Disclaimer - I do not own anything even remotely related to Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am merely a fan, and this is a work of fiction. All characters herein that are not from Avatar: The Last Airbender are my own creation, and do not belong to anyone but me. The plot is also mine.

Welcome to the sequel to Burning For You. You might want to read that one if you haven't, or else you might be somewhat lost. The events in this story take place during Book Two: Earth, though there are some things within that I have changed to suit the purposes of my plot. Story Title Credit: 30 Seconds To Mars - "Alibi". Enjoy!

"So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us." -Gaston Bachelard

Once, when Kiya was a little girl, her mentor Gyong told her a story. It had been late one night, and she'd had one of her usual nightmares filled with smoke and banshee screams. She had run to him, with clinging pale fingers and teary green eyes, looking like a ghost in her white nightgown. Rather than rebuking her for disrupting his sleep, he pulled her up onto his bed, and told her a tale by the light of one candle. It went something like this:

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a princess. Her name was Kiya. When she was very small, she went for a walk along the path. As she did, she came upon a snake. Now, the snake was very crafty, and he knew that he could trick the princess into doing something silly. He decided to try and trick her into giving him her crown.

As she passed, he stopped her. "My dearest princessss," He hissed in a most jovial manner. "What a fine day it is for a walk! You have made a wise decision, coming out today."

"Yes, Mr. Snake," She replied politely. "I do think you're right. It is a beautiful morning. I wonder, if you aren't busy, would you like to come along?"

"I think I would!' He said, his dark little mind already plotting. Together, the two of them set off down the path. "I am glad to be accompanying you, lovely princess. It is truly an honor to be your escort."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Snake. You're too kind."

They walked in silence for a few moments, enjoying the sunshine, when suddenly Mr. Snake cleared his throat. "Now, Princess, I was wondering if you and I might play a game."

"A game?" She clapped excitedly. "I love games! What would you like to play?"

"A game of riddles, Princess. A competition, even. Now, I'll ask you a riddle, and if you can answer me correctly, you may have something of mine. But if you answer incorrectly, I will be entitled to something of yours."

The princess was no fool, and she knew immediately that the snake was after her crown. Still, she agreed to play the game with him, on the condition that she got to ask the first riddle. The snake begrudgingly agreed.

The princess thought about her riddle for a few moments, before turning the snake, and saying: "A leathery snake with a stinging bite. I'll stay coiled up unless I must fight. Pray tell, what am I?"

The snake raised itself proudly, sure that it already knew the answer. "You are a snake, of course, one as fine as I am with fangs full of poison."

"Your vanity is your downfall," The princess replied. "You are incorrect. The right answer was a whip."

"Oh, woe!" The snake cried in despair. He knew that instead, he had been the victim of a foul trick. Immediately, he groveled. "You win, Princess Kiya! What does a great and mighty royal want from a lowly being such as I?"

"Oh, it is nothing much, my dear Mr. Snake," Princess Kiya replied. "I merely want your life."

At which point she seized the snake, and snapped his neck, quickly and quietly. Thus, from that day forward, she kept the snake tied at her hip always as a weapon - a whip - to brandish at her foes. She used it as a warning to those who would come looking to steal her crown, certain that there would be others who would fall prey to their own twisted pride and greed.

As she was only a small child at the time, this tale both confused and frightened Kiya. She did not want to think of herself as a ruthless princess, killing any who dared oppose her. When she complained of this, Gyong only shook his head and smiled at her in that familiar patient way. "No, child," He had said, folding his hands over hers and leading her back to her bed. "Truthfully in life, none of us are the mighty princess. As you shall learn when you're older, we are all the snakes, with our necks in someone else's hands."

Now, standing at the end of all things, Kiya thought that maybe she understood what Gyong had meant. She was not the princess of the story, though he had given the character her name. She was the snake. We are all our own downfall. We will destroy ourselves, because that is all we know how to do.

