Author's Note:

Most of the dialogue and events from this chapter is from the original episode 'Boy in the Iceberg' and 'The Avatar Returns'. As this story progresses it will deviate more from Aang's Avatar story line. Some events will stay the same but will be altered by Zuko's presence and other characters' involvement later on. Zuko is going through a very big character shift so he will seem very OOC for a season one Zuko. It will become very apparent in this chapter. Some Chapters will be longer than others. I am going episode by episode. There will be a few where 2 will be clumped together in a way that is logical to me. I'm not going to really be apologizing if one chapter is shorter than the other. They will cover 1 episode. We didn't complain to Nickelodeon when our episodes ended before we wanted them to. Same with my chapters please. Updates will be a bit irregular. Since for the most part I am writing as I go. I will try to post as quickly as I can, there will be no 'update schedule' with this one. Sorry.

Needless to say I do not own the characters nor any part of ATLA.

Enjoy my take on Zuko is the Avatar AU.

"It's time for you to start looking inward

and begin asking yourself the big questions.

'Who are you?' and 'What do you want?'

-Iroh~ Lake Laogai

Water

Earth

Fire

Air

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony, then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, the master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. One hundred years past and my brother and I discovered the last air bender of the Air Nomads. Not even he, knows where the Avatar is. A few strange occurrences later, and we found him. He has great skill and courage, but we know he has a lot to learn before he is ready to save anyone. But I believe, Zuko can save the world.

Book 1: Water

The Boy in the Iceberg, and the Avatar Returns

Zuko stared out at the half frozen sea. This had been the third time he had seen it. There was nothing new; however, he was determined to find something out of place that could point to the reclusive Avatar. He scowled as his uncle started to hum again, too absorbed in his game to realize he was grating on his nephew's nerves. "Uncle…" he growled.

"What is it Prince Zuko?"

"You're humming again, quit it."

They lapsed back into silence and Zuko continued to stare out at sea, squinting as the light reflected off the ice, half blinding him. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, his posture stiff and ridged, his armor began to feel heavy but he couldn't bring himself to care. Once he captured the Avatar, he wouldn't need it. He would be in his palace, with his silk robes, and servants. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, missing the turtle-duck pond. He scowled as the thought of Azula destroying it entered his mind. He opened his eyes as a gust of wind picked up, then, unexpectantly, a large white light beam shot into the air, wolf-seals howled in the distance, disturbed by the strange light.

"Finally…" he whispered. "Uncle, do you realize what this means!?" he said, trying to contain his excitement, months and months of disappointment kept him grounded. If only slightly.

"That I don't get to finish my game?" he asked, somewhat airily.

Zuko turned from him, staring at the light, memorizing its location, "It means that my search is finally coming to an end." His uncle gave a tired sigh and placed the next tile in his game down on the small table. Unpassed Zuko continued, "That light came from a very powerful source, it has to be him!"

"Or it's just the celestial lights," he said, gesturing to the icebergs littering the water in haphazard mazes, "we have been down this road before Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing." His uncle still didn't stop with the airy, yet wise tone, he uttered these words before, and they never failed to make nerves flare up in Zuko's gut thinking he failed again. He placed another title down on his table, and gave a kind smile, "Please, sit." His uncle invited with a small wave of his hand. "Why don't you enjoy a cup of nice, calming Jasmine tea?" his uncle's smile didn't falter and his voice took on its dreamy tone, as it always did when his favorite beverage came into question.

Zuko felt the small vain in his forehead throb and he whipped around, "I don't need any calming tea!" he shouted. "I need to capture the Avatar!" He looked up, "Helmsmen!" he called, looking up at the uppermost part of his ship, "Set a course for the light!"

Zuko turned again to face forward missing his uncle's passive stare and him setting yet another title on his table. Iroh watched as they rattled ominously in the increased wind.

After dinner, Zuko made his way up to the balcony, they sun had set as far as it could this time of year. It was slightly comforting to see it still this late in the evening, but it also hurt to have it so far away. It was nothing compared to the blistering, yet blissful heat of his homeland. He stiffened at his uncle's footsteps and continued to stare out at sea. He hated blue. He would make the color illegal once he became Fire Lord so her would never have to see it again, and remind him of the sea. "I'm going to bed now." His uncle made a show of stretching and yawning loudly. "Yep. A man need's his rest," he straightened up and hid his hands back in his large sleeves. With the concern any guardian would have over their charge would have, made his tone very serious. "Prince Zuko, you need to sleep, even if you are right, and the Avatar is alive, you won't find him." His uncle said firmly, but still holding a kind and respectful tone. To further his point to his nephew's stiff back, he continued, "Your father, grandfather, and great grandfather have all tried, and failed."

"Because." Zuko bit out, "Their honor, didn't hinge on the avatar's capture. Mine does." The thought of his horribly scared face came to mind's eye, with a determined set in his jaw, and a pose of higher confidence, he growled, "this coward's one hundred years of hiding is over."

Once he retired to his quarters much later after his uncle left him alone to think on the balcony, he sat down on his bed and continued to think. He rubbed some feeling back into his cold feet. He was stupid to go out there barefoot, his bending kept him away from frostbite, but he felt the slight sting as he rubbed his feet with warmed hands. Glancing around his room he scowled. It was a far cry from his spacious four poster, lush tapestries, and bed curtain. He fingered the flimsy blanket. It was this time of the day he hated most. Zuko hadn't seen that room in years; it had faded some from memory. The thought made him uncomfortable. He grabbed something on the low table by his mat and scooted to the corner of his bed and leaned against the cool metal wall, he pulled his blanket up around him, and fingered one his most treasured possessions in his hand. He unsheathed the dagger, flipping it over to see the inscription on both sides of the white purl weapon, the characters for "made in the Earth Kingdom," and his motto for life "Never give up without a fight" flashed in the low lighting. Words of his mother floated back to him and he sat there, trying to remember the words without the painful twinge in his chest. "You keep fighting even though it's hard." the added memory of the intimidating glares of his grandfather made him shudder. He clicked the sheath back into place and moved down in his bed and wrapped the blanket tightly around him, still clutching his dagger. He slowly sank into sleep with at least a hope of returning home in a vague blissful dream.

