Full Summary: Zuko somehows manages to transport himself from his world to our world. He will have to face challanges and sacrifice things he'd never thought of whilst trying to find a way home, but what if he can't get home? What will happen when he finds himself attached to the new life he's begun to carve out? Read to find out =D

Chapter 1: Hello Universe, Hear Me Roar

WC: 4,665

Disclaimer: i don't own anything avatar!


[My POV ;D]

Shrill and ear splitting, an alarm broke the silence in a still-dark room. Groggily, I pulled myself out from underneath my cocoon of blankets. Rubbing my eyes open, I reached over to my nightstand. I blindly groped for my phone, the source of the noise. My other hand was resting on the top of my head which was a mass of tangles and awkward curls.

"Mng" I moaned, blinking to full consciousness. I slid my phone open, light pooling from it. Wincing, my eyes squeezed shut as I jammed down on the 'end' button. I groaned and dropped back down onto my bed, mummy style, not even bothering to slither under the covers. I could still feel the warmth trapped in them, and the difference between them and the cold air made me shiver. However, I ignored it and attempted to fall asleep again.

"THUNDER! GET UP" My mom's voice echoed up the hallway she was vigorously pounding on. I nearly jumped out of my skin, jolting upright and very ungracefully spilling onto the floor.

"I'm up." I mumbled under my breath angrily. It seemed to take all of my effort to roll over six inches and flick my lamp on. The light was overly bright, and I shielded my eyes from it. I blinked lazily, finally readjusting to the unwanted light, and moaned again. What time was it? My eyes trailed over the six inches I traveled and saw my cell phone on the edge of my bed.

"Phone, come." My voice was still thick with sleep, and it was so tempting to climb my way back onto my bed and pass out. I mean, the sun wasn't even up yet! With a groan, I reached up for my phone, tugging on my sheets with my other hand to make it fall in my grasp. I smiled victoriously whilst sliding my phone open to check the time.

6:23

"FUCK" I hissed, maybe a little too loudly, considering my brother was in the room next door. Contrary to the popular belief that cursing kids get the soap, my mother would probably rip my hair out and make me eat it if she ever caught me cursing. I'd be lucky to get off the hook so easily by just licking a bar of soap. Sucking in a deep breath, I snapped my phone back into place, trying to ignore the little digital numbers.

'I have plenty of time to get dressed.' I told myself reassuringly, leaning all the way over onto my stomach and turning on my hair straightener. That was one of the greatest things about my room: it was so small, I could pretty much just move one foot and reach something on the other side of it. Of course, my room was probably more cluttered than an antique store, but hey, it makes me happy, so who cares?

As the straightener was heating up, I finally decided to get up on my feet, gripping the sides of my skull when I felt my head rush. I walked over to my bed, reaching under my pillow to grab my laptop. Flipping it open, I zipped my finger across the touch pad and it blinked to life. Behind me, I could hear the 'beep' of my straightener, telling me it had finished heating up. I dismissed it and waited for the screen to finish loading, clicking my music player and turning on my 'morning' playlist. Bayside began to shred from the speakers, and I smiled happily.

I flopped back down on the floor in front of my mirror and began the task of straightening my bed-head. Impatiently, I ripped my hairbrush through my tangles, ignoring the rough 'SCCCC' noises it was making. I didn't have time to worry about the state of my head right now; I needed to be ready for school. Mercilessly, I continued to probably destroy my hair while removing the knots until I realized I had to pee. Abandoning the hairbrush, I jumped up to run to the bathroom. I could have cried when the door was shut and locked.

"Alan! PLEASE LET ME IN THERE!" I sobbed dramatically, leaning heavily against the door. I could barely make out what he was saying from within.

"Mm…shaving…gnf…" Was all I could hear, and I whined, swiveling around to dash back into my room.

As soon as I sat down I stood back up. Where was my hairbrush?! I growled inwardly, desperately turning in circles, trying to figure out where I had placed it. I swiftly turned my head to look under my bed when I felt it smack against the side of my head.

