Summer 99 AG
Coast along the Western Air Temple

"… What will we do with a drunken sailor?
What will we do with a drunken sailor?
What will we do with a drunken sailor?
Early in the morning!
… Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Early in the morning!
… Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Early in the morning!"

Ah praise the sun~

"I can't believe you are still singing that song"

The tired voice of my uncle appears behind as I take my morning sun bath, something that has become a routine and some sailors are even saying that it is the secret as to why I'm becoming so good at firebending.

"It's a very catchy song and you were not upset yesterday when you got drunk along with the crew an told me to sing and I started singing a sailors song, in fact you were one of the voices saying we should sing it all the time"

Uncle makes a face as if he was trying to forget that ever happened.

"Nephew, you have to let go of the past if you want to see the future"

"That just sounds like an excuse to forget your mistakes"

"I want to talk seriously with you" his eyes told me that whatever I said next was going to change everything

"What's wrong uncle?"

"You killed many men yesterday and you have not said anything about it, you also ate very little…what I want to say is that if you feel bad…if you feel remorse or guilt, you shouldn't be afraid to show it, no matter what they taught you in the palace"

Seconds pass by as I deliberate on my answer, in the end I decide to tell him the truth.

"I'm ok uncle, I don't feel guilt or remorse for their deaths, ever since I was…punished by my father all I felt was rage and shame, a burning desire to regain my honor by any means necessary.
I've changed form the kid that once was afraid to sacrifice lives, I'm no monster though…at least I don't think so, I just don't believe these people should be mourned for, they were pillagers, killers and more likely than not rapists and in my heart, I feel that justice has been served"

Iroh looks up to the sky as if looking for an answer before suddenly he looks directly at me

"You said you 'felt', does that mean that you don't feel that way anymore?"

I take a deep breath as I close my eyes and start to speak

"I don't, not in the same way, I'm angry uncle unbelievably angry at my father, how dare he question my concern! how dare he shame in such a way! he who has never personally taken to the frontlines of this war wants to tell me that soldiers can be replaced!"

Fire burns in my chest at the words and fire rises from my feet as I continue speaking

"I remember your face after Lu Ten died and my own feelings of loss, I know that every soldier has a family and I didn't want them to miss their sons like you missed yours, like I missed my cousin. I don't want soldiers to die for nothing. He was planning to sacrifice them as a distraction without telling them anything not even planning their possible escape!"

"Zu-o! C-lm d-wn" my uncle speaks but his words are distant and faint in my ears, the meaning just out of reach.

"I'm ashamed I didn't fight harder for them; I didn't want to raise my fist against my father and those men are most likely dead because of my inaction. Before I thought that if I could earn the love of my father all would be better. But I had a dream, a vision of the future and in that vision I saw the truth, that no matter what I did or what I sacrificed in his name my father would never love me!"

As I open my eyes a scene from hell appears in my vision there is fire all along the deck of the ship, a sea of flame has spread and if it was not made of metal, it would surely have sunk down into the depths of the ocean.

Fuck dammit! I lost control of my own fire.

Shit is Iroh dead?

As if to answer my question a path opens in the fire around me and Iroh come running to me and immediately starts checking me everywhere.

"You…You are not burned, you were not burned even as you surrounded yourself in flames, I'm very happy you're ok Zuko and we will talk about what you said later but do you know what this means?"

My uncle is frantic, and he has a glint in his eyes that I've never seen before something that I only ever experienced among the most zealous of people back on earth, a true believer.

"Umm…that I'm immune to fire?" I'm really trying not to freak out, I really don't like that look, fanatics are dangerous people, faith is all well and good but zelotry usually brings destruction.

"Zuko you…you have been blessed by Agni, this is surely a big sign of his favor. In recorded history only some of the most dedicated and pious men have received such a blessing"

Did…did I just trigger a chosen one trope because as a kryptonian I'm immune to changes in temperature? Seriously what are the odds.

"This changes everything, no matter how you look at it your father must forgive any previous offense that you committed, as long as the Sun acknowledges you as worthy the people will follow you"

"Perhaps you are making too much out of something that has almost no importance now uncle, the fire sages have long been out of favor among the nobility and with the Fire Lord himself"

"You don't need to remind me that the thing that is most revered right now back homes is the Fire Nation itself, but Zuko this is divine providence Agni hasn't been active in the world for generations, not since the time of Avatar Kuruk"

"Perhaps we should test it later, we can go up into the Temple and try there so we don't damage the ship further. The last time I was here we left quickly since we didn't find any traces of the Avatar, now that I've grown, I would like to examine it more closely, perhaps they have some scrolls about contacting the spirits"

"We should also tell the crew something, they will panic if we say nothing" his voice sounds innocent, but it's filled with hidden meaning

I can see through your manipulation uncle, you want me to tell them what happened so they can spread rumors, it is no secret that sailors are some of the worst secret keepers in the world.

