I LIIIIIIIIIIVE! So tell me what fanfic needs reviving, you just say the word and I'm there. And let me tell you, anyone who dares mess with my readers, vengeance will be mine!

So I'm back! I know, it's been like late February since I last updated and here it is midway through December. Guys, I suck. Like, I really do. I'm going to try and do better from here on our though, and hopefully it won't be another - year? - until I update again.

"I have contacts in the Earth Kingdom," Asuni said. They had spent the rest of the day since the ship walking and were settling in for the night. With Firebenders around at least they wouldn't lack for a fire and with the refugees filtering around the country no one would question a trio supposedly fleeing Fire Nation occupation.

"Our best bet is to make for Ba Sing Se," she continued as she turned the rabbit squirrels she'd caught over their fire. "We can get lost in the refugees of the Lower Ring."

"Will your contacts be able to get us there?" Iroh asked calmly, not showing any signs of having a problem with going to the city he had once attempted to raid.

"They'll be our best bet," Asuni nodded, pulling one skewered rabbit squirrel off the fire and passing it to Zuko. "Mind the little bones," she advised quietly before continuing. "Kaieda has spent nearly a decade building a cover in the Earth Kingdom. We'll have to go out of our way a little bit to get to her and she's…" Asuni wrinkled her nose, "Well, she's not my favorite associate, but her half-brother was one of my mentors. It'll be safer getting documents from her than trying to con our way in."

"Kaieda," Iroh repeated, the name dimly ringing a bell. His eyes widened slightly. "Piandao's daughter?"

"Master Piandao?" Zuko questioned, looking up.

Asuni nodded. "Yes, that Kaieda."

"Is Master Piandao one of you?" Zuko asked, surprised by the idea that one of his teachers might have been a Royal Guard as well.

"He's not one of us, no, although he is one of our contacts," Asuni admitted. "He's worked very closely with us in the past. Kaieda's mother was one of us, that's how we got her. I'll give her this, she's vicious with a sword," Asuni said with a faint smile.

"No surprises there," Iroh said with a small chuckle. Asuni nodded and stood, swatting the dirt from her legs.

"I'll take the first watch," she said, moving a short distance from the fire.

"Is that really necessary?" Zuko asked, surprised. Asuni looked at him across the flames.

"We are in a nation that would love to kill us, pursued by another nation that would love to imprison us. As of right now we have no allies, our food is what we can find, and I am our source of water. You sister is only a day behind us and she'll have everyone on the lookout for us. Yes, it's necessary."

Asuni bent over her pack and reached inside, digging out a cloak and a pair of blankets. She tossed one blanket to Iroh and Zuko and pulled the cloak over her own shoulders.

"It'll get cold at night, so bed down tightly," Asuni advised before plucking a dagger from inside of her bag and her chain whip. She tucked the former into her belt and the latter up her sleeve before moving to a tree. She took a few running steps, grabbed a branch, and heaved herself up with an ease and smoothness Zuko had only ever seen from Ty Lee before.

"I believe we've seen the last of our cook," Iroh said softly. Zuko looked at him questioningly.

"Uncle?"

Iroh smiled slightly. "We know who she is. Asuni is no longer hiding herself from us and no longer pretending. If we weren't alone and in this situation, would she have done that?" He nodded to the tree. "She's finally able to drop every bit of the act and focus on her mission – namely, to keep you safe."

Zuko's jaw tightened at that. He'd seen the outline of Asuni's mask, how it shifted depending on who was around. When it was just himself and Iroh she had no problem speaking to him as an equal, but around Azula she had been a demure servant. Even before that, when there was a possibility she could be overheard or seen on the ship she had kept bits of a servant's demeanor to protect herself from suspicion. Now that was completely gone.

Lieutenant Asuni of the Royal Guard was his travelling companion now and Zuko wasn't sure how he felt about that. What would change now?

"We should sleep," Iroh said as he laid down on his side, pulling the blanket over himself. Zuko mirrored him, dragging the blanket up to his chin. Asuni was right, it was cold. He raised his body heat just a little, enough to take the chill out, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, dawn was breaking. He looked around, but there was still no sign of Asuni. He glanced to the tree but couldn't see a hint of her red cloak – not that he was sure he'd be able to even if she was still there. Zuko sat up and peered around uncertainly. Iroh was still slumbering peacefully on the other side of the fire, but Asuni was nowhere to be seen.

"Asuni?" he called quietly.

