Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I do, however, own my OC's although they got a little out of hand this time…tsk tsk.

WARNING: Depictions of verbal torture. (I'm still strictly HEA=happily ever after- don't you worry, this is the last time.)

"Of all the people I might have expected to see today, my errant son was not one of them." Ozai began. "Especially looking so…healthy."

"Azula tried her best to kill me, that's true, but I have powerful friends, and am not so easily killed."

"So it would seem." Ozai, knowing neither of them had the power to do any significant bending, went for the stalling approach. "So, why have you come, now, of all times?"

"I came to…" He nimbly jumped out of the way as a guard rushed in at full speed.

"Your highness! The Avatar and his friends have breached the palace and have entered the dummy safe room, just as you predicted!" The guard saluted after his report.

"Why would the Avatar be here, of all places?" Zuko thought; then Iroh's words came to him. Of course. It was just as his adopted father had said. He wasn't meant to defeat the Firelord, it was the Avatar. It had always been the Avatar. It wasn't his destiny, it was Aang's.

Suddenly, in the middle of a total solar eclipse, the light dawned on him and Zuko had perfect clarity. He shouldn't be here, not now, not yet. He should be helping the Avatar; only then could they bring peace to the fire nation. He mentally shook his head. The best thing he could do right now was stall his ..former father for as long as he could in case the Avatar showed up, and fight alongside him if it came to that.

"Fine, fine; leave!" barked Ozai, and the guard hastily obeyed. The tall man turned his attention to Zuko again. "Now, what was it you came here to do again?"

"Originally I came here to kill you." Zuko admitted truthfully. "Despite my best intentions, that was always the plan in the back of my mind."

"You were a cruel, heartless and abusive father and you're an even worse king. The fire nation needs a leader who will bring peace, not one who merely seeks destruction and domination."

Ozai sneered. "You always were a weak and pathetic child; I did what I did to turn you into a useful heir. It failed of course, you're even more pathetic than you were when you were clinging to your mother's skirts, hiding from your talented sister Azula."

The Firelord fisted his hands. "That girl had the potential to become my successor in every way, more potential than you could ever have dreamed of."

His voice rose slightly after mentioning his daughter. He pointed a long, slim finger at Zuko. "You!" He almost shouted. "You destroyed her! She is useless to me now, and you are to blame!"

"Wait…Azula is still alive?!" Zuko gasped. "How is that possible?"

"She is strong, stronger than you, whelp. I may no longer be able to use her as I once planned, but I kept her alive in case she could be useful to me in a different way. Eager and biddable pawns are in such short supply these days. Ah well, at least I have dealt with the Avatar and his pathetic friends once and for all; something you were too weak to do."

"What do you mean?" dread filled his heart.

"I left them a little gift in the decoy safe room." Ozai boasted. "He should have a 'blast' destroying them." The evil man almost cackled with glee at his 'clever' pun.

"Blast? What…oh. Oh no." He knew. "You sent the assassin with the third eye after them, didn't you?"

"You're cleverer than you look. Yes, I did, and he is going to destroy them."

"You allowed them to come to you just so it would be easier to rid yourself of the Avatar?" Zuko exclaimed incredulously. "That assassin will destroy my mother's palace!"

"This was never your mother's palace, it was mine! Is mine! Your mother made sure of that!"

Zuko was so shocked he was rendered speechless momentarily. "…what…?"

"There's a lot you don't know boy. My brother was heir to the throne, but when Lu Ten failed to live and defeat Ba Sing Se I spoke the truth and my father, Azulon, was so enraged that he ordered me to kill you so that I would know the pain of losing an only son. Your mother, weak and sentimental as she was, did something surprisingly calculating."

Ozai finally stood. He was an imposingly tall figure. His presence seemed to dwarf the room. "With Azulon gone and my brother lost in grief with no heir, it was easy for me to take the throne, as it always should have been."

"My…my mother arranged for the death of my grandfather to save my life?!" Zuko was practically shaking with this surrealistic revelation. "What happened to her?!" he demanded.

"She was banished for treason." Smirked Ozai.

He gasped. "That means she's still alive out there somewhere!"

"You'll never have the chance to know!" Ozai shouted as he began to quickly prepare a deadly lightning bolt. Zuko had been so overcome by the story and the possibility of his mother being alive he hadn't even noticed his inner fire flaring up.

"You've done much more than mere treason and I hereby sentence you to death!" The word was punctuated with a massive bolt of lightning directly homing in on his position. In a move similar to his fight with Azula, in a fraction of a second, Zuko had his personal protective bubble of fire spinning around his body, and used it to pull Ozai's lightning along with its spin, allowing it to dissipate harmlessly.

