I...forget it. All I'm going to say is thank you for still reading after this very, long wait.

Also, this chapter has a tiny bit of blood and R-rated language.

With slow, heavy steps, the former prince of the FireNation walked down cool metal halls. The ship's continuous bouncing as wave after wave hit it was all too familiar to Zuko, and he didn't know whether to be proud or ashamed of the fact. It meant that he had been away from home long enough to adapt to (and privately enjoy) a sailor's lifestyle.

He stopped walking as he felt the distinctive feeling of standing in liquid. The abnormally swinging doorway had puddles of crawling water sliding in and out. He stepped in, and realized this room for what it was. The dangling shackles and aberrant floor space only dug the dagger deeper. This had been the prisoners holding cell, and the water was frost-melt.

His shaking hand clenched into a white knuckled fist, the poor lighting illuminating his scar.

Down the hallway, lingering pointedly, was a low ranking fire navy solider. Underneath his mask, a curled smirk Jack Frost would envy deepened. The general would be happy to hear how badly the fire prince would hurt when he finished his fall.

Hiccup began twiddling his thumbs, his hair and clothes flapping as Appa flew. He eyed Jack's limp body, which hadn't moved since the wind set his sleeping form there. The pale teenager's face was clear of

mischief as he slept, and made his ancient form seem younger than Aang.

Hiccups frown deepened at the groups decision to help the spirit. They didn't know him, didn't trust him, and yet they deemed him harmless enough to take along. Did everyone forget about his display of power? The way the elements obeyed his every whim without the gift of bending. The look on his face at their terror, his echoing laughter..

Hiccup shivered, hunching into himself for warmth. He didn't trust Jack, but he trusted Rapunzel. That girl had gone through so much in her short life, it was a wonder how she remained so innocent, and she trusted her captor, adored him.

Jack stirred in his sleep, a soft smile on his face.

Sokka carefully made his way up to Appa's head and yelled,"AANG! LETS MAKE CAMP DOWN THERE!" his tanned finger pointed to a clearing in the woods. Aang nodded his consent and shouted,"yip yip!", yanking the reins left. The others gripped the saddle tightly as Appa began to descend, the bisons hair rippling in the wind.

The change in altitude woke Jack with a jolt, who's face frowned deeply at the realization that his dream wasn't reality. The sadness in his eyes was noticed by Hiccup, whom Jack sensed staring. With a wink at the brunet, he clenched his staff tightly, and lept into the air, whooping to mask his sadness.

Sokka and Hiccup shared a grimace in the face of the others smiles; they didn't really like bending, let alone what this creep could do.

As the group began setting up camp, Jack asked Aang what he could do to help. The Airbender raised the tents with a blast of wind and then scratched his tattooed head, saying,"umm..I think we need firewood." He looked over at Hiccup and shouted,"HEY! CAN JACK COME WITH YOU TO GET FIREWOOD! HE WANTS TO HELP!"

Jack flushed slightly as everyone in the encampment turned to look at him.

Hiccup inwardly groaned. He didn't want Jack to come with him! But one look in Rapunzel's direction crumbled his resolve. He unwillingly yelled,"SURE! I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE!"

Jack whooped and threw his fist into the air before flying over to the non-bender, his nervousness gone.

Hiccup walked a few feet in front of Jack, his arms full of fire wood. Jack puffed a piece of his growing hair out of his eyes, and picked up the pace, slowing to Hiccup's speed when they were in time. "So Haddock," he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. "What are you?" His green eyes darted over to jack, then back in place. "You mean my nationality?" He said, his voice slightly sarcastic. Jack laughed at his poor vocabulary and said,"ya, I can't figure it out." Hiccup sighed, 'think of Rapunzel', then hesitantly started.

"My great great grandfather was an air nomad, who had fallen in love with an earth kingdom peasant. He ran away with her, betrayed his people to be with my grandmother. The child, my great grandma Ren, was a non bender and an outcast. But, as it is the way things work, she too fell in love, but she married a fisherman from the earth kingdom. They had two kids, my grandma and grandpa. My grandmother was named after her mother, but as a rebellious teenager she ran away, joined some wondering nomads, and changed it to Lilly. She left the nomads at an earth rumble competition, where she pursued and had..relations...with a contestant. When finding out she was pregnant, he dropped her like a rock, pun intended, and she came home, having nowhere to go. Her parents wouldn't accept her, and for a while, disowned her, so she went to her brother, who became a king of a small Provence. He took her in and helped her raise the child, who was my mother."

Hiccup paused, his eyes downcast. Before Jack could say anything, he continued,"my mom is a kind and gentle woman, her name is Aamina, and she had many hardships in her life. My grandparents wanted nothing to do with her, and her mother left, ran away with yet another man. After she grew up she left my uncle's estate, which had gone into ruin during the war. She was traveling to Ba Sing Se to start a herb shop when she stumbled upon a fire navy camp. Only one solider had seen her, and he promised to sneak her out of the camp at night. She waited in the tent, and sure enough he came to sneak her out. And a few meters away he raped her."

Hiccup paused for a long while, his thoughts on his mothers face when she had told him whom his father actually was. Stoic wasn't his biological father, but Hiccup considered him one nonetheless.

Understanding, Jack nodded and said,"you don't have to continue." Hiccup said nothing, just shook the memories out of his head and continued walking to camp.

He loved his mother dearly and hated that he had left her, the guilt effecting everything he did. However, he couldn't return, not when he could help end this war that had brought so many hardships. His mother had to understand that what he did he did for the betterment of everyone. Albeit it still bothered him to think that he was all she had.

"Lets see now," Jack began, startling Hiccup out of his thoughts and plastering an educated expression on his joking features.

"You're a burnt, dusty rock."

Hiccup stopped walking, his eyes wide with shock. Than he laughed a heavy laugh that shook his small frame and sent ripples of joy surging through him. The pile of sticks and broken logs in his arms dug into his chest with every laugh, and he dropped all his wood. With dying giggles he picked it up, and turned to the other grinning spirit.

"So," he sighed, a natural smile settling in his features. "Who's your mom?"

Jack seemed suprised, and said,"I've never thought to ask. The moon named me, but wasn't my parent...I was born with the first winter, my first footsteps brought frost and snow to the ripe earth and cooled it. I didn't care about my parents, if I have any, my only focus was causing mayhem for the mortals." His blue eyes sparkled with the memory, and a small, genuine smile curved his pale lips.

Hiccup couldn't understand what he was saying, but he supposed he didn't need to. Jack wasn't human, he didn't work like everyone else did, and he reacted differently to things.

"If I had that power now, you guys wouldn't worry about a war, that's for sure!" He laughed at his joke, despite his companion's confusion and worry of his connotations.

"You seem powerful." Hiccup bluntly stated, wondering how much more power the winter spirit had.

Jack scowled and said,"Humaity took most of me away and replaced it with flesh," he set down the wood, with Hiccup curiously waiting by his side, and rolled up his right sleeve. Before Hiccup could object Jack bit hard, the pain not seeming to bother him.

When he released his clamped jaws he watched as blood slowly bubbled out of the circular wound and mixed with slowly freezing saliva. Jack bitterly smiled at the shocked brunet and explained,"Starlight used to run through my veins. Now it's this red stuff."

Jack had seen red stuff before, it leaked and dripped out of humans, much like it did to him now, and the shared trait put a foul taste in his mouth.

He frosted the wound over and pulled his sleeve down, picking up the wood and walking back to where his fellow humans waited.

Little did he know that a pair of iridescent eyes watched him go.

Don't ask.