Chapter Text
Zuko whirled to the little earthbender girl. “Which ship is Iroh on? Which one took him?”
“How should I know?” she yelled. “My feet can’t see a thing out here.”
“Your what?”
"Where is Sokka?" Katara demanded, shrilly over the two of them.
"I'm right here." Sokka waved his hand, but Katara's gaze passed through him, unseeing.
Realization slumped Sokka’s shoulders. Now they were out of the owl’s Spirit Library and back into the real world, Zuko was the only one who could see him again. He wished he had told Katara goodbye. Her expression was devastated as she looked around for him, and saw nothing.
Too bad Zuko, Aang, and the new girl were too busy yelling at each other to console her.
"I told you! I don't know where they went!" Frustrated and sandy, the girl stomped her foot to raise a puff of dust.
"Why didn't you fight them?" Aang demanded. "Why you let them take Uncle away?"
“I didn’t let anyone do anything!” The little Earth Kingdom girl turned to Zuko. “And who are you again?"
Zuko ignored her, turning to Aang. "We have to catch up to those sandbenders. We can't let them get away."
"Where's Sokka?" Katara yelled, over them all. "Did we leave him back in the library?"
"He's right here!" Zuko pointed directly at him. A space none of them could see.
"Tell her I'm fine," Sokka said as Katara's gaze swept over him again.
Smoke was literally coming out of Zuko’s ears as he growled, “He's fine, but my Uncle won't be if we don't catch up to his ship soon!"
“He’s right. Everyone aboard Appa," Aang said.
Everyone piled on the waiting bison’s saddle, and Sokka heard Zuko suck in a breath as Appa launched upward into the sky. There was nothing like that first stomach swooping sensation, like he had left his stomach back on the ground behind him.
… Even though Sokka felt nothing like that this time around. Not even the rush of air against his skin.
Once the sky bison reached a respectable height, he leveled out. Balancing with effortless ease, Zuko stood in the saddle to look around. Sokka did too.
The landscape had changed drastically from the Sun Warrior’s island, as if they had been transported across the world. Lush jungle had been replaced by endless desert. Orange sand dunes stretched on and on, looking like distant ocean waves.
Rapidly receding dots to every point along the horizon indicated fleeing sandbender ships. They had scattered in a circle. Smart.
"They have to meet up together again at up point," Sokka mused.
Zuko frowned. "Unless they're separate tribes. This is the Si Wong desert. The sandbenders here are disorganized and fight among each other as much as with the Fire Nation."
“So, how do we know which one to follow?” Aang asked.
Zuko's frown turned to a scowl as he shook his head. He didn’t know.
Sokka thought for a few moments, then snapped his fingers. “We need to find out where they’re heading. Zuko, where would they take Iroh?"
If anything, Zuko's expression darkened. "Ba Sing Se."
"What?" Katara and Aang asked at the same time.
"Why?" Sokka asked.
Zuko answered Sokka. “Earthbenders have captured my Uncle before. The Earth King would want nothing better than to put the Dragon of the West on trial."
"Wait." The Earth Kingdom girl sat up, suddenly alert. Sokka realized she had been the only one not desperately searching the horizon. Now he took a moment to look at her, he saw why: Her gaze was clouded and blank. A blind Earthbender?
The girl continued, voice rising. “You're saying that kind tea-making old man was the actual Dragon of the West? The one who sieged Ba Sing Se for six hundred days? Whoa!”
"Yes," Zuko replied through grit teeth. "And they'll want to bring him to what they see as justice.”
Oh man. Time was of the essence. "Okay, that's our direction, then. Which way is Ba Sing Se? Who has my map?"
Zuko repeated his request, and Aang and Katara looked guilty.
"You guys got rid of my map?" Sokka demanded. "That thing was an antique!"
Aang shrugged and dug sand out of his ear. “It sort of washed downstream when we were fighting the pirates."
“Great!” Sokka glared at Zuko. “Thanks for that.”
Zuko, however, didn’t look the least bit guilty. “That was months ago. How have you two known where you were going since then?”
"Oh, that's easy. An airbender always knows—“
"Nope." The earthbender girl shoved a hand right in front of Aang's face. “You just float wherever the wind takes you and call it good. An earthbender always knows her direction. Ba Sing See should be to the northeast. Get me down to the ground and I'll point the way."
