"As your foot moves like this," Zuko stood next to Aang and illustrated the movement, "you'll punch. Make sure both movements end at the same time." He slid his right foot forward, just grazing the grass, while shooting out his right arm and twisting his wrist at the very end. The quick action and equally sudden stop made his clothes produce an audible snap. "Now you."

Aang nodded once and, from his neutral resting stance, copied Zuko with (what was becoming) unsurprising accuracy, before looking at him for approval. That also was unsurprising.

He gave Aang a nod, then said, "Again." The boy's expression deflated. Zuko frowned. What did I do? I nodded! How can he be disappointed by a nod?!

Taking another step forward, Aang did another nearly-flawless Bow-Arrow stance. This time, he glanced at the small group watching him from the mouth of the cave they'd slept in the night before. Katara flashed him an encouraging smile and a quick thumbs up; the other two looked only mildly interested. "When are we gonna see some fire?" Toph called out like a spectator to a game. Zuko ignored the comment but heard her loudly whisper to Katara, "It was a joke, Sweetness!"

Maybe he should adopt Katara's advice. "Good," he praised Aang, nodding and giving a smile.

That worked…for a little while. He congratulated Aang after every movement, even if it was one he already had down, making sure to smile or say something about his progress. It was draining, trying to come up with something to say, and soon enough he was reaching for compliments. "You look like you could knock the Fire Lord out with that punch," he said, wanting to punch his own face in turn.

Even Aang began to feel his insincerity. "You know," he said, eyeing Zuko oddly, "you don't have to do that all the time."

Letting out a silent sigh of relief while also cursing the spirits for such a demanding student, Zuko replied, "O-kay." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Please don't make me regret this. "Why don't we do some firebending?"

The effect was immediate. Aang jumped up and pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!" he cried. Then he glanced at Zuko, and he reined in his excitement. Bowing, he said, "Uh, I mean, if you say so, Sifu Zuko."

Zuko stiffly returned it, closer to a nod than a bow. "Now, you must do everything I say, exactly how I say it, okay? Fire can and will escape your control if you aren't careful."

Aang replied, "I know," genuinely serious.

"Right. Now, watch me first." Zuko performed the Bow-Arrow stance again, this time letting the energy flow through him. With the final twist of his wrist, mild flame bloomed from his fist, extending two or three paces out from it. "Remember: stay grounded, control your energy, and don't forget your stan—"

Before he could finish, Aang stepped forward and punched, firebending a flame slightly less than half the size of Zuko's. It stayed a second longer in the air than a simple flame would, but it was snuffed out all the same shortly after its tail disconnected from its energy source, Aang. "Cut off the energy when you're done," Zuko corrected. "Your energy chooses if you bend a stream or burst of fire. Right now, just do a small burst. Again."

He stood back, having Aang repeat the basic movement and offering corrections, but he could tell Aang was too excited to pay much attention, and after a close call resulting in a bush catching fire, both Zuko and Aang knew that that was enough firebending for the day.

Katara must have felt the same way because she called out, "Aang, why don't you train with Toph?" There was some grumbling from both him and Toph, but they eventually moved farther into the cave. To attack him with more rocks or whatever Toph does to train him, Zuko thought, and some half-finished notion about how unconventional she was skirted the outset of his attention.

Katara and Sokka walked up to him. "So?" she asked.

"He's improving—and quickly. I remember it took me months to get a flame that big, and he does it so easily." Zuko couldn't help the notes of both awe and envy in his comment.

"But will he be ready to fight?" Sokka asked. "Yeah, he can punch, but he's going to have to improve awfully fast for it to be worth anything."

"I know," Zuko replied. "If everything goes according to your plan, though, he won't need to—not when it counts."

"Let me let you in on a little secret, buddy: nothing ever goes according to plan—not for us, anyways. To be honest, most of the time we were just trying not to die while we were finding bending masters for Aang."

Zuko could only stare at him.

"Katara?" Sokka asked for confirmation.

She hesitated, then, making a face, admitted, "Yeah."

"So when you were running from me and going from island to island, you were searching for masters, not following any plan to lose me."

"That's about right." Sokka cracked a grin. "But, seriously, and not to insult you and your teaching methods—" That's a kind way of putting it— "but you need to teach him how to fight with firebending, not all the pretty forms you have him do."

"'Pretty forms'? They're the basics he needs to know."

"Look, I guarantee he hasn't learned water- and earthbending exactly how it should be learned either, but he can fight. He only has so much time before Sozin's Comet comes. If he had wasted his time learning the regular way with earthbending, he wouldn't have been able to stop Azula's big drill attacking Ba Sing Se."

Zuko looked to Katara, but she seemed to be in agreement with her brother. He shook his head. "You don't get it. Fire isn't the same—"

"Why, because it's so special?"

"No! I've already told all of you: because fire acts on its own. Skipping over everything to get to fighting would be like…" What was something they would understand? "Like learning to captain a ship without knowing how the engine works. If you don't recognize when things start to go wrong and fix it, bad things can happen."

