Zuko stared at his father, the Fire Lord, with tears running down his face.
"Stand up and fight! How can my own son show such weakness!" Ozai growled at him. A rush of determination hit Zuko, and he took a breath before standing up on shaky legs.
Ozai luaghed and threw a fireball at Zuko, and it narrowly missed him as he jumped to the side. Zuko kicked a blast at Ozai, but his father just pushed it away. Anger flaring a bit, he took a deep breath and decided the basics weren't enough to survive an Agni Kai with his father. Zuko would have to try something he hadn't learned.
Jumping onto his hands, Zuko swung his feet behind him towards his father, nearly losing his balance as flames erupted from his feet. Twisting onto his feet, he barley stood up before he had to duck back down again as his father swung a wave of fire at him. (In case you are wondering, he did a firebending front handspring)
Zuko watched as Ozai prepared to make the final strike. He hated to do this, it was dishonorable, but Zuko kicked his leg out to knock Fire Lord Ozai off of his feet. The man stumbled, and instead of finishing Zuko off, he only knocked him out with the back of his hand.
Before Zuko passed out, he heard his father say, "For dishonoring me and General Zhao, you shall forever bear a mark of shame, peasant. You are no longer my son!" The last thing Zuko saw before slipping into darkness was the anger on Fire Lord Ozai's face. Then he felt a searing pain on the left side of his face, and all he could see was fire.
Zuko woke to the sound of churning waves and the smell of salt. He found that only his right eye would open, and when he moved to touch his face, a voice from behind him warned not to touch it.
The man continued talking to his companion. "He banished and disowned his own son when the boy was only thirteen. Thirteen, the injustice of it all! I can say this, the boy put up a fight."
Zuko realized the man was talking about him. The faint scent of tea blew toward him, and he realized who was speaking. Uncle Iroh?
"He gave me no hope of going back, didn't he?" Zuko asked his uncle.
"No Zuko, he didn't." General Iroh replied.
"Then I am no longer a prince." He stated with contempt.
" Is that a good thing or a bad thing, nephew?"
" I don't know. All I know is that I now have no purpose in life." He sighed, wishing he knew what to do next.
Three years later
Zuko was elated when he and Uncle saw the beam of light in the South Pole. He had long ago cut off the ponytail that was a symbol of his banishment. Now he wore his hair in a long mess that nearly covered his eyes.
He whipped around and ran towards the tiny cabin of the fishing boat they were stuck on. "Uncle! Uncle!" He shouted, his amber pools a mix of elated surprise and fear.
"Yes, Zuko, I could very well be the Avatar." Was Iroh's immediate response, even though his voice showed doubt. The two had traveled the world in search of the Avatar, in hope that of they found him Zuko could finally find a purpose in his life.
Zuko had wanted many times to just end it all and take his own life, but he could never do it. He couldn't just leave his uncle alone after the old general had given up his place in the council to look out for Zuko. They had once had ten soldiers with them to protect Uncle, but they had slowly just left. Now it was only Zuko the peasant and retired General Iroh, the dragon of the west.
As they neared the icy shore, Zuko spotted a boy in yellow running away from an old Fire Nation ship with a girl in blue. The boy looked like an Airbender, and Zuko was convinced when he took a flying leap into the air.
"Uncle, we found him! We found him!"
"I saw nephew." The old man replied, handing Zuko a cup of tea. Iroh's tea was the only calming thing that worked when I came to Zuko, because ever since he got over his father's hatred of him, he was an overexcitable emotional wreck.
As he forced himself to drink his uncle's tea, he watched the happenings of the village. The Avatar was now walking away from the village, and the water tribe was going into the village, seeming to prepare for a battle.
When their tiny boat crashed into the shore, Zuko leaped off the edge, unfortunately landing on his face with a grunt. He could hear the lone warrior on top of the tribe's wall laughing at him. Uncle just shook his head and helped him up from the cold ground.
"Zuko, I thought the yea was supposed to help you." The man scolded with a sigh.
The warrior had come down from the wall and was now standing at the hole in the wall.
"What do you want?" He growled, lifting his club to poke Zuko in between his eyes. Zuko crossed his eyes to look at the point of the club, stuttering.
"We, uh, um, we-" The boy cut him off with a snicker, saying
"Seriously? How are you Fire Nation if you're so helpless!" The warrior said. Finally, Uncle spoke up and saved Zuko, saying, "My nephew wants to ask the avatar a question."
The warrior scowled through his war paint, pulling the club away from Zuko's fore head as he asked, "How did you know he was here? How do we know that you aren't scouts from an attack ship?"
Zuko spoke up when he said this. He bowed his head, saying "We do not wish anyone any harm. I swear."
The boy, sneered at him, growling "Swear by your fire." Zuko felt his good eye widen, he opened his mouth but no words came out.
"By my f-fire?"