Disclaimer- I do not own Avatar or anything pertaining to it.

Prologue

I have never been the sharpest tool in the shed, nor the fastest runner on the team, or really the best in any subject. Unless you count getting lost a skill.

While the other guys were out playing sports and flirting with girls, I was inside reading manga and watching anime. From Fruits Basket to Attack on Titan, I absorbed anything I could get my hands on.

This included Avatar: The Last Airbender, of course. Though to this day, I can't seem to decide whether or not it fell under the anime category. On one side it would be considered anime, then on the other side, it would be considered a cartoon. I suppose it's also the same for Teen Titans, so maybe they have their own category I just don't know about? And let's not get into that thing they called the movie.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Avatar was one of the few shows that I could actually get my parents to sit down and watch without arguing through the entire thing.

I was an only child you see, so I didn't have another person I could really share my obsession with. Sure I had friends, but I never got close enough to them to invite them over. Not because I was more mature or anything like that, I just couldn't focus long enough to get that close. My parents were also out of the question, they were too busy yelling at me, or each other, to really listen. So when I finally found something that they would pay attention to, it was a godsend.

But that didn't mean that they agreed with me spending all day, every day, on the internet. Mom would yell that my laziness was making my grades drop and Dad would tell me that my life was going nowhere fast. I paid their complaints no attention. After all, that was future me's problems.

Though he was right, of course, just not in the way he expected. My life didn't go anywhere, but it wasn't because of anime or manga, I just died before it had the chance.

My death was probably comical to those who caught it on the Evening News. Though I like to think that my parents didn't laugh about it. Not that the same could be applied to even me. I mean, it wasn't every day a teen gets lost on the route he'd taken home since he was six and gets killed by a falling sledgehammer.

Death hurt of course, just not for very long. Getting something that heavy to the head didn't necessarily kill me immediately, but sure did it knock me out quickly.

I almost feel bad for the poor soul that dropped the thing. Almost being the key word there, after all, he did kill me. I wonder if he got charged with manslaughter.

That's not the point, this story is about what happened after.


Book One- Family

Chapter one- Baby troubles

After a few peaceful seconds of complete darkness, I was pushed into a sudden light. The air wasn't cold per say, it just colder than wherever I was before.

I let out a startled cry as something that felt much like hands grabbed me and started poking, prodding, and pulling at me. I tried to look around, only to find I could only see shadows.

I tried to yell for the hands to stop, but all that came out was more high-pitched cries.

The hands stilled their assault, instead wrapping me tightly in a blanket and handing me off.

"It's a healthy baby boy." A voice said spoke.

Of course, I was a boy, and how healthy could I be after taking a sledgehammer to the head.

The other giant held me closely, her warmth oddly familiar.

"Roku," she whispered quietly.

Roku, where did I know that name from? I halted my panicked screaming to think.

"A-after the Avatar princess?"

The Avatar? As in Avatar Roku in Avatar: The Last Airbender? And did they just call her princess?!

I felt the woman holding me a nod. "He will be a powerful firebender, just like his fa—"

The woman let out a pained sound, almost dropping me as she lurched forward suddenly.

I tried my best to try to form words, but all that came out was the same crying as before. And once it started I couldn't seem to make it stop, everyone in the room talking at once didn't help.

"Princess are you-"

"Take the baby—"

"His Father—"

"Prince Iroh—"

I pulled none too gently from the woman's arms. The sound of a door open, and suddenly whoever was holding me started running.

Another door opened and I was met with more panicked voices.

"What happened?" A larger shadow towered the girl who was holding me. "Is everything okay? Is there something wrong?"

The girl all but shoved me in, what sounded like a man's, arms. "There was a complication, I need to get back, take Prince Roku."

"Roku?" Another voice sounded from farther away, this one sounding almost disgusted.

"The princess said that is what his name is." A door slammed, alerting me that the woman left.


It wouldn't take a genius to figure out I was reborn into the Avatar world. I mean with Uncle Ozai, Aunt Ursa, and Grandfather Azulon, what self-respecting Avatar fan wouldn't be able to tell they had been reborn into the show they love so much?

Though a normal person might not have accepted the conclusion as quickly. I mean, it's not like I was in a particularly dangerous show. The worst thing out there is an angry spirit after fire nation blood. But I was Prince Roku, son of crown Prince Iroh. If I wanted to, I could probably stay in the castle forever.

Plus, I would never have to be more than a prince; unless, you know, my big brother Lu Ten dies like he did in canon. But hopefully, I could stop that, then Iroh could be Fire Lord and Zuko would never be banished.

