Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

110. Chapter 110: Zuko and Suki go South 2

"You're kidding me. You really think this is warm weather?!" Kino exclaimed, his jaw dropping as Katara removed her parka and folded it over her lap.

"Yeah, it's too warm for me to wear this indoors," she said, smiling. "What, Fire Nation boys can't handle a little cold?"

"A-as if, of course we can!" he retorted. Aang chuckled beside him as he bit on a kale cookie. "But it's still not warm, okay? You don't know what warmth is. If you'd ever been to Ember Island, oh boy, you'd have a heat stroke!"

"Uh-huh. Sure I would," said Katara, smiling. "Just like you'll have a cold stroke if you go out fishing today, since you think it's oh, so cold…"

"Not true! I can fish and I will fish. Aang will make sure I don't freeze, right?" said Kino, grinning at his friend. Aang chuckled.

"And that you don't kill fish unnecessarily too," he added, standing up and clasping the fishing rod. He glanced down at Kino. "Ready to go?"

"Sure am!" Kino exclaimed, lifting his hands with difficulty to make an approving gesture. The thick Water Tribe clothes he was wearing restrained his movements quite a bit.

Katara chuckled as she followed them out of her family's igloo. The weather was indeed colder outside of her home, but not enough for her to put her parka back on for the time being. The sun was shining and while it wasn't too hot, it still marked a vast difference between light and dark periods: temperatures would drop drastically during the latter, far lower than what was needed to freeze water.

"Good luck out there today. Stay warm, Kino!" Katara called out, as the two young men started to make their way out of the village. Aang smiled and waved at her before leading Kino away. The Fire Nation soldier walked awkwardly, his movements limited by his numerous layers of clothes. Katara couldn't help but snicker as she watched him.

"They've become good friends, haven't they?" said Haka, approaching Katara quietly, a spear resting on his shoulder. The waterbender shrugged but smiled at the warrior.

"It's pretty rare, but Kino… he's not a common guy. I think he's probably an oddity in the Fire Nation," she said, folding her arms over her chest, her parka hanging over her forearms. "So, any news?"

"Yuro just took off to check on the settlement about half an hour ago, he'll be back soon," said Haka. Katara's eyebrow rose.

"Wasn't he supposed to go a couple of hours ago?"

"Yeah, but he was busy building his igloo, I think," said Haka, smiling. "He's all grown up, our Yuro-boy!"

"He sure is. Sokka… Sokka would be proud," Katara commented. Haka gulped.

"Is it true he's probably alive?" he asked. Katara shrugged.

"I really don't want to get my hopes up, Haka, but… but if everything Kino told us is true, he might be."

"Do you guys have a plan to go rescue him yet?" he asked. Katara shrugged.

"Nothing's set in stone for now, but Aang and I have a few ideas. Though we haven't discussed them with my father, of course. He won't want us to jump into this without the assurance that we'll survive, and we don't have that yet."

"I guess you don't, huh?" said Haka, with a sad grimace.

"I've been trying to be as patient as I can about this. I think we'll be able to do something in due time," she said. "Once we've got a solid plan, we'll set it in motion right away."

"I just feel like… like we've got this great asset, we have the Avatar, and yet we're just protecting him instead of having him do what he's supposed to. Why?"

"Well, he's not just the Avatar, Haka. Aang is a living, breathing person just like you and me," said Katara, looking at him compassionately. "If we have to sacrifice our lives for our cause, we'll do it, but… but we can't demand for others to do it for us. It wouldn't be fair. Sending Aang to the Fire Lord just like that is just…"

"But he's the Avatar. If someone would survive against the Fire Lord it's him," said Haka. Katara raised an eyebrow.

"Haka, he's not done learning all four elements. He actually only knows two, and so far we don't have anyone to teach him earth or firebending…"

"Well, who needs those? We can stick to the ones he already knows," said Haka, proudly. Katara sighed and looked at him skeptically. He swallowed hard. "Or maybe not?"

She smiled and patted his shoulder. Haka raised his eyebrows: it wasn't like Katara to make affectionate gestures, or at least, it hadn't been like her ever since her brother had disappeared.

"Who knows? Maybe we could settle with two elements instead of four," she said. "You know, just now…"

"What?" said Haka. Katara smiled.

"You kind of reminded me of Sokka with that comment. That's all," she said. Haka gritted his teeth but smiled a little.

"Well, that's the nicest thing you've said to me in a very long time," he said. She chuckled.

"Don't take it to heart, though, you know that resembling Sokka also means being a goof who gets chased by tiger-seals and-…"

"Katara! Hakoda! Anybody!"

The shouts made Katara stop in the middle of her sentence. Both her and Haka whipped their heads around towards the entrance of the village, finding Yuro was there, panting heavily, his eyes wide.

"Yuro? Oh no, what's wrong?!" Haka exclaimed: both him and Katara ran towards him without a second thought. Yuro shook his head.

"I don't know, I… I don't know!" he said. "But I saw this small Fire Nation ship at the bay! It was coming closer and I think they stopped at the settle-… the settlement…"

Katara and Haka helped Yuro sit down. The young man's breathlessness betrayed how quickly he had raced back home to convey the terrifying news.

"I don't know who got off or why or…!" he said, shaking his head. "But they're here and probably at the settlement, so…!"

"They might just be checking to make sure we haven't torn it down…?" said Haka, frowning as he glanced at Katara, hoping she might agree with him. She only shrugged, but Yuro shook his head.

"I-I don't know… the ship was small, not like anything I'd seen before…" he said. "I came to tell you all, just in case it was… it was some soldier who might have taken Kino seriously after all…"

Katara's eyes widened: that would be the worst-case scenario indeed. What if they had come back to fetch Kino? What if they wanted to make sure he'd meant it when he claimed the Avatar was alive? Her heart was racing wildly as she processed the news: this could not be good.

They alerted Hakoda immediately. He had been enjoying a mid-morning nap when Katara barged into his room and conveyed the distressing news. In no time, a group of warriors had assembled and, after Yuro had recovered enough to join them again, they had set out once more in the settlement's direction. Despite Katara had no doubts Kino was a good man, his fellow soldiers weren't like him. She couldn't let any of them hurt Aang, or anyone else from the tribe.

The hike to the settlement took them some time, but when they arrived the breathless Yuro pointed at the bay: indeed, amid the mist, stood a small ship, too small compared to every other vessel that used to be docked in these waters.

"Who would try to sail down here in that raft?" Kattan said, raising an eyebrow. "If a storm had hit them, they'd be goners."

"Would have been easier for us if that had happened," said Katara, frowning. Haka gulped: she had regressed into the vicious, deadly fighter who would do everything in her power to protect her people and avenge her brother. "What should we do, Dad?"

"I'm thinking they must have gone into the settlement, right, Yuro?" said Hakoda. The young man shrugged.

"Hopefully," he said, still breathing heavily. "I thought it looked like they'd go there, but I can't say for certain. I didn't stay long enough to watch who got off that boat."

"It could be a reconnaissance mission," said another warrior, Narok. "Or a decoy or something to mislead us, and then the big ships will arrive next, carrying heaps of soldiers…"

"Yeah, that could be it. If that's not what's going on, I have no idea what this is," said Haka. "Because that tiny thing couldn't have carried more than three or four men all the way here."

"There are no ships in the horizon," said Katara, scrutinizing the misty ocean: not a single blurry shape of Fire Nation warships could be glimpsed anywhere nearby. "If there were, I'd be able to stop them. I think you guys should go inside the settlement, find out who's in there and deal with them. I'll go freeze their tiny ship and make sure they can't escape. I'll keep a look-out in case any ships show up unannounced."

"Are you sure about this?" Hakoda asked. Katara nodded.

"It's our safest bet. If anything happens, I'll give you guys a call. If not..."

"Shouldn't we have waited for Aang before doing this?" Kattan whispered, looking at Hakoda with uncertainty.

"I think it's better that we didn't," Katara answered in his stead. "Aang is too kind-hearted. He wouldn't want us to do anything rash, and that's exactly what we're going to do by attacking these people before they can do us any harm. Kino may be trustworthy, but I doubt such a suspicious Fire Nation visitor would be as innocent as him."

"I guess," sighed Kattan. Hakoda nodded.

"Then let's go."

They sped their way to the settlement, and Katara carried on towards the ship docked by the shore. She was panting when she arrived, but she wasted no time before she began bending and freezing the water around the vessel. She took care not to damage it, thinking it might come in handy in the future: if they traveled to the Fire Nation it would be best to do it in a ship of their own making, odd and small as this one was.

She finished her deed soon enough and frowned as she squinted towards the horizon. She still couldn't see any other ships coming their way, but she couldn't assume they weren't hiding behind the thick of the mist. She took a deep breath and started moving her hands and arms in slow, circular motions. The water in the air shifted under her command, and the view became clearer as she gradually moved the mist into the icy waters.

She raised an eyebrow once her job was done. There were no larger ships nearby, now she could say that for certain. Where were the reinforcements? Were there any, to begin with?

"Or are they actually alone...?" she reasoned, frowning.

Loud noises in the settlement alerted her. She turned and frowned, unsure of what to do. Should she help her father, or keep watch?

She made her decision quickly enough.

