Summary: "Don't be afraid of standing in the shadows Zuko." His mother had said. Follow Zuko as he grows up to do just that by discovering that there is more to Agni's gift than blasting fire. Will he through his eyes as the Blue Spirit be able to see the world as it really is and accept the truth about the Fire Nation? Will he eventually join the Avatar and his friends on their mission? Au.

Beta: Doesn't have one. Please let me know if I have made any really big mistakes. Thanks. If you are interested in helping out, please PM me.

Hello everyone! You are lucky, I got bored and started writing… a whole chapter in one go. It is even longer! That never happened before lol.

Thank you all so much for your great reviews! I'm so happy that you enjoy the story so far! Anyway, I got a question about how far I will follow the canon. In the beginning I will skip to different well known scenes and show the way Zuko is changing until he makes a certain decision that will make sure the Canon – at least Zuko's one – is disrupted. I will keep it my little secret for now, but I will not to make it too far in the future.

Enough babbling! Here is next chapter! We continue to follow Zuko faces the Avatar and Zhao and is confronted with a thought that will be a turning point in the future.

Hope you enjoy! R&R!

Chapter 7: Escaping Capture

I've been searching

I've been living

For tomorrows all my life

~Into the Shadows, the Rasmus~

~ Southern Water Tribe ~

Zuko stared at the child in front of him. Of all the things he had been expecting. From a powerful ancient man to a younger looking but just as powerful one, this had not been it. As a child he had been taught that the Avatar would do everything to stop the Fire Nation from accomplishing their mission of uniting all the nations and creating peace.

That he was a bitter old man that could not be swayed and would kill every Firebender in his sight. Even though Zuko had figured out that those stories were exaggerating, he had believed the notion that the Fire Nation would have to defeat the Avatar since he could not be an ally.

However… looking at the child in front of him, the wheels Zuko's mind suddenly started spinning. That child in front of him was what? Ten? Eleven? Twelve?

Surely the kid in front of him could still be shown that they followed the righteous path. If he were to stand by them, it would go so much easier. Less violence, fewer battles, no more bloodsheds.

Of course, there was only a part of Zuko's brain that was thinking this over and mostly ignored by the conscious part of his brain. Said conscious part was itching to just attack the kid, knock him out and take him with him.

But still…

"You are the Avatar?" He questioned the kid, trying to keep his incredibility out of the sentence but not really managing to do so.

"Yeah."

He saw his men take a few steps towards the kid who guardedly backed away from them, his staff ready to protect the people behind him, as if they would attack them at any second. Zuko mentally screamed at himself. Why did they always keep doing that? He was not freaking planning to hurt anyone!

Zuko held up his hand to stop them and glared at the 'Avatar' before him.

"You are just a child."

The boy actually seemed surprised by that statement. "Yeah well, you are just a teenager."

Zuko's eye twitched in annoyance. He couldn't see himself as a young teenager. He had been forced to grow up too fast. Ever since he had gotten the title of Crown Prince, the responsibilities that had weighed down on him – which he had tried to carry as honourably as he could – didn't allow him to be a mere teenager. Especially after the burni- accident he had grown up too fast.

Still the Avatar had a point. He was, after all, physically a teenager. He desperately kept himself from lashing out at the kid. His temper was flaring and the child was getting on his nerves. Breathing out a little bit of fire to calm his inner flame, he studied the small boy in front of him. The arrow confirmed that he was indeed the Avatar… or should be.

Could it be that the kid was one of the few survivors that had been hiding somehow? No that would be impossible. The Fire Nation had been very careful to wipe out everyone – which had disgusted Zuko when he looked at the remains that had been left behind in all those temples that he had visited.

So disgusted that he nearly felt slightly ashamed to be Fire Nation himself, but he quickly squashed that feeling.

He was not a traitor. No he wasn't and it was his duty to bring the Avatar to his father.

