Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Avatar
Hmm...is this the longest chapter I ever written?
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The fire nation...how could she have been born into such a race. Selfish and power-hungry. Standing near the edge of the lake, Rei watched the stars sparkle in the sky as she balled her hands into fists. For the good of the people? Not likely. She felt her eyes tremble as she thought of her past and the family she once had. They were not for the good, but only for the worse. However, hope was still climbing the mountain of destruction. The Avatar, Aang, was here and alive, learning the ways of the four elements to defeat Lord Ozai. To defeat the royal family of the fire nation...to defeat Zuko...
Sokka only watched the raven-haired beauty through the thicken trees, a sigh escaping between his lips. Ami, the new waterbender in the group, explained Rei's past and how they were a small resistance against the fire nation. Almost having her village completely destroyed by the fire nation, Ami devoted herself in defeating the fire lord no matter the cost. All in all, Katara admired the waterbender and begged her to stay and teach Aang (and mostly herself) the waterbender moves she was taught. The blue-haired agreed happily, but her comrade still didn't like the thought of traveling with children. That's when Aang had to step in.
"Hey," Aang greeted as he slowly walked next to the firebender and followed her glaze to the sky. "I know this is like my fifth time asking, but I really do need a firebender teacher. I know you want to defeat the fire nation, but you will need the help from the Avatar that mastered all four elements. Frequently, I only really mastered airbending, I'm still working on the other three. So if you could-"
"I'll do it."
"Huh?"
"I've been thinking, do I really stand a chance against Fire Lord Ozai? I couldn't stop him when I was ten. Even though I learned over the years, I know he has as well. You're the Avatar, you should be able to defeat him...with my help of course."
Aang's eyes lit up as he shouted into the sky, finally having the teachers he needed to master the elements. However, Rei only frowned to the heavens, knowing the task at hand was going to be difficult, for him and for herself. If the royal family were to defend for...if she or Aang had to go...
"We start tomorrow morning at sunrise. Meet me on the other side of this lake, if you are late, that proves to me that you do not want my teaching as badly as you say."
With that said, she turned on her heel and walked by the lake's edge with a demanding composer. Oh man, she could be as worse as Toph...
"You sly dog!" Sokka exclaimed as he clenched his arm around the airbender's neck and squeezed his cheek with his free hand. "You're going to spend some alone time with Rei so early in the morning! Mind if I join you?"
Slapping his arm away, Aang stared at Sokka strangely with a blush on his face. He turned to his side and crossed his arms. "We are only training!"
"Sure...hey did you hit puberty yet? Probably since you are like one hundred and twelve years old!"
Aang only grunted and walked back to the campsite as Sokka continued to tease the humiliated Avatar.
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Darkness surrounded everyone and everything as the wind whistled between the leaves and the clouds looming around the moon. What...did she get herself into?
Pain.
Her foot made a sound as she stepped deeper into the mud, the creatures around running from her presence.
Fear.
The world was corrupted, her world was corrupted. War has been going on for over hundred years and here she is, thinking she could make a difference.
Hope?
A smirk made its way to her lips as she ceased her walking. Could she really...make a difference in the world? A difference in her world?
Not likely.
Helping the Avatar?
Maybe.
The firebender turned around quickly to catch the leg of an intruder, an intruder who tried to attack. All she could make out was a smirk and fiery eyes, eyes that had kill all over it. Having the leg yanked out of her grip, she stumbled back a bit and stood in an offensive stance, feeling the stranger did as well.
"Well, well, we still do the same exact thing when getting into a fight!"
An offensive stance? A feminine voice? Filled with high-praise and cockiness. Could it be?
The firebender was caught off guard as two fireballs were thrust from her intruder's hands and into her chest, blocking the attack with her arms, she was sent flying back.
Dirty tricks.
