A/N: This is what I originally had written for the beginning of the second chapter of "Moonslayer." But then, I decided to make it a one-shot to fill the prompt on my bingo card- "going slightly mad."
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.
Warnings: Season one spoilers, AU in which Zhao survives.
Lost Identity
By: Nuit Songeur
The cold never seemed to go away.
Even after Zhao had properly rid himself of his tarnished Fire Nation uniform and stole into one of the dwellings of the Northern Water Tribe to pinch a parka and seal-skin boots and other various supplies he thought he would need for the treacherous journey across the frozen tundra.
He couldn't have imagined he got very far before he collapsed in a state of freezing exhaustion. He took a few deep and even breaths, the cold air stabbing the insides of lungs, and exhaled a steady stream of flames. It did little to warm his entire body, much less the icy appendages he called fingers.
The night was clear, no blizzard, and the moon was shining brightly and innocently in the night sky. Mocking him. Zhao growled his rage and with his anger, discovered a newfound energy to jump to his feet.
"Are you enjoying this?" he screamed to the moon. "Zhao the Moonslayer succumbed to a crumpled heap before you? Are you enjoying this? Is this what you want?" He sucked in a sharp breath and shot two balls of fire toward the moon. They dissipated quickly.
Breathing heavily, Zhao fell to his knees in a state of despair.
Why did he do that? Did he want to reveal his location? To let the Fire Nation that was now his enemy or the Water Tribe that was still his enemy to find him? What was he thinking? It wasn't like he could physically hurt the moon with the position he was in.
With shaking fingers, Zhao pulled the bag he had brought along toward him, unsheathing a knife.
Ever since he left the city, Zhao kept to traveling beside the coastline to help navigate his way. So, as he cut off the stack of hair that signified his dignity and authority, he simply stared at the clump of fibers that was once his and slowly let it slip through his fingers and into the dark void of the ocean. The same ocean that nearly took his life, if not for Zuko.
Zhao grimaced at the name, preferring not to even let his thoughts deviate to the exiled prince's name.
After placing the blade back into the bag, Zhao pulled out the torn remnants of what was formerly his naval uniform. After staring numbly at the remnants of his greatness, these as well fell into the ocean.
Now, all trace of Zhao the Invincible was lost. Lost to men, lost to history, lost to himself. He was nobody now.
And despite all this, Zhao managed to chuckle manically, in a way that made him sound completely insane. Maybe he was. How was he to know his own sanity now that he had lost his entire identity?
It was all Zuko's fault. He always had to get in the way of everything. Yes, Zhao would get his revenge one of these days and make the bratty teenager pay for his inexplicable stupidity.
And then Zhao's thoughts took an unexpected turn by thinking of Azula, the prince's sister.
Maybe it was the idea of the prodigious princess that caused him amusement. Because, he knew that after tonight's incidents, the Fire Lord would unleash his most deadly weapon onto the world in the form of his daughter.
Zhao chuckled again. His revenge would come indeed. Maybe he wouldn't be the one to issue it, but Zuko would pay for everything that he did.
With one last cry of sadistic laughter, Zhao collapsed to the ice again, unconscious.
There you are! I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!
-NuitSongeur