This wasn't Zuko's robe.
Aang had gotten used to sleeping in odd places and waking up with Zuko's robes on him, especially when Aang was younger and skinnier and got cold more easily. The first time it had happened was right after Katara had told him how they weren't going to be working out. He dove himself back into his Avatar duties, which mostly involved acting as a neutral party for disputes between the Fire Nation and the other nations, or between the Fire Nation and different spirits. Luckily, the week after Katara had crushed his soul, Zuko was forced to face the terrifying situation of facing off against a group of spirits and the Earth Kingdom at the same time.
Aang was airdropped a message from a messenger hawk, sealed with the Firelord's personal seal. Through the tears which had blurred his vision for the week (and didn't have any hint of ever going away), he could read about the situation that had brewed. Midway between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation were a small cluster of islands, almost invisible on any map, which were constantly fought over naval supply spots during the war. What neither of them knew were that the islands had been spiritual havens for millennia. The spirits had been harassing and destroying ships during the war, but each side thought it was the work of the other, or at least until the war had ended. There had been ongoing reports of nature spirits, resembling birds and other small animals, following boats that were now just being used for trade. When Zuko had followed their path of destruction, he followed it all the way to a peace summit between the spirits and an Earth Kingdom warlord. Which is why he needed Aang's help.
Drying his own eyes, he had hopped directly on Appa, glad to be distracted. The flight took too long, but he could at least think about the spirits and what he was going to say. Then he kept thinking about other times he had gone to intervene in things like this, and how he was always looking forward to Katara the entire time. Now he wasn't.
He had been stewing in his own thoughts for hours before landing on the island and being greeted by an excited shout by Zuko. Even though there was a verifiable army of spirits and what looked like a very large Earth Kingdom man on the other side of a circular table, he was smiling and his shoulders were still back. "Hey, glad you could come, just in time too!" Aang had wondered if Zuko just hadn't seen the hordes of people in front of him, especially because there was only one Fire Nation ship on the west of the island.
"Just in time for . . . ?" Aang returned the smile and raised an eyebrow.
"For sealing the peace! We came to an agreement." Zuko gestured to the two other groups on the hill. One of the spirits waved back with a wing, but every other being still looked slightly peeved.
"That's amazing, what . . . what happened?" And Zuko had told him the whole story, most of which Aang had forgotten six years later. The gist of it was that Aang wasn't needed anymore, other than to recognize what had happened. So Aang had turned to leave back on Appa.
Zuko caught his arm. "Don't you want to stay here for a bit? Celebrate?"
The burning pit in Aang's stomach wanted to do anything but celebrate. But there was no reason he could give to leave, so he just nodded with tight lips. The crowd thinned before long, leaving Aang and Zuko with the Earth warlord and a couple of spirits, resembling octopusdeer with bird wings instead of tentacles. With most of the Earth Kingdom troops having fled on ships, the warlord (who's name turned out to be Chin, which had surprised Aang as he didn't think people were named Chin anymore) had loosened up a bit. Before the day was dark, the three of them had kicked off their shoes and the spirits had reformed into human-shaped amalgamations of squirreldoves. Aang relaxed himself and tried to focus on where he was at the moment. Unfortunately, doing that consciously had the effect of making him very aware of the reasons he had to distract himself, and he was right back to before. So he focused on Zuko.
Zuko, as Aang would grow to realize, was proud of himself immensely. This was the first major incident that he had dealt with almost by himself, and, with no concessions from him and no loss of life, this was one of the most successful diplomatic missions he had been in. Aang was proud of him too, even if he was disappointed with himself, so he waited a couple more hours before trying to leave. He had stood up before being halted by Zuko's hand again, a gentle pressure on his shoulder. "Stay?"
And Aang did.
Aang had woken up when the sun hit his face, with a red and black robe draped carefully over him. Below him was the calming snores of Appa, and right next to him was the gentle sound of Zuko breathing. Even asleep, Zuko's breathing was full and controlled, and as steady as a heartbeat. Aang had fought the urge to go back to sleep. Rolling over to Zuko, Aang shook him gently and whispered, "You need your robe back?"
"S'okay buddy," Zuko murmured through half-closed lips. "I don't get cold. You need it more than I do." He shifted in his sleep and Aang could feel waves of warmth emanate from him. Zuko's eyelids fluttered open, and he reached out his hand to adjust the sleeves on the robe, draping Aang with practiced hands. Aang had taken this simple gesture as something more, and broke into ugly tears, eventually telling Zuko about everything that had happened to him in the past week, everything which had been going on with Katara.
After that, whenever Aang would see Zuko, he would stay a little longer, soaking up the time he had with someone who didn't just see him as the avatar. And every time he got tired enough, he would wake up the next day draped in one of Zuko's robes. They were always the same colours, red and black. Which is how he knew that now, drifting on a ship towards Ember Island, the robe he was draped in wasn't Zuko's.
Red and gold, not red and black. Definitely still Fire Nation colours, so that ruled out Sokka and Suki and Katara and Toph. Unfortunately, that ruled out nobody else.