"Azula," Rei growled as she rubbed her arms to cease the burning sensation. The dirty little princess she haven't seen in five years. The perfect person to let her anger out on and the perfect person to kill to get her vengeance. A quick kick was sent for her head again, but, as before, it was caught with both arms. The burning sensation returned. Losing the battle against the burns, her grip on the leg begun to tremble and lower as pressure was place on the leg. Digging the back of her feet into the ground, she held her posture, the burning increasing. Noticing the struggle, Azula's smirk increased as she leaped slightly into the air and placing all her weigh on the captured leg. Finally, it made contact with the side of her head.
Rei stumbled back as she fell to one knee, trying to regain focus on her surrounding. Azula landed gracefully onto the ground as she watched the priestess struggle to stand up without falling back down. Pathetic. If she heard correctly, she could have swore she heard something crack. Huh, maybe she went just a little overboard this time. Pitiful.
"So, you're a runaway just like my brother. I knew the two of you were perfect for each other! I mean, the fire nation has both of you guys heads on wanted posters!"
A pause. Azula could see her little friend stop midway of trying to stand up. Ohhhh, a weak spot. She could most defiantly use this to her advantage. Capture the peasant girl, use her for bait in bringing her sad excuse for a brother out of hiding, kill them both at the same time. Flawless. The girl was standing up again. Azula pulled her arm back and flung forward a stripe of lightning. The peasant girl stepped aside, but it wasn't quick enough as the attack made contact with her side, ripping the clothing above her hip, as well as her skin. She fell down again, tsh, was this really the brat she fought with five years ago?
"Argh!"
Multiple fireballs were aimed for her face as she quickly stepped back to deflect them. She hated staying on the defensive side! Before she could counterattack, a wall of fire rose in her path, causing her to step back even further. Only people who wielded fire so well could create such a defensive maneuver. Footsteps were heard running away from her and some approaching. What! She was running away!
"Coward!"
Whenever a foot would touch the ground, it would immediately be shot up again. She had to get to those kids as quickly as possible, but it was difficult when your left side burned increasingly. But, why? Why was Azula out of the safety of the fire nation and out on her own? Questions aside for now.
"Pack everything up and lets get going now!" Rei commanded as she entered the campsite and begun to roll up sleeping bags. Ami gasped lightly and walked up to her friend, trying to examine her wound but only succeeded in getting her hand slapped away. "I said hurry!"
Everyone did what she said with no questions, her wound proving something dangerous was near (Toph couldn't do anything). Packing the last baggage, Aang grabbed Toph around the waist and hopped onto Appa's back, everyone else following after him. Giving Appa the right command, the giant bison took off and headed towards the skies.
"Now," Ami begun and splashed Rei's wound with water from her bottle. "I believe we deserve an explanation."
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Zuko lowered his hat as he examined the items in the store. Nothing, they had nothing that they needed...well...maybe not he. His uncle examined and admired everything in the store as if it all were antiques. Apparently, he forgot the main reason why they stopped in the store or this village in the first place. Growling, he turned abruptly to the door and marched out, going to find the items he needed by himself.
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"We need to restock on our first aid kit," Katara stated as she watched Ami finish bandage up Rei's wound while Appa landed near an entry to a village. "So we split up, find what we need and be gone before anyone notices, alright? Um, Toph, you can come with me or keep Appa company."
"I'll go with the second option."
"Alright, people lets go!"
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"It's towards the back of the store," the clerk advised the male firebender as he pointed in the direction he needed to go. Only nodding in reply, Zuko walked pass drunken earthbenders and to the back of the store. There, on a middle shelf were bandages and other related materials. He grabbed it and proceeded in picking it up, but something yanked it away from him.
"Hey, I-"
"Sorry, but I thought I saw it first."
He could feel a sudden thud against his chest as soften, purple eyes stared at him curiously. She looked...she looked exactly like the girl in his awkward dreams, her purple eyes...something he never saw a firebender possess and how it matched the highlights in her hair. She was one of a kind and he knew that she was most defiantly the peasant girl.
Which means...
"Azula didn't kill you!"
"Excuse me?"