This move caused Ozai to completely halt his next attack. "What was that?" He demanded. "Never in my life have I seen a move like that. Where did you learn it?"

"I invented it to save someone, and then I used it to defeat Azula." Zuko answered woodenly.

"Now I understand how she was able to be beaten by someone as weak and pathetic as you." He sneered.

"You understand nothing!" Zuko shouted, and fired off a series of punches and kicks, a volley of attacks designed to distract Ozai enough to allow a clean retreat. Somehow, the ruse worked, and soon he was rushing down corridors and out into the garden and beyond the palace.

He would not be able to assist the Avatar this day. Besides, no doubt they would be just as receptive as they were the last time they met. No doubt Azula was there as well, somewhere, but he could nothing about it. His head was filled with thoughts, so many churning thoughts.

He took the long way to the inn where he knew Iroh was anxiously awaiting news of his meeting with Ozai. Walking slowly, his mind worked overtime with all that the man had told him. "His mother might be alive! He hadn't actually killed his sister! His mother had killed his grandfather to save his life"...so many weighty thoughts…

Why hadn't Iroh ever told him about this? They had been together in isolation for at least 2 years! More than enough time for him to tell Zuko about his mother at least! "How dare he keep this a secret?!"

All these years. All these years he could have been searching for his mother. His inner fire began to burn hotter as his anger flared. He would have answers. Now.

He finally arrived at the inn, furious, and ready to fight.

The relief in his adopted father's eyes was clear when he saw him in the doorway but he didn't care. "We need to talk." Zuko stated briefly, and turned around, walking back out the door and waiting outside. Iroh wasted no time in following him out the door.

"What is wrong, Zuko? How did things go?" The worry in the older man's voice was clear.

Zuko began walking as soon as Iroh left the inn and didn't stop until they were outside of town, in a small grove of trees. He turned to face Iroh.

The dam burst. "Why didn't you tell me my mother might still be alive?!" He accused.

"Why didn't you tell me she saved my life at the peril of her own only to get banished for treason?! Don't you think those are things I would have wanted to know?" he paused in his rapid-fire battery of questions, chest heaving with exertion from the rapid walk and the deep seated pain of the subject he broached.

Stunned, Iroh dropped to the ground as if his legs were simply too weak to keep him upright any longer. He groaned as he allowed his gray head to fall into his hands. After all these years, he finally had a glimpse into why Ozai ascended the throne so easily. Why everything had changed so much.

Still, his brother was a monster for revealing it to Zuko in such a fashion. He must have known that Zuko would come straight to him for answers, and expected that it could cause a rift. He couldn't lose another son, not now, not because of something like this.

"I want answers Uncle, and I want them now!" Iroh stiffened and flinched at the use of his official family title. It was an almost physical blow to him. His shoulders hunched lower. Head still in his hands, the former Dragon of the West spoke quietly, his voice thick with emotion.

"Prince Zuko. I had just lost my beloved and only son, Lu Ten during my six hundred day siege at Ba Sing Se. I lost my thirst for power and conquest and abandoned my siege. I arrived back at the palace a lost man with an all-consuming grief gripping my broken heart. I had no desire to know, nor did I truly care at that time why the events that transpired while I was gone took place."

He swallowed hard, trying to keep his emotions in check. "I…I never asked. I was too lost in grief." His voiced became quieter as his eyes, red with emotion, finally raised to catch Zuko's eyes. "I never knew what happened."

Zuko was horrified. The ball of anxiety in his stomach turned into lead, his chest tightened, and he felt very cold. He hadn't known. He had accused the poor man of keeping secrets he didn't know, and then reopened old wounds and rubbed salt in them by calling him 'uncle' as if he'd never accepted him as his adopted father. The young man clapped a hand over his mouth and stumbled backwards a couple of steps, as if distance would help him turn back time and take back his hurtful words.

His good eye filled with tears that quickly overflowed onto his cheek. Stepping forward Zuko dropped to his knees on the ground next to the only person in the world who had always been there for him, always loved him unconditionally.

"I…" he stammered "I'm so, so sorry! I never should have questioned or doubted you, please forgive me father!" He knelt there with his arms stiff at his sides and let his forehead gently fall on his adopted fathers' shoulder.

Relief flowing through him like water to a thirsty man, Iroh gathered his impetuous adopted son into his arms. "I already have, my son." His voice clouded with emotion as tears ran down his wrinkled cheeks.

Iroh held the young man and spoke comforting words to him for a full half-minute before Zuko's tears began to dry, and he sat back on his heels. "I never should have doubted you."