Katara seemed to understand, but Sokka replied, "Do you think my dad knows how to work an engine? He has his men," he gestured to himself and Katara, "to tell him if they see any problems with the engine. Then they can help him fix it." Zuko didn't respond, and Sokka persisted: "If you see him getting out of control, you can always cut back, can't you?"

"I…suppose." It was dangerous, though. It all was. His Scar throbbed, and he shook his head. They didn't truly understand how dangerous it was, but he didn't have much choice. Aang's life was in the balance, a lot of people's lives were, and he needed to be given the greatest opportunity to defend it. Zuko let out a breath. "Okay."

Katara lifted her hand like she was going to reach over to Zuko, and he felt himself freeze. He felt a rush of nervous, silly thoughts running through his body, thoughts that shouldn't have been stress-inducing but were like, Is she going to touch my arm? Instead, she brushed away a stray hair from her face. "Don't worry. Like Sokka says, we'll be watching him too."

He nodded wordlessly.

"And while we're on the subject of skipping endless repetition for the sake of expediency," Sokka said, providing a much-needed distraction from Katara, "why don't you try it out on me?"

"Try what? Firebending?"

"No, sword fighting—no, wait! I take it back. Swordbending!" He let out a self-congratulatory laugh for the name. "Don't do the repetitive forms, and show me attacks and blocks—"

"Parries."

"Those things. Just show me how to fight."

"But we don't have any swords for you to practice with," Zuko said, kicking himself for not thinking about Sokka.

"Ah ha! That's where you're wrong. While you were getting your clothes—I mean, who needs that many clothes?—I stopped by the armory. Appa has them." Zuko still hesitated. "C'mon, Zuko. You know I'm right. It'd take years to master anything the normal way. I just want to be able to hold my own, same as Aang."

He's not wrong about it taking a long time to master the dao. And it'll help me figure out how to teach Aang properly. It isn't the same as teaching firebending, but some parts must be the same. "Okay, fine."

"Yes!"

Zuko thought that would have been the end of it, but Sokka was looking at him expectantly. He let out a defeated sigh but, as with Aang, he couldn't be too mad at Sokka's eagerness. "Get the swords."

He watched Sokka race to Appa and glimpsed Katara from the corner of his. She gave him a warm smile and said, "Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

"No, but he wouldn't have stopped asking."

She laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. But, still, thanks."

Zuko nodded. "You're welcome."

-o-0-

Sokka gripped his own single sword—dao—with both hands. Zuko stood across from him, only a pace or two away, wielding dual swords. Their blades, Zuko's two against his one, hovered a handsbreadth away, which was much too close in Sokka's opinion, and he found himself itching for his familiar Boomerang, but it lied to the side and out of reach.

Zuko lowered one of his swords so only the one in his left hand remained a threat to Sokka. "Attack me."

Sokka swung, feeling the weight of it slowing him down. It was much heavier than the bone clubs and spears back in the Southern Water Tribe.

Instead of blocking like Sokka expected, Zuko simply took a step back and let the dao cut through the air. "Attack me," he repeated. Then he stuck his own sword out further towards Sokka and waved it slightly, the light playing on the edge of the blade.

Determined to make contact this time, Sokka swung again, coming from the outside. Success! The blades connected with an unmistakable clang. He gave Zuko a victorious grin but…Zuko was smiling back, a knowing gleam in his eye. Why?

"Attack me."

Sokka nodded but furrowed his brow. What kind of game was Zuko playing?

Taunting him, Zuko held his sword out from his body and waved it again. "Attack me." And again, Sokka swung. Zuko let the tip of his blade drop slightly and the dao again passed without contact. This time, Zuko was the only one smiling.

"Att—"

Sokka tightened his grip and swung.

The firebender's relaxed expression tensed, but he still easily parried the sword away—did he look a little hurt too? Nice going, Sokka. Way to reward Zuko for agreeing to teach you. He lowered his sword. "Sorry," he said.

Zuko relaxed and shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I was playing with you. Azula always did that sort of thing when we learned something she was already good at. What I mean is, attack me. Me. Not the sword." He waved it again. "See how far out it is? I'm completely open, but because you think sword fighting is hitting swords together you think you have to, well, hit them together. Don't.

"Don't worry, I was the same way when I started. You hear the stories of the great warriors and play 'War' with your friends—or, in my case, Azula—and you always picture them locking their blades together in a great struggle." He shrugged and added as an afterthought, "Well, that does happen sometimes, but you don't really want it to happen. I remember seeing you with a club. How do you attack with that? What do you aim for?"

Sokka illustrated by holding the sword above his head and slowly slashed downward.

The firebender nodded. "That's one kind of attack you can use. Let me show you another." Zuko proceeded to spend the next hour demonstrating to a few of the attacks and accompanying parries Sokka could begin to practice that paired with the forms he already learned.

There was something to learning the forms by themselves. Sokka could focus more on his swordwork, and where he was confused about certain steps of the forms before, they now made more sense. By the time Zuko ended practice, both of them were sweating, and Sokka's arms felt as if they weighed as much as Appa.

