Book 1: Water

Another heads up guys, you may have noticed Zuko's a little OOC, for which I apologise.

But it's not really going to stop, sorry. :(

He's harder to keep in character then I thought, so I'm chalking it up to having had Rhian around for the last few years, with her persistent habit of fighting with and caring about him. So, that's why he acts a bit differently towards her. Sort of. I'm making excuses. Just ignore me. :)

(This chapter's really lazy writing on my part…)

Here we go!

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Book 1: Chapter 2

Zuko grabbed Rhian's arm as he stalked away to get ready, pulling her along.

"Come on, we need to get our armour."

"I'm coming, you don't need to pull me, thank you." She said, gently pulling her arm from his grip.

"Just hurry up. We'll be there soon." He called back at her.

"Do I have to wear the helmet?!" she yelled after him.

"Yes!" Came the reply and she groaned. She hated that helmet.
With a grin, she ran off to her room. Her armour was similar to Zuko's, except hers didn't have the bulky shoulder pads and collar or the flaps around the legs. It was more of a sleeveless covering that stopped at her hips, over the grey shirt and pants that tucked under the forearm coverings and high boots. On the men, the belt held the armour to the skin for better protection and movement but on her it pulled everything a little tighter then she'd like, so she wore hers a bit looser so it just sat on her hips. Her hated helmet was actually Zuko's spare one, so it didn't have that ridiculous face plate. She'd refused to have one fitted, but Iroh and Zuko agreed that if she was going to have armour, learn to fight and go into dangerous situations, then she had to have a helmet too.

Once she was ready and her helmet under her arm, she hurried to the front of the ship. Zuko was there already, armour donned and helmet on, waiting for the bay to open and his little invasion to begin. She took her place to his left and he glanced at her.

"Helmet on, Rhian." He snapped.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." She said, slipping the metal contraption over her head, muttering, "Cursed thing."

Zuko sighed, like dealing with her was some kind of chore. She stuck out her tongue at him. Then the bay was lowering and Zuko strode forward, followed closely by her and the soldier to his right.

The sun on the snow was blinding for a few moments and by the time her eyes had adjusted, a boy from the village, face covered in war paint, had rushed them and Zuko had already kicked him off the edge of the ramp and face first into the snow. Rhian winced in sympathy, but kept walking. The village was tiny. She was sure even their ship was bigger then it! It seemed like every inhabitant was grouped in front of them, all women, children and the elderly. More victims of war, Rhian mused sadly.

She stood back with the rest of the soldiers as Zuko paced in front of the villagers, looking at each one in turn.

"Where are you hiding him?" he demanded.

No one answered. They all looked so scared. Suddenly, Zuko shot his hand out, snatching an elderly woman from the group. Everyone gasped and flinched at the movement, particularly the young girl whose arms he'd snatched the woman from. Rhian couldn't blame her there. None of this sat right with her. They were all so terrified.

"He'd be about this age." He said, shaking the woman slighting. "Master of all elements?"

No one said anything, and Zuko pushed the woman back to the girl. Rhian caught her eye and tried to look encouraging. Tried to send the message that they weren't here to hurt anyone. They just wanted the Avatar. The girl just looked back at her, somehow managing to glare while still looking terrified, so Rhian looked away.

With a grunt, Zuko sent a wave of fire over their heads and everyone flinched away again, gasping or whimpering. "I know you're hiding him!"
Jeeze, he was in full intimidation mode today, she thought as she crossed her arms.

A loud yelling came from behind them and Rhian spun to see the boy from before, most of the paint washed off his face, running at Zuko and swinging a water tribe battle club. Whipping the helmet off her head for a better look, she went to take a step forward, stopping when the soldier next to her put his hand on her arm.
Zuko ducked the club and flipped the boy over his head landing him on his butt in the snow, having just enough time to dodge the flame Zuko sent his way. Rolling to his knees, the water tribe boy, threw his boomerang at Zuko, who lent back just in time to dodge it.
He wasn't bad, this kid, Rhian thought, poking her discarded helmet with her foot. When she looked up, she noticed the water tribe girl staring at her, eyes wide. Rhian smiled regretfully and gave a small wave.