Upon the sight of him breathing out some fire, the boy had settled himself in a fighting stance. Once more annoyed with the fact that the boy automatically assumed that breathing out a little bit of fire was an invitation for fighting, he grudgily settled into one himself. He would not keep his guard open in front of the Avatar of all people… however… harmless he might look.

"I want you to come with me." He spoke up.

"Why?"

He actually paused. Did he want to talk to the child? Did he want to show him the Will of Fire? Would it be easier than just capturing him?

"I want to talk with you and I want you to talk with my father." He eventually answered. His father surely would see that the child in front of him could be an ally right?

'Of course he won't'

'He will.'

His other voice sighed at him, but he ignored it.

"Aang don't! He wants to capture you!" A female voice shouted at them.

The young boy turned towards a girl into the crowd. She had the appearance of a typical water tribe girl with her dark skin and blue eyes. The warm blue clothes that kept them warm in the cold. She whore her hair back and had a loopy at each side on her face each held together by a blue bead.

"He wants to talk!" He shouted back.

"Don't believe him! He's Fire Nation!" The Water Tribe 'warrior' shouted to the so-called 'Aang' and Zuko's temper flared dangerously.

Being from the Fire Nation did not make him a liar! His hands caught fire as he lost control of his anger. This was his ticket to be able to go home! He would not let some peasant Watar Tribe girl ruin that!

Unfortunately for him, the Avatar saw his actions as confirmation and swirled his staff to defend himself with a gust of wind. Before Zuko realised what was happening they were fighting. Well to Zuko it was more like sparring but as he actually liked to see what the Avatar was able to do he didn't stop.

"I do not wish to fight you." He stated halfway through their 'spar' but the kid seemed too busy evading his flames to pay attention to him.

He was very disappointed when the Avatar could barely fight back against one of his fire blasts. A few frightened screams got him out of his thought and he automatically cancelled his fire. He didn't want to hurt anyone.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. Come with me." He let the word slip through his mouth, realising only after he had said it how much it sounded like a threat.

Still it did the trick. The Avatar paused and straightened.

"If I come with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"

Zuko relaxed his posture, feeling relieved that he was coming with him. He nodded at the young boy and gestured two of his guard to guide the child back to the ship as he turned around. He kept his ears open for any sounds of struggle, but was relieved when he didn't hear any. At least not those that came from the Avatar.

"No Aang don't do this!" The Water Tribe girl yelled after the boy.

"Don't worry Katara. It will be ok."

"Take care of Appa for me until I get back." Zuko's eyes narrowed at that sentence but ignored it in favor of shouting out a sentence to his men that he had wanted to say for a long – long – time.

"Head course to the Fire Nation. I'm going home."

Home.

A weight was lifted of his shoulder as he said that. Standing on the deck, he took the boy's staff from the soldier in front of him. He could see that it was a valuable object to the boy with the way he kept checking on it. His thoughts flashed back a young boy that he had reunited with his teddy bear once. It had been the last thing he had from his family.

He also remembered his own dagger. He didn't want to take away something precious from the kid.

However it was still a weapon. He would make sure to return it to him later… eventually. He glared at the boy in front of him, unsure of what action to take.

"Take him to the prison hold for now, make sure to keep an eye on him at all times."

The two guards turned around to walk away, but he stopped one of them for a moment as the other kept walking with the Avatar. "When you are done make sure to prepare the third guest room near the prison hold and move him there. I do not want you to hurt him understood? Make sure to lock it for the time being and stand guard when you are ready. I will be there in half an hour."

The soldier bowed at him and hurried after his partner.

Zuko watched them leave with a sense of foreboding. Were two guards enough? They were one of his best…He let out a frustrated sigh and turned around. Why was he feeling still so conflicted when he had finally got the Avatar and he could go home?

He struggled of the feeling and entered the tower on his ship.

He held out the staff for his uncle to see. "I will put this in my quarters." He said, his mind wandering back to all those times that he had seen people with their treasured objects. He thought back to his own dagger. He frowned and looked down at the staff. Should he have said something about giving it back?