He stood in the never ending sunrise, trying to hide the fact he was panting heavily, this would be the sixty fourth time on this one set he couldn't seem to get right. "Again." His uncle said in a firm voice, he took a breath and put his arms out shooting fire from both fists at his spar -mates, and ducked, kicking himself into the air with a small burst of flame to boost him over the other spar-mates, tucking into a loose flip, while firing another blast of fire at the one on his other fist. He landed in a mirror image of his last stance, arms still outwards towards his 'opponents,' and chin still tucked in from his leap and mid-air turn. His jaw was set, 'sixty five…' "No!" his uncle shouted, exasperated, even his uncle's patient demeanor had its limits. The old general stood, "The power in fire bending comes from the breath," he gestured to his diaphragm, "No the muscle." He extended an arm outward. Zuko stood at attention, giving his uncle his attention, but feelings of failure made him clinch his fists. "The breath becomes energy in the body," his uncle started moving through a very basic fire bending form, "the energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire." His uncle finished the form with a very week flame close to Zuko's face, not at all a danger to him. His uncle was too controlled and kind. The next comment made Zuko loose his short patience and temper. "Get it right this time." was his uncles' blunt finish.

"Enough, I have been drilling this sequence all day, teach me the next set, I am more than ready." He snapped, approaching his uncle a little gratified in his extra few inches in height over him.

"No, you are impatient." His uncle sat back in his low chair. "You have yet to master your basics." Then, in his stern voice his uncle only used when they were both ready to lose their tempers yelled, "Drill it again!"

Zuko bared his teeth with a growl and gave a fire blast from his foot, knocking one of his sparing partners flat on his back with the surprise attack. He stood closer to his uncle, looming over him. "The sages tell us, The Avatar is the last air bender. He must be over a hundred years old by now, he's had a century to master the four elements," he was right in his uncle's face as his voice grew in volume and slight desperation, "I will need more than basic fire bending to defeat him. You will teach me the advanced set!" he commanded, his voice rising to a shout.

His uncle closed his eyes in defeat. "Very well." Zuko resisted the urge to smirk in victory. "But first I must finish my roast duck." His uncle said with a smile and began shoveling the food in his mouth and at very unbecoming pace for someone who was once a prince himself. Zuko stepped back with a disgusted look on his face.

Later that day, Zuko was, as calmly as he could, peering through his looking glass, seeing if, and when the avatar would slip up and show himself. He was bound to show up eventually. Suddenly, a flare caught his eye; it shot up in the air, and started to fall in a slow arc back down. He followed the smoke trail and waited and was surprised to see and oddly dressed person carrying a young girl out of the top of a very old fire nation ship. It must have been one from their first raids on the South Pole. What caught his attention more was that the oddly dressed figure was air bending and the clothing looked like the Air Nomad clothes he had seen on mosaics on his searches in the other air temples; it had to be the Avatar. "Quiet agile for his old age." He mused. He turned to one of the nearby guards. "Wake my uncle; tell him I found the avatar." He turned back to his spy glass and followed the two running figures, and scanned the direction they were headed, and spotted a very small village with smoke rising from their fire pits. "As well as his hiding place." he couldn't believe his luck.

"I know what I saw Uncle! He was air bending, and even carrying some girl with him. They were inside an old fire-nation vessel from one of the first Southern Tribe raids."

"Zuko, please continue with caution, you don't know what the Avatar is capable of, if the air bender even is the Avatar…" his uncle amended.

Zuko leveled him with a glare. "He is…" then the look softened to that of a hopeful teenager. "He has to be."

His guards started helping him into his layers of armor. He stood tall in the boarding hull as his ship cut through the ice that lead directly into the village. He wasn't aware he was holding his breath until his uncle put a calming hand on his shoulder. "Energy from the breath, Nephew." He reminded. Zuko sighed.

"Thanks Uncle."

"Would you like me to go down there with you?" he offered.

"No…I 'll just go down with some guards. I'll be quick…then we can go home." There was a hiss and steam began to pour out as the machinery let the door fall open. What breath he did have froze in his chest as the warm air inside left, replaced by the bitter winds off the snow covered village. As he started his decent ne noticed the huddle of women and children standing together, holding one another. There were two siblings that caught his eye. They were knee high, and looked twice their size from their bundle of furs; the older brother by at least a year was holding his sister tightly. He held his jaw in a firm line and continued down the bridge. The village was small, and looked pitifully weak. Where were all the men?

A war cry caught his attention, and a boy, very close to his age, decked out in war paint came charging forward. Zuko rolled his eyes. No tact. He swiftly kicked the weapon out of his hands, boxing his ear in the process, and then kicked him aside where he landed head first in a pile of snow. The prince hardly broke stride. Audible gasps where echoing though the village. Obviously their warriors had little to no proper training. If this was all they had to protect them, this tribe was doomed. He stopped at good distance away. He wasn't sure why he stopped in front of the two siblings. Zuko did a quick look around through the crowd. Truly, not a man in sight. Could all of them really be off fighting in the war?