"Zuko, you are allowed to make mistakes; the only mistakes that can't be fixed are the ones we don't learn from. You are learning, and that is a good thing." Iroh squeezed his shoulder. Zuko still wouldn't meet his gaze.

Iroh grunted as he stood up. He held out a hand to the young man beside him "here" he said, taking the hand Zuko offered, the old man pulled him to his feet.

"Look at me." Zuko reluctantly obeyed. "I forgave you before you even left. You are now my beloved son, and I couldn't be more proud of you. Ozai knows you are a threat, he chose his words carefully for maximum impact on our relationship. He knows that we are a formidable team. Let's prove him right."

Zuko nodded. "Oh! I just remembered…" he began, "Azula is still alive."

Iroh's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly in surprised. "How is that possible?" replied the older man. "No one should have been able to survive that."

"I don't know." Shaking his head, and shrugging, Zuko paced while he talked.

"She shouldn't have survived…but…I'm glad she did. I haven't forgotten what she did to me, how cruel she was, but still, I never wanted to kill my own sister." His head dropped and he stared at the ground he paced over; his steps slowing.

"Ozai didn't say anything where she is?"

"No, just that she was no longer as useful a puppet as she would have been had I not fought her." His pacing stopped.

"He called me weak and pathetic, he told me that's why he was cruel, it was to toughen me up."

"No Zuko, he was cruel because that is his nature. I'm sorry, but he never cared for you as a father should, he never cared for Azula that way either. She was a pawn to him, you both were, nothing more."

He heaved a sigh. "I know." Replied Zuko, "I know."

Iroh suddenly clapped Zuko on the back and began to walk away. "Enough of this doom and gloom, we won't change it with chatter, and I'm hungry!"

Zuko took a deep breath and trotted after his new father. The man was right, the future was calling and he was ready to answer.

"I want to go find my mother...but I know that is not my path right now. I'm going to find the Avatar." He stated.

Iroh halted his march towards the inn and spun around, a strange look on his face.

"You were right. When I was there, Ozai had set a trap for the Avatar and his friends, the decoy safe room. It held an incredibly dangerous assassin."

"Not the third eye…"

Zuko nodded.

Iroh pursed his lips and shook his head slightly. "The Avatar is young and childish, but he is also the Avatar. He has friends to help him too, they should be ok." It nearly sounded as if he was assuring himself, not just the young man in front of him.

"I know. But I still have to after him. I have to talk him into letting me join him." He crossed his arms and dropped his head.

"It might be difficult, they have no reason to trust me, and they kind of hate me."

"Well I'm sure that's not true." Iroh commented.

"Don't you remember in the forest? The boy almost killed me with his blade. The girl…Ka..Katara, she saved me."

Iroh nodded. "I do recall that. You will simply have to be careful, be your charming self and convince them that they are better off with you by their side!" Turning on his heel he began his trek back to the inn once again.

Zuko dropped his arms to his sides and followed, catching up and walking beside the older man. "Somehow, I just don't think it's going to be that easy."

"You never know until you try!" was the almost jovial answer.

Zuko rolled his eyes but dropped the subject and willingly kept pace with him back to the inn. He would be on his journey soon enough.

Soon enough happened faster than he'd planned. The moment they returned to the inn, the innkeeper unceremoniously dropped the few belongings they had left in their rooms at their feet.

"You only paid for one night, unless you can afford to stay another night, go. Your things are here."

"Did we do something wrong?" questioned Iroh.

"Yes, you stay and take up room for paying customers." The man wouldn't look them in the eye, he merely shooed them away and trotted back to the desk, huffing.

Wordlessly gathering up their belongings the two turned and left the inn each wondering exactly what had transpired while they had been gone.

Once again, Zuko was on the hunt for the Avatar. But this time, he would be offering his assistance. Hopefully it was enough.

As they walked Zuko's thoughts turned to Umi. It seemed they never truly strayed far these days. He wondered how she was, if she was faring ok. If…if she was missing him. He surely missed her.

A small sigh escaped his lips.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A good amount of the time had passed since Umi had chosen to stay at the farm. Her fame had spread so far that noblewoman in Ba Sing Se had commissioned her to make her an elaborate ball gown with the most glorious green fabric she had ever seen. It was soft and smooth, shimmery and supple. It reminded her of the sea, with its waves of green.

Umi chuckled wryly to herself. Everything reminded her of the ocean. She glanced outside and saw the water barrel. It made her think about something else entirely. Someone else.

Zuko. How she missed him. She wondered if he was ok. She wondered if he thought of her. She hoped he did. She thought about him every day, sometimes multiple times a day.

