Prologue

A/N: This story kinda combines some of the plot ideas of "Anastasia" with the Avatar world and characters, etc. If you haven't seen that movie, I advise you to see it; it's very good. But you don't need to have seen it to understand/read this fanfic, so don't feel like you can't read it if you haven't seen the movie. Just try it. I put a lot of hard work into it and I really like it and it's something different from the typical zutara fanfic's. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Disney's Anastasia. I just based my story off of them. So sue me.

-Iroh-

I remember a time, not long ago, around ten years ago perhaps, when the four nations flourished and lived together as one. There was no controversy based on the elements and everyone treated each other as brother and sister. It was a golden age for the entire world.

Since the nations worked closely together in harmony, it was only natural that members from the other nations' royal families attended major events that were held in each of the different nations.

On this particular day, the event was taking place in the Fire Nation capital, Agni, which was a beautiful and prosperous city—at the time.

We were celebrating the 100th year of the Sozan bloodline's reign of our nation, as well as what should have been the crowning of me, Iroh, as the next Fire Lord.

The party started out wonderfully, with lots of socializing, dancing, the occasional romancing, and plenty of excellent tea. The newly appointed Earth King was there with his pet bear, Bosco; the head monk Kyotso was their representing the Northern, Eastern, and Southern Air Nomad Temples alike; the Northern Water Tribe's chief was there with his wife and his six-year old daughter, Yue, who strangely had beautiful, snow-white hair. Lastly, there was a well-respected family from the Southern Water Tribe, since they did not have an established chief or royal family in their tribe. The family consisted of a man named Hakoda; his wife, Kya; their six-year old son, named Sokka; and their five-year old daughter, Katara.

Although the Southern Water Tribe family was there to represent their tribe, they were looked down upon by most of the other royals and noblemen because of their lack of royal blood-line. It was a shame, really, especially since they were extremely good-hearted people and the man, Hakoda, had a great sense of humor.

And finally, of course there was the Fire Nation royal family. The Fire Nation royal family consisted of: my father, Azulon, who was extremely old at the time; me, his oldest son and therefore the rightful heir to the throne; my only son, Lu Ten; my younger brother, Ozai; Ozai's wife, Ursa; their oldest son, Prince Zuko, who was 7 at the time; and their youngest daughter, Azula, who was 6 at the time.

That day, my nephew Zuko seemed to be shining especially bright. And although he was my nephew and not my son, I always loved him as if he were my own. Indeed, I often felt sorry for him, since my brother never seemed to give Zuko the approval and attention that my nephew so desperately craved and deserved. Zuko and I shared a special bond, and that day I gave him a very special gift so that he might be able to retain hope, even in the direst situations.

-flashback-

Iroh watched Zuko out of the corner of his eye as the young prince tried fruitlessly to conceal his obvious stares at the beautiful, young water tribe girl, Katara. He seemed to be watching he intently while her mother gave her a beautiful necklace that had once been her mother's engagement necklace. A wide grin spread across Iroh's face as Zuko strained his neck farther to get a better look at the girl.

'My, my…It seems my nephew has quite the crush on the water-tribe girl,' he thought happily, 'Perhaps I can arrange a marriage between them somehow…'

Iroh watched his nephew for a few more minutes while pondering how he could possibly get this marriage idea of his to work. After a few more moments of pondering, Iroh finally beckoned Zuko to come to him. Zuko regretfully stole one last fleeting glance towards the girl before hurrying to his uncle.

"You summoned me Uncle?"

"Yes Prince Zuko. I have something I want to give to you," Iroh said.

He rummaged in the bag beside him, pulling out many different kinds of tea leaves until he finally found what he was searching for. He pulled out a small dagger inside a sheathe and handed it to his nephew. Zuko unsheathed the pearl dagger and read the inscription on the blade, "Never give up without a fight…" he mumbled.

"I got it at the Earth Kingdom capital while I was visiting and I had it custom made," Iroh said happily.

Zuko sheathed it once again and smiled eagerly, "Thank you Uncle," he said while bowing before wrapping his arms around Iroh's neck and pulling him into a tight hug.