He moved his way closer to the group scanning all the faces, missing nothing. He stopped in front of a girl with wide blue eyes that were full of fear. It was the girl he saw earlier through his spy glass-yes, it defiantly was her. Zuko glared and straightened his shoulders more. "Where are you hiding him?" When he received no answer, he rolled his eyes and grabbed an old woman by the hood of her parka and pulled her over to him so she was standing in front of her village. More gasping. Like he would ever hurt her… "He would be about this age…" he prompted. "Master of all four elements?" he was only met with blank stares. Like they had no idea what the Avatar even was. He pushed the old woman back in the huddle with the other villagers. In frustration he let a wave of fire travel over their heads hoping the intimidation would get them to talk. They screamed. It was a bit pathetic. If he wanted to hit them with his fire, he would have. His aim wasn't that bad. "I know you're hiding him!" The same stupid war cry rose again, and he peeked behind him to see the water tribe boy charging at him again. His paint had washed off from his head dive in the snow earlier. Zuko ducked and tripped him, and his momentum sent him flying, landing on his backside a few feet away. Zuko would have chuckled any other time, right now, the kid was just a nuisance in his way of finding the avatar…but the boy was suspended in the air for almost a minute. He fired a poor aimed fire blast and the boy and he scrambled up with a cry of fear this time. The peasant rolled to his knees and reached behind him to unsheathe another weapon. Zuko was shocked as he had to duck as a shiny boomerang almost hit him square in the face. He scowled. The peasant didn't seem too upset his little toy flew by him and was probably lost in the ocean now. Then, one of the little boys with a large toothy grin on his face tossed the older 'warrior' a whale tooth, and bone spear.

"Show no fear!" he said in his childhood soprano.

Zuko hardly flinched as he was charged at with the pitiful excuse for a weapon. It wouldn't have penetrated his breast plate. He used his sharp wrist guard and jerked up, the whale tooth snapped clean off. Zuko yanked the bone shaft out of the boy's gloved hands and used the end to poke him in the forehead until he landed on his backside again. Zuko snapped the shaft in half and tossed it at the water tribe boy's feet. He sat there, like a moron, simply rubbing his forehead. Zuko glared down, waiting for him to get up. It wouldn't be honorable to win when they were on the ground looking pitiful like that. Did the boy have no sense?

He was startled, and in a little bit of pain when something metal clanged into his helmet, knocking it off kilter, his metal helmet was still ringing. The boomerang from before lodged it's self into the snow. Now with a pounding headache, he clenched his hands into fist, he felt fire building in his palms. He heard something sliding, from behind him and didn't have time to look because his feet where knocked clear out from under him and he landed in a very undignified manner, with his butt in the air, and his helmet soon landed on top.

He stood quickly and faced his attacker. The kids had been cheering, and now covered in a thin layer of snow. It had to have been the Avatar. Zuko took a deep breath, and faced the kid. Kid? It didn't make sense. The monk in orange had a goofy grin on his face as a seal-penguin pushed him off his back and waddled away. The air bender finally stood his staff in hand. He raised his hands as a signal for his soldiers to surround him. Confusion, anger, pressure, all the tiring emotions he felt in the past two years seemed to pile on his shoulders. The air bender quickly blew a lot of snow at them with a powerful gust. The attack was harmless, except maybe to the boy who dealt it. He had unwittingly proved he was the last air bender, as if the tattoo at his crown and nomadic clothes wasn't enough to go by alone.

"Looking for me?" the young kid asked bravely, his voice never wavered.

"You're the air bender?" Zuko finally questioned in disbelief, finding his voice, "You're the Avatar!" he exclaimed, there was no way. Did his training even mean anything anymore? All those years of preparation to face a child? He started the seethe. He didn't hear the few gasps as something started to rattle nearby. To his surprise, and everyone else's, a rock from the fire pit went flying, assumedly to its own accord. It landed in the middle between him, and the monk.

To his surprise, the monk seemed just as confused as Zuko was. "Um…no…You are…sorry?" he said, unsure about the apology tacked on at the end. "I'm just an air bender." The kid said, dropping his defensive posture and scratching the back of his head in clear confusion.

"But I'm just a fire bender!" Zuko shouted. "Men arrest him! He's the Avatar! He's lying!" The young prince was almost in hysterics. The young monk pointed his staff at the soldiers that circled him again, bracing his feet. The rocks were moving again. "Stop that!"

"I'm not doing anything, I swear. The Avatar that was born with the air nomad's died, there was an accident," Aang's voice trembled, tears gathering in his eyes slightly, "his glider ripped and he fell and couldn't stop himself in time, I couldn't even stop him in time." Aang blurted, his face turning red as he held back tears. "I'm not him…he was my friend…" he muttered the last bit, a pitiful ring to his very young voice. Too young…

Zuko paused a moment, as much as he wanted to, now was not the time to show compassion, he snarled, "Then why haven't we seen any other hints about the Avatar since then?" he circled Aang, who still had his staff raised and followed Zuko's movement. "I'm sure we would have seen him-"

"or her…" Katara muttered under her breath.

Zuko ignored her. "-traveling at some point to learn the other elements, even the sages would know."

"I don't know what happened to the other Avatars." Aang said calmly, resting his staff in the bend of his elbow, but still in easy each reach, he tried making peaceful hand gestures, hoping it would make everyone calm down. "But unless people are randomly able to bend two elements and not be the Avatar…then I think you're him." Aang said this with the upmost calm; the young prince was getting closer and closer to a small break down.

"I. Am. Not. HIM! I AM NOT THE AVATAR!" he came close to stomping his foot in the snow like his sister would have when she was at the age of her famous temper tantrums.

"That is quite enough Prince Zuko!" A voice said from the top of the ship, then the man it belonged to descend down the stairs.

A few gasps were heard, and the oldest woman mutter a horrified, "The Dragon of the West? Here?" She quickly and quietly started pushing more of the children behind her for the mothers to push them into tents.

Iroh stopped when he reached the bottom of the ramp and gave a respectful, peaceful bow, with his head lowered, he said in a clam, reassuring voice, "I promise you, I intend no harm on you or your village, I am just accompanying my nephew."

"You're still fire nation, and the fire nation is not allowed here! Leave now!" Sokka shouted, raising his boomerang over his head, ready to throw.

"I am sorry, this war has caused you pain. I promise I am doing everything I can to end it."

Sokka scoffed, "In your favor maybe. You are helping him capture the Avatar."

