I got the idea for this AU a while back. After the Agni Kai Prince Zuko was ordered to join the 41st, in hopes that he would meet their planned fate. I'm not very good at long fics these days, so I'm writing a series of drabblesque fics to sort of lay down the scenery. The prompts are from the zutara100 on livejournal, but I'm not posting it there yet. I'm planning this to end up being Zutara, but Katara isn't showing up just yet because I'm going to try to keep these pretty much in chronological order. Just Soldier Zuko and lots of OC's. 'We few, we happy few...' Parts one through five of one hundred.

I own the OC's and that is all. Avatar and Zuko belong to Nickalodeon.

The 41st

By

RhiannonAmaris

Beginnings
Tien knew what a light infantry unit was supposed to look like-- the 41st wasn't it.

Ends
Prince Zuko-- who believed in abstract honor and that his father was good, right and just—died when a man named Hina bleed out a foot away from him. He came to prefer what rose from the ashes.

Poverty
Lara had grown up poor, but proud. Her father referred to himself as a chef, not a cook and shrugged it off when her mother had left for an easier life. Her family held there heads up high no matter what slurs were tossed in there direction. She was at least as good as anyone else (an attitude that had gotten her in many a mess, including this one). Still, she never would have thought she would meet the heir to the throne, let alone feel sorry for him.

Wealth
He'd slept on silk once upon a time. He could have delicacies whenever he wished. He was taught bending by the finest instructors in the land. These days he was lucky if there was a tent to put his bedroll in. Lucky if Corporal Lara had the time and means to make the slop they were given edible. He had to instruct other benders, because except for the few veterans left he was the only one with any training. Any further he'd have to figure out for himself. Looking around at those of them that had made it this far and the new blood, he had never felt richer.

Two Of A Kind
He heard growls, yips and yelling from aways off. "Get the stupid bitch off of me!" He walked over to see a pair of farmers fighting off a vixen foxdog. This land had belonged to the Fire Nation for nearly a generation.
He leaned against a low fence. "What seems to be the problem gentlemen?"
The one that hadn't been bitten turned to glare at him. He stopped short when he got a clear look at the young scarred soldier. The red-faced man gulped. "Need to get rid of this useless runt, but the bitch won't let us near it."
Zuko looked into the yard and saw the small pup that was being ferociously defended by it's mother. It was old enough to be separated, or would have been had it been in better shape.
"She bit Kon!"
"That's what mothers do." The young soldier said quietly. "When someone hurts their babies they bite back." He hopped the fence. "Shhh..." He calmly walked over to the foxdogs. "I'm nothing to worry you." He picked up the pup, it looked back at him, the left side of it's face battered. He threw a couple coins to the farmers and walked away. "I know how you feel little one. I know how you feel."