Chapter 14- Pursuit
pursuit (noun): the act or an instance of chasing or pursuing; the act of striving to gain or accomplish something.
The moon was well up when they set down again, having only flown for a couple hours. They were all tired from the events of the day, and their biggest priority was putting distance between them and Gao Ling before Toph's father sent the town guard after them. They don't bother fully unpacking this time, since they'd only be here a couple hours, but Tao does set up a campfire to take some of the night chill out of the area as they all just gather around with their sleeping bags. As usual, he was the last one to really start settling down to sleep, though as he finally turns away from the fire to lay down on his bedroll, he notices that Toph's eyes were still open, staring sightlessly up at the sky as a cool breeze blew through the trees, ruffling her clothing and hair. Scooting a little closer, Tao examines her closely for a moment before speaking softly. "Can't sleep?" he asks, getting a small shrug from Toph.
"Not really. I'm too excited. This is the furthest I've ever been away from home. Even when I'd run away I never went this far." she replies, sitting up with a small huff, tilting her head in Tao's direction.
"I guess I can understand that. I was never allowed to go far from home myself, though I certainly didn't have as many restrictions as you. But... I certainly didn't tell Aang no when he invited me to visit the Southern Air Temple with him." he hums, folding his hands in his crossed legs, examining Toph quietly. She really was tiny, petite but also compactly built. She looked fragile, but also like she could fold him like a sheet if she wanted to. From watching her fight, he didn't doubt that one bit.
"So you really were frozen for a hundred years?"
"Yeah, with Aang and Appa. Its... a complicated situation. We were both running from something at the time. And here we are, all this time later." letting out a gusty sigh, Tao shifts a little to release some nervous energy, noticing Toph perk up a bit at the motion. "Aang said you told him you see with your earthbending. That's incredible. I wonder if I could do something similar with my firebending." he muses absently.
Toph lets out a quiet bark of laughter, crossing her arms and sitting up a little straighter, seeming rather proud of her accomplishment. "What can I say, I'm pretty great." she boasts, to which Tao chuckles. "Its really not that hard to figure out if you're a half competent bender. Are you?"
"I'd like to think so. I've been working on improving my mobility using my firebending. Maybe when we get somewhere more concrete, you could talk me through how you do it, and I can try and replicate it with firebending." Tao replies, finding himself rather amused by her attitude. His small smile fades though, and he twiddles his thumbs against each other, looking down at his lap. "So, you really don't care that I'm a firebender?" he asks quietly, though he knew she'd hear him. He had a feeling she had keen hearing to make up for her lack of sight.
Toph actually goes quiet at this, her broad, proud grin relaxing and she lets out a slow breath. "I mean... it doesn't matter if I do care, does it? I don't get 'evil ashmaker' vibes off you. Actually, you're pretty nervous and jumpy for someone traveling with the Avatar. What's with that?"
"Oh... well... let's just say I have a rough past and leave it at that for now. I'm getting better but... healing isn't a linear path." Tao replies with a deep grimace, reaching up and absently rubbing the edge of his scar by his mouth.
"Hm. Well, whatever. You were around before the war even started. So, Sparky, I'm not overly concerned that you're a firebender. I've never had bad experiences with firebenders, so I don't really have a reason to hate you because of your element." Toph states with a level of finality, nodding her head a couple times. Tao feels his shoulders relax a little, then he blinks, brow furrowing.
"Sparky?" he asks incredulously, voice cracking a little. Toph grins and giggles a little, nudging his knee with her foot.
"I like giving nicknames. Its fun."
Tao lets out a huff, nudging her calloused foot back with his knee, shaking his head. "Uh huh. The other's had better get nicknames. If its just me, we're going to have an issue." he drawls, clearly not meaning it, and it makes Toph laugh again. "You should try and get some sleep. We've got a long day ahead tomorrow. I'll be up for a little while though, if you need anything. I don't sleep much."
