Slaying Dragons: Why slay the dragons? Was it really for honor or was there another reason. Zuko found out the hard way with his father banishing 'him' in disgust. Now he wants to find the Avatar, but not for the reason he allows everyone to believe. One-shot.

Rating: Teen.

Image: Blue Spirit Zuko by UdonNodu

Disclaimer: Avatar is not mine.

…

Fly away from pain and hope,

Never hope to elope,

For it chains you to the earth and ground.

Unseen wings then are bound;

A dragon dies when it can't fly,

Its hatchlings never knowing the sky.

…

"Nephew, I don't want to ask, but…"

Zuko shivered on the deck of his ship as Iroh started to speak to him, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the railings, the salty sea air blowing through his and Uncle's hair.

Uncle was going to ask him, again. Iroh always did so on the reunion of his banishment every year for the last two years, going on three. The old General said that a wound may heal physically but the mental wound still remains. He said that he didn't want his nephew to suffer anymore, silently. He needed to know; the crew needed to know; how the young prince had apparently sullied his honor and what he had done to deserve… his punishment.

'Suffering doesn't seem a good enough teacher for you, half breed.'

He swallowed hard at the thought of those words. He had just fought an Agni Kai, barely defeating the General he had spoken out against in his father's war room. He had been burned slightly near his hip and refused to let the healers look at it. He, instead, returned to his rooms at just thirteen years old to treat the wound himself.

It was too close to his secret, to close to his shame. His mother, before she had gone (gone where he did not know), had given him some parting words: do not to forget who you are and do not let others see; the Fire Nation no longer cared for our kind. Sozin had made sure of that.

And his father had proven what his mother had said to be true when that man had hit him, nearly burning away half of his face after seeing… after seeing… what his son was not.

Mother had told him, when he had turned ten, crying in his bedroom that there was something wrong with him because he had changed down there. Ursa had said that dragons were all masculine and male by nature. So every few years a dragon would turn feminine so their kind could continue.

Ursa then said her grand-mother was no different… and neither was he. Technically, if Zuko had been a human girl, he would have come of age that day. His body had decided to show him that the hard way. So, after listening to his mother's recount of his ancestry, he persisted in his crying thinking he'd have to start wearing dresses. His mother had merely smiled a sad smile though and continued in a soft tone. She promised that this change would pass when he took his true form or after having bred and produced a nestling.

Not that Ozai cared. It was just a true sign that Zuko was inferior to his sister and that he truly wasn't deserving of the throne. Sons were supposed to bare heirs through a wife, not be the barer.

Zuko had tried to explain that it was a phase, that he would turn back into a full male soon, mother had said so.

That was probably what had pushed his father over the edge… the mentioning of his mother.

It had burned right into his soul when his father had hit him.

He woke to find he had been banished days later, the Fire Lord's reasoning being that the boy should have fought him; it had been his war room after all, not the General's.

The circumstances of his exile were simple: Dragon's have good noses, find the Avatar and bring him to the Fire Nation and you can reclaim your honor, but never a throne. Uncle was probably the reason he had not given up yet knowing that even if he did reclaim his honor towards the nation, he would never reclaim it through his father.

A small part of Zuko told him that wasn't true, his father still loved him, and that was probably the only reason he kept going. It wasn't like he could just fly away. Though he was apparently a dragon yet he couldn't fly. He not only shamed his human blood line but his dragon blood line as well it seemed. He was a sad excuse for a Halfling… not that he could ever tell anyone. Not even Uncle. He couldn't have the old man cringe away from him with a look of disgusted like everyone else did, even if they did so just because of his scar.

"You know you won't get an answer, Uncle," said Zuko as he let go of the railing and looked at the old man. "I don't need you ashamed of me as well."

The tea drinker sighed, his form seeming a little older as he frowned, "Nothing you could say would make me ashamed, nephew. But, an old man needs to know what makes his student so sad so that he knows why he is sad as well."

Guilt. As if he didn't have enough of that. There was no doubt in his mind that his mother had left to protect him and get help for his unique situation, but now he tortured not only himself everyday with his lingering sex but also his uncle. He wasn't banished for being proud of his people like in the war room; he was banished for being the secret shame of his people. He was sickened by his very skin. True, he could probably hide it his entire life. He could even train shirtless and no one would be able to tell the difference, but he could never take a queen.

He could never produce the heir the Fire Nation needed, and he had no intention of ever producing a dragon's heir when he himself didn't even know how to change into his second skin.

"You seem jovial enough to me, Uncle. What about music night and all the Fire Nation colonies we stop at for some simple fun? The men were all drunk for a week!" nearly yelled Zuko, his temper flaring.

Iroh wilted.

"I thought you would have fun watching the fireworks and maybe meet a pretty girl or two," the old man said with a wink but only received a glare in return; so he sighed and continued in a more serious tone, "Prince Zuko, I merely want to see you happy. You are so obsessed with the Avatar that you are nearly sixteen and never even been kissed. An old man worries."

A blush automatically converged onto the prince's face and he squeaked, "What do kisses have to do with the Avatar!"

"Well, if the Avatar was a pretty girl. I could see…"

Zuko cut off the old man's musings, with a harsh bark, "How will girls reclaim my honor uncle!"

The Master frowned at his nephew's bitterness but slowly he chuckled and stated in a slightly cruel whisper, "Well you might be able to have an heir unlike your sister … boys run away from her crying."

The blush brightened even more, the boy turning away from the outlandish old man and towards the horizon. Now, he was no longer embarrassed but ashamed. He was no more capable of producing an heir as Azula. Azula at least could try. She'd probably eat the poor man afterwards like a praying mantis though, so she'd probably have to drag some hoodwinked fool into her bed kicking and screaming. It was a slightly funny thought but it did not improve his mood.

Not that it mattered, his adrenaline suddenly pumping. Zuko stood up straight, his eyes becoming slits as he stared out into the freezing waters. Iroh noticed his student's change in stature immediately, his nephew always seeming to have the senses of a tracker.

"What is it, Zuko?" he asked, his own form becoming tight as he started looking over the waters.

"I smell something," came a simple reply, Iroh giving him a strange look in rebut.

"What do you mean smell …"

Not that Zuko had to worry about the folly in his language, a light suddenly shot up in the horizon, hauntingly blue-white that seemed to pierce the very sky. Zuko knew what it was. He could smell it. It smelled like the air-bender's temples. It had to be him: the Avatar.

"I will reclaim my family's honor," he mumbled to himself before he yelled at the helmsman to follow the light. The only problem was… he didn't know which side of the family he wanted to reclaim honor for. A dragon was meant both to fly and hunt.

XXX

Paw07: For those of you who couldn't tell, this is a slight gender bend. This idea came to me randomly when I was typing a chapter for Reluctant Hero, and it was so deviously delicious I couldn't deny it especially since it reminds me of another one of my stories, Promise Not to Tell. I don't know why I like gender bending. I'm a slight feminist by nature so I can only presume that it's because I love questioning things like society's limitations on sex and gender, especially when it comes to third or even forth genders.

Also, AU wise, for the most part the past is the same as it has always been and the other elements of the world remain as they are. The only things that change are the fact as to why and how Zuko was banished. Not that you guys have to worry about that. This sucker's going to stay a one-shot; I have too many other projects. I just wanted to taunt all of you with this interesting little plot bunny that bound its way across my keyboard.

(Revisions January 2014)