I awoke to the sound of fiery explosions and of a small battle raging outside. The already damaged ceiling of the beach house cracked open above my makeshift bed. The Duke, who had until then been leaning in a peaceful trance against my mattress. Now he was on his feet, screaming as parts of the ceiling fell around us in flames. Through that crack I saw the Avatar float over the roof, closely followed by a blazing Zuko. Moments later, the ceiling started to cave in. I leapt out of bed and flung myself over him just in time- only a second later I was crushed by the support beam. It took all my strength to hold a plank so that he could still breathe. The flames licked my back and I grunted in pain, trying to ignore the surprised and bewildered look on his face at my struggle. "Go!" I managed under my breath. My muscles shook with the tension and strain. He appeared quite shocked, his shaky breath mixing with my own, our faces only inches from each other. But finally he wriggled out of the confines of the burning wood around us and climbed to the opening above. I relaxed, and the wood fell upon me. The air was forced from my lungs, and every inhale was full of smoke. Tears pooled in my eyes to protect against the ashes rising in the wind. The Duke stood somewhere above the rubble, shouting to ask me if I was alright. I had no air to respond with words, only coughing in reply. Ever so slowly I felt the weight lessening off my back, allowing me to scoot forward. I had squeezed myself out of enough of the beam that I could reach up, grasp a higher chunk of burning wood, and pull my body further out from the pile. A small hand pulled at it instead, yanking until I was finally free enough to climb, ignoring the burning on my skin. The Duke freed me with one last mighty pull, and I heaved a large breath of fresh air.

This is what happens when I let myself sleep in.

"They're fighting!" The Duke exclaimed as we hopped off the fallen roof into the sand. Sure enough, Zuko aimed a huge bolt of fire towards a confused Avatar, who jumped out of the way onto another rooftop. The other members of the group just looked on, not entirely sure what to do. From the looks of it, everyone had been relaxing on the beach before the fight. Suki was still in her underclothes watching from her sunbathing spot. Finally Aang bent a strong gust of air to slam Zuko against a nearby rock. All was quiet for a moment, with the exception only of sputters from Zuko, my laboured breathing, and the cackling of the burning roof behind us. It was obvious that Zuko was furious, but no one seemed to know why.

They argued in the clearing, but I turned away from them to face the flames behind us. Luckily none of our belongings had been stored inside this house. I bended the sand to smother the fire. The Duke watched me in awe as they died, wringing his fingers. When it was all put out, I reached down to ruffle his hair- or just to jostle his helmet around a little. "Thanks," I whispered, my breathing near back to normal. "I'd be squished like a bug if you weren't around to help me."

He grinned at the praise, eyes all squinty with happiness. "I want to learn how to fight like you!" he said admiringly. "I mean, I know I'm not a bender... but I want you to teach me your sick moves!" Here he did some kind of wide kick accompanied by a dramatic "Hiyah!"

I chuckled at his antics, watching him roll around on the beach. He ended in a somersault into the waves and landed hard on his butt. He sheepishly looked back at me. "You remind me of myself," I called as I walked towards him. "Just a few weeks ago, I couldn't even hold a handstand for more than a second. But then..." I paused. Tai Li's smile, her big brown innocent eyes, her dainty demeanor. How strong her hugs are for such a tiny human. All this all flooded my mind. I hoped she was alright. I hoped we would see each other again.

I forced away these thoughts. Shook my head and rolled into a somersault of my own, ending in a handstand. Even Tai Li would be impressed with the grace I'd acquired from our practices. He clapped for me and immediately tried to imitate my movements. His handstand ended with him falling on his helmet. I smiled to encourage him as he continued to try. "The balancing part is the hardest- pft!" I blew my falling shirt out of my face and watched him continue struggling to master the simple set, unsure how to teach him better. How did Tai Li instruct me? She was a great teacher.

"Ahem."