"Got it. 'Night Sparky." Toph chirps with a single nod before flopping back against the dirt again, finally closing her cloudy eyes as Tao scoots back over to his bedroll, laying down on it and folding his hands on his stomach, watching the moon for a while before he slowly drifts off to sleep.
oOo
Toph really did not enjoy flying, Tao could tell that by how she always had an arm looped through the holes at the edge of it, holding on firmly and keeping herself pressed against it for security. She didn't complain, but it was clear that she was uncomfortable and felt vulnerable. He found himself sitting nearest to her, rather than nearest to Sokka as the day drew on and they covered mile after mile in the air. Usually he and Sokka passed the time with simple mindless games, arm wrestling, or drawing up mock battle plans. The other teen had a brilliant brain for strategy and battlefield management, and Tao was business-minded enough that he usually fielded supply line and logistics scenarios. But for the time being, Sokka would have to amuse himself. Tao didn't know if Toph noticed his closer presence, at least not until he replied to something Aang asked him and he spoke up right next to her. He notices her jump a little, but doesn't comment on it. Shortly after lunch though, as Tao sits sharpening his dagger that he always kept on him, hidden under his shirt, Toph shifts and puts one of her feet against his ankle. He can't help but smile a little, and makes sure to keep that leg right where it was so the blind girl had a sounding board about where he was and where she was in relation to he rest of the saddle.
As evening fell, Aang locates a good spot to set down, and Tao notices that, the longer they stood there, the more of Appa's fur was gathering on the ground. The bison was shedding his thicker winter coat as the weather warmed up, his thinner summer coat coming in behind it, which meant that white and brown fur was everywhere and getting on everything. They don't really pay it much mind, outside of playing in briefly, and they fall into their usual routines of setting up camp, Tao gathering dry wood and setting up the fire, Sokka and Aang unloading the saddle and getting it off Appa for the night, and Katara going through their food supplies to figure out dinner. The only one who didn't seem to be contributing was Toph, who already had her things off Appa and was lounging against her folded up bag, casual as could be. Katara tries to be gentle about explaining to her how they all worked together to set up and break down camp, but the younger girl just doesn't seem to be understanding what she was getting at. When she comments about 'carrying her own weight,' Tao sees what she was meaning immediately. She didn't want to be seen as a burden, and so was taking care of all of her own things herself, but at the cost of not helping the rest of the group out.
Tao decides to stay out of it, even as tensions rise when Katara tries again to talk to Toph. The others head off to bed, and Tao stays up a little longer to meditate a bit and watch the fire. He never gets a chance to go to sleep though, as Toph comes running out of her earth tent. "There's something coming towards us!" she calls, loudly enough to wake even Sokka up. "It feels like an avalanche. But also, not an avalanche."
"Your powers of perception are astounding." Sokka drawls, still half asleep.
"Should we leave?" Katara asks, looking over at Aang, worry clear in all of their faces.
"Better safe than sorry." the young Avatar says. They pack up their camp in a hurry, getting Appa's saddle back on him and loading up, taking off into the skies. Looking back, they can see some huge machine belching black smoke rolling right in their direction, with alarming speed. Narrowing his eyes, Tao feels a cold chill go down his spine.
"That looks like Fire Nation technology. Like the tanks at the Northern Air Temple." he says, grimacing a little. "We have to lose them. Whoever has the funds to acquire something like that isn't going to be friendly to us."
They fly for a couple hours before finally setting down again. The blow up between Katara and Toph this time is something to behold, and Tao happily stays out of the way of it, feeling pity for Aang as he tries to go and mediate between the two girls. The others weren't as used to staying up all night as Tao was, and they were feeling the effects of sleep deprivation a lot quicker than him. Unfortunately for them as well, they don't have but maybe half an hour to sleep before Toph senses the machine again, and they have to take off a second time.
Aang flies a zig-zagging course, and they eventually land high in some mountains, Appa setting down rather roughly this time around, rolling onto his side and dumping all of them onto the ground. Tao ends up falling between Toph and Katara, which he wasn't sure was a good place to be considering the arguing the two had been doing.
"Alright forget setting up camp. I'm finding the softest pile of dirt and going to sleep." Sokka groans, inching away, already in his sleeping bag.
"Good, because Toph wasn't going to help anyway." Katara barbs, getting a groan from Tao as he massages his temples.
"I didn't know baby still needed someone to tuck her in bed." Toph shoots right back, and Tao was regretting just staying where he had fallen.
"Come on guys, something is after us and we don't even know what, or who, it is." Aang groans, pulling part of his shirt up over his face.
"It could be Zuko. We haven't seen him since the North Pole." Katara suggests, though Tao highly doubted it. Zuko had been traveling with a rag-tag crew in a crumbling, rust bucket of a ship as a banished prince. He didn't think he'd have the funds to procure whatever sort of monstrosity of technology was after them.