"Ow, damn it!" I began to rub where the brush had made contact with my skull, reaching behind me to wrench the perpetrator out of my hair. Figures. Why wouldn't it just fall down to the ground like a normal gravity-prone object? It just had to keep a hold in my hair. With much effort, I sat back down and began to straighten my hair carefully, avoiding clipping my ears with the hot metal in all of my anger.

After only a few moments, half of my monstrous hair was beginning to resemble something more presentable, and per usual, I twirled a hair tie around that half and set to work on the remaining mess. I was just finishing my last layer when my brother practically busted my door down. I could see his glare reflected in my mirror.

"We're leaving in ten minutes. You better be ready or we'll leave without you." He snapped at me, slamming my door.

I resisted the urge to shout profanities at him. Instead, I simply finished getting dressed at my own pace; finishing my hair and other necessities, such as finally peeing, before putting on the outfit I had chosen the previous night. I slid my skin tight black and yellow plaid jeans on, wiggling my hips only slightly to adjust them comfortably. Even though there was no way they would fall off, I still laced a rainbow-coloured star-studded belt through the loops, shoving the excess end through a hair tie I had looped onto it just for that purpose. My shirt was much quieter in colour, a soft blue spaghetti strap piece that hugged my sides perfectly, resting just above my jeans, whilst showing a sliver of my slightly tan skin. Turning, I yanked one of the top drawers of my dresser open to grab two socks at random, as my socks never match, and shoved my feet in them before reaching down to force my black skate shoes over them. I leaned down to observe the Monster and Red Bull tabs I had twined in the laces, arranging them so their vibrant colours were face up.

[A/N: my shoes are pretty amazing :D]

Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I began my trek downstairs, re-safety pinning my necklace in place and sliding my friendship bracelet to the top of my wrist. I pulled a pack of gum out of my back pocket and popped a piece in my mouth, chomping away, looking around. My brother was seated on the couch, fuming, as usual. If we didn't leave when he wanted to leave, he almost always threw a tantrum.

I waltzed around the corner, glancing to see where my mother was. Her door was propped open, our dog Poco wagged his tail when he saw me, jumping up and prancing towards me in all his collar-jingling joy. Stroking him a few times, I scanned the room for my mother. My eyebrows quirked when I realized I couldn't spot her.

"Mom…?" I called hesitantly, tossing Poco onto her bed. All of a sudden she appeared behind me, and when I whirled to face her, she looked flustered.

"Keys…" She was muttering under her breath. I simpered.

"The keys on are the peg by the door, your purse is on your door handle and you phone is in your hand. Ready?" I smirked at her. I always knew where everything was. It was rare for me to lose or not be able to point to the whereabouts of an object. My mother nodded at me and I walked back into the front room where my brother was still angrily glaring. And then my mind hatched an evil plan to make him even madder.

"I call front!" I chimed, slumping down onto the couch next to him, pulling my phone out of my other back pocket and going through all my good morning texts. I never had the time to check them when I was getting dressed. The first one was from Sarah, and I quickly opened it, feeling my brother's angry stare on me the whole time.

"Good morning, Thunder :] R u staying after school today?" It read in outrageously loud letters compared to the darkness outside. The sun had yet to rise. I quickly typed out a reply, sliding my phone open to use the keypad as opposed to t9.

"Ya, if you are. We're leaving in a sec, meet me at the locker?" I hit send and allowed my phone to slide shut on its own, closing with a satisfying 'click!' Only a few seconds passed before my phone buzzed with a response.

"I'll b there :] ilybby" After reading it, I texted 'ilyt' back and then went through my other texts, dismissing them as less important people and not responding to them. I rammed my phone back into my tight pocket and ran a hand through my hair, exhaling. Finally my mother made her grand appearance and we were out of there, driving us to school.

The moment I walked through the high school doors, tons of sounds hit my ears, and this only succeeded in pissing me off. People were so fucking loud in the morning. I kept my eyes down on the floor, avoiding the look of anyone who might be trying to catch my eye. Not a lot of people were really worth talking to, in my opinion. It's not that I think I'm better than them, I just don't think they are worth my time. Half of the things most of them say are unintelligent and, frankly, quite vulgar. I'm almost positive a lot of the alumni saw me as a bitch, but I just prefer to be friends with people who have an IQ higher than 50.

