"This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. I don't know if it would work, but…"

The offer. She was offering Zuko a chance to be free. For so long, his scar was a brand of shame. A constant reminder of his failure. His shame. Humiliation. A mark far too unique that allowed him to be easily identified.

And she was offering for him to be free of it.

Something in Zuko twisted. He wanted to be rid of the scar but… at the same time, he couldn't imagine not having it any more. It had become a reluctant part of him. For so long, he'd dreamed of having it gone, but now the chance was right there, he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to let go.

The Waterbender stood before him. He closed his eyes as her fingers pressed softly against his rough skin. Though his scar was numb, he could feel the slight pressure there.

His heart thudded in his ears and his dry throat wouldn't allow him to make a sound.

Then the wall exploded.

Out of the dust and clatter emerged two figures.

"Aang!"

As he was hugged tightly by the Waterbender, the Avatar glared icily over her shoulder at Zuko. Zuko glared back but was startled by a sudden weight crashing against him. His uncle was embracing him tightly.

Had- had they come together?

"Aang, I knew you would come." The Waterbender was saying.

"Uncle, I don't understand." And he didn't. Zuko's mind was whirring and racing with confusion. "What are you doing with the Avatar?"

"Saving you. That's what." The Avatar snapped back.

It was only his uncle's firm and steady hands that kept him from- from- whatever he was going to try and do to the Avatar. He honestly didn't know.

"Zuko," his uncle soothed, "It's time we talked." The old man turned to the Avatar and the Waterbender. "Go and help your other friends. We'll catch up with you."

The Avatar gave a small bow before running back into the tunnel, the Waterbender following behind. Zuko closed his eyes against the pitying look she cast him.

"Why, uncle?" he croaked weakly. He felt dazed, like the world was spinning around him even though he could see that it was still.

"You're not the man you used to be, Zuko."

Not Prince Zuko.

"You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

Zuko bowed his head as his uncle's words echoed in his mind. The ground lurched under him and his eyes snapped open. Green crystals encased Iroh before either of them had time to act. Zuko only just had time to shift into a defensive stance before two Dai Li agents came skidding into the cavern.

Followed by Azula.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko, Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?" she said, her tone as sharp and acidic as ever.

"Release him immediately!" Zuko demanded defiantly.

"It's not too late for you, Zuko," Azula purred, oozing Alpha confidence, "You can still redeem yourself."

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you." Iroh called out.

The contrast between the two Alpha scents made Zuko's head spin. Both were hot and smouldering, but where his uncle's was warm, crackling and comforting, Azula's was scorching and burned Zuko's nose.

"Why don't you let him decide, Uncle?" Azula snapped. Then she softened, leaking out what was meant to be a comforting scent. But she'd used it too many times and Zuko wasn't fooled.

"I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honour back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

Father? Love? Honour? Home? Could he? Could he really?

"Zuko, I am begging you, look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want." His uncle's voice was steady, but his eyes were desperate.

Zuko turned his head away.

"You are free to choose." Azula said in a voice like syrup as she beckoned the Dai Li agents away. She then strode past the two and further into the cavern.

Zuko sighed. He wanted to go home. To be back where he belonged. But… was that in the Fire Nation palace anymore? He wasn't sure.

He could feel his uncle's eyes boring into him, but the old Alpha didn't speak. Zuko couldn't find the voice to ask for his advice.

Did Azula mean it?

Would Father take him back?

Could he restore all that he'd lost?

Could he fill the aching void in his chest?

But…

Azula always lies.

Unless it's to hurt someone.

Azula always lies.

Was she lying this time?

Azula always lies.

Maybe she's not.

Azula always lies!

Zuko's eyes snapped open and he braced himself. "Uncle, how do I get you out of here?"

Iroh gasped a laugh. His eyes brimmed with pride. "Don't you worry about me, Zuko. You go and stop Azula."

"But Uncle!"

"Go Zuko!"

Zuko nodded once and sprinted after Azula. His lungs were burning before he'd even started fighting. He didn't know what he was doing anymore. Just that he had to stop Azula. But he didn't think he could. Azula had always been better than him. Could he really stop her now?

When he reached the second cavern, blue flames and rubble and waves were crashing everywhere. The Avatar, the Waterbender and Azula were circling each other.

Zuko blasted a ball of fire between them and they froze. Their eyes settled on him, waiting for his choice. Zuko sucked in a deep breath to steady his shaking hands.

And sent a burst of fire at Azula. She deftly dodged and glared at him. "Zuko, think about what you're doing; what you're giving up."

Zuko winced. But sent out another round of fire with a defiant growl.

