Description: What if Zuko had been banished when he was ten? What if when he was banished his father planned to get rid of him - for good? Sent to find the Avatar to regain his honor, Zuko is attacked by his own crew. Taken pity by one man, he is saved by the help of the spirits and sent to a place where he could heal. This is his story, being raised by the chief of the Southern Water Tribe.


Updates should happen monthly, but may be more sporadic than that. Thank you for your patients. Also this is for fun, some criticism is welcomed, but if it gets out of hand I will address it and delete the comment. Still though please comment, review, follow, favorite whatever you want just be kind. Also this will be going up on Archive of Our Own too.


Prologue:

"Please, Father! I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!" Zuko begged his father, terrified of what would happen.

Zuko stared as his father approached him. A sinister smirk graced his face and malicious intent shone in his eyes. The Fire Lord looked down upon his son, a sadistic glint flickering like fire in his eyes. This was the perfect moment he had been waiting for. This weak pathetic boy would finally be getting it and in front of the whole Fire Nation. Now it was just a matter of finishing this show of power.

"You will fight for your honor," the Fire Lord stated, the crowd watching in anticipation.

They stood on a stage for the Agni Kai. Torches burned brightly, illuminating the two figures. Seating surrounds the stage was full and everyone who was important had been invited to watch this fire show. Red, gold, and black were the only colors to decorate the room making it look dark by the light of the torches. The tension was so high that the people in the stands held their breaths. What was their Fire Lord planning on doing to his only son?

Zuko knelt on the ground, bowing as he begged, "I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son."

Zuko hoped that somewhere in his heart his father had a little mercy and wouldn't fight him. He was only ten and didn't know any better, but he did know that what the general had been planning was wrong. He may have been a child, but he wasn't an idiot. You can thank his lessons for that. Never in this whole time did he notice the plotting and malevolent look his father was giving him; as if he had been given the perfect opportunity.

In fact, Zuko had given him the perfect opportunity. It was time for the first born useless son of his to disappear and his better, stronger, powerful bending, more fearsome daughter to take his place. A cruel grin appears on his face.

"Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!" Fire Lord Ozai commanded, walking closer to his son.

"I won't fight you," Zuko declared, lowering his head as Ozai stops in front of him. Zuko knew it was no use. His father wasn't a merciful person even to the closest individual to him. Tears streamed down his face as he slowly brought up his face to look at his father. Fear flashed through him as the Fire Lord looked down upon him with a smile of such pure evil it sent shivers down his spine.

"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher," Ozai spoke, creating a ball of fire in his hand.

His father let his hand rest on Zuko's face, burning the skin around his left eye. The burning was excruciating, it felt like it would kill him. All he could think of was the pain. His body frozen, unable to doing anything except one thing. He screamed. Zuko's screams of pain filled the whole arena and one girl relished in the sound of agony. This was what she'd been training for, what her father had been preparing her for, what she was born for. To take her brother's place. A sinister smirk, almost as horrible as her father's, shines across her face as she watches her own brother writhe in agony.

Fire Lord Ozai pulled his hand back. His son dropped to the floor clutching his face. Not even flinching or showing any remorse, the Fire Lord signaled for a servant to take Zuko away. Zuko laid crumpled on the ground, having passed out from the pain. Ozai watched his weak brother Iroh leave by pushing his way through the stands and towards where his son was being taken. Ozai scoffed internally. Iroh was no longer a problem after his defeat at Ba Sing Se, but his son still was and that needed to be taken care off. Zuko was never able to live up to his expectations and never would; he was too weak in both firebending and personality. He needed to be out of the way for Azula, the stronger child.

In his throne room, Ozai summoned a several soldier that had been dishonorably discharged. This was the kind of peasants he could use to make this plan work for his benefit. Not only could he send his son away, but he could make him disappear forever. Giving them his orders, he sent them and a not yet recovered Zuko to leave the Fire Nation.