"Show no fear." Said one of the tiny little boys, passing a spear to the teenager facing Zuko. He rushed the fire prince, spear head first. Zuko broke the spear with his forearms, grabbing the end of it and poking the boy in the head three times, knocking him over. Breaking the remaining stick in half, he threw the pieces to the ground.
Rhian giggled behind her hand. But it was when the boomerang returned, colliding with the back of Zuko's helmet that Rhian let out a strangled laugh, slapping her hand across her mouth.
Zuko was less amused. Growling darkly, he made a fire dagger in each fist, ready to attack the boy properly, when suddenly he was knocked off his feet from behind. He flew up into the air and landed face down in the snow, hindquarters stuck up. His knocked off helmet fell back down to earth, landing on his upturned butt, spinning on the spot. That was defiantly going to bruise later.

She couldn't help it and started giggling in earnest, waving off the solider who tried to quiet her. Zuko shot her a glare of pure fury and she bit her lip, trying to muffle her laughter, and waved a hand at him.
I'm sorry, continue what you were doing. She tried to say.

It turns out, the blur of black, white and tan that had knocked Zuko's feet from under him was… a kid with an arrow on his head, riding a penguin… Yeah, she lost it. Throwing both hands over her mouth, she tried desperately to stop laughing, her knees getting weak.

Almost snootily, the penguin threw the kid off its back and waddled away. Arrow-head didn't seem concerned and just smiled happily at the water tribe teenagers.

"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka." He said without getting up.

"Hi… Aang." Said the water tribe boy, Sokka, she guessed. "Thanks for coming." He didn't sound very impressed with arrow-head. Rhian didn't know why. She was pretty impressed with him. Not everybody rode a penguin to knock over the Fire Prince, then looked so unconcerned about it.

Zuko got to his feet and gestured to the men, taking a firebending stance. Sighing, Rhian stalked forward with the other soldiers, moving in on Aang. The kid took a stance of his own, looking around at them.
Lashing out with his staff, he sent a wave of snow at them. With a gasp of surprise, Rhian managed to part the snow, pushing it down and around her instead. The men weren't so lucky. Zuko, too, got a face full of the snow, though it melted as she watched. Firebending.

"Looking for me?" Aang said.

"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko asked, incredulous.

So was Rhian. He was the Avatar?! But, the Avatar was supposed to be an old man! Someone who'd lived his life, not a little kid! That couldn't be right!

Zuko and Aang began to circle each other, looking for an opening.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter." Zuko said, bitterly. "Training. Meditating. You're just a child!"

The airbender looked taken aback. "Well, you're just a teenager." He reasoned.

Snarling, Zuko started throwing flame after flame at the boy. Aang spun his staff, spinning off wave after wave of fire. Fire that moved towards the villagers where they cringed back. Aang looked back at them and threw off the last flame, holding the staff still.

"If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" He said.

Zuko paused, glancing at Rhian, like an involuntary motion, but she didn't see. She was watching Aang, dumbstruck. He was just a kid, but he offered to go with soldiers he'd never met, who probably wanted to hurt him, in order to save this village and these people. There wasn't any need for anyone to get hurt. She looked at Zuko. It was in his hands.

Stepping out of his stance, Zuko nodded and two soldiers moved behind the airbender, pushing him forward lightly. Turning, they all headed back to the bay ramp, Zuko stalking up before everyone else.

"No, Aang, don't so this." Katara cried.

"Don't worry, Katara, it'll be okay." Aang said, reassuringly.

Rhian wasn't as sure about that as she followed them up the ramp.

"Take care of Apa for me until I get back."
If he came back. Nobody said it, but Rhian was sure thinking it. He was just a little kid…

"Head a course to the Fire Nation!" Zuko yelled. "I'm going home."

Home… Right.
That was that, Rhian guessed. As the bay ramp closed, she caught the eye of the water tribe boy, Sokka, and waved. He didn't wave back.

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