I've been sitting on this story for a long time, and only just finished editing it! This was my first non-BNHA crossover. Lots of family and healing tones and all, but there is some torture and then mental and emotional scarring from it. But Marco and Thatch are there, so it'll be okay! It would be ideal to have seen both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra due to world building references, but their exact plot is not used in this. This is almost all completely original content. Enjoy~


"You shouldn't listen to her or do what she wants. She just wants to humiliate you," Ace said, eating some dumplings, sitting on his friend's couch in his room. He had his legs crossed and his shoes off to not get anything on the carpet or couch. He munched on the free food happily, with Zuko in a terrible mood at the moment.

Azula just made fun of him and then pushed him into the fountain. She was a brat. Zuko looked at him and hissed that he shouldn't say that. He wasn't royalty, he was just Zuko's friend and a general's son. "You could get your dad fired."

Ace shrugged. "I don't like him. I'd be fine if he got fired," he replied, eating the last dumpling. "Do you want me to lie to you? Say you should try and be friends with Azula, when she's the boss in the relationship? You're the big brother and heir, you shouldn't put up with her stuff." Ace was dangerously blunt with his words and opinions. At least, in front of Zuko. not anybody else.

Zuko huffed. "You're crazy."

"Maybe. But that's what makes me interesting," he said with a grin. Zuko smiled, too. He asked if Ace would ever reveal he was a firebender. He was good at it, based on what Zuko had seen of him in private. Ace shrugged. He was an abnormal firebender, he didn't feel like everyone knowing that. And he didn't want to get in any drama about it. It also just wasn't something he wanted to pursue for some reason.

Ace said he didn't want any drama to come from it. "Still, you're really good at it." But both of them knew Ace was an outlier, a different bender than anybody else they'd ever heard of or seen before. Ace moved on from the dumplings to the grapes. "You shouldn't eat all of the food. It's meant for me."

"But you never eat them!" Ace said with a laugh. "Why let good food go to waste?" Zuko admitted that was true. But that he was too familiar with him and the royalty life. "I guess that's true. Well, the walls are thick. I behave quite well around others. Would you like me to kiss your ass and say everything you want to hear? Like Azula's friends?"

Zuko shook his head. He liked that Ace was honest and not a psychophant. Azula's friends were indeed suckers to her. They did whatever she wanted and said what she wished to hear. They were scared of her, somewhat. Ace assumed they felt obligated to stay friends with her.

Ace knew Zuko actually liked his company, and the feeling was mutual. Nobody had actually seen Ace's real personality, not taking shit from anyone, and being dangerously blunt and honest with his thoughts and beliefs. It was risky, but he would rather die being himself than be a lacky of anybody.

He was only the son of a general, not important to anybody. His dad didn't even know about his bending, Ace not trusting him to not promote him and get him in a position he didn't want to be in. He had no desire to be on a pedestal about his impressive bending. If it even was that. firebenders weren't made of flame, and could only have the fire come from their hands, feet and sometimes mouths.

Ace's fire could spawn at any part of his body. He could firebend without moving a muscle. He didn't really feel it was bending, but there was no other word for it to be called, so it was referenced as that.

There was a knock on the door, and Ace immediately put his feet down and the plates to Zuko's bedside, who looked at him with a flat face. Ace sat back on the couch and stayed quiet when Zuko's mother came in, a nice woman. Zuko was her favorite, not Azula. "Hello, Ace. Can you give us some space?"

Ace bowed and nodded, leaving quietly. He walked down the hall and to the servants' room, where free food was. He made sure nobody was around and ate a whole loaf of bread. If he got hungry and was denied food, he'd just go and get his own food and cook it outside the palace property, as people didn't pay much attention to him and he was nobody important, so there was no real reason to care.

Once Zuko had gone with him, and did not like eating off of skewers. More food for Ace, though, so that was fine. While he ate, rummaging through the pantry, someone walked in behind him. It was Azula. Ace bowed stiffly. "What are you doing?" she wondered, leaning against the doorway.

Ace was two years older than her and much taller. "Eating food. I'm hungry."

"You'll get fat, you know?" she said with a smirk. Brat. Ace shrugged. He said food was worth it. He'd always eaten this way and wasn't fat. "I know you eat Zuko's food, too."

Ace said, "I'd never do that. It's his food." A huge lie, but with a straight face. She raised her brows in disbelief. "Sometimes he shares, but I don't eat all of it." she said he was just a lower class friend. He shouldn't get so comfortable with prince Zuko. "He's my friend, I'll do what he finds comfortable."

