She's really going back.

Unbidden the thought forms inside her head. Once there it drones on until it slowly drowns out everything else and eventually drives out her capacity for sleep with it. Ty Lee lets out a breath when resigns herself to fate and decides to seek out the space she lost and as she does she finds her thoughts can once again flow freely.

Not that there is much choice. For all the friendship and favours in the world Azula still wouldn't allow her to be truly free. It would only make her cage just large enough to let her strech her wings. Though honestly it was probably for the best. If nothing else Azula's latest adventure had been fun to exciting along with and in the end it didn't even take hauling the one who may as well have been the fourth of their little triplet back in chains for it to end. Instead it now looked like that stupid war was finally over. Because the Avatar had fallen, and the Impenetrable City with him. So maybe now the world could finally stop burning. Her elders had always been droning on how then the good would come. Something about fertile soil? Ty Lee has her doubts, most of the war effort had been burning coal and the soot that came from it did nobody any good. But at least it could stop -Ugh she really is getting too cooped in here, the ubiquity of these grays is nauseating. But at least she is at the last door now. She'll be free soon, however temporary. Just one last slight creak of metal and she'll be alone with the night sky and maybe then the song of the wind could soothe her?

Unless well, he's gonna be there too.

She should've known from Mai's tell-tale little micro expressions. They bloomed whenever he'd been mentioned before, but flared since they've had their little reunion. Mai's aura has become a teensy bit more gloomy since then, which would have impressed Ty Lee if she weren't her friend. Oh well, calm may be out of the question with him around, but if nothing else Ty Lee could definitely vent.

"You're still here?"

Zuko flinches ever so slightly before turning around, lone eyebrow cocked and arms crossed.

"What do you mean?" he asks, honest to the Above perplexed. The gall.

"You've been standing here half the night."

He waves her off. "I just need to think."

Ty Lee cocks her eyebrow. "And not sleep?"

"I can rest later." he drives on. Already he's got Ty Lee wondering if there's just something in the royal blood that makes them this stubborn, always living in their own world.

"You sure you won't clear your head a lot better after a good night's rest?" She tries anyway.

"I've been doing my meditations for years. You don't need to lecture me about calm." He says, irritated.

"Well, your aura's cold blues and dark purples beg to differ." She says, "It's not a good look on a fire bender, don't you know. They usually get all red and hot."

"Look if it's so damn late," he snaps, "then why don't you go back to bed yourself?"

"Well I was hoping some cool fresh air would help clear out the nausea." Ty Lee explains him.

Instead of getting the hint or giving any sympathy, he chuckles and plasters Azula's 'smile' on his face. "You haven't gotten your sea legs yet?" he jeers.

"Yeah, so what? Ty Lee asks, very admirably not contemplating the location of his pressure points along his thighs or the force required to push him over the railing.

He keeps his stupid smirk and returns his attention back to the ocean, apparently no longer concerned. "Just figured all those circus tricks would've steeled your stomach by now."

Ty Lee takes a deep breath, lets it out and leans over the railings right of him before speaking again. "At least when i'm doing my acrobatics i have all the space i could dream of and i'm the one actually moving my body around, instead of being stuck in a stale metal box that's swishing and swirling round and round for hours."

"Forever," he corrects, "but you'll get used to it, eventually."

"Maybe, but that's not gonna do me any good now... You were on a boat for a while right? Got any tips?"

"I was on a ship," he corrects, "but what you're doing right now is pretty much it."

"Really? How did you live like this?"

"Like I said you just get used to it, besides I had bigger things to worry about."

Right, the Bigger Things. Funny to think that together they more they solved all of them in a night when he'd been toiling away at just one for half a decade. "What was that like, anyways?" She asks. Truly looking at him now. and the first thing that strikes her feels so obvious it takes all of her not to laugh at herself. He would take it the wrong way. But aside from his scar permanently sneering at her, the rest of his face is as open as it had always been.

He blinks. "Do you mean generally or anything specific?"

"Come on, you travelled all around the world right? Outside of even the colonies? Anything catch your eye?"

That was the wrong thing to say. A sneer takes over his whole face. One she'd only seen before in the desert, but which somehow feels more familiar than that. Ty Lee braces for impact, but miraculously whatever words had been about to leave his mouth get swallowed. Instead his right half goes soft as he turns away.

"Looking back, there was a lot," he says then. "I was just never in the mood to bask in it."

"How come?"

"I…" He looks at her, pausing, stares into her soul, and Ty Lee doesn't know if she can bear it, but he continues on before she can dare to look away. "I wanted to come home, Ty Lee."

Don't you see? He doesn't say it, but Ty Lee can see it pooling in his eyes. She needs to say something quick before it spills out. She doesn't know how to tell him how the air had changed, how it had always been too tight and it had just become tighter and tighter until she couldn't breathe .

She sighs and looks up at the sky, hoping to find her answers. Thankfully, he follows her gaze, content to stand in silence. It's a clear night, though she can see some clouds they must have passed earlier. They bask in dim blue night.

Then it strikes her. Quickly, she pulls him back to earth. "Come on," she says, "the moon, they say you were there when it bled. What happened?"

The panicked look on his face tells her she struck gold.

"It wasn't me!" he yells, too loud for this hour. She gives him a knowing smirk and he realizes his mistake. Still desperate he looks around quickly and pulls her up close before she can call him out. "Listen to me," he pleads, tone hushed, "what happened that night wasn't my fault alright? I swear it."

