AN: Chapters come quickly when you're having fun!

Also, the normal plot has been done to death, so I threw it in a blender and hit the high setting. No regrets.

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Ch. 2 Hello, Zuko here

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I shrieked bloody murder as I pulled the boy's hair. He howled and pulled mine back and we tumbled to the ground screaming.

"You take that back!" I shrieked as I tried to grind his face into the dirt. He yelled and tried to kick me off as I howled in rage. I was plucked off of him and continued to shriek bloody murder as he glared up at me angrily.

"Well, you are a midget! And that lady is fat!" he yelled, and I shrieked in fury.

"She's pregnant, not fat! And don't talk to my mother like that unless you'd like to eat dirt again, Ponytail boy!" I howled as my mystery Sifu sighed and pulled the boy off the ground before dusting him off. Master Piandao coughed to hide a laugh as I snarled from where I hung suspended by the back of my clothing in his grip.

"May I introduce my nephew Zuko," said Sifu and I blinked as I tried to place the name. Oh, no way. As in Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, soon to be scarred angsty teenager? One of the Best redemption Arcs in TV? For some reason, the boy looked a little amused as I stared at him clearly thinking hard. He looked like a smug little shithead. If I could remember anything from the show, he could be a bit stuck up at times, calling people peasants and such. I suddenly snapped my fingers in recognition of a wonderful idea. I was such a genius.

"You're that kid that pooped himself in class a few grades above me!" I gasped, lying through my teeth. He sputtered indignantly and swiftly denied it as I shot him a grossed outlook. Of course, Sifu and Piandao knew that I was still too young for school and was just messing with him, but this kid had no clue as he protested vehemently. I kept shooting him grossed-out looks as I tried to surreptitiously to wipe my hands off on things like the side of master's robes. He dodged me after he realized what I was doing.

"I don't see why Master Piandao decided to take on a shrimp like you," huffed the boy as I frowned at him.

"I could say the same. You have the tact of a crowbar. What are you, some socially awkward genius or something?" I demanded and the kid sputtered angrily.

"I'm not socially awkward!" he cried.

"You insulted me and my mother in the span of twenty seconds upon meeting us. And you're going to be stuck with me for the next year at least, how tactless can you be?" I demanded as the boy sulked.

"Well, you're tiny. How old are you even?" he demanded nose now in the air.

"I'm four years old," I said angrily as the boy nearly tripped as he sputtered wildly.

"W-what?! There's no way! You're way too young to use swords!" he cried as I got indignant.

"Well, I used to be an S rank ninja in my last life! I bet I can still kick your ass! You, me, right now!" I yelled as I tried to get out of master's grip.

"It wouldn't be fair for me to beat up such a tiny kid," he countered back. I smirked.

"You'll need any advantage you can get! I've been training with the home guard for two years on top of being a taijutsu master and throwing knife expert!" I crowed as I puffed up with pride. The boy's eyes went wide as he sputtered something that sounded a lot like 'jumped up toddler.'

"The Home Guard?! But you would have been two!" he cried in alarm as I grinned.

"My dad had to take me to work so I wouldn't set things on fire since mom's not a bender!" I said cheerfully as the boy gaped at me. Suddenly, something in his eyes seemed a lot older and more intelligent for a moment as his face hardened.

"Fine, show me what you've got, then maybe I'll apologize," he challenged as I grinned widely.

"Agreed. Let me prepare for our battle!" I cried before turning to Master Piandao. He raised his eyebrows as I grinned up at him evilly. To be fair we had just arrived at his home in Shu Jing but I was already excited to get to work making his life difficult.

"Master! Do you have any unsharpened throwing knives, two practice swords, a bo staff, and any dull ninja stars?" I asked as his expression went a little incredulous.

"Do you know how to use any of those?" he asked skeptically as I grinned.