"Your uncle's resting," Asuni chided as she slipped from behind a bush into their tiny campsite. Three more rabbit squirrels were dangling from her fingers. Zuko thought back to the gamey taste the night before and realized somewhat grumpily that the quality of his food was about to take a big hit.

"You didn't wake someone up to relieve you," Zuko observed as Asuni said down. He gathered the blanket around his shoulders to fight off the morning's cool mist and moved to sit next to her by the fire. With a flick of his wrist, the smouldering fire roared back to life.

"Be careful with that," Asuni advised softly, nodding to his hands. "Firebending could give us away."

"No one's around," Zuko countered, his voice rising slightly in annoyance. Asuni placed a hand on his knee comfortingly.

"I know, Zuko, just a reminder," she assured him before pulling the dagger from her belt. Zuko watched in fascination as Asuni began to skillfully gut the animals, skinning them and setting the pelts and guts aside. She picked up the blackened sticks they'd cooked their meat on the night before and pierced them through chunks of meat, setting them up carefully to cook.

"Could use some herbs," Asuni murmured softly, scowling at the meat. She could do some wonderful things with rabbit squirrel if she'd had access to a kitchen. Out here it would rely on whatever she could find. This morning she hadn't wanted to leave Zuko and Iroh unguarded for long so she had returned to camp the moment she caught the game, not bothering to hunt for seasoning.

Zuko smiled at that for whatever reason. "You really are a cook," he muttered fondly, watching as she adjusted the set of the meat by the fire. She paused, looking at him over her shoulder, her brows raised and her mouth falling into a small O. It was a look that might have been on his cook's face and Zuko was reassured that not much would change.

"Of course I am," Asuni said with a wry smile. "That's what I've always been."

"Our first priority is food," Asuni explained as they munched on their breakfast. "Hunting isn't a guarantee and neither is gathering. I can get us water but we need to spend some time building up a bit of a store before we go wandering around the wilderness."

"I know about edible plants and fungi," Iroh put in as he munched on his meat. "It was part of survival training for all soldiers."

"I… don't," Zuko admitted lamely.

"That's why you're going to be sticking with me," Asuni explained. "We're going to split and comb the area before meeting back here at noon. Then we'll head out. "

Zuko scowled, a little bit offended that Iroh was allowed to go off on his own. "I can take care of myself," he began darkly.

"I know," Asuni assured him. "But you're no Iroh. No one is. I trust that anyone who can take down your uncle wouldn't be stopped by little old me. But you don't know what you're looking for, so we'll be having a crash course."

The finished the meal and Zuko and Asuni headed away from camp in one direction, Iroh in the other. They walked in silence, Asuni scanning the trees and ground around them as they went to try and find something edible. Zuko watched her out of the corner of his eye, silently impressed by the focus on her features and the way she would either take a second glance or totally disregard every single leaf she laid eyes on.

Zuko's eyes lit on a tree that was dripping with small, dark berries growing on thin branches. "What about these?" he asked, reaching up and grabbing a handful down. He raised one up to examine it. Asuni glanced over and saw the tree and the berries in his hand. She immediately swatted his hands and she the berries to the ground.

"Hey!" Zuko protested.

"Those are chokecherries!" Asuni explained. "You eat those and if you survive you'll wish you died for days. They're incredibly poisonous."

Zuko quickly stepped away from the tree. "Okay then… is there anything out here we could eat?"

"Well…" Asuni cast around and she smiled as she gestured for Zuko to follow her over to the base of a tree. She crouched down and he squatted next to her.

"All I see is clover…" he said, staring around.

"Exactly," Asuni said approvingly, pulling a small knife from her boot and slicing away chunks of clover before stuffing them into a pouch at her hip. "Clover is edible."

"Really?" Zuko asked skeptically.

"It may not be the usual palace fare," Asuni said drily. "But it will keep you alive."

On they went through the trees, making a wide arc and coming back towards the camp as the sun began to draw close to its zenith. As they walked Asuni explained to Zuko what plants to look for if he was in need of food and how to identify them, as well as how to recognize plants he should avoid at all costs. The chokecherry lesson was one he wouldn't soon forget, and soon he had compiled a list in his head of things he could eat. Clover, burdock, wild asparagus and asparagus, wood and sheep sorrel, prickly pear cactus, fireweed, green seaweed, and kelp. He also had an equally long list of plants to avoid. Oleander leaves, jasmine berries, mistletoe berries, water hemlock.