Rei continued to eye the boy suspiciously causing him to look away after the sudden outburst. How did he know she was fighting Azula...could it be, he was working with her as well? She could see his nervous expression, that had to be the reason.
Zuko watched out of the corner of his eye as the girl drop the bandages to the ground and took a few steps back, placing her outstretched hands in front of her. An offensive stance.
"Wait, I-!"
Quickly twirling to the side, he dodged her fireball attack, losing his hat in the process. Imitating her pose, he could hear the people in the store screaming that the fire nation was among them. As he watched the people scurry out the store, he could hear a chuckle from his attacker.
"Pitiful, you must be a firebender by the color of your eyes. However, I see that you have lost an Agni Kai by the scar on your face. So, you must be among the upperclass, pity, what they do, lower your status so now you travel among different cultures to hide your shame?"
He flinched.
'So, it must be true.'
A quick fireball was sent for the girl's chest, but she countered it with an attack of her own. He didn't care if she was the girl from his dreams, he was not going to let her talk about his honor! Continuing to attack the girl, she only blocked his attacks, careful not to set the store in flames.
"Hey, you guys over here! Rei is fighting Zuko!"
A pause.
A fireball made contact with her upper, left leg as she stumbled back and fell to the floor. The male she was fighting, quickly turned on his feet and headed for the door.
"Zuko..."
He paused, turning slightly to face her. Closing his eyes shamefully, he pushed his way pass the Avatar and his approaching friends.
What...just happened?
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Isn't it strange?
How your life could be so perfect, so right?
To be greeted by the gentle touches of the sun and feel that everything was right in the world? To wake up to a smiling face and feel their loving aura five rooms away? To know that you are wanted and know that someone is there to love you? You smile and giggle as you scurry to put your finest clothing on and hurry to your mother and father as they greet you with loving-feel words. You feel that nothing could go wrong and know that nothing ever will.
Then...
It happens.
The sun cannot reach through the barricades of trees that have grown so large. The smiling face replaced with the illness that doesn't care for your well-being. Your father abruptly leaving without a care, without a word to his only child. The loving-feel words soon went away and decided not to come back, however, but was replaced with worry and pain. Only destructed words reached the soul and begun to corrupt it the way that it pleased...to make me.
But you think to yourself.
Was I the only one to have this shady life?
I look around from my position, lying down on my side as I pretended to be asleep on the back of Appa. I see...a struggle.
I see Katara and Sokka.
They lost their mother to the hands of the merciless killers. Their father is off with the rest of the tribe males to help the Earthbenders fight the fire nation. Their village on high-alert...a struggle.
I see...loneliness.
I see the Avatar.
No one wanted to play with the young boy seeing that he was not an equal. He wanted to play, but the monks forbidden him to do so. One hundred years stuck in an iceberg and every airbender dead, to be the only one alive...to be lonely.
I see...a misunderstood soul.
I see Toph.
Her parents did not expect the expert earthbender the way that she was and placed her under high security. She was suffocating...she was misunderstood.
I see...a fight.
I see Ami.
She joined my little resistance group after her village was completely destroyed, who once had a happy life living the ways of the waterbenders...but would not give up that life...without a fight.
But their is someone here that I do not see...that is abandoned.
Someone who I would like to see...
To hear their story.
About a prince that was in a struggle, that possessed loneliness, a fight, and a misunderstood soul.
Who held onto a shady life.
Just as I do.
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Rei sat grumpily in her empty room as she muttered evil things about the prince of the fire nation. He was self-conscious, snotty, spoiled, and any other adjective she could think of that remained her of the prince. She wandered if he was okay...she did leave him suddenly and it was getting late...no! He probably went home to be spoiled with large amounts of food and goods. Food...she clamped her arms over her stomach as her belly rumbled. Whatever happened to the princes that were all for helping the damsel in distress? Did they pack up and move to a less self-righteous place? She sighed heavily as she fiddled with her torn sheets on her futon, thinking about how life use to be...how she wanted life to be...
"Uh-hu."
