Chapter 1

Prince Zuko wasn't sleeping soundly. He was twisting and turning in his silk sheets as the night went by. Little did he know of the heavy footsteps coming towards him door. He stayed asleep as it creaked open and his father stepped inside. His father walked towards the bed, his steps becoming slower and slower as he looked at his son. He looked down at him with an expression no one had seen on his face in a long time. A strange mixture of pity and rage, disgust and hopelessness. His hand lit up in hot flames. A beautiful handful of rich reds and oranges dancing in his palm.

Zuko stirred in his sleep, the light waking him up. He cracked an eye open, "Father?" He asked, tiredly.

His father's expression changed to one of distaste. The flames turned blue.

Zuko frowned, blinking away the sleep, "Father, what's going on? Is something wrong?"

His father only shook his head, "Relax, Zuko." With a mighty gesture, he brought his hand down, aiming to hold it over his mouth.

Zuko shrieked and dodged. He scrambled to the other side of the bed, "Father!"

His father sighed, the light from the flames casting strange and eerie shadows on his face, "Don't make this any harder for me, Zuko."

Zuko's eyes were wide. He scrambled off the bed, cursing his satin blankets as they wrapped around his legs, trapping him,"Help me! Someone help!"

His father walked around to the other side of the bed, the fire still in his hand. He approached his struggling son, who was still screaming. Wriggling like mad, desperate for his life, he fell face first onto the floor. He scrambled to his feet and stared at his father, betrayal and confusion bright on his face. The Father smiled sadly, "You will be a worthy sacrifice, Zuko. Your name will live on forever."

Zuko shook his head, "Dad! Mother! Help me! Azula!" His hand keep getting closer to his face. Zuko backed up and took the blanket in his hands, setting it on fire. He threw it onto Firelord's face. His father screamed in pain and held his hand to his face. Zuko barely casted a look at it, before he leaped over his bed and sprinted outside.

He ran to his parent's room and threw the door open. When he got inside, he shook his mother awake.

"Zuko?" She asked, still tired.

"It's father!" Zuko whispered, "He's trying to kill me!" His mother became alert very quickly.

She sat up, "Follow me, we need to leave." She grabbed her son's hand and pulled him out of her room and alongside the thousands of corridors.

"Ursa!" His father's thundering voice echoed through the halls. His mother froze. She dragged Zuko into the courtyard. He spotted the turtle ducks, still asleep. His mother grasped his shoulders.

"I can't come with you," Zuko made a small noise of protest, but his Mother put a finger over his lips, "Listen. You need to run to the docks. There's a few ships leaving tomorrow. Board any of them. You need to leave immediately, before any of the guards are told to try and find you."

Zuko felt himself starting to cry, "Mother? What is going on?"
His Mother pulled him into a strong hug, "I was beginning to suspect something like this would happen. I just never though Ozai would actually…" She trailed off, "Never mind. Once you leave, get to the Earth Kingdom. Change your name and never firebend again. Understand me? Never again. If you get recognized…" She trailed off again, but Zuko understood what she meant. "I love you, Zuko. I always will. Azula does too. Be careful, alright. I'm sorry," His mother said, quickly.

"Ursa!" Ozai yelled again, much closer.

His mother smiled at him one last time, "Run!"
And Zuko did. He sprinted across the courtyard, passed the turtle duck pond. He ran though the hallways he lived in his entire life. He managed to get out of the palace without a sound and ran down the steep hill Palace City was on until he got to the docks, where luck would have, a boat was sitting. He couldn't spot any crew on it, they were probably all asleep.

Zuko stumbled onto the boat. He was exhausted, hungry and in shook. He managed to find a storeroom that looked like it hadn't been touched in months. Zuko stumbled inside, closed the door and fell asleep.

The next morning, he could feel the boat moving. He looked out the small window. There was the city, slowly fading from his view. He could spot the highest tower of the palace where the library was. A little to the left was the roof where his parent's room was. Zuko shivered at the thought. Was his father sleeping right now? Having a pleasant dream about killing his son again?

The thought nearly sent him over the edge, what had he done wrong? Sure, he wasn't as good as a fire bender as Azula was, or was particularly gifted at any subject in school and yes, the consequences in the Fire Nation were often severe, but he couldn't think of anything he'd done that had been awful. Zuko let the thought swirl in his mind for a bit longer.

He kept watching the main land until it disappeared from view. All around him was sea. It made him uncomfortable. Water was nice and cool in small doses, but in big ones, Zuko knew it could wipe him out easily. If the ship went down, Zuko knew it was going to drag him down with it.

