The POV changes a lot so I'm sorry if it annoys/confuses some of you, but I'm pretty sure you guys will know who's POV it is ~ this is for OMiosDios who wanted a guard AU/partner to my Walking Disaster fic ~ so here it is ~ ! I hope you like it ~ ! I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender!

"You were brought to the Fire Nation as a recruit for the army since you had thoroughly impressed on my soldiers, but once here, you murdered one of our highest ranking soldiers like he nothing more than a mere, untrained, whelp whilst you yourself had sustained no injuries. Not even a scratch." Fire Lord Azulon spoke, his voice carrying throughout the large council room. Before the fiery dais were three figures; two men wearing royal armors as well as golden crown pieces, and the third being a young boy, eight years of age, and wearing simple Earth Kingdom scrubs, "You have been nothing more than a nuisance, albeit, an impressive one, but what use have I for a pawn that will not do as it is told?"

"I'm nobody's pawn!" the boy spits hatefully, "Let alone some pathetic, old man who hides behind walls of fire like a coward!"

"You dare speak to me in such a manner!?"

"Oh, I dare."

Fire Lord Azulon sneers, brow creasing in rage, "For that tongue of yours, you will be put on the executioner's block! Guards! Take him to the holding cells!"

The two crowned men watch as guards come from seemingly nowhere and grab the child, who begins thrashing once their fingers clamp down, shouting and spitting insults that would make even a sea-hardened sailor blush from ear tip to ear tip. When the doors close with an ominous bang, one of the crowned men steps forth with a quick and graceful bow, his movement capturing the attention of the man at his side and the Fire Lord himself:

"If I may be so bold as to speak Father, but perhaps we can mold the child into a worthy guard. Instead of trying to force him into our armies. Just think of it, the boy will be a fine defender, one befitting that of our family's stature."

"Are you daft!?" the man at his side snaps, springing to his feet, fists clenched and eyes glowering, "He'll murder us all in our sleep! From our Father to the lowliest servant!"

"Iroh, I know you sympathize with children, but that boy is a murderer. Ozai is right in his apprehension, that child will kill us all if given the chance."

"You are missing the point as well, Father," Iroh trudges on, a carefree smile slipping in place, "We've had adults trying to confirm the boy to our ways, to our army, an army which he's no doubtfully had a traumatic run-in with. Why not try a different route? Say, someone without blood on their hands ~ ?"

The reigning Sovereign looks contemplative as he eyes his eldest son, "Go on."

"Father!" Ozai shouts, "I cannot believe you are listening - !"

"Another child ~ !" Iroh interrupts gleefully, earning a glare from Ozai, Iroh turns his gaze to his little brother, a playful gleam twinkling within his eyes, "Such as, I don't know, young Prince Zuko ~ ?" he turns his gaze back to their Father, "The two seem to be of the same age group, they're both boys, I'm sure they'll find some common ground for a friendship to blossom. The Earth Kingdom boy is alone in a place he has little knowledge of, and if Prince Zuko befriends him, the boy will have a reason to stay loyal to our family. The child has already proven that he is an excellent fighter, just imagine if he were to protect that which he cares for. Our family will be the safest it's been in years ~ !"

The near-silent crackling of the flames is the only source of sound coming from within the throne room, beyond the large doors though, there are muffled creaks and quiet booms echoing from deep within the palace.

"You have a valid point, Iroh." Fire Lord Azulon utters, hand stroking his beard, Iroh positively beams, "Very well. I will give the Earth Kingdom peasant this one chance." the old royal's gaze flicks to Ozai, who's gaping at the two of them, "Ozai. Fetch Prince Zuko immediately - ,"

"You can't be serious, Father!" Ozai exclaims, expression scandalized, "What if the orphan peasant kills my son?!"

"Do not interrupt me!" the Father chastises heatedly, "And it will not come to that, for Iroh will be supervising their little play date. Now go!"

Ozai's frown deepens, but bows before their Father nonetheless, "If you wish, Father."

Both Fire Lord Azulon and Iroh watch the youngest firebender leave the room until all is silent, it is seconds before Azulon turns his attention to his eldest:

"You may fetch the child, but if this does not work as you hope, Iroh, the child will be executed and you will be held in contempt. Understood?"

