Title: Push and Pull
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Author: Melodiee
Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure
Rating: T
Summary: Zuko pretends to join Aang to help him defeat the Fire Lord, but what happens when someone captures Zuko's heart for real? Do his loyalties change as well? Picks up where Season 1 left off. ZukoxKatara
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Much thanks to the creators of Avatar for giving us such a wonderful playground.


Push and Pull

Chapter 1: A Good Plan

"Iroh is a traitor, and your brother Zuko is a failure. I have a mission for you."

Zuko opened his eyes and stared up. His back felt sore from sleeping on the hard, wooden raft. Night had fallen, and he could see the nearly-full moon, silvery and bright, outshining the sparkling stars that studded the black velvet of the sky around it.

"Feel better?" Zuko groaned and turned his head to see his Uncle Iroh standing a few feet away from him. He came over beside Zuko and crouched, offering Zuko a water canteen.

"What's going on?" Zuko mumbled. He could hear shouting and the clank of metal on metal in the distance. Slowly, his muscles aching, he sat up and took the water. Sighing, Zuko tilted his head back and drank, slaking his thirst.

"Admiral Zhao's disappearance disrupted the Fire Navy fleet," Iroh replied calmly. "They've been in disarray without their leader."

Zhao. He'd been sucked up by the ocean spirit, Zuko remembered. He also remembered the way he'd reached out at the last minute, trying to grasp Zhao's hand. A moment of weakness. Zuko cursed himself. It wouldn't happen again.

"Prince Zuko," Iroh said quietly.

"What?" Zuko asked, trying to stand up. A wave of dizziness left him feeling light-headed, but he ignored it.

"We are traitors to the Fire Nation now," Iroh said simply.

No. Zuko refused to believe it. He ignored his uncle's words, asking instead, "What do you think is going to happen now, Uncle?"

Iroh gazed at his nephew for a moment before answering. "Fire Lord Ozai already sent reinforcements shortly after the primary fleet left for the Northern Water Tribe. They will be here soon, along with a new admiral to lead the fleet Zhao left behind. You are not safe, Prince Zuko. Your father will want his soldiers to hunt you down now that they know you are alive."

"Why would he," Zuko spat. "He doesn't care what happens to me."

"You can't interfere with his plans to capture the Avatar himself."

Zuko sighed. "My sister."

"Princess Zula?" Iroh asked.

"Yes. My father will send my sister after the Avatar. And after me," Zuko said bitterly. He gave a short laugh. "Ironic, isn't it? After two years, my father is the one who wants to find me."

Iroh said nothing. They heard a blast and then saw a fireball streak across the sky and crash into the deck of a ship, splintering the wood and setting the ship ablaze.

"We have to go back to the ships," Zuko stated.

"Yes," Iroh agreed. Zuko continued like he hadn't heard his uncle. He seemed to be talking to himself.

"We can't stay on the raft. We have no food, no supplies." Zuko finally looked at his uncle. "How much time has passed?"

"You were asleep for nearly a day, Prince Zuko," Iroh replied. "I believe it won't be a long wait for the reinforcements to arrive. Less than a day, maybe."

Zuko nodded. His mind worked furiously. "You stay here," he told his uncle. "I'll go on the ships and take some supplies until we can come up with a better plan. Try to surround yourself with icebergs so you can stay hidden."

Under cover of night, Zuko slipped into the chilly black seawater and began swimming to the noisy inferno that raged up ahead. The fires had grown taller and taller, the orange flames reflecting in the ocean. Zuko could see that several ships had already been destroyed, either by fire or by toppling catapults. They had sunk beneath the surface, leaving behind only debris that littered the ocean swells around the remaining ships. Every time Zuko came up, gasping and sucking in the cold night air, he could hear shouts above the roar of the fire.

Zuko came closer, heading towards several ships that remained virtually untouched by flames. Many of them had collapsed catapults that dangled over the sides of the ships, and it was an easy matter to find one with sufficient rope for him to climb. Zuko quickly scaled the side of one ship and hurled himself over the railing, coming to rest in a soaking, crumpled heap on the ship's deck. Zuko panted heavily, trying to catch his breath. He breathed out a couple of fireballs to help warm himself. No time.

Zuko stood up, intent on heading below deck to see if he could find some blankets, but before he could take another step, a fireball rushed past him, barely scraping his side. Good thing my clothes are wet. As it was, the fire's contact with his soaking clothes let off a burst of hissing steam. Zuko turned around to see his attacker. He saw a slender figure, dressed in a Fire Navy uniform, advancing towards him. Curious, Zuko lit up a fire in the palm of his hand. He gasped when he recognized the illuminated face.

"Well, well, what have we here? Little Prince Zuko is alive, it seems," Zula smiled evilly. "I wonder what Father dearest would want me to do? I'm sure he would tell me to kill you, to end your pathetic excuse for a life right now."

Zuko glared at her. "Don't be stupid. He wouldn't want me dead." Banished, maybe, but not dead.

"Oh really?" she asked silkily. "Then why was he so pleased to learn that your ship had gone down in flames, hmm?"

"You're lying," Zuko said through gritted teeth. "I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want, dear brother," Zula said condescendingly. "But you forget that I am the one who saw him less than a week ago. When was the last time you saw him, Prince Zuko?" she said his title mockingly. "He never loved you, anyway. You were weak, unfit to call yourself royalty," Zula said scathingly. "I am the only one worthy to call him Father."

"Shut up," Zuko said coldly.

