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III. The Avatar Returns - Part 3


Lian stepped into her room, prepared to get dressed. Like Azula, she had her own armor, but unlike the princess, Lian hadn't gotten hers until Zuko's banishment. Iroh had argued it was pointless for Lian to have armor, but she countered, saying she was an able body if needed, and she couldn't go racing into battle if she wasn't properly protected.

She pulled a loose dark gray elbow-length sleeved shirt over her fitted maroon long-sleeved shirt which looped around her thumbs to keep the sleeves from riding up her arm. Next was the armor, which, like Zuko's, was dark red trimmed with lighter red. The metal plates fitted across her shoulders and covered her upper arms and down to the widest portion of her ribcage.

Lian kicked off her boots to exchanged her fitted dark scarlet pants for black pants with a looser cut. She wrapped the final bit of armor—two thinly padded metal panels on a sturdy length of cloth—around her waist so the two panels, which were curved to fit her thighs, rested correctly on her leg. Once it was tied tightly around her waist, she secured the padded metal to her leg via the small leather cords that got knotted around her legs just above her knees. Finally, she stepped into black leather boots with protective gold metal plating.

She was checking she had her knives when there was a knock on her door. "We have arrived, Lian," Iroh said.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile. She brushed a loose bit of hair out of her face as she grabbed her last knife and headed to the center of the ship.

Zuko scowled when he saw her. "Aren't you going to tie up your hair properly? You look ridiculous."

She snorted. "Like you're one to talk about hair styles." Lian had always thought the way she wore her hair was much less silly-looking than Zuko's. The top half of her hair was pulled away from her face and held in place at the back of her head by a hammered gold hair piece, which wrapped around her thick hair and rested flat against her skull, instead of in a high ponytail like the prince's.

"Aren't you at least going to put on a helmet?" he snapped angrily.

Lian eyed the other soldiers standing with Zuko. "Do I have to?" she asked dryly.

"If you want to stand on solid ground, then yes," Zuko hissed, his face growing red.

"Ugh, nothing is worth wearing those ridiculous helmets," Lian huffed, her lip curling in distaste.

Zuko looked as though he wanted to argue further, but then sighed irritably. "Let's go," he grumbled.

The ramp lowered with a low hiss of steam and Zuko marched forward, six soldiers flanking him. Lian remained at the top of the ramp, tucked into the side of the mechanism, giving her a perfect view.

As they approached the tiny village, a teenage boy with a war-painted face rushed forward with a battle yell, wielding what looked like a stylized club.

Zuko easily kicked the club out of the Water Tribe teen's hand before swinging his leg around to knock the teen in the head, sending him tumbling off the side of the ramp and into a large bank of snow.

As Lian had suggested, the teenaged boy Zuko had so easily dispatched appeared to be the oldest male in the village. The next oldest minor looked to be the teen's age, maybe a year or so younger. The children clung fearfully to their mothers or aunts or grandmothers while the elders looked wary, like they had gone through this before and were just waiting for it to be over.

While Zuko approached the gathered population, the soldiers hung back. It was, after all, his mission. He studied the villagers for a long moment before approaching the teenage girl. "Where are you hiding him?" he demanded in a surprisingly restrained fashion.

However, when he was met with silence, his hand shot forward and yanked the old woman beside the teen and hauled her forward.

"He's about this age, master of all elements," he tried again. Still, nothing. He shoved the old woman back toward the girl, who glared at the prince.

With an angry yell, Zuko swept his arm in front of him, a long trail of hot flames following the path. The villagers shouted in surprise and ducked or backed away from the stream of fire.

"I know you're hiding him!" Zuko said loudly.

Lian heard the boy before she saw him, as his battle cry was far too loud to be considered stealthy. He rushed forward, wielding his club again and aiming it straight for Zuko's head. At the last second, the prince turned and ducked, sending the warrior-wannabe head-over-heels above him. As soon as he landed, Zuko fired another blast at his back. The blue-garbed teen rolled away and whipped something from his back, and as Zuko zigged out of the way, Lian saw it was a boomerang. Zuko didn't seem impressed, but Lian held back her snicker; after all, boomerangs always come back.

From the gathered village, a little boy lifted a whale-tooth spear and shouted in a his little boy way, "Show no fear!" The teen caught it and rushed Zuko again.

