Kalika realized too late that she had no idea where Katara was staying. Blushing, she returned to Lee and Mushi. "I'm sorry. Do either of you know where Katara is staying?"

Mushi shook his head. "We haven't had contact with them since -"

"I'll give you directions," Lee cut in. Mushi stared at him in utter bewilderment. Lee got up from the game they had just started and took Kalika outside. He gave her directions. Kalika recognized the area he was describing. She would have no trouble finding her way.

"Thanks, Lee. Good luck with your game."

"I'm not trying to win. I use Pai Sho to stop people from talking to me," he said, and went back inside. Kalika got the feeling of swimming in the very topmost layer of a deep ocean. How could she give advice to someone she knew so little about? That was another curse doctors were frequently plagued by: feelings of inadequacy. She had to push them aside and do her best regardless.

Remembering that the Avatar was not from the Water Tribes, she knocked on the inside of their doorway to announce her presence before entering. She found the Avatar and another boy draping pelts over their shoulders pretending to be royalty. A small big-eared animal was also in on the act. "Kalika!" Katara exclaimed. "Thank goodness you're here. I need someone sensible to talk to. These two…"

"Are very imaginative," Kalika said diplomatically. The animal bowed to her.

"Kalika is a doctor," Katara told the others. "I met her when I was training with Yagoda."

The Avatar walked over in a pompous manner, his nose high in the air. "How do you do," he said to her.

"I'm here to talk about Lee."

He and the other boy dropped the act instantly. "Why would you want to talk about him?" the other boy asked.

"He's my patient," Kalika told them. "I thought you three would have useful information on his habits, since you traveled with him."

"No doctor in the world can treat what he has," the other boy said.

"I'm sorry, your name is…?"

"Sokka. And what he has is a raging case of Angry Jerk. There's no cure for it, I'm afraid."

"That's not true," the Avatar said. "He can be cool sometimes, like he was just a little while ago."

"It's as if he's two different people," Katara said. "He swings back and forth between being this cool guy who helps us out and being an angry jerk who threatens everyone around him. He's unstable, unpredictable and dangerous. It doesn't matter how nice he can be. As long as he occasionally becomes a hurtful person who attacks people, we can't afford to be around him."

"We could have saved all those towns without his help," Sokka said. "Keeping him around was so not worth it. We shouldn't have taken him on in the first place, and I'm glad he's gone now."

"But…" The Avatar seemed to disagree. But he could not find the words to voice his disagreement, so he fell silent.

"Interesting," Kalika said. "Tell me more about these different personality states." She was nearly sure she knew what they were talking about. In case she was wrong, she did her best to put her preconceptions aside and listen.

They gathered around the fire and began to tell stories. Sokka began, recounting instances of Lee acting superior and entitled. It was a long recounting, beginning with a blow by blow quotation of everything Lee said to them after they arrived. Kalika tried to keep herself neutral, but she couldn't help wincing. Then Sokka branched out to all the reasons why they should have seen it coming and ditched him long before arrival. "He talks about his own sister like she's crud scraped off his shoe!" Kalika held her tongue and reminded herself of her promise to Lee.

Then the Avatar told stories of times when Lee had been kind, creative, and so cool. Kalika tried not to smile. He seemed to look up to Lee as a big brother. Her urge to smile faded on its own as she thought about how difficult it was to distance yourself from people you loved even when they hurt you. No wonder he was caught in the middle.

Finally, Katara spoke. "I was wrong," she muttered. "Sometimes he acts like a third person who's neither dangerous nor awesome. That third person is…hurt, and confused." She took her necklace off and looked at it. "That's how he was acting when he gave me my necklace back."

"Can you believe that guy? He kept it for a whole week just to punish her for being suspicious of him!" Sokka told Kalika.

"Well, I can see why you wouldn't want to give a present to someone who doesn't like you," the Avatar said. "It makes sense that he only gave it back after she was nice to him."

"Guys." Katara shook her head. "I didn't tell you the whole story. Yes, I finally broke down and showed him kindness, and he gave me my necklace in return. But that's not all that happened." She looked down at her necklace again. "We had a really weird discussion after that. I still don't know what to think of it. When I was nice to him, I mainly said two things: thank you for helping us, and I'm sorry for treating you like a criminal. When he gave me my necklace, he said… He said it was nice, actually. He liked the way I paid attention to him and sincerely wanted to know what he was thinking, even though it was because I thought he was plotting something. He said it was nice not to be invisible. He told me to… 'Find me if you can.'"

