Zuko stood alone at the palace, in his old bedroom. He thought about his mother, and heard a knock at the door. Azula stepped into the room, a smile on her face. "What's wrong, Zhu Zhu? Having a bad day?"
"None of your business," he said, "I can deal with my own problems on my own."
"Fine," she said, "if you are going to be in here for a while, I suggest you clean it up. Or get a servant to do it." She left the room, leaving the door open. Zuko sighed, and closed his eyes.
Zuko woke from his dream. He was in a cave, his head propped up on a sack of potatoes. He smelled tea brewing, and knew his uncle was awake. "Sleep well?" Iroh asked, pouring some light brown liquid into a cup.
"No," Zuko said, getting up, "I'm going out." He left the cave, and Iroh sighed. Zuko was always so upset, and never cared to say much about his feelings.
Meanwhile, in a nearby spring, Aang and Katara practiced water bending, passing the water back and forth.
"Will you guys quit water bending? It's as if you guys are trying to show off." Sokka said, cleaning his boomerang.
"I have to practice," Aang said, "and besides, it's a lot of fun. If you were a water bender too, you wouldn't complain."
Sokka scowled, and stood up, "I'm going to pick some berries. I'll be back in a little while." When Sokka left, Aang and Katara exchanged a look.
"Don't forget to bring back some meat too! I can't live off berries and nuts forever," Toph said, playing with Momo.
"I think you made him feel bad," Katara said, "you should apologize… after we finish water bending, of course. I think we almost have this move down." Katara passed the water to Aang, and he passed it back.
"Cool," Aang said, "I have to say, we are pretty good at water bending. What do you think, Appa?" Aang turned to Appa, who groaned back. Momo chittered, flew out of Toph's hands, and rested on Appa's head.
Sokka had been searching for berries for only five minutes, but already he wanted to stop. "Stupid bending, stupid avatar," he muttered, kicking a bush. Why was Aang the Avatar? Why couldn't Sokka be the avatar? All he wanted was to bend some type of element, like water. Or air. Or something cool like that. Sokka leaned against a large tree, with carvings all over it. "I wish I was the avatar," He said aloud.
At the exact same moment, Zuko wished he could capture the avatar, and then Zuko woke up, underneath the tree, rubbing his head. He stood up, and turned towards the tree. And then, the avatar stood up, a surprised look on his face, "Zuko," he said. Zuko attacked the avatar immediately, but he jumped back. He turned and ran, back to the campsite.
When Sokka got back to the campsite, Katara was practicing her water bending alone, without Aang. Momo and Appa were gone too. "Where's Aang?" Sokka asked Katara.
"Who?" Katara asked, giving Sokka a questioning look.
"Aang, you know bald air bender with an arrow on his head. You know, the avatar, ring a bell?"
"Sokka, you've been dreaming, haven't you?" Katara laughed, "If you don't remember, you're the avatar."
"Oh, no," Sokka said, "what have I done."
Back at the cave, Zuko was packing up his knife and swords. "Zuko, why are you so excited?" Iroh asked.
"I know where the avatar is. I am going to find him and bring him to my father, so I can regain my honor. And so Azula doesn't take the throne." He turned to his Uncle, his luggage packed. It was only one bag, because that was all he needed.
"Zuko, is this the right thing? Are you sure capturing the avatar is the right way to regain your honor?" He put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, but he took a step forward, away from his uncle.
"I'm sure," he said.
Iroh shook his head as Zuko walked away. Iroh had no choice but to follow his nephew if he was going to protect him. "I'm going with you," Iroh said.
"I knew you would make the right choice," Zuko said.
At the camp, Toph was smiling, as she made a boulder fly upwards. She kicked it, and it hit the rock wall to the right of the group. It made a rockalanche, and the falling boulders landed in the water. "Time to practice some earth bending," Toph said to Sokka.
"But I can't do any bending," he said, "I can't even water bend."
Katara laughed, "Sokka, you are the water bending avatar. You can't tell me that you can't water bend."
"But you were the last water bender at the South Pole. Mom died because of you at the last raid."
"No," Katara said, "we defeated the fire benders at the last raid. And all of the other six raids. Mom is at home with Gran Gran."
"But what about Aang, the air bending avatar?" Sokka asked.
"He died a hundred years ago at Sozin's Comet," she said, "like the rest of the air benders."
