Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or anything associated with it except my fanfictions.

I got this idea from Coming Together by Basingtei. Great story, takes place after the Hundred Years' War if Zuko had found Aang and Aang and Katara never met. I'm making an AU of it. Once I finish "Katara Brainwashed," I will focus my efforts on this story.

Edit: Remastering this chapter for the time being to create a much better introduction.

New Edit: Basingtei renamed herself... T-T why life? New username: IMovedToAO3-as-Cherie-Berrie

Although I don't recall having ever asked the author if I could use their story to write mine. Heh... a bit too late now.

Zuko was in a bad mood. Not that he ever had reason to be in a good one.

His eyes - well, rather, eye - swept across the frigid expanse of blue, glaring with an intensity enough to burn holes through the icebergs littering the ocean that only served to taunt and antagonize the prince before them. His face was fixed into a permanent scowl, a scowl that distorted his already ruined features and served only as a mere indication of the storm broiling inside himself.

It was very uncomfortable for him to use his right eye - his nondominant eye - to keep a lookout for anything out of the ordinary with his telescope. Unfortunately, the brutal burn of his father's mark had successfully fulfilled its bidding, and Zuko was forever marked and maimed on the left side of his face. Despite his many attempts to ignore it and forget about it, it was impossible not to. If not because of the reflectiveness of the waters he sailed, then at least from his dimming sight in that eye. Even after three long years, the pain from the scar never fully went away, although he was starting to get used to its humiliating burden.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by an old, loony voice crooning, "Zuko, why don't you sit with me and play a game of Pai Sho? You have been at the bow of the ship for hours without sleep and without food - a man cannot go on without sustenance and rest. Your other men can continue searching for the Avatar while you rejuvenate and become ready to look for the Avatar."

Zuko turned around to glare at his lazy uncle. Who was he to talk about Zuko's predicament? Who was he to comment on the prince's shame and fall from honor, to rub salt in the long-standing wound covering the left side of his face? His uncle was a lazy no do-gooder who did nothing but eat and talk and play games, while his nephew - who he claimed to love - toiled night and day to restore his honor and his rightful place in the Fire Nation. But any harsh words that sprung to mind faded as he saw the concern in his uncle's eyes, and begrudgingly, he realized that his legs and arms were a bit unsteady. He sighed. "Fine, uncle. Maybe a little rest," he admitted, scowling as he realized he had acquiesced to weakness, bowed down to inferiority. But it was too late to go back now. "But no Pai Sho. I just want to get this rest over with as soon as possible so I can keep looking for him."

"How do you know it is a him, Zuko? The last account of the Avatar was a hundred years ago. Much could have changed in that time."

Zuko was starting to boil. "It doesn't matter if it's a he or a she! All that matters is that if they're the Avatar, I must catch them! It is the only way I can restore my honor! Not that you'd know anything about that, since you quit your siege of Ba Sing Se on the grounds that you were tired. Tired, Uncle! Who stops a siege after six hundred days of fighting and blockading just to accept a defeat and say you're tired just when victory was in plain sight! My right eye's becoming hard to see through, but even now I'm starting to wonder who's the blind one here."

Iroh flinched, and Zuko realized he had struck a nerve. His voice softened. "I'm sorry uncle, but you have to understand. I need to find the Avatar. I need to restore my honor. I don't know what I could do otherwise."

"You could have a nice calming cup of hot Jasmine Tea!" Iroh said excitedly, pulling out a cup Zuko assumed was waiting for him.

Zuko sighed. "Whatever, uncle. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll grab a nap and some lunch, and then I'll go back to searching."

He walked past his uncle, and then felt a hand on his shoulder. He bristled, annoyed at his Uncle's intrusiveness. He whirled around to face his uncle, to get whatever was in his mind out of the way. "What is it?"

Iroh looked worried. "My nephew, do you not think that maybe you should give this some rest? People have been searching for the Avatar for a hundred years, and none of them had succeeded. Your great-grandfather, Sozin, had roamed the waters until his death trying to find the Avatar. If he could not find the Avatar with a mighty fleet at his command, what are the chances that you could find the Avatar with an old ship and only one good eye, as you said yourself?"

The water in the air was steaming from Zuko's anger. "Fine!" he roared. "Think whatever you want, old man! I don't care what you have to say! I will find the Avatar, no matter the cost, no matter the obstacles, because unlike those before me I will stop at nothing to regain what I have lost! I will find the Avatar, and you do not have a say in it, you lazy gasbag!" Needing to vent his anger, he turned toward the iceberg at his left and, putting all his power and rage and grief into his bending, he let out a powerful shot of fire that melted the iceberg. But even as he watched to his grim satisfaction as his flames ate into the ice, he still felt a simmering rage that was nearly overflowing within his body. He was sick of this life, tired of having little rest, little food, little drink, little luxury, and above all no honor while his family and his country looked down on him as a disgrace. All of these stresses, among many others, compounded into an intangible thing of pressure that threatened to burst Zuko's chest open. He needed to vent. Needed to show the world his anger, his discontent at the events that now governed his life and would govern his life for many years to come.