I hadn't noticed the arguing die down over the past few minutes. At the sound, I turned around on my hands and saw an upside-down Zuko with his arms crossed haughtily over his chest. I couldn't resist the huge grin that spread over my face. Perhaps I was this expressive because of the current blood rush to my head. "Hello!" I said happily. The Duke continued to practice the roll and handstand with such concentration that he was unaware of anything else. "I'm just teaching The Duke how to do a handstand. Want to learn?"

The skin beneath his eyes were tinged a light red and he couldn't seem to meet my gaze. I wondered what was wrong as I tried desperately to blow that freaking shirt out of the way of my face. My bare chest was getting a little cold in this ocean breeze. "I already know how to do a stupid handstand," he muttered. As if to prove it, he dropped down and kicked his feet up. He walked around so that we faced each other.

The gold circles held me in a trance. I laughed giddily and took a bold step forward. "Now we're both right side up!" I whispered, inching closer. So close that his breath hit my face, but I didn't stop there. In fact, I didn't stop until my lips met his in a soft kiss. I hummed in pleasure, and the vibrations sent sparks through my body.

Moments later- and moments too soon, I might add- we were no longer connected. I opened my eyes just as Zuko fell onto his back with a loud thump into the sand. He didn't move from there, long enough for me to worry. Maybe he passed out from being upside down so long? I walked forward and dropped on top of him, catching myself with my knees on either side of him before I could fall completely on him. But instead of a woozy, half-lidded gaze, his eyes were wide open and his face undeniably flushed. A quick onceover couldn't pick out any visible issues as to his plight. So I decided to just ask. "What's your problem?"

He glanced down between us, then quickly looked to the side where the ocean lapped up on the sand. I felt fingers lightly tickling my stomach before reaching up to grab the edges of my shirt. He gently worked them down over my torso, which is when he could finally look me in the eyes again. "Your shirt... Your shirt was riding up," his breath hit my neck. I smelled this morning's fried tofu in it. It reminded me of mornings with my family. He would be the father. The Duke may as well have been the child, the way he was rolling around in the sand behind us. I wasn't sure what part I would play. But I wondered if we could ever really be like that. Together. A family. And I wondered if that was too much to ask.

"What's wrong?" Zuko must have seen the emotions on my face, because now the embarrassment was beginning to be replaced by concern, or curiosity. Wasn't sure which. "Your eyebrows get all furrowed when you're worried, by the way. That's how I know."

I sat back onto my butt, enjoying the smell of the ocean and trying to form my next words. He used one of my arms to pull himself up with me. We sat with our legs intertwined, foreheads close. I breathed a heavy sigh while he watched me intently from under his raven-black hair. "I was just thinking how wonderful you are... for a prince."

He smirked and shook his head. "I've changed a lot, haven't I? Since you saw me as a child." He played with my hands as they rested between us.

"You've certainly come a long way," I smiled. I thought back to when I would watch him play with his cousin. He was actually rather similar to that child now, and I was very happy for him. "What was that all about, a few minutes ago?"

His usual frown returned and he shook his head again, this time in defeat. "We're in trouble," he muttered under his breath. "They planned on waiting until after the comet to attack. But my father's going to destroy everything outside the Fire Nation on that day. There won't be anything left to save. It'll just be a sea of fire."

I looked at the ocean beside us, squinting into the face of the sun, and tried to imagine the rising waves as fire instead. "How long do we have?" I whispered.

"Three days."

I glanced over to the rest of the group. Katara seemed to be comforting an overwhelmed Aang on the beach. The others milled about the burnt shore, creating some kind of obstacle course while Sokka directed them. The Duke was now capable of holding a handstand for about two seconds, laughing giddily. Zuko turned his gaze in the direction of the team on shore. "He isn't ready."

Zuko was right. There was no way Aang was ready to face murder. I thought perhaps the fact that it was one of the world's worst humans that he would have less of a problem. But apparently not. I could sense the frantic heartbeat faintly through the sand as he realized what he had to do, and in such a short period of time.

