The tiger-wolves are my own creation. They're basically wolves with long fangs and the coloration and short fur of a tiger.

Disclaimer part II: The idea behind the dragon's eggs comes from Eragon, it isn't mine

Prologue Part II: Chance Encounters

Kara couldn't believe her eyes. How was this possible? The dragons were supposed to be extinct! Yet here, standing before her on wobbly legs, was solid proof that there was at least one left. He was a marvel, and he could talk! Who would have thought dragons could talk? Sure he never opened his mouth to form words but his thoughts were audible enough in her confusion-crazed mind.

"How is this possible?" she asked the young marvel.

How is what possible? She heard in response within her mind.

"I thought the dragons had died out. Where did you come from?" instead of a reply an overwhelming wave of pain rolled off the small creature in waves that brought her to her knees.

I am the last of my kind? He asked disbelievingly.

"It would seem so. I'm so sorry Saisei…"

NO! he screamed mentally even as he simultaneously let loose a roar powerful enough to shake the earth they stood on. His small body writhed in agony and she reached out, pulling him close. He seemed just so helpless and in that moment she felt she could understand him better than anyone. She was all alone too.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here, its okay. I'm going to take good care of you," she soothed stroking his smooth scales comfortingly.

Promise? His small voice implored and for the first time she was aware of just how young he really was. He had just hatched. He was just a baby.

"I promise. Now come on, you must be hungry. Let's go get some food," she reasoned, grabbing her slingshot and signaling for the little red dragon to follow her into the forest. Not long after they returned to the cliff-face where she had found him and a few moments spent searching yielded a small cave just big enough for the two of them and a small fire. A quick wave of her hands was all it took to light the kindling and soon they had a good sized fire to sit around. She tossed one of the rabbits to Saisei and skinned the other for her own dinner. They ate in silence and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime Kara didn't feel so alone. Perhaps there was something to live for; a little red something named Saisei…

xXx

Once they had both eaten their fill Kara stood and motioned for Saisei to follow her. "Come on, I saw a good sized creek not too far back and we could both use a good wash," she explained as they left the cave. As it turned out the creek fed into a small pond and she quickly shed her clothes and waded into the water which only came up to her waist in the deepest part but it would suit her purposes. When she turned back to look for her small companion she found him gazing skeptically at the cold water, batting it with his nose before shrinking back and shivering. Next thing she knew he had jumped wildly into the water which was now steaming in the chill dusk air.

"Saisei! Did you do this?" Kara asked with mock reprisal. To be honest she quite liked the change herself.

It's much better, don't you think? He thought as she heard a strange sound erupt from the tiny creature that she soon realized was supposed to be a laugh which in turn set her into a fit of giggles. How long had it been since she had last laughed?

Their bath lasted a good deal longer than she had expected as they luxuriated in the hot water and Kara took the time to clean her clothes to the best of her ability as well. They really were in a bad way but there wasn't much she could do about that at the moment. She had no money to buy more and even if she did she was well aware that wanted posters would be posted in any village she entered. These would have to do.

The girl and dragon kept moving after that, never staying in one place for more than a couple of days before picking up camp and moving on. Saisei grew constantly and rapidly and even after just a couple of weeks he now stood roughly at Kara's waist and did his own hunting. Girl and dragon had grown very close in their mutual seclusion. At one point a few days after finding Saisei the pair came across a small cottage tucked into the trees that had apparently been abandoned, most likely so the owner could move closer to the village and relative safety. In what little the family had left behind Kara managed to find a beat up old pot, a slightly rusted hatchet, a dress about her size that she could easily tailor with the sewing kit she found in a closet, some blankets, and a blessed cache of soap. Stowing these unexpected treasures in a worn backpack she found thrown in a corner, she and Saisei continued on.

