A.N. A BIG, BIG 'hello' to anyone reading this little one shot of mine, I've never really tried a one shot before so I'd love any feedback you guys and girls have for me. Lately I've rekindled my love for the show and the 3rd series will always be the best of the 3. This is just a little insight into Zuko's mind and the friendship between him and Sokka after the end of the series.

Zuko has always been my favourite character in this show with Iroh a close second; they just have a beautiful father/son relationship which many people before me have explored. Anyway this was just something that I had to write down in one of my many hours of boredom and restlessness.

Nightmares and Dreams (Zuko's P.O.V)

I couldn't sleep.

I was restless; I had tossed and turned for hours ever since I'd woken from another nightmare. Fortunately I hadn't woken Mai; she was still sleeping soundlessly beside me. I still didn't know or understand what I had ever done to deserve this, and I probably never would.

It had taken some getting used to, but I smiled down at the beautiful woman sleeping next to me...Mai loved me, she saw something in me that no one else did, and she loved me. It was easy for people to see why I loved her, I was sure a lot of men before me had fallen for her but why she chose me was a mystery I would never be able to solve.

Just thinking about her helped me ignore the nightmare that was clawing at the back of my mind, it was getting really bad, I mean it was beyond a joke now. I hadn't had more than a few hours of sleep all week and soon I knew I would just fall asleep in one of the meetings…and knowing my luck it would be a really, really important one.

I stood from the bed as quietly as I could and I sighed in relief when Mai only reached out her arm for something and stayed asleep. I reached for my robe in the dark and tied my swords round my back, I pulled on my shoes and left the room via the rather unconventional method of the open balcony.

I landed on the rooftop below and I strolled slowly along the centre beam with only the moonlight to guide me. I had been doing this too much in my opinion, maybe it meant I was running from my problems but how could I fight a dream?

More importantly why was it coming back like this now? Why now, off all times was I haunted by it?

I lifted my hand to scarred face and sighed, it would always haunt me, but I thought it was all behind me now. With the nation recovering I thought I could forget everything bad that had ever happened to me and get on with my life, but there was one thing I refused to shove away.

My mother.

But my father would not tell me anything more about her…I had really lost my temper a few days ago, and he had gained a black eye, several bruises and burns and I had gained nothing. Uncle had managed to stop me from doing any more damage…I still didn't know if this was good or bad luck…but I didn't get any more out of him except a creepy smile.

The powerless ex-Fire Lord had laughed at me and said that I was becoming more and more like him whether I realised it or not. It was only thanks to my Uncle that I had not blown the roof off the prison and burnt everything to a crisp…I owed him far too much already.

I flipped down to the ground and the guards tensed and raised their fists but relaxed and bowed when they saw it was me, "My Lord," they recited simultaneously and I nodded as a sign that they could continue.

Another thing it had taken me a while to adjust to was the etiquette, after years of exile and of being on the run having everyone bow to you was a real change, after all I had never expected to become Fire Lord. But Mai seemed to handle it much better than I did, she was like the personification of what a Fire Lady should be; beautiful, smart, talented, and she was well able to protect herself. I don't know what I would have done in those early days without her.

The gardens were empty, as was the court yard but at this late hour it was to be expected, it was why I came here though; the quiet, the solitude.

I threw aside my robe and left my swords on my back as I reached an empty space and ran through the basic fire-bending forms, then I moved on to the more advanced moves and I watched as the red flames lit up the palace. I leapt and spun; I punched and kicked the air without stopping for breath as though it was Azula or my father in front of me.

I attacked my invisible enemies with more force than was necessary and soon I was panting and sweating from the heat of the flames and from exhaustion. Usually it would take a while for me to be this tired but with my lack of sleep it wouldn't take much effort.

I pulled out the sword from its sheath and dug the tip of the blade into the ground as I fell on one knee to the ground with my other hand keeping me balanced. It was probably lucky that there weren't any guards around; my laboured breathing would make them think I was ill or something.

"Hey, Hotman," I heard and without thinking I threw an attack of weak flames behind me, I was not in a condition to be startled like this. "Whoah, okay, just chill, your royal highness, it's me, Sokka, y'know idea guy, boomerang guy…the guy on your side."

I looked up; it was definitely him standing there and not an enemy, I sighed and closed my eyes, "Sorry," I muttered as I relaxed.

"Something eatin' ya, Z?" Sokka asked.

"No," I lied and he slowly came to sit beside me, I noticed that he too had his sword over his back.

"Really?" he replied sceptically.

"Really," I repeated with what I hoped was a tone of finality and I stood up, sheathed my sword, turned my back and started through the fire-bending forms again without the fire. I felt slightly guilty about lying like this but what could Sokka do to help me? I didn't mean to insult him but there was nothing anyone could do to help me, it wasn't personal.

I vaguely heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed but I paid it little notice…until my stance made me turn and I was looking cross-eyed at the end of the black-blade of Sokka's 'space sword.'

"Y'know, friends tell each other their problems…even if they can't help," he said and I slowly moved my right hand up towards the sword on my back. Why did he have to choose now to show his perceptive side?

"I don't have a problem, Sokka," I said quietly and just as I caught him smile his arm moved and the blade arched towards my neck. Thanks to my quick reflexes I cartwheeled back to avoid the blow while pulling out my own sword again as I landed.

"Well, that's great, 'cos neither do I, we're just two friends sparring in the middle of the night, for no reason," he smiled and ran at me.

