Hey! sorry it's taken forever to get this update here. it's been almost 4 months now... wow.. sorry. Well, here's a good long chapter to make up for it. It should answer some of the questions that you might think of.

Enjoy!

Ya ya.. i dont' own it. whatever..

Chapter 6: Remembering the past

Once again, we were back in our cells. Iroh's rumbling snoring was matched by the slow lapping of the waves against the ship. I was sitting against the wall of my cell, thinking. For the first time in years, I felt like my family was back together- or what I had of a family.

Iroh was my uncle. My mother had been the sister of Iroh and Ozai, younger than either of them, however. She had been best friends with Lady Ursa as well. She had died when I was very young, so I knew and remembered little about her.

My father was a descendant of Avatar Roku; Lady Ursa's brother. After my mother's death, he had raised me. He had been a Commander in the Firelord's Army, but had died during the siege of Ba Sing Xe. Upon news of his death, Lady Ursa took care of me. When General Iroh returned after the loss of his own son, Lu Ten, he took me in.

I learned and practiced with Iroh and Zuko. I was there during the Agni Kai between Zuko and his father; watching with horror as my best friend was dishonored and scarred by his own father. I accompanied Zuko and Iroh on his quest to capture the Avatar. In training, Zuko and I were fairly equal. We both sought the optimum balance of power and skill. On my fifteenth birthday, we stopped at an Earth Nation port to resupply. That night, Zuko and I had snuck out and got tattoos- dragons breathing fire. Mine was on my right arm, his was on his left. General Iroh never knew about it until later. Soon after this, I decided to explore the Earth Nation. I had mastered firebending, and wanted to learn about the other nations. For a year, I had wandered, finally meeting a cabbage-salesman traveling from Omashu to Ba Sing Xe. I took a job with him, thinking it to be a perfect way to see the great city. I had hidden away my firebending, and had just started to feel a sense of normality in the great city, when Princess Azula had seized power. My life seemed to have gone in a full circle since then. I was back with Iroh and Zuko, however under different circumstances. Soon, I fell asleep.

I woke up with the sun shining in my face. I opened my eyes and blinked; blinded by the sun. The humming of the ships motors echoed through the metal floor. I looked out the window and saw nothing but water… we were on our way to the Fire Nation.

"Uncle?" I looked through the bars, and saw Iroh waking up. "We're out to sea, already."

"Are you going to use your key, Roku?" he asked, showing me his key.

I shook my head. "They'll know it's Zuko, if we use them. Are you going to use yours?"

He shook his head. "Give me the key then," I said; thinking of an idea of how to get rid of them.

The door to the prison hold opened, and a masked guard walked in holding two bowls of rice and some tea. He opened each of our doors, walked inside and put the food on the ground. As he closed the doors, I placed the keys on the ground sticking slight out from under the door.

"Hey… I've got a deal for you," I called to the guard, as he began to walk away. He stopped and turned around. "You get me and the General an extra bowl of rice later, and I won't tell your boss about you losing some keys."

"What?!" he exclaimed, and reached for his key bunch.

I kicked the keys all the way under the door. I heard a gasp of surprise as he saw the keys and picked them up. He looked at me, "I'll see what I can do."

General Iroh caught my eye as the guard left, and winked.

The guard left, but the door to the prison hold stayed open. Shadows fell across the opening, and footsteps resounded off the metal stairs.

"Well, well, well… enjoying your tea, Uncle?" The voice was more of a sneer than anything; it matched the smirk on Azula's face. She turned towards me. "And you… you might get lucky when we reach the Fire Nation, and I'll decide to send you to the mines instead of to your death. Or you might be ok as a practice target for me and my friends… we'll see."

"Uncle Iroh… Father will be so proud to see you behind bars. The great 'Dragon of the West' is a traitor. You're a disgrace to the Fire Nation." She spat in his face.

I was standing, looking through the bars of my cell, as this happened. "You damn bitch; how dare you insult the General," I growled at her.

She turned to me, murder in her eyes. She signaled to the guard to open the door, and she threw open the door. "I see you still need to learn respect…"

I knew it was coming, but I decided to ride it out, rather than struggle; after all- what could I do against one of the most dangerous firebenders in the world (Azula) and a shipload of firebenders and soldiers? She lashed out with a punch, and caught me painfully in the mouth. I could feel a trickle of blood flowing out of my mouth. She smiled, "the next time you dare to cross me, I'll kill you."

So... tell me what you think.

I'll try to put up new chapters once or twice a month, if i can. I'm so busy right now.

reviews welcome!