Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, then Season 3, the live-action movie, and the Avatar continuation would have all come faster. Said show is property of Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom.

I created this story as something to occupy my imagination, but I need feedback on what I have up so far. So, please review! All of your comments are highly appreciated -- I even accept flames.

Prologue

Princess Azula's ship cruised off into the horizon. Little did the casual observer know that the elaborate craft held three extra Firebenders upon its departure from the Earth Kingdom.

The newest female aboard punched listlessly at the reinforced wall of her tiny jail cell. Squeezing her eyes shut, she slumped in a dejected heap in the corner. The metal used here was too strong to break through with any one fireblast, and following up the first hit would be both impractical and impossible. At least five guards had been posted outside of her cell, and anything she did would get her relocated to an even more confined area. If such a thing is even possible. The cramped space was, in actuality, a spare storage-room, eight paces long by five paces wide. It had recently been converted into her makeshift prison.

The fifteen-year-old's dark-haired head dropped to the knees as she curled up, her back to one of the indiscernible metal barricades, pondering her fate. Where had she messed up? Why had this happened? And what was in store for her when the ship reached the Fire Nation?

Chapter 1: Questions

I've become so numb, I can't feel you there,

I've become so tired, so much more aware,

I'm becoming this, all I wanted to do,

Is be more like me, and be less like you

"Numb," Linkin' Park

Zuko was empty.

Not in the depressed way, not in the sleep-deprived way, and most certainly not in the needy way. After all, he had regained his princely status.

But right now, he was just…empty. So empty that he did not even know it, that he could not put a name to his state of soullessness. Why did he feel this way?

Death would be a better option. The experience of being burned, scarred for life (literally!), disowned, and banished by his father had been far happier. So, to a normal, logical being, it would seem obvious which choice he should have taken.

Too bad for Zuko that he was too numb to hear his own voices.

His uncle's ashamed gaze – his uncle, trapped first in the catacombs and then in the cells – caught him right in the eyes every time he blinked. The image persisted, staring back at him through eyelids that knew no rest. He just stood there on the deck, dark gold orbs glazed over and turned forlornly towards the endless sea, the face a set mask of indifference and large hands curled so tightly around the railing that his knuckles bruised pale.

Azula, the Fire Princess and his sister, strolled up to stand beside him at the edge of deck. That mellifluous voice snapped him back to reality as she faced him. Rather impatiently, his subconscious noted.

"Something troubles you, Prince Zuko?"

It was really more a statement than a question. Of course something troubled him, to put it mildly, the little voice in his head rebutted. But he couldn't tell his younger sister straight out. She would suspect him of treachery and have him kept under guard day and night until they reached the Fire Nation, no doubt. Zuko hadn't even wanted to leave Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom, fearing the extra insanity that awaited him back home. And Agni knew he'd already had more than his share of the craziness.

The Crown Prince temporarily appeared to be at a loss for words. He lifted his head, turning a confused golden gaze into the distance. Even now, the day after he had betrayed his uncle, his only hope during exile, he could not feel the beast and the man that clashed within his mind.

After a long, empty silence that proceeded Azula's question, he spoke the words that had plagued him for the past night, the words that had left him restless yet run-down, sleepless yet simply desiring peace and certainty of mind.

The words that might turn him into a madman.

"Who am I?"

His uncle, the retire Dragon of the West and Zuko's even-keeled mentor for three years, had asked that same question of him before, as they stood in the cell of the Avatar's imprisoned bison, back in the Earth Kingdom. Now, they were all that Zuko had left of his sanity.

It was just as his uncle had stated to the Prince as they stood before the Earth King's palace. Destiny truly was a funny thing.

"Excuse me?"

Once again, that annoyingly sweet, serpentine voice cut into his detached thoughts. Azula's golden-brown gaze was drilling a blue-edged cavity just above the colossal burn mark that marred the left side of his regal face, causing that little voice infinite pain and annoyance.

He glanced towards his sister. Something was off about her: something that made her seem even more snakelike than before. Then he recognized the evil intent in those eyes. The blue dragon from his dream! Her words echoing hollowly in his head: "Sleep…just like MOTHER!"

Realizing that the Royal Prodigy was still there, Zuko amended his previous statement. "Will Father really accept me when I return?" But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he felt regret. However, this came with an ironic sense of pleasure; at least he could feel something.

Azula simply smiled at him.

- - - - - - -

Meanwhile, the subject of Zuko's numbed thoughts was sitting quietly in his cell, legs crossed in the lotus position. General Iroh had approximately eight million questions clamoring in his mind, none of which linked to an immediate answer.

The voices were driving him nuts!

How could his nephew – his nephew – have done this? And just when things were looking up, too! Iroh's shame, anger, disappointment, weariness, and general frustration milled into one large wave of brain static. Thankfully, he just allowed it to swirl in his head, preferring the wordless frenzy to the empty silence shrouding his body in an unresponsive barrier.

His nephew, Zuko, whom he had guided and mentored for so long, had betrayed him. Why had he not noticed the signs of betrayal? Why had Zuko trusted his Azula? She was bad news for everyone around her.

That boy was truly a mystery, but then again, so was his younger sister.

And had Azula actually wanted Zuko back as her elder brother, and not just another marionette for her twisted entertainment? She had burned quite a few of the dolls that Iroh had sent her when she was a child. Now, he just figured that she hadn't liked them because they were merely stuffed figurines and not real people that she could manipulate.

But why hadn't she just killed both Iroh and Zuko on the spot, instead of taking them back to Sozun? Wouldn't that save her the trouble? Or, more likely, she had an ulterior motive as usual. But who would put the idea in her head – Ozai? And why?

Why?