1. The Rescue

The fortress would look menacing and downright terrifying to the common person. Its huge walls made of solid brick were impossible to break through. The enormous gates would impale through your flesh without mercy if you were to attempt escape, if you even got that far. You would first have to pass the ruthless guards who would not hesitate to kill you, and don't forget the infamous Yu Yang Archers who were famous for their silence and their deadly shot. You wouldn't stand a chance against them. Many people were terrified of the man who ran this ominous building. Admiral Zhao. He was a cold hearted killer, nothing but a sick man who cared nothing for the sake of innocent people's lives and abuses his power for purely his own benefit… and to get on the good side of the Fire Lord.

None of this information would have fazed a particular man, he had been face to face with Zhao many times before and didn't think he was scary in the slightest. The mysterious masked man crouched behind the bush before the clearing that surrounded the fortress. He did not care for the guards, they could be taken out easily. The Archers would be annoying but nothing he couldn't handle. What he was focused on was what, or rather who, was inside the building. He sunk further behind the bush as a horse carriage gently pulled the cart along the gravel road that ran straight to the prison. Let the Blue Spirit's plan begin.

The spirit slowly moved his way towards the carriage, its rider unaware. He waited until the carriage had moved a bit further on and pounced. The carriage rolled up to a stop at the entrance of the building. Stopped by a guard to do a standard check of the cart to make sure no one was hiding inside. The Spirit wasted no time, he hung underneath the cart as the guard looked inside. Apparently seeing nothing the spirit watched the boots of the guard walk around the side. He crawled along the cart and silently climbed into the back of the cart without been noticed.

"All clear!" The guard yelled.

The cart rolled into the yard and the man with the mask slipped out of the cart and hid.

…OooO…

A young boy, couldn't be older than 12 was chained up, he looked angry and exhausted. Zhao smirked at his prisoner.

"So this is the great Avatar? Master of all the elements. I don't know how you've managed to elude the Fire Nation for a hundred years, but your little game of hide and seek is over". Zhao said, sounding disgustingly pleased with himself.

"I've never hidden from you. Untie me and I'll fight you right now!" the boy, who was indeed the avatar yelled.

"Uhh, no. Tell me, how does it feel to be the only airbender left?" Zhao moved up close to Aang's face.

"Do you miss your people?" At this the boy hung his head in shame.

"Oh, don't worry, you won't be killed like they were. You see, if you die you'll just be reborn and the Fire Nation will have to being its search for the Avatar all over again. So, I'll keep you alive – but just barely". Zhao smirked at the avatar's anger and hatred and walked out triumphantly.

Aang let out a blow of air that smacked Zhao into a wall.

"Blow all the wind you want" Zhao replied with an eerie calmness

"Your situation is futile. There is no escaping this fortress – and no one is coming to rescue you" Zhao walked out locking the door behind him.

The last sentence hit Aang like a tonne of bricks. 'And no one is here to rescue you' it repeated in his head over and over again. Admiral Zhao was right. Katara and Sokka were in no fit state to come and rescue him. The only reason he had left the safety of their cave was to get some medicine for his sick friends. Speaking of medicine… Aang let out a yelp as a frozen frog leapt out of his shirt and landed on the cold cement floor with a soft thud. The frog was only half thawed and could only push itself along with one scrawny leg.

"What? No! Don't leave frogs! My friends are sick and they need you! Please go back to being frozen!" He yelled desperately as he struggled against the chains.

"I've failed" the Avatar slumped in defeat.

He had failed the world. Fire Lord Ozai would use Sozin's comet to burn every plant, animal and innocent person to the ground.

…He had failed.

The door flung open.

Aang's head snapped up in surprise. A man stood there dressed in black from head to toe, he had Dual Dao swords strapped to his back, but the thing that Aang was more focused on was what this man was wearing. It was a blue and white mask with white rims around the eyes, white fangs with teeth that curved upwards into a nothing less than terrifying smile. The Blue Spirit.

The Spirit unsheathed his swords and approached the Avatar. Aang couldn't hold back a scream of terror as the spirit swung this swords. The fatal blow Aang was expecting though, didn't come. The airbender looked at the intruder in complete and utter confusion. The man had sliced cleanly through the metal bindings that had once restrained him.