It had been days since they had last seen any sign of civilization when they found it. Kara had been searching for a suitable cave to spend the night when the crack in the cliff-face she peered into hopefully revealed the most wonderful find. Stepping through the small layer of stone she walked into a valley completely surrounded by cliffs and mountains. On the far side a large waterfall crashed into a large lake positioned just outside what appeared to be the largest cave she had seen yet. It took a good ten minutes to run across the valley but when she reached the cave it was well worth the stitch in her side. The cave was huge with plenty of room for the two of them no matter how large Saisei would get, and what were the chances of them being discovered in such a hidden spot miles from the nearest farm let alone village?

"Well Saisei, I think we finally found a place to call home," she murmured in wonder. Saisei nodded in agreement and she spent the next few days making her cave into a home. She fastened a raised platform for her bed out of branches from nearby cedars and used the largest and thinnest of her blankets to stuff with straw and sew into a relatively comfortable mattress when compared to the cave floors she had become used to sleeping on. Once her bed was finished she built a few crude shelves for the few belongings she had filched from the abandoned cottage and a fixed fire pit in the middle of the cave. She and Saisei spent the next few days collecting a large cache of firewood which they stored in a neat pile inside the cave where it wouldn't get wet if it rained.

They had been in their new home a few days and Kara was using a crude hook she had fastened to a loose string from one of her blankets to fish in the lake when a disturbance outside the mouth of the valley caught her attention. Pulling her hook out of the water she motioned for Saisei to follow and ran for the nearby entrance. Just outside she found a lone teenage boy surrounded by a pack of angry tiger-wolves. He had a pair of swords in front of him and a look of determination on his face but he was vastly outnumbered. Hide! she demanded mentally of Saisei before turning back to the boy.

"LOOK OUT!" Kara screamed as one of the tiger-wolves behind him lunged. Determination setting her stance she rushed into the fray and he tossed her a sword.

"Watch my back," he ordered and back to back they faced the tiger wolves, fighting off any that dared come near. Eventually the beasts realized the prey they sought weren't worth the effort and slunk back into the surrounding trees and panting from exhaustion the two strangers turned to face each other. "Thanks," he said between breaths while she got a good look at him for the first time. He had dark brown hair and golden eyes not unlike her own. On the side of his face was a large scar from what appeared to be a bad burn and he was a good bit taller than her 5'9".

"No problem. I wasn't about to let you face those beasts all by yourself," she replied earnestly, her face coming as close to a smile as it ever did these days. "Here," she added, handing him his sword back. It was a really nice set and he seemed to know how to use them. Neither of them asked what the other was doing so far from civilization, a mutual understanding that some things were better left unsaid passing through them before she turned her thoughts to Saisei.

I don't think it would be a good idea for you to be seen. Do you mind laying low for a couple of days? This guy looks like he could use a place to sleep and a hot meal, she thought to her little red friend ruefully. Even that was an understatement. The poor guy looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in weeks and his clothes were tattered and torn. His eyes held and emptiness she had come to know well and his shoulders sagged with weariness. Perhaps under different circumstances he could have handled those beasts himself but in the condition he was currently in she dreaded the thought of what might have happened had she been even a minute late.

"Follow me," she stated and made her way into the valley, trusting him to follow. She didn't ask his name and he didn't ask hers. It seemed they understood each other all too well. She felt sorry for the guy.

"How did you find this place? It's amazing," he stated in wonder when they stepped into the valley. Her lips pulled into that almost-smile again and she just shook her head in answer. She still wasn't quite sure how to answer that question herself.

"Come on, there's a cave on the other side and the rabbit I was cooking should be ready by now. She didn't need to hear a verbal reply; the loud grumble from the direction of his stomach was answer enough.

"Thank you," came his soft reply and she nodded her head in response leading him across the valley. It was a good thing she was fishing near the entrance because if she had been fishing by her cave she never would have reached him in time. They ate in silence and when he was finished she motioned for him to take the bed while she walked back out of the cave and over to the lake where she sat on a sun-warmed rock and stared at the waterfall as it cascaded down the rock.

