"Azula was here?" Katara repeated, alarmed. "Is everyone okay?"

Zuko parkoured up to the top of the rock formation and looked around. "I wouldn't have thought so," he said. "I know her team, the Angels. They're some of the best fighters in the world. They should've outmatched the Gaang badly. Even with Beifong and Suki. Even if we'd been there, it would've been close. But I don't think she won."

"How can you tell?" she asked, interested to watch him do his detective thing.

"Because where's Appa? We thought she'd travel by tank, that's why the desert was supposed to be safe. If she came here, that means she rode animals. There's no way she could carry Appa off on an ostrich horse, and there's no way she'd leave a loose end like him. But he's not here, alive or not, and no fresh scat either. I think she tried to ambush them, they spotted her, there was a fight, and the Gaang escaped."

He walked around as he spoke, taking positions Azula might've tried to ambush them from. High ground; somewhere with good cover she could charge lightning from; vantages with open sight lines for Mai; positions with hiding spots for Ty Lee or Kori. He hopped down and looked at the rocks. Scarring from stray knives, earth shields Toph and Kori built up or tore down, igneous deformations from Azula's fire, hardened mud from Aang's waterbending. He could see them running to and from cover, the crisscross of their attacks, blocks, and counterattacks.

"The Angels weren't driven off," he said. "Mai was here, but none of her knives is. That means she had time to collect them, the Gaang wouldn't have bothered. If they left us a note, Azula took it."

But she didn't have Kori clear away the debris of battle. She knew we'd get back here. She left this as a clue to us, to me.

We have to tell Katara.

This is the first time she's ever been nice to us. Not just transactional, or strained politeness under duress. Do we really have to tell her we were going to double-cross her, and ruin the one good thing in our life again?

She's going to figure it out eventually, and it'll be worse if she finds out on her own.

Just a little longer. We'll give her something else instead.

"Hey, Katara? I have a confession to make." She gave him a wide-eyed look. "Up north, after the battle, someone asked me how to keep firebenders prisoner. At the time … well, you know what I said about how Eartheners treat prisoners. I was afraid they'd just execute the lot of them if it sounded too hard to hold them. So, I lied. I told them you could stop firebending by gagging us. You can't, not for a master like Azula. So they let their guard down, and that's how she broke out."

"Oh," Katara said. She looked down, her brows knitting. "Zuko, that was right after she broke your jaw, and burned Sokka, and tried to zap Aang."

"I know! But she's my only sister. Wouldn't you try to save Sokka, if it came to it?"

"Sokka isn't a monster."

"So it'd be easy for you. But I don't have that luxury."

She scrunched up her eyes in frustration. "I'm not mad you tried to save your family, Zuko. I get that, even though you have the worst family in the world. I'm mad you put the Water Tribesmen guarding her in danger, and you put us in danger."

"I didn't think she'd try anything," he said. "How would she cross the ocean? It'd be crazy to break out if you had nowhere to go. Maybe she flagged down a ship, doctrine is to send scouts to investigate defeats and rescue any survivors, but how could she have got aboard? It's not like they could have docked. She would have had to swim, through polar water, with dozens of waterbenders standing watch."

"If you'd told me that, I probably would've agreed," Katara said. "Or maybe I would've had ideas of my own, or maybe someone else would. But you didn't tell us. You made the call because you thought you knew best. We only found out two seconds before she electrocuted us all."

That's not true either. We made the call because we didn't trust you to spare anyone from the Fire Nation, and you haven't given us a lot of reason why we should. The Avatar still hasn't even said, 'Gosh, it would've been nice if I'd been able to take those soldiers prisoner somehow instead of drowning them to the last man.'

"And you also didn't think she'd be able to cross the desert, and you were sure those disappearances were spirits," she went on. "You make mistakes. If you have to protect your family, then, I understand, even though I hate her. But talk to me, help me keep my family safe too. Okay? Just don't keep things from me."

"I won't," he lied, feeling his gut twist.