In a sharp move, Zuko brought his forearm up and snapped off the spearhead before snatching the shaft and poking the boy in the forehead three times with the butt of the spear, sending him back on his rear. Then, just to show he could, Zuko snapped the remaining spear shaft in half.

Something flashed in the corner of Lian's eyes and she watched as the boomerang came sailing back, knocking Zuko in the back of the head as it did. It knocked the metal helmet askew and Lian bit her lip to prevent her snickers from spilling out.

Zuko obviously wasn't amused. With a low growl, fire daggers appeared from his fists as he glared down at the fallen warrior.

Before he could strike, though, something came flying, or rather gliding, along the snow behind him, sailing between his open stance and knocking Zuko in the air. This time, Lian couldn't help but guffaw as Zuko ended up with his rear in the air, his helmet resting on his tailbone.

Her bemusement was drowned out by the cheering children as a bald-headed young teenage boy came to a stop before them. He was dressed in monk's clothes dyed burnt orange and rusty gold. He was deposited on the snow by his living sled, but he didn't look too disappointed.

"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka," he said, facing the two oldest minors in the village.

"Hi, Aang," the boy, Sokka, replied gloomily. "Thanks for comin'."

Zuko finally got to his feet and as he took a ready position, the six soldiers spread out to create a semicircle around Aang. The bald teen glanced at the soldiers briefly before swinging his wooden staff to both sides, knocking the armored men off their feet, before raising the staff above his head and bringing it down in front of him, obscuring Zuko in a cloud of snow.

When the snow finally settled again, Zuko glared at the boy, the snow that had fallen on him melting and steaming as the water evaporated.

"Looking for me?" the boy asked.

"You're the airbender?" Zuko asked in disbelief. "You're the Avatar?" While Lian herself was surprised at the revelation, she was also curious; how had the Avatar stayed a kid for one hundred years?

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter," Zuko continued as he and the Avatar began circling each other, "training, meditating. You're just a child!"

The Avatar straightened a little and quirked an eyebrow. "Well, you're just a teenager," he countered.

Zuko began throwing fire blasts his way, and each one the Avatar dissipated with his staff. As he backed up toward the villagers, they shrieked as the flames danced over their heads. He glanced over his shoulder and after the last of the embers had disappeared, he asked, "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"

For a moment, no one moved. Lian watched but could already tell what Zuko would do. The prince straightened from his fighting stance and nodded once.

Immediately, two guards approached the Avatar and began pushing him toward the ramp. The girl, Katara, said desperately, "No, Aang, don't do this!"

"Don't worry, Katara," the bald boy said calmly. "It'll be okay. Take care of Appa for me until I get back!"

Either this kid doesn't know what's going on, or he's very optimistic he can get away from Zuko, Lian thought to herself as the soldiers and Zuko turned their back to the village.

"Head a course to the Fire Nation!" Zuko ordered as he marched up the ramp. "I'm going home."

Up close, the Avatar looked even younger than Lian first thought; no older than thirteen. As they gathered in the little chamber in front of the ramp, Lian studied the Avatar. He had large brown-gray eyes and was an inch or so shorter than her. An electric blue arrow tattoo was clearly visible on his bald head.

"So, you're the Avatar," she said conversationally as they started heading for the deck of the ship.

"Uh, I guess," Aang said uneasily, eyeing the armored teenager. She wasn't wearing a helmet, and her gray eyes weren't as hard as the prince's gold ones had been, but there was still a shadowed look in her eyes that made Aang wonder what darkness she had witnessed.

Something about her, though, made Aang feel as though he could trust her. Her lips were quirked in a small smirk, as though she knew something no one else did. Despite the guarded look in her eyes, they still looked lively, as though a spark would flicker through at any moment.

"So...how did you end up on this ship?" he asked curiously.

Lian studied him for a moment before answering. "The closest thing I have to a parent is on this ship, and there was nothing for me in the Fire Nation. So, I figured there was no time like the present to explore the world."

"Is that the only reason?"

"What do you mean?" she asked sharply, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Nothing," Aang said quickly, his eyes wide. "I was just wondering."

She just hummed in response and the rest of the walk to the deck was done in silence.

Iroh was waiting for them. Lian moved past the guards to stand beside him, and Aang was immediately on edge upon learning she was somehow connected to the prince.

Zuko stood in front of them, the Avatar's wooden staff in his hands. He held it aloft and said, "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." After a beat, he said, "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."

