Disclaimer: If I did own Avatar I would turn my 'fanfiction' into 'reality.'
I know there's so much Zutara and Avatar to dig through though so I hope somebody likes this. I'm really really trying to rip apart and revise to make it better.
Two days ago, sunset….
The troubled Fire Prince paced his lavish chamber of muted greens before sighing angrily and slumping down onto the bed. He undid the leather tie holding the hair out of his eyes and ran his hands tiredly over his face, and loose hair. The unruly mass had been getting way too long, and so with honor restored, he had ceremoniously re-tied his hair into the traditional top knot he had worn preceeding his exile. Zuko sat staring into space for a few moments before jumping up again in seeming agitation and rummaging around the room, searching. Finding a brush on the bureau he roughly secured his hair, and glanced up briefly at the reflection in the enormous green amber mirror, the large flame mark on his face catching his eye. For the first time since his "metamorphosis," he examined his scar, pressing a palm lightly into the side of his face. In fact the last person (and one of the only) who had touched the tell-tale mark was that Water Tribe girl…What was her name? Ka..Kat…Kiara? No, it definitely started with a "Ka" sound though.
He snorted. She was willing to waste precious spiritual water in an attempt to possibly make him look and feel better. He didn't even know her name for Agni's sake! What utter weakness, what caring and compassion. Zuko shook his head. Where did that come from?
Who did she think she was? An upstart water scum peasant who thought she knew him? Thought she understood him? That she could help him? How dare she think she knew anything about his life! Holier than thou, pompous, conceited…
The gentle face of his mother flashed through his mind. No one had shown him such selfless kindness since his mother….Ursa. Well she knows that. How ironic it was that both of their mothers had been taken away from them…and by my own nation no less.
He vividly remembered her cool, soft hand on his rough skin. Could she have done it? Made him physically whole again? Not just a repulsive tragedy? Well he'd never know at any rate, his Uncle and the Avatar had come bursting through the wall to rescue them.
"Uncle…." A pang of guilt shook his stomach. Currently the former Fire Nation hero and successor to the throne, was residing in the very prison which Long Feng had recently vacated. He stood by you when no one else would, said a small obstinate voice in the back of his head, through temper tantrums and every kind of obstacle. We became fugitives of our own nation, running from our own family; he even followed me when I had cast him off. What am I? "Who am I?" he said, aloud.
Zuko abruptly straightened still peering into the mirror and proclaimed in a commanding authoritarian voice, "I am honorable Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Beloved son of Fire Lord Ozai and next great Fire Lord."
Traitor, his conscience whispered again. He growled in annoyance, stalking out of his room in search of some distraction.
Wandering through the enormous halls he found himself once again in the throne room. Mai and Ty Lee were chatting and amusing themselves, but broke off abruptly when they spotted Zuko and Mai's pale cheeks tinged the palest rose. She looked away, but Ty Lee flipped unceremoniously to her feet from her hands (which she had been idly balancing upon) and smiled inanely as Zuko approached.
"Oh Zuko!" she giggled, "how nice to see you again!" She ran over to give him a hug. Mai watched the embrace and stopped toying with a wicked-looking thowing dagger, her normally emotionless face creasing in irritation.
The Prince allowed himself to be briefly gripped by Ty Lee before stepping back and breaking her hold.
"Hi, Ty Lee," Zuko offered, uncomfortable and exasperated, "but I saw you yesterday and the day before that."
"Oh I know," Ty Lee answered happily, "but excepting the past four days, we haven't seen each other in years!"
Yeah since my complete disgrace and banishment! How could I not pop in to visit my evil masochistic sister's air headed friend!
"Mai," he said, turning to the other girl and inclining his head.
"Prince Zuko." Mai bowed ceremoniously to the Prince, fist to palm.
Zuko mentally shrugged. He had known Mai and her family since childhood. Besides the fact that she was Azula's best friend, all high ranking Fire Nation knew each other. Even though they were just circumstantial acquaintances, they did play together as children, and he had a vague notion that Mai had had a minor crush on him. Sometimes he thought it a fabrication of Azula's fancy she used to taunt, torment, and manipulate the both of them. But romantic ideas were generally far out of the realm of Zuko's world or person and he had no real extensive thoughts on the matter.
"So," Zuko began, breaking the silence. "I wanted to speak to my…Azula."
"Oh right now she's in the war chambers making big important plans for Ba Sing Se. She said 'no disturbances though.'"
"Well when you see her, tell her I want to talk. I'll be meditating in the training rooms."
And he made sure they saw him head in the complete opposite direction of the war and state chambers.
Zuko looked calm and collected as he left the throne room but was really grinding his teeth in frustration. Who did she think she was? He was the firstborn son! Bending prodigy...puh! He was improving everyday, but since joining his sister he did seem to be wild, emotional, and unbalanced with his bending, well more than normally. He balled his fists in frustration and they burst into curling flames. I should be sitting on the throne, calling the shots, plotting. At the very least the responsibilities, power, and knowledge should be shared equally. "Just what is she up to?" Zuko was startled out of his troubled musings by two passing Dai Li, and unobtrusively slipped behind a massive pillar hoping they didn't hear his outburst. I wouldn't put it past her to have me followed. So he entered the spacious training arena, and went into one of the small practice rooms he had been using for meditation.
The candles burst to life when he walked in and firmly closed the door on the Dai Li agents that had been tailing him. They settled back into the shadows and merely waited for him to complete his task and reemerge. But unbeknownst to the Dai Li outside, this particular plain, little one door room, had another exit; a convenient secret pass that Zuko had stumbled upon the other night. He pressed the center square of a large circular Earth Kingdom symbol etched into the wall, and a door grinded up revealing a pitch black passage.
It just so happened that this particular pass ended at a courtyard surrounded by the counsel chambers of war and government. Some were old and had fallen into disuse during the unconventional dictatorial rule of Long Feng. But these rooms now were serving Azula's purposes of plotting and planning against the slumbering city of Ba Sing Se.
This was the first real opportunity to put this passage to use and find out what Azula was not telling him. He would not waste it. Zuko took a deep breath, conjured a handful of dancing flames and stepped into the darkness.