---

"You sure they came here?" Haka asked.

"They had to! They couldn't have gone anywhere else" Yuro exclaimed, clutching his boomerang with unease.

The group of men were entering the building cautiously, their weapons at the ready, their blue eyes scanning their surroundings.

"Well, they're not going anywhere else for now, that's for sure. Especially if they're Fire Nation," Haka replied.

"Easy, Haka," said Hakoda, frowning. "This place has seen dreadful things. Don't be too eager to jump into battle, alright?"

"Fine, fine…" he said, biting his lip and looking at the doors that lined the hallway. Their pole's new visitors had to be hiding behind one of those, surely…

It took them no time to discover behind which one. Hakoda lifted a fist and the rest of the group stopped. His heavy frown compelled them to keep them silent as he pointed at the ajar door on the left, further down the hall.

The warriors tensed up and waited for their leader's command. He crept slowly towards the door, fearing their chatting had alerted the new arrivals of their presence…

His suspicions were confirmed when a powerful plum of fire burst from the door, rushing in their direction.

"Get down!" Hakoda yelled.

His men obeyed, jumping out of the line of fire just as a man jumped out of the room, snarling fiercely as he unleashed further flames through his limbs. Hakoda fought the fire with sweeps of his hatchet and he squinted through the flames to get a look at his attacker. It was a young man, with dark hair, and he wasn't wearing a soldier's uniform. So he wasn't a soldier? He frowned and decided to worry about that later. He had to fight first, he'd find answers to his questions in due time… that is, if this firebender survived to answer them at all.

Haka and Kattan tossed their boomerangs at once, taking their attacker by surprise, but he didn't lose focus. He threw a fistful of flames as the projectiles approached, calculating their trajectory with such ease it took the warriors by surprise. Nobody could anticipate to a boomerang's flight that easily the first time…

Zuko cringed as he readied himself to attack once more. There were at least six of them, and there was only one of him. He was outnumbered and facing serious disadvantages: the sun might be shining, but the cold environment still weakened him considerably. He couldn't surrender, though: he was prepared to fight to his very last breath for Suki's sake if he had to.

Suki glanced out the door just as Zuko lashed out with a fire tower. It spun powerfully towards the warriors, who jumped against the walls to avoid getting injured. Again, Zuko struck forward, now with a kick, but he was painfully aware that the oldest, and surely most experienced of his enemies, was getting closer and skirting around the flames with renowned expertise: Zuko couldn't be the first firebender the man had fought.

Suki gritted her teeth. She was sick, possibly pregnant, but not helpless. And she wasn't about to let Zuko fight these men on his own.

Zuko's jaw dropped when he saw an auburn-haired shape dashing past him, connecting a careful fist to the shoulder of the oldest warrior. The man's eyes widened as he felt his arm growing limp suddenly. What had just happened? He only noticed the girl instants after he jumped back, his gaze unfocused, his frown heavy with confusion.

But he didn't have much time to ponder what was happening: Kattan and Haka dashed past him, and Narok and Yuro threw their boomerangs as well. To their surprise, their new enemy dealt with the boomerangs expertly as well. Who were these people? How could they handle fighting against boomerangs so easily? Nevertheless, the warriors didn't stop. Their clubs and knives came out next, and the two enemies would be unable to fend off these weapons so easily…

"Go back inside, Suki!" Zuko roared. She cringed.

"I'm not leaving you alone to…!"

"I've got an idea and I need you safe!" Zuko said, as he kicked and punched further fire towards their enemies. "Stay behind the walls!"

Suki grimaced, her head swimming already after this much action: she hadn't been in a real fight in ages. Yet she complied with Zuko's request, jumping into the room again. Before the Water Tribe warriors could say or do anything about her momentary escape, Zuko had dropped on the floor: he spun on himself, his legs stretched out and conjuring all the fire he could muster. The barrier of fire he brought up was enough to send the warriors back, fearful of being burned. Now all he had to do was use this chance to strike them…

But that was when his form broke, and not because he'd made a mistake. Something caught his foot: his mastered spinning wheel of fire shattered halfway through its completion. And not only did something catch his foot… but that something was soaking his boot. And in this weather, the sensation was as displeasing as could be.

He groaned and pulled away with difficulty, breaking off from the water whip that had caught him. He cringed when he realized he had been attacked by a waterbending technique: he could deal with Water Tribe warriors, they were considerably weaker than Sokka, but he had never fought a waterbender before. And he had the feeling he didn't want to fight one now.

But did he have a choice?

He lifted his gaze to find a woman standing amid the warriors, her arms raised, her blue glare piercing through him. The sight of her reminded him eerily of Sokka's angry stare that night, when he had yelled at Zuko in Ember Island… her rage felt of a similar nature, even if the circumstances were completely different.

He clenched his teeth and dashed forth, knowing he'd have to get through this girl if he wanted a chance to escape. Their situation was only growing worse with every moment that went by, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't give up, he was a man who fought with his everything to the bitter end…

But when he lifted another fire-coated fist, the waterbender attacked anew and the stream of water she unleashed this time was far worse than the first one: it froze Zuko's wrist against the metal wall.

He yelled, and the sound was enough to prompt Suki to come out of hiding anew. Her eyes widened as she saw Zuko struggling to thaw his way off the ice with his bending, but his merciless enemy only brought forth more water: each of his limbs was frozen in seconds, and all he could do was yelp in pain.

"STOP IT!" Suki screamed, her wide eyes tearful as the waterbender readied to attack again.

"Why should I?!" she exclaimed, glaring at them both. "You were supposed to leave this settlement and yet…!"

But as Katara spoke, she realized what her father had understood earlier: these two weren't soldiers. And the girl, in particular, wasn't even Fire Nation. Katara frowned. Who was she? And why on earth was she with this firebender?

"You're hurting him! Let him go! Please!" Suki begged. Katara gritted her teeth.

To everyone's surprise, she yielded. Zuko collapsed, breathing heavily as his cold limbs refused to respond briefly. Yet he didn't have much time to feel relief, or to antagonize his foes once again, because the same ice that had been keeping him in place had turned into water, and the bender had masterfully shifted it to strike him in the face.

Zuko fell back, but the water remained in place around his head. He had no time to take a deep breath, he was going to drown in a bubble of water…

"STOP IT! STOP!" Suki yelled, jumping at Katara in an attempt to tackle her, but one of the warriors caught her and pinned her to the wall. Katara only frowned, her gaze flicking towards Suki briefly before she turned to one of her warriors.

"Bind his hands!" she shouted, before finally bending the water away from Zuko's face.

He gasped and coughed, desperate for air. His mind was in disarray, all thoughts jumbled, his body struggling to keep up with the horrible sensations of ice around his limbs, as well as the freezing water drenching him in this cold environment…

He couldn't retaliate as they tied him up, busy as he was trying to refill his lungs with air. He could hear Suki shouting, but he couldn't understand any of what she was saying.

"We're not here to harm you!" Suki yelled at Katara and Hakoda, as she tried to wrestle the other warriors off. "We were barely passing through, you can't treat us this way! Leave us be and we'll go away, just leave him alone!"

"As if," said Katara, frowning. Suki kneed one of the warriors in the stomach and tried to make her way towards the waterbender, but she unleashed another water whip and caught her wrist, holding the newcomer at distance.

"You were the ones who attacked first!" Narok yelled at Suki. "If you're not here to harm us then why did you?!"

"L-let… let go of her!" Zuko exclaimed, struggling to stand up. His bindings were so tight he could feel his limbs freezing again. He probably wasn't the first firebender these people had tied up like this.

"Touching," said Kattan, grimacing. "You know, if you cooperated maybe we wouldn't be hurting either one of you!"

"Really?!" Suki cried out sarcastically, cringing as her stomach churned again. It was not the time for this, damn it… "You have no right, let us go!"

"You're trespassing into our lands, barging into a building that's been abandoned for months!" Katara bellowed. "We have every damn right to defend our Pole from you lot, like it or not!"

"We're not here to…!" Suki started, but she stopped short when she felt dizzy again.

Katara flinched when she noticed the girl's instability. What was wrong with her? Why did she look ill, all of sudden?

"Help us…"

She frowned when she heard the firebender whispering those words. He looked at her with unfocused eyes.

"Help us!" he exclaimed now, his voice unstable. "She's… she's sick. We came here… thinking there would be a physician, but there's nobody… she needs help. Please…"

Katara's eyes widened. She glanced at her father with uncertainty, as he assessed that Suki didn't seem to be faking her illness. The warriors who had pinned the sickly woman to the wall were standing next to her now, unsure of what to do.

"You're joking, right?" said Katara. "She's sick and you came to the South Pole for a cure? That doesn't make any…!"

Her dismissal of his pleads ended when Suki bent over and vomited. All the warriors looked at her in astonishment, but soon in disgust also. Well, that was not something that could be faked easily, was it? Katara gritted her teeth.

"Damn it," she growled. She knew nothing about these people, but the girl wasn't Fire Nation, at the very least. Punishing her for being associated with this strange, scarred firebender didn't feel right.

"We should take them to the village," said Hakoda, sighing. "My mother might be able to help her."

"And we should question this guy in the meantime. Figure out why he's really here," said Haka, looking at the Tribe Chief. Katara sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Let's do that," she whispered. "Help her move. We're going to the village."