But then Aang, Katara, and Sokka might never become a team and the comet would ensure the appropriation of the Earth Kingdom.

But Iroh wouldn't do that, right?

Ugh, what I could and couldn't change without hundreds dying hurt my head. Anyway, I had more important things to worry about, like the six-year-old standing over my red crib.

As far as I could tell I was only a few months younger than Zuko, which was good because then we could become good friends. But it also meant Lu Ten was almost six years older than me and old enough to realize I was the reason his mother died.

At least, my vision had finally cleared up so I could see if he was going to kill me in revenge.

"Father says that it isn't your fault Mother died." The little boy sighed. "But Mother died because something happened when she gave birth to you."

His eyes started to leak, making my heart clench uncomfortably. The poor confused boy. I gave him my best baby smile and reached up towards him, maybe I could cheer him up.

It worked, Lu Ten smiled through his tears and bent down to lift me from the crib.

"You have no idea do you?" Lu Ten whispered. "You're just a little baby."

If only he was right.


It wasn't long after I finally got my body to obey my command to sit up that I met the little brat that was called Zuko.

Ursa had been a regular in my nursery, checking up on me and making sure Iroh wasn't wasting away in his grief. I liked her, her hands were more careful than Iroh's or Lu Ten's, and she smelled nicer. Not that I preferred her to either of them.

She wasn't amusing enough to keep my attention.

They were my new family, and though I had only really known them for a few months, I was tentatively coming to love them.

Every night, after he put Lu Ten to bed, Iroh would sing me a song I recognized from the show. And every night, without fail, he would whisper to me how much my mother loved me.

Now it was the only way I could fall asleep, without those soothing words, sleeping just felt . . . wrong.

I doubted Zuko had the same problem. He probably never slept, because he definitely didn't blink. I would know, he had been staring at me for the last hour and a half.

Even when the gentle fall breeze, which I knew for a fact could make your eyes water if you didn't squint into it, ran through our little sitting area set up by the pond, he didn't so much as flinch.

Maybe it was a firebender thing or something he got from Ozai?

Not even glancing away from me, the older prince reached down, picked up one of the many toys littering our blanket, and didn't hesitate in throwing it at me.

The block hit my shoulder with a burst of pain, and I couldn't help the tears that welled up in my eyes.

That little shit!

Glaring I picked up my own toy and launched it at him.

"Roku!" Iroh's scolded, bending down out of nowhere to scoop me up. "We do not throw things! Especially at your cousin!"

Zuko gave a sniff from his spot in Ursa's arms as if he was completely innocent in the matter.

Pointing at Zuko I tried to convey his part, but all that came out was a series of random babbles.

Iroh sighed. "I'm so sorry Ursa, I think there's just been a little too much excitement for him."

"It's fine." Ursa gave a little smile. "Children will be children."

Just because our names were only a letter off from each other didn't mean we had to get along. He would pay for this, mark my words.


I take back every bad thing I ever said about baby Zuko, he can even be my best friend now, as long as I never have to see Azula again. Even as a one-year-old, she was the epitome of evil.

I had been willing to give her a chance, after all, she was only a baby. But after one meeting I regretted my choice. She managed to trip me, throw a rock at me, and make a mess that everyone blamed me for. It was like she was trying to make my life miserable.

So when Lu Ten asked: "Roku, don't you want to play with baby Azula?" My answer was immediate.

"No!"

My older brother laughed. "Why? Do you not like Azula?"

I crossed my arms and shook my head. "No!"

"Well, that's just too bad then," Lu Ten lifted me into his arms, "because Father sent me to bring you to play with Zuko and Azula."

I started to struggle as hard as my little baby body could. "NO!"

"You know," Lu Ten sighed, "I'm starting to think that's the only word you know."

"No." I shook my head, determined to prove him wrong. "Lo Tem!"

The older boy gave a delighted laughed and stopped to hug me closer.

"That was my name! It was garbled and baby-like, but it was my name!" He squealed.

I renewed my struggle when the eight-year old's grip became uncomfortably tight. It wouldn't do to be strangled by my brother before I had the chance to even walk outside the palace walls.

"Sorry, sorry." Lu Ten laughed, rubbing his head with his free hand.

I easily forgave, as I always did when he gave me that care-free smile. I had grown close with my brother over the years we were together, and I already had nightmares about not being able to stop his death.

I would like to say that I had a complex plan that would stop Lu Ten from dying, but I honestly had nothing of the sort. I knew nothing of how he died, except that he was part of the six hundred day siege on Ba Sing Sa, so I really didn't know enough about his death to warn him. I wouldn't be old enough to go off to war with them. My best bet was just to get it so he didn't become a soldier, and stopping the son of the Crown Prince's heir from joining his peers in the war was going to hard. But, hopefully, not impossible.