"You idiot!"

"Zuko?!" the Avatar called out in confusion.

"Don't just stand there!" Zuko snapped, "Fight!"

The Waterbender sent a wave up to counter Azula's blast. Azula turned on Zuko, eyes gleaming with cruelty.

"Oh, Zuzu," she sighed, "Father was right. You really are a lost cause."

It stung.

Azula lunged.

Zuko stepped out of her reach and kicked her ankle out from under her. She stumbled but sent a large blast to cover herself. Zuko deflected with his own and jumped back. But he miscalculated and hit a crystal with a painful thud.

He bit back a groan as he slumped to the ground. An air attack from the Avatar drew Azula's attention away from him. Whist they engaged in a heated one on one, the Waterbender ran over to him.

"Zuko! You changed!"

He gritted his teeth as he pushed himself to sit up. "Obviously. Shouldn't you be helping him?"

She looked back worryingly as Azula and the Avatar charged each other. "Aang will be okay. I know he will. And you need healing. It'll be easier to fight with all three of us."

As she spoke, water covered her hands and they hovered over his chest. They glowed for only a moment, but the pain vanished.

Zuko blinked in surprise but nodded gratefully to her as he jumped to his feet.

The Avatar crashed to the ground.

Dozens of Dai Li agents descended and surrounded them.

The Waterbender surrounded herself with tentacles of water and Zuko summoned fire whips. But neither dared attack. Not when there were so many Earthbenders. More than they could handle.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko saw the Avatar cast a sad, apologetic glance at the Water bender before turning away and sitting down. The green crystals formed a dome around him, and the cavern went still.

Waiting.

The crystals began to glow brighter and brighter and brighter still.

The Dai Li moved back.

The Avatar exploded out in a burst of white light and a rush of wind. His eyes and tattoos were glowing with power.

The Water bender smiled as she watched him.

A determined, angry frown was set into the Avatar's face. And then his mouth widened in a silent cry of pain as his body crackled with electricity.

Azula's hand was smoking. Her lips were smirking.

The Avatar tumbled from the air and the Waterbender was crying. She surged upwards on a tidal wave of her own making. The water swept away the Dai Li, Zuko being pulled into the floods as well.

But she caught the Avatar.

Zuko rushed over to where she was kneeling, readying himself for another barrage of attacks. Azula was stalking towards them with victory all over her.

Zuko couldn't help but flinch.

A wall of fire shot between them and Iroh leapt down into a fighting stance.

"You've got to get out of here!" he yelled, "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

Zuko had never seen his uncle look so powerful, had never felt so intimidated and yet so protected at once before.

"No, Uncle! We can't leave you!" he cried. His throat felt full and his chest felt crushed.

"Go, Zuko!" Iroh roared as he started blasting fire.

Blinking back tears, Zuko helped the Waterbender hoist the Avatar up and drag him into the waterfall. The Waterbender lifted them up and Zuko listened to the sounds of his uncle battling until he could hear them no more.

Zuko's memory was blurry after that. He didn't remember how he got onto the giant bison with the Water bender, the Avatar, her brother, the blind girl, the Earth King and his bear. Oh, and the lemur. But somehow he had, and no one had outwardly protested his presence. Only his uncle stuck in his mind, forming a fog around everything else. He hadn't wanted to cry this much in a long time.

The Waterbender cradled the Avatar and produced the flask of Spirit Water. The small droplet swirled in her palm, glowing. It seeped into the scorch mark on the Avatar's back and the glow faded.

The Waterbender let out a soft cry and held the Avatar closer. The arrow on his head glowed and he groaned. Very weak. Very quiet. But there. Alive.

"The Earth Kingdom has fallen," The Earth King murmured in defeat, gazing out into the night as they sailed over the wall.

They somehow ended up on a Water Tribe ship with another rag tag group of misfits. Though they were primarily comprised of the Water Tribe warriors, there were the oddballs. Zuko didn't know what to make of any of them. When they landed on the ship, there was a flurry of activity while they got the Avatar settled and bandaged. Zuko slunk into a corner of the deck and curled up. His eyes burned with tears, but he refused to let them fall. He would not show weakness.

It was nearly an hour before anyone remembered he was there. The Water Tribe boy and a tall man Zuko assumed to be the leader loomed over him. Zuko could not hide his flinch and refused to look at the pity on their faces.

They were both awkward and cautious when they showed him to a tiny side room under the deck while they decided what to do with him. Zuko didn't complain. It was a decent enough room, and anything was better than the cell he was expecting. He sat back on the pallet, leaning against the wall and tucked his knees to his chest.

