I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender; if I did you would find this in a bookstore

Zuko dreamed of darkness and nothing but darkness.

He stood in a cold expanse where no light existed. His shouts for help fell silent as soon as they left his mouth. He wondered if he had died and this was some special hell just for firebenders, a place devoid of any form of fire.

Then he noticed something.

The darkness was…flickering…

…like a fire….

Black flames?

Shape, a blue shape, appeared in the distance. Zuko wondered if such a thing mundane as distance existed here.

It was getting closer.

It was moving faster.

He would make out white horns.

Then he saw the gaping mouth, full of teeth and fangs.

Zuko awoke with a start and immediately regretted it. He wrapped an arm protectively around his aching and bandaged ribs. His jaw still felt a little swollen. And he was very tired. Not that he wanted to return to those dreams. A shiver ran down his spine. There was something there.

He shook his head.

It was dark in the room, but thankfully the scarred teen could make out the moon and stars through the windows. He had never been more grateful for starlight. He was on a bedroll and his bare chest was swaddled in bandages. A rather foul odor permeated from the wrappings, probably some local medicine. He hesitantly checked under the sheet.

Yep, he still had pants.

His eyes wandering the room, he noticed that he was not alone. His uncle sat as sleep leaning against a wall. The old man's face was contorted in something akin to pain and fear. Zuko wondered if he was dreaming of his beloved Lu Ten. The young man said a quick prayer for cousin and promised his uncle a new tin of tea leaves.

The other person was far more surprising. Katara. She was probably sitting up and one point, but had slid down to the floor. She had curled into a ball and was quietly sleeping. Zuko thought she looked cold. A rather odd thing that a girl from the South Pole would be cold here. Maybe she just missed her heavy furs.

Carefully, and with a fair bit of wincing, he stood up. The young man wrapped his blanket around the young girl. She accepted it with an undecipherable mumble. Zuko smiled and returned to his bedroll. He quickly fell back to sleep, hoping for better dreams.

The next time Zuko woke it was to the sound of voices.

"…Of asking the warriors, I mean I felt so useless without my bending water."

"A very wise idea, unlike earth and airbenders, a waterbender may not always be surrounded by their element. And depending only on one skill can make one in very blind in many respects."

"Don't forget firebenders," She giggles, "Imagine if all firebenders had to carry around a little lantern!"

His uncle joined in the fun, "Or spark rocks!"

They both turned to the injured teen as he started laughing himself. In a raspy voice he said, "That was certainly ruin my father's idea of fire being the superior element." Two matching grins looked down at him.

"That it certainly would nephew," Iroh said as he helped Zuko sit up.

"What happened?" the scarred teen asked.

"You should have seen Uncle Iroh," Katara began. "He walked right up to mutton chops and told him to basically go screw himself."

"Katara!" his uncle exclaimed, "Such language is unbecoming a young lady."

The young lady ignored him. "Of course the bastard refused. Uncle had him running away in less than a minute!"

Zuko turned to the older man, "She calls you uncle?"

Iroh did his best to look embarrassed, "You know how much I hate formality, Nephew."

The teen waved off any further comment, "How is everyone else?"

The water tribe girl answered again, "Everyone made it. Other than a few burns, yours were the worst injuries." She did know quite how to respond to his scowl.

Iroh did, "Katara, would you mind if I spoke with my nephew?"

She caught on, "Not at all, I wanted to talk to Suki anyways. I will visit you later, Zuko."

Katara left the room with a wave. One Zuko happily returned. His uncle looked at him smugly. Then the teen looked back at him with his usual glare. The older man tried not to laugh as he said, "I am merely glad you are talking a healthy interest in pretty girls." Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully, "I was being to wonder if your tastes lie elsewhere..."

After a moment trying to process that last sentence, the young man turned a shade of red to make a tomato proud. "Uncle!"

Iroh's face turned serious, "There is no shame to your loss to Zhao."

Zuko snorted, "He beat me without even trying."

"On the contrary, one of the reasons I had such an easy time defeating him, was the beating you gave him. You may have lost, but he did get away unharmed."

