Gyaa! Thanks for all the support for this story so far! Your reviews make me sooo happy! Thank you all so much!

Well, now that I've actually gotten the story started, I'm gonna slow down on updates a bit… I've been updating every other day, and I'm gonna slow it down to about every three days. Even though its summer, I have a lot of work to do for school next year (why did I take all those AP classes? Oh yeah, cause I'm an idiot…) But I have three books and an essay to write for English, a book and three essays to write for Genetics, a thirty page packet and an assessment for Physics, and I have to teach myself all of Latin II… basically it's gonna be one hellofa summer…

But I got fanfiction to keep me going XD So I'm gonna try to update as much as possible (definitely no waits longer than a week) Enjoy!

Book 4: AIR

By silver-nightstorm

Summary: Four years have passed since the end of the war and the Fire Nation is in despair. Young Fire Lord Zuko is on a mission to find his mother, and seek her political advice. Meanwhile, Aang hunts for remaining airbenders, leaving Katara alone. Zutara. HaruxOC. And one-sided ZukoxOC.

Chapter 4: Flash-Backs and Freak-Outs

~Sometime in the Past~Fire Nation Capital: Deserted Courtyard~

"A-arrangement?" I stammered. I disliked the sound of that very much.

Ozai smiled. "Of course. I can't just let you go free… After all…" He leaned closer to me, his lips inches away from mine, "you're a traitor to the nation."

My heart was pounding very fast. I hoped someone walked into the courtyard at this very moment. Iroh? Iroh, can you hear me? No such luck…

I swallowed, "What… what do you want?"

The twenty-year-old prince pulled me into an embrace, his lips next to my ear. "You," he whispered. "I'll let you run free… if you agree to marry me."

My fairy tale came crashing down around me.

~Present Day~Fire Nation Capital: Zuko's Chambers~

Zuko paced in his room. Maika. He could have sworn he knew the name. He'd heard the name before, he was sure of that. Where he heard it… that was the unsure part. But that name sounded familiar. Granted, one of the Nobles named Maika could have been talking to him, and he subconsciously remembered her name, but he swore he knew a Maika with a connection to his mother.

He just couldn't remember it.

He sighed, collapsing on his bed. He rolled over onto his back and screamed. The door slammed open, and a wizened old man ran in.

"Milord! Are you ok?" he shouted. He ran up to Zuko. "What is wrong, Milord? Is everything alright?"

Zuko waved the man away. Suddenly, he sat straight up. "Marco!" he shouted. The man turned around. "You knew my mother very well, didn't you?"

"Yes…" Marco's voice trailed off, confusion written all over his face.

"Did you know her friends?" Marco nodded. "Did she have a friend named Maika?"

Marco's face fell. Zuko looked at the man in confusion, "What is it?"

"She passed away," whispered Marco. "Do you not remember? It was five years ago!"

Zuko's eyes widened. A funeral pyre swam in front of his eyes, two bodies… one large and one small. Maika and… Tara.

~Six Years Ago~Fire Nation Capital: Fire Nation Academy~

"Ha! You're such a loser! You can't even firebend!" Ten-year-old Zuko sighed, halting his practice. He had decided not to go outside for recess today in order to perfect a few of his forms, but seemed he wouldn't get anything done.

"Loser! You can't firebend! You can't firebend!" Zuko knew that voice very well. It belonged to the biggest bully in the school. Kyra. The girl was scary; she could even make Azula pee in her pants.

"Who cares! I can do anything you can!" Zuko gasped, he recognized that voice. It was Tara. She was General Zhao's daughter, only six years old. The General had pushed the school board until they let his daughter into the school. Tara was not a firebender, not yet, at least, and she was too young to be in this school. Most of the students were firebenders, and they were all at least nine years old.

"Oh yeah? Then, I dare you to go over the Lava Junglegym!"

Zuko's eyes widened. Didn't Kyra know how dangerous that was for a non-bender? The Lava Junglegym was a jungle-gym that had a hotspot of lava underneath it. The lava was constantly exploding and popping; only a firebender would be able to bend the lava away and cross the junglegym at the same time.

