Little Tsu: Ok, so this is the next update, buuut...Well, it was completed a while before I was able ta get it up. Reason bein'?

...I moved & had no net access. Whoopieee...=.="

Anyways, I used that time ta get a few updates on active stories typed up & also possibly a few one-shots or new multi chaps. In any case, here's the next chap of my ATLA story. Enjoy.

Ch:3

Things happen for a reason...So why did he feel like that his decision had been the wrong one?

The Avatar was dead. He was finally able to return home. This time without being tricked by his sister as a lie when he was actually being arrested that one time. Yet despite how happy a part of him was at the thought of finally returning home after over three years,...another part of him was guilty and crushed at the fact that he had taken this path...Had chosen to take out the Avatar with his sister, Azula and in the process of it all,...turn his back on his uncle;...the very man that had stood by his side through his entire banishment.

...The man who,...as it slowly dawned on him the closer he got back to the Fire Nation Capital,...had been more of a father to him than his own.

Sighing softly to himself as he laid there on his back with his hands resting behind his head, he gazed up at the ceiling within his sleeping quarters on the ship. This was his last night before he would beable to sleep in his own bed once again. He would finally set foot on Fire Nation soil by mid morning, yet as he tried to get some rest, he found that he couldn't. Zuko had too much on his mind and his thoughts raced with what all had happened back in Ba Sing Se that night. Betraying his uncle and the trust of that Water Tribe girl, the sight of Azula striking down the Avatar in the end with her lightningbending while he had been within the Avatar State,...the sight of the overall chaos taking place as he had actually chosen his sister's side and his nation over the trust and love that his uncle had given him endlessly up till now.

A light knock at the metal door drew him out of his thoughts as Zuko slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position when the door slowly opened to reveal his visitor. The sight before him caused his molten gold eyes to soften faintly from their usually hardened or frustrated state. "Sheon..."

Standing there at the doorway while fidgeting slightly was in fact the very girl that he had found again after she went missing years ago. She was dressed in a simple dark red nightgown that showed her slender arms and halted at her knees. He almost thought that her nervousness was because he was currently without a shirt, thus merely in a pair of baggy black sleep pants, but he knew better than that. Zuko knew that her nervousness was due to being back on a Fire Nation ship and on course back to the very nation she had run away from...The nation who thought her to have been dead for four years now. As she finally brought her uneasy amethyst gaze to lock with his own, the older teen knew what she was silently asking and sighed softly to himself before shifting in the bed to make room for the smaller girl.

In an instant, Sheon had closed the distance between them and crawled into the bed with the young prince after she had closed the door behind her. Curling up onto her side, the young firebender revealed just how tiny she was in comparrison to Zuko as he too laid back down and wrapped an arm awkwardly around her waist so that they would both be comfortable and so Sheon would feel at least a tiny bit safer. With her head resting upon his chest and an arm resting along his front as well, she gently closed her eyes as she tried to allow herself to calm down and drift to sleep; the sound of Zuko's heartbeat and the warmth of his body helping a good bit. That is, till he spoke up anyways.

"Do you...think I made the right decision Sheon?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, do you think I made the right choice with all of this? I betrayed my uncle's trust. I allowed the Avatar to be killed and that caused any chance of this war ending well for the other nations to be crushed...All just so I could get back on my father's good side and beable to return home..."

Hearing the conflicted tone in his voice, Sheon lifted her head as she propped up the top half of her body up on the lower half of her right arm. Tilting her head down to glance at him, she noticed the confliction within his gaze and twisted onto his overall features as well. A small, worried frown marred her delicate features at this before lifting her free hand that had been resting on his chest and stomach and brushed her best friend's bangs out of his eyes gently with her fingertips. This action had caused Zuko to instinctively reach out in an instant with his own free hand and grasp onto her tiny wrist on reflex when she got too close to his scar. Noticing this, she sighed softly and gave him a weak little smile. "I can't really decide for you on whether it was the right path or not to take Prince Zuko...That's gonna have to be something you learn through this experience...But...in my opinion,...I think it was a bad path to choose."

"Then why?...Why did you come with me? Why did you take my side in all this rather than try to help Uncle or even attempt to protect the Avatar so he wouldn't be killed by Azula?" He was honestly curious. This had been one of the things that bothered Zuko and swam through his mind; making him unable to get any rest. The tiny fire brand of a girl within his bed confused him despite her being his closest friend. Her reasons behind her own choices had always confused him even as kids before she vanished. Despite how open and friendly she was, at the same time, she was closed off and almost a mystery.

Remaining silent for a moment as she was asked this, the small girl seemed actually hesitant in replying. Sighing softly to herself, Sheon finally sat up fully and turned her back to him as she turned her head to stare out of the circular window that revealed the open sea and the slightly cloudy night sky. At the feel of the bed shifting, she knew that Zuko had sat up himself and most likely held a look of confusion still, but also worry. After another moment of thick silence, Sheon finally turned her gaze up at him as she smiled sweetly. "I told you when we were little, didn't I? I'm loyal to you Prince Zuko..."