"Are you here to rescue me?" Aang asked curiously.

The masked figure didn't answer. He opened the door and gestured for the Avatar to follow him.

"I'll take that as a yes" mumbled Aang after finding no better plan (plans weren't his strong point, he usually left that stuff to Sokka). He followed the mysterious masked man.


	2. The Blue Spirit meets the Gaang

_Alright guys next chapter is up!_

_If anyone has any ideas on how I should continue please let me know, I have a rough idea but ideas are welcome! _

_Hope you enjoy_

The Blue Spirit backed away slowly. His plan was stupid and there were so many ways this could go wrong. His swords were around the Avatar's neck. He knew Zhao wanted the Avatar alive so if he made it look like he would kill the Avatar, then hopefully Zhao would let them out.

"Let them go!" Zhao yelled. He was seething!

Yes his plan was working! The monstrous gates groaned as they were opened. The spirit slowly began to walk backwards. The Avatar was tense, he obviously didn't see that this was only a strategy to escape and the spirit had absolutely no intention of hurting or killing the young Avatar. That would make all of his efforts in weakening the Fire Nation fruitless. The Avatar gave the Spirit hope, hope that maybe it wasn't too late for the world to be united once again, all four nations living together, and hopefully one day the Fire Lord can be finally taken down. But something ate away at the spirit. The Avatar is master of all four elements, so why had the Avatar only bended air during their escape? This information confused the Spirit.

He was brought out of his thinking when he heard the 'thwip' of what would have to be an arrow. Then the pain as the arrow tore through his flesh without mercy and stopped halfway through his shoulder. He lost his balance and almost fell over. The pain was horrible, but nothing he couldn't handle. The Blue Spirit could hear the guards approaching with a quickness he didn't know they possessed. The Spirit hauled himself off the ground. With his swords in one hand he grabbed the collar of the dazed Avatar and as quickly as he could, dragged them into the forest.

…OooO…

Aang was shocked, scared and confused all at the same time. This man hadn't wanted to kill him, he understood that now. What he didn't understand was why a complete stranger would risk his life for him. But the more pressing matter at hand was the arrow imbedded in his saviours' shoulder. The man's shoulder was now a mess, the blood dribbled down his shoulder at an alarming rate. The whole thing looked so painful. The Spirit's silence was what unnerved him the most. Aang would have screamed the place down or would have passed out. You couldn't really tell how much pain the Spirit was experiencing with that mask on. He was slumped up against a tree. But you could see the man move occasionally.

"Ummm, are you okay?" Aang asked, feeling like he was the reason the man was in the state he was.

The man nodded slowly.

"My friends are camping out in a cave not too far from here. I could take you there and then my friends could help you" Aang said since he didn't want to leave him here. Aang felt like he owed the Spirit, and Aang had no clue what to do in a situation like this. He was hoping Sokka and Katara would know what to do… after they sucked on their frozen frogs of course.

"Thanks" The man behind the mask mumbled.

This caught Aang off guard. The man had not uttered a word despite his injury until now.

Aang pulled the man off the ground and draped the spirit's good arm over his shoulder.

…OooO…

Walking was difficult, the Blue spirit was not only injured but he was at least a head and a half taller than Aang.

Eventually the pair made it back to the cave and stopped to get the frozen frogs. After catching the spirit's questioning gaze he explained that his friends were sick and a crazy old healer had told him these would cure his friends. The man seemed to except that answer and they continued on.

Aang helped his new friend sit down and walked over to Katara and Sokka. He shoved the frogs into their mouths. Aang was surprised how fast the cure worked, his friends were becoming more coherent by the second.

"So who's your new friend Aang?" Sokka, still not entirely with it, asked.

"Oh I almost forgot!" Aang cried as he ran over to the masked man.

"He's hurt, real bad and I brought him back here so we could help him. He saved my life!"

Sokka seemed to realise what he was sucking on and spat the frog out in disgust. The warrior began to make exaggerated gaging noises until Katara snapped out of her daze and the caring, mother hen side came out in full force as she saw the masked man on the floor.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay? Well, clearly you're not! Let me and Sokka help you!" Katara had managed to say all in one breath and the Blue Spirit stared blankly.

"So Spirit guy what can we call you?" Sokka asked as he made his way over.

