A/N: Thanks for choosing to read this! I hope you like it :)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender . Enough said .
****EDIT 12/17/12**** Hey, guys! I'm glad I'm not a mother yet, because if this was my baby, I'd be considered a neglectful parent.
I'm going through the chapters that are thus far published, and I think now that I have high school (mostly) under control, now that I'm almost done with it, I'll actually try to update this story on a regular basis. I haven't given up yet! :)
Prince Zuko paced on the deck of his ship, not even feeling the extreme cold of the South Pole which he sailed through, and sighing yet again at his pointless mission.
Capture the Avatar? I've been trying for years, father! Can't you see I'm not going to? I'm beginning to believe he was killed along with the rest of the Air Nomads in that extermination a hundred years ago!
And I think you believe that, too. I understand that you hate me, and that I have dishonored you, but I wish you would give me a less impossible task, he thought angrily to himself for what felt like the three hundredth time.
He felt so alone. So isolated. He didn't feel only sixteen. He felt more like sixty. Suddenly, a bright light shot into the sky from a far off distance. Zuko watched in awe as it lit up the sky for miles around.
He suddenly knew that this light was no ordinary or natural light, and as if to confirm this thought, a wave of intense energy swept over him. As the light began to dim, he breathed, "Finally..."
Then, turning to his Uncle Iroh, who sat with him on the deck as he always did, keeping him company, he cried excitedly, "Uncle! Do you realize what this means?" For a moment, he wondered if his Uncle would try to pretend he hadn't noticed the astounding light.
To his relief, however, Iroh grumbled, "I won't get to finish my game?" He didn't think he would ever understand what his Uncle found so intriguing about Pai Sho.
Choosing to ignore his Uncle's comment, he replied breathlessly, "It means, my search- it's about to come to an end!"At last, he thought with satisfaction.
**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**
Katara shivered as she waited for the impending attack. If her village was destroyed... It would be all her fault. She bowed her head in dismay.
I knew that old ship was bad news. I knew, but I didn't have the heart to disappoint poor Aang. And now look what it's led to. A flare going off that will most definitely bring the Fire Nation, and possibly the destruction of my village, if not also... Another death...she thought to herself.
Remembering her mother, she felt her eyes begin to water, but she furiously blinked back tears. No! This is no time to cry, Katara! You need to be strong, at least for the children! she scolded herself.
Then, her breath caught in her chest as the ground around her began to shake violently, villagers started screaming, and a giant ship began sailing into the ice towards her village, causing the ice to crack. Oh no... Oh no, no, no...
She grabbed Gran Gran by the arm and hurriedly began herding her into their tent. Glancing back, she gasped as she saw a little boy directly in front of the fast moving crack. Panicking, she dove to scoop him up and only barely made it out of the way.
Swiftly placing the little boy in his tent, she turned to see how her brother was doing.
"SOKKA! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" she screamed at him as he stood directly in the ship's path as it continued to approach at a very fast speed, not even 10 feet away from him.
But the idiot stood his ground. Thankfully, the ship stopped before it hit him, and sent him down a tiny slope on a mini-avalanche. She sighed in relief. If he had been hurt, or DIED...
Then, her mouth dropped to the ground as the front of the ship opened (nearly hitting Sokka in the process), revealing several Fire Nation soldiers... and a boy, only a few years older than her at most: he had the most striking golden eyes she had ever seen and a severe scar on the left side of his face, and he held himself in a very regal and dignified manner.
She immediately knew without a doubt that this boy was important somehow, and without meaning to, or wanting to, she felt a slight respect towards him, even as more fear enveloped her.
**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**
As the door lowered, the first thing Zuko saw was villagers with their mouths hanging open in astonishment. A surge of pride flowed through him as he realized how awed by his ship they must be.
As he walked down the ramp, a girl at the front of the group somewhere around his age, with deep brown hair done in a tribal style, and an aura of defiance and power, despite her size and gender, caught his eye.