…

Zuko cursed as he used all his skill from the past two repeats of his life to fend off the little demon child that was intent on taking off his head with a dull wood sword. He managed to use his greater height and strength to send her flying backward. She cackled with maniacal glee as she suddenly sent dull knives flying at his head and he barely managed to deflect them. They distracted him enough that when his attention was back to where his opponent had been she was gone. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and that was all the warning he had to throw himself out of the way as she seemed to appear from nowhere, with how quick she moved, sword shattering the bamboo tree it hit. Zuko's eyes went wide in alarm as the girl smirked.

"Just be thankful I'm going easy on you," she smirked as he fumed. He had lived a combined 160 years reliving the same life and here was some random girl kicking his ass, what the hell?! He decided to let her know.

"What the hell?! Where did you learn to do that?!" Zuko demanded, frustrated but intrigued as the girl continued to smirk.

"I already told you. In my last life I was a ninja," she said as her words suddenly registered. Wait, if he had lived his life over more than once and he had never run into her before… it suddenly explained the prodigy-level intelligence and fighting prowess. Master Piandao had had to cut down a practice sword, she was too small for the regular-sized ones. And yet she was using it like she had been using swords all her life…

Something rushed through him, a series of emotions that turned his stomach and made it flutter. Maybe he wasn't alone?

"What was it like? Your last life?" Zuko suddenly demanded and the girl's smirk suddenly disappear as she looked thoughtful.

"Not the best. I was trained to be a child soldier by age 7 and was a high-level ninja fighter fighting in a world war by the time I was 20. While I might have been one of the best, I didn't have the power needed to keep up with God-like ninja. One of them killed me in the fourth great ninja war," she said with a shrug as Zuko's eyes bugged a bit. What the hell. Even if she was lying who came up with stuff like that, Zuko thought incredulously.

"That doesn't sound like anything that's ever happened in the history of the elemental nations," Zuko pointed out, a bit unnerved by the girl's calm and nonchalance. She smirked.

"That's because it was in another universe. There were no benders there but if someone could use chakra then they could use any element. Some people had more chakra than others. I guess you could call this chi here," she said with a shrug as Zuko's eyes bugged again in alarm. After a moment he blinked himself out of his surprise enough to sputter incoherently for a moment before he gathered his thoughts.

"Is that why you were able to start fires so young?" he asked as she seemed thoughtful.

"I think so. Moving chi is different than chakra but I have a lot of experience moving and manipulating something I can't see but only feel. I used to be a sage in my life, did you know? That means you could draw energy out of the environment and use it," she said with a grin as Zuko's heart nearly stopped at her pronouncement.

"Can you still do that?" he breathed in awe as she grew contemplative. She suddenly went stock still, eyes sliding close. After a moment she frowned.

"It's going to take some meditation before I can determine if I'm still able to do it," she muttered mostly to herself before looking up to meet my eyes, her light gold ones suddenly looking far older than her four years of age.

"You're not acting as if you think I'm joking about my past life." She said pointy, suddenly sounding a lot older. Zuko suddenly swallowed at the unspoken demand as to why. He looked away shiftily.

"Is it bad to humor a little kid?" he demanded testily.

"You are only three years older than me, and yet you see me as a little kid despite the fact you've barely been able to keep up with me all this time?" she murmured, mostly to herself as if deep in thought about something. Suddenly her eyes focused once more.

She suddenly shot towards him faster than a child of her age should be able to and she sent a flying side kick at him that he was barely able to get his wood swords up in time for. The fore of it sent him skidding back afoot, and he heard something in the wood crack under her foot before she kicked off into a backflip, landing as graceful as a gleaming blade.

"They were right. You are a terrible liar." She growled before she charged him.

…

"What do you mean you don't know how to fight hand to hand?" came the girl's indignant voice from the other side of the courtyard somewhere beyond the bamboo grove. There was the sound of a few thumps before Zuko came tumbling out of the bamboo foliage. Iroh noted the normally unruffled seven-year-old was distinctly ruffled, his hair coming out of his phoenix plume, clothes dirty and torn in a few places. He was also sputtering angrily as the girl came stalking out of the brush scowling.