"And I don't care that the Fire Lord is your father. You don't try to protect him. Period."

"I won't," Zuko said. "He has too much to answer for. And he's had a lifetime to decide to stop the war."

Katara nodded. "Well, thank you for telling me now, at least. Can you tell how long ago this was?" she asked, indicating the battle.

He poked his head into the cave, glad for the change of topic. "A while. I'd bet she followed Sokka when he took Appa back, and she hit them later that day, or maybe in the early hours. They're long gone."

"Do you think they went ahead to Ba Sing Se? Or are they waiting for us somewhere?"

"We would've heard if they went back to Gaoling, and that's the only place close enough that they'd think we'd find it and that Azula probably wouldn't attack. Ba Sing Se makes the most sense. The Avatar might've wanted to go to the Eastern Air Temple first. Which would be dumb, the Fire Nation would have sent troops there, but he might not realise that."

"That's the sort of information you should volunteer ahead of time," she said.

"I didn't think it would come up."

She gave him a withering look. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, either way, we can't cross the desert on foot. We'll have to backtrack and go around. If any locals have seen Appa, we'll have to think about visiting the Eastern Air Temple, but otherwise, we can swing north and go to Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation Navy has the range to hit the coast, but not for a sustained ground occupation, so it should be mostly clear."

"Right," Katara said.

"I think you should be the only bender for a while," he said. He bent a little tongue of fire, pale orange, no more blue.


It was weird, riding alongside Katara. He could tell she'd never ridden before, and he knew it took some getting used to and he could see her stretching and massaging her thighs when they got off for a rest, but she never complained as they made their way across sparse scrubland, farms, and forests. She made more noise when she saw him buying food from the villages they passed, and caught a glimpse of his purse.

"Zuko," she said, her voice strangled, "how much money do you have?"

"Uncle gave me my back stipend at Izumihanto."

"Your back stipend?"

"I'm a Prince, I might've mentioned. That was how I paid for my ship and crew. I guess no-one thought to cancel it when Zhao requisitioned them."

Katara did some mental arithmetic. There had been a few weeks between Zuko joining them and them arriving at Izumihanto. He had a crew of eight, which you might round up to ten to cover coal and repairs. Two weeks times ten salaries came to …

"We've been almost broke this entire time, you've been carrying a fortune, and you never said anything?!"

She probably thought he meant when they went to Izumihanto together; he'd actually got the money the second time, when he'd sneaked off without her, so it was closer to two months of stipend. He chose not to volunteer this.

"We had a deal, and there was nothing in it about me having to finance the Avatar," he said defensively. "We were never starving, and we both know Sokka would've spent it all on hats."

She couldn't deny this, but still didn't speak to him for the rest of the day. Still, she dutifully cooked dinner, doing the rice the way he liked, and when they curled up on a soft patch of grass at the roadside that night, she pressed back-to-back against him. She may have only wanted his warmth, but he still appreciated it.

You and I both know we don't get to have nice things.

"One of us should stay watch," he said regretfully. "It's not safe around here. I'll go first."

"No, I will," she said, sitting up.

"Are you sure?"

"The moon's out, and you're the early riser."

"Wake me for second watch."

He lay on his back and watched her silhouette pace back and forth against the half moon sky until he drifted off.

The sky had clouded over when she woke him. He nodded, got up, and walked around a bit while she tossed and turned. He noticed she was curled up tight; he came back over and took her waterskin. He opened it and let out a slow, steady breath, heating it twenty degrees above blood temperature.

This is taking longer than it should. Way longer.

Is something wrong with our bending? It was stronger after we talked to Azula, now it's weaker than before.

We're doing it right. I'm sure. Some kind of chi block? Is Ty Lee somehow involved? Surely not.

Maybe we were stronger because of what Azula said, until we decided not to listen to her, but why would we be even weaker than before?

He handed it back. She pressed it against her belly with a smile and nodded off.

