Disclaimer! I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender but I do own my OCs.

Zuko's POV

A wave of nostalgia arises in me as I walk down the familiar hallways of the fire nation palace. I've been home now for just over a month, yet I feel more lost than ever. The only thing that gives me any joy at all is spending time with Mai and funnily enough Azula. I miss Uncle badly though. I might need to visit him in prison. Maybe that is how I'm doing what I'm doing at this moment.

It's the middle of the night, the only light being cast down by the moon and from a small flame in the centre of my palm. It flickers gently, as there is nothing but a whisper of a breeze. The dead silence echoes in my ears. I've always felt more at ease alone but the silence is quickly becoming overpowering in contrast to the lull of the sea that I'm used to hearing. Oh, how I miss the sea, the boat, even the damn crew!

I thought that when I got back I would be complete again but honour hasn't changed anything about me and I still barely see my father, and when I do, only for meetings.

Speaking of which, he discussed my marriage. And not to Mai. He plans for me to marry this 15 year old. I didn't listen beyond that. He's taking away the last thing that makes me truly happy and for that I will never forgive him.

I will not marry her.

Mai and I can run away and live together peacefully, far away from whatever madness he tries imposing on us.

No. I couldn't do that to Mai. All her family are here. Besides, although I may be used to being an outcast and a traitor, she isn't.

I guess I'll just stay and marry this girl. At least then I can still be close to Mai.

But what about the girl I marry? She'll still be ripped from her family, whatever life she had before. Oh well. I can't save everyone.

I come out of my thoughts and find I am now directly in front of my bedroom door. A sigh escapes my lips.

If only there was some way I could-

A cough shatters the silence. It seemed to have come from my room... My muscles tense as I prepare to fight off any intruder and the flame on my palm goes out. Taking in a deep breath, I gently open the door, slipping in.

There's someone there, silently sorting through my stuff. Absolutely everything is dragged out onto the mattress at the back of the room. The intruder themselves is crouched under where my dao swords hang on the wall. Then they come across my mother's betrothal necklace and fling in onto a pile of all my most valuable things, still unaware of my presence. How dare they just chuck my Mother's things around like that! Oh, I will make them pay so very dearly. My blood surges as masses of heat energy pool under the surface of my skin, ready to be released at any moment.

By this point, I'm standing directly over them. I'm so furious I'm seeing red. But I want to see more red. I want to see it swarm the corpse of the very person before me now. I want it to forever stain this floor red so I can remember the feeling of tremendous joy as I watched it become that way. So lost in my fury, my reactions were a little off as when they decided they were done with this area of my room, they stood up straight into my chin, causing me to bite my tongue then stumble back in pain, cursing the gods.

The intruder turned around. It is a skinny boy, about 11 in age. He had brown hair and bright green eyes, typical of Earth kingdom children. A look of horror and dread was all their face was showing. They knew I would kill them. Happily.

Having recovered, I stooped into a fighting stance and raised my fists, which were now ablaze.

He shakily drew out a knife. It was coated in some sort of sticky substance. I stepped towards them, covering the distance towards them in two strides. The boy is visibly trembling, so severely I think he may drop the knife. A small smile works it's way onto my lips. He's going to be so easy to kill.

I was now right in front of the boy, but just out of his reach. He is definitely in mine though.

With jerky movements, he wildly swings the blade around, not even close to where I am. I shoot a single fireball at his chest. It hits where his heart is and sets his clothes alight. I drag him out of my room and shove him to the ground. His screams are the sweetest sound I have heard in a while. It feels nice to release all my negative feelings every once in a while.

When I first started fighting, I hated the sound my opponent would make when they were hurt. After a few months I stopped feeling guilty about pain I caused, as well as coming to enjoy sounds of torment and agony. It meant I was winning, after all.

Of course, I don't hurt animals or anything. That would just be cruel. Although I suppose I never really thought I'd be able to kill but there you go.

The smell of burning flesh and singed hair wafts towards me now. Ain't this gonna be a bitch to clean up in the morning. Oh well. It was worth it.

I'm surprised he hasn't passed out yet. He's still screaming. No guards have come to help yet. I guess they can tell it's not me who's screaming. Maybe they can just smell the flesh. When they come I guess I can just say the boy tried to assassinate me and I had to kill him. Yeah, they'll believe that.

I swallow the small ball of guilt that had formed in my throat. All enemies must be destroyed, or they'll just cause more trouble later on.

Now to bed I guess. The screams have just stopped so I won't exactly have any trouble sleeping.

After sorting my room out a bit, I strip off and get comfy. I wonder what that girl is going to be like when she arrives in the next few weeks. Maybe we'll actually be able to get on. I hope she's at least a little bit like Mai. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. And with that thought, my vision fades to black.

Hello! :3 I'll update as soon as possible with the next chapter, but I am have a few exams coming up. Sorry for making Zuko so brutal an psychopathic in this chapter, but I think it shows the mental damage that has come from his childhood. He will get over it (eventually). Anyway, thanks for reading! Cya x
- Emi