She wasn't quite sure how much time had passed but it had to have been a considerable amount seeing as the sun had long since set and the valley was now relying on the faint glow of the crescent moon above for light. She heard his approach long before he spoke but made no move to acknowledge his presence.

"I just wanted to, uh… say thanks again for… for everything," he all but whispered, stumbling awkwardly over words he apparently wasn't used to saying.

"Don't mention it," she replied flatly, still staring into the roiling water below. Memories kept flooding her mind; memories of the day her life ended. Saisei kept trying to comfort her mentally with waves of calm and reassurance but she managed to shrug him off for the most part. She didn't want to be comforted; she didn't deserve it.

"It must be hard living out here all alone…" he added. That put her back up. Personal questions were not allowed and he was definitely on his way to forbidden topics.

"I manage," she gritted out, staring even more intently into the water.

"Aren't you a bit young to be on your own?" he prodded.

"Aren't you?" she spit back. "Look, I'm not asking you about your life story so why don't you leave mine alone! It's none of your business anyway."

"You're right. I'm sorry," he muttered in descent but he didn't go away. Instead he sat beside her and took up lake gazing himself. "Whatever it was that happened to you, I'm sorry," he conceded. He really couldn't mind his own business could he? She let out a frustrated sigh but decided to answer him.

"Don't be. It was my own fault. No one else is to blame," she replied dismally, keeping her voice as emotionless as she could so as not to reveal her pain. He seemed to feel it anyway but didn't comment.

"What happened?" he dared to ask after a few more minutes of silence. Kara clenched her eyes and tried to will herself awake but that would never work; this wasn't a dream. Be it the time she had spent with no one to talk to besides a baby dragon or the weight of the memory she alone bore, she wasn't quite sure what made her tell him the truth. She should have lied; or better yet kept her mouth shut! Instead she gave him as close to the truth as she could manage without endangering herself for Saisei's sake; she was his only companion and she dreaded what would happen to him if she got herself arrested or worse: killed.

"I did something really stupid and my family paid the price for my foolishness. They're when it should be the opposite. I should have been the one hanging from that tree; not them," she revealed, her voice hoarse with unshed tears. He didn't respond, just continued staring into the water. "So what about you scarface? What's your life story?"

"I don't really know anymore. I don't really know anything anymore," he replied in just as emotionless of a tone as she had delivered her tale; his eyes the only thing giving him away. Never in her life had Kara seen someone so lost. "I did some bad things, and when I tried to right y wrongs and do good by someone I was treated as a monster and thrown aside. Tell me, what's the point of doing the right thing when it never seems to matter? I can barely even divine right from wrong anymore…"

"Doing what's right always matters, even if you do not receive any benefits from it for yourself; that is what makes it right. But you already knew that so now you tell me. What are you still doing here?" she replied meaningfully, looking him straight in the eye.

"May I at least ask your name before I go?" he implored.

"You may."

"What is your name?"

"My name is Kara. It was nice meeting you…?" she finished, turning the end of her sentence into a question.

"Zuko. My name is Zuko," and with that he was gone and Kara went back to gazing steadily into the waters of the lake.

You did the right thing Saisei assured her mentally as he touched down next to her in the grass.

"I know. But will he heed my advice?"

Only time will tell…

xXx

Kara's last words kept repeating themselves in Zuko's head as he walked across the valley. Why had he told her his real name? That hadn't been a smart move, but he couldn't really see himself lying to her. What a strange girl, he thought ruefully, shaking his head to clear out the crazy. At least it didn't look like she had any plans for leaving that cave of hers any time soon. She was a marvel. When he had first heard her voice in the forest he had almost jumped a foot in the air in surprise. He hadn't exactly expected anyone else to be out in the middle of nowhere miles from civilization, and certainly not a girl that couldn't be any older than he was.

