This is a repost as I felt I needed to make major and minor changed as well as a name change. This is the first in a series of fanfictions I intend to right collectively known as No More Heroes to find out more about the series check out my profile.

I am currently looking for a beta tester, so my spelling/grammar may not be perfect, if you see any problems take the time to send a PM my way

Chapter One - A Changing World

The sun was setting low in the sky casting its final shadows over the Imperial Palace. A slight breeze blew through the garden, stirring the trees. Causing leaves to fall down hinting at an early autumn. At one time the gardens had held a place of pride in the palace, but now it was unkempt and overgrown by nature, seeds that had been cast had grown into the barest hints of scattered young trees just sprouting from the earth. Grass had over taken the path and flowers had left their beds and now grew in patches of wild colours, filling the eerie emptiness with splashes of brilliant reds and dark blues.

Beneath the shade of the Kobushi tree, its white flowers desperately clinging to summer, the sweet smell of Jasmine drifted up rising from a heated Kama. Kneeling before the small mat that had been laid out, the retired General Iroh reverently sipped at his tea his eyes closed enjoying the way the flavour mixed with the taste. There was nothing more calming then tea. But that did not dull his sense, and he heard the footsteps behind him approaching; he could always recognize the pace of his nephew so aggressive as if his feet were attacking the ground.

Zuko stopped just short of approaching, waiting hesitantly behind his uncle his mind so full he could not step forward to speak. Iroh's once grey hair had now turned white and he carried a weight about him, as if he was aware to some cruel fate that everyone else was oblivious too. It worried Zuko to see his usually carefree uncle looking so burdened.

"Prince Zuko." Iroh spoke, breaking the silence between them, and giving Zuko the courage he did not know he needed to approach. Zuko opened his mouth to speak but the words he was searching for abandoned him, he wasn't sure he had any to begin with. The last time they had spoken had been before he had taken the Northern Water Tribe, they had fought. That had been a year ago. Now he was a prince again and uncle was still just uncle.

"Uncle I… I didn't see you at the ceremony." The ceremony, that had taken place earlier, was the official rite of restoring Zuko to the Royal Family. It was the culmination of everything he had hoped for, but instead of filling him, it left him empty, he had to know why.

"I tried to attend but the Fire Lord preferred it that I be kept busy. I didn't need to be there, you have always been a prince nephew, even without a crown." Iroh did not turn to face Zuko, he didn't think he had the strength he needed to show his tears. Zuko could not see the small drawn picture of his cousin Lu Ten, and he would not remember the significance of this day, Iroh would not allow anything else to burden his nephew even himself.

"We are having a feast tonight, I was hoping you could come?" Zuko spoke softly, with relief in his voice, maybe they could mend things. Maybe his uncle would help him like he had so many times before.

Iroh wiped away the tears on his sleeve while refilling his cup so Zuko could not see; "I cannot come, I'm leaving today. A ship is ready to take me to the Earth Kingdom. I think it's past time I see Be Sing Se again."

"Ba Sing Se…" The words rolled off Zuko's tongue unnaturally as if they didn't fit right inside his mouth. Be Sing Se across the ocean. So far away from here. He looked at his uncle still facing away his head staring at something out of view. He couldn't even turn to face me, Zuko's hands curled into fists; he won't be able to forgive me. He started to walk away.

"Sit down, I am not leaving now, and still have time to share some tea with my nephew." Iroh beckoned Zuko to sit beside him, while turning over the picture of his son. Hesitating for only a moment Zuko took an open spot beside his uncle. Waiting impatiently for him to burst out in laughter and say he was joking, or to spout some wise words that would quell the inner turmoil inside him. That was the reason he had come, he did not know it at the time but now that he was here he knew. He was an inferno of turmoil within, only his uncle had ever been able to break through the storm. His uncle and his mother.

"Something is happening nephew, beyond the rebellions the Fire Lord fears so much. I tried to tell your father many years ago. He did not listen. Now it is in your hands, to change our family's fate. I know now that it is your destiny, and I must go and fulfil mine." Iroh spoke softly now, his voice barely a whisper as he stared into his cup his eyes distant.

"Change our destiny? I don't even know what that is anymore! That's why I'm here. I'm confused Uncle." Zuko burst out angrily, standing up and throwing his arms wide in exasperation before burying his head in his hands. "I need answers not riddles."

"I can't tell you your destiny. That is a truth you must discover for yourself." Iroh stood to face his nephew. Looking at him with a soft smile, he could feel the tears welling up again. Zuko was so torn, trapped between the two parts of himself he did not even know existed. This would be the last time they saw each other. He put his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Before you can find your place in the world you must find your place within yourself. I cannot tell you that place and neither can your father or sister, it is for you to discover."

"You won't be coming back will you." Now it was Zuko's turn to lose control of his feelings. He felt the moisture building up, but he was not weak and would not let himself cry.

"Sometimes not knowing your destiny is not such a terrible thing, when you pursue your destiny hard enough you sometimes lose yourself in it and you become nothing more, and you lose the present." Looking at the emotion in Zuko's eyes, Iroh remembered when Zuko was just a child and would grab onto his leg when he visited the capital, he would sometimes fall asleep in his arms. That was before the Agni Kai with his father, after that it had become so hard for him. Now he couldn't stop himself from holding Zuko close like when he was a child. Zuko didn't pull away. "Goodbye Nephew."