"Who's Zuko?" Toph asks.
"Oh just some angry freak with a ponytail who's tracked us all across the world. I'm pretty sure Tao is in love with him." Sokka replies, which makes Tao sit up quickly, turning to glare at the other teen.
"I'm not above setting your sleeping bag on fire. And you're doing an awful lot of talking for someone who wants to be sleeping." he growls, feeling his face burning, and he hears Toph let out a small snicker as his heart skips a couple beats. The budding conflict is cut short though as Momo runs across Sokka, looking back the way they had come. The tank had caught up to them, and it was close. Very close.
And the sight of the people who get out of the rear car of the tank sends chills up Tao's spine. Princess Azula and her two friends, riding mongoose lizards, had followed them from Omashu. He should have guessed it was them. Princess Azula would have the backing of her father, after all, and therefore unlimited funds and supplies. Of course she had a tank like that to track them in comfort, while they got more and more exhausted. What he sees when they all hop up onto Appa as Toph raises a rock wall to block them terrifies him as well. Azula makes short work of it with a powerful blast of lightning.
They're in the air as quickly as Appa can manage, barely dodging a blast of blue fire that Tao is able to redirect, though with more difficulty than he could normal fire, that Azula sends their way. Sitting down heavily, he lets out a shaky breath. "She can bend lightning. That... that raises the stakes. A lot."
"What do you mean?" Katara says from beside him, dark circles obvious under her eyes, and everyone else's. Tao couldn't imagine how tired they were. Even he was feeling it more than usual, just from the stress of running so much.
Crossing his legs, Tao folds his hands in them, brow furrowing. "Lightning is considered a pure form of firebending. Stronger than even the blue fire that Azula and I both bend. My father planned to try to teach it to me when I turned sixteen, but never got around to it since I left with Aang for the Air Temple, and wound up having my birthday there." pausing, he rubs absently at his scar, closing his eyes and shuddering. "To be struck by lightning is a death sentence. Its absolutely deadly. Its called the cold blooded fire for a reason. And as far as I know, outside of getting out of the way, there's no way to counter it."
The silence that falls over the group is heavy, knowing the sort of deadly foes that they were up against. Zuko had been a threat, a menace. But really, he had never truly been out to kill them, and any injuries in their conflicts were circumstantial. But Azula... Tao didn't doubt for one second that she and her friends would kill them without a moment of hesitation.
Before they know it, the sun was rising over the distant mountains. Sokka was very much not happy about it, and even Aang's energy was incredibly low. Toph and Katara were half asleep in the back of the saddle, and Tao was watching behind them, as sharp eyed as he could manage, for any sign of the tank. And he continues to do so until well past noon, seeing no sign of them. Which was good, because once the sun was just past its highest point, Appa finally falls asleep and they're suddenly in a free fall. The crash landing that follows left all of them sore and bruised, but the blow up that happens between Aang, Toph and Katara that happens immediately afterwards left Tao's ears ringing, and he was only too happy to go sit with Sokka and have a cool glass of water as the gravity of what Aang and Katara had just done, and Toph leaving because of it, settles in.
"We should probably go after her. You two need to apologize." Tao says, turning and giving Aang a pointed look.
"I agree. But first, what are we going to do about the tank full of dangerous ladies chasing us." Sokka states. Luckily, Aang's mind was still in working order, and he's able to come up with a plan. They get Appa to a river, where Aang and Katara spray him with concentrated streams of water to help loosen up his shedding fur, while Sokka and Tao scrub him down with branches. Then, finding a place to hide his saddle while Aang uses Sokka's bag to gather up some of the fur, they agree to split up.
"I'm going with you, Aang. Azula will probably end up following you, and you don't need to face her alone." Tao states, nervous, but determined. Aang blinks a couple times at this.
"I can't carry you on my glider that far."
