Chapter 1

(A/N: I do not own the Avatar the Last Air Bender! Enjoy the story and please R&R! I also made a few changes. Zuko's mom Ursa and you all know that Zuko's dad is Ozai)

Forbidden Love, Revealed

Zuko was in a spacious chamber, lying on an enormous bed. A curtain of fear and worry suddenly swooped over him. Frightened, he jumped out running to the door. As he came towards a hallway, a dark figure silhouetted in the distance.

"Mom," Zuko softly whispered .He darted toward her, running unbelievably fast, when suddenly, the floor vanished.

He looked down, and realized his shirt was missing and he was in an arena. He looked up and saw his father in front of a wall of flames. He now realized what was happening and where he was.

"No." he managed to say. Then a wave of flames was coming towards him.

"Aahhhh!!" was echoing all around him. Then the heat of the flames swallowed him. He awoke to the sound of the sea and to Iroh looking terrified.

"Uncle, where am I?" Zuko questioned, he was afraid he was still in that horrible nightmare.

"I believe you are on your ship, looking for the Avatar." Iroh answered puzzled. Then after a few seconds of thinking, his face was full of understanding. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"NO." Zuko boomed fiercely.

Iroh started to count "3, 2, 1…"

"I've been having the same dream every night since I've been banished. And it eats my soul away more and more each night." Zuko couldn't keep on pretending that his father understood what he was going through.

"Uncle, I'm a fool!"

"No Zuko! You're just-"

"I hate him!!"

"Excuse me?"

"I hate my father."

"Why?" Iroh asked depressed and torn.

"He never thought of me at all! He acted as if I wasn't his own son!"

"Who are you talking about?" Iroh asked sounding very frustrated.

"My father! Your own brother!" Zuko yelled.

"My apologies." Iroh replied in relief.

"Probably," Zuko started to go to tears, "my mother only cared for me was because she pitied me."

"No Zuko! Your mother loved you with all her heart."

"Then why did she leave?"

"That's something I can't tell you."

"So you do know. Where is she? Is she alive?"

"I don't know all the details, but what I do know is that it's very late and you should get some rest."

Taking his uncles advice he tried to float off into a dreamless sleep.

Iroh was worried. He didn't think it was time for Zuko to know the truth. But he knew that every thing was about to change. Zuko was swallowed up by the darkness in his room. His dreams started to repeat themselves, but when he opened the door, he was in a garden. He saw a young woman no more than 13 and a young man no more than 15. They we're sitting under a peach blossom tree, holding hands, and feeding the turtle ducklings. Zuko recognized the woman, it was his mother. But the man, he didn't realize who it was. It wasn't his father that was certain. He never went outside; even if he did it was to see Azula. But he felt as if he knew the man. He then realized who it was when the man made his mother smile, it was Iroh. He suddenly awoke to the sound of seagulls, it was day break. He could tell it was almost noon. He got dressed and left to meet his uncle for lunch (well, for Zuko, breakfast.).

"Why didn't anyone wake me?" Zuko asked irritably.

"The whole crew heard your last night's screaming. They thought they would give you extra time to sleep."

"Oh," Zuko paused. Remembering that dream he had of his father just made his blood turn cold. "Thank you."

"Now eat." Iroh urged. "It's very good and by the way, it's cooked to perfection." He looked down and saw a hot cup of soup, some fried chicken, and a raspberry filled tart.

"I'm not very hungry." He looked at the tart, it wads tempting him! "But I'll eat the tart."

"Let me guess," Iroh started while dabbing his mouth, "you had another dream. Why don't we talk about it?"

"It doesn't change anything."

"Sometimes it's thinking it through that makes us see it in a whole new way." Zuko really wasn't in the mood to talk; he just started to stare off in the other direction. Seeing and observing everything, but looking at nothing.

"Unless you're afraid." Iroh boomed.

Zuko started to describe the horrible dreams, the one that haunted him, bound to make him miserable for the rest of his life.

"Then afterwards, I had a dream of you and my mother."

Iroh froze; he had just been recovering from that memory. The one he loved and despised with all his heart.

"What was is like?" Iroh asked trying to sound emotionless.

"Happy, cheerful, and to tell you the truth Uncle, I was glad to be there." Zuko mentioned every detail, the warmth of the beautiful sun, the clearness of the lake, but the more he told Iroh, the more Iroh filled himself with sorrow and pain.

"Yes," Iroh finally said, "your mother loved that place. She loved it more than you know." Iroh was starting to smile. He had a memory in his mind that was the one that made Iroh feel as happy as anyone could ever feel. Then darkness, fear, and hatred filled his face and mind.

"Uncle," Zuko asked worriedly. (Actually, Iroh looked like fire was coming out of his eyes, it was a bit frightening.)

"Hm?"

"Are you ok?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine. It's just the… the…soup! Good thing you didn't have any." A crew man broke the conversation by nearly tripping over the table.

"We just pulled into the harbor as you requested your highness." The

crewman said after regaining balance.

"Thank you." Zuko replied softly. Then very carefully, the crewman turned around and went back to his regular duties.

"I'm going for a walk, you think, maybe, you'd like to join me?" Zuko asked.

"No, I'll stay and finish my pisho game."

"Uncle, you, um, you never even started a pisho game." Zuko told him

while trying not to laugh.

"Oh, well," Iroh started while blushing with embarrassment," I'll start one"

"I'll be back in a while."

"Take your time."

Zuko walked off, while surprisingly humming a cheerful tone, from the tin prison he had been in for almost over a year.