“Down on the—Ugh! We don’t have time for this. They're getting away!" Zuko grumped, gesturing to the fleeing ships, but no one listened.
Aang pointed Appa down to land again. The moment the bison's feet touched the sand, Toph was out of the saddle. She shifted around in the sand, head cocked as if listening for something no one else could hear. Then she pointed. "That way."
They were off again. By this time, the sand-ships were well out of view. Zuko sat at the very edge of the saddle as if he longed to jump out and cross the distance himself.
“It's going to be okay," Sokka said.
Zuko shook his head. "Last time this happened, I stopped the earthbenders just as they were about to crush Uncle’s hands. They may not make the same mistake and wait twice. Can't this thing go any faster?"
"Chill out, hot stuff." To Sokka's surprise, the blind girl crawled over and clung onto Zuko's arm like he was an anchor point. He flinched in surprise and looked down at her, then up at
Sokka in confusion. Sokka could only shrug.
"I'm Toph, by the way," the girl said. "So you're Uncle's nephew? I thought he said you were dead."
"Stories of Zuko's death are highly exaggerated," Sokka said.
"I'm hard to kill," Zuko said flatly.
She patted his arm. "So is your Uncle."
"Toph's right," Aang said with way too much cheer. "Appa is flying as fast as he can. He’ll get us there in time.”
"Do you guys see that?" Katara asked suddenly.
Everyone turned to where she was pointing. It took a few seconds for Sokka's own eyes to pick out what she meant… then there it was. A smudge against the bright blue sky.
"Little help here for the girl who can't see?" Toph demanded.
"Smoke." Zuko's voice was satisfied. "Rising smoke. That is where my uncle will be."
Turns out it wasn't one sandbender ship that was on fire. It was three. Two were fully engulfed in flame and one was halfway there. Several men crawled away, coughing. Others lay on the sand, unconscious.
The second Appa landed, Aang and Katara ran to search the wreckage.
Zuko jumped down and grabbed one crawling, coughing man to haul him up by his collar. "Where is he? Where is General Iroh?"
The man shook his head, dazed.
Zuko shook him. "Tell me!"
"... He was like a one-man army,” the man gasped.
“You’re saying Iroh did this?" Toph demanded.
“Him and his friends…. We were betrayed..." The man slumped, sliding into unconsciousness.
In disgust, Zuko let him fall. Then he looked to Sokka.
"Sounds like he escaped," Sokka said.
“Yes, but where did he go?"
Sokka pointed. "There are other ships on the horizon. Maybe he hijacked one?" But that didn't sound quite right to him. Surely it took more than one person to steer a sand-ship?
He looked around. The man that Zuko had interrogated seemed to be doing the best out of the bunch. Katara was bent and healing some, while Aang tried to put out the flames of one of the ships, but it was a losing battle.
Suddenly, Toph pulled on Zuko's sleeve. "There's something in the sand over here. Help me find it. My feet can't see a thing."
"Why are you always talking about your feet?” he snapped.
"I see using earthbending, but it doesn't work so well when there are a hundred million billion grains of sand under my toes."
"I didn't know that was possible," Sokka said.
Zuko shrugged but let himself be pulled about twenty feet to the side. It was a little funny. Toph was about half his height, but yanked him along like he was her personal seeing-eye deer-dog. She stopped in place and pointed downward. “It’s about here.”
Bending down, Zuko raked his fingers through the sand and then frowned as he came back up with something. "Is this a pai sho tile?"
Sokka peered closer. "It's the white lotus tile."
"That's the one Uncle and Master Piandao used to play." Aang bounced over. Judging by the three cheerily burning ships, he'd had no luck putting the fires out.
"He's not your Unc—” Zuko stopped. "Master Piandao? How do you know him?”
"He's Iroh's friend," Toph said. "He dropped Iroh off with Aang right before we hit the desert."
Aang was nodding. "He's very serious."
"That sandbender said they were betrayed..." Sokka mused.
Zuko's gaze snapped to him. "What are you thinking?"
"What do you mean?"
"I know that look. You’ve thought of something. What is it?”
"Um, who is he talking to?" Toph asked.