"N-no, you don't have to take us there…" said Suki "Just leave us be, let us go…!"

"Your ship's not functional anymore, sorry to say. And you're not going anywhere until we decide you two are harmless. So, for the time being, you're stuck here, whether you like it or not," Katara stated. "You might as well stick around so you can make sure we won't hurt your… well, whatever he is to you. Let's go."

"But…!"

"Suki…" Zuko gasped, as two of the warriors pulled him up. "Please, just… let them help you. Please…"

"But they… they can't help," she whispered softly. The men standing by her coaxed her to move too, albeit they were far kinder than the ones who'd grabbed Zuko.

"Someone's going to have to clean this up later," said one of the warriors, grimacing. Another one snorted.

"Don't look at me!"

It seemed strange to Suki that they'd speak so casually when the situation had been so terribly tense instants ago, especially when they'd just taken two strangers as captives. Was it all Water Tribe men had the same social awareness Sokka did? She frowned and allowed them to lead her away, suspecting they might hurt Zuko again if she resisted more. She had to keep calm before she could come up with plans to escape…

Zuko shivered as they walked out of the enclosure, the wind buffeting his wet face and limbs, making him feel fainter still. Katara huffed but drained the water that still clung onto him, preventing him from freezing, albeit he'd still be rather cold. She expected a little gratefulness, at least, but the firebender said nothing. She rolled her eyes.

"Where are we… where are we going?" Zuko asked, gritting his teeth.

"Didn't you hear? We're on our way to our village," said Kattan, pushing him. Zuko cringed.

"How far is it?" he asked.

"Far enough. It'll take a while," said Kattan. "Unless you want to run there and make it faster for us, but I don't think you're up for that, are you?"

"I just want her… I want her to be okay. Do you have healers?" he asked. Kattan bit his lip.

"Eh, something like that. What's with her, though? Why's she…?" he asked, turning to look at the auburn-haired girl. But he stopped on his tracks when he noticed the warriors leading her had stopped as she bent over yet again.

"S-Suki…!" Zuko exclaimed, his eyes widening. Katara stopped and looked back, spotting the girl hunched over, barely supported by the two warriors that flanked her.

Suki breathed heavily, black spots swimming before her eyes. This wasn't good. She really was in no fit state to come up with an escape plan as she was. She was losing consciousness too, she realized, and the world was suddenly turning around, despite she was trying to control her body. But she couldn't keep herself in check…

"Dad!" Katara gasped, and the word seemed completely foreign to Suki, for whom reality itself seemed utterly impossible to grasp right now.

"I'll carry her," Hakoda said: he had picked Suki up with difficulty, holding her across his arms. "Let's keep moving, whatever she's suffering from looks pretty bad. We have to hurry."

Zuko would have been angry to see the man lifting Suki so carelessly, but he was too grateful to hear any of these Water Tribe people being reasonable to consider protesting. He nodded and carried on, following the fearsome waterbender, with two warriors at his sides, and behind them walked the rest of the men, including the Tribe's Chief, carrying Suki.

Zuko was as good as moving by inertia, his feet responding to impulses he wasn't conscious of. He was freezing, he was tired, he was miserable, and he was worried sick about Suki. It wasn't until they were approaching a large ice wall that he realized he'd been brought to the Water Tribe's village indeed, and that he wasn't here in quality of a visitor: he was their prisoner, despite he had meant them no harm whatsoever. He clenched his teeth and kept walking, thinking he had to get out of this mess somehow, although he was out of plans as he was. Him and Suki had to go to Kyoshi Island, as they had intended to, as he had promised her…

"Where are you taking her? Where are you…?" he asked, as the man carrying Suki sped past the rest of them, his feet steady and firm.

"She needs care, doesn't she?" was his reply, and Zuko was left to gaze at his broad back with nothing more but hopelessness in his eyes.

The villagers were stepping out of their tents and igloos, for they had noticed something strange was happening. Zuko couldn't remain impervious to their stares of unease, let alone those of disgust and the ones of outrage, too. No, he had never expected the Water Tribe to greet him kindly, but he didn't think they'd hate him so much when he was already captured, helpless and weakened. They didn't even know who he was! The thought made him frown again: if they treated him like this already, they were going to execute him or freeze him alive if they discovered he was the Fire Lord's son.

The village wasn't too large, Zuko realized. There couldn't be over a hundred people living here. Was this all that was left of the Water Tribe, or was this only a small village amongst many? He wasn't sure, and he dreaded the answer to that question…

He was tossed on the snow right in front of a large pile of charred wood. It took him a moment to realize it was a fireplace, at the very center of the village. He cringed as his captors dragged him towards a large pole, to which he was bound with the same fabric they had tied his hands with previously. He lifted his head, finding most the warriors were busy appeasing the onlookers, except for the waterbender. She glared at him, her arms folded as she watched him quietly. He couldn't quite understand why she hadn't fetched the pitchforks and torches just yet…

She only tore her glare off Zuko when the Tribe's Chief reappeared. She glanced at him and he nodded.

"Your grandmother is looking after her now. There's four of our men in there too, just in case she suddenly feels better and decides to numb my mother's limbs too," he muttered. Katara nodded.

"She's dangerous," she said. Hakoda looked at Zuko.

"So is he. If you hadn't showed up when you did, who knows what he might have done."

"I wouldn't have killed you," Zuko said, glaring at them too "I'm not a murderer."

"A lot of people aren't until they're threatened, sure. But then again, you're Fire Nation," Katara reasoned. "And Fire Nation people seem to relish in murder, from what we've seen."

"Not… not all Fire Nation people," said Zuko. Katara snorted and shook her head.

"A weak defense if I've heard one," said Hakoda. "It doesn't erase the crimes of your own."

"Nor does it make me their perpetrator!" he exclaimed. "I… I didn't come here because I wanted to, okay?! Suki and I, we were heading for Kyoshi Island. She got sick, the tides took hold of our ship, the next thing I knew I couldn't change direction and we had no choice but to let the water bring us here! We were planning on stopping at the settlement to get a medic to look at her, but when we got there…!"

"There was nobody inside. What a surprise for you, only, I don't know how you were surprised at all," said Katara, frowning. "The Fire Lord himself wanted the settlement vacated. Unless the Fire Lord's decisions aren't disclosed to his people, I have no idea why you wouldn't know this."

Zuko frowned. He certainly would have heard about that, if it had been made public information. Surely Sokka would have rejoiced to hear his Tribe would be rid from the invaders, and Zuko would have noticed the change in his demeanor, right?

"It… it wasn't made public. If the Fire Lord decided this, he told nobody…" said Zuko, through gritted teeth. "When did this happen? How long has it been empty?"

"I don't know, a few months, but does that even matter?" Katara asked, raising her eyebrows. "Besides, you're not here to ask us questions, we're the ones who'll do that."

"And now we ask why you were headed to Kyoshi Island," said Hakoda, his arms folded. Katara glanced at him inquisitively and Hakoda shrugged. They needed to make sure this man's story held up before believing any of it, didn't they?

"Because that's where Suki is from," said Zuko, glaring at Hakoda defiantly. "I was taking her home."

"Home?" said Katara. Both her and Hakoda drew the same conclusion quickly. "She was your slave."

"No, not mine!" Zuko said, grimacing. Oh, dear, this would be impossible to explain to these people… "No, it's not as bad as you think! She's not a slave anymore anyways, that's why I wanted her to go home!"

"If she's not yours then you stole her from some Fire Nation nobleman?" Katara asked. Hakoda snorted.

"Then maybe he's not such a bad guy after all," he said. Katara looked at him skeptically, but his words gave Zuko just a dash of hope. Maybe, just maybe, this would pay off if he was honest with this man.

"I'm not sure what would make him worse, to be a slaver or a thief," said Katara, rolling her eyes. "How do we know that's true? How do we know you're not some soldier who came to the settlement again to…?"

"To do what, to die there with a sickly girl?" Zuko asked, skeptically. "That place looked empty, with no food or anything useful to speak of, and you expect me to want to go there willingly, knowingly? Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. But maybe…" said Katara, gritting her teeth. How to imply that he was here to kill Aang, without expressly telling him that the Avatar was alive and amid their Tribe?

"Look, I know this sounds ridiculous to you, but I'm not some Fire Nation monster like you think I am," he said, almost begging at Hakoda with his eyes by now. "I only came here by mistake. You have to let us go… or at least help Suki, if you won't do anything else. She's felt awful for days and…"

"It seems odd for you to be so concerned about her, to the point where you'd even travel so far to take her to her island," said Hakoda, frowning. "Who is she exactly? And who are you?"

Zuko swallowed hard. He wasn't sure he should disclose his identity. He didn't want to, rather. The idea of letting this man know he was the Fire Lord's son terrified him…

Naturally, his silence convinced both Katara and Hakoda to second-guess him again. The waterbender frowned.

"He's not talking. Bad sign, isn't it?" she said. Hakoda grunted in agreement. Zuko cringed.

"It's not important who I am or who she is!" he exclaimed. "We just want to go to Kyoshi Island! As soon as that's over with…!"

