A/N: I will be using plots and characters from the original series, although it won't be strictly cannon obviously and may appear somewhat OOC. Please review?

Zuko

The first night at sea was a rough experience for the new inhabitants on board. The young prince, although fiercely determined to remain strong like his uncle, could only withhold his fears for so long. Once the port could no longer be seen, and sensing his nephew's anxiety, Iroh bid the captain goodnight before settling Zuko in their room.

Zuko entered the metal room, its walls bare. The ship looked nothing like the fire nation ones he'd been on in the past, it was small, enough to carry a crew of seven, excluding himself and his uncle. I guess that's a good thing, he concluded. Sparsely decorated, it held few comforts for the young prince. Two single futons, a rug and a few lanterns now belonged to them.

Settling on a futon, he glanced at his uncle. Could what his uncle had said been true? His father had tried to have him killed? His thoughts strayed to an earlier encounter with his sister.

He had retreated to his room after an exhausting training session. His father had yet again vocalized what a failure his son was. How he didn't deserve the gift of fire bending. Gritting his teeth, he removed his singed shirt, finally noticing the painful gash on his arm. With a wet cloth, he cleaned it himself, hissing in pain. His father had forbidden any of the palace staff to tend to his wounds.

"If he was useless enough to have been harmed, he certainly did not deserve any help" his father had once said, distaste surrounding his words.

Having cleaned the wound, he bandaged it up with some difficulty. It was at this moment, the Fire Lord's favourite child entered his room, her glee at Zuko's pain evident on her face.

"Zuzu you sure did mess up this time" she mocked.

"Go away Azula!"

"You should be glad I came to visit you brother."

"Azula leave! Can't you see I'm busy?"

The Fire Princess glanced at his arm before sneering. "Yes I did watch your excuse of a training session. Father was most disappointed."

"What's new" he mumbled.

Unimpressed with her brother's lack of response, Azula pressed on, her face alight with sudden excitement.

"I wouldn't get too comfortable Zuzu. Father has plans for you."

Startled at the news, he gave up his attempt at bandaging and stalked forwards towards his sister. "What do you mean?"

"I overhead Father before, he's fed up with you and you many failings. He said he'd see to it that you wouldn't be bringing shame to the family much longer."

"GET OUT!" Zuko threw a fire punch out towards his sister. She moved away with ease.

"Brother whatever could he mean by that I wonder?" she laughed as she left the Prince's room.

In a fit of rage he sent fire shooting out of his window.

"Azula always lies, Azula always lies!" he yelled.

His uncle's questioning drew him back from his thoughts.

"Zuko are you alright?"

The Prince merely nodded in response.

Settling next to his nephew, Iroh removed his sandals. Looking down at the boy, the former General couldn't help but feel accountable for the situation.

"I am sorry nephew for what has become."

Silence followed. Iroh sighed, his nephew was obviously going through a lot, perhaps he'd manage to have an actual conversation tomorrow. Rising, Iroh began to move to his own bed.

"Why?" The voice was so quiet that Iroh had almost missed it.

Settling back down, he looked at Zuko with an encouraging gaze.

"Why me? What did I do wrong?" the boy sniffled, no longer able to withhold his emotions.

"My dear nephew, you did nothing wrong. I want you to understand that. Your father, he is an ambitious man that holds little importance in family. Zuko he saw you as an obstacle in his way to controlling the throne."

"But father was already King, he was crowned just last year!"

Dabbing at his nephews tears, the uncle put his arm around the young Prince.

"Zuko, you were the heir to the throne, now I know it hurts but your father didn't agree with that."

"He wanted Azula to rule" Zuko finished, disbelief colouring his voice. He knew his family didn't like him very much but were they that desperate to get rid of him?

Feeling his uncle hug him, the prince knew that from then onwards the only family he had was his uncle.

Hugging the old general back with fierce strength, Zuko buried his face into Iroh's chest. "Thank you."

"For what?" Iroh questioned.

"For saving me."

###

Time passed on the ship in a relatively normal manner. The captain had estimated that it would take about a month to reach their destination, which Zuko still remained in the dark about. His uncle would only reply with a knowing smile each time he was met with the same question. The young Prince quickly found his sea legs, taking on the role of the captain's assistant. Jeong Jeong had declared that missing Prince or not, Zuko needed to learn how to run a ship, it was in his blood.

Within a week, Zuko was beginning to understand the difficulty in leading a crew. The men had to respect Jeong Jeong as a leader; otherwise he knew the crew would turn against him, as his former tutors had informed him. Zuko was shocked however to learn that Jeong Jeong rarely threatened his staff, although the man was certainly strict with his ruling.

