Chapter One
Zuko let out a long breath and ran his hand through his hair. Sweat glistened on his forehead and bare chest as the midday sun shone fiercely down on him and the Avatar. He gave the bald Air Nomad an exasperated look.
"Aang it's not that hard. Your over thinking it." The boy let out a huff of air and flicked his wrist. A stone shot up from the ground behind him, and he sat down on it folding his arms against his chest. His airbender robes rippled in the breeze as he stared down the banished prince.
"That's easy for you to say. You've known that move since you were a kid." The prince walked over to the boy called Aang, and stood in front of him.
"Hey, I had to learn it once to." He blew a piece of hair from his eyes.
"Come on. One more time." Letting out a sigh, Aang stood and used earthbending to send the stone back into the ground.
"Like this." Zuko said. He ran forward and used a quick blast of fire that emerged from his fist to send him high into the air. He began coming down, his arms glued to his sides, fire flaring from his bare feet. He landed on the ground, a huge round wave of fire sweeping out in all directions. Aang used airbending to deflect the fire away from himself.
"It's simple. Now you try." Aang took a deep breath, and let a bit of starting fire leak from his fingertips. He darted forward and propelled himself into the air with fire, exactly like the prince had. Then he gripped his pants to avoid his arms spreading out, and concentrated on creating fire from his feet. As a jet of flame shot out he grinned, watching the ground approach, thinking he had finally got the move down. But when he made impact with the ground, all that happened was a large spiral of smoke and a jarring shock up to his knees. Zuko sighed. "That was...better."
Aang threw up his arms and plopped onto the ground.
"Ugh, what am I doing wrong!" He yelled out. He pounded his fist on the ground, causing several rocks to shoot into the air, one narrowly avoiding his firebending teacher.
"Watch it!" Zuko cried out annoyed. He sat down next to his student, who was really only four years younger then himself. "You'll get it eventually. Just keep practicing." Aang let out a snort.
"Right. Of course I will."
"You have to remember to let go of the flames right after you make contact with the ground. Let them expand outward. Release control." Zuko explained, fighting against yelling at the Air Nomad. He was trying to be charitable and kind, but the strain of being nice all the time was getting to him. Katara had said that he should stick to encouragement, and 'positive energy'. He had taken the advice, seeing as she had taught the Avatar waterbending, and it seemed to be working for Aang, but he didn't know how much longer he could keep it up.
"Anyway, that's enough fire training for today." Aang nodded and grinned at Zuko suddenly.
"Hey, what do you think Katara made for dinner?" Zuko shrugged and stood up.
"Why don't you go see." As Aang snatched his staff from a nearby tree and leaped into the air, flying off in the direction of the campsite, Zuko turned in the and began walking opposite to where Aang had gone. He ducked under tree branches and avoided a patch of poison oak, and several thorn bushed before he came upon the small stream he had been looking for.
He knelt beside the clear water, cupping his hands. He dipped them into the cool liquid, and splashed it on his face. Pushing his hair back with his damp fingers, he watched the finale ripples of his disturbance to the crystal waters fade, and stared at his reflection. In the surface that could have been glass it was so smooth and clear, his golden eyes seemed to sparkle and reflect sunlight. The appearance of his eyes was wrecked however, by the raw red and pink scar that surrounded his left eye. It left his eye itself permanently half closed. Grinding his teeth together he rocked back on his knees and punched the air, sending a large fire ball out over the river. It reached the far bank and died falling into the water. He sighed. Stupid scar. It was because of that mark, that...cursed burden he carried, that he could never forget what he had gone through. Never forget how his own father had cast him aside. Marked him for life then thrown him away, sending him on an impossible task to regain his honor. At least now, he had come to terms that no one could give him his honor. He had to earn it himself. And he would do that by helping the Avatar and his group they called the 'Gaang.' By helping bring about the downfall of the man he called his father.
A wave suddenly broke the surface of the river, snapping Zuko from his thoughts. He glanced at where it had come from. Down stream. Strange.
Another wave, bigger then the first lapped the bank where Zuko knelt, so he quickly stood up and stepped away. Yet another wave came rushing down the stream, and he could make out a large wave in the distance. It was spraying water in every direction. In fact the only part of the 'wave' that seemed to be solid was the very center. With a start, Zuko realized that among the solid part, there was a figure.
Brown hair whipped out behind her, the tips flying into the waves. Katara sped along the river, over the water, her feet dipped in just enough to create the waves. As she approached, Zuko could feel water begin to hit his skin. He stepped back as she skidded to a halt a few feet away, causing a huge wave to break over the shore, directly onto him. He held out his drenched arms and gave her a look.
She had stepped onto land, and was walking over laughing.
"Oh, Zuko, I'm sorry!" She managed to get out between her giggles. Her hair was a wild tangled windblown mess, her sapphire eyes bright and twinkling. She wore her water tribe skirt and a blue sleeveless shirt that had a bow on the hip.
