When the Fire Nation nobles had left the vessel, Zuko found himself keeping a close eye on things. He had never gone out to the tribe with Azula. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to believe she was not about to blast someone with fire for the sheer sake of finding it amusing. She seemed to sense his nervousness and reveled in being the cause. Mai noticed how tense the boy was, but she said nothing. Ty Lee was too busy enjoying herself to notice, looking at everything and everyone.

"Who's that?" she asked, pointing.

Zuko followed her gaze to a man helping an older couple. "That's their chief."

"He doesn't look as mean as I expected," the girl said. "Have you talked to him?"

"No, I haven't, but I agree with you. He seems brave from what I've seen."

"Foolish is more accurate," Azula corrected.

The prince frowned a little as Mai glanced around curiously.

"This is where they live?" she inquired. "I thought their homes would be bigger."

"They are," Zuko explained. "The soldiers forced most of them out, so they had to build shelters. That's what the chief is helping that couple with."

A cruel smirk appeared on Azula's face. "It would be horrible if they got destroyed. All that work for nothing."

Ty Lee looked uncertain. "They'd be stuck in the cold until they could make new ones."

"Exactly."

Zuko's frown deepened. "Our father would want you to see where the new colonies will be. We should show you those."

Ty Lee and Mai began following after him and he side-eyed Azula. To his surprise, she did not continue with her idea. She still seemed smug which made him suspicious.

"Something's wrong," he thought. "She's too happy to have not just gotten her way. What is she planning?"

As they walked, Zuko stayed aware of his surroundings, looking for anything odd. He found something in one soldier who was not with the others. The way he was moving, the prince had studied that as he learned strategies used by single operatives to execute missions.

"Why would he have a mission by himself?" the boy wondered. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "That's why she seems so satisfied!"

Zuko began following after the soldier and Ty Lee stared in confusion.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be back. I need to take care of something first."

The soldier was moving quickly and Zuko reached him just after his first blast. He put himself between the older bender and the Water Tribe boy. Immense anger filled the prince. Sokka had done nothing to Azula and yet she deemed him deserving of death. Without even thinking, he said the first thing which came to mind to make the soldier realize how poor of a choice that was. If he wanted to kill innocent people, he would not get away with it so easily. After he said it and saw Sokka's expression, he realized his error. Zuko did not know what to say and began stammering.

"Prince Zuko?"

"I-I…yes, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well, not sort of," he said awkwardly, feeling more nervous. "I am technically a prince, but I'm not in line to be the firelord or anything. That would be my cousin."

Sokka considered the other boy's words. "That was the cousin you told me about…which means that his father–your uncle that you mentioned–is the firelord."

Zuko tried to not cringe and instead nodded. As a silence occurred, his nerves only got stronger.

"I'm sor–"

"That's pretty cool actually."

With wide eyes, the firebender assumed he had been dreaming for a moment. "It is? I thought you'd hate me if you found out."

"Well, I'll admit that I don't love what your family is doing, but it's not like you can control what your uncle does." He paused. "It does make me have to disagree about him being as great as you said he was, but maybe it's a family thing. I'd like my relatives more than you would too."

Zuko still felt shocked. "So, you're not angry?"

Sokka shrugged. "Eh, not really. Part of me feels like I should be, but I get why you wouldn't have led with that bit of information. Honestly, the fact that you're one of the princes and still haven't treated me like dirt is what's cool about this. Besides," he said, smiling, "you just saved me from getting cooked. It would be pretty ungrateful to yell at you now. Thanks for that by the way."

The firebender let out a breath he realized he had been holding. "You're welcome. It was my sister who set up the whole thing."

"You weren't kidding when you were talking about her before."

"Not in the slightest. My uncle doesn't support unjustified killing, though, so the soldier should spread the word in case anyone else wants to try. They might be afraid of my sister and father, but they can't go against the firelord's wishes without risking execution."

Sokka chuckled. "Maybe he is at least better than your other relatives." He paused as he remembered something. "Is this why you both finished school earlier than other kids?"

Zuko nodded. "The royal family has always started studying Fire Nation politics soon, so we had to learn everything else quickly."

"Was it your uncle's decision to come here?"

"No, that was actually my father's idea. My uncle is in the Earth Kingdom right now."

"Is he attacking them?"

Zuko hesitated with his response. "Probably. He's working on a siege in Ba Sing Se."

Sokka sighed. "I might have spoken too soon. Is that why your family is so tough on you with firebending since you're all royals?"

"I think so. We're given the best masters and are supposed to be some of the strongest benders of the nation."

"Would you say that your father and uncle are?"

"Yeah, they can do lightning bending and my uncle even earned the title Dragon of the West."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're probably not the first royal in the entire nation who's been a bit slower to improve." The younger boy looked contemplative. "I'll admit that this shocks me, though. I'd have thought the royal family would be more guarded. How come you can just come out here unsupervised? What if someone tried to assassinate you?"

Zuko shrugged. "Nothing would change. I don't have much of a role in the nation yet. My uncle and cousin would probably miss me, but that would be it."

"Your dad wouldn't?" Sokka asked, shocked. "I know you said he was tough, but…not at all?"

"I don't know for certain, but I'd be surprised if he did. He doesn't like me very much."