"Katara's brother. Only Zuko can see and hear him right now. Sokka, this is Toph, my Earthbending master. Toph, this is Sokka," Aang said, not realizing introductions had already been made. Also, he was facing completely the wrong direction.
"Sokka is standing here, not there.” Zuko snapped, and Sokka felt a flush of satisfaction that he was defending him.
"I'm just wondering if Iroh has more friends than you know about,” Sokka said. "The sandbender said he was betrayed. Master Piandao, who I assume is Fire Nation 'dropped' Iroh off, which means that they were doing other things, before. Time you can’t account for. And now you’ve found this weird pai sho tile. It's all pointing to something."
"Yes,” Zuko grit out. “but what?"
"I don't know!" He threw his arms up in the air. "But it's connected, somehow."
"Iroh was always playing pai sho with friends. That's what old men do!"
"But what if pai sho wasn't just a game."
Zuko looked at Sokka as if he had knocked loose an ice floe.
"What is he saying?” Aang asked.
"He doesn't know," Zuko said. “He has no idea what he’s talking about.”
"Hey!"
Appa bellowed and their heads swiveled. Several points of dark lacquered hulls with pointed sails were growing larger on the horizon. Other sandbander ships coming to the aid of their friends.
Standing from the last wounded man, Katara replaced her water back in her waterskin at her side and jogged up to them. “Looks like the sandbenders are bringing back-up. We have to get out of here."
Zuko looked torn.
So did Aang. He glanced at Zuko, shyly. "You are coming with us, right?"
Again, Zuko looked to Sokka who shrugged. “Destiny, right?"
With a sigh, Zuko nodded. With that, he officially joined the Avatar’s group.
There was no sign of the ship that Iroh had escaped on. The desert was like a sea, just as vast as the one Sokka knew at home, and equally hard to locate a missing person.
They searched for hours, flying low whenever they spotted a sand ship— and then hastily flying high again when sandbenders bent jets of sand Appa's way. Clearly, none of those were the ship that Iroh had escaped on.
As the sun lowered, Zuko grew increasingly frustrated and worried.
Appa slowed, too. The heat was particularly hard on him. And according to Aang, there were no helpful thermals to help him lift. As evening set in, he was forced to land Appa again.
It was a quiet, dispirited group who set up camp. Zuko was anxious, which put him in a foul mood. Toph seemed upset that the sand wouldn’t let her “see”. (Whatever that was supposed to mean. Bender magic never made any sense.) Katara started making soup out of their rations and her bending water. (Yuck.) But she kept turning to stare, frowning, at Zuko.
Finally, Zuko turned to Katara. "What?"
"What?" she echoed.
"You keep staring at me."
She drew herself up, but didn't deny it. “I want to know how is Sokka is doing.”
“He’s fine," Zuko snapped and turned to gaze moodily over the desert again. In the gathering dark, there were no signs of sand ships.
"Can I hear that from him?" Katara asked, pointedly.
Zuko visibly bristled.
"Come on," Sokka said. "There are no ships in sight."
Zuko turned to glare at him, so Sokka turned on his most potent puppy dog eyes.
The corners of Zuko's lips twitched—just for a second before he smoothed his expression out again.
“Whatever,” he grumbled, turning fully to him and dropping his crossed arms.
It was as good of an invitation as he was going to get. Sokka stepped into his body.
The first thing he felt was warmth. Not the wet, moist jungle air he had come to associate with Zuko's time with the Sun Warriors, but dry, baking heat. Even though the sun had set nearly an hour ago, it was as if he stood near a bread baking oven.
"Are you serious?" He shook his fist to the sky, the hot, hot, hot desert sand below, the world at large. "Ugh, this heat is terrible. How can you stand it—oomph!”
He was cut off as Katara practically tackled him in a hug.
"Katara!" he whined, staggering. When had she grown so tall? "I just saw you a few hours ago."
"I know, but I couldn't hug you, then."
She leaned back and Toph stepped forward to grab his wrist in a very strong grip. Her eyebrows went up. "Whoa."
"What?" Sokka asked.
"Your heartbeat changed. Your breathing, too. You really are a different person.”
"It did? Wait, you can feel my heartbeat?"
"Earthbending," she said which was no explanation at all. "So you're Katara's ghost brother?"
Suddenly, even though the air was baking hot, he felt cold. "I'm not a ghost!"
