Song knew that her mother was worried about her, and had been so since she'd returned home a week before.  The broken-hearted doctor, however, just couldn't bring herself to care.  She wasn't sure if she would ever forgive herself for doing this to the Firelord, though she could only hope that his hating her would protect him.

Maybe it would stop hurting one day.

And then she saw him, through the trees, when she stepped outside to empty a bowl of dirty water.

With a gasp of shock, she dropped the bowl.

"Song?" called her mother.  "Is everything all right?"

On hearing the other voice, Zuko vanished into the trees.

"Y-yeah," Song called back, staring where he'd been.  "Everything's… fine."

 

Later that evening, the next time she was alone outside, she saw him again.  That glimpse coolly slaughtered her mounting belief that she had only been imagining seeing him before, and she quickly hurried inside.

However, after her mother went to sleep, Song sneaked out of the house.  Zuko was waiting for her, perched in a tree.  Heart pounding, she looked up at him.  What was he doing here?

He climbed down, then bit his lip, looking uncertain.

"Lee…," she whispered, looking poised to flee.

"I — I just wanted to — I needed to — I'm not very good at people," he finally managed to say.

Song bit her lip, but stayed.

"I-I mean…" he continued, hesitantly, "I'm good at just me against like a million people… I'm really good with long odds. Like that. The longer the better. And even when it's just me, facing my cabinet, I can handle that, but… but when it's one on one… just me and someone else… especially someone I… someone who means a lot to me…"

Her eyes went wide.  "Lee, what— what are you saying?"

"I…" He hesitated. "What do you want me to do, Song?"

"I just want you to be safe," she whispered.  "A-and happy."

"I don't think I can do that alone," he whispered back.

Her jaw dropped slightly.  At some point, she'd moved close, close enough that there were scant inches between them and she could feel his breath on her forehead.

"'Cause that's another thing I'm really bad at. Being safe. A-and I'm even worse at being happy. I — until recently, I hadn't really had much cause…"  His voice trailed off.

Song looked down. "I'll only bring you trouble, Zuko."

He laughed a little, somewhat bitterly. "Trouble is one of the things I am good at."

She didn't respond, still looking at the ground.  He started to reach for her hand, then paused.  After a moment, her hand slipped into his.  He lit up.

"Zuko, I—" Song began to say.

He squeezed her hand lightly. "You don't have to come back if you don't want to. But I'd like it if you did. Very much."

"I…"

Do it.  Go back with him.

He'll get hurt.

No, he won't.  Not because of you.  You won't let it happen.

"Please?" he whispered, not letting go of her hand.

"You're sure I won't be trouble?" she asked finally, looking up at him.

"No," he said, frankly. "But if being with you causes trouble, I'll fight through it."

A very long pause.  "All right."

He almost smiled. And he would have hugged her, but his whole arm was occupied with holding her hand.  She stepped closer and smiled up at him, the sadness he'd seen in her eyes before now gone.  He kissed her lightly, and she returned it, slipping her free arm around him.

 

Toph abruptly stopped Haru and Ty Lee. "He found her, they're both there. Let's give them a minute."

"What?"  Haru frowned, then knelt on the ground, seeking out the Firelord and the doctor.  "Oh," he said after a moment.  "I see."  He flushed.

"I don't believe it. Zuko's not the type…" Ty Lee said, frowning.

"I'm pretty sure they still have their clothes on," Toph said dryly.

"For now," agreed Haru.

"They'll stay on," Ty Lee said, seriously. "Zuzu's not going to screw around."

"Pity," muttered the older earthbender.  "It would only benefit him in the end."

Ty Lee hit him.

"Ow!" Haru complained, rubbing his shoulder.  "I wasn't saying that he should…"

"Of course you weren't," his girlfriend replied, rolling her eyes.

The earthbender sighed.  "The General is gonna lecture him but good when we get back home.  How are we splitting the watches tonight?" he asked them, changing the subject.

"Don't care," Ty Lee said, cheerfully.

"Then I call dibs on the dawn watch," he said promptly.

"I'll take first watch, then," Toph said.

"That works for me," Ty Lee said, then curled up to sleep.

Haru watched her sleep, reaching out and stroking her hair gently, then glanced over at Toph.  "Hey.  Bandit."

"Yeah?"

He hesitated.  "How'd you discover metalbending?"

She frowned a little, then explained. "My parents sent bounty hunters after me. They locked me in a metal box. I broke it."

"I think you got lucky," the older bender muttered, half to himself.

"How'd you figure it out?" Toph asked him.

