Au

Zuko/Oc, though there will be some appearances of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Jet, Toph and others.

First few chapters will be told in flashbacks.

It was a Sunday, as Zuko remembered, a Sunday when the game had started, that stupid, silly game that had gotten him to this wrenched state. If he had known, he would have never had started it, no matter how innocent and pleasurable it had seemed at the time. Well, he hadn't started it really. Not on his own. Hakagi had done something too, started it in some way. It was both of them. So they were both to blame for the fate that beheld them.

He took his head up from against the window, hoping that would stop the rattling that shook him to the bone. He gazed out of the tinted glass. No, no it was he that started it and that was his final decision. In truth he knew it was both of them, but he didn't want someone as innocent as Hakagi to take any blame for something so tragic, so in his mind, with brief finality, he decided it was he who'd started the game and it was he who was to be blamed for the upsetting turn of events.

It hadn't been a Sunday, now that he remembered correctly, it had been a Tuesday, because it was on Tuesday that he'd met Hakagi, and without Hakagi, he wouldn't have had inspiration or motivation to even start the game at all.

He'd been outside when he came...

Books were one of Zuko's favorite things. Apart from practicing his all too weak fire bending, reading was all he could do. Every day was lonely. He flipped another page, effulging himself in the magic of it all. The magic of going into a different world, wherever a story decided to take him, where there were pirates and princes and morals and genies and airplanes and all sorts of things he couldn't begin to fathom. In a book he wasn't alone, he imagined himself as one of characters and made friends with everyone else. And lately, he'd taken to writing his own stories.

It was lonely, because his mother had suddenly left, with reasons still uncertain to him, and Azula had gone of to boarding school for prestigious fire benders. He hadn't been admitted. His father had made it clear that he didn't want Zuko for company, and so the small 6 year old was glad that he had finally mastered the art of reading, thanks to his tutor and only friend, Kitomi Sensei.

He could hear the sounds of horses whinnying outside, followed by the sounds a cart would made when rolling over gravel, and looked out through the window from his secret tower. No one knew about it, and he didn't want anyone to ever. The palace was a big place, full of empty rooms and gruff guards. He was glad to have a place to call his own.

The cart door opened, but before it did he noticed the fire emblem of royalty imprinted on the back. Whoever was coming out, was someone of his prestige.

Zuko dropped his book in surprise when he saw a mere boy, small looking, bundled up in expensive looking sweaters even though it was summer.

'A snob.' Zuko immediately declared in his mind. 'The son of one of father's friends, it must be.'

He quickly lost interest, returning to his window seat, where he took his time to read the kanji symbols that were written beside the picture of his book.

"Zuko!" the all too well-known voice of his father called. Zuko jumped up quickly from his seat, dropping the book and running down the winding staircase to his room. "Yes father?" he answered, once he had shut the door. His father would not have approved of him reading more than it was necessary.

"Come here. I'm just down the hall." His father said. Zuko trembled. 'It must be something very important for father to call me himself.' He thought opening the door. 'Ever since mother left, father has seemed very upset.' He didn't know why.

He walked down the hall, lined with pictures of great kings, counts and lords, all gleaming with oil and tanned. Zuko thought them beautiful, and terrible.

His father was standing in the middle of the hall, his hands on the shoulders of the very boy who Zuko had seen outside. He was even smaller without his coats, a tiny things with wide, curious looking icy intelligent blue eyes and the reddest lips Zuko had ever seen. He immediately envied his skin color, a glorious tanned tone, something Zuko had been wanting for so long, but never could seem to get. His hair was still hidden under a cap, but some bits of it poked out. They were jet black and curiously, streaked with blond.

"Yes father?" he said meekly, hating the fact that he had to get to his knees and kiss the ground in front of the lord, and when he stood he couldn't look directly into his fathers eyes. He hated that he had to do it in front of the boy, who's thick lashed eyes widened in surprise to see Zuko acting in such a manner.

'If he's royalty then he should know its custom. Why does he look like he's never seen it before?' Zuko thought uneasily.

He father was beaming. "Zuko, this is Hakagi. His father has very recently become the fire lord of the South and has moved into the royal courts."

"South?" Zuko questioned, glancing up briefly before lowering his head.

"Yes. It's like, a second in command, for when I'm off to war and to take care of smaller things. His father has taken great pains to get to this point and I hope you welcome them both into this house hold."

"Hai." Zuko whispered in agreement, placing one hand over his fist and bending his head slightly, as he'd been taught to do. He looked into the boy's eyes with sullen disregard, catching and holding his gaze to let him know he could stare at him for however long he liked. The boy gave a shy smile. Zuko sneered and looked away.

"We have many things to discuss, Fire Lord Akito and I." Lord Ozai continued, looking sternly at Zuko. "So take him with you and play with him. You two can practice your fire bending together, under supervision of course. Enjoy."

He let go of Hakagi's shoulders. "He's powerful Zuko. I've seen him. Try to…catch up hmm?" he smiled at Hakagi.

Zuko decided he hated the boy, someone who'd managed to squeeze approval out of his father already, something he had yet to do.

"Hai." He said again. Then he looked at the boy, squinting to try and look menacing. "Come." He said, in a gruff voice, striding away, hoping the tiny boy would get lost and end up on the other side of the palace, crying. 'He looks about the same age as me. But I'm taller and he seems like a china doll.'

Hakagi was keeping up with him. Zuko walked past his room, to the play room.

"Don't touch this." He said, pointing to a crate stuffed with toys. "Or this." He said pointing to another. "You can play with those over there. I don't want them anymore."