"Wield it well, Prince Zuko," Iroh said after they'd broken apart.

"I won't disappoint you Uncle!" Zuko said eagerly while running of to practice.

Iroh smiled slightly to himself.

-end flashback-

But our happiness did not last long, for soon enough my brother, Ozai, who had long been absent from the party, stepped forward with his daughter, Azula, at his side along with a good handful of loyal soldiers and servants trailing behind him. Now, my brother and I have been rivals for a very long time, ever since we were children, in fact; however, it seems that Ozai still harbored those feelings even in adulthood. My brother has always been the jealous, greedy, ambitious type, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He is cold-hearted and cares nothing for anyone but himself. This being said, his daughter was the spinning image of him, while Zuko was blessed with his mother's heart and compassion.

So, knowing this information, I guess you could say it wasn't exactly surprising that Ozai attacked and killed tons of innocent people that night, the majority of which were a part of his own family. And all just to claim the throne. But you could also say that his timing definitely caught us off guard. Many lives were lost and everyone was forced to flee for their lives. There were parents shouting and children crying and people running every which way. At some point, part of the castle caught on fire, which only added to the pandemonium.

Zuko and I had gotten split-up from Ursa and Lu Ten and we were trying to find an exit to safety. We might have made it too, if Zuko hadn't suddenly remembered the dagger that was still in his room and hadn't turned back to get it.

I followed him anxiously, more concerned for his life than my own. He retrieved the dagger, but just then we heard the voices of the soldiers outside the door, searching for us. We were trapped.

I thought we were doomed for sure. That was, at least until the same young water tribe girl that Zuko had been staring at earlier moved aside part of wall and led us out through a side exit in the servants' quarters (A/N: Katara and her family were given the servants' quarters to stay in b/c they weren't looked upon as equals by most of the royals of the other nations). We followed her, Hakoda, and Sokka as they led us safely out of the castle while the young girl's mother stayed behind to guard the soldiers off with her water-bending skills.

After we had made it out of the palace, me and my nephew eventually became separated from the water tribe family.

We were just running underneath a bridge when my brother, Ozai, jumped in front of us, determined to kill us both. He shot a strong blast of fire at Zuko, a blast that would've killed him if I hadn't been able to redirect part of the blow. Still, Zuko got hit with the main force of the blast and was thrown backwards, the blast burning part of his face and singeing some of his hair and one of his eyebrows. I knew then that he would be left with a huge scar for the rest of his life.

We probably would've both died then and there if Avatar Roku hadn't stepped into the scene. He used the powers of the Avatar state as an attempt to kill Ozai. Luckily, he succeeded too, but not before my brother was able to muster the last of his strength to send a blue shot of lightning right at Roku's heart, killing him almost instantly. And because Roku was in the Avatar state at the time of his death, the Avatar Cycle ended, thus making Avatar Roku the last Avatar to ever live.

But Zuko and I did not have any time to mourn his death, for Ozai's soldiers and Azula were still on the rampage. We headed towards a train that had already started to leave the station. We didn't care where it was going, as long as it got us faraway from the Fire Nation Capital.

I was able to successfully jump onto the back of the train, but Zuko simply couldn't catch up. I tried to reach his hand to pull him up, but the train was gathering speed and I couldn't quite reach. Finally, I somehow managed to clasp onto his hand. I had almost pulled him all the way on board when the train jolted and his hand slipped from my grasp. Zuko fell backwards, hitting his head off the ground, knocking him unconscious. There was nothing I could do now. The train was now traveling too fast for me to jump off and retrieve him. I had no choice but to watch as my unconscious nephew slowly faded away into the distance.

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Many lives were destroyed that night. My son, Lu Ten, and Zuko's mother, Ursa, were both killed by Ozai himself while countless others suffered the same fate. Water, Earth, Air and Fire Nations alike all suffered a great number of losses. Azula disappeared and we could only assume that she had been killed in the battle as well. And Zuko. My dear nephew…I knew that I was destined to never see him again.