He grabbed an apple, and excused himself from the room. He saw Ty Lee in the hallway, and when she saw Ace, her cheeks turned red and she looked away. He walked down the hall and back to the hallway Zuko's room was in, but didn't stand outside his door, giving him and his mom space. He wouldn't eavesdrop.

Azula came back with the other two. God, she was annoying and entitled. The only thing Ace acted entitled about was food, but that didn't hurt or offend anybody. It was fine, he wasn't ever disrespectful to anybody but when he was talking in private with Zuko. Ace was leaning against the wall, and looked at the three, saying nothing.

"Can I help you?"

"We want to play a game." Ace asked what it was, not planning on playing. "Target practice."

"No, thank you," Ace replied. Azula narrowed her eyes, and ordered him to. "You'll just try to injure me."

"Don't you talk back to me. Ty Lee and Mai are perfectly fine with it." Ace pointed out that she liked her friends. She wouldn't hurt them on purpose like that. Azula told Mai to get him, but Ace moved out of the way of the shurikens, and picked them up. He tossed them on the floor in front of Mai with an unimpressed look.

Ty Lee was standing in the back and looked amazed while Mai and Azula both looked annoyed. Then the princess sighed in exasperation. "Well, a non-bender, untalented, servant boy wouldn't stand a chance against me anyways. You're just a weak friend."

"Yup, that's me," Ace replied. "I wouldn't last against you, you're right." He totally could. He couldn't get burnt by anyone, and any sharp objects passed right through his body, made of fire it seemed. That's why he always avoided sharp objects. Only Zuko knew about his "bending" and where it most likely came from.

The girls huffed and left him in a bad mood. Ace wouldn't be surprised if they went after him in his sleep or something underhanded. He pretended he was weak, and it wasn't a big deal. His pride wasn't inflated like the princess or her father. Ace rolled his sleeve up to look at the huge bite mark that had punctured both his arm and abdomen.

When the door opened, Zuko's mother came out and Ace bowed to her respectively. "Ace, you should be more careful with what you say, even in private," she said, though not unkindly. Ace nodded. Well, he'd do his best to keep his mouth shut now. Even if he didn't want to at all. He'd have to really work at that.

-x-

Ace was right, that night, when he was in the chambers made for him and the other families of important people who stayed at the palace indefinitely, Ty Lee tiptoed in and woke Ace to go on a walk with her. "I'm sleeping, go away," Ace said in annoyance. She asked him "pretty please?"

"No. Go away," Ace slurred, putting his pillow over his head to make her go away. She was annoying him, and kept quietly pestering him. He ignored her, and she eventually left when he pretended to be sleeping. The 15 year old fell asleep after that. When he woke up, he ended up falling back asleep and had to be shaken awake.

One of the girls who stayed there asked if he was okay. He sat up and yawned, nodding. "Sorry for troubling you, Zani," Ace said, and stood up to get breakfast with the rest of them. The youngest was nearly four, and Ace picked him up with a smile when he pulled on Ace's sleep pants.

"You're getting so big, so we gotta have a hearty breakfast," Ace said brightly for the young child. He giggled and nodded, and the family/servants went to the dining hall for them and got their food. Ace got a lot since everyone knew about his huge appetite and bottomless pit of his stomach.

As he was eating, he talked with the others pleasantly. Breakfast with them was much nicer than Zuko's breakfast with his family. Ace felt sorry for his friend sometimes. His dad wasn't nice to him, and his sister was a brat. His mom was kind, but all the nice people to the prince were just his friend and mom. Must be lonely.

After breakfast was finished, Ace went to Zuko's room and knocked on the door. He wasn't in there. He walked through the palace grounds, sticking the places he was allowed to be at, and made to leave the area and go to the forest nearby. It wasn't like he was forced to stay there, his dad would be fine with him leaving.

Ace felt like eating some deer. He had knife with him to skin it. Zuko always thought it was absolutely disgusting, so used to the pampered food. Many people hunted for their own food to eat. It wasn't that big of a deal. To find one, he didn't need to use his bending, and just grappled them from being on a high tree branch, and wrapped an arm around its neck and yanked.

Ace brought it back to his little campfire spot nobody else knew about, and skinned the deer, cutting out the best parts, and lighting the fire underneath it to cook on his personal made rotate skewer that held above the fire, as well as the skewers that had smaller bits on them. He heard someone coming out, and knew it wouldn't be Zuko or Azula.

