Zuko Gets Adopted

by mistytales1303

What happens when Zuko gets adopted by the Gaang? Shenanigans

4. Jet

I was simultaneously nervous and excited for Jet's chapter—so much to explore with Jet's character when you introduce a Fire Nation character into the mix imo, but I didn't get into it all, given he comes back up later. So, this was fun to write! Trying to keep to the major plot points of episodes each chapter—just to keep some basic character development for everyone more or less streamlined. This fic is 10K words!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Jet

Zuko rolled out of the sleeping bag as quickly and silently as he could. It was easier said than done in the autumn-esque forest. The entire ground was almost covered in the leaves. Each movement made noise, making it extremely difficult to do anything without sound. He was grateful that Iroh and the palace guards had taught him so much before he had left the Fire Nation. He looked up at the sky, where the sun was starting to rise. He had little time to spare.

He started to cherry-pick his way around the leaves, stepping where they were either the wettest with the morning dew or decayed enough that it would make the least amount of noise possible. He chanced a glance over to the group. As far as he could tell, no one was awake just yet. He turned back, regretting it immediately as he heard the heavy whoosh of air behind him just before he was tackled and pinned to the ground. A giant tongue ran up his back.

"Augh! No, Appa!" Zuko whispered. He tried to struggle for a few seconds before coming to terms with the fact that he just wasn't getting out from under the giant bison that easily. It took just one of Appa's first two paws to pin him.

He sighed, blowing hair out of his face. It took less than an hour for Katara to wake up and spy them not ten yards away. She snickered and Zuko started to regret ever agreeing to leave Iroh. She made her way to him, carrying her decorated sack and knelt before him with a devilish smirk. She took out the pair of scissors.

"Thought you'd sneak away, huh?"

"…I could dream."

Katara got to work, combing out his hair first. "And you thought you could actually get out of this," she says. Zuko resigned to his fate. Even if he threw a tantrum—and he very much wanted to throw a good fireball or two—it would set the whole forest on fire and he wasn't keen on cooking anyone alive.

Sokka was next to wake. He threw his pillow at Aang to get him up once he spotted Katara almost done with Zuko's hair. "Aang! Look! He actually tried it!"

Aang sat up, yawning. He spotted the display and started to laugh. Zuko swore he'd get that brat back for this; but, he'd have to figure out how first. Appa finally released him, stepping back and laying back down with a yawn. Zuko felt a little bad—he had woken the bison up, he supposed—but kept his back to the flying bison. The creature had gotten its slobber all over his back. It was disgusting. He'd have to change if he wasn't able to find a river. He absently reached back to check his clothing. It was already dry, but he doubted it would stay feeling so clean after another day or so. He tried to keep the annoyance from overtaking him. He needed new clothes, anyway.

Katara reached into her bag, taking out the shoes Zuko had been wearing. He'd wondered where those had gone. Days ago, they'd disappeared, and he couldn't find them, forced to borrow Sokka's extra pair. Looking at them now, it was apparent why Katara had taken them. The spiked toe guard that had adorned the front had been removed.

"Better," she says, finishing up the last of the stitching and handing them over to Zuko. Zuko took them, rubbing his thumb over the smoother surface. He was positive his toes were going to get crushed.

Katara went back to her bag, rummaging through it. Zuko slipped on the shoes, still feeling like his toes were too vulnerable, but grateful to have a pair of shoes that fit properly again. Aang sat down beside them, twirling his glider to rest behind him.

"Hey, Zuko?"

"Yeah?" Zuko was still inspecting the shoes like they'd change if he did it long enough.

"Would you be my Fire Bending teacher?" Aang asks. Katara paused in her search. She'd upturned the bag in a frantic attempt to find the scroll. It plopped out onto the ground when she stared at the two silently. Zuko took a moment himself before turning to look at Aang quizzically.

"…What?"

"Do you want to be my—"

"No, I heard you," Zuko cuts in. "I just… why?"

Aang blinked at him. "Do… I need a reason other than I want you to be?"

"Well… okay, I guess not. But, I'd like to know," Zuko says. Aang shrugged, giving him that innocent smile that he always wore.

"Well, I can't think of anyone else who could teach me. I still need to find an Earth Bending teacher, too," he says, counting off three fingers. Zuko suspected one of them represented Katara and one himself. Aang seemed satisfied with whatever mental math he'd been doing and nodded. It didn't seem that he was going to be getting out of this.

"Fine, but you have to listen to me and do what I tell you to."

"I can do that!" Aang assures him, using his bending to stand again. The wind sent leaves into Zuko's face and hair. He plucked them out, discarding them as he stood.

"I'll just teach you how I was taught," Zuko says. Katara glanced up, satisfied with the organization of her bag.

"You're starting now?" she asks.

"Yeah! I want to get started as soon as possible," Aang says. He turned back to Zuko. "Okay, I'm ready."

Zuko looked at him warily for a moment. "You… don't think that we're going to be blasting fireballs right away, do you?"

"We aren't?" Aang asked. Zuko gaped at him. "I started with water right away—"

"Fire isn't water!" Zuko snaps. "It's dangerous!"

Aang looked at him a moment before turning away. "…Sorry."

Zuko sighed, running his hand over his hair. Katara slipped the Water Bending scroll form her bag, reviewing it. Zuko had to give her props—she had slick fingers for succeeding in grabbing that scroll. She was getting better at using the moves illustrated in it. He was confident that fairly soon she'd be able to master them. It was impressive enough that she'd taught herself as much as she had—but she appeared to excel when having something to reference.

Zuko wasn't sure if he hoped Aang would get the hang of Fire Bending quickly or not. He still wasn't entirely sure if he still wanted to be here.

"Okay, we'll start easy," he says. Aang stood at attention, equally eager and nervous. Zuko tried to ignore that Aang was avoiding looking him in the face. "We start with a form of meditation. It teaches you control."

"That should be easy!" Aang says. He jabbed his thumb to his chest confidently. "Meditation is what I grew up on!"

"Then you should pick this up fast. Imagine you're next to a large flame, like a fire, that's slowly heating you up. Breathe through the process until you can maintain that temperature without it shifting." Zuko instructed, sitting in a meditative position.

Aang dropped back down to join him, taking up his typical Air Bender stance for meditation. Zuko doubt that the actual stance mattered at the start, so left him. He started to do the practice himself. Uncle Iroh had always stressed how important it was to return to the basics every so often. After a few long moments, with Sokka trying to practice with his knife against a tree, and Aang sighed heavily.

"I don't think it's working…" he groaned. Zuko cracked his good eye open at him to find Aang was already slouching to the side.

