Soon they reached the edge of the forest, where a few villagers were waiting for the news. They had witnessed the lava wall being created, and seeing the Avatar now filled them with hope.
"Avatar! We were going to come back there to help, but we saw it was too late. What happened there? Is our village safe?"
The airbender hesitated slightly, glancing back at the rest of the team, but then turned to the villagers with a smile. "It should be fine, but it would be better if you waited here until Makapu settles down completely, just to make sure."
His words seemed to calm them down, as they visibly slumped with a relief.
"Thank you, Avatar!" one of the men said gratefully "The others are deeper in the forest. Come, we'll show you the way."
The walk was much shorter this time, though without the lava glow, it was completely dark. When everyone started to complain about the lack of lanterns, Zuko barely fought the urge to try and light a little flame in his palm out of habit. He was used to moving in complete darkness, but lack of sunlight during the day was more disturbing for firebenders than other people.
Finally, they reached the forest hill, where they were greeted by all of the villagers. After delivering the good news everyone cheered, and one man stepped out in front of the group.
"Great Avatar, thank you for all you did for us. I believe we didn't have a chance to meet properly yet, my name is Shen and I'm a mayor of this village."
He didn't seem used to actually being in charge as he fidgeted nervously, holding his hand in front of him. Aang obviously paid that no mind, and just shook his hand in friendly gesture.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Aang, this is Katara and Sokka, and..." the kid introduced the group, only hesitating with Zuko, as he tried to remember the name he was supposed to give.
"And Lee, of course." Shen finished, turning to the firebender with a smile "We've already spoken, he helped us organise our evacuation."
"Oh, that's great." Aang said, actually surprised. He hadn't been paying attention to anything else except for the trench, and it occurred to him that it may have been wrong of him. "I'm sorry we didn't help with that, but we were kind of busy with digging the trench, and..."
"Don't worry about this; you did the best thing you could have done at that time, and thanks to you our village is safe." he said with a smile, glancing at Zuko, then he took a step back, and gestured invitingly "Come, let's sit down; we prepared a few bonfires in the clearing."
Indeed, it seemed that the villagers had been quite productive, as they had already set up a camp. Although it consisted of only a dozen or so tents and a few campfires, it was quite impressive for a temporary encampment.
They followed the mayor who led them to the nearest fire. Water Tribe siblings and Aang settled down quite quickly, and Zuko sat down next to them, noticing awkwardly that a few others have joined them, along with the old man Guo Jin. Remembering how their previous conversation has ended, the prince was now trying to avoid his gaze at all cost, staring at the flames intently. Somehow, despite their closeness, he felt cold.
The rest of the people split into smaller groups that took their places at the remaining bonfires. Everyone kept glancing at the Avatar, and his bonfire was constantly surrounded by a group of more curious onlookers. Aang tried to split his attention between them equally, as the Gaang quickly recapped what had happened earlier down in the village.
Most of the reactions were impressed smiles and hushed comments shared with excitement among the others, except for Shen. Although he seemed grateful, there was clearly something eating at him from within.
"Thank you again, Avatar Aang. I have to admit I wasn't sure if this trench would hold, that's why I ordered people to evacuate. What you did was really a miracle! I..." the mayor turned his gaze down at the fire "I have to admit, it was all my fault."
Before he could continue, a few concerned voices of villagers sounded:
"That's not true!"
"What are you talking about, Shen?"
Sokka also couldn't help but ask "Yeah, what do you mean? You can't be responsible for the volcano eruption!"
"And yet, I was supposed to send people to check on Makapu every few months. I am the mayor after all. I'm the one who's supposed to ensure the village's safety. And..."
He hesitated again, unsure if he should admit it to the group of children, especially when the people from the village could hear everything, but he knew he had to take it off his shoulders.
"The truth is, since Aunt Wu came to our village, her word became the most important one. I don't want to accuse her of anything; it was me who should have held authority. But… It was so damn convenient to just sit comfortably in a warm house and trust that the safe future can be easily granted by someone else." his voice began to tremble with emotions, but he kept speaking "They have trusted me with their lives, and if it weren't for you, we would all be dead now. What kind of mayor am I, if I can't even keep my people safe…?"
Everybody was stunned with these words. The grown man was basically confessing to them, sobbing like a child.
