Ok so I know anyone reading this is probably saying to themselves "wtf took her so long?"Aaand I'm sorry about that! Honestly, I'm surprised I picked up writing again. College got more than a little crazy so I basically had either no free time or no inspiration. What is my inspiration now you ask? I started watching the Avatar series again and found the ending to be highly unsatisfactory so I'm going to tweak it for my own personal pleasure. ^_^ I don't know what happened to the other stories I was working on, I'll try and find the drafts I wrote up so I can finish them. I'll probably end up just deleting them.

This story starts toward the end of the series: Zuko has just joined their group and has discovered that he can't firebend. I believe the episode is called "The Sun Warriors".

'Thoughts'

"Spoken"

"Spirit's voice" this includes Aang in the Avatar state

That having been said, I don't own the characters belonging to the plotline of the original series. Any and everything else belongs to me. Have fun reading and don't forget to tell me what you think!

Prologue – Yin

Zuko was frustrated. Scratch that. Zuko was furious. At himself. And yet he still couldn't turn his burning fury into actual flame. He stared out into the canyon the Western Air Temple was built into. 'I left a life of luxury, I left my father, and I switched sides all to teach the Avatar to firebend and now I can't even do THAT. How am I going to fix this? How can I make this up to Aang?'

"I think Toph's idea is pretty good. Besides learning alongside you has its advantages, too." Aang, ever hopeful, had latched on to Toph's idea of learning from the original firebenders with zeal. Too bad Zuko would have to shut him down. The least he could do was look him in the face as he pulled the rug out from under him.

"That's great and all but the original firebenders, dragons, are all extinct. Have been for years." And there was that kicked puppy look Aang seemed to do so well. Zuko rested his elbows on the railing and hung his head.

"Too bad what worked for me can't work for you, Twinkle Toes. Don't worry, we'll think of something." Zuko's head snapped up.

"Wait, you learned from the badgermoles, right Toph?"

"Yeah…" She 'looked' at him quizzically, thinking he had finally lost it.

"And you learned from her, right Aang?"

"Yeah. What's your point, Zuko?"

"My point? My point is: we can do the same thing with firebending. We can learn from the firebenders who learned directly from the source."

"Really? We can do that?" He was all enthusiasm and sparkling eyes again and Zuko's elation dropped several notches. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, not exactly. We can learn from the civilization they left behind when they died out. But even just being there might spark our inner flames into life."

Sokka was skeptical. "So, you're just going to go to some ruins and hope something happens?"

Zuko shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

And, as things turned out, it was.

After flying for hours to get to the ruins the two boys disembarked from Appa and started to poke around. In Aang's case that phrase was literal and, after nearly falling into a pit of spikes, Aang voiced his feelings that the ruins were trying to poke him back which made Zuko laugh. Finally, Zuko managed to provoke the ruins into giving them both a swift kick in the pants by removing a golden egg. In all honesty, he only did it to get back at Aang for making him do that stupid looking Dance of the Dragon. Even if there wasn't anyone else around, Zuko still felt embarrassed. And now they were paying for it. After being stuck for hours in goo underneath the grate, the two fell to talking about the stars that were slowly peeking out and making their way across the sky above them.

"You don't see stuff like this in the cities. There's too much light. It's one of those things that make camping out night after night worth it."

Zuko looked up and, knowing a little bit of astronomy and how heavenly bodies moved, he asked an obvious question. "Are they different from the stars a hundred years ago?"

"I don't know. I remember looking at the sky and I remember the constellations and where they are but… I can't tell if they're really the same or if I just don't remember right." He gestured to the sparks of light in the sky and smiled. "You know, the monks once told me that every star in the sky is a good soul that has passed on. The brighter the star, the kinder the soul."

Zuko thought of his mother and smiled a little. Not knowing where she was, he had always assumed her dead. "I like that idea. It gives you the sense that the people you loved will always be there, no matter what."

