AN: edit: I've made some improvements, and clarifications.
Rising Sun, Setting Moon
The Fire Nation was a country with beautiful scenery and some of the most honorable men in the world. It was also a place filled with remorse, sins, and painful memories.
It was the land that Prince Zuko called home.
...
His grand entrance into the Southern Water Tribe was not what Zuko had been planning.
He had expected complete fear from the villagers' and at first, it seemed that that was the situation. Then a young man had charged at him.
The first time Zuko laid eyes on the Water Tribe peasant, he didn't spare the so-called warrior as much as a second glance. He effortlessly kicked the peasant aside and that was that.
But then the boomerang that the boy threw caused him utter humiliation - in front of his men and the villagers of the Water Tribe (if one could call a handful of women and children living in huts a tribe).
Zuko was not a very intimidating man with his face in the snow.
He had guts, Zuko would have to admit years later. Guts, and potential.
It didn't matter though. As if a mere peasant could get in his way.
But then who would have thought that the peasant would end up traveling with the Avatar himself?
...
The boy was justifiably not yet an Avatar.
He had hardly mastered Airbending over his hundred years of elusion from the Fire Nation. He couldn't learn, let alone master, the other three elements in time.
It wasn't possible.
Zuko yelled in fury and bended fire at his men whenever the Avatar and his friends escaped.
And yet for some reason that Zuko couldn't comprehend, the young boy was always smiling and full of optimism, as if everything would turn out just fine. Even when he knew that he would have to accomplish the impossible with the Fire Nation army hot on his trail.
...
If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?
A ridiculous question.
Thinking thoughts like that would change nothing. By the time Zuko had returned to the ship, it had crawled into the farthest depths of his mind.
But it was a question that stayed with him and kept him up at night.
...
"Sokka!"
"Sokka, look out!"
It wasn't long before Zuko learned his name. His sister and the Avatar were always screaming it for one reason or another.
There was no doubt that the boy was an idiot. A klutz, a nonbender, a nobody.
But there were times when Sokka would pull the group together when even Katara was troubled. When he would have a certain gleam in his eye as a plan was developing in his mind.
Though Zuko mainly fought with the Avatar on their journey across the world, the Prince came to understand that without Sokka's wit and ingenious schemes, there was no way the three would have been able to escape so many times.
And so Zuko learned not to underestimate a person by appearance and origin. Not Sokka, his sister, or the flying bison.
...
Iroh had always stuck by his side the past three years, refusing to let his nephew get into trouble alone. Even infiltrating Zhao's ship had been Iroh's plan.
When his limp and injured body was pulled out of the ocean and cared for by his Uncle, Zuko came to understand how much the man truly loved him.
No matter how many times he'd lashed out at him, his Uncle had never yelled back.
Iroh only yelled at Zuko when he was so worried that he didn't know how to hold it all in.
...
Zuko reached out his hand, and yet the man would not take it.
A part of him died, was washed away when the Admiral was dragged down by the Ocean Spirit.
For the first time in years, Zuko truly felt tired.
...
Azula always lies, Azula always lies…
It was the truth. And yet after hearing of his father's forgiveness, nothing but the thought of home really mattered at the moment.
Not even his Uncle.
...
The Avatar gave Zuko hope.
The Avatar also gave hope to the world.
Living as refugees let Zuko see a part of the war that he'd never learned about in his textbooks, or heard of from his Uncle. He saw firsthand the most horrendous living conditions and the suffering of families torn apart by death and betrayal.
All those people were clinging onto the last piece of hope, wishing that the Avatar would come to save them.
Living a life as one of them, Zuko realized that for the past three years, he had been selfish enough to want it all to himself.
...
In his younger years, Zuko had never fully trusted anyone but his mother.
She had always been there for him. Always supported and loved him. It was obvious that she favored him while his father favored Azula.
But because of his weakness and lack of talent, she had to leave.
Now Zuko tried his hardest in everything and never gave up without a fight, or else he felt that everything and everyone else he cared about would disappear too.