They stood there in the garden together for a while in silence. Until Iroh reluctantly had to let go, he could have stayed like that forever, and yet he knew he couldn't. Taking one final look into Zuko's eyes was almost enough to make him stay. But he knew that now it was time for Zuko to make his own way. He needed to reach his boat before it left. He didn't tell Zuko that the Fire Lord and forbidden him from leaving, to disobey him was a death sentence, it was best he didn't know.

Zuko stood in the garden awhile staring at the sky. Before sitting down in front of his uncle's tea set and making a cup of Jasmine tea. It tasted better than he remembered.

The smell of burning wood saturated the air, still permeating the wood and dirt of the long dead forest. Years had passed but the dead land did not change, the ground had turned from green into a black wasteland, the soil destroyed by the raging inferno that had swept over it. In all directions only the charred remains of the once great forest remained.

As desolate as it was a large throng of people made their way through it, marching east; their Fire Nation uniforms clearly visible and proudly displayed. Ahead and behind the group scouts secured their path, watching for supposed hidden dangers, much to their annoyance. An ambush in this forest would be impossible.

The reason for their unified exasperation was a young new Captain lacking the ability of unique thought; he followed regulation to the point of absurdity. The son of a lower ranking noble, he had inheriting all the apparent self-importance that entailed. Rumour had it his father had forced him to join the army in hopes he would die in battle so his younger brother would instead be made heir to the family name. Of course the spread of this rumour was quickly declared insubordination and squashed.

Far behind them at the edge of the burnt lands two scouts relaxed out of sight of the host. They had been instructed to stay behind the main battalion and keep alert for an attempted ambush by Earth Kingdom Rebels. The division had been hunting the rebels for three weeks now without any sign of a hostile force, so instead of keeping guard the scouts sat in the shade of a dead tree, eating rations they had bartered for the day before. The first scout stood a head taller than the other, he had taken off most of his armour on account of the heat and was in an avid conversation with the second; a young woman, who had recently transferred to their unit.

"Two more weeks till I can request a transfer, by that time we would have reached Saian Village and I will be out of this outfit." The first stated wistfully, while he chewed on the salty biscuits that accompanied most of their meals; not the most appetizing snack but it at least added variety to their general diet of dried and stale Moo-Sow pork that was shipped in bulk to most of the army.

"You're still lucky Roak, I have three more months before I can rotate out." She shivered as a cool wind blew past sending a small cloud of ash into the air. "I just can't wait to be out of this place, at least then the food won't taste like dirt and ash."

As the ash began to land, Roak quickly covered the food with a Fire Nation flag, they had liberated earlier earlier in the day, in a futile effort to protect their food. "I dunno, I figure it adds some flavour to this bark they try to pass of as is one miserable little vacation we got going on. Lot nicer with you here Rei."

Rei ignored Roak, he and half the unit had been trying to get into her pants since she arrived. Roak wasn't even half as bad as the others though. She didn't know until after the transfer that the unit didn't get a lot of female soldiers. Aside from being a stuck-up cabbage slug the Lieutenant was also a misogynist, didn't believe women could keep up with men in the military and was constantly trying to prove this by piling work on them until they requested an early transfer. Rei had had the same trouble with her father, and she wasn't going to quit and prove them both right, but that didn't mean she wouldn't volunteer as a scout and sneak away every once in a while.

"It must have been nice before the fire. Birds chirping in the canopy the sound of insects and life all around, it makes you wonder if some fights aren't worth the collateral damage." Now it was Rei's turn to sound wistful as she brushed some dust of her uniform.

"But that's why we are here to keep the peace and stop the fighting, at least that's why I signed up. We won the war and brought about a united peace, now we can let things grow back." Roak answered thoughtfully, Rei looked at his face and almost laughed at the way it got all scrunched up, when he was thinking hard.

"You know that didn't sound like some half-assed recruiter speech back in the capital, someone might come to the conclusion you actually have intelligent thoughts up there." Rei knocked on his head softly with her knuckles.

"That almost sounds like a compliment." He stood up and mock bowed waving his arm with an eccentric flourish he seemed to believe was stylish. "It's a good thing I know you better than that."

Rei grabbed his hand and pulled herself to her feet, then leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek she whispered into his ear sensually. "You don't know me half as well as you think."

Without bothering to look at his now stunned face she turned around and began walking away with a slight sway in her hips and satisfied smile on her face. Just because someone is a woman doesn't mean they can't be a soldier, and just because they're a soldier doesn't mean they aren't a woman. Sitting in shocked silence it took Roak a while to realise she had left him to pack up. He spent the next few minutes laughing out loud as he realised he had been had.

Kobushi Tree - Magnolia kobus, known as the Kobushi Magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to Japan and occasionally cultivated in temperate areas.

Kama - Kama (釜) is a Japanese term meaning metal pot or kettle. The specific term for a kama used in Japanese tea ceremony is chagama (茶釜, "tea kettle"). Kama are made of cast iron, and are used to heat the water used to make tea.

The next chapter is finished and will be released within a week.

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please review or PM me with your thoughts, constructive criticism welcome.