A/N: This story is probably not real compatible with the latter half of the third season...and probably takes place just after the beginning of the third season. The pairings are pretty much open ended at this point, I didn't really have any specific ones in mind...so if there's a particular one you want to see then let me know and we'll do a majority rules thing.
...
The morning light filtered through the dense canopy of the giant trees that marked the largest forest in the fire nation. As the sun's rays glinted off of the strange, gold-tinted, leaves the entire forest seemed to burn with light. It was oddly beautiful – a sight that had fascinated Zuko since he was a child. It was a fire that did not burn and did not destroy, instead living in harmony with the environment around it. Indeed, were it not for the combination of the sun's light and the tree's leaves, the fire wouldn't exist at all. The forest – the only one of its kind – was situated at the base of a huge mountain range that, in the early light of the morning, seemed engulfed in the same strange fire of the glowing forest. He breathed in deeply, surveying his surroundings, and fought back the sudden urge to cry. The last time he'd been here...
"Look mum! See what I can do!" A little boy executed a perfect front flip and landed almost precariously on a small rock in the middle of a slight river. He wobbled slightly and then straightened, proudly turning towards his mother.
"That's pretty good," his mother smiled at him and then turned as a loud cry sounded from behind her.
"You think that's impressive?" Azula was holding a baby turtle duck by its leg, "watch this!" She tossed the turtle-duck into the air, did a quick backflip and caught it by the neck.
"Azula," their mother scolded, "put that turtle-duck down this instant."
Azula scowled and threw it back into the water. The turtle-duck quacked emphatically and fled. Their mother shook her head and sighed. Zuko leapt back off of the rock and onto the river bank, but, as he landed, Azula smirked and darted forwards to shove him roughly.
"Hey!" He cried as he lost his balance and splashed into the water below, he felt his head strike the bottom and groaned, water filling his mouth as the air was sucked from his lungs.
"AZULA!" He vaguely heard his mother's yell as he floated slowly to the surface, dazed and somewhat uncertain of what was going on. Arms were thrust under his armpits and he felt his face break the surface of the water. He spluttered, coughing up the water he'd inhaled as he was dragged up the side of the bank.
"Zuko?" He heard his mother's worried voice distantly and Azula's petulant one in the background.
"What a baby," she was saying, "it's like, three feet deep."
"You shut your mouth young lady," his mother snapped, "honestly; I don't know what's wrong with you."
"Hmmph," Azula sniffed and pranced off.
"Zuko?" His mother stroked the side of his face, "are you alright?"
Coughing up the last of the invasive water, he sat up and blinked as the world started to spin.
"Um, yeah," he said, disoriented, then, "why are there two of you?"
His mother laughed and hugged him close, "I was so worried," she stroked the back of his head.
"I'm fine," he pulled back – hugs were for girls – and stood up, wobbling slightly, "see."
His mother looked extremely sad.
"What's wrong?" He asked curiously, shocked to see tears gathering in her eyes.
"I love you," she said, "don't you ever forget that, ok?"
"Mum?" He looked at her, confused.
"Just promise me." She laid her hands on his shoulders.
"I promise," he obeyed dutifully as his mother drew him into another hug muttering softly, "I will always love you."
That had been the last time he'd visited the forest with his mother, the next day he woke up and she was gone. It has been the worst day of his life, it even bested his banishment. He felt tears gathering and angrily wiped them away. He still couldn't believe he was back home. It all seemed like some kind of dream, or worse, a cruel joke – he certainly wouldn't put it past Azula, in any case. He couldn't sleep at night for fear he'd wake up and be the banished prince again – the disgrace of his nation. And yet, try as he might he couldn't ignore the feelings of shame and regret that swelled inside of him. He had everything he'd wanted since the day of his banishment, but it felt empty, meaningless. He had betrayed his Uncle, the only father he had truly ever known. He had all but physically stabbed him in the back and that shame, he knew, he would never be rid of.