He noticed that, whether consciously or unconsciously, she held her arms out to her sides, as if she could shield the little group by herself.
He grudgingly felt a bit of respect, because he recognized in her the same quality of stubborn perseverance he himself had, but he also felt she was foolish, trying to protect a whole group of people with her one tiny body.
Then, a boy about his age with a strangely painted face rushed toward him with a stick, screaming. He easily kicked him out of the way and continued on his way down the ramp, causing the villagers to gasp, and made his way over to the group.
He paced in front of them, then made his way back over to the defiant girl, and looked into her face up close for just a moment. Like the rest of her people, her skin was very tan, her eyes very big and very blue. Like a blue flame,he thought passively.
She also wore a pretty little blue necklace with a water emblem carved onto a rounded piece of animal bone. Then, he turned and addressed the group.
"Where are you hiding him?" He waited. When no one answered him, he glared at the girl for a few seconds. As if it's her fault.
Then, angrily, he reached towards the old woman next her. The girl flinched, thinking he was about to grab her, which gave Zuko great satisfaction for some reason.
As soon as she recovered, she grabbed onto the old woman's arm, but he pulled it out of her grasp.
"He'd be about this age," he continued. "Master of all elements?" When the group looked up at him with confusion written all over their faces, he shoved the old woman back at them and sent a wave of flames over their heads in his anger.
"Iknow you're hiding him!" He shouted. He noticed the girl glare at him from the corner of his eye. Control, Zuko. You don't want to hurt any of them if it can be avoided.
Then, he was momentarily distracted when the annoying paint-face boy ran at him with a stick again, shouting. He easily ducked, sending the boy flying over him, and sent a flame at him, in an attempt to discourage further attacks.
The boy rolled out of the way and threw a boomerang at his head, which didnot please Zuko at all, even if it missed. "Show no fear!" A little child cried, and tossed the boy a spear.
The boy caught it and once again ran at Zuko, who easily broke it and hit him in the head a couple of times, sending him tumbling to the floor.
This boy is really stubborn... I wonder, is it a tribe thing, or are he and the girl related somehow?
As Zuko stared at the boy, challenging him to do something else, the boomerang the boy had thrown came back and hit him quite hard in the back of the head, causing him to stumble around and groan, which frankly pissed Zuko off, having displayed weakness in front of enemies.
Fire began flying out of his fists in his rage, until an otter-penguin came from behind and sent him flying into the air, making him land on his face, which then caused his helmet to humiliatingly land on... his butt.
When he got back on his feet, he took a deep breath in order to control his new-found rage and to avoid hurting innocent bystanders, and prepared for battle with the newly arrived Avatar, who promptly sent piles of snow at Zuko and his soldiers.
"Looking for me?" asked the Avatar in a boy's voice. Bewildered, Zuko looked closer. Indeed, a boy, twelve at the oldest, garbed in orange monks robes was before him, blue arrows on his bald head and hands, a wooden staff in his grip- he was not an old and ancient warrior, as Zuko had been expecting to find for so long.
In amazement, he thought, Why... the Avatar... is a little boy? "You're the airbender?" he asked in surprise. "YOU'REthe Avatar?" He shook off his astonishment in the next few moments.
He would contemplate this later. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" he told the boy mockingly. "Well, you're just a teenager..." the boy replied.
This was Zuko's last straw, and he began shooting fireball after fireball at him, which the boy blocked by spinning his staff. Finally, the Avatar stopped, and asked dejectedly, "If I go with you... Will you promise to leave everyone alone?"
Zuko hesitated for a moment. He may be the enemy, but I still have enough honor left to keep my word, he thought to himself. And so, he nodded.
The boy put down his staff, and the soldiers grabbed him and took him on-board the ship. Distantly, he heard the girl cry, "No, Aang! Don't do this!"
As he walked up the ramp, he shouted ahead, "Set a course to the Fire Nation! I'm going home." Suddenly, Zuko didn't feel so hopeless.
Don't forget to review, please! :) And if you're worried about length, the next chapters are longer.