An unhappy expression crossed Sokka's face. "I guess I just thought it would be different. When I imagined Fire Nation royalty, I thought of all these fancy people who wouldn't go anywhere without hordes of bodyguards and who all got along really well."

"It's that way for a few of us. I hear that before my great-grandfather, things were easier, but now there's a lot of pressure. Some people like my uncle thrive better than others and get everyone to respect them. He even did better than my grandfather in that regard."

"Has anyone cracked under the pressure?"

"No, that's not an option."

A brief pause came as the other individual considered something. "So, what does being prince of the Fire Nation mean when you aren't going to be in charge? Will you be expected to take over places too since your dad did?"

"I don't really know what's expected of me," Zuko admitted. "I'll probably have to take my father's place, but even his role isn't that clearly defined. I think that's why he wanted us to come here so that he could make a name for himself."

"When your cousin becomes firelord, would you ever have enough power to help people if he wanted to conquer more places and kill the citizens?"

"I don't think he'd do that."

"But if he did, there's nothing you'd be able to do?"

Before Zuko could answer, he heard the other nobles talking. He did not want them to see the two of them talking. Mai would not say anything, but he was not sure that Ty Lee would be able to keep a secret even if she tried.

"We have visitors today," he said. "Can we meet back up tomorrow?"

"Sure. Good luck with them."

"Thanks."

Sokka left to return home, deciding he would wait for Hakoda to come back so that he did not test fate with the soldier. As he did, Zuko rejoined the others.

"Where did you go?" Ty Lee asked him.

"I saw a soldier acting strangely," he said with a meaningful look directed at Azula.

"They do tend to get out of control sometimes," she commented, bored.

The two girls could feel the tension between the twins again, so they were quiet as they went through the area. They had expected the homes to be different from what they were, but they still liked what they saw. The group stayed out, watching the soldiers work and build until it got later. It was time for the visitors to return home. They were about to board the ship when Mai slyly put something in Zuko's hand.

"One of the soldiers back home gave me this to give to you," she whispered.

"Thanks. I hope you can come for another visit soon."

"I do too."

The two smiled warmly at each other, then moved as Ty Lee came flipping in their direction. She stopped in front of the prince and gave him a parting hug.

"Bye, Zuko! See you later. You should come back to the Fire Nation sometime."

"If I do, I'll make sure to visit you both."

They got onto the vessel and waved to the twins. Azula was further back on the snow, observing them. She was not one for tearful goodbyes or goodbyes at all. If they returned, they did and vice versa. It would not affect her life one way or another. With a calm gaze, she watched them leave, then turned to go back to practicing her firebending. Zuko was glad that she was leaving because it let him go to his room. Carefully opening the door, he saw that it was empty. He knew what Mai had handed him and excitement filled his stomach. It was a scroll in response to the last letter he wrote to Iroh.

"Dear Zuko," the scroll read, "I am glad that you are enjoying the Southern Water Tribe. I had hoped you would when I learned of where you all were going. Lu Ten told me about his visit and that you seemed to be in slightly better spirits. He also told me that he sensed something wrong between you and your father. If there is, I hope you know you can come to us."

Zuko sighed as he read this part. It was not as easy as that, but he appreciated what his uncle and cousin were trying to do. This made him think more about his cousin. He continued to read the letter as he began thinking about the future. Lu Ten would make a good firelord. He was on his way to being wise like his predecessor, so he at least had a good example of how to be a leader. Zuko doubted that Sokka's concerns were necessary. Surely, Lu Ten would not feel the need to hurt people just to demonstrate his power. The young man was better than that. He was nothing like Ozai; he could show compassion. As Zuko considered this, his uncle and cousin were considering something as well.

Iroh was looking over the last letter Zuko had sent him. He kept thinking of what Lu Ten had revealed. He did not like that Piandao was gone. With him there, he could report anything suspicious between Ozai and Zuko. Regardless, Iroh did not want to ask the swordmaster to return. Anything to provoke the other father while he was not there was dangerous. No matter what his nephew admitted, he knew there was violence in their family and it upset him that he could not always be there to stop it from happening. Still, there was more information in the letter which caused him to be something besides upset. Zuko seemed so much happier than he had since the siege first began. Something was definitely different and Iroh believed he knew what that was. Turning to the training soldier, he smiled.

"I think Zuko has a friend now."

"You do? Who do you think it is?"

"More than likely, one of the people from the Southern Water Tribe."

"Really? I wouldn't think they'd have much in common."

"You would be surprised how similar the people of the nations are, Son," Iroh told him. "I have learned much by studying waterbenders. It has even helped my own firebending. If he is learning this now, then he has done that sooner than I did."

"I remember you telling me about that trip. It's a shame all the waterbenders are gone from the Southern tribe." Lu Ten's brows furrowed. "If he has befriended someone from there, do you think Uncle knows?"

"I'm sure that Azula would have found out, so yes."

The younger firebender sighed. "Hopefully, this war can end soon so that he won't be alone with them. At least he has that new friend. Maybe they can help each other out."

Iroh looked back at the scroll. "Stay safe on the battlefield," it read. "I hope you can come back soon." The firelord closed his eyes with a small frown on his face. "I hope so too."