They touched down inside the military facility Aang had been training at. At night it was quiet, with all training exercises completed for the day, but she knew sight of the air bison would gain their attention. Sokka and her father ran out to meet them as soon as they landed. "The bison?" her brother exclaimed. "Where did you find him?"

"Sokka, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for Aang. He never came home, so I was wondering if he was still training here."

"I have him. Help me bring him down. He's still unconscious."

"What happened?" her father asked. "The dai li are going crazy, they said there was a firebender in the city."

"There was," she replied. Sokka had climbed up at that point and stopped dead when he saw Zuko. "Wait, Sokka, it's okay."

"Dad, we have the firebender here. I'm going to execute him before he can do any more—"

"Sokka, wait!" she said and grabbed his arm, which was drawing out a weapon. "He helped me rescue Aang."

"He tried to kill us. Are you crazy?"

"He's injured."

"Good, he's about to be more injured. Move."

"Sokka, he's injured! Take Aang. I'll explain inside. Dad, do you have a room we could use? I need to finish his treatment." Her father had climbed up beside Sokka, alarmed, and peered down at the barely conscious prince. His expression was level but it was likely he felt the same as her brother. "We give treatment to prisoners of war, don't we?"

"Yes, we do," Sokka replied bitterly. "We aren't like the Fire Nation."

Sokka lifted Aang into his arms and carried him down while her father helped Zuko. The stone courtyard at the garrison was well lit with torches, and the advanced state of his injuries was apparent. They went inside to her father's suite, where they set Aang on the bed and had Zuko sit down for treatment. He was compliant and didn't utter a word of complaint about anything, but both her brother and father kept their eyes on him while she worked. Earlier she'd only done enough to keep him alive for the time being, and the full treatment took an hour. Hakoda exited once and returned a quarter hour later. "I've told them we have the Avatar safe with us and that every ship in Full Moon Bay should be inspected. The military will see to it. They've taken a female firebender into custody. Most of the responding force are severely injured, but they have her. The other healers are treating them, don't worry."

"There was a young man who went after her. He wasn't with the police, and he was using a polearm."

"He's with them, alive. He slowed her down until the dai li could respond. It sounds like she put up a hell of a fight." Her father looked disturbed. "Katara, was that young man someone you know?"

"I want nothing to do with him. He's a murderer. The dai li is the best place for him."

"Does it have something to do with that report you asked me to look up?"

"Yes. He's the one who blew up the dam. He told me all sorts of stories from his time in that forest, with his little club in the treefort. I never want to look at him again."

"I'll let the police know." Hakoda looked to the prince. "What shall we do with him?"

Sokka answered, "This bastard chased us from the South Pole to Gao Ling, he blew up our home, threatened Katara, burned Aang, interrogated us, stole Appa, and tried to kill me. Send him to the dai li."

"Wait, he helped me recover Aang. Without him, he would have been in the clutches of the Fire Nation by now."

"So what? He has plenty enough blood on his hands."

"Sokka, listen. He doesn't have a reason to be our enemy anymore."

"I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Yes. I saw it. I heard what that woman said to him. You saw, too—at Gao Ling his ship was detonated. His own people did that." Her brother paled, then threw a glare to the floor. He knew she was right. "Don't misunderstand. I don't forgive you," she told Zuko. "You deserve what she did to you."

"I know," he replied weakly. "I know what I deserve. I was stupid, and Uncle almost died because of me. I already know that."

They didn't say anything else while she finished patching him up. The worst of it was fixed, but she kept finding more wounds, and had difficulty telling what was recent and what was an older scar. Layer upon layer of injury speckled his body. At some point she stopped herself, pushed the water back into her pouch, and stood up. She was exhausted, and he looked even more so. "Thank you," he whispered in a hoarse voice. They had tea brought for everyone and sat, trying to think of the next step.

At the bed Aang stirred. Katara set the tea aside and went to him. "Aang, can you hear me?"

"Mhm. My head hurts."

"It's okay. You were drugged, but you'll be okay. You're safe now." Aang struggled to sit up. With his legs over the edge of the bed, he put his head into his hands for a few minutes, trying to shake off the effects. When he looked up, he saw Zuko and paused, afraid. "He's not going to hurt you now," Katara said. "Aang, what happened?"