No, he was something worse...
Katara didn't seem to notice darkening his mood. She looked shifty. "Sokka, I have something to tell you." She paused. "Is Zuko listening right now?"
"Well, yeah, it's his ears."
Trust me, whatever she is about to say I've heard worse from you, Zuko griped inside his head.
“What’s wrong?” Sokka asked.
Katara bit her lip. "We ran into Bato."
"What?" Sokka yelped. "When?"
"Right before Aang and I made it to the North Pole.”
“Why wasn’t he with Dad?”
“It’s… a long story. He was recovering from an injury, but he’s fine. He must be back with the rest of the men by now.” She shook her head, distraught. “I told him... Oh, Sokka, I'm sorry. Bato asked about you and I didn’t know what to say. I thought you were still trapped in the spirit world, and I didn't want him to blame Aang, so I told him you were still back home with Gran-Gran."
“… Oh." He wasn't sure how he felt about that. On one hand, he didn't want Bato—or his dad—to worry. On the other hand, he didn't like the idea that his father and the other warriors thought he was the type of brother to sit at home and let Katara go on a trip across the world by herself.
Katara continued. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I panicked. And then there was the ice dodging—”
"Wait, Bato took you ice dodging?"
"Well, there wasn't any ice around so we used rocks, but it still counted. I passed. I got the Mark of the Brave... Are you okay?"
"I..." He wasn't sure. Oily jealousy sloshed around in his gut, mixed with the knowledge he had missed out on something special. Not only that, but his Dad might think he was a coward who had chosen to stay back home while his sister helped the Avatar…
Katara looked at him with guilt in her eyes.
Sokka swallowed feelings down and forced a smile. "Congratulations. Really. Who would have thought that my little sister would become an adult before me?"
He knew right after the words came out that it had been the wrong thing to say.
Aang, who sometimes could be oblivious said, "I got the Mark of the Trusted."
Aang. Twelve-year-old Aang had gone ice dodging? Great. That was just... great.
Sokka had been twelve when Hakoda and the men had left. He begged and begged to be allowed to ice dodge. If he was to stay behind, he should at least be a man. But Hakoda was firm: By the tribe’s rules, you had to be at least fourteen.
Unless, of course, you were the Avatar.
Are you okay? Zuko asked.
"It's fine," Sokka said to him, to everyone. "I'm happy for you guys. Everything’s great."
Even Aang's face fell.
Want me to take over? Zuko asked.
“I’m fine!” Sokka insisted with enough boiling anger that he knew he sounded like Zuko. “I’m dying to eat. What's cooking?"
Katara stepped forward. "Sokka—”
“Would you just stop? I told you—”
He slashed his hand in emphasis… and felt something outside of himself tug along with it. Abruptly, half the soup Katara had been boiling in the kettle slopped out and hissed into the fire, dousing it.
Everyone went abruptly silent.
"Um—” Aang’s head whipped back and forth so fast he looked in danger of giving himself whiplash.
"Did you just—?” Toph started, toes curling in the sand.
Katara just stared with wide eyes. “… Sokka?"
He winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, fun fact: When I'm in Zuko's body I can hijack his bending, and since I'm Water Tribe..."
Katara stared. “You're a waterbender?"
"No! I'm just waterbending in his body. It’s not the same.”
But suddenly Katara looked as gut-punched as he had felt a few moments before.
Toph tipped her head back to the sky and cackled. "I guess you're not the only waterbender in the family, Sugarqueen."
"Guys, I'm not a waterbender! I'm still the boomerang guy."
You’re a lot more than that, Zuko said from deep within his mind. And you know it.
He stopped. Was Zuko saying...?
You're the plan guy, too, Zuko finished.
Ha. Right. Of course. "I'm the plan guy, too!" he added and prayed to every spirit he ever heard of (except Hei Bai because screw that guy) that Zuko had not felt his body's heart lurch in his chest.
Aang, of course, barely listened. "Wow, that means you can learn waterbending with me now.”
“No way. You need to focus on your earthbending, Twinkletoes," Toph said. "You've had enough waterbending for a while. And I'm sure Sparky will want his shot with you and firebending."
Sparky? Zuko snorted.
"Toph, you're my new favorite member. I am so glad they added you to the group," Sokka said.