He was always there on the outskirts of her mind. So close, only a memory away. So far, a whole continent away.

She began to cut the fabric for the lovely gown and as she cut pieces she imagined she was making the gown for herself, and that she was going with Zuko to watch a play. She had seen plays before, long ago, with the Avatar that would betray her. It would not be like that.

"She would wear the beautiful gown and Zuko would be overwhelmed by her beauty; his heart would swell with love for her and he would gather her in his arms and declare his undying love.

Then, he would get down on one knee and propose to her, a beautiful ring in his outstretched hand.

She would be giddy with happiness and shout "yes!" before he would jump up and kiss her lips exuberantly before picking her up and whirling her around in circles out of pure joy!"

So enraptured in her beautiful dream was she, that her scissors dropped from her lax fingertips and clattered to the floor.

Umi jumped. Looking around to see if anyone else had caught her daydreaming she bent down and picked up the scissors, cheeks flushed and heart pounding.

Shaking her head she reminded herself she had work to do. She mustn't think of such things. It was she who had pushed her beloved away, and rightly so she should have. It was too late to wish for what she could never have.

Resolving to focus on the task at hand, the former water spirit set herself to her work.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He nodded to the guards he knew by name by now and they opened the door for him automatically.

For two months he had visited the pathetic creature in the dungeon that used to be the proud and powerful princess Azula.

Every day for two months he had entered her cell exactly one minute before noon and left at ten minutes after.

He never tired of his sessions with the broken girl. At first, it had been all about vengeance; but he had extracted his revenge many times over. And he'd done it all without ever laying a finger on her.

He should have received a medal.

Despite that, once his need for retribution had been sated, he should have still been able to enjoy tormenting her, at least more than he did now. Something was different.

He went through his usual insults and cruelly pointed barbs, hardly feeling the need to put in the effort to really dig them in.

At first, he had enjoyed the heady euphoria of the pure power he held over her with nothing more than his well-chosen and perfectly delivered weapon of choice-his words.

It was clear to him now though that the girl had ceased to respond in the way she had at first. He found it almost disturbing; her attitude, the change in her.

She was making it less enjoyable for him to torture her, and he wasn't pleased.

Suddenly he realized something he should have noticed some time ago. The girl no longer screamed in anger or pain, though she must always be in some kind of physical pain due to her burns, but no, it that wasn't it.

Her screaming wasn't screaming at all, it sounded like pleas. She was begging him. How pathetic.

He never was quite sure what she said when she was hysterical, and he didn't much care. But this realization came with another one quickly on its heels.

What if the reason she had stopped fighting him, was because she had begun to depend on his presence? What if, in his attempt to torture the one who tortured him, he had inadvertently caused her to become dependent on him; the only person who was there during her 'awake' moments?

His stomach dropped and he felt sick. Had he, in his thirst for vengeance actually helped the monster?

The horror of what his realization meant caused him to fall silent, mid-insult. He was well aware of the time, he had seven minutes left.

That would have to stop. He would not help the girl, she didn't deserve it. He kept his silence.

At first, silence reigned. For about a full minute, there were no sounds. Then she began to whine.

Her whining changed to partially formed words; it sounded as if she was begging him to talk. He was right, she had become dependent on him.

He could use this. He could use her dependency on him to torment her all the more. He would deprive her of his company. Break the cycle.

He had just one last thing to say to her before he left her cell permanently.

"Shut UP!" he yelled. The wailing stopped cold.

"I am going to tell you something you don't know." He began.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked, first.

She shook her head, the neck restraint making it a milder movement.

"You are in a special cell, built just for you by order of Firelord Ozai in the dungeons of the Fire nation capital. You've been here the entire time. I'm a fire nation soldier, one of your soldiers. There are two fire nation guards standing outside this cell at all times by order of your father. He has never visited you, not once."

For once, she was deathly quiet.

"You've been left down here to rot by your entire family and the only person to visit you when you're 'yourself' is a man whose family you murdered in front of his eyes. Me. A man who loathes and despises you above all other people as the murdering monster you are."

He walked to the door, there were three minutes left. "You will always know me as the man who broke you. Your last human contact will be with a man who wants you to suffer more than any person has ever suffered. Your brother may have destroyed your body, princess, but I destroyed your mind."

With two minutes remaining the man turned his back on the monster tied to the bed and walked out the door, closing it with a click. Before he had even managed to release the door handle the screams began.