"Try imagining the heat coursing through your veins. It's what I do. It makes it easier."

"Okay…" Aang shifted back into position. It was quiet for a few more minutes and then Zuko heard an affirmative chuckle. "I think I got it! I can feel my body warming up!"

"Good, that's what's supposed to happen."

"What's next?" Aang asked eagerly. Zuko hummed a moment. The next step was just as inconsequential, in his opinion.

"Concentrate on the heat. Focus it to a point on your body. Most do the hands." Zuko raised his own hands, showing how his skin started to turn just slightly redder as he concentrated the heat without producing the flame.

Aang leaned forward, studying his hands. He raised his own. Focusing the heat into his palms while keeping it steady with his breathing was harder than he thought it would be. The heat wanted to spread, course through his body wherever it was cooling, and drawing it up to a specific point was a struggle. He furrowed his brow, starting to sweat not from the heat but from the effort. Zuko glanced up at him and let his own hands cool.

"You look like you're going to pop," he says. Aang gave an exaggerated sigh, slumping over.

"It's hard…"

"Of-course it is, you've never had to Bend it before and it's fire."

"What's that have to do with it?" Aang asks, trying to take up the meditation stance again.

"Water and air are closer than air and fire," Zuko says matter-of-factly. Katara nodded along, re-rolling the scroll. Sokka had given up his knife training for the time being and was collapsed against Appa's leg. Aang still looked lost, however. "It's like…"

Zuko broke his stance, resting his chin in his hand as he tried to think it out.

"It's just different, Aang!" Sokka called over.

"But how am I going to master it if I don't understand how to do it?" Aang asked. That was hard to argue against, when Zuko thought about it.

"Try visualizing it again," he says. "It helped last time. Think of it as your chi pooling in your palms. Imagine it going down your arms if you have to."

Aang took up his stand again, but this time with his hands out before him as if holding a ball, much like how Zuko had been when demonstrating. "Is that how you do it?"

"No, but that's how Azula used to do it," Zuko says.

"Who?" Katara asks. Zuko stiffened a moment.

"No one."

"…Zuko—"

"Hey, it's working!"

Zuko was grateful that Aang's obliviousness was so prevalent sometimes. If it got him out of that conversation, he was ready to latch onto anything Aang said at the moment. Speaking of the moment, Aang's hands were turning pink at the palms.

"It kind of tickles," he says amusedly.

A small bout of panic rose in Zuko's core at the comment seconds before a small flame erupted between Aang's hands. Aang stared at it, mesmerized a moment. Zuko watched the flame dance a moment, until it started to lurch a little haphazardly and he knocked Aang's hands out of order.

"Hey!"

"You are not ready to use flames," Zuko says sternly.

"But how else am I going to learn?" Aang asked desperately.

"You are learning," Zuko says. He glared Aang down until the boy's start of rebuttal died on his tongue. The puppy-dog eyes came out immediately. Zuko looked away from him, but the only places to look were at Katara or Sokka. Both were giving him expectant looks. He turned back to Aang, rubbing at his temples.

"Okay, how about you practice on this."

Aang glanced up, watching Zuko as he held a hand up, one finger out, and a small flame lit at the tip of his finger. Aang scooted closer.

"Hold your hands on either side of the flame, far enough away you won't burn yourself," Zuko says. Aang did as he was told, tongue sticking out in concentration. "Imagine your chi is wrapping around the flame, and you can move it by moving the chi."

Aang stared at the flame, furrowing his brows again. The flame was remaining stationary, save for the small breeze causing it to flicker. After a few moments, Zuko could tell that Aang was struggling again. It seemed he just couldn't get the flame to dance how he wanted it to. For a monk that spent years learning meditation, Zuko had expected him to keep his focus better than this.

"Just straining your brain isn't going to make it work any better," Zuko teased. Aang groaned, flopping back into the leaves.

"Hey, stop playing for a second," Sokka calls over. He ignored Zuko's indignant look. "Has anyone seen Momo?"

As if perfectly timed, Momo screeched through the trees. All four teens jumped to attention, following the occasional screeching until stumbling into a clearing with the hanging cages. Zuko studied them as Aang Bended his way up to lower Momo down. He rejoined them as the siblings pulled the metal casings away to release Momo from the trap. Unsurprisingly, Momo was only interested in eating the very berries that got him trapped. Zuko wasn't sure why he was at all surprised.

"And the others?" he asked, looking up at the two monkeys also trapped. Aang spun himself up again.

"Alright, them too!"

"This is going to take forever," Sokka grumbled.

He threw his boomerang up instead, slicing the two cages' ropes. They crashed down, opening on their own most of the way. It wasn't entirely as far as Momo's own cage was opened, but they were enough for the monkeys to climb out.

"These are Fire Nation traps. You can tell from the metalwork. We'd better pack up and get moving," Sokka says. He started off first, leading the way back. Aang hung back, joining Zuko next to the traps.

"Why would the Fire Nation set traps?" he asks. Zuko was studying them, confirming it for himself. It was true—the metal work was Fire Nation quality. He was impressed Sokka could tell so readily, until he started to really think of the reasons why. He snapped back to attention when Aang waved his hand over his face.

"Huh?"

"I asked why they'd set monkey traps."

"Hunting, probably," Zuko said, turning away to follow the siblings. Aang got a disgusted look on his face. "What? It's how they save on food stores."

"Not that. I'm vegetarian," Aang says. "I don't eat meat."

Zuko raised his brow at him. "With Sokka around? He's eaten more meat then Katara and I combined."

Aang laughed, petting Momo when the lemur perched on his shoulder. "He does love his meat, doesn't he? He really knows how to cook; I'll give him that."

"The only thing you've had that's 'cooked' is roasted vegetables," Zuko says. Aang laughed again.

"Well, that's true."

Zuko just didn't get the kid. He was too naïve and trustworthy. Though, the fact Zuko hadn't killed him yet was probably a factor in the trust Aang extended to him. His lack of understanding of it wasn't helped by Aang's next comment.

"Hey, so, I was thinking… and… you should probably lay low from now on."

Zuko almost stopped walking. Almost. He stumbled and quickly regained his footing to keep on par with Aang's pace.

"What?"

"I don't want Zhao reporting you to your dad. I don't know what he did, but Katara and Sokka tell me it was bad. And, I don't want you getting into more trouble with him," Aang says. He added on hastily, "Especially not because of me."

"…It wouldn't be because of you," Zuko assured him after a pause. Aang looked up at him, confused, but hopeful. "I… I'm fine with keeping who I am a secret. As much as I can with this."

