This is my first fan-fiction ever, so I'm not positive I'm doing everything right. I hope you enjoy it! I've always loved the idea of Zuko and Aang being brothers, and I've always loved AUs. I guess I just wanted to find a way to make both happen, so this universe was born. Hopefully it makes sense!

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Zuko stepped inside and shivered. Aang had forgotten to heat the house, again. "Aang! Where are you? How come the fire's died out? Aren't you freezing?" Zuko held his breath as he waited for an answer. None came. As he took off his coat, he took an initial look around the house. It was clean, mostly. So Aang had at least completed some of his chores. "Aang?" He hoped he hadn't heard about the fighting that had been going on. It was crazy, almost insane. The fire nation was getting closer and closer to calling real war on the air nomads. Zuko didn't know how Aang would take that. He had so many air nomad friends, it was almost like he was one himself.

Zuko sighed again and rubbed his forehead. "Aang?" There was still no response. Zuko pushed down the growing tension of the situation. Aang would do this a lot, just disappear and refuse to talk. But today, their father was returning home after a week-long trip. And, well, Ozai was not a very patient man. He wanted things done a specific way, and when they weren't he was angry. And he had already expressed, multiple times, that he didn't like it when Aang got like this.

So, Zuko started looking for him. He checked every room in the house three times, and then, he let himself actually worry. It was his job to protect Aang, how could he do that if Aang was missing? Aang obviously didn't want to be found, unless he wasn't home. But where would he go? Zuko swallowed and went into the kitchen to make dinner. After eating, he would go and look for Aang again.

There was a letter on the table. It had already been opened, and from a distance, Zuko could still tell it was from his father. He started walking towards it, but then realized where Aang probably was. He turned and ran to the back door. After pushing past it, he finally found Aang sitting on the ground in the weird position he had adapted more and more recently. He sighed in relief, then suddenly, the weight of what Aang was doing set in. Only half of his work done? And on the day their father was returning? And sitting outside? It was frigid! What was he doing?

"Aang! What are you doing out here? Didn't you hear me calling for you? We need to hurry and eat and get ready! And why is only half of the stuff done! Dad's coming home tonight! Have you even eaten yet? Seriously, what's wrong with you?" Aang flinched when Zuko started yelling, but his eyes stayed shut, and he didn't respond.

Zuko felt like screaming. Aang had closed in on himself, and Zuko had probably just made it a lot worse. But instead of screaming, he took a deep breath. He was one of the only people who could get Aang out of his shell. The other was his air nomad friend, Gyatso. He stepped forward, and then, much quieter and gentler then before said, "Aang? Are you alright?" He waited for about one minute before deciding Aang wasn't going to answer. He put his hand on Aang's shoulder. Aang flinched again, but Zuko kept his hand there. "Hey, do you want some dinner? I can bring it out. I was just going to have rice, but I think it would be fun to do something cooler. Did you have lunch?"

There was still no answer. Zuko sat down next to Aang and stared off into the distance, like he supposed Aang was doing. "Aren't you cold?" Aang still didn't respond. This was proving to be difficult. At times like this, when something hard or scary had happened, Aang would ignore everything anyone said, and would refuse to say anything. And it could take days to get him to come out of it. Zuko didn't have days. He had maybe an hour, probably less.

"So… what are you doing?" Zuko waited for an answer. After a few minutes, he tried changing tactics. "Can you teach me to do it?"

He stayed quiet this time, letting Aang decide to talk when he was ready. And finally, he did. It was one word, and Aang sounded awful, but it was something. "Meditating."

After a few more moments of silence, Zuko tried again. "Can you teach me how?"

"Just sit like I do. And clear your mind of everything." Zuko looked at Aang to figure out how to sit like him and gasped. Aang was crying. Crying. The last time Zuko had seen Aang cry was when Zuko had gotten his scar. Had Ozai done something to Aang?

"Aang! What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?" Zuko waited anxiously as Aang closed his eyes. Another tear rolled down his cheek.

Finally, finally, he whispered-barely loud enough for Zuko to hear-"Gyatso died. There's a letter on the table from Dad."

Zuko gasped. "What? How? When? What happened? How? I- I thought…" Zuko trailed off. He thought his father was going to protect him. What did the letter say? Would it explain things? But if Ozai had tried, then how come Aang was out here? How bad was it? "I'm... going inside. I'll come back in a moment."

Aang sort of halfway nodded and Zuko ran back inside. The letter was still on the table. Zuko ran to it in a panic, needing answers. It was shorter than expected, and left Zuko feeling angry and confused.

There is news. Gyatso fell in the battle against the air nomads today. I apologize if this hurts you. We are sure he is dead, and even if he is not, there is a group let out to kill those who escaped the battle and are wounded. This will take me at least three days to fix. I expect you to continue work while I am gone. You will continue your cleaning duties, but what is more important is your training. Zuko, make sure your brother keeps training, and do not slack off on yours. I'll be able to tell if you're not doing it right. Keep your brother in line. I don't wish to return when he's in one of his problems.

How could he talk like that? How could he 'apologize if this hurt them'? Gyatso was one of Aang's best friends! Of course this would hurt him! He read the letter again and realized that it hadn't even mentioned Aang's name once. He swallowed. Of course Aang was outside. Of course he was meditating. Of course he didn't want to talk. Of course he hadn't eaten before. This was awful.