Suddenly he heard a loud roar, and, reflexes kicking in, leapt around to face the source of the noise. It was a giant fire-lizard or salamander - a cousin of the dragons his family had wiped out years ago – a creature unique to the fire-forests. He took a step back; fire-lizards were dangerous, fast, and well, huge. The one he was currently facing looked middle-sized for its species but was still easily three times as big as an Ostrich-horse, and four times as wide. It roared at him, releasing a sizeable ball of fire from its maw. Zuko ducked and countered with a swift punch, the fire shooting from his fist and dissipating the moment it touched the hide of the lizard. What was it he'd read about them? Oh yeah, fire-resistant hides...fantastic.
He recalled the stream and, ducking another fire ball, darted in the direction he thought it was in. The lizard gave chase, surprisingly swift for its size, it's long sweeping tail knocking trees down as it went. Zuko reached the stream and turned around to see how far away the lizard was, it wasn't far. Within seconds it reached the bank and was staring down at him, huge nostrils steaming. They locked eyes. It roared and Zuko leapt back, losing his footing on the slippery bank and crashing into the water. The stream – much deeper and rougher than he remembered – wasted no time in sweeping him away. Struggling to keep his head above the surface, he grasped a nearby floating log and half-heaved himself up onto it. Gasping, he clung to it, fervently cursing his rotten luck. The log bucked in the pull of the rapids and smashed him against the side of the bank, his head hit a sharp protruding rock and he blacked out.
...
Aang smiled to himself as the wind whistled past his ears and started humming in pure contentment. It was a beautiful day – fire nation countryside be damned – he was flying on Appa, and, despite the upcoming invasion, he was almost blissfully happy. Of course, there was tons of stuff they needed to do in preparation for his battle with the fire lord – namely, learning firebending – but on such a beautiful day he was hard pressed to even consider work.
"Hey guys," he yelled so he could be heard over the wind, "who's up for a swim?"
A chorus of agreement came from behind him and he grinned widely, directing Appa to land at the nearby lake. As Appa descended, Aang took a moment to appreciate the strange beauty of the fire nation forest. The entire forest seemed to...glow. It looked like it was on fire. Fitting, he supposed, that it resided in the fire nation. When Appa landed, they hurriedly unpacked and changed into their swimsuits.
"Last one in the water's a koala-sheep!" Toph raced for the water, Katara close behind her. Aang beat them both as he literally flew over to the lake, diving straight in and emerging with a content sigh.
"Cheater," Katara accused, splashing him.
"Ah, this is the life," Sokka announced as he headed for the water, "relaxing in a lake with no evil fire...," he trailed off as he spotted something further down the side of the bank. Curiously, he edged around the side and pushed through the large stalk-like plants that surrounded it. Reaching the edge he saw a teenager lying in the mud, his back facing him. Sokka moved closer and noticed he was wearing expensive robes. Actually, he sort of recognised the back of his head...Zuko, he knew with absolute certainty when he saw the face. Although he was covered in mud and...blood, it seemed, Sokka would recognise that distinctive scar anywhere.
"Aang," he called, "we have a problem." He was busy turned the prince over and examining his wound, when Aang emerged from the bushes.
"Is that..?" Aang crept closer.
"Yeah," Sokka stepped back, "where are the others?"
"Coming," Aang glanced around, "what should we do with him?"
Sokka shrugged, "leave him."
"But," Aang looked at the wound on Zuko's head, "he looks pretty bad."
Katara waded through the bushes and gasped, "Zuko?"
"He's unconscious," Sokka told her, "nasty cut in the head."
"An improvement, I'm sure,' she replied, pushing the plants aside for Toph.
Toph laughed and punched her in the arm, "good one."
"So what now?" Katara rubbed her arm, "I mean, we're not going to help him right?"
"Well we can't just leave him here," Aang protested, "he could die!"
"So what?" Katara crossed her arms, "besides, I don't think he'll ever die...unfortunately."
"He saved my life, once," Aang said quietly.