Ah…that was it. Those screams were music to his ears. He had a smile from ear to ear as he happily waved to the two soldiers and trotted off to enjoy his hard-won and well-fought victory.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It didn't take them long to find word of the Avatar's whereabouts. After learning that the boy and his friends had narrowly escaped the fire nation assassin and had headed West, it was with a certain amount of trepidation and determination that Zuko set his eyes towards the setting sun and his future.

After many days of travel in which Zuko had unceremoniously blasted a teacup out of Iroh's hands when the older man delayed their journey with 'the absolute necessity of good tea', and the Dragon of the West had merely produced a replacement cup from his robe and proceeded to calmly drink his tea, they were no closer to finding the Avatar than when they had left the fire nation capital.

Zuko wondered if he had somehow lost his ability to track during their isolated time in the mountains and mentioned as much to his adopted father.

"While your intentions have changed, your abilities have not." Replied Iroh. "You need only remember to put yourself in the Avatar's shoes. Where would he go?"

"That's it!" Zuko shouted exultantly as the older man next to him coughed to cover up the fact that he had jumped slightly at the you man's shout.

"Father, I know where he went!" Continued Zuko. "The Western Air Temple! It's not that far away and it's only logical that the last remaining member of the Air Nomads would seek out an Air Temple for refuge after being attacked like they must have been at the capital!"

Iroh smiled inwardly to himself and outwardly to Zuko. "Well done, Prince Zuko, shall we make our way there?"

Zuko threw water on the fire and gathered their few belongings together swiftly and soon they were on their way.

They reached the cliffs of the Western Air Temple by noon the next day, and the closer they got, the slower Zuko walked. At last Iroh stopped and laid his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Zuko, my son" he began "what troubles you?"

With Iroh's hand on his shoulder, Zuko stopped and turned to face his new father before dropping his head to stare at the ground in front of his feet. His hands fisted at his sides.

"Father I…" he hesitated and then heaved a sigh "I am…afraid." Zuko ducked his head further.

"Oh my son." Iroh reached the other hand and clapped it to Zuko's other shoulder. "There is no shame in your confession." His voice was gentle, yet steady.

"I, too, remember our last meeting with the young Avatar and his friends. We both might have died that day, for different reasons. It is quite understandable that you would be wary of putting yourself in such a situation again."

Iroh squeezed Zuko's shoulders not-quite-gently, causing the young man to bring his head up to look him in the eyes.

"Prince Zuko, heir to the throne of Firelord. You have wielded such power in fire bending that I have never before seen." Allowing his hands to drop to his sides, Iroh continued.

"While the Avatar and his friends are formidable opponents, so are you. During your fight with Azula I witnessed bending from you that was easily on par with what one could have expected from Avatar Roku. Your bending has easily surpassed even mine."

Zuko shook his head and opened his mouth to disagree but Iroh raised a finger to silence him.

"My power, my son, certainly comes from years of training, but, I do have two things you are somewhat lacking in thus far, and can only gain with time." He smiled. "Do you know what I'm speaking of?"

Nodding, Zuko allowed a tiny smile to grace his lips. "Wisdom and experience." He answered.

Iroh's smile grew wider and he stepped forwards as if to walk past him and clapped his hand once again on Zuko's shoulder. He looked over his own shoulder at the young man on his left and nodded his head.

"If you know those are what you need, then you are already on the path to finding them." He finished, and began once again to walk towards the Western Air Temple, tucking his hands into his sleeves.

Zuko stood for a moment contemplating what had been said before turning on his heel and trotting after his adopted father. The older man was right, he had done all those things, and more that Iroh hadn't even seen. He could defend himself should the Avatar's friends attack him again.

He was no longer crippled and helpless; they would not defeat him so easily. He would offer his help and then time would tell.

The two carefully made their way into the incredibly unusual 'upside-down' temple below the cliffs and nearly walked right into a small girl who came around the corner quite unexpectedly.

"Hey!" She yelped in a slightly brackish tone of voice. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Iroh, noticing the milky tint of her eyes and the fact that she did not seek their faces, rightly deduced that she must be the young blind girl they had heard joined the Avatar. He and Zuko shared an understanding look before Iroh spoke.

"Hello there, we're here to speak with the Avatar and his friends."

Zuko nodded his agreement and then felt silly; naturally she couldn't see him nod. "That's right." He added.

The slightly dirty barefoot girl in green clothing cocked her head to the side for a moment before nodding emphatically and spinning around. "Well, come on then you two!" she said as she marched off towards the center of the temple. "I'm Toph by the way, what are your names?"

0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Well that was a longer one wasn't it? Can you believe it? Four whole chapters right in a row! Looks like we'll be finishing this one after all! I do have a few ideas to complete this story, but we're not there yet, so hang tight with me, I'm still writing!