He had been tracking that pack for days for lack of anything better to do, not realizing that was only a hunting party until it was too late and he was vastly outnumbered and sleep-deprived to boot. He didn't really want to think about what would have happened to him if Kara hadn't shown up. At the very least she was well rested and in addition she even seemed to know her way around a sword well enough to hold her own and then some. She was no soldier but she certainly wasn't defenseless.

When the fight against the tiger-wolves had ended he was caught by surprise once more when he took in her appearance. Her black hair and golden eyes proclaimed her to be Fire Nation and yet she spoke and held herself like she was born and raised in the Earth Kingdom. Even colonials had more Fire Kingdom mannerisms than she; he didn't ask though. The last thing he needed was for her to start asking questions about his origins.

When she mentioned rabbit he thought he would die of happiness. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a hot meal; his uncle had always done all the cooking and he had long since been banished from that Earth Kingdom village. When she had offered her bed for him to catch a quick rest on he had wanted to kiss the poor girl. Lumpy as it was, her make-shift mattress was much for comfortable that the forest floor he had grown used to.

After waking feeling more refreshed than he had in quite some time he looked hastily around the cave for the girl who had been so kind to him and, upon finding the cave empty with the sole exception of himself, adjusted his clothes and journeyed out into the night where he found her sitting on a large rock by the lake, her knees drawn into her chest as she gazed out into the water; she struck quite the picture in the moonlight. Her black hair was lit with an almost blue glow and her pale skin shone faintly with the light reflected from the lake's surface. She looked tiny and fragile in that position, her arms pulled about her as if in a comforting embrace. He had the sudden urge to speak to her; to get to know the girl who had shown so much kindness to a complete stranger. The answers he got had not been ones he expected. Beside him sat a broken girl, and for some reason the thought of so innocent and fragile a girl suffering from so much pain angered him beyond anything he had ever felt before (which was saying something!) and he had to struggle just to keep his face still and expressionless.

Now, as he retraced his steps and made his way back to the ostrich-horse he had stolen he couldn't get her out of his head and for the first time he began to feel ashamed over how he had come by his mount in the first place…

"I can barely even divine right from wrong anymore…"

He shook his head to shake the memory of his own words spoken beside the lake out of his skull. That was a lie. Stealing was always wrong, there could never be a justification aside from life or death circumstances. He was a fool, but he knew now what he had to do, but first he was going to find his sister…

xXx

Why do you insist on these funny rocks to light your fire when you have the ability to light it in seconds with a wave of your hand? Saisei asked for the tenth time in annoyance at the silliness of humans.

"Because, Saisei I have promised myself to never fire-bend again. It only brings pain and destruction. It is what makes me a monster and I will never use it again," Kara explained for the umpteenth time that morning. She was having a hard time getting the flint to strike right and Saisei insisted on giving her a hard time about it.

What a silly promise for a silly human. Fire is as much a part of you as it is of me. You cannot ignore a part of yourself. It is part of what makes you who you are, the dragon now standing a good span higher than the girl who had raised it went on to explain.

"Well Saisei, as much as appreciate you infinite wisdom in this are you are wrong," she stated sarcastically. "Your actions make you who you are, and I refuse to repeat the mistakes of my past.

Then you are as stupid as you are short. I don't even know why I'm trying to reason with you…

"Hey! I'm not short; I'm human! And I've had quite enough of this conversation!" she exclaimed furiously, the tender igniting even though the flint stones lay forgotten at her feet. She could have sworn she saw Saisei smirk at her horrified expression upon discovering what she had inadvertently done. "Ugh!" in exasperation she took up her dented pot and chased the red and gold dragon out of the cave. "I'm going to get you you brat! You did that on purpose!" she exclaimed.

Making his strange dragon's laugh as he ran away from her Saisei zigzagged back and forth across the valley with a giggling Kara chasing after him always one step behind the lithe creature. "Saisei!" she yelled every once and a while in admonishment; she wasn't really mad at her companion though. How could she be?