Iroh gave a kind smile. "You have much to learn, young man, but Zuko," he turned to his nephew, "you have even more." The old man sighed and after a moment of thought spoke again, "I have known you were the Avatar since the day you were born. Your mother knew too. We kept it secret from your father, and the sages, you are infact, the Avatar for the fire nation." Zuko paled, "And the world needs you to bring back balance, and peace to the world. You are ready Prince Zuko." The young prince stood there, unable to really comprehend his uncle's words. Then his uncle turned swiftly to the soldier's that surrounded the prince still, his voice grew dangerous, and was colder than the artic winds. "If word of this reaches the Fire Lord because of any one of you, your ashes won't even reach The Gates of Azulon. Are we clear?" Zuko never heard his uncles voice get that low and threatening, or ever suggest anything so violent. He was even a bit intimidated by the glare aimed at the soldiers. Every man nodded without hesitation, and gave a quick bow and a chorus of 'yes general.' "Good. Very good. Now, board the ship, and be ready for the next order, we have some business to attend to." The soldiers looked eager to be dismissed.

Zuko was still standing, remarkably, pale faced and breathing a bit irregularly, "Uncle…you knew?" he choked.

"Yes." His uncle said with a small smile. Then he turned and addressed the water tribe women. "I'm sorry for any harm or alarm we may have caused upon our arrival. Is there anything we can do?"

"Not come back?" Sokka bit out.

"Sokka, don't be rude." Katara said, smacking him. "Pardon my brother…sir…" Katara said with a shaky voice. "He doesn't know when to shut up sometimes." Katara tried to communicate quietly with her brother not to pick any more fights he couldn't win.

Iroh smiled, "Quiet alright, and Zuko, I believe you owe them an apology as well…I'm pretty certain I heard some startled screams down here…" Zuko blushed.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, in a low mumble, giving a small bow in their direction, but avoiding eye contact.

Katara gave him a small smile. It was then she realized, he was hardly older than her brother. Acting braver than she felt she asked with a small voice, "Are you two hungry? We have some dinner ready…"

Zuko gave his uncle an uncertain glance, but he knew his uncle would never turn down a meal. "We would love too!" he said joyfully. His smile grew, "I even have some tea with me, I always keep some with me. A cup of tea always tastes better when shared with new friends." Zuko buried his face in his palm as his uncle continued. "I hope you don't mind that all I have with me is jasmine, I drank all my ginseng a week ago." He added the last bit with a pout.

It wasn't long until they all were sat around a small fire, bowls of stewed sea prunes in their laps and everyone had a cup of tea in their mittened hand, the old general was happy to track down enough tea cups on the boat so everyone could have their own cup, even the smallest child had a cup in her hands. There were even multiple decorative tea-pots heating by the fire. Zuko was siting sandwiched between the small monk and his uncle. All three of them were giving their bowls a very timid look that could easily be mistaken as fear.

"Have you tried it yet?" Aang whispered.

"No…you?" Zuko asked.

"Nope."

They gave their bowl another glance, and then at each other. They understood the look, to not insult the water tribe, and for Zuko to get out of trouble with these people, he had to make them happy. He and Aang both lifted their spoons of sea prunes to their mouths at the same time.

It was awful. It took almost three attempts to swallow. Then, the old lady, who happened to be the 'warrior' and the oldest girl's grandmother, stood. Apparently, she was acting Chief in her son in law's absence. "We haven't had outsiders visit our tribe in a long time." She eyed Zuko, Iroh, and the young monk warily. "Let alone friendly, outsiders." Zuko looked down sheepishly. "But The Avatar has officially returned to this world, regardless of what his birth nation is, we have all meet for a reason, and I think we should do what we can to help bring a peaceful end to this war."

"I would like to help too. I can fly, um...Prince Zuko to where ever he needs to master the other elements. Katara, we will still go by the North Pole, you'll still come right?" Aang asked hopefully, his eyes shining up at the young water bender.

Zuko turned interested to the young girl. "Are you a Water Bender?"

"Yeah. The last one in the South Pole." She answered a bit sheepishly.

Zuko looked mad for some reason, and then looked away. "Stupid Fire Nation…" The rest of the tribe was taken a bit aback. Zuko refused to stand while the woman was still in the position of power, so he quietly said, with his head lowered. "I am sorry again, for the fear I caused upon my arrival," he did his best to make his apology more sincere than before. "And the fear my nation has caused the world," he gulped a little, still afraid he was speaking out of turn. "I used to think, speaking out against what was wrong was fixed things, but I only got burned." he choked a little on his words. "The last few years have been rough on all of us. But I promise, I will change, it might take time, two years of hardship is a lot to overcome in a short amount of time, and I will help end the war, however a 100 year old scar is harder to heal. But I will do my best. I'm done letting innocent people down. It's not happening ever again." When he finished he finally looked up seeing the awed faces of the women and some of the older children around him.

"Prince Zuko, you have spoken wise beyond your years, I am so proud of you." Iroh said, gripping his nephew's shoulder. "I will cover for you while you travel the world learning the four elements." His uncle smiled. "I still expect you to practice your fire bending every day, and hopefully, you will find another master on the road to further your training."

Aang stood, and bowed respectfully to the elder woman, "Thank you for the meal," he had secretly dumped the rest of its contents into Zuko's bowl unseen. "But if we are to start the journey, I will need to prepare Appa a little bit; his saddle may be loose from the storm we were in when we crashed." With a polite nod to everyone he wondered away to his Sky Bison.

"So, young lady, you are traveling to learn water bending." Iroh asked with a smile, "The North will be a perfect place to learn, I hear it is beautiful up there. I wish you, luck."

"Th-thank you sir."

"You're not going alone Katara." Sokka spoke up. "I'm coming with you."

Katara gave a large grin and her brother a hug, but then, with a small frown, she pulled apart "But Sokka, Dad left you in charge."

Zuko resisted the urge to raise his eye brows. He seemed to be a bit young to be in charge of an entire village, then again, half of them were probably his cousins.

"He also told me to protect you. Gran-Gran can hold down the village just fine. There's no way I'm letting you go-alone." He puffed out his chest slightly.