"As soon as that's over with, you might have a chance to sell information about our Tribe to your people. That's why we're not so sure we can trust you, boy," said Hakoda, raising an eyebrow.

His eyes studied the young man intently, from his bushy dark hair to his piercing golden eyes… and especially the scar on the left side of his face, encompassing his left ear, too. The more he looked at that hideous wound, the more Hakoda felt like he knew something about this man's identity. He had the feeling he wasn't as much of a common, innocent man as he wanted to claim he was.

"I'm pretty sure we can't trust him, Dad," said Katara, frowning. "He doesn't even dare tell us his name, imagine what kind of dangerous fugitive he'd be that he wouldn't even…"

"I'm Zuko, alright?!" he exclaimed, exasperated. What were the odds that these people would know the names of the Fire Lord's children anyways? "Happy now?"

Hakoda frowned, although Katara only sighed. The name meant nothing to her.

"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she said. "So, now that's out of the way, where did you come from, and why were you on your way to Kyoshi Island with someone's slave?"

"Suki and I, we… we're involved," he said, lowering his gaze. Katara raised her eyebrows.

"You two are what, now?"

"Yes, we're together! I love her, she loves me!" Zuko bellowed. "Can't believe someone would love a guy with a scarred face?"

"N-no, that's…" said Katara, looking at him with unease before frowning. "What I can't believe is that someone from Kyoshi Island would fall in love with someone from the Fire Nation."

"It's… it's not just anyone from the Fire Nation," Hakoda said, realization dawning in his eyes. The Chief's words were enough for Zuko's stomach to sink, badly. Oh, curse everything. It looked like this one had heard his name, after all.

"What do you mean, Dad?" said Katara, surprised.

"I've heard of you," said Hakoda, lifting a hand and pointing his index finger at Zuko's scar. "When I was at sea, in the middle of the war, rumors reached me. A boy who had been banished and burned by his father..."

Zuko gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze. He could have tried to deny it, but what good would it do? Maybe the Tribal Chief didn't know the whole story...

"Why did you hear of something like that?" Katara asked, confused. She hardly thought that family conflicts would be relevant information in the middle of a war.

"Because his father is the Fire Lord," Hakoda finished, frowning so heavily his eyes were shadowed by his brow.

Zuko closed his eyes and allowed himself one more thought of Suki before everything came crashing around him. At any moment now the waterbender would behead him, and if she didn't do it, the nearby warriors would slay him with their spears or their knives.

But the attack didn't come after at least thirty seconds. Zuko frowned. What were they waiting for? Why had everyone fallen quiet?

Unsurprisingly, the waterbender was the first one to speak. Her voice trembled with poorly contained rage when she did.

"Are you… are you sure of that?" she asked her father. "Is he really…?"

Hakoda clenched his fists.

"His name is Zuko. It rang a bell, and with that scar… he has to be Prince Zuko," said Hakoda. Katara's eyes widened with rage.

"Is it true?!" she exclaimed, glaring at Zuko. He flinched under her threatening leer. "Tell me now! Are you the Fire Nation's prince or not?!"

"I… I'm not anymore!" Zuko replied. Katara's face contorted with a mix of confusion and contempt.

"You're not anymore? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means my father wants nothing more to do with me!" Zuko exclaimed. "He hates me, thinks I'm a shameful failure and wanted me gone! So, I left, and I wanted to make a new life for myself elsewhere, but things didn't go the way I planned! So yeah, that's who I am, the Fire Lord's banished son! Happy now?!"

Katara seemed about to kill him indeed. Her blue eyes were glacial, far angrier than Sokka's had been that one time: Zuko shivered and swallowed hard, shrinking under her rage.

"The Fire Lord's son. Dad, this bastard here is…!" Katara exclaimed, pointing at him. Zuko flinched, bracing himself in case she bent anything at him, whether intentionally or not.

"I know, Katara, I know. Keep calm. Getting emotional is not going to help us," said Hakoda, frowning and taking a step forward, a hand stretched in front of Katara to keep her from attacking the Prince. "Don't lose your center, Katara. We're not going to let this get to us…"

"How can you say that?!" Katara shouted. "His damn family is the reason we're suffering so much! He's not some common guy, he's the Prince! He's…!"

"I know! And instead of plotting to kill him, we can use him," said Hakoda, his eyes glacial too as he looked at Katara sternly. "This boy here is the Fire Lord's son indeed. And now… he's our prisoner."

"N-no, no! You don't have anything to gain from keeping me here!" Zuko bellowed, but Katara's rage was suddenly appeased by hearing her father's words.

"You're… you're saying we should trade him for…?" she said. Hakoda breathed deeply.

"It's a thought. The Fire Lord would do it, surely, if… if it means he'll get his son back, right?"

"What the hell are you talking about? My father wants nothing to do with me, what part of that didn't you hear?!" Zuko shouted. Katara glared at him.

"If you're a failure in his eyes he'll love to lock you up somewhere instead of letting you roam the seas. He'd likely want you back, despite what you say," she growled. "You'll make a pretty good bargaining chip, Prince Zuko…"

"Bargaining for what?!" Zuko exclaimed. "What the hell do you want, to end the war? He's not going to do it over me, he'd likely just tell you to kill me yourselves and spare him the bother!"

"He's got to be bluffing, right?" said Haka, from behind them. Hakoda frowned.

"Maybe. Or not?" he said, looking at Zuko again. "He was banished, and that burn… I heard his own father gave it to him. Is this really what happened?"

"It… it is. But it's not your damn business," Zuko snarled. "I don't care if you believe me or not, send word to him if you want, then! When you get no answer because he doesn't give a damn about me altogether, you'll see just how good it'll do you to keep me here!"

"We're not going to ask him to end the war," Katara said, her heart lurching with unease as she tried to digest what her father had suggested. Her brother could be brought back… if Zuko was indeed bluffing, as he probably was, then Sokka might come home. "But your father will likely agree to trade you for someone else he's keeping captive. Someone who belongs with us."

"What?" said Zuko, frowning. "What are you…?"

"Someone who was dragged away from our home, from what we know!" Katara shouted, breathing heavily. "Taken by… your sister, I suppose? That damn bitch…"

Zuko would have retorted at that, hearing someone insulting his sister like that wasn't exactly fun… but as Katara spoke he came to realize what he hadn't just yet. He knew a few things about Sokka's past, including how he had been taken away from his home, but he didn't know enough about his life before that event. Still, he remembered hearing him say he had a sister too. Could it be…?

"You want Sokka," he blurted out, unthinking. The entire village fell silent as he spoke those words.

Katara's eyes widened, her anger frozen in her face. Hakoda as well was wide-eyed, speechless. Nobody had uttered Sokka's name with such ease in a very long time around these parts… with the force someone would put into speaking the name of a living, breathing person. There was no hesitation, no doubt in his golden eyes. The firebender knew who they were talking about: he had met Hakoda's son.

"What do you…? Y-you know Sokka?" Hakoda asked, stepping forward. Zuko nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I met him. I… I've sparred with him. Trained with him," he said. Katara's hands flew to her mouth, tears blinking on the corners of her eyes.

"Then… he really is alive?" Hakoda asked, dropping to his knees in front of a now surprised Zuko. "Is he…? He's still…?"

"He's very much alive, at least he was when I last saw him a few months ago," said Zuko, swallowing hard. "And I don't think there's much risk of him dying anytime soon, so…"

"Sokka… oh spirits, Sokka!" Katara cried out hysterically, tears spilling down her cheeks as she laughed and wept at once. She couldn't believe it. That Zuko would have known his name without hearing it, that he would realize it was him they spoke of… it meant that Kino's information was real. He was alive…

And if that was the case, and if this prince knew him personally, then it also meant Sokka was, most likely, the Princess's gladiator.

The realization made her laughter fade away instantly. No, heavens no. The very woman who had dragged him away from home, that unforgivable Princess…

"How do you know him?" she asked. Zuko looked at her with unease, surprised by all the volatile, shifting emotions she had seemingly underwent in a matter of instants. "Tell me! How did you meet him?! Why did you train with him?!"

"B-because he's my sister's fighter!" Zuko exclaimed, inching away from her with difficulty, tied up as he was. "Please, calm down!"

Katara's joy fell with those words. She had soared for an instant, only to be shut down with a blow stronger than a hammer's right afterwards. She couldn't believe it: Sokka was alive… but suffering at the hands of his captor. Why had this happened to him…?

"Your sister's fighter?" Hakoda asked, his voice grave. Zuko nodded.

"Her gladiator. It's… a weird system for entertainment that the Fire Nation has developed," Zuko explained. "I actually hated it, only started to pay attention to it when Suki was fighting as a gladiator too. She… she had to stop, for a time, but…"

"Never mind your story with that gladiator nonsense, what about Sokka?!" Katara exclaimed, looking at him with wide eyes. "He has to fight to the death in some stupid entertainment show for your sick sister's pleasure?!"

"That's not exactly how it is," said Zuko, grimacing. "It's not to the death, though it's true they can be at risk of death. But… look, I don't really know why she's doing it. All I know is that Sokka and her are… well, as good as partners when it comes to this, I guess."

"They're WHAT?!" Katara exclaimed, indignant. Zuko gritted his teeth.