But despite the soreness he was inevitably going to have the next day, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. It felt so good to fight again. Not having to worry about benders shooting him with rocky gloves or fireballs, and fighting like two civilized men just felt right. The logic didn't make total sense, but he was traveling with a banished prince, a 112-year-old reincarnated kid, and a flying bison on their way to overthrow the Fire Lord and father of said banished prince—when did anything ever make complete sense?

Still a little out of breath but trying to hide it, Sokka said, "Want me to pack up yours?" He held his hand out for Zuko's daos.

"I think I'll hold on to them. I like having them on me."

Sokka went to Boomerang and picked it up. "I get it. Something about the weight…" He played with it in his hands, passing it back and forth while avoiding the sharp edges. "And thanks, Zuko. It's nice doing something fun for a change." Finally sheathing it, he added, "At least as much fun as we can have while this whole thing goes on."

As Zuko took a step away, a random question popped into Sokka's head: "Hey, why don't—when this is all over and Ozai is, er, whatever—we take you to see Earth Rumble? I guarantee you'll like it."

Zuko turned back. "Didn't you say that's where you found Toph?"

He nodded vigorously. "Yep! Y'know, guys trying to kill each other—except instead of swords, it's giant rocks."

"Almost the same," the firebender replied dryly.

Sokka grinned back. "Just about."

Something shifted in Zuko's countenance and, despite his small smile, it was touched by melancholy. "Sounds like fun, Sokka."

-o-0-

Katara, at the behest of her brother, had left the boys alone to fight. She didn't have a problem with them fighting—though fighting with swords was a recipe for injury that required some getting used to like she had with Toph training Aang. As for why Sokka didn't want her watching, she supposed he was nervous about having an audience.

Honoring his request, she remained a few paces outside the cave's entrance, using the time to check that their few supplies were in order and that Appa was staying healthy. Not that she knew anything about air bison health, but she did have plenty of experience treating cuts, scraps, and burns.

Spotting Sokka as he exited the cave and continued to the water's edge, Katara called, "How was training?"

"Good!" he replied with the biggest grin she'd seen from him in ages. She smiled in turn. Good. It wasn't very descriptive, but he'd clearly had fun. "I just needed to cool off," Sokka explained. "It gets a little stuffy in there." He jerked his thumb back toward the cave.

She waved him on and then went inside to see how Zuko had fared. It was cooler in the shade, but Sokka was right about the stagnant air. The firebender had his back to her and was changing into a fresh tunic. He was still very skinny—each one of his ribs showed in the early afternoon light—but it was nothing compared to how he was a mere week or so prior. Purposefully knocking aside a few rocks on the way gave Zuko enough warning to turn towards her as he fit the clothing over his shoulders.

She began, "I think he really—"

A flash of silvery blue against a red tunic, then only red as Zuko pulled and fixed his shirt in place with an equally red sash. What was that? Looking up quickly, Zuko met Katar's gaze and, eyes widening, froze on the spot like prey before a predator. His mouth was slightly ajar too, ready to give an explanation that wasn't coming.

Before she could form a question, Zuko shut his mouth and spun around, beginning to rummage in the bag he'd packed before they left Dad's ship. "I'm looking for…" he mumbled.

"For…?" she prompted.

But he didn't reply and continued searching for the nameless thing. There are only so many things in there to check, Katara thought. It did seem like he was looking for something—at least until she caught him sneaking glances at her. "You can go. I'll find it," he said casually.

Realization dawned on her, and she smiled. After another glance back, Zuko did a double-take, his head snapping around so quickly that it made her laugh.

Annoyed, he said, "What?" then, more uncertain, asked, "Why are you laughing?"

It should have made Katara nervous that he was trying to hide something from her, but his simple ruse was so poorly thought out there couldn't be any malice or ill-intentions behind it. And, I don't know, I can't imagine Zuko doing someth—huh. Well, she could imagine, but somehow that Zuko who could do (and did) terrible things wasn't the same Zuko who stood before her.

Her attention went to the folds of his tunic across his chest where she saw the thing disappear. Unconsciously, Zuko pulled the fabrics closer together, but it was a useless gesture and they both knew it.

Lowering his head in embarrassment, he reached into his clothes and pulled out the blue object. Katara stepped closer but already recognized it as the flask that once held the Spirit water. The decorative cap was gone, but the flask and the lacework that held the ornament in place still remained as beautiful and detailed as ever as it hung around his neck.

Something needed to be said, but what? Her eyes flicked up to meet his, and still no words made their way to her mouth.

"I kept it," said Zuko redundantly.

This time, Katara felt sure she would speak. She could ask the hundred questions that filled her mind—all variations of the same one: Why? But she didn't, she couldn't—no, she wouldn't. What sort of answer would he give? And for some reason that thought scared her.

Zuko curled his hands around the flask, hiding it for a second before he relaxed his grip again. "You should have it," he said, lifting the necklace over his head.

"No, no," she said, waving her hands. "No," she said again in a firmer tone after he began protesting. "It's yours."

"Thank you." There was more weight than was necessary behind those words.

She accepted them with a slight nod. "You're welcome."

She moved to leave, but Zuko stopped her. "What were you saying before?"

The reason why she had originally walked up to him came flooding back. "Oh, I was just going to say that Sokka seemed to really enjoy your training—much more than before."