"And you saved his at the North Pole," Sokka pointed out.
"And he was doing it for selfish reasons," Katara griped.
There was a long, drawn out, silence. "I won't leave him here," Aang said finally
"But," Katara protested.
"Listen," Aang addressed them all, "a few nights ago Roku spoke to me in a dream,"
"He can do that?" Sokka asked curiously.
"I, uh I guess," Aang scratched his head.
"Well geez," Sokka crossed his arms, "that would've been real helpful the first time you 'had to talk to him', huh?"
"Mmm," Aang agreed and then shrugged, "anyway, he told me that we won't win against the fire nation,"
"What?" Katara's eyes widened as the other's blanched.
"unless," Aang continued, "the 'banished prince' joins us."
"Which I'm guessing you think is 'firey' over here," Sokka drawled.
"Don't know any other banished princes." Aang said, "so maybe this is more than a coincidence."
"But he's Zuko," Katara protested, "he's been trying to kill us for months."
"Actually, he's only trying to capture Aang," Toph put in helpfully.
"Well, that warms my heart, really," Katara said sarcastically, "he's only trying to capture us...how nice of him."
"Only Aang," Toph reminded her.
"Toph?" Aang turned to the young earth bender, "can you help me bend the mud to camp?"
She replied by stamping her foot in the ground, Zuko rose two inches into the air on his mud-stretcher.
"I don't agree with this." Katara started to walk off angrily.
"Katara," Sokka put a hand on her shoulder, "Aang can't just ignore Roku, the guy knows what he's talking about, and if we have to put up with an angry jerk in order to win this war, well, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."
"You're all forgetting one thing," Katara spat, "why on earth would he help us?"
"Er, we saved his life?" Aang said hopefully.
"Because that worked so well after the North Pole." Katara snapped.
"I don't know," Aang sighed, "but we have to try."
...
Zuko groaned slightly as he regained his consciousness. His entire body ached, and there was an ever present throbbing pain in his head. Gingerly he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings...or, at least, he tried to. It was pitch black. His first thought was a panicked 'I'm blind!', but as his eyes gradually adjusted he was able to make out some shapes nearby. He tried to move his hand to locate the source of the throbbing pain but found that he was unable to. Huh, he was tied to a tree. How odd. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here; in fact, he couldn't remember much of anything really. He struggled slightly, attempting to wriggle one of his hands free and, after a few minutes, succeeded. Who ever had tied him up had done a pretty shocking job. Slowly he prodded the top of his head and winced as the pain flared. How had that happened? He blinked to clear the tears from his eyes and focused on getting his other hand free. Once both were untied he was able to slip out from under the rope.
As he stood up he felt the sharp pain intensify and he fell to his knees, head spinning. He felt disoriented and weak. Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground and lay down on his back, gasping slightly at the pain. Okay, he had to work out what to do. He'd clearly hurt himself – although he had no idea how – and had no idea where he was and, strangely, he couldn't remember much before he'd woken up. In fact, he couldn't remember anything at all. This was weird. He needed to get out of here and find some help...or something. Slowly, he sat up and paused, allowing the world to spin back into its usual place. He then knelt forward, paused, and then gingerly got to his feet, leaning heavily against the tree as he did so. His head pounded and he felt as if it would explode under the pressure. He breathed raggedly and, using the tree for support, took a few steps. He then took a few more. Letting go of the tree he began to walk properly, pausing every so often to reorient himself.
