Author's Note:

Zuko

A beam of blue light lit up the sky and for a moment Zuko felt a surge of desperate hope. Something like that could only be spirit related. The Avatar! But then the world tilted on its head.

A strangled gasp escaped the banished prince and he dropped to his hands and knees, one hand coming up to clutch his chest. He could hear his uncle's voice calling his name in alarm, but he had a hard time processing it. What was going on? Why didn't he hurt anymore? He desperately searches his last memories even as he feels his uncle's hands touch is back and shoulders in concern. He'd been fighting Azula. He'd been shot with her lightning while protecting Katara. He...he was pretty sure he died. He looked up at his uncle's worried face. Was this the Spirit World? But that would mean that Iroh had died too. That thought made his heart clench

"Uncle, where are we?" he managed to bring himself to ask "What happened?" There was a flash of concerned alarm on his uncle's face at that before the older man replied.

"We're near the South Pole, Prince Zuko," Iroh's tone was low and soothing "There was some sort of flash of light and you collapsed. Are you feeling well?" No, in all honesty, Zuko wasn't feeling well. He was really confused. The South Pole? Flash of light? That was how he first met Aang. He forced himself to straighten some, looking out at the water. Had he come back in time somehow? Or been granted a vision of a possible future? He didn't understand any of this. But on the off chance that this was all real he was going to make it count. He had wasted too much time last go around. He wouldn't do it now. So he forced himself to take a steadying breath and slowly let it out.

"I'm alright Uncle," he told the one man who would actually care "I'm sorry for worrying you." There was a flash of surprise on Iroh's face that honestly made Zuko feel awful. Had he been that much of a jerk that him apologizing caught his uncle by surprise? Nevermind, he already knew the answer. Refocusing, he let out a slow breath "Can you please have the crew set a course for that light?" He paused with a small frown "I'm going to go to my room for a bit. I need to sit down." Iroh really looked concerned now, but he nodded.

"Of course Prince Zuko," he agreed, moving to stand as Zuko did, keeping a hand on Zuko's arm to help steady him. Zuko flashed him a grateful smile and tried not to think too hard about the shock that caused before he turned and went below deck. He needed time to think.

He made it to his room easily enough and shut the door behind him. Taking a slow, deep breath he looked down at his hands. How much of it was real? There was one way to check. Not pausing long enough to overthink things Zuko drew upon his inner fire, upon the spark of life burning inside him, and began going through the Dancing Dragon. He's careful to keep the flames regulated so he doesn't set things on fire, but even then the flames come as easily as they had in the past, er...future? He shook his head as he straightened out of his final stance. He didn't need to draw on anger at all. He let out a slow breath. The muscle memory wasn't there, but the knowledge and skills were. And it worked. So it couldn't be just some sort of fever dream. Before he could think much more on it there was a knock on the door before it opened and his uncle poked his head in.

"Prince Zuko?" he called "May I come in?" Zuko moved to sit on the edge of his bed and nodded.

"Please do," he replied "I don't suppose you have any tea on you. Something to help with a headache?" His uncle looked very concerned at that as he stepped slightly into the room.

"I don't have any on me," his uncle admitted with a frown, which kind of surprised Zuko to be honest "But I'll go get something." With that Iroh turned and was out the door before Zuko could reply. Not that Zuko would have. Having a cup of tea with his uncle would be somewhat calming in this messed up situation. And he really did have a headache. Knowing it wouldn't take his uncle long to get the tea and come back Zuko simply let himself fall sideways onto his bed and close his eyes. He would just rest for a bit until his uncle got back.

As he had expected, it didn't take long for Iroh to get back and there was only a single knock before the door opened. Stifling a groan Zuko opened his eyes to meet his uncle's concerned gaze before pushing himself to a sitting position once more.

"Thank you, Uncle," he did his best to put the gratitude he was feeling into his words as his uncle made his way over with the steaming pot and began pouring two cups, one of which was handed to Zuko without a word. Once they both had a cup Zuko watched as Iroh placed the pot on the small table before grabbing a chair and moving to sit across from him.

"Are you alright, Nephew?" Iroh asked again, his expression creased in clear concern. Zuko took a moment to take a drink of his tea and let the warmth from it soak into him before he met his uncle's eyes and gave the other man a wry smile.

"I am," he replied "Truly. Better than I've been in a while actually." He looked down at his cup and took a moment to contemplate how to explain "I've got...a lot to tell you. And most of it seems impossible, but I swear it's true." He looked back up to meet the old man's gaze, hoping to express his sincerity through his gaze "I don't really have time to explain it all right now."

Iroh was clearly scanning Zuko's expression, for what exactly Zuko wasn't sure, but after several moments he nodded.

"That's fine," Iroh's reassured him "Can you give me a short version?" Zuko paused and frowned thoughtfully.