"No problem, ghost boy."
"I'm not a—Never mind." He turned to Katara, realizing she had been quiet, and found her returned silently to tending the soup—or what was left of it.
Thanks to Sokka's waterbending oopsie, they all had half portions. Sokka ate, shooting looks at Katara. She smiled back at him, but he suspected she was as 'fine' as he was.
I’m not a waterbender, he wanted to snap. But the petty part of him thought that if he couldn’t have ice dodging… at least he could have this.
He gave Zuko his body back after the meal. Shortly after that, Zuko took Aang aside to talk about firebending.
Zuko stomped back to Sokka a few minutes later, looking especially pissy.
"What’s—” Sokka started.
"He's afraid of fire!" Zuko looked ready to boil something. Preferably a monk’s head. “He sought out a master already, but got scared off and doesn't want to continue firebending at all!”
"Um, but he's the Avatar."
"I know!" Zuko scowled. "I'm waking him up at dawn and we will meditate. Maybe that will get his head on straight."
"Did that ever work for you?"
Zuko's glare was answer enough.
Toph trotted up, clearly having heard Zuko. "Good for you." She punched him in the arm. "Glad to see you're not going to coddle him, like his girlfriend does. I practically had to beat his head in with a rock to get him to earthbend."
"See?" Sokka asked. "Wait, what do you mean, girlfriend?"
He never got a satisfactory answer. Toph, it seemed, like teasing everyone. Even people she couldn’t see.
Eventually, they had to bed down for the night, and Katara made a few noises about sleeping in shifts to keep a lookout for sandbenders. When had she gotten so reasonable?
Zuko snorted softly. “Sokka doesn’t sleep. He’ll keep watch.”
“Thanks for volunteering me, jerk,” Sokka said lightly.
He smirked.
Everyone dropped off quickly–even Appa and Momo because they had an exciting day. As usual, Sokka was left by himself.
The night crawled on, bright stars spinning overhead. Sokka paced back and forth, bored and anxious, wringing his nonexistent hands.
Searching for Iroh provided a good excuse for him not to think of what the owl spirit had told him. Now that all was quiet, his mind was spinning, playing Wan Shi Tong’s words on the same loop over and over. And then, following like a looming storm cloud was what the Dark Spirit’s said:
You’ll grow hungrier, more desperate for life by the day. It may take years… And in the end, you’ll be like me.
He had to tell Zuko. It was the right thing to do. Not telling him would totally be a Dark Spirit type of thing to do, and Sokka wasn’t going to be that guy.
Besides, he didn’t trust Aang to keep a secret for very long. He’d already caught him looking at Zuko a few times with a worried expression.
“Okay,” he swung his hands back and forth, psyching himself up. “I can do this. Zuko knows tons of things about me… He’s—our souls ring on the same frequency, or something… He’ll probably think me being a hungry spirit who may or may not be sucking away his life-force will be fine. Just fine.”
What if he wanted nothing more to do with Sokka?
Well, it wasn’t like he could get rid of him. He’d tried that already, the first few weeks on the ship. Maybe it was a dark spirit thing, but for better or worse, they were stuck together.
Plus, Sokka was with the Avatar. Aang would think of something. Right? He just had to defeat the Fire Lord, first. Then... maybe?
With that thought in mind, Sokka walked over to wake Zuko up. It was a few hours until true down. He’d be stirring soon, anyhow.
As Zuko lay sleeping, the tips fingers twitched, his eyes rolled and fluttered under his lids. The muscles around his lips jumped and ticked. He was dreaming.
Sokka paused, considering.
If it was a bad dream (most of Zuko’s dreams were), he’d be in a bad mood when he woke. Sokka hesitated for a moment, then, as he had done on the ship, laid his hand on Zuko’s shoulder. Not enough to possess him, but enough to join with him.
Abruptly, Sokka found himself running through the jungle, broad leaves slapping him in the face. The air was warm and heavy with moisture, but in a much more pleasant way than it had been on the Sun Warriors Island. Silken and welcoming.
A few steps ahead of him, Zuko panted as he ran, “Come on. Hurry up.”
“Where are we going?” Sokka asked.
“You’ll see in a minute.”
