I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender. It is the property of Nickelodeon.

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"Druk says she's this way. Come on, uncle."

"I see."

Iroh was a bit concerned. It was nice to see Zuko determined to learn earthbending. He had thought it would take more effort to make his nephew learn. But seemed that seeing the young girls display of her prowess in the art had ignited a desire in his nephew. A desire to learn from the best.

Unfortunately, it seemed Zuko was determined to ignore how he looked while searching for her. Druk was hidden in his sleeve, directing Zuko to where he was tracking the girl by scent. However, having Druk pull in his arm to steer him in the right direction made Zuko look like a puppet having its arm dragged. The people were already starting to stare.

"Nephew, perhaps you should be a bit more subtle. People are taking notice."

"How do you suggest I do that uncle? Druk is the one..."

Zuko was interrupted once again when Druk yanked his arm to the left.

"This way!" Zuko started running, leaving Iroh with no choice but to follow. Unfortunately, years of sweats and teas meant that he could not keep up with Zuko. It wasn't long before he fell behind.

He caught back up with Zuko at a gate. He doubled over to catch his breath.

"Nephew. Perhaps next time..."

"We might have a problem uncle."

Iroh considered his nephew, before looking at the gate itself. His eyes widened.

It was an immaculate gate. It was golden, large, and had the symbol of a flying boar stamped on it. This was the gate of a wealthy family.

"This puts a bit of dent in your plan Zuko."

"You're right. If the girl is here, then she's rich. And if she's rich, we won't be able to bride her into helping us."

"Yes, securing her as a teacher many be difficult. Perhaps we could look for another?"

Zuko frowned. "No. She's the best earthbender I've ever seen."

"You haven't met many earthbenders nephew."

"That's not the point uncle! The point is I need to learn from a master. And she's clearly a master."

Iroh couldn't argue with that. From what he had seen of the girl, she was obviously connected to her element to a level he had never seen before. Zuko would do very well to learn under her.

But how would they convince a rich family to let their daughter teach a former Fire Nation Prince? They would most likely be run from the city. And because this was a trade city, news of them would spread fast, which would make finding another master all the more difficult.

"Let's see if we can find her first. Maybe we can cut a deal," Zuko suddenly said.

"Nephew, I don't know if it is wise to-"

"I just need to find her and talk to her. I'm not going to fight her uncle. Lead the way Druk."

Zuko's arm shot right, and he followed suit. Iroh once again had to try and play catch up.

"Nephew, wait!"

Zuko shot towards Druk's directions. He stopped at a wall.

"She's behind this, huh?"

Zuko took several steps back. He didn't see Uncle, but that was fine. He was only going to talk to the girl. He could do that.

He shot forward and ran up the wall. His hands grabbed the edge, and he lifted himself over the wall. When he landed, he saw that he was in a garden. A very large, expensive-looking garden. It could take a while to find her.

"Might as well start now. I don't have-"

Zuko was cut off when his foot was suddenly swallowed by the ground.

"What the-"

That was all Zuko was able to say before he was entirely swallowed by the ground.

Following behind Zuko, Iroh was barely able to climb up the wall. It took all of his effort to reach the top, and he fell to the ground quickly.

"Slow- down- nephew. Please." Iroh heaved while on the ground. He lifted himself up to face his nephew.

Only to realize that he wasn't there.

"Zuko!"

Iroh forced himself up and assumed a striking stance. If anyone attacked his nephew, he would be ready to fight.

He was not, however, ready for the ground to envelop him.

"Ahh!" Iroh exclaimed as he was swallowed up by the earth.

"Uggh."

Zuko picked himself up and opened his eyes. He immediately realized that it didn't help.

Wherever he was, it was completely dark. He couldn't make out anything in the shadows. The only thing he could feel was Druk clinging to him inside his shirt.

"It's alright Druk. I won't let you get hurt."

"Zuko. Is that you?"

"Uncle?"

A small fire appeared, and it helped spread some light on the situation.

Zuko and Iroh were both inside what seemed to be an underground tunnel. The light them see that there were paths leading in both directions. But that wasn't very helpful since neither Zuko nor Iroh knew where they were.

"What is this place Uncle? Why are we here?"

"Funny. I was gonna ask you both the same question."

The two of them turned around to see the Blind Bandit walking up to them. Except now she wasn't wearing her fighting clothes. She was actually wearing a dress meant for a noble child. It was weird. Neither Zuko nor Iroh would say it looked bad on her. It just didn't seem to fit what they knew about her.

"So. Which one of you wants to get a butt-whooping first?"

Zuko held up his hands defensively. "Relax, we didn't come here to fight you Bandit."

"Excuse me?"

"That- that's what they called you back at the Earth Rumble. The Blind Bandit. I know it's probably not your name, but I don't know what else to call you."

Bandit's face stayed neutral. "Whatever. You can keep calling me that. Now can someone tell me why two firebenders tried breaking into my home? What do you want? Money? Gold?"

"No. We're not here for that. We're here for you."