"A short version..." he mused, fingers tapping against his cup "I'm either having a very vivid dream or my consciousness has traveled back a year in time. The last thing I remember was fighting Azula during Sozin's comet." Iroh visibly startled and Zuko can only give him a wry smile. "I know it's hard to believe. It's hard for me to believe, but so far that's all I've got." He paused before tilting his head "You did meet a pair of Masters named Ran and Shaw, yes?" Iroh is openly gaping now and Zuko laughed slightly "I met them shortly after the next solar eclipse." And didn't that sentence sound insane just in itself. He watched as his uncle gathered himself before letting out a slow breath.

"You met the Masters," it was a statement, one of almost awe "How? Why? Did I take you there?" That one sentence told Zuko that the older man was accepting his statement and he beams for a moment before it falls to a more wry smile.

"No, my firebending stopped working after I turned against my father, which made it rather hard to teach Aang, The Avatar, firebending," Iroh's eyes had gone wide again "So we decided to go check out the Sun Warrior ruins in hopes of learning more about the original firebending. Obviously, we found more than we expected."

"You were teaching The Avatar firebending?" Iroh asks to clarify and Zuko nods with a small, wry laugh.

"Yeah, not quite what I imagined I would be doing with my life, but it was the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do." He turned his eyes up to the ceiling "My father...the Fire Lord...he's completely insane. He was planning to, is planning to, burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground. Like Sozin did the Air Temples. I don't know if he has the plan yet, but that's what he was going to do. Azula had captured Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom was still fighting back, so they decided that burning the whole thing to the ground was the next step." His voice was bitter, he knows it was. And a glance at his uncle told him that Iroh felt as ill about this plan as he had when he first learned about it. He doesn't look shocked though. "Like I said, there's a lot to the story. And I don't really have time to explain it all right now, but I promise, I'll tell you all of it once we have the time to do so." He watched silently as his uncle took another sip of his tea before nodding.

"What is our next step then?" Iroh asked, easily able to gauge that Zuko had at least the beginnings of a plan. After taking another drink of his tea Zuko rolled his shoulders and sat up a little straighter.

"That light came from Aang, that's the name of The Avatar. He's been trapped in an iceberg for the last hundred years and he was just released by a young waterbender named Katara. She's untrained right now, but she's a natural. Just as much of a prodigy as Azula, if not more. She can be an absolute wonder with her water once she gets some training under her belt. Her brother, Sokka, is there too. He's not a bender, but he's a warrior, the only one left in their village. He takes his responsibility very seriously. If things go as they did last time they'll all end up back at the village soon enough. Last time," he grimaced "Last time we barged into their village and threatened them. I wanted them to hand over the Avatar and was willing to frighten them into it. Aang stepped forward and offered himself up to keep them safe, but escaped our ship not long after we left, with the help of Katara and Sokka, who came after him on his flying bison, Appa. I'd rather avoid crashing into their village this time, or threatening them, if at all possible. I don't want to be their enemy." His fingers tapped absently against his cup "It will be hard, they don't trust Fire Nation, for obvious reasons, and they know we're coming. The ash our ship puts out joins with the snow and falls in what they call black snow, so they know a Fire Nation ship is nearby." Zuko paused then, frowning thoughtfully before letting his gaze shift back to his uncle. He was gratified to find that the expression on Iroh's face was that of the powerful general he once had been. The expression of a general thinking through a situation and finding possible plans. So Zuko fell quiet to let him think, taking the time to sip on his tea. He really did have a headache from everything and the tea did help.

"Perhaps we should dock our ship a good distance from the village," Iroh mused thoughtfully "And take a small group to the village. We can still say we are searching for The Avatar since we are, but to offer our services to him rather than capture him? Would he accept that?" Zuko grimaced slightly and lowered his cup.

"Aang might, yeah. He doesn't have anything against the Fire Nation, but Katara and Sokka won't take well to it. And Aang can be...flighty. So it might take a little bit of convincing to get him to agree to let us teach him, not because he doesn't want help, but because he'd rather spend time goofing off. We'll probably have to tell him about Sozin's comet and what I suspect the Fire Lord is going to do during it. He's a good kid, he just needs a reason to focus." Iroh blinked and frowned slightly.

"You say kid..." He trailed off, clearly fishing for an answer and Zuko can only grimace.

"Aang is twelve," he replied, hating the fact for what it was. He can see his own distress mirrored in his uncle's expression before Iroh grows more somber.

"A heavy burden for one so young," he says sadly and Zuko can't help but sigh and nod his agreement. They both fall quiet for a time before Iroh finished his tea and stood up "I will go inform the crew of our destination. When we land the two of us can make our way on foot. I believe that we should be able to handle any opposition we face. Especially since you mentioned they only have one warrior at the moment. Zuko nodded his agreement.

