Back with more. :3 glad you seem to have liked it so far and hopefully this chapter will amuse.

Also, Firy Spirit is a title in progress, personally I don't like it and am searching for something else, so if you have suggestions, please let me know.

Chapter 1

Zhu chuckled as he went through the exercises that Xing had showed him, trying to improve his balance. Light and limber on his feet, the youth had taken to the physical exercises the elder actor had taught him as a fish to water. When he had recovered from his wounds, the former prince had decided to bury his name deep so that no one would ever find out, and no one would be a target because of him. Even recovering from the wounds, and the icy cold dip in the ocean though, he had shown a martial artists grace. Every member of the fire nation was taught proper forms after all, since it was impossible to know until they were four or five if a child would be blessed by Agni and throw the sparks of a fire bender.

In the three years since he had recovered, Xing had started showing him other martial arts, and teaching him to use the dual Dao. Xing was Lu's father, as well as the leader of the theater group, while his mother Madam Meiran, was the troupe's herb healer. Zhu was jealous about how close they seemed, or he would have been if they hadn't included him in so much of their lives, taking in the foundling prince as if he was earth kingdom born like any of them.

Hence the Dao training, at least in part. Lu was learning at the same time, and Zhu grinned at how his friend flailed with the swords in his hand. "Too far forward." He heard Xing say as Lu worked his way through the exercises, and the former prince winced as the earth kingdom lad tripped over his feet, sending himself sprawling over the ground, and his sword skidding through the sand and out of reach.

"Come on Lu, you can get this." He encouraged, having become the younger boy's friend over time. "Then we can start getting set up for that new play Pao is working on. You know you want the Blue Spirit part."

"Whatever... how did you get so good so fast Zhu?" the eleven year old asked, and the fire scared boy grinned. Before he had never had anyone tell him he was good, it was always his little sister, and there had never been anything he excelled at. It felt good to have the slightly younger boy look up to him, and Xing had tried to teach him to do his best to be worthy of that admiration, much as Zuko had once looked up to Lu Ten.

"Practice!" Zhu grinned, shaking his head as Lu stuck out his tongue at him. "I'm serious… I practice all the time." It wasn't idle boasting either, he did practice all the time, when he wasn't playing games with Lu and the other kids of the troupe or helping with setup and props.

Xing laughed as Lu shook his head again. "It's true son, there's been more than once I've had to chase our Zhu back to bed at night when he wants to 'practice' instead." The director stated, ruffling his sons short hair. "Now come on, it smells like dinner is almost done and I'm sure mother will appreciate a little extra help setting up." He stated, taking the practice swords away and shooing the youths towards the center of camp.

XXX

The three years that he had been with the Armadillolion theater group had been the best of his life, and Zhu was glad that they had found him and taken care of him when the Fire Lord tried to kill him. He had never told anyone about who his family was, though occasionally Lu or one of the others would ask about where he was from, and what his old family was like. Zhu never answered with anything beyond the vague and sad statement that he missed them, but was happy here.

Most of the troupe was family, and they were more like a traveling village than anything else, showing their shows at the various earth kingdom cities. They had never gone as far inland as Ba Sing Se, but that didn't matter much. Zhu looked over to where Lu was sleeping in their small, shared tent, and grinned. He could never have imagined that he would consider anyone from another nation to be a sibling, but he felt so strange living among these earth kingdom peasants, like he was wanted. It was a far cry from the extreme fighting and rivalry he had always had with his younger sister.

Sighing, he drifted off towards sleep himself, only to be startled awake as he heard shouts from outside, rolling out of his sleeping bag and towards the door even as Lu struggled with his. "Bandits! Firebender bandits!" Was the shout that he heard, and Zhu growled under his breath, grabbing at the dull practice dao that he had taken back to his tent. If nothing else, it would give the firebenders something to distract them from setting the tents and the troupes live hood on fire.

"Zhu! Protect the ostrichhorses!" Xing shouted from where he was fighting with one of the unarmed bandits. These men bore none of the insignia of the fire nation army, their scarlet clothing tattered and in much disrepair even as their hazel eyes burned with something akin to desperation. Zhu simply nodded, pulling his weapons as he ran towards where the beasts were tethered. There was already a scarlet clad form there, tugging at the lead reins to untie the animals.