"Understood, Father." Iroh bows respectfully, "Thank you, Father."

"You may go."

Straightening up, Iroh offers his Father a wily grin before he turns on his heel and exits the council room, shutting the doors, he is surprised to find Ozai scowling at him with arms crossed – placing his hands in his sleeves, he gives his brother a bright smile, not letting his sibling's demeanor affect him in the slightest. After all, pouting/skulking seemed to be his normal go-to mood.

"Ah, Ozai ~ shouldn't you be fetching my darling Nephew?"

"What do you think you're going to achieve with this little stunt, Iroh?"

Iroh looks thoughtful for a moment, "Hmm ~ I can't seem to think of anything at the moment." he grins innocently at Ozai, "Why ~ ? What is it you think I'm trying to achieve, dearest Brother of mine ~ ?"

Ozai snarls, "Just know, that whatever it is you're doing, won't work."

The older Prince watches his brother stalk down the hall, "Of course, Brother ~ !" he shouts after him merrily, "I'll keep that in mind ~ !"

oOo

Screaming, the wild-haired boy throws a wooden bucket at the bars of his cell, only for it to bounce off harmlessly. Enraged, he stomps towards the iron bars and begins shaking the cell door, causing an ear-grinding rattling sound, a sound that echoes throughout the prison:

"Hey!" he shouts, "Let me out!"

Nothing.

"I know you can hear me!" the boy bellows at the top of his lungs, "Let me out! Let me out or I'll slit your Fire Nation throats!"

Silence.

Screaming, the boy pushes away from the bars and goes back to pacing angrily in cell – the cell is by no means homey, it's small and it's dank; the prison reeks of B.O and other unsavory odors; his clothes are becoming damp from the amount of sweat he's working up, as well as the hot and humid conditions, his unkempt brown hair is even fluffier. It all adds to his anger, he swipes a tan-skinned arm over his forehead in an attempt to relieve himself of the rivulets of sweat. It's for naught, and it makes his hair stick to his forehead in an annoying manner. Letting out an annoyed groan, the boy plops onto the hay piled into the corner. The miserable, wild boy goes by the name of Jet, and Jet had just lost his family some time ago thanks to the Fire Nation burning his village down. And as if things couldn't get any worse, they brought him here in an attempt to force him into their dumb army – so far, the only good thing that came out of all of this is the fact that he managed to soak up that stupid soldier's lessons before turning it on him. With a few added touches of his own personal knowledge. Successfully killing his first soldier. A highly decorated one at that, what a prize.

"This is stupid!" Jet finally rages, "I hate you! I hate all of you! I hope you all die in this miserable crater!"

Chuckling catches his attention, startling him enough that he sits up so fast that his head spins, his eyes are soon locked onto a lightly rotund man standing before his cell with his arms in his sleeves, Jet frowns, the man before him was one of the men that had been in that throne room with him. The golden flame sitting happily atop his head only cements the fact.

"What do you want, Fatso?"

The man only laughs a full-bellied laugh, ruffling Jet's nerves, "My ~ ! What a fiery spirit you have, I am sure you will get along just fine with my Nephew ~ !"

What?

Jet narrows his eyes, "What are you talking about?"

"My name is Iroh," the man says instead, "And I have come to give you what you want."

"I don't care what your name is," Jet spits, "I asked a question, and what I want is the Fire Lord's head on a silver platter, which I don't see."

"No, I cannot give you my Father's decapitated head." Iroh shakes his head in amusement, Jet bristles once more, he was being serious and this weird-smelling man just laughs at him, "But I can off you freedom."

"You're – letting me out?" Jet's brow smoothens a tick, "Wait – what's the catch?"

"Well, technically I'm not setting you free; I'm just letting you out of that cell, I'm sure it is bound to be better than staying cooped up - ,"

"Then I'm not leaving this stupid cell!" Jet snaps, interrupting Iroh and rolling onto his side, "What's the point of leaving this hole in the wall if I can't do anything!?"

"You can make friends - ,"

"I don't want friends."

"Well, unless you want your chance at freedom, you might want to give it a shot."