"The last avatar was an air bender at the northern air temple. His parents weren't even air benders… it was a phenomenon. But he died at only seven. They killed him as soon as they could, and then you were born."
"But… this is impossible. How did we even travel all this way without Appa or Momo?" Sokka demanded.
"Who and who?" Toph asked, picking at her toes.
"Never mind," Sokka said, "I'm just going to take a nap, so all of this would just go away, and everything would go back to normal."
"What's his problem?" Toph asked Katara.
Zuko and Iroh were zeroing in on the avatar and his friends. He had gone inside his tent, leaving his friends vulnerable to any attack. Zuko drew his sword from its sheath, and emerged from the bushes, leaving his Uncle behind.
"No!" Katara said, whipping water at Zuko. Zuko staggered back, and shot fire from his hand.
Toph blocked it with her earth bending, and threw a boulder from the rockalanche. Zuko moved to the side, and shot fire again, this time at the tent.
"NO!" Katara said, shooting icicles at Zuko, pinning him to the tree. The tent was engulfed in flames, but Sokka was somehow able to escape. He reached into his bag, but couldn't find his boomerang. "Where is it?" He muttered to himself, searching thoroughly.
Zuko shot fire at Sokka, and put his arms up, blocking the attack. A rock shot up out of the ground, and flew to Zuko, knocking him back. Sokka looked to Toph, who was facing Zuko alone. Sokka had realized that he had earth bent by himself. He looked down at his hands, and then shot another rock towards Zuko, this one on purpose. He whipped water at Zuko, wrapping his arm up in water.
"Good job, Sokka!" Katara said, doing the same.
That was the last thing Sokka heard as he fell, unconscious. Iroh had hit Sokka on the head, causing him to black out.
Three hours later, Sokka was chained up in a fire nation prison. He couldn't do anything, but stare at his shoes, thinking of how much being the avatar sucked. He wondered how Aang dealt with it. Zuko was such a jerk, he needed to go down. Sokka couldn't think of an escape plan. He couldn't even think of what had happened. He didn't quite remember what happened to him. All he knew was that he was in a fire nation prison. He'd never been in the fire nation before. He rested his head against his arm, and closed his eyes. He sighed in frustration, and opened his eyes again. Aang stood before him, smiling.
"Hey, Sokka, what's up?" Aang asked.
"Aang! Boy, am I glad to see you. Look, Aang, you need to help me. Zuko captured me, and I don't know how to escape."
"You shouldn't have made that wish. I know three elements, and you don't know any of them. Being the avatar is more difficult than you know, Sokka. I have the entire world on my shoulders most of the time. At least, I had. It's your job now."
"But Aang-" Sokka began, leaning forward on his chains.
"What do you want me to do about this, Sokka, air bend you out of here? I'm a spirit, I can't do that." He shrugged, and sat in front of Sokka, eating some nuts out of a small pouch.
"Ooh, nuts! Can I have one?" Sokka asked Aang.
"These are spirit nuts. Only spirits can eat them. This is a spirit fruit," Aang said, pulling a fruit out of the pouch, "and only spirits can eat them."
"But I'm so hungry!" Sokka said, "I need meat."
"That's too bad, isn't it?" Aang asked, "You shouldn't have made that wish, Sokka, and maybe I'd still be here."
"How do I escape?" Sokka asked, "You have to at least tell me that. Please."
"I have to go," Aang said, "But I'll give you a hint as to how you are supposed to escape. Iroh. That's all I can tell you." Aang disappeared, leaving Sokka alone in the room. Sokka looked around the room. Who was Iroh, anyway? Was he a general, a war minister, the fire lord's assistant? Was he somehow related to Zuko? Was Iroh an it? A type of machine? An Iroh? Sokka was so confused, his head hurt. Why did Aang have to be so vague?
Zuko was back in his room. He was dressed in a new robe the servants had gotten him. Zuko's father had welcomed him warmly. Fire lord Ozai had told him that he was glad to have him back. Both Zuko and Ozai had apologized to each other, and Zuko had bowed to his father, the fire lord.