Lian noticed the Avatar looked a little take aback by the statement, and she couldn't blame him. What did it matter if it was a monk who had raised the airbender? Iroh wasn't Lian's biological father, yet from the beginning, he cared for her as though she was his own and she wanted to make him proud, the way she would her birth father.

"Take the Avatar to the prison hold," Zuko commanded. The two soldiers standing beside Aang took hold of either of his arms and began walking him to the opening in the deck that led to the ship's inner workings.

"And take this to my quarters," he finished, shoving the staff in Iroh's hands before turning and walking toward the tower.

"Hey," Iroh said to the soldier standing next to him. "You mind taking this to his quarters for me?" he asked. Lian rolled her eyes and headed for her room.

Once she had taken off her armor, hung it up in the wardrobe, and was dressed in her usual winter garb, she sat in front of her mediation candles again. She lit the wicks and began to breath.

At one point, Lian thought she heard her door creak open, but when she turned around, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary.

Just a few moments later, though, she heard noises coming from Zuko's room that sounded suspiciously like a fight. When what sounded like a body slammed into the wall right in front of her, Lian gasped in surprise and scrambled to her feet, not bothering to put out the candles.

When she threw open her door and looked down the hall, she saw the back of the Avatar running for the stairs that led to the bridge, which resided at the top of the tower where the private rooms were situated. Zuko's door was wide open and when she peered in, she found him face down on his mattress, which was in the center of his room.

"Do you always sleep in the middle of your room?" she asked, only half kidding as she cautiously stepped into the room.

"Did you see him?!" Zuko snapped, springing to his feet. When she didn't respond immediately, he grabbed Lian by the shoulders, shaking slightly. "The Avatar! Which way did he go?!"

"The bridge!" she yelped, more startled by his sudden close proximity than the fire that burned in his golden eyes. He roughly shoved her aside and stormed out into the hall, Lian on his heels.

By the time she had her feet in the bridge, Zuko was already racing toward the observation deck. The sound of something snapping open reached her ears and Lian saw a bright orange something-or-other hang in mid-air, closely followed by the Avatar.

Zuko let out an enraged yell as he raced toward the railing of the deck. "Zuko!" Lian exclaimed in shock as the prince launched himself over the railing of the deck. Her eyes widened as he grabbed hold of the Avatar's ankle and she leaned over the railing as they crashed onto the deck, head over heels. "Spirits," she muttered.

Zuko was the first to stir, and even from a distance, Lian could tell the prince was burning holes in the Avatar's head. Both slowly got to their feet, but the prince was quick to get into a fighting stance. Lian could tell the Avatar was much more reluctant.

Before another fight (Lian assumed there had been a fight in the prince's room) could ensure, a low, loud growling reached her ears. Lian whirled around, trying to find the source, and her jaw dropped when she saw where the noise originated.

"No way..." she breathed.

Below her, Zuko looked up in confusion. "What is that?" he asked no one in particular, clearly stunned. Lian knew, though; a flying bison, which she had thought went extinct with the airbenders. But, she figured, if this Avatar had managed to stay alive for one hundred years, maybe the bison had found a way to do so as well.

"Appa!" the bald teen exclaimed happily before grunting in surprise as Zuko sent a fire blast his way.

"Zuko!" Lian yelled from the watch deck before turning and racing down to the main deck. She arrived in time to see the airbender jump onto the side of the ship in an attempt to get away from Zuko's relentless fireballs.

With one last angry fire kick, Lian watched in shock as Aang raised his arms to block his face but was sent tumbling over the side of the ship as a result.

From the flying bison, Lian heard a female voice screaming, "Aang! Aang!" but her focus was on Zuko.

"He's not...did you...do you think..."

"Spit it out!" Zuko snapped irritably.

"It can't be that easy, right?" Lian finally managed to string together. "Killing the Avatar. It shouldn't be that easy."

"What did you expect?" Zuko sneered. "I mean, you saw him; he's just a kid! What kind of damage could he do?"

Lian was about to answer when she heard the water start to ripple. A moment later, a swirling pillar of water shot up in front of the ship, and she gasped when she saw the Avatar at the top, his eyes and tattoos glowing blue-white.

Riding the funnel of water, the young teen landed on the deck before waterbending a circle of water around him, which expanded until it knocked Lian, Zuko, and the five soldiers that had joined them on deck against the railing.

Lian gasped in surprise as the ice-cold water shoved her roughly into the railing and nearly into the unforgiving water below. As it was, Lian's feet left the deck and flipped over the side. In a flash, she hooked her arm over the rail as her legs slammed painfully into the side of the ship.