"Well, I'm already on my way to becoming a Master firebender, and a Master sword master!" he argued as she harrumphed in annoyance crossing her arms.

"Then you should be able to hold me off easily in hand to hand. You are already using your chi to move faster than you should be able to. Build your chi like you're going to firebend but use the energy instead to protect the limb that you plan to use as well as augment your movements. You already do it a bit, just do it consciously!" she lectured, and he watched as his nephew's eyes went a bit wide before his expression became contemplative.

"Come on, I'll teach you," grumped the girl and soon the two of them were doing katas in the yard as she walked Zuko through her explanation.

"No! Not like that! Watch my chi," she grumped as he shot her an incredulous look.

"What do you mean watch your chi?!" he demanded as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, put your chi in this fire but don't try to use it or manipulate it," she said holding a flame over her palm. He hesitantly reached his hand out and she made a tsking sound. After a moment he saw his nephew's eyes go wide in shock before looking up to her, eyes alight with awe.

"I can feel what you're doing," he breathed wonderingly. The girl's scowl slid away to reveal a truly sweet smile.

"Now feel what I do with my chi next," she said and he closed his eyes as if to sense it better.

Iroh could see why the parents had hidden her. If his brother Ozai or his father Azulon had caught wind of the girl, she would have either ended up a part of the royal household or disappear along with her family. What she was working to teach his nephew was an advanced form of fire bending, like the manipulation of energy with chi he had seen her use more than once. The fact that she had taught herself, a fact that Iroh did not miss her parents trying to cover up only made her more of a future danger to the power of the crown.

Seemingly satisfied with his progress she started to move to basic hand-to-hand fighting, showing him how to direct his chi inside his body. Iroh watched as his usually bored sullen nephew was captivated by interest. Zuko learned quickly but not as quickly as normal and she walked him through the forms again, stating it was best to practice in front of a large mirror to ingrain good form into your mind when you practiced by yourself. The children continued chattering as Piandao smiled.

"Looks like their fight turned into a fighting lesson," he said as Iroh nodded.

"I thought they would have hated each other after this morning so I have to say I'm surprised that they have moved past it already," he mused as Piandao smiled.

"I have a feeling she could only take so much of the fight before she decided to be sporting and teach him a few things, so he stood a chance," he mused as Iroh frowned, sensing truth in those words. And what an abnormal truth. While his nephew was abnormal enough, now there were two of them.

…

Zuko lay in his bed at Master Piandao's manor and gazed up at the dark ceiling as he thought over the weird girl he had met today. Moriko was unpredictable, almost bizarre. He sensed credibility to her claim of a previous life, but that would still put him well over her in age. Still, it had sounded like her world was far more intense than his own when it came to battle from what little he had seen of her skill. Even then, she was a child right now. He almost shuddered to think what she would be like in six years.

"So," murmured a voice, and Zuko shot out of bed nearly throwing a fireball before he recognized the figure. He sagged as he tried to slow his pounding heart.

"Agni, I almost killed you," he hissed angrily into the night as the girl chuckled in the dark.

"I would have been fine," she murmured quietly as he scowled.

"What do you want?" he grumped as she came to sit on his bed by him.

"You're not the Zuko that I was expecting." She said quietly and his stomach dropped with dread.

"What are you talking about," he demanded testily as the girl eyed him sidelong.

"In my first life, when I was a kid we grew up with stories of your world. The Zuko from that story wasn't a prodigy and until his scar, he was a cheerful happy kid. You don't meet any of those descriptors," she said pointedly as his eyes went wide with shock and mild horror. First life?! FIRST life?! Wait what?! And she had heard of him tale? Was she from the future?! But what about her being from another universe? If she was from another universe, how did his story end up there? If it had, how much did she know about him?!

"So, you can either leave me to assume the worst about you and your intentions, or you can explain how whatever is going on came to be." She said pointedly as he tried to swallow, throat dry, only to start coughing as his hands began to shake, his mind churning with possibilities. She raised a brow, calm as a cucumber as he struggled to recover from the shock of having to deal with this insane girl. Who just comes out and said crap like that?! He decided to let her know, too fed up to do otherwise.

