Death: Well here is the next chap. This feels like it's the shortest chapter thus far in this story. But, there are a few twists and turns. I hope this chapter won't be too boring, for there won't be very much action. However, I have major plans for the next one that should brighten you people up. For now just be grateful that I have updated.

Disclaimer: Let's see. I do not own nothing. If I ever did, then there should be yaoi everywhere.

Chapter Four – Choking On Thick Smoke

=3=

Zuko didn't get any sleep that night from either his three day coma or because he was simply too angry at everything. For anyone else it would most probably be a bit of both for his restlessness. Life just wasn't fair in his eyes.

How could he be searching for the Avatar with the intent of trading him for his honor, when he was in turn related to the previous one?

Where was his honor supposed to lie, anyway? He was Sozin's blood and Avatar Roku. Such a stain in the royal line should have never happened. But it did. Zuko wondered if anyone knew of his mother's heritage.

Certainly Fire Lord Azulon would have known. He arranged the marriage of the beautiful Ursa, when so many other nobles had their eyes on her, to his youngest son. But did his father know? It was most unlikely, at least.

If Ozai had known then he would have never had any children with her. It was no secret he favored Sozin while cursing Avatar Roku in the same breath. Still, Zuko had to wonder. No secret was safe from his father. Everything would eventually reach his ear.

Could this be the reason why his father despised him no matter what he did? Perhaps his father thought his kindness was a sign of weakness, and somehow linked it together with Avatar Roku. It was his kindness that was Roku's ultimate downfall, or so the stories were told.

With this revelation being related to the Avatar that failed to stop the world from purging into war, all of his goals, his strive to return home to regain his honor, was called into question. Zuko was starting to have doubts over his course of actions the past three years.

'All of that work to search for something that was mostly likely gone from this world, it all might have just been a waste of time.' At the mere thought the banished prince wanted to burn something. Anything.

Instead Zuko breathed in, holding his breath for a moment as he tightened his arms around his legs. When his lungs burned for air and his anger subsided enough he could be in control he slowly exhaled.

Zuko closed his eyes for a brief moment, wishing all of his anguish would just go away. The silence in the air was interrupted when he heard footsteps heading in their direction in the hallway. At the same time he could sense the sun just rising for a new day.

'They're going to take us to trial. Or if the chief changed his mind, we'll be sent to jail.'

Zuko involuntarily shivered at the thought. He had heard stories about the Northern Water Tribe jails. They were nothing more than dark dungeons made of ice with no light or warmth of the sun ever reaching the prisoners. For a firebender to feel the sun moving but never see or feel its warmth would be torture. It would be even worse to be surrounded by ice that would slowly eat away at the inner flame.

Still, he was a prince. A former prince yes, but the royal line ran through his veins. Zuko lifted his head as he uncurled himself and stood. He stepped away from the corner he had taken residence for the night to move a bit closer to Uncle. He might as well put up a good front and pretend he did not have a break down the night before.

His uncle glanced at his direction and looked as if he was about to say something with that big grin of his, but at one look at Zuko's tense frame the happy mood was ruined. He knew his uncle had been waiting for him to snap out of this new episode of emotions flooding through him. Right now was not the time for making up for his behavior.

"What's wrong, nephew?" Iroh blinked.

The old general had his answer when warriors stepped into the room. Immediately Healer Yugoda stood to greet them. Sokka meanwhile gave him a strange look.

"How did you know they were coming?" The Southern warrior pressed.

"I have ears." Zuko said dryly.

"I do too!" Sokka crossed his arms. "But I didn't hear them coming."

"For someone who calls himself a warrior, you're not very good at keeping a look at your surroundings."

"Hey, I know when danger's coming. I'm just tired. It was a long night." Sokka didn't sound too convincing.

Zuko almost pointed out he had snuck up on them undetected many times. But the warriors were staring at him with suspicious gazes. He could almost hear their thoughts as if they spoke them aloud. They were wondering how he would know anything about being a warrior.

He almost snorted. Give him a pair of blades and he will show them he's not a normal firebender.

Not that he really had a choice. With a weak flame Uncle suggested he take up a weapon to train in case his fire would fail him. It was something to keep up his sleeve to give anyone else pause.

"We have come for the Fire Nation prisoners." One of the warriors nearly growled.

"What!?" The bald monk exclaimed, leaping onto his feet with a puff of air. "They're prisoners now?"

