Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the song "Turning" from Les Miserables, lyrics by Alain Boublil, English translation by Herbert Kretzmer.

Author's Note: This was a request made quite some time ago by Snows Of Yester-Year. It just took me this long to really conceive of an idea to make it work. It takes place shortly before Zuko Alone, possibly during The Blind Bandit. These episodes don't exactly make it clear how time is flowing for Zuko in relation to the other characters. It's a rather dark look at Zuko seeing how common people are affected by the war.

Turning

Did you see them going off to fight?
Children of the barricade
Who didn't last the night?

Zuko plodded along on his own, his only company the ostrich-horse he rode. He was accustomed to not speaking much, but he found that he already missed his uncle's voice. Only in the old man's absence did it occur to Zuko that perhaps he should have valued his advice more.

Seeing a village up ahead, Zuko decided to stop off for some food. He hadn't taken much money with him, but he hoped it would be enough for a meal. As dangerous as it might be to go to a populated place, he didn't have much choice. He was hungry, and wilderness survival had never been part of his training.

Almost as soon as he entered, though, Zuko wondered if he'd made a mistake. Many buildings were destroyed, and dead and wounded forms lay in the road, some with women bending over them, others still awaiting loved ones to claim them.

"What happened here?" he asked generally. The question was purely for show, of course. Zuko easily recognized the charred signs left by firebenders.

Did you see them lying where they died?
Someone used to cradle them
And kiss them when they cried.
Did you see them lying side by side?

"Fire Nation attack," a middle-aged woman answered shortly. "They came in the night." She was struggling with the body of a young boy. Zuko dismounted, perfunctorily looped the reins around a railing, and helped the woman carry the youth into a house that stood relatively undamaged.

"Where are they now?" Zuko asked, laying the boy down on a pallet.

"They've moved on," the woman replied, waving vaguely to the north. Zuko made a mental note to avoid that direction. "They probably figured we're broken enough after that, they didn't need to leave anyone to watch us." Looking at her resigned posture, Zuko surmised that they had been right.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" he tried, after an extended silence. He was really looking for a way to leave that wouldn't seem too abrupt. The woman glanced at him in mild surprise, as though she had forgotten he was there.

"You look about his age," she remarked. "This is my youngest son, my baby. They're all someone's baby, though, aren't they?"

Who will wake them?
No one ever will.
No one ever told them
That a summer day can kill.

"Uh, yes, I guess," Zuko responded, now feeling distinctly awkward.

"He looks like he's sleeping," said the woman quietly, sinking into a chair. "But he won't wake up again. Just like his father and oldest brother. I only have one son left, and he's off fighting in the war, too." Suddenly, she looked up, holding Zuko's gaze hauntingly with hers. "Promise he'll come back to me!"

"I – I – " What could Zuko say? Although a part of him wanted to reassure the poor mother, he knew his people too well to make such a promise. Even after all he'd done, his word still meant something to him. He wouldn't be an habitual liar like Azula. "I have to go," he said instead, retreating back outdoors.

Once on the street again, he saw that most of the fallen had been retrieved. Their relatives and friends didn't cry. Their faces seemed to have the same half-dead look in them that he'd noticed in the woman he'd helped. It was almost like they were too tired to grieve.

They were schoolboys, never held a gun…
Fighting for a new world that would rise up like the sun.
Where's that new world,
Now the fighting's done?

For the rest of that day and much of the next, Zuko offered his help to the villagers, helping them rebuild in exchange for what little food they could spare and a little grain for his beast. He didn't really know his way around tools, but they needed a strong body, and he could give them that. He was rapidly learning that being raised to rule a nation didn't exactly prepare a person for the practical necessities of life.

"Serves them right," announced an old man at one point, sitting on a rough stone bench across from where Zuko was working. "Bunch of idealistic kids, not knowing what they were getting into."

"That's a horrible thing to say!" rejoined a young woman from another building. Clearly pregnant, she was trying rather ineffectually to sweep debris from her porch. "At least they were trying to make a difference. There's little enough of that these days."

"Hmph," the old man snorted. "And what did it get them? Are we any better off?" The woman frowned but fell silent. After a moment, she invited Zuko to take a break and have a cold drink, both of which he gratefully accepted.