Jet blinks, slowly sitting up and staring at the older male as if he were crazy, which he might be, "Are you suggesting I escape?"

"Who? Me?" the man gasps dramatically, "I would never suggest such a thing to a prisoner!" Jet rolls his eyes at the man's act, "So, what do you say, give it a try?"

The wild-haired boy frowns at the ground, on one hand, he would get out of the cell and when the opportunity was right, he could escape, on the other, he could rot in here and wait for his death sentence. Get it over with. But he had plans, plans that don't involve dying – he looks up at Iroh:

"Fine. I'll do it."

oOo

"You know what you're supposed to do, right Zuko?"

"Yes, Father." Zuko nods, "I try and sabotage this boy's attempts at friendship."

"You don't try." Ozai hisses, causing Zuko to flinch, "You have to. We cannot let this plan fall through. That dirt-loving barbarian cannot be trusted."

"Y-Yes, Father." Zuko gulps, he hesitates, "I understand not trusting some Earth Kingdom commoner, but – why do we need Uncle Iroh to fail?"

Ozai glares at Zuko, the seven year old tensing instinctually, "Just do as you are told, I tire of your ridiculous questions."

"O-Okay."

That had been a few minutes ago, in which there still has been no sight of his Uncle, or this kid that he's supposed to keep from making friends with. Plucking at the grass out of nothing better to do, Zuko tries calming his nerves despite his Father's angry aura washing over him in waves – even the family of turtle-ducks won't get any closer to him with his Father there, practically burning holes into the yard. Contemplating how he was going to go about making this kid mad at him, Zuko feels a sense of loss – he's always wanted a friend, a friendship his parents didn't force upon either of them, he was – a little tired of having only Azula as company.

Movement captures his attention, turning, he spots his Uncle making his way over to them with some scruffy looking kid in tow. All Zuko can do is blink, not entirely sure what he'd been expecting, but it most certainly wasn't the earthly colored peasant standing at his Uncle's side – his eyes, his skin, his hair, everything was the shade of dirt. The boy in question seems to be regarding him just as well.

Ozai finally stands before Iroh and the child could come any closer, "You better hope nothing happens, or you will regret it, Brother Dearest."

"Oh, nothing will." Iroh smiles, Ozai only sneers and walks away. Iroh turns to his Nephew who is now looking uncomfortable, "Well hello, Prince Zuko, how have you been ~ ?"

"Um – good?"

"Good to hear ~ ! This is our newest guard, he won't tell me his name so I just call him Lion-Heart - ,"

"That's not my name." the boy hisses.

"Well, you won't tell me your real name."

"Because I don't want to, and I'm not a guard."

Zuko blinks but Iroh continues as though nothing happened, "As I was saying, hopefully you two will get along, perhaps you can show him around the place a bit."

"Uh – okay," Zuko watches Iroh gingerly push the boy forward, the child only glaring back at his Uncle in retaliation. The boy was a bit – rough, surely it wouldn't be too hard for Zuko to get him to hate him. Iroh turns to leave and a twinge of fear strikes his chest, "Wait. Aren't you going to stay?"

"Oh no, I must get going, but I'm sure you two will be just fine ~ ."

Both boys watch Iroh leave the yard while humming some tune, one Zuko was pretty sure was a mushy love song, pursing his lips, Zuko plucks at the grass again, he knows little to nothing about the boy or the Earth Kingdom – maybe that's for the best, his Father wanted him to dissuade all attempts at friendship after all. Sighing, Zuko stands, noting the way the boy flinches so suddenly:

"Uh – hi?" Zuko offers an awkward little wave, the boy only glares at him, biting his lower lip, Zuko uses his hand to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck, "I'm – my name is Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, and you are?"

"I'm not telling you anything, Fire Nation trash."

Zuko's eyes widen for a split second before a burning anger takes over, "Jerk!"

"I'm not a jerk!"

"Yes you are!" Zuko hisses, "You were mean to my Uncle and you just called me trash!"

"You all deserve it!"

"What did we do!?"

"You're all Fire Nation, that's what you did!" the wild-haired boy snaps, "All Fire Nation people are bad! I hate them and they all deserve to die!"