As she said this, Zuko's mind seemed to slip off to the time she had said that to him. The day before she left on the mission that she never returned from...

{Flashback; 4yrs ago}

"Stupid Azula! She's always ruining everything. It's not fair!" Flopping himself backwards, the young thirteen-year-old prince landed on his back in the garden that the Fire Nation Palace had. It was the area where he often spent feeding the turtle ducks with his mother or Azula spent playing with her two friends, Ty Lee and Mai. Luckily his irritating little sister wasn't around. Instead, she had embarrassed him yet again in front of their father, causing the Fire Lord to scold him once again. At the memory of not even an hour ago, he clenched his eyes tightly shut as he tried to calm himself and keep the frustrated tears at bay. It was times like this that he wished his mother was still here, but she had been gone for a while now.

"You don' look too good. Something on your mind Prince Zuko?"

The sudden voice caused Zuko to jolt in startlement as his eyes shot open quickly and sat up just as fast as he glanced around. His startled gaze soon landed on a tiny girl that was four years his junior with just passed shoulder length tan hair that was up in a ponytail on the left side of her head and deep amethyst eyes that would put the gem itself to shame. Instead of yelling at this girl to go away though, he just calmed back down and sighed softly to himself as he turned his head away from her and brought his gaze towards the lush green grass around them. "What are you doing here Sheon?"

The nine-year-old shook her head lightly and walked over to the older boy's side before plopping herself down near him. "I came to find you. I mean, you usually only come here anymore when something's on your mind or you're upset or mad." Her gaze then became sympathetic towards his sudden silence as she took a guess on what was wrong. After all, it was usually one of the main reasons he came here. "...Azula did something to you again, didn' she?" The faint flinch was all she needed to see to know that she had hit the mark with this one. Sighing softly, Sheon shook her head before leaning forward and tilting her head to the side to try and get Zuko to look at her. "Hey, look at me, kay?"

Zuko seemed very hesitant on this, but did as he was requested as he slowly shifted his head a bit and brought his upset golden gaze to lock with her own sympathetic ones. It wasn't that he would just listen to anyone though and when he got those sort of looks, he would get angry and yell; hating that anyone would pity him. However, this girl was different. She didn't pity him; she was simply worried about him. The small girl before him was his only true friend.

When she got his attention, she offered him a faint smile before reaching out and resting her hand over his own slightly larger one. "Don' let what the prissy princess does or says bother you Prince Zuko. I mean, who cares if she's a 'protigy'? Her personality stinks way worse than Uncle's feet after a very long day." At the comparrison that she used, she giggled softly when she saw that she got Zuko to finally crack a smile and laugh a bit. "But seriously though Prince. You have nothing to worry about, kay? Azula may be more skilled with her bending now, but you'll become better than her after more practice and you're the one that's next in line to becoming Fire Lord; not the Princess of Boar-q-pines herself."

Chuckling a bit at this, Zuko sighed softly before giving a small smile for Sheon's sake. The girl before him was almost always busy with her own training and work, yet she still made time for him to spend with or cheer him up. It made him grateful that he had such a good friend living within the palace even though she was neither royalty nor a noble. However, as he thought about this, something got him curious. "Sheon, you're always helping me out even though you have your own problems...Why?...Why are you always trying to look out for me?"

Blinking slightly in surprise towards this, she soon smiled brightly up at him as her eyes gently closed in a cheerful manner. "Cause you're my friend, silly. I'll always be loyal to you Prince Zuko and be there no matter what. I don' care about Princess Azula or Fire Lord Ozai. You're the one I really follow and that's all there is to it...That's how it'll always be till the day I die..."

{End Flashback}

Coming back out of his thoughts once more, Zuko brought his gaze back down at his friend, only to find that she had actually laid back down and was even fast asleep. Eyes softening at the sight of this, he lifted a hand and hesitantly reached out as she brushed a few strands of her mid thigh length hair, which was out of their usual pigtails, out of her delicate face. Just by looking at her, it was impossible to believe that she was their nation's weapon. She was such a kind and innocent looking girl, yet within that body held incredibly deadly skill as a fire and lightningbender; a special one whose bending was black due to being born on the day of the black sun.

Sighing softly to himself, Zuko carefully laid back down as well and turned over onto his side to face the soundly sleeping young teen as an arm draped itself over her tiny waist and pulled her in closely as he held her protectively against him. Feeling her stir slightly, but not awaken as she merely snuggled her face against his chest and murmered his name sleepily, he slowly relaxed completely as his eyes gently closed; allowing sleep to finally take him as well.

Whether his decision had been a bad one or not, he would let things take its course no matter where any of his future decisions led him. One thing he knew of for sure though no matter what choices he made from here on out...He knew that Sheon would be right there with him through it all...

To Be Continued.

Little Tsu: Well, that's the end of that chapter. Hope it wasn' too bad, though I admit, that I liked the little flashback I added in this chapter. It was a cute, heartwarmin' moment between Zuko & Sheon from before she vanished & when they were kids still & close friends.

Anyways, R&R people & I'll see ya in the next installment when I have time ta get ta it. .