Chapter I: The Avatar

Cold air rushed through my lungs, filling them. Slowly I let the hot air escape my body, with all the thoughts and emotions. I opened my eyes and looked at the three candles in front of me, they had long thin flames and they almost reached the ceiling.

There was a knock. For a second my eyes shot to the metal door of my room, I lost my concentration and the flames extinguished.

I sighed, got up from the floor and opened the door. "General Iroh." I said and made a small bow for the old Firebender. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh, I haven't been a general in years." Iroh said and entered my dimly lit room. "I'm just Iroh now, remember?" He said, making a small bow for me as well. It made me smile.

"Very well," I paused for a moment. Iroh's eyes started to glisten. "Iroh."

He started to roar with laughter. "Now keep it that way."

He seemed to remember why he had come to my room and he cleared his throat, chasing away the remaining laugh. "Anyway, I wondered if you'd like to join me for dinner tonight."

"I'd love to." I said and slightly nodded my head.

"I'll meet you on the deck in, say, half an hour?" Iroh said and left after I agreed.

I gathered the robes I wore when I wasn't in my uniform and headed to the lower deck of the ship for a bath, the sound of my soldiers' boots rang against the metal walls.

I sank deep into the hot water and closed my eyes. It had been a long time since I got on this ship. My family were highly honoured people at the royal court. So General Iroh and his nephew, Prince Zuko, were familiar even when I was a little girl. It was almost a taboo for a woman to leave such a respected family and join the Fire Navy. But I was rather a disgrace than my mother's toy.

It was a lovely evening when I set foot on deck. "Good evening, Iroh, Prince Zuko." I said and bowed to each of them. The Prince turned to look at me, he looked angry.

"We'll continue this later, Uncle." The Prince said and took one of the two chairs that were still empty at the table.

Iroh looked at me. "Captain Kunari, please have a seat." He waved at the empty chair across of him. After I had sat down food was brought out.

None of the other soldiers had ever had dinner with the Prince and his Uncle before, seems my family name still had some benefits. I knew it also helped me get the Captain's position in the Navy. I talked a lot with Iroh, he was very pleasant company. He told me stories of his time as General and about the royal family. The old Firebender was kind to every soldier, man or woman, good family name or a disgrace.

"Oh, look at that." Iroh suddenly said after a few minutes of silence. I glanced behind me and saw a bright blue light beam in the sky, it was beautiful against the deep blue sky and icy blocks.

"Finally." Prince Zuko said softly. "Uncle, do you realize what this means?" He asked, walking to the bow of the ship.

"I won't get to finish my dinner?" Iroh asked. He pouted and looked at his bowl of noodles with salted sea fish.

I heard the Prince pace around behind me. "No, it means my search is about to get to an end." I turned around and saw him point at were the light was just a moment ago. "That light came from an incredible powerful source, it has to be him!" He almost yelled.

Iroh sighed at put down his bowl. "Or, it's just a celestial light." Zuko walked toward his Uncle. He was about to say something when Iroh continued. "We have been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing." He took his chopsticks and shoved some of the noodles in his mouth. "Please, just sit and enjoy this dinner with our guest." he said after chewing.

"I need to capture the Avatar! I don't need to do anything else." Zuko suddenly burst out in a yell. "I don't need your company or hers. She has no idea about honour." He almost spat at me. His eyes narrowed at me.

I looked away from his scarred face. "Please, excuse me." I said with a sigh and bowed to them before I left the deck, my robes flapped behind me in the wind.

"That little prick really needs to watch his words, not everyone is so tolerating as his uncle." I mutter inaudible to myself when I walked through the metal halls of the ship. After kicking the door open I slammed it shut behind me. Pacing through my room I rolled my shoulders loose. "Maybe this whole thing was a mistake. Maybe I was better off at home." I conjured flames in my hands, letting it erupt in a ring of fire around me. "I'm sick of his selfishness." I quickly turned around and brought down my flaming foot. But then I remembered, he didn't choose to leave home, he was banished and burnt by his own father.

For the second time there was a knock on my door. "What.?" I yelled and let a flame ignite in my hand, ready to continue.

"Open this door." The familiar voice of the Prince sounded.

"I thought you didn't need anything, Zuko." I spat as I opened the door and immediately regretted my disrespect. "My apologies, my Prince." I added quickly after remembering who he was.