"What did you expect? That they would let us leave when we're healed as if we were old friends?" Zuko frowned, wondering just how dense the monk really was.

"W-well, I…I was hoping that –"

"Know what, forget it. I don't want to hear whatever it is you thought would happen." One more word out of the Avatar's mouth and Zuko would surely explode.

The last thing he and his uncle needed was to give the Tribe reason to execute them.

"I am most surprised at you, Iluak. You are supposed to do good things with a name like yours." Yugoda's voice was stern.

Zuko couldn't help but stare at the healer curiously. Was it just him, or was she really defending him and Uncle?

"I am doing what is best for the tribe." Iluak replied darkly.

"Did Chief Arnook order you to take them without my consent? He would know better than to go against my word that when I deem them healthy enough, then they can face their trials. You seem to have forgotten these people are my patients!"

"We're acting on our own. Don't you remember the last time this Fire Nation scum," Another warrior indicated towards Zuko, "did the last time he was awake? He nearly burned Arrluk alive!"

"Last I checked, Arrluk is alive and well from what his complaints are faring. His burns aren't as serious as they could have been." Yugoda informed.

No matter what the healer said these warriors would not be deterred from what they came for. His hands clenched into fists so tight his knuckles paled, Zuko snarled.

"That man attacked my uncle with the intent to kill! If you could better train your men to follow orders then maybe I wouldn't have exploded like I did. Instead, we would be negotiating like sensible people."

"Nephew, now is not the time to ridicule these men about how they train their warriors." Iroh warned.

"They attacked us first, uncle! And now look at you. You have an arm sling so your shoulder can fully heal!" Sparks flew from his fists, but Zuko still had enough control not to lash out. "You could have died that day."

"And what's one less firebender in the world? What makes you two more dangerous is the fact you're royalty!" Iluak reached for his sword.

"Wait, I don't want a fight to start over all of this. Can't we all just sit down and talk this over?" But no one listened to the airheaded monk for action had already taken place.

Zuko lunged forward, catching Iluak off guard. Taking the split second he needed the young firebender knocked the sword out of the warrior's hand. With a sweep of his foot the sword slipped several feet away across the room. Another kick sent his opponent into the wall outside the room.

In a matter of seconds the other warriors were in motion. Some reached for their weapons while a few threw punches, too frustrated to remember they had a sword at their hip. Zuko dodged them with ease. He took advantage of those who didn't draw their weapon by snatching the swords from their thin leather hold.

He frowned at the foreign weight in his hands. They felt heavier even if they were made of bone instead of metal. His twin dao swords were thin and light. The swords of the Tribe were bulkier and heavy, used more for blunt attacks than to slice a clean cut.

One of the warriors sneered. Zuko narrowed his eyes. So they thought he couldn't handle weapons?

"What's the matter, Fire Nation scum? Aren't you going to firebend?"

'Oh I'll show them.' Zuko glared at his attackers.

"C'mon, guys! We can work this out!" The Avatar leaped between the banished prince and the warriors.

"Prince Zuko!" Uncle tried to reprimand, but it was too late.

The warrior who had sneered at Zuko ran around the monk as if he wasn't there and raised his sword. Zuko could hear some of the healers screaming, the monk yelling for everyone to stop, and the Water Tribe siblings joined the fray to help their airbending friend. It was too late for the fight to be stopped now.

Without the need to plan how to defeat Iluak, all Zuko needed was to simply react and victory was his. He used the swords to block the attack. The warrior's momentum nearly threw him off balance.

Taking his chance, Zuko swiped at the warrior's leg as Iluak stumbled. The tribal warrior fell to the floor with a hard crash. Before the other warriors could intervene, the young firebender thrust one of his swords at Iluak's throat. The boned sword didn't mar the skin. Instead Zuko had stopped his attack within seconds of executing it.

He had that much self control and mastery of swords even if he had not trained with tribal weapons.

Iluak stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. Zuko's golden gaze narrowed as he continued to glare at his fallen opponent, daring the warrior to defy him. Although Iluak wasn't highly intelligent he had enough battle sense not to make anymore moves against the young man.

There were more hurried footsteps coming their way. Zuko didn't have enough time to throw the weapons out of his hands when he was suddenly being manhandled like a low life criminal. The warriors were about to escort him out when a deep, rumbling growl emitted from his chest.

The warriors that held onto him stopped, granting Yugoda the opportunity to explain what happened.