Around first light, he stretched and started at his martial arts kata. Halfway through, he realised she was awake and watching him. When he glanced at her, she blushed and looked down.

"I saw you fight Hama," he said. "You remembered that move I showed you."

"You're a good teacher," she said, still not meeting his eye.

He beckoned her forward and into a martial arts stance, mirroring his own. "Kneeing her was a good move," he said.

"I thought you were unconscious then," she said. "… I was afraid you'd died."

"Yeah, that would've been inconvenient for you."

She walked over and poked him. "I care about you," she said. "Even though you make it really hard sometimes."

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. "That was the first kick I've ever seen a waterbender do."

"Master Pakku never taught them," she said. "Um. Can you put your shirt on? It's kind of distracting."

He blinked in surprise. "I'll stink of sweat all day."

"Sokka's my brother. I can handle boy musk."

He accepted this and shrugged back into it. "Anyway. It's probably because he didn't let girls fight. Boys punch hard enough to get away with boxing only, girls don't. But you can kick hard enough, so firebender girls do that, and I think boys learned it from them."

"Waterbending uses grappling," Katara said. "Girls can do that fine."

"I know," he said, remembering the many times Azula had tossed him on his butt. "But you should learn to kick anyway. Maybe you can invent a new waterbending move. Stand on one foot, on the ball. Lift the other knee to your chest, as high as you can, and point the toes up. You connect with your heel. To finish the movement, snap your leg forward, like this."

"Don't you have one where you spin around?"

"That's the roundhouse kick," he said, demonstrating, kicking and spinning a full 360 degrees to resume his stance. "I'm teaching you the snap kick right now. It's not as powerful, but it's easier to learn. Let me see – hold your hands up like this, guard your head and chest. Again – put your hips into it more. Again – not that much. Again – good. Give me ten."

He actually made her give ten from each leg, then ten more because her technique was off. She was panting by the end of it: nothing conditions you for kicking except kicking.

"Still a martial arts sifu," she said, taking a breather.

It's only fair. We invented a new move from watching you just a few days ago. Uncle was right after all: firebenders really can learn something from waterbenders.

I don't think that's what he had in mind. That move … is not something we should ever use. Or even talk about.

Agreed. If Azula ever learned it, it'd be catastrophic.

"Shall we have breakfast?" he asked.

He brushed and fed their mounts while she washed up and cooked, they ate, and they were on their way again.

Villages were usually spaced about a day's walk apart: you'd leave one in the morning and arrive at the next in the evening. This logic flew out the window when you rode a flying bison, and even ostrich horses meant they could go quite a bit further. This raised the question of whether to keep going if you reached a village during late afternoon. Zuko was more inclined to press on and sleep on the road if they didn't reach the next one; Katara preferred to stop, look around, and maybe find an inn.

It was mid-afternoon when they reached the next village. An older man rushed out to meet them. "Excuse me! Sir, did you pass anyone on the way here?"

Zuko looked over at Katara, who he'd correctly predicted would be put out that the man had addressed him and not her.

She picked two duels with Pakku when he wouldn't train her because she's a girl. We want no part of this.

"Not since the last village," she said.

"No-one at all?" the man asked, still directing this more toward Zuko.

"I said we didn't see anyone," she said, bristling now. "Were you looking for someone?"

"We were attacked last night," he said. "They kidnapped my daughter Hien, she's barely older than you. We sent a runner to the king, but he'll take a week to get here – I can't imagine what she's going through …"

Katara had softened. "Don't worry," she said. She gave Zuko a look and jerked her head toward the man, We're helping him, say something!

"Look on the bright side, now you don't have to pay a matchmaker when you marry her off."

Say that aloud. I dare you.

"I'm a professional tracker," he said. "What's your name, and were these Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation?"

"Tao. And Earth Kingdom, we think. Nobody looked like Fire Nation military, anyway. I didn't see any benders or heavy armour. I can't believe them! We're supposed to be fighting the Fire Nation!"