Jerking the door to the stairs open, I began to ascend them, counting them under my breath. OCD, hehe. Two girls were passing by, unknown to me because I couldn't see them, as my head was down, but I could hear them whisper as I walked past.

"Look at that skinny bitch. Someone should ask her if she's anorexia." As soon as I'd heard them speak, I had to fight back the reflex to smack my own forehead. Really, sometimes, it surprises me how completely stupid people can be. Just because I expect the worst of people doesn't mean I can't be caught off guard when they outdo themselves and make me hate humanity a little more. Seriously, how do people spend fifteen years of their life being educated and still be that brainless? It took a good amount of self control not to turn around and correct them on their lack of intelligence, but I had somewhere to be.

So I trudged on, skirting down a hallway before pushing my way past a crowd of people and arriving at my locker. Sarah was already there, sitting on the floor with her back against the mouth-wash blue lockers. I energetically jumped and landed in front of her, grinning down at her. The other people around my locker were animatedly talking about pulling eyeballs out with ascots, and I smiled inwardly.

These were the kind of people I could be around. Freaky stories and horribly vicious conversations, but at least they spoke with an ounce of knowledge. Well, I gotta admit, they're pretty hilarious too.

"Thunder!" Jane shrieked, throwing her arms around me. At the sound of my name Sarah looked up and pulled her earphone buds out of her ears.

'No wonder she didn't notice me.' I thought, returning Jane's embrace and also shouting her name. Sarah stood up slowly and straightened her shirt out, patiently waiting while Jane and I hugged. When Jane had stepped back and launched back into the eye-ripping story, Sarah took her place and I hugged her back much more enthusiastically.

"Oh, jeez, Sarah! Guess what!" I exclaimed when we pulled apart, furiously digging through my backpack.

Sarah watched me with interest. "What?" she asked. Then, "Did you finally find Narnia?" I paused my frantic searching, casting her a look of pure dejection.

"No!" I cried, wiping away false tears. "Why must you remind me of all my failures!?" Sarah laughed and shrugged, falling casually up against the lockers.

"Okay, well, I'm out of guesses." She amended just as I pulled two slices of paper. Her eyes widened and I smirked, waving them about in the air like flags. "Are… Are those Bayside tickets?" She asked. I barely nodded a quarter inch and she was screeching, flailing her hands. "How did you get them!?"

I flexed my fingers, placing one of the rectangles in her hands. "Let's just say being friends with Shredder has more benefits then just talking about his crazy make-out fests." I replied, shoving mine back into my bag. Shredder was my twenty year old best-guy-friend. "I have a third one, but I don't know who to give it to." Thoughtfully, I looked around. I didn't really like anyone else, and Shredder was going with his girlfriend, not like he would want to go with two fifteen year old girls plus one anyway.

"Well," Sarah mused, interrupting my thoughts, "the concert is like, three weeks away, you'll find somebody." I nodded in agreement. I had plenty of time. Just as I opened my mouth to say something, the harsh clang of the first bell echoed through the hallway, and the mass of students began walking to their classes. Waving to Sarah, I headed back down the stairs to my first period.


[Zuko's POV]

The night faded as the sun breathed its last breath and disappeared under the horizon. My breath exhaled as I watched its descent, my heart feeling as though something had fallen with it. Following the stream of lavender darkness, my eyes trailed up to the stars and I silently began to contemplate.

Life had been extravagant, but, as with all things, complicated. Nothing ever seemed to be right. The universe had a way of throwing things at me that were the polar opposite of 'fortunate'. Oh, and to top it all off, I had a headache.