The peasant girl turned hastily around as she stared wide-eyed at the sight, her mouth dropping subconsciously. The prince she talked so rudely about stood there, in her doorway, with a small hog by his feet and a hand rubbing the back of his head nervously. She watched as he approached her, his clothes covered in mud and debris, and sit on his legs, his hands gripping his pants. What was he doing?
"If you are here to try anything funny then you can forget it. I know you are a prince and all and you must expect me to do as you say but you can kiss that dream good-bye! I would never do something as low as that. I mean you are, as I was talking to myself before, a self-conscious, snotty, spoiled,-"
Zuko only stared at her as she talked on and on about...whatever. His sudden nervous state was replaced with anger. What was she talking about!
"Look, I came here to only apologize about earlier!"
"Oh, so you don't like me after all, not even as a friend! You idiot! Why did you come back here? Your presence just makes me want to vomit, I mean you think you are better then everyone else and you can say whatever you want, but not here you can't! And another thing, you-"
She did it again! Was all girls like this? Going on and on about nothing and getting the wrong idea? Didn't she realize he sat there for hours trying to get this hog for her? Ugh, what was she talking about again!
"What are you talking about! I came here to apologize about hurting your feelings stupid girl! Can you just take my gift and shutup!"
This caused Rei to cease her bickering and blink in confusion. He...killed that hog for her? As an apology present? Maybe...she was wrong about the prince...he...he called her stupid!
"I'm not the stupid one here! How dare you call me that you sad excuse for a prince!"
Zuko stood up irritably and took a step forward, pointing an angry finger at the girl. "What! I waste my hold day trying to get this hog for you and you just sit here and complain about the stupidest things! Girls are so...stupid!"
"What! You irritable little boy! How dare you say that again! Just let me stand up and we will really see who is stupid!" As she did what she said, she felt her feet get entangled with her sheets and soon felt herself losing her balance and falling to her side. Just as she was about to hit the fall, she felt someone grab around her waist and landed on something much softer then the floor.
"Stupid girl, if you would have got hurt, who would take care of your mother?"
Um...why did he exactly save this girl...from a fall to the floor? However, her laying atop of him like this...felt different from when one of Azula's friends fell on top of him. That time he was furious and upset, but now he felt...
"Don't call me stupid...stupid..."
He watched as the girl held a blush upon her cheeks and squeezed her hands into a ball. Why didn't she get off of him? Man, girls were weird! But...he didn't push her off of him. Strangely, the girl rested her head on his chest and her blush increased. Okay, he was now officially freaked out.
"You know..."
"Huh?"
"I miss being held."
With that said, Zuko flung the girl off him and eyed her suspiciously as he sat up and crossed his legs. She landed with a thump on her behind and she growled enraged. "Why did you do that!"
"You was freaking me out!"
"I'm not going to do anything to you! You are stupid!"
"You're stupid!"
"No you are!"
"You are!"
"You are, stupid!"
Rumble
Rei blushed humiliated and grabbed her stomach in a failing attempt to stop the noise. Zuko only watched her and chuckled, standing up and walking to her with an outstretched hand. "Come on, how about we go eat and practice some firebending afterwards?"
She stared at his hand as if it was mutated and possessed over hundred diseases. What's with...the sudden mood change? Maybe he was trying to do something funny, that smile was not normal! However, she took it nevertheless, her stomach growls as loud as the sound of her voice.
As he pulled her up, she could feel herself blush as she watched his golden eyes. She didn't see many people with a shade of gold like his. Her blush even increased as he continued to hold her hand as he dragged the killed animal out of the room and down the hall.
"Don't get any ideas. I still do like you as friends and friends can hold hands. Besides, you look like you could fall out any minute, stupid."
Rei stuck her tongue out playfully at him and held his hand tighter as she rested her head on his armored shoulder, enjoying the moment while Zuko only shook his head...girls were weird...but he liked this weird one.
The prince felt pity for the girl and was happy that nothing like this would ever happen to him. The prince of the fire nation.