"I was fighting Dai Li agents," Haru said after a moment.  "Trying to keep them off Sparky so he could fight his sister.  One of 'em got his chain around my neck."  He hesitated.  "I figured it out about two seconds before he killed me."

"And you busted the chain?"

"Yes," Haru said simply.  "I broke the chain, and then his nose.  It killed him."  He took the chain from around his waist and held it out to her.  "Feel the edges here."  He passed her the end of the chain that he'd broken.

She did. "…Ow."

"I'm learning to wield it," he said softly, taking it back.

She just nodded.  Silence fell between them, and eventually Haru fell asleep as well.

Ty Lee woke him as planned two thirds of the way through the night.  He enjoyed the early morning, then woke the girls at the appropriate time.  "Do we want to get him now, or wait until they're on the boat home?" he asked.

"Now," they said in unison.

"Better safe than sorry," Ty Lee added. "If we keep our distance, we might not get to him in time if he needs backup."

"Right.  Lady BeiFong?"  He bowed to Toph.

She punched him. "Don't call me that," she snapped, then headed off to where Zuko waited in the woods just in front of Song's home.

Song wasn't with the Firelord, as it turned out.

"Sparky," said Haru.

"You found me," Zuko said, turning.  Behind him, Song slipped from the house carrying a bag.

"Yes," Haru replied.  "With some help."  He nodded to Toph as Song stared at them all.

"Zuko, what—?" she started to ask.

The Firelord looked a little sheepish. "I kind of ran off without telling anyone…"

Song groaned.  "Oh, Zuko."

"I wanted to catch up with you," he said defensively.  She just shook her head and took his hand; he squeezed hers lightly. "Your mom's okay with this?"

"Yes," Song replied.  "She… wasn't happy that I skipped out on my duties in the palace to run away."

Zuko nodded. "Okay."

 

*       *          *

 

Ty Lee had barely left Song's side since all five of them had begun the return trip to the Fire Nation, which left the two earthbenders with plenty of time to spend around each other.  Until they'd boarded the boat, this time had been spent earthbending; now they could only talk.

This worked for Haru — he'd wanted to broach this subject with Toph for a time, and for once, they had relative privacy.  "Did Ty Lee tell you why Song left to start with?" he asked.

"No, I don't," she admitted. "Figured it might upset them to ask and then Sparky would sulk and be generally annoying."

Haru double-checked to be certain nobody was listening, then lowered his voice.  "Zuko and Song were kidnapped directly off palace grounds two days before she left."

"What," Toph said flatly.

"Dai Li agents did it," he explained.  "Zuko and Song fortunately managed to escape in under twenty-four hours.  Bad news is, all of 'em got clean away.  I made sure they wouldn't be able to use the building again, though."

"Did they brainwash either of them?" she asked.

"We don't know," he answered honestly.  "Song left the day after they escaped, and he went running off after her.  So we haven't had a chance to find out."

"That's bad," Toph declared.  "If the Dai Li did get to him—"

"I know."  Haru looked out over the water.  "Worse, even this stunt he just pulled offers no hints either way."

"Yeah..." Toph frowned in the general direction of the horizon.

"With any luck, there won't be too big a mess when we get back."

"Yeah." She didn't sound hopeful.

"And that's just Zuko."

"There's still the question of whether they got to Song, too," Toph agreed.

"And if so, for what purpose."  Haru groaned.  "Both Zu and Song say that she was left in their cell, but… hell, you know what happened to Jet.  Their memories may not be accurate."

"Yeah. And there's no way to check, since you didn't catch any of the Dai Li there." Toph punched the railing.

"You dented it," Haru pointed out.  Then, "We did find papers, at least."

"They any help?"

"Depends on how much you want to trust them," the older bender replied, sighing.  "One of 'em catalogues what they intended to condition Sparky for — but not a one of them mentions Song."

"Which could mean anything. It's also kinda weird that they were able to escape so easy." Toph frowned, a very uncomfortable thought forming itself in her brain.

"That had occurred to me.  And given how fast the Dai Li pulled out—"

"What if the plan was never to condition them at all?" Toph asked, very quietly.

Haru was silent for a long moment.  "The General isn't gonna like this at all.  Alternately, he's already thought of it and has gotten a head start on not liking it."

"How the hell did they manage to get to him before his security at least sounded some kinda alarm?" she demanded.

"Because Sparky's an idiot," he replied, and explained the circumstances.

"He sent his security away. And they actually listened? Doesn't he get like ten death threats a day as it is?!" Toph exploded.