He wasn't sure how long he was left alone for. Long enough to fall into a light doze. All he could think of was his uncle and what Azula would do him. The aching in chest felt more like a chasm. It hurt. So painful, he doesn't know if he could ignore it any longer.

A knocking at the door roused him from his daze.

"Come in." he called. He didn't want company, but he didn't want to irritate his captors any more than strictly necessary.

It was the Water Tribe boy and the man again. This time, they had three plates of food with them. The boy sets one down on the bed in front of Zuko. He and the man sat down on the floor.

"Hello, Prince Zuko." The man said.

Zuko looked between them and the food before uncurling and sitting cross-legged. "I'm not a prince anymore. Don't call me that. What do you want?" he growled, doing his best to put up a threatening front.

"Zuko then."

The two don't seem at all convinced by his act and just shrugged. They were both Alphas, Zuko could smell it. Their scents were similar; snow and a cold breeze, but the boy had pine mixed in, while the man had mint.

Zuko forced his shoulders up and back. He could not seem submissive before them.

"Just to give you dinner," the boy said casually, "You probably need it after the fight you've had." His somewhat cheery front slipped, as his mind probably went to the state of the Avatar.

Zuko hummed noncommittally. That wasn't all they wanted, he could tell that. But he was tired, had been tired for a long time. He wanted to avoid a fight if he could.

"My name is Hakoda," the man rumbled, "And this is my son Sokka. But I gather you've already met."

"That's one way of putting it." Sokka grumbled, though there wasn't as much heat to it as Zuko was expecting.

"Yeah. We have." Zuko muttered. He cursed his social awkwardness yet again.

"So…" Sokka began, "How come you helped Aang and Katara back there?"

Zuko shrugged. "It was the best option for me at the time. Don't read too much into it."

"But the other Fire Nation girl…"

"Azula always lies." Zuko mumbled in response.

"You two know each other then?" Sokka asked. Both he and Hakoda looked more and more confused.

Zuko sighed heavily, staring at the ground. "She's my sister. We don't get along."

"Yeah, I can relate." Sokka grinned.

"I doubt that," Zuko retorted acidly, "Let's just leave it at that. What do you want from me?"

"That depends," Hakoda said, "What do you want?"

Zuko almost laughed at that. He wanted so many things: his honour, his home, his uncle. Deeper things, safety, warmth, affection, love. None of those he'd ever admit, but he longed for them none the less.

"I want to rescue my uncle."

Sokka and Hakoda exchanged glances.

"He's probably been taken back to the Fire Nation. Getting him out would be very difficult." Hakoda said.

Zuko scoffed. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Do you… have anywhere to go? We could drop you off somewhere if you wanted?" Sokka asked carefully.

"You'd just let the prince of the Fire nation go?" Zuko snorted scornfully.

"You turned against the Fire Nation to help Aang," Sokka shrugged, "That kinda makes you seem less of a threat."

Zuko hummed. "There's nothing stopping me from trying to capture the Avatar again."

"Will you though?"

Agni, they could see right through him couldn't they?

Zuko just shook his head. There was no point. If he couldn't do it with soldiers and a ship, he had no chance alone. And he was alone.

"So do you have anywhere to go?" Sokka repeated.

Zuko almost laughed as he shook his head again. "I'm a traitor to the Fire Nation. They'll be hunting me down like a dog."

"Then stay here." Sokka chirruped.

"What? Why?! I hunted you down, I'm the prince of the Fire Nation, I- I…"

"Well, you're not really the prince anymore, are you? But the inside information you could give us is priceless." Sokka shrugged.

Zuko sighed. "This as good a prison as any, I suppose. Far better than anything I'd get in the Fire Nation, as the very least."

Both Sokka and Hakoda were gaping at him.

"Zuko," Sokka said slowly, "You're not our prisoner. You joined us yourself and you can leave whenever you want."

"Oh… I- thank you."

Hakoda smiled at him. Zuko didn't know how to feel.

"We'll leave you alone now. Enjoy your meal."

As the Alphas stood to go, Zuko noticed their plates were mostly empty. He had barely seen them eat during the conversation. He must have been more out of it than he thought. He hadn't touched his.

"Get some rest," Sokka smiled, "You're going to need it."

And then they were gone.

Zuko just sighed. His eyes were burning and this time, he didn't think he could hold back. He set the plate aside and curled up on the bed. He cocooned himself tightly in the blanket, pretending that he wasn't imagining warm arms wrapped around him instead.

Tears poured from his good eye and trickled from his bad one. He pressed his face into the pillow and sobbed. That night, Zuko cried himself to sleep.