Smmary: Set during the beginning of Southern Raiders. After fighting at the Western Air Temple, both Zuko and his sister find themselves falling. Will his friends reach him in time? Or will an unforgotten grudge be the end of him. Find out as the Fire Nation Prince struggles for both his life, and his freedom. Eventual ZukoxKatara.

Rating: T (For blood/violence)

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last Airbender or any of it's wonderfully complex characters.

Hey everyone it's me TheOneHope! Some of you may have read the beginnings of my old story "One of Them", which I seemingly abandoned. I will eventually get back to that one, but for now I've lost interest in it. After a long year of not writing any fanfics, I felt it necessary to start a new one. So here you go readers! I hope you enjoy, and don't be shy to leave a review!

Any review you post will be replied to at the top of each chapter.

Hopefully you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! And without further ado...

Chapter One: Falling

He remembered the feeling of falling. The cold rush of wind, whispering incoherent mumbles into his unscarred ear. Looking to his left, he saw his sister falling parallel to his own body. Her limbs flailed wildly in the air. She's not going to make it… his thoughts wandered. I'm not going to make it.

But before he could complete his brooding, a distant growl rang out in the distance. That's when it came into his view- The Avatar's bison. The massive beast quickly soared closer, making no haste to slow down. Before he could blink the large beast was nearly before him. He looked up to see all of his comrades faces, each one holding a mutual expression of shock. A tanned hand extended before him, and for a second he let himself feel relief. Katara! I'm actually going to make it! He allowed his face form into a small smile, for once things were in his favor and not his sister's.

That's when his heart dropped.

Just as Katara grabbed hold of his outstretched hand, she quickly released it. He felt her firm grasp slip from his wrist, as if it were some foul poison. He felt the smile vanish from his face and his body go numb as he continued to plummet down the deadly drop. No… Why? Why would she let go of me! He faintly heard someone shouting his name.

"ZUKO!"

I'm sorry Avatar. I've failed you. His heartbeat began to pick up in pace as he knew an untimely death was sure to be approaching soon. He took a moment to reflect on his life…

I've made a lot of mistakes in my lifetime but at least I set things right. I've escaped my father's tyranny and joined the Avatar. Taught him firebending and created my own destiny. I only hope Uncle can forgive me… he was always more of a father to me than my own ever was. Then his thoughts shifted to the watertribe girl. Why did she do it? I know she could have saved me, but she didn't. I know we haven't had the best past but I hope that one day you too can forgive me Katara…

And with that he felt his body slam into something hard and metal, his breath stolen from his lungs. He didn't even have time to scream as he felt several bones break and snap under impact. His body convulsed in painful spasms and his head throbbed intensely. Zuko's head lolled to the side and small amount of blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth.

Through the ringing in his ears, he managed to hear the faint sounds of footsteps pounding beneath him. Zuko squeezed his eyes shut, the sunlight above obscuring his vision; it was too bright. The next time he blinked his eyes open, he was surrounded by at least twenty men. Each posing in an identical firebending position, fists directed down at him. His head began to swim and any words that followed sounded like mumbled garbage. He dully heard the command of a deep, rumbling voice saying "Take him captive".

His head was now throbbing more painfully and the last thing he saw before his vision faded to black was grinning form of his sister clinging to the Cliffside.

Sorry about the length of this guys. The chapters will eventually progress into longer, more detailed ordeals. As for now... well their kind of short. Oh! I'm also looking for a beta so if your interested or might know someone who is looking for a story to beta this is your chance! Contact me through private messaging if you are interested or have any concerns/ideas regarding the story

- TheOneHope