A/N- I got notes from people telling me that they loved this set of drabbles, but that the Avatar parts weren't 'beefy' enough, that the lyrics were bigger than the story. So I cut down on the lyrics and 'beefed up' the story. Hope you like it! Enjoy!

Night Drive

The night was just beginning and he couldn't get to sleep. He sat up, looking around. She was awake as well, sitting near the dying fire, staring into the red embers. She had a far away look on her face and as he walked over to her he saw her turn and look at his face, her face looking questionable. He sat down and she turned back to the fire, watching the fire die and listening to the embers crackle. They sat in silence for awhile, the full moon bearing down on them, the sky clear of stars. He broke the silence and quietly asked, "So what are you going to do after the war is over?" She didn't turn her face but sighed, her face clouding with sorrow.

"How the war ends is a deciding factor in what I'm going to do." Her face, so soft and gentle, gained years instantly when she started to think about the end of the war. He was silent, waiting for her to continue. "I know I'm supposed to be all hopeful and happy that Aang will master earthbending and firebending by the time the comet comes, so then he will defeat the fire lord, but I have my doubts. I suppose if Aang really does defeat the fire lord, my brother and I will search for my father." She smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes and he felt a nagging sensation in him to comfort her, but before he could do anything she continued.

"That is, if he's alive. But I have hope that he still is, fighting against the fire nation with the other male members of our tribe, and we can go home together to the South Pole, back home." She smiled, and this time her grin lit up her face. She turned to face him and the moonlight shined upon her ocean blue eyes, making them like bright pools of water.

"You would like him, I'm sure of it. He's overprotective of Sokka and I, but aren't all fathers?" His face hardened as he was reminded of his own father.

I know you

So better than the city in the rear view

I drive to

Eliminate the ball that I'm chained to

She turned to him, forgetting her slip, but remembered instantaneously with guilt when she saw his face turned up in an ugly grimace, his eyes glazed over. She had made him remember his own father, and what a father he had. She turned the conversation away from such dangerous waters, but the damage was already done. He no longer heard anything she said, walking through memories.

He remembered the day of his Agni Kai, as clear as water. How he had argued with his uncle to let him go into his father's war chamber. How his uncle had eventually but reluctantly let him go in, reminding him to not speak out. Then how he had completely forgotten his uncle's words and spoken out against the old general who had wanted to sacrifice that division of soldiers as bait. How his father had been angry and had demanded an Agni Kai to settle the matter. Then how he had agreed, because he been unafraid, thinking he would be dueling the old general. He grimaced painfully thinking of how wrong he had been. At the Agni Kai he had found out that it was his father he would dueling, since it had been in his father's war room he had spoken out of turn, his father whom he had disrespected. He had gotten down on his hands and knees, begging, pleading for mercy, but to no avail. His father had demanded that he get up and fight him, and he had refused. He knew his father had been humiliated, but he didn't think his father would actually fight him, actually send fire at him.

Again, he had been wrong. He had screamed as the flames touched his skin, burning him. Unbearable pain had ripped through him. His hand went up to touch his scar, fingering it, as he thought about that day. It would always be a reminder to what had occurred there at the Agni Kai, what his father had done to him, what his father thought of him.

Then his father had banished him, saying he was a disgrace. His father had set upon him the 'task' of capturing the Avatar, saying it was the only way he could be redeemed, the only way he could return to the Fire Nation, return for his throne, his crown. His father had set the task, knowing fully well that the Avatar had been gone for one hundred years, having disappeared; knowing that it was a fool's errand and that Zuko would be chasing after nothing for most of the time. He had been a fool to believe that his father actually wanted him back. When the Avatar had actually been sighted, it had given him hope that he might actually be able to come home, home to his father's welcoming arms.

He scoffed. What an idiot he had been. His father didn't want him back, he had never loved him. He realized that now, and that was why he had joined the Avatar, known as Aang, and his friends, helping Aang learn firebending. He might come back to the Fire Nation, but he as heck wasn't coming back to run into his father's arms. No, he would come back to help Aang fight the fire lord, fight the person all the other nations had despised for so long, the person he had only recently begun to see in a different way.

Take me break me

Every mile further there's a part of me that slips away

One day you'll see

Even if you got down on your knees you couldn't make me stay

She stopped talking, seeing him caught in his reverie. He hadn't heard a word she said after that sentence about fathers. She knew that he was thinking about his Agni Kai. She remembered when he had told her about it, because he had been so reluctant to tell her, and when he did, she remembered she had lost him for a moment. His face had hardened and turned undistinguishable, making him look like the old Zuko, the hard and cruel one, the one trying to capture Aang so that he could return to the Fire Nation, to try and regain his father's love. The Zuko he was becoming had all but disappeared from his face and emotions. His father had caused him so much pain that she wondered how he carried on each day with his head held high, bearing his scar for all to see. Of course, she also knew that he had thought about taking his own life a couple of times, because he thought he didn't have anything else to live for. She had shown him that he was wrong, that there was much to live for. She had given him love and support, helping him like no one else had. She had changed him, revealing the part of him that was constantly hidden, the part of him that no one else had thought was in him.

She had not seen him before his Agni Kai, before his scar, so she had not known what he was like back then. But she knew now that it was the Zuko that was helping Aang master firebending, the Zuko that was traveling with them, and not trying to capture Aang, the Zuko that loved her. She brought him into her embrace, holding him, trying to wash all his troubles away. She knew that they could not be washed away, but she tried nonetheless. His uncle gave him the love that his father had never given him, and she gave him the love that he had never had. The love he had given back to her, the love that she hadn't had either, the love that filled them both. She brought him closer, then pulled back a bit, so she could look into his soulful golden eyes.

He was amazed she cared. When she embraced him, he had felt her pain and concern for him and he had felt like crying. No one had ever hugged him like that since before his mother had disappeared. She really and truly cared for him, she didn't feel pain for herself and her troubles; she felt pain for him. When she had pulled back and looked into his eyes he had felt like she was searching his soul for something. And she found it. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears and he felt something welling up in him. How had he ever mistaken his father's love for this? His father had never loved him, never would. His uncle had loved him like his own son and he finally appreciated that. But now he had her love as well and he loved her back. Was it love? Yes, he knew it was. And as long as he had her, his father could never hurt him again.

He brought her closer and brought her lips to his, releasing all the passion he had held on to for these past few weeks. She fulfilled him, made him whole. "Don't ever leave me." He murmured, breaking the kiss.

"Never" she replied, her words filled with hope, love and promise.

Drive all night

Never gonna get me

Night by night

To get away from it all

Fight, fight, fight

All you wanna do is hurt me

You wrecked my life

So I'm gonna have to drive all night