Zuko had never much enjoyed lectures when he was a child growing up and being educated by the finest teachers the Fire Nation could offer its royalty. He'd found them incredibly dull and had stared moodily out the window, waiting dreamily for the time when the bending teacher would come or Master Piandao would arrive to teach him more swordplay.

However, Asuni didn't bore him. Instead she fascinated him, every word. The calm confidence she displayed as she talked about plants that would help or kill him, the ease with which she navigated through the trees, never so much as turning an ankle on a stray rock. Even the way she drew that tiny knife of hers, so gracefully and so quickly, entranced him, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why, just knew that he would forever be able to recognize poison ivy and poison oak purely because Asuni had explained it to him.

"I didn't find anything," Zuko said, scowling as they made their way back into camp. His foot caught on a stray root and he tripped a little, pausing to glare at the root. "I'm not meant to live like this."

Asuni stared at him sideways. "No, you're not," and let him draw his own conclusions on whether that was an insult of just her agreeing with him.

She paused as she saw Iroh happily sipping from a ladle, a small bowl sitting in the fire.

"Ah, Asuni!" he waved to her happily. "You will appreciate this! I found the rare white dragon bush!"

Asuni frowned. "The one that makes the delicious tea?" Zuko groaned at her side.

"That one exactly!" Iroh approved heartily, taking another happy sip of his tea.

"You're sure it's not the white jade bush?" Asuni asked faintly.

"… Reasonably positive…"

Asuni groaned and smacked a palm to her forehead. Zuko looked between the two of them blankly.

"What's wrong with white jade?" he asked.

"In incredibly poisonous," Asuni moaned, dragging her hands across her face in exasperation. "And Iroh… white dragon doesn't grow in this part of the world!" she shrieked.

"Oh." Iroh blinked and stared in disappointment at the bowl. "You know, I did think the tea tasted a bit under whelming…"

Asuni threw up her hands. "You've poisoned yourself!" she insisted. "You do get that right?"

Zuko rushed to his uncle's side worriedly. "Uncle, are you okay?" He looked to Asuni desperately, heart pounding at the idea of losing his uncle. Iroh may not always be his favorite person but he did love the old man dearly and it would break his heart to lose him. "What do we do?"

Asuni sighed and rubbed her temple. "Okay, there's a village not far from here if memory serves where we should be able to get what I need. Thankfully, white jade is very slow-acting so we should have time. It's when the rash appears that we need to-"

"Asuni." Zuko tugged up Iroh's sleeve, revealing a vivid red rash creeping its way up Iroh's forearm.

Asuni paled. "Let's move."

The village boasted a small infirmary and that was where they brought Iroh, who was by that point covered in the rash and swelling up like a bull frog about to croak. They took one look at Iroh and steered him towards an examination table and called for a nurse.

The girl who came was a young girl with a long brown braid. She fetched an ointment and began to apply it expertly while Asuni and Zuko waited on a nearby bench. Zuko kept his face in shadow with a conical hat but Asuni sat forwards, watching the girl's movements like a hawk for any sign of incompetence. Fortunately, the nurse seemed to know what she was doing.

"You must not be from around here," she said drily. "We know better than to touch the white jade bush… let alone make it into tea and drink it."

"Oops," Iroh said sheepishly.

The nurse wrung out her rag in a bowl of water. "So where are you travelling from?"

"Yes, we're travelers," Zuko blurted awkwardly. Asuni shifted and placed a hand on Zuko's thigh to quiet him. She may love the man but he was helpless in situations like this.

"Do you have names?" the nurse asked, looking at Zuko in amusement.

"My name is Aluki," Asuni replied easily. "This is Lee and his uncle… Mushi." She gave Iroh a dark look as he winced. She still wasn't amused about the tea incident. Iroh was busily scratching at his temple. The nurse knocked his hand away sternly. Iroh scowled at Asuni, who smiled back innocently as Zuko covered up sniggers.

"Don't scratch, you'll make it worse," Asuni warned him.

"My nephew was named after his father, so we call him Junior," Iroh said, shooting Zuko an annoyed look. This time Zuko gave Asuni the sideway look for snickering.

"Yes, and we call her Kiki," he said, patting Asuni's shoulder fondly. She pinched his side subtly and he winced.

"My name is Song." The nurse smiled. "You three look like you could use a good meal. Why not stay for dinner?"

Song's mother was surprised to see her daughter come home with three strays but she said nothing of it, just asked Song to set three more places at the table and went back to the kitchen to plate everything.

"My daughter says you're refugees," Song's mother said as she returned, the roast duck sitting out on a large tray. "We were as well, once."