The girl snorted. Was she actually a lady?

"So your plan was to come and kidnap me huh? You trying to give me a reason to beat you both up?"

"No!" Zuko was now frustrated at the girl. "We didn't come here to fight you, kidnap you, or anything like that! We're here because I want to learn earthbending from you!"

The girl, who looked like she had been about to perform a move against them both, stopped in her tracks.

"Come again?"

"Look, just listen! What I'm trying to say is-"

"Nephew. Please calm down," Iroh said, his hand holding a firm grip on Zuko's shoulder. "Let me do the talking."

"So the guy with fire in his hands is the reasonable one. Who woulda guessed?"

Zuko fumed but stayed silent.

"Young Bandit, what my nephew says is true. He needs an Earthbending instructor. And you are the greatest Earthbender either of us has ever seen. And I have seen many practitioners of your art."

"True. That is true."

"We would be most honored if you would be willing to teach my nephew."

Iroh bowed slightly, which annoyed Zuko. But he decided to follow his lead if it meant getting the little girl to help them.

"Ok, wait. One question here."

"Feel free to ask."

"If you're a firebender, then how am I supposed to teach him earthbending? Shouldn't he be a firebender too?"

"Oh, right. That. You see..."

"And don't even think about lying to me old man! I'll be able to tell!"

Somewhat offended at the girl insulting his uncle, Zuko butted back into the conversation.

"The reason I need to learn Earthbending is that I'm an Avatar."

The girl's smile faltered.

"Hold on, the Avatar?! But that guy died a hundred years ago. And they said he wasn't reborn."

"He wasn't. But I'm right here."

"Hey, don't start thinking I'm stupid. If you're the Avatar, and the old guy with you is a firebender, then that would mean that you're a firebender. That means you have to learn airbending and waterbending before earth. Why would you want to skip two elements?"

"That's how it worked for the original avatars. I'm not one of them. I don't follow their order."

"What are you talking about? How does that work?"

Iroh was about to answer, but Zuko stopped him this time.

"How about we make a deal? My uncle and I will answer any questions you have. In exchange, you'll teach me earthbending."

The girl's body relaxed, and her mouth curved. She was obviously considering the offer.

"Maybe. Tell you what, I'll hear your story. If it's interesting, I'll give you some pointers. But if you want to learn more, you'll have to entertain me."

Zuko frowned. "What do you mean by "entertain you"?"

"Ah, don't worry about it Sparky. Just tell me where to meet you tomorrow and we'll figure it out."

"Meet us tomorrow? Does that mean you know a way out of here?"

"Yup! Later!"

The girl stomped her foot, and two seconds later she was gone from view.

The ground was rumbling. Then suddenly a kid in a hood and an old man shot out of it.

Thankfully, they were outside the city. That meant that no one had seen the strange sight.

"What? We were just under a garden in a mansion? How did we end up here?"

"I think it would be best not to question this nephew. Especially since the sun is soon to set."

He was right. The sky was now adopting a shade of orange. That meant going back to the cave was now the best course of action. Being out until night would only mean that the road to their temporary home would be more dangerous.

"Alright, uncle. Let's head back."

The two started walking home, and Zuko allowed Druk to fly ahead. He had refused to come out of Zuko's shirt the entire time they were underground. Probably the fear of being trapped. In any case, being free would do Druk some good. Dragons were not meant to be buried.

The trio arrived at the camp, where the first thing Zuko did was find his futon and immediately go to sleep. He was done with the day.

The day had not gone exactly as Toph had planned, but that was ok. It was certainly better than having to deal with another boring day.

It had started off great. She had finally won the Earth Rumble Championship. It was something she had wanted ever since she had learned she could fight with earthbending. Ever since the Badgermoles had taught her to treat the art as a way of life, not just a martial art.

And then those two weird guys snuck into her garden. It wasn't too hard to make them not a threat. All she had to do was bury them underground. She probably should have just left them down there. Would have been less trouble that way.

But as usual, she was bored at home. Her parents and the guards never let her do anything. It's why she practiced her earthbending in secret. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to tell her that earthbending was "too dangerous" for her to do. She would honestly rather die than be forbidden from earthbending. A life stuck at home with no skill to improve and no prospect for independence was no life she would want to live

It's why she decided to meet the two of them underground. Not only would she have the home advantage, but it would be a welcome distraction from all the nothing she had been doing.

And then she actually heard their story and became conflicted.

On the one hand, teaching a clearly hopeless kid to earthbend like her sounded like fun. It would give her an excuse to mess with him as much as he wanted. And if he was the Avatar, then teaching him earthbending might actually help the war end quicker. It was the Avatar's duty to maintain balance in the world after all.

On the other hand, he kept saying that he was an Avatar. Not the Avatar. What did he mean by that? Wasn't there only one Avatar? And if there were more, wouldn't people know? She was pretty sure a person who could bend all four elements would be hard to keep a secret.