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Who would of knew that that was going to be the last noble memory they would share together.
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"Let me get this straight, you encounter this girl today that you believe was the same girl from your childhood? Hm, would this be the same girl that you use to talk about when you were eleven? How you would tell me how evil she was and how girls were stupid and blush whenever you thought of her? You would say something nice about her then get on the subject of her being evil again and-"
Iroh stopped his sudden string of sentences as he leaped back to avoid his nephew's attack. He only watched as Zuko sat on a finely large rock by a lake, his eyes never leaving from it. Huh, this girl seemed to really bother him deeply, he never exactly saw him this quiet...or concerned before. Frequently, he begun to become worry himself, something else was bothering his nephew and it was bothering him greatly.
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I watched as uncle put out the campfire and huddle in a freshly new sleeping bag he brought from that village with many of the other useless things he purchased. That village...I looked down at my hands and examined them carefully. That girl...was from memories, not dreams. That girl name was Rei and her whole world was destroyed by the royal family, because of me. Though, what she said was all true and she knew that just by looking at me. Did everyone see me like that, just by the scar on my face? My hand traced over it and tried to cover the hideous blemish but to no success.
At less she was still alive, Azula didn't do all those things she said she did to the peasant girl...wait...was I now a peasant as well? Was I even still a prince...a member of the royal family? Once people realize who I am, I am treated like dirt. Even if I capture the Avatar, would I really be welcomed back? Do I want to be welcomed back to such a life? I look around and I see so many people suffer, because of this war. Is this war even worth it anymore? I sigh, it is so much that I don't understand and probably don't want too.
What to do with my life now? I'm on wanted posters, clearly I am not important anymore. Now that I think about it...I don't feel important. I am just like Rei, I once had everything but now it is all gone and I am a wanderer. Huh, I always seem to bring that peas- that girl back into my head, the memories of the time with her resurfacing more now that I remember it being true.
She was with the Avatar, probably teaching him firebending so he could master the four elements and defeat my father. You know...that idea doesn't sound so far-fetched anymore, I actually like it.
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"We have been flying for forever and it is getting late! Can we please land somewhere so I can feel more at ease?" Toph complained as she rolled onto her stomach on the side of the saddle that rested on Appa's back. She heard someone crawl pass her and whisper something to the driver. With a sudden drop in her stomach, she could feel that they were descending and with a rough thud, they had landed. Jumping off of the giant bison, Toph rubbed her feet against the ground, glad to feel some familiar turf.
"Hey! Aren't we in the same area as from last night!" Sokka stated and examined his surroundings with curiosity. "Yes, it is!"
"Stop complaining and help unload this stuff," Katara commanded as she threw a bag down to Aang. The Avatar watched as the female firebender slide down Appa and walk (more like limp) to the lakefront causing a bag to hit him square in the head. "Sorry Aang!"
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Uncle Iroh awoke with a large yawn as he scratched his stomach and smiled brightly. He greeted his nephew a good morning but did not see him near him. Looking up, he spotted him upon the same rock, in the same position. Was he there all night? Sighing, he got up and walked to the young prince making sure he didn't have bags under his eyes. In return, he surprisingly saw his nephew staring wide-eyed across the lake with a light blush. Raising an eyebrow, Iroh followed his gaze and chuckled in reply. Across the lake was the girl from the other day, bending down near the water edge, seeming to clean wounds. Before the retired general could say something in reply, his nephew jumped off of the rock and begun to run alongside the lake, making sure not to be notice by the company on the other side. Young people these days do the strangest things. Well, guess he had to make breakfast this morning, now, off to find some woods.
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Zuko watched carefully as the female firebender seemed to clean her wound that looked recent. She lowered the upper part of her outfit but to Zuko's relief, she had bandages wrapped around her chest. Thankfully, the group she traveled with was still asleep and she begun to clamp her hands together under the water. Raising her hands, she begun to pour the water onto her scarred side. After accomplishing the goal of cleaning up, she begun to poke her hand in and out of the hole she had on the side of her attire, not knowing what to do about it.