"You don't need to. I'll be able to keep up just fine. Sokka and Katara will look after Appa, and look for Toph. Just don't fly so fast that I lose you." Tao says, taking in a few deep breaths through his nose, stoking his chi and getting himself ready for a long, exhausting journey. Aang looked a little confused, having not seen the mobility technique that Tao had been practicing yet, but he doesn't protest. And once Appa is clear with the siblings, he takes the bag, and his glider, and takes to the skies. Tao crouches, concentrating his chi into his heels, and sharpens his focus and precision, taking one boosted stride, then another, and another, soon falling into an extended sprint. He couldn't move as fast as Aang, or go as high, but he could keep him in sight as they cover mile after mile, forest giving way to plains, then to craggy desert, as Aang leaves a trail of fur in their wake. Soon they come across an abandoned mining town, and Aang finally runs out of fur as Tao catches up to him fully, panting heavily, his body aching and feeling drained. But he should be mostly recovered should Azula catch up to them. It would ideally take her a couple hours.
"That was incredible. I didn't know you could move like that." Aang remarks, offering his taller friend a tired smile.
"Its new. I still need to practice it, really make it efficient. But I'm glad I started training it when I did." he replies, looking back towards the mountains they had descended from. "I take it you want to wait here, see if anyone arrives? Its probably the only way we can shake them, is to face them."
"I think that's for the best. We know who it is, or at least who Princess Azula is, but we don't know for sure why she's chasing us." Aang sighs, sitting down in the dirt at the end of the trail, Tao sitting beside him.
"Come on Aang... don't you think its a little obvious? She wants to capture you, like her brother. Or worse, she wants to kill you. You're the greatest threat to her father and the war after all." Tao replies, resting the backs of his hands on his knees, breathing deeply, soaking in the heat of Agni's light as the sun slowly creeps closer and closer to the horizon. "We should rest, and recover as much strength as possible before she gets here."
Aang was too tired to justify that with a reply, taking advantage of the time to rest and try and gather his strength as well. The sun was touching the mountain peaks when movement at the end of the street gets their attention. Azula had arrived, alone. And as Tao and Aang get to their feet, and she gets off her mongoose lizard, Azula looked far too delighted to see them.
"Well, look at this. I get too prizes for the price of one. The Avatar, and his interesting little firebending friend." she nearly coos, her voice as cold as ice. Tao clenches his jaw, straightening his back a little.
"So what now?" Aang fires back, hand tight on his staff as he stood beside Tao.
"Now? Now its over. You're tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you." Azula replies, and Tao absolutely believes her. She had chased them this far, had been smart enough to see through their plan, probably pretty easily, and was confident enough to come and face the Avatar by herself. She didn't even seem rattled that the fight was going to be two on one. A smile curls onto her face as Tao and Aang both tense up, one hand on her hip as she almost teases them. "Do you really want to fight me?" she asks, seeming far too amused.
Movement catches Tao's eye just as Zuko comes sliding out of an alley, looking... very different to the last time Tao had seen him. His phoenix tail was gone, replaced by a full head of hair, and he was wearing dark olive Earth Kingdom robes. He also didn't seem to have Iroh with him. What exactly had happened since they had seen each other last at the North Pole. "Yes, I really do." the banished prince answers to Azula's question, falling into a fighting stance as he moves partially between his sister and Aang and Tao. "Back off Azula, they're mine." he growls, cutting his eyes to the pair and then back to Azula. Tao wasn't overly confident that Zuko was about to fight with them against his sister, but he also wasn't sure if he would fight against them either.
What it turns into was a three way battle between all of them, Aang and Tao having to fend off Zuko and Azula, while Azula fended off the three of them. She didn't seem at all ruffled by having so many opponents on her, and Tao was realizing very quickly that it was much more challenging to take control of and redirect the more chi-packed blue fire she bent with than regular firebending. It was a lot more to overpower and bend to his own will, and he was still tired from following Aang for so long.
Azula isn't on the defensive until Katara and Sokka arrive, and shortly after them, Toph, and then Iroh. Only when it was seven against one did the princess look even a little nervous as she was backed into a corner. They shouldn't have underestimated her willingness to play dirty though, or her cunning. All it takes is a split second of Iroh being distracted for her to take a cheap shot, firing a concentrated spear of flames right into Iroh's chest, barely above his heart, sending the older man reeling back. The horrified yell that Zuko lets out as his uncle hits the ground would haunt Tao's nightmares, and all of them put their all into a counter attack. When the dust settles, Azula was gone, and Zuko had moved to kneel by his uncle, who was far too still, laid out on his back in the dirt, the harsh burn on his chest bleeding and smoking. The prince was clearly distraught, gripping at his head, but when he hears their approach, he turns on them with rage and pain in his face. "Get away from us!" he shouts.
