Disclaimer: I am terribly sorry fellow Avatar freaks.. I sadly do not own the rights to these wonderful characters of goodness. c:
Summary: What if Zuko wasn't the crazed prince chasing the avatar? What if he instead was a scared little boy, banished by the Fire Nation, to die a death by the most feared monster of the sea, Keezo. What if his uncle bestowed mercy on the child, and instead kept him alive and purposely drove their ship into a fleet of Southern Water Tribe ships? What if Zuko was found and raised as Water Tribe? What if.. What if.. What if?
"Hakoda!" Bato cried out to his friend and his chief.
"Kind of busy here!" Hakoda replied to his friend from where he was a few feet away on their ship, bandaging his horribly burnt arm. His wife was going to have a heart attack.
"Koda! This is no joke, my friend!"
"Bato you fool! The last time you spoke those words to me, my mother nearly stripped me of chief!"
"A child!"
"Yes Bato. I have a child. Two in fact." Hakoda was seriously growing tired of these old games.
"Hakoda!" Kylan hollored from the spot by his brother Bato.
"WHAT?" Hakoda bellowed, wrapping the last inch of the bandage around himself.
"My fool of a brother tells no joke friend, there is a child at sea. Drifting towards us on a wooden board, it must be from the Fire Nation ship we managed to sink not an hour ago. He looks no younger than Katara, no older than Sokka."
The brothers had the chief's attention now. Hakoda stood abruptly and ran to the railing of the old Water Tribe ship. Sure enough, there was a boy. Rather close to where the waves were violently crashing against the lower levels of the massive ship, the largest the Southern Tribe had to offer.
"Don't stand there like a brainless penguin! Let's bring him up!"
"And how exactly will we do so?"
"Oh for the love of a badger-mole.." Hakoda began as he began unwrapping his arm.
"My brother? What are you doing?"
"Getting that child!"
"Your arm my friend!"
"That child will surely freeze to his death! Look at that clothing!"
Hakoda shot one look in the direction of his warriors and flung himself over the ship.
"FOOL!" Bato shouted after him. "YOU WON'T MAKE IT OUT ALIVE!"
"THEN WATCH MY FAMILY!"
"WHAT ABOUT THAT WIFE OF YOURS?" Kylan shouted to his chief over the waves
"TOUCH MY WIFE AND-" Hakoda began. Only then, he was pulled beneath the waves.
"HAKODA!" Bato shouted.
"QUICK! SOMEONE GRAB A ROPE AND SWING IT OVER THE SIDE!"
"KODA! WHEN YOU GRAB THAT CHILD GRAB ONTO THE ROPE! WE WILL PULL YOU UP!"
No answer.
"KODA!"
Still no reply from the overboard chief.
"Look! Over there! Where the child is!"
The crew looked towards a finger was pointing and everybody gasped in shock. Hakoda was with the child, this bad arm around the child's chest and the other swimming. Their chief was swimming in freezing temperatures, with one arm, and a child in tow.
"QUICK! PULL THEM UP BEFORE THEY FREEZE!"
"COME ON! PUT YOUR BACKS INTO IT!" the crew desperately tried to pull the two up, but it seemed the sea wanted to pull them in.
After what seemed like ages, the group of men finally pulled them up and over, Bato taking the child and taking him down to the onboard healer and Kylan tending to the chief.
"Healer!" Bato hollered, the child unconscious in his arms.
"Yes Bato? What is it?"
"WE HAVE A CHILD!"
"Excuse me?" The healer stuck his head up from the scrolls he was writing on, a confused look on his unshaven face.
"A child! We found him. Adrift at sea."
"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?"