"Iluak and his friends were trying to take them to the jails instead of escorting to their trial. Prince Zuko merely acted in self defense. Now, would you please, be courteous gentlemen and escort these two men to their hearing." The healer said gently.

"So you are saying they're ready to meet with the council?" One of the warriors enquired, staring at the exhausted state the two princes were in.

"Physically, they are well. Emotionally and mentally they are drained. I will come along to ensure they will not be put under too much stress. As you can see, the young man is restless. I believe it is best to move along and get all of this behind us." Yugoda replied firmly.

"Um, can we come as well?" Aang tentatively raised a hand.

"The council has already requested the Avatar to be present in the meeting. However, I am afraid your friends will have to remain behind."

"What!?" Both siblings exclaimed.

"But I can give testimony against Zuko! He's done so much damage, he hurt so many people, and it isn't fair!" Katara argued.

"Yeah, and we're from your sister tribe! Shouldn't that, I don't know, grant us a free pass to be a part of this?" Sokka pointed out. "I mean, he's been after us since the beginning. We know enough to give you guys a clearer image."

"I apologize, but orders are orders."

As they were being lead away, Zuko had only one thought that slightly brightened his mood.

'At least those two idiots won't be present.'

=3=

Zuko fidgeted as he sat before the council. His future and fate were completely in their hands. Out of all of them Chief Arnook appeared to be the youngest while the other men were older or ancient in comparison. The young prince could only identify the chief and one of the waterbending masters, Pakku. Everyone else held no important significance to him.

Next to him Uncle sat with full composure. There was no indication he was nervous or afraid. Having his seemingly fearless uncle next to him was the only reason why Zuko didn't bolt out of the council room this instant. He was aware of how a tribal justice system works, and although it was foreign and weird in his mind, he had no choice but to follow through and hope for the best.

'As if I had any luck thus far anyway.' He bitterly thought.

What threw Zuko off was the fact the council actually allowed the Avatar to join in the hearing. The boy stood out like a bald sore thumb among a group of full men at one table. The Avatar would try to catch his attention, but Zuko promptly pretended not to notice.

To kill time as the council studied the reports and talking softly amongst themselves, Zuko stared into space while his mind wandered. He was still upset over the revelation over a family secret. However, he wasn't too sore about it when concerning his uncle keeping the secret from him for so long.

Iroh had simply done what he thought was best. He was trying to protect Zuko, as he always did. This was something Zuko always found puzzling. He didn't understand why his uncle put up with him. Why the old man stuck with him like a platypus bear to honey, when he could have left Zuko alone as he set out after an impossible task.

In the back of his mind Zuko had the fear that someday his uncle would turn his back. Everyone else in his life had that sort of theme. His father turned on him. His sister tortured him. His mother abandoned him in a den of monsters. Even his crew left him.

It was only a matter of time when Iroh will do the same.

Zuko was snapped out of his musings when the chief cleared his throat. The young man straightened his posture as the council was now ready to address the issue at hand.

"So what we have gathered so far, neither of you were supposed to be part of the invasion. From what we can see Prince Iroh was a last minute placement to come back from his retirement as general." Chief Arnook gave the older man a stare. "Yet we have nothing about Prince Zuko being a part of the invasion."

"I can explain." Zuko offered before his uncle had the chance.

As Fire Nation, no, as a former Fire Nation Prince, it was his duty to express his actions on his own instead of hiding behind someone else.

"Please, do." Chief Arnook inclined his head.

Zuko took a deep breath. He had never ever told anyone of this story. But if he was to be released, the highest chances were to explain the truth. Not the full truth, just some of it to get the idea across he was no longer considered a prince.

"Three years ago I foolishly challenged an elder in a war meeting. As punishment, my father banished and appointed me the task to find and capture the Avatar. It was by chance I came across him when he awoke from the iceberg. From then on I have been following the Avatar and made countless attempts to capture him."

"Would you care to elaborate on the conditions of your task?" One elder inquired.

Beside him Zuko sensed his uncle tense at how sharp these old men were.

"The only way father would forgive and accept me back was if I could capture the Avatar alive. This was my only path of redemption in order to go back home. That was why I never gave up on the Avatar. Until now."

"What do you mean 'until now'?" Pakku leaned forward. "Is it because you are here, captured and potentially a prisoner of war? Or is it perhaps you have finally accepted defeat?"