"How could you come out and just say that?!" he demanded between coughs as she snorted before looking away, eyes dulling.

"At this point, I barely care anymore," she murmured softly, and a thrill of horror ran up his spine at the mildness of her tone to say something that bleak. He thought about it and realized it was true. She had known he was a royal prince but she had still attacked him after he said those things about her mother. She had barely held back in their spar, nearly taken his head off with a wooden sword despite knowing what he meant for the fate of this world, and barely passed as a child with her outrageous skills. She was barely keeping things together, if only for her parent's sake. He had seen the love in her eyes when they had doted on her or scolded her.

"You really don't care, do you?" he whispered as she continued sitting there. He struggled with how he felt about this before looking at her sharply.

"Then why are you talking to me if you don't care anymore?" he asked as she glanced at him, a small rueful smile on her face.

"I said I barely care anymore, not that I entirely don't. This situation is unusual enough to warrant my interest," she said smile still rueful as he looked away, knowing partly what she meant. His first lifetime through, he had been unskilled, always struggling and fighting for his strength and destiny. The second one, he tried to relive it through the same way as previous only to accidentally get killed before 20. By the third time through, he was getting tired of things and stopped keeping to the way things had happened the first time through, only to get assassinated by 37. By life four, well… he understood where she was coming from.

"I'm not exactly sure how many times I have relived this life after the first lifetime you mentioned," Zuko muttered quietly, trying to swallow past the lump in his throat. A small hand took his in the dark and squeezed it comfortingly. Knowing that someone understood that he could tell her the truth without her disbelieving him… tears sprang to his eyes unbidden and he looked away sharply at the overwhelming feeling of feeling understood when he never thought it would happen. The hand holding his squeezed a little tighter before she sniffled, clearing her throat.

"I think I might need a hug," she murmured, and he turned swiftly to see that she was looking away, lower lip wobbling, eyes brimming with unshed tears. He complied swiftly and felt a rush of comfort as her tears silently soaked into his sleeping shirt. Maybe she could understand this relief he felt as well to know that he was no longer alone, washed adrift by fate's tides. She squeezed him back fiercely and he moved back so they could lay down in his bed. She didn't protest, merely snuggled close as he sighed contentedly while she snuggled closer.

"Thank you," she murmured as he nodded, hugging her close, the anxiety and worries fading to the back of his mind.

"Same," he murmured contentedly. Right as he was about to fall asleep she jerked awake and he did the same when she poked him.

"Hey, if you know better why did you say something so rude when we first met?" she demanded in a whisper. He thanked the fact it was dark enough to hide his blush. Ok, he had been a bit out of line for that comment when he first met her.

"Sometimes I act like a little shit because I'm feeling moody and little kids can get away with it. It's a bit thrilling to get away with it even though I'm not really a kid. Most little kids don't attack you for saying stuff like that either, why did you?" he muttered embarrassedly as the girl hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, I attacked you because it's in my character to be very protective of my loved ones. Like really protective. Like, we should probably figure something out about how we want to handle Ozai when you are thirteen and get burned and banished because if he tried to do that shit to you, he's going to end up missing or die in a tragic 'accident' because I have a feeling you and I will end up close friends and if he tried to hurt you, I'll end him." She said bluntly as Zuko gaped at her.

"You'll just kill him?! Just like that?" he demanded as she pulled back enough to shoot him a look.

"You do realize a good portion of ninjas are master assassins on top of soldiers, right? I had to fight and defeat a number of people before I was fourteen, and by age twenty I had had over thirty assassination missions of difficult targets under my belt. It wasn't pretty and I'm not bragging, but it was something I had to do to protect my home and its interest. So no, I'm not like Aang when it comes to dealing with a problem," she said as Zuko blinked in surprise before looking away, glad she couldn't see his please flush in the dark. No one had ever stated so bluntly that they would protect him, even from his own family, even from the Firelord. She really didn't give two shits about whomever it was, she just said she would end them. It was a bit 'yikes,' but at the same time, wow... his face flushed a little harder as she poked him to get his attention again.