His smile was small but proud. "I thought so, too."

Aang's and Toph's indistinct high voices bounced off the walls from deeper within the cave. "Feeling better about training Aang?" Finally, back to a safe topic: Aang.

Smile disappearing, he replied, "A little," then added, "but I don't have much choice. He needs to know how to firebend. He needs to be able to defend himself." Zuko probably wasn't even aware of it, but his left hand went up to touch his scar.

"He's going to be okay."

He dropped his hand. "You don't know that," he retorted but did so without any venom.

"And you do?"

"You know what I mean."

She sighed, admitting, "I…I do, actually." That couldn't be all that was said. "But we're doing everything we possibly can. Aang's learning firebending and trying to reconnect with the past Avatars. You're teaching Sokka. What more can we do?"

Don't let the Fire Navy ship go. Zuko's expression said it all, or was it just her imagination?

"Without compromising your morals? Nothing," he replied.

"They're Aang's morals—and yours too, Zuko."

Zuko frowned but not in anger—at least, Katara thought, not entirely. He shut his eyes and let out a frustrated breath before opening them again. "You know, right now," he said, stepping close to her, "my right and wrong is you, Aang, Toph, and Sokka, and doing everything I can to protect you all. That is my foundation. Those are my morals. Okay?"

It was times like this which reminded Katara of everything he had gone through. "Okay, Zuko," she said, her voice just above a whisper. I wish I could heal that part of you.

His expression softened, and he nodded. Hiding the blue flask in his tunic again, he then retreated, leaving the cave without looking back.

-o-0-

Toph made an arc with her right arm, sending stalactites raining down on Aang. His stance wide and well-placed, Aang responded by lifting up two ramps on his left and right so that they were overhead to deflect the blows. It worked perfectly, and the rocks bounced off or broke apart on impact.

As the dust settled, Aang watched her for more attacks, and she watched Aang watch her. Slowly lowering his rocky defenses and straightening, he asked, "Are we done?"

She didn't move. "No."

He cocked his head. "Can we stop for today?"

"No."

They waited some more, Aang being both nervous and impatient. "Okay, I give up. What are we doing?"

"What are you intentionally not doing?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe this'll give you a hint." She broke off a piece of rock about the size of a plate from the cave and shot it at his head.

Aang quickly returned to his earthbending stance and used the rock's power and momentum to deflect it away from himself. It smashed against the cave wall behind him. Putting his hands up, he readied himself for more.

Toph only stood there, waiting for it to click. "And?"

"And what?"

"Return the favor. Respond. Defend yourself!"

"I thought I did."

"Aang." Toph closed the distance between them. "Everyone's too nice to say it, so I will: you need to figure out what to do about Ozai."

"I don't know yet."

"You've had months to think about it." She let out a sigh which did nothing to abate her growing frustration. I don't know how all that meditation and breathing helps with anything. "It's a simple problem with a simple solution."

His reply was short and final: "I'm not going to kill him, Toph." His steady heartbeat reinforced his statement.

Where did this Aang come from? Decisive. Unyielding. Maybe there's some hope for him. "Okay," she replied, nodding once, "but you will need to deal with him somehow."

"I know…I just…Maybe we can talk it over during dinner. You know, talk about options?"

"We've done that already—several times, if I'm remembering right."

"Not with Zuko. He might have some ideas."

So much for being decisive. "Fine. Ask him. But you need to figure it out, like, tonight."

"Okay!" Taking notes from Katara, he turned on his heel and headed back out the cave.

"Hey! I didn't say we were done!" she called out.

He didn't reply, and although she could have stopped him, maybe it was a good idea to let him go, let him think through some things. I don't envy you, you know, she wanted to say, but he didn't need that charity. Ozai won't give you the chance to be wrong, much less anyone else we meet. No second-guessing; no room for mistakes or mercy. He had to take everything thrown at him and turn it back on them. That was the only way to win.

-o-0-

The group sat around the campfire for dinner, choosing to sit near the mouth of the cave and behind some rocks with the hope of hiding most of the light and noise. There was some talk, but Aang found those things weren't interesting him, and he instead stared into the flames. He was brought out of his stupor by Katara praising him: "Good job tonight."

It was worthless praise. Aang knew he had been distracted most of the time pondering the few choices he had and the one he might have to make in less than three weeks. "Thanks," he said into his bowl of stew.

"Yeah, Aang, great practice," added Toph, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Say, you have anything you want to say to us?"

The sudden pressure of what felt like a thousand pairs of eyes pressed down on him. He set aside his food. "Um, yeah. I guess." Glancing at Zuko, he said, "I want to make a decision about Ozai, and what I'm going to do with him." This statement seemed to cause a measure of tension but also relief in all of them. Toph hadn't been wrong saying the others were thinking about it.

"I'm glad," Sokka started, "but what's changed? There's, you know, killing him—"

"I'm not going to kill him."

"Yeah, I know, we've covered that already, but we don't have a lot of options. There's that option—killing him—and there's, well, there's really nothing besides that. Even if we were to overpower him during Day of Black Sun, there's no telling how powerful he'll be during Sozin's Comet. All our work may be for nothing if he can still firebend then." Sokka paused to tend to the fire, poking at it and sending embers floating up past the cave ceiling and into the night sky.