"It is none of that!" Zuko snapped. At their raised eyebrows, he closed his eyes and breathed.

"The invasion had gone wrong. Father would have known my uncle had joined long before the fleet came to your doorstep. By now he would have received reports of our actions. How uncle had turned against Zhao in his attempt to slay the Moon Spirit. And although I took great care not to be noticed by the army, they would have certainly seen me when I challenged Zhao on the bridge."

His fists shook as his grip tightened. Zuko barely registered a comforting pat on the shoulder from his uncle.

"Father would know that I am alive and that I failed. He would know his brother had finally shown where his loyalties lie. He would assume Uncle and I are to be either dead, captured, or on the run. If he sees no evidence of the first two, then he would announce us as traitors."

He took another shuddering breath to calm his nerves before gathering up the courage to look at the Tribe straight in the eye.

"I am a banished prince. My uncle has already been disgraced in the eyes of the people because of his failed attempt in taking over Ba Sing Sei. In grandfather's will, my father was named Fire Lord even though Uncle was the true heir. In every meaning of the word we are useless as bargaining tools. You can't even threaten to execute us, for my father will never raise a finger to defend us."

At the last sentence his throat tightened. Zuko was choking from his own words. The realization at just how helpless and hopeless their situation was huge blow to the chest. He had never felt so pitiful in his short life.

Sensing he could no longer speak, Iroh continued where Zuko left off.

"What my nephew says is the truth. We will be branded as traitors when we have done nothing to earn such accusations. There is little hope for you, as the Northern Water Tribe, to use us against the Fire Nation. We are nothing more than fugitives."

"We understand why Zuko would risk his life sneaking into an army to capture the Avatar. But we don't understand why you would join the army." One of the ancient elders reminded. "We have heard stories about you, Dragon of the West. We surely thought we would be done for with you joining the fray. And yet you turned your back against your own brethren!"

"That is not true. I did not turn against my own people. I only did what was right. Zhao was too ambitious. He did not realize the full consequences of slaying the Moon Spirit would affect the entire world, not just the tribes. Without the moon peace and harmony will never be achieved. This war would never end until everything is destroyed. I will never allow such events to happen so long as my nephew is alive. He is everything to me. I only wish for him to not only survive, but to thrive in this world."

Iroh sighed as he recollected himself. "But in order to do that this war needs to end. So the world could heal, and then I wouldn't have anymore worries about my nephew. I will be content when he can live a world of peace."

"Just what exactly are you implying?" Master Pakku raised a thin eyebrow.

"We may not be useful as bargaining tools, but we can be of help to end this war. I can tell you everything on our strategies and what would most likely be my brother's next move."

"Uncle!" Zuko exclaimed, horrified by where this was going.

"Relax, nephew. I only make this offer for something in return."

"All right, what is the catch?" The chief bit the bait.

"That you do not take your anger on the Fire Nation. Do not blame its people for the pain and the suffering from the last one hundred years. We have been suffering just as the world has. As each generation goes by, the Fire Lord has never put a stop to these ambitious ideals. Once my brother is removed from the throne, and someone else takes up the responsibility, give us time to recover and get over the idea we have lost."

"You're not going to take the throne?" An elder gasped in surprise.

Iroh shook his head. "I am too old to jump back into politics. However, if we do this carefully, I believe my nephew would be a good candidate as the next Fire Lord."

"But I'm not Fire Lord material, Uncle!" Zuko argued.

"Would you rather your sister be put on the throne?" Uncle raised both eyebrows. Zuko flinched at his words.

"…No."

"What if we appoint the Avatar as a candidate? Or what about this sister you mentioned?"

At the first question Zuko burst out laughing. For once he did not care if he received stares of surprise which translated into the thought process he was crazy. The notion was just so ridiculous! The idea was even more ridiculous than handing the throne over to his sister.

"Appoint the Avatar as Fire Lord? Good luck keeping him alive! I have enough trouble not to strangle the idiot. But an entire nation? No. They would sooner start another war than see that boy become Fire Lord."

"And Azula would be the worst choice. She shares the same traits as my brother, almost disturbingly so." Iroh added.

"I still don't believe I'm Fire Lord material, Uncle."

"Nephew –"

"No. I absolutely refuse. If I'm not careful enough I…" Zuko lowered his gaze, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. "I would turn into my father. If there is even that one chance of that happening, I will not allow my people to suffer the consequences."

