Little Soldier Boy

The desert

Zuko was the first to awaken from the short rest, he sat up rubbing the sand out of his short hair when he got to his feet again.

Looking around he saw each of the other children sleeping in the dirt. Children. They were all his age or younger. Including the avatar.
He didn't have to kill the avatar, he could beg for forgiveness by his brothers, Xai, and lees family, to forgive him for not avenging their loved ones.

Or he could leave now. He could steal the water pouch on Katara and leave. He didn't even have to do that. He could go 24 hours without sleep easily on his own now to get out of this desert. He didn't have to stay and now was the perfect chance to leave without them able to follow. The wind would erase his trace.

"Are we moving again?" Aang turned over looking at the older teen.

Zuko looked over at him calmly.

"Yea we should get moving before the sun comes up, we still have a few hours," Zuko looked at the sky to read the stars.

"What's going on?" Katara woke up seeing Aang was awake as well.

"We've rested a little, we'll walk and rest again later," Zuko explained quietly.

He could stay just for the sake of his sanity.

"Yesterday my mouth tasted like mud, now it just taste like sand," Toph sat up smacking her tongue a little while Katara went to wake up her brother.

Aang noticed something in the sky and jumped a little with excitement.

"Appa!" He gasped with a bright smile.

"Appa? Why would princess Yue need him?" Sokka tilted his head to the side. "She's the mooooon she flies by herself,"

"It's just a cloud," Zuko looked at the moon seeing a cloud passing by over.

"Wait a cloud," Katara took off her water pouch and handed it to Aang. "Fly up and bend the water from that cloud to my pouch,"

Aang gave her a dirty look but took it aggressively before flying with his glider without a word.

"I don't think he slept," Katara sighed standing by Zuko as they waited for Aang.

"Probably not," he shrugged.

Aang returned to the ground as he tossed the pouch back to Katara. She looked in and was a little disappointed with the cloud not holding as much water as she hoped for.

"There's hardly any more than before," she told the others who were curious.

"I'm sorry okay!? It's a desert cloud! I did all that I could," Aang shouted at her.

"What's anyone else doing?! What are you doing?" He pointed his staff at Katara as she flinched a little but didn't move. She was surprised by his outburst.

"Trying to keep everyone together," Katara whispered pushing the staff out of her way.

"Zuko which direction does the map say?" She asked quietly and he opened the map to match with the sky.

"This way," he motioned and got moving again.

They walked for about ten minutes in silence, Zuko and Katara took the lead with the map.

"Ow!" Toph tripped and fell against the sand.

"Fuck! I'm so sick of not feeling where I'm going!" She snapped holding her foot in pain.

"And what dumb ass buried a boat in the middle of the desert?" Toph scoffed as Zuko knelt down to her checking to see if she was bleeding.