Hello, friends! Symphonic Madness and nksnow here! So this is kind of a "what if" kind of scenario in this fanfic. Aang was never struck by Azula's lightning. This scenario changes pretty much everything leading up to, during, and after the invasion. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we loved writing it!

-Symphonic Madness & nksnow


Zuko

I have a choice. I can go with Azula, and gain my father's love and respect back, or I can go with the Avatar. I think about what each choice could mean. If I join Azula, I can gain my honor back. If I join the Avatar, I will have no honor in my father's eyes. But it's right. My father has never been a father. Uncle Iroh has been more of a father than my own father ever was, I think to myself. I think of the waterbender… what was her name again? Katara? That's it. That's her name. I think of her. I think of how she opened up to me about her mother. I think about how she touched my scar, and I didn't pull away. She even offered to heal it. I realize then that for some reason, I don't think I can betray her.

I feel my heart beat at a rapid pace as I shoot a ball of fire at Azula, which she effectively dodges. I look at my uncle, who smiles at me before readying himself for my sister's wrath. Katara looks shocked, but then does the same as my uncle.

"You've made your choice, Zuzu," Azula says. "I guess you'll never regain your honor."

"I will. But not by joining that bastard of a father we have!" I retort.

"That is the Fire Lord!" Azula says. "He may not be your father, but he sure as hell is mine!"

She sends a roundhouse kick of blue fire at us. Katara sends a wave of water and both elements turn to steam. But Azula is quick to retaliate. She sends a blast of fire at Katara. She gets out of the way, but not fast enough, because soon, she is clutching her arm as she trips and falls to the ground. She screams in pain, and I wince.

"Zuko, get Katara out of here. The Avatar, Toph, and I will handle this," Uncle Iroh says.

"But…" I try to protest but he cuts me off.

"Go! Now! She won't have time to heal herself here. Take her and run!" Iroh commands.

I run over to Katara, having to dodge yet another blast of fire as Azula cackles like a madwoman. I roll on the ground and get up just before I reach Katara. I lift the sobbing girl into my arms and she attempts to wrap her arms around my neck, being unsuccessful, seeing as her upper arm is badly burned. I run. I run as fast as I can through the opening that I'm guessing Toph had made to find us. I run through it until I'm finally able to get out. That's when I'm making a mad dash through the city. When I get into a highly populated area, I call for help.

"Help! This woman is hurt! Someone help!" I shout.

"Take her to the infirmary! It's just a block from here in this direction," a man says, pointing to the right.

"Thank you!" I say.

I'm starting to become out of breath, but I don't care. When I get to the makeshift hospital, I call for help, and people I assume are healers come right away to take us into a room.

"You know I could've healed myself," Katara says, speaking to me for the first time since we were in the caves together.

"Not really," I say. "Azula burned your arm. The doctors will just patch it up. You can finish healing it later."

"Zuko?" Katara asks me.

"Yes?"

"Thank you. I really see the good in you," she says.

A small team of doctors come in and begin bandaging her wound immediately. It doesn't take them long. They give Katara a concoction of various herbs to take away the pain. Once her face relaxes, and the pain subsides, they give us a few bottles of the stuff.

"Take it as needed. You shouldn't need that much. The burn was severe, but not severe enough to need a ton of attention," one of them says. "What happened, anyway?"

"Cooking incident," I quickly say.

Katara nods, going along with it. "I was lighting a fire to make tea, and I guess I was too close to it."

"Be more careful next time," he says. "Wouldn't want to see you back in here again."

"How much will this cost?" I ask.

"Nothing. For unintentional injuries, services are free."

"Thank you," I say. "Katara, can you walk?"

She gets up off of the cot and looks at me with a raised eyebrow and a smile daring me to say she can't.

"I take that as a yes," I say. "Let's go find the others," I tell her when we exit the infirmary.

"Yeah," Katara says. "Thank you, again, Zuko. I didn't think you had it in you."

"I didn't think I did, either," I admit. "And you're welcome."

She stops, and I stop as well. She then turns to me, and hugs me tightly. I hug her back, not knowing what else to do. She feels so warm and just… perfect in my arms. I bury my head into her hair; the hug lasting longer than I originally, thought. Katara, seeming reluctant about it, pulls away and looks at me.

"So what are you going to do now? You've turned against Azula. That was pretty much the only opportunity you had to redeem yourself in your father's eyes," Katara says.

"If you don't mind, I would like for my uncle and I to be able to join your group," I tell her. "We can teach Aang firebending."

"Listen, Zuko. I trust you. Seeing as you haven't yet killed me, I think you deserve at least some trust. I think they can give you that." She smiles, and I return the smile with an even bigger one, and a hug.

"Let's try and find them," I say.

Eventually, after walking in the direction I came, we see Sokka.

"Katara!" Sokka shouts. "Are you okay? I heard about what happened and…" he looks at me and readies himself for a nonexistent attack. "What is he doing here?"

"Relax, Sokka," Katara says. "He's on our side. Didn't Aang and Toph tell you? And isn't Iroh with you?"

"Yeah. Iroh is with us. They just left out the part about Zuko joining us," Sokka says. "How can we trust you?"

"I took Katara to the hospital to heal her arm," I say. "And I attacked Azula instead of Aang. That should count for something."

"Yes. It should. He carried me all the way there. I think that's worth at least some respect," Katara says.

Sokka sighs. "Katara, I respect you and your opinions. And I'll let him join us. But I still reserve judgment."

Katara hugs her brother. "Where are the others?"

"Looking for you. We split up. They went that way," he says, pointing behind him.

Katara takes my hand and tugs on it. "Let's go! We need to get out of here before Azula can cause a scene."

Sokka shoots me a glare and follows us as Katara pulls me along. Eventually, we meet up with my uncle.

"Nephew! I was so afraid for you." He hugs me tightly.

"I was afraid for you, too, Uncle," I say.

"Aang and Toph aren't far away," Uncle Iroh says. "They told us to find them when we are reunited again."

We go on a search for Aang and Toph, and find them in a secluded area a short walk away from the marketplace with the sky bison and the lemur trailing behind them.

"Katara!" Aang exclaims.

He runs and hugs her. She lets go of my hand and hugs him back. I pretend not to feel the empty space in my hand where hers used to occupy. But after she hugs Aang, Katara does something I didn't think she'd do. She takes my hand again and intertwines her fingers with mine.

I can tell Aang is pretending not to notice. He winces, but recovers quickly.

"Zuko, Iroh, I'm trusting you," Sokka says. "Don't betray that trust."

"We won't," my uncle says. "We plan on teaching the Avatar firebending."

"Thank you," Aang says. "Let's go. I know a place we can go where we'll be safe from Azula and the Dai Li. Come on, everyone."

He hops onto the bison, and we all do the same. I get on, then help Katara do the same. She accidentally lands on top of me, and a furious blush stains her copper skin. I have a faint blush on my face as well as she gets up off of me. I sit up, and smile at her. She returns the smile.

"So where are we going?" Toph asks.

"The Western Air Temple," Aang says. "It's pretty well hidden. It should give me time to learn at least some of my lesser known elements. Like earth and fire."

"Hey, I wouldn't be so confident about water. I can still whoop you in a sparring match anytime," Katara says.

I chuckle, and all eyes are on me. I look away nervously. And as we fly through the air into the night, I can't seem to get the waterbending master off of my mind. One thing is for sure, though. I can't get enough of her. She's using my arm as a pillow. I don't even remember how she got there. But she rolls over and nuzzles her head into my chest. She sighs contentedly, and with that, I doze off into sleep.