Kiya looked across the deck of the Fire Nation ship, at the true mighty princess of the tale. The princess who now held not only Kiya's neck in her sharp grasp, but also the neck of the boy beside her. Remembering that fateful night at the den of the Black Vipers, Kiya made a quick and conscious decision. One that she was certain would stop everyone around her from dying, but would ultimately be her ruin. Hey, if it's all I've ever really been good at…

"Wait." Kiya paused, holding her daggers out in a stance of surrender. "Wait, just for a minute." Her voice was shaking, but she wasn't quite sure that she knew how to steady it. If her plan failed, then everyone she had left in the world - everyone she cared about in the world - would die. She took a deep breath, and it wavered in her chest, like a winter wind passing through a leafless orchard.

"Kiya," Zuko mumbled out of the corner of his mouth. "What are you doing?"

"We don't have to fight!" Kiya looked at Azula, locking eyes with the fearsome Fire Princess. "Look, you want Zuko, right? And Iroh? Well, how about you take me? Let them go, and take me as your prisoner instead. "

Azula's golden eyes widened with delight. Of course, that idea had never occurred to her before. Kiya could just see the gears working in the princess' mind. Capture the daughter of a jaded former General, finally have someone to blame for his crimes, someone she could punish with gusto…

Kiya bit her lip. Take me. If Zuko and Iroh have the chance to escape and live, then I will consider my deeds done. No one else shall die because of my mistakes.

"Are you out of your mind?" Zuko whispered harshly. "She came here for me. What you're doing is stupid!"

Azula looked over at Irada, her eyes hungry and gleaming with the prospect of fresh meat. "What do you think, Ira? My relatives, who continually glorify failure? Or the traitorous General's offspring? Which do you think my father would be more pleased with?"

Irada grinned, her smile mirroring something that greatly resembled evil. "What could your father need with failures? Leave them here. Let them rot. They don't deserve to even be called Fire Nation. But the assassin who is my sister…" Her eyes glowed with green fire. "She may yet have potential."

"Then we are decided."

"We are."

"Hah!" With a yell, Azula pointed, straight at Zuko. The tips of her razor-sharp nails glowed an electric blue.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand clapped down on Azula's wrist. Iroh had appeared. His face was red, and his hair was mussed, but he appeared none the worse for wear. Something extraordinary happened when his hand closed around her arm. The blue fire that Azula usually wielded traveled down Iroh's arm and across his body, shooting out from his own extended arm, rather than hers. She balked, as her lightning went blazing off into the distance. With a furious growl, she ducked low and spun towards Iroh with a kick. Knocking him off his feet, she flipped forward through the air, kicking a stream of lightning directly at Zuko.

"No!" Kiya screamed, diving in front of Zuko, in the hopes of taking most of the blow.

She only half-succeeded. Her right arm caught some of the blue heat, and the scent of her own searing flesh filled her nose. Half of the lightning, however, did hit Zuko in the chest, but not with the force and violence that his sister had intended. Instead of burning him, as it should have, it knocked him backwards - and right off of the deck. Kiya heard the splash below. She wanted to run to the side, to make sure he was okay, but the pain in her arm dropped her to her knees.

Conveniently, Azula stepped up behind her at that moment. Disarming Kiya with one kick, she bound Kiya's hands behind her back, and tied a cloth gag in her mouth. Hauling her to her feet, they dragged her back across the gangway, to Azula's massive, elaborate ship. As soon as they reached the deck, they were swarmed by guards. Azula and Irada left Kiya in their capable hands, and the last glimpse she got of them was the two of them exchanging a malevolent smirk. One of the guards slipped a sack over Kiya's head, and all she knew from that moment on was darkness and pain.

He's alive, Kiya thought to herself desperately, as she was blindly dragged throughout the ship's hold and taken to some cold, silent place where she was chained to the floor. Her arm throbbed with every breath that she took. He has to be alive. I took half of the hit for him, and now he's alive and free because I took his place. I have to believe it. I have to.

She only wished that her conviction could be as strong as her doubt.

Water. Water everywhere, in Zuko's mouth, in his nose, his eyes, his ears. Dragging him down like iron fingers; the currents gripped him tighter and pulled him below. It twisted around his legs, until he was kicking fruitlessly within its grasp.

Above him, he could see the dim light of the sun, further away than he could reach. It glistened and rippled with the water, folding in upon itself until it looked like a half moon. No, not the moon… not the moon at all. The sun. He tried to bend, but it was impossible. The water closed around him and his ability like a damp blanket, and being his polar opposite, it took too much of his energy. Instead, he focused on the sun's power flowing through him, and kicked upwards, slicing through the water with his arms. I'm not going to die here.

