Blue glanced over his shoulder again to make sure the others weren't watching. He could still sense their heat signatures down by the river, and if he strained his ears a little he could hear laughing and talking. He couldn't bring himself to stray to far from them these days, always keeping them close in case trouble arose and he needed to help. He made a point to assure himself of their safety often, closing his eyes to make sure they hadn't moved to far.

He looked behind him again. Logically he knew that they couldn't see him so far down by the bank, but he still checked. Paranoia crawled down his spine and made him extra wary.

It had been so long since he'd done any real fire bending. It was one thing to stir the campfire and search for heat signatures and warm himself with the dragons breath. It was another thing entirely to make real flames.

The last time he had done any real fire bending had been in his fight against the crazy king Bumi. Zuko pushed away the memory with a shudder. The very thought of his failure there made him want to rip his hair out and scream. If they had been even a little less lucky, and the king wasn't Aangs old earth bending friend... It wasn't a pleasant thought. Even days later he still had trouble sleeping. The idea of being so vulnerable again, of being so helpless, made his skin crawl like thousands of little bugs were burrowing into his flesh.

The others had tried to understand. Aang and Katara had tried to cheer him up. Even Sokka had put in an effort to get him in a better mood, and strangely enough, it had kinda worked. They didn't ask him to try an explain himself. Another reason to be grateful as that would have been one complicated game of charades. They left him to his own devices for the most part, and if he happened to sleep a little less, and take his naps farther away from the group, well they didn't mention it. For that he was extremely grateful.

The Blue Spirit continued with his project. Katara had left him in charge of preparing dinner and he wasn't going to disappoint them. Zuko finished getting out the necessary supplies from Appa's saddle. Thankfully the sky bison in question was down at the river with the others getting a well needed bath. Having a six ton flying bison around did have its uses though, like the ability to carry all their cooking supplies with him. Supplies that made preparing a meal so much easier.

Blue had plenty of experience with cooking food. Not having a palace full of servants to cook and prepare everything meant he had to learn the hard way how to not starve on his own. During the early days of his... death, he had survived mainly by stealing. That unfortunately wasn't sustainable long term during his travels. Earlier experiments with cooking had resulted in charred tough meat, disgusting raw bird eggs, and far to many mysterious plants he was lucky hadn't poisoned him.

That being said if there was one thing in his life Zuko could confidently say he had never done, it was give up. After of spying on a lot of people while they cooked, stealing an alarming number of books on edible plants and how to prepare them (all of which he returned afterwards), and lots of trial and error, he had become what many would call a decent cook. And he had a lot of experience. There was also Hana, though Blue hadn't spoken to her in so long. Well... technically he'd never spoken to her. She was one of the few people who noticed him back in those early days before it became less necessary to be near towns. One day he would repay her kindness. It was her recipe that he was planning to make the group that day.

The blue spirit set to work making his dough. Mixing it to the right texture and then kneading it roughly with his fingers. Once it was a good consistency he pulled a piece off and rolled it into small ball. He did so for all the rest of the dough and hid them under a cloth to rise.

While he was waiting he took to cleaning and gutting the fish Sokka had left him. It was simple gruesome work but he found he didn't mind it. He skewered the pieces on a stick and looked over his shoulder for a few minutes. When he was sure nobody watching he shot a small steady stream of flame out of his fist that caused the meat to sizzle and pop.

Cook the meat at a lower temperature at first, Hana's voice filled his head.

Blue held his breath and waited for the yelling to start. Searching out with his mind he felt the others heat signatures still down by the river. Nobody came running.

After a few minutes he placed the now cooked meat in a bowl and added that salt katara loved so much. It wasn't the spices he wished he had but beggars cant be choosers. Still he wasn't about to leave it completely alone. It didn't take long to cut up some of the wild peppers he had picked, grateful once again he knew how to discern between what was safe and what was poisonous.

Hana had taught him so much in just a few short days. He treasured up every word she spoke to him like a dragon guarding a hoard of gold. He had missed human interaction so much.

