One of the things Prince Zuko always wanted, was to have family who actually loved him, and once upon a time he had one. Things were great for Zuko when he was young, but as he got older, his father and little sister began blossoming into a pair of cruel and evil individuals. One corrupted by greed and the want for power, the other taught these ways. As he was growing up, his father began favoring his sister, Azula, princess of the Fire Nation, over him, sparking a hatred and jealousy inside of the young prince. It angered him how his younger sister who barely even tried, could best him at something he's been struggling with for far longer. This, combined with his father and sister's treatment, slowly began transforming him into an angry, bitter boy who would only focus on his failures than anything else.

And so for years, he would try to outperform his sister, to be at least shown some love by his father, but no matter how hard he tried, how hard he trained, he never caught up to her, and never received even the slightest show of affection from his father. The most he ever got from his father were scowls and mockery. But at least then, through all the hard times, he had his mother. But even that didn't last. When his mother disappeared, the last bit of love he received was gone, and his remaining family became even worse; their hatred towards him no longer being held back by Ursa's protection.

And the young prince's own bitterness only got worse when his father, now fire lord, banished the teen after scarring him, demanding he only return with the avatar in chains. And even though he knew the prince was likely going on a wild goose chase with the avatar not being seen for nearly a hundred years, he still sent his own son on a mission with no return, eager to be finally rid of him. To Ozai, Zuko with his moral sense around would only weaken the gene pool with his pathetic emotions, and tarnish the royal family's name.

The avatar from then on became a symbol of home for Prince Zuko, and he would stop at nothing to capture him. So that's why, here he was, far from home, laying in the forest with a blazing headache, with what looked like the avatar sitting next to him. He began to remember what happened that night, and recollected that it was the avatar himself who saved him from Zhao, and he wondered why in Agni's name he would save his worst enemy, when suddenly, the tattooed boy spoke in a solemn voice, bringing the scarred prince out of his thoughts.

"You know, the air nomads were very close with the Fire Nation. Our two nations were part of an important balance. The Fire Nation's strength and ferocity, balanced out my nation's peace and gentleness . The two nations were important each other; they relied on each other, because of the extreme opposites in spirits. But now, with the air nation gone, that reliance is gone, balance is gone, and anger and hatred has spread all across the world. I mean, I just don't understand; there was nothing but peace and friendship between both nations. I know since I was there back in those days. But then, your great-grandfather attacked and killed my people, just, just for nothing. Why? I..I don't think I'll ever understand."

At this point, Aang was getting tears in his eyes, thinking about Gyatso and the other airbenders, the good times he had with them: flying on Appa, playing with his friends, travelling the four nations without a care in the world. But he struggled to continue.

"I know that it would never be considered honorable by the Fire Nation citizens I knew back then. And I know that hunting down the last member of an entire nation, who's lost his family, his friends, and pretty much his whole world, wouldn't be considered very honorable either. So why do you still chase me? You always mention honor, but chasing a 12 year old around the world, just to get rid of the world's only hope, isn't honorable at all." Aang sadly stated.

Zuko was getting angrier and angrier at every word the airbender said, and eventually punched the air and shot a fireball straight at the young avatar's head. Aang quickly jumped up and extinguished it with a spin of his staff.

"You know nothing about my life, or the things I went through! My father ordered me to hunt you down, and that's exactly what I plan on doing, for the rest of my life if I have to!" Zuko spat with anger.

"But why? What did I ever do to you? What did my people ever do to you? All me and my friends want is peace in the world. I miss my life in the air temples, I miss my friends, and I miss living without fear of being captured everywhere I go!" Aang yelled, furious.

"Do you want to know why I chase you and your peasant friends? This is why!" Zuko exclaimed, pointing at his scar, his mark of shame; cringing as he feels the rough skin bringing back painful memories that have haunted him since he was banished.