Ah well, he would tell the young Avatar when he would visit him. There wasn't much that could go wrong in a half hour right?

~ Not so much time later ~

Hell no!

He lunged after the boy.

The Avatar could not escape! He had to get home! "Stop running away!" He growled at the boy.

"You were going to hold me prisoner!" The boy yelled at him, actually sounding scarred.

"I was not! It is simply a procedure!" He yelled at the boy, making sure that the door was locked he tried to keep the young boy away from the staff but it was quite difficult when the kid was spinning around him like he did. It nearly made him dizzy.

If only he would just stop!

Unfortunately the boy wasn't listening to him.

"You took away my staff!" The boy kept yelling at him and continued spinning around on this ball of air around the room.

"I was going to give it ba-" The air in his lungs left him as he was suddenly propelled into the wall by a gust of wind.

The Avatar had managed to slip past him and get his staff.

Shit.

Feeling the mat under him move, Zuko managed to roll of his bed and land on his feet just in time to prevent him from hurting his head. Unfortunately for him, the boy had already opened the door and fled.

A whole day of having his control over his emotions being pressured, Zuko finally lost it and saw red.

He was not going to lose his ticket home!

Growling angrily he chased after the Avatar.

Which was how he found himself fighting the boy on the deck. He slowly closed in on the boy so he would be able to restrain him to stop this useless fighting. Unfortunately for him the boy kept backing away, even going as far as standing on the railing of the deck. That boy really didn't know how to be aware of one's surroundings yet.

It was only through this way that he saw the eyes of the boy widen in fright as he leaned too far back over the railing. Zuko's eyes widened and he lunged forward.

These waters were freezing. No one would survive in it for long.

Running towards the boy, he lunged over the railing himself as the boy fell backward and he was just in time to turn around and lock his legs on the railing. He gritted his teeth in pain and managed to grab the boy's collar with two hands just in time. He heard the boy gasp in fright before they both stilled, Zuko shaking ever so slightly as his muscles protested.

"Stop this foolish behaviour Avatar!" He growled at him.

In the background he heard a familiar female voice yell out to the avatar. He glanced towards the sky and his eyes widened in surprise at the… beast that was flying in the air.

"Aang!"

Said boy started struggling in his hold.

"Avatar!" Zuko growled at him. "Stop this now! Avatar!" That damn boy wasn't listening to him!

He glanced back to deck, wondering why nobody was helping him. "Avatar, stop struggling! We can't fall into the water!"

It could kill them if they wouldn't get help fast enough. He didn't think his fire was strong enough to keep them both warm enough.

"My name is Aang!"

Huh what? The firebender glanced down at the Avatar and his eyes widened with shock as the Avatar's eyes started glowing and the wind around him became even stronger. He saw the water under them starting to rise against the ship, making it sway dangerously to the side.

Holy shit!

"Stop it!" Zuko growled at him, feeling himself starting to slip and, though it was surely going to bruise, clamped himself even harder around the railing.

He tried to hold the collar with one hand to pull himself up, but it wasn't working.

"Fools! Get a hold of me already!" He ordered loudly and finally head some hurried movement as said 'fools' quickly followed his order.

Feeling a couple of hands grab his legs, Zuko allowed himself to relax ever so slightly. That was until he suddenly felt something pull the boy he was holding. He let out a surprised yell as suddenly he too was pulled along with the Avatar who was now submerged by a tube of water.

His soldiers lost hold of him and he was pulled into the tube, only to end up completely disorientated. He kept his firm grip on the Avatar, knowing that if he were to let go, it wouldn't be pretty.

But damn the water was cold!

They both shot up and –luckily - landed on the deck. Zuko winched, as he was unable to catch himself to land without hurting himself. Backing away from the avatar - he was dangerous – he readied himself to fight.

He quickly warmed himself the best he could.

He narrowed his eyes at the water that was swirling around the boy. He crouched down low when a sudden wave of water threw him back, knowing better than to stand at such height near a railing - he had learned that the hard way. His back hit the side of the railing but he didn't fall off, so he counted himself lucky.