Now he had to decide which direction to go in. Obviously, since he'd been tied up, someone nearby was his enemy. Although, clearly not a very dangerous one if the ropes were anything to go by. So where were they? He could barely see through the blackness of the night, and the moon was a tiny sliver such that its glow barely made it to his eyes. He'd be walking blind and could run into his capturers at any moment. He had no way of defending himself, either. He'd been walking for about half an hour, when the first rays of the morning sun inched up over the horizon. Now he could just barely see his surroundings and they didn't look any more familiar than during the night. At least, he supposed, he hadn't run into his capturers – whoever they were. Half an hour later the sun had risen to the point where the entire forest was illuminated and he still didn't know where he was. Sighing, he gently lowered himself down at the base of a tree and dropped his throbbing head into his hands. Before he knew it, he'd started drifting off to sleep, the sun's warm rays caressing his skin, and, funnily enough, he thought drowsily, he was starting to feel a little better. He woke suddenly to the sound of voices nearby. Leaping up and steadfastly ignoring the pain in his head, he darted around to the other side of the tree and pressed himself up against it.
"Uh, I don't see anything." A male voice was saying.
"He was right here," a female voice sounded accompanied by a loud thump, "sleeping against that tree."
Zuko's eyes widened, so these people were his captors, then? They sounded...young.
"Uh huh," another, deeper, male voice drawled, "maybe your feet need to get their eyes checked."
Zuko's eyebrow shot up, feet with eyes?
"Wait," the female voice said, "I think I feel something..."
Zuko tensed and prepared to flee.
"Probably just a bird," another female voice answered her.
"Yeah..." the female responded, "probably."
Zuko heard some shuffling and footsteps receding into the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief. A few minutes later he dared to poke his head around the tree, seeing nothing he walked out from behind it and ran smack bang into Aang. Zuko leapt back, ignoring the pain and spinning forest, turned around and fled. Aang, a little too shocked at Zuko's reaction to react himself just stared after him, slack jawed. The others ran out from where they'd been hiding and joined Aang.
"Did Zuko just...?" Sokka questioned.
"Yep." Aang replied, still in shock.
"Weird." And then Sokka began laughing. Slowly they all joined in at the fairly ridiculous sight of Zuko – I must capture the Avatar and restore my honour – fleeing without a fight.
"We gonna catch him or what?" Toph asked, impatient.
"Just let him go," Katara scowled.
"We have to," Aang sighed, "Roku hasn't been wrong yet. Sokka, you and Katara take Appa, fly ahead and block him from the front. Toph, come with me, we'll go behind."
"I've got a better idea," Toph said and then stomped the ground, "ok, let's go." They walked for a few minutes and then came to an area of the ground with Zuko's head sticking up from it. Katara stifled a laugh, "suits him," she whispered to Sokka.
Zuko was struggling to no avail.
"Who's there?" He called out as they approached, "leave me alone or I'll..."
"You'll what, exactly?" Sokka chuckled, "unleash the firey headbutt of doom?" He looked down at Zuko.
Zuko was silent, "What does that even mean?"
"He was referring to...you know what? Never mind." Katara scowled at him.
"Who are you?" He said, "and why are you chasing me?"
There was absolute silence for all of three seconds before Sokka burst into laughter.
"You should've been a comedian," he informed Zuko, "much better use of your time."
"It wasn't funny," Katara sniffed.
"Are you kidding?" Aang chuckled, "that was hilarious."
"I don't understand," Zuko growled, "I don't know who you are, I've never met you in my life, and if you're not going to help me out of here then please go away."
"Did he just say 'please'?" Toph asked, surprised.
"I think so." Sokka glanced at Toph, "is he telling the truth?"
"...yes."
"You are all so weird," Zuko groaned.
"We're weird?" Katara said angrily, "we're not the ones..." she trailed off as Sokka grabbed her arm.
"He doesn't remember us," Sokka whispered, "he must have amnesia or something, this our chance."
"Our chance?"
"Aang needs a teacher, Zuko doesn't remember he hates us, you do the math." Sokka released her and knelt down to talk to Zuko.
"We'll get you out of here," he said, "but you have to promise not to run away."
"Why?"
"Because you do know us, you just hit your head and it seems you don't remember."
"We're...friends?" He asked tentatively.
"Sure," Sokka replied with a wide grin, "we'll go with that."
"If we're friends," Zuko asked suspiciously, "then why did you tie me to a tree?"
"...er...we didn't?"