A/N: DISCLAIMER: This fic has nothing to do with gender. There is room to interpret it as having something to do with gender if you want, but that is your own choice. I intend no such meaning.

EDIT (8/25/22, 53 chapters): I was wrong about my own story. The part of me that intends things is not the same part of me that comes up with story ideas, so it took me way too long to realize that this story actually has a lot to do with gender. It is top to bottom allegory. The title is NOT a coincidence or an accident, and anyone who reads gendered meaning into this story is not projecting. It's actually there. Kudos to anyone who saw it before I did.

Updates: On Tuesdays. I do not know which Tuesdays yet. Unlike my other stories, I intend this one to be for others' enjoyment, not just my own. That means I will be bothering to edit and revise this thing before publishing, which will most likely mean that I can't publish every Tuesday. I will try to publish every Tuesday for as long as I am able, but if I'm not comfortable with something, I'm giving myself permission right now to not publish that week.

Reviews: As this is the first of my stories to be written mostly for the enjoyment of readers, I would like some. Please tell me what you think, if you have any thoughts at all.

Shipping: There will eventually be some, but it will not be overwhelmingly important to the story, nor will it be mentioned frequently. Readers who don't want romance should find plenty to like, even in the most romantic scenes I have planned. Readers who do want romance are out of luck.

There will be references to canon events that aren't fully explained in this story. For the ease and convenience of everyone who doesn't want to have to rewatch episodes to find out what I was talking about in that one line, I will be summarizing the relevant parts of canon episodes in a beginning note on any chapter that has unclarified references.

EDIT (4/16/21, 2 chapters): I have just been informed by a friend that this site practices censorship of M-rated stories. I did not know that. I rated this story M just because it definitely falls in the harsher parts of the continuum from soft and fluffy to deadly serious. I wanted potential readers to know that so they could freely choose to get involved here and not be surprised. If this story ends up censored, that's the exact opposite of the reason why I rated this so harshly. This story is now rated T, and I'm including a warning. Warning: the main character of this story had the world's most abusive family. I will be taking a much closer look at that aspect of his backstory. Canon Zuko was pretty functional. In this story...not so much. Hard times ahead.

Welcome.

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The gate loomed: large, dark, and imposing. They had no hope of breaching it. Not the normal way, anyway.

But there was no time to think of that. The cries of angry armed men echoed up from below, joining the bellows of those already on the walls. The Blue Spirit whirled, blades clashing against spears. His shoulder ached from slamming against armor. But there was no time to think. The walls!

The Avatar, despite his age, was having a much easier time. He threw a blast of air down one of the long wall-climbing ladders, and hesitated just long enough for them both to see the looks of terror on the soldiers climbing the second ladder. Then they, too, were thrown off.

The Blue Spirit dumped the last of the soldiers over the wall as the Avatar ran around behind him, doing something. Right now, in this situation, it was good to be on the Avatar's side. But of course that would change later.

"Here!" The Avatar hauled one of the wall-climbing ladders to him. The kid was somehow managing to not only hold, but balance the other two. Just what kind of monk had he been? "Jump onto my back!"

He leaped off of the wall, and the Blue Spirit followed. For a brief moment before jumping, he feared he wouldn't make it… But the spirit of fire flared, warming his legs and removing all aches. It also caused him to jump out of sheer terror. Right now, in this situation, that was a good thing.

The ladder swung them both forward. The Avatar held out the second ladder, and climbed onto it. "Gimme the next one!"

The Blue Spirit actually felt a little better as he handed the kid the third ladder. How his family must be laughing back home! His honor was bruised and sore from being beaten, outrun and outfought by a 12 year old so many times. Seeing the kid in action helped his pride heal. This was clearly no ordinary kid. Too bad his family would never know that, but at least he could feel better.

As the third ladder swung upward, it looked like they would make it.

But of course they were in the middle of a courtyard full of Firebenders, and had been for a slow 15 seconds. The ladder was set ablaze. The Blue Spirit could have used his bending to repress the fire, but the Avatar panicked and leaned forward to jump.

At that exact moment, the Blue Spirit looked up. He'd been flung about on the waves too often not to. At their current speed, and their angle of descent, and their distance from the wall, instinct told him they would just barely not make it.

He smacked the Avatar on the side of the head with the hilt of one of his swords, causing the kid to yell. The Blue Spirit didn't bother to hear that, being too busy shoving his hands downwards, pushing the flames back down the ladder. The ladder swung forward, giving them more speed and closing the distance.

"What the -" yelled an angry faux-Admiral. "Traitor! The thief is a traitor!"

The Blue Spirit's hands curled tighter. That stung. Misfit, outcast, and now traitor. Nice to hear someone else recognize it.

His inner fire surged. That was what capturing the Avatar was for! Capturing the Avatar would restore his honor! He would never have to be an outcast anymore, and maybe not a misfit, either! This quest was supposed to reverse that progression, not speed it forward! The fire spirit roared, as if echoing his anger, and the ladder all but exploded beneath them. The Avatar jumped immediately. This time they were close enough that, with a little boost from his airbending, they soared right over the gate.