One thing the universe seemed to think was funny would be the rebels. There were small groups who weren't willing to accept me as Fire Lord because my father was still alive. Yes, they were small, but efficient, and they'd been giving me hell for too long, already, and I'd only been Fire Lord for a few months. I can't even begin to imagine why they would even want to stay loyal to him, but even so, I did admire them because their loyalty was unshakeable. Of course, maybe I wouldn't shake it out of them; maybe I would just beat them…

I smiled inwardly at the thought, but dismissed it quickly. My father was the kind of person who thought like that, granted he probably didn't admire anyone but himself; however, I didn't want to be anything remotely similar to him. In my eyes, he was a disgrace to the world, and the worst father. How could I be so lucky?

"Zuko, are you just going to sit and stare at the sky all night, or are you going to come in and spend time with me?" Mai appeared in the doorway behind me, her voice flat and void of all emotion, per usual, and breaking my reverie.

That's another one of those things the universe wanted to fling at me. Ever since Mai moved in to the royal palace, she'd been nothing but clingy. At first it was flattering, but after a while she just got annoying. I'd never been the touch-y type. She always wanted more from me than I wanted to give. And sometimes, she'll say something, and it won't make any sense to me. It's like I don't even know her. I always wonder if she feels the same way. I could never say it to her though, as far as I can tell, she loves me, and she's all I've ever known of love.

"I'll be right there." I said quietly, not turning to look at her. I could hear her sigh and walk away with a 'swoosh' of her dress. Groaning with discontent, I got up and stretched my limbs, stiff from sitting on the ground for so long. My eyes looked out at the horizon again, as if I would be able to see the sun so soon after its daily departure. I sucked in a deep breath, not quite drawing in the strength I knew I could if the sun was still in the sky.

'It's shining somewhere' I thought to myself, casting one last dejected glance to the sky, the stars, and walked inside, blinded, from the sudden light.

I scanned the area, not really wanting to be clung to by Mai at the moment. I kept walking, not really heading anywhere distinct, just wherever my feet wanted to go. Abruptly avoiding my room, of course, I turned down a hall that I'd rarely been down. The walls were coated in an unappealing array of gray and black shades. This, however, sparked my curiosity. What could this be, and why hadn't I been there?

The hallway ended with a door, big and wooden, probably as thick as my arm, and coal black. Tentatively, I pushed it open an inch, wincing when it creaked. If Mai came looking for me… I gritted my teeth and opened it further, slowly and steadily. The door croaked on its hinges, and I only bothered to open it enough to fit my body through, sliding in before swiftly shutting it without slamming it.

It was dark. Too dark. The air was stale and felt dry in my throat. Uncomfortably, I lit a small flame in my hand, holding the fire out to look around. My eyes widened when I saw the abundance of scrolls rolled neatly in little cubby holes. I allowed my flame to grow larger, looking around for any lanterns, which, when I spotted them, shot a bright flame to settle in their shallow nicks.

If my eyes widened before, they absolutely flew open now. The term 'as big as saucers' doesn't even describe it. Before me, there were hundreds and hundreds of scrolls, unraveled or coiled tightly, scattered about the room randomly.

Then it occurred to me; this was my father's office.

Curiously, I put the flame in my hand out, not yet aware it was still there, and started shuffling through them. For some reason I got this uncontrollable urge to put all the unrolled scrolls into place. I picked them up, rolling them and putting them away, not really thinking about it or why I was doing it. I just was.

For a while, that's all I did, my mind was consumed with emptiness and the images of the scrolls which I barely noticed because I was barely there. In sight, but out of mind. The flames danced around the room, dimming ever so slightly and then picking up with more ferocity before calming down again. Time passed by, unbeknownst to me, and I felt a sheen of sweat accumulate on my face, but still, I tidied up the room.

Briefly, I stopped and peered around the room. I had already put away most of the scrolls, only five or ten remained askew, and I took a moment to return to myself, immediately noticing the plethora of paper cuts I'd collected. Frowning slightly, I put my fingers in my mouth and sucked at the wounds, ignoring the sting. As I was doing this, my eyes fell on a particularly frail looking scroll, its parchment discoloured with age and the edges were beginning to fray away. I leaned forward and grabbed it carefully, feeling its delicateness as soon as I touched it. From the dust collected on it, I doubted it had ever been touched by my father.