Zuko was used to this kind of treatment for Aang, but it still hurt every time. He'd tried to fight back against his dad before, but it'd never worked. He closed his eyes for a minute, then went to the cupboard. He shouldn't take more food than was required. He didn't want his dad to be mad. Well, actually he did. But it probably wasn't the best idea to make him mad at this point in time.

So, he just took out rice. And, after hesitating maybe a moment too long, he took out a little komodo chicken, too. Aang was a vegetarian, but that didn't mean Zuko was, or that Ozai expected them to stop eating meat while he was gone.

He cooked the rice quickly, then went outside. "Aang? I…uh...read the letter. So I guess Dad won't be home for a bit. I made us dinner. We should probably eat now."

Zuko stepped forward, then sat down by Aang. He was still meditating. It would take a lot to make him ready for when Ozai returned. "It's a simple meal. Did you have lunch?"

"No. I…" Aang opened his eyes suddenly. "I'm sorry. Do you think Dad will be mad?" His voice shook and Zuko could tell he was scared.

Zuko shook his head. "I won't tell him. But you really do have to eat now." When Aang didn't move, he put his hand on his shoulder. "Please?"

Aang bit his lip. "I won't eat meat. I won't. I don't care what Dad does."

Oh. So that was it. Zuko nodded. "I know. I'll eat it. You can just… have the rice. And then… we can go inside or something…"

Aang looked relieved, and took one of the two bowls. Zuko ate the meat first. It wasn't that much, but it was more than he was used to. It was alright, though. Aang grimaced as Zuko ate the meat so quickly. Zuko understood that it probably would have been better if he had not eaten it this one day, but… Ozai did want a certain amount done, and he really didn't like things to not go as planned.

The rice was next, and he was able to eat at a much more reasonable pace. Still, he finished far before Aang, who had barely taken a bite. After finishing, he watched Aang for a while, picking at his food, only occasionally lifting his fork to take a bite. After another few minutes, Zuko decided he needed to go. There was much work that still needed to be done, and Aang didn't seem in any state to do it. He hesitated to leave Aang though, especially now.

Zuko shifted uncomfortably, still waiting for Aang to finish. Or maybe say something. Or do anything. Finally, Aang glanced up. "You can go inside."

Zuko instantly felt guilty for wanting to leave him when he was hurting. "No, no. I'll wait. At least for you to finish your dinner, maybe longer. I won't leave you."

Aang sighed and turned to face him. "Zuko. I'm going to meditate for a while longer. I'll come in before dark, but you really don't need to be here. I just want to think. Or… to not think. I just want to meditate." He looked at his brother imploringly.

Zuko nodded. "You want to be alone for a while?"

Aang looked relieved. "Nothing against you or anything…"

"No, I get it. Okay, well, I'll come get you before I go to bed. Let me know if you want to talk or need… anything. I'll just be taking care of stuff inside."

"Sure. Sorry I didn't do my other stuff."

"It's fine, Aang. It's not your fault. I'll see you later then?"

Aang nodded and resumed his meditating position. The rice stayed where it was on the floor next to him. Zuko sighed, but at least Aang had eaten something. Maybe the next day things would be back to normal, though he doubted it. But when he had said it wasn't Aang's fault, he meant it. He would never blame Aang for this mess.

Zuko turned away from Aang and went inside. It was a pretty night - the beach was calm and the wind was just slightly blowing. Aang would be fine, even though it was cold. He had done this before, and he had a reason to now. He would be fine.

Zuko let himself fall into his chair at the table. Looking over the letter once more, he did some thinking himself. Gyatso… dead? How could it be possible? Zuko knew the fight with the air nomads was bad, but how could Gyatso be dead? It still seemed unreal.

When the war had started 100 years before, the new Fire Lord captured the air nomads and brought them back to the Fire Nation. They had lived in relative peace in Ember Island, which had been closed off from the public. But then, for some reason, recently, a lot of fighting had started. And slowly, the air nomads began to disappear. When the first person Aang had known had died, it had taken him… a long time to recover. After that, he seemed to expect that when their father was gone, he'd come back with bad news. But this was different. Gyatso had been one of the best airbenders there, and he had been close to Aang. At one point, Ozai had said he would try and keep him safe. Now, things were crazier than ever, but Zuko still couldn't believe it. It seemed unreal.

Zuko wondered if Gyatso had gotten in the way of Ozai becoming Firelord - the one thing he had said would be unexcusable. But the monk didn't care about politics, or at least not Fire Nation ones. And as far as Zuko knew, the air nomads moving didn't really affect his plan to take back the royal title and punish the current leaders for banishing his grandfather. It was just… all crazy.

Zuko forced himself to stand up. There was still stuff to be done. Not as much as he had first thought - not with Ozai not returning for at least 3 days. But he still needed to prepare food for the next day, at least. And he still needed to prepare the rooms for bed, making sure Aang's was warm. He still needed to at least start on cleaning the lower floor, because he wanted the rest done by the next day - so it would be off his plate. Zuko sighed.

But… at least Aang was okay. For now. And at least they still had three days before they had to act normal again. Zuko wondered if it would be a good idea to go and see some of the other air nomads, if they were there. That might help Aang - he didn't know.

Zuko sighed again as he turned to the room Ozai was letting Aang sleep in for now. This would work out. Hopefully. Probably. He just needed to wait until the next day. For now, he would get to work.

What do you think? Is it alright? I'm planning on posting around once a week. I hope you enjoy.