A/N: I don't own Avatar and I don't want to, I'm happy making my little fics. :) (I would have loved to have worked with that amazing group of people though!! =D) This applies to this whole fic, so I don't have to keep repeating it at each page. ^-^

I don't want to give much away before the story even starts, I want you to read on no matter what I say up here, but I promise this will include some romance and quite a bit of adventure-- though maybe not too much of the guns-blazing, swords-swinging kind found elsewhere. There WILL be fight scenes, and it has this rating for possible swearing, violence, romance and whatnot, nothing graphic at all though. :) The first bits may also be a tad slow because I'm starting from canon and need to establish that. Also:

This will most likely SPOIL if you haven't seen at least all of Book 2. From there is goes slightly AU (still in the universe though) and will be less canonical, still potentially spoilery though so if you're very sensitive to that then please go rent out (or buy :p) the rest of the series and finish it up, it won't disappoint. :)

This will be uploaded on a very erratic schedule because I'm writing it by hand and then typing it up, not to mention I hate writing when I'm not in the mood-- it sounds fake and I wouldn't want my dear readers (whoever you are) to suffer that. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen of all ages step up and sit down to watch this story slowly unfold....

-=^=--=^=-

"It's a letter from your mom... Your mom's here in the city, and she wants to see you!"

Toph could feel her eyes widen involuntarily, but quickly laughed. "Long Feng intercepted our letters from home? That's just sad."

The other began excitedly looking at their own files while Toph drifted into silence. It was hard to believe that her parents, the people that had controlled her life so tightly since she was born, actually wanted to talk. Her mother had always been more lenient than her father, but it was still an important step in the right direction.

The next morning they had all gathered up their few belongings and gathered just outside the palace. Toph could hear the others making a lot of noise, and she could feel Sokka's sudden enthusiasm when he heard Suki was here. "I'm really gonna miss you guys," she said suddenly, stubbornly refusing to let any mushy feelings creep into her voice.

"Me too," Katara said with a smile.

Aang and Sokka got on Appa and waved goodbye as they left. Katara gave Toph a surprise hug before the two parted ways, Katara headed back inside and Toph turned towards the residential area of the Upper Ring. When she reached the house that felt like what she'd been told she stopped and, after taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and waited for the answer.

Toph was never patient and after a minute with no answer she frowned and again, much harder this time. The door gave and swung lightly inwards.

She stepped hesitantly inside,"Hello?" The earth beneath her rippled slightly and she felt immediately reassured. In a stronger voice she called out again,"Mom? Anyone home?"

When hands grabbed her roughly from behind the comforting tremble turned into a shockwave that exploded upwards in all directions, immediately wrecking the house and hopefully catching her manhandler off guard.

She felt a brief but intense feeling of satisfaction at the screams following her outburst. But she had no time to savor it, the man behind her hadn't been shaken in the slightest and he pressed a damp cloth firmly over her mouth and nose. A sickly sweetness filled her senses as the world faded away.

-=-.-=-

ZUKO POV

"You are not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good!" Iroh's face was firm and passionate, but Zuko couldn't stand to look at it. He squeezed his eyes closed, but as he feels the ground quake beneath his feet they spring open-- just in time to see his uncle become encased in crystal.

He whipped around to see Azula, wearing a silly green Earth Kingdom outfit and followed by what appeared to be the two soldiers who had trapped Iroh. "I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko, Prince Zuko… You're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?" she asked with a smile, slowly but surely closing the distance between her and her brother until he stood trapped between his sister and his uncle.

"Release him immediately!" Zuko cried, muscles tensed and heat gathering at his finger tips.

"It's not too late Zuko, you can still redeem yourself," Azula smirked, lazily trailing sparks behind her back as she spoke.

Gold met gold as Zuko looked into his sister's eyes, eyes that were as hard and they were that last time he saw them three years ago. But despite their lack of comfort they held a promise, that lofty promise of a life he had been denied for too long. The life he had been hunting day and night to get back.

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you." Iroh's voice was as soft as ever, but it was confident and solid as a rock. The Dragon of the West had eyes tired by long years of war and losses. This was the man who had stepped up to take care of Zuko when his own father turned Zuko away, who had been his only comfort these long years of exile.

"Why don't you let him decide, Uncle?‌ I need you Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day. This glorious day in Fire Nation history. And the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have your father's love. You will have everything you want."

His old life, his old honor.

"Zuko I am begging you! Look into your heart and see what it is you truly want."

Freedom from his father, from his family.

The ex-prince shut his eyes again, shaking his head in confusion.

"You are free to choose," Azula's voice invaded his thoughts.

He could feel Azula's earthbending soldiers leave, and when he opened his eyes again Azula had left too. He knew Iroh was there, waiting patiently for him to make his decision.

Prince Zuko didn't say a word, he followed Azula's footsteps out of the tunnel.

Looking back the rest of that fight would always be hazy to him, clear only through single moments trapped in his memories. The hurt in that first look Aang gave him after Zuko joined the fight. The hatred reignited in the Waterbender's soul as they faced off. The awe at the glow of the Avatar State and the sudden unexplainable horror and sense of loss when Azula's lightning bolt shot down the boy.

The cruel smirk on her face while the Waterbender deperately escaped with Aang's body. The hurt and anger in his uncle's eyes when he was finally subdued by the Earthbenders. That one stung the most.

Azula was laughing on her field of victory while Zuko stood dumbly to the side. "Guards, take this traitor to the ship so he can be deported."

His head jerked around to see the soldiers taking Iroh away. Zuko wrenched his eyes away and refused to look back, but the doubt in his heart sat there painfully, taunting him and asking him if he had really made the correct choice.