This story is set around book 3 in Avatar. I'm sorry if this story sucks. It's my first go at any fanfiction ever so please forgive me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Zuko, with the help of Mai, has a plan to leave the Fire Nation for a well-deserved break. But when this plan backfires, Zuko finds himself locked away in prison, shunned by the Fire Nation. As a second attempt to leave the Fire Nation, not for a break, but to join the Avatar, Zuko finds to be away from the people you love really is pointless.
Chapter one – The LeaveKatara looked into her brother's dark brown eyes. "We have to help him! Aang's helped us so much and without doubt, you wouldn't be standing here with me if we hadn't met him!" Sokka scoffed.
"You think I can't fend for myself?" Sokka snapped. "Are you calling me weak?"
"No. I'm calling you arrogant selfish and –" Sokka was surprised as his sister jabbed him in the chest with a finger, " – weird!"
"I'm the weird one, am I? The ones who associate with water are the weird ones! I personally think they are the weakest benders! If you had been born a leeetle earlier, I guess you'd be an airbender just like Aang." This obviously offended Katara because Sokka found himself being doused with cold water.
"You are sick! I always do everything! I always do all the chores at home! And this time, I've had enough!" Katara turned away from her brother.
* - * - * - *
"I can't believe I'm helping you escape the Fire Nation," said Mai, folding up a warm cloak and tucking it away like the rest of the luggage.
"And I still can't believe you're helping me," replied Zuko. "Thanks Mai, this really means a lot to me."
"Well," Mai sighed and turned around so Zuko couldn't see the tear that dropped down her face. Zuko could obviously hear the hesitation and he stopped filling his food supply. "I'll miss you. I really will," Mai said, more tears dripping down her face. Very rarely would she express herself.
"Don't worry," said Zuko as he wrapped his arms around her. "It's almost sunrise already. I think you should go back o your room in case anybody gets suspicious." Mai just held Zuko tighter and didn't move. Then the door to the room burst open with a bang and Mai felt a surge of heat come past her left ear. There was a silent cursing and this time, Mai felt the surge of heat coming towards her back. Zuko threw her aside just in time and waved the fire off with his hand. Standing at the door scowling was no other than…
"Azula," growled Zuko with hatred. "What are you doing?" Azula smirked and leant against the doorframe.
"Nothing much."
"Nothing much? You almost killed Mai!" yelled Zuko, his fists clenched tightly. Azula entered the room, followed by two heavily muscled men.
"My dear brother, it wasn't on purpose I assure you. My men were just protecting me," said Azula. The men flexed their muscles.
"Right," snorted Zuko. "Oh I see the joke in coming into other's rooms and setting fire to the first thing you see."
"Absolutely right Zuko. Speaking of which, I have been alerted of the … escape you intend to pull off tomorrow."
"What?" Zuko said incredulously. "How did you find out?" He stole a glance to Mai, who was just as confused as he.
"Don't feel guilty Zuko," smirked Azula. "I sat outside your room last night and managed to get until now without you noticing."
"Since you know about my plan, why aren't you going to turn me in?" asked Zuko. Mai got up hesitatingly and joined Zuko's side. Her hands reached into her sleeves as she stared at Azula. Azula suddenly screeched out loud with laughter. She didn't stop for a long time.
"Turn you in? And flaunt my only change of becoming the only child?"
"What do you mean by 'the only child'?" said Zuko aggressively.
"Father will worship me after I take the useless burden, you, off his shoulders!" Azula crouched into a position, ready to fight. Zuko's next words were painful, but he knew it was true.
"He will already – tomorrow, when he finds out that I've escaped," he said. Azula laughed again.
"I am beginning to understand why father calls you a coward," she said bitterly. Then she raised a hand quickly and shot lightning at her brother. Zuko stepped back in shock as the lightning missed him by inches. Azula gave a twisted smile and nodded to her men. They nodded back and rounded on Mai.
"Leave her out of this!" Mai has got nothing to do with it!" Zuko yelled.
"I'm afraid you've got it wrong, brother," said Azula coolly. "She's got everything to do with it." Azula moved so that she was behind her brother and whispered, "We know you can't marry her. She knows you can't marry her. And most of all, you know you can't marry her." Zuko knew Azula was right. His choice of marriage had to be first agreed on by his father and Zuko doubted any kind of appraise for him and Mai. With a roar, Zuko clamped Azula's throat tightly in his hand. "Going to kill me, Zuko?" she asked.
"The easy way," growled Zuko, pushing his sister against the wall. His hand closed tighter around Azula until he heard two grunts and a whimper.