"It's just Sokka. He's good, but he's untrained. He'll be a great warrior one day, but he isn't yet." Iroh nodded his understanding before turning and heading out the door.

An hour or so later found Zuko and Iroh making their way along the icy ground towards the village. They'd opted against wearing their armor, deciding to wear rather simple if warm, Fire Nation clothes. They hoped that it might help them appear less threatening. And they didn't really need armor if there was only one half-trained warrior in the village. Zuko did notice, with some confusion, that the flare he remembered going off last time did not get set off this time. He wasn't sure what that meant. He tried to push down his uncertainty as they neared the village.

Despite the fact that they were coming from a different direction and the fact they hadn't, well, crashed their ship into the settlement, it was obvious that someone had seen them coming. Sokka was standing in the entrance to their village, war paint covering him and club in hand. Behind him, Zuko could catch sight of a couple of members of the village peering nervously out of tents. The older woman, Katara's Gran-Gran if he wasn't mistaken, was standing out in the open behind her grandson, watching them with naked fear that made Zuko's gut clench some. Katara was just behind her and to her right. Knowing that they were walking on thin ice Zuko and Iroh stopped a good way back from where Sokka was standing guard. He can see the fear on Sokka's face too, but it's mostly hidden by the sheer determination that Zuko is very aware Sokka has in spades.

Sokka didn't give them a chance to speak. As they came to a stop he charged at them with an angry yell, bringing his club up to strike. Zuko, who had left his swords back in the ship, stepped forward into the attack and swiftly gripped the club, twisting it out of the younger warrior's hands.

"We just want to talk," he told the other boy as he disarmed him, knowing that he likely wouldn't listen "I don't want to fight you." Sokka gave a wordless yell and lunged for his weapon so Zuko swept his legs out from under him before pinning him to the ground with his own club "Seriously. I don't want to fight you," he said firmly, trying to ignore the slight gasps of fear from the people just inside the walls. "I know it's hard for you to believe, but we mean no harm to you or your Tribe."

"Yeah right!" Sokka spat back and Zuko couldn't really convince himself that the hatred in the boy's eyes didn't hurt, but he pushed it down "That's all you Fire Nation scum know how to do!" Zuko bit back a groan, but thankfully another voice cut in.

"What are you here for then?" It was the older woman's voice. Kanna, he was pretty sure that was the name Sokka had told him once "Your lot has caused enough trouble for a lifetime." Zuko kept his eyes on Sokka, allowing his uncle to step forward and offer a low bow.

"I do apologize for bothering you all," Iroh said smoothly "My nephew and I are simply here looking for someone. We are under the impression that Avatar Aang is here. We wish to speak with him, that is all." There was an obvious reaction from the people visible and Katara's gaze shot over to a spot behind the wall in front of them, but before any of them could reply Aang himself stepped out from behind the wall. He was holding himself completely differently from what Zuko could remember from the first time they met. He was still young, achingly so, but he held himself with a quiet confidence that Zuko didn't remember him gaining for some time.

"You're looking for me?" Aang asked, eyes scanning over Iroh before settling on Zuko. Zuko's heart stopped for a moment as their eyes met. There was recognition there. He was sure of it. Aang knew him. But how? It was clear that Katara and Sokka didn't. His own expression must have given something away because Aang's eyes widened slightly and his guarded expression fell away.

"Zuko?" he asked uncertainly, cutting off anything Iroh was going to say in reply as he took a small step forward. Zuko straightened, releasing Sokka's club. Sokka seemed rather distracted at the moment anyway.

"Aang?" His own voice didn't sound much better than Aang's, shaky, uncertain, and fragiley hopeful "You know me? You remember?" Aang barely managed to nod before a sob broke from him and he shot across the snow to crash into Zuko's chest with the speed only an airbender could achieve. The small body crashing into him sent Zuko stumbling back slightly and knocked the wind from his lungs, but that didn't stop him from wrapping his own arms around the smaller boy. He isn't sure if the shaking is from him, Aang, or both of them, but he was well aware that they're both crying as he sank to his knees and clutched the younger boy to his chest. He can see the confusion on the members of the Water Tribe and even Sokka looked somewhat lost as he scrambled back to his feet and took a couple of steps back. Iroh looked startled, but his expression faded into one of compassion. Zuko didn't pay them any attention.

"I can't believe you're here!" Aang's voice was shaky and breaking, but understandable "Katara and Sokka don't remember anything and I thought I was going to have to do it by myself!" Zuko shook his head and held Aang a little tighter, ignoring the startled look exchanged between the two Water Tribe siblings.

"You aren't alone Aang," he said firmly "You aren't ever going to be alone again. I'm here and we'll figure things out. It's going to be alright."