Oh look, nine months since my last update... :/ In my defense, it's been a really hectic year in my graduate program.

Not going to lie, this chapter is probably going to feel rushed. I mentioned a while ago that this might happen in the interest of finishing the story and not leave you all hanging. Sorry about that, but I really do want to finish this story, one way or another...

Without further ado, enjoy chapter 14!

They went downstairs and Iroh listened to the message. Zuko watched as his expression went from confused to downright furious. Embarrassment set in for Zuko about his breakdown earlier. In hindsight, it had been an overreaction. After everything Iroh had done for him the last few months, he had no reason to believe that Iroh was going to shove him off onto another family. "You must think I'm an idiot," Zuko murmured.

"Don't be ridiculous," Iroh replied, anger lacing his voice. "I don't know what prompted Ayumi to even look for another foster family, let alone proceed so far without consulting me."

"Pisa said she's already given all my paperwork to another social worker," Zuko said. "I'm not going to have to go live the Huangs, am I?"

"No. I would have to sign off on it, and I will do no such thing." That was when Iroh fully processed Zuko's first statement. "Pisa? When did you speak with him?"

Zuko's body stiffened, and he silently cursed himself. He hadn't meant to bring up his old foster brother. In fact, he just wanted to forget that entire encounter had ever happened. "Pisa just stopped by to talk about something. It's nothing you need to worry about."

However, his assurance did not have the desired effect. "And he knew about this potential transfer?"

"He overheard Ayumi talking to Fong and Tuli," Zuko explained, hoping that Iroh would drop this.

Iroh's frown deepened. "I see. That's what Pisa wanted to speak to you about?"

"Not… exactly. I-It just sort of came up."

Iroh frowned. His foster son was avoiding making eye contact with him, and his body was hunched over slightly in a protective manner. "Zuko, what aren't you telling me?"

Zuko squirmed uncomfortably under Iroh's question. "Pisa… thought I was leaving town. So he wanted to talk about something before I did."

It was obvious that he was hedging, and normally Iroh would just leave it be. If Zuko didn't want to talk about it, then he deserved his privacy. But considering the toxic environment that Zuko and Pisa both hailed from, Iroh doubted Pisa came here to speak with Zuko for any good reason. He would be remiss as a parent if he just let this go. "So what did Pisa want to talk about with you? Is he alright?"

Zuko wanted to lie, wanted to say that Pisa was fine and make up some innocent reason for Pisa to have come here. Unfortunately, he wasn't like his sister, and coming up with a plausible story on the fly was not his strong suit.

He wondered if he could get away with just telling part of the truth.

"I guess after I was kicked out, Azula needed someone new to mess with. Pisa… wanted me to help him."

"Has he spoken to Ayumi?" Iroh asked, his voice calm despite his internal ire.

"That's… why Pisa was here. He wanted me to help him convince Ayumi that he's telling the truth."

Iroh shook his head. Everyone has been so blinded by Azula's act, they had allowed two children in their care to be tormented right under their noses. The fact that these children had to go to such lengths just to be heard by those who should be protecting them made his blood boil. "Well, I will be speaking to Ayumi about this tomorrow, and - "

"No! Y-You can't tell her anything about this!"

Iroh frowned. "I thought that was what you and Pisa were trying to do."

"Pisa is, but…" Zuko crossed his arms across his chest, looking away. "I just want to forget any of this ever happened."

Iroh certainly couldn't fault him for that. However, this put him in a difficult position. "Zuko… As a foster parent, I'm a mandated reporter. I don't have to tell Ayumi but I do need to report this to Child Protective Services."

The blood drained from Zuko's face. "Y-You can't."

"I have to. If I think there's a child who is in danger, I have to report it."

"But it's Azula, not Fong or Tuli! If I could survive living with her, Pisa can too! There's no reason to bring anybody else into this, please!"

Iroh placed his hands on Zuko's shoulders, giving them a brief squeeze. "Fong and Tuli have a responsibility to protect their foster children. They wholly failed in the past, but I know that you're safe now. If they're still standing by while another child is being abused, they need to be held accountable for their actions."