Zuko was once again Prince Zuko of the fire nation, a role model to his people, and the perfect son of his father. But what about his uncle? His uncle had helped, and he's let him down. He knew his uncle wasn't so fond of how he was. Zuko had always been taught that this was doing the right thing, so Zuko couldn't help it. It was his Uncle's fault. His uncle lived in a world of ignorance. Didn't he know that there was a war going on? That the fire nation needed this more than anything, that capturing the avatar was the best he could do for the fire nation. This wasn't about Zuko-it was about their nation.
Zuko sighed, and lay down on his bed. It was a bit dusty, but he didn't mind. He was just glad to be home…
Without my mother, he thought sadly. She was gone… and never coming back. What had happened to her? It was several years ago, but he still missed her. She was the only one in the fire nation who didn't think he was a complete failure. Besides his uncle, but he had let him down… oh, what had he done? He stood up, and looked in the mirror. He had let his uncle down. His uncle was the only one in the fire nation who believed there was good in him. He was the only one in the fire nation who knew who he really was, the only one who didn't think he was a complete failure, now that his mother was gone. Not even his own father believed in him. His father thought he was nothing but a failure. He kicked him out of the fire nation. What did that tell him?
Outside the door to the avatar's prison, Iroh sat in a guard's uniform, waiting for a signal of some sort. There was another guard patrolling; he would come around in two minutes. In the meantime, Iroh would go over his plan.
Iroh waited, until the guard came around. Iroh stood, and greeted the guard. "We need to let the avatar go. I was given direct orders from the fire lord to bring him to his chambers immediately."
"Why wasn't I informed? And where are your keys?"The guard demanded.
Iroh shrugged, "The fire lord directly asked me," he said, "now don't make a scene here."
"Last I checked, you were not head of security," the guard said, "I am, so I suggest you-"
"Is there a problem here?" Zuko asked the men. They both looked at Zuko, dumbfounded.
"N-no, Prince Zuko. This man just said that the fire lord asked for a presence with the avatar, but if we let him go, then he would have the chance to escape, your majesty."
"Don't you think the fire lord knows what is best? Or do you think that he is not capable enough to handle the situation?" Zuko asked.
The guard gave Iroh the keys to the room, and he took them. "Now I suggest you run along and not speak of this to anyone, or you too can have a presence with a very unhappy fire lord."
The guard nodded, and ran off, to his next post.
"Zuko, what are you doing?" Iroh asked, "Are you crazy? Not only will you not have your honor, you will be executed. Is that what you want, Zuko? To die?"
"I let you, down, uncle," Zuko said, "I want to make this up to you. I'm going to help you."
Iroh smiled, "That is kind of you, Zuko, but you will go down too."
"I don't care."
Iroh nodded, and unlocked the door. The avatar was chained up, with his head down. It looked as if he were dead, but his chest was slowly rising and falling. "Unchain him," Iroh said, "I'll keep watch."
Zuko nodded, and got to work on the cuffs. When he was done, the avatar slumped forward, onto the ground. Zuko caught him, and hoisted him onto his shoulder. The avatar made a noise that sounded like a groan. Zuko opened the door, and nodded to his uncle. They closed the door, locked it, and ran as quick as they could out of the palace. But they did not reach the door. Because they had run into the fire lord. And he was not happy. That was the last they had seen. The last thing Sokka saw was his life as it flashed before his eyes, and then a look of surprise on Zuko's face.
Sokka woke up on Appa, as they flew over the fire nation. He rested his head upon his bag, and looked around. Katara smiled at him, "Sokka! You're awake!"
"Hey, buddy," Aang said, waving at him from Appa's head.
"He's awake? Finally!" Toph asked, "Who knew someone could sleep so long. What was your dream like?"
"What happened?" Sokka asked.
"You don't remember?" Aang asked, "Zuko attacked you, and you were unconscious. He found our campsite, and we ran, looking for you. When we found you, you were still unconscious, but we were able to escape."
"You mean… I'm not the avatar? It was all just a dream? I'm not really… dead? And this isn't just some crazy dream? I'm wearing pants, right?"
"It was just a dream," Katara said, "don't worry."
Momo chittered, and licked Sock's face.
"I am so glad to see it was all just a dream," Sokka said, "I was the avatar, and Zuko captured me, and then he was good, which is pretty freaky, and then I was killed, and I could water bend!"
"That's nice to know, Sokka," Katara said rolling her eyes, "I'm sure you'd be a pretty good water bender… as soon as Momo learns to talk."
"What?" Momo asked, "it can happen."