I saw how anger crept up on his face, darkening his amber eyes. "When you joined my ship you said you'd help me regain the honour I unrighteously lost, swearing yourself to me." He said through his teeth. "Did you forget that, Kunari.?"

"No, of course not, my Prince." I straightened my face and bowed to him.

"Good, and to help you remember you'll be my personal guard and sparring dummy." I could hear him smirk. "I expect you to follow me anywhere at any time, until I say otherwise."

"Yes, my Prince." I said and looked up at him.

"Get in you uniform, relaxing time is over."

I quickly changed clothes and followed the prince to the highest point of the ship, outside the command tower. I stood beside the door as he walked to the railing and looked out over the cold sea of the South Pole. He just stood there. It seemed like hours went by. The sun plunged into the sea, colouring the sky orange and red. And still Zuko stood there.

Eventually, when the moon started to show and the stars to shine, footsteps echoed through the stairwell.

"I'm going to bed." Iroh's voice sounded when he came through the door, yawning and stretching. "A man needs his rest." his face changed when he didn't get any reply. "Prince Zuko, you need to sleep. Even if you're right, even if the Avatar has returned, you won't find him. Your father, grandfather and great grandfather all tried and failed."

"Because their honour didn't depend on it." His voice was hoarse and turned around to face his Uncle. "Mine does." His eyes glanced over to me, he looked tired.

Iroh followed Zuko's glance. "Oh, did you two make up?"

"I thought you were going to bed, Uncle." Zuko turned back to the sea, clearly not going to sleep any time soon.

"Everyone needs sleep, Nephew. Soldiers included." Iroh took one last look over the sea. "Good night." Soon enough we heard his sound die with the shutting of a door.

"You can go." Zuko said after a long while. "I want you up at dawn for sparring."

"Yes, my Prince." I bowed lightly, even if he couldn't see. "Good night." I said and left.

My mattress was thick and hard, nothing like the one I had back home. The house I grew up in never really felt like home after Father died. He died when I was a little girl. Some say it was an accident but others say he was killed by an Earthbender when he went to visit Omashu for business.

When we came home after the funeral, Mother started to scream at my brother. She said he looked too much like Father with those burning amber eyes. She was about to burn out his eyes and when I tried to stop her, she burnt me instead. She broke down and apologised over and over again, but a few days later she came into my room at night and did it again. It seemed the only thing that could take her mind of burning her husband's eyes out of her son.

I was glad she hurt me and not him. But when he left to start a family of his own she didn't stop. As soon as I could I joined the Fire Navy, that way I would be rid of her. She screamed at me when I told her I was leaving, she would be ashamed to call me her daughter, she would disown me and pretend I never existed. It didn't bother me, that house had nothing for me anymore.

The only thing I enjoyed from that time was the times I could slip away from her. I would play with my friends and sometimes even with the royal children. We would practise our Firebending or play tag.

One time Zuko's sister, Azula, put an apple on a friend's head and lit it on fire. Zuko ran to the girl and they both fell into the fountain. The Royal Family was happy back then, General Iroh was laying siege to Ba Sing Se, Fire Lord Azulon ruled over the Fire Nation and everything was at peace at the palace. But that all changed when Lu Ten, Iroh's son was killed during the siege. It was said that Prince Ozai murdered his wife and his father and when Iroh wasn't deemed fit to be the next Fire Lord, Ozai was the next in line. Azula was happier than ever and Zuko was just as miserable as I was, he and I became friends.

A few year later Zuko was allowed to attend a war meeting with the generals and his father. He spoke out of line and had to fight in an Agni Kai as punishment. It was against the general he had disrespected, or so everyone though. I was there the day of the fire duel, when the Fire Lord showed no mercy to his son. The Prince had disrespected his father when he spoke his mind in the meeting. Zuko refused to fight and begged his father. But the Fire Lord burnt and banished his son to teach him the lesson of respect. He was only to return when he found the Avatar. Only then the Fire Lord would restore his name and title. I forfeited my position as Captain in the Navy and choose to join the Prince in his search.

"Again." Iroh said stern. Zuko had just preformed an exercise Iroh instructed him to do. The prince, another soldier and I all shifted into battle stance. Again Zuko shot fire from his fists to both the soldier and I. He turned to dodge the flames I sent his way. The other soldier jumped to the Prince to deliver a fiery kick but Zuko jumped out of the way.