Zuko's body slumped. He tried to think of a counter argument, any reason that might convince Iroh to not do this. The thought of other people sticking their noses into this, asking questions and calling him a liar… He won't be able to handle it.

Iroh pulled him in, and once again, Zuko found himself being embraced. "Remember: no matter what happens, I will be here to support you."

Zuko believed him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't going to be enough. He pulled out of Iroh's hug. "I'm gonna go train," he mumbled.

Iroh nodded. "Alright. I'll get dinner ready."

The evening went on much like any other evening. However, this business with Pisa hung over both of them like a growing storm cloud. As usual, Zuko threw himself at his training and studying in an attempt to distract himself. Iroh, meanwhile, was so deep in thought that he almost burnt their chicken.

It was clear that Zuko was hiding something. What he was hiding precisely, Iroh could hardly imagine. And after all the divining he had done into the boy's life, Iroh didn't want to pry further. Not tonight, at least. But if Pisa really was in trouble and a case was opened, chances were someone was going to be doing the prying. Iroh preferred it was him rather than a stranger, so he could help prepare Zuko for whatever this coming storm might bring.

The next day was the last day of the school week. Besides the normal classes, a day like this was usually highlighted by a buzz of excitement for the coming weekend.

For Zuko, however, that excitement was completely damped by everything that had happened yesterday. He didn't even bother trying to pay attention during his classes. His stomach and chest were tight, thrumming with anxiety. It was taking all of his willpower to not completely freak out in front of everyone.

Iroh had offered to call in and let him stay home today. He really should have taken him up on the offer.

And of course, his uneasiness did not go unnoticed by his friends. Halfway through trigonometry, Aang passed him a note. 'Are you okay? You seem jumpy.'

Making sure their teacher wasn't looking at them, Zuko scribbled down his response. 'Fine. Just have a lot on my mind.'

Aang read the reply with a frown. Zuko expected him to write something back, but he didn't. He just stared at the note for a few moments then gave a small sigh and tucked the paper into his folder.

Katara was glancing between them. She seemed suspicious, but also didn't say (or write) anything.

For the first time, he was dreading lunch. He knew Aang would be bugging him about this, and he hadn't figured out yet what he was going to say to his cheerful friend. He didn't want to lie to Aang, but he also didn't want him to know about… well, most of it.

Zuko got to the cafeteria and bought his lunch. He looked over at their normal table and saw that Aang was already there. Zuko braced for the conversation they were about to have, but as he got closer, he noticed that Aang seemed much more somber than usual. He had a slight frown on his face and was poking mindlessly at his tofu.

Sliding his food tray onto the table and sitting down, Zuko asked, "You okay?"

Aang smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, I'm just… worried about you."

"Yeah… A lot happened yesterday." Zuko took a bite of his karage sandwich.

"So this is about the kiss," Aang said quietly.

"What? No!" Well that explained Aang's mood. "Other… stuff happened after I got home yesterday. Complicated stuff that I wasn't expecting."

Aang looked taken aback by Zuko's vehemence, but then he smiled, and this time it was genuine. "Is everything okay?" he asked, trying to hide his relief behind a concerned tone.

Zuko sighed. "Not exactly, but I don't feel like talking about."

"Oh. Okay."

They went back to eating, and this time Aang ate his lunch without any issue. "Do you still want to hang out after school today?" Aang asked.

Zuko had completely forgotten that they had even made plans. "Yeah sure." Anything to get his mind off of all of this crap going on. "You should come to my place this time. Iroh wants to meet you, and he's a pretty good cook."

Aang nodded. "Sounds good to me!"

Making a mental note to make sure Iroh cooked something vegetarian, Zuko tried to think about what else they could do at his house. Iroh didn't have any game systems like Aang had. Or much of anything, to be honest. Not even a television.

They could find… other ways to pass the time.

Zuko immediately put a stop to that line of thinking. He couldn't think of a more inappropriate time or place for that kind of activity. And with all of his 'emotions' and 'feelings' out of whack, the last thing he wanted to do was to add to the baggage.

