Zuko should have known that Iroh wouldn't be on board with this plan.

Ever since Zuko had come back from his walk and told Iroh what he decided, the old man had been silent. Almost as if he was disappointed with his choice. Which made no sense to Zuko. After all, Azula tried to capture them herself, didn't she? Granted, she was following they're father's orders, but still. She still did it without hesitation. So why was it so bad that Zuko wanted to do the same thing? If he captured Azula and the avatar, Zuko would finally be able to return home. He would have his honor back. He would finally be able to prove himself as the better sibling. All of this was something that he wanted for three years. Uncle knew that. It was all Zuko could talk about since his banishment. Was it so surprising for Iroh that the first opportunity Zuko had to go home, he would take it?

And yet, another part of Zuko was telling him how wrong this all was. How fucked up it was for two siblings to try and capture the other as a prisoner of war. What would mother think? She had always wanted the two of them to get along, hadn't she?

Zuko could remember a time where they had gotten along. But that was years ago. And he wasn't sure that the two of them would ever be able to reclaim those days back. Not with the war going on, and certainly not when father could never seem to spare Zuko a second glance because Azula existed. Him, the first born son, was barely a blip on his father's radar because his sister was better than him. That would all change the moment he brought his sister back home in chains, a traitor to her nation and father.

Zuko couldn't wait.

After a day of searching for Azula and the avatar with little success, the two of them decided to make camp for the night. Every time Iroh would try and bring up Azula, Zuko would either cut him off or change the topic. He didn't want to think about his sister right now. If he did, his mind would start playing tricks on him, telling him that he was wrong for trying to capture a six year old little girl and lead her to her death, even if she was actually 14 years old.

14 years old is a child, though. Now that I think about it, she's…one year older than I was during my agni kai with father.

Zuko wasn't sure how he felt about that one. At least Azula would be fighting him and not father. She should count herself lucky.

"Prince Zuko, is there truly nothing that I can say to you that will change your mind?" Iroh asked, breaking Zuko from his thoughts.

Zuko turned to his uncle. The old man was looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face. How many times did they have to go over this? Nothing could change Zuko's mind now.

"No, uncle. I've made my decision. Why can't you just accept that and help me do what needs to be done?"

"Because I want what is best for you, nephew, and this isn't it. Do you have any idea what my brother will do to your sister once he has her in his clutches? He burned you just for talking out of turn. He considers Azula to be a traitor. You know what the Fire Lord does to traitors."

"Father wouldn't do that to Azula! Traitor or not, she's still his daughter, his perfect little princess. He…he won't kill her, I'm sure of it. At the very least, he'll just toss her in prison."

Zuko tried not to think about how when he said Azula was father's "perfect little princess" it made him feel sick to his stomach. If she truly was his favorite child, would he really want her to be hunted down like this? He shook his head. Thoughts like that would get him nowhere. It would only serve to interfere with the mission.

"I'll try and convince my father to not kill Azula. Who knows, maybe he wants Azula back so he can find some way to return her to normal. That's a possibility, right?"

Iroh looked at Zuko with disappointment before shaking his head, and turning on his side to go to sleep.

"Goodnight, Prince Zuko."

Great, now uncle was mad at him.

The two of them had been sitting by the turtle duck pond, bored out of their minds. Father was in yet another meeting, and mother had gone for a walk, leaving the two of them with nothing to do once school was out for the day. Azula sighed.

"Dum dum, I'm bored. You wanna play tag?"

"Stop calling me dum dum! And sure. You're it!" Zuko exclaimed, getting up and laughing as Azula chased after him.

"Looks like someone is starting to take after me. Not bad, Zuzu!" Azula said. She was slowly starting to catch up to him. A little more and….there! Azula stretched her arm out to tap Zuko, only for the boy to move out of the way at the last moment.

"Gotta try better than that, Azula!" Zuko said, sticking his tongue out at her.

"You're on, Zuzu!"

The two siblings played tag for what seemed like forever until Ursa found them, sprawled out on the ground out of breath, but laughing all the same.

Zuko shot up from his sleeping bag, looking at his surroundings. Uncle was across from him, snoring away. He put a hand to his face. When was the last time he had dreamed about Azula? He had completely forgotten about that day. The two of them had so much fun just playing together. It was one of the few times Zuko could remember actually getting along with his sister. Not too long after that day, mother had left. And then everything had changed. His relationship with Azula started to deteriorate even more. Father seemed to have taken an even more keen interest in Azula's firebending now that mother was gone. It seemed as if Azula spent all of her time training just to please father.

Or maybe, Zuko thought, touching his scar, she did that for another reason besides pleasing father.

Zuko sighed. Thinking about his sister made his head hurt. Why had he even dreamed about that anyway? Was it his mind's way of trying to talk him out of doing this? He scoffed, like that was going to happen. He had his orders. Zuko knew what he had to do. He couldn't-no, he wouldn't disobey father's orders. It wouldn't end well for him if he did.

You know you want to, though.

He tried to ignore the voice that said that. The voice that sounded eerily similar to Azula.

Eventually morning came, and the two of them were back on the road again. Zuko wished that he had his ship and crew (thank you so much for that, Zhao) with them. It probably would have made hunting Azula down much easier. He doubted that they could count on a trail of bison fur showing up again. Zuko was sure that the avatar would be smart enough to bathe the thing to avoid that from happening again. Which meant that they're only hope was finding a town and asking people if they spotted a small child traveling with a bald headed monk and water tribe peasants. It wasn't a method that Zuko parts cared for, but it was better than nothing. A tap on his shoulder caused Zuko to turn around, staring at his uncle.

"What is it? Have you found anything?" Zuko asked.

"No, but I have an idea for tracking down Azula and the avatar. We'll have to make a little detour, Zuko."

"Where are we going?"

Iroh looked at Zuko and smiled.

"A place to visit some old friends who love pai sho just as much as I do."