"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village," Song explained. "All the men were taken away." Her eyes lowered. "That was the last time I saw my father."

"I don't suppose he was a bender, was he?" Asuni asked softly. "Could any of the men fight?"

"Some did," Song's mother replied. "But my husband wasn't a bender and in the end all of the men were either killed or captured."

Zuko's eyes lowered as well. "I haven't seen my father in many years."

Lo Shen's scarred but dear face swam in front of Asuni's eyes and suddenly she could barely breathe for missing him, her eyes prickling with tears. She tried not to think about it much, but she missed the Fire Nation, missed the Royal Guards, and most especially missed her father every day she was gone. She couldn't wait to return but she had a mission to complete and lingering on what she had waiting at home did nothing but make it harder.

"Nor I," she admitted quietly.

"Oh, are they fighting in the war?" Song asked sympathetically. Iroh froze, slurping his noodles uncomfortably.

"Yeah," Zuko said, lowering his bowl.

"The Fire Nation has dragged this war on for longer than even they intended or hoped," Asuni said softly. "I take comfort in the fact that it can't last forever. It must end soon," she said simply, drawing Zuko's eyes to her.

Song looked at her hopefully. "Have you heard something?"

Asuni shook her head. "Nothing certain." Song slumped sadly.

"I see."

When dinner ended, Zuko walked out onto the porch to sit and stare at the stars. It was a habit developed from long, lonely nights unable to sleep on the ship. On nights when he hadn't gone to Asuni he went up to the deck and watched the waves and the stars stretching on for miles and miles in either direction. It made him feel lonely yet somehow comforted to know that anyone else who was seeing the view felt just as lonely as he did.

"Can I join you?" Song stepped out onto the porch, her sock-feet nearly silent against the wood as she approached. "I understand what you've been through," she said sympathetically. Zuko highly doubted that. "We've all been through it." They'd all been banished and disowned by their fathers? "The Fire Nation hurt you." No, the Fire Nation was helping him. It was his goal, the thing he wanted to get back to, the thing that helped drive him.

Song boldly reached up to touch his scar. Zuko felt a wave of anger cross over him. No one touched his scar, no one. He snatched her hand in the air, gripping her wrist a little tighter than he meant to. To her credit, Song didn't wince, just respectfully withdrew her hand.

"I understand." She shifted so that her bent leg was in front of her and began pulling up layers. "They've hurt me too."

A long burn mark stretched across her calf, tendrils of fire permanently imprinted on her skin. It hadn't been nearly as hot or severe as the fire that had burned Zuko but the mark it left behind was equally ugly and equally full of hate. Still, Zuko couldn't help but be a bit jealous. He would gladly trade her scars. Something like that could be hidden with long pants, whereas trying to hide his scar drew more sideways looks.

Still, he was horrified by what had happened to her. Song and her mother were good people – they'd helped travelers in need without even a word of reproach and hadn't flinched to feed them and offer them a place to sleep despite the fact that they didn't know them.

The moment stretched on and then broke. Song stood and left Zuko to his brooding, stepping back into the house and shutting the door behind her. She was greeted with the sight of burning blue eyes from Asuni.

"Don't bother," Asuni said harshly, unable to tame the jealousy that raged through her. Song and Zuko had shared a moment on the porch there was no denying it and as much as Asuni knew that it meant nothing in the long run it still made her heart ache like it never had before to see it.

Song's eyes widened. She recognized jealousy when she saw it. "I didn't realize you two were-"

Asuni stiffened. "We're not," she said tightly. Song smiled at her kindly.

"But you'd like to be."

"My feelings don't matter," Asuni said shortly. "That can't happen."

Song approached and laid a hand on Asuni's shoulder. "That doesn't change the fact that it has happened," Song told her gently.

Asuni clenched her jaw as Song moved past her deepened into the house. She pushed the woman's words from her mind – it was Asuni's fault for letting her own feelings control her – and pushed the door open, joining Zuko on the porch. She sat next to him and fisted her hands on her knees.

Zuko noticed. "Are you alright?" he asked. Her fists realized and so did her shoulders as she let out a long breath.

"Fine," she replied, and gave him a soft smile. "Just full. Ready for bed."

Zuko didn't believe her but he also didn't want to pry into what wasn't his business, much as he'd like it to be. So instead he asked, "What you said at dinner, about the war not lasting much longer… what do you know?"