"No. I don't think I will," Zula said decisively. "I think I'll do you a favor and just end your suffering." Lightning-fast, almost too fast for Zuko to follow, Zula stepped forward, lifted her arms, and sent two fireballs hissing through the air at his face. Zuko ducked, barely dodging the fireballs in time. Enraged, Zuko turned and kicked, sending a stream of fire at Zula, who threw up a flaming shield that ate up Zuko's fire before it could even come near her.

Zula laughed lazily. "You were never a match for me, dear Zuko. Why do you keep trying? Maybe this will give you something to match your lovely scar." She pushed outwards, and a huge wave of fire came hurtling towards Zuko. Zuko quickly sent up a bar of flame that divided the wave in two so that it rushed by on either side of him. Zuko could feel the intense heat from the fire. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Zula laughed again.

"That was good!" she said mockingly. "I see you've improved since the last time I've seen you. But tell me, brother dear, what do you plan on doing now? You've lost your ship and your crew. You're a traitor to your country. The Fire Nation would never take you back as their prince—" Zula was cut off as Zuko let out a roar of rage and fired off two whips of flame at her head. Zula dodged the attack easily, moving with skill and grace. "Now, now, Zuko," she scolded him disdainfully. "You wouldn't want to lose your temper. You could do something terrible, like hurt yourself. What will you do now, hmm? Join the Avatar and try to take down the Fire Lord?" Zula laughed derisively, as if the plan were the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.

Zuko leaped at her in a blind rage. "How dare you!" he hissed, his fists bursting into flame. Zuko couldn't believe what his sister had suggested. How dare she question his loyalty? How dare she imply that he would turn his back on the Fire Nation? He wanted to hurt her, to make her take back her words. She didn't know anything about him. Anything at all.

And neither, Zuko slowly realized, did the Avatar. The Avatar, that peace-loving fool, would probably be overjoyed if he pretended to be angry enough at his father to turn his back on the Fire Nation. Do you think… we could have been friends? Zuko snorted at the absurdity of the airbender's question. Yes, the Avatar would believe him; he was so earnest, so damn trusting. Pathetic fool.

"What's the matter, Zuko?" Zula taunted as Zuko stood on the deck of the ship, unmoving, his fists at his sides. "Figuring out that you can't possibly hope to defeat me?"

In a flash, Zuko made his decision.

"Good-bye, dear sister," he said coldly. Zuko threw a fireblast at the wooden deck beneath his feet. Immediately, the fire roared into life, eating away at the dry wooden planks. Zuko gave Zula a mocking bow, then turned and leaped off the ship.

As he crashed into the icy water, Zuko could hear Zula's scream of rage. You thought the water wasn't good enough for you. You thought it would weaken your firebending. Too bad you never learned to swim. Zuko smiled with grim satisfaction. If he were lucky, the ship would totally crumble with Zula still on it, and she would drown in the arctic waters of the ocean, completely out of her element. Zula's scream went on and on, but Zuko was already swimming away from the ship, ducking his head beneath the surface of the water, kicking, and alternately coming back up to suck in air before his head went down again.

Zuko arrived back at the raft. Iroh had managed to maneuver it into a small semi-circle made up of icebergs. He was sitting serenely in the center of the raft, meditating. The palms of his hands faced the sky, and twin fires in each grew larger and smaller with each breath that Iroh took. When Iroh heard Zuko's splashing, he opened his eyes. Zuko climbed back onto the raft, panting and coughing. He grabbed at his clothes, trying to wring the water, the cold, from them.

"Is this what you've brought back, Zuko?" Iroh asked, amused. "We do have quite enough water, but it's nice of you to bring more."

"Zula!" Zuko sputtered. "She's here. She saw me. I had to escape. I—I can't go back. She'll be looking for me."

"What do you plan on doing now, then, Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked calmly.

"You," Zuko said after a moment. "You can go back. You weren't banished. And the soldiers trust you."

"I wouldn't leave you, Zuko," Iroh refused.

"I'll be okay, Uncle," Zuko said. "I have a plan. And I need to do it by myself. Alone."

"A plan?" Iroh questioned.

"I'll join the Avatar." When Iroh raised his eyebrows, Zuko continued. "I'll pretend to be angry that my father sent my sister to kill me. Angry enough to want to take down the Fire Lord myself. The Avatar will believe my pathetic offering of peace, the naïve fool."

"Are you sure this is the only way?" Iroh asked gravely.

"I don't have anywhere else to go, Uncle. I can't go back to the ships. I can't live on this raft forever. And this way, I can stay close to the Avatar. He'll trust me," Zuko said mockingly. "I'll stay with him until you send reinforcements to help me capture him."

Iroh didn't speak for a few moments. A curious smile was slowly spreading across his face. "That," he finally said, looking at Zuko, "is a good plan."

Zuko nodded. "I'll rest here for tonight." Zuko lay back down on the raft and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. As confident as he was about the Avatar believing him, he couldn't help the tiny worries that wiggled into his mind. What if the Avatar refuses to believe me? What if he tries to attack me and capture me? Well, Zuko thought, he was more than a match for some little boy. Yes, he could definitely beat him if it came to that, even if he were the Avatar. He was nothing but a child. A puny, foolish, pathetic child. He had nothing to worry about. Calmed, Zuko turned on his side and drifted off to dreamless sleep.


A/N: I've planned this fic out, but I'm uncertain whether or not I'll keep writing it if no one is reading. So please, please review if you like it so that I will be motivated to continue. XD Thank you so much.