By nightfall, Zuko was shivering. He was tempted to light a fire, but his mother's words kept repeating themselves in his head. Never firebend again. The idea of never playing around with it, never feel it tickling his skin, never feeling the great rush of power that accompanied it almost made him cry. But still, he knew his mother was smart. So Zuko stayed cold all night, wrapping himself up in his thin night clothes.

They arrived at a port three days later. Zuko almost leaped for joy when he heard the yells from upstairs, screaming to let the rowboats down. He was hungry, thirsty and tired, ready to get out from the cramped, damp storeroom. He listened next to the door. Hearing no foot steps, Zuko cracked the door open and spied out of it. No one. He opened it wider and took a hesitant step outside, paranoid and jumpy. Every little creak of wood or footstep from upstairs made him jump a mile. He managed to reach the end of the hallway.

"Hey you!" He heard someone yell. Zuko looked behind him. A man in fire nation garb, was charging towards him, "Stowaway!"

Zuko sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could, turning down another hallway. He ran past a Fire Nation, who tried to grab him. He turned again, running, his footsteps pounding on the metal boat. There! A door. He swung it open and stepped out, relishing the breeze that ran across his skin.

"Stop him!" A Fire Nation soldier yelled.

No time to think, Zuko climbed the railing that looked out to the sea. He casted on glance back at the ship, where the men were charging towards him and took his chance. He tumbled towards the water. It enveloped him like a blanket, dark and soft. He held his breath, thankful for his swimming lessons as he tried to figure out which way was up. The clothing he was wearing was already weighing him down and Zuko struggled to break the surface. He took a deep breath once he had, inhaling the fresh air like a starved man did food. He looked back at the looming metal hull. It seemed so tall and imposing. Zuko quickly swam out to the harbour, managing to avoid most people as he got to the surface, shivering in his wet clothing. He was thankful for the wetness a moment later when an Earth Kingdom lady bumped into him.

"Oh, you poor dear. Did you fall into the water?" She asked, taking his hand.

Zuko snatched it back immediately, looking at her warily. Why wasn't she yelling at him? Trying to kill him? Earth Kingdom was the enemy of the Fire Nation, why wasn't she attacking him. He glanced at his clothing. They were completely dark. The water had darkened them to the point that they could pass as black. The lady must of though he was an Earth Kingdom.

"Are you alright?" She asked, newfound sympathy in her voice.

Zuko nodded.

"Where are your parents?" She asked.

Zuko froze, he couldn't tell her who they were! "Gone," He sputtered.

"Fire Nation, wasn't it," A grimace took over her face, "Awful, awful. Another family ruined. Tell you what, I have some clothing my own son grew out of a few months ago. I was going to sell them, but I think you need them more. Come with me and I'll let you sleep for the night."

Zuko looked at her suspiciously, then at the harbour. Where else was he going to get help" "Thank you."

She smiled, "It's nothing. I'm Min Tai, what's your name?"

"Uh," Zuko said, scrambling for one. Everyone knew Zuko was the son of Prince Ozai, what was a common, normal name? "Lee."

"Oh, well isn't that funny, my nephew was called Lee too," She said. They began walking towards the village, making polite conversation. Zuko was glad his clothing was cotton, they were staying wet for a long time. By the time they reached her house, Zuko was relieved, even if it was just a hut made out of mud.
"Here they are," She said, thrusting a pile of green rags into his arm. Zuko looked at them gingerly. Some of them had holes in them and they all had a small coating of dirt.

At his look Min Tai laughed, "Yes, they are a little dirty aren't they. I'm sorry, my son is an earthbender, always digging holes then filling them up with himself still in them. The other day he managed to even lift his sister four feet in the air with one of his earth pillars."

Zuko was impressed, he didn't know much about earth bending, but the idea of moving earth had always seemed cool. Not as good as fire, not even close but still tempting.

"Are you a bender then?" She asked.

Zuko was tempted to answer yes, but his mother's warning rang in his head. He shook his head.

"Me neither, now go get changed," She said, shooing him away.

Zuko stumbled off to get changed, feeling incredibly wrong as he put on the robes. They were green. Not red. Green. He looked at them with distaste. They had holes in them too and were obviously worn in by someone else. They fit differently too, much looser than the clothing of the Fire Nation. Softer, covering more skin. And green. Ugh. He hated the green. Zuko left the room he had been changing in.