Just when he thought he might drown, he burst through the surface. He gulped in a lungful of air, his hands reaching up and grabbing nothing but air. He sank back down below the water for a second before popping back up, his legs treading water. Through the soaked strands of his hair, he could see his ship; it wasn't that far. He could swim.

He swam through the thick, choppy water, spitting out mouthfuls as the motions of his arms pushed waves into his face. Nearer and nearer he swam to the vessel, screaming "Help!" as he went. A figure entered his vision just as he reached the side of the ship. Relief swept through him when he realized his uncle was unhurt by all the proceedings. "Uncle!" He shouted, almost smiling. "Help me!"

His uncle threw down a rope, and he let himself be pulled up. He was dripping with water, and he was shaking from the exertion, but he could only think of one thing: Kiya. Why had she gone in his stead? What would Irada and Azula do to her? Speaking of, what had happened to the girl he had once thought he was in love? Once, her eyes had shown with love and devotion. Now, there was a hardness to them, and a cold shell around the girl he had once known so well. It seemed like the years had not only taken a toll on him, but also on Irada. What lay in store for them? Technically, they were still betrothed. Could he marry her, knowing what she might be doing to his new friend? There were so many questions, and unfortunately, he had no answers.

He flopped onto the deck like a dead fish when his uncle finally pulled him all the way up. Iroh knelt beside him, looking him over to make sure he was okay. The cut on his face had reopened, but he was otherwise fine. He lay there for a long time, clutching his bruised body, gasping for air. The sky spun above him, and he closed his eyes against the dizziness threatening to overwhelm him.

"Azula took her, didn't she?"

Zuko coughed, sitting up. His clothes were plastered to his skin, and he shivered as a breeze passed over them. He nodded. "They took her. Azula and Irada. She went with them, instead of you and I. I know, though…this isn't over. As soon as they're bored of her, they'll come after us. My father will surely declare us enemies of the Fire Nation." He looked at his uncle, suddenly feeling the weight of that realization. "Where will we go?"

Iroh's face hardened. "There is only one thing to do, nephew." He pulled forth a knife from some mysterious place, and handed it to Zuko.

Zuko stared at the knife. His uncle had sent it to him while he was orchestrating the infamous siege upon Ba Sing Se. It had been a gift to him while he was on the war front. On one side, it said "Made in the Earth Kingdom". On the other side of the blade, the words "Never give up without a fight" had been etched into the metal. Though the latter flashed through his mind - reminding him that he had been forced to give up without fighting Azula and Irada - it was the former that really caught his attention. The Earth Kingdom.

He looked up at his uncle. "The Earth Kingdom?"

Iroh nodded. "We will start anew. For now, we shall remain as fugitives, and we will take refuge in the Earth Kingdom. I don't think anyone will look for us there." His face was grave. He took the knife back from Zuko, and raised it to his head. Zuko watched, shocked, as his uncle sawed off the topknot that symbolized his position in the Fire Nation. He dropped the chopped hair overboard, into the water. It dipped down below the surface, vanishing from sight. Then, he handed the knife back to Zuko.

Zuko hesitated. He had abandoned his own topknot long ago, just for the sake of being an exile. He had no one to impress, and he certainly had no father around to reprimand him. So he had let it grow loose and long. The only thing holding him back was the memory of soft hands running through it, brushing it away from his face. Kiya. His heart panged. I hadn't been able to stop them.

With his mouth set in a line, he grabbed a chunk of his hair, and sliced with the knife. The strands came loose in his hand, and he tossed them over the edge of the ship. With his uncle's help, she sheared away the years of travel, until it was cropped close to his head. Running his hands over it uncertainly, he looked once more to his uncle.

"Now, we are not ourselves," Iroh said, standing and helping Zuko up. "Now we are free to wander and regain our footing. Now, we become ghosts."

Never had Zuko heard a truer statement.

The other chapters are longer than this, I promise. Also I'm warning you now: because of all the events that transpire in Book Two, and because of my varied characters, point of view and time will skip around a lot. I'll try and let you know when this happens, so it doesn't become confusing for you :)

Chapter Title Credit: 30 Seconds To Mars - "Alibi"