A few days passed since Sokka had made a new sword and bond with Master Piandao. Now the group of teens were relaxing inside of large body of water on the side of an island. They had worn their swim suits and doing activities. Zuko sat next to Toph on a rock surrounded by water, looking around left and right, in case somebody sees them. His hair started to slowly grow back. He removed his eyepatch and let his burned eye heal in the sun. Toph was a few inches close to Zuko, shoulder distant. She watched everyone through the earth.
Katara was drying her her, as she stood in the water. Aang was swimming on his back with Momo lying on his chest and Sokka was fishing with nothing to catch.
"Aang, I know swimming is fun and all, but do you think you should be exposing yourself?" Toph asked in concern. "Cover up."
"What? I'm wearing trunks." Aang said confidently, as he continue to float around.
"She's talking about your tattoos, Aang."
"So?"
"So? What if somebody saw them? What if somebody knew you were the Avatar? If that happens, our cover would be blown, someone would alert the fatherlord, and the Fire Nation would be top of us before the Day of the Black Sun." Zuko tried to reason.
"You mean, the Fire Lord?" Toph corrected him.
"That's what I just said." Zuko snapped at Toph.
"There are walls, everywhere. It's completely safe." Katara assured Toph and Zuko after drying her hair.
"Yeah, but still-"
"Hey, I know you're trying to keep us safe, Zuko, but you have to relax every once in a while. Trust me and have fun." Katara winked at him.
Zuko tried to hide the blush, especially from Katara. He knew that she was cute, though. He has been vigilant ever since they fled from Ba Sing Se. He barely got any rest, as he worried that the Fire Nation could be on them at anytime. His right eye twitched and finally let out a sigh. He trusted Katara and finally let out a sigh. "Alright. So, what do I do that is fun?"
Aang remained quiet until he came up with an idea. "Hey, Zuko. I know something that might be fun."
"Yeah? And what's that?" Zuko asked.
Fifteen seconds later, Zuko and Aang were riding down a dark waterfall tunnel. Aang had pushed Zuko into the dark tunnel first, and then jumped in afterwards. Zuko screamed as he was going so fast while Aang was laughing and enjoying himself. Momo latched onto Aang's neck.
Meanwhile, two young male Fire Nation guards were on patrol standing at a post, bored out of their minds. One of the guards fanned themselves, due to being hot.
"This has to be the most boring job in the Fire Nation. Nothing ever happens." Guard one complained, while the Guard 2 nearly dozed off.
"WWWAAAAAAH!"
Both guards looked at the water as they heard two people screaming and splashed. The took cover behind a dock and used their telescope to see what was going on. They both saw two people rise from the water. They saw the traitor prince Zuko, who had started to grow his hair back and Aang, who grew hair.
Zuko coughed out some water, as Aang just smiled it off, as Momo lied on his head.
"Race you to the top, Zuko!" Aang said to Zuko before using his airbending to run back up the top of the rocks.
Zuko gasped, as Aang was leaving him. "Hold on, Aang! I can't move that fast!" His words didn't reach Aang in time, as he watched Aang use his airbending to jump. Zuko grunted.
The two guards' bodies shook, as they had discovered traitor and Avatar in the Fire Nation. They quickly ducked their bodies and behind some rocks and chatted in secret.
"The Avatar is Alive! We better send a messenger hawk to the Fire Lord." Guard one said, while the other nodded in agreement.
"Better send what to my father?"
Both guards grunted, as they heard a third voice. They slowly poked their heads over the rocks up to see Zuko standing over the two of them with his arms crossed. The two guards got scared for their lives, as they were about to be threatened by the traitor prince. The guards were outclassed in swordsmanship and combat, and what makes it worse is that they are not Fire Benders.
Guard one jumped on his back, as he recognized Zuko. "P-prince Zuko! P-please don't hurt us!"
"Yeah, we're just regular Fire Nation Guards on patrol. We won't tell anyone!" Guard two said as he got on his hands and knees and begged for mercy.
"Do you two swear?" Zuko asked, as his golden eyes glared.
"Yes, we swear! You can even take our messenger hawk. Just please don't hurt us with your firebending!"
At that moment, Zuko knew these guards were not firebenders. Zuko glanced over at the messenger hawk that is in a rectangular steel cage, then looked back down at the two guards. No one in the Fire Nation has the slightest clue that Zuko had lost his firebending, except Team Avatar. If anyone were to find out about it, Zuko would be putting his team at risk.
He closed his eyes a bit to see what he was going to do, since these two guards had blown his cover. "You're off the hook." Zuko said.
"Wha... what?" Guard two paused, as he raised an eye.
"You're letting us go?" Guard two asked as he raised his head.
"But just this once." Zuko raised a finger.
"But... why?"