Zuko gestured to his scar and Aang had to look away.

"…Just call me Lee when we're around people," he says.

"Lee?" Katara asked. Sokka glanced up at him, packing a bag, eyebrow raised.

"So no one knows it's me. At least, not right away," Zuko explains. He shoved Aang forward. "He can explain it better."

"Uh…" Aang laughed nervously and cleared his throat. "I just.. I don't want him getting in trouble because he's traveling with us! So, we should call him Lee when we're in public!"

"But why 'Lee'?" Katara asks, finishing tying up a sleeping bag.

"It's the most common name," Zuko sighs. He started to grab bags, throwing them up into the saddle. "I'm about as disinterested in seeing anyone Fire Nation as the rest of you."

"Oh…" Katara glanced at Aang, who shrugged, and dropped Momo off at Appa's feet as he passed by. Katara handed him the rolled sleeping bag. "Set this in the saddle for me?" she asked.

"Uh-uh! No flying this time!" Sokka shouted, taking the sleeping bag from Aang.

"Why wouldn't we fly this time?" Aang asks.

"Think about it. The Fire Nation keeps finding us because they can spot Appa. He's just too noticeable," Sokka says.

"What? Appa's not too noticeable," Katara says.

Zuko snorted, getting a glare from her. He held his hands up. "He's very noticeable."

"See? He would know!" Sokka said.

"Sokka's just jealous because he doesn't have an arrow," Aang assures the bison.

"I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk."

"Who made you the boss?" Katara asked.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader."

Zuko stepped back from the two. He wasn't about to get between Katara and Sokka when Katara was in a confronting mood. He'd been hit by her with enough water for a lifetime as far as he was concerned.

"You're the leader? But your voice still cracks."

Well, Aang certainly wasn't going to the be the leader if voice depth had any say in the matter. Zuko prayed it had nothing to say about it, or he'd be saddled with that position.

"I'm the oldest, and I'm a warrior!" Sokka retorted, his voice cracking in just the way Katara was teasing him about, but Sokka paid it no mind and kept at it. "So, I'm the leader."

As far as Zuko was concerned he could have the spot—

"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang," Katara says.

What?!

"I mean, he is the Avatar."

"Are you kidding?" Sokka asked.

"He's twelve!" Zuko cut in.

"He's a hundred and twelve!" Katara said.

"He's still a goofy kid!" Sokka said, gesturing to Aang as he did. Aang, at the moment, was hanging upside down off Appa's horns. It was like the boy knew just how to bury Katara's own point without uttering a word.

"He's right," Aang said.

For good measure, probably, Zuko thought.

"What about Zuko, then?" Katara offered.

Oh, hell no.

"Nuh-uh. Full stop. No." Zuko said, forming a giant X with his arms. Sokka gestured to him pointedly.

"He doesn't want to be the leader. So, I'm the leader," he insisted.

"What? But you captained a whole ship, didn't you?" Katara asked.

"I wasn't captain, I was just the one paying them," Zuko said. He cut her off before she could push him further. "I gave orders, but I'm not being leader to you three."

Sokka gave him a begrudging look. "Thanks?"

"Well, why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?" Katara asked. "I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you've ever kissed a girl."

What?

Zuko was about half a braincell away from asking her just what that had to do with it until he saw how it pushed Sokka's buttons. Ah, that was it.

"I've kissed a girl!" Sokka insisted. "You just haven't met her."

"Who? Gran-gran? I've met Gran-gran."

"No, besides Gran-gran!" Sokka shouted. "Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot, and a leader has to trust his instincts."

"Ok, we'll try it your way, o wise leader," Katara teased.

She was really hounding him, Zuko thought. Not that he didn't find it a little funny.

"Who knows? Walking might be fun," Aang said, sliding up next to her, already packed with a whole backpack to go. When had he…? No, Zuko was done questioning half the things Aang managed to do. He could chalk it up to Avatar magic.

Just his own luck, it took less than four hours for Aang to get very, very, very tired of the idea of walking.

"Walking stinks!"

Nomadic, he was certainly not.

"How did people go anywhere without a flying bison?"

"I don't know, Aang. Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts?" Katara suggested. "They seem to know everything."

"Haha, very funny."

"And I'm tired of carrying this pack," Aang whines.

Zuko felt much the same, but he certainly wasn't about to say anything. He already suspected Aang insisted on them all walking on foot not just so their sleeping gear was at the ready, but so they didn't all turn into Momo—free loading off Appa's walking efforts to take a nap on his back. His sense of comradery showcased itself rather oddly sometimes.

"You know who you should ask to carry it for a while? Sokka's instincts!"

"That's a great idea!"

The poor boy was too stupid to see the suggestion as the obvious stab to Sokka's ego that it was. Zuko felt bad for the kid when he inevitably did ask and Sokka subsequently snapped at him.

"I get it!" Sokka shouted. "Look, I'm tired, too, but the important thing is that we're safe from the Fire Nation…"

Sokka trailed off, pushing through the bushes to come across the Fire Nation camp on the opposite side. He stopped in his tracks, Katara and Aang on either side. Zuko came up from behind, stopping short of the bush's edge. He could feel his anxiety spiking. Katara and Aang both stepped back once to flank him a little more.

"Run!"

They'd hardly had time to turn before one of the soldiers who had rushed them used a fire blast to set the bush behind them on fire, cutting them off.

"Sokka, your shirt!"

Katara was faster than Zuko, Bending the water from her drinking satchel to douse the flames. She stepped up to Zuko's side next, Bending it back into place until she had to use it again, not wanting to risk the water evaporating with the wall of flame behind them.

"Don't Bend," she whispered hastily.

"What?"

"If they don't know who you are yet, they will if you Bend," Katara explained. "What if they don't bother bringing you back?"

What if they kill you?

Zuko grimaced. She had a valid point—he was still a banished prince and possibly considered a traitor to the crown for all he knew. He hadn't had access to a Fire Nation source of news in a while. Zhao could have printed anything. He doubted he'd find much if he hadn't, though. A missing prince was one thing, a banished missing prince wasn't worth reporting on. He could do one thing, however.

He positioned his hand, using his chi to grab hold of the flames, holding them at bay from creeping up their backs. He kept it subtle, letting the flame advance, but at a much slower pace, keeping his palms to the flame with his back facing the wall of fire. He glanced Katara's way, catching her approving smirk.

"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you," Sokka says. Katara whirled on him.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"You? Promise not to hurt us?" one soldier asked. A moment later his expression changed. He fell forward, unconscious, to the dirt.