"Look, I'm only telling you what I know, and I don't know too much!" he exclaimed. "She needed him as her fighter because, well, I don't know why! And he agreed to do it because he has some sort of deal with her, and he… he wanted something from her too. Wait, I think… I think the deal is for him to come home after he's done whatever she wants him to achieve. That's what he told me once, at least…?"

"He… he's trying to come back?" Katara asked, and once again her storm seemed to be soothed, whether temporarily or not. Hakoda as well was stunned cold, his mouth open.

"My sister isn't easy to deal with, and she's not someone who's willing to cooperate with others easily," said Zuko. "But Sokka seems to have struck a deal that will keep them on even footing, so yeah, it's not as bad as it might sound to you. Heck, it's not really that bad for him at all, if you ask me…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara asked.

"He lives like a nobleman, pretty much," said Zuko, shrugging. "My sister pays for all his living expenses, he has his own house, he's been trained by the very best swordsman in our nation and he's strong enough to beat seriously skilled firebenders without losing limbs in the process, so yeah, he's doing fine. He's making the most of his situation, and he's planning on returning here by his own power one day. So, I say you let him do that instead of making fools of yourselves by trying to trade me for him. Fact is, my father wouldn't trade me for Sokka. He seems to like him better than he likes me, even…"

"What did you just…?!" Katara hissed, disgusted. Zuko sighed.

"Yeah, I know it sounds awful to you, but yeah, Sokka has gotten to my father in some weird way too," he said. "I know that he helped in saving the Fire Nation from rebels once, somehow. And he was thanked for his services and credited for his deeds… so maybe that's why my father took a liking to him. Sorry if it horrifies you, but that's just how it is."

"He saved the Fire Nation from…?" Katara started, but she frowned. "Wait. Maybe… maybe he's doing this deliberately. He's… he's trying to get to their good side and then he'll destroy them from the inside! That has to be what he's doing!"

"Awfully clever and wise on his part," said Hakoda, frowning too. "For the boy he used to be, who would run into battle head-first…"

"He's been hardened by what he's been through, I'm sure. But he's a smart man," Katara said. "He could have planned this…!"

"Uh…" said Zuko. Katara glared at him.

"What? You think that's not what this is?"

"I… don't know, is all. If he's planned it, he's one hell of an actor because that's never what I gathered from his actions. Just saying," said Zuko, looking at them with uncertainty. "I… I don't know what he wants, or how, but he probably does want the war to end. Still… maybe I just don't give him enough credit. It might be he's smart enough to fool us all…"

"That's got to be it, Dad. That's got to be it," said Katara, looking at Hakoda desperately. Her father stared at Zuko, his brow drawn.

"It might be. It… it might," he whispered. "But I'm not sure yet. I need to hear more. Zuko…"

"I'll tell you everything you want to know, but please… how is she?" he asked. "Can you please check on her? Please…"

Katara breathed out slowly but she shrugged. She walked off towards the igloo as Hakoda continued to scrutinize Zuko carefully. The firebender followed Katara with his worried gaze, biding how to play his cards next. Sokka could be, surprisingly, his one ticket to keeping his life and his physical integrity. He never thought the day would come when he'd rely on his sister's gladiator to save him, but such a day had come indeed…

"You say he was taught to fight by some swordsman?" Hakoda asked. Zuko nodded.

"I was taught by him too, in my childhood. His name is Piandao…"

"I've heard of him," said Hakoda, frowning. "He was something of a legendary Fire Nation captain, daunting enough to be renowned even after his retirement."

"Sokka trained with him and uses this crazy black sword to fight," said Zuko. "Along with a boomerang, a club, a knife… he makes bombs, too. And he used my sister's sword once as well, she leant it to him…"

"She what?" said Hakoda, raising his eyebrows. Zuko froze: that revelation might have been a mistake. "She would lend him her belongings? Really?"

"I-I think it was a one-time-thing," said Zuko, looking at Hakoda insecurely. The Tribe Chief looked at him harshly before huffing and shaking his head.

"But then, a boomerang, and his club…" he said, and a small smile danced at the corner of his lips.

"And a very bad sense of humor," Zuko added. To his mild relief, Hakoda chuckled.

"It's my son. It's…" he said, a hand on his forehead as he smiled, tears in his eyes. Zuko sighed.

"I hope this much information means you won't want my head on a stick anymore, or will you?" said Zuko, looking at Hakoda questioningly. Hakoda wiped the tears with the back of his hand and eyed Zuko insecurely.

"You expect that this will be enough to appease our concerns?"

"I actually don't understand your concerns to begin with," said Zuko, earnestly. "You guys were afraid we were here to do what, exactly? A banished prince and an ill woman, what threat do we pose to…?"

"Hakoda? What's…?"

The new voice came from a young man that was approaching from Zuko's right, dressed in blue garb and with a mat of black hair growing wildly on the top of his head. His onyx eyes startled Zuko, along with the paleness of his skin. Amid so many dark-skinned and blue-eyed tribespeople, this man stood out as a koala-sheep would in a herd of wolf-dogs.

The same could be said about the man that accompanied him, Zuko realized. He was just as pale as the first one, with dark hair as well, but his eyes were brown instead. And his clothes, albeit blue like everyone else's, also had a few hints of red here and there.

"Aang. You're… you're back," said Hakoda, his eyes widening as he stood up again. He had hoped they would have finished dealing with Zuko before these two returned.

"Who's that?" Aang asked, his eyes widening as he looked at the man sitting on the snow, tied to the pole.

"We had a bit of a… situation," Hakoda said.

Zuko looked at Aang from the corner of his eye, taking notice of a shade of blue on his forehead, hiding under his bangs. The more he looked at that man, the more out-of-place he seemed. Aang was, in no way, a Water Tribe name.

"Who is he?" Kino asked now, approaching Hakoda as he studied the stranger in surprise. His clothes, his appearance… he was Fire Nation, that was evident.

But Kino didn't expect that a full view of this newcomer's face would be enough to reveal who he was. Everyone in the Fire Nation had heard of Prince Zuko's scar, even if they had never seen it before. Kino hadn't seen it himself, but he was quick to realize he was facing royalty.

"O-oh!" he gasped, his gloved hands flying to his mouth. "Oh, no. Oh, no, you can't tie him up! He's the Prince!"

"The Prince?" Aang exclaimed. Kino nodded and Aang smiled awkwardly. "You mean, the Fire Nation Prince? Come on, Kino, that can't be-…"

"It's him alright," said Hakoda. Aang fell silent, his eyes widening again.

"He's what? The Fire Nation Prince…?" he repeated, gazing upon the damaged tissue on the man's face: Aang could only cringe as he wondered how he'd sustained such a dreadful wound.

"We caught him and a girl in the settlement," Hakoda explained. "It happened barely a few minutes after you two took off…"

"That's awful timing, huh? But… why was he there?" said Aang. Hakoda shook his head.

"It seems he came south by mistake, he wasn't headed here. At least that's what he claims."

"Then you shouldn't have tied him up like that," Aang said, frowning. Hakoda looked at him in confusion.

"What? Aang, this man here is…!" he started, but he held back from finishing the sentence. Zuko didn't realize why he was a threat, and he was better off not explaining why in front of the man himself.

"He's a Fire Nation man, he must be freezing," said Aang, grimacing and stepping towards him.

"Aang!" Hakoda exclaimed, as Aang knelt behind Zuko and released him from the pole. "Don't let him go, damn it!"

"Geez, calm down!" said Aang. To everyone's surprise, Zuko remained docile as Aang tied his hands behind his back again, now without the pole in the way.

"I'm not about to go anywhere, nor will I hurt you guys," said Zuko, earnestly. "Not while you have Suki in your custody, anyways. Can I go see her?"

"I don't know," said Hakoda, gritting his teeth as Aang helped Zuko up.

This was like a scene straight out of his nightmares: the Avatar, generously helping the man who might be his destruction eventually. It certainly seemed Zuko didn't understand who Aang was, but this display of kindness, and this much concern from Aang, might just set off all sorts of red flags for him. Was Aang a fool, or was he just too kind-hearted for his own good?

"He's freezing. We need to get him inside," said Aang, looking at Hakoda defiantly. "He may be Fire Nation, but he deserves to be treated kindly. Just like Kino was."

"Aang, do you realize the risk…?" Hakoda asked, his patience decreasing as he glared at the Avatar. Aang nodded.

"I do, but the risk isn't worth mistreating someone else like this. Not if he's not here to harm us," he stated firmly, leading Zuko towards the Chief's igloo, with Kino treading behind them.

Hakoda huffed and followed them, his brow drawn heavily. How would Aang know if Zuko was here to harm them or not? Hakoda himself was leaning towards thinking he wasn't, it was true, but he couldn't be sure of it. Not yet anyways. And there was no telling how bad things could get if Zuko realized Aang was the Avatar…

Zuko was surprised by how much warmer the igloo was, but not more than he was surprised by the new arrival's kindness. He stared at him in confusion as he helped him take a seat before the weak fire. Yet his attention was drawn away from the young man when he realized Suki was nowhere in sight.

"Where is…?" he started.

"In another room," Hakoda finished curtly, as a star-struck Kino dropped by the Prince's side, his eyes wide.