However, the fact remained that he wasn't lying the entire time he was speaking to her. Neither of them was lying, in fact. She would have been able to tell if they were. The only thing they were guilty of was not giving her the full story.

That was the reason she had offered that deal to them (With her own conditions of course. She had learned something from being a merchant's daughter.). If she went over and gave him a few pointers, she would hear the rest of whatever crazy story he had. It was certainly better than being stuck at home.

There was also the fact that he had been hiding something in his shirt. She could hear two heartbeats coming off of him, and she doubted he had two heats. Based on his voice, he barely had one.

He mostly was hiding an animal in there. She had heard him say the word Druk at some point. Maybe that's what it was called? She was going to ask but got off track after he said he needed to learn earthbending. That had thrown her off. She'd ask tomorrow.

And he was lying about anything, she could just leave and forget him. She had nothing to lose.

Besides, if those guys turned out to be enemies, she could just kick their butts. Wouldn't be too hard.

"I did not think I would be saying this so soon, but I am actually proud of you vessel."

"Why's that?"

"The individual you have chosen to be your earthbending master. She is perfect."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. While he had been comfortable having the Bandit girl be his teacher, he was surprised to have Vaatu's approval.

"Any reason, in particular, that you like her?"

"She is powerful, opinionated, and most importantly, chaotic. She is also a proper human of the earth, with the stubbornness and willfulness to match. She is the perfect teacher for you."

Zuko's eyes widened. "You learned all of that from just my memories from her? I only met her once. Underground. For less than five minutes."

"With most humans, I need even less time to figure them out. You are usually an easy species to read."

"Most humans? So not all of them?"

"There are exceptions. You, for example."

"Me?"

"Yes. There are many words I would use to describe you, vessel. Complicated is one of them."

"Complicated? How?"

"How are you complicated? You may as well lock me in another tree for another ten thousand years if you want a complete answer to that question."

Zuko glared at the dark spirit. He was considering finding a way to do just that.

"I suppose it would be possible to break it down into digestible pieces. Among the things that complicate you are your family, and your place in it."

Zuko considered firing back, but instead, he nodded. There really wasn't an argument he could make against that.

"Then there are your motivations. I'm still having trouble pinning them down."

Zuko frowned. "What do you mean? I've made it no secret I want to end the war. I want to restore the Fire Nation's honor."

"Yes. But do you have an actual plan for that? We both know you cannot be Fire Lord. Being an Avatar means you are bound to the world at large."

"My uncle doesn't have that restriction. He can take the throne after we remove my father from power."

"That is a good temporary solution. But you are forgetting one thing."

"What's that?"

"Lineage. Once your uncle is no longer able to rule, who will take over from him? I don't know if your plan is to have the Fire Nation eventually descend into a crisis of leadership. I would support you if it is, but I doubt it."

Zuko frowned when he heard Vaatu's explanation. In truth, he hadn't thought too much about what would happen after his father was dethroned. He always assumed having uncle as Fire Lord would fix all the world's problems.

He needed to rethink things.

"Going back to your complexity, I suppose I should also mention..."

"I got the message Vaatu."

"Did you just interrupt me?"

"We'll talk next time."

The world glowed, and suddenly Zuko was awake again.

"The first thing Zuko did when he woke up was to gently remove Druk from his head. The dragon was still small now, but he would be growing soon. he didn't need him to make a habit of sleeping on him.

The second thing he did was look for his uncle. He was in his usual spot, making tea and breakfast.

"The girl. She said she would find us later."

"That is correct nephew. At sundown," Iroh said as he poured himself a drink. "A wise time to meet firebenders. Our power will be weaker as the sun descends."

"Meaning that if things go south, she has a good chance of taking us both down."

"A chance. Yes."

"She might win."

"Possibly."

Zuko sighed.

"Might as well get ready for her."

Toph is now on board. Almost. Just have to convince her to teach Zuko. That ought to be fun.

I kinda feel bad for Iroh in this chapter. I know he cares about Zuko, but it is hard to keep up with that boy. Especially when he refuses to buckle on his questionable plans.

Yeah, the next chapter will be the beginning of some earthbending training. That will be interesting. I get the feeling that earthbending for Zuko will be like waterbending was for Aang. It's not his native element, but it's an element that he could pick up quickly. Since Zuko is already as stubborn as a rock, it shouldn't be too hard for him to learn to move them. Though the other two probably won't be so easy. Especially airbending.

And concerning the previous document that was here and the poll, I have not made any decisions. I wanted to get some thoughts and ideas, and I received them. For now, the story will continue as it was.

(The poll will stay open until Sunday. I will be closing it early that day. Let me know your thoughts before then.)

Also, one last thing I want to point out. One of the reviews said that Zuko's next life would be an Air Nomad. That is actually false. I don't want to say too much since the story is still in its early stages, but the reversal of Zuko's elemental cycle also applies to his reincarnation cycle. His next life will not be air, it will be earth. Just wanted to clear that up.

Anyway, please leave reviews, tell me what you guys think, and I will see you all next time.

Bye!