Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 10 of Long Lost Home! We're at chapter 10 already! This is really exciting to share with you all and I hope you guys are enjoying how this series is progressing! It's a lot of fun to write and I hope you guys enjoy these next chapters to come! As always, I do not own Avatar or its characters, but the world is my own. Onto the story!

All is fair in love and war. Zuko knew what he needed. But he didn't know he needed her.

Chapter 10: It's time boys

"It's time boys"

The group woke up before dawn, their Chief waking them up to get moving. They wanted to be in position before Mansour arrived. Nobody spoke, desperate to keep their minds focused on the task and not on each other. The morning of a mission, there was always this looming threat hanging over them.

Someone could not make it out alive.

Zuko remembered Yen, the first friend he had lost. He remembered the day clearly.

They were driving through an old deserted town. Their 3 trucks were lined up, with their team piled inside. Driving was always peaceful to Zuko. And it felt like a slice of home when he did.

Jet spoke, "These guys are driving like grandmas" he said, flicking his cigarette out the window. They were the last car in the train and forced to go at their speed. But Zuko rolled his eyes, "We're going through a village. If we drive through like a bat out of hell, we might draw some attention" Zuko chuckled.

But little did they know, they already had it.

Yen was hit with a bullet to the head. It was an incredibly lucky shot made by some 16-year-old kid, recruited by the Taliban. They never found the kid. He ran off as soon as his finger pulled the trigger.

Since then, Zuko had seen too much death for a man his age. Even Zhao, a man who he had never agreed with, and never gotten along with, his death cut Zuko up inside. He refused to leave any man behind, dead or alive.

But even after all of that, he had to keep hope that everyone was going to make it out alive. He didn't want to bring anyone home in a body bag.

They moved as one. Each watching each other's backs and taking a step together. If they went down, everyone did. If they lost one person, the whole mission would crumble.

They never went to see the innkeeper, afraid spies would be watching them, especially this important day. They stationed themselves on top of buildings and just beyond the tree line. The hope was that a sniper could take him out and they wouldn't have to fight Mansour straight on. But there was no guaranteeing that the first shot would land.

Everyone waited with baited breath for the truck to pull up. And when it did, it was like hell broke loose.

Mansour stepped from the vehicle and out into the square. He stood there for a moment, looking around. The slight grin on his face was the scariest thing that Zuko had ever seen. It was like he was mad.

The innkeeper stepped outside after seeing the truck pull up. He rushed to the man, speaking their native tongue. But Zuko could tell the man was nervous. He hoped that Mansour didn't see it too.

He did. The bullet to the forehead explained that for him.

As soon as Mansour shot the innkeeper, bullets flew from all directions. The cards were off, and it was there job to make sure that this man didn't make it out.

Zuko crawled to his Chief, "What do we do?" he yelled over the sounds of the bullets and hand grenades.

The Chief continued shooting when Zuko came over and spoke, "We lost our element of surprise! But I still think we can win this fight!" he threw a hand grenade of his own, "Fall in! Don't let him get away!"

Zuko nodded. It was a risky plan, but he trusted Chief with his life, and if he believed they could still win this battle, then he did too. He moved in, closer towards the group of Taliban fighters. As he looked towards the battle, a memory moved through his mind.

"Uncle I can do this!" Zuko's shaggy hair fell into his face. He moved it to the side, not backing down. Iroh shook his head, "Zuko, its so dangerous! You could die! We can't lose you Zuko! Your sister needs you! I need you!"

Zuko fell quiet for a moment, it was the first time his Uncle clearly professed how much he needed him. "Uncle… I have to do this… I'll be okay… They're just a bunch of rebels anyways"

How wrong he was.

Zuko kept moving forward, trying to get a clear shot. And suddenly, everything moved in slow motion.

Zuko raised his gun towards Mansour. But the leader was already looking him in the eye, his gun pointed straight for his heart. It seemed like minutes that they stared at each other, wondering who was going to shoot first.

But it was only seconds before a bullet went through his head, coming from the opposite direction.

Zuko looked over and saw Jet with his gun raised, looking straight towards Mansour. He looked back at Zuko and nodded. He always had his back.

Katara spent her days at school, her nights with Iroh and her weekends at work. It kept her busy, but still couldn't fill the hole in her heart where a part of her felt like it was missing. He was missing.

But it kept her focused on her studies. She felt like if she did that, she would be ready for when he came home. So, they could start a life together. She smiled when she thought about it. There was no way to describe hoe good a life with him sounded.

But the nights were the hardest. Where the other side of her bed felt empty and her arms felt even emptier. It was hard to imagine how that could happen in 3 weeks.

She laid in bed at night and wondered where he was and what he was doing. Was he thinking of her? A letter hadn't arrived yet, but Iroh told her not to worry. The first 2 weeks were the hardest. Then letters start to arrive faster then you can ready them.

Katara sighed and looked down at the ring on her finger, "Come home…" she said to the empty space around her.

"Come home…"

Aww! Sad chapter ending I know. But I wanted to truly express what its like to be missing someone in the military. My father took 2 deployments so I understand some of what she is feeling. And I wanted to express that into writing. Thank you guys for reading! Onto the reviews!

stordec23: Thank you very much! We will see more of them! Keep reading!

That's it for the reviews! Until next time!