It was Ty Lee. She didn't really care about being proper all the time, unlike her two friends and everyone in the palace. "Hey. Want some?" Ace asked, lifting a perfectly cooked batch of deer. Ace had done it very neatly, and had no blood on him or dirt on his clothes. He was sitting on the log in front of the flames.

She walked over and sat on the log next to him, asking why he did this. "Just feels nice to make my own food, sometimes. I've gotten good at how long to cook it," he said conversationally. She took a hesitant bite, but said it wasn't that bad. They ate a lot of the deer, the other girl not bothered to eat like this around anyone but her proper friends, it seemed.

"You know, you shouldn't mess with Azula like that. You'll make her angry and you don't want an angry Azula," Ty Lee said, taking another skewer glady. Ace said he didn't mean to anger her. He just didn't like being disrespected. "But she's the princess." Ace knew that. But he still didn't want to be pushed around. "Still… it's dangerous."

"Worried about me?" Ace asked in amusement. Her face went red and she quickly left the area. He finished the food and then doused the flame with dirt. He'd brought matches with him in case anybody saw and asked how he'd made his own fire to cook with. Ace walked back to the palace through the forest, sliding down the slope and onto the roof before dropping down.

He had made sure nobody was around to see him, and then went to wash up a bit, a little bit dirt on his hands. Zuko was outside, and wondered where he'd gone. "Hunting," Ace said simply. He started to itch the bite mark, as it sometimes got itchy since the scars were so bad. Zuko said nothing of it.

"Azula told my dad about your disrespect. He gave her permission to duel you." Ace's jaw dropped and he swore quietly. "Even though you aren't a bender." He was saying that in case anybody else was listening. "You should lose on purpose." Ace scowled, but knew that was the best course of action.

But he couldn't sustain burns, which would be a problem, no doubt. He should make himself loose spectacularly so she would maybe stop taunting him if she "knew" she was much better than Ace. "Am I allowed to have any weapon?" Zoro nodded, saying he could use a sword. "But, I have no idea how to use a sword."

"Azula knows that. She just wants to beat you up and humiliate you. Many will be watching." Ace sighed and put his hand to his forehead. But he couldn't decline or just say he wasn't going to take part. Zuko pat his shoulder in sympathy. He'd sparred with Azula before and lost most times. She was just too talented.

Ace asked what he thought the reaction would be if they learned he was a bender. "Your dad would be upset, and if you beat Azula, you'd probably get killed or exiled. It's not good either way, but the best is to play weak." The freckled one nodded and sighed. He asked when it would start. "After lunch."

"Okay," Ace said, and they walked inside. "Well, can I at least dodge?"

"I don't see why not. It still makes you weak to have to dodge and not fight back." Their voices were much quieter now that they were inside the palace. While they walked, Ace's dad and general came to him, looking disapproving.

"You have embarrassed me in front of the Fire Lord, Ace," he scolded. Ace said he didn't mean to. Azula was just rude to him a lot, and Ace didn't like it. "You may be prince Zuko's friend, but you are not royalty. You will behave and be respectful to everyone ranking above you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, father," Ace said with a dramatic sigh. He was told to lose the attitude. "Yes, father," he repeated with a slightly smaller sigh. Zuko shook his head slightly. Ace really did have an attitude problem.

He said, "If you keep up the attitude, you will be exiled from this place. Am I understood?" Ace crossed his arms and said he was only fifteen. "Plenty of children live on their own." Ace frowned, but said, "Okay. If I'm kicked out, I'll survive," lightly. His father was endlessly annoyed with Ace, who never backed down in an argument and never didn't stand up for himself.

He got some swords after walking away from his father, Zuko looking bothered by what just happened. "You should stop the attitude, really! You'll get kicked out!" Ace paused, and said he'd rather be kicked out than get rid of his pride. "It's not pride, it's being annoying and cocky." Ace slumped and nodded. He was irritated, though. He couldn't be himself here. Well, there was nowhere else to go. He would try not to be too obnoxious.

Ace handled the two swords, but couldn't really swing them around without looking like an idiot. Well, wasn't that what he wanted? To look nonthreatening and weak? Ugh, this was going to be embarrassing, but he didn't especially want to go live in the wilderness alone. That would not be something he wanted to happen.

