Note: Sorry but this chapter is going to be short because the next chapter is my climax and it kind of goes really fast after this chapter. I hope everyone has enjoyed my story so far I really wish I would get more reviews for it. Also, I was just wandering, do you, as my readers, think that each chapter title should be a line from a poem? Because that's the way I'm doing my Naruto story and I was just wandering.

Disclaimer: I don't any of the Avatar: Last Airbender characters or the story line.

Chapter Ten

Zuko sat across from his mother, the silence looming as the crickets, outside the large cave they were in, chirped cheerfully singing to all those in hearing distance. The unspoken words between mother and son lay in the air as if a lingering storm cloud waiting to release the tension and just rain. Then, just as rain pours from the heavens to nourish the hearth below, his words came, "What happened to you? Why are you here? Have you been here long? Why did you-"

"Zuko," his mother said calmly and patiently with the grace of a lady, "One question at a time, please."

He became quiet again, the song of the crickets cutting through the air once more.

She spoke first, "How have you been since I have been away?"

"Fine, I guess."

"Your hair different than the way you had it when you were a boy, but then, that's expected."

"Yes," he agreed, he could feel the question coming it was just a matter of time now.

"Your eyes are different as well," she stated, her voice holding a worried undertone.

Here it comes, he thought as the fear and shame swelled in his breast.

"What happened to your left eye?" she sounded upset as she said this.

His head hung low now, and there it was, the question. He didn't answer her, what could her say? The truth? The truth was too painful to talk about especially to her. All his life, she had protected him, not only had he shamed and failed his father, he had failed her as well. Its amazing how quickly words can destroy a family, he thought bitterly.

"Zuko," she said again only more forcefully, "What happened to your eye?"

He still said nothing the shame of the event of his past circulating through his body; it was long embedded in his bones and etched into his soul as if carved into stone. He wouldn't look at her and he could tell that she was growing more and more upset as the minutes passed; she would mostly likely get her answer out of him, but not without a fight.

She cleared her throat, "I am still your mother and that means you have to listen to me. Now I'll ask you one more time: how did you burn your eye?"

"I was training," he lied, "And let my guard down."

"Don't lie to me!" he could tell she was beyond upset and moved to an unmeasured worry.

"I'm not," he managed to get the words out but they were so low he would have been surprised if she had heard him.

"Did your father do it?" she had figured him out, "Are you protecting him?"

"No," he couldn't even look at her, which was probably the reason why she didn't believe him.

"He did didn't he?" she had figured him out and was not wavering from her correct answer even though he still denied it.

"No," he insisted, "I told you it was an accident it had nothing to do with Father."

"Look at me," she commanded him, her voice icy.

He did as his mother commanded.

"He didn't-"

She cut him off, "He will receive what is coming to him, I promise you that."

"What? No! It was my…I barraged in on a…Uncle warned me but I didn't listen…I couldn't hold my tongue…I shamed him and you!"

"No," she shook her head slightly, "You have never ever shamed me and can never shame me; your father…he…"

She stopped, lost for words and unsure of what exactly to say.

"What is this island?" he asked, he couldn't handle the discussion that was unavoidable if they had kept up the conversation they were having. In his heart, he knew what she was going to tell him, as his uncle had so often had tried, and was still not ready to here those words. He had to have hope that maybe, just maybe he was in his father's heart and that his father really did care whether he was alive or dead.

"That is why I have come to you," she said recognizing the fact that he still wasn't ready to here those words that he knew to be true, "This island isn't as it appears to be."

He simply nodded his head, grateful that she had allowed him to change the subject.

"In fact, it is a tome. You see long ago before your grandfather was ever born, before the first avatar was ever created, a man made a deal with a fire demon called Faer. He told Faer that if he gave him the ability to bend flames that in return he would give the god his only daughter Shi. The demon agreed, for he was seeking out a bride to bare his children anyway, so he gave the man the power over fire. The man grew very powerful and had soon built him a strong, and powerful empire; but when it came time to hold up his end of the deal, instead of giving up his daughter as he promised he slayed the demon, freeing himself and his daughter from his debt."

"What does this myth of our nation's birth have to do with this island?"

"Well, it's not a myth but actually true events hidden away from the public."

"Why is it hidden?"

"Mainly because of the fact that the first fire lord lied, cheated, and stole to get out of his debt with the demon instead of holding it up with honor."

"Then what does it have to do with this island?"

"Well," she continued, "As Faer was dieing vowed to take his revenge, so he stole the man's daughter as he slipped into hell, bringing Shi with him. But neither Shi's father nor the demon knew that she was in love so when she was stolen and sent to hell she was separated from true love breaking not only her heart but also his. Their pain was so intense from loosing their love one that his tears created a small island and hers created the ocean to protect their island thus through their separation this island was born. It is a haven, Zuko, for all of those whom the fire lord has killed."