The man tapped his mask

"The Blue Spirit?"

He nodded.

"…That's not your real name is it?" Aang asked slowly

The Blue Spirit shook his head as a no.

"We've seen you on Fire Nation Wanted posters, you have really helped in weakening the Fire Nation, I think what you've done has put everyone at an advantage, thankyou" Katara said sounding completely in awe. Like a lot of girls, the quiet mysterious guys always intrigued her.

"When I heard the Avatar had been captured I had to do something, you are the world's last and only hope" The Spirit said.

Sokka and Katara stared back in shock for two reasons. First, wow, he just talked! Katara was beginning to think he couldn't and secondly, Aang was captured?!

Katara turned to Aang. "YOU WERE CAPTURED?!"

"Yes but I'm alright and I wasn't hurt" Aang said nervously "However he is not" Aang gestured frantically to the Blue Spirit.

"Oh my god, yes, I completely forgot!" Katara said frantically. "You're handling this very well".

The Spirit just shrugged his good shoulder like this was nothing.

Sokka flinched 'what has this guy been through?' he thought.

Katara pulled out a knife she had with her and began to carefully cut off the sharp end that had sliced through his flesh.

"I'm going to have to pull it out now" she said eyeing their new friend, waiting for his reaction. The Blue Spirit nodded in confirmation.

"Okay, this is going to hurt" the Waterbender said quietly as she slowly began to remove the arrow. It was a painfully slow process that even made the masked man flinch once or twice.

"It's out!" Katara practically yelled as she held up the arrow triumphantly. "We have to bandage it now, the painful part is over."

The Blue Spirit visibly relaxed.

…OooO…

"We should ask him if he wants to join our group" Sokka said, his expression unusually serious.

It had been a good 15 minutes since the Blue Spirit had left, claiming he couldn't stay but would come back to visit after Sokka, Katara and Aang had nagged him.

"He would be a great ally to have, he obviously knows how to fight, he clearly hates the fire nation judging by who he's attacked and he could teach us some hand to hand combat. We would be at such an advantage and we need all the help we can get." Sokka continued.

"Yeah Sokka's right, he would be able to help us a lot! And we know we can trust him, he saved my life after all." Aang said, all his cheeriness back in full swing.

Katara frowned "Are we sure he'll even want to come with us? It's a pretty big ask…."join us with the Avatar and be chased down by psychotic princesses and vicious fire nation soldiers while Aang learns all four elements and takes down the Fire Lord!" She didn't want to drag the mysterious man into something he didn't want to do.

"…Well it's worth a try isn't it?" Aang said sounding hopeful.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask" Katara said, still not completely convinced.

"Well I'm glad we all agreed!" Sokka said as he stood up. "He said he'd come back tomorrow so we should get some rest and wait until then!"

Secretly, Sokka was really excited about this guy. Sure Aang is a guy but the kid's only 12, so he was hoping for some real manly bonding time over meat and sarcasm… but he never voiced this to anyone, no way.

He laid down in his sleeping back and prayed that the Blue Spirit would come back and would join this very weird group of misfits. Maybe he might even find out who the mysterious man under the mask really is.

The Warrior's thoughts continued for a while before he finally fell into a deep sleep, hoping tomorrow would just hurry up already.

_To be continued _

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter _


	3. Identities Revealed

Hey, chapter 3 is up!

I'm thinking about bringing in the painted lady later in the story.

What do you guys think?

The ruler of the entire Fire Nation sat at his throne, looking over his council members with disapproval. They lacked creativity. He didn't want to just burn everything to the ground. That got boring after a while. He wanted to make sure the pathetic excuse for human beings knew who ruled over them, who made the decisions and that they no longer had a say in what they did with their lives. He wanted to strike _fear_ into their hearts. After all that is the only way you can control people.

That is why he called in his daughter, Azula, his firebending prodigy and his pride and joy. His daughter had a wonderful mind, always scheming new ways to inflict pain into the world. She was the only one capable of this particular task.

Capturing the Avatar and killing the Blue Spirit.