"How can you control them if they don't fear you?" the young Prince questioned the captain.

Jeong Jeong stiffened. "Did your father teach you that?"

Zuko nodded in response, worried that he had offended the man.

"Learn this lesson instead" the captain instructed, his voice gruff. "People regardless of who they are will never truly respect you if you do not treat them equally. My crew are loyal to me because I treat them as equals. These men you see on this ship, they are here to serve me willingly. Only monsters control people with fear, King Ozai being one of them." The latter was said with much stronger force.

Zuko bowed in respect at Jeong Jeong for this new knowledge. Before being on this ship, he had never met anyone who had thought his father was evil. Surprised with himself, he found that he wasn't angry at Jeong Jeong for thinking so.

The days and night all merged into one, as all on the ship settled into a steady routine. It wasn't until one night, that a change in the atmosphere could be felt. The crew seemed cheerier, a bit more buoyant in their movements. It wasn't till later that night that Zuko realised why everyone's moods were lifting. His uncle had declared tonight music night. The men gathered round as Iroh played the tsungi horn. How his uncle had found one baffled Zuko. Reluctant to join in, he watched from afar as the men sang songs, growing increasingly out of tune with each round of sake.

What Zuko's favourite part of the night was, was listening to the men's tales. Each member of the crew would take it in turns to try and out do the previous story. Each claimed of their heroic valour and strength. As the night wore on, the Prince grew bored watching the men, for they had now turned to wrestling in attempt to establish who amongst them was the toughest.

Turning away he wandered towards the wheelhouse. He often spent his time watching the crew steer the ship. Upon arrival he was startled to find it occupied. Before he could move away, Jeong Jeong beckoned him to stand by his side. Moments passed as they both stared out at the sea before them.

"Why are you helping us? You know who we are, why don't you just hand us over to the King?"

The captain glanced at the boy, assessing him with his eyes.

"My crew and I don't see eye to eye with the Fire Nation you could say."

Zuko looked questioningly up at the captain.

"It may shock you, Prince Zuko but not everyone agrees with how your father rules the kingdoms. Where you're headed now I am certain will open up your eyes to the real suffering that is going on."

"I thought the war was over?"

"Naïve to think so but then I guess it is expected for a Fire Nation Royal to have lived such a sheltered life. The main war may have ended years ago but each day there are small battles fought. Ozai can take away people's homes, their freedom but he can't take away their hope."

Zuko considered what the captain had said. He knew his father was a bad man but why hadn't his uncle told him about what was happening in the world?

"Are you a rebel?"

Jeong Jeong smiled at the question. "Of a sort you could say" he replied before leaving.

Alone with his thoughts, Zuko decided to take his uncle's advice for once and consider his place in the world. He'd be turning 12 soon, and that meant he was only a year away from being a man and men needed to know important things.

###

It wasn't until sometime during his second week on the small ship, that Zuko actually realised the severity of his situation. Dawn was settling in as the sun began to light up the sky. Zuko stifled a yawn, stretching out as he made up his futon. A look over at his uncle's bed alerted him to the fact that he was missing. Alarmed, he began to make his way towards the deck. His uncle never left for breakfast without him.

However before he could get to the deck he was interrupted by a crew member named Lee. With a tight hold around the Prince's arm, Lee pulled the boy behind him with haste, ignoring Zuko's protests. Once they reached the ship's store room, Lee released his arm.

"Where's my uncle?" the Prince demanded.

"He's above on the deck. Now listen to me"

"No you listen, why have you dragged me here all the way? Are you going to hand me over to the King?"

Lee blinked in confusion. "Don't be daft boy. The captain spotted an enemy ship sailing towards us, he instructed me to put you into hiding. It's important that we keep your survival a secret."

"If my uncles up there fighting, I want to help, I can firebend!"

"Sorry kid, Captain's orders." Before Zuko could move to send a firewhip at Lee, Lee had frozen Zuko's arms in place. The Prince watched helplessly as Lee removed a few panels from the flooring. Securing Zuko into a small holding cell below, Lee said, "someone will be here to let you out once it's safe" before replacing the panels into their original positions.

Struggling to firebend himself out of the icy prison, he stilled his movements as loud voices and fighting could be heard above deck.

A/N: I didn't have Zuko being able to immediately firebend his way out of the ice because at this point although he could bend, I imagined he'd still be a novice at it. Please review?