"Do I have to?" Mangetsu whined as he followed Zuko towards a pair of metal doors.
"They're your friends," Zuko looked at him in confusion. "Why don't you want to rejoin them?"
"I'm not their friend; they keep me around because of her," he jabs a thumb at the floating ghost-girl.
"Betcha, you're wrong."
"Betcha, I'm not."
"I'm with Amaya on this one," Zuko said as he pushed open the doors. "Come on."
"You're always with Amaya," Mangetsu grumbled.
The door opened up, and they saw the whole Gaang hanging out on the other side; they looked conflicted until they saw Mangetsu. Relief and happiness rushed across all their faces.
"Mangetsu!" they all yelled out.
"I win!" Amaya said in a singsong voice.
"Shut up, or I will-"
"You can't do anything to me," Amaya pointed out. "I'm a ghost~."
He glared while the others awkwardly shuffled their feet and looked at Zuko.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Aang said with his head hung down. "But thanks, Zuko."
"Hey, what about me?" Sokka jumped in. "I did the boomerang thing!"
He gestured with his boomerang.
"That thing was actually useful?" Mangetsu couldn't stop himself. "Miracles do happen."
"I've missed you, Mangetsu," Muteki laughed.
"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday-"
"It's true; I had him give me the play by play," Mangetsu chimed in.
"How long have you been with him?" Jin demanded.
"When was the invasion?"
"You ass," Muteki sighed.
Zuko sighed deeply.
"Right, sorry, you were saying," Mangetsu waved for him to continue.
"I've been through a lot these past few years, and it's been hard," Zuko prefaced. "But I'm realising that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honour and that somehow my father could return it to me. But like Amaya tried to tell me numerous times... no one can give you your honour. It's something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world."
Mangetsu coughed pointedly.
"I'm getting there; calm down," Zuko muttered before turning to Toph. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally."
"We didn't learn that lesson on the boat, did we?"
"What?" Mangetsu looked over at her.
"Back on the boat, I gave him a spook, and he almost set me on fire," Amaya explained.
Zuko sighed deeply again.
"I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher," Aang spoke up. "When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara. And after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love."
"More than you know," Zuko said softly, his eyes flickering over the ghostly form of Amaya - who was hanging upside down in front of Sokka and pulling faces.
Aang bowed to Zuko. "I'd like you to teach me."
Zuko bowed, a smile gracing his face.
"Thank you," he said, breathing a relieved sigh. "I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."
"Not so fast," Aang cut in. "I still have to ask my friends if it's ok with them. Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?"
Toph was quiet for a second. "Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet."
Amaya chuckled darkly behind Muteki - who didn't notice anything.
"Jin?"
Jin sighed deeply and looked away. "You need a master. He certainly has the skills to back up the swagger."
"He has swagger?" Mangetsu spoke up.
"Muteki?"
"I'm with Jin on this one," Muteki said slowly. "But I'm keeping an eye on him."
"Sokka?"
Sokka closed his eyes and hung his head for a second, then shrugged. "Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm all for it."
Aang nodded then turned to Katara.
"Katara?"
The girl glared at Zuko, staring at him so intently that he started to sweat a little.
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right," she said to Aang.
"But I'm not gonna like it!" Amaya threw in with a puffed-up face.
"What about Mogui?" Mangetsu asked. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be keen. Where is he?"
"We thought he'd caught up to you," Jin said. "He stayed behind at the invasion so we could all escape on Appa."
"He said he was staying to find you," Muteki added.
"Sounds like he likes you," Amaya teased.
"As long as he's not mad that I disappeared," Mangetsu shrugged. "Ah, who am I kidding. He's gonna be pissed."
"Because Mogui doesn't get a vote, then I guess you're in," Aang said with a smile.
"I won't let you down. I promise," Zuko said excitedly.
Muteki hoisted up Toph and carried her away, the others all following and leaving Mangetsu and Zuko alone.
"Huh, they didn't ask me," Mangetsu said, sounding not at all surprised.
"Maybe they assumed you were already on board because you were with me?" Zuko suggested.
"Sure, let's go with that," Mangetsu said darkly. "Well, I'm going exploring. Holler, if you need back up - I think Katara might try to murder you."
"She did seem murderous to me," Amaya chimed in.
"You! Stop doing weird things when things get serious," Mangetsu snapped. "Do you have any idea how hard it was not to bust out laughing when you made fish faces while Katara was making her statements?"
"What? It's a coping mechanism!"
"Get better mechanisms!"
"Come on, knock it off," Zuko sighed.
Sokka eventually returned and indicated Zuko followed him. "I'll show you your room on the way to Zuko's, Mangetsu."
"Mhm," Mangetsu answered, following behind silently.
After an awkwardly silent journey to the rooms, Mangetsu slipped out of his and tracked down Zuko's.
Amaya was at least helpful in that. They arrived just as Katara stood there threatening Zuko.
"You might have everyone else here buying your "transformation". But you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past. So let me tell you something right now. You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang... and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there... permanently."
Mangetsu blacked out - when he came too, Zuko was holding him by the shoulders, looking horrified, while Katara backed away with long, shallow cuts on her body. She turned and sprinted out the door. A black katana gleamed nearby, spattered with dark liquid.
"What.... happened?" Mangetsu whispered.
"You... Amaya vanished, and you... changed," he said. "It's like you were someone else."
"Where... is Amaya?" he asked, paling.
"She's still missing."