"Dry me off." He muttered shivering. She stuck out her tongue.
"Do it your self almighty firebender." She said sarcasticly. Grumbling about how unbelievably rude she was, he lit fire in his palms and began steaming off his clothes and hair. As he did so, Katara wandered over to the stream and dipped her feet in the water.
"I came to tell you everyone's eating. Dinners ready. Do you want us to save you some food for later or are you coming back to camp anytime soon?" She looked over and saw he was still busy trying to dry off. With a wave of her hand, all the water on his body collected into a blob and flung itself back into the river.
"Thanks." He muttered. "And just leave the food out. Don't let Sokka eat it. I'll head back now." He began walking back towards the way he had originally come from but Katara's voice stopped him.
"Wait! I know a short cut." He turned around and raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Where?"
"Here." She pulled her feet from the water and dipped her hand into it instead. Almost immediately the water began to freeze, creating a thick icy walkway.
"This river actually circles back to camp. Come on." She stepped onto the ice and began skating down stream with a dancers grace. She paused a few yards away, and looked back at him.
"Come on Zuko!" She called back, sounding a little annoyed.
Almost reluctantly Zuko walked over to the ice and gingerly stepped on it with one foot testing it's strength. Although Katara had said she forgave him, and they had become friends, he wouldn't put it past her to let him fall into the water.
At the moment, He,Toph, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Suki were camping a few miles away from the Western Air Temple. Since Azula attacked with the fleet they hadn't gone back. Instead the remained in the small forest, hiding out.
"What's wrong Zuko, scared of a little ice?" He rolled his eyes at her and hesitantly put his other foot on the slippery surface. Almost immediately he lost balance and fell backwards. Katara laughed and skated over holding out a hand.
"We'll need to work on that." He grabbed her hand and she pulled him up. He almost fell over again, but she gripped his shoulder to keep him standing. "The almighty prince can't even walk on ice. How sad."
"We don't exactly get the opportunity to learn in the Fire Nation." He attempted walking, but skidded way to far forward, slamming into Katara, taking both of them down.
"Hey!" She yelped as she hit the ice.
"Sorry!" She glowered at him.
"This isn't working. Change of plans." She remarked.
"What?"
"You better hang on." With that she stood, froze her feet to the ice, and whipped her arms forward. At first nothing happened. Then the whole frozen river exploded back into water except the part they were on. She turned and with a flick of her wrist, a handhold formed next to him.
"Hang on." She commanded again grinning. She snapped both her arms behind her and a huge wave swept the ice down the river, going faster and fast. Water shot out in every direction.
Zuko hung on for dear life, as they practically flew over the surface of the water.
"Katara slow down!" He exclaimed. His hair was whipped out of his face, his fingers aching from holding the handhold so tight.
"No need! We're almost there." As she said it, she abruptly stopped, sending Zuko flying forward barely managing to stay on the ice. "See?" She pointed at the thin tendril of smoke rising from the trees a little ways away. She propelled the ice gently to the shore and jumped off. Zuko stumbled after her.
"I think I'm going to be sick." He mumbled. She smiled and grabbed his hand pulling him toward the smoke.
"Come on! Sokka's probably about to eat your food." As they got closer to the smoke she let go of his hand and walked on ahead disappearing into the trees. He followed and came into the small clearing that his new 'family' was camping at.
Sokka had his face shoved into a bowl, presumably filled with food. Aang was airbending hay into Appa's mouth with one hand, slurping his own bowl with the other. Suki was standing near the fire, chatting with Katara who sitting down behind a pot that hung over the fire, dealing out more of the food into Toph's bowl. He walked over.
"There you are Sparky." Toph said slugging him in the shoulder. He glared at the blind girl rubbing his arm.
"Ow." He took the bowl Suki handed him, and Katara water bent some of the food into it. He examined the chunky soup and poked one of the chunks.
"What is this?"
"It's called stew Sifu Hotman." Aang called out.
"Yeah, it's really good." Sokka remarked pulling his face from the bowl. "Can I have fifth's?" Katara, Suki and Toph burst out laughing and Aang walked over dumping his bowl on the stack of dirty dishes next to the pot Katara cooked in.
"You eat to much Sokka." Aang pointed out. "In fact, I think you eat more then you joke about food." As Sokka tried to think of a comeback Zuko took a sip of the stew.
"Huh. It is good."
"Of course it is. Katara cooked it." Suki said grinning.
"Aw, your too nice." Katara said blushing. Zuko smiled and sat down against a tree, tilting the contents of the bowl into his mouth.
Yes. This was his family now. And truthfully, it was a way better family then Azula and his father had ever been.
Hey! Lemme know what you think okay? Please REVIEW! And for the record, it was supposed to be cheesy. :p
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Love Y'all,
-QueenJen