"Nice work, Sokka. How'd you do that?" Aang asked.

"Uh… instinct?"

"Look!" Katara shouted, pointing to the trees.

Zuko followed her hands up to the branches. No longer having the element of surprise, the teen boy who was standing on a larger branch used his hook swords to swing down. He landed straight onto the shoulders and backs of two soldiers. Zuko was, at the least, halfway sure that he'd just broken their backs. He used his hook swords on the ankles of two others to flip them over his shoulders. It was an impressive take down—perhaps Zuko could figure it out if the boy didn't teach him—and the chaos didn't end. Another kid dropped around the shoulders of one soldier. An archer was shooting their swords from their hands.

Zuko took the momentary chaotic confusion to Bend the flames away with a few subtle waves of his hands. The fire dissipated behind him. He could see Appa a few yards back, hidden behind some large trees. He ran up, grabbing his reins.

"C'mon, Mr. Noticeable. Aang will have a heart attack if you wander off."

Zuko pulled Appa closer to the camp, making sure the bison knew where it was before he let the reins drop. He took one step back into the clearing when a soldier slid past him with Aang's Bending driving his course. He looked up to see Aang's sheepish grin.

"Aha. Sorry… oh! You found Appa! Thanks!"

Aang Bended his way above the soldier Katara was taking out to land next to him and watch the other kids taking out the soldiers—was that kid carrying a log on his back?

"They're pretty good, huh?" Aang asked.

"They're using guerilla tactics," Zuko says. He caught Aang's confused look. "It's like a more aggressive form of attack. It's effective. Not a lot like Fire Nation tactics—but, I think Earth Benders might use it a lot in areas like these."

"Oh. That's cool! Look, they're taking out the whole army!" Aang said. He was getting far too entranced by the group, in Zuko's opinion.

"There's only twenty guys. It's just a unit of soldiers," he says, pulling Aang back up towards Katara and Sokka. The hook sword kid was with them, looking quite pleased with the successful raid of theirs.

"My name's Jet. And these are my Freedom Fighters," Jet says, nodding to each kid in turn. "Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqeak."

"Pipsqueak? That's a funny name," Aang says, going up to the two. To no surprise, the youngest of the group seemed to be among the pair. The taller of the two—the only one who looked like he was a brick wall rather than a kid by any means—bent over Aang.

"You think my name is funny?" he asks. Aang wasted almost no time, except for a very brief pause before he smiled and answered.

"It's hilarious!"

Blunt, he definitely was.

It didn't seem to matter much, since the trio started laughing like old friends. Zuko shifted his focus on watching the others as they started to raid the camp's supplies. Food, clothes, firewood—anything and everything seemed to be game. He spotted one kid trying to figure out how to take down the tent tarps. Up until they could get the stakes out of the ground, the tarps weren't going anywhere.

Katara broke off eventually to talk to Jet again. The boy was lounging against the tree while the others raided the camp and loaded their cart. Zuko caught something about an ambush plot; but walked away. He was more interested in how long they were going to be stuck with the group before moving on. He'd let Katara get her thanks out and then, hopefully, they could leave.

"Hey, Jet, these barrels are filled with blasting jelly," Smellerbee called over. Zuko looked over, confused. Blasting Jelly? In the middle of the forest?

"That's a great score."

"And these are filled with jellied candy!" Pipsqueak said, lifting a carted box up in his arms for the cart.

"Also good. Let's not get those mixed up," Jet warned.

That was an understated necessity.

"We'll take it back to the hideout!"

"You have a hideout?" Aang asked.

"Yep. Want to see it?" Jet asked.

"Yes!" Katara said, almost immediately. "We want to see it!"

Zuko did not, in fact, want to see it—but he didn't have much choice. His choice was either staying with Appa or going with them, and he didn't feel like babysitting a giant bison that could handle itself just fine.

The walk to the hideout took less time than Zuko would have thought. For how close the Fire Nation camp had been, he wouldn't have known the camp was within an hour or so's walk unless you told him. He caught sight of the rope pull before Jet stopped at it.

"Okay, this is it."

"This is what? There's nothing here," Sokka says, giving the area a 360 scan. Jet handed him the rope.

"Here."

"Why? What's this do?" Sokka asked, taking the rope regardless. Zuko would have told him to ask that before grabbing at the mystery rope, but Sokka's screaming as he was yanked into the trees was probably enough of a lesson. Jet offered Aang another rope.

"Aang?"

"I'll get up on my own," Aang says, and he started Bending his way up.

Zuko was again hit with the frustration of Aang's openness to Bend. It was like the kid didn't grasp how obvious he was when he did that. Literally any other element was less conspicuous. Another rope was shoved into Zuko's peripheral. He grabbed it, the sensation of being yanked upward harsher than he'd have expected. The trip through the branches, aside from the occasional scrap of a twig or a branch in his face, was far more enjoyable. The red and oranges of the leaves almost made it look like a sea of fire—a very calm and warm sea of fire.

Zuko was pulled up until he hit a platform. The square cut out of the side was his cue to jump off lest he be dragged all the way to the top branch. He didn't know the pulley system and wasn't about to risk trying to aim his drop towards the boards nailed into the tree. The massive drop to the forest floor, or even the platform in comparison, wouldn't do him any favors. He liked having legs that weren't mangled.

He took a few steps from the edge of the square before Katara and Jet joined him. Aang raced past on a zipline, shouting compliments as he went, though they were hardly understandable. He followed his path to the various structures in the trees, populated by even more people. The wooden boards up the trees weren't in straight lines by any means—bending with the curves of the trees to reach each branch in a spiral. The "houses" were tents, with hardly one having a real wall besides the tree to block too harsh of winds, save for the larger tents. He recognized the tannish-yellow color of the tarps acting as rooftops as the same color of the camp's tenting. They really were using anything and everything they could raid.

"It's beautiful…" Katara breaths.

"It's beautiful, and more importantly, the Fire Nation can't find us." Jet says. Smellerbee landed between them.

"They would love to find you, wouldn't they, Jet?"

"It's not going to happen, Smellerbee," Jet assured him. He guided them all down a hanging bridge. If Zuko hadn't gotten used to riding on Appa, he was certain his legs wouldn't have adjusted to the slight sway in the bridge nearly as easily.

"Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?" Katara asks.

"After what you just saw them do?" Zuko asks. Katara shot him a glare, embarrassed. "He's trouble."

"I have been," Jet said proudly. "See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back."

"We've been ambushing their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with them," Pipsqueak says.

"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good, and free that town," Jet says.

"That's so brave," Katara says.