Iroh placed his bowl down, his contents also secretly dumped in Zuko's bowl. "Well my Nephew, I am going to talk to the crew, and get some maps ready for you. Then I can help you get all your supplies together. Why don't you finish your supper and meet me back on the ship when you're done." He turned to the tribe, "please accept the tea pots and extra tea as thank you for your hospitality," he said patting the wooden crate of tea leaves he had Lieutenant Jee bring down "and thank you again for the meal." He said rubbing his large belly, a larger smile plastered on his face.

Zuko's eyes widened at his now completely full bowl. It hadn't been that full moments ago. It tried his best to eat it. One by one, the rest of the villagers got up to leave to do something productive with the rest of their sunlight hours. How many of them got less, just to feed him, his uncle and the monk and they hardly touched it. He sighed sadly. He couldn't do anything right.

"You don't like the stewed sea prunes. Do you?" the girl asked. Zuko looked up. She already had a back pack and a sleeping bag perched on her shoulders. "It's okay, you can just put it back in the pot. Gran Gran told me not many people outside the Water Tribes like them. We packed some seal jerky you might like better."

Zuko stood and spooned his bowl of sea prunes back into the pot. "I also have plenty of food we can pack from my ship. There's plenty of cured meats, rice and noodles to hold us over for quite some time."

"That's nice." Katara said with a smile. "My brother might befriend you yet. The more meat you give him the happier he'll be." Katara chuckled shaking her head. "So…ready to see the world?" she asked.

With a small frown he turned to the horizon, "I've seen it two times already."

"Two?" Katara asked, a bit awed.

"But I'm ready to enjoy it this time." A small crash caught his attention, "I think you're brother needs help."

A muffled "I'm okay!" could be heard from underneath a snow drift.

They all met up at the base of the fire nation ship. The siblings had already said goodbye to their grandmother and ready to leave, or somewhat ready, Sokka was throwing a glare at the ship as it personally offended him. The door opened and further packed in a heap of snow. Sokka grumbled on about a watchtower and Zuko shrugged it off. Aang peered inside excitedly. "I haven't been on a fire nation ship in forever…or a working one for that matter…"

Zuko glanced back at him a bit bewildered. "What were you doing on a Fire Nation ship?"

"I had a friend from the fire natation, and his father was a helmsman. We got in and out of so much trouble together. He fell overboard once." Aang smiled brightly. "His name was Kuzon."

"That's a fire nation name I haven't heard in a while." Iroh said proudly, he had been waiting inside. "It's a very old name… when I was a general, there was a helmsman by that name that retired after we retreated from Ba-Sing-Se, he told me, his friend would have been disappointed with what he was doing and didn't want to ruin his memory by causing fear and destruction."

Aang frowned, "Kuzon never wanted to be in the military...he wanted to be an explorer…" Even though every twelve year old boy dreamed of exploring, it was all he could remember his friend ever talking about in terms of their futures.

"During Sozin's reign, he required thirteen year old boys to start training for the military. If their family had ties to any type of our navy or army, they followed their family." Zuko said. "If Kuzon's father was a helmsman then it's very likely he became one to...even if he was unwilling."

"He was a good man. He had a great family. Always kept his mouth shut when asked about the war...but he could play a mean game of Pia Sho, that's for sure." the general said with a grin. They continued their walk deeper into the ship's hull and started making their way up metal stair cases as the ramp closed them in.

"I could never win...my guardian, Monk Gyatso, was a much better player than me. I think Kuzon almost beat him once…"his voice trailed off as he ran his fingers along the metal work. "It's not always about winning, there is a lot of learning involved that many overlook. Although," Iroh paused, stroking his beard. "Winning is a nice bonus." he smiled.

"Uncle...can we discuss your game later...we have a lot to figure out…"

"Of course Nephew, shall we go to the lounge and discuss your next move?"

Zuko nodded and led everyone up the stairs that was of nicer quality and probably saw more foot traffic by its crew and host. "Sorry it's so dark up here, we ran out of oil for these lamps a few weeks ago, and we don't have enough to restock this area." Zuko said simply, lighting a small fire in his palm.

"Wait a second...I thought you were a prince...wouldn't you have all the oil you could possibly want?" Sokka blurted bluntly, raising an accusatory eyebrow.

"A banished prince." Zuko muttered back darkly.

That shut Sokka up for about a minute.

"You're name's Sokka right?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah…" Sokka answered, still looking like he was ready to jump to accuse Zuko of a wrong doing he hasn't committed yet. That or he was still put out about his watch tower being knocked over twice in one evening.

"Just making sure...maybe I could help train you to fight more...since…" Zuko didn't want to blurt out he was awful, but that was the truth, his uncle had called him wise that afternoon, best not blow it sticking his foot in his mouth "you don't seem to get a lot of practice with half of the 'young men' in your village still in nappies."

"Sure...Okay…" Sokka agreed, his face turning red in the dim light. Zuko dropped the flame and it disappeared into nothing at one of the metal doors. It took both hands to open it.

"Stupid ship is so old, the doors like to stick, especially way out here." he said before he finally got it to open into a nice sitting area with a fire pit in the middle and a window that faced the uninhabited pit of the ice patch they called home. "Uncle...um...want to ask the chef if he would bring more tea for everyone?"

"Of course!" he knew his uncle would be too excited to refuse. He left without another word.

Everyone stood around awkwardly and Zuko just stood scratching the back of his head. His helmet was left abandoned by the entry way of his ship and his phoenix -tail plum felt tighter than usual. "Sit anywhere you like." He hoped he sounded at least a little inviting.

They all sat around the fire and pulled their thick parka off. "It smells so spicy in here…" Katara said, sniffing.

"Is it too much? I can open a window." Zuko said. Even though it would defeat the purpose of keeping the rooms so warm, but if they liked the cold he wouldn't argue…

"No, its fine...I kinda like it."

Aang was staring at the fire pit, deep in thought. "The Fire Nation makes their own seasonings, right? And send them all over the world?" Aang asked. He remembered a girl Kuzon crushed on that worked at a stall with her family that had all kinds of brightly colored peppers hanging from the window.