There were suddenly shadows blocking out the stars and before they could say or do anything they were surrounded by the Sun Warriors.

Then there was a girl's voice shouting, "No! Don't kill them! That's the Avatar! Stand down! Stand down!" Whoever their savior was, she was out of their range of sight. The Warriors relaxed their fighting stances, pulled them out of the muck, and marched them to a clearing not too far off.

The whole situation, sitting near a fire and being simultaneously lectured by the Sun Warrior chief and licked clean by giant anteaters, left our young heroes feeling more than a bit overwhelmed and tired. But they were going to meet the masters and that was all that mattered. Throw in the fact that it was a relatively simple task they were to be put through before their Judgement (they tried hard not to think about that part) and they were pretty happy with the arrangement. The chief finished his explanation and said simply, "It's late. You will be our guests for the night and bring the masters your sacrifice of flame at first light. Yin! Come show our guests their accommodations."

"Who's Yin?" Aang whispered to no one in particular. Zuko, being a cranky sort of person when tired, replied snappishly, "How am I supposed to know?"

"I was just thinking out loud! Besides, it's probably some angry-looking, muscle-bound Sun Warrior who wants to burn us to… a… crisp?" Aang's voice drifted off into a question, his eyes locked on something over Zuko's shoulder. Turning around to see what had captured the young Avatar's attention he thought, 'So much for the muscle-bound guard'. There stood a woman who looked both very similar and very different from the crowd. She had the features of everyone around her but her dress was not in the fiery red tones of her comrades but a bright forest green with gold trim. She bowed to them and giggled at their twin expressions of shock.

"Please. Follow me." She led the way through some dense woods to a stone building surrounded by a high stone wall with guards at the gate. The guards parted to let them pass. "You will be sharing a room with me as an extra security measure."

"Why? We've already told you why we're here. You know I'm the Avatar AND we have to see the masters at first light. Where would we go?"

"Nevertheless. The chief, not to mention the rest of the Warriors, are all concerned you may leave and tell others we are here. I'm sure you realize that such a revelation to the world would be a death sentence to us while Ozai remains Fire Lord. If he were not Lord… well, then you wouldn't be here, would you Avatar Aang?"

Zuko was immediately suspicious. "How did you know he was the Avatar? You weren't there at the gathering."

"Very astute Prince Zuko. But I know the Avatar when I see him."

Aang spoke in an awe-struck voice. "You were the one that stopped them from attacking us earlier."

She turned and smiled at them again. "Yes, I am. You're very lucky that I'm stubborn and insisted on accompanying the patrol. We are trained to burn first and ask questions later. Don't worry, since you're the Avatar, you're being trusted. Here we are."

"If this is trust I'd hate to see what you do to the people you don't trust." Zuko glared at the guards outside this door, too.

Gesturing at them, Yin replied, "They're more of a show of strength than an actual threat to you and we know it. Neither of you may not be able to fire bend but you" she pointed at Zuko "have great skill with a sword and you" she pointed to Aang "have the other elements at your disposal. The guards wouldn't stand a chance against both of you." She ushered them inside and closed the door behind them. Walking over to an armoire in the corner, she pulled out linens. "I'm sorry, we don't really have mattresses here. But there are some thick blankets to lay down if you want them."

Zuko felt a niggling sensation in the back of his mind. Something was still off, but he didn't know what. "The guards, sure. But what about you? They wouldn't make us room with you without a reason."

"She's the strongest warrior they have." Zuko looked, surprised, at Aang who was right next to him staring intently at their jailer's back as she finished fixing beds for them. "I don't know how I know that. But I do."

She looked up from her kneeling position over a bed. "It's simple. The same way I knew you were the Avatar. I just… did. "

And she smiled in such a way that left Zuko wondering what other secrets she had to hide.

Well, there you are. It's more like a teaser than an actual prologue but hey, you forgive me, right? Comment, criticize, review! Please?