Zuko

The South Pole looked amazing even if the scenery was somewhat repetitive, the way the ice would capture beams of light and reflect them into funny shapes or the way some pieces of ice looked as if they had a thousand colors. Perhaps once the whole business with the Avatar was done I could drag some people here to learn about light and how it moved, it would be interesting to see if they could replicate the feat of producing different colors of light from an artificial source like fire…

Wait! is that what the dragons did when they danced? Could they control every aspect of fire and was that the reason they could control the way their fire looked, were the dragons bending light?
Could I bend light?

"Prince Zuko! there is a light in the distance" the call from the lookout just made me turn to see a magnificent pillar of light that crept up to the heavens, there was a tense silence on the ship but soon enough it passed.

"Take us in that direction at full speed"

"Full Speed ahead!" the sailors called out to the captain.

The noise brought my uncle from inside the ship and when he saw the excitement of the men he approached me.

"You just missed the first sign of the Avatar in more than a hundred years uncle"

I spoke casually but I was pleased that I had arrived just in time, Aang was at his weakest right now, even if he was forced into the Avatar state I could deal with him, his first showing wasn't as impressive as the others because of the amount of energy he had spent in the iceberg.

Iroh on the other hand looked conflicted and already I could see him wavering, he was a spiritual man and there was no one more spiritual than the Avatar, besides, with the Avatar now free there was now a way for me to ascend to the throne without having to 'sully' my hands.

It was nothing more than a dream, Aang wouldn't let me keep the world as it was, I knew that he would force the Fire Nation into releasing the colonies into the hands of the Earth Kingdom, and the citizens that lived there would suffer for his choice.

"You're truly blessed Zuko, Agni looks favorably over you in this quest!" Iroh nodded to himself "What will you do now?"

I know he was testing me, but I had no problems answering that question "I will approach peacefully and ask him to speak with me on certain matters and after that… well, it will all depend on his answers"

"That is very wise of you" Iroh smiled at me, but I knew that if he believed it best he would let the Avatar go.

"I just hope that there is no further trouble"


Just like I expected on the horizon the flare of the old Fire Nation ship could be seen and the figure of the Avatar was seen moving down from the top of the ship.

I gathered the men on the deck to let them know what I wanted "Listen to me, you will be disembarking as my escort so I expect you to act accordingly, no violence until I say so and no talking, no matter what I say or what you hear you will not talk, is that understood?"

"Yes, prince Zuko!" the chorus of voices answered me and I nodded satisfied, the twelve men that had accompanied me for so long would finally reach the end of a long journey.

"Also prepare some foodstuff as presents for the villagers, I'm sure that they will appreciate something more substantial than frozen fish, put some of the sweets I took from ember island there too"

They left to follow my orders and I moved into my room to change into formal attire, a long flowing robe with armored shoulders and a sash that bore the symbol of the Fire Nation, my chest was somewhat exposed leaving the muscles visible in a tasteful display of martial might, my pants had armored knees and a rich dark red color that contrasted with the lighter color of my robes and my boots had golden highlights that ended in a dangerously pointy tip.

Lastly, upon my head, the crown of the heir rested neatly between my hair.

Armed with my full royal regalia I went to the bow of the ship just in time for it to crash against the wall of snow that the village had built, with six men on each side trailing behind me I moved down into the snow, foolishly but very bravely Sokka charged at me without an ounce of hesitation.

That charge ended swiftly once my hand found his throat, I raised his body with one arm as he choked, the sounds of his choking gasps were made all the louder by the silence of the village.

"I apologize for this sudden visit and the rough treatment of your…warrior here, but I just want to talk and I would appreciate your cooperation" I threw Zokka into the snow so he could take a breath "to show our sincerity I have prepared some food to gift you as I'm aware that the days are rather harsh on your people"

Those words were the signal for the rest of the men to move down the crates with the food, the older women were suspicious of my motives but the children quickly forgot their fear and descended unto the crates like locusts and with the kids all partaking in some of the food the women quickly started going over my peace offering.

"Why don't you get out of here no one here would answer your questions and the gift you bring will not convince us otherwise" had Katara been a firebender I did not doubt that from the sight alone I would have been on fire.

"I just want to talk, there is no need to be so hostile it has been more than fifteen years since our nations have been at war," it was true from a certain point of view, but only because the Fire Nation believed that the Southern Water Tribe's warriors were pirates and bandits instead of an actual army "We know the Avatar is here and I would like to speak to him, I wish you no harm and I would leave as soon as my talk with the Avatar is done"

Sokka came to attack me again this time with a spear but he quickly found out that the cold didn't make me any weaker, just more dangerous, the temperature dropped even more as I moved the heat away from his body and the snow that was falling quickly turned to ice encasing the legs of my would-be assassin.

The gasps of the people at my feat were very good for my ego "A waterbender?" Katara's voice was broken as was her world view but I still had more to say.