Asuni shook her head and sighed, dragging her fingers through her hair. "Nothing I can share," she replied, looking up at Zuko sadly. "That's really all I can say, Zuko, I'm sorry. If word got out…"

Zuko nodded. He understood. He'd been raised in political intrigue and he knew how a harmless word spoken at the wrong time or in the wrong place or to the wrong person could land someone in prison or in front of a firing squad.

"I understand."

Asuni turned to face him, her face pleading. "I do want to tell you," she insisted. "I don't like having to keep information from you," she admitted, her fists clenching up once again. She closed her eyes tightly. "As soon as we get back I'm asking for permission from the general to bring you in on our secrets. I don't… I can't… lie to you Zuko," she said, her voice stressed. "I promised you I never would and every time I hold something back I feel like I'm lying."

Zuko wasn't quite sure what drove him to do it – probably a combination of the pain clear on Asuni's face and his own affection for her – but he reached out and cupped her cheek. She froze in her tracks. He felt her cheeks toast slightly under his fingers as she stared at him with big blue eyes, oceans he could happily drown in.

"I know you're only doing your duty," Zuko told her softly. "I… respect that." And he leaned forwards and kissed her brow. He lingered there for a moment, whispering into her hair. "I understand," he assured her before pulling back.

Asuni sagged in relief. She reached up and cupped his hand over her cheek. "Thank you," she said gratefully, her eyes squeezing closed.

"Thank you for the duck, it was excellent."

"Thank you," Song's mother said, she and her daughter standing on the porch to bid the Fire Nation citizens goodbye. "It brings me joy to see someone enjoy my cooking with such… enthusiasm."

Iroh gladly took the box of leftovers she offered. He'd been in raptures over her cooking and at one point even asked for the recipe. Song's mother had been surprised, but had written it down. Iroh had passed it to Asuni and made her promise to fix it for him when they got back to the Fire Nation.

"Much practice!" Iroh said, and patted his stomach. Iroh and Asuni bowed and Song and her mother did the same, but the sound of footsteps made Iroh straighten.

"Junior, where are your manners?" he chided. "You need to thank these nice people!"

Zuko turned, clasped his hands together, and bowed. "Thank you," he said softly, before turning to walk away into the night.

"I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope!" Song called from the porch. "The Avatar has returned!"

Zuko paused and his shoulders went stiff. "I know," he said, his voice frigid.

Zuko kept walking and Asuni and Iroh hurried after him as Song and her mother returned to the house and pulled the door shut behind them. Zuko walked past the gate, but his eyes lingered on the ostrich horse they had tied up by their barn. Asuni was the one who walked over and unhitched it without shame and walked it over to Zuko, stepping to the side so that she was hidden by the high gate.

"What are you doing?" Iroh demanded. "These people just showed us great kindness."

"And frankly, we need it more than they do," Asuni replied calmly. It was simple math. If they didn't steal from Song's family they'd steal from someone else's. It didn't make it better or worse, and the sooner they could move faster the better off they'd be. "Get on."

Iroh mounted he ostrich horse reluctantly and Zuko jumped up in front of him. He looked down at her on the ground.

"There's not enough room for three," he observed.

"I'll run," Asuni said with a careless shrug. She had trained her endurance to the point where she could maintain an easy job for hours, loping alongside a trotting ostrich horse no problem.

"We can swap," Zuko countered, and Asuni shook her head.

"If something happens, you and Iroh need to be able to run, and swapping out of the saddle won't help that," she disagreed.

Zuko's eyes widened. "You expect us to leave you behind?"

Asuni nodded and turned forwards, pulling the ostrich horse along so that they were moving at a decent clip down the road out of town. "That's exactly what I expect."

Zuko kept glancing at Asuni out of the corner of his eyes as they moved. It was hard to see her in the dark and she was on his bad side, but he couldn't help but be impressed by her as she continued to keep pace with the animal, breathing slowly and steadily. Her physicality was amazing and there was something incredibly appealing about knowing how strong and capable she was. She didn't even begin to break a sweat until the end of the first hour, and she kept going without complain, never breaking stride, never slowing.

Her words got to him, though. The idea of running off and leaving behind a solider to fight for him if necessary pricked his pride, sure. He considered himself a capable fighter and didn't like to think of himself running from a fight. But the idea of leaving Asuni behind was more than that. He wouldn't be able to live with himself, he didn't think. If they got into a situation that bad, then the person who captured her wouldn't' be kind, if she even survived. The idea of Asuni dead or tortured filled him with unnamable dread.