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Typical. He always has to be confusing."

"Huh," the Avatar said. "I had a weird conversation with him too. At the Northern Air Temple, I was sad and angry that the people living there were desecrating the relics of my people. I flew away to be by myself. He followed me. He yelled at me and told me I was being an ungrateful brat. How could I be angry that one statue got destroyed and a painting of my people's history got a little grimy? At least I had statues and paintings and a whole temple and memories! He was angry with me because he doesn't have any of those things. He said he'd spent his whole life grieving because he never had people like him to belong with."

"Except he totally does," Sokka said. "A whole nation full of angry jerks just like him."

"He can't lie, remember?" The Avatar shook his head. "I saw the look on his face. He meant it."

"Excuse me." Kalika pulled out an empty scroll and wrote down both of these crucial conversations nearly verbatim. She didn't take short notes; it seemed like every single detail could be potentially important. It took several minutes to write down everything. When she finished, she looked up. They all seemed to be deep in thought.

"As a doctor, I can't tell you too much," she murmured. "My patients need to be able to trust me. But I can tell you that I think I know what's been going on."

Katara's jaw dropped. "After one conversation with us?"

"Actually, I knew it before I came here. Your stories just confirmed it."

"Woah," Sokka said. "You'd make a great master detective."

"Tell us. We're dying to know." Katara leaned forward.

"You were right," Kalika told her. "Lee is acting like two different people. He's acting like his parents. Your description of his angry jerk personality perfectly matches his father's, and his cool guy personality, his mother's. He hasn't decided which parent he takes after yet."

Her audience went very silent, very still, and very pale. "You mean… The jerk we've been fighting and losing to is his dad?" The Avatar looked like he might faint.

Sokka looked the same way. "We lost so badly that you lost your waterbending."

"That explains a lot," Katara whispered.

"Do you all know his father?"

"Not personally. Just by reputation," the Avatar said.

Kalika wondered what kind of reputation Lee's father had. She'd assumed that he projected a good face to the rest of the world. Did he treat others the same way he treated the helpless members of his own family? How could he stay in power? Her understanding of why Lee was so unwilling to question his father's ideals increased. His father might be not just emotionally harmful, but literally dangerous, if the Avatar's reaction was accurate.

"What about the third personality?" Katara asked.

"That's Lee's own."

"If his father was the one who ruined Aang's waterbending, who restored it?" Katara put her necklace back on as she thought. "He wasn't acting as confident and gentle as he did when he told us about water dragons. He looked kind of scared when I brought him in. That was him. His father ruined Aang's waterbending, and he brought it back!"

"What are you talking about?" Kalika asked.

"After all those hurtful things he said to us, Aang started to have problems waterbending. He became so focused on getting more powerful that he stopped seeing the water as his friend, and more like an enemy. Last night, when I found Lee in that storm, I brought him back here and he taught Aang a lesson about how to interact with the elements. He showed Aang how to be friends with water again."

Kalika started to write. "Why did he do that?"

"He said he was hoping to get his uncle off his back."

Kalika stopped writing. "Did something happen this night?"

"Yes. The deal is an ongoing arrangement. Tonight, he used the elements as metaphors to teach Aang how to get along with different personalities."

"Was he himself tonight?"

"Yeah."

"You said metaphors?"

"Yeah," Sokka replied. "He used the metaphor of the elements being people with personalities to tell Aang how he should approach bending, and then he used them as metaphors for different personality types."

"Hmm." Kalika resumed writing.

"What does 'hmm' mean?" Katara asked.

"Lee doesn't seem like the type to speak metaphorically," Kalika answered. "Are you sure you understood him right?"

"The elements aren't literally people, so yeah, it had to be a metaphor," Sokka replied.

Kalika realized she had a choice. She could allow assumptions made by other people to fill in missing information, which was convenient and tempting. Sokka's explanation seemed like it had to be true. Or she could continue to put in the hard work of rejecting assumptions and asking questions that sounded stupid. She was pretty sure the elements were not literally people. But for Lee's sake, she could entertain the idea that they might be. It cost her nothing and was entertaining. Why not? She shook her head. "I will reserve judgment until I have asked Lee what he meant by that."