"Yeah, nothing braver than a guy in a treehouse," Sokka grumbles, trying to squeeze between the two. It wasn't working—given the width of the bridge keeping him from doing so successfully.

"Pay no attention to my brother."

"No problem. He probably had a rough day." Jet says. Zuko smirked Sokka's way, getting a punch to his arm for the effort. Zuko rubbed at his arm, shooting Sokka a raised brow.

"Ow."

"Suffer," Sokka shot back. That almost got a snort out of Zuko, but he refrained.

"You all live up here?" he asks instead, looking over the trees. The whole network spread quite a distance through the forest.

"That's right," Jet says. His face fell. "Longshot over there? His town was burnt down. The Duke was caught trying to steal some food. I don't think he ever had a home."

"And what about you?" Katara asks. Jet stopped, letting the group pass. Zuko held back, turning to him with Katara.

"The Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only 8 years old. That day changed me forever."

Katara gave him a sorrowful look before turning away to stare at the bridge as well. She could see Zuko's feet at the top of her gaze and looked out over the trees instead.

"Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation," she says. Jet looked at her.

"I'm so sorry, Katara."

Zuko felt his stomach sink. He needed to get away. He started off on his own, taking another route from the main group. He heard Katara shift behind him when he started to walk away.

"What's wrong?" Jet asks.

"I just… we all have some bad experiences with the Fire Nation," Katara says.

Zuko appreciated the vagueness on her part. He could feel Jet's eyes on his back, though, and that didn't sit well with him. Soon enough he was out of earshot of them, though, and left to explore on his own. He heard Appa above him, landing in the trees. Some kids shouted and dropped down onto the bridge. Zuko held his hands out, keeping them from sprinting off.

"It's okay!" he assures them. "The big guy is a softie. He's just hanging out."

One of the kids looked at their companion before turning back to Zuko and then up to Appa, where the bison was settling into some sturdier branches. Momo joined him soon after.

"How do you know that?" they asked.

"He's with us. Jet just brought us up here," Zuko explained. The mention of Jet had the two relaxing immediately.

"Oh! Should have said so!" the other kid laughed. They slipped past him, shouting on their way by. "Dinner is at sundown!"

Zuko watched them go. He gave Appa a glance before going on his way again. He could see Katara and Sokka's blue wardrobe as they toured the compound. It was a stark contrast to the reds and tans everywhere else, making it easier to spot them if they weren't behind the massive tree trunks or under a tent. That was enough of a reassurance for him to keep going on his own.

He came across a tent full of younger kids, all of them crafting something or other, and stopped short. A few looked up at him, fewer of them lingering on his scar, before they went back to their work. One kid came up to him.

"Hi! Are you new?" they asked.

"Visiting," Zuko says.

"Oh, well, hi! Did you come back with Jet?"

"Just now, yeah."

"Oh, good! Hey, Jet's back!"

Over half the kids reacted to that. Zuko felt an odd mix of unease and fondness at the reactions. They weren't afraid, which was good. They felt safe. That was better than anything else he could have expected, but…

"Does he go on raids a lot?" Zuko asked. One of the older kids looked up.

"All the time," they said. "He went on an ambushing this morning, but they don't usually take this long."

"Yeah, we gave them the opening they were probably waiting for," Zuko admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"We stumbled onto the soldier camp they were spying on. Dumb luck."

"More than dumb luck," the kid said proudly. "That was the best luck."

Zuko hummed, looking back out over the trees. "…I get why he hates Fire Nation soldiers, but what about colonizers? He said a town was taken over a few years back. Is it a colonizer town?"

"Hm? I don't know," the kid admitted with a shrug. A quick scan of the others revealed none of them did. "Why?"

"He wouldn't attack the colonizers? They're Fire Nation."

The kids all exchanged looks. Finally, the older one joined Zuko at the door, motioning for him to bend down. Zuko raised a brow, but did so. The kid started to speak lower.

"Everyone here hates Fire Nation soldiers, but we don't think the colonizers know what they do, you know?" he says.

"Why?"

"Because we've sneaked off to the town!" the kid admitted. Zuko shot up, shocked. The kid was already waving his hands to calm him down. "It's okay! A few of us at most, no more than three at a time. And only when Jet is here, so we don't mess with an ambush by accident. The people in town are still mostly Earth Kingdom folks, but there's some colonizers there. They're not that bad, actually. I don't think they know what the soldiers do."

"Trust me," Zuko says darkly. "They don't."

Zuko ducked back out after a bow and a thanks. He had a little less anxiety in the presence of the Freedom Fighters now, but not by much. Civilians who can't Bend was far different than anyone who could. He made a note not to risk Bending while they were there. Whether it be by a week, a day or an hour—he was going to avoid it if he could.

It took him almost the rest of the day to find the "mess hall" of the compound. Really, it was just larger platforms reinforced for the added weight during meal times and large tables spread across them. it wasn't hard to see them, but finding the right sequence of pathways down was another matter. Finally, he just asked to be shown the way. Aang, the lucky jerk, could at least Bend his way down on the air. Just as he suspected, finding Sokka and Katara was easy enough. He sat between Katara and Aang, feeling safer being flanked by those two than any Freedom Fighters.

Was this what having allies was like?

Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by Jet standing up on the table, raising a glass.

"Today, we struck another blow to against the Fire Nation swine," he announces. Zuko felt that same unease creeping into himself. He wanted to leave as the cheers of the kids erupted around them.

"I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog-monkey!"

The Duke joined Jet on the table, doing laps around the roasted fish in the center.

"Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right," Jet says slyly. At the accompanying booing Zuko caught right onto what Jet was doing. A lead up to the finale of his speech. He'd seen it plenty of times before when he was a kid at the Palace banquet hall after a successful invasion had returned home. "Or maybe… they're dead wrong!"

The cheering hit its apex then. Jet seemed satisfied and rejoined Katara and Sokka, saddling himself right between the two.

"Hey, Jet, nice speech," Katara praised. Zuko's shoulders prickled.

"Thanks. I was really impressed by you and Aang. That was some great Bending I saw out there today."

"Well, he's great," Katara says, eyeing Aang. "He's the Avatar."

Just say it. Like it's no big deal. Like nothing. Zuko thought sourly. Really, the whole group had no idea how to be subtle. It was no wonder he always heard where Aang was if they constantly announced it.

"I could use some more training," Katara admitted.

"Avatar, huh? Very nice."

"Thanks, Jet."

"So, I might know a way that you and Aang can help in our struggle," Jet started.

"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight," Sokka cut in, standing.

Oh, thank the stars, he's sensible, Zuko thought gratefully. The faster they left, the better.