Shortly after when she was laying on her back in the grass curled into her dragon's side she was startled out of her daze by a commotion at the mouth of the cave. "Hello?" an elderly man called, making her jump about a foot in the air. They had been seen! Saisei had been seen! This was horrible! What was she to do? Forcing herself to calm down she made her face blank and turned calmly to face her fate which just so happened to be in the form of an short old man in travel worn clothes with the same golden eyes as herself and the boy she had met months ago.

"Please," she begged, "You can't tell anyone! They'll kill him!" she cried, all pretenses of calmness forgotten in the wave of desperation and fear that the sight of the old man brought. She would die if they took Saisei from her. He was all she had left.

"Now why would I want to bring harm to such a magnificent creature?" the old man asked in amazement. "I never thought I would see such a wondrous sight. He looks so young. How did you come by him?"

"I… I found his egg a few months back. Please, if anyone ever found out-"

"They won't. I won't tell a soul. Please, may I share your fire?" he implored, eyes still fixed on Saisei who stood preening, all but glowing from the attention and praise once he realized neither he nor Kara were in any danger from the man who stood before him.

"Of course. Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked, slightly flustered.

"Thank you, but no; I'm fine. Would you like some tea?" he asked, his eyes lighting up with delight when she accepted his offer. After leading him into the cave and gesturing to the fire she moved out of his way so he could get to work setting out his pot and filling it with water and tea leaves. Once he was settled she sat across the fire from him and turned to him curiously.

"What brings you all the way out here?" she asked, flustered by his sudden appearance and discovery of Saisei.

"I am on my way to Omashu of course!" he stated cheerfully, taking his battered teapot off the fire and pouring it into to wooden cups before handing one to her across the flames.

"Through the mountains?" she asked incredulously. Shouldn't he be on a road somewhere?

"Well of course! It's the best way to go!" he exclaimed as if it were quite obvious and she was missing some vital bit of common knowledge.

"Okay then… Well you're welcome to stay the night here. You can take the cot. It's a nice night and I was planning on spending it outside with Saisei anyway."

"Oh is that his name? He truly is a marvel. Never in all my years did I expect to see such a sight. If you don't mind my asking, how did you come across his egg in the first place?" he asked curiously, gazing at her over the rim of his wooden teacup.

"Quite by accident, really. I found his egg in a cliff side. I thought it was an elaborate stone at first; that is until it started cracking down the side at least! He used to be so tiny," she replied with a small smile at the memory of how tiny he used to be. He had been her little savior and he hadn't even known it at the time. He gave her life purpose again.

"How strange! Well you've done well, child. It is good to keep him hidden. It will keep him safe," he stated with a decisive nod of approval.

"I know sir; I've heard the stories."

"I would imagine you have at that," he replied with a small slightly bitter smile of his own. "Such a shame…"

"Well sir, if you don't mind my asking; why are you on your way to Omashu?"she asked curiously. It had been too long since she had received news of the outside world.

"I'm on my way to see an old friend. I'm going to need his help soon enough," he muttered almost to himself, his face taking on an expression of worry.

"Oh, well I hope you find him," she stated hopefully. Giving him a small smile she hoped would lift his spirits somewhat.

"Thank you dear. Here, let me have that," he said, taking her teacup and stowing it away in his pack before turning back to her. "Thank you again for allowing me to share your fire but I really must be going. There is light yet to travel by and I must make haste or I fear I will be too late," he added regretfully.

"Are you sure? You're welcome to stay and rest a bit. Surely your friend will understand," she reasoned, her face concerned. He seemed far too old to be pushing himself so.

"That's sweet of you but you don't need to worry about me dear. You just take care of that young dragon of yours for me, you hear? Thanks again," and with those parting words he turned on his heel and left the cave. She didn't follow him. She could see by the set of his jaw there would be no stopping him…

A/N: Well there you have it! Please review! I really want to know what your thoughts are and where I can improve. This story will follow the plot of the original exactly from now until the very end of Sozen's Comet where Mai forgave Zuko. In this story she will have forgiven him but not taken him back so keep that in mind.