Min Tai walked over to him, "Just like I thought. They fit like a glove."

"Thank you," Zuko lied.

"It was no problem, dearie. Now, supper's almost ready, Bao and Fen will be along any minute," She said.

Zuko sat down at the wobbly table. Everything about this place was so strange. The room was sparsely decorated, only a small family portrait hung on the wall. The food did smell quite good though, Zuko decided.

The door swung open, "Hey Mom!"

Zuko looked. Two children, a boy around his age and a girl a few years younger. They both had dark hair and the green eyes that marked them as Earth Kingdom. Both of them were covered in dirt. He heard Min Tai sigh when she saw them.

"Bao, what did I say about earth bending before supper?" She asked.

Bao shook his head, "It was Fen, Mom! She bended a ball of dirt and dropped it on my head!"

Tai Min hugged her daughter, "Oh good job, Fen. But you do know that you have to use it responsibly, okay? I'll start sending you to Jiang in a few weeks, so that he'll train you."

"Whose that?" Fen asked, pointing at Zuko. He stood up.

Min Tai responded, "That's Lee. He'll be staying with us for the night, okay."

Fen ran up to him, a hge smile on her face "Guess what?"
"Uh," Zuko stammered, "What?"

"I'm an earth bender!" She yelled, triumphantly.

"Good job?" Zuko guessed.

A smile lit up her face, "Look!" She yelled, making a pushing motion. After a few moments of intense concentration, the earth under his chair tilted, throwing him off of it.

Zuko yelped as he fell out of it, barely saving himself from hitting the ground.

"Fen!" Min Tai admonished, "No! Lee isn't a bender, you can't play games like that with him. He could of been hurt by that."

Fen looked down, "Sorry."

"It's fine, Fen," Zuko responded, awkwardly.

Min Tai smiled apologetically at him, "So, Lee, where are you going?"

Zuko hesitated, "I don't really know yet."

She put a potato on his plate, "Well Ba Sing Se is always accepting refuges. I heard the siege ended just a few days ago in fact. Maybe it's a sign."

"Does that mean Daddy's coming back?" Fen asked.

"Yes it does, Fen. Daddy's defeated the monsters, so he can come back," Min Tai told her.

Zuko watched them with wide eyes. Monster? He assumed they were talking about the Fire Nation.

"And you, Lee. Was anyone you know sent to fight?"

Zuko nodded, "My Uncle."

Min Tai winced, "Do you know if he's alright?"

Was his Uncle alive? If Min Tai had been right that the siege had ended, it meant that either Uncle was victorious or dead. Zuko thought back to his last few days in the Palace. On the last evening, there had ben an air of sadness and mourning. Zuko tried to ask about it, but Mother had told him she would tell him and Azula in the morning. She never got around to it.

"No," Zuko replied.

She looked at him with pitying eyes, "How old are you, Lee? Ten?"

"Eleven," He told her.

"I'm seven!" Fen threw in, "Bao's twelve!"

Min Tai ignored Fen, "There are orphanages in Ba Sing Se. I would love to have you live here, but the village is not in good shape. Already, we're too hungry. I suspect you'll have better luck there. I've heard that there are jobs by the bucketful, all of them paying more than enough to live happily."

Zuko nodded. He knew where Ba Sing Se was, because of all the studying he did in the Fire Nation. But Uncle hadn't managed to get in, how could he?

"I don't know how to get in," He muttered.

"I've heard of a ferry, off the Full Moon Bay," Bao said, through a mouthful of potato, "Zei's family is heading there in a few weeks."
"Really?" Min Tai said, "That's very helpful. What do you think, Lee? Full Moon Bay is only half a days walk from here."

Zuko nodded, slowly, "That sounds good." What choice did he have? Scavenge in Earth territory and starve to death? Or head to Ba Sing Se? Zuko made up his mind, Ba Sing Se it was.

Min Tai beamed, "Excellent! Bao, would you like to show Lee to the bay? You can leave tomorrow, at eight?"

Bao shrugged, "Sure."

"Thanks," Zuko told them. It was odd to say those types of things. Not even a week ago, saying that you to anyone would of been beneath him, but here, he was just another commoner. Another face in the street. Zuko wasn't sure he liked that.

Alright, so new story. Just for the record, Zuko will be referred to as "Zuko", even if the character believes his name is Lee. Ex: "Nice to meet you, Lee." "You too," Said Zuko.

This was a bit of a prologue, expect a time jump to hit chapter 2. Thanks for reading.