Zuko sits in agonized silence at a desk, his pen poised over the parchment. The words he is so desperately searching for, however, don't come out of the pen or his brain. The eclipse in only in a few hours; he is running out of precious time.

It is only for Mai, and Mai alone, that he is willing to waste it, his last few hours of peace and acceptance in the Fire Nation capitol. He, Azula, his father, the servants, and the entirety of the palace guard have already been evacuated underground in preparation for the eclipse, so he has already said his goodbyes to his room, his palace, his chances of ever being honorable in his people's eyes.

It is Mai that he is having trouble with. He knows he does not have the courage to face her, doesn't have the time, so instead he is attempting to pour his soul onto a piece of parchment without making it too obvious. After all, she will, without a doubt, hate him after this.

So far, the only words he has managed to write are "Dear Mai", and even that has made him want to stay, if only for her sake. But he knows he can't, and she would never come with him. He knows that for every time she said she didn't hate him, she is going to hate herself. Zuko knows this, and still wants to leave. It is his destiny; he knows that now.

It takes a painfully long time, but he finally finishes writing, although it is nowhere near what he wants to say. It will have to do, though, because the eclipse is approaching.

He hurries from the room, his broadswords slung over his back, and maneuvers his way through the labyrinth of dirt and tile halls, scouring them for Mai without success. He is just about to give up when he finds a familiar face through the crowd of frantic soldiers preparing for the assault.

"Zuko!" Ty Lee waves him over cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Listen, Ty Lee, will you do me a favor?"

She cocks her head curiously. "Sure, Zuko. What is it?"

He passes her the scroll for Mai. "Will you give this to her? Mai, I mean? Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her.. tell her goodbye."

"Goodbye? Zuko, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, Ty Lee, but I can't tell you right now. I'm sure you'll hear about it soon enough."

She looks puzzled. "Do I need to worry about you?"

"Yes." Zuko admits. "But this is just something I have to do. Alone. Just promise me you'll give the letter to her."

"I…I promise, Zuko."

"Thank you," he replies, and turns to walk away again.

"Zuko!" Ty Lee shouts, making him turn around, startled. "Goodbye," she tells him with her big, innocent eyes, eyes in which he sees his childhood friendships. Before he can object, because she knows he will, she throws her arms around him in a quick, final embrace. But to her surprise, and Zuko's, too, he finds himself hugging her back.

"Goodbye, Ty Lee," he murmurs into her hair. "And thank you. For everything."

"Of course, Zuko. But you have to promise me something, too."

"And what's that?"

She grins, pulls away from him. "Come back."

Zuko opens his mouth so that the lie can spill out- yes, sure, of course he will- but it doesn't. "I'm sorry," he tells the girl he can now call his friend again, for maybe the last time, "but I can't promise you that. Thank you for being there for me. Goodbye."

And before she can say another word, Zuko disappears into the crowd.

Zuko faces the closed ornate doors, breathing deeply. The eclipse, he knows, is at its most powerful point; he has less than ten minutes to spill his guts to his father without facing the fire. Less than ten minutes to spit in death's face, and his father's. Less than ten minutes to give up everything he would once kill for.

And the strangest thing is, he's ready.

Pushing the doors open, he walks inside, leaving behind his last chance to go back, to pretend these insane thoughts never happened. He leaves behind his title of prince, and, oddly, just plain Zuko seems just fine now.

"Zuko," his father, the firelord, says as his son enters the room, nodding a curt hello. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you… goodbye." He couldn't get the words out, they got stuck in his throat; he was going to have to ease into it, like freezing water.

"Goodbye?" Ozai laughs, a harsh barking laugh. "Where on earth are you going?"

Zuko takes a rattling breath, ignoring the blood whooshing in his ears. "I've been thinking a lot lately about my place in the universe. My destiny. I used to think my destiny shaped me, but now I know that I shape my destiny."

"Spirits, Prince Zuko, you're starting to sound like your uncle."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

Ozai purses his lips. "Your uncle is a failure and a traitor."

"Maybe so," Zuko admits, "but he was a better father to me than you ever were. So after I leave here, I'm going to free him from his prison. And then," he stops for a breath, for the oxygen he desperately needs, "And then I am going to join the Avatar."

Ozai looks stunned. "The Avatar is dead; Azula told me you killed him yourself!"

"Azula lied; she was the one who shot him with lightning, but she knew there was a possibility he was still alive, so she told you it was me. The Avatar is alive, and I am going to teach him firebending. I am going to help him defeat you."

"Why don't you just kill me now, and save the boy the trouble? After all, neither of us can firebend at the moment, but you have a weapon, and I don't," Ozai taunts, hiding his outrage.

"Because I know my destiny; I make it, after all. But finishing you, that's the Avatar's. But that doesn't mean I won't be there cheering him on."

And with that, he turns to leave.

"Wait," Ozai calls after him, playing his final card. "Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?"

This makes Zuko stop, makes his eyes widen. He turns and rushes at Ozai, quick as a flash, crossing his broadswords around his father's neck.

"Where. Is. My. Mother?" he demands, his face twisted into a snarl.

Ozai smiles, despite having swords at his throat. "Your mother did horrible things the night of Azulon's death, treacherous things. I had no choice but to banish her. It is only now, however, that I realize banishment is too soft a punishment!"

Zuko doesn't realize the eclipse has ended until his father's fire comes crashing at his face. Stopping it just in time, he leaps down from his father's throne and slings his broadswords across his back again, ready to return whatever bending is thrown at him.

When Ozai summons lightning, Zuko almost smiles.

It hurtles towards him, the crackling blue-white lines, the countless volts of deadly energy; Zuko can feel it as if runs through his arm and down to his stomach, knowing that if it even gets close to his heart it will kill him. He thanks the Spirits once more that he no longer has it, that Mai keeps it locked away somewhere, if only until Ty Lee delivers the letter. The lightning, then, is redirected out his other arm, using up all Zuko's strength and concentration. When the jagged forks go crashing back towards Ozai, the look on the Firelord's face is almost comical. Zuko sees, for the first time, fear in his father's eyes, and it gives him just the distraction he needs to hurry from the room to where his fate awaits.

He makes it to the prison uncaught- even Ozai cannot send news that fast- to find Iroh is already gone. He shoves the guard against the unforgiving, unyielding stone wall and demands answers. The guard stutters out some story of the eclipse, and his uncle just leaving his cell. He was like a one-man army, the man tells him. Unstoppable.

And that is all Zuko needs to know. Just knowing his uncle is free and safe from harm for now is enough. He has to use the remainder of his time before news of his battle with Ozai spreads to get to his war balloon, and determine the flying bison from the clouds in the sky.

Getting to his balloon is easy enough, as if finding the bison; he is, after all, an expert after tracking the Avatar for three years. It's catching up that is the problem, as is what to do when he finally does.

Then, he is hit with a terrifying thought, up there all alone in the now sunlit again sky. He sees her again in his mind's eye- Katara, fighting for her life up against Zuko and Azula in the Crystal Catacombs, supporting the Avatar's lifeless body. Why would they let him join their group? In fact, why should they let him approach them at all?

It's a chance Zuko will have to take. To go forward is to risk being killed, but to go back is to assure it, but whether it would be at his father's or Mai's hands he isn't exactly sure.

It's Zuko's last gamble, his final transition.

And, if he isn't careful about what his next move is, his last day alive.