As they fell, cries of anger turned to screams of terror on the other side. The fire spirit was running wild! The Blue Spirit grew hot and feverish as the fire spread. He felt the fire spirit suddenly burst outward, engulfing the entire courtyard in flames, and yelped. Luckily the Avatar was busy cushioning their fall with airbending, and didn't hear.

They both stopped and turned to face the closed gate in horror. There were hardly any voices to hear now. What few there were sounded like they were crying. A certain frustrated voice told them both that Zhao had not been among the burned. But how many ordinary soldiers had looked up at them from the courtyard? How many had rushed in? Neither could remember. The Blue Spirit felt sick.

Maybe I shouldn't go h-

He stopped that thought. Going home was all he wanted. Was all he had ever wanted. At home, the fire spirit would settle down. It was angry at being outside of its home. That was all. It wanted to be in the Fire Nation again just like he did, and when it was, everything would be alright. They would both fully belong. Zuko would earn his father's right hand seat. Then someday, in the future, when he ascended to the throne, the fire spirit would sit at his.

With no hesitation, the Blue Spirit raised his sword and brought its hilt down on the Avatar's unprotected head, knocking the boy right out.

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Of course, he'd been outwitted by the Avatar's friends before, too. They would all have to come along.

Zuko arrived, clad in his usual non-spirit clothing, at the landing spot for his raft. The soldiers stationed there jumped when they saw the Avatar, bound and with a sizable lump on his head, slung over his shoulder. "Take him to the boat and have him bound immediately. An isolated room, in complete darkness, with chains! Take all water out of nearby rooms! Everything!" Zuko ordered in his strongest bellow. This was his chance, and nothing was going to ruin it! "Leave without me and return when it's done. I have more to do." He stayed just long enough to see that the Avatar was tied in whatever chains they had aboard the raft and stuffed in a hold barely large enough to crouch in, then left.

The frogs the Avatar had brought with him offered a clue. Zuko detoured into a swamp valley, where pools of water frozen around the edges could be found. The frogs had probably come from here. But what was the Avatar doing here?

Zuko leaped up and found himself a suitable perch in a tree, then looked around. The Avatar hadn't left any footprints in the muddy ground, but he did travel by air. Zuko looked up. There, on a nearby mountaintop, he saw a sign of human habitation.

He put on the mask and hid any signs that he was from the Fire Nation before approaching. The large stone building was open and appeared to be a greenhouse. Probably just an herbalist, but he was still not taking any chances. He knocked, pretending to be nice and inconspicuous, just your ordinary Blue Spirit. He briefly cursed himself for not having gotten a more inconspicuous mask before now. He'd never thought he would need one, thought the Avatar was just around the corner. Yeah, and look how that had turned out!

The old woman that approached immediately made him suspicious. "What are you knocking for? Come on in!" She looked obviously insane, like some of Uncle's less-than-there friends. Zuko had no doubt she was very, very dangerous when she wanted to be.

"I just wanted to be courteous," he said. "I'm not here for treatment. I'm looking for some friends of mine. I was...traveling with the Avatar, but we were separated by a huge storm. I had a fever for a few days, so I thought the others might have come here. Have you seen them?"

The old woman's eyes widened, and she stepped forward. Zuko froze, started planning an escape when she reached out to him. But she was only reaching for his hand. She took it and held it, examining it carefully. "I detect a recent heat," she said. "You can push through it if you want to, but it would be much easier if you go down to the valley and find frozen wood frogs to suck on. They'll cure you in no time."

Zuko blinked behind his mask. The frogs were to suck on? Ew! "I'm getting better. I'll do without, thanks."

"Ah, young ones these days." She sighed and stepped back, looking almost happy. "I have the occasional Earth Kingdom soldiers come through here. Some of them are young, too. They fight me on so many things. Hah! But I never mind." She turned away, shaking her head and chuckling.

Zuko sighed. She was exactly like some of the crazy old people Uncle knew. He called to mind every underhanded and surprising trick Uncle had ever shown him, every lesson on how to assert power without throwing a single fireball. She probably knew them all, and more. His best bet now was to pretend to be as young as she thought he was. "Please, can you just help me find my friends? I'm worried, and I don't want to try traveling alone." Okay, that was probably overdoing it. He was clearly strong enough to fend for himself. Gah! Why does this have to be so hard? After all of his airbending skill and weird strength, the hardest part is finding some sick people?!

"I don't know," she replied, humming to herself and stroking her cat lovingly. "He came by himself. It is not my job to go after the sick; they come to me."

Zuko sighed again. "Fine. I'll just look for someplace good for sick people, or something. Thanks for nothing." She chuckled behind him. His eyebrow twitched, but he held himself back from turning around. She was an old fox. If he wasn't careful and stuck around for too long, he would definitely find himself on the receiving end of one of those tricks.

