Bullies

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. All rights belong to Bryke.

I do however, own the OCs of this story. Those OCs are:

Kaede, Zuko and Katara's son, who is 5 years and 3 months old.

Kunik, Sokka and Suki's daughter, who is 4 years and 7 months old.

Malik, Sokka and Suki's son, who is 4 years and 7 months old.

Lee, Zuko and Katara's son, who is 2 years and 1 month old.

Yeah, I did a lot of math to figure out their exact ages.. You don't want to see that document. Zuko is 27 and Katara is 25.

This fanfiction is an entry for alyssialui's Pro-bending Circuit Writing Competition. My task, as manager of my team, is "Write about the first time someone bended their element (any element)."

Enjoy!

"Katara, do they really need that many clothes?" Zuko asked, watching as his wife adjusted the parka on their youngest son, Lee.

"It's cold in the South Pole, Zuko. They could get sick!" Katara replied, acting motherly as always.

"You're not making me wear that many clothes," Zuko remarked.

"That's because you're a firebender, so you can warm up your body heat. They can't," she said as their eldest son, Kaede, inwardly groaned as Katara shoved mittens onto his hands.

There was a knock at the door. "Sir, we'll be landing soon."

"Thank you," Zuko replied, waiting for the sound of footsteps to disappear. "Okay, are you guys ready to see the South Pole?" he asked, causing Kaede to smile brightly and Lee to cling to his mother's parka.

Zuko smiled softly and stuck his hand out for Kaede to take, which he did, and led them all to the deck, where they watched as they approached the icy city, seeing many people gathered at the dock.

"Are we gonna see Uncle Sokka and Aunt Suki?" Kaede asked eagerly.

"Yes, and we'll see Kunik and Malik, too," Katara answered.

Kaede beamed at the sound of his cousins' names, yelling to no one in particular, "Let's go!"

Once they got closer, they could see the faces of the people gathered. There was Chief Hakoda, Kanna, Pakku, Sokka, Suki, and the twins, all waving as the large Fire Nation ship docked.

Kaede ran down the dock to his cousin and best friend, Malik, and pulled him into a tight hug. Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Suki smiled at the sight of their sons hugging, since the two did not enjoy being separated for long periods of time.

Katara hugged everyone while Zuko and Sokka stared at each other awkwardly.

"So.." Zuko started, attempting to make conversation.

"Um, do you guys want to go in the gates?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Zuko replied.

As they started walking, many people bowed to the Fire Lord, causing him to frown slightly.

"You're pretty famous, aren't you?" Sokka laughed.

"I guess so. Sometimes I wish I could just have a break from this whole royal thing once in a while." Zuko muttered, not noticing as his son slipped away.

The voices of his family got quieter and quieter as Kaede walked further toward the large forts he had seen. As he got closer, he noticed that there were no people near it, as he had seen last time.

"Woah," the Fire Prince whispered in awe as he inspected the snow fort. He reached his hand out to touch the cold snow, when a loud, young voice interrupted.

"Hey!"

Zuko looked around the large tent, marveling at the animal skins hanging on the walls and laying on the floor.

"It's no palace, but it's what we call home," Suki said, picking up her 4 year old daughter, Kunik.

"It's beautiful," Katara reassured. "Right, Zuko?" she nudged her husband.

"Yeah, it's nice," Zuko nodded. "What do you think, Kaede?" he asked, looking behind him, expecting to find his son, and became worried when he didn't.

"Where did he go?" Zuko asked frantically, his tone full of worry.

"He probably went to go play," Sokka guessed. "Don't worry, there are guards everywhere. He's safe."

Kaede whipped his head around to find the owner of the voice he'd heard, and he found a group of about eight kids, all probably about eleven or twelve years old.

"This is a battlefield! It's not a place for kids!" The same voice called.

A battlefield? Kaede wondered. "But, the war is over," he remarked.

"Not a real battlefield, numbskull!" Another kid chimed in.

"You're obviously not from the Water Tribe," the first kid scoffed. "I can tell by your crown. You're the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, heir to the throne. Am I right?"

Kaede nodded.

The boy smirked. "This will be fun."

"So, how are things going in the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked.

They were now all sitting on animal skins around a low table as they conversed.

"Things are going well. There has only been a few assassination attempts since Kori," Zuko replied.

"Kori?"

"From Yu Dao," he elaborated.

"Right."

"So, you said in your letters that Malik is a waterbender!" Katara smiled excitedly at her nephew, who returned the excited smile.

"Yeah! We found out a week after returning from Lee's second birthday party!" Suki beamed, looking at the two-year-old sleeping in his mother's arms. "He was just playing in the snow, and all of a sudden he was waterbending!"

"That's so great!" Katara chirped, ruffling Malik's dark brown hair.

"What about Kaede? Any signs of bending?" Sokka asked, turning to Zuko.

Zuko's face saddened noticeably. "No, not yet."

Kaede hadn't shown any signs of bending yet, which most benders did at the age of 4. During the war, it had been embarrassing to have a non-bender as a firstborn, and Zuko was expected to believe the same.

"What are you going to do?" Suki wondered. "You won't really banish him, will you?"

"Of course not!" Zuko exclaimed. "I'm not my father. I wouldn't disown my son for something so ridiculous."

"Get out of here, Fire Nation scum, or we'll show you what this battlefield is for," the Water Tribe boy threatened, clenching his fists.

"I-I didn't do anything!" Kaede stammered.

"You're a descendant of the man who started the war-the war that took our families away!" the boy yelled, his voice cracking slightly at the end.

"I-I'm sorry.."

A tear rolled down the Water Tribe boy's cheek. "Sorry.. Isn't.. Good enough!" He yelled, shoving his hands forward, sending a wave of snow toward the prince.

Kaede screamed and threw his arm in front of his face for protection and felt a rush of energy coursing through his body.

"Sorry.. Isn't.. Good enough!" They heard a distant voice followed by a scream and fire roaring.

"What was that?" Sokka asked, startled.

Zuko recognised the scream as his son's and was out the door before anyone could say anything.

When they all arrived at the scene, they saw eight boys, one of them was attacking, and Kaede, who had his arm up in defence as a small wall of fire stood in front of him, melting the snow.

"He's a firebender.." Zuko murmured.

Suddenly, the fire wall dissipated and Kaede looked around with a terrified look on his face. As soon as he saw his father, he ran straight to him.

"Y-yeah, that's right, run away!" The Water Tribe boy yelled, backing down when he received a deadly glare from the Fire Lord.

"That was scary.." Kaede whimpered into his father's coat.

"It's okay, Kaede," Zuko soothed. "Bending is a gift, not a curse."

Chief Hakoda appeared behind Zuko and stared down at the bullies, and they automatically followed him to the Chief's home for a talk.

"It's great that you're a firebender, Kaede," Zuko smiled. "Just don't burn anything here."

"Yeah, now your dad won't have to banish you from the Fire Nation!" Sokka chimed in, earning glares from the rest of the adults and a confused look from Kaede.

A/N: Stupid bullies! :(

Well, that's it! It was fun to write. Probably not the best story, and definitely not the best ending, but I couldn't think of anything else.

Word count(not including A/N): 1189

Reviews are nice, and definitely welcome!