"From the moment I received this, my life became entirely focused on capturing you! If I don't, I'll lose everything" As Zuko said the last few words, he felt his anger melt into sadness, remembering the months and months of sailing the rough seas, tortuously searching day and night, for that mysterious, unfindable spiritual being, only to get his hopes crushed every time. Sometimes, he wondered if his father cared about him at all, and sometimes, he wondered if he'll live to see his family again.

"But I'm not just "the avatar", I'm Aang, a real person, not just some faceless all-powerful spirit. Don't you at least care about the feelings that "Avatar" has? Or is he just some,... some, thing for you to capture!? Aang then lowered his voice, and continued.

"Look, Zuko, please try to understand that I know how you feel; you want to go back home, back to your family who love you, but please don't do it by hurting innocent people." Aang said, with sadness in his voice. "I know you have some goodness in your heart". Aang said, hoping to get through to the angry firebender.

"No, you don't know. You don't know anything! I have no home, I have no family, and I have no honor..." Zuko yelled, sadness and anguish flowing out of every word he spoke.

"What do you mean? You're the prince of the Fire Nation, you probably have a ton of family members who love, and definitely respect you considering you're the prince of their nation. That doesn't make any sense" Aang asked in confusion.

"It's none of your business, avatar." Zuko bitterly said.

"But, can't you just…" Aang, however, was quickly cut-off before he could finish.

"Enough! Listen, I will let you leave, just this once. NOW GO! Before I attack you again." The young prince demanded, sick and tired of being pestered by the foolish monk.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me the entire story behind you chasing us. You owe me and my friends that much after all the time times you tried to capture and kill us." The airbender stated, the entire time wondering if he was going to be writhing in fiery heat any second now.

Zuko paused for a second, thinking whether or not he should tell this kid… enemy, the story that changed his life forever. And after a few seconds of debating with himself, he agreed, thinking it's the least he could do to the person he's been mercilessly hunting for three years now.

"Fine,, if that's what you consider "honorable", I guess it's fair. I'll tell you." Zuko shot daggers at Aang, his eyes angrily reminding the young monk of his insult towards Zuko's honor.

Zuko then began telling the story of his scarring and banishment.


"I was waiting outside the war room. My father, the fire lord, was discussing battle plans with his officers. I decided that since I was going to become fire lord eventually, I should go inside and learn from the discussions. But the useless guards kept blocking me, their own prince, from entering! I saw my uncle approach me, and I asked him to tell the guards to let me in. He agreed, and asked them to lower their guard."

"You mean the kinda, uhh, y'know, fat, grey haired guy who's always with you and is happy all the time?" Aang blurted out, slowly becoming afraid of how Zuko will react.

"My uncle is not fat! And yes, him. Now, do you want to hear my story, or will you keep interrupting me!?" Zuko snapped at the young monk.

"Ok, ok, sorry." The airbender apologized, regretting asking that question.

"Now, as I was saying, my uncle permitted the guards to let me in, so I went inside, and quietly sat on one of the empty chairs. Everything was going fine, until I heard one of the generals talking about sending defenseless soldiers out into the war, to be used as bait!"

"What happened next?" Aang asked, listening to the story intently.

"I didn't think things through, and I stood up and told everyone there that it was wrong to send helpless soldiers to their deaths! I thought I would be backed up. I was sure that they would agree it's wrong, too. But all I heard was silence, and saw nothing but angry stares towards me. It started becoming unbearably hot in the room, and when I turned around, my father was glaring at me through the inferno. He ordered me to fight in an agni kai the next day at noon. I was shocked; I had never formally fought in an agni kai before, but I regained my composure and agreed, thinking that it was that old fool of a general that I would be fighting. So when tomorrow came, I went to the arena, and proudly faced my opponent, ready to fight... But as he came closer, I noticed something was wrong. It wasn't that idiotic general that I would be fighting. No. It was something much, much worse... It was my own father."

"What!? Your own father was going to fight you!?" The young monk exclaimed, shocked at what he was hearing.

