Avatar: The Last Airbender: Yin and Yang.
By Mdalia and RebLaw
"What are those two doing in the North Pole," Zhao wondered out loud. "It's so far from their home."
Zhao was a spy for the Fire Nation, it was his job to keep tabs on suspicious activities in the Water Tribes. His ultimate job was preventing war from occurring. He often felt guilty about his job, he hated spying, especially on youths, but it was his job, they were after all known associates of the Avatar, which in the particular universe this Zhao was in was the Avatar of War. His one hope, what kept him going, was that the children would see the errors in their ways, that they would stop helping the avatar, whose only goal was total world war.
After observing the siblings, Sokka and Katara for a couple days, Zhao noticed something odd, that they were bringing food and water to a seemingly abandoned shed on a regular basis. He began to suspect that they had an animal in there or worse.
After a couple days, when both Sokka and Katara had left, for what he believed was a meeting with a mysterious character who he had heard them name "Fe" he decided to go and take a peek at what they were keeping.
Never in a hundred million billion cycles of the sun would Zhao had guessed what he would find in there. He found what appeared to be the Avatar bound and gaged. While it seemed to explain why the man hadn't seen the kid in a while; it didn't make much sense. Why would Katara and Sokka turn against their friend all of a sudden?
Something else seemed very odd, the avatar was trying to yell at him and trying to get free or to hide. Everything he had observed or even heard suggested that the avatar was always fearless. The expression on the child's face was one of fear, not malice. This didn't seem right, Zhao had met the avatar once before, well not met, but he saw the lad in person, the boy looked angry, and when he realized he was being watched, Zhao's bones were chilled by the look the child avatar gave him.
Zhao hated himself, but he realized that he couldn't stand to see anyone, even the avatar, whose sole goal seemed to be bring about war, tied up and frightened like this. He untied the child, who much to his surprise thanked him, before running away as quickly as his legs would take him.
-----------------
"Son," Ozai began. "Someday you will be the guide for our people."
"Yes father," Zuko, with an unmarred face, bowed. "If that is your and our people's wish."
"When I am gone," Ozai continued, ignoring his son's insecurities. "You must be strong enough to guide our nation in the path of peace that I and my father and his father before me have always followed."
Zuko nodded. His eyes on the ground, not meeting his father's gaze.
"Son," Ozai said bluntly, putting his hand on his son's sholder. "I need you to do something. For the sake of the peaceful future of our people."
"I understand," Zuko said, he knew what his father was going to ask him to do.
"Good," Ozai said. "I don't like that it has to be done either, but, sadly my brother seems to be set against us and against peace. Please go and observe your Uncle Iroh, send me reports as are warranted."
"Yes father," Zuko said then he bowed and left.
----------------------------------
"It looks like this trip really paid off Uncle Iroh," Zuko said, a pleasant smile on his face contrasting harshly with the scar.
"Aye," Iroh said. "We're catching up to them. We should be able to overtake them by nightfall. Hopefully they'll land by then."
By night fall the trio did indeed land. Sokka and Katara were far too busy trying to make sense of Aang's strange behavior. They fell asleep unaware that a ship of the fire nation was docking on the near-by shore.
Aang wasn't tired at all. He spent most of the ride asleep, as where he came from it was night then, and at night in this world, it would've been day. He waited until Sokka started snoring before he left the tent, he didn't want too many questions, and the duo had seemed almost suspicious of him earlier.
The young avatar went for a walk in the moonlight, he went over his findings and modified his plans for furthering the war that seemed to already exist in this realm. After wondering around the woods for what he guessed were a couple hours, he found his way back to the campsite, only to find fire nation troups sneaking around.
Aang smiled to himself mischievously. It was boring hanging out with these goody-goody versions of Katara and Sokka, maybe it'd be more fun to wreak havoc with the Fire Nation. He didn't even resist when they threw the nets over him and took him away.
----------------------------
This fire nation sure was different than the fire nation from his world, the avatar thought as he sat in a cell aboard Zuko's fire nation ship. Zuko sure was different too, he was much more talkative and more sure of himself. Also he had a hideous scar, which Aang, the avatar of war, thought was kindda cool, he looked like a girl without it.
Zuko stayed with his capture, escorting him to the ship, and sitting outside Aang's cell along with the normal guards. He thought he'd be more overjoyed, but he knew something was wrong, for the boy to let himself be captured so easily, he must be planning something. Zuko still wanted to impress upon the child that he did indeed have the upper hand. He quietly but harshly whispered to the avatar, "You won't escape this time."
Aang, knowing that he wasn't the avatar Zuko thought he was just smiled at the young prince.
"Summon Iroh," Zuko said to a nearby crewman. "I want him to witness that the Avatar has been captured by me."
"Iroh?" Aang muttered to himself. He'd never heard of that guy, but then again, there were probably people he knew from his world that weren't in this one. Kind of like how the Zuko of his world did not have the scar this Zuko did.
Zuko looked at the Avatar as if he was examining a ticking bomb about to explode. "Yes, one of the generals of the great Fire Nation."
Iroh came down the stairs before the crewman Zuko sent to fetch him had been able to find him. In a happy, but almost patronizing, voice Iroh asked, "So this is the avatar we've heard so much about eh? Your father will be pleased Zuko."
Aang looked at Iroh blankly for almost a minute and the older man and the prince discussed the best way to present them to the prince's father. Aang smiled meanly, and said to Iroh, "Gee you've really let yourself go, haven't you Fe?"
"Me?" Iroh asked, pointing to himself. It didn't make sense for the avatar to have made up a new name for him, but it was rather obvious that he was the one the avatar was looking at.
Aang went back to just strangely smiling. Zuko really wasn't very sure what to make of him, he seemed different than the avatar he rescued from Zhao.
---------------------------------
Other Katara and Sokka went to meet with Fe, as they had arranged. Other Katara considered leaving Sokka with Aang, as she thought she saw the dark smoke, the kind that comes from a ship of the fire nation, but decided against it. Sokka was difficult when he wanted to be, and he seemed in a bad mood already.
"Fe," other Katara asked after they had arrived at the usual meeting place. "Is there any reason why the black smoke of a fire nation ship should be seen from here?"
"Don't worry about it child," Fe said in a calculated tone. "What's important now is that you go to the gate between the two world's and wait for the Avatar's report. He was instructed to send a detailed report, which will give us the information we need to plan our next move."
"Yes Fe," other Katara said obediently, with a hint of a wicked smile.
-------------------------
The next morning Katara woke up first, and started getting ready for the day. She immediately could sense that something was wrong though. It wasn't like Aang to sleep in like this, normally he was up and about before she was, gathering food for breakfast, or practicing bending at the very least.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Sokka finally got up and admitted that he had no idea were Aang was. Looking around the duo realized that all of Aang's glider-staff was still there. He never went anywhere with out it. They quickly packed up and set out on Appa searching for Aang, or anything that looked suspicious.
The only thing nearby at all was a fire nation ship. Katara and Sokka both had a bad feeling about it, they knew that the fire nation was indeed after Aang.