"I messed up. Sorry." They brought him tea and waited a few minutes for him to gather his thoughts. "I was just so frustrated with earthbending. It hasn't been going well. I love airbending, it just feels right to me, the kind of freedom it grants, how you can be weightless, while earth is the total opposite. I skipped practice one day and went to a park. A woman was there. She was pretty, and about your age. We talked. She was really kind to me, and we got along well. For the past few days I've been seeing her whenever I had a chance. She made me feel like I wasn't crazy, like it would be okay and I would get it eventually. Then, this afternoon, I met with her for tea. After that I blacked out. I don't remember anything else."

"She probably laced the tea with a sedative," said Zuko. Aang looked at him, then to Katara. "She's my sister. Her name is Azula, and she's Fire Nation. Apparently she wanted to take you back to our father."

"Your father?"

"The Firelord."

"To kill me?"

"No, not to kill you. If they did, you would just reincarnate."

There was an uncomfortable pause. Katara put a hand on his shoulder and explained, "Zuko helped save you. He isn't our enemy anymore."

"I see," he said quietly. "What about the girl?"

"She's in custody," said Hakoda.

Zuko smoothed a hand over his chest, his jaw set as if expecting pain. Katara watched him, then moved a hand to the necklace charm and took it out. "Dad, I found Mom's necklace." She held it out.

"Where?"

"He had it," she said, and gestured to Zuko. Her father looked him over. "It's here." She passed it to him.

Hakoda cradled it in his palm, no doubt remembering their mother, and pressed his lips together to stifle his expression. A minute later he handed it back fondly. "I'm glad. Well, at least he kept it safe for you. You'll have to clean it off before it stains, and get a new ribbon."

Zuko, almost like he was wondering if he was allowed to speak, tentatively asked, "Can you do me a favor? I want to speak to my sister."

Hakoda replied, "I don't know if we should allow that."

"Wait." Aang stood up with resolution. "I want to speak with her, too. Please take us."

Hakoda judged his expression momentarily, then looked back to the prince. "We'll need to hide your face. It won't be good if you're recognized now. The way I hear it, the dai li want to execute you, and I won't be able to stop them if they catch you here. Do you still want to go see her?"

"Yes. I have something I need to ask her." He stood up, still shaky on his feet. "After that I'll do whatever you want."

Hakoda replied, "I'll have it arranged, then. For now it's best if we get some sleep. I hope you understand, but I'm going to have you detained in a cell here for the night." He nodded, and her father led him out to the hallway, with Sokka following close after.

Aang and she were left alone in the room. He was shaking and lost the bravery he'd put up earlier. "Aang. We found Appa. He's outside, and he's just fine. Zuko had him at a warehouse in the Lower Ring. He's fond of Zuko, so I don't think he was mistreated." Tears of relief welled up, and he wiped his face. "I don't know why, but his sister, that woman you were having tea with, betrayed him. She tried to kill him. Apparently he's banished, and even his own father wants him dead."

"Why?"

"She said it was because he was weak."

"He's so strong, though. He was terrifying." Aang folded his hands together. "Katara, I really tried my best with earthbending, but I'm just not getting it. I will, though—I'll keep trying. I'll do whatever it takes. I don't want to be a burden to you anymore."

"You aren't a burden."

"But I messed up. I trusted the wrong person."

"You made a mistake, but that's alright. You should get some sleep, okay? In the morning we'll figure it out."

"Okay," he said, and laid down, like he couldn't keep his eyes open a moment longer, and she felt the same. When Sokka returned he took her to a room adjacent to their father's suite with spare beds.

#

A heavy, dark green cloak draped across his shoulders. It was far too warm to wear on a summer day, and he was sweating already, but he needed the hood to obscure his scar. Underneath the cloak, not visible to others, his hands were cuffed behind his back. Zuko walked alongside Hakoda with the rest of the group. The airbender, Aang, was nearby. He had no idea what he had to say to his sister and feared what she would tell the boy. Her words were too cutting. The waterbender watched him carefully. Despite her words having spared him, it was obvious she didn't trust him, but he had no intention to betray their goodwill—if he couldn't have any other type of honor, he would at least honor his promises.