"Why did you come here, Prince Zuko? Of all places you could be…!" he said, his hands trembling as he made to touch him, but he recoiled again whenever he got too close. Zuko frowned.

"And why are you here, whoever you are?" he asked. "You're Fire Nation, aren't you? The two of you, maybe?"

Aang gulped and nodded. Kino grimaced.

"W-we were soldiers from the settlement who learned to get along with the people here," Aang explained. "When the settlement was emptied, we decided to stay behind."

"Why was it emptied at all?" Zuko asked. Kino shrugged.

"Fire Lord's orders. We never got a bigger explanation than that, but…" he said, staring at Zuko again. "But how did you end up here, Prince Zuko?"

"The tides made a mess of his trip, if what he's saying is true," said Hakoda, stepping forward and looking at Zuko. "But you can hear explanations about who he is or what he's doing here later. There's more he needs to tell us now."

"Like what?" said Zuko, raising an eyebrow. "I already told you everything I could think of, you know I was talking about Sokka. You knew since the start, didn't you? I couldn't have known his name if I hadn't met him…"

Aang's eyes widened, and he shared a look with Kino. So, everything Kino had dug up was true! Sokka was alive, and quite possibly, working with the Prince's own sister…

"That's not what's bothering me. What does bother me is that you seemed to doubt that he'd be doing what he's doing because he has a clever plan up his sleeve," said Hakoda. Zuko stiffened. "You said he'd have to be one hell of an actor to play the Fire Nation as Katara thought he was, and I know my son well enough to know he's not one. At least, he didn't use to be. So, tell me: why do you doubt that he's plotting to take the Fire Nation down from within?"

Zuko swallowed hard. He didn't want to answer that question: he was sure Hakoda didn't want him to answer it. But honesty might be his only way out of this particular problem, and he was better off telling the Chief everything he could about his son…

"It's because of their relationship. Him and my sister's," he whispered. Hakoda tensed up. "I… I don't really understand it, but they seem to have moved past their conflict about how she took your son away from home. At least, on the surface, it looks like they did. Now, I don't… I don't want to claim anything without any basis, but Sokka did worry about Azula when she was sick once, I remember stopping by to see her and he was visiting her, too. He… he actually hugged her in public once, Suki can confirm that. My sister shoved him off, but he seemed pretty happy regardless. And well, me and my sister, we never got along too well so there was this one time when I said some thoughtless things about her and… and he punched me in the jaw for it. Took a few weeks to heal."

Hakoda, unsurprisingly, seemed anything but happy with Zuko's revelations. The Prince swallowed hard.

"I-I'm not saying he's in love with her or anything…"

"I wasn't thinking he was. Why did you clarify that?" Hakoda said, his confusion turning into sheer horror at Zuko's suggestion. The Prince blushed.

"J-just because… well, a friend of my sister's kept rambling about that, saying they were in love, but I'm sure she was just talking nonsense. It couldn't be true," said Zuko, looking at Hakoda worriedly. Hakoda frowned.

"Because my son wouldn't lose sight of reality to that point, or would he?" Hakoda asked. Zuko grimaced.

"I guess I thought he wouldn't fall for her because she's not someone that easy to love, and with how they started off, I wouldn't expect them to reach the exact opposite spectrum of a relationship in what, three years? It's not reasonable."

"But you say he hugged your sister. And it bothered her," said Hakoda. Zuko shrugged.

"Nobody is stupid enough to hug my sister like that but him. Seriously, nobody would do that, ever," said Zuko. "But I think maybe that's why he did it? To irritate her?"

"And yet you bring it up as something that makes you think my son is awfully attached to his slaver," said Hakoda, raising his eyebrows.

"It was odd. It's odd behavior for a slave, but Sokka has never been a normal slave," Zuko said. "Until the last I saw of him, he acted more like an associate of my sister's rather than a slave. They… they kind of went at things evenly, I think. At least as evenly as can be with a slave and a Princess."

Hakoda frowned as he weighed Zuko with judgmental eyes. Zuko dry-swallowed, his hands twitching underneath the fabric they had been tied with. Something told him that his honesty wouldn't go as rewarded as he had hoped at first…

"You say your girl knows them too?" he asked. "Your sister and my son?"

"Yeah," said Zuko. Hakoda nodded.

"Then I'll be questioning her about this too before you can see her. And if anything doesn't add up, you won't be shown any more kindness. Aang, Kino… if either of you tries anything stupid like releasing him while I'm gone, I'll have Katara throw both of you into the freezing sea right after him. Am I clear?"

"No need for that…" said Aang, grimacing. Kino nodded.

"We'll behave," he said, softly.

Zuko frowned as Hakoda entered another room inside the igloo. Somehow, the man had remained surprisingly level-headed, even after hearing confirmation that his son was alive and seeking a way back home. Was he just so broken after so many years of war that he refused to believe Zuko that easily? Though the part that seemed to disturb Hakoda was the idea of his son being close to his captor. Zuko couldn't blame him entirely for his reticence, but he still found the Chief's behavior confusing. And what bothered him the most was being kept away from Suki, regardless of everything he had just told them…

"Sorry that they're so harsh," said Aang, looking at Zuko apologetically. "They can be a little unreasonable with new people…"

"Yeah, they weren't happy about me when I first came to stay with them, but I proved myself," said Kino, beaming enthusiastically. Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not here to stay, unlike you," he said, studying Kino with his gaze. The man certainly looked to be Fire Nation, and his revering attitude suited a soldier's… but the other one had forced the Tribe Chief to treat him more kindly. The other one had a name that didn't sound Fire Nation at all… "Why did you choose to stay?"

"U-uh, just… to keep an eye on the Tribe," said Kino, smiling.

"That doesn't make sense. If you wanted to keep an eye on the Tribe you could have stayed in the settlement instead of moving here," Zuko replied. Kino froze. "You didn't have to come here, don their clothes and basically join their tribe. Not if you didn't want to."

"W-well… we're just different, I guess. We liked it here," said Kino. Zuko huffed.

"Can't say I share the sentiment," he grumbled.

"I know they're ruthless right now, but things will work out in the end. If you want to leave, we'll make sure you can, and safely," said Aang. "I'll see to it."

"You?" said Zuko, raising his eyebrow. "And how would you be able to do that?"

"I-I just… they listen to me," said Aang, gulping.

"So I noticed," said Zuko. "But I don't understand why. If you're Fire Nation, which you don't seem to be, with that name, why would they hold your opinion as important at all?"

"Don't look too much into it, Aang is just smart like that," said Kino, laughing awkwardly. "He's a clever man, knows better than everyone else out here, and the tribespeople know it!"

"That still makes no sense, though," said Zuko, eyeing Aang with unease. "Are you two captives too? Are you the reason why the settlement was emptied?"

"N-not exactly, and no…" said Aang. Zuko didn't believe him.

"Really, don't worry about it," said Kino, grimacing as he looked at the Prince. "Aang is harmless, I am harmless, and the rest of these people will be harmless too so long as you don't annoy them too much. You'll be on your way home soon…"

"I don't think I will be," said Zuko, glaring at Aang. Aang swallowed hard. The prince he'd vouched for no longer appeared so helpless: he felt dangerous, instead…

Kattan and Yuro were astonished by Suki's answers to Hakoda's questions. She had been given a strange broth to drink, and the waterbender had touched her belly, her hands coated with water, in some odd attempt to find out what she was sick with. But before Katara or Kanna could confirm or deny their suspicions, Hakoda had entered the room. And as Suki spoke, he frowned more deeply, while the others were stunned cold.

"That's got to be a lie," Katara said, shaking her head. "My brother wouldn't have learned to get along with the same woman who dragged him away from here. That's so ridiculous it's not even funny…"

"It's the same thing the other one said, and they had no chance to settle on what misinformation to give us, did they? If they're both saying this…" muttered Hakoda. Katara shook her head again.

"Ridiculous. You can't possibly think…!"

"Well, we have Kino here," said Yuro, surprising them. "I mean… he's amongst us, and we've welcomed him. He was Fire Nation, or well, still is. And we're fine with him. Maybe… maybe Sokka has gone through something similar?"

"That would make sense if only it weren't Sokka we're talking about," said Katara, snarling.

"I'm only telling you what little I know about him," said Suki. "Sokka… he's always been a strange, one-of-a-kind man, ever since I first met him. But he's become a strong man, and a good man too. Why would it be so bad if he's learned to live around the Princess? She's… she's not that bad herself, okay? Maybe it's because of Sokka's influence, I don't know because I only met her a few months ago, but I went through something awful and she was the one who saved me. So, even if I didn't know her too well, I always felt… that she wasn't half as bad as everyone thinks."

"Just like your boyfriend out there isn't half as bad as everyone thinks?" Katara asked, raising her eyebrows. Suki frowned and nodded.

"Zuko has been through a lot," she said. "He had to spend ten years at sea because his father banished him for some minor transgression, alright? He lost his mother when he was young, too, lost his birthright because his father has passed him over… he's lost too much. All he and I wanted was to get away from all the awful memories, to find peace elsewhere! And that was why we were traveling to Kyoshi Island. So, if you want to take revenge for what his sister did by taking Sokka away from you, you'll have to go through me first. He's a good man, whether you want to believe it or not."