"Sokka, you're kidding me. I needed you on an important mission tomorrow," Jet said. Sokka stopped and Zuko wanted to strangle the boy for the brief flash of light he caught in his eyes.

No. No, no, no, no, no—

"What mission?" Sokka asked.

NO!

Zuko's head hit the table. Aang turned to him, patting his back. Zuko shook him off, gently, and sat back up. Aang held his hands up like holding a ball.

"Hey, I think I figured out how to make a flame," he says.

Zuko wasn't fast enough to stop Aang from forming a small ball of flame and flitting it between his palms in small arcs. The flame went too close to his hand at one point, however, hitting his palm. Aang hissed, waving his hands to dissipate the flame, at the same time Zuko shoved his hands back into his lap.

"Don't just Bend that so carelessly!" he hisses. "You're literally sitting in a tree!"

"Sorry," Aang says. "I didn't think about that."

"Fire isn't like the other three," Zuko pressed. "It'll dissipate without a fuel source, but if that dropped onto the floor you'd have set this whole platform on fire."

"Sorry…"

"Stop apologizing," Zuko sighed. Aang glanced up at him, looking like a hurt puppy. Zuko pinched his brow, feeling eyes on them. "You want to master all four elements but be careful doing that."

"I understand."

The dinner itself was uneventful past that. Jet ran the mission down with Sokka—Zuko tuned them out in favor of dodging questions from the kids to Aang's other side when they asked about the Fire Bending. Aang, for his credit, just had to say he was the Avatar and that was it. Zuko, on the other hand, repeated multiple times that it was common sense to know not to bend fire in a tree and how it behaved. That had, at the very least, satiated the kids through dinner.

Zuoko spent the majority of the morning touring the compound again. To his surprise, no one avoided him. He was free to walk where he wanted, regardless of where that was, apparently. He'd catch Aang zip lining past him—unsurprising, given his preference for air travel. Katara had left to find something for her to do herself. Going to the river alone was out of the question.

Zuko could see the ground of the forest in some broken parts of the trees. The sheer height almost gave him vertigo. Another perk to traveling on a giant flying bison, he supposed. He had seen Sokka leave with Jet a while ago and was stuck waiting for his return like the others. Given that Aang and Katara had ideas to pass the time, Zuko figured he should have one, too. But nothing was coming to mind. When was the last time he'd indulged in a hobby? Did training count? He couldn't train even if he wanted to, and he wasn't keen on training Aang with the risk of setting a forest on fire if he couldn't Bend himself to control the flame. With the ultimate free-roaming policy apparently set into place, he also wasn't sold that no one would interrupt them if they holed up in a hut, either.

He mapped out the compound in his head, taking a moment to rest during lunch, taking whatever fruit was casually tossed his way. He hadn't been able to find the mess hall area again, but somehow, he'd found their guest hut three times. He truly did not know how he managed that.

He was sure that Iroh would love to explore the area, as well.

"Hey, Lee!"

Zuko took a second to turn at the name. He'd almost forgotten the name change suggestion. He turned to see Jet coming down the bridge, with Smellerbee and Pipsqueak in tow. He hadn't heard anyone mentioning they'd gotten back, yet. Sokka must be off trying to find Katara, then.

"Hey."

Jet stopped short of him, giving him a once over. "I heard something interesting this morning."

"What's that?"

"You were asking what my Freedom Fighters thought of Fire Nation colonizers. And you gave Aang a few tips on Fire Bending last night at dinner. Any reason why?" Jet asked. He had tried to keep the smoothness in his voice, but nearing the end of his little questioning, the mask had started to slip into anger.

Zuko regarded him coolly. He could tell, just by the tension in the shoulders of the two flanking Jet, that his answer had to be good or he'd be paying for it somehow. Whether that was being thrown from the bridge or facing the hook swords. An idea popped into his head.

"The Avatar and his friends took me in. That's all there is to it. I'm a refugee," Zuko says simply.

"Why'd you turn against the Fire Nation?" Jet asked pointedly. Zuko felt more eyes on him. More than the three pairs before him.

"Would you still want to be around if your father did this?" Zuko asked angrily, pointing to his scar. The snap took Jet back a moment. Long enough for Zuko to continue, his voice full of venom. "He did this to me; and he did something to my mother. You're not the only ones who the Fire Nation's hurt."

Jet seemed to calm down, at least a little. His shoulders had sagged, if nothing else, and he looked almost ashamed. He took his eyes off Zuko for the first time since he'd found him. Pipsqueak and Smellerbee did the same. Smellerbee kicked awkwardly at the bridge. Zuko turned to leave, then felt Jet's hand on his shoulder.

"Wait."

Zuko stayed still but he didn't turn. He could see a knee poking out from behind a tree's trunk, and the edge of a foot further up in the trees. He waited for Jet to speak again.

"I want to say I'm sorry," Jet said. Zuko blinked and turned to him. "I should have known the Avatar wouldn't have a hostile Fire Bender on his team. I'm sorry."

"…It's fine," Zuko sighed. He brushed off Jet's hand and started down the bridge again. Jet joined him, waving Pipsqueak and Smellerbee off. Zuko caught the feet of the two he'd already spotted slipping away through the branches. They were surprisingly quiet; he'd give them that. "Look, I understand why you're wary of anyone Fire Nation. Just don't make an assumption that leads to a potential ambush before you're sure of anything."

Jet seemed surprised to hear that. Zuko glanced at him once before he broke off to another direction at the platform. Jet didn't follow him this time. Instead, Zuko found Sokka sitting against a tree on a platform. He could hear Katara above them in a hut. He took up a seat on the other side of the wooden plank ladder with a sigh.

"Guys! Look what The Duke gave me!" Aang called excitedly, dropping off the zipline.

He pulled out a small black orb from the satchel. He eyed Momo devilishly before throwing the small flash bomb down at Momo's feet. Momo hissed, and pounced on him, climbing up to Aang's shoulders, slyly stealing a handful of the flash bombs, and then throwing them down at Aang's feet, forcing him to dance to avoid them.

"Ow! Quit it!"

"Hahaha! Serves you right," Zuko said. Aang, thrown off at the laugh, stumbled and fell onto the platform with a huff. "The flying rat is smarter than you think."

Momo flew off Aang and onto Zuko. He was aiming for the shoulder, but Zuko shot up his arm, instead, leaving Momo to land there instead. Katara climbed down the boards, smiling at their antics before turning to Sokka.

"Hey, Sokka. Is Jet back?" she asked. Zuko caught sight of the hat at her back. It was… something else.