"I don't – that – we are not bad! And we do not deserve to die!" Zuko scowls, "And that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You can't hate someone because they're from the Fire Nation!"

"I can and will."

"What did the Fire Nation ever do to you!?"

The question causes the boy to snap; he practically charges Zuko to the ground, shocking the young Prince and leaving him floored, "THEY DID EVERYTHING! They raided my village, beat the people who tried to defend their families, their homes! They killed my people! They raped the women and burned my home to ashes!"

"I – they," Zuko's gaze falls to his lap, "No – they wouldn't do that unless you were, harboring criminals or something as bad - ,"

"Oh, wouldn't they?" the boy questions nastily, "Not a single one of us were criminals. We were farmers. I lost EVERYTHING because of the Fire Nation! I lost my friends, my house, and my parents! All in one day! And you know what makes it all worse!?" Zuko shakes his head numbly, heart beating a mile a minute, "They shipped me here to force me into their dumb army! I don't know where I am! Who anyone is! And now I'm forced to play nice with some snot-nosed Prince!" Zuko sucks in a breath, ready to defend something, "No, you know what, I don't care anymore! I don't care if they kill me! If they hang me! Chop my head off! I'd rather be dead than spending another second here, any day!"

"I – w-wait, w-what are you talking about?" Zuko all about whispers, he can't move his arms or legs, "Why – why would they kill you? You're only a kid."

"Didn't Daddy-Dearest tell you?" Zuko shakes his head, "I killed one of your soldiers, and it was fun. My favorite part was watching him choke on his own blood, I liked watching the blood pour from his throat."

"Wha - ?"

"He deserved it y'know," the boy jeers tauntingly, "The guy was nothing but a filthy, firebending pig."

SMACK!

The tan-skinned boy's head snaps sharply to the side, a single, small red print blaring angrily upon his cheek, eyes wide in shock. Slowly, he touches the stinging patch of skin before looking at the Prince who's shaking with uncontained rage, yellow eyes livid with anger and fair features twisted into a scowl.

"What right do you have to talk like that!?" Zuko shouts, "You're just as much of a monster as the guys who burned your home down! You're just as much of a pig to the family of the soldier you murdered!" the boy is silent, "I know what those guys, who burned your village, did was wrong, and I know you're mad, but you can't take it out on the rest of us for that! We're just as human as the rest of the world! We have feelings, we have families, jobs – whatever, and, and I may not like what you did to that man, or what you said, but I don't want you to die, because you're human too and you have a life!"

Silence.

Finally, the boy asks, "You think I'm a monster?"

"Yes." Zuko huffs, "But you're still just a kid, you can get better."

More silence.

The young Prince sighs, reaching out, he grabs the boy's sleeve, "C'mon, let's just sit by the pond and wait until Uncle Iroh comes back."

The boy doesn't move so Zuko gently tugs on the boy's sleeve, leading him towards the tree beside the pond. This is where they sit for the next three or so hours in complete and utter silence until Iroh arrives from whatever business he'd been conducting:

"So, how did it go?"

The Earth Kingdom boy opens his mouth to reply, but Zuko beats him to it, "Good, I want to play with him tomorrow too, Uncle." both Iroh and the boy look at Zuko incredulously, the Prince only looks upon his Uncle with bright eyes, "Please Uncle?"

Iroh lights up, "Of course, Prince Zuko. I'll make sure to bring him back around the same time ~ !"

"Okay." Zuko looks to the boy, "Bye, Lion-Heart."

The boy looks away, refusing to meet his eyes, "Bye."

Iroh only smiles at the interaction, too happy to notice Zuko's somber mood, too relieved knowing that the boy would not be executed at such a young age. Meanwhile, Zuko watches the duo leave, when his Mother comes out to sit with him, he finally asks the question that's been on the tip of his tongue:

"What does rape mean?"

Kids can be mean, they can also be very insightful. I'm going to try and make this a slow burn ~ also for those of you who reads Forge, Something-Beautiful-To-Say is reading some Jetko fanfics so he can get the hang of writing smut between Jet and Zuko ~ so just be patient please ~ :3 I hope you guys enjoyed this ~ !

QUICK NOTE: Jet is 8 while Zuko is 7.