Blue had good reason for avoiding people, and he never went within ten feet of Hana, but she didn't mind when he watched her cook. She patiently explained everything she was doing. Spoke about which vegetables went good with what. How to season it just right, and she never seemed to mind that he never spoke back. The day he had to leave was sad, but he knew he couldn't stay in one place for very long. He had to make his way away from Caldera. Far away. To the earth kingdom even. And if he had left her a little carved dragon he had stolen to remember him by, then that was for them to know and no one else.

Checking once again over his shoulder the blue spirit flatten the ball of dough and spun it on his finger letting it expand. With one quick movement he cupped it in his hand and engulfed it in flames.

He glanced down at his little tortita bowl. It was far from perfect. Just the opposite really, lopsided and much crispier on one side, but it had been a while since he had practiced making them. With just as much caution as he had the first time the blue spirit made more bowls. He took care to keep the heat in his flames at just the right temperature to make them golden brown.

The noise from the others started getting closer. A quick check with his fire sense revealed they were heading up the hill.

Aang laughed as he came into view, clearly amused by something sokka had said. The others shortly follow, their hair still damp from the water.

Blue let out a breath he handled realized he was holding when they didn't immediately turn on him for being a traitor. Idiot, you have to tell them eventually.

"That smells great blue," Katara said.

The group walked closer and Blue scooped some of the freshly cooked fish into his bowl. He handed it over to her carefully. They all looked very impressed.

"How did you make the little bowl things," Sokka asked already scooping up his own bowl and buying directly into it.

Blue just shrugged.

"Tui and La it tastes amazing." He reached for another bowl.

The Blue spirit offered one to Aang hopefully. The Avatar just sighed.

"I told you Blue, I don't eat meat."

Sokka shoved the rest of his tortilla in his mouth. "I don't think he believes you Aang," He said, still chewing. The Avatar grimaced at him.

"Don't talk with you mouth full," Katara scolded. "Blue didn't you make something Aang can eat?"

Zuko naturally said nothing. Though after a minute of silence he pulled out his back up option for the Avatar. It didn't hurt to hope that the boy would get over his silly aversion to meat but if he insisted on mushrooms and vegetables then Zuko wasn't going to waste his time anymore.

Blue offered Aang his own tortilla bowl which was, as per request, meatless.

The monks eyes filled with gratitude at the offering.

"I knew you wouldn't forget about me. You were just messing with me weren't you," The Avatar laughed. "That was a funny prank."

Aang practically skipped to his seat around the fire and Blue stared at him in annoyance. He didn't see how trying not to let his friend starve was much of a joke. Then again what did he know about humor.

Katara's skin tingled as the cool morning breeze ran over her. She wondered when she started considering something like a simple breeze cold. She had faced real cold before, freezing winters and frozen fingers. Winds the cut into her skin and sunk deep into her bones. Weather that was so cold it killed. There was none of that in the earth kingdom. The coolness of the morning was refreshing. Katara only wished that she had a full stomach to go along with it. She didn't care what Sokka said, nuts were not a good breakfast.

The chittering sound of momo echoed around them as the small group walked down the road. The lemur landed on the Blue spirits shoulder and pulled on his braid. Katara smiled at the exasperated boy. His mask hung loosely from his belt today, and considering there was no one around for miles she thought maybe he would leave it off for a while. It was good to see his face, he was much easier to understand without the mask hiding his expressions.

The ground began to shake unexpectedly beneath her and Katara almost jumped a foot in the air. Momo screeched and pulled at Blues hair before being shooed away by the angry not-spirit.

"What was that," Aang asks.

The ground quaked again. Exchanging a wordless glance with the others the group snuck forward. Just a short ways over a slight hill a boy came into view. He was tucked away down in a short ravine almost out of sight. From what katara could see the boy was dressed in earth kingdom colors and had long brown hair.

Katara gasped when the boy lifted his arm and a large boulder lifted into the air. When he dropped it the earth shook.

"He's an earth bender!"

"Lets go meet him," Aang said excited.

"He looks dangerous. So we better approach–"

Katara tuned her brother out and rushed forward eagerly. She had never met an earth bender her age before.