Groaning, he staggered back to his feet, watching in sight awe as the beast he had spotted in the air moments ago landed on his deck. Two water tribe teenagers climbed down and ran towards the fallen figure of the avatar.

"No!" He couldn't let them get away. His eye caught a familiar wooden object not far from him. Yes he could use that! He crouched down to pick the thing up, but was suddenly tackled to the side. That pathetic warrior boy from earlier had caught him of guard. Still, Zuko was very good at improvising.

He rolled back on his feet, taking the boy with him even as he stood up. Eventually he ended up behind the boy, holding the staff before the teenagers throat, ready to cut of his air supply. Not that he would start chocking the teen but he needed to restrain that annoying peasant.

"Stop getting in my way!" He growled at the boy, steam coming out of his nose as he breathed out.

He pushed the teenager way and was about to knock the boy out when suddenly the floor beneath them was frozen.

"Katara!" The teenager in front of him complained and quickly started hitting the ice with his boomerang. Zuko glowled out in frustration and looked behind him to find the source. That annoying Water Tribe girl was a waterbender! His eyes narrowed as three of his men were frozen.

In the mean time the ice on his feet had nearly melted and he could already move one foot. Unfortunately he had underestimated this 'Sokka's' skills at destroying the ice under his feet and suddenly lost grip of the staff that he had in his hands.

He let out an angry yell as he saw the Avatar and his friends take off with that… huge flying bison beast.

"Zuko?" So Uncle decided to finally grace them with his presence?

Argh he could just-!

"We have to stop them!" He yelled at the man. He would be angry with the retired General later. His eyes quickly took in the scene before him and the possible reactions they would get. His eyes took note of the large ice mountain on the right.

"Aim to the left!"

Zuko and Iroh went through the proper kata and launched a fireball.

The prince's eyes widened as he saw the Avatar swing his staff to blow he fireball away. He could see where this was going. The figure of the Avatar jumped up and swung the fireball away from them. It a small ice mountain on the left – luckily the Avatar hadn't thrown it to the right.

However, he saw the snow on the left ice mountain started to move.

"Again!" He called out and went through the movements once more. He needed more energy! He could not let it destroy him ship. So thinking quickly he tried to channel as much heat from the air around him – there wasn't much in this cold climate - into his fire to counteract the small falling iceberg.

The even larger fireball met the snow and a lot of steam and water formed. Their way was blocked, but the ship was not damaged too badly.

Zuko glared at the flying bison as the children laughed at him as they flew away. He gritted his teeth and turned around angrily. Being polite didn't work with the kid. Those peasants had already hypnotised him.

Fine. He would just have to capture him instead – this time with force if necessary.

"Clear the way and follow them!" He ordered his crew. Seeing that three of his soldiers were still frozen he stopped himself from unfreezing them himself. Their friends were already helping out and he needed to keep his image as the Prince.

A Prince wasn't supposed to do that kind of nice stuff…

He would make sure others did that for him.

"You three make sure they get warm after you get them out and then help out the others." He ordered and they bowed as they continued melting the ice surrounding their comrades. What Zuko didn't notice were the surprised glances between the guards when his back was turned.

Not that they were complaining.

Zuko angrily turned to the pile of snow in front of him and blasted some fireballs at it in an attempt to release his frustrations.

Within just an hours, he had been the first to confront the Avatar, invit- no capture the Avatar and let him escape!

He officially hated this day.

~ A few days later ~ Zhao Harbour ~

He didn't want to be here. He was still feeling frustrated with what happened an he surely didn't want General Zhao to stick his nose into Zuko's business. But his Uncle was persistent and he had no choice but to tag along.

'Urgh… Just because Uncle is running low on tea doesn't mean he has to accept all these offers.'

He glared at the figure in front of him, knowing fully well that the man in front of him was going to ask and taunt him about his quest. Zhao was currently blabbering about the Fire Nation's future victory. A story he had heard a thousand times already and certainly didn't want to hear from that jerk. He was glad that his ship hadn't been damaged enough to gain his suspicion.