"Judgment on whether or not water is a person?" Sokka gestured all around. "It is not a person. That's not judgment, that's fact."

Kalika shook her head again. "Lee didn't trust me at first. He refused to talk to me at all. In order to earn his trust so I could work with him, I had to throw out all my assumptions. I asked him what gender he was, what species, what world he was born in, how many mothers and fathers he had. Some of those questions had answers that were very different from what I expected. Lee is not a person I can safely assume anything about, and more importantly, assuming things about him is the fastest way to lose his trust. I can't afford to lose his trust. I must not make any assumption, even one as seemingly obvious as yours."

Sokka looked confused, as if he didn't understand her. Katara and Aang, on the other hand, looked thoughtful. "He was telling the truth about not having a people. I know he was," Aang muttered.

Kalika cheered internally. She had not come here in order to push Lee and the closest thing he had to human friends towards reconciliation. But her careful reasoning had done so anyway. All they needed was a little more mutual understanding. And, of course, Lee's father would have to get out of the picture. Kalika stood. "Thank you for your time. I've learned a lot here. If I learn something that would help you defend yourself against his father, I will come back and share it."

"Thank you," Aang said. "That would be really helpful." Kalika nodded. With a wave, she left.

She didn't get far before she heard footsteps behind her. Katara met her on a bridge. "There's something I didn't want to say in front of them," Katara said. "You can keep secrets, right?"

"Unless someone's life is in danger," Kalika replied.

"It's not that serious. I hope." Katara didn't sound too sure of herself. "When I found him in the storm, he was crying. He said all kinds of horrible things about himself. You might want to write them down."

Kalika rolled out her scroll on the railing of the bridge. "Tell me."

"He said, 'I'm a failure. I'm no good. I'm a danger to everyone around me. My father was right to banish me. I just wasn't born right. I wasn't supposed to exist.'"

Kalika gasped for air. "My goodness."

"There's more. I wasn't entirely honest about why I brought him back to teach Aang. Yes, he told me what it was he wanted to teach and I thought it would help Aang. But I also thought it would help him. His uncle told me once that men and women learn differently. Women can believe what they're told about themselves. Men can't. In order to think he was a good person, he would have to prove it to himself by doing a good thing."

Kalika put down her charcoal. "Huh. I never heard that before. But it makes sense. I understand just what you mean." She put her things away and faced Katara. "That could be the key to helping him! Thank you, Katara."

"No problem," Katara replied. "And good luck." They shook hands. Kalika went back to her hut to file her notes away with a spring in her step. No feelings of inadequacy remained. She knew everything she needed to know to help her patient.

.

Zuko woke up the next morning refreshed. He had slept the whole night through. He was just as confused as Iroh, who remarked on it while making breakfast. "No nightmare last night."

"Don't get used to it."

Regardless of the cause, he felt much better. A night of actual sleep had done wonders for his mood and energy levels. "Uncle, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Zuko faced him. The beginnings of a meaty soup bubbled away next to them. "I don't like the conversations we have these days. You used to have my back, no matter what. Now you talk to me like I'm not living my life the correct way. Kalika's the only person I can talk to without bracing myself for criticism now. What happened? Why did you stop trusting me?"

Iroh's eyes moistened. "I'm afraid for you, Zuko. The path you're on right now is taking you off a cliff. I'm trying to keep you safe."

Zuko glared at him. "Who gave you the right to do that?"

"You're my family. Family looks out for each other."

"That doesn't give you the right to take over my life!"

"I'm trying to do the best for -"

"You don't know what the best thing for me is! You're not wise, just old! Back off already!"

Zuko panted. Iroh said nothing. The only sound, aside from the soup, was the soft swishing of the hides draped across the doorway. "Am I interrupting?" Kalika asked softly.

"No. I've said all I need to say." Zuko checked on the soup. He added the meat to it.

She sat down carefully. "Would you like to tell me about it?"

Zuko grunted. Iroh said, "He thinks I'm trying to take over his life. I can't disagree. But I'm just trying to keep him safe."

"Lee, it might be a good idea to tell him what you told me."

"How is that relevant?"

"No, um, not that thing. The other thing, that you said yesterday morning."

Zuko blinked. "Why would I talk about that?"

"Humor me."