Before she could take another step and strong arm wrapped around her and yanked her back. Katara yelled out in shock but a leather gloved hand covered her mouth tightly muffling any sound. Her heart rate skyrocketed as she was pulled away in a strong grip that left no room to get away.

Struggling against the iron grip Katara looked up to discover it was Blue holding her. He had one arm cradled around her holding her protectively against his chest.

His body burned so hot that the water bender wondered how she had never really realized how warm he was. He radiated heat like a miniature sun.

The sharp stab of fear at being stabbed faded away at the realization that she was not in the hands of an enemy. Her eyes hardened and with a sharp twist Katara jabbed her elbow into Blues stomach. He let her go.

The water bender rounded on him, face red with anger.

"Katara!"

Sokka stared at them and she realized the whole encounter had only taken place in the span of a few seconds.

"How dare you!" She yelled. The Blue Spirit raised his hands in a placating gesture. Kataras eyes burned with rage and Blue spirit cringed back a step.

Sokka and Aang looked back and forth between them shocked.

"You can't just grab people like that," she yelled waving her hand for emphasis.

Before Katara could blink Blue was moving. He turned and scrambled up the nearest tree so fast all she saw was a blur. Leaving her to scold empty air.

Katara gaped. Her mouth hang open but no sound came out.

"Katara!" Sokka stepped forward looking up through the foliage then back at her. "You scared our vigilante up a tree!"

Katara met his eyes still shocked.

"What! No I..." She looked back up at the tree Blue had disappeared into. She couldn't even see him, he blended directly into the shadows. She had in fact scared the boy into hiding up there. That doesn't make any sense! Why would Blue be scared of me! He's a master swordsman for crying out loud! Katara thought back to the wide eyed look of panic on his face when she had awoken him on Appa. He had scrambled to the back of the saddle so fast he had almost fallen out.

Katara glanced down at her hand which realized was still raised in scolding gesture. Her hand curled into a fist with her pointer finger raised. She always waggled her finger like gran gran when she was scolding someone. He doesn't think I was trying to hit him, right?

Katara hadn't made contact. She was sure of it. She had been yelling, and angry but she didn't try to hit him. Though her hand had come a little close to his face. Oh... Katara froze. Her stomach dropped like she had just jumped off Appa.

"Blue?" She stepped toward the tree. Her heart ached in her chest a little. "Blue, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you so badly."

She looked at her brother who shrugged.

"I was upset you grabbed me, but I swear I wasn't trying to hurt you!"

Katara frowned upon remembering why she had been scolding the boy in the first place. She was just trying to say hello. Then again Blue wasn't the most trusting person in the world and he was probably trying to protect her in the only way he knew how.

That made her feel worse. The water bender clenched her fists. It was so frustrating trying to understand him sometimes.

"I'm sorry I scared you. Can you please come down?"

"It's okay Blue," Aang said, "It was just a misunderstanding."

Sokka's face was scrunched up and he was lost deep in thought.

"I know you were just trying to protect me," Katara added.

"Yeah from that earth bender guy. He ran off though." The Airbender's eyes widened. "Hey! That guy has to be running somewhere. Maybe we're near a village!"

Katara saw an opportunity to break the tension and she jumped on it.

"Which means no nuts for dinner."

"Hey! I worked hard to collect those nuts!"

Katara raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah... I hate them too."

Katara glances back at the tree. To her surprise Blue was already standing there, she hadn't seen him climb down. He looked sheepish and played with the mask in his hands.

Katara's eyes softened.

"It's okay. You were just trying to protect me right?"

He nodded. When he looked up he met her eyes with such intensity that for a moment she forgot where she was. We're his eyes always so... gold? It was an unnatural color. An involuntary shudder ran down her spine.

"Im sorry I yelled at you."

Blue gave her an uncertain smile.

"Lets go check out this village," Aang said. "Im starving."

The lemur landed on his head.

Blue kept his head down as they walked into town. He had his hood pulled up over his head hiding him in shadow. His mask was firmly attached to his face and he had absolutely no intention of removing it anytime soon.

Hunger gnawed at him and he pushed the feeling down deeply. He was no stranger to starvation. The Blue spirit had gone days on end without proper food many times. Being with the GAang though meant he had gotten used to regular meals three times a day. He really was getting lazy, he'd have to do something about that.

