Disclaimer: I'm not writing it. No disclaimer! (Even though I don't own anyone still)

A/N: time for some serious Shizznets. This one's set at end of episode one, season two. The will be the start of my obsession with Zuko's hair. I assure you, that boy will wish he was bald again whenever I'm done playing with his hair.

Zuko let his knees collapse beside the riverside, as his Uncle landed inches beside him. The young prince's eyes locked on his sweaty, scarred, and defiant looking reflection in the waters below. His golden eyes stared back at him in murderous humor. His burning Fire Nation eyes seemed to laugh at him now. Those glaring prideful eyes; the only thing he seemed to share with Azula and Ozai these days.

Those were the only thing that seemed to mark him as what he was. Fire Nation. Or at least, what he once was. now a fugitive from his own country, Zuko wasn't sure where to go. His paths were pretty simple and obvious. Either get caught by the Fire Nation and have to deal with Azula's wrath, or get caught by the Earth Kingdom army and get killed that way.

One thing was certain to the exiled prince as he eyed the long ponytail at the top of his head. They had to blend in. had to keep moving.

His hands reached into his back pocket without much thought. His fingers wrapped around the cold handle of the blade. "Never give up without a fight," it said. So easy for those words to be written on a blade, but those words were so much harder to live out now a day.

He gripped the ponytail at the back of his head, the only hair he had allowed to grow on his head for the past three years. The ponytail had been a reminder of who he was, of what his goals were. What his goals had been until now. From the corner of his slit eye, Zuko saw the understanding frown that had appeared over his Uncles face. The old man partly blamed himself for their current situation. His actions in the North Pole had proven to be traitorous. While Zuko would never see what the lowest points of their lives was as his Uncles fault, the retired general would always feel the most responsible for the months to come.

The blade cut against his black hair without hesitation, without remorse. Its sharp edges stroking and striking at the base of the ponytail under the single red ribbon. The cold metal broke through the chuck of hair, leaving just a slight stub of hair at the back of his head. Trusting the dagger towards his Uncle to use, Zuko kept his fingers wrapped around the bundle of hair in his hands.

The wind blew teasingly at the strands, making them dance tauntingly at him.

This was it. Everything he had spent the last three years trying for where gone. His hopes of returning home, his dreams of be accepted. He had cut them away along with his hair.

That was the end of how life had been lived. There was no more hunting the Avatar, no more running around on a boat, no more trying to regain a lost sense of honor. Now their only goal was survival. Survive long enough to live a life they had spent years wasting.

Because the daggers words still rung through.

Never give up without a fight. That was the motto Zuko had spent years living by. Now those words were going to be the only thing keeping the two alive.

The hair slipped from his loosening fingers before dropping into the rushing waters below, his Uncle's grey topknot floating away beside his. They were no longer Prince Zuko and Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation. They were no longer the banished prince and the Dragon of the West. They were no longer Fire Nation. They were nameless refuges.

Zuko didn't wait to see the topknots float further down the river, but instead stood defiantly against the world. He wouldn't let this knock him down. Prince Zuko wasn't one to back down when things got tough. A sharp pain seemed to stab at his chest as he realized that he didn't hold the title of prince Zuko anymore.

He may have lost his title, his home, his honor, his old life, but there was one thing they couldn't take from him. That was his determination. Every breathe he took was a defiance against his sister. Against his father. Against the world itself. He may no longer be Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, but that stubborn, resourceful, proud, hothead prince still lived inside of him. And Zuko planned on using it to survive.

Iroh stood beside him, the two not needing words to convey the message and thoughts they were sharing.

Never give up without a fight. Because from this point on it was just the two of them against the world.

-oOo-

Hair symbols! I wonder if the creators of Avatar were all, "Let's make some serious symbolist messages using a aguish filled prince hair!" when they were coming up with idea for this show. I mean, I can go on a five minute rant about the different symbols that you can get about what is going on in Zuko's life based on his hair.

Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for that to be turned into a chapter. Or several… I have this obsession with Zuko's hair as you will soon learn.