Nothing changes. Nothing ever will.
Every year another brat,
Another mouth to fill.

"Of course, old Teng has a point," she conceded, sitting herself gingerly beside him. Zuko noted that her face, in contrast to her fellow citizens, still seemed to have a little hope in it. Maybe it was impending motherhood that gave her something else to focus on.

"What do you mean?" he asked politely.

"These kids and very young men…they were getting together with some boys from other villages, trying to put together a resistance movement. The Fire Nation garrison a few towns over must have got word of it. They made a valiant stand, but…" she trailed off and sighed. "Do you think this war will ever end?"

"I don't know," Zuko responded honestly. The woman stroked absently at her swollen belly.

"My husband's a soldier. Sometimes I wonder if he'll ever see this child."

"The war's broken up a lot of families." Zuko was thinking of his grandfather's sudden death, his mother's disappearance, and his estrangement from his father and sister.

Same old story. What's the use of tears?
What's the use of praying
If there's nobody who hears?
Turning turning turning turning
Turning through the years.

"They've hurt you, too, I see," commented the woman suddenly, eyeing the left side of Zuko's face and startling him from his ruminations.

"I…yes," he managed, reminded uncomfortably of Song. It was bad enough that her ostrich-horse was always with him, standing in mute accusation, but to have this woman echo the words she'd said…. He wasn't sure he would ever reconcile himself to the incongruity of Song's kindness and the way he had repaid it.

"I guess we only have the Avatar to look to now."

"Have you heard anything about him recently?" asked Zuko, hoping he didn't seem too eager for news. It was possible that his uncle was right, and catching the Avatar wouldn't help him now, but he had to try. He wasn't one to give up, as his mother had pointed out long ago.

"He was seen in Omashu, but that might have been weeks ago. It can take a while for rumors to get out here."

Zuko nodded, and then stood up and returned to work.

Turning, turning, turning through the years.
Minutes into hours, and the hours into years.
Nothing changes. Nothing ever can.
Round about the roundabout,
And back where you began.
Round and round and back where you began!

All in all, Zuko was glad to leave this somber place behind him. He had enough misery and conflict of his own to deal with without having to witness the suffering of others. Besides, the mothers he'd met here reminded him too much of the one he'd lost while he was still a child. Memories of her flooded his thoughts as he continued on into the sunset.

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: I'm not sure how you think this turned out, but I believe it's better than I originally expected, if that makes any sense. I've started on another chapter, so I might have that done before the new season starts!

Review responses:

Aangs fangirl1214: Yes, I always like the stories where I can write a boy being clueless, but the audience knows exactly what's going on. Glad you've caught up!

Billeh: I've read recently that Aang's personality will be a bit different, and I can see him being more willing to grasp for what he wants after nearly dying. Just my take on it.

libowiekitty: Thanks for the review on the last chapter. I understand about Wedding Night. It's not for everyone, though the teenage boys in particular seemed to enjoy it.:-

Wishing Only Wounds the Heart: You know, looking back through my older reviews, I'm realizing that you've made a lot of suggestions, and I'm starting to lose track of which is which. I've found I Know Where I've Been. I think your recent review referenced Legally Blonde? I'll look there because I think the usual site I go to didn't have the lyrics for that show yet.

joehalo15: Yeah, I just wanted to leave the others pretty well out of that last chapter. Besides, Sokka wasn't unaffected by seeing Aang, well, dead. I think he would tone down the big-brother stuff at this point.

Kumori Doragon: I am afraid that they'll hold this off until the end, and it's possibly the one thing I'm disappointed in the creators for. It would have been so great to have the Kataang confession at the beginning of the season and develop the relationship (and everyone's response to it) over the remaining episodes, kind of like I did with Destiny's Call. I mean, it would let them sort of get that issue out of the way so they could focus on Aang preparing to face the Fire Lord, you know?

Kimba616: I'm beginning to think we will never know if they kissed or not. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it, which was why I described it the way I did. I've given my theory before.

Justcallmewolfy: I know; I've written a whole bunch of confession scenes myself, at least three post-season 2, and it gets difficult to keep coming up with original ideas for it. Part of me just wants them to get it over with in the show already so that I can write other aspects of their relationship!