Aang opened his mouth to say something about how the Avatar State would be more than a match for Ozai, but that was only true if he could access the Avatar State by then. Several days had passed since he had declared to Katara that he would emotionally distance himself from her but, despite that, he felt no closer to regaining his connection to Roku and the others.

"Do you have any ideas, Zuko?" Toph asked Zuko.

The firebender shook his head. "I can't think of anything to stop him short of…you know."

Toph asked, "What about that girl that hit me in the arm and it stopped working for a while?"

"She did that to me too," Katara added. "It took almost an hour before I could move a drop of water."

"That's Ty Lee," Zuko explained. "I don't know where she learned how to do that, and I don't think she'll want to tell us—or teach us."

Aang leaned back. "I wish the Library was still around—in this world, at least."

Before Zuko could say anything, Katara told him, "I'll explain later."

"I mean," Sokka said, "isn't there some kind of anti-firebender, flame putter-outer? Like, if a firebender goes rogue or something, what happens?"

"Nothing but near-death can put extinguish our flame completely," replied Zuko, "and even then it's not permanent, but there is a prison for firebenders: the Boiling Rock."

"Nice name."

"It's supposed to hold the worst of the worst. They've got to be able to contain firebenders somehow."

Aang asked, "You've never been?"

Shaking his head, Zuko replied, "No, but I know where it is. It's actually quite famous. No one has ever escaped. It's close to a week from the Capital by ship but with Appa it might be a long day, day and a half maybe."

Sokka rubbed his hands together and Aang could see he was already hatching an idea. "This is sounding better and better. The only issue is—"

"The comet," Zuko finished.

"No, I was going to say, 'Getting him there.' We need to first overpower him during the eclipse, then keep him contained—maybe knock him out for long enough so we can get him to the prison. The comet shouldn't even play a part, right?"

"Won't Fire Nation guards will be at the prison?" Katara asked Zuko. "That could cause some trouble."

"I'm not worried about that," Toph said, putting her feet up to the fire.

"Well, I am," Katara replied.

"Me too," added Aang.

"Yes, there's all that," Zuko admitted, "and we can plan how to deal with it, but...I don't think you all know how powerful firebenders get during its passing. I don't think the Fire Lord even knows. No one alive has seen it; we just have stories and history to go on."

"What stories?" Katara asked.

Suddenly shy, he said, "Um…"

Sokka poked him with the cool end of his prodding stick. "C'mon, buddy, we can take it."

"Well, it's about the war. When he was fighting the Air Nation Army, some of the fireballs were said to be the size of komodo rhinos."

Aang cocked his head. He must have misspoken. "What about the 'Air Nation Army'?"

"I meant, the Air Nomad Army. Sozin, powered by the comet—"

"Wait, we didn't have an army. I've told you; we're peaceful."

"You're for peace, yeah. So?"

"We all are—I mean, were—because of our pledge of nonviolence."

Zuko blinked and a slight frown developed. "What do you mean? But Sozin attacked your—"

"He attacked us by ambush," he said, trying and failing to keep the emotion out of his voice and the images from his mind. Monk Gyatso's skeleton stared back at him with sightless eyes. Not like Toph's which still held some expression, but empty, dead sockets that took in everything and gave nothing back.

Zuko looked even more confused. Shifting in his seat, he started again: "No, I—"

"I was there."

Zuko's eyes went wide with an expression of shocking pain. He wordlessly looked around at everyone else. No one contradicted Aang. "But that means," he finally replied, his voice filling with a mixture of awe and horror, "it was a slaughter. It was—It was…" He ran his hand through his hair, cursed quietly, and closed his eyes.

They sat in silence again except for the crackling fire that punctured the heavy atmosphere. Aang stared into the flames, erratic but low in spite of the host of wood surrounding them and the fresh piece Sokka added.

Aang's attention was drawn back to Zuko when the firebender flinched at some invisible thing. Voice thick with emotion, Zuko asked, "How many?" His half-closed, scarred eye bored into Aang's.

Shaking his head, Aang replied, "I don't know. Really. I don't think we ever kept track of how many of us there were." But that answer didn't satisfy Zuko nor did it do justice for the dead. "But it was everyone. Everyone," he repeated, "except me." The runaway.

Zuko's face fell, and he cast his gaze to the fire. After a while, he said, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault—"

"I know it's not my fault!" he snapped. "I'm just—I'm just sorry, okay?"

"Thanks."

Zuko only nodded, eyes back on the fire.

Something nudged Aang's left foot and then kicked him when he didn't respond immediately. It was Toph. She wasn't going to let him go without a decision.

"I guess then, for now, the prison plan is our best option. Right, Sokka?" asked Aang.

"We still have a few things to work out…but, yeah, it's the best idea we've had so far."