"Yeah, he's back. But we're leaving," Sokka said, turning back to them. Zuko hadn't noticed how angry he looked before he had turned.

"What?" Aang asked, peeling himself off the wood.

"But I made him this hat," Katara said, showcasing it.

"Your boyfriend Jet's a thug," Sokka said sourly. Zuko looked back to where he'd seen Jet last, but the man was gone.

"What?! No, he's not!"

"He's messed up, Katara."

"He's not messed up. He's just got a different way of life," Aang said, gesturing to the trees.

Zuko grimaced. He should tell them. Right?

"A really fun way of life," Aang added.

He could hint.

"That doesn't hold much water," Zuko says, standing himself. "My family had a different way of life, too."

Aang fell silent, kicking awkwardly at the wood. "Um…"

"He beat and robbed a harmless old man!" Sokka spat. Katara crossed her arms, glaring at him. Zuko stepped between them.

"He just got done interrogating me," he says. Katara blinked at him, surprised.

"What? Why?" she asks.

"Probably because "Lee" is a Fire Nation name—remember?—and a Fire Nation kid would know how to coach someone in Fire Bending," Zuko says, pointedly glancing at Aang. Aang gave him an embarrassed smile and chuckle.

"Well… I still want to hear Jet's side of the story," Katara decided.

"Sokka, you told them what happened, but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?" Jet asks.

"No," Katara said slowly, turning between the two. "He conveniently left that part out."

"Fine, but even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian."

"He was an assassin, Sokka," Jet says, taking out a blade and stabbing it into the stump of an old branch in front of him. He unspun the loop at the end of the hilt, pulling out a vial. "See? There's a compartment for poison in the knife. He was sent to eliminate me. You helped save my life, Sokka."

"I knew there was an explanation—"

"I didn't see any knife," Sokka cuts in.

"That's because he was concealing it," Jet says.

"See, Sokka? I'm sure you just didn't notice the knife."

"There was no knife!" Sokka insisted. He turned, storming out. "I'm going back to the hut and packing my things!"

Katara watched him go. She caught sight of Zuko leaning against the doorway and her shoulders fell. He shot her a disapproving look before following Sokka away.

"We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" Katara pleaded, slipping into the hut. Zuko looked up at the news. Sokka sighed, standing.

"Burn down… that's what the blasting jelly was for."

"Must have been. There aren't enough soldiers to do it," Katara says.

"I'm sorry, Katara. Jet's very smooth, but we can't trust him."

"You know what I think? You're jealous that he's a better warrior and a better leader," Katara says harshly, turning away, crossing her arms. Zuko blinked at her.

Seriously?

"Katara, I'm not jealous of Jet, it's just that my instincts—"

"Well, my instincts tell me should stay and help Jet," Katara cut in. She started to leave. "C'mon, Aang."

"Sorry, Sokka."

Zuko set a hand on his shoulder. "If it's any consolation, I don't trust him, either."

Sokka sighed, falling down onto the rolled sleeping bag. "Thanks. I just wish they'd see it."

There was whispering. And movement in the trees.

"Let's go."

Zuko jerked awake. That was Jet's voice. He sat up, catching sight of Sokka already peering through the flap of cloth that served as their door. He joined him, spying the Freedom Fighters descending from the branches. It wasn't nearly enough of them to be an evacuation. He could hear Appa snoring above them, so they weren't under any immediate attack.

"Let's follow them," Zuko whispered.

They dropped down with the pulley system, landing in the lower branches. They waited until the convoy, carrying the blasting jelly that was taken from the camp days ago, had gotten far enough away not to hear them. Following them through the forest was harder than Zuko would have thought. The layers upon layers of leaves made it difficult to move stealthily through the forest, forcing the two to time their steps with the noise of the cart until they'd hit the river. The area overlooked it by a cliff. Jet stopped the convoy, taking in the scene.

"Now listen. You're not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive," Jet explained.

"But what about the people in the town? Won't they get wiped out, too?" The Duke asks. Jet came up to him, setting his hand on The Duke's shoulder.

"Look, Duke, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation," Jet says. He straightened up to Longshot. "Now don't blow the damn until I give the signal, got it?"

Longshot nodded. Sokka turned to Zuko, who clapped a hand over his mouth. He nodded his understanding instead. There was rustling behind them. Sokka and Zuko turned a fraction of a second too late. Sokka's ponytail was yanked up and back. Zuko's hands were held behind his back, wrapped in a bag. Oh, he was going to kick whoever thought of that right in the teeth. A knife came up between the two. Zuko could see Pipsqueak holding Sokka's hair. Sneers was the one holding Zuko's hands captive. He wasn't exactly keen on trying to burn his way out. He wasn't impervious to flames.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Smellerbee asks. He nodded towards Jet. Both were dragged out from the bushes to the edge of the cliffside and pushed ahead. Zuko kept his footing, unlike Sokka.

"Sokka," Jet said. "So glad you could join us. … Lee, too?"

Zuko shrugged. "He has a bad luck streak."

"I heard your plan to destroy that Earth Kingdom town," Sokka shot up at him, holding his shoulder as he stood, rubbing the soreness away.

"Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation."

"There are people living there, Jet! Mothers and Fathers, and children!"

"We can't win without making some sacrifices."

"You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!" Sokka shouted.

"Because they don't understand the demands of war. Not like we do," Jet says, his gaze flitting between the two. Zuko glowered at him. "I get the feeling Lee here gets it even better than us."

"Oh, I understand. I understand there's nothing you won't do to get what you want," Sokka spits. Jet narrowed his eyes at him.

"I was hoping you'd have an open mind. What about you, Lee?" Jet asks hopefully. Zuko glared at him, readjusting his hands.

"What do you think? You're as bad as some of the Fire Nation's generals." Zuko spat. Jet blinked at him, seemingly shocked. He sighed, taking the bit of grass seed stem out of his mouth.

"You both made your choices, then. I can't have you warn Katara and Aang, though. Take them for a walk. A long one," Jet says. Sokka tried to reach for his boomerang. He wasn't as fast as Smellerbee, however, and his arms were caught again.

"Jet, you can't do this!" Sokka shouted.

"Don't worry, Sokka. We're going to win a great victory against the Fire Nation today," Jet said. He watched them march away.

Smellerbee and Pipsqueak released Sneers to go back to the river side. Pipsqueak took up Zuko and Smellerbee took Sokka. The sun rose while they walked in a random direction. Zuko wondered if they'd even be able to hear the dam blast go off if they got far enough away. He could still remember the route back to the dam, if they broke off before taking another random turn.