They had both caused a lot of annoying anguish for Fire Lord Ozai and he was losing his patience. He had received news that the Avatar had been captured by Admiral Zhao. The Fire Lord was… pleased. His pleasure was ruined, however, when he received news that one man had single-handidly freed the Avatar from Admiral's Zhao's clutches. Fire Lord Ozai was furious. One man. One man had freed the Avatar from a high security fortress. Zhao was pathetic, but he would deal with him later. He was even more furious when he found out who this one man was, the Blue Spirit.

Ozai set several curtains on fire.

This 'Blue Spirit' had caused a lot of trouble. He had destroyed so many of his holds on weak villages and wrecked a lot of his fire nation army outposts. The Fire Lord wanted this man to go down. He didn't care who he was, he just wanted to get rid of this nuisance.

He knew Azula could do this. She wasn't a failure, unlike her sad excuse of a brother. He didn't even know where the banished Prince was.

'Probably dead, he was always pathetically weak' Ozai decided.

"Are you ready Azula?" Ozai asked his daughter after he dismissed his council members, he only looked to them for new, exiting ideas. But so far they had proven useless. Unlike his daughter.

"I will not fail you father" Azula replied, bowing.

"I know you won't. You leave tomorrow morning." Ozai said, his voice betraying no emotion.

…OooO…

Zuko stirred slowly from his sleep. The cool breeze floated gently in through the open window which he came in through late last night, too exhausted to close it. He sat up in his 'bed' which really was just some hay in a stranger's barn. It was a small barn. It had one door which was locked and one small window.

The house lay empty, slowly falling apart. He had gone into the house at first, to try and find an actual bed for once, but quickly decided against it after seeing the decayed remains of its owners. A man, a woman and a child. Murdered by Firebenders. It made him feel like he was going to be sick. The smell wasn't any better.

The soft whistling of wind that swept through the house made the whole thing a little too creepy. Not to mention the strange silence that surrounded the small town of probably only 10 houses. He figured they all had the same fate. He couldn't leave and try to find another town. He was too tired. Then he saw the barn and decided to stay there just for one night. No one would notice him since it was abandoned. Normally he would have considered to stay longer but the decaying, burnt bodies were imbedded in his mind and frankly he didn't want to stay any longer that he needed to. The Vigilante stretched his tired muscles - well as much as he could considering what happened last night.

Zuko decided he was going to go back and visit them. The bunch of kids made him feel wanted. They _wanted_ him to come back. Unlike his father. Banishing him just for standing up to something that was wrong. He remembers telling his father this war was pointless. Not that any of that mattered. He was living proof of what happened when you stood up to the Fire Lord. You got half your face burnt off while the rest of the Nation laughed in your face. His hand reached up to the scar that would forever remind him of his father. No, he didn't even deserve that title anymore. He was a monster.

Doubt plagued his mind. What if they lost trust in him if they found out he was fire nation _and_ a firebender? Maybe he could prove himself to them, he was prepared to do that. He wanted to help the avatar, he wanted to take down his father, and he wanted someone to care.

The ex-prince of the Fire Nation stood up and placed the Blue Spirit mask around his face.

He was not going back on his word.

…OooO…

"What if he doesn't show up?!" Aang said pacing back and forth.

"He will Aang, would you please stop stressing" Sokka said sounding like was trying to convince himself more than Aang but even he was having his doubts.

"Oh come on you two, he will come." Katara said while making their breakfast of a variety of nuts and fruit. "But we should eat now, while we wait and who knows, he might be hungry"

Just as Katara finished the sentence the masked man dropped down from the roof of the cave and landed in a crouch.

Aang jumped out of his skin with a horrified look on his face but realised who it was.

"YOU CAME!" The Avatar yelled and tackled the man in a hug.

The Blue Spirit seemed taken aback by the gesture and slowly returned the hug.

"Would you like something to eat?" Katara asked politely. She was thinking about how she could approach the man about joining their group.

"Yes please" The Blue spirit replied. He sat down as Katara passed him a bowl with fruit and nuts.

"So I was thinking." Sokka began.

"Aang will have to face the Fire Lord eventually and you know there's only three of us so our odds aren't so great and an extra hand would help us so much". Sokka paused.

"So, what do you say? Would you like to join our group?"

The Blue Spirit looked at Sokka.

"It would be an honour but I can't join your group without revealing my identity" The Blue Spirit said, picking his words carefully.