I stood up, this time on my feet, and pulled him up with me. We headed over to the group who had finished whatever course they were working on. Sokka developed a plan of attack on the Fire Lord involving multiple angles of fire from multiple people, ultimately ending in the Avatar slicing the Fire Lord in half. I left them when Rin, Haru, and Teo were seen walking towards us on the beach from the direction of the village. Teo held a basket in his lap full of food. He and Haru kept moving past me, but Rin stopped to meet me, glancing around at the carnage wide-eyed. "What happened?" he asked incredulously. "We leave to get food and come back to ashes!"

I laughed and explained as best I could that Zuko freaked out because we only had three days until we had to save the world or die trying. He seemed to take it well. Just shrugged, glancing at the ocean horizon. I've never seen him so calm before. "Well... it had to happen sometime. What does it matter now or later?" He looked back at me with a reserved look. "We're just as ready as we would be then, because you're never gonna really be ready for it until it happens."

I agreed with him, but I never expected him to have this kind of insight. It couldn't have been easy for him to leave his family, constantly wondering whether or not they were alright. If they were alive. If he would live to see them again. Perhaps that gave him a new perspective.

The rest of the day the group spent outlining and practicing an attack. The Duke asked me to teach him some more tumbling moves, which we worked on for quite a while. Rin and Haru helped the rest of the group in their practices while Teo kept score from the sidelines. After dinner, Haru and I worked to patch the demolished buildings up against the cold, bending up new walls and beds where the fire had erased them. Though we all settled into our rooms, I could feel the Avatar meditating on a porch, his heartbeat conveying his frustration and anger. Hinzi, of course, slept in the same room as me, on the floor by my bed instead of on his own. I switched places with him once he had fallen asleep, adjusting the leftover blankets on the floor. Haru took the other bed in our room. Teo, Rin, and Zuko took the room beside ours, and the females slept on the upstairs level. Thank heavens. That meant I wouldn't have to be in close proximity to Toph for the next few hours.

This time, instead of being crushed by fire, I was woken by a gentle shake. My eyes shot open to see Rin's face incredibly close to mine and eyes still heavy with sleep. "The Avatar's disappeared," he whispered. "We can't find him anywhere."

I looked around sleepily. The Duke still lay curled under a pile of blankets, and Haru snored from across the room. I shrugged out of my blankets and took Rin's hand to pull myself up. Focusing my attention on the heartbeats around the house, I felt Toph and Katara on the porch, and Zuko and Teo searched the inner rooms frantically. But Rin was right- I couldn't feel the Avatar anywhere. I followed Rin outside, where I tried to feel through the sand for his heartbeat, footprints, or anything to indicate where he'd gone. "There's something towards the side of the house." I felt a pattern, a trail, leading from the house towards the water. I headed in that direction while Rin called to the others inside. Sure enough, at the side of the house where Aang had been meditating last night, a set of footprints lead from the railing to the ocean. The others came through his room to see what I'd found. "They end at the shore," I mumbled, feeling as hard as I could what was left of the prints. "There are no marks that he pushed off the ground. He just kept walking straight into the ocean." Looking out in their direction, squinting into the sunrise over the water, I saw nothing that he would be swimming towards. Where could he have gone?

"He's right!" Katara exclaimed, holding up the staff leaning against the rails. "He left his glider here."

"So he's in the spirit world." Sokka shrugged his shoulders in response. "That's nothing new. Maybe there he'll figure out how to defeat the Fire Lord!"

Zuko shook his head. "If he's in the spirit world, wouldn't his body still be here?"

After a detailed search of the island, we didn't find Aang or any more evidence of him elsewhere. The group decided to contact a hunter named Jun who Zuko had hired to find the avatar once before. We packed our things, loaded up Appa, and not long after we arrived in the Earth Kingdom. We were close to my home- not that basement I rented, but my first home. With family. I watched as we flew over what was probably the remains of my little village, now just ashes and dilapidated shacks. No smoke rose from the chimneys. No children played in the streets. Just a shadow of the former village and the ghosts of those that used to live there.