He didn't need the man to know that he had actually captured the Avatar only for him to escape.

'Simply because I was trying to be polite'

He should have knocked the boy out while they had been on deck.

"If my father thinks that the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool." He truly believed in this – he himself was secretly starting to be reluctant about his father's reign but he would never mention that out loud.

It would surely get him killed.

"Two years had sea have done little to temper your tongue."

'Two years have done enough… not that you will get to see it' The Prince thought as he gritted his teeth, refusing to rise to the bait.

"So how is your search for the Avatar going?" The question seemed nonchalant, but Zuko knew it was anything but. There was a crash that caught both of their attention.

"Eh my fault entirely." His uncle said, backing away from the mess he made. Zuko sweat dropped at this, but remained silent, quite used to his uncle's habits.

"We haven't found him yet." He was more than willing to lie to that annoying stuck-up bastard, but he was not actually lying yet.

He let Zhao's words wash over him, trying not to feel anything. Instead he was thinking about what to say. He knew Zhao's type… they were sneaky and would try to get their information through more than one ways. Which meant… his eyes narrowed.

He trusted his crew, but not enough for them to keep secrets that he hadn't ordered them to keep.

Damn.

Slowly breathing in and out, he turned to the man while he made sure to keep his head high. He waited for the man to finish his sentence, not caring what he was saying, before he cut in.

"As I said. We haven't found him yet. He managed to fight his way out a few days ago."

For a second Zhao wasn't able to hide his astonished expression, something that he thought was highly amusing. "I have managed find the Avatar, something that many people before had not been able to do." He continued, for the first time in days actually starting to feel slightly proud of himself.

"He is a mere child." This was a part he hated to admit.

"And you let him escape." That was just pure mocking towards the prince.

Zuko rose to his feet.

"I did not let him do anything."

They were interrupted as a soldier brought the same message he had told Zhao just moments ago and he glared at the man. "You interrogated my men without my permission?" He asked angrily. Secretly he was glad that he had told the truth since it meant that Zhao was now forced to apologise.

Something that the man really didn't want to do by the expression on his face.

"Yes, I apologise."

It came out very forced and the bow that accompanied was just barely good enough to apologise to someone from his status but Zuko took in every pleasure.

"Now tell me exactly what happened."

It went down from there.

~ Much anger, frustration and hurtful words later ~

He hated being laughed at, but he hated being underestimated even more.

Zhao had pressed his buttons too many times.

Sure his father would accept him back right? What if Zhao was right?

"You have got a scar to prove it." How dare he comment on that?

However much to Zhao's surprise the teenager had not risen to the bait of starting an Angi Ki.

"I doubt you could take it." He had spat in return.

Zhao had not taken that very well.

In the end Zhao had turned out to challenge Zuko after this retort, a foolish action that made him look like he was actually feeling threatened by a teenager of things – which Zuko just loved. However seeing as Zuko had gotten a bit of a negative reputation among the soldiers, it could be viewed as just another discipline.

At least that was what it would look like if the General were to win, which Zuko was determined not to let happen.

His honour may be gone but he had his pride.

This was how Zuko found himself facing Zhao at sunset. The gong rung thought the area.

"This will be over soon." The general taunted him, trying to fuel his temper but Zuko was strangely calm.

He was settling himself in the right mindset. His eyes stared at the opponent in front of him and waited. Even after a minute he had yet to attack. This was an action that Zhao had not expected and he started taunting the young man.

"Are you having second thoughts?" He taunted again, hoping to get a reaction out of the hot-headed teenager.

He only got a heated glare in return.

In the background, Iroh face palmed and shook his head. As if to acknowledge his uncle's action, Zuko rushed forward. Throwing a couple of slow and harmless fireballs – at a level he had been years ago – he tested the man's defence.

Said man started mocking him and showing of, but Zuko didn't let that get to him. Instead he started thinking. The man was fast and dangerous but Zuko had another advantage. He had been training more intensively in a fighting style that fit him ever since his uncle had been let in on his secret.