So I keep hearing.

"Was she the only person they took? Any other farms hit?"

"I think they took some of Diu's animals, too, he lives down the road thataway, but no other people. They made off with some of our livestock, too, an ostrich horse and some chicken pigs. I don't mind losing those, but I need her back. She's my only daughter, and my sons all went off to war."

"Did you see how many there were?"

"I only saw three or four men. They were mounted."

Make it five, assume two groups went out and there was a third staying watch or that hit someone you don't know about. No more than fifteen men. You're lucky: if there were fifty, they could have just carried off the entire village.

"Shouldn't be too hard," he said.

"Oh thank you so much!" Tao said. "I can take care of your wife while you go."

"I'm a bender!" Katara finally snapped. "A warrior! I've fought in battle!"

"I'm sorry, my wife has a very active imagination," Zuko said; her water whip almost knocked him off his ostrich horse.

Worth it.

"One last thing," he said, getting his balance back. "Have you heard any rumours of the Avatar passing through around here? Bald Air Nomad monk in orange robes with blue arrow tattoos, looks twelve years old, rides a flying bison with two Earthener girls and a Water Tribe boy, all of them very stupid?"

"Nothing," said Tao. "I mean, I've heard he returned and was seen in the Earth Kingdom, but not here. Why, are you looking for him?"

"Yes." To Katara, "He wouldn't have gone west or south, so if he didn't go this way, he would have had to go north. The only thing that way is Ba Sing Se."

"So we're going in the right direction," Katara said.

"And that gives us hope," Zuko said, putting a delicate stress on the word 'hope'; Katara water-whipped him again.

They got Tao to swap them a fresh pair of ostrich horses and point them in the right direction. The land was dry and scrubby, which made it harder to track. There were footprints and broken twigs going a short distance from his farm, then the bandits had climbed onto some rocks.

"What now?" Katara asked.

Zuko dismounted and touched the ground. It was a wide jumble of red-brown rock, with small plants struggling up through the cracks. The bandits had raced away from the farm at first, then taken time to cover their tracks. In a group of at least three mounted, moving at night, they couldn't completely avoid every plant and grain of sand.

"This way."

He led her along the rocks, up a more heavily wooded hill, then the trail became obvious enough that he could follow it while mounted. They went downhill again, found a ravine, and he held up his hand for silence. He dismounted and motioned her to copy him; in hindsight she probably didn't know the Fire Nation military signal, but she didn't really need to.

"They're here," he murmured. "Down this ridge. There's a sentry at the top, looking in this direction, but he hasn't spotted us."

"What's the plan?" she whispered back. "Do we just find the girl and get her back, or can we take them all?"

"There's only about ten of them. But what do we do after? The village didn't have a jail."

"Did this ever come up before you found us?"

"A couple times, I took someone prisoner, some earthbender or petty criminal who annoyed me enough. I'd clap them in irons, stow them in the brig, and transfer them to a prison camp the next time I could."

"Clap them in irons?" she repeated dubiously, giving him a Look. "Stow in the brig? I can see why those pirates liked you."

"It's an expression," he said defensively. "Normal people use it all the time. On ships."

"Pirate ships?" she prompted.

"," he said.

She smirked. "Well, we don't have a ship. I don't think we could even get them to the village, they'd just run off. What if we rescue the girl and get their ostrich horses? Or even just make them scatter, so the bandits can't use them to attack anyone else?"

"That should work. Stay here and cover me."

She caught his sleeve before he could go off on his own.

"You're a muscular almost-bald man with a scar over his eye and two swords on his hip, and you unironically say things like 'clap someone in irons'. You look more like a pirate than those pirates did. She'll scream when she sees you."

"That's only happened twice."

"I'm coming with you and doing the talking."

"You're cramping my style."

"Cope."

He grumbled. "Take off your shoes, step in my footprints, stay low, and don't tip-toe. Use heel-to-toe rolls."