"Alright," she says, and pushes herself off of him. Immediately a passing breeze sends shivers down her spine. "I believe you and i didn't even blame you for anything by the way. I was just asking if you knew what happened. And i'm serious Zuko. I need to know. One of my sisters lost her husband there. She told me others did too. But nobody would tell them why."

Ty Lee had barely even known the guy, –had only ever met him a couple times. They'd married after she ran away –only heard of his death in a letter, though only the Owl knows how Ty Lin got the address of the traveling circus or past the censors. But she had seen her sister's grief flow from too few characters that told too much. Felt the pain in her bones. Ty Lee couldn't write back, wouldn't even know the address to send it to even if her sister hadn't warned her against mailing back. But she could at least find out the truth, dammit.

"Fine, alright? It was Zhao, he fucked it all up."

"What?"

"He got in over his head. He killed the Moon and wrought the Sea's wrath. That's how the fleet got destroyed."

"What are you talking about? Who's Zhao? If he killed the moon, then why is it back and how did even do that?"

"Zhao was the moronic admiral that led the Siege of the North. And I can tell you how he killed the Moon, but swear to Agni that you won't tell anyone, not Azula, Father or even your sister."

"How dare you! My sister deserves to know what made her a widow, asshole . You don't get to decide over that!"

"Listen, I don't know who your brother-in-law was. I don't know if he died fighting the Water Tribesmen or what came after. What Zhao did was Forbidden, it was sacrilege. It made the Ocean Spirit fuse with Avatar into a giant fishmonster and lay waste to the fleet. I don't know what will happen the next time that happens. I saw the wreckage. They didn't stand a chance Ty. Maybe he managed to escape like me, there had to be some, but– '' Zuko sighs, shakes his head before looking her back in the eyes. "I wouldn't count on it. Me and Uncle were out there for days. We never found anyone. I'm sorry, Ty Lee."

When he finishes, his eyes flicker bright gold in the moonlight. It's funny; the more he talks, the less sense he makes, but it's all too wild for it to be a lie.

"It's, it's not alright. But it will be, i hope. But Zuko, is it true what they said after the North, about your uncle?" She'd ask about him too, but she has seen enough about that and she does plan to go back to sleep tonight.

"Uncle… what he did. He only turned on Zhao because he wanted to save the Moon. He's not the reason the Ocean turned on us. He only did what he thought was right."

But that doesn't mean what they said isn't true. She doesn't say, though she knows he's thinking the same. It's hard to speak about, the soot, how it clings to all of them. It's why she ran away in the first place, sometimes she thinks it's why they let her, too.

"I believe you, Zuko," she says, means it too. She continues, feeling a sudden need to soothe him. "At least i'll be able to tell Lin that Zhao got what he deserved, right?" She grimaced. Not that that solved anything. It would be cheering her up with a dead sparrowmouse. It doesn't even help Zuko now. A haunted look covers his eyes.

"I was going to kill Zhao that night. After what had happened, but…"

"Don't tell me he survived."

"No, I was fighting him, but, the Ocean Spirit, it got him first. Ty Lee, I don't know if there is a worse fate than death, but if there is… When it got him he reached for me and I tried to grab his arm, pull him out, but he retracted his hand. Just looked at me, then got swallowed whole. I still don't know why."

"Well, i'm glad he did."

"Why?"

"He probably would've taken you with him if he hadn't."

"Maybe."

They both go and look over the railings after that. Neither having anything more to say. Ty Lee doesn't mind the silence that falls over them. She closes her eyes and lets the night wash over her. It's nice, the light breeze, the rocking of the ship over the waves, even the steady hum of the engine is a lot gentler now that they're out in the open. She can feel the tiredness settle in her bones as it gets more than a little tempting to sleep out here right on the deck. It would almost be worth Azula's yelling at her for it. Maybe next time.

Zuko's yawn catches her attention. Quickly, she swallows her own. He's looking up like the stars have all the answers. It's funny how from his right it's like he doesn't have the scar at all, just a thin line across the cheekbone. She follows his gaze to the full moon. It is odd how the moon hadn't followed its usual phases ever since that night. How long has it been? Should be just over a year ago if she has the date right. Speaking of which…

"Hey Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"Can i ask one more question before I call it night?"

He sighs, a little longer than he has any right to, before letting up.

"Shoot."

"So Zhao killed the Moon, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then how did it come back?"

He scratches his head at that. "I wasn't there, but–"

"What did your uncle tell you?"

He looks back up at the moon.

"He said the Water Princess gave her life to restore it."

"So she died?"

"Apparently when she did her body disappeared into nothingness, then she became the Moon Spirit herself."

"Do you know her name?"

"No. Uncle might, but.."

"It's fine. I should probably go to bed."

"Yeah," he says, taking one more glance at the moon before turning back to her. "I should, too."

They open creaky doors and walk up high stairs and long narrow hallways that, this time, don't feel as constraining as the last. Arriving at their respective rooms they exchange goodnights, but just as Ty Lee is about to slip into her room she hears Zuko speak up once more.

"Oh and Ty Lee," he says, still just holding his door, "what would you do if you had been that princess?"

She smiles, one that feels genuine. "I'd do the same, silly. The moon is too pretty."

He chuckles at that. "Fair enough," he replies, closing the door. But just before the metal clang and subsequent shrilling that everyone pretends doesn't wake them up he peeks out one last time, pulling a smirk that should not fit his face. "Sweet dreams," he whispers, more like a breath than anything, and seals the night.

Ty Lee blinks before closing her own door and climbing into her own bed, ignoring her friends' stirring as she does.

Sweet dreams. In the quiet of her mind, she repeats the words, reverent, as if they were a promise. She closes her eyes and almost believes it.