Sokka spaced out a little bit as Shen spoke, thinking about his tribe that he'd left behind when they had gone to help Aang. His father had trusted him to defend it, and he had no way to even check if they were still all right.
Katara mostly felt sorry for Shen. She was trying to find the right words to comfort him, but she couldn't think of anything that would make any difference. She remembered how easy it was for her to believe the fortune-teller. How she had wanted to believe that someone knew everything that was supposed to happen.
As for Zuko, he was struck with something else.
"Town mayors are responsible for residents, so it's true. In the Fire Nation he would be punished for avoidable loss of life or property if anything happened, but... These people aren't just numbers for him, he honestly cares about them." He felt a sting in his heart as he recalled his own words from three years ago.
"What better to use as bait than fresh meat?" the old general asked with a sarcastic smile.
"You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! These soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?"
"But it was wrong, wasn't it? I have already paid for such thinking" Zuko thought as his hand moved involuntarily to his scar. Although it's not what he had been thinking when he was rushing up the mast to save a helmsman during the storm just a few days earlier.
Aang thought about the monks from his temple that were all gone now. Katara had said a few days ago, that he would probably be killed along with them if he had been there, and he agreed not to think anymore about what could have been done then. He turned to the mayor.
"There is no point in wondering what could have happened if we weren't there. The important thing is that we were, and that everyone from the village is safe now. Instead, try to think about what you can do from now on. If you think you weren't a good mayor before, then try to be one now, right?" Aang finished with a smile. It wasn't the first time the kid had surprised people with his wisdom, but Shen clearly didn't expect that. He looked up at the Avatar, astonished.
"I... I don't think it's that easy. I'm not sure they would trust me again with this." He started, hesitantly.
Surprisingly to everyone, the next person to speak was none other than Guo Jin.
"Shen, you know we don't think that way. The way you acted today, you proved that we couldn't have hoped for a better mayor. Besides, it was our fault just as much as yours; we had trusted her every word, for years."
Mayor smiled sadly and sighed "Aunt Wu, huh..." then suddenly he felt his heart drop as he realized "Wait, where is she? Has anyone seen her?"
Everyone shared a panicked look.
"Did she stay at the village? Had she not heard announcements?" Shen asked with unease.
Another woman approached after hearing the topic. "But she must have noticed all the commotion, right?"
"We need to go back for her!" Aang said with determination.
"But is it safe to go now?" someone in the crowd wondered.
More people were standing up, and they were about to form a search party as well.
"She wasn't home when I came for her before we left."
Everyone looked at the source of the sad voice, which turned out to be Meng.
"I know I shouldn't but I came in when she wasn't answering. She wasn't home." the girl continued with her eyes on the ground, unable to look anyone in the eye.
"So she... fled...? But-"
"Everyone, calm down! Let's not draw conclusions." Katara stepped out of the crowd to stand next to Meng. "She could have just gone out for a walk and when she saw what was happening, maybe she was afraid to come back? She could be somewhere in the woods too, maybe looking for us!"
A few more murmurs sounded through the crowd, but they were eventually silenced by Shen. "Still, we'll prepare to look for her. I won't be forcing anybody, but the volunteers will search the forest around the village. And if you find her, remember that she's not accused of anything yet; we will give her a chance to explain herself."
The people moved over to form groups, and Katara was about to join them, when she heard a silent sob. She turned around and noticed it was Meng.
"Hey, don't worry... Meng, was it? I'm sure we'll find her."
The girl looked at her, and asked through tears "But what if it's true...? What if she lied to us, and then abandoned us...? I was so sure of her, but now I..."
The waterbender wasn't sure how to respond to that, so instead she moved closer and hugged her.
"I don't think she is a bad person. Even if she were, that wouldn't make you a bad person for trusting her." She moved away enough to look at the younger girl with a smile. "We need to find her to learn the truth, so why won't you join us? Just remember to ask your parents first!"
That left Meng stunned. She watched as Katara left with wide eyes, before finally moving from her spot as well.
The preparations were almost complete, with two groups that were about to disperse over the forest in two directions, and meet before by the village entrance, then enter it with caution.
Aang looked around with satisfaction, but he noticed that Zuko was off to the side, still sitting by the fire, while Sokka stood nearby, looking around nervously.
The Avatar hurried to his friend "Hey, Sokka! You're coming with us, right?"