"Look there he is," Katara said. She was bubbling with excitement.

Blue fought down a wave of shame. He had grabbed her, just snatched her up without any warning. She had tensed up in fear so quickly that he want to throw up. Even just for a moment he was the bad guy. It made him nauseous.

What was he even thinking. Katara isn't dumb, she knows the risks of talking to people. Clearly he had just misread the situation. Right? This was all his fault because he was terrible at understanding social situations. Next time he wouldn't jump to conclusions. Next time he would be better.

The low thrum of the market filled his ears as the group made their way toward the shop the boy had disappeared into. The streets were rather quiet despite the mid morning sun bearing down on them. Was this the market at its busiest?

He didn't get much time to speculate because they were already walking into the shop. It was small place, he scanned the room the second he stepped beyond the doorway. Two people, the boy from before who he knew to be an earth bender and a possible threat. There was also a middle age women, she appeared stressed and very nervous. He found no obvious hiding spot in the room but noted a couple places he could make work. It didn't appear to be any sort of trap, still he kept ready to attack at any given moment.

His group however didn't seem to share his cautious sentiment.

"You're the boy from before," katara said excitedly.

"No I'm not," he practically jumped as he said it. Blue narrowed his eyes beneath his mask. "You must have me confused with someone else!"

"No, we saw you earth ending."

"What!"

Blues head snapped to the woman at her horrified gasp.

"You know what would happen if they caught you Earth bending!"

Blue felt nauseous again. The town they were in must be occupied. He searched the room again just to be sure and positioned himself near the window so he could keep watch for the fire nation and still keep his eyes on the group.

"They're crazy mom! Just look how they're dressed."

Blue ducked his head hiding his masked face even further in the shadows. He fought the urge to run. Being trapped in such a small space was setting all his nerves on fire.

Blue caught a flicker of red out of the corner of his eye. He tugged on Sokka's sleeve and sharply nodded to the window.

The water tribe boys widened just as the harsh knock sounded at the door.

Blue drew his dao swords and ducked into the shadow of the corner. He knew he would be hidden from sight when the large door opened inward.

"Fire Nation act natural," Sokka said.

The woman stared shocked at Blues sword before snapping her mouth shut and striking a very unnatural pose. Her son and the rest of the group did likewise.

The door swung open with a load creak and Fire nation soldiers stepped just through the entrance. They smelled strongly of smoke and ash. Blue crouched hiding deeper in the corner and preparing to jump out and attack at the first sign of a flame.

"What do you want," the woman asked. "I've already paid you this week."

Sokka met his eyes briefly and shook his head so subtly he almost missed it. A lump rose in his throat. Sokka didn't want him to attack, not yet anyway.

"The tax just doubled," The soldiers hand lit up in flame and Blue froze. Every muscle in his body coiled up so tightly it hurt. He legs and arms cramped and his breath caught. "We wouldn't want an accident. Fire... can be so hard to control."

Blue forced himself to take a shaky breath. He wasn't twelve years old anymore, he had people he needed to protect. He painfully forced his taught muscles to relax. He had fought fire benders before. He could do it again.

Reaching out blue sensed with the man's fire easily. His confidence grew. The man's control really wasn't that good. If it came down to a fight he was armed and he would make sure the man couldn't so much as summon a flicker of flame before he doused it.

The woman handed over the last of her money and the tax collector left, dropping the copper coins for her to scramble to pick up. The door slammed.

"Nice guy," Sokka said sarcastically. "How long has the Fire Nation been here. He nodded at Blue who sheathed his swords and came out of the shadow. The danger had passed... for now.

"Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships," the woman said. She looked worriedly at Blue. He held up his hand trying to signal that he meant no harm.

"They're thugs. They steal from us. And everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it," The boy said.

"Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that."

"But, Haru's an earthbender?" Katara said curiously. "He can help!"

"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" She sent a meaningful glance toward her son. "He must never use his abilities."

A shudder ran down the Blue spirits spine and he looked away ashamed.

"How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are."