The previous day he'd woken up thinking he was on his way to dominate Azula and reclaim his throne. That morning he woke up deprived of everything, finding that even after having lost his ship, his crew, all financial and martial support, and living in a warehouse like a beggar in a foreign city, he still had more yet to lose, more than he'd ever realized, and he'd found a new level to fall to. Yesterday he still retained blessings he had never taken the time to notice. Now it would have been better to have died in the ship's explosion. Chains dug into his wrists, and walking without rattling them was difficult. A firebender could have burned through rope easily, so the Earth Kingdom had, long ago, begun forging chains instead.

Hakoda paused and explained to the guards that they needed to step aside. He hadn't even needed to evoke the name of the Avatar to accomplish it, as the guards respected him without question and took a break, walked down the hall, and left them alone with the cell ahead. Her father had the key to the metal door at ready. They entered. Green lighting from crystals, not fire, decorated the wall from lanterns hung at the side walls. A section of the cell was barred off with sturdy metal, and Azula sat on the stone floor behind them, her arms tight behind her back and wrapped from elbow to wrist with chains far heavier than his. Her legs were wrapped the same and bolted with a heavy barrel lock to the cell floor. The door was shut behind them.

Hakoda put Zuko's hood down so she could see his identity. She smiled. "Well, I must have gotten rusty. Here I thought that was a lethal blow."

"It would have been, if not for the healer," he replied. "You miscalculated a few things last night."

She glared at the Avatar, who stood next to Zuko trying to keep his expression level. "Tell me," she said, "How many of those policedogs succumbed?"

"You'll pay for every life you took in time," Hakoda replied for them. "For now, this young man had the wish to speak with you."

Zuko stepped forward. His chains rattled just slightly, and Azula picked up on it. "Oh, don't tell me. Are you going to be my new cellmate?"

"Enough jokes. I came here to hear the truth from you," Zuko said firmly. "Who rigged my ship with explosives?"

"My husband and I, with the blessing of our father." Her voice had never held a sweeter pitch, like she truly delighted in revealing it. "Do you also need me to remind you who gave you that scar?"

"Shut up. Where is Uncle?"

"Alive. I didn't lie about that. Unfortunately the old lout was a little too portly for the explosives to carve through. He's on house arrest in Caldera City, but truly, it will be a year before he can even walk again."

"If I had returned with the Avatar, if I had presented him to Father, would he have restored my honor?"

She laughed. "He would have had you assassinated within a month of coming home. He only gave you that condition of return before anyone knew the Avatar was going to ever show his face in this world again. Oh, don't make that face. Are you really that dense? I'm only telling you for your own good, Zuzu, that you're better off staying in Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation has written you off. If you ever step foot in our territory again, you'll be marked for death. How do you think Uncle survived when our father kicked him aside and took the throne for himself? Or did you forget, Uncle was the elder brother? Apparently you're even stupider than he is. He knew his place, he knew when he should keep his head down and step aside, so he was allowed to live. You, however, actually took that wild goose chase about the Avatar seriously." She broke into high pitched laughter. "You should have heard the things Father said about you when he heard you were racing all over scraping out ruins and climbing up Air temples. Your desperation was so disgraceful that he lamented he hadn't smothered you at birth."

"Why did you want the Avatar?"

"To make things easier for my son. Zhao would never have been allowed to be Firelord. Our father would have retained the throne until my son came of age. Zhao was merely a convenient means to accomplish a successor. He would have done anything I told him for a chance at another promotion."

"And you were fine with all this? You wanted me dead that badly, too?"

"At first I was going to use you to find the Avatar, but that task turned out to be easier than I thought. I think it's hilarious. You were chasing him halfway around the world and still couldn't get your hands on him. All it took me was a simple chat and I had him in my pocket. Do you find it humiliating, to be outdone by your little sister? It wasn't enough for you to be a shoddy excuse of a firebender, always running around playing with knives because you could barely make a flame, but then on top of it you're also a phenomenal idiot."

