"General Iroh, wake up. We have an emergency," the panic in Lieutenant Jee's voice made Iroh jump out of bed immediately. Jee was an old sea lion who didn't panic without good reason.

"What's going on?" he asked hoping to cut short the interruption of his sleep.

"It's Prince Zuko," Jee lowered his voice and gave him a significant look that didn't help much. Sleep-interruptions were always about Prince Zuko.

"He set his bed on fire again?" Iroh whispered. It had happened a couple of times in the first months of his banishment. The combination of nightmares and teenage hormones could make a firebender's life tricky.

Jee shook his head, "You'd better see it for yourself, Sir."

Iroh followed Jee to his nephew's cabin. Zuko had been behaving strangely ever since he disappeared for a night. Coincidentally, the same night Zhao apparently lost the Avatar from custody if Iroh's sources were right. Iroh was old enough not jump to wild conclusions, but he wondered sometimes if Zuko's strange behaviour was somehow connected to these events.

Iroh peeped through the small window. He gasped. It was definitely much worse than nighttime flames.

"Lock the door, Lieutenant. And not a word to anyone, understood?" Iroh said on a steely voice that left no doubt that it was a firm command.

The man nodded, "Yes, General Iroh. What are your orders?"

"Same as yesterday. Follow the Avatar," Iroh replied without hesitation. For the first time since the Avatar resurfaced, he was really hoping that they would catch up with the last hope of humanity.

-0-

"Kho, kho, hrrrrr." Uncle was snoring again, except it sounded even worse than usual. Zuko tried to pull his pillow over his head only to find it gone and replaced by cold dirt. "Kho, kho," the snoring increased in volume, accompanied by a strong gust of wind. Did he leave his window open? He opened his eyes to find himself staring at a very big blue arrow on top of a bald head real close to his face. The Avatar. It must be a dream. Zuko rubbed his eyes… and let out a loud scream. Or at least he planned it to be a scream, but instead the noise he made was a kind of a chirp, and his hands were replaced by little furry paws…and oh, no...

"Calm down, Momo, it's too early…" Zuko watched frozen as the Avatar's giant tattooed hand proceeded to land on top of his head and… wait did he just scratch him under the ears in an egregious breach of protocol?

"Leave me alone!" ordered Zuko and jumped back to get outside the reach of the grabby hands of the monk.

"Shhhhh, Momo," another hand grabbed him, this time from behind and pulled him into a tight embrace. His head bounced against soft flesh, and he realized in horror that he was buried in between the curving mounds of the waterbender's breasts, clad in nothing but white bindings. He thrashed and clawed in panic, trying to get out of the curvy-trap, but she held him in a firm grip. "Settle down, now." Her voice was strict, but her hand stroke soothingly along his spine. Zuko froze. Nobody rubbed his back like this for so long, not since mother…He tensed. Then came another long stroke. It was...It was... It was probably best to wait until she fell asleep to get himself free.

"I told you, we should just eat him," the waterbender's idiot brother added groggily.

Zuko closed his eyes, trying to ignore how his heart was drumming against his chest in blind panic. This was nothing but a bad dream anyway. The stress of chasing the Avatar catching up on him. The morning would come, the sun would rise and he would be back on the deck, practicing his firebending forms just like a regular banished prince should.

-0-

The morning came, the sun rose and as Zuko opened his eyes, it became painfully evident that this wasn't at all a nightmare. It was a daymare. It was his harsh, cold reality. Zuko really did turn into a small furry creature. Feeling sick, he inspected his new body. White paws, giant furry ears. A lemur, if the white rings of the long gray tail he dragged around was anything to go by.

He looked around to find the camp already in a buzz of activity. The Avatar knelt at the riverside, shaving his head. Next to him the Water Tribe idiot pretended to shave the non-existent fuzz off his face with his boomerang. Zuko shook his head. What kind of backward people shaved with a boomerang? The waterbender was luckily all dressed and was scooping steaming rice for breakfast into bowls.

Zuko settled next to the Avatar, his reflection in the water confirming his dreadful suspicion. Not only he turned into a lemur, he turned into the Avatar's lemur, specifically. The boy noticed him and held out his hand with a friendly smile. "Bad night, buddy?"

You have no idea. And I'm not your buddy. This doesn't change anything, I'm still capturing you, Zuko said defiantly. It came out as a cheerful chirp. Gah. This was only a temporary setback, not the end of the road.

"You are right about that," the arrowed head nodded in sympathy, reaching for him. Zuko jumped away before the monk could scratch his ears again. Maybe he was in a lemur's body now but it didn't mean he had no standards left. Except, Zuko had never jumped in a lemur's body before and it had a completely inconvenient giant tail, which he proceeded to trip over and fell down, tumbling in the dust.