Zuko said nothing, just looked down and away. His jaw and fists clenched. The temperature in the room maybe have a raised a few degrees. His uncle continued.

"Zhao is a more experienced, stronger fighter with a greater reach and many more men."

This was all the young man could take. He turned towards his uncle and shouted, "They died because of me!"

Iroh's resolve wilted. It hurt to see he pain in his nephew's eyes. For moment, he wondered if he would cry. But no, the teen would never allow himself to cry. His father made sure of it.

He gentled wrapped his arms around Zuko and said, "They died for you, my dear prince." Zuko choked back a sob and held onto his uncle for dear life.

Zuko was more than a little uncomfortable as he made his way to the communal dining. He felt out of place, to say the least. It was not as if he was being mistreated. On the contrary, the residents of Kyoshi had been very friendly towards him and his uncle since the battle. It was odd being praised for losing…or "almost wining" as Iroh put it the other day. Or maybe it was the praise itself the bothered the former prince. He was rarely allowed to leave the palace during his time in the Fire Nation, and there was no praise to be had there.

Now he was invited to a dinner celebrating the defeat of his people, a defeat he had a hand in. It was all very confusing.

Not only that but he was busy trying to recall all of his etiquette lessons he had no use for over the past three years. Then he wondered how different the customs would be, he was in a different country after all. His Fire Nation customs might offend and confuse the locals. Then again he didn't even know how formal the event was even to be. Iroh had left early to help with the tea, so he couldn't ask him.

This left the befuddled teen standing outside the building wondering what to do next. He might have stayed their all night if an arrow-tattooed head hadn't poked out the door.

"Zuko! What are you doing out there? The party is in here! Flame-Yo Hotman!"

Taken aback, Zuko stared at the monk. He was trying very hard to understand just what it was Aang said. Flame-yo? Hotman? Evidently he was talking too long to decide, the boy sort of jump-glided over to the teen. Aang quickly grabbed him before he could protest and dragged him inside. Zuko might have wondered why they were going so fast if he still wasn't stuck on flame-yo.

Aang seated the older boy between him and Katara. Across from him was his uncle. Finding his usual source for advice, Zuko asked the first question that came to his mind. "Uncle what is a Flame-yo?"

The older man stared blankly for a moment than laughed a deep belly laugh. After a few moments of confused looks from the others, Iroh answered, "My great-uncle used to talk like that. It is a vernacular the Fire Nation hasn't used in a very long time."

Aang blushed and looked away. He mumbled something about Kuzon always talking like that. Zuko was again struck with the oddity of the situation. He went off on his exile expecting a glorious battle with a hundred plus avatar. Instead, a twelve year old had spent that century trapped in ice. The teen wondered what kept the boy alive. Zuko also mused that while he was an exile from his country; Aang was an exile out of time.

Neither could go home.

"Here try some of these." Zuko was broken out of his moody thoughts as Katara offered him a plate of what he assumed was sushi. He smiled appropriately and put a few his plate. After a few experimentally prods, he stuffed one in his mouth. It somehow managed to be chewy, spicy and salty all at the same time. Zuko tried to smile with his mouth as Katara looked expectantly.

"It actually isn't that different from a Water Tribe recipe Gran-Gran taught me. The chef even helped me cook it!"

As Zuko looked away and attempted to swallow, Aang leaned in. "Don't worry, you should have seen the chef. I think he was considering seppuku," he whispered.

The teen choked briefly as he was caught between swallowing and laughing. Glancing as best he could out of his damaged eye; he noticed that said girl did not look pleased. He decided that his new friends were going to be the death of him.

Any further potentially fatally conversations were interrupted by the opening of a door. A reverent silence fell over the room. Thankfully, Iroh had informed him that is was customary for the Head of Kyoshi to arrive late. And true to form Daisuke Kyoshi was approaching.

Daisuke was an old man, nearly as old as Azulon was when he died. Unlike the previous Fire Lord, his appearance belied his age. He carried himself regally, in slow but strong measured steps. Zuko was experienced enough to know that his movements told of skilled warrior not had not lost his edge. Sharp eyes scanned the faces of the room, stopping only briefly at the two firebenders. Respect and loyalty, the former prince knew, was gladly given to this man.