"You're the one sitting in prison."

Her smile dropped, and she glared at him. Zuko wondered if she could shoot fire from her mouth like Iroh could. His stomach was full with enough vitriol for the day, and he turned to the airbender and nodded. She glanced at the boy. He composed himself and stepped forward. There was no hatred on his face, and his words were level and calm. "I wanted to speak to you as well. Thank you for the advice you gave me. I do just need to be more confident, and I will get the hang of earthbending eventually. I think I understand your motivations now, so there's nothing else I need to ask you regarding that. Thank you for the tea. I enjoyed the time we spent together." Having said so, he stepped back, then looked to Hakoda, signalling that he was finished.

She asked, "What, is that it?"

"Yes. I understand enough now," Aang said.

They stared at each other momentarily. He'd never seen his sister make such an expression. The Avatar's simple words had truly confounded her, and she was caught off balance. Azula, however, could never allow herself to make such a face for long, and shortly righted herself, then addressed her brother. "Zuzu, there's one thing I wanted to ask you. You mentioned a healer is why you didn't die. Who would that be?"

"Her," he gestured to Katara. "She's the one who ruined your little plan. She was in the papermill with us the entire time and you had no clue. She patched up the wheat-chewing idiot and sent him after you, too, and he stopped you from escaping consequence. You had been intending to escape on the bison, but he didn't let you reach there."

Her silence confirmed that Zuko guessed her escape plan correctly. From the beginning she had been intending to betray him, and the bison was her vehicle to leave him for dead and escape faster than the earthbenders could stop her. The two women looked each other over warily. It was obvious that Katara thought she was a monster. Azula, meanwhile, overflowed with resentment. Hakoda stepped in at that time, getting between his daughter and Azula. "Is that everything you both wanted to clarify with the prisoner?"

"Yes," they each said.

"We're done here."

Azula called out as they were leaving, "So when is your execution, Zuzu? I do want to watch."

The door closed behind them. The airbender helped him put his hood back up, and they returned to the suite together. Chairs had been brought to accommodate everyone. Zuko sat down, wondering if his next step would be into a noose, and his chained hands pressed painfully against the wooden back of the chair. No one seemed to know what to say, and he didn't have the stomach to ask.

Aang unexpectedly stood up, and everyone turned to him. "Azula was right. What I need is to be more confident in myself and my own judgment. So, I'm going to ask you this: Zuko, will you be my firebending teacher?"

"Why would you trust me after what I did? Yesterday my sister was carting you off to a Fire Nation prison."

"I think you're the one who is supposed to be my teacher because we have something in common—we've both made mistakes. We've both lost our homes, our people. I've seen your firebending, and I know that last night, at the papermill, you didn't use any firebending against Jet. Katara told me everything. You're disciplined. You're a great bender, but you don't rely solely on it. Azula was found by the dai li because, when Jet attacked her, she responded with bending and gave herself away. Whatever she said, I think she's the stupid one, not you. I want you to be my teacher."

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" he replied softly, then rattled the chain binding.

"You do have a choice," Aang replied. "I can let you go right now. You can go anywhere you please, and we won't follow you."

Zuko replied, "You don't have that authority, though."

"I'm the Avatar. If you want, I can take you on Appa and drop you off outside the city. No one would be able to stop me."

He asked for time to think about it. They had tea and lunch brought, and his hands were released so he could eat. Sokka and Hakoda still obviously distrusted him, and kept him always in their sight. Katara had said that Jet was a murderer she didn't even want to look at, and yet she'd resented Zuko so much more than him that she'd still been willing to save Jet while watching Zuko die on the floor. It was the very person he'd spent months trying to abduct who was offering him salvation.

The tea he'd been given was well brewed, without any trace of bitterness or pollution. Its grassy notes were pure and there was a subtle sweetness behind it. He'd never been given a choice before, and Zuko tried to think about what it was he wanted, about what the Fire Nation meant to him. He considered his own infant nephew, his mind too young to be corrupted by Azula's tongue or Ozai's wrath yet, and he remembered the six years of his