Zuko responded, incredulous, "You still don't want to kill him?" Aang met his eyes and saw the old anger that lurked behind them. "After everything he's done?" Aang started to answer, but Zuko wasn't done. Standing, he said, "How could you do that? Is this how you honor your people?" The flames rose higher as his voice did. "They're dead! And he's responsible for it! He should die—"

"No!" Aang shot back, standing up to meet him. "First of all, Sozin killed them, not Ozai! Second, I'm honoring my people by staying true to their beliefs—my beliefs. I won't kill him, Zuko, and that's final!"

The energy in Zuko's voice lessened, and he grew very still. "What if the plan doesn't work? What if it's down to you or Ozai? What if you have to fight him when he's a hundred times more powerful and willing to kill anyone to win?"

"Then…" he paused, looking around the campfire at his friends, and they looked back at him. "Then I won't. I can't."

"Not when the world is at stake?" Zuko countered. "Not even then?"

"I…I can't."

"How selfish are you?" The sudden burst of venom stung, and tears began to blur Aang's vision.

Katara, Sokka, and Toph began to talk in loud voices all at once.

"Zuko—!"

"Zuko, c'mon—"

"Stop it, Zu—!"

"I'm not trying to be selfish!" cried Aang. "I just want to do what's right."

"It would be right if he was dead!" Zuko yelled over them. "He may not have killed your people, but he's going to kill more, thousands more! And you don't want to sacrifice anything to win!" He gave a disgusted scoff. "Well, I guess you're willing to sacrifice a few thousand—"

"Zuko!" Katara's voice was unlike he had ever heard it: harsh and cutting. "You don't get to talk to Aang like that—or any of us, for that matter."

"So you agree with him?"

Aang felt her hesitate for a moment. "We don't yell at each other like you just did. It doesn't help anyone."

"I was just calling him out—"

"No, you weren't 'just' doing that, and you know it."

Zuko's teeth flashed in the firelight, and he growled in frustration. "You say," he said, taking a step forward, but Sokka blocked his path so he could only glare at Aang, "you want to stop the Fire Lord permanently. This is how you do it. Prisons can be broken out of; I'm proof of that. Like I've told you, sometimes you have to do what you don't want to do."

Aang wiped away the end of his tears, replying, "I know! And I have!"

But Zuko looked him in the eye, and Aang remembered their exchange on the Earth Kingdom beach more than a week ago: he declaring his love for Katara and begging Zuko for guidance.

"And with all you've sacrificed," Zuko said, almost mocking him, "you still haven't connected to the Avatar State yet, have you?"

"No…"

"But you know the Fire Lord deserves to die."

"I don't—"

"'Deserves,' huh?" Sokka asked. "Interesting choice of words."

He started to respond but was interrupted by a pebble hitting him. "Ow!" he said, rubbing his arm where it had struck.

"Toph, don't," Aang ordered. Toph groaned but didn't repeat the attack.

"Zuko," Katara said firmly, "you need to cool off a little."

"Fine." He swiftly turned his back on them and headed further into the cave.

Katara made a motion for Sokka to follow him. "I'll talk to him in a second. Now you," she said, turning back to Aang and then, in a voice that was just barely a whisper, asked, "What do you mean you'd rather die than kill Ozai? He wouldn't hesitate to kill you."

"Yeah, Aang, what've we been doing all this for?" said Toph.

They weren't on his side? But they defended him! "I—If I kill him, I won't be any better than him. I was taught 'Violence might solve one problem, but it'll create another.'"

"Pfft, violence solves all sorts of problems for me. Never gives me trouble either," remarked the earthbender.

"That's not true, Aang," Katara said, ignoring Toph, "and even if it was, I can't imagine a bigger problem than Ozai. Can you?"

Well, no. But the thought, the image, of killing Ozai was sickening. From that point on, he would be a murderer. "I…" he started to say, but the pressure of everything and everyone hung upon him with such intensity that he began to shake. "I…" he tried again but couldn't get his thoughts together enough to form a statement.

"Oh, Aang." Katara wrapped him up in her arms, and he pulled her close, burying his head in her shoulder.

How could he tell them that he wished he wasn't the Avatar? Or that he'd give anything to not have to make the decision to kill a man? How could he disappoint all of them? Her?

"Shh. It's okay," she said as she pet his head. "It'll be okay. We'll make the plan work, alright? You won't have to fight him."

Toph added, "We won't let you down, Aang."

-o-0-

Some part of Zuko's mind—the part responsible for cold reasoning that was more natural for Azula than himself—whispered he should stop, but righteous anger at the new development delivered by the selfish coward told him to fight back against the injustice of it all. Smoke and small flames flicked out of his nostrils and cast shallow shadows as he paced. He ran his fingers through his hair and kicked small stones against the cave walls as hard as he could, but no amount of reasoning and physical exertion alleviated his desire, his need, to act.

Whirling around to face Sokka who looked similarly annoyed but not to the same degree, he said, "I don't get it! How can he decide to do that after all this?" He kept his voice just below a shout. A small victory in self-control, though it didn't feel like one. After all, he should be angry. He should be upset. Why wasn't anyone else?

"To be fair," Sokka said, surprising Zuko with his level of unconcern, "you've traveled with us, what, one week? Two?"

"I thought he was traveling around the world, mastering the elements, becoming the Avatar to restore balance by ruling over the world, starting with killing the Fire Lord."