Practically thrown into the brig, Zuko laid unceremoniously on the ground in pain. His eye was not even wrapped properly, the healers having little time to treat his burn. Pain was all he felt when the crew dragged him up on deck later that next day. They were away from the Fire Nation and could get started on what the Fire Lord had ordered them to do. The crew beat the young prince up in every possible way they could think of. The young exiled prince lay bruised, cut, and broken on the floor as he tried not to cry or give satisfaction to the sadistic soldiers. All the men laughed and went back below for a drink, leaving the prince crumpled up on the ground. One man stayed behind though, watching as the rest disappear into the ship. He, with great care, picked up the damaged prince and brought him back to the brig. The man tried to treat the cuts and bruises with what little supplies he snuck away, humming a soothing song to the prince as he did so.

Taking in his beaten form, the man felt pity for the dishonored prince. The young prince had earned the man's respect when he stood up to the old general. His own younger brother was a part of the 41st division and would be soon walking to his death, even if the young prince said nothing.

As the days slowly went by, the man, soon known as Lee, would treat Zuko's wounds after each beating and share some of his own rations late in the night. As they sailed farther and farther away from the Fire Nation the days got worse and worse for Zuko. Even with Lee trying to help him, he wound up more battered and broken than the day before. He soon lost track of time as it blended into a blur of beatings. One soldier went as far as to take Zuko's leg and twisted until it snapped in two. Zuko's screams of pain were drowned out by the laughter of the cruel men.

That night Lee took action. The Fire Lord had ordered them to wait until close to the Water Tribe before 'disposing' of the banished prince. He knew they were very far from the Fire Nation. In fact the heat that was always present in the Fire Nation had disappeared, being replaced with the freezing cold temperatures of the Water Tribe.

Lifting the small boy up, he set him in one of the lifeboats hanging on the side of the metal ship. Lee lowered the small metal boat until it bobbed gently on the surface of the water. Zuko laid at the bottom with only the torn clothes on his back and the dirty bandages on his face. His hair a greasy, tangled, uneven mess having been cut from its usual phoenix tail.

Zuko's clothes had only been briefly changed out of the Agni Kai uniform when he was taken to the infirmary. He wore the same clothes everyday clothing he wore around the Fire Nation Palace. It composed of a long shirt, short sleeved shirt, vest, pants and boots. Both shirts and vest had been cut through and stained with blood that ruined the soft cloth. His pants were the same and one boot was twisted in an angle that was unnatural, revealing his leg was completely broken.

Groaning, the waves rocked the boat as it took him far away from the metal ship that was supposed to help regain his honor. He looked up at the dark sky with only the moon visible. Zuko prayed to any spirit that could be looking down on him to take pity, to take him away from the pain, to a place where he could actually be loved and not second best or unwanted. Zuko then passed out once again from the pain, not caring where he ended up or if he lived.

The Moon Spirit and Ocean Spirit look down upon the poor boy gifted by the sun. Seeing how cruelly he had been treated and how he had been abandoned by those he cared about, the two spirits took pity on him. The Moon Spirit keeping him alive and the Ocean Spirit willed the waves to take him south where a fleet of boats were anchored at the edge of their own territory. This fleet of boats belonged to the same group of people the two spirits had gifted so long ago. As the boat floated closer it went unnoticed by the southern tribe men.

A young watchman look over the waters for any signs of the Fire Nation. Earlier that year the Fire Nation had attacked and many suffered the loss of a loved one, even the chief lost his beloved wife. The watchman personally lost his eldest brother, who died trying to protect their mother. The young boy, barely eighteen, had spent up to this point training with his father to seek vengeance on the Fire Nation. Though being a watchman made him jumpy and, to be honest, scared.

When the metal boat came into his view, he sounded the alarm in a panic, not noticing there was no other incoming ships. Many Water Tribe men filed out of their beds half asleep but ready to fight. It was once all the soldiers were on deck that they saw it was only a single lifeboat.

"Bring it closer!" Hakoda, the Chief, ordered.

Several men scrambled to bring the boat close, using grappling ropes to drag it through the water. Two men dropped down into the tiny boat and were shocked to see the only person in it was a boy to young to be on his own, beaten and wounded.

"Chief," Bato called to Hakoda. "It's a young boy. And he's wounded badly."

Suspicious, but concerned for the boy, Hakoda ordered his men to take the boy below deck for treatment. Once he is awake and somewhat better, Hakoda would interrogate why a young boy is out on his own and so close to Water Tribe territory.