Chapter 1: Trust

The young man was uneasy. He had been traveling on air for two days. Fire bending was the only way he could stay airborne. His uncle had once told him to think before acting. Zuko had to think now. The hardest part of the plan was gaining trust, but how? He had to show the Avatar peace of mind. Therefore, he would be sending out a peaceful aura. All of a sudden it clicked.

Zuko lowered his balloon towards a town. He knew just what to do.

"AANG!" Katara had to find him, and fast. She kept running through the air temple, until-"OW!"

Aang was the first to recover. "Hey, Katara, you called?"

Katara stood up. Her eyes were fierce as she said," Zuko found us."

Zuko hopped out of the balloon quickly. He cursed the blazing red. It seemed to be shouting out a warning to everything. He set his bag on the ground. Golden orbs scanned the surrounding area. Three people seized him. He didn't bother fighting back. It would be faster this way. He felt many eyes burning holes into his skull as he kneeled down in submission.

He watched as the crowd parted to allow the Avatar to see him. "Zuko, why are you here?" the Avatar asked with a guarded voice.

"Do you want to learn firebending?" he asked in a calm voice.

Aang blinked. He eyed the Avatar, carefully. He repeated his question. "Do you want to learn firebending?"

"Aang, we can't let him leave. He'll rat us out to the Fire Nation," said a blind girl.

Aang's brow furrowed as he concentrated. Zuko wanted to laugh on how hard Aang had to think to come to the same conclusion that he, ex-prince of the Fire Nation, had thought of the previous day.

"Okay, I see your point, Toph, but where would we keep him?"

"Sokka and Haru can keep an eye on him in their room. Why-"

"What? You can't put me in the same room as him!" Sokka cried out indignantly.

Haru put a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Sokka, we have to do everything we can. This is war."

Sokka sighed. His shoulders slumped forward. Why was he acting childish? He had responsibilities to take care of. His father was counting on him. His head snapped forward and he straightened his back. "Okay," he said submissively.


"Hm, it seems that brother has betrayed us, again," Azula said in a monotone," Why am I not surprised? Mai, did you find anything in his room?"

"Yes, princess." Mai handed Azula the scroll that Zuko wrote.

Azula's eyes scanned the scroll. She let out a sharp laugh. "Following the Avatar is he? That's so typical of him. Oh, Mai, I'm sorry. He says he'll 'love you forever, no matter what happens.'"

Ty Lee chose this moment to kart wheel through the door. "Are we hunting the Avatar again, Princess Azula?"

Azula's eyes sparkled as she announced," No, we're staying here. The Avatar will come back eventually. When he does, we'll be ready. We might even have new allies, if we're lucky."

"New allies? May I ask who?" Mai asked quietly.

"They're coming in right now," Azula said happily.


"So, now that you're done talking in front of me, where should I go?"

"Oh, you can go to hell," Katara snapped.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," he quipped.

Aang cleared his throat. "Haru, please show Zuko your room. Katara, would you get him an extra cot, please?"

Zuko packed the unlit candles into his bag. He followed Haru to a quaint bedroom. There was one rolled cot and a rumpled cot on the floor. There was a window that overlooked the temple grounds. A small bench juts out from under the window and a small dresser was in one corner of the room.

"It's not much, but we barely use this room. We spend most of our time training outside," Haru said quietly.

Zuko nodded. He understood what he meant. Zuko himself almost never used his own room.

Katara opened the door. She threw a rolled cot at Zuko's head, which he caught before it reached his face. She turned and left without another word. Haru took this all into account.

"So, what's your relationship with Katara?"

"Who?"

"The girl who just walked in," Haru said a little annoyed.

"Nonexistent. Why?"

"Just wondering why she's so mad at you."

Zuko got up and walked towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"Out."


Zuko spent the next two hours familiarizing himself with the territory. He was being watched. He knew that from years of living in the palace. Everyone looked out for him. Someone always watched his back. He looked over the edge of the cliff. He let his mind wander off.

Where was his mother? Was she safe? Everything I've done was done to protect you. Mai was still with his sister. Would Mai show Azula the letter? It had everything in there. His father wasn't concerned about him leaving. He didn't even try to convince him to stay. Not that it mattered anymore. His uncle was safe. Why hasn't Uncle come yet? Would his Uncle forgive him? Probably not.