The glow faded as he swayed on his feet and eventually slumped onto the deck as the large flying buffalo, Appa, landed.

"Aang!" the Water Tribe girl, Katara, exclaimed as she raced toward the bald Avatar. "Are you okay?"

"Hey, Katara," he said weakly. "Hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming."

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory," Sokka said jokingly.

Lian finally managed to throw her leg over the railing to flop rather ungracefully onto the deck. She groaned softly as she lay flat on her back, staring at the clear blue sky. Her body was simultaneously sore from being slammed into the ship's siding and numb from the polar water that had doused her before her near-dunk into the ocean below, and all she wanted to do at the moment was sleep it off.

"Ha!" she heard Sokka exclaim triumphantly. "That's for the Water Tribe!"

He must have run into Zuko, Lian thought idly.

"My Lady, are you okay?" one of the soldiers asked worriedly.

"Just moon-peachy," she sighed, leaning against the thin metal barrier that had prevented an unwanted dip in the icy waters. Once the guard was sure she was okay, he grabbed his spear and joined two other soldiers who stood against Katara.

She raised an eyebrow when she saw Katara lift the water from the deck, and the guards grew wary too. But when the young waterbender accidentally froze Sokka's feet, it confirmed what Lian suspected; with no teacher in the South due to the Fire Nation's round-up years earlier, Katara was woefully inexperienced and unequipped to fight off much more experienced soldiers.

Sensing the weakness, the soldiers advanced, only to be outsmarted by Katara when she turned her back to them and copied her previous motion, which resulted in the freezing of all three soldiers.

Not bad, Lian admitted with a tiny uplift of her lips.

"Hurry up, Sokka!" Katara exclaimed as she clambered up the giant flying beast and into the saddle. As Sokka hacked away at the ice encasing his feet with what looked to be his boomerang, he muttered, "I'm just a guy with a boomerang! I didn't ask for all this flying and magic!"

Lian watched as he finally managed to hack his way out of the ice encasing his feet before scrambling onto the large furry creature, yelling, "Yip-yip! Yip-yip!" as he did.

Angry grunts caught Lian's ears, and she turned to see Iroh helping Zuko on deck.

"Shoot them down!" the prince yelled as Lian finally got to her feet.

Iroh joined Zuko at the center of the deck. Together, they sent an enormous fire blast toward the bison, only for it to be redirected a moment later and into the side of a glacier. A glacier their ship just happened to be beside.

With the sound of rolling thunder, chunks of ice began to rain down on them.

Lian stumbled to her knees as the ship groaned to a halt as the front half of the ship got buried under the ice and snow.

Once the ship came to a grinding halt, Iroh said, "Good news for the Fire Lord," as he got to his feet. "The Fire Nation's greatest threat is just a little kid."

Lian figured he was trying to be optimistic, but she wasn't so sure.

Apparently, Zuko shared her thoughts as he said slowly, "That kid, Uncle, just did this. I won't underestimate him again." Turning to the crew on deck, he ordered, "Dig this ship out and follow them!"

Lian raised an eyebrow as she watched three soldiers set to work on defrosting their fellow guards. To their credit, they only paused briefly before returning to work.

Zuko appeared to realize what was the more pressing issue as he amended, "As soon as you're done with that," before wheeling around to Lian.

"Why didn't you stop them?!" he demanded angrily.

"Hey, I was a little too busy trying to regain the feeling in my legs thanks to a certain Avatar almost sending me overboard, which wouldn't have happened if a certain prince hadn't sent him in the water in the first place!" she snapped, glaring just as heatedly at hi. "Oh, and I'm fine, by the way! Thanks for asking!"

"Well, he might as well have knocked you over with all the good you did!" Zuko replied hotly, straightening to his full height as he lorded over Lian.

She snorted at his attempt to intimidate her and she stepped closer in defiance. "I might be on this ship, but don't think for a second you dictate what I do!" she shouted in his face. "I may not be royal by blood, but as Iroh's ward, I'm just as much a member of this messed up family as you, which means you can't expect me to do anything you tell me to!"

"Why don't Lian and I start on the ship," Iroh suggested quickly before Zuko could reply. With one final glare, Lian turned her back to Zuko and joined Iroh, who was already standing by the large snowbank.