I lifted it up and squinted my eyes to see it, wiping my hands off on my jeans to get rid of the saliva. I could just barely make out what the words were, but thankfully, there were also illustrations. My eyes were almost shut with concentration, straining to understand.

There was a firebender, staring up at the night sky, and somehow he was drawing energy from it. Little sparks of confusion lit up inside of me, struggling to read the tiny script below it.

'Star-Breathing.' Was all I could see, aside from the pictures. I pursed my lips in thought. Star-breathing? Was it possible to get energy from the stars like the sun? Could any bender do it? Or was it just firebenders? My mind was running a million miles an hour. I felt excited all of a sudden, as if I'd just stumbled onto a big secret, which, in a way, I had. I etched the illustrations in my memory and rolled the scroll, carefully placing it somewhere I knew it wouldn't be found.

Then I was running, literally, outside. I needed to try this. My fists were clenching, but aching to try and bend with the energy of the stars on my side. I never even imagined that the stars could possibly fuel a bender. Firebenders rose with the sun, and set with the moon. Was there a potential way that we could still be as powerful at night? If so, were there also ways for waterbenders to be as powerful during the day?

As soon as I had reached the sky, my thoughts emptied out completely and my eyes saw only the images on the scroll, and the stars. I focused on them as thought I'd never seen them in my life, studying them and also added their appearance into my memory vault. Awkwardly, I tried to assume the positions the benders on the scroll had been standing in. My stance wasn't nearly as good and pathetic at best, but I didn't even bother trying to perfect it. I just needed to try, succeed or fail.

Meticulously, I drew in a breath and allowed it to circulate inside me. I felt a familiar warmth with foreign attributes rush through me. This fire I felt was wild, it was less controllable, and it made my veins burn in a delicious way. I was exhilarated, and my breathing increased, wanting to feel more of this addicting fire within me; I wanted to become a part of it, to burn in its clutches.

Almost instantly I felt my hands come to life with flames, and they enveloped me. I couldn't even think to feel pain because there wasn't any pain there. My vision blurred, but I couldn't be bothered. All I knew was that this fire made me feel alive, made my body absolutely live! Within seconds, the fire was shining all around me, white in colour, unlike any I'd ever seen, little sputters of green dancing in front of me and twirling around me. I couldn't even get past the initial feeling of life within me to notice I'd fallen onto my knees, my eyes snapped shut, and a burst of euphoria seared into me.

Then everything was black.

My hands clutched blindly at nothing but air. The amazing feelings that had been coursing through me had gone, as was the fire surrounding me, and I was hitting something hard. It only took a moment to realize my eyes were closed, and I opened them quickly.

The sunlight streaming down into them made me close them again in immense confusion. Hadn't I already watched the sun set? I had seen it fall past the horizon and missed its company. How could it be beaming now? The unmistakable warmth told me that it was indeed there, despite the more logical assumption that I had gone crazy.

Hesitantly, I opened my eyes again, and no doubt, the sun was streaming down on me, filtering from between the leaves of large trees surrounding me. I got up, rubbing my head, which now ached with an insane amount of pain. Gawking at the area, my jaw probably dislocated from my face and hit the ground.

There were little houses built, unlike houses I'd ever seen, along with fleeting glimpses of grass before white rock tiled on top of it, perfectly symmetrical. Then, under the white rock, was a smooth black surface that eerily felt unreal. My hands were resting on it, while my feet were in the grass. Even the grass looked funny, like it was too green. Everything was too colourful here, and it hurt my head even more.

I gripped my forehead in my hands, a low growl of frustration escaping my throat. I was just about to stand up when a large metal contraption came zooming past, dangerously close to me. As if I hadn't almost jumped out of my skin from it, but a large sound also erupted from it, and a shriek burst from my throat as I fell onto the grass as far from the dark surface as possible.

I gulped, taking in the scene around me; my heart was hammering in my chest with fear.

Where was I?


Questions? Comments?

i feel like this went extremely well for a first chapter.

review? :D