More than anything in the world, Zuko wanted water.

Surrounded by a sea of sand with the sun burning his skin, he supposed it was a pretty normal desire. But being without water for so long caused him to become dehydrated, which in turn caused him to hallucinate.

When dying of thirst, most people see water. Zuko, however, saw something very different. Instead of seeing a refreshing liquid to quench his thirst with, he saw his mother.

He saw her in the strangest things, too. A distant cactus looked like her waving, sand blown around by a breeze turned into her silhouette. Anything and everything was his mother.

Then, he saw her in the distance, a small figure amid the vast emptiness. There were three other figures with her, but he didn't care about them. All that mattered was that he'd finally found his mother. So, in his excitement, he ran toward her. An unwise thing to do, yes, but he was dehydrated and delusional, so he wasn't thinking very clearly.

As Zuko ran toward her, she seemed to stay at the same distance. He ran faster, but she didn't become closer. The more he ran, the more jelly-like his legs became. Eventually, his jelly legs were unable to support him, and he collapsed.

He wasn't sure how long he had lay there, or if he'd even been conscious the whole time. But he did know that there was suddenly someone talking, and he couldn't understand what she was saying. The words sounded like a mess of gibberish to him, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was so delirious, or if the person was speaking another language.

Opening his eyes, he stared up at the person before him. His vision faded in and out of focus, but he could see a blurry figure. Some of their dark hair was tied up in a topknot, while the rest flowed freely over their shoulders. Simple red clothing covered their petite frame.

"Mom…" Zuko mumbled weakly as a dark hand gently brushed against his cheek. His eyes fluttered closed and he slowly drifted into unconciousness.


Author's Note: Hate to tell you this Zuzu, but that's not your mom.

So, anyway, I wrote this in honour of the new DVD cover for season three. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out There's a picture there.

Disclaimer: No. I don't own Avatar or any of it's characters. In fact, I don't even own any of the merchandise. Just a crazy obsession with the show.