"Yeah. And that's precisely what I fear Sokka would say if he were here," Hakoda said, looking at Katara, who stiffened at his words.

"He wouldn't…"

"We don't know anything about these new royals," said Hakoda. "Only that the Princess took Sokka captive, which, as you might recall, was what he had planned on doing to her and everyone in that meeting in the first place. We're at war, we tend to do awful things to one another."

"But you really think Sokka…?!" said Katara, her eyes wide. "Are we really supposed to believe all this? That he's ended up becoming like her now?"

With that, Katara pointed at Suki. The violet-eyed woman regarded her with irritation. What was so wrong with Sokka being similar to her? What was the problem if he was a good influence on Azula, just like she was on Zuko?

"Well, he can't be completely like this girl, for sure," said Kanna, intervening for the first time. "It would be impossible, physically…"

"Well, aside from the obvious difference between him being a man and her a woman?" said Kattan, shrugging, but Kanna shook her head.

"That obvious difference is why this girl is pregnant. So, I'm certain Sokka can't be quite the same as she is, regardless of how he feels about the Fire Nation nowadays."

Suki's breath escaped her after the old woman spoke.

It was true. She really was pregnant… she grimaced and dropped her head in her hand, mixed feelings crashing through her. So, what Akira and Yong had said was a lie: she hadn't been rendered sterile. She was carrying a baby, she was going to become a mother…

A certain part of her was still as uncertain about it as she had been a few days ago, when she had started to have her suspicions. But at the same time something else was being born inside her, perhaps a small speck of joy over realizing she was carrying their baby: it was hers and Zuko's. They would have a family… well, so long as they got out of this mess, they would.

She hadn't really thought she wanted a family, and the idea was still rather terrifying. But her sense of responsibility was also kicking in: she had to look after her child, no matter what.

"Are you two married?" Hakoda asked, despite he was aware of the answer to his question before asking it. Suki shook her head and he sighed.

"It's hardly the first time a woman is pregnant out of wedlock," said Suki, scowling somewhat reproachfully at his judgment.

"It's something that doesn't tend to happen in our Tribe," said Katara, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "But I really don't see how that's our problem. Whatever she does with that guy is her business and hers alone. What I want to know is what we're going to do about Sokka now. What we'd been planning…"

"We're not going to set anything in motion until we've figured out what to do with these two," said Hakoda. "Aang and Kino are back, by the way. They made me drag Zuko in here, and are keeping him under watch in the common room…"

"Kino is trying to do something serious for once?" Katara asked, skeptical. "So, all three of them are in the igloo?"

"Yeah. I suppose this is the right time for her to give the father-to-be the good news," said Hakoda, shrugging. Katara sighed.

"I'll help her there," she said. "This is really not our business, though…"

"The faster they're gone, the better for all of us," said Hakoda, shaking his head. Katara's froze.

"You want them gone, altogether?" she asked. Hakoda shrugged.

"It's better than to risk anything we can't afford," he said, looking at her meaningfully. "I don't think they're here for what we thought they were."

"Can we be sure?" Katara asked. Hakoda shrugged.

"It's the Prince, not some former soldier from the settlement. He couldn't have heard Kino that night," he whispered. Katara nodded.

"Heard who say what?" said Suki, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you two being so enigmatic?"

"Do you want to go to your island and be happy there with your not-husband?" Katara asked. "Or would you rather figure out secrets you shouldn't discover?"

"One thing cancels the other?" Suki asked.

"Pretty much. Come on, you need to talk to your Prince, right?" said Katara, with irritation.

She helped Suki sit up and then she pulled her up to her feet before they left room, with Katara supporting Suki as she walked. Hakoda, Kanna and the two warriors lagged behind, most of them apprehensive but respectful of their leader's decisions.

But while this conversation was unfolding in the privacy of one of the igloo's rooms, the three young men in the common room were still holding their own. And despite Aang had supported Zuko and helped him while he'd been tied to the pole outside the igloo, he was starting to wonder if maybe he would have been better off not doing that at all…

"Your name is Aang," Zuko repeated. Aang gritted his teeth. "That's not Water Tribe. That's not Fire Nation. Everything about you is… is screaming something that makes no sense to me. But… but if you weren't that, then what else would you be?"

"Prince, you're just overthinking everything!" Kino exclaimed. A glare from Zuko silenced him effectively.

"If you have any respect for me, then tell me who he is. Now," he commanded.

Kino stared back at him, shivering. No, he couldn't do that. He couldn't betray his friend, not Aang. He was without a doubt the best friend he had ever made, and he knew that Prince Zuko's punishment, in his banishment, had been to find the Avatar…

"I can't," he said. Zuko snarled.

"So, you'll disobey your Prince's orders?"

"Hey, stop treating him that way," Aang said, angrily. Zuko scoffed.

"Again, why do you think you can get away with commanding others around?" he asked. "Why are you so very important, huh? A real Fire Nation soldier would act like him, but you… you didn't even react when you saw my burn other than with disgust. He knew who I was immediately, you didn't. You're no Fire Nation soldier. And you know what? You're not Earth Kingdom either, before you try to sell me that story. No, not with that name or those eyes. You're…"

"Stop it," said Aang, grimacing. "Stop asking questions! Just calm down, I'll get Hakoda to send you away as you want it, and you can forget this ever happened…!"

"No, I won't," said Zuko, his eyes gleaming. "You're… you're an Air Nomad. You have to be! Even if it doesn't make any sense, you are one. I've studied everything I could on Air Nomads for years, learned all I could about their culture… you're one of them. You're… your forehead. That blue mark on your forehead. You're… you're even an airbending master!"

"I…!" Aang started, as Zuko's jaw dropped.

What was this airbender doing here? No wonder he was treated with such importance, if he was possibly the last airbender alive. Surely, they kept him around in hopes he'd teach the next Avatar the airbending art, which might be lost without him…

But all things considered, an airbending master probably wouldn't be able to be tattooed in the tradition of Air Nomads down here. It didn't seem like this village had the items to do that, poor and crumbling as it was, nor would they be able to provide the full initiation ceremony. But the Temples were empty. They were, he had seen them for himself! This man, who was he? Why did it feel like he was a man untethered in time…?

"You're an airbender," he said, gritting his teeth. "You're the only one left, aren't you? Answer me!"

Aang didn't obey. Zuko struggled with his bindings, trying to make them come loose, but he failed. Kino didn't help him, instead jumping in front of Aang as if to defend him from the angry prince.

"Stop it!" he exclaimed. "Don't try to hurt him! He's done nothing to you!"

"No, but he's going to do something for me!" Zuko bellowed. "You're keeping him here so he teaches the next Avatar, aren't you?! Well, good! If the next Avatar is indeed here, and the cycle isn't broken as I thought…!"

That discovery could mean everything.

Zuko's eyes widened as the magnitude of the discovery slammed into him like a train-tank at full speed. If he found the Avatar now, he could return to the Fire Nation as a hero. It would mean proving his father wrong about him all along, it would mean succeeding where Ozai himself had failed. And it would mean regaining his birthright, his honor, everything his father had denied him for over ten years.

It would mean no more uncertainties for him and Suki. He would have a chance to give her a life of luxuries to no end, of relaxation and joy, after all the struggles they'd both had to face. She'd be happy, he would see to it, and he'd provide to her with everything she could have ever wanted…

"You… damn it, I knew it!"

Zuko flinched when he realized the waterbender was back, though it surprised him to see Suki stood beside her, eyes wide as she took in the two black-haired strangers. Yet Zuko's attention returned to Katara when she conjured a whip of water again, glaring at him menacingly as she held the water at the ready.

"I knew he couldn't be trusted, I knew he was here for Aang!" she shouted, jumping towards her friends and standing beside Kino, whose eyes widened with horror. Zuko frowned.

"You thought I was here for…?" he started. Katara snarled.

"You know who he is!" she shouted. "You just said it, didn't you?"

"I only said… that he was an airbender," said Zuko, but Katara's defensiveness, and the confusing situation, came together just as he saw the look of chagrin in both Kino and Aang's faces. Katara as well was shocked, realizing only now that she had made a huge mistake. Had she given out Aang…?

"Zuko, please listen to me," said Suki, moving towards them uneasily, her hand on her womb. "They'll let us go if you just listen and stop prying into whatever…"

But Zuko shook his head, inching away from Katara, Kino and Aang. His gaze was set upon the black-haired young man with the blue tattoo on his forehead, the one who had clenched his fists by now, terror and uncertainty etched in his face. If Katara's protectiveness meant anything…

"You're not just an airbender, are you?" he said. "You're… you're the Avatar!"

Time seemed to stand still as Hakoda, Yuro and Kattan appeared at the threshold, having heard the ruckus of their argument. Zuko's words were enough to render null Hakoda's plans for these foreigners. He'd figured it out, curse it all. He had hoped the Prince wouldn't find out, but they definitely couldn't proceed as planned if he had…

Suki's thoughts of the baby faded briefly to give way to her disbelief. Who was the Avatar? The tall guy who was being protected by the waterbender and the shorter one? Given how guilty and worried he looked, it had to be him. But how…? Shouldn't the Avatar be an old man, especially if he was an airbender?