...
His destiny was beginning to change before his eyes.
A 'metamorphosis', his Uncle had called it. When he recovered from his fever, Zuko felt the happiest he'd been in years and for no apparent reason.
Things are looking up Uncle.
He only wished it would stay that way.
...
She started yelling at him.
The waterbender was yelling at him.
And for the first time in his life, he didn't feel the urge to say anything back.
Strangely, Zuko felt that he deserved it. He was glad to have kept silent, otherwise he never would have found out that Katara had lost her mother as well.
I'm sorry. That's something we have in common.
A part of him opened up and she accepted.
...
"Maybe you can be free of it. I have healing abilities."
"It's a scar, it can't be healed." He said it with an angered tone because for a split second, he'd thought the act possible.
She then walked up to him, looked him in the eye and offered him hope. The first source of hope he'd been faced with since his exile that didn't have anything to do with the Avatar.
As he closed his eyes and felt her hand against his scar, Zuko felt a tremor of anticipation.
But…
All too soon she forgot about the offer she'd made, not realizing how much it had meant to him.
"Aang!"
Zuko and Aang's eyes met.
Sudden contempt for the Avatar filled him up for the first time in months.
...
Azula always lies, Azula always lies…
It was the truth. Then why was he always deceived by her words?
...
Zuko had always taken his Uncle's presence as granted. Thus, he'd never known true loneliness.
He said whatever he wanted to Iroh and vented his anger out at the old man because he was the only person who would ever forgive him, time after time.
But when his Uncle turned away from him, his face filled with disappointment, Zuko knew he'd crossed the line.
Zuko had never known what it meant to be truly alone. And now that he did it felt unbearable.
But he knew that his Uncle was suffering even more.
...
Karma was a funny thing. Zuko realized this as Sokka (the boy he would have burned to a crisp without a second thought only half a year ago) showed him to his new room.
"...Um, welcome aboard?"
The Prince turned and offered Sokka a small smile. Zuko noticed the look of utter confusion on his face and couldn't help but think that he too, would have been weirded out.
It only seemed like yesterday when he and his Uncle had been there together.
Zuko hoped that the next time they saw one another, his Uncle would see that he'd become a young man worth calling a son.
...
He hated how…motherly Katara could be at times.
"I just need time to collect my thoughts!"
"Who knows how long that'll take?" Katara continued marching on, not loosening her grip on his shirt the slightest bit. "Your Uncle's in there. Go apologize now!"
"Can't we do this tomorrow?" He asked, leaning forward and coming to a momentary stop.
Katara glared down at him. When the Waterbender got like this with her thoughts on a single purpose, she would not (could not) be convinced otherwise. She could be just as stubborn as he was sometimes.
"Sokka, help!"
Sokka cupped the side of his mouth with one hand, his blue eyes narrowing but with a mischievous glitter in them. "I really want to, but greater forces are telling me not to interfere. You know how little sisters can be."
Truer words had never been said.
Frankly, it irritated him.
...
Zuko had once had everything he'd ever wanted.
But now that the war was over and his Uncle and newly made friends were standing beside him, smiling, as he was crowned Fire Lord, Zuko realized that this was true happiness.
He couldn't wish for anything more.
...
When his uncle shot him the look (which he got whenever he did something stupid - needless to say that it was on his uncle's face quite often), Zuko knew that he'd crossed the line.
If Katara had been born a Fire Bender she would have been fuming by now. The broken plate, along with his portion of the homemade dinner was on the ground, still hot and giving off a pleasant aroma.
Zuko gulped and looked up into the face of doom.
"I can't believe you! Do you realize how long it took to make -" Before Katara could finish with her words, she'd taken a stream of water from Aang's cup and sent it flying at Zuko's head.
He blocked the move with a flame of his own, his arm moving in reflex. He regretted doing so the moment he saw the look on Katara's face.
It was just a dinner. It wasn't a big deal…
It's not a big deal.
Oh my, had he said that out loud?