The idiot Water Tribe boy started laughing with his mouth full of rice, spitting the half-chewed food in every direction. Zuko scowled.

Were you raised in a barn? "Chirp."

He got up with as much dignity as one could muster in a state of furriness and giant ears. He dusted himself off, but nobody was paying attention to him anymore. They were engrossed in some trivial argument about the taste of frozen frogs. The Water Tribe really had the worst cuisine.

Zuko's stomach growled, reminding him that lemurs got hungry too. The pot of rice looked like the only edible thing in the vicinity. A bit pathetic for breakfast, but it would have to do under the circumstances. He snuck closer trying to grab a handful of rice from the pot, but a slap came down on his paw before he could reach it.

"Go, catch a bug, Momo. We really don't have enough rice to go around," Boomerang Boy growled at him.

I'll stuff a bug in your mouth, idiot. Zuko gave the guy his most intimidating glare, which apparently was not at all intimidating in his current form if the amused curve of the Water Tribe boy's eyebrows were anything to go by.

"Come on, Sokka. Give him a break. Here, Momo, you can have some of mine," the Avatar held out some rice in his palm.

Zuko frowned and crossed his arms across his chest. He was not going to eat rice from the Avatar's palm like a little monkey. He was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Banished, but still a prince. And the Avatar was the enemy. First rule of warfare; don't eat from the hand of the enemy.

A pig-fly buzzed by his head. Zuko watched its flight-path, considering his other option, and with a defeated sigh, he edged towards the boy's tattooed hand. Eyeing him suspiciously, he snatched a pawful of rice and settled at a safe distance to munch on it. It was horribly salty, but probably still better than eating a bug. Only slightly better. Not that he ever tried a bug. Except that cricketroach that Azula smuggled into his ice-cream that one time. When he finished, he inched back for seconds. This time the Avatar was ready for him. With lightning-quick reflexes, he patted Zuko's head before he could dash out of the petting-zone.

Stop doing that. "Chirp-chirp."

"Aang, you are spoiling him. He's going to stop catching his own food and start stealing ours," Sokka grumbled. They all stared at Zuko.

I don't steal stuff. It would not be honorable. "Chirp-chirp", he said indignantly.

"Let me remind you who stole the last of the seal-jerky…" the waterbender of all people came to Zuko's rescue.

"Oh, stop it, Katara. You can't keep going on forever about the seal-jerky. I'm a growing man," Sokka flexed his not exactly impressive muscles.

"Then act like it and figure out which way we are going, while I clean up," she retorted.

"I was going to do that anyways," Sokka huffed. He rummaged his sack, pulled out a very dirty, tattered map and turned to the Avatar. "Aang, you want to help?"

The monk scratched his bald head and gave him an apologetic look. "I was actually going to try my air-scooter down the cascade. It looks fun."

Zuko frowned. Fun? Didn't he notice that there was a war going on? Some last-hope-of-the-world this guy was.

"Or you could practice waterbending while we clean the dishes," Katara suggested with the kind of pleasant smile that was nothing more than a thinly-veiled threat in Zuko's experience.

The Avatar grinned at her happily; the passive-aggressiveness of the suggestion went straight over his head. "No, I think I'll pass." Before she could get another word in, he dashed off into the distance.

The waterbender frowned and shook her head. She carried the dishes down to the river and with choppy motions started bending water into them. Zuko was not a waterbender, but even he could tell that her form was terrible. Shoulders slouched, knees not bent enough.

You are doing it all wrong. "Chirp, chirp."

When she looked up, he pulled back his shoulders, demonstrating the right posture.

"Are you mocking me, Momo?" she asked with an evil grin and splashed some water in his direction. Zuko ducked it with a shriek. Well, it was supposed to be a manly yelp - but somehow it got transformed into an undignified high-pitched sound inside his new body. He scowled at the ungrateful waterbender and stomped off. Stomping was also remarkably hard and unimpressive in a lemur's body.

Zuko pondered his options. Nobody was watching him now, so he could simply dash off. But that plan had several disadvantages. First, he had no idea where he was. Second, he was a blasted lemur! A LEMUR! He had nowhere to go. He could never face Uncle or his crew in his current form. It was better to be banished Prince Zuko lost at sea, than banished Prince Zuko who turned into a lemur and ate bugs. There was more dignity in the first option.

He found Sokka next to the campfire, studying his map. Zuko stretched, trying to peek at it but his new body was too short to reach all the way. The only option was to jump on the lap of the Water Tribe peasant. Zuko scrunched his nose, pursed his lips and leapt.

