A/N—This is my first Avatar fanfiction, so please read and review if you want me to update! Flames are welcome.

Chapter 1

Prince Zuko stared out into the distance, knowing that the Avatar had eluded him once again. He silently laid down on his raft and looked to the sky, drowning in the sorrows of his defeat. His uncle silently sat next to him, humming a familiar Fire Nation tune. Iroh understood that he couldn't say anything to ease his nephew's pain; despite all he knew about Zuko, not even Iroh understood how deep Zuko's feelings went.

Prince Zuko's greatest fear lie not in death but in failure. And once again, he had failed, just like he had failed to please his father and to regain his honor—how he failed to even defeat one of the Avatar's companions…a weak water bender had gotten the better of him. What's worse…they saved his life, and he couldn't bear that thought. He didn't want to believe that he owed the trio he had been hunting anything; hell, he couldn't, not if he was to bring the Avatar to certain doom.

It was the waterbender that stayed in the forefront of this houghts, however. He understood that she had been trained by a master bender and that the moon was out and that they had been surrounded by everything created from water, but that still didn't justify his loss in his own mind. He had trained bitterly for years; every inch of progress he made was through sacrifice and sheer will. To be defeated so easily was an insult to his honor.

"Uncle?" His uncle stopped humming and turned his kind eyes to him.

"Yes, Prince Zuko?"

"I want to go home." Home. He didn't even know where home was anymore. His uncle, however, just nodded.

"We have some of the finest tea in the fire nation." There it was again. His uncle was always so calm and collected about everything, as if nothing stirred his heart strings. Well, except when Zhao had threatened to kill the spirits. The fire in his uncle's eyes during that fight burned with the same embers that had been in those eyes back when he was a general. Zuko had thought they were long extinguished, broken by the bitter defeat at the hands of the other nations, particularly the earth kingdom. The youth audibly sighed, every second weighing down heavily on his soul.

"What do we do now? Our crew is gone; the Avatar has escaped, and my father would have heard of this defeat by now." Iroh once again silently nodded.

"My brother is an unforgiving man, Zuko. We will not be welcome in the Fire Nation anymore." Zuko was surprised but didn't show it.

"Where are we going to go, then?"

"I know a village a few days South of here. Back in simpler times, I befriended the people of this village. They will give us sanctuary."

"And the Avatar?" Iroh was silent. There wasn't anything to be said; both of them knew that the quest for the Avatar had ended…or so they thought.

One Month Later

"Prince Zuko, dinner is ready," said Iroh. The young firebender had been incessantly training in the woods until exhaustion again. It disappointed and saddened Iroh to see his nephew so consumed by his past. Zuko never had a childhood; when the other kids in the fire nation tried to befriend him, they were coldly ignored or patronized. Instead of a loving upbringing, Zuko had known nothing but fear and pain. His father scared him, especially when Zuko made the slightest mistake because then the pain would come. In his household, there was no mercy for him; unlike his sister, he was not born a naturally gifted firebender. Everything came harder to him, and that warranted punishment.

However, as he aged he found a new father figure to cling to. His uncle was that beacon of light that prevented Zuko from losing his humanity. For that, he was thankful, but it wasn't enough. He wasn't sure if anything would be enough.

Nearly a month ago, they arrived at the village they were now in; as his uncle expected, the people greeted him with joy and acceptance, surprising Zuko because the village was not Fire Nation. Zuko did not fit in with the other kids, nor did he have a desire to. He spent his days and some of his nights training, preparing for an encounter that might never come.

"Give me a few more minutes, Uncle."

"You need food and rest to stay strong. Your body can not handle all of the stress you are putting on it." As if in protest, a flash of fire erupted around Zuko's silhouette.

"My body will handle what I ask of it to handle," Zuko said through clenched teeth; he wasn't mad at his uncle. No, he was mad at himself for remembering how weak he was. The worried look on his Uncle's face changed his answer. "Maybe you're right," Zuko said resignedly. He followed his uncle back to the village. To his surprise, he saw smoke. Was there a fire? Both he and his uncle sped up to see what was going on.

"Where is the Avatar?" asked a feminine voice as she slung more fireballs at the houses. The fire nation warriors behind her did the same, emphasizing that they were not beyond killing anyone. Zuko looked at their leader and gasped—it was none other than his sister Zula. Apparently, she had been having trouble in capturing the Avatar too. As if on cue, a giant flying bison flew overhead and landed. The three people Zuko thought he might never see again landed in front of his sister. Neither side had seen him or his Uncle; it was harder to recognize them without the fire nation gear.

"This is between you and me, Zula! Leave the people alone." Zula smirked and launched another fireball at a nearby house. The ensuing duel between the fire nation warriors and the trio did not look too good for the Avatar. Not only were they sorely outnumbered, they had to deal with a master fire bender. Zuko had to admit that the Avatar had gotten considerably stronger, but he was still just a boy. Suddenly, a stray fireball hit one of the nearby villagers, setting him on fire. The water bender dodged a fireball and doused the villager, putting the fire out.

"Uncle, whose side are we on?"

"We choose our own destinies, Prince Zuko." With that, his uncle jumped into the fray, knocking out a few fire benders along the way. He wasn't siding with the Avatar; no, he was trying to protect the villagers. Prince Zuko followed a minute later, only to see his sister and her troops finally knock out the Avatar and the peasant.

"Capture the Avatar! He's unconscious!" she yelled over the din. The water bender continued to fight valiantly, but it was to no avail. His uncle was indeed a powerful fire bender, but the sheer numbers started overwhelming even him. As Zuko fought by their side, he saw a powerful attack knock out the water bender to his left.