Someplace good for sick people. That's not actually a bad idea. The Avatar no doubt needed somewhere big, for his bison. And somewhere for his friends to rest, somewhere comfortable where they could wait for him. Zuko scanned the mountaintops. If he was lucky, that meant a place where people could live, on one of these mountaintops.

He was lucky. Zuko spotted a semi-hidden, overgrown building with columned openings, no doubt hiding a large, shadowy space inside. Finally! His luck was turning! Zuko grinned and set off down the mountain. He needed to get there, fast, before anything had the chance to go wrong!

Zuko only remembered his uncle's teachings on patience when he was already most of the way up the other mountain, and winded. Uh oh. I'm tired - they could outrun me or outfight me easily. The bison could probably do it. I should rest. But then he remembered. I can't rest! Zhao is also looking. He might get ahead of me. After taking several deep breaths, Zuko gritted his teeth and resumed climbing, only a little more slowly than he had been before.

He stopped to catch his breath before approaching, but that was only so he wouldn't be heard. Quietly, he parted some bushes close to the columned entrance. Nothing was visible from here. He looked around. The building cast a shadow to his left. Around the left he went.

Inside, he heard a loud, low sound like a groan. It turned out to be the bison stretching. Nestled against its side were those two friends the Avatar had, both of them looking very ill. The bison really did look like the most dangerous of them all. But surely, it would yield if it knew its master was being held aboard Zuko's ship.

Quickly, Zuko raced into the shadows inside the building, and before anyone could bother him he had drawn both broadswords and lifted them to the neck of the waterbending girl. She was the only one even vaguely threatening. She woke slowly, taking a couple of seconds to yelp. The bison roared, and started to stand. A flying monkey-thing appeared out of nowhere to grab the sick boy's sleeping bag and drag it off the bison's side.

Zuko tightened the swords, bringing their edges just up to her neck. Of course he wouldn't kill her, but he wasn't himself. He was the Blue Spirit. As far as the animals were concerned, he could do anything. The bison roared, and the flying monkey chattered from atop its head, but they both stayed put.

This was going well so far. "The Avatar's been captured," Zuko declared aloud. "I've already delivered him to my ship. He is in chains as we speak. He is not coming back with a cure."

The waterbending girl tried to struggle, but slumped after only a few seconds of effort. She groaned. "He...he wouldn't be captured...by the likes of...you!"

"He wasn't," Zuko admitted. "I stole him from Zhao. If you'd rather, I could leave and let Zhao track you down. Then you'll be separated from him. Is that what you want?"

The bison stayed quiet. The girl tensed, but said, "...No."

"Then let's go," Zuko ordered. "All of you!"

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My luck is really turning today!

Zuko approached the landing spot in high spirits. Apparently, the other two were only in the beginning stages of whatever illness they had. They'd gotten even worse and been able to put up even less of a fight over the course of the long walk, so he had no trouble keeping one of them with him at all times. He had even been able to stop by a frozen river, dig some frogs out, and take scrapings of their skin without the bison trying anything. He wondered what sickness he'd pretended to have. If the herbalist had known how bad it was supposed to be, she would have seen through him in a second.

"Pick your jaws up!" he ordered the soldiers. They did as requested, trying their best not to look surprised. "Same procedure as before for her. The boy just needs to be searched for weapons. Packs go in a separate hold. Cage the monkey." He looked up at the giant bison. "And chain his foot. He'll come along if he wants to see his master again."

For once, the journey back actually went as planned. It felt odd. Zuko questioned one of the soldiers onboard, who assured him that he had personally watched as every one of Zuko's orders was carried out. Zuko allowed the man to leave after that. Standing alone at the helm of the small vessel he called a raft, he looked out over the dark waves. He didn't need to follow them with his eyes to know they churned restlessly. A chill feeling like ice swept from side to side, gathering his insides in knots. Outside, the waves gathered in bunches.

The small, dark, metal room was not very reassuring. Zuko closed his eyes and thought to himself, What could go wrong? I have the Avatar, and I have his friends, and I even have his pets. All chained. All dealt with. Zhao doesn't know. I've had good luck, for once. The universe is finally smiling at me.

He smiled to himself. All news was good news so far, with no reason to expect that to change. Zuko turned away from the waves outside, and went to his very small quarters on the raft. There, he snuck the Blue Spirit mask out from under his shirt and hid it among his clothes, and put on his Fire Nation regalia. He was going to walk aboard his ship a proud prince, an honorable one, the true and deserving heir to the Fire Nation throne. Uncle would be proud. He would be admired. The fire spirit would settle down. Nothing was going to go wrong.

As for that other spirit...well, who cared? He could find a nice pond or something for it when he was back home in the Imperial Palace.

Outside, the waves crashed against each other, unsure what direction to go.

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A/N: I have a theme song in mind for this fic and for Zuko in general. The song is King, by Lauren Aquilina. Please give it a listen.