"Stop!" Zhu shouted, charging straight for the man, his swords heavy in his hands. This wouldn't be the first battle he had participated in, and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach was warning enough at how badly this could go, even as the unarmed man turned to him, punching out clumsy flames. Zuko knew fire though, knew it as much as he knew his own blood, and it was the simplest thing in the world to dance around the wild attacks. His own sister had been more diligent in her teasing than this man was in his desperation. Once, twice, Zuko's heavy training swords bashed the man, his wrist and head taking blows. "Run while you can." He commanded, knowing that ordinarily there was no way a bandit, especially not a firenation bandit so desperate as to leave the Fire Nation colonies to 'hunt' in the fertile earth kingdom for easy cash, would listen to and obey the skinny thirteen year old orphan.

But he had the clear advantage, and had scored first hit, and there was a burning in his mind and heart even as he commanded that compelled the weak willed bandit to obey, to scramble away from the exiled prince. Zuko took the moment to resecure the ostrich horses, standing guard near them and their packs. All through the camp the noise and din of bending bandits facing earth kingdom performers rang in the youths ears, but his adopted stepfather had given him a command, and even as Zhu watched flames spring up across the camp, he stayed steady. Even if they lost everything else, with the ostrich horses they could pack what they had and get the elderly and young to the safety of a village if nothing else.

Still, Zhu shuddered, looking at the flames in both horror and longing, feeling them at the edge of his awareness like some kind of sixth sense. His heart was in his throat though, and he winced at the noise of the camp around him, the bandits making off with what they could, and the performers and porters shouting in confusion and chaos as they tried to save their lively hood. Biting his lip, he sheathed his swords, and looked down at his bare hands, taking a deep breath. It was something Lady Ursa had shown him when he first threw sparks… something he hadn't even attempted since the Fire Lord had seared him.

Closing his eyes, Zhu reached out with that sixth sense, feeling the fire around him, and he stepped, breathing out and pressing his hands down, willing the flames to go down, to die and leave the tents intact. He didn't open his eyes, and he felt ridiculous and stupid doing this, but he could have sworn he felt the flames waver and dip, the fire dimming even though it had plenty of fuel. Again he stepped, his body twisting as his hands pushed down, his breath exhaling and sweat beading on his head from the heat and unfamiliar sense of strain.

He pushed the fire down, banking it, trying to put it out, and he didn't hear the incredulous shouts around him. Zhu didn't open his eyes until he stumbled, the last bit of fire slipping out of his control, even as his knees buckled and he found himself sprawled in the dirt. There were lots of eyes on him, even as he groaned, his head hurting like hell. Then he heard the whispers, and he winced, looking up in fear.

"Firebender… freak… adopted… betrayal.. liar…"

"No… no I… I'm not…" He started, his voice shaking as he looked at familiar faces twisted by anger and hatred.

"How… how could you lie.." The voice belonged to Lu, who had pushed his way to the front of the crowd of people circling Zhu. "You're one of them… I knew your eyes were funny… but you're just like those bastards who killed mom…"

"No… Lu I'm not… I didn't want… I was trying to help you!" Zhu stuttered, before a red rage took him and he shouted at them. "Would you rather the tents burned to the ground? All our supplies with them?"

"It doesn't matter… you're a lying firebender bastard!" Lu shouted, angry tears rolling down his face, and Zhu stood stunned even as the whispers stopped cold.

"Zhu… I… I don't regret finding you… but if its all the same… I think your time with us is done." Meiran, Xing's mother, stated, also pushing her way to the front of the crowd, the earth kingdom healer placing her hand on her grandsons shoulder. "It would be best… for all of us, if you took yourself out of our camp now…" She stated, green eyes hard as she glared at the seared fosterling she had once helped nurse back to health.

"Why… why won't you listen." Zhu shouted, his fists punching down, and the flames that puffed forward startling him more than anyone else. Horror crossed his features as he realized that the fire had come from him, and he looked at his own hands like they belonged to another.

"Zhu… leave." Merian stated, her voice hard and implacable, and Zhu looked up with sorrow, and fear, before turning and running, the circle of onlookers parting before him as he ran away from the camp and into the woods. He didn't stop until he could run no more, and as he stumbled and fell over the protruding roots of one of the great trees, he curled in on himself, sobbing with so many emotions that it felt like they would swallow him whole, betrayal and anger first in his heart, with sorrow and fear rolling like a turbulent sea buried deeper and more solidly rooted.

XXX

By the time the morning had rolled around, Zhu had curled against the base of one of the great oaks of the forest, having fallen into a fitful sleep. He stared listlessly up at the leaves as he woke, wondering what he would do now. He probably knew enough to survive on his own, but he was only thirteen… still just a child in the eyes of any. Still… it would do him no good to waste away here, and he needed to find water and breakfast somewhere since he definitely didn't want to die.