We approached the red door of Zuko and Azula's playroom and I suddenly remembered where we were headed.

As if sensing my dread, Lu Ten tried his best to reassure me.

"Baby Azula's not that bad," he said, "and she doesn't mean to scare you; she's just a baby."

Scare me? Azula didn't scare me in the slightest! She just . . . well, she . . . she didn't scare me okay!

"No." I pouted.

Lu Ten gave me a bemused smile as the guards opened the double doors for us to pass.

"What? You're not scared of Azula?"

I glared. It was a trap and I knew it. If I said no, then he would say I was scared of the baby. But if I stayed quiet than it would be like I was admitting I was scared of her. Which I most definitely was not.

It's not that I couldn't say anything else, I could say everything that Zuko could say. I figured if I just copied everything my older cousin did, then I wouldn't be labeled a genius. That would bring even more attention to me. Azula was supposed to be the prodigy anyway, so hopefully she could bring any unwanted attention from my odd behavior onto her. That or her insane behavior would do the trick, insanity was a great distraction tool.

"You're so cute!" Lu Ten squealed suddenly, hugging me tightly and spinning me around at an almost impossible speed.

Sometimes I wondered how I was still alive with this imbecile being near me at all times.

"When you get lost in thought," Lu Ten continued, "your little baby nose gets all wrinkled and your little chubby lips go into a pout!"

I scowled at him. Instead of cowering away like I wished him to, the idiot's grin grew so big it was almost like he was sparkling.

"You're so cute!"

I was really starting to weigh the pros and cons of letting him strangle me. At least, then I wouldn't have to listen to his incessant cooing about how adorable I was.

"Now, now Lu Ten." Iroh scolded, making the older boy loosen his grip on me and gaze up at our father adoringly. "We want our little Roku to live more than two years, don't we?"

Lu Ten nodded. "Yes, Father."

"Then what shouldn't we do?"

"Squeeze him too tight!"

He sounded much too happy about my possible death. Ops, sorry. Possible second death.

Iroh laughed. "That's right!"

I had to wonder how many times they had this conversation. After all, it sounded much too practiced and relaxed to be the first time. Maybe this was a conversation that all parents had to have with older siblings, just to make sure that they didn't lose their newborn in a too-tight hug. That would totally make sense.

Iroh lifted me out of Lu Ten's arms and raised me high above his head. I laughed and wriggled my arms around, enjoying the height.

"There's my little boy!" Iroh laughed with me.

"'oku! 'oku!"

I send a glare at the little prince for interrupting my family moment. For some odd reason, ever since our first meeting, Zuko decided that we were destined to be best friends. And, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't seem to shake the little brat's attention.

Zuko life was going to be hard and complicated, and I just didn't know how to deal with it. On one hand, if I stopped Zuko from getting his scar and being banished, then he may never become the Avatar's teacher. But how could I just let Zuko live in the fire nation with his creepy father.

So I just wanted to stay away from him for now, at least until I figure out how not to lose my brother and can focus on Zuko completely. Just one major problem at a time.

Sadly, Iroh knew nothing of my inner turmoil and set me next to the prince and his soon to be psycho sister.

"'oku pway with me!" Zuko smiled and held out one of his little toy war balloons.

Staring at the innocent hope, I couldn't help but forgo my plan of ignoring my cousin and grab the red toy out of his chubby hand. It's not like he would remember any of this anyway.


"Little soldier boy, comes marching home."

Finishing his song, Iroh leaned down to place a soft kiss on his two-year old's forehead.

"Your mother loved you so much Roku."

The boy gave him a sleepy smile and seemed to be trying to fight his closing eyes.

"Daddy?" He spoke around a yawn.

"Yes, my little prince?"

"Am I a firebender?"

A proud smile spread across Iroh's aging face at the perfectly spoken words. Roku didn't speak much, but when he did, Iroh couldn't help but be amazed at his perfectly formed words. He was so much more advanced than Zuko already and they were only two.

"Of course!" Iroh laughed. "No member of the royal family had ever been a non-bender."

But that hadn't stopped Ozai from thinking that Zuko had lacked the spark and attempt to throw his newborn from the palace walls.

"How are you sure?" The young boy seemed to slip farther and farther into sleep with each word.

Iroh smiled.

"You have the eyes," He said, tapping right above Roku's eye.

Roku giggled once before his golden eyes slid shut and the child succumbed to sleep.