She blinked but did as he said. She hadn't spent years training at ninjutsu, but she was enough smaller than him that it hopefully didn't matter. They crept around the ridge, keeping bushes and rises between them and the sentry. They crept close enough to see that it was a bearded man with a filthy matted topknot, sitting on a tree stump, twirling a polearm. Zuko scanned the ground ahead for twigs to avoid, but Katara touched his shoulder. She bent water from her skin, waited until the man had exhaled so he couldn't cry out, then wrapped it round his face and froze it. Zuko dashed forward, got him in a sleep hold, waited until he went limp, then set him down gently. Katara took the water back while Zuko tore the man's shirt to tie and gag him.

In the ravine below them, they could see a band of ten or fifteen men dozing in the shade. Around them was a small herd of ostrich horses lazily pecking away at a bag of feed they'd torn open and upended on the ground, most of it gone by now, or lapping up water from a pond. A girl Zuko's age sat off to one side, looking irritated.

Katara stood up, pressed a finger to her lips, and waved at the girl. It took her a moment, then she did a double-take. She looked around, saw the bandits were asleep, and stepped forward. Katara and Zuko picked their way forward, trying to keep trees and rises between them and as many bandits as possible, but there was no way to stay completely hidden.

"Who are you?" the girl stage-whispered when they were close enough. "How'd you find us?"

"My name's Katara. You're Hien, right? Your father sent us to rescue you."

"Don't worry about that," Hien said. "Just get out of here and tell him you couldn't find me."

"? But we could."

"These guys will just come back and rob him again."

"Not if we take their ostrich horses."

"It's not worth it," Hien said. "Seriously, just go back."

"We can do this," Katara insisted. "I don't understand –"

"She wasn't kidnapped," Zuko cut in. "She ran off with them by choice. Didn't like home, thought this would be an adventure?" Katara gave him a look of How'd you know? "I once met another very stupid girl who rode off with a Gaang of idiots for the same reason. That one's lucky to still be alive. If she is. I don't have words for what a bunch of head cases that group was."

Hien scowled. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know that your father misses you!" Katara said, probably too loudly, so she lowered her voice. "How dare you leave him like that!"

"He wanted to marry me to some boring ugly jerk."

"And that's terrible, but if you have a problem, that's your family's responsibility and yours to sort out. Joining up with bandits won't fix things, it'll just mean you're taking from other people!"

"So what? Like the king is any better."

"The king's probably already sent troops this way, and he'll send more the more damage your gang does. Have you thought this through at all?!"

"Yeah, I have. Chan's going to make it big out here, and I'll be his girlfriend."

"This is why I never help people," Zuko said.

"Both of you, shut up," Katara said. "Hien, you're coming with us."

"No, I'm not. You're going to leave, or I'll yell and wake everyone up, and then you'll be sorry."

"We're not leaving without you," Katara said.

"Should I –?" Zuko asked.

Katara frowned. "I was hoping we could do this nicely."

"I know, but …"

"Hey," Hien said, backing off and raising her voice, "get away from me!"

She's too loud! Go!

He dashed forward, slapped a hand over her mouth, got behind her, put his other arm around her waist, and lifted her. She mmphed and bit and kicked at him; he'd expected this, as would any boy with a sister, and he yanked her round to one side, getting her off balance and sending her kick wide.

"Quick, help me tie her up," he hissed.

"I don't have any rope," Katara said, hesitating.

"Why do girls never know the first thing about abducting people," he undertoned, switching to a sleep hold. Hien thrashed about for a moment more, then fell unconscious. "Will you call me a creep if I tear her clothes to tie her up?"

"Yes," Katara said with no hesitation. "Um, let me think –"

At that moment, the sentry rolled over the edge of the ridge, tumbled down the ravine, bounced off three trees, and landed beside Katara, his robe having somehow ridden up and got itself tangled about his midsection. A branch fell out of one of the trees he'd hit and clonged Zuko on the head. Their eyes flicked over to the bandit gang, who were all waking up and picking up their weapons. Zuko and Katara exchanged looks.