They broke cover to stumble upon a white, pristine beach. It was daylight, high noon, and the waves rolled up halfway, the water was an achingly beautiful light blue. In the distance, families with children played and someone flew a kite shaped like a whipping red dragon.
Sokka looked around. The air was now thick with the scents of spices and frying things. Further off stood a row of rich estate houses.
He glanced at Zuko for an explanation and found him grinning in a way he hardly did: free and open without a hint of self-consciousness.
“Where are we?” Sokka asked.
“Ember Island. Isn’t it great?” Zuko looked around. “I haven’t been here for years. I’ll show you around.”
Then he grabbed for Sokka’s hand, as easy as you please. Like Sokka was solid and real. His fingers closed around his wrist, warm and secure.
Zuko pulled him along. “I’ll show you to my family’s house.”
They walked and walked, but in the way of dreams, the houses never got any closer. Not that Sokka minded. The feel of Zuko’s touch the only thing he could concentrate on. Skin against skin. He turned his hand slightly, so they were palm to palm. Their fingers interlaced.
Zuko glanced over at him, cheeks tinged pink.
“Let’s sit,” Sokka suggested.
Visibly swallowing, Zuko tugged him to a line of trees further up the beach. They chose a spot under the shade of a wide palm tree and sat as close as they could, shoulder to shoulder. The line of their arms where they touched felt like the center of Sokka’s world.
Ahead, pale blue waves rolled in and out. Their linked hands rested between them. Heart beating fast, Sokka squeezed. Zuko squeezed back.
“I miss this place,” Zuko said at length. “We haven’t been back to Ember Island since my family was happy.”
He nodded to the side, and there as if she had been the entire time was Azula— younger, maybe seven or eight years old, carefully patting a sandcastle into place. The tip of her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. She looked more full of life than Sokka had ever seen her before. As if the Dark Spirit had sucked something vital from her.
That reminder was enough to put a damper on the scene.
Sokka inhaled, closed his eyes. “Zuko, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Can it wait?”
Sokka looked at him, and Zuko’s voice shook. “I haven’t been back here for years. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want you to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Zuko let out an unsteady sigh, as if Sokka had just said the most comforting thing imaginable. His head rested on Sokka’s shoulder.
Daringly, hardly believing what he was doing, Sokka looped his arm around Zuko’s waist. His skin was solid and real and so soft. His thumb smoothed up and down the ladder of his ribs. Zuko shivered and leaned closer, tucking up to him.
It would be so easy for Sokka to dip his head, for Zuko to look up, and then…
Of course, Sokka’s big fat mouth got it in the way. “I wish you would dream like this more often. There’s a lot less fire and a lot more beach. I like it.”
He meant it as a joke, but the edges of Zuko’s mouth turned into a frown. Out to sea, sudden clouds gathered, casting a shadow that rolled in.
“This is a dream,” Zuko said, stiffening, pulling away. Then he turned, looking at Sokka as if for the first time. “I’m dreaming. Why are you here?”
And abruptly, the world around them shattered.
Sokka found himself back in the real world, kneeling over Zuko, whose eyes were opening.
Caught, Sokka jerked back, but it was too late.
Zuko sat up. “Were you… Was that you?”
“Huh?” Sokka asked, hoping playing dumb would get him out of trouble.
He blinked “I dreamed you were with me on Ember Island.” Then he stilled and stared hard at Sokka. “What did you do?”
“Nothing! I mean, I was trying to wake you up, and…”
“You entered my dreams?!” his voice broke in horror.
Guilt crawled up his throat. He never knew if Zuko remembered him being in his dreams before. Zuko never said anything, and Sokka always had problems remembering his own dreams.
Zuko was no fool, or maybe he could read Sokka too. “Was this the first time? Wait, so every time I dream of you, I—” He stopped, face turning red.
“No! I mean, I don’t know! Maybe?”
“Sokka!"
“This was the third time,” he admitted. “The first two were total accidents. This time sort of was, too. I only meant to wake you up.”
“You accidentally entered my dreams three times?” Zuko’s face was practically scarlet. It was as if he were burning from the inside.
“Okay, look, it’s not like that.” He stopped because, yeah, it was. Then his thoughts flicked back to what else Zuko had said. “Um, do you dream about me a lot?”
Somehow, Zuko’s face managed to grow redder.