Zuko could understand why.

After sitting down with the grace befitting a man half his age, Daisuke spoke, "Welcome, we come here today to celebrate not only a victory and successful defense of your home, but new friends," He gestured to Aang, who seemed suddenly meek. "The Avatar returned to us after a hundred years of waiting."

Turning his attention to the Water Tribe siblings, he continued, "And our long lost cousins to the south, Katara and Sokka. My grandmother was Water Tribe actually." He said the last with a grin, and the crowd returned the favor chuckles. The two in question didn't seem to know what to do and laughed nervously along.

Finally the leader turned to Iroh and Zuko. "And last but not least, we have two men here who without need nor asking helped to defend our home. Two Firebenders. I honor them all as welcome guests and friends of Kyoshi Island."

He took a long drink of sake, then his voice turned somber and hard, "Bear Witness!" He spread his hands towards Aang and the others, "Members of all Four Nations, working together. Witness the hope of the world." The room erupted in applause and cheers.

Zuko wasn't truly aware of the end of the speech, the crowd or Daisuke calling on the Kyoshi Warriors for a demonstration. He was too consumed by the stone sinking into his gut. On it was written, "The hope of the world."

Zuko sat upon one of the many bluffs that made up the coasts of Kyoshi Island. He was far enough from the village that is quiet. Only the stars and crackling of fire kept the prince company. It was a massive fire, nearly tall as man. The teen was covered in twigs and leaves from the many pieces of wood he collected to make. He even asked his uncle to allow to complete this task himself. The fire burned bright and barely wavered in the ocean breeze.

He recited prayers in a language know only to the Fire Sages and the royal family.

This was when Katara crept quietly out of the forest and asked of him, "Zuko? What are you doing up here?" She hoped she didn't sound like she was accusing him.

Standing to face, he explained, "Members of the Fire Nations are to be burned so that their ashes may fly to Angi." A bitter look crossed his face, "For men lost at sea we light a pyre in effigy. And we pray for Agni to find them in the dark."

Katara thought of explaining how the Water Tribe was buried at sea, in arms of Tui. She decided against it. "I am sorry what happened to your men. It was kind of them to let us go."

Zuko's fists clenched and he turned back to stare into the flames.

Biting her lip, she continued, "You should come with us. You and Iroh can be a great help in defeating the Fire Nation."

"No."

She blinked in surprise at the quick negative response, "But I thought…"

Zuko whirled back to her, "I fought them because, they killed my men, were behaving dishonorably, and were trying to kill me."

The girls face hardened and eyes filled with anger. "Wait, so your nation banishes you and tries to kill you and you are going to do…nothing?"

Trying to calm himself, he stated, "I will not fight against my father."

She stomped her foot, "How can you say that? Can't see what the Fire Nation is doing to this world!"

"I am Fire Nation. I am a loyal son!"

"The Fire Nation is evil! It doesn't deserve any loyalty! They attacked the rest of the world. They destroyed all of Aang's people. And they killed my mother!"

A part of Zuko wept at the confirmation of his fears of fate of Katara's mother. Buried in his confusion, pain, and anger, Zuko did not hear that part of his mind speak. So he said, "Oh!" He jabbed a finger that her necklace, "Because we hurt you, your hate is justified. How many people do you think died in this Angi-forsaken war? On both sides! Should you able to bury my nation beneath the waves to avenge your mother! Then Uncle can burn Ba Sing Se to ashes for Lu Ten!"

Katara stood there, shocked, guilty and hurting. Zuko took this as a chance to continue, "Is that your grand hope? The hope of the world? To murder my people to avenge your own?"

There was a sudden crack and Zuko felt a stinging pain in his cheek.

He ignored her tears and went back to his vigil. Without look back he spat out, "Go away."

There was a sniff, a sob, and the sound of feet running down the hill.

The flames roared higher as the prince screamed. He felt terrible as he contemplated the death of his man, his exile, and aspirations of these people to send a son to fight his father. Now he felt worse.

Author's note: Thanks for reading!