"Yeah, although, we keep the best ones to ourselves," Zuko admitted with a small shrug, not many of the other nations liked them anyway, "unless the earth kingdom wants to pay double. It's not really fair, I know, we mostly sell them the more common ones that they can grow themselves for certain seasons, but since most of the fire nation is near the hottest part of the world we can grow things almost year-around, plus the soil is rich with volcanic ash." Zuko walked over to a map, "that's the Capitol City; it sits right inside a dormant volcano, and the lower region is in a caldera from where it erupted a long time ago."

"So...that's why you guys are a bunch of hotheads, you literally make a home out of a fire pit." Sokka said reclining against a cushion.

Katara smacked him before she heard Zuko let out a chuckle. "At least it's not like the one Avatar Roku had at Crescent Island, there's a constant magma and lava flow there, whereas at home," he hesitated briefly "the magma is really deep underground." His finger slid to one of the smaller islands near the very edge of Fire Nation waters, "Roku's volcano was very active ...his family and most of the residents got away, but he and his dragon died. I think Grandfather Azulon said it was the poisonous gasses that made it hard for him to get away and then pyroclastic flow was what killed him."

"How did he know that?" Aang asked.

"Avatar Roku was from the fire nation, and Sozin was Fire Lord at the time, and Sozin was Grandfather Azulon's father... so probably heard the story from him and told my sister and me when we were little. There was an earthquake that day, and he wanted to scare us into thinking the palace was going to fall in a giant pit of lava. It worked on my sister for about a minute...then she tried to keep scaring me."

"Sounds like a great guy." Sokka commented sarcastically. "Was he into tormenting little animals as well?"

"He wanted me killed as a child." Zuko answered dryly. They hoped he was joking. All was quiet when Iroh entered the room.

"I wasn't sure what flavor everyone wanted so I brought five trays." he said brightly, half of the kitchen staff was trailing behind him.

Zuko sighed and rested his face in his palm. "Thank you Uncle." he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before sitting back down with the group.

After everyone had a cup of their preferred cup of tea, Katara was the one who spoke first. "I think our first trip should be to the North Pole, It will take us a while, but since you will have to learn air along the way, you will have some bending basics before we get there, and I can give you a few lessons on what I have learned...although, I don't know much."

"That would be fine." Zuko nodded, swirling his tea cup around more than drinking it.

"That sounds good...Aang, how long can...your…" Sokka waved his hand to prompt the boy on the name of fluffy snot monster.

"Sky Bison"

"How long can he fly?"

"I haven't tried a really long flight before...the storm caught us about an hour or two into our flight. I have known other bison's to fly all day, but then sleep all day the next day."

Zuko nodded. "We will need a lot of supplies." Zuko stood and walked to the cupboard and pulled out a roll of parchment and charcoal stick. "Uncle, how much food can we take without taking too much from the other crew members?"

"As much as you need Prince Zuko. We will have plenty; we will stop and port at Captain Zhao's ship yard. It's half a day's journey if we push full speed." Sokka looked a bit alarmed that a fire nation base was so close to home.

"I think three weeks is plenty...we can use some of the money I have left to buy what we need after it runs out...and we'll need more water skins." he started making a small list of calculations.

"Don't forget, you will need other necessities Prince Zuko, not only will you need food, you will need shelter as well. There are a few tents in the store room."

Zuko nodded and added it to the list.

"Prince Zuko, a quick word alone?" His uncle asked standing.

Zuko nodded and followed his uncle out the door. They closed the door behind them, leaving it slightly ajar.

"You have not been acting like yourself my Nephew. I know finding out you were the avatar was a big surprise, but you can't let it change who you are."

"I know Uncle." Zuko said softly, his voice devoid of his usual hot temper. "I think the search my father sent me on, was clouding who I was, more so than me realizing I'm the Avatar ever could. I need to discover everything for myself, even if I have to take the throne back myself...I will do it right." Zuko was a bit surprised and startled when his uncle quickly embraced him in a tight hug.

"Best of luck my Nephew." Iroh whispered.

"Thank you Uncle." Zuko hugged him back. He remembered how during all the years at sea how he always brushed off such affection and how cruel he had been...his uncle was nothing but kind the whole time.

"Go, make the travel preparations with your new friends. You all found each other for a reason. Your destinies are all intertwined together."

"Thank you." Zuko whispered again, his uncle simply smiled.

"I'm going to go see the fluffy beast on the deck. I heard it's pretty friendly. I'll see you all off when you are ready." His uncle turned and walked away, before he left, he turned once more, "Think things through Prince Zuko, make this trip as problem free as you can."

Zuko nodded his head with a slight smile and turned back toward the door, it required a fairly hard push just for leaving it cracked. He almost lost his balance as he spilled back into the room. He righted himself and cleared his throat. His face burned a little as all the previous whispering stopped.

"After you all finish your tea, want to start at the kitchens to gather our food rations?"

"Okay." Katara smiled, finished the last sip of her tea and stood. "Thank you so much for the tea."

"Thank my uncle; he's crazy about the stuff." Zuko blushed slightly at her smile.

"We can add what food we get to the bit we have; all we have is seal jerky."

They all filed out of the room, and down the hall. They stopped at door. "I need to step in here really fast and grab a few things." He stepped in and shut the door behind him.

"This is still really weird Katara…" Sokka said looking around the fire nation vessel. "What would dad say if he saw us in here?"

"He would be happy we are helping the Avatar." Katara answered simply. "And besides...he's not here." She muttered the last bit bitterly.

Aang stood there quietly twirling his staff between his hands, trying to ignore the sibling's quiet squabbling.

When Zuko came out, they were all sitting against the wall. "I didn't take that long...did I?" he asked. He had changed out of his light amour, now he was sporting a thick tunic with tight material underneath that ended tightly at his wrist. His pants were made of the same thick material as his tunic, his boots still had the distinct Fire Nation style but winterized for the elements. His bag was bulky with what they guessed was all his clothes and a blanket was rolled tightly and tied to the top, another bag was held at his side. "Aang, these are for you, they no longer fit me, and they might fit you, if you need to hide any. Being the last air bender will be very noticeable, people will assume you are the avatar, and try to hunt you down." He held the bag up for the young monk.

