Greetings~

I'm back! ^^ Sorry it took me so long. I had a lot of things to do, most of which were related to my acads. O.O *shudders at the memory* Anyway, I was supposed to post this weeks ago. I doodled the whole thing during my Calculus class, since I was fed up in listening to my professor's droning, which just seemed to go on and on. Meh. Enough chitchat for now, I know you wanna read the story already.

Btw, I just changed my name into StenciledWings. I was formerly known here as Unmei no Sharin ^^

Disclaimer: Seriously? If I owned them, I would order every Firebender alive to burn away all Math books.

Enjoy! :D

He was sprawled on the ground, his body numbed. With a groan, he shifted his head around, trying to figure out where he was, and vaguely, he remembered being in the heart of the forest. Panting, he gathered the last of his strength and forced himself to stand.

Darkness surrounded him, so intense that it was almost enough to overwhelm his senses. Then, from the distance came an enraged roar, followed by the sound of thundering feet. Definitely not human, he thought. He looked around, straining his eyes to locate his broadswords, or a weapon, or practically anything to help him fend off whomever— no, whatever— it was that was pursuing him, and with such seemingly lethal intent. He heard the noises again, closer this time. Cold dread seeped into him as he realized that there were many of them. Giving in to instinct, he ran, immediately hating himself for doing the action. Only cowards run, he mentally hissed at himself. And yet, he couldn't help it. He wanted to survive. He had to.

He ran for quite a long while, stubbornly refusing to have his existence wiped out, and every distant roar or shout from behind was enough to urge him to go on. He slowed down upon reaching some sort of intersection, and swallowing hard, he forced his eyes to overcome, at the very least, part of the dark, and see what was before him. To his left, a path seemed to lead to a meadow. He noted the thinning of the vegetation further in and figured that he would encounter little to no difficulty in running through that area. He almost decided taking on that trail right then and there, but then, the memory of his uncle telling him to always exercise fairness persisted, breaking through the haze of his frantic mind. Cursing himself, he yielded, turning his head to assess the other path. To his right, the trail proved to be the exact opposite of the first one. It lay filled with trees with trunks so thick, and roots that rise as high as his waist. His calculating eyes also observed the tangled vines swinging here and there, as well as the thorny bushes that profusely covered the forest floor. Not a good choice, he thought. The noises made by his pursuers reached his ears once more, and he correctly guessed that their approach was faster this time, with no trace of hesitation in their advance. As for him, he found himself dreadfully uncertain. Part of him yelled to already choose the trail to his left and run to find refuge, but something in him held him back. Was it his pride? Or was it his belief that only cowards run? He wasn't quite sure that those were the reasons. Then what in damned Agni's name is the reason? He fiercely questioned himself.

Then he heard it.

From the path to his right came a cry, one full of agony. Without a second thought, he threw away all caution and bounded towards the trail to his right. A few paces behind him were his pursuers, but then, somehow, he didn't let that fact unnerve him anymore. He was focused only in one thing, and one thing alone. Upon hearing that cry, he immediately knew that somebody needed him. He didn't know how he knew that, but then... He just felt it. Somebody needed his help, and he could feel that that somebody was dear to him. I will not be a coward anymore, I refuse to be a coward any longer, he thought. Pushing all thoughts regarding his own safety to the back of his mind, he ran harder, practically uncaring of the creatures following him. He stumbled many times, but he immediately pushed himself up, resuming his running. The thorns in the bushes cut him, inflicting wounds, some deep and some shallow. He ran on, feeling no pain, probably because his mind was bent on accomplishing that one goal of saving that someone, or maybe because a part of him knew that failing to save that person will give him pain more than any physical wound could.

He ran on and on. Just when he almost thought that the trail would never end, he burst through the thick forest into a clearing— right beside a cliff. There were many people, and creatures. Like the ones after me, he suddenly realized. The whole situation was filled with chaos. His eyes quickly searched for someone, pangs of anxiety seeping into him. Then, he saw her. She was bleeding, apparently from shielding a child, who cowered behind her. A beast of utmost ferocity stood a few feet from the pair, impatiently pawing the ground. No one seemed to notice her and the child, or the danger they were in. The dragon-like beast seemed hungry to spill more blood, and there was only little time left before it attacked. Fury enveloping him, he stretched out his arms, ready to throw a fireball to fend off the enormous beast. But no flame emanated from him. No, this cannot be, he thought frantically. He looked at the endangered pair once again. The beast gave a mighty roar and reared its ugly head before it charged towards the woman and the child, intent to kill.

"NO!" he yelled.

