Fugue: a period during which a person suffers from loss of memory, often begins a new life, and, upon recovery, remembers nothing of the amnesic phase.

Maybe I'm using that word incorrectly. Oh well. Who cares.

Please don't ask me when this takes place. It does not take place in Ba Sing Se, yet it happens after Zuko Alone.

I am terrible sorry for the dreadful fight scene.

I am also sorry for not updating my parody Lyke Omg! I have the next chapter, but its on my poor laptop that is in very bad shape and freezes when I try to upload the document. But I'm working on that problem, and the next chapter should be up soon.

Warning: slightly graphic violence. slash later on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Word spread fast through between these small Earth Kingdom villages, Zuko reflected.

It was an odd time to be reflecting, when his shins were afire with pain, when leaden weights were crushing his chest, when his breath came in sudden rasps and his feet barely touched the ground before propelling him forward again. Zuko had reached the state where fear is so great it is unnoticeable, where all one can feel as death stares them in the eye is a calm, quiet acceptance of Fate.

They were behind him. They were before him, too, he just could not see them yet. They were everywhere.

All Zuko had done was left his uncle back at the camp to buy supplies in the nearby village. But apparently, someone from Lee's village had come, setting the alarm for a golden eyed, shorthaired boy in a dark robe with a pair of swords at his sides.

Zuko was not a coward. However, he knew there was a fine line between bravery and wisdom. When one was surrounded by, more than a score of Earthbending warriors (who knew this village would be playing host to returning warriors?), that was the time when wisdom took over and it was time to flee. It was not cowardice. It was survival.

So were his strangely relaxed thoughts as he sped along, using more energy than his heart could generate, before he tripped over his own flying feet and tumbled, choking for sweet oxygen as he did so, to the ground. His ear was pressed against the earth and he could hear, he could feel, many running feet. He staggered weakly to his own two feet as the shouts grew nearer, as dark forms showed between the trees, as he drew out his swords and allowed flames to lick at the edges.

The first flying boulders came, and Zuko braced himself. This would be a battle to the death, and he would bring down as many as he could along.

He hoped mad Earthbenders weren't chasing Uncle Iroh...

Flames soared from the spinning blades, whirling, striking the hurtling rocks. Zuko slashed madly, moving by instinct, the swords becoming a part of him, extensions of his arms. A few boulders hit him; he fell to the ground and looked up in a haze of blood red.

The fires burned with renewed force, a tangible form of his inner determination and fury and strength. He hurled them at his attackers, an animalistic growl coming from the back of his throat. They were closing in now, a tightly woven circle. Zuko swept a sword through one, then another. He was thrown upwards by a mountain of earth, and crushed to the ground beneath another.

An icy pain shot through his chest, and Zuko heard a sickening crack as the bones were shattered. Dirt was in his mouth, eyes, ears, and hair, and he struck out blindly, his swords skimming the ground. They cut through ankles and feet, and screams echoed through his ears, jolts resounding through his being as a body thudded to the ground.

Zuko mustered his strength and tried to rise from the pile of earth he was trapped beneath. He flopped to the floor, gritted his teeth, and tried again. This time he did it. Like some prehistoric beast rising from the dawns of time, he stood, dirt falling from his bloodied body. A wave of earth sent him reeling, but he caught himself before hitting the ground.

Zuko's world was now an inferno of hurt and rage. A spear stabbed him from one angle, a swinging hammer bashed his shoulder, and he swept his arms up and out. Immediately a wall of fire flared up, knocking back his foes, sending them screaming and burning to the earth. Zuko dropped his arms, shaking with anguish. Then a massive boulder broke against the back of his head, he collapsed in a state of vertigo, and knew no more.

-----------------------

Review if you liked it. Or flame if you didn't, as long as you give me an honest opinion.

Hey! Let us see if I can actually finish this multichaptered fic without losing my focus!