Phew, your clothes are stinky. "Chirp."

"Aaaw, watch yourself," Sokka yelped in surprise, then his features softened into an idiotic smile. He raised his hand and his palm lingered close to Zuko's head, like he was about to pet him.

Don't you dare, Zuko hissed, baring his teeth. Sokka grimaced, but he pulled his hands back.

Petting-danger successfully evaded, Zuko studied the map. Something was definitely off.

It's upside down, you idiot. "Chirp-chip."

"I'm not playing with you, Momo. I'm busy figuring out the direction we are going."

Then stop holding the map wrong. How did you guys evade me even for an hour?

"We have to make sure that evil Prince Ponytail Jerk can't find us."

Hey, watch your mouth, Water Tribe-peasant. It's not a pony-tail. And I'm not evil or jerk. Zuko chattered in agitation. He yanked on the map forcefully, trying to turn it turn it the right way.

"Hey, watch what you are doing! You can still end up as dinner one day," Sokka snapped.

I'm not scared of you. Zuko chirped belligerently this time.

Well, maybe it was just a tiny bit intimidating how Sokka towered over him as he stood up. Zuko got into his firebending stance, but of course no fireballs came out of his furry paws. For lack of a better plan, he picked up a pebble, threw it at the Water Tribe Boy's head and dashed off, climbing up to the safety of the closest tree. Lemur-bodies were at least really good at climbing, even if they were completely useless for everything else.

Sokka stood under the tree, shaking his fist at Zuko. "You are an insolent rascal," he yelled.

"Are you really having a fight with Momo, Sokka?" Katara stood in front of him, hands on hips looking as intimidating as only sisters could. "Couldn't you pick someone closer to your size?"

"He threw a rock at me," Sokka complained on a whiny voice. "And tried to steal the map."

He started the whole thing . "Chirp-chip," Zuko added from his safe spot on the tree.

"Why would he want your stupid map?"

"I'm sure Momo was just trying to help," the Avatar intervened on a conciliatory tone as soon as he landed gracefully next to the Water Tribe siblings. "Didn't you, buddy?" he winked at Zuko.

I don't need you to protect me. "Chirp-chirp."

Zuko stayed perched on the tree and watched as they packed up camp and tied their belongings to the bison's back. His mind was racing in useless circles. He had to fix this somehow before anyone realized what had happened. Except, how did you fix something if you didn't even understand it yourself? Maybe it was a spirit curse. He had read about such things. And if it was, it could be broken. And if it broke, he wanted to be close to the Avatar, so he could capture him. However he turned it around, it was always the same. He was better off sticking with this traveling circus.

In any case, it didn't seem like he had much choice. When they were finished packing, the Avatar came back to the tree. "Come on, Momo. We are ready to go."

Zuko started climbing down the tree carefully. It was more tricky than going up.

"Is your wing hurting? Why don't you just fly?" the Avatar asked.

Right. Those flappy things under his armpits were supposed to do that. Zuko looked down, but the ground looked very far away.

No thanks. I think I'll first just figure out how to move around on the ground. He continued inching his way down the branches.

"Fine, have it your way," shrugged Aang and waited patiently for Zuko to land. They walked over to the bison. From Zuko's new perspective it looked even more intimidating than during their previous encounters. Its enormous head hovered right over Zuko as it sniffed the air suspiciously. The brown button-eyes narrowed warily and the beast bared his teeth with a low rumbling noise.

"Whoa!" Aang held out his hand. "Appa, be nice to Momo, please. In this group we all try to get along." He lifted Zuko to his shoulder and airbended himself into the sky bison's neck.

"Yip-yip, Appa!"

The sky bison started its ascent. The wind bit into Zuko's fur. He lost his balance and grabbed onto Aang's neck tightly so he wouldn't fly off. Aang pulled him in his lap affectionately. "I'm glad you're feeling better, buddy. You seemed really out of sorts this morning."

Zuko tensed as the Avatar scratched his ears again, but considering the wind, the height and the lack of experience when it came to using his wings, he decided it was better to stay put in the relative security. Aang continued petting him absentmindedly. Zuko - having no other options - let him.

This doesn't mean anything. It's part of my disguise. I'm still capturing you. Zuko felt it was better to clarify these things in advance to avoid any misunderstanding. "Purr-purr." Wait did he just purr? Zuko looked at Aang mortified.

Aang smiled at him and stroke him right under his chin. "I'm so glad you are here with us too, Momo."

A/N: I was not going to write this story, but it kind of jumped into my brain and wouldn't leave, as it sometimes happens with these things. I blame it on the spirits.