A fighting style that Zhao was unfamiliar with. Zhao style on the other hand, was one that Zuko recognised. Its weak point was that it relied on keeping balance because of the firm footwork it needed.

He defended himself from the fire that Zhao shot towards him. As soon as he felt that he got a bit in trouble, he quickly bluffed his way out of it so quickly that Zhao couldn't really understand what just happened.

He didn't take long to realise that he needed to get close to the general.

An idea formed in his head and Zuko suppressed a smirk.

He let Zhao attack him and faked that he was getting overwhelmed. It was quite easy for him to do so as he had gotten very good at drawing the heat away from flames, making them look just as dangerous while they were in fact not warm enough to burn him.

The man got closer and he let himself trip backwards on the ground, watching with glee that Zhao – being the jerk that he was – did as he had expected him to do. He dodged the punch too his face, making sure to draw in the heat of Zhao's flame just to be sure and turned the heat again him as he made him back away.

Zhao's eyes widened.

Zuko smirked.

He won this round.

~A few minutes later~

After his uncle saved him from a fireball to the back, Zuko walked with his Uncle to his ship, feeling slightly… strange about the words that Uncle had just said about him.

"Did you really mean that uncle?"

"Of course, I told you Gingsen tea is my favourite."

Zuko shook his head and smiled, before he sobered.

"Uncle… those words he spoke before. Do you think he was right?"

His uncle stilled, knowing very well what the teenager was referring too but tried to brush it off.

"You do still have the reputation of saying what is on you mind." Iroh managed to bluff. He knew what his Brother's acceptance of his son meant to his Nephew and didn't want to be the one to destroy the boy's hope for the future.

His nephew actually stopped walking and Iroh turned to him, hoping that he hadn't offended this way either. However there was no trace of anger on the teen's face, instead he stared at his uncle with a blank expression before he actually looked sad.

"I was afraid of that." He muttered as the teenager passed him and didn't say anything for the rest of the trip to the boat where he would lock himself up his again with the final order of letting him know when they were ready to leave.

Iroh sighed unhappily as he watched the young man's back.

He had a very strong feeling that Zuko had not meant his comment about his temper.

Do you think Zhao was right about my father and that this is all for nothing?

Yes, Iroh thought Zhao was right, but he only wish he could show the boy that it was not because of any failure on his part. His brother had turned into a person that he had become ashamed to be related too. The depressing thoughts didn't do the man much good, so he decided to make some more tea from a supply of tea leaves he had managed to steal from that horrible General.

If he would notice it, he wouldn't dare to blame it on him anyway.

In his room Zuko was once again meditating with his faithful shadow bird on the ground. Zuko however wasn't looking at it. After he had made sure his door had been locked, he had sat down, closed his eyes and tried to make himself confront the ugly truth that had been facing him for a while.

'My father doesn't care about me at all.'

'He is not a good father'.

'Will he give me a chance if I bring the Avatar back home?'

For once even his second voice didn't dare to comment; instead it gave him a comforting nudge.

Zuko broke down not soon after that. He didn't dare to make a sound as tears streamed down his face.

He might be able to face it, but accepting it was a whole different story.

Had Zuko opened his eyes he would have been taken back by the fact that his little shadow bird was steadily growing bigger. He might be a banished Prince, but he had at least another side to flee too when being the Prince became too difficult.

What was he going to do now?

~ End Chapter ~

Poor Zuko… I nearly feel bad for making him so sad. Ah well, can't help it. He is after all one of the most emotional conflicted person in the serie with the situation he was in.

Now I have to figure out what to do next. Follow the canon some more? Some Blue Spirit action? Let me know, because I could form all kinds of ideas as long as my mind is set to it - at least I hope so. Suggestions are welcome!

Anyway if you liked what you have read – or even more so if you didn't - please review! And tell me why, so I can make sure to make the next chapters even better!

Thank you in advance!