"Thank you." The boy whispered, sounding truly grateful that zuko would befall him with discarded play things.

"I bet you don't have as many toys. You don't, do you?"

"No. I don't." the boy agreed, looking curiously at a box of puzzle pieces.

"I have more. Because I'm better." Zuko felt the need to say this, to remind himself that he was the boss of something.

Hakagi opened the box and sat on the carpeted floor, beginning to put the puzzle together. Whenever one of his fathers friends came over with their children, the kid would boast to Zuko about what they had, and Zuko had never been able to compare.

He was richer, his father more powerful, but when challenged to a fire bending competition, he would be disgraced. So he decided he would start the competition first, and get the upper hand.

He strode over to where Hakagi was comfortably lying on the ground. "My dad is better than your dad. He's more important. You heard what he said. Your dad is second in command, behind my dad. He had to come live with us."

Hakagi didn't say anything, only stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth in concentration. "He is isn't he?" Zuko continued, wanting to start competing. 'I bet I could beat him at mahjong.'

He waited for the boy to deny it, jump up in anger and yell at him. But he only looked up and smiled. "Yes, he is."

Zuko blinked. "He…yeah." He said, caught off-guard.

"And so I'm better than you right?" he said shakily.

A small frown etched across Hagagi's face. His delicate features looked hurt. "No." he said softly. "No you're not."

Zuko grinned victoriously. "Oh yeah?" he said, ready to start fighting. "Oh yeah? Well then let's see about that. Let's have a competition to prove it! What do you want to do first?"

"Do you have a garden? I would like to see some flowers."

Zuko looked confused. "What about our competition?" he said.

"I want to see flowers." Hakagi smiled. "Why compete over who's better? It's trivial you see. Wouldn't you rather gaze at something as beautiful and innocent as flowers. Why think of war or hate or anger, when there are so many beautiful things?"

Zuko was shaken. He'd never heard anyone speak this way before. His father said that competition and war were the only way to get what you want. 'Just win them all and you'll be fine.' He'd said. Hakagi continued smiling.

Slowly, Zuko smiled back. "We have a garden in the back." He said. "You want to see?"

Hakagi nodded. Then, to Zuko's surprise, he took his hand. Zuko looked at it. "I don't think…" he said, then change his mind.

He lead Hakagi out the back door to where the garden was. The boy smiled. "Thank you." He said, turning to Zuko, once again using the voice of someone who'd just been given something that would save their life. "My mother loved flowers as well. When father went out we sat at the cottage and she'd take me outside into our tiny garden and rock me there as a baby." Hakagi continued reverently, sitting amongst the mass of foliage, in his royal suiting's and all.

"Where is she?" Zuko asked, afraid of the answer.

"Died." Hakagi touched one of the flowers, a rose. "Died in the prime of her youth, life nipped in the bud like a flower nipped by frost bite."

"I'm…umm…sorry." Zuko said, scratching the back of his head.

"You're like a rose." Hakagi said, picking a fallen one up off the ground. He stood, gracefully, and walked up to Zuko, taking the flower and rolling it across Zuko's cheek. Zuko blushed crimson, pushing Hakagi's hand away. "I'm not a flower!" he yelled. "They're weak and fragile."

"No." Hakagi said, breathing out as if he'd been carrying a burden and was finally laying it on the ground. "No. You're just like a rose in fact. You appear weak and fragile and scared, compared to a tree, but when there's a hurricane, it is the tree that is uprooted and the flower that is spared."

Zuko tried rolling his eyes, but he stopped when he realized how true Hakagi was. 'He's smart.'

Hakagi continued smelling the flowers individually, and though Zuko found is upturned nose and his overall face fascinating, he was growing bored. "Let's fire bend." He said excitedly.

"Alright." Hakagi smiled. He removed his hat and Zuko found himself enraptured with the hair on his head. Never had he seen so many colors managing to look so beautiful. Blond and black, brown and some glints of red shone in the silky mass of hair. 'He's lucky.'

Hakagi took his stance and put his fists together, then stepped foreward and pushed out a burst of flame. Without pausing, he jumped into the air and shot out another, then landed, spread his hands, released fire from his finger tips and spun, letting it out in spurts. The entire time he did it he had a devastatingly serious look on his face.

He picked up his hat. "Your turn." He smiled. Zuko's mouth hung low. Not even Azula had been able to do so much. He felt ashamed and embarrased. "S-sure." He said, taking his stance.

The flame that emitted itself from his fist was like a flickering light going out. "It's…its cold out." He mumbled, rubbing his hands together. "I guess I need some time to warm up."

Hakagi nodded in agreement. Zuko took his stance again, them pumped his fists foreward, hoping for a blast of flame. There was a little puff, and then no more.

Hakagi didn't smile or smirk, even as Zuko lowered his head. Instead Zuko felt the other boy's body come behind him and hold him by the elbows. "Make sure they're even." He whispered into Zuko's ear, his hot breath causing a tingling sensation. "It will help balance your chakra."

Zuko nodded, feeling hot as Hakagi pulled his arms back for him, still behind him. "Now let go." He whispered. Zuko did, surprised to see an almost ok flame emit itself. Nothing as good as Hakagi's, but much better than his usual. Hakagi let go and he still was on fire.

"Great." Hakagi said. Zuko smiled. Then Hakagi kissed his cheek and he blushed, once again surprised. 'He did it. H made me warm up all over. That's why I did so well.' Zuko thought. Somewhere behind his resentment, an adoration for the other boy had evoked itself in his heart. One that would last forever.