"No, just a very skilled firebender. It's an old technique that lets me manipulate heat, the absence of heat is cold and as you well know cold is ice. I'm still not good enough to do this on a more temperate climate much less one with high heat but here among the snow, I may as well be a water bender" an exageration but who could contradict me when I just showed them i could freeze Sokka's feet to the ground.

The shocked looks on their faces were very entertaining but I heard as my objective would soon arrive so I said one last thing before Aang arrived "I would be happy to answer any questions you might have as I would like to stop the enmity between our people, the war would soon be over as more and more independent Earth Kingdoms fall and Ba Sing Se is almost surrounded"

That last thing wasn't completely accurate, but it wasn't wrong either.

Katara seems to hesitate but there is a spark of fleeting hope in her eyes and she speaks "What happened to the waterbenders that were taken?"

Just when I'm about to speak Aang arrives and starts attacking, the gusts of wind push back my men but I have a funny theory I would like to test around with my heat abilities, I playfully launch some kicks at the Avatar who dodges swiftly as he tries to approach me with his staff.

He launches several gusts of wind at me making the others cry out as they recognize that Aang is an airbender and from the look on Katara's face she probably realized that he is the Avatar. I dodge his attacks but my footing fails me for a moment as one of my feet buries itself in the snow giving the Avatar the chance to approach me.

As he gets closer I start making the temperature in the air change rapidly going from hot to cold to hot again and again, the temperature changes alter the pressure of the air and form an artificial tornado that picks up the Avatar and launches him into a mound of snow.

I laugh as I see his legs twitch and relish in the gawking stares of the people around me even my uncle has a strange look on his face "Did you know that tornados are formed because of the difference in air temperature? This is why I believe fire is the superior element there is nothing out of our reach"

"Not even the air itself"

Aang pokes out from the snow as he stares at me with worry "What do you want from these people?" he looks surprised but he isn't injured.

"Nothing, I came looking for you Avatar." The villagers gasp at my words but it's only logical that the last airbender be the Avatar "I want to ask you some questions to see if we're enemies or not"
I move unimpeded to him the villagers parting around me as I walk to the Avatar, in my hand is the stamp that will seal the Avatar's fate, my hand reaches out into the snow with the seal and after three agonizing seconds in which I fake looking for something to grab the deed is done.

Aang is marked and his fate has been sealed.

"What happens after that will depend on you"

Aang is worried for the people but my words have made him doubt what he knows of this era which is just what I need to show my uncle that the Avatar won't help us in the long run.

"I will go with you"

"I want to go too! You promised to answer my questions"

"Katara don't do it! who knows what could happen to you" Sokka tried stopping the willful water bender but the snow moved and covered his mouth.

"Right, I will not leave the South Pole just yet, we will talk aboard the ship and leave you to enjoy the food we brought" with that, we move on to the next order of business.


"Katara is it? I would impose on your kindness a little bit as I would like to speak with the Avatar along with my uncle in private if you would let us" Katara was about to argue but Aang ever the diplomat came to my rescue.

"Yeah we're going to talk about boring Avatar stuff Katara, you can just explore the ship I'm sure it will be a more rewarding experience compared to the one trapped in the ice"

"The Avatar is right, I will have one of my guards escort you" I turn to one of the older men to give him his orders "Please show her around, no part of the ship is off-limits except your quarters and those of your shipmates for the sake of their privacy. I expect you to be courteous with the lady and be sure to answer her questions if you can"

With that Katara moves from the deck and my uncle approaches with a smile on his face "That was a great way to handle it prince Zuko, you become better at diplomacy as time passes, I'm Iroh, Zuko's uncle and a former general of the Fire Nation it's a pleasure to meet the last airbender"

My uncle bowed and the Avatar did the same.

"I don't want to take much of your time Aang, I just want to know something" the map of the world as it currently was met the table, and quickly I could see by the way Aang's eyes widen that things were much worse than he expected.

"What's this?! Everything is wrong! Why is the Northern Air Temple Green?" the Avatar rose from his seat in anger but I didn't move a muscle as his anger abated.

"This is what the world currently looks like, I know that perhaps you hoped that other people would have escaped the despicable actions of Sozin but I'm afraid they didn't"

"What are you talking about? what did Sozin do?" Iroh looks at me confused and I understand why according to what history told us the Avatar escaped the day we exterminated the air nomads, only I knew that Aang left days before that happened.

"Fire Lord Sozin slaughtered the air nomads almost a hundred years ago and started the war that left the map as you see before you" the solemn tone of Iroh is better than any attempt of mine to be soft with the young Avatar but that isn't enough to make Aang less distressed.

"Sozin!"

Aang screams out with an echo in his voice, his eyes flash a white light and I quickly retreat a safe distance as Aang loses control.


Author note: Zuko's training has paid off and i was surprised to find just how many things one could theoretically do if you control heat, he still has much to learn before he can use this stuff to fight but it's useful to shock people and make it seem like he is more dangerous than he actually is. i'm still doing whatever i want with canon at least in the history department of it and i regret nothing.
As always i hope you're doing great and that you're having a great week. i will leave my below in case you want to check it out.