-Zuko-
"Okay, this is really, really weird," Zuko heard Sokka say to Aang as he left Zuko alone in his new room. Zuko couldn't blame him for feeling that way – it was really weird to be joining the Avatar after so many years of hunting him down. He just hoped he could prove to the group that, without a doubt, he was there to help. At least he'd gained a little trust with Aang. The rest would have to come with time.
I'll show them, Zuko thought determinedly. This is my destiny now.
He set his bag down and began unpacking his meager belongings. He pulled out a painting of Uncle Iroh, gazing at the familiar face as he recalled the first time he'd visited the Western Air Temple…
His wound throbbed angrily as he stood at the edge of the temple, looking out over the cliff.
"If I have to, I will spend every day of the rest of my life hunting the Avatar. I know it's my destiny to capture him."
"You know, Prince Zuko," Uncle said, laying a hand on his shoulder, "Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But, if you keep an open mind, and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday."
Zuko smiled softly, emotion welling inside his chest. Uncle had been right, after all. About so many things.
Quiet footsteps approached, and Zuko looked around to see Katara leaning in the doorway, arms crossed.
"You might have everyone else here buying your 'transformation', but you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past." She strode up to him, blue eyes blazing, and got right in his face, "So let me tell you something right now – you make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny any more. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there. Permanently."
She held his gaze for one more moment before leaving the room, slamming the door behind her, and Zuko stood there with a heavy, guilty feeling in his heart. Katara had every right to doubt him. He just hoped he could show her that he really had changed – that he would do anything to make up for betraying her in the past.
The next day, Zuko and Aang met outside one of the temples after a rather tense breakfast. Zuko tried not to feel discouraged by the way everyone had eyed him, like he would lose it and start attacking them at any moment. Only Aang seemed to be able to relax and be himself around Zuko, something Zuko was both surprised and grateful for.
The two benders stood facing each other, and Zuko searched for a way to begin. Aang was looking decidedly nervous, his shoulders hunched up to his ears and his hands clasped behind his back.
"I know you're nervous, but remember, fire-bending in and of itself is not something to fear."
Aang sighed, looking unconvinced. "Okay. Not something to fear."
"But, if you don't respect it… it'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry kimodo-rhino!" Zuko emphasized, not wanting Aang to grow careless either. Aang's gray eyes widened and he looked even more worried. "Now, show me what you've got. Any amount of fire you can make."
Aang took a deep breath and stepped forward, thrusting his hand in front of him-
-a small plume of smoke emerged, and nothing else. Aang shot Zuko a sheepish look.
"Maybe I need a little more instruction. Perhaps a demonstration?"
"Good idea," Zuko said, trying not to smile. "You might want to take a couple steps back." He inhaled and jumped into a fire-bending move, prepared for the column of flame to come roaring from his fist-
-and just like Aang's pathetic attempt, only a thin jet of fire shot out.
"What was that?" Zuko exclaimed, "That was the worst fire-bending I've ever seen!"
"I thought it was…nice!" Aang encouraged. Ignoring him, Zuko flew into a series of moves, each one again resulting in only the slightest amount of fire.
"Ugh!" Zuko stared at his clenched fists, "Why is this happening?!"
"Maybe it's the altitude," Aang suggested, rubbing his bald, arrowed head.
"Yeah, could be…"
Zuko kept trying, recalling every lesson he'd ever had, while Aang lounged around watching and looking bored.
"Hey, that one kind of felt hot!"
"Don't patronize me !" Zuko said with the first real bit of anger he'd felt since leaving the fire nation. "You know what it's supposed to look like!"
"Sorry, Sifu-Hotman!"
"And stop calling me that!"
Just then, Sokka walked up, eating, as usual.
"Hey jerks! Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerk-bending?" He took an obnoxious bite of his apple, smirking.
"Get out of here!" Zuko shouted, unfamiliar with Sokka's particular brand of humor.
"Okay, take it easy, I was just kidding around!" Sokka walked off, snickering to himself, "Ha, jerk-bending. Still got it."
Zuko buried his face in his hands with a groan.
Later that night, Zuko steeled himself before joining the group around the fire.
"Listen everybody, I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff."
"Don't look at me!" Toph said, throwing her hands up, "I didn't touch your stuff!"
"I'm talking about my fire-bending," Zuko said, rolling his eyes. "It's gone."
To his shock and irritation, Katara began to laugh, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm just laughing at the irony," she said with a grin, "You know, how it would have been nice for us if you'd lost your fire-bending a long time ago?"
It felt nice to have Katara look at him with something other than distrust and dislike, even if it was humor at his expense. He felt a swooping sensation in his stomach as her blue eyes sparkled in his direction.
"Well it's not lost… just weaker for some reason."
"Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are," Katara smirked.
"Ouch," said Toph, and Zuko glared at the both of them.
"Maybe it's because I changed sides," he grumbled.
"That's ridiculous," said Katara, drinking her soup.
"I don't know," Aang mused, "maybe your fire-bending comes from rage, and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to."
Sokka jumped up, grinning, "So we just need to make Zuko angry! Easy enough!" He poked Zuko in the side with his sheathed sword, giggling.
"Okay, cut it out!" Zuko yelled, taking a threatening step towards Sokka, who shielded himself with his hands. Zuko sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and willing himself not to hit Sokka. "Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."
"You're gonna need to learn to draw your fire-bending from a different source," Toph explained, "I'd recommend the original source. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of fire-bending is. For earth-bending, the original benders were badger-moles. I met them in the caves- they were blind, just like me, so we understood each other. I was able to learn earth-bending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, it wasn't about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world."
"That's amazing, Toph! I learned from the monks, but the original air-benders were the sky-bison. Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime, buddy!" Aang called to Appa, who let out a good-natured roar.
"Well, this doesn't help me," said Zuko dejectedly, "the original fire-benders were the dragons, and they're extinct."
"What do you mean?" Aang asked, "Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid!"
"Well they aren't around anymore, okay!?" Zuko growled, and Aang held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."
Zuko inhaled, trying to calm his temper once again. The last thing he wanted to do was explain his family's personal responsibility for the extinction of the dragons.
"The only other option would be the ancient Sun-Warriors. They died off a long time ago, but their civilization isn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins. Either I learn a new way to fire-bend, or the Avatar has to find a new teacher."
Everyone gazed at each other over the flickering flames of the fire.
"I guess we have no choice," Aang said. "We'll head out in the morning."