"Sure, but let me soak up more sunlight oh and before I forget" with a simple motion I stamp my uncle's forehead, the symbol of the stamp is the flame of the Fire Lord.

"Zuko what did you do?"

"i just hit your head so you can think a bit more clearly, now go wake the crew and make them clean up my mess"

Iroh leaves, no doubt pleased with this development. In another life he abandoned his country for me but there is no doubt that as a prince he cares for his people and having me as Fire Lord is better than having Azula as Fire Lord.

Speaking of whom, I knew there were some incestual overtones in their interactions but the feelings I have for Azula are more complicated than I could have ever thought.

She is everything that Zuko aspires to be, Fearless, Strong and Decisive. And as Zuko I love everything about her in a way that is not normal for siblings, her cold demeanor, the sarcastic remarks and that frightening intellect.

Honestly, it is almost too funny how Zuko only liked Mai at the beginning just because she reminded him of Azula when she was gentler. For Agni's sake when we were kids we played around as if we were married and did that damned play in which we kissed at the end.

Well, i guess it's not so bad.


"Uncle I have a question"

We disembarked on the temple after it was made clear that the ship needed repairs after my little temper tantrum, and I couldn't help but notice something that I hadn't thought of before.

"You can ask me anything Prince Zuko" Iroh was the picture of serenity itself as he prepared his tea, the smell was great and carried a hint of cherry.

"Why is this place so clean? I didn't question it the last time we were here, barely a week after my banishment, but I'm looking around and I can't help but notice the distinct lack of corpses" I took the offered cup, blowing air into it before carefully taking a sip.

"Ah that" Iroh's face turns grim before he continues "My Father used this place many years ago to stage attacks against the Northern Water Tribe, this place served as a temporary base while he was campaigning against them" He pours himself a cup and takes in the scent of his creation before slowly drinking it.

"Then why is it not used anymore? There are still many warriors and benders in the north pole" The tea is great, no wonder it became famous after a week when the shop opened in Ba Sing Se

"Zuko, there are barely a hundred benders in the city at the north pole, I know that seems like a lot, but the army of the Fire Nation has two hundred times that number of benders in the army, and it was even larger at the beginning of the war and there used to be another two settlements in the north pole that are now nothing but crumbling snow, we simply have not conquered them"

"Then…did they surrender?"

"Of course not, they are proud warriors, however they are not dumb they lack the means to make any substantial attack on us and we decided that the Earth Kingdoms were a bigger problem than them"

"Then are we at peace with them?"

"Oh Zuko I wish we were, we are at war still, we simply haven't been fighting. There is no doubt in my mind that they will attack us if we try to make port on their city"

The political panorama of this world is quickly becoming clear, one would think that the heir to the Fire Nation would know more, but I guess Ozai decided not to waste any resources in what he saw as a suboptimal heir.

Now, how do I infiltrate a place where I would stand out like a sore thumb, seduce a princess and then escape with said princess.


Author notes: Wolo my people, thank you for patiently waiting for an update i slept late last night and i can barely move but i made a promise so here it is. The next chapter is up on my for a dollar like always, i also forgot to mention last time but i put up a goal, if i start making a hundred dollars, one of the regularly updated stories will recieve an extra chapter when it's time for an update. The story will be chosen via a poll on . So that's cool.
:Check me out!

Now i asume you will have questions about Irohs decision to ignore what Zuko said about Ozai but it makes more sense if you think about it from his perspective, Zuko has changed for the better and the primary figure of Worship in the Fire nation has 'blessed' him but Zuko is clearly against Ozai and there is no Avatar around. Clearly he would assume that a fight, most likely to the death, will happen and that is something that in the original timeline Iroh refused to let hapen so here he is using the most powerful technique that mankind has, he focused on something else and is ignoring reality.

Also i know Agni being worshiped is fanon but i don't care, i like the concept and if the water tribe can have fish that represent the ocean and the moon the fire nation can have the sun being reprsented by a dragon, i will fight for my right to do whatever i want with canon.