"I wish I could say 'if I didn't know better', but I can't. You look like your checking out possible entry points. You're plotting something and I don't like it," said an accusing voice. It was familiar. He had heard it before.

"Whatever makes you feel better," Zuko said," it doesn't bother me that you think that. In fact, it's expected of you, but you'll see eventually. I'm not planning anything that would harm the Avatar."

"His name is Aang," Katara said," Remember it. Why are you even here?"

"I'm here to teach the Ava-Aang."

"Why? Last time I checked, you were quite happy helping your sister. What's changed?"

"That's not important," Zuko said stiffly.

"Well, if you slip up just once, I'll make sure you won't be able to again. Got that?" Katara lowered her voice," I still haven't forgotten the last time you changed sides. Next time, next time, I'll end you."

He turned and went up to his room. The room glowed orange since everything was almost white. The room was empty except for the furniture and himself. He set three candles on the bench. He sat down and folded his legs. He lit the candles with one finger tip and began his exercise.

He started counting each breath he took. After 30 minutes of focusing solely on that, he moved on. He analyzed his feelings. He felt sadness fill him and then anger took over.

"Whoa!" Zuko's eyes snapped open at the sound. The next thing he knew, he was drenched. He glowered at the source. The teen had his hair pulled back in a wolf ponytail.(A/N: Does that even make sense? It's a pony's tail! No wait, a wolf's tail. She definitely said, I mean typed wolf earlier…)

"Mind explaining?" Zuko glared at the boy. His body was steaming with anger.

"I saw a big fire and I figured-"

Zuko smirked at the boy. "My element is fire. There was no need to react that way. Your stash of dried meat is safe," he said snidely.

"How di-"

"The room reeks of dried meat. I didn't think the other one would harbor love for that crap. He seems to be a steak guy."

"Did you just insult-"

"How did you know I like steak?" Haru asked.

"I guessed," Zuko said. He looked out the window. It was pitch black outside. He sighed and took the cot given to him. He unrolled it and plopped down. He lay there, without a blanket. Sleep would evade him tonight. He snorted. Figures. He wasn't one to waste time. He got up and headed out once his two roommates started to snore. He grabbed his swords and went out to the temple grounds. He drew the two swords and went through his stances and his favorite attack patterns. Soon he was oblivious to his surroundings, and didn't notice someone watching him. After an hour of his mock battle, he stopped. His clothes clung to his body and his hair was limp.

"Wow, I've never seen anything like that."

Zuko looked at the source of the noise. A boy wheeled up to him in his wheel chair. A girl came out of the shadows as well. "That was impressive," she commented.

Zuko was confused. "How would you know?"

Toph scoffed. "I can see with earthbending."

"Why are you two out so late?"

"You're not my mother. What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm training."

Teo's head shot back and forth as each person spoke.

"Why this late?"

"It's cooler at night."

"Ha! It's cool all the time up here. If you haven't noticed, we're on a mountain."

"Why are you so interested?"

"We're wat-"

"Hey, Toph, wasn't what he did earlier cool?"

Zuko's eyes narrowed. They were sent to watch him. He turned around and stalked off to his bedroom.

He lay back on his cot. The sun would rise soon. He would train the Avatar early in the morning, sunrise to sunset. With that in mind, he set off to look for the avatar. (A/N: Lol. Zuko's always looking for the avatar. It would be nice for some change ) ) He shook Haru awake. "Where's a washing area?"

Haru mumbled sleepily, "Room on the left." Haru shifted and fell asleep again.

Zuko walked off. He washed himself thoroughly and steamed off the excess water. He dressed in his simple fire nation outfit.

He left the bathing room only to run into Katara. "Where's Aang?" he asked quietly.

Katara's eyebrow rose. "Follow me," she said curtly.

Katara opened the door to Aang's room. Zuko went in immediately and shook the young monk awake. "Get up. Training starts in 30 minutes. Eat, dress, and do morning things now and meet me by the doors."

Aang almost jumped out of his skin when he woke up and saw Zuko. He listened to instructions and set off to complete his morning task. Before he could get out the door, Katara stopped him. "Don't let him push you around too hard. I don't trust him," Katara said gently. Aang nodded and took off.

Zuko looked at his pupil. This would be his first student. "Lets go." He led Aang to the cliff he had visited earlier.

"This is where your training begins."


So, tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms.

This is my first fanfic! Yay me! I think…