Blue felt his own inner fire deep inside his core, begging to be used. To be released. Fire wanted to spread, to grow, to live. Evidently other benders felt the pull to use their bending as well. The longing to push their limits.

He wanted more than anything to be firebending again. The short burst he got in when he was not with the group wasn't enough to satisfy him.

Even back when he was terrified of fire, which he still admittedly was though to a much lesser degree, he had still felt the urge. He hadn't pushed himself to start bending again for no reason, though he didn't fully understand why at the time.

"You don't understand." The woman said.

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?"

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father."

The silence that followed was deafening. Sokka sucked in a breath. Katara completely deflated, the fight leaving her bones and giving way to pity. Aang looked away clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. It hurt Blue to hear her so beaten down. "I didn't know."

Sokka sat in the barn rubbing his temples. The hay was sharply poking into his back but honestly that was far from the most annoying thing at the moment.

"So let me get this straight... you convinced Haru to Earth bend... in front of another person."

"The old man," she clarified for the fiftieth time.

"The old man," he agreed. His headache was growing by the second.

"He was in trouble! It was so brave of Haru to save him."

Sokka hummed non-convincingly. He glanced up at blue who was curled up in the rafters. The mask was still firmly attached but Sokka just knew he was rolling his eyes. He was getting much better at reading their strange vigilante.

"Wow," said Aang. "You must have really inspired him."

Katara beamed at the praise. Sokka made a mental note to talk to Aang later about a little thing called sucking up.

"I guess so."

"Everyone should get some sleep, we're leaving at dawn.

"Dawn?! Can't we sleep in for once?"

"Absolutely not! This village is crawling with Fire Nation troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast. Goodnight."

"I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts."

Both Aang and Katara laughed at that. Sokka caught Blue ducking his head in obvious amusement. Embarrassed sokka rolled over in his bag.

"Go to bed!"

Sokka took a breath and calmed his mind. He tried to process everything that had happened that day. Was it just his imagination or was Blue really starting to listen to him more. He had looked to him before attacking. Trusted his judgement when he told him to wait. Blue trusted him! He was the ninja, the one with actually experience, the guy who fought tons of fire nation soldiers single handedly and he had looked to Sokka for the final say.

It made him feel all giddy inside at the thought. He was leading the team. He had actual power behind him. Sokka didn't doubt for a moment that if he gave the word Blue would attack anyone he asked without question. Well... maybe not everyone. He couldn't imagine Blue attacking an old lady or something just because he said too... but still. Maybe if they were fire nation, except probably not because Blue is also...

Sokka squeezed his eyes shut.

Did it really matter? He had told himself that it didn't. Blue was part of their group now. Unless he's tricking you, his traitorous brain said.

Sokka didn't even want to consider such a thing as possible. Except... he kinda had too. Blue was dangerous. Very dangerous. He was a master swordsman and super sneaky. He could be leading them into a trap. A very long trap. Except he doesn't really know where they're going? Not until they land anyway. Sokka didn't really make a plan for where they were gonna stop until they were in the air. He was flexible like that. So that kinda ruled that out.

He could kill them while they slept, but he hadn't yet, and Sokka doubted he would. Blue watches over them steadfastly at night. He worked hard to scout the area and keep them safe.

The water tribe warrior just couldn't see his friend hurting anyone. And Blue was just that, his friend. He was teaching him how to sword fight. Coming with them to the North Pole. He cooked delicious food and helped Katara with chores and humored Aang's air bending tricks.

It just didn't make any sense.

The Blue Spirit was Fire nation. He hadn't told them, which... fair. Sokka wouldn't want to tell anyone if he was fire nation either. Seemed like a good way to get thrown off an ice cap. And Blue didn't exactly have the greatest track record for talking either so...

It all came back to one thing. That scar. It was hard for him to look at, he couldn't blame the other boy for covering it with a mask. And it looked painful, or at least it must have been.

Sokka knew deep down that the day he got that scar the Blue Spirits loyalty to the Fire Nations cause had died. That he saw them the way the rest of the world did for the first time. Afraid and hurt.

Deep in his gut his instincts were telling him that he could trust Blue. And he always trusted his instincts.