"Yes, he was. And he wasn't hesitating either. He was actually willing to fight his own son, a 13 year old, to the death." Zuko said, anger towards his father dripping from every word he said, even though he doesn't realize it.

Aang just stood there in wide eyed disbelief. He thought back to his father figure Monk Gyatso was, and how kind and gentle he was towards him. He just couldn't imagine a father that would be willing to fight his own, barely teenage son to the death. It was unimaginable. And so, so cruel.

"I told him I wouldn't fight. But he still ordered me to fight him. I begged him to forgive me, but it was clear he wasn't out for forgiveness. He walked up to me, said I will learn respect through suffering. And the last thing I saw before blacking out, was my father's hand, glowing red with fire, moving towards me. The next thing I know, my belongings were being packed, and I learnt that my father had banished me from the Fire Nation. Permitting me to only come back with the avatar. I thought it would be impossible for me, a mere 13 year old child, to find someone that has been searched for by countless people for 100 years. But I still left my nation with hope, hope that I would find the Fire Nation's worst enemy, hope that I would find the avatar and capture him, hope that I would capture you. And yet, now here I am, sitting with you, the avatar himself, sharing a personal story. My father would probably call me a disgrace and kill me on the spot if he were here now."

"I'm so sorry, Zuko. I mean, since I met you, I just thought you were some evil prince who just wanted to capture me out of glory. I never thought you were doing it to go back home." Aang stated, realising that the scarred prince just wants to go home and actually be considered worth anything by his father.

"Save your sorrys, avatar. I don't need sympathy from my enemy." The prince angrily said, not wanting to be considered weak by the pathetic airbender.

"Then why do we have to be enemies?" The airbender asked, a smile creeping onto his face

Upon hearing his question, the banished prince lost his ability to speak, dumbfounded at how he could actually say such a dumb thing.

Aang however, took a deep breath, and continued.

"Zuko, listen, please. There is so much suffering going on in the world right now. People are dying at the hands of the Fire Nation, and it's only getting worse! If you don't…" However Aang was abruptly cut-off.

"There is nothing I can do about that, avatar, and you know it!" Zuko screamed.

Yes, there is! I mean, look, you're fighting for the Fire Nation, hunting down the world's last chance for peace! How is that helping. Don't you even care about the war!? Aang yelled, astonished at the prince's apathy.

Of course I care! But I also care about going home. I used to have a home, a family, I was loved by thousands of people, and now everyone hates me! Even my own family! I want it back, I want my honor back, and I want to be the prince I was before." The young prince did truly care about all the hurt the war caused, but it was just too hard for him to give up and forget about his entire past, his family, and his country. It was too much to lose.

"But why? If they only "loved" you for your title, and if you obeyed their every word? I mean, you're father scarred and banished you for speaking out of turn! Don't you want to have real friends, who care for you, for the real you, and not just "Prince Zuko"? The young airbender couldn't understand how the scarred prince could consider someone who only cares about his title, a "friend". It saddened him to think about what kind of childhood he had to think that that's what family and friends are about.

"I, I,... why in Agni's name are we even talking about this! This doesn't make any sense!" Zuko couldn't imagine leaving the Fire Nation, and completely losing his chance to regain his honor, and his father's love. To him, it was illogical to even think about it.

"Zuko, please just consider this. This is your chance to do right. To change sides and help end the war. To help put an end to all the pain, suffering, and death caused by the Fire Nation." The airbender stated, hoping for the prince to at least consider his offer.

"How can I just leave my entire crew, and not to mention my uncle, behind and just run off saving the world? Do you even think, avatar, or do you just blurt out whatever's on your mind!?" Zuko spat, angered by the foolish boy's stupidity.

"Well, I mean, I'm sure your crew could find their way back to the Fire Nation, and, y'know, since your uncle doesn't seem too bad, maybe you and your uncle could, maybe, uhh, I don't know,... join our group, maybe? Hehe." Aang said, nervously scratching the back of his head. Afraid of the prince's reaction.