We landed between the dense trees, and I was glad for the distraction. Zuko led the way into a secluded bar in the middle of the forest, from which could be heard both celebrations and fights breaking out. The smell of booze and sweat hit me long before we even got off Appa. Zuko and the others jumped off to head into the tavern. I waited with The Duke, Haru, and Teo for only a few minutes before they returned.

Glancing behind the group, I saw a strikingly pale woman, whose sleek black hair hung low over her eyes. But there was no avoiding their potency. Her whole aura oozed authority.

"Where do you think the Avatar went?" The Duke asked while the group conversed down on the ground. Katara motioned for Aang's glider, and I tossed it to her from my spot on the saddle. Tried to think of a response for the confused little kid sitting next to me.

Teo answered for me. "I don't know, but I know he didn't leave on purpose. Aang is a great person and a powerful bender. He wouldn't leave the world to its fate."

Haru stood up in the saddle. "We should warn the nearby villages. At least we could tell them to leave, or build bunkers."

Teo's eyes lit up at the idea. "That's perfect! We could save the people here. Give them a fighting chance!"

While the Avatar's group talked to the pale woman in black, Teo and Haru developed a plan to reach the local Earth Kingdom villages and tell them about the coming attack. The Duke and Rin would go with them as well. So our group would split into two- one would help evacuate the local Earth Kingdom villages, while the other would search out the Avatar.

Rin hugged me close before they left. "I'll see you on the other side of this, ok?" he asked. His big brown eyes searched mine for reassurance. I nodded. "We'll see each other afterwards. We'll make it out of this."

They left into the forest, past the tavern towards the nearest village, and I watched them go. Committed their images to memory, just in case. They would be safe there- definitely more so than where we were headed. I took some comfort in that knowledge and steeled myself for the task ahead. Two days. That's all the time we had until we had to stop the Fire Lord, and possibly without the Avatar. There was no coming back from this.

When I turned back around to the rest of the group, I was confused by the sight before me. Katara, Toph, Suki, and Sokka stood holding their noses behind Zuko who held up a sandal to the snout of the Shirshu. The pale lady sat on its back as it sniffed at the footwear, and suddenly it reared up and headed off at top speed in the direction of Ba-Sing-Se.

"Wait!" Zuko exclaimed as it bolted away. I jumped onto the bison with the others just as we lifted into the air, following the Shirshu as closely as possible from overhead. Katara held the reigns, while Suki and Sokka made sure to keep a close eye on the running beast below.

"Aang is in Ba-Sing-Se?" I asked no one in particular once we were settled. I didn't think he would be able to swim all the way there from Ember Island.

Zuko shook his head, adjusting in his seat beside me. "She says he's gone. Like he doesn't exist. I don't know what that means, but we have to go on without him if that's the case." His breathing hitched. "We're finding my Uncle instead."

His heartbeat pounded even through the saddle as we soared over the trees. His knuckles whitened as they gripped his tunic, eyes glazed as he lost himself in thought and worry over seeing the General again. I didn't blame him: this would be a big step. But I knew everything would work out between them.

"You're right to be nervous about seeing him again," I said as quietly as I could over the rushing wind. Placed a hand atop one of his to try and relax his tense fingers. "That means you know what wrong you did, and that he is very important to you. But what you don't seem to understand is how important you are to him, too." I smiled at the memory of the General and Lu Ten playing with him and Azula as children, then of the pure fear in the General's eyes when Zuko got sick in Ba-Sing-Se. How I wished someone loved me that much. "There's nothing you can do that he won't forgive. That's just how much he loves you."