Katara stormed off, leaving behind a vexed prince.
Her footsteps disappeared within seconds and the room became quiet once more. Sokka paused in his moment of frenzied eating to place a hand on his friend's shoulder. His savvy tone did nothing to make Zuko feel any better.
"You know Zuko, sometimes just taking the hit is the better way to go."
Suki rolled her eyes. She slapped his arm, before giving him a look to tell him that he was hopeless. She stood up and went after her friend.
Sokka proudly smiled and elbowed Zuko in the ribs. "See buddy? You have to take the small hits. Otherwise you'll be completely filled with guilt later on. Girls never strike at you when you really deserve it."
Toph snorted. "I beg to differ."
...
He knew that his life was on the line when he leaned in - closer to her scent, her arms, her lips.
Their first kiss was awkward and the situation didn't improve any when it was Sokka who walked in on them.
Zuko couldn't understand how suddenly skilled a person could become with a sword.
The Fire Nation almost lost their Lord that night.
...
He found her wearing her old clothes again. The ones that made him painfully remember when he'd called her a peasant and a mere Waterbender in the world before the War had ended.
"Are you leaving?"
She smiled.
"No."
"Are you going back to the Earth Kingdom with Aang?"
"No."
"…Will you stay with me?"
A breath, but no hesitation.
"Yes."
...
"Good luck with Toph, Aang. Remember that you can always come back for a visit."
The boy looked thrilled. "You said my name!"
Zuko didn't know how to respond, and only gave him a small smile.
He held out a hand, which Aang took and shook tightly. "Take good care of her for me."
He said that he most definitely would.
...
His Uncle knew something was wrong. But to Zuko's annoyance, the old man wouldn't offer any of his usual advice.
"Your own actions bring your consequences, Fire Lord Zuko. You have to deal with them yourself." Then his expression softened and Iroh patted his hopelessly in love nephew.
Zuko thought for a moment, and then sipped his tea.
"Do you think she would like Fire Lilies?"
...
Zuko knew that she longed for home, and he understood the feeling more than anyone else.
"You were talking to someone last night."
"You heard me?" She asked, slightly embarrassed.
He remembered when he used to do the same after his mother had left and his Uncle had still been away at War. He took her hands and looked into her azure eyes.
"Does she ever reply?"
Katara didn't answer for the longest time. Finally she looked away and sighed, saying the words that he'd been dreading to hear.
"Yes. I think it's time I went home."
"...I see."
It slightly pained him that she thought her home was still elsewhere.
...
Suddenly struck silent, she sat with her hands softly folded across her lap.
Zuko watched carefully.
"No."
His world suddenly shattered.
"Why?" He demanded.
"Zuko -"
"Why is it that you can't marry -" He stopped at the sight of the tears in her eyes.
She clenched her teeth and stood with her back towards him.
"You don't understand anything."
Zuko knew that she was usually the one right. But this time, he begged to differ.
For the second time in his life, the woman most important to him walked away without a glance behind.
...
His uncle was going through the usual letters, and Zuko causally asked if there was anything for him.
Iroh gently drew his brows together. There was nothing.
The seasons passed.
...
He kissed her with long held-in passion. His heart skipped a beat when she kissed back, her arms wrapped around him.
He silently asked why.
"Because I couldn't truly feel at home, knowing that I wasn't with the man I loved."
...
Zuko knew that she never regretted her decision to return to him. Not once.
Not even as she breathed her last breath, and a new life was born.
...
She had her mother's loving eyes. Her grace and kindness.
She had her father's smile, the thing her mother had loved most about him.
When Zuko looked at his (their) daughter, it seemed as if Katara had never left his side after all.
...
When his eyes closed for the last time, it was with her name on his lips.
He could hear Katara's laughter and her element surrounding him, more vividly than what he'd ever heard in his dreams.
Darkness clouded the Fire Lord, and he embraced it.
Zuko couldn't wait to see her again.
A bit longer than I'd expected. I hope you enjoyed reading this, please leave a reivew!