FOUR AVATARS: Banishment
~Growing~

Two Year Later…

Lu Ten enjoyed playing with his little cousin, who tended to be very sweet. The boy had a glow about him that his Uncle didn't have, so Lu Ten had constantly wondered how Ozai and Zuko could be related. On the other hand… speaking with Aunt Ursa, it was not so much a surprise as the toddler took after his mother.

Lu Ten was not however happy about the factors behind the whole situation that was going on right now. Ursa was having her second child and while Ozai had been completely distant during the pregnancy of the first child, he seemed to be putting all measure into this one.

He held the tolders hands as he helped him walk across the grounds. If Ozai had something to say, he would say that the first born of his was being coddled. "Ozai… he cares nothing about Zuko… but cares everything about this babe he shall name after grandfather… even if it is a girl… this makes no sence."

"A lot of things make no sense Prince Lu Ten," came a voice. Lu Ten glanced over his shoulder and paled. He bowed and forced Zuko into a bow, only to have the child giggle.

"Appogies Fire Lord Azulon… I did not see you… I also did not mean to call the other royalties without their titles…"

"Lu Ten…" the man said, startling the boy. "There are times for titles and there are times there are not. Tell me… what do you think of the way that Ozai treats Zuko?"

"Zuko is a very strong child. I don't understand how after he has proven that he will live that he can be shoved aside. Father didn't do this to me…"

"Your father also had only one child… he was lucky…" the man commented.

"But… no… I've never…"

"Speak your mind Lu Ten. I promise that I will not punish,"

"Can I call you grandfather then when I feel I need to speak something that is more… how to put it…"

"More of a curiosity then a challenge… it may actually make it sound less like a challenge so I allow it,"

"I've never seen you care about anyone… do you care about anyone… like father cares about me?" the boy asked.

"Yes… I just can't show it as I am Fire Lord… do you think it is the same for your Uncle… his rank gets in the way of what he shows?"

"No… it doesn't…" the boy commented. "Something is off… something Uncle did not tell me when…"

"What did your father tell you," the man commented.

"To stay by Aunt's side when she was going to have Zuko… that Uncle Ozai was upset that the baby might be born weak… but Zuko is strong now… why can't he… why is it that …"

"If what your father said was true that he still acts the way he does?" the old man smiled. "The answer is your father loves his brother and did not wish to falsely accuse him, but felt he had reason to be worried. Do you think that Zuko will be able to Firebend? The tutors say no as he is a weak child still… or is that Ozai convincing them not to push the child?"

"Well…" Lu Ten suddenly smiled. "Can I show you Zuko's new trick… if I can get him to do it?"

"What exactly is this trick?" his grandfather asked.

"Uncle says it didn't happen, but," Lu Ten went and found a ticklish length of plant and began to tickle his cousin's nose. Suddenly he let out a sneeze and also let out small jets of steam as he did so. "But see… it happened again… he wouldn't be able to do that if he wasn't a Firebender…"

"Should we take it slow though with him?" His grandfather asked. "Most children… show their ability differently…"

"I guess…" the boy muttered. "But why…"

"So that Zuko doesn't worry your Uncle… perhaps he thinks that Zuko is still weak… but I will see that he begins breathing lessons… as much as a two year old can…"

Three years later…

Zuko was not happy with the fact that Azula was getting further lessons then he was. He knew he was struggling, but it wasn't fare that his sister was more advance then him. She had made her first fire ball at the age of a year old. Thus she had begun her lessons pretty much along side of him and was now beyond him.

He was struggling so much that he was having problems sleeping. Of course, Azula… who could also talk very well for a three year old had a way of scaring him when he tried to sleep. Thus he hadn't stayied up to play with Lu Ten, who had come back from is training for the war… the older boy was going to be sent away into the war soon. Which was the other thing… Zuko didn't want his cousin to have left a year ago and he felt he had been abandoned.

Lu Ten thus decided to check in on the younger prince as he felt it was his duty. He hadn't gotten to the younger boys room when he saw the boy walking down the hall way to the gardens. "Zuko…"

When there was no response, Lu Ten rolled his eyes. "I see you're sleep walking."

He went after the boy walking softly as he did so. The garden was lit with the glow of lanturns, as Aunt Ursa like it to be kept. He watched as the boy stopped and work at manipulating the fire in his sleep, though it only fluttered slightly. He saw the frustration on the boys face.

It was then that Zuko changed the way he was moving, unexpectedly. Lu Ten let out a chuckle. "That's a Water Bender stance silly!"

But then Lu Ten found his jaw dropping. The fire was moving exactly like water. And it wasn't that, but the water was rising out of the fountain behind the boy. "No… it can't… Zuko!"

Zuko's eyes began to lose their glaze and the water began to come crashing down. Lu Ten quickly moved and knocked the boy into the fountain. He heard the boy splutter. "Zuko… you were sleep walking!"

Zuko looked at the boy for a few seconds. "My name isn't Zuko… it's Kuzon… Kuzon!"

"No… its…" Lu Ten blinked a couple of times. The name of the dead Fire Avatar had been Kuzon. "Kuzon… as in the second Avatar."

Zuko blinked a couple of times. "I am not the Fire Avatar… I am horrible at Firebending… and… my name is Zuko."

"Then why did you…" Lu Ten said… realizing that Zuko's mind was half awake. "What exactly were you doing?"

"I was looking for Aang… I don't know who Aang is… who's Aang?" the boy pouted.

"I don't know… let's get you out of these wet clothes and into some dry ones.

… Iroh's Office…

Iroh was home for a couple of weeks to gather some information when Lu Ten came in and closed the door. "There was something that you aren't telling me about Zuko and his birth… isn't there."

"Nothing you need to worry about," Iroh said.

"Not unless I found out somehow what the secret is…" the boy muttered. "Did you know that he's bending fire as if it was water… and he's bending water at the same time."

"You must have been seeing things,"

"As he was sleep walking he called himself Kuzon… when he half woke up… and said he was looking for his friend Aang… I'm not daft… you've known since Zuko was born… before… haven't you."

Iroh turned his sad eyes onto his son. "I also think that your Uncle is the one that killed the Fire Avatar… thus when it ended up messed up like it was… he was reborn as Zuko… and it seems that unlike the other Avatar cycle states… that Zuko and Kuzon are exactly the same person…"

"I don't… Uncle… how can he be reborn into this cycle… shouldn't he be reborn as an Airbender?"

"Your uncle messed with something that he wasn't supposed to have… obviously Kuzon was not in either the Avatar state, but he wasn't in a non-Avatar state… as if there was something more…"

"Does Grandfather know?"

"Yes and no… he's choosing to ignore what I told him when Zuko was born… hopefully this can be kept secret for awhile longer…"

"I promise without even being asked," Lu Ten bowed to his father. "I am now heading to bed."

"Good night my son…"

Author's note – All right… since one reviewer insists… Aang is going to be paired with Toph… though it will be awhile…