They went to Warrior's Training, and Zuko did his best to focus on the drills. On top of everything else, he also needed to make sure he was in top shape by the end of the month so he wouldn't make a fool of himself at his Cross Training match. On the bright side, he had definitely improved since he came here. Now he was winning about ninety percent of the matches he fought against other group two firebenders. Not that that was much to brag about, but it was something.

Afterward, Zuko found Aang standing by the flagpoles. The airbender gave his normal bright smile and waved when he saw Zuko.

Zuko waved back. As he walked over to meet him, he was reminded of the days he would often find Aang with a new bruise or scrape from asshole bullies. But ever since Aang sent Sho to the hospital, those random bruises seemed to disappear. The other assholes must have realized Aang could actually beat the crap out of them. The thought made Zuko smile.

"You seem chipper," Aang noted. "At least, more chipper than you were earlier."

"Just thinking about when you wiped the floor with Sho."

Aang cringed. "Why would that make you happy?"

"Because he got what was coming to him. And people stopped bothering you."

"Yeah I guess… I'm just glad he wasn't hurt that bad."

They started walking towards Iroh's house. "After all the shit he put you through? Sho should consider himself lucky."

"I should consider myself lucky. I barely got punished for breaking his arm."

"You got suspended for a week."

"I was lucky not to be expelled," Aang said.

"Everyone knows that Sho's an asshole. They probably went easy on you because they knew he probably deserved it."

Aang sighed. "I'm not going to lie. I like not being shoved into things all the time…"

"Exactly. So don't go beating yourself up over this. It was for best in the long run."

They continued walking in amicable silence. Aang had a bounce in his step as usual. His natural walking speed was faster than most others', so he had to purposefully slow himself down so he wouldn't end up leaving his companions behind in the dust. Zuko wandered if it was because he was an airbender or just because he was Aang.

"So what d'ya want to do once we get to your place?" Aang asked.

Zuko shrugged. "Honestly, there's not that much to do. I wouldn't bother inviting you over except that Iroh really wants to meet you."

Aang cocked his head to the side. "How come?"

"Who knows? Old man has the weirdest reasons for the things he wants."

"What do you mean? Weird like buying food to look at it instead of eating kind of weird?"

"Um, no. Just weird like… like when he first started training me. He said he wanted to just because I wanted to learn."

Aang paused in his bouncing. "How is that a weird reason?"

"Because who the heck wants to take time out of their day just to help someone else when there's nothing in it for them?" Zuko frowned at his own statement. That had sounded more cynical than he had intended. "I mean, wanting to train me because my firebending sucks? Yeah, that makes sense. I need all the help I can get. But Iroh's been insistent that that isn't why he's training me. Apparently he's doing it because I want to improve. That's the weird part."

Now Aang was regarding him with an expression of disbelief. "That's not weird at all. Iroh's your foster father."

Zuko scoffed at that. Fong had never indulged any of his desires. The very notion would have had Zuko immediately labelled a selfish brat. "It's because Iroh's crazy. A good crazy, mind you, but crazy."

Aang was still frowning, but he moved on. "What other crazy stuff does Iroh do?"

"I don't know… Lots of stuff. He went to go talk to the Haruyamas at one point. I guess he just wanted to learn more about me." He paused. "One time he yelled at a cashier. I think she had asked him why he hadn't fostered some other kid. You know, a kid who doesn't have…" Zuko vaguely indicated his face. "... issues."

"That's not weird. He was defending you."

"Yeah, but this was before he even knew me. It was, like, only my second day living with him."

Aang continued to frown at him, the bounce in his step significantly less bouncy. "You don't have to know someone to protect them. You protected me from Sho, and you hardly knew me then."

That… was true. But Iroh had known that Zuko had a 'history'. As far as Zuko had known, Aang was just a normal, innocent kid being bullied for dumb reasons. "You're not like me," Zuko muttered in response.

"How so? I mean, besides the obvious."

From Zuko's point of view, the obvious encompassed everything. "You're smart. You're an amazing bender. And most importantly, you don't have a history of beating up little girls."

The words left his mouth, and Zuko's entire being froze. He stopped walking, he stopped thinking, he stopped breathing. He was really hoping he hadn't actually said that out loud.

"A history of… beating up little girls?" Aang echoed.

Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrap. This was he last thing in the world he needed. He just came to the conclusion that he liked Aang, and now he's officially screwed it all up by refusing to keep his mouth shut. Why can't he just learn to keep his stupid mouth shut!?

Something gripped his arm, and his eyes suddenly came into focus on a pair of grey eyes staring earnestly at him. "Does… Does that have anything to do with your sister? Is that why you don't like talking about her?"

There was a shocking lack of judgement in his questions. It unfroze some of the muscles in Zuko's throat, but he still only managed to croak out a small 'Yes'.

Aang bit his lip. "Are we close to your house?" he asked quietly.

Zuko blinked at the unexpected question. "What?"

"You… You don't look very good. I-I think you should sit down. Somewhere, you know, private."

Sitting down. Yeah, that sounded nice. "Iroh's house is just around the corner."

They walked toward the house, walking a little faster than they were before, Aang's hand firmly on Zuko's elbow. The driveway was empty, so Iroh was out somewhere. A part of Zuko was glad. He was feeling overwhelmed and on edge and didn't think he could handle both Aang and Iroh's personalities together.

They got inside, and Zuko automatically put his bag on one of the kitchen chairs before going to sit down on the couch.

"Hey, um…"

Zuko looked up and saw Aang standing to the side, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I know you said you don't feel like talking about it, but you've been really upset all day, and you said a lot of stuff happened yesterday, and I figured if it's upset you this much it probably has something to do with her or something, but I understand if you still don't really want to talk or if you want me to leave and give you some space or…"

"Stay," Zuko said a little too quickly. The last thing he wanted right now was to be alone with his thoughts.

Aang only looked mildly surprised, but nodded and took a seat next to him. The normal bounce in his step was gone at this point, and Zuko hated that he was the cause of it. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to…" Freak out. Be a downer. Admit that he had sent his own sister to the hospital.

"It's okay," Aang replied. He leaned against Zuko so that they their arms were touching. It was pleasantly warm. "You're upset. And if I can help you be less upset… then I want to."

Zuko closed his eyes with a sigh. He honestly had no idea what he wanted. He had no idea what to do. It was all too much. Everything that happened yesterday, both the good and the bad, had turned his brain to mush.

"What happened?"

He opened his eyes and gave Aang a short glance. His eyes were wide with curiosity and wariness. "A lot," Zuko replied tiredly. "A lot happened."

Aang squirmed in his seat for a moment. "You know, when I've had a bad day, I've always found that talking about it would help a lot. Usually I'd talk to Katara or Gyatso, but even just letting it all out to Momo would make me feel better. I'd always feel, I don't know, less alone? Even if they couldn't help me, at least I wasn't carrying all my thoughts and feelings by myself."

Zuko let out another sigh. "It's… complicated."

He didn't seem unwilling to talk, just overwhelmed. So Aang decided to try to help him along. "It has to do with your sister though?"

"... Yeah."

"You… hurt your sister. Worse than a normal sibling fight?"

"I didn't mean to hurt her," Zuko replied quietly. "I just… I just wanted her to stop."

Aang waited for him to elaborate. Obviously something was weighing heavily on his mind, probably has been for ages now. So Aang risked pushing a little further. "Stop what?"

"Everything," Zuko growled. "She's always held and manipulated every aspect of my life in her fingers. And it's easy for her. Everything is easy for her. She's a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. Everyone believes her. Meanwhile, no matter what I did, no matter how many times I tried to explain, no one ever believed me. And I just…" He buried his face in his hands with a groan of defeat. "What is wrong with me?"

Aang didn't have a response for that. At least, not one that would have made any difference. So he wrapped an arm around Zuko's back. He half-expected to be shrugged off, but instead, Zuko leaned in to it. "I'll believe you," Aang said quietly.

If he were practically anyone else, Zuko would have immediately scoffed at him. But he knew Aang. This energetic, all-too-happy airbender has always been inexplicably kind, honest, and genuine. He knew with all his heart that Aang really would believe him. The question was: did he want to tell Aang about what had happened?

The answer was no. He didn't want to tell anyone. Not now, not ever.