"I may be a traitor, but I'm not the monster you think I am." Zuko then looked at the red messenger hawk that just squawked. "I am not going to hurt you. But, I am taking the bird with me." Zuko walked over towards the cage and stared at it for a bit.
They then stared as their golden eyes met with each others and the messenger hawk is could tell that Zuko has been through a lot. He opened the caged door and the messenger hawk had grasped onto his left arm, without making a peep. Zuko then looked at the guards that were little a afraid of Zuko.
"This will be our little secret, right?" Zuko expected an answer from both the guards.
"Y-yes sir! We won't tell anybody, sir!" both guards quickly responded.
"Good. And nobody saw me, right?" Zuko asked.
"Yessir!" Both guards replied. The Fire Nation Messenger hawk squawked at them, thinking that they said the wrong answer. "N-no sir!"
"Good." Zuko then turned and left the guards alone, taking their messenger hawk with him.
Fifteen minutes had passed and Zuko had just met up with his team in their hiding spot.
"Hey guys." Zuko said and his messenger hawk squawked a little.
The group was surprised to see Zuko with a Fire Nation messenger hawk, especially Sokka, who gasped and dropped his fishing rod into the water.
"Zuko, is that-ow!" Aang grunted.
Sokka shoved Aang out the way. "Is that... a messenger hawk?! I always wanted one of theose! You gotta tell me." Sokka drooled a bit as he gazed upon the hawk with sparks in his eyes.
"Uh, yeah. This is my new friend, Summer. I got him from a nearby Fire Nation outpost." Zuko said.
Katara gasped and gotten concerned. "Did anybody see you?"
"Well, yeah. Two guards saw me and Aang after sliding down that waterfall. While Aang was airbending his way back, I decided to make sure and keep them quiet."
"Quiet how?"
"Zuko. You didn't hurt them... did you?" Aang asked as he walked towards Zuko with concern.
"What? No! I let them go. I didn't hurt them at all."
"He's telling the truth." Toph said without making eye contact with Zuko.
"Huh? How do you know?" Zuko asked Toph.
Before Toph could speak, Sokka opened his mouth. "Toph is basically a walking human lie detector. She could easily tell who's lying or telling the truth through earthbending."
"Gee, thanks. I couldn't have said it better myself." Toph grumbled.
"Okay... Back to the subject, I left the guards in one piece. But they were afraid of me, though." Zuko added as he looked down.
"Afraid?"
Zuko sighed. "Listen. The Fire Nation has no idea that I can't firebend anymore. See?" Zuko practiced a few strikes, towards Sokka.
Sokka flinched and thought fire was coming out, but there was nothing but tiny poofing clouds. "Hey! Watch where you're pointing those things!" Sokka hid behind a blind Toph Bei Fong. "They're still lethal."
"Oh, how brave you are, genius." Toph said to Sokka in a sarcastic tone, as she felt his presence behind her. She took a step away from Sokka.
"The point is that know one knows about what happened to me. And if they did..."
"We'd all be in jeopardy?" Toph finished Zuko's sentence while looking at the ground.
"That's right. That's why I need to get my firebending spirit back and teach Aang firebending as quick as possible." Zuko cupped his fist in his other hand.
"Don't worry, Zuko. I know you'll firebend again soon. And I'm sure you'll be able to teach Aang soon enough." Katara smiled, attempting to encourage Zuko.
"Thanks."
"Let's hope that happens before Sozin's Comet hits. If not, then we're all toast." Toph brought up a good point.
"Good point." Zuko blinked. Zuko's pet hawk Summer squawked again.
"I totally agree with the Aang mastering all four elements. But first things first. We have to pack up and find another hiding spot." Sokka suggested.
"Huh? Why, Sokka?" Aang asked as he looked slightly confused.
"Since Zuko was nice enough to tell us that there is a Fire Nation outpost close by, we can't risk for Fire Nation reinforcements to be on top of us."
"The genius sure does have a point." Toph said.
"But, where do we go?" Katara asked as she placed a hand on her hip.
Sokka grinned. "I'm glad you asked, my dear lovely sister." He then pulled out his special map. "Ta-da!"
Toph grumbled out of irritation while the rest of the group stared at Sokka with a tired expression on their faces.
"The next place we can after here is-" Katara instantly snatched the map from Sokka's hand and threw it in the water to spite him. "No! Katara, you monster! My map!" Sokka comedically sobbed over his favorite map, and then dived first into the water seconds later.
"So, what do we do now?" Aang asked his friends.
Toph simply shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, I'm just gonna lied down." Aang and Zuko looked as Toph walked towards the shade.
Later That Night
The GAang of teenagers were sleeping by the outskirts of the island, by a large body of water and the side of a mountain. Sokka and Katara were sleeping on top of bags while Zuko, Toph and Aang lied on the hard ground. Momo lied next to Toph's head, Summer slept next to Zuko's and Appa slept near a boulder, close to Aang.