Zuko heard the crowd begin to jeer; he stopped doing his forms and moved to the window.

A small, dark-haired girl stood in the middle of a group of much older kids. At their head was Kyra, her blood red hair pulled into a ponytail. Her violet eyes were trained on the tiny girl, Tara.

Tara glared at them, "I'll do it!"

Kyra just laughed, "Fine! Go get yourself killed!"

Tara glared at them and walked over to the junglegym. She flinched as she got closer, the heat was unbearable. Zuko clenched his fists, trying to hold back. He considered running out and stopping them, but he knew he would just make things worse. Zuko considered getting a teacher, Tara wasn't allowed anywhere near the junglegym because she couldn't bend yet.

Zuko watched as Tara grabbed the first rung. She pulled herself onto the junglegym and closed her eyes. She proceeded to attempt to get across.

Zuko flinched as she almost got hit. He couldn't just sit by and do nothing! Carefully, he started bending the lava spurts away from the small girl. He didn't do any drastic bending, just little motions to keep the lava from hitting her. When Tara jumped off the other side, she looked relieved. Zuko saw her lips form the words, "Thank Agni."

"See?" Tara walked over to the other kids. "I can do anything a firebender can!"

"Yeah, but you can't defend yourself!"

Zuko's eyes widened. He froze, watching, horrorstruck, as the kids advanced on Tara. "N-no!" shrieked Tara. She ran, as fast as she could, away from the bullies. But she wasn't fast enough.

"Stupid girl! Die!"

"NO!" screamed Tara. Zuko stood frozen in the window as the kids crowded around Tara, punching her, pulling her hair. Tara started crying, and Kyra grabbed her, pulling her up.

"You think that's bad? Here!" Zuko's breath caught. She had a knife! Where did she get a knife?

Kyra ran the knife down the girl's cheek; blood dripped down. Tears welled in Tara's eyes. She touched her cheek, shocked by the red liquid on her fingers.

Zuko ran out of the training room. This had gone too far. He burst out of the doors, screaming, "Leave her alone!"

The bullies froze, only Tara moved, thrashing around, trying to get Kyra's hands off her.

"Leave her alone, or I'm gonna firebend you all to hell!" Azula cursed too much for her own good, and sadly, Zuko had picked it up. It was rumored that the Princess's first word had been a curse.

Zuko threw a few firebending punches and kicks, and the bullies ran.

He ran over to Tara, and picked her up. "Shhhh… don't cry, you'll be okay…" he whispered.

Zuko picked up Tara's slight figure gently, carrying her inside to the nurse's office. While she was being wrapped up, he told the Nurse exactly what happened, and the students involved. Those students were expelled, and Zuko became Tara's best friend and protector. After that, the two were inseparable.

That is, until fate had a horrible twist for the two of them.

~Present Day~Western Air Temple: Training Room~

"Keep a solid base," said Haru, demonstrating a horse stance. "You have to be stronger than the rock!"

The twelve orphans who were known earthbenders mimicked Haru's position. Haru walked up to a ten-year-old boy. "Lee, you're feet are too close together. You're unbalanced." Haru put a single finger on the boy's shoulder, and pushed. Lee went sprawling. "Keep your legs further apart, and bend your knees. A strong base is key."

Uncle Iroh sat in the corner of the training room watching. He smiled, thinking of a man in Ba Sing Se who had been given hope to become a masseuse. All he did was correct the man's mugging stance.

"A Kyoshi Warrior's dress is very important. Every portion of your uniform represents the values of a Kyoshi Warrior!" Suki's voice rang through the training hall, as young girls gazed admirably at the green uniforms they were wearing.

"If you can hit these pressure points in battle, you can disable your opponent!" Ty-Lee was saying to a group of students sitting around a diagram of a human body. "You could also be a very great healer. Knowledge of the human body is very important when treating patients!"