For a while, they worked in silence. They were eventually joined by every able-bodied firebender, and the non-benders that weren't below trying to salvage what they could set to work on shoveling snow overboard.

With every available body working to clear the deck of the ice, they were done by sunset. Lian shivered violently, feeling completely drained and she doubted she could warm herself if she tried.

She tried skipping dinner and head straight for her room, but Iroh insisted a nice hot meal would warm her quicker than just climbing under some blankets.

Hanseok, Wonsoo, and Hwanmin did their best to whip up dinner for everyone. The kitchen and cook storage room had been mostly destroyed by the avalanche, as well as much of the cooking supplies.

Among the rooms damaged was the mess hall, meaning everyone was on deck for dinner. Zuko had been reluctant to join, but Iroh argued it wouldn't endear the crew to him anymore if they saw him still eating in his temperature-controlled dining room.

Lian didn't mind; she sat with Hu and Riku, huddled around one of the many small fires that had been built on the deck to help keep everyone from freezing their rears off.

Several times, she glanced over at Zuko to find him sitting by himself and barely masking the faces he made while eating the rice porridge that was dinner. Hu looked over his shoulder and chuckled.

"You should join him," he said. "He looks a little lost."

She snorted. "Yeah, like he wants to see me after what happened this afternoon."

"I'm sure he won't mind," Riku said, though Lian and Hu knew very well he didn't believe what he said.

"Fine, whatever," Lian grumbled before wraping the blanket more securely around her shoulders and getting to her feet.

Zuko glared at her as she sat across from him. "What are you doing here?" he snapped.

Lian raised an eyebrow. "If you want, I can go back to Hu and Riku and you can go back to looking foolish."

The scowl Zuko sent her was fierce, but he seemed to realize she was right and went back to staring at his bowl. As Lian continued to eat, Zuko glanced up at her with a grimace.

"How are you eating this?" he asked. "It's disgusting."

Lian debated snapping at him but decided to take the diplomatic approach (for once). "Just because it doesn't have the usual spices of palace meals doesn't mean it's disgusting," she argued politely. "It's gingery and warm and delicious. Besides," she added in a quieter tone, "it reminds me of home."

Zuko did a double-take; he knew Lian wasn't from the Capital, wasn't even the daughter of a diplomat or officer or anyone with a title, but he had never learned where she was from. She never talked about her life before Iroh and the palace or how Iroh had found her in the first place.

"And where is home?" Zuko asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.

Lian glanced up at him, as though trying to figure out if he was being genuine, before returning her gaze to her bowl. "Just a tiny island north of the main island," she shrugged.

"Try me," Zuko said. "I am the Prince of the Fire Nation."

"So?" Lian asked, raising an eyebrow, but not in a challenging or antagonistic way.

"It means I probably know every island that makes up the Fire Nation," he said with an uncharacteristic grin.

She rolled her eyes but nodded and answered, "Hongju." When Zuko hesitated, Lian smirked. "Told you it was a tiny island no one's heard of."

"Give me a second!" Zuko exclaimed, half-heartedly sending a little puff of flames her way.

Lian was suddenly reminded of how young Zuko was. It had been a while since she had seen him smile and laugh genuinely, and without the scowl narrowing his eyes and with the lightness of looking happy reflected in his eyes, he looked like a care-free sixteen-year-old instead of an angry middle-aged man who looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Ah-ha!" Zuko said happily, clapping his hands triumphantly and shaking Lian from her thoughts. "Hongju! Known for their unique small red flowers!"

Lian couldn't help but chuckle at how proud Zuko looked with himself. "Yes, you figured out that the tiny island I'm from is most well-known for its flora," she said, only slightly sarcastically.

After lapsing into a companionable silence, Lian was pleasantly surprised when Zuko started up the conversation again, especially considering what had transpired earlier on deck. They discussed mundane topics and she was shocked at just how normal she felt in that moment.

She wasn't the Fire Lord's outsider pseudo-niece. Zuko wasn't the banished crown prince searching for his honor. They weren't currently sitting on the deck of a ship in the middle of the South Pole, freezing their rears off because of an unfortunate run-in with the Avatar.

They were just two normal teenagers having a normal meal and a normal conversation.


Author's Note: This is by far the longest chapter so far. Hope you liked it!

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or criticism, please, let me know! I'd love to hear what you think and feel and have to say.

Also, do you guys like having official chapter titles? (ie, more than just "Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc) Let me know! Because I currently have no title past this one...

Until next time.