After he ate lunch, he put on exercise clothes, not fancy things, so he could move more. He had the two swords and met her in the courtyard. There were a ton of people there, all looking at him in dislike. Looks like he had a bad reputation amongst the adults. Maybe his attitude really was a problem. He stood there with the swords as Azula smirked at him, the little brat. Ty Lee in the crowd was biting her nails, and Zuko was gritting his teeth. He didn't want to lose spectacularly, truly.

But he had to, and then change the way he acted. It made him scowl. Both of them bowed to each other. Ace acted immediately, throwing the sword like he'd practiced at Azula, who barely moved, a strand of hair being cut off. She was already furious, and everyone gasped in the crowd. She blasted blue fire at him, and he dodged, ducking.

Ace was nimble at dodging the flames, and Azula told him to fight. "But I'll lose," Ace said in a flat voice. The dodging went on for awhile and Azula began to tire. Ace ran at her with his sword, ready to swing while she was weakened, but made himself drop the sword like an idiot, and then freeze.

His expression was not one of fear or anything, but he ran to the other side of the courtyard and let Azula start again. He finally let himself be knocked down on the ground and say he gave up. For some, it was clear he was not sincere in it. She laughed at him, but was still pissy about his strategy and cutting part of her hair. Though it was only a few strands, and not a whole side.

"No, fight again. As if you were actually trying," the Fire Lord commanded. Ace frowned, and stood up, rubbing the back of his neck, not stupid enough to talk back to the Fire Lord. He sighed lightly, and got into stance. His dad told him not to fool around, he knew he wasn't a bender.

Ace didn't reply. When Azula attacked again with blue flames, sure she'd win again even if Ace did "try", Ace let out a massive burst of flames that she barely missed. Then he ran at her in a straight line, blasting fire out of his palms without doing any stance. It was a waste of time. She dodged and he kicked a blast of flame, everyone in the audience shocked.

She went to lightning, which might be a problem. He dodged just barely and created a ball of flame that he pretty much tossed at her. Her lightning did hit, but it went right through his body with a burst of flame, and he punched her in the face and knocked her down before holding a flaming fist above her face.

The princess was shocked and looked frightened, so Ace stood up and looked at all of his burnt garments. They were in tatters in the arms and legs. His shoes had burnt away, too. He looked homeless. His dad stood up and demanded to know how long he'd been a bender, furious with it being kept a secret for so long, as Ace was fifteen.

The whole crowd was in shock, and Azula underhandedly shot fire at his back, the fire doing nothing but burning more clothes away. "How?!" she demanded. Ace shrugged, and said, "Who knows?"

"Answer me!" his father shouted.

"Since I was eight," Ace replied. He was furious. Zuko looked surprised but was also hiding a sort of amusement at Azula getting her ass kicked. She had a bloody nose from the punch. Nobody told him he couldn't get physical. The Fire Lord had stayed quiet for a long bit, before he said he was surprised such a talented firebender had been hiding in plain sight.

He asked why Ace had hidden it. "It is abnormal, your majesty. I didn't wish to bring too much attention to it. I know it's not how most people firebend," he explained honestly, respectfully. The leader said he was much more capable than his father. Azula demanded to know why he was being praised.

The man said, "You lost, Azula. Accept the defeat with honor." She was extremely sour. "Go get dressed. You are a mess," he said to Ace. He bowed and went inside to change into new clothes. He wondered if this was a huge mistake. If he'd be expected to be some fighter or something like that. He liked living leisurely with his friend and eating a lot.

His father met him in the hallway and smacked him across the face, hard, though it didn't hurt with his fire. "How dare you embarrass me like that!"

"You're just jealous by now. I got praised from the Fire Lord while you are the perfect underling and get no recognition," Ace said back shortly. He was then told he was officially disowned. "Okay, that's fine," the teen replied. He walked back out, turning away from his former father. When he went back out, he was told to be ready to be an elite. He didn't want this at all, but could not protest. Fucking damnit. He had attention on him all day, when he just wanted to go hang out with Zuko, who looked bothered by Ace being kept so long by everyone.

He was sitting outside and looking at the sky that night, wishing Azula hadn't challenged him. Everything would be different now, and he didn't want that. His dad disowned him, which wasn't that big of a deal, to be honest. But he was still frustrated by what was happening. When he went back inside, he was annoyed that he had his own room.

The teen refused, and went back to sleep with his friends. They all weren't upset about him hiding it, though some were jealous and wished they could bend. Ace rolled over and said he hadn't wanted anyone to know. They said nothing, and they all fell asleep.