But if an investigation was going to be opened, that meant they were going to ask questions and he was going to have to talk about it. Maybe it'll be easier to talk about it to strangers if he had already forced the words out of his mouth at least once. It'll be like practice. Then he would know at least one person was in his corner besides Iroh.

"Azula always enjoyed tormenting me," Zuko started off quietly. "Not only was she better than me at everything, she loved rubbing it in my face. She turned everyone against me, not that that was hard. But then… a few months ago, she started to act different. At first, she ignored me. It was great. I thought she had finally lost interest in making me miserable. I could finally relax and just be me. Maybe even convince Fong and Tuli that I wasn't just a lazy delinquent."

Okay. It was going okay so far. The pit in his stomach felt an awful lot like vomit and his head was a little floaty, but he was fine.

Then Aang gave Zuko a slight squeeze, leaning his head on Zuko's shoulder. The room came back in focus and he kept going.

"Then, it got weird. She started being nice. Actively nice. Not in the old way where she was just doing it to manipulate me or to make me look like an idiot. She started helping me with my bending, yelling at my foster brother for teasing me… I didn't believe it at first, but the days passed and the other shoe never dropped. I thought that she was, I don't know, maturing? Maybe even starting to like her big brother…"

Yup. That pit was definitely vomit. For the moment, it was still firmly at the bottom of his stomach.

"She started having nightmares. Or at least, she said she was having nightmares. She was afraid so… I let her sleep in my bed. She was trembling, scared, and just so small. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was doing something right."

It might be vomit but he was not going to throw up.

"It happened a couple more times before…"

"I said stay still."

His side burned, and he stopped talking. He focused on his breathing and the flow of his chi. His inner flame stopped flickering violently and slowly began to wax and wane with his breathing.

"It's okay," Aang whispered. "You don't have to - "

"She tried to kiss me. Wouldn't take no for an answer. I thought she had changed, but she hadn't. She was still manipulating, still trying to get something from me." Breathe. Just breathe. "She pinned me down, she got mad, and I just… lost control."

Zuko closed his eyes and he felt something warm trickle down his face. "I didn't realize it until afterward, but she let me. She didn't fight back. And when I finally snapped out of it…"

Azula laughed, her face bloody and beginning to swell. "I knew you had some of Father in you."

"That's why I was kicked out," Zuko said, forcibly ending the memory. "I just wanted to forget it ever happened. Even if I was known as that one deranged loser who snapped at his perfect little sister, at least it was over. I could move on. Maybe even make a life for myself. But my foster brother, Pisa, he came by yesterday." He took another deep - if stuttering - breath. "I think… I think Azula started hurting him after I was kicked out. And he wanted my help." His voice tapered off at the end, somehow feeling both completely drained and acutely tense.

Zuko waited for it. Waited for Aang to back off, to express his disbelief. Or his disgust that he had let his own sister sleep in his bed with him. What did he expect to happen? How could he have been so damned stupid?

"Are you going to?"

Zuko frowned at the softly asked question. "Going to what?"

"Help your foster brother?"

His conversation with Iroh replayed in his head. "I don't think I have choice," he whispered.

The silence between them stretched. But as the minutes passed, Aang made no move to push Zuko away. If anything, he was holding him even tighter than he was before.

Finally, Aang just said, "Well, I'll be here. I don't know what I can do to help, but… I'll be here."

Zuko had no idea what it was, but something in him cracked and broke. It let loose a torrent of fear and relief, and all he could do was crumple on himself and cry. It wasn't the body-wracking sobs he had had the night before. It was just a silent solace as tears rolled down his face.

Aang ran a hand through his hair in comfort, which made Zuko look up at at him. Aang's eyes were red-rimmed and suspiciously shiny. Well, at least they looked blotchy together. Zuko leaned over and pressed his lips to Aang's, holding him tightly with a hand on the back of his head. Everything he was feeling, everything he wanted to say but couldn't quite put into words, he put it all into this kiss.

When he finally pulled away, he gazed into those dark grey orbs and smiled, though it felt like a grimace. "Thanks, Aang," he said wetly.

Aang gave a small smile back. "No problem, Zuko."

So what did you think? Review and let me know :)