Would this be a good time to go talk to her? He wanted to know what happened to her after the incident years back. He preceded forward but then immediately stopped, another thought coming into his mind. What if she didn't want to talk to him? It was his sister, after all, that ruin her life and his fault for being there with her in the first place. As he battled with himself mentally, he did not notice someone approach him from behind.
"You know, you really should just go and talk to her instead of spying."
Twirling around startled, Zuko inspected a girl with blue hair smiling at him as she held a bucket of water under her arms. She walked pass him but stopped, turning to face him. "You really should Prince Zuko."
"And I agree."
"Uncle?"
His uncle walked next to the girl and the two smiled. "You see, this nice young lady invited us to breakfast with them and I couldn't refuse since I was having a hard time by myself."
"But uncle-!"
"No buts, now, it is rude to keep people waiting."
Soon, Uncle grabbed Zuko by his arm and begun to drag him out from his hiding spot from between the trees. Zuko's shout of protest did not only get Rei's attention but seemed to wake the rest of the group up. The two, however, avoided eye contact and Aang floated up and ran to the two newcomers.
"Hi Zuko, what're you doing here?"
"Probably here to pick a fight," Sokka mumbled and sat up, rubbing his eyes to get the sting out. "But can we wait until like, afternoon? I'm hungry and really not in the mood."
"No, no, young one, we come here in peace. In fact, we came here to join you for breakfast."
"How nice," Toph mumbled and stood up, rubbing her feet against the ground. "Just like one happy family of the elements."
"You know, I'm going to join you guys later, right now, I'm going to make sure Azula isn't nearby," Rei stated as she finished putting back on her outfit properly.
"Azula was here?" Zuko asked seriously as his uncle placed his arms within his sleeves, closing his eyes in thought.
"Azula really is persisted, Zuko, I want you to go with this young lady and make sure Azula isn't near here. This really has become a serious matter."
Rei groaned mentally as Zuko walked next to her, indicating for them to proceed. She shouldn't have said Azula, she just wanted to get away by herself and mostly defiantly not get paired up with Zuko. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him from the group but realized how rough his attire was compared to his outfit he once had when he was young. She wander...when he was kicked out...
"Um..."
"Huh?"
"Nothing..."
It would be stupid to bring it up, right now, her goal was to focus for the devil's daughter. Though, she couldn't help but think...how and why did he get that scar on his face? Did he lose to Azula or maybe...
"I lost to my father," Zuko mumbled as he noticed that she continued to glance at his face and turn away a bit ashamed. "It's nothing so you shouldn't worry about it."
Nothing? To lose a Agni Kai was shameful enough, but to lose to your father and get exiled from your homeland is more then nothing. But she kept it to herself, not wanting to start anything that could upset him.
Zuko looked down to see that Rei walked with a very slight limp. It was his doing that caused her to do so and felt awful for it.
"Sorry about your leg, I didn't-"
"It's alright. I know you didn't mean too."
A pause.
"So um, what have you been doing since...er..."
Rei watched as a light blush appeared on his face and he begun to rub his neck nervously, just like he did when he wanted to apologize so long ago. A smile crept onto her face as the memory replayed in her head. "I have been fighting any fire nation army that comes my way, been doing it ever since then."
"I'm glad you are alive," Zuko mumbled again as his blush increased. Man, did he blush easily like this all the time? Rei slightly smiled, questions wanting to be asked lingered in her mind.
"But I'm not!" a voice shouted as lightning struck in front of the duo. Both jumping back, Azula leaped from a tree and displayed her famous smirk. "So, you two finally got together. Well, now I can kill you both right here and right now! Then, I can capture the Avatar and have father pleased with me for accomplishing such an easy task and not with you."
'What?' Rei thought confused as Zuko charged towards his sister enraged, Azula only smirking at his actions. 'Capturing...the Avatar?'
Wait.
There were two more auras.
There were more people hidden in the trees!
"Zuko, get back!"