"How can you stand by and do nothing while Jet wipes out a whole town?" Sokka asked.

"Hey, listen, Sokka, Jet's a great leader," Pipsqueak says. "We follow what he says, and things always turn out ok."

"That's not the mark of a great leader," Zuko says. "It's just one factor."

"Lee, just trust us. We've known Jet a while," Pipsqueak began. Smellerbee turned to him.

"You don't know him!"

"I know he's paranoid," Zuko mumbled.

"Look, if that's how Jet leads… then he has a lot to learn!" Sokka shouted, suddenly dashing to the side.

"Hey!"

Smellerbee dashed after him. Pipsqueak followed, abandoning Zuko to his own devices. Zuko caught sight of the traps long before Pipsqueak or Smellerbee. Both fell for it, far easier than they should have, and Zuko walked up to Sokka, getting to work on wiggling his hands free. Sokka had already worked his binds off, waving them mockingly up to the two Freedom Fighters. Zuko got his one hand free and pulled the bag off. He threw it on the ground.

"While you're up there, you should practice your knot work!" Sokka called up. He laughed at himself, headed off back to the main path.

"Do you know how to get back to the dam from here?" Zuko asks. Sokka shook his head.

"No, we're going to the village. We have to warn them first," Sokka says, starting off in the opposite direction.

"What? But the dam—"

"We're not going to have time! We're closer to the village, so let's go!" Sokka says. Zuko paused just a moment before rushing after him.

After a few moments, they could see the river through the tree line. Following it, they were far closer to the village, as Sokka had predicted. Sokka barely stopped when he slid down the bank and marched across the water. Two Fire Nation soldiers were at the gate, but looked like they were simply on break, lounging on the wall. They gave the boys an odd look but didn't stop them from entering.

"Everyone listen up!" Sokka shouted. The square turned to him, curious. Zuko grabbed at his wrist.

"At least try to do it less crassly—"

"The dam is going to explode!" Sokka shouted. The square fell silent. "You all have to leave before it happens, or you'll be swept away in the flood!"

"There isn't enough water to do that," one local shouts back at him. "Stop trying to cause a panic, young man."

"I'm not! I'm trying to warn you all! You have to evacuate and get to higher ground!" Sokka pleaded. A soldier grabbed at his shoulder. Zuko swatted his hand away, stepping between them.

"He's telling the truth!" Zuko claimed. The soldier's eyes lingered on his face.

"They're spies, they must be. They're trying to get us to leave for an ambush," he says. "They have to be with those Freedom Fighters."

"What? No, we're not spies!" Sokka insisted. The soldier lowered his spear at him. Zuko grasped the handle, glaring the man down.

"We're not spies," he pressed. "We're trying to save you all."

"I don't believe—"

"Wait!"

An elderly man stepped through the crowd. He spotted Sokka and came forward.

"This is the young man who saved me!" he claimed. "I recognize his voice."

"That doesn't mean—"

"Are you questioning your elder, young man?!" the old man asked harshly. Zuko smirked, just a little, at the abashed look of the soldier for the sudden accusation. The old man turned back to the crowd. "I trust the young lad. He has a good heart."

A few of the soldiers looked between themselves. A murmur started to spread across the crowd. Zuko could hear some confusion, some paranoia, and some agreement.

"I'm going with him," the old man says. "I'm not dying by flood. No, sir. I urge you all do the same! Do you want to be swept away, never to be found again?"

The crowd seemed to sway at the thought. Zuko took a step back behind Sokka, shouldering him to get his focus back on track.

"Oh! There's a hill just across the river! It's open, with a field, you don't have to go far. Please, I'm begging you all. Just evacuate. And if nothing happens, then… you didn't take the risk," Sokka says. Zuko sighed, catching the still unconvinced looks of the soldiers.

"If we're really lying, you can execute us," he says. Sokka jerked beside him. Zuko shot him a pointed glare and the boy remained silent. The primary soldier seemed satisfied with that deal.

"Fine," he says. He lifted his hand, waving towards the gate. "Gather everyone up! We're moving out!"

"I'll look for people in the back," Sokka says.

He caught one soldier's attention, taking the soldier with him. Zuko stayed at the front, pointing people to the hillside. Sokka caught up with him at the base of the hill, clasping his hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"What's wrong? Isn't this everyone?" Zuko asked. "They'll be blowing it soon, won't they?"

"It is, but I need to get Appa. Aang and Katara are probably at the river already and I need to get them," Sokka says. Zuko wasn't sure why he was telling him that until Sokka continued. "I'll come back for you, okay? Just stay here so I know where you are."

"I got it."

Sokka nodded and sprinted away. Zuko watched him go. He turned back to the crowd, catching that none of the soldiers had caught Sokka slipping away.

"Where's this explosion, exactly?" one soldier asked. Zuko sighed again.

"Wait. They're going to have a signal for it," Zuko says. The soldier gave him an unconvinced look. He lowered his spear and Zuko fell into his fighting stance. The soldier's eyes widened a little. A different man came up instead, with no weapon. A Fire Bender.

"Alright. I'm convinced you aren't one of those annoying pests," he says. "Stand down, kid."

"You stand down. I'm not letting you go back until I know that dam isn't going to blow."

"Hey, now, we never said—"

"Don't patronize me," Zuko says.

The ensuing stand-off was tense, to be gentle about it. Right up until Zuko heard a bird's call ring out over the valley. It wasn't a native bird—not quite. Zuko looked out over the trees. A second call came shortly afterwards.

"What? That's not from around here," one woman says.

"That's the signal," Zuko says, standing down. Moments later the explosion rang out.

The water rushed past the trees, taking out a few that had set up roots in the widened banks over the years. The wave, looking angry and almost vengeful, soared down the river's path. It hit the hill, taking the sharp curve and slamming into the back half of the town. It took out the wall with ease, the stone crumbling under the sudden impact. Half the town was taken out by the time the water had started to recede. Zuko blinked at the damage. He'd not seen a flood before. He'd seen the storm on the sea, but a flood wasn't exactly something he was used to seeing growing up in the Fire Nation Palace. He turned to the soldiers, humming, and started off down the bank.

Appa's roar came from above and Zuko looked up, catching sight of Appa landing past the tree line. He double-checked he wasn't going to be followed and ducked into the tree line. He heard Sokka whistling, following the sound until he broke out into a clearing.

"There he is!"

Aang waved him over, looking utterly gleeful. Zuko sighed contently, climbing up onto Appa and collapsing onto the saddle.

If there was one thing for sure, it was that it wasn't boring being with the group.