The first culprit was simple: Mai. He waited until the sun began to rise and when the door creaked open, he turned his head to look her in the eyes and offer up the robe. "This yours?"
"I don't own two robes, you know?" Her voice was drier than normal, this early in the morning. Onher body was another robe though, in a completely different style than the one in his hands. Which ruled her out.
"How about your parents? Do they-Are they missing robes? Is this one of theirs?" This was a long shot, but it would be nice to eliminate another few people.
Mai tilted her head and gave a rare smile, the edges of her lips tilting up almost imperceivably. "It doesn't look like any of theirs but it does look similar to Zuko's."
"Really? The colours are all wrong though."
"I didn't say it was one of his, I said it looked like one of his." She scrunched up her nose, debating whether to add another comment, and then left without as much as a goodbye.
Aang started to wonder if there was a riddle or a hidden meaning in their conversation. This was why he much preferred bantering with dragons over having normal conversations with other people. Something that looks like Zuko's . . .
A couple hours later, still on the open seas, Aang was lounging on the deck when he heard the telltale light footsteps of Azula, creeping up on him. Without turning around, he called out to her. "So what did you think of the dragon show?"
She walked over to recline in a chair next to his, feigning an air of relaxation that Aang couldn't believe she actually felt. "It was okay, I've seen much better. You should see what the Ember Island Players can do with coloured streamers nowadays."
"You know that I had to talk to them before they would do anything for your brother and your friend?" The sun was bathing them both in its warm light, and Aang was feeling the calmness that Azula was appearing to exude. "Do you know what they said?"
"I've heard my uncle talk, I can't imagine that any other dragon could be much worse." Without turning towards her, Aang could feel the smile on her face in her voice.
"They said . . . they said that fire isn't about aggression or even warmth and life, it's about change. Permanent change." Aang waited for Azula to say something, but she was silent. "Do you think that's possible?"
The ship must have hit a cold patch of air or something, because the temperature dropped. Azula's voice was more curt than he had heard in years. "I have to. Everything I do, everything I am, that's based on hoping that I can be different than I was. That I am different. That I-" Her voice broke, and whatever she was about to say was lost. She stood up and turned to leave, and Aang tried to stop her the way her brother stopped him all those years ago, putting a loose hand on her shoulder that she could have shrugged off at any time. Instead, she turned to face him, revealing that her eyes had started to tear up.
He searched for words to say, but could only croak out, "Thanks for the robe," which elicited a sharp bark of a laugh. He held up the robe in response, hoping he was actually right this time.
He wasn't. "Save your thanks for my uncle." She patted his hand off of her, half-consolingly, half-absentmindedly. He stood up to watch her leave into the presence of a Disapproving Ty Lee, who was giving him an indecipherable stare. He left to the main room again, going in a twisted path to avoid Azula.
Following the scent of tea, Aang found Iroh in the kitchens, sitting on a makeshift stool and playing Pai Sho with one of the chefs. He waved at Aang as he got close enough. "Come to return my gift?" Aang didn't know how, but he knew that there was a belly laugh brewing in Iroh's gut. All he had to do was spring it.
"Is it that much of a gift if I have to return it?" And there it was, the laugh he had been waiting for.
"If you got as much use from it as I thought you did, then it was less a gift than it was a lifeline. Be mindful of your surroundings, save you from turning into an icicle again. It wasn't only your tattoo which was blue last night." Iroh turned his attention back to the game as Aang draped the robe over Iroh's surprisingly wide shoulders.
Aang called his attention back to him. "Sifu Iroh? How did you know I needed something last night?"
"I did not. Your friend, she's the one who dragged my attention to you, asking for blankets and such. She was as brash as she was the first time I had met her, but more open. You're lucky to have someone like her. Now, forgive me, for I must turn my full might against this poor man." He glowered theatrically before breaking into another full laugh and then moving a single tile on the board. Aang cleared out, and ran face first into Zuko, who wrapped his arms around him protectively.
"Whoa!" Zuko pushed him away long enough to see Aang's face, then wrapped him up again. "Man, I feel like I've just been missing you this entire trip! I can't thank you enough for talking to the dragons, they let me know how much of an impact you made."
Aang talked into Zuko's chest, his words slightly cut off by the cloth. "-do it anytime-"
Zuko, having gotten everything out of the impromptu hug he had wanted, pushed Aang away enough to see his face but still holding onto Aang by the arms. "And, this is awkward, but once we get back into port, you won't see all too much of me for the next few days. Some of this stuff is Royal Family only, and even though you're technically my grandfather, I don't think I'll be able to pull you in."
Aang could just nod.
"How about some pai sho?" Zuko asked sheepishly, ruffling the back of his hair.
So they played until the ship landed on the Ember Islands.
Author's note: I think I'm writing Zuko and Aang as being more friendly now than when I first started writing this thing. However, I'm going to pretend that the writing is being done from Aang's perspective and it turned out that Zuko and Aang were always more friendly than Aang thought, and he's just now realizing it. Also, sorry this chapter is shorter than the last one, I got tired.