"But anyways, listen; my mother isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, nor is she a royal beauty, but she's pregnant and my mother. You know how hormonal a pregnant woman is, and if you made her upset, I wouldn't have been as merciful as I was today. I might have pulled your hair and put your face in the dirt, but all you had were a couple of dirty patches and a few lost hairs. She's been pretty decent to me despite me being the obnoxious person I am, so no being mean to her, understood?" she said seriously as she poked him in the chest to make her point. He nodded rapidly understanding that moms were usually off-limits anyways.

"I'll admit, not one of my brightest moments. I'll keep that in mind in the future," he murmured. Satisfied, she snuggled close again and the two swiftly drifted off to sleep.

…

Zuko woke to soft snoring and something pinning his hair to the pillow in a mildly painful way. Wondering what had woken him up he glanced around only to pause as his eyes landed on his uncle who looked surprised but very pleased. Zuko glared before poking the girl beside him. She rolled over, slinging an arm over his chest as she said something that almost sounded like another language before going back to sleep. Zuko looked up and shrugged, indicating that he couldn't move without disturbing her now. His uncle grinned fondly and pat his now free hair before leaving the room.

…

Later that morning

"Where are they?" Piandao muttered as he left the breakfast table to hunt for his two new students. It was considered late morning for firebenders especially since they seemed to rise with the sun more often than not. Deciding to check Prince Zuko's room first he paused seeing Iroh's twinkling eyes as the General pointed at the bed from the doorway. Piandao reached his side before blinking in surprise at the two children curled up fast asleep on the prince's bed.

He had to fight the urge to mutter 'what the hell' under his breath.

"Weren't they fighting yesterday?" he whispered to the General as the other man chuckled.

"Matters of the family are important, but sometimes new friendships are stronger than even that," murmured the old general as Piandao shot him a dubious look. It was true both children were frighteningly smart and probably peerless more often than not.

"Moriko, the adults are here, we need to get up," yawned Zuko as he shook the girl's shoulder. She grumbled before throwing an arm over her eyes dramatically.

"Fine. Carry me," she demanded, and the boy rolled his eyes before complying. She wrapped her small arms around his neck, and they left leaving the two adults to look at one another in surprise.

…

Three months later

The sound of shrieking laughter filled the courtyard of the Piandao manor as the two kids played tag while the adults sipped tea on the veranda.

"I can't believe she found a friend her age," Hitome gushed as her hand came to rest on her stomach which was starting to show the first signs of swelling with child. Iroh, who had come to visit to check in on his nephew grinned, pleased as well. Prince Zuko was known for his grumpiness, kindness, and prodigious skills, but friends not so much. He had a tendency to get grumpy and say something offending to other children, and they either didn't like him anymore or ran away crying from his rudeness. He watched the two scamper over rocks and through the bamboo grove that was looking a bit more singed than the last time he had seen it. A dulled throwing knife went flying and he could hear his nephew's triumphant cry as he whirled around and caught it mid-air before sending it flying back. She threw another dull throwing knife and there was a loud 'ching!' as the two blades collided and knocked each other off course.

"Good!" she cried, before throwing another two at him that he caught. He cheered in glee at his triumph as she readied a dull blade of her own.

"Alright, I want you to try and predict where the blades are going to collide and throw your blade there," she said as he nodded, prepared to throw the item. She threw and his nephew threw and there was a 'ching!' As the two blades collided. There was a flash of something shiny heading for the adults but as Iroh shot to his feet, leaping in front of Hitome to protect her from the projectile, the girl had managed to get across the courtyard and snatch up the offending blade before it could reach them.