"I'm not sure if it's a good idea, honestly. I mean, what if she really thought that here lies were about to get exposed and she fled?"
Aang frowned upon that "We don't know that! She could be in danger. It won't hurt to at least look for her."
The teen sighed "Yeah, maybe you're right. At least the villagers will be able to decide what to do with her if you find her."
"You know it's not-"
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Sokka said rolling his eyes. He turned to Zuko with a sigh "Hey, uh, Lee! Come over here!"
The prince looked over at them from his spot and cursed silently. All this day had already taken its toll on him, and yet he couldn't afford to take a moment to rest. Still, he got up and walked closer to them.
"Don't tell me you want me to join that search. I couldn't care less about that old hag."
Aang was about to comment on that, but Sokka outran him. "Actually, yes. We are going to search for her, and that means you're going as well. You've been out of our sight long enough today."
Zuko was about to respond when he noticed that the mayor was coming over.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, seemingly worried with the group's nervous behaviour.
"No, it's fine." Zuko answered for them, without taking his eyes off of Sokka.
The tension in the air remained palpable, but the firebender decided to back off, remembering their original agreement. He moved towards the group that Katara was standing with.
Shen watched it silently before asking "Are you sure everything's alright? Your friend seemed upset."
"Friend?" Sokka asked in confusion "Oh, yeah, good old Lee! Don't worry about him, he's just like that all the time. You're coming too, mayor?"
"Of course. Since we established a camp here for now, and people are already informed about what to do until we return, it is my duty to lead the search. Besides, I have some questions for Aunt Wu that I would like to ask if we find her."
"Yeah, I see. So, what's the plan?" Sokka asked as he inquired them to join his sister's group as well, but Shen stopped them stopped them.
"Actually, I hope it's not too much to ask, but could you please come with the other group? I'll be going with this one, and I know people would feel safer if you were with them. You protected us all with your great plan after all"
"Uhm, it shouldn't take long, right?" the kid asked with worry "I don't like to split our group, but I think it won't be a problem for-"
"Aang, are you-" the older boy hesitated, and turned to Shen "Can we have a moment?"
"Of course" the man replied, and continued towards the group Zuko went for.
"I don't think we should split. I don't want Katara to be with him alone."
Aang looked at him confused "But they won't be alone, there are many people in this group. Look, Shen is going with them too!"
"Come on, you know what I'm talking about. He shouldn't be left unsupervised."
"But you said yourself, we didn't watch over him earlier today and it turned out just fine."
"Just because he didn't do anything yet, doesn't mean he won't try anything!" Sokka protested "Come on, it's my sister!"
"I know! But I still think you're overreacting." Aang replied calmly "You saw how beat up he was just yesterday, he won't try anything."
"Uh... You better be right about it."
Meanwhile, Katara was in the middle of small talk with one of the women when she noticed Zuko approaching.
"Oh, you're coming too?" she asked with a surprise.
Zuko looked at her flatly "I don't think I have a say in this."
"You, oh... Right, but, I mean, you would have came anyway or...?" she inquired nervously.
Any answer of his got cut short by Shen again.
"Lee, I have to admit, I'm glad you're coming too." he said with a big smile, patting the teen on the back. Katara's eyes widened in disbelief, but she decided not to comment.
The prince looked at Shen confused at such upfront friendliness "Uh, no problem?"
"If you have any thoughts about approaching this search, don't hesitate to voice them..." He added still smiling, though it seemed he was getting uncomfortable at Zuko's lack of response "Actually, if there is anything you might want to talk about, feel free to-"
"Thank you mayor, I'll keep that in mind." the firebender interrupted his talk before it got any more awkward.
"Oh, good. Umm." Shen cleared his throat, turning to address both search parties. "All right, thank you all for volunteering! The plan is..."
Zuko spaced out during his explanation, having no interest in meeting the fortune-teller ever again.
"What's the point in looking for someone who almost got them killed? Other than having her stand trial..." he sighed and looked up at the darkened sky "And it's getting late too. Hard to say if it'd be better if we find her or not."
The speech was getting to an end, and the waterbender next to him began to look around nervously. It didn't make him any difference what she was doing truthfully, so he just watched as Katara approached her brother and the Avatar in the other group, and got into a discussion with them. Judging from the looks he got from them, he was the topic, but he was too tired to care about it. After a while she returned, just as they were about to leave, seemingly uneasy.