Katara's kind nature takes over, even after everything that Zuko had put them through, and she moves closer anyway. "Zuko, I can help!" she insists, and Tao sees Zuko's shoulders tense, and the prince whirls, firing an arc of flame right over the tops of their heads, with a cry to leave. Anger and frustration takes over Tao then, and he moves forward, grabbing Zuko's outstretched wrist and wrenching him away from Iroh, grabbing the collar of the other teen's shirt and hauling him up, jaw clenched as gold eyes meet gold.
"No! Your stubborn pride is going to get Iroh killed!" he nearly snarls as Zuko grabs his wrists to try and get him to let go.
"Release me! Get away from my Uncle!" Zuko shouts, eyes glistening with tears he stubbornly refused to let fall as Tao shoves on him, forcing him to stumble back, putting several feet between him and his uncle.
"No Zuko! The two of you didn't save my life for me to sit by and allow you to let Iroh die. Do you have the supplies to take care of that wound? Katara can heal him. And you're going to stay out of her way and let her!"
"I only saved you to get information about the Avatar. You owe me nothing." Zuko snarls, though his struggling had weakened a little. When Katara moves over to Iroh and pulls her water from her water skin though, alarm flares in his eyes, panic making it hard for him to think clearly. "Get away from him, peasant!"
"Enough!" Tao snarls, shaking Zuko hard, getting his eyes back on him. "She isn't going to hurt Iroh. Now shut up and let her do her work."
Zuko, thankfully, seemed to have a lot of the fire go out of him as he sees Katara's gently glowing water and hands settle over Iroh's wound, assessing the damage and healing what she could. Tao takes that as a chance to let go of Zuko, trusting he wouldn't do something stupid like rush the girl. Which he thankfully doesn't. He keeps himself between the banished prince and Katara though, just in case, but lets him move a little closer so he could be assured Katara wasn't hurting his uncle. He doesn't like the worry that crosses Katara's face though, and after a while she pulls her hands back, looking up at Aang and Tao, and then at her brother and Toph, not looking for more than a second at Zuko. "This isn't good. This wound is deep and there's a lot of damage from the burn. It'll take more than one healing session to knit it together." she says quietly, and Tao sees Zuko tense in his peripheral vision.
"We should move him to a safer location then. Azula is probably going to come back here when she finds her friends." Aang says, not hesitating for a moment to help someone in need, even if that someone was technically an enemy. Though, if what Zuko had told him about his rescue of Aang from Zhao's clutches, what felt like an eternity ago now, was true, Aang was holding out hope that maybe he and Zuko could be more than enemies. And Iroh's comments to Tao about he and Zuko not needing to be on opposite sides of this conflict also come back, echoing in his mind as he looks at the older man, still prone on the ground, his breathing so shallow it was hard to see.
"Aang, can you call Appa? We need to get his saddle back on him before we move Iroh anywhere." Tao says, to which the Avatar nods.
"I'll go back and get him. He'll still be tired, so the less flying he does the better. I won't be long." he states, snapping his glider out and taking off.
Tao looks at Sokka, nodding towards Iroh. "Help Zuko and I move him out of the street. We should hide until Aang comes back. Toph, can you clear any trail with your earthbending?" Sokka looks ready to protest, not liking helping an enemy who had caused them so much grief, but a hard look from his sister and Tao both keep his mouth shut. Tao and Zuko both carefully take Iroh's upper half, while Sokka takes his legs and together they drag him into one of the abandoned houses, Katara coaching them along to make sure they were as gentle as possible, while Toph hid their trail and the blood from Iroh's wound with her earthbending.
As they're waiting for Aang to come back, Zuko remains knelt beside his uncle, hands clenched on his knees, jaw set in a hard clench. Katara assures him quietly that she had stopped the bleeding, and that he was stable, but whether the banished prince hears her or not, Tao couldn't tell. He seemed to be disassociating. Sokka keeps his distance, and Tao notes that Toph seemed oddly interested in Iroh's condition. He'd ask later. For the time being, he moves over to Zuko, kneeling beside him and not speaking, watching the quiet rise and fall of Iroh's chest and stomach as he breathed. It was Zuko that spoke first, voice barely above a whisper. "Why are you doing this? I'm your enemy."