Silence filled the room. Zuko began to feel twitchy with all eyes staring at him. Scrutinizing him as his words sunk into their heads. When it seemed like an eternity passed, the chief announced the council needed to talk amongst themselves to decide what course of action to take. Thus the two former Fire Nation princes were politely excused for the time being.

Once the two were outside the council room and out of earshot of the guards, Zuko turned to hiss at his uncle.

"I can't believe you! You're turning your back against our people by allying with the tribe! What is wrong with you? And suggesting that I become the next Fire Lord? I can't even succeed in capturing the Avatar, uncle!"

"What other options do we have left? Azula would do everything in her power to reverse the peace. I am too old for such nonsense. There is no other relative who can take the throne, nephew. And I am doing what I believe is right for our people."

"By creating a coup with the Northern Tribe? Do you know how insane that sounds? The Fire Nation will never accept me if we go through with this! I still don't even agree on becoming the next Fire Lord." Zuko scoffed.

"Tradition says that only the royal line is allowed to rule the Fire Nation. Our people recognize us as Agni's children, his descendents."

"Then screw with tradition! Appoint someone else more capable to govern the people. If I can't handle my own ship, then how can you expect me to handle holding the lives of an entire nation in my hands?"

Zuko didn't give his uncle the chance to answer when he angrily walked away. He had turned a corner and out of sight before anyone realized he wasn't supposed to go off on his own.

He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, so very quickly Zuko found himself lost. At some point he smelled fresh air from a slight breeze coming down one of the many hallways and followed.

This was how Zuko came upon a training ground for waterbenders. There was no one else around, and there was enough open space to work on his katas. He was still frustrated from bottling up these new emotions and he had yet to exercise his body after a three day coma. He might as well let off some steam while he practiced the forms.

First he stretched his limbs to warm up and did a few breathing exercises to concentrate on his focus. Once he was done Zuko started on the first kata he had learned. It was a very short basic kata meant to concentrate on synchronizing the movements with the flow of the breath.

A slow inhale exhale meant a slow and steady transition of arms and legs. A quick exhale meant a quick execution of a punch or kick. The pattern of slow inhale exhale and slow inhale quick exhale alternated as he continued the kata. As Zuko moved on to the more complicated forms, he was starting to lose himself in his brief moment of inner peace.

He was no longer thinking of his next move. Zuko was simply doing. He was so focused on his forms that he never noticed he had a spectator. He didn't hear the soft footsteps coming his way. He didn't sense the gaze of curious eyes watching him from behind a corner. He didn't feel another presence behind him until a certain move in his current kata made him turn around to face none only than the Avatar.

"Hiya!" Aang grinned. "Those are cool moves. Were you practicing Fire Nation forms? They looked way better than what Master Jeong Jeong taught me. Then again we didn't get very far, Zhao found his hide out and Jeong Jeong disappeared. Would you perhaps teach me a few moves?"

And now the inner peace Zuko had just obtained was shattered.

=3=

Death: I realize that Zuko may be a bit OOC in this chapter. Well, you have to remember he is currently suffering through some insomnia issues, he's got some anxiety issues going on, and overall he is under a lot of stress. Zuko + Stress = Worst Situation You Can EVER Imagine. I mean, Zuko has the worst luck. When he wants nothing to do with the Avatar, he has no room to breathe. Yet when he wants to join the Avatar Team, he's the awkward outcast that somehow wins the hearts of everyone just for being nice. Or, well, helping out really. It's like no matter what, the guy is stressed.

And at this point in time when he's questioning his motives and going through self-doubt, I believe it is at this point where Zuko would not like the idea of becoming Fire Lord. The fact he learns he's related to Avatar Roku long before he was even ready, doesn't help much. It has a greater impact in his head than what most people would think. When I first saw that episode when he learned he was a descendant of both Sozin and Roku, I kinda expected him to explode. But that didn't happen. And I admit, I was a tad bit disappointed.

So, yeah. I'm going to make him explode.

Um, I had written down the meanings of the native names that I chose for some of these warriors, but I can't find the paper I wrote the information down on. So...Just take my word for it that I looked through baby names for Native Americans and chose the ones from the Inuit people.

But I do think Iluak means something along the lines of "caring man." Or something.

So. I apologize for the long wait and for the shortness of this chapter. But I promise that the next one will be juicy and hopefully long like the previous chapters. So please leave a review!