A/N: this chapter is kind of short, sorry. (school is a pain in the... rear.) oh, and I'm looking for a better name for this story. suggestions and opinions are welcome.
Disclaimer: why do you insist on reminding me? I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Zuko looked up at the young woman who identified him. How did she know? He looked at her eyes and knew. She was from the Fire Nation, she should know her ex-prince.
The soldiers grip tightened, but Zuko didn't care. He didn't care about anything anymore. His emotions were drained and his will was fading.
The girl came over to him, he expected to be yelled at or hit. She knelt down and lifted his face. He looked into her eyes there was sympathy, but no pity. She didn't look at him with hate or disgust, like most people did.
"You shouldn't be here Prince Zuko. Your destiny lies down a different path." she whispered, so that he was the only one that could hear it. He thought he recognized her from somewhere, but where?
She stood and looked at Rea, "It's your call."
"Lock him up." Rea ordered, and they took Zuko away. Rea turned to her, "I thought you were against the Fire Nation."
"I'm against the Fire Lord. The Fire Nation itself isn't evil."
"But that's his son."
"You don't know how he got his scar, do you?"
"No, I don't." he paused, "You do?" she nodded, "How?"
"His father." she turned to walk away; but before she did, she said, "I have something in common with Prince Zuko. Our fathers left us both with deep scars," and with that she left, following the soldiers back to the prison.
-----
Zaira was standing in the Wardens study, along with Rea and a few soldiers. The warden was thinking about what they were gong to do with the Fire Lord's son. Zaira stepped forward.
"I won't let you hurt him." she stated firmly.
"You won't let us?" the Warden asked.
"No, I won't. that young man is the Fire Nation's only hope, and I'm not going to let you destroy that." she turned and left the study. She walked to Zuko's cell, "Let me in." she ordered the guard.
He looked at her, startled by the fierceness in her voice. "I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to let anyone in."
"Let me in." she said dangerously.
The guard looked around nervously. Trying to decide what was worse, her wrath or the Wardens. He finally figure that what the Warden doesn't know won't hurt him. "Alright."
He unlocked the door and she entered the cell. Zuko hung almost limply in the chains that held him firmly against the wall. He looked up at her, and she bowed. "Prince Zuko. I am Zaira, daughter of ex-commander Odol."
He was a little surprised, no one had shown him this much respect in a long time. A thought in the back of his mind said, why does that sound familiar? but he ignored it.
"I'm just Zuko now." he hung his head.
"You can't change who you are. It's better to accept it and move on, than deny it."
He smiled a little in dark humor, "You sound like my uncle."
"I take that as a complement. General Iroh is a great man, full of wisdom and love." Zuko squeezed his eyes shut. Shame and anger filled him.
"He was."
"He isn't dead yet." Zaira pointed out.
"But he will be. I ensured that."
"It's not to late to fix things."
"Yes it is."
"No, there is a way. It may be difficult, but it would be worth it."
"Why do you care?"
She sighed, "You've had a hard life, everyone has. This war has hurt many people, and it's about time it stopped. I'm doing my part, you need to step up and do yours." then she added an afterthought, "Your uncle lost his son, will he lose you too?" she left him to think about what she said.
-----
"Rea!"
He turned around, "what is Zaira?"
"I need to know. Do you trust me?"
"I trust you."
Zaira smiled, "good."
A/N: well that's it for chapter 3! I should be updating soon, but I'm not promising anything.
I would like to thank my reviewers,
FireChildSlytherin5
fireart
Luiz4200
TwilightRose2
and aniek90
Thank you! I love seeing alerts in my e-mail and you all made my day(s) brighter.
now to the rest of you; please review!