I parried his attack with my own broad sword and a second later I separated the twin swords and twirled them in my hands. I wasn't sure why I smiled back, maybe a good fight was what I needed, not a fire-bending match, a sword fight, a skilled and lethal one where someone wouldn't go easy on me because I was Fire Lord.

I spun on my heel and avoided another attack from the black blade; Sokka had come a long way from being the little kid who tried to attack me with a club and a boomerang in the snow. But so had I. We'd gone from being enemies to…friends…it was still strange to acknowledge the fact that I had friends now.

I caught his blade between my own and jerked it out of his hands, it was thrown across the ground and he just managed to evade my twin swords as one skimmed over his hair and the other glided over the fabric of his tunic. He took a step back and now the advantage was mine, but I knew better than to get ahead of myself, I watched as the Water Tribe warrior's eyes flickered from me to his discarded blade with a look of determination.

I studied the situation and spun my blades again and he rolled out of the way, I kept reminding myself that this wasn't an enemy and that my fire-bending wasn't necessary, but it was difficult. My first line of defence was fire and the blades were an added bonus, not something I relied on too heavily and to ignore my instincts was always difficult.

I winced as a small flame flew from my sword and hurtled towards Sokka but fortunately he had enough experience dodging such attacks and it missed him by a hair's width. He said nothing as he picked up his sword and we circled each other again.

As the blades met the sounds echoed in the darkness and we both attacked with furry, I think Sokka understood how a fight could help you loosen up, it helped you forget your troubles for a while because you had to focus on the opponent rather than yourself.

"What's the matter, oh great Fire Lord, loosin' your touch?" he grinned as his blade swung over my head, I was forced to roll forwards and the moonlight bounced off my twin swords.

"I'm not the one with the disadvantage here," I replied, as witty as ever as I once more swung my swords to block another well executed attack.

"That's what you think," he said and there came another attack, and another, and another, and another…these attacks were relentless. We'd trained together before but not like this, I'd never seen him so serious before, not when it was only training.

One of my blades went flying out of my hand and I was left with just one to block the attacks, if this was a life or death situation and I didn't have my fire-bending abilities to defend myself with I would be in serious trouble. Where had he learned this

I had to get out of range, I was as good with just one blade as I was with two but if he kept this up I'd need the other one to continue to defend.

I leapt up into the air letting out a blast of flames from my feet to propel me further into the sky. I jumped against one of the wooden beams and dropped into a dive to pick up my other sword.

We both moved in rapid succession and nothing else mattered other than wining, both of us understood that much. With a matter of seconds my broad swords now nested on either side of Sokka's neck and I felt a soft pressure on my chest, the black blade was digging into my flesh.

"Call it a draw?" he smiled.

"Deal," I nodded and we both sheathed our blades. "Where'd you learn that move?" I asked him, I would remember it and attempt it another time. If I learnt nothing from my fights I'd be a poor excuse for a warrior, or a Fire Lord. I walked over to the sliding doors and sat leaning against one of many wooden beams.

"From Master Piandao, I was training with him last month before I came here, figured you'd like it," he smiled.

After a while I was lookign into the night sky as Sokka broke the, what was to me at least, a comfortable silence. "I never really had a friend my age before…I mean, our village was mainly the elderly and the little kids, Katara's my sister, Aang and Toph are younger than me and Sukki's my girlfriend…but it's not the same as having a friend your own age around."

I wasn't exactly sure where he was going with this, but I said nothing, maybe he was just speaking his thoughts out loud, I didn't want to interrupt. "And I never thought I have a friend from the Fire Nation! What are the odds of that?" he laughed, "But you're a good guy, Zuko, and your my friend, and to the Water Tribe you don't ever forget a friend, friends are for life, like family, that's why they can tell each other stuff, y'know?"

No, I didn't know, for most of my life I hadn't had a friend, not like that, not one you could tell you secrets to, not one you could trust like family, "Alright, that's fine," he shrugged after I was silent and he started to leave.

"Wait," I called and he turned back to me, "It's just…it's my mother," I said quietly, as though someone would over hear me.

"What about her?" he asked as he sat down again.

"Nothing, that's just it, I haven't found anything, it's like she just disappeared off the face of the earth," I moaned.

"Well…err…if anyone can find someone who disappeared of the face of the earth, you can, I mean, you found Aang didn't you?"

"Yeah, by accident," I said and buried my face in my hands, "if it hadn't been for that light then I never would have…but this is different, this is my mother we're talking about…and I've let her down, again," I sighed.

"Well…we'll help you," he smiled encouragingly.

"I don't think you can," I murmured.

"Yeah, that's what I used to think about you, remember?" he replied and I stared back at him

"I don't know what else I can do, I've sent scouts everywhere, I checked every corner of the globe and every forgotten place, she just…vanished…and my father refuses to say anything, and there's no official records of where he banished her to, she didn't leave anything behind that would help and I just…" I sighed and stopped my rant; I didn't often speak like this, but this was important. "It's not like I'm hunting the Avatar for myself, for something selfish, this is different…" I added, for some reason it seemed important to make sure he knew that.

"I know, but you're not alone, you've got us," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him in confusion; it was nice not to be alone, it was nice to have people to trust and rely on.

…One day I would find her, one day I would find my mother and bring her home where she belonged, but until then I didn't have to keep everything to myself, I had friends and I had a family, and one day my mother would meet them...

A.N. Aww…what a nice ending…I'm going soft. So what'd ya think people? Any good? Let me know!