Zuko

Uncle does what Katara couldn't. He got me to come with him to Ba SIng Se. I'm not going to give up, I never will. But, I will take a break and make sure Uncle gets settled into the city. It's the least I can do for him after everything he's done for me.

I found him waiting for me at the ferry. He had been there for days, he wouldn't go into the city without me. I told him I would go with him, but I didn't promise I would stay.

On the boat, we meet this guy Jet and his two freedom fighters. I liked him. He helped us get some decent food for a change.

Unfortunately, Uncle made the mistake of heating his tea in front of him, and he figured out we were Firebenders. That caused quite the scene in the tea shop we worked in. On the other hand, I had a lot of pent up anger and it felt good to actually get into a fight. I did feel bad for the guy though. He got hauled away for disturbing the peace, and he wasn't wrong. I didn't feel bad enough to come out as a Fire Nation prince, though.

Every day is the same while we're here. Wake up in a crappy apartment, go to work at a miserable tea shop, come home and sleep, repeat. I try to keep busy as I can. When I slow down, I think of all I've lost. My mother, my father, my nation, my honor, my crew, Katara. Especially Katara. I miss her like crazy. But if I keep busy, I can keep her out of my head, and maybe just get through the day to day until I leave.

Uncle, always well meaning, tries to set me up on a date with a girl named Jin. She's cute and funny, and honestly is really nice to be around. She makes things feel lighter. And I just want to see her smile while I'm with her. So much so, I almost out myself as a Firebender when I tell her to close her eyes and I light all the lamps in the park she takes me to. She likes me so much she kisses me. But I can only enjoy it for a second to remember who I am, where I'm from, that I'm leaving soon, and not only should I protect her from me but that I can't let myself get close to someone again. That Water Princess was almost my undoing, I can't fall for another non-Fire Nation Girl. So I leave her at the park and go home, and then day after day I just slip into a routine and try to think of the best time to leave. Uncle gets offered his own tea shop in the upper ring along with an apartment, so I decide the best time to go will be once the shop is up and running.

That is until I see the fliers. The Avatar's Bison is still missing, and he's in the city looking for him. If I can find the Bison, I'll have the leverage I need to capture him! And maybe I can do it without having to see or fight Katara again.

I wait until Uncle is asleep, then slip into my Blue Spirit clothes. If anyone's going to know anything about where the Bison is, it'll be the Di Lee agents. They're all over the city, watching everything. They kept an annoyingly close watch on us for weeks after Jets accusations before they gave up. We have a similar group of secret police in the Fire Nation. But I'm also guessing an agent on patrol wouldn't know sensitive information.

I find a couple of agents and follow them. It takes hours for shift change, but they finally go back to where headquarters is, which evidently is under a lake. I sit outside and wait, until someone looking higher up and more official comes along. He never sees me coming, and is unconscious in seconds. I take him back to an abandoned warehouse in the lower ring and hang him upside down from the ceiling, his hands also tied together so he can't bend.

Please cave before I have to use torture I silently plea. Deciding it's best to make things look as unnerving as they can, I light a ring of fire around him and make the flames as tall as his neck. It doesn't take him long after to wake up.

"Tell me where the Di Lee are keeping the Avatar's Bison!" I tell him in a gravely voice.

"I-I don't know!"

"But you don't deny he's in the Di Lee's custody! If you knew you have him, you know where he is. Tell me!" I say and raise the flames while he yells. Thankfully this place is too far from people to hear. "Maybe I'm not making myself clear." I say and snap my fingers, making his ponytail catch fire. I control the burn so it goes up slowly, not reaching his scalp. "Tell me where he is, or I will let this Fire hit your scalp." I tell him, then kneel in front of him. I don't plan on killing him, so I can't let him think I live in the city or he might launch an investigation and trace it back to me and Uncle. "I just got to Ba Sing Se today. It was incredibly hard to sneak past your wall. Tell me where the bison is and I'll leave just as quickly. Or-" I let the ponytail burn some more. "You'll soon know what burnt flesh smells like."

"Alright! Alright! The Bison's being held prisoner under Lake Laogai! Now please, put it out!" I snap my fingers, and all the fire goes away. I burn the rope holding him and he falls to the ground, then I choke him out. Before I leave I place a dull knife in his hand so when he comes to he can cut his ropes, although it'll take a while. Then I head straight for the Bison, for my honor.

…

I open the door, and the Bison's in front of me, in chains. He growls when he sees me.

"Expecting someone else?" I ask rhetorically. "Now just how to get you out of here."

Behind me, I hear the door slide open and shut. I turn and ready my swords, but I drop my stance when I see who it is.

"Well look, the Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask."

"Uncle?" I lift my mask up. "What are you doing here?"

"That's not the question. The real question is what do you plan to do once we leave?"

"First I have to get him out of here." I say and turn to the bison, trying to figure out how I'll get the Bison to follow me once he's out of his chains.

"No! You never think these things through, Prince Zuko! This is just like when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, then you had no where to go!"

"I would have figured something out!" I yell back at him.

"No, You wouldn't have! If his friends go hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!"

"I know my own destiny, Uncle!"

"Do you? Or do you know the destiny someone else chose for you? It's time for you to start asking the big questions! Who are you, and who do you want to be?!" Each word out of his mouth feels like a punch in my chest. I yell and clutch my head, then slide with my back to the wall and try to keep breathing. Uncle kneels in front of me and places his hand on my shoulder. "Zuko, This will be hard to hear, I know. I'm sorry. But you know in your heart by now that your father never favored you, he banished you on a wild goose-cat chase, and he never wants you to return home. And you know that you don't have a way to get this bison out of here and keep control of it anyways. Not without losing control of him. So, please, Zuko. Free the Bison, and let's go back to our new apartment and area Shop. we can have a new life here. Leave the past in the past, and let's choose a new future." I open my eyes and look up at him. I can do it. I can leave everything behind. My father, Azula, The Avatar, Katara. I can just start a new life with Uncle. And maybe one day I'll stop feeling this empty pit inside of me. Maybe one day I'll forget it all and be happy. Tears spill over my cheeks and I hang my head.

"Okay Uncle. Let's go home."

I can't believe what I did. I just gave up maybe my last hope by freeing the Avatar's Bison. Uncle's right. Father doesn't want me home, never did and never will. But Uncle wants me here, with him. I can do it. I can start a new life and never look back.

My body is just as surprised as my mind. Right after we get home, my body shuts down with an intense fevor, and I'm unconscious for days. I dream of Home. I dream of Katara. And of a future life with Uncle. And when I finally wake up, I think I'm ready to finally put the first two things behind me.