Aang and Katara were starting to stir. Probably because Zuko hadn’t bothered to keep his voice down.
“Zuko?” Aang sat up, rubbing his eyes. Seeing Zuko, he brightened. “Oh wow, it’s really weird to see you when you’re not chasing us.”
Zuko ignored him. With jerky, angry motions he threw his blanket to the side.
“Zuko, I’m sorry—” Sokka started.
He whirled on him. “This is my head, my thoughts, my private dreams. You had no right!”
“What’s going on?” Katara asked.
Zuko swung around at her. “None of your business!” Then, seething, he started walking away.
“Where are you going?” Sokka asked.
“I want to be alone. Don’t follow me!”
He stumped off, over the nearest sand dune.
Katara looked at Aang. “What was that about?”
“Lover’s quarrel,” Toph said.
“It was not…!” Sokka started.
But Aang just nodded sagely, throwing him right under the bison. Thanks, Aang.
From the distance, there was a boom. Zuko, it seemed, was angry enough to throw fire around.
“Sounds like quite the fight…” Katara said. “Should we stop them?”
Because she assumed that Sokka had gone with him, that Zuko wasn’t working out his range on his own.
“Let him have his tantrum,” Toph suggested. “It’s not like he can hurt a ghost.”
I’m not the one who got hurt, Sokka thought glumly.
“I wonder what set him off?” Katara asked. “Something about dreams…?”
“It’s my fault.” Sokka looked to the rising sun, feeling lower than dirt. “I screwed up.”
The only person who could have heard him was too far away. His voice was lost on the breeze.
Katara made breakfast from the last of their soup and called Zuko over, but he was in too much of a sulk to join them.
Sokka stayed near Aang and his sister, watching them chat and eat, completely unaware he was there at all.
Finally, as the sun crested fully over the horizon, Zuko joined them, still looking sullen. He didn’t glance Sokka’s way, once.
Toph handed him a bowl with a pathetic amount of soup in it. “Got it out of your system, Sparky? You happy now?”
“I’m never happy,” he grumbled.
That was a lie. Sokka had just seen him happy in his dream. But he wasn’t dumb enough to mention that.
Toph just punched him on the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“It’s how I show affection. You ready to find your Uncle?”
Somehow, she had said the exact right thing. Zuko’s face turned from petulant to serious. This was his game face.
“Let’s go.”
“We should head back to Misty Palms Oasis. That’s where we met up with Uncle and his friend before we found the library. Maybe he made it back,” Aang said. “Or someone heard something about a stolen sand-ship. It’s the biggest town around.”
Zuko continued to ignore Sokka as everyone climbed in.
“Wait, don’t let Appa take off yet.” Katara looked at Zuko. “Is Sokka aboard?”
Finally, for the first time, Zuko shot a glance at him.
Sheepishly, Sokka waved.
Zuko grimaced and looked away. “He’s here.”
And that was that.
They arrived at the Misty Palms Oasis midday. The town was... a little sad. There were exactly two palms and Sokka could not see any mists at all. But the town, or what there was of it, was in an uproar.
People ran back and forth, throwing their belongings onto carts pulled by ostrich horses. Hardly anyone looked up as Appa landed. Apparently, the Avatar was a secondary concern.
"What's going on?" Aang called.
One seedy-looking man with a single eye squinted up at Aang. "You're the Avatar, boy?"
"No, he’s not,” Zuko said aggressively. "Who's asking?”
“Yes, I am,” Aang chipped. "Zuko, we try to start conversations on a more upbeat note.”
Zuko rolled his eyes.
The old man seemed to be more in line with Zuko's way of thinking. “If you’re the Avatar, you best get out of here if you know what's good for you."
"Why?" Katara asked, one hand drifting down to her waterskin.
"The Fire Nation's on the move. Word is, we've got a whole army heading here. I heard they're traveling to Ba Sing Se, and have burned down every stop on the way.”
Oh, that was not good.
"Who's leading this army?" Zuko demanded.
"Why, I hear it's the Crown Princess herself." He turned. “And if half the things I heard about her are true… well. Anyone who can leave, is skedaddling. I suggest you do the same."
Everyone looked at each other, except for Toph who faced the ground, frowning.
"Oh,” Zuko said softly. "So this is what it feels like to be on this side of things."