This is a story I started but never finished about Team Avatar in WWII plus also Aang's brothers Lehn and Jein. It's like WWII... but also not. It's in its own world, and the people being targeted are called Riha. Um. Yeah. I think that's all you need to know.
Aang smiles at Zuko. "It's alright," he says. "We all have our stories - our secrets. You can tell us yours." The rest of the team smiles, too - they've already given theirs, apparently.
Zuko sighs, and looks away, and says, "You'll hate me."
Katara sighs right back at him. "You saved Sokka's life today. We're not going to hate you. Whatever you've done, it doesn't matter. We're at war now, and our old lives are over."
Aang's smile falters for a moment, and Zuko notices, but everyone else is ignoring it, so he does too, as he smiles again. "It's okay, Zuko. Really. What happened out there today?"
So he tells them his story. It goes like this:
"I already told you I'm from Ba Sing Se, like the rest of you. We're a third generation family from Caldera, or I guess my sister and I are part of the fourth generation. Anyway - I grew up hearing stories of Caldera, and its mighty prowess - you get the idea. When the war started, my dad was ecstatic. He said this was what he had always been waiting for. This was our moment to shine.
"But. I didn't want to shine like that. I had Riha friends, and I didn't necessarily agree with the idea that only Caldereans could become educated, or do anything." He looks anywhere but Aang, which means straight at the fire. "We fought about it a lot. During this time, I wasn't the best at school. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I knew I was supposed to join the war-effort. On every side, someone was telling me to join.
"Obviously, most of them were telling me to enlist for my country - to fight for Ba Sing Se, and to fight for the world. But the voices I could actually listen to were telling me I needed to join for Caldera. But I couldn't.
"On the day I was supposed to enlist, I joined Ba Sing Se's army. My father didn't know it, so he kept talking about how I was going to fight for my 'real' country. When he figured it out, though, he was really upset. He took my name off the roll, and… and. We fought a lot. He said he'd get me to fight for Caldera if he had to drag me there himself.
"He never got the chance. I ran away, and joined the army. They accepted me, because they need every man they can get. That means I'm here now, and I'm not going back. But when we were fighting today, I saw someone I knew from before.
"I guess my dad was more involved in the war than I thought, because I. I definitely knew the commander today. He came over to my home, once, for Fire Festival - it's a Caldera thing - and he asked me how school was going. He definitely recognized me. It was… It was weird. I even know his name - Zhao. I guess I panicked.
"So that's it. That's what happened. I promise I'm not a traitor, but if you want to request a change in groups, I'm okay with that. Just… yeah. That's my story."