Say something! her face said.

You said you'd do the talking!

"… It's not what it looks like," she said.

He put a hand to his forehead.

Oh don't act high and mighty. I don't know what you would've said, but I do know it would've been worse.

Realistically, probably something about honour.

"Get them!" yelled one of the bandits, and they swarmed forward.

Zuko stepped forward and crouched in front of Katara, ready to defend her; at the same time, she took a half step back and bent the water out of the pond, startling the ostrich horses. She swept it toward herself, knocking two men off their feet before they could close.

Zuko caught an arrow, then drew his swords, snipped the heads off two spears, sheathed them again, then kicked the spearmen, all in one fluid sequence. Katara pulled water out of the trees and added it to her control, sending out tendrils to shove bandits back and down or sweep their legs. An earthbender hefted a boulder and tossed it at them; Zuko jumped and kicked it to ground, and Katara snapped a water whip at him, tossing him hard against a cliff wall. He caught another arrow, and she took out the archer too, then brought her water back round to grab two more bandits and throw them at the last ones standing.

Katara bent water into hailstones and tossed a few of them at the ostrich horses; they panicked and scattered. She splashed the rest of her water onto the bandits' supplies, soaking them. Zuko grabbed Hien, set her over his shoulder, and they hurried back up and out of the ravine.

Hien woke up around when Zuko stepped into his ostrich horse's saddle. She looked around, got her bearings, and screamed, "Help! Kidnapping!"

Katara flicked her reins and paced beside Zuko. "Mm-hmm. That's how we met, too. It's just something he does."

"You're the one who insisted we step in," he told her, then, to Hien, who was hitting him on the back, "Cut that out."

"No! Put me down! I can't go back!"

He shifted his grip so that she slid a foot down his back, making her screech again.

"What about that put-someone-to-sleep move you did earlier?" Katara asked.

"It's called a sleeper hold, and I'd rather not," he said. "It can cause brain damage if you do it too much. Once is fine, twice in a row or more is pushing it."

"Did Azula ever practise it on you?" Katara asked.

"Sometimes. Why?"

"No reason."

Hien's wailing reached a higher pitch. Zuko winced.

"You know that time with the pirates?" he told Katara. "Thanks for being a good sport about being kidnapped. Unlike some people I could name!" he added, shaking Hien again.

"You're welcome," Katara said. To Hien, "I'm a water-healer. I can heal brain damage. But it's incredibly painful. Weeks of migraines."

Hien considered this and quieted down. Zuko hefted her back to a more balanced position.

Is that true? he mouthed to Katara. She shrugged.

It was evening by the time they made it back to Tao's farm. Zuko finally let Hien sit double on his saddle, keeping one arm firmly around her waist. Tao was standing out front waiting for them.

"You found her!" he cheered.

Zuko lifted her and set her on the ground, her eyes downcast. He caught Katara's eye, and she nodded.

"We couldn't not help," she said, dismounting, "not after we saw how much you cared about her."

"You don't know how lucky you are," Zuko said, getting down after her, "to have a family that'll try to get you back."

Hien walked over to Tao, who embraced her. He said something to her Zuko couldn't catch.

"How can I repay you?" he asked.

You don't have enough money for me to care.

"Um, could you put us up for the night?" Katara asked. "It's getting late."

"Of course. I can ready a room for the two of you …?"

They exchanged glances.

"Maybe just give Lee the barn," Katara said, deadpan.

"And Katara should room with Hien," Zuko said, matching her. "Neither should be alone tonight."

"You're sure?" Tao said. "If that's what you want." He and Hien went ahead into their house.

Katara gave Zuko the reins of her ostrich horse and shoulder-checked him. He shoulder-checked her back, which, given the difference in size, sent her staggering; he zipped around and caught her.

She was properly smiling now. "Goodnight, Zuko," she said. She rubbed her head against his shoulder like a cat, and went into the house.

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