Iroh sighed. "No! Power in Firebending comes from the breath not the muscles." He got up. "The breath becomes energy, the energy extents past your limps and becomes fire." He moved his arms from his gut to his face and punched his fist in the air in front of Zuko, making fire fly around the Prince. "Get it right this time!"

"Enough." Zuko took a few steps to his Uncle. "I've been drilling the same sequence all day. I'm ready for the next step."

"No!" Iroh said, I saw how Zuko's eyes became dangerously dark. "You are impatient. You have yet to master your basics. Do it again!" Iroh commanded.

Zuko turned around, eyeing me for a split second before he kicked a ball of fire my way. I wasn't fast enough to block it. It hit me right in the chest, scorching my training robes. The blast knocked me off of my feet.

"The sages tell that the Avatar is the last Airbender. He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the elements. I'll need more than basic Firebending to capture him." A pause and Iroh didn't answer. "You will teach me the next step!" Zuko shouted at his Uncle.

I got up and saw the two of them locked in a death glare. Iroh broke first. "Very well." He finally said. "But not today." He turned away from his nephew, leaving the deck.

Some time had passed. The Prince stood only a few paces away from me.

"What's that?" I heard Zuko say, it was barely more than a whisper. I looked up at the darkening sky, there was a burning light. "It's a flare!" He exclaimed after using the telescope. "It's him, the last Airbender. Get my uncle!" He commanded a soldier who stood not far from us. "Tell him I found the Avatar." Zuko said, continuing to look through the telescope. "As well as his hiding place." He added after a second.

"Kunari, help me with my armour." The Prince commanded me.

I followed him to his room and took his chest piece first, it fit perfectly around his broad chest. The strings at the sides kept it in place. Next were the shoulder pads, his head went through the hole in the middle. The last thing was his helmet, it was different from the soldiers' helmet, it didn't have a skull mask nor the horns. His had flames on the front.

"You're coming with me." Zuko said.

"Yes, Prince Zuko." We waited until we saw the village emerge from the mists, how the helmsman knew it was there was a mystery to me. The ship ploughed a path through the frozen water and halted after breaking through the village's snowy wall. Slowly the bow of the ship lowered, making a bridge for us.

There was a boy in front of us, he had war paint on his face. His family and friends were only a few meters away, they looked so scared. I followed the Prince out, feeling the cold air on my face, I never wore a helmet, it was so uncomfortable.

Half way down the landing ramp the boy with the war paint ran at Zuko, he had some kind of Watertribe sword in hand. He screamed when he brought it down, but Zuko kicked the sword out of the boy's hand and gave him another kick to the head, making him fall off the metal bridge. The other villagers, all women and children, gasped. The boy was the only warrior they had.

Zuko stopped in front of the group, pacing from left to right. "Where are you hiding him?" He asked, no one answered. He stood in front of a girl with bright blue eyes, she was hugging the arm of an elderly woman next to her. Zuko eyed them for a moment, he grabbed the old woman.

"He's about this age, master of all the elements." Still no one said a word. He pushed the woman back to the girl. He took a deep breath and made a crescent from left to right, leaving a path of fire. But before the flames could reach them I stepped back, pulling the fire with me ever so slightly. The people still let out gasps and screams but no one got hurt, and no one noticed my interference.

Screams caught our attention, the warrior with the war paint had recovered and made his way to the Prince again. This time I stepped in front of the boy before he could reach Zuko. He stopped dead in his tracks, but he made up his mind quickly. He ran at me, full speed ahead. I grabbed the wrist that was holding the sword.

"Drop it." I said, he didn't drop. He grimaced with pain when I twisted his wrist and he dropped the sword.

The people began to cheer when a young boy with an arrow on his head sledded down the snowy hill on a penguin, making me step back from the warrior who quickly ran to his family.

"Hey, Katara. Hi, Sokka." The boy said to the warrior and the blue eyed girl.

"Hi, Aang." Warrior Sokka said, it almost sounded sarcastic. "Thanks for coming."

Aang turned to us as we surrounded him, holding a staff out in front of him. I took out my sword which I used with my Firebending. Sometimes I used a shield as well, but for now I let it sit on my back. Aang took a deep breath and slammed the staff on the ground, making snow fly up.

"Looking for me.?" He asked as the snow cleared.

"You're the Airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko asked surprised. The Avatar seemed about sixteen years old.