"I think it's more like five, really, but yeah."

Toph sighed.

"I'm thinking he's going to be getting a new security detail," Haru said.

"He should," agreed Toph

"Hand-chosen by Iroh.  Wanna bet on whether or not he includes a Li?" he offered with a grin.

She snorted in response.  "No bet, he's going to.'

Haru shook his head and sighed.  "The sooner we're back home, the happier I'm gonna be."

Toph nodded, then paused. "When did the Fire Nation become home for you?"

The big earthbender considered this.  "I think when I started seeing Ty Lee," he said at last.

Toph nodded again, and fell silent.

"You could stay, if you want," Haru said after a moment.  "Sparky'd love to have some more friends around."

"I probably will, least for a while," Toph admitted

"Great!  I need someone to throw me about the earthbending arena anyway."  He grinned down at her.

She grinned back. "I look forward to it."

 

*       *          *

 

After two weeks of travel, they made it back to the capital.  Between the two of them, Haru and Toph were able to sneak Zuko and Song into the city without too many people being the wiser.  And then Haru took them to see Iroh.

To say the old man was displeased with their little trip would be like saying Princess Azula was slightly unstable.

Three of the four teenagers were prepared for this, but Song had not been.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked her, in an undertone, after they'd finally finished being lectured.

She nodded, still stunned, and groped for his hand.  He took it, and squeezed lightly.  Song took a deep breath then, and bowed apologetically to the General.  He bowed back. "I'm glad you decided to return."

"How could I not?"  Song looked up at Zuko and smiled.

Zuko almost smiled back, then turned back to Iroh. "I guess we should—"

"Yes."

Haru put his hand on Song's shoulder.  "C'mon — you should talk to Doctor Chang and that kid of yours."

"All right." Reluctantly, Song let go of Zuko's hand.

"I'll see you later," he promised, catching her hand again quickly and kissing it.

She flushed.  "Later, Zuko."

He then turned back to his uncle and the two of them shut the door to talk.

From there, Song decided to talk to Yì Suì.  Despite her letter, he'd probably been worried. He was currently in their room, curled up on the windowsill.  To judge by his appearance he'd definitely been worried.

"Yì Suì," she said softly, standing in the doorway.

He looked up. "S-song!" He'd lost weight in the weeks she'd been gone — a bad thing, he hadn't had it to lose.

Carefully she didn't let him see her dismay.  "I'm back, Yì Suì."

"G-good," he said.

"I won't leave you again," Song said.  "I promise."

"Okay." He looked a little relieved.

"I'm sorry for leaving before," she went on, kneeling in front of him.

He nodded. "I-it's okay..."

It really wasn't, but Song sighed and settled down against the wall.

Yì Suì curled up again, staring out the window. Every so often, he snuck a glance over at her — whether it was to make sure she was still there or make sure she was okay was anyone's guess.

After awhile she rose to her feet and moved over to him, making sure to keep three feet of distance between them.  "Yì Suì?"

"Y-yeah?" he looked up.

She smiled gently at him.  "I need to let Doctor Chang know I’m back.  I'll come back when I'm done, all right?"

"K-kay," he said.

She bowed to him rather than hug him, and then made her way to the infirmary.

"Welcome back, Miss Song," Chang greeted her once she was there.

"Thank you, doctor," she said quietly.

"Are you planning on staying?" he asked.

Song blushed.  "The Firelord asked me to.  Yes, I am."

He smiled a little. "Good."

"It's good to be back," she said after a moment, wondering if he was angry.

"It's good to have you back."  Still no indication of feeling.

"Would you like me to pick up my regular shift?" she asked him hesitantly.

"Yes," he said then.

The young doctor brightened.  "Wonderful!"

He smiled a little wider at her, and she bowed, relieved that he didn't seem too upset, then went to look for Ursa.  Quickly.  It didn't take very long to find the older woman out by the turtleduck pond.

Song watched her for a moment, hesitant, then tentatively spoke.  "L-lady Ursa?"

Ursa looked up. "You came back."

"Yes," she said softly.  "I… Lord Zuko asked me to."

She nodded. "I see."

"I'm sorry for leaving," the girl whispered.

Ursa nodded again.

"I… I panicked, I couldn't think of how else to…"

"Of course."

Song shut up and hung her head.  Yì Suì and Chang might have easily forgiven her, as had Zuko, but Lady Ursa…  It would take time. Forgiveness would come, but it would take time.

"I'm sorry," the girl whispered again, then fled.