Thinking of Zuko as a child like Aang was difficult for Katara. Thinking of him small, maybe smiling, and without the scar seemed impossible.

Aang just grinned and gave a respectful bow. "Thank you." He accepted the bag and slung it ever his shoulder.

Zuko gave a small smile in return. "So...to the kitchen's?" He asked, slinging the bag over his shoulder. The water tribe siblings nodded mutely and gestured for him to lead the way. He couldn't remember the last time he smiled so much. His face was starting to hurt. He didn't think the effort to be less biter would actually make his face sore.

The siblings were hanging back just slightly, whispering again, so Aang took a few longer strides so he was side by side with the banished prince

The kid cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about knocking you over with the seal penguin." he apologized.

"It's fine; really, you were just protecting your friends. I understand. I must have looked really mean…" He said, looking anywhere but at the boy beside him, or the water tribe kids falling closer in step with them.

"Yeah, you were kind of a jerk." said Sokka with a dry tone.

"I said I was sorry okay!" he snapped. At their shocked expressions his jaw clicked shut and he grit his teeth. He had done well keeping his temper in check so far...he didn't want to ruin it now. "Sorry." he said again, much quieter. He quickened his pace lighting up the hall way again. He took a sharp left turn. "Kitchen is this way." He said quietly trying to walk ahead. Zuko could still feel their uncertain stares behind his back.

He did turn around however when the entered because it sounded like Sokka was trying to inhale all the air in the room with one large gasp.

"Katara…" he whispered loudly. "Look at all the meat!"

Aang looked a bit unconformable at the racks of animal hanging up by hooks around the place, and the distinct smell of something smoking over a low fire in the corner.

Remembering his lessons of the other nations as a child, Zuko knowingly gave an apologetic smile to the boy and tossed him a few burlap sacks. "Why don't you fill those up with some of the nuts in those barrels, and whatever fruit or vegetable you prefer?" The cook who was in the corner bowed at Zuko and respectfully took his leave.

Aang nodded and turned away from the meat on the spikes and began filling one of the bags with small handfuls of each kind of nut. His eyes lingered a bit longer on the large barrel of leechy nuts.

"Those are for everyone, Aang.." he said quietly. "You can get more than that, plus, not many of us on board care for leechy nuts very often." He tossed another small sack. "You can fill this one up all the way with them if you want."

Aang smiled brightly. "Thank you so much, I haven't had leechy nuts in forever!"

"One Hundred years." Sokka fake coughed into his hand.

"Yeah...that long…" Aang said sheepishly, and then started to fill the bag with more excitement. Then once it was packed as full as it would go with leechy nuts, Aang started to fill the others with more variety and then moved to the fruits and vegetables.

Zuko was busy filling small glass vials with cooking oils, spices, and herbs.

"Will we really need all of those?" Katara asked, watching him pack them neatly with bits of old cloths in a wooden box making sure none of them moved.

"If we don't eat them, we can sell them later. " Zuko answered. Then started on a second box. "And besides, it would be nice to have some good food while on the road...about done with picking out the meat Sokka?"

There wasn't an answer they could translate from his 'island of awe' as Katara called it. "Once he's there, it's like talking to a snow drift." She muttered. "If he's half coherent I mean."

Once their bags were full they each put a sack or two over their shoulders. One man walked by the kitchen. "Lieutenant Jee," Zuko called.

The man stopped, he didn't look like a very happy man. "Yes, Prince Zuko?" he asked.

"Are you heading up to the main deck?"

"I am…" he affirmed stiffly.

"Can you bring these up and ask my uncle have these to be put in the Bison's saddle? Its fragile, and we have more supplies to gather."

He took the boxes. "Of course Prince Zuko…" the man hesitated. "Shall I take the bags too?"

Zuko walked over to where Sokka had one bag stuffed full of all the types of jerky. "I think that's enough by the way Sokka…"Zuko interrupted before he could start filling a third bag. "Just these two please." he said handing them over to the man.

He gave a surprised looked then nodded. "Anything else sir?"

"No...uh...dismissed...my uncle might want a word though...I'm making some different traveling arrangements."

"Yes sir." The man walked away with their spices and two bags of meat.

"Alright, our store room has the tents and whatever weapons and tools we might need." Zuko said. "This way." he lit the small fire in his palm once more and continued down the narrow corridor.

Once they were inside he looked at the small pile in the first corner. "How many tents do we need?"

"Sokka and I packed one…" Katara said, "So maybe just two, one for you, and one for Aang."

"I won't need one," Aang said, "I'll just sleep on Appa."

"But you'll get wet if it rains…" Zuko said.

"I'll live; a little water never hurt anyone…" Aang said with a goofy grin.

"Says the man under the sea…" Zuko said, using one of his uncle's old random sayings he was always mumbling.

"Okay...I guess I'll take one then…" Aang said unsure. Zuko handed one off to the kid, and after some thought, handed the second one over as well, the kid already looked loaded down with all the bags of nuts, berries and vegetables.

"I'm guessing you don't really want any weapons...hu?"

"Nope." The kid smiled.

"Wanna go check on your pet? We'll be up there soon."

"Yeah. I'll just go and double check and make sure he's ready for the journey." Aang adjusted a few of the bags, and took his and Zuko's tents with him.

After he left Zuko turned to the two siblings. "Please tell me the fluff monster up there can really fly?"

"We haven't seen it for ourselves yet so…" Sokka trailed off.

Zuko sighed and steam started to rise off his other palm. "Guess we'll have to go out on a limb." He stepped forward and it looked like he almost picked the first weapon he saw, a fancy set of Dual Dao Swords in a shiny black sheath.