Though his face still held the fear and worry, his hand relaxed under mine. I worked his fingers to loosen them, rubbed the back of his hand, trying to calm him. He let me pull his other hand close as well and knead out the knots of tension. They weren't as tough as a working-class citizen's hands, but too tough now to indicate royalty. I felt up his forearm a little and winced at all the knots in his tendons. "You need a massage, sir," I mumbled to myself as I tried to fix as much as I could. Without lotion, though, I might end up just bruising him. So I was very careful in applying pressure. "This isn't as good as a real massage, but it's better than nothing." Tried to force the tendons apart into their rightful places. "To have knots like these, you must be in pain all the time-"

He cut me off with a kiss. The warmth was welcome in the cold wind whirling around us. My eyes instinctively closed as he freed one of his hands from my own to hold my neck. We leaned into each other like two penguins huddling for heat. Weird image, I know, but in the freezing cold air that's all I could think of. He hummed and sent tingles searing through my lips, causing my gut to tighten in pleasure.

We had to breathe, but I almost would've rather it never ended. At the lost contact my body went back to freezing temperatures. He took my hands in his and bended a gentle heat onto my skin. The last time this happened to me, I was being punished because Rin caused a scene. That memory seemed so far in the past. I leaned my forehead onto Zuko's shoulder and we kept close around his heated hands. "What was that for?" I asked.

His breath was heavy on my neck as he set his own head down on my shoulder. "If you hadn't been there for me when I abandoned my uncle..." His voice was quiet and afraid. "I probably would still be at the palace. Getting ready to destroy the world by my father's side."

I didn't believe that. Not for one second. "You made things right on your own, Zuko. I'm just a catalyst. But I'm glad I could help."

We huddled together in silence for the rest of the ride. The sunset was long gone, and only heavy clouds were left in the sky. Our fate loomed over us like those clouds: no one spoke about it, but it was on everyone's mind. We had no Avatar. We had no backup. The world would end in fire and we would end with it. So I was glad to have Zuko next to me. I realized that with him, I had a family. With him, I had a home. He gave me something that had been stolen from me, and that I hadn't had in years.

I realized that I would do quite a lot for this boy.

We landed suddenly, and when I opened my eyes I was greeted by the sight of a crumbling wall. The Shirshu stood on its hind legs digging at the rubble. It was then that I knew this was the western part of the wall into Ba-Sing-Se. What had caused the whole thing to fall apart?

"Your uncle's somewhere beyond the wall. Nyla's getting twitchy, so he can't be too far." She steered her beast around away from the wall and trotted up to the side of Appa, to give us a small smile from under her thick bangs. "Good luck."

And she was gone just as quickly as she'd gotten here. I dropped to the ground from the sky bison and immediately tried to feel beyond the wall. There was still the maze of the city, with buildings where I remembered them. But every so often a huge pile of debris could be felt just in the middle of the street. Heartbeats set out a steady rhythm from houses- I couldn't be sure whether they were the original owners or the soldiers who had kicked people out. I flashed back to the young soldier who I'd seduced to get out of a stick situation. I wonder if he's still stuck to that wall? I thought with a smirk.

"It's been a long day," Zuko addressed the group as we climbed out of the saddle. Sure enough, everyone looked beat and defeated. The battle hadn't even begun and we were already losing. "Let's camp and start our search again at dawn."

Toph and I bended quick tents together in our clearing in front of the wall. We shouldn't draw too much attention to ourselves in all this rubble. We lay down without a fire and simply curled into our sleeping bags. I thought of Rin and Hinzi. Maybe we'll see them sooner that we thought? The villages they went to weren't very far from here.

I bolted upright in my earth tent. Footsteps resounded through the piles of fallen wall, heading straight for us. Toph must've felt it too, because she bended her hut away and stood ready to fight. I leapt up just as a circle of fire formed around us to keep us in place. The rest of the group was now wide awake, and the footsteps had stopped. I looked up to find their owner, and saw four older men in blue robes standing above us.

"Well look who's here!" one exclaimed. It took me a moment, but I finally recognized him as the Earth King. His wild white hair shook as he laughed and snorted, looking down at us from his perch on the crumbling wall.