Tao lets out a slow breath through his nose, rubbing his thumb across his knuckles as he thinks. "Its the right thing to do. You uncle is a kind, good man. It wouldn't be right to let him suffer such potentially slow and painful death. Not when we can do something to help." he murmurs, shrugging. "The two of you did right by me when you fished me out of the sea, even if your intentions were to capture Aang with information I gave you. You treated me well... more than well actually. Certainly better than any prisoner should have been treated. Its only fair that I try and do right by you." as he looks over at Zuko, the fire prince lifts his head and meets Tao's eyes for a bare moment before sighing and dropping his chin to his chest, not seeming to have much hope. In all their encounters, in all his time spent in close quarters with Zuko, Tao had never seen him look so... small.
Aang returns with Appa and his saddle just after sundown, and with a little help from Toph raising a pillar of earth, they're able to gently transfer Iroh into the saddle. Zuko seemed dubious about flying with the Avatar, and Aang was also clearly tense, but his want to help outweighed any hesitance. Once everyone is settled, Appa takes off as gently as he could and they leave the town behind. They're able to find an abandoned shack not too far away, high on a cliff that overlooked the town, and that's where they decide to set down. They move Iroh into the shelter of the shack, where Tao lights a fire after clearing some weeds and dead leaves away. Katara and Sokka locate and clear a well in the woods behind the house, and come back with a couple buckets to fill the cooking pot to make dinner and for Katara to use to heal Iroh. Tao takes over cooking so she could focus, while Sokka sits down next to him, across the fire from Zuko and his uncle, glaring at the prince with clear mistrust. "Sokka if you don't relax your face, its going to freeze like that." Tao remarks as he gives the rice porridge a stir, some meat searing on flat stones right beside the fire as well, sprinkled with some spices they had picked up in Gao Ling.
"You sound like Gran Gran." the other teen remarks. "Besides, someone has to keep an eye on the jerkbender. Someone who isn't biased anyway."
"I'm not biased." Tao protests, scowling at him, not appreciating the eye roll he gets in return.
"Sure buddy, whatever helps you sleep at night. I'll just say, you're not the only one who sleeps lightly sometimes."
"And what in Agni's name is that supposed to mean?" Tao says sharply, barely not keeping his voice low enough that Zuko hopefully didn't hear from his place beside Iroh.
"You talk in your sleep. When you're sleeping deeply anyway. You've said some things." Sokka replies, flashing a somewhat cheeky grin his way as Tao's face burns. "I told you to quit fraternizing with the enemy. I didn't think I had to specify in your dreams as well."
"You- you shut up. I don't know what you're talking about. And its not like I can help what I dream about, any more than you can." he huffs, feeling like his skin was about to erupt in flames. He couldn't believe Sokka was talking about this now. Though it wasn't like he had any idea, he never remembered his dreams unless they were nightmares. But this was not how he wanted to find out that he talked about Zuko in his sleep. "Weren't you complaining about being tired earlier? Lay down and go to sleep and quit bothering me."
"After food. Hey jerkbender!" Sokka calls across to Zuko, who barely justifies him with a tired glare. Sokka wasn't phased. "When we all go to sleep, don't try any funny business with Aang. We'll know about it. Tao doesn't sleep much."
Zuko just snorts while Tao groans and rolls his eyes, shaking his head and focusing on the food. Once its done, he portions it out and passes it around, moving over to Zuko with a bowl of porridge and some seasoned meat, holding it out to him. When he seems like he was going to refuse, Tao huffs and shoves it against his chest, making him take it or drop hot rice in his lap. "Eat. You're skinnier than the last time I saw you. Then you need to get some rest. I'm sure Iroh wouldn't want you neglecting your needs."
The fire prince glares unhappily at him, though Tao would almost call it a pout, but he takes a bite of the food. Satisfied, Tao nods and moves away, going back over to his spot to sit down and eat too, Momo perching on his knee to get scraps of the fruits he had mixed into the porridge. The food goes down easily, all of them hungry as well as exhausted, and once they've had their fills, Tao moves the cooking pot to the side to clean out in the morning, adds some more wood to the fire, and watches as his friends one by one drop off to sleep, nearly laying on top of each other as far away from Zuko and Iroh as they could get while still being near the fire's warmth. And Tao was sitting almost perfectly between the two groups, Momo curled up in his lap as had become the norm, watching the flames and thinking. He couldn't help but wonder if this kindness would change anything for them. For Zuko. And if it did, what would the consequences of that be?