"Restore balance, yes, but killing isn't really Aang's style. You should know that."

"But he's killed several people already." Sokka blinked and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Does he not know? "I remember hearing the reports of soldiers thrown overboard, and, because of the weight of their armor and some just not knowing how to swim, drowned. And others, during the siege in the North Pole, froze to death because of the cold. Not to mention anything that happened in the Earth Kingdom—"

"Alright, alright, but that stuff wasn't on purpose," Sokka argued, still looking somewhat disturbed after Zuko's revelation. "None of it was. Aang and us—we don't want to kill anyone if we don't have to. Not really."

Do they not ever think about what happens to the soldiers they fight? "But if you have to, you will."

Sokka thought a moment, and nodded slowly. "If it's them or me…"

"But Aang won't; he just said so." Another wave of anger rolled over him.

Sokka only shook his head wearily.

Taking a step toward him, Zuko said, "Does he not realize that my fa—the Fire Lord will never stop trying to escape? Never stop trying to find him if left alive?"

"Probably," he replied, staying his ground.

Zuko turned away. He would try to protect the Avatar as best he could, but he couldn't do much if the boy willingly put himself in danger. Facing him again, he asked, "And you're okay with it?"

"The decision isn't really mine. It's Aang's—"

"I know. It's his destiny to fight the Fire Lord," he said, reciting the often-referenced phrase, "but you've got to know sticking him in prison is not a good plan."

"I trust Aang," dodged Sokka, but before Zuko could reply, added, "We just need to work on the plan some more. It could work." His words betrayed his uncertainty. Again, Zuko tried to speak, but Sokka interrupted him, "If we don't have to kill Ozai… My dad didn't kill—"

Not this. "Your dad's decision is not yours. It's a completely different situation."

"But trying to do the right thing isn't."

Zuko let out a frustrated breath that was a mixture of a sigh and groan. "Why—" he started but cut himself off. Why bother asking?

"'Why,' what?"

"Nothing." Sokka gave him a bored but expectant look, and Zuko obliged him, knowing he'd make his thoughts known anyway: "Why can't things be easy just once? Why do we have to go to all this trouble?"

"Ha!" Sokka said. "You're funny!" Then, in the face of Zuko's unamused mood, he said more seriously, "This is the most prepared we've ever been. Most of the time, we fly around without a real plan other than to go somewhere or get away from someone. Now we've got an army and a strategy to take down Ozai." 'Army' is taking it a little far, Zuko thought. "In a lot of ways, it makes things so much easier."

"Yes, a plan is good, but it doesn't change what needs to be done."

"Yes, I know! Thank you, you ray of sunshine!"

Zuko fell silent. What more was there to say? He knew what had to be done and so did everyone else, even if they realized it or not.

"Look, I really do trust Aang. He always knows the right thing to do, even if it looks stupid sometimes." Sokka chuckled, as if recalling a memory. "And, really, it's down to him. In the end, it's his decision, and I'll support whatever he decides—which is, we aren't killing Ozai," he said, leaving no room for further argument. "Alright?"

Zuko nodded once. Aang's position as Avatar gave him the final say, and Sokka was honoring that. That, Zuko could understand.

Footsteps crunched to Zuko's left and he turned to find Katara striding towards them, her figure silhouetted by the fire in the distance. "Cooled off yet?" she asked.

Her patronizing tone grated on Zuko's well-worn nerves that had just started to calm. He set his jaw. "Yes."

She looked dubious but said, "Zuko, I wan—"

"Yes?" he said, cutting her off. "Oh, I can talk now?" It was petty but after what just happened…

His victory was short-lived. Though her face was mostly hidden in shadow, there was no mistaking her tone. "What is going on with you?" It sounded more like a demand than a question.

Sokka took a step towards her. "Katara, it's alright—"

"No, it's not. He's going to have to explain it to me. What is going on, Zuko?" Her tone had not wavered, and Zuko resolved to never answer any demands of hers. He turned his back to her.

"We worked it out—" Sokka started again.

"Sokka!"

"Fine! I'll leave you to it. I can't handle two angry people at once." Her brother's footsteps crunched under a mixture of loose rock and sand until it faded away, only to be replaced by faint voices from the campfire.

-o-0-

Zuko was being unreasonable, and it didn't help that Sokka had been trying to explain that everything was "alright." Clearly, it wasn't. "What's going on with you?" she asked when Sokka had left.

He turned sharply to her, his eyes reflecting small pinpricks of light from the fire behind her. "Me? You yell at me, kick me out, and I'm the problem?"

She had regretted it the second it happened. In fact, she had come over to him to apologize. How did they get here? Why did everything turn so wrong? She wanted to calm him, not enrage him. But this wasn't going to go away on its own. She needed to address it, but first: "You can't talk to us like you did back there. You were getting out of control."

The last word, "control," had an effect on Zuko, and he paused a moment before resuming, "Like I said, Aang wasn't coming up with a feasible plan! He has hope but that's it. Strategy doesn't care if you have hope. War doesn't care if you have morals. There's winning and there's losing."

