Prologue

Author's Note: Do not expect me to update immediatly. Or even maybe two or three weeks after I post a chapter. Lucky you, I'm almost finished with Chapter One as we speak. Abiding any unforseen disasters, it should be a week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, or these characters.


I know Zuko told me he wasn't banishing me. He was merely giving me a fresh start somewhere new; a second chance. Of course, I had to promise him I would stay stable. And I did promise. Like my hallucination told me, I was just confused. It took a year, but we got it sorted it out to a sane state. Still, leaving the only place I know, and the only people I know that care, is banishment to me.

Zuko hugged me today before my ship left. He wouldn't let go, either. "You've come a long way," he whispered, "but you've still got a long way to go." Then he said he loved me and kissed my forehead. "Find the right path," was the last thing he told me.

I have not a clue as to what he ment by that; I thought I'd already found the right path. Maybe I'd just found the path to the right path. Or possibly I'd just found sanity. I do know, though, that when Zuko let go and the ship left port, I missed his warm hug.

Tomorrow is my sixteenth birthday. For a second today in my solitude, I wondered if Zuko knew that. Then I realized he did, and that he sent me away when he did on purpose. What his purpose was, I have yet to figure out. It seems these days I don't know a lot of things. Rather that's because I don't bother to figure things out, afraid my past may creep up on me in the process.

Zuko didn't tell me where he was sending me; just that it would help me forget. I suppose time and a change of scenery will do wonders compared to my quiet prison cell with nothing to do but think about what's happened. I can't see anything erasing my mind completely, but even now the memories have faded. If I ever had the chance, though, I would have my horrid memories stripped from me. Well, I suppose that doesn't change the fact that those things still happened, and possibly not knowing would be more painful than remembering in perfect detail for life. But Zuko's told me again and again that wanting to forget is regret, and not to wallow in it, but to acknowledge it; it's good.

Wanting to forget might come from the occasional flashbacks I get, too. Nothing could be more dreadful than that. Anything that reminds me of something terrible from the past fifteen years of my life, a person, an event, anything, I get dizzy, nauseous, and if no one acts quick enough, I faint. The memories are amazingly potent when they're set off. Usually whatever triggered a certain memory only starts a flashback once or twice, but I can't be sure. I've never done something that's caused a flashback more than once or twice, for good reason.

Maybe being somewhere where I have no past won't cause many flashbacks, or any at all. Of course, not too much can be said now. All I know for certain is that tomorrow, I start life over again.


A/N: Comment, please.