Zuko turned to face Iroh again. "You're just making more demands of me. You tell me to open up, but you don't tell me what opening up means or how to do it. You just tell me what to do, then sit back and expect me to do all the actual work. I have to figure out everything. I have to do everything. I'm already busy doing those things for my father, so excuse me if I take a while to get around to it."

Iroh blinked. Kalika stage whispered, "You have to start from the beginning. Not the place where your assumptions end - the real beginning. That's the advice you asked me for. That's how I earned his trust."

Zuko checked the soup again. The meat had softened, so he served out bowls. After he was done serving, Iroh asked, "You don't know what it means to open up?"

"Have I ever opened up in my entire life?" Zuko didn't wait for an answer. It was a rhetorical question. "How would I know how to do something I've never done before? And why should I bother? There's a reason why I don't usually talk about my feelings. Why are you lecturing me when you don't know why I do what I do in the first place?"

"Keeping secrets from everyone is clearly not helping you."

"How do you know? You don't know what I'm using it for. It's not perfect, but as far as I'm concerned it's successful enough to keep doing."

"Now might be a good time to tell him the first thing," Kalika interjected.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I always wondered why you were so disgraced after your son died. Yeah, you lost, but you were still a war hero. I didn't understand. But then you told me about your spirit journey. Now I understand why people treated you as though you weren't fully there. It's because you talked about spirits." He shot Iroh a look. "Keeping secrets from everyone clearly is helping me. I'm not as disgraced as you. I still have a chance."

Iroh's eyes widened. "Zu - Nephew, there is nothing for you to be afraid of. My life is happier than most."

"It's dangerous to take advice from failures," Zuko said. "And I'm not you. I would never be happy with your life."

Iroh sat back. "Being truly known for who you are is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Are you sure giving it up in exchange for slightly better treatment is a worthwhile trade?"

Zuko paused, his spoon halfway to his lips. Being accepted did feel really, really good. But it only worked because she was a weirdo and outcast, like me. I wouldn't get that from most people. I'm not really sacrificing anything. He resumed eating. "Yes."

Iroh couldn't reply to that. The discussion ended. The three of them ate soup. Zuko put his bowl away, stood up and stretched. "I think this takes the place of our morning session. See you later." He left the building and walked along his usual route to the seal-hunter's tunnel.

As he walked, he had a feeling like he was being watched. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. But his instincts, well honed by palace life, told him that it was not a prelude to attack. He was just being watched. For now. Zuko checked the canals with extra care, making double sure that his water walking did not interfere with boat traffic. He must not do anything to anger anyone.

.

Pakku's morning class went well. The Avatar kept up the increased pace of learning. He really did need to track down Zuko and thank him at some point. But he would not do that until he knew exactly what was going on. Pakku still didn't understand why the prince of the Fire Nation would have helped his greatest enemy.

That was why he asked Katara to stay after the end of class. "Who taught him and why?" he asked.

Katara hesitated. "Lee, one of the people we brought here as guests. And he, uh, didn't really know what he was doing. He doesn't know Aang had problems waterbending. He doesn't know the lesson helped. He and Aang don't really get along, so I'd appreciate it very much if you didn't tell him."

Pakku nodded. "Run along, now." That made sense. Pakku smiled as he pictured what kind of tantrum the young prince would throw when he found out. That would be a spectacle worth seeing.

He stretched and went off to have lunch. Before long, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and raised an eyebrow at Tarao. "What are you doing here?"

"I would like your answer to a hypothetical question," Tarao told him. "Say there was a person who might or might not be dangerous. There is no solid evidence either way. Is it better to take the risk of letting a criminal go free, or of condemning an innocent man?"

Oh? One of the conspirators was having doubts? Excellent. Pakku took a moment to think of the best way to fan them. "Your question is too simplistic," he told Tarao. "There is always evidence one way or another. Does this person dislike other people and seem as if he would be willing to turn criminal if he hasn't already done so? Safer to lock him up, then. Is he friendly and developing relationships with the community? In that case, even if he was planning something nefarious, a little benefit of the doubt could be enough to turn him to your side."

"Relationships with the community. You believe that is the deciding factor?"

Pakku nodded. "It is well known that people reveal their true characters most when they talk to someone lesser than themselves."

"Hmm… An interesting answer. Thank you." Tarao hurried away.

Pakku resumed walking. He had given his best answer. Now he just had to hope that Zuko played his part.