In his frustration, Zuko prepared to target yet another iceberg when he noticed a strange glow in the water. He rushed to the side of the ship, peering over to get a better look. Never mind the fact that he was leaned so far that he could fall into the frigid sea. His hopes raised suddenly, and for the first time in three long years his frown was replaced by a dumbfounded look of curiosity at the unearthly wonder he bore witness to - maybe even caused himself.

Iroh joined his side, his eyes as wide as tea saucers. "Maybe you were right Zuko. That looks like -"

And then the light faded, dying away to nothingness - along with Zuko's impulsive hopes. He sagged in despair, and, not for the first time, wondered if taking his life would have been more honorable than enduring this humiliating, hopeless life.

"No, uncle. You were right. You're always right, no matter how much everyone likes or hates it. It's impossible. What hope could I have with finding the Avatar? It's a wild chase with no end in sight. Maybe I should just start a new life here in these waters..."

"Zuko." He slowly lifted his head and turned to face his uncle. "Zuko, listen to me. Do not ever give up hope. Hope is what lets us keep living. Hope is a powerful wave that can change the tide of any situation you are mired in. You must never give up hope. It is your hope that has made me realize that in time, you will succeed, and all your dreams will come true."

Zuko's heart soared. "Even my father and my sister's love?" he asked childishly. A thunderous silence greeted Zuko's naive outburst, and they both bursted out into laughter.

After they had settled down, Zuko smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. "Yeah. I don't think that'll happen anytime soon, uncle."

"But it is good to hear you laugh once more, my nephew. You are along in a very important journey in your life, with many crossroads ahead of you. I have faith that you will be able to choose the right paths, and when you have reached your destination you will have become a true man, a man worthy of his lineage and a man with a worthy legacy."

Still smiling at each other, Zuko bowed in deference to the wisdom of his uncle, and Iroh repeated the gesture to his nephew.

Then the ship bucked, and they lost their balance. Zuko blindly scrabbled for a hold on the railings of his ship as he came precariously close to dropping into the water, while his Uncle did much the same. "W-what's happening?" said Zuko before the ship tilted heavily to one side.

Zuko and Iroh tumbled across the deck, and neither of them had a soft impact with the other side of the deck. They landed in a heap, and even though the ship finally stabilized, it took them a long time to untangle themselves and finally get up to see what the commotion was about. Groaning as they were getting up, their jaws dropped at the sight they beheld.

"Is that..." Zuko's eyes were huge.

"Oh my Spirits," said Iroh. "Is... is that..." Zuko's breath hitched as he awaited the words of his Uncle, words that would confirm Zuko's suspicions and once more foster hope for the young exile.

"...is that a flying bison?"

Zuko blinked twice and facepalmed himself.

His uncle began to dance. "I thought they went extinct a hundred years ago!" while Zuko shook his head and groaned into his hand in exasperation.

"Really, Uncle..."

His Uncle looked shocked. "Is that any way to treat an ancient yet integral part of our world. This bison could hold the key to balance in our world!" Zuko opened his mouth to voice his incomprehension at his Uncle's gibberish, but there was no need. For Iroh looked at a vague outline below the large dark, furry chunk, and he stopped dancing. "Oh my... what is... that can't be..."

The figure had glowing arrows, and was sitting in a meditative position. It almost seemed to be meditating too, except its eyes were also glowing - along with the rest of the iceberg.

Zuko blinked again. "I can't believe it... after three long years..." he breathed excitedly, and before Iroh could react, Zuko vaulted over the ship's railings and swam to the iceberg, ignoring the jolts of pain the subzero water gave him and the warning shouts from behind that were presumably from his Uncle.

The swim was a treacherous journey, much like Zuko's life had been since he was born. The capriciousness of the ice made it difficult to swim, much like the many unforeseen events of his life had derailed him from happiness and plunged him into suffering chaos. The coldness of the water made Zuko's muscles constrict with discomfort, and he was briefly reminded of the resistance and disapproval he had received from his father, his sister, the entire Fire Nation. But these things only served to bolster Zuko's determination, and slowly, stroke by stroke, he swam his way to the iceberg, the key to his hope and his future and his honor.

When he got there, he quickly scrambled out of the water. His tremulous shivering was not just from the cold. He took some fire breaths to steady himself and to negate the effects of the freezing water, and he prepared to strike the iceberg. Then he hesitated. The pivotal moment of his life, and he seemed almost... disappointed... to do it. Why won't I do it? he berated himself. This is the end of three long years of my suffering and humiliation. After I break the ice, I'll be able to take the Avatar home and reclaim everything I've lost from my own stupidity. So why won't I end it? After standing there on top of the iceberg in indecision, Zuko finally realized what it was that was holding him back.

It just... seemed too easy. Three years of fruitless searching, and the Avatar was handed to him on a silver platter? A long life of misery was suddenly and unexpectedly cut short by a gift-wrapped Avatar. He didn't know what to think. His life was changing so quickly... and it was this that steeled Zuko's nerves. His life was changing rapidly, but for the better, and he didn't want it to stop. He cast a brief thought to his mother, apologizing for letting her go with the rest of his past, and then with a fiery, determined shout, he slammed a flaming fist into the glowing ice, casting his sticks and stones for a better life.

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