and hide, to deal with the roiling emotions of betrayal and confusion and sadness that were tumbling around in his stomach. But he had nowhere to go, so he simply sat and stared at the flames.

The group lapsed into an uncomfortable quiet, which Aang broke after a moment.

"I can't believe Iroh left without saying goodbye," he said, plopping down across from Zuko on the other side of the fire.

Zuko shrugged. "My uncle is a strange man."

"Hmph," Katara said. Aang's eyes flicked to her for a moment before he coughed awkwardly and turned back to Zuko.

"So what's the plan now, Avatar?"

Zuko wasn't sure how it was possible, but the mood around the campfire dropped even more at the word "Avatar." He bit his lip and shook his head.

"I guess we go back to Plan A?" Sokka said after a few beats of awkward silence. "Head for the Northern Water Tribe?" He nudged his sister. "I know you've been dying to get there, haven't you, sis?"

Katara looked over at him, then back at Zuko. He couldn't tell exactly what emotion was simmering in her eyes, but he knew it wasn't a good one. She shrugged. "I guess."

"I don't think heading to the North Pole right away is a smart idea," Zuko said hesitantly. "We should probably lay low for a while, let Aang train me a little and give my uncle time to sow some rumors about our whereabouts."

"Yeah," Sokka said. "About that…" He shot a look at Aang that was a strange mixture of a glare and a grin. "Mr. Airbender over here isn't great at the whole 'laying low' thing. I don't think that plan'll work out too well."

Aang ran his hand through his dark hair uncomfortably. "It's just difficult to stop old habits. I'm not used to having to hide my bending."

Zuko looked at him incredulously, then snuck a glance at the other two. Clearly they knew something Zuko did not, because neither of them seemed surprised by this declaration. Sokka looked frustrated, and started to open his mouth to say something. Katara shook her head at him, but Sokka ignored her.

"Yeah," he said, "you mentioned that before, but you still haven't explained how that's possible. The Fire Nation has been conquering the world and actively searching for airbenders for a hundred years. Where have you been all this time?"

"I don't think that's important right now," Aang said, not meeting any of their eyes.

"That's what you said last time. When's it going to be important, Aang?"

"We need to talk about what we're doing," Aang insisted. "Obviously I'm going to start training Zuko immediately, but what are we going to do aside from that?"

Zuko gritted his teeth, eyes fixed on the fire. "I don't know, okay? My uncle just told me to train until I'm proficient, so let's start there. Maybe we can find a place to hide."

"You know what would be a great place to hide?" Sokka said. "The Northern Water Tribe. There's a reason they've survived the war for so long. They can keep us safe."

"It will take us weeks to get there," Zuko said. "And we're too noticeable on Appa. Unless one of you has a plan for how to keep a giant flying bison from being seen, it's probably better to hole up somewhere around here. Besides, I'm not near ready to learn waterbending yet."

"You know," Katara said, "you're not the only member of the group who's trying to learn."

"I never said I was."

"Well, you're definitely acting like it. We didn't chase you halfway across the world just to hide out and watch you train. We need to be moving forward. Surely if this comet is such a big deal, you might want to speed up the process a little?"

Zuko shifted uncomfortably. Her glare seemed to cut right through him. "I…guess so, yes."

"Great! So we'll start making our way to the Northern Water Tribe tomorrow, then."

She turned back to the food she was cooking with an air of finality, as if the conversation was over.

Aang and Sokka looked at each other and shrugged, then got up and began setting up the camp for the night. Zuko knew that he should probably get up and help as well, but instead he sat for a few more seconds, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened.

Why did Katara seem to hate him so much? And more than that, why did he care that she did? He shook his head and got to his feet. All of them were being a little awkward with him, not just her, and he supposed he couldn't blame them. They probably just needed time to get used to each other.

He wished Uncle were here. He was always better at this kind of thing than Zuko was.