Growling , Zhu pulled himself to his feet, listening hard for a moment before hearing the gentle trickle of water and heading that direction. He was still staring at the water a few hours later as he heard someone approaching him through the underbrush. He quickly turned, his hands pulling the dull practice swords from their sheath, still miraculously on his back, as he faced toward the threat.

"There you are lad… thought I had lost your for a while there…" Xin said, stopping and grabbing his knees as he panted for breath. There was a large pack on his shoulders, a nicer set of Dao strapped over his own shoulders. "You gave us all quite a scare last night, pulling that little trick with the fires… or so my mother said." The older man grinned, much to Zhu's confusion, straightening up and shrugging out of his pack.

"What do you mean? I… I almost…" Zhu's throat closed, the Dao dropping from nerveless fingers as he collapsed to his backside on the bank of the stream.

"Almost burned more than the bandits, if mother's description of your temper was accurate." Xing said, a somber look in his eyes, even as he grinned and shook his head. "You're lucky though… Everyone was more shell shocked at what you did, otherwise the results could have been much uglier."

"I'm sorry…" Zhu said, feeling like he was the size of the smallest ant as he heard the disappointed tone in Xing's voice. "I.. I didn't mean to… I just wanted to help…"

"I know lad… you're not a bad kid, just…" the man shook his head, running a hand through his grey peppered hair. "And you did help, for all it counts. Most of the props were saved, most of our belongings… we're going to be short a few tents and some props, but the bandits didn't get much and we've got our lives still."

"Can… Can I come back? I promise I'll never… I'll never firebend again." Zhu asked, hopeful, eager and pleading.

"No." Xing's single word crushed Zhu's fledging hope, and made the young firebender flinch. "Mother spoke to me at great length, and no one will be comfortable knowing you're a bender in the camp, completely untrained. It would be cruel to force you to forsake bending just to live with us, and it wouldn't work. Benders and their element… well… lets just say that there's a reason we don't take benders under sixteen in the troupe."

Zhu flinched more, all too aware that even some of the earthbenders could cause trouble when they got riled up. "So… I'm on my own now…." He stated, shell shocked.

"Hells no..." Xing said, and Zhu looked up startled. "Doesn't mean you can't ever come back, only that you need training before we can keep you. Would help even more if this blasted war were over, but that's not happening any time soon." Xing said, digging in the pack and pulling out the blue mask of their newest performances' main star. "This is for you. Pao wrote the part with getting you past army patrols in mind." He stated, handing the mask over, the long silver wig attached to it spilling wildly over his arms. "I've got food for a week in the pack, and some decent Dao to defend yourself with as you look for some way to learn what you know. Way I figure it, you can either head to the fire nation colonies, or further inland and take your chances with the bandits and try to learn from them."

Zhu looked up at Xing in confusion, his mind absorbing the words but not really hearing them. "But… I…"

"Do what you feel is best for now. You can't come with us, and the earth kingdom patrols might be a bit hard on a boy… no, a young man with eyes like yours. That pure gold tone… well, it was a wonder we didn't realize before what you were." Zhu flinched at Xing's words, looking down in embarrassment, even as he finally accepted the blue mask that had fascinated him for the last few months. "Well… I'll be leaving you to it, Zhu. I've got to be getting back before mother sends out a search party." The man said jovialy, and Zhu looked up in confusion as the man walked away.

"Zuko… Zuko Son of Ursa…" He called out, feeling that Xing at least had the right to know. "That's… that was the name I had before."

"Zuko… it suits you… but I like Zhu better." Xing said, grinning over his shoulder before walking away, not wanting to linger any more than he had to. "I look forward to hearing about your explots, Zhu... the Blue Spirit."

xxxx

AN: Okay, so I know exactly where I'm going with this. Well.. mostly. In our next installment, 'Zhu' meets up with Jet and the freedom fighters after assuming the roll of the blue spirit. Also, i'm going to try to work out whats happening with Iroh since he's pretty important to the plot. Later after that we'll get Aang, Katara and Soka in the mix since yea, I look forward to plotting out their interactions with the 'new' zuko.

About 'zhu's' personality, I imagine that if Zuko didn't feel he had to constantly compete with Azula for Ozai's attention, or if he didn't have to constantly push to prove himself, he would be a much calmer person. With a stable fatherly influence in Xing, and a 'younger brother' in Lu, I feel he would have stablized. I skipped over the worst of his bratty time adjusting to no longer being a prince but I may edit it in later if i get good inspiration for it. And he was a temper tantrum brat when he first started traveling with the Troupe, believe that. With Jet and the freedom fighters less than stable influence, he's going to get bratty again before the Gaang show up.

Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Also, if anyone is willing to Beta, please message me, help would be appreciated since i'm going to be touching on cannon soon.