He gathered all his willpower and sprinted towards the trio, intent on pushing the pair out of harm's way and into safety. He was near, he can do it. Then, he saw something. His gaze had fallen upon the child's face, and his blood turned cold.

The child was him.

He paused, a fatal mistake on his part, as he turned and saw that the beast had swiped its massive paw, brutally flinging the woman down the cliff.

"NO! MOTHER!" he bawled, suddenly feeling sick with miserable agony as the meaning of the words he had shouted dawned upon him. Filled with vehemence, he turned his eyes towards the beast, and immediately had that rage turned into fear. He recognized who the beast actually was. He screamed, then, as the beast gave a diabolical roar and swiped at him, its claws digging deep into his chest.

He fell down the cliff, still not feeling any pain from the wounds, which he was sure he wouldn't survive. He felt the need to die, then. He didn't deserve to live.

I couldn't do anything at all...

Forgive me...

Mother...

"MOTHER!"

"Zuko! Wake up! It's a dream, snap out of it!"

He immediately bolted upright, flinching away from the touch of the hand that shook him back to reality. Gold eyes met the warm brown orbs of his uncle. The older man smiled down at his nephew, rubbing a comforting hand on his arm, before his brows furrowed with worry.

"Was it the same dream again?" Iroh asked his young nephew.

Zuko mutely responded with a nod, his gaze low. He still felt that burning shame; shame for not being able to do anything, even in his dream, to save his mother. Iroh noted all of this with sympathy. Zuko loved his mother very much, and the young prince experienced the harshness of Life at a very young age. Sighing, the older man sat down in front of his nephew.

"Zuko, don't blame yourself. It was not your fault. Your mother made the choice herself, and she did that in order to protect you. I am sure she would not want you to blame yourself for what happened," Iroh comforted him.

"Even so, Uncle, I couldn't help it. Every time I dream that same dream, I always feel the need to go there, to throw myself in front of her and save her from that beast. I don't want to be a coward anymore. And yet, I couldn't do anything at all. I am nothing." The prince whispered bitterly.

Iroh only shook his head and reached out, placing his fingers under Zuko's chin and lifting his head to look directly into the prince's gold eyes.

"Listen to me, Zuko. It is a sin of pride to take the blame for a sin you did not do, and burden yourself with it. You say you don't want to be a coward anymore, but what you are doing is an act of cowardice. Let me finish." He held up a hand to silence the prince of his attempted protests. "It is an act of cowardice because deep inside you, you are afraid to accept that you were not responsible for what your mother did. She made the choice to save you, just as any loving mother would do. And I believe that she would not want to see you burdened with what she did. If you are also blaming yourself for being incapable of doing anything to find her after that, remember that you were a child. You were rendered powerless by your own father, and you had to do what's best then. You sought to find the Avatar to get back to your father's good graces because you thought that it was only when he restored you to your title, only then would you be granted power sufficient enough to find your mother." Iroh took in his nephew's dumbfounded expression, and smiled.

"You thought I didn't know you thought like that, Zuko? I did. I knew you thought like that, lad. You sought not only your father's approval, but also, you wanted to be granted power, or even information to know the whereabouts of your mother. You did your best, Zuko. And your mother would have been proud of that. But she wouldn't want you to risk your own life just to find her, when it was she who made the decision to leave. Learn to forgive yourself, Zuko, for the things you couldn't do."

Zuko bowed his head." I know, Uncle— I mean I struggle to accept that," he corrected himself hastily as he saw his uncle raise an unbelieving eyebrow at him. Zuko sighed, "It's just that I have a really hard time doing it. You know, forgiving myself, that is."

His uncle nodded at him, expression filled with understanding. Iroh was about to say something when Sokka suddenly peeped into the room.

"Oh, excuse me, but my sister sent me to tell you that we're nearly there," the young boy said with a smile.

Iroh pulled himself to his feet. "Very well then," he said. "I suppose it is only proper that we go out now and greet everyone. We will be out in a moment."

Sokka bowed respectfully at the older man before scampering out into the hallway. Iroh turned to look at Zuko.

"It is time to go out now, Zuko. Come now," he coaxed his nephew, holding out an assuring hand.

Zuko took the offered hand, using it as leverage to pull himself up. Iroh gave him a pat on his shoulder before the two of them headed out.

The golden-eyed prince took in his surroundings. It was dawn, and the first rays of the sun were just peeping over the horizon. He was being given an opportunity to start his life anew, and he felt the pangs of guilt within him recede. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. I will forgive myself. It was a promise he whispered to the cool mist of a new day.

And that's it! Hope you liked it. :)
Gonna update soon.

Reviews please. They make me happy!

Love ya.
Hugs! :*