"But you know he already feels guilty about what happened to his people," she said. Zuko didn't say anything, and his face was shadowed enough to hide a clear expression. "You told him he would be responsible for thousands dying—"

"He will be—!"

"We will be…and only if we lose." Again, he didn't respond, but began to pace. "That's why we need to work on the prison plan. Figure out how to transport Ozai. And you're the only one of us who knows where the Boiling Rock is." A thought occurred to her. "Are you going to help us?"

At her question, he stopped. A movement of black hair against the dark shadows of the cave walls indicated a small nod. "Of course," he said with a note of surprise and hurt at the question.

Katara relaxed some: not everything was at stake. "Thank you." They stood there awkwardly and in silence. Her thoughts quickly drifted back to why she was there and she blurted out, "I'm sorry. I—I saw how upset you were and how big the fire was getting." The flames had begun to tower above Toph, their heat burning against Katara's bare skin. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, but I yelled at you instead and I'm sorry."

He kept his head down but gave a silent nod, then, "I shouldn't have lost control like that." He quickly looked up and clarified, "That doesn't mean I regret saying what I said, but I do regret how I said it. I was just…I don't know…thinking about what my family has done."

Of course! So stupid! "Sozin. Your…grandfather?"

"Great-grandfather. He wasn't a brilliant general. He was a heartless murderer of tens of thousands. 'Greatest military mind of his time.' He was an ash maker." Zuko spat the name, an obvious slur of some kind, though she was unfamiliar with it. "And, for that matter, is my father." A small snarl remained, evidence of his roiling anger, but enough of the energy had been spent that he sat down on an outcropping from the cave wall a few paces from Katara. He stared ahead into nothingness, in thought, in pain.

Katara sat down beside him, intent on saying something to comfort him, but struggled to say anything that wouldn't make things worse. It was Zuko's history, and she couldn't do anything to change it. At least he's learning the truth, she thought, but that did little to comfort even herself.

They sat there silently for several minutes. Katara's thoughts vacillated between many things, namely Aang's firm decision to not kill Ozai, the half-completed plan to imprison him, and how this would affect Zuko teaching Aang firebending.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It—" He shook his head. "It's fine. It's not your fault either."

She nodded. "I know." But what else was there to say? She peeked at him from the corner of her eye. He seemed to have recovered enough. "Do you want to head back?" she asked.

"No," he replied, "but I should."

They stood and, walking side by side, returned to the mouth of the cave and the remainder of Team Avatar surrounding the fire there. "Nice of you to join us. Feel better after Sweetness knocked some sense into you?" Toph asked.

"Toph," Katara warned, "you aren't helping."

Zuko shrugged a shoulder and sat by the fire so that he was the farthest away from anyone.

"He's okay," Katara answered, guessing it was true for the time being. It would be a long time before he fully accepted what his ancestors had done.

"Hungry?" Sokka offered some of the dried food Dad had given them before they left, and she accepted it. Then he asked, "Zuko?" who nodded but didn't move. "You're going to have to walk your moody self over here if you want it." Sokka dangled a bit of dried meat. In a voice that was reserved for trained pets, he called, "C'mere, Zu-ko."

Katara snatched the food from his hand, gave Sokka a look, and walked over to Zuko. Eyes averted, he muttered, "Thanks."

They ate quietly for only a minute before Aang said, rather loudly, "I'm sorry for upsetting you, Zuko. I didn't mean to."

Zuko's eyes flicked up, then he shook his head. "It's not your fault I didn't know my own history." He seemed to reprove himself with those last words. "And I shouldn't have said half of what I did. I know you don't want to hurt anyone, Aang, it's just—" He paused and Katara noticed his right hand curling into a tight fist. It relaxed, and he said, "You don't want to kill the Fire Lord, and I will honor your wishes."

Aang inclined his head. "Thanks, Zuko." Zuko only responded by taking another bite of dinner.

Soon after, it was decided that Sokka and Toph would go to the nearby city in the morning for supplies while Aang trained with Zuko and Katara. Enticed by the prospect of shopping, Sokka readily agreed to the arrangement. Zuko greeted the plan with indifference, but Aang, despite their earlier argument, seemed to be looking forward to more firebending training. Toph was rather excited, in her own way, about going into the city. While her parents had put quite a bounty to return her, the extent of their influence did not reach as far as the shores of the Fire Nation. "As much as I like you guys, I need a break. I'm not a hermit, you know."

The day ended after some brief conversations about money, the supplies Sokka needed to buy, and when they would move on to the next town—that was left undecided.

Katara tried and succeeded catching Zuko's eye two or three times, but each time he looked away, he gave a new, confusing mixture of emotions Katara couldn't decipher.

Once everyone had bedded down for the night, she murmured, "Good night."

"Good night, Katara. Good night, guys," said Aang.

Toph's slightly muffled voice from behind her earthen tent called out, " 'Night!"

"Good night," Sokka mumbled.

Waves crashed and cricketflies chirped in the nearby brush, but not a sound from Zuko.

"Good night, Zuko!" called Aang. Katara had to smile at that.

A faint, "Good night," answered.

"Good night!" Sokka shouted into his blanket as he turned over. "Now please let me sleep!"