"Run, Prince Zuko!" yelled his Uncle, as he left his side and ran into the crowd, maniacally slinging fire left and right. 'I'll save you, Uncle. I promise,' Zuko thought to himself before turning around. He almost tripped over the water bender and, as he looked down at her, realized that he couldn't just leave her there to die. He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder and looked back one last time. His uncle had burn marks all over his body but still fought on. His sister turned with a sadistic smile in his direction; when she saw his face, the instant realization wiped away her smile. Without another word, Zuko ran off with Katara over his shoulder.

X.X

"Princess Zula, what do we do with these prisoners?"

"Stow them away in the ships. Make sure their hands are thoroughly bound; I don't want any bending going on in the ships. Take them back to the fire nation capital and tell the fire lord that they are a gift from his loving daughter."

"Where will you be, your highness?"

"Personal business," she said with a wry smile.

X.X

After running for what seemed like hours, Zuko set Katara down in the middle of the forest and collapsed from exhaustion. The young water bender began to waken and, as she made eye contact with the prince, jumped up in self-defense.

"Calm down you ungrateful peasant; I just saved your life." As her memory came back to her, she looked at Zuko in surprise.

"I haven't seen you since…since the North Pole."

"Don't remind me." Suddenly, realization hit Katara.

"Aang! Sokka! Are they okay?" Zuko gave her a cold look.

"For now; it won't be long before my father kills them…or worse." Images of Fire Nation killing her family stirred in Katara's mind.

"No," she visibly gasped, as water droplets around the forest started rising, before falling back into the ground. "We have to save them."

"We?" He looked at her as if she didn't know who she was talking to.

"Yes, we!"

"I could care less about what happens to that cursed Avatar and that buffoon."

"But…don't you care that whole nations will be enslaved or die if we don't save Aang?"

"That's not my concern; there's only one person in the world I still care for. Everyone else can fall into the abyss of fire for all I care."

"You…you heartless, spoiled…failure! Don't you—" She didn't even have time to react as Zuko's hand grasped her neck and slammed her against the tree.

"Don't you ever call me that again," he said, eyes flashing with the fire within. Katara tried to fight back but couldn't. "Listen, you filthy peasant. I only saved your worthless life because I didn't want my Uncle's sacrifice to be in vain. If you ever call me that again, I'll kill you." She didn't doubt his words in the least. He continued with the same bitterness. "If you think you can defeat me like you did at the North Pole, I suggest you reevaluate your situation. The moon spirit is not nearly as strong here and you are not surrounded by water, ice, and snow anymore, so I suggest you learn your place…water tribe scum."

Her face was turning blue as she tried to remove his hand, but it was too strong. After what seemed like an eternity, he mercifully let go. For once, she was out of things to say. However, the awkward silence didn't last long when they heard footsteps. Before Katara could react, she found an arm around her as Zuko grabbed her and climbed up a tree.

"Princess Zula, his trail ends here." She smirked as she looked around.

"Brother, I know you're there!" As if on cue, she looked straight at Katara, though it seemed impossible that she actually saw anything in the total darkness. "You always were inferior!" she continued to yell, causing Zuko to bristle. Katara shifted in his grasp to get more comfortable, causing the slightest noise. In an instant, a stream of fire was launched in her direction. Zuko pushed her out of the way, taking most of the blast head on as he fell down through the branches.

Katara stood there shocked. Did he just risk his life to save mine? She didn't have much time to think, however, as she saw Zula approach her pray. Gathering up all the moisture around her, she quickly encased Zula and her two soldiers in a sheet of ice. Luckily for her, Zuko hadn't broken anything; he was just severely burned. As he saw his sister incapacitated, he jumped up through sheer willpower and, ignoring the pain and fatigue, cut through the forest. A few minutes later, he found Katara behind him as they approached the lake. In perhaps the luckiest event of the night, there was a small fishing boat by the shore, most likely left behind by a villager who had been assaulted by Fire nation. Without saying a word, the two jumped in and sailed off.

After a few minutes, Katara broke the silence.

"Are you okay?" He turned his deep golden eyes to meet hers, sending chills down her spine. There was so much bitterness and hate within those orbs; she wondered what triggered all of it.

"Fine." His posture and wounds showed otherwise. His skin was deeply burned and he had trouble sitting up.

"Stay still." She reached over to touch him and, even in his exhausted state, he struggled to fight. "Please, I can help." Without any energy left, Zuko succumbed to her touch. The feeling he experienced was incredibly relieving, as his burns seemed to heal instantly.

"You—you're a healer?" he said through forced breaths with a hint of admiration; the pain from the other wounds were taking their toll on him.

"Shh, save your energy…Prince Zuko." She couldn't help but admire his resilience. He just didn't give up and…and he risked his life to save hers. She knew he'd never admit it, but she knew that deep down Zuko cared. He cared about her, about the Avatar; he cared about the world.

"Hurry up…peasant." Well, he was still rude. Deep down, Zuko was incredibly thankful for the waterbender next to him. Not only had she saved him from Zula, she was easing his pain. He hadn't felt such a feeling of peace since his mother had died; for once, he didn't think of his failures or his burdens. He just thought of the peaceful serenity of the lake and the rhythmic sound of the boat cutting through the water.

She accidentally hit a wound, and his yelp indicated that it hurt him a lot more than she intended. She expected him to curse at her or do something but he instead just lay still.

"Zuko?" Apparently, he was in a lot worse of shape than he had let on. Prince Zuko had passed out from exhaustion. Katara continued to silently tend to his wounds, wondering where the river would take them. She'd never admit it, but deep down Katara was beginning to like the arrogant prince.

A/N—Please read and review if you want updates.