"Join your group? Are you crazy? I'd become a traitor! My father would hate me even more than before! Are you some kind of an idiot!?" The prince said, wondering how much stupider the young boy can get.

"Ohh, hehe, well, I guess you didn't find out yet, since I kinda forgot to tell you." The arrow covered boy said, nervous of having to tell the scarred teen the truth of what happened back at Zhao's fortress.

"Tell me what?" Zuko asked with curiosity, fear, and anger all mixed together.

"Well, you see, when Zhao's men knocked you out, your mask kinda, um, you know,... felloff" Aang said as quickly and quietly as possible.

"What?" Zuko asked, anger beginning to overlay his voice.

"What, what?" The nervous airbender replied

"What did you say!" The scarred teen yelled, fed up with the airbender's dance around the question.

"Your mask kinda, uhh, fell off when the arrow hit it." Aang said, closing his eyes from fear of what will happen next.

"It WHAT!?" The hotheaded prince yelled.

"Well what did you want me to do! Zhao's men were all around us, If I stopped to put it back on, we would've been captured. So, I just thought that, well, with your identity being revealed, Zhao probably already told your father, and your kind of a traitor already. So,... yeaah, hehe." Aang said, once again scratching the back of his head and quietly laughing with fear and nervousness.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" Zuko angrily asked, astounded at how the stupid avatar could leave out such an important fact.

""Well, because I knew you'd go crazy!" Aang yelled back, trying to explain himself to the angry prince.

"Uhhh, You're so stupid! I'm so stupid! I knew I shouldn't have saved you! Uhh! Why do these things always happen to me of all people!" Zuko screamed to the sky, tired of all the constant pain in his life.

"Zuko calm down, somebody's gonna hear you!" Aang whispered, trying to quiet the prince down before they get captured again.

"Calm down yourself! Do you know what this means? I'm a traitor to the Fire Nation, to my father! I'll never be able to go home now! I'll never be able to regain my father's respect! I can't even go back to my own ship! And uncle,... he'll... he'll probably never speak to me again…" It was hard enough to think about what his father will think of him, but for his uncle, the man who always believed in him,to find out that he is a traitor,... it just made him want to crawl under a rock and hide from all his failures.

"I'm sorry Zuko. But, I mean, your uncle seems like a nice guy, don't you think he might accept you, even as how you are now?" Aang said, trying to find the good in the situation.

"I, I don't know. And I don't think I'll be able to even find out, since I can't even go back to the ship." Zuko said, his anger slowly going away, being replaced by sadness and anxiety.

"Well... I have air power" Aang said, pointing to his glider "I might be able to fly you out to your ship, and you can talk to him. Maybe he'll even join our side!" Aang stated happily.

"I haven't even made a decision myself yet, so don't get your hopes up, avatar. But fine, I accept your offer. However, we have to go soon, the sky's getting brighter, and the Sun will rise in about half an hour, so if we don't want to get caught, we need to go before it gets too bright." The scarred teen stated.

"OK, fine." The airbender agreed.


Right before they were about to leave, Aang decides Zuko ask a rather awkward question.

"So… How exactly do you want to hold on during the flight?"

Being hit with such an awkward question caught Zuko off guard, and he struggled to answer it.

"Umm,... well, I'll just uhh... hold on to the back of your glider, I guess. So,... yeaah." Zuko awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, cringing at the thought of him practically hugging the avatar in flight.

"Umm, ok. No problem, then." Aang said. He then opened his glider and prepared to fly.

"All you have to do is just hop on, and point the way." Aang said with a smile so cheerful that it made Zuko cringe again.

"Uhh, right, will do." Zuko said.


Grabbing on to him, they both fly into the twilight sky; darkness slowly disappearing from the land, and from a certain prince's heart.