Yet… the Avatar. Her wide eyes gained a hint of hope, of glee. She had never thought she'd come to see or meet the Avatar in her lifetime. This was the reincarnation of Kyoshi, no less… he was still alive. Her timeless soul lived on.

"The Avatar…?" she asked. "Really?"

"Don't you even think about touching him, you hear me?" said Katara, with an angry snarl. Zuko, though, certainly hadn't heard her.

"It's you… it's you. You were here all along, for all this time, and I…!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide. He should have found him years ago. He should have dragged him to the Fire Nation. He should have made his father acknowledge him…

"And he's going to stay here for as damn long as he wants, and if you don't like it then I might as well finish you off here and now…!" Katara roared, but Suki jumped in, holding out a hand to stop her.

"Please, calm down!" she said, before turning to Zuko. "Zuko, dear, can you listen to…?"

"Suki, it's him!" Zuko exclaimed, looking at her with despair. She flinched when she noticed his eyes were twitching, his hands trembling. "The Avatar, I… I've been searching for him all my life!"

"I know that, Zuko, but you… you had given up, remember?" she said, frowning. "I get that this is a big shock, but I have to say something to tell you…"

"I had given up, but I never should have!" Zuko shouted. Suki's eyes widened again. "I… I should have found him. I should have taken him home, and shown my father…!"

He only snapped out of his thoughtless state when she inched away from him, a look of disbelief plain across her face. Zuko swallowed dryly.

"Suki…"

"I can't believe you're saying this. I can't," she said, shaking her head. "Zuko, I thought…! I thought this was already behind us! I thought you realized this was pointless, that your father had done this to ruin your life…!"

"He had, and if I do what he demanded from me, he will have no choice but to take everything back, Suki!" Zuko retorted. "Don't you understand what this could mean for us?! We could go back, we could live lives worth living instead of just settling with whatever we can hold onto! This is…!"

"You're out of your mind. You're not thinking clearly, Zuko!" Suki exclaimed. "You can't expect anything will be better if you take the Avatar back to the Fire Nation! You're… you're willing to sacrifice a man's life for the sake of proving your bastard of a father wrong?!"

Zuko froze at Suki's words. She looked at him as though she didn't know him, as though this wasn't the same man she had been so happy around barely a week prior, the very man who had helped her overcome the worst moments of her life. Zuko could only gaze at her with confusion, just as everyone else in the room did.

For the others had been ready to jump in to defend Aang, but the last thing they had expected was for the newcomer, the Prince's own companion, to be the most affronted by his words. Was she on their side after all, even though she was with him? Even though she didn't hate the Fire Nation?

"Suki…" Zuko said, looking at her unsurely.

"I won't stand for it!" she yelled, looking at him fiercely. "And if you were on your right mind you'd understand why! But you're not, and until you are, I'll keep doing everything I can to knock some sense into you!"

"But don't you see?!" Zuko exclaimed, desperate. "Everything I'd ever wanted…!"

"Yes, you'd get everything you wanted, back when you were thirteen!" Suki exclaimed. "But do you still want the same things you did when you were a boy? Are you still that same boy, Zuko?"

"I'm not, Suki, but…! You know life could be so much easier, so much better, if we have a chance to go back home," he said. "And this could change everything, Suki! I could… I could get it all back…!"

"I thought we were going home," said Suki, looking at him reproachfully. Zuko's eyes widened. "And I also thought you'd know now just what matters to you in life, but I guess I was wrong! So here I was, begging them not to hurt you because you're a good man, and yet you want to take the Avatar to your father?!"

"I… I don't want to do it, don't get me wrong," said Zuko. "But what choice do I have?! This is…! I'm supposed to…!"

"You were told to take him to your father, but you do have a choice about whether to do so or not!" Suki exclaimed. "And you had better make that choice soon, because if you choose to go through with this, you're doing it on your own. We're not… we're not going with you."

"We? Who's we?" Zuko asked, looking at Suki in confusion.

Her hand moved to her womb, and she gave Zuko a meaningful stare. It took him a moment to catch it's understanding, and his jaw dropped again.

"Y-you mean… that's the reason you were sick?" he asked, his voice trembling, and soon his whole body did. Suki nodded, tears blinking in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm not going to stop you if you really care more about a life of luxury, about a throne, about a crown, than you do about me. Than you do about us," she said, closing her eyes. "But know that if you try to take the Avatar, I won't be by your side. I won't let you do this to yourself anymore. Your father's task was wrong ten years ago, and it's wrong now! His rule… he's the reason I've had to fight as a gladiator, why those two bastards took everything they could from me! He's the reason slaves exist! All he wants from the Avatar is his death! And I've damn suffered enough at the hands of his regime to let you kill the only hope the world has ever had at stopping him! So, by all means, you do have a choice! But keep in mind that I won't take it quietly if you stop being the man I've known you can be, the amazing man you'd become, just to please your wretched father!"

Zuko was rendered speechless by the full brunt of Suki's impassioned words. How could it be…? He was going to be a father? He hadn't imagined something like that could happen for real, at least not until now. He had said countless times Yuudai should have been his son, but he hadn't really meant it. And he certainly didn't mean he was desperate to be a father when he said that.

Still… if he was going to be a father, it should be of Suki's children, he had no doubts about it. Yet she was giving him the opportunity to be a father and ripping it off his fingers in the same breath: he had to choose between doing his father's bidding and her. Between betraying Suki's trust or betraying his father's expectations.

Then again, did his father have any expectations still? He was positive he didn't. He had wanted him gone. He had burned Zuko's face, treated him as a disposable inconvenience, and thought he had every right to do so. Suki had asked if he still wanted what he had when he'd been thirteen… but while he had felt the urge to take the Avatar to his father, he had a very different goal in mind this time around. Back when he had been thirteen he had only feared his father, he had wanted to please him and show him he was his faithful son. As he was now, all he wanted to do was throw the Avatar before him to make a statement: he was better than Ozai. He was stronger, smarter, more effective, more efficient. He had triumphed where Ozai had failed. He was better than his father…

But was he?

How would he prove to be any better than him if he dumped the Avatar at his feet, just as his father wanted him to? Just as his grandfather had wanted Ozai to do before him?

Zuko lowered his gaze, his face contorted by an angry snarl as his desires, his needs, his duties and his beliefs crashed against one another in a frenzy, making his head, his chest, his every limb hurt. This was too much. How on earth had so many things happened in such a short time span? It seemed like barely a moment ago he had been with Suki at sea, and now he had found the Avatar, was about to become a father, and was being threatened by Sokka's very dangerous waterbending sister. How had things come to this…?

"I…" he started. Everyone watched him carefully, the tension in the common room thick and tangible for everyone. "I wish… I really wish we had never come here…"

Suki's unyielding glare softened: Zuko's head was hung now. She gritted her teeth and knelt before him, noticing there were tears in his eyes too.

"We should have reached Kyoshi Island," he said. "And then we could… we could have raised our kid and never known what these people were hiding. We would be… we would be happy."

"We can still be happy, Zuko," said Suki, caressing his cheek. "We can if you stop feeling you have an obligation towards that man. You owe him nothing. You've been waiting so long for him to treat you as family, but… but see? You have a chance to make your own family and forget him for once and for all. Let go of him. Let his influence disappear and be happy, Zuko…"

He gritted his teeth, and Suki balled her hands into fists. He wasn't going to choose her. He wasn't going to choose…

"Then… can I be happy?" he asked, his voice small. "I really don't owe him anything? Do I have any right to be happy…?"

"You do!" Suki said, impassioned. "Of course you do, Zuko, please! You have every right to choose what you want, you're free from him. You can find your own way, without being weighed by who you used to be…"

"And if I do that… you'll be with me?" he asked, raising his hopeful eyes to meet hers. "If I leave my father behind, if I leave the Avatar alone… I get to be by your side?"

"Yes," she answered, without a second thought, brushing his bangs away from his eyes as he started to cry. "Spirits, yes. Forever if you want to be…!"

"Suki…" he gasped, leaning in and dropping his head on her shoulder.

She hugged him tightly and breathed out in relief. He couldn't surround her with his own arms, tied behind his back as they were, but he closed his eyes and buried his face in her neck, his shoulders shaking with every sob. Suki rubbed his back, her hands moving up to his hair as she held him close.

The two had seemingly forgotten they weren't alone, but it was hard for the others to make a single sound as they watched the strange pair before them. How had they gone from looking after each other so devotedly, to arguing so harshly, only for them to hold one another so intimately now?

Nevertheless, it looked like they didn't mean to do anything harmful anymore, right? The Prince had said he would leave the Avatar alone…

Katara lowered her arms, the water she had been bending was drawn back into the poach she carried around her waist. If they made a single dangerous move, she'd have a weapon at the ready to stop them. But if not… if not, what came next? That question was far more terrifying than she expected it to be. She thought she could deal with the Fire Nation Prince as an enemy, but could she deal with him as something other than that…?

Aang swallowed hard and she glanced at him. She reached out a hand to clasp his supportively: the Prince had been talked out of his mad endeavor, at which he would have failed catastrophically, for Katara would have had his head before letting him anywhere near Aang. But he had discovered the Avatar all the same. He knew who Aang was.

The same confusing questions coursed through Aang's mind as well as Katara's: what were they supposed to do about Zuko now?