The young children listening to Ty-Lee cheered when the Kyoshi Warrior did a handstand. Nearby, Sokka doubled the speed at which his flourished his new sword, astounding the young boys and girls watching him. The kids clapped, stars shining in their eyes.

"Uncle Iroh! Uncle Iroh!" a little girl ran up to the Dragon of the West.

"What is it, Sasha?" he asked kindly.

"Can you sing a song?" she asked. A few other children ran up. "Sing a song, Uncle! Sing a song!"

Iroh smiled, looking at a young boy. He pulled Sasha onto his lap, and the little boy climbed up to sit next to her.

"Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter, spring, summer and fall. Four seasons, four loves. Four seasons, four loves," sang Iroh.

The children giggled. "Pretty!" said the little boy, smiling. Another image of a smiling little boy swam into Iroh's vision. "Sing another!" said Sasha.

"Leaves on a vine, falling so slow. Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, come marching home. Brave soldier boy, comes marching home." Tears fell down Iroh's cheeks. The little boy reached over and wiped them off.

Suddenly, Haru appeared beside Iroh. Sasha scrambled off of 'Uncle''s lap, and Haru picked up the boy. "Are you alright, Lu Ten?"

Iroh's eyes widened. He scrambled up, and looked at the boy. How had he not seen it before? The boy was a carbon-copy of his son. Iroh fled from the training room, leaving Haru holding Lu Ten with a lost expression.

Ty-Lee laid a hand on Haru's shoulder. "Lu Ten is the name of his son..." she whispered. "He died in the war."

Haru sighed, rubbing his eyes. A thirteen-year-old boy ran up to the earthbender, out of breath.

"Master Haru!" he panted. "Master Haru!"

Haru looked at the water tribe boy. "What is it, Hyun?"

"It's Nala!" he said, panicked. "We were out on the eastern terrace with Teo trying out a new kind of jelly bomb, when…" he stopped, trying to catch his breath.

Without waiting for a further explanation, Haru pushed Lu Ten into Ty-Lee's arms. He took off towards the eastern terrace with Hyun on his heels.

~Present Day~Fire Nation Capital: Mai's House… Mansion~

"Come here, Tom-Tom! Come here baby!" Katara cooed.

"Hey, Sugar Queen! Stop it with that annoying baby voice!" Toph picked her nose while throwing Katara a dirty look.

"I think it's kinda sweet," said Mai's mother, Mika. She had forgiven the Avatar and his friends for kidnapping her son in Omashu—at least now she was out of that hell-hole.

"I'm going out shopping, don't do anything dangerous or stupid!" she said, leaving arm-in-arm with her husband.

"Dangerous? Stupid?" said Toph. "Does throwing a baby off a roof count?"

Mai sighed. "Let's do this."

The girls ran out to the courtyard. Katara was just about sick of courtyards; every single house in the Fire Nation had a courtyard. Katara wanted a nice igloo for a change. Sadly, it would be a few weeks before she could get to the Southern Water Tribe, with a detour to the Western Air Temple Orphanage. Katara sighed. She never thought she could miss stewed sea prunes and ice so much.

Toph earthbended herself onto the roof with Tom-Tom. The boy started to wine, wanting to be with Katara again. Toph grinned. "Don't worry, baby. You'll be down there soon."

Katara and Mai both took positions at the base of the roof. Toph held Tom-Tom over the edge, and dropped him.

"What are you doing!" The shriek distracted both Katara and Mai.

Mika was back. She had wanted to go shopping for a new kimono. This meant that she would buy at least five new outfits, complete with matching jewelry. She had, sadly, left her purse on the table.

She'd come home to get money only to find her daughter throwing her son off a roof.

Mika was a few seconds away from having a heart attack.

~End Chapter Four~

For those of you who read "Naomi: A Fire Nation Airbender", you'll see a few similarities from here on out (for example, the whole scene with Zuko and Tara was the same as in "Naomi", except this one was from a more "Zuko POV-ish")

I hope you guys liked it Please review!

P.S. Extra credit for anyone who can identify the episodes Iroh's songs came from!