Mai was in the hands of one of the men; the other had a knife in his arm but held up a sword to her neck nonetheless. Mai scowled, she was holding a dart in her hand and struggled against the man's strong hold. The sword was pressed so hardly into her neck, Zuko could see some blood starting to trickle down Mai's neck. "Release Mistress Azula," said a man, "or the girl dies." Zuko looked at Mai, then at Azula. Sighing, he slowly unclamped stiff fingers from her neck. Zuko watched the men release Mai and she ran into his arms. Azula did not thank her men for saving her neck but instead looked at Zuko with disgust and left.
"Zuko," said Mai. "You really didn't have to save me there. I – "
"But I did, okay?" said Zuko hotly. "I did and that's over now!" Then Mai found herself in a crushing hug with Zuko. "You're important to me and I can't afford to loose you. Promise me you'll keep yourself safe while I'm gone."
"I-I promise," said Mai, clearly still shocked.
* - * - * - *
"Wait Katara!" called Sokka. "I understand how you feel about me being a jerk and I don't blame you for that!"
"Whatever," Katara said bluntly. She continued checking that her boat was still in good condition. "Oh great," she muttered as she found a gaping hole at the bottom. "I've never used this boat before! I don't understand." Sokka looked guiltily at Katara. "Now don't tell me you're the one that did this," she snapped.
"I didn't mean to!" Sokka said as he chased after his sister again. "I took it out for a ride after my boat broke and we kind of … well, the point is, the boat's broken and we can't fix it." Katara rolled her eyes and walked away. Sokka found her sobbing on a rock. "Hey. Don't cry," he said softly. I'll get you another boat, how's t hat?"
"It's not the boat I care about! It's Aang!" Katara burst.
"What?" Sokka said, confused. "You mean he's your boyfriend? How much did I miss out on? When did it start? Oh man! No one ever bothers telling me anything – "
"Stop Sokka! You're thinking about this the completely different way! Aang's not my boyfriend. What I meant is, I care about saving Aang." Sokka looked suspiciously at the waterbender.
"Just remember I'm watching you two from now on," he said and went off. Me and Aang? Thought Katara ridiculously. It would never work out.
* - * - * - *
Aang was put forward roughly and made to kneel. "The Avatar, sir." Aang could tell many eyes were on him.
"This si the Avatar? A mere boy?" asked an ancient voice.
"Yes, sir. The Avatar was found in the company of two people, a girl and a boy. The girl is a waterbender and the boy is untalented. I suspect they are siblings. It seems they come from the South Pole, the Southern Water Tribe which is sister tribe of the Northern Water Tribe."
"Very good. Bring him up here," the ancient voice rasped again. Aang's shoulders were being steered tightly up the stairs, his head forced to keep low by a cord so he couldn't see his surroundings. Aang was dumped on the floor. "Yong, I want you treat the Avatar better."
"Sir, we are not clear if he is an impostor yet."
"I will see that for myself." The hands released Aang's shoulders. "You may stand, the legendary Avatar!" Aang got up to his feet awkwardly since his hands were bound behind his back. The ancient man laughed. "Toto, release him!" with a flapping of wind, Aang felt something heavy and feathery land on his arm. The rope holding his neck snapped and Aang looked up just in time to see a brightly coloured bird flying onto an old man's shoulder. The man wore long yellow robes and was very short. The old man's face was filled with wisdom. "You've finally joined us, Avatar. May I ask for your name?" Aang wasn't listening; he stared below him where several metres of stairs were laid out in a spiral design. Aang gulped. The old man patiently repeated the question.
"My name's Aang. May I ask who you are?"
"I, along with the people you will find in this area, am The Avatar Guardians. A great ancestor of mine who lived a long, long time ago used to be in love with an Avatar. He met her in a little Water Tribe village. The Avatar was a waterbender. It was very much like love at first sight. The Avatar fell in love with my ancestor and vice versa. Not long after they met, a baby was on the way for the young lovers. They were very happy. After the little child was born, the Avatar headed out to from the Water Tribe village to get some food for the little baby but some hunters mistook her blue garments for a sign of danger and shot her down. My ancestor was not happy.
"He refused to do things for days, even weeks! He sat inside his room thinking until … aha! … He had a great idea. My ancestor gathered all his friends and willing volunteers and joined them together to make The Avatar Guardians. And as you know, the position of head of The Avatar Guardians have been passed down from father to son, father to son. For the first twenty years of my leadership, no sign of any Avatar was found. We did everything we could. We sent out searches and looked for clues. Every Avatar Guardian was worried. We thought the Avatar cycle was broken."
Aang cocked his head thoughtfully to the side. "How long has this group been running? How come I never heard of it?"
"We like to keep ourself a secret, Aang. Avatar Roku come here himself when he was a youngster. The Avatar Guardians are a very ancient group. We've been running for several centuries. Now, which bending are you yet to learn?"
I'm sorry. I thought that was a good place to end the story.