Like always, Iroh had talked the engineer and the captain to play. After 11 wins and 1 lose, (Iroh lost on purpose. He was trying to be nice.) He was tired and bored. He came to his room, but instead saw a garden and a lake where ducklings were swimming. But then he realized it was just a memory haunting him still. He then saw an image of a cot, a table with tea, and a closet. He was getting tired and tired by the minute. He decided it lay on his bed and drift off into a deep sleep. His worst memories were creeping into his mind: Ursa's wedding, his enrollment in the military, the day Ursa vanished, the death of his son, and the worst of all, and the duel. All of these terrible events crept into his mind as slowly and horrid like a fire spreading in a forest. He tried to wake up, but it was as if a demon had come and nailed his eyes shut. He then woke to a pleasant voice.

"Uncle, I'm ba…" Zuko stooped and realized Iroh was sweating and panting as if he had been running non-stop for a month or two. (Actually, it looked more like five.) "Uncle, are you alright?" Zuko asked with a clueless look in his face.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a bad dream"

"Was it the one about tea being eliminated from the face of the earth?" Zuko questioned with a really big grin on his face.

"ZUKO! You know better than to tease me like that!" Iroh snapped.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not at the moment." Iroh replied while scratching his head.

"Alright." Zuko said while pulling a chair next to him. "When ever you're ready to talk, I'm ready to listen."

"You have your mother's stubbornness, don't you?"

"Yes, Yes I do."

"I don't think you're ready to her this." Iroh said after a few minutes of silence.

"What does your dream have to do with me?"

"Everything."

"Oh."

"I don't think you're ready."

"Then WHEN will I be?! When I go home? When my father lets me return home!"

"No. Zuko, what I mean is, I don't think it's time for you to know the past yet."

Zuko just walked out of the room in anger and frustration. His uncle had never done anything like this to him. Iroh couldn't believe what he had started.

Zuko couldn't concentrate. His anger was to much to handle that his training was harder than usual.

"Do you really want to know?" came a gentle and depressed voice.

Zuko spun on one foot, and saw Iroh with a face of misery and regret.

"Yes. My mind can't take it any more!" Zuko yelled.

"Come with me." Iroh beckoned. He took him to his room and locked the door.

"When Ozzine and I met your mother, we were just children…or at least we acted like it…

Iroh's Memory

"I'm so excited, no, ecstatic!" Ozai exclaimed. Iroh was just sitting under a tree, reading.

"I'm happy for you; just don't get your hopes up." Iroh called out.

"You're just jealous!" Ozzine smirked. He was 12 and Iroh was 15. He didn't care for "games" Ozai played.(Games, is the opposite of what Ozai did, they're just wasn't a word for it. And if there is, I can't think of it right now.) They went to the garden to meet the princess from the coast. She was 13 and was said to be very beautiful. Iroh didn't pay much attention to the matter, it wasn't his place to. The girl was wearing a long black cape that hung over her face and covered her completely.

"Take that off child!" her father yelled.

She was the most gorgeous thing Iroh had ever seen. In her eyes, all he could see was happiness and love. And she was looking in a view that was all her own. She saw a man who was gentle and handsome.

"Hello." she said as softly and gentle as a ripple breaks upon the water.

"How do you do?" Ozai asked in an annoying, happy, and high pitched voice.

"Fine, thank you." She replied. She was wearing a pendant that symbolized the palace she came from. Her people were fierce warriors and brave. The royalty were known through out their history for their beauty. They were so beautiful; a man that laid their eyes upon them would be possessed for all eternity. (Right now, that's being proved as a true statement for Iroh. Which also means he owed Ozai his book "How to be a good fire bender") She had black hair that even the ravens envied it. Her skin was as white as the snow.

"I'm Ursa." She said sweetly and softly while curtseying.

"Prince Iroh, at your service." Iroh responded while bowing respectively.

"I'm Ozai." Ozai looked at Iroh and bowed quickly. (While blushing)

The rest of the day, the three of them walked around the Royal Garden. (What? The thing was huge! It took them over an hour for them to walk the perimeter. And that usually takes them 30 minutes. They were walking really slow.)Most of the time it was Iroh and Ursa walking and talking. Ozai was inside because his father wanted t talk to him.

Iroh and Ursa acted as if they had been friends for 10 years, for 6 months it was like that. Till one day, Ursa and Iroh were under a peach blossom tree, feeding the turtle ducklings, holding hands.

"Iroh, look!" Ursa exclaimed. Right in front of them was a flower blooming. "I can't believe it!"

"What is it?" Iroh questioned. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. (Next to Ursa)

"It's a Gong Ji flower. According to legend if it blooms in front of two people, the two people are destined to be lovers. True lovers." Ursa was smiling and looked as happy as anyone could ever be. Iroh and Ursa's lips were coming closer and closer to each other. Their lips were just centimeters apart when Iroh started to back away.

"What's wrong?" Ursa asked, sounding as if her heart was breaking. (Which it was.)

"I'm sorry Ursa. I can't do it. I do love you, more than anything." Iroh said while putting her hand to his heart.

"Well, that's good because I feel the same way. I'm so glad I'm going to marry you!" Ursa said so happily she was almost in tears.

"No, Ursa, you're not." Iroh told her trying to fight the tears.

"What do you mean?"

"You're marrying…" Iroh's heart was shattering into a thousand pieces, "has been arranged… to…to my brother…Ozai."

THE END OF PART ONE!

(A\N: Hey all you people reading! This was a really fun story to write! My friends and I were passing notes in class when we came up with this story. We thought "don't you think Zuko is more like Iroh and Azula is more like Ozai? That would be so cool if Zuko's mom really liked Iroh." So that's how it happened. Hope you guys like it. OFF TO WRITE MORE! Please put reviews, I want your opinions!

-Alina Alone