They walked in circles, trying to get the other one to attack. Zuko blasted a fire ball at Aang, but he used his staff as a repelling shield. He glanced at the people behind him, they were scared and cowered away from the fire. Aang stopped fighting.

"If I go with you, do you promise to leave everyone alone?" He asked. Zuko stood up straight and nodded. I took the Avatar's staff and pushed him toward the ship.

"No! Aang, don't do this!" The girl said pleading.

"It's alright, Katara. Don't worry." The boy looked behind him. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!"

"Set course to the Fire Nation, I'm going home." Zuko yelled at the helmsmen. He took the staff and examined it when we stood on the deck.

"This will make an excellent gift for my father." He said as I was tying the Avatar's hands behind his back. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks." He added after a moment of thought. "Take the Avatar to the prison hold. And take this to my quarters." The Prince added, handing the staff to Iroh.

"Mind taking this to his quarters for me?" I heard Iroh say to a soldier as I pushed the Avatar below deck.

"So," Aang said once below deck. "I guess you never fought an Airbender before, I bet I can take you with my hands tied behind my back."

"Shut up." I said, opening the door to his cell. I pushed him inside but before and reached to close it but a gust of wind knocked me back and he ran past me.

"The Avatar has escaped!" I shouted across the ship and ran after him into the cabin and straight to Zuko's room.

"Go away, he's mine." Zuko whispered to me when he saw me.

"Stop thinking you don't need help." I said back.

"Leave." He said harsh. After a disapproving sound escaped me I left him there. I saw flames light Zuko's room, then it was dark. After a while the Avatar and Zuko crashed down on the deck from above. Instinctively I glanced up to see where they came from.

Just as Zuko and I were about to attack the Airbender, a roar sounded through the air.

"What is that?" I asked, looking at a giant flying animal.

"Appa!" Aang yelled. He almost wasn't quick enough to block my flames. He jumped away from me, but as he landed Zuko shot fire bolt at him, knocking his staff from his hands. The Airbender jumped back again, standing on the railing and no were to go. Zuko and I shot fire at him at the same time, making it impossible for him to block or jump out of the way. He fell into the water.

I ran to the railing. Katara yelled his name from the flying beast. Suddenly a blue light shone under water. A tornado of water surfaced, the Avatar's eyes and tattoos were glowing. He was bending the water around him. The tornado guided him to the ship. Aang knocked us off our feet with the water.

Just before Zuko went overboard I grabbed his hand, turning on my back and grabbing a rope before going overboard. My shoulder almost popped out of its socket.

"Climb up." I managed to say between gasps, closing my eyes to focus and not let the Prince go. By the time he finally stood on the deck again and I sat against the railing, we saw the beast fly away.

"Let's shoot them down!" Zuko yelled. Together with a soldier Zuko charged a fire attack and shot a huge fire ball to them. But before it hit, the Airbender conjured a gust of wind, knocking the ball into an ice berg. A wave of ice and snow buried half of the ship.

"Dig out the ship and follow them!" The prince commanded after we had recovered. "We can't let him escape." The soldiers went to work immediately.

Zuko walked over to me, helped me get up and lead me toward the command tower by my good shoulder. "What are you doing, I have to help with the ice." I said. "You need your shoulder looked at. The others can take care of digging out the ship." He said and guided me to the command tower.

When we came to the Hospital Room, one of the doctors ushered us in and put me on a bed in the corner.

"Thank you." Zuko said softly when the doctor went to get supplies from a metal closet. "If you hadn't taken the risk of falling with me, I would have been swimming right now." he looked uncomfortable, pacing from side to side before he sat down on the end of the bed.

It had been a very long time since I heard Zuko thank anyone. "I'm your personal guard. I'm supposed to protect you, even if it's a drop in the water."

"Right, about that." He stopped when the doctor came back. "I'll you back on deck." He said and left.

The doctor examined my shoulder and said I had to have my arm in a sling for at least a week, no bending, no lifting. My shoulder needed rest.

I still frowned when I came to the deck. Everyone was helping to dig out the ship. Some were hacking and chopping with swords and others were melting it away with Firebending. The doctor did say no bending but I could do it with just one hand.

It took us a while before everything was cleared of ice. "It looks like we do need to make some repairs." I said to Zuko. I heard a sound coming from him that sounded like a growl.

"Set course to the nearest harbour!" He shouted to the helmsman.