They had been walking around for a good hour by now, and the dark gray ash-colored sky was beginning to turn black, which could only mean that the day was ending. A few people in their group had litten torches to light the path, but it was getting difficult to continue search.
Zuko didn't speak to anyone on the way; he only called out Aunt Wu's name every now and then, trying to keep up appearances while keeping his exhaustion hidden. The combination of walking all day and dealing with the pain from his injury had taken its toll.
Katara, on the other hand, was giving it her all in the search, going the farthest, and calling the loudest. Still, they didn't find any sign of the said fortune-teller, and Katara also looked gloomy.
Shen tried to direct everyone and keep morale up, but the closer they were to the village, the more difficult it got. Eventually he settled for checking on everyone, only coming to Zuko at the end out of awkwardness.
"Well, I'm afraid that if we haven't found her by now, it's unlikely that she would be in the village. Do you think we should skip searching there?" he asked the teen conversationally. After a moment of silence, he glanced at him "Lee?"
Zuko sighed, actually giving it some thought. "Agreed, no one sane would stay inside a village during an eruption. Even if she was locked inside a house, it would be impossible to miss the earth-shaking tremors."
The mayor studied his face for a while, noticing the sweat drops and tiredness. He reached to the boy's forehead with his hand "I think you might have a fever."
Zuko immediately ducked away from his hand, and took a step back "DON'T!"
Shen looked at him shocked, and Zuko realized he might have overreacted, so he added more quietly "Don't touch me. I'm alright."
"What's going on?" the question came from Katara who got alerted by the sudden movement.
Mayor started to explain defensively "I was just trying to check your friend's forehead, I think he might be sick."
"My..." she started, confused by the term, but she quickly connected it with Zuko. She got a better look at him, frowning with worry as she noticed the same thing Shen did. "Oh. I don't think it's sickness, it's probably your-"
"It's nothing. I'm fine." he stressed the last part giving the girl a warning look. What he didn't know was that it wouldn't work on her.
"What do you mean it's nothing?! You're injured!" she outraged loudly "You should have told Sokka if you needed to rest, someone would have stayed with you at the camp!"
She has already stroke his nerve, as he didn't want anyone to know he was vulnerable, and he retorted angrily "I told you, that's not your concern!"
"And Aang told you that he wants you to get better. That makes it our concern." she stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I don't care what he wants. Just leave me alone." Zuko hissed angrily, turning his back on her. The rest of the group watched the scene in confusion, and the prince became increasingly aware of their unwanted attention, so he wanted to drop the topic. However, the young waterbender did not share this view, and his actions only agitated her further.
"Yeah, sure we should have just left you alone!" she mocked "You would have rather died?"
He spun on his heel and quickly covered the distance between them in just a few strides, stopping only inches away from her.
"Maybe I would. You have no right to make decisions for me."
His voice was silent this time, but its coldness froze her in place. She remembered her brother's earlier warning about the firebender, and now she finally understood what he had meant.
The mayor chose this moment to interrupt, as he worried about the escalation of their argument
"Hey, easy there! Both of you." He said in a conciliatory tone, and the prince stepped away after giving the old man a look. "We searched thoroughly and it's getting late. I think we don't need to enter the village, it's not likely that Aunt Wu would have stayed there, even if she missed our evacuation. Let's meet up with the others and turn back to the camp. I think I can see them already."
Indeed, a few lights from the opposite direction had appeared, meaning that both groups had already covered their planned routes. The mayor quickly explained the change of plans to the arriving party, and they began to walk back.
Sokka hurried to check on his sister immediately, and noticed quickly that she looked a bit pale "Are you ok? Did something happen?"
She looked around discreetly, and it relieved her to notice that Zuko wasn't watching them. Still, she said dismissively "Um, no. We can talk about it later. Did you find any sign of Aunt Wu?"
"Not a single one!" Aang complained loudly. "I guess that goes for you too?"
"Well, I told you guys, she's a fraud. She probably snuck away as soon as she heard the first earthquake." Sokka stated, pleased to have his point proven.
"I don't know..." the kid said uncertainly. "She didn't sound like a fraud. Maybe she just got this one wrong?"
"Yeah, right."