"Good job Zuko but let's head over to the other end of the courtyard," called the girl before she shot the General a grateful smile for protecting her mother. He grinned back but inside his head, he was still caught off guard at how quickly she had moved despite the fact he knew it had been her manipulating her chi to achieve the speed she had used. It seemed she had taught his nephew because the two children scampered off more swiftly than they should have been able. Thinking he sat slowly before blinking out of his thoughts as Hitome pat his hand.

"They will be ok. They will look after each other," she murmured and Iroh couldn't help but hear she meant more than just their time as children. Thinking of the skills the two children were displaying, he decided his son could benefit from spending time with them, young military man or not.

…

"I like Lu Ten," said Moriko cheerfully as she splayed out on the ground beside Zuko. The sun was setting, the waterfall in the distance lending the landscape a hint of mist from the crashing water, the land turned a warm series of golds and oranges from the burning sky. He grimaced and her face grew somber as she looked at him.

"You have never managed to save him from his fate, have you?" she asked quietly as Zuko looked away, eyes sad.

"I can't tell you what it's like to keep trying and to keep losing him," he said quietly as she frowned.

"Is that why you've been pushing him away?" she asked quietly as he frowned. He nodded and she took his hand before giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Well, now you have me to help you. We'll figure something out, even if we need to kidnap him from the battlefield then dump him off somewhere in the earth kingdom for a few months so your uncle can go on his spiritual journey." She said as Zuko frowned.

"We need to pick a course for the future then follow it I suppose," he muttered to himself before grinning at his partner in crime. She grinned back before winking, hand still firmly grasping his own.

…

"I've got it!" she cried as she came skidding into his room at the break of dawn. Zuko yawned but sat up, used to her antics by this point. She unrolled a long sheaf of paper on his desk and he came over to sit at his desk as she pointed here and there at it. It was covered in a script that he didn't recognize.

"Here's what we are going to do! First, do you want to be Firelord again?" she asked as he grimaced.

"Not really. The job has killed me the last four times I did it," he said as she shot him a sympathetic look, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

"Then, I propose," she said before going off on her plan and a few scenarios. Zuko's eyebrows rose a few times and he laughed at a few of her ideas, but as she spoke, he could feel something like hope growing in his chest as she continued to talk. He couldn't help the fondness he felt growing as she continued her explanation with over-the-top arm movements and sound effects.

In the end, she grinned at him and he smiled back. He had a weird feeling in his chest that he tried not to recognize for what it might mean. Must be indigestion.

...

,,,

...

Ch. 3 Preview

Lu Ten gaped at the two children that he was currently being taught advanced fire bending by. The girl grinned unrepented as his cousin smirked smugly.

"How-what?!" Lu Ten sputtered as the girl's grin transformed into a smirk that rivaled his cousin's.

"Fire bending is about using your chi to create fire. The sun lends us strength, and like Sozin's comet, we are able to draw energy off of things innately, however, there is a way to draw more than the sun's power to be used. The first step is understanding how to channel heat out of something.

"Firebenders can channel heat out of things using their chi. You've seen it before with Volcano experts who draw heat out of the caldera. All temperature is, are vibrations of energy. A temperature is correlated to the amount of energy in an area. Therefore, if you focus hard enough, you can draw the energy out of the environment." Lectured the girl as she gestured for Zuko to demonstrate this time. His cousin focused hard on the pot of boiling water over the bonfire. Suddenly there was a chill filling the air and a crack as the boiling water froze so fast the pot cracked, frost gathering on the logs that were just a burning bonfire.

AN: I defend the idea that if firebenders trained hard enough they could pull energy out of their surrounding environment like they absorb energy from the sun and Sozin's comet, fight me.

We have seen firebenders vent heat out of Volcanos before in Cannon to slow eruptions like Avatar Roku and Firelord Sozin when Avatar Roku died in the eruption. If you don't believe we watch The Firelord and the Avatar in Book Three: Fire.

Also, can you imagine keeping your memories going from life to life? Might be fun for one or two lives but after a bit, it must get monotonous after a while.