Katara stood gently fingering a set of small daggers with little bits of leather to strap on her wrist. They were small and thin enough to tuck under a sleeve. "Those could come on handy. If you aren't near water to bend, they might help…" Zuko said softly. "I would also pack these," he handed her small throwing arrows, and sharp shiny metal spirals, "They are normally used together...One of my friends back home...was a nonbender, and these were her favorite weapons to learn how to use." A small smile tugged at his lips. "One day after our lessons let out, we were playing in the garden, and I said boys were better at combat and sword fighting than girls…" At Katara's glare he continued, thinking she might like the ending. "I didn't know she still had her throwing arrows on her and she pinned me to a tree by my robes."

Both siblings chuckled.

Zuko let himself smile again, only slightly, and slipped all the small weapons into the glove like sheaths and handed them over. "We probably won't really need them for a while, but take them anyway." He stuck a few extra bundles of the arrows that were rolled up in cloth and bound with leather straps, and more of the shiny, sharp spirals, also packed with care.

"Thank you." Katara said, carefully slipping them on and pulling a thermal layer of sleeve over them. They looked a little bulky but they still looked well hidden.

"Sokka, would you like a sword or anything?" the young water tribe boy was staring at a wall of all the swords, each varying in length and garnish. He was too busy staring at the wall with a pensive expression and stroking his face to answer.

"He could stand there all day if you would let him." Katara mumbled. "If we want to leave before night fall, we should probably gather everything else we need and let him look..."

"Good idea."

After they had a large basket full of pots, tin bowls and extra water and wine skins they wrapped up a tarp or two and were ready to lug all their things up to the main deck. "Do you think all of this will fit on Appa?" Katara asked, "This will take up at least half the saddle."

Zuko stared at it a moment. "Maybe we can tie it behind the saddle. Or put some of the other things in here to make more space." Zuko put a few long bits of rope over his shoulder, wrapped up in neat rings bound together with small twine strings.

"I guess that will work." Katara mumbled. "Sokka, hurry up and pick a weapon. Come on, Zuko and I are ready to leave."

Sokka quickly picked a modest sword of medium length and tied the strings to his belt. "Coming." He ran to help carry all supplies.

"When we get up to the main deck, I'll come back down to get your parkas, you left them in the lounge room…" Zuko noted.

The siblings glanced down, as if they had forgotten. "Oh." they mumbled.

It took almost an hour to arrange all their goods on the saddle.

With everyone wrapped up in parkas, and furs they were ready to start their journey. Everything that day had snowballed for the two water tribe siblings. They found the last air bender, found the new Avatar who was the fire nation's banished prince, and now they found themselves on a ship, ready to disembark on a creature thought to be extinct for a century all the way across the world. Everything looked so much bigger to all the kids sitting in the bison's saddle.

Zuko slid off the side to grab the last bag to tie it to the side, and say a quick goodbye to his uncle.

"Be safe my Nephew." Iroh said giving a warm hug.

Zuko gave a small hug in return. "I will Uncle."

"Zuko, it is very important that you try to keep your identify as secret as you can." At Zuko's annoyed expression, he mended his statement. "Only your friends, this crew and the southern water tribe know you are the avatar. Try to keep it that way as long as you can. It will be inevitable that others will find out, but avoid telling other civilizations as long as you can. Understand?" Iroh asked, squeezing Zuko's shoulder in a tight grip.

"I understand Uncle." Zuko nodded. He gave a respectful bow and then started to climb up on the saddle. The air bender was seated on the bison's head with the reigns in hand.

"Alright Fly-boy, let's see the bison fly now." Sokka said dryly, huddling deeper into the furs next to his sister.

"Appa, Yip-yip!" Aang called. Appa gave a great moan and started to shuffle his feet a little until he was standing at his full height on all six of his massive paws. He flapped his tail into the air once and brought it down onto the deck with a mighty clang, it moaned once more before it lifted its tail again, his front two paws lifted into the air, and a few moments later, they were airborne.

"He's flying! He's flying!" Sokka yelled excitedly, leaning over the saddle, staring at the ocean below. He turned to face the unamused or less excited faces of the other riders. His smile fell "I mean, big deal, he's flying." His smile quickly returned as he turned back to see the open water and let the wind whip in his face.

Zuko was watching the ship, and the people still standing on deck fading away.

"So...you're the Avatar now. Isn't that great?" Katara asked.

"I'm still not sure if I want to be…" he admitted.

"But the world needs you…According to legend; you'll need to master air, water, than earth right? You have fire down mostly already." Katara noted.

"I'll still need to find a master to teach me more fire bending...My uncle taught me for a long time, but I'm still behind."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll catch up." Aang said, turning around and resting his chin on the saddle.

"yeah…"

"I'll be able to teach you the beginnings of air bending." Aang said with a large smile. "It's a long way to the North Pole, you'll love it!" An excited expression crossed Aang's face. "Maybe I can make you a glider and you can learn to fly!"

At Zuko's skeptical expression she continued on a calmer tone. "And on the way I can still teach you some water bending moves I know, it's not much but it will be a start!" Katara said smiling.

Zuko nodded. "Thanks."

"Then we are all in this together." Katara said with a warm smile.

"Great!" Aang said cheerfully. He reached inside his cape and pulled out a map. "Before we get to the North Pole," with a slight grin he added "and in-between lessons, we have some serious business to attend to. Here, here, and here,"

"What's there?" Katara asked pointing to a point on the map.

"Here, we'll ride the hopping lamas, then way over here we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish." Aang said tracing an invisible trail on the map with his finger. The route made no sense at all to Zuko. "Then back over here we'll ride the hog monkeys. They don't like people ridding them, but that's what makes it fun!" Aang said excitedly giving a giant childish grin.

Zuko watched the kid talk excitedly as he pointed to all the places he had been before and where they will need to go. He turned to look back where the Fire Nation ship used to float on the sunset orange ocean, but it was gone, and clouds obscured his view. The sunset dimmed to a dull purple twilight and everyone quieted as they watched the stars twinkle at them, and wondered about the new paths of fate were stretching before them.