"Master Paku!" Katara's eyes lit up and she ran to one man with long white hair and an impressive mustache, who hugged her close. Sokka greeted the black-haired man as "Master" as well. My body finally relaxed as I realized we weren't in danger. But if the Shirshu led us here, where is the General?

Zuko seemed to have the same thought. After politely accepting introductions, he cut straight to the point. "Do you know where my uncle is?" he asked Master Paku. His hands were clenched again with nerves.

"He sent out a call that the members of the White Lotus were needed for something important," Master Paku stated as he separated from Katara. "We'll take you to him."

We followed them through the debris to their camp. Katara and Sokka excitedly talked about Master Paku being engaged to their grandmother. Katara wanted to know what kind of betrothal necklace Paku had made. Sokka wanted to know if he could call Paku "Grand-Paku". Suki and Toph rode on Appa as we navigated through the city.

Zuko suddenly held my hand, drawing my attention to him. He smiled and, though still a little tense, seemed resolved and ready to face his uncle. I swung our hands between us, glancing around the streets. No signs of Fire Nation soldiers anywhere. Those heartbeats belonged to the citizens of the city. That means that somewhere, Rin's family was probably safe. I wondered if Chouko's family had returned once the city was reclaimed from the Fire Nation?

"I didn't know your uncle was part of a secret society," I said.

He smiled and shook his head. "Yeah, I didn't know either until pretty recently. There's a lot I don't know about my uncle." Here his smile fell slightly.

I changed the subject. Pointed at one of the buildings down the street, barely recognizable in the moonlight. "You remember that? That's where you and your uncle lived before getting the nice shop in the second ring."

His smile was back, full-force, as he recalled the memory. "That's where we first met. I mean, we sort of met as children. But this was for real." He squeezed my hand a little tighter.

"And you were such a jerk at first!" I laughed and he winced in embarrassment. "But now I know that jerk is mine."

He blushed at my words, but held my gaze. I saw nothing there in those pools of gold but affection, happiness, and gratitude. "I am your jerk," he said confidently. "And you're mine too."

All the pain of the loss of my family was still there. They had still been taken from me. But now I had something that gave my life meaning again. I had a person to call family.

I kissed him deeply to show my thanks. Didn't care who saw. Heck, I didn't even care that we were probably all going to die tomorrow. I rubbed my nose against his affectionately after we parted. In front of the group, the Earth King bended an opening into a wall, behind which was a camp full of mostly older men in long robes similar to those of the Masters leading us here. "Well, here we are. Welcome to the old-people camp." The King gestured to the tents where we could sleep tonight, the fire where food was prepared if we were hungry. Appa hurriedly walked towards a basket of some apples, letting out a happy grunt and licking his lips with that huge tongue of his. The other members of the group followed Master Jeong Jeong to the earthen huts, each with their sleeping bag and a huge sleepy grin on their faces. I held fast to Zuko's hand as he confronted Master Paku shakily. "Where... where is he?" he asked.

Master Paku directed us to a tent at the far side of the camp, away from the bustling hum of the White Lotus members around the fire. Zuko gulped and led me towards the tent. His heartbeat pounded through our connected hands. We stopped just a few feet away.

"What do I say to him?" he whispered. His eyes never left his uncle's tent.

I patted his arm in a comforting manner. "You just tell him the truth."

We stood there outside the tent for longer than I could measure. My eyelids grew heavy, but I continued to wait until he was ready. I'd wait until I passed out if I had to. Luckily it never got to that point. He finally turned to me, gold eyes meeting my own. "Thank you." He hugged me and I hugged back, enjoying his warmth. His heart rate was almost back to normal, and his nerves had all but disappeared. "I'm ready."

We pulled back and I smiled. "You have always been ready."

He smiled- a genuine one, not trying to reassure himself. Then turned to the tent opening. Took a deep breath, then stepped inside. I watched him go, feeling a surge of pride at his humility and all the progress he's made. Then I stumbled my way to the empty tents and barely made it inside one before I plopped to the ground, ready to sleep the rest of the night away.