"I don't want to put you in any more danger than you need."

"You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to. I get the whole 'the less you know the safer you are' thing so it's cool to use a fake name or something" Sokka said casually.

"And we have _the Avatar_ in our group, so don't feel like you're putting us in danger, but I won't force you to do something you don't want to do." Aang added, feeling hopeful.

"You could help us take down the fire lord for good and then he won't be able to hurt anymore innocent people." Katara said sounding sincere but there was a hint of desperation to her voice.

The Blue Spirit considered his options. If he didn't join their group and they went their separate ways, it is possible that the Avatar might be captured again, they might never even make it to the Fire Nation before they are killed. If he joins their group and doesn't reveal his identity, they would definitely find out sooner or later… when they did would they not trust him? Being ex-Fire Nation is one thing but being ex-Crown Prince of the Fire Nation is another thing completely. If he joined their group and came out with his true identity, it would lift a weight off the spirit's shoulders. Finally being able to tell someone about his alter ego would be a relief. It would be great to have some backup once in a while as well and maybe come out of some fights with a few less scratches.

"It's not pretty" The Blue spirit says quietly, looking down.

"What isn't?" Aang and Sokka asked simultaneously.

"Underneath… I have a… rather large scar."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, we are not known to judge." Katara said softly, she was now sitting next the Blue Spirit and she could feel the waves of pain coming off him.

"A friend of my dad's, his name is Bato." Sokka began, hoping his story would lighten the man's mood. "His entire arm and chest was badly burnt, it was still wrapped in bandages last time we saw him."

After a seconds hesitation the Blue Spirit removed his mask.

Underneath was nothing more than a teenager, around Sokka's age. His skin was pale and he had the most intense golden eyes and shaggy jet black hair. A large scar covered the left side of his face. It covered his eye leaving it in a permanent squint, it reached above his eye brow to his ear and down to just above his cheek bone. In other words it looked excruciatingly painful.

"My name is Zuko, I am the ex-prince of the Fire Nation." Zuko said, he looked ashamed to be Fire Nation.

Katara stared wide eyed and mouth open before gathering herself up. "You are the last person I expected to be under that mask!" The waterbender tackled Zuko in a hug.

"The Fire Lord's son is on our side! This puts us at more of an advantage than originally thought!" Sokka added and joined in Katara and Sokka's hug.

"I LOVE GROUP HUGS!" the 12 year old Avatar yelled.

One things for certain Zuko did not think they would react like this, with such happiness. He wondered to himself where he would end up from here.

Inside Zuko knew this was the best decision of his life.

Hope you enjoyed it so far!


	4. The Painted Lady

_Hey! sorry I haven't updated in a while I literally wrote this in one sitting! _

Four teenagers sat around a roaring campfire. Their campsite was in the dense green forests of the Earth Kingdom, nothing Katara and Sokka had ever seen before. They had found a small clearing and immediately set up camp. The grass was lush and green and the forest had plenty of life in amongst it, much too meat-craving Sokka's joy.

These kids weren't ordinary kids though; how often do you see a Waterbender, the ex-prince of the Fire Nation who is a Firebender, a non-bender, Water Tribe warrior and the Avatar sitting together eating their dinner and sharing ghost stories?

"So Zuko's a Firebender, Katara's a Waterbender, it took you 112 years to master air" Sokka began but got vicious glares from both Katara and Zuko at the last comment.

"So all we have to find for you is an Earthbending teacher!" Sokka finished, not noticing his friends glares.

"But where are we going to find someone willing enough to teach me?" Aang asked, trying to pretend he never heard what Sokka said.

"I don't think you should worry about that right now, you still need to work on your Waterbending and maybe you should start on the basics of Firebending" Katara said gently.

"y-yeah I guess you're right" The Avatar replied shakily.

Sokka yawned ridiculously "Anyway…" the warrior droned out.

"We need to enjoy our young lives as we know it, not let the angry jerk that is Zuko's dad, no offence Zuko" Sokka added

"None taken" Zuko replied honestly, he had plenty of harsher insults up his sleeve when the time came.

"Make our lives hell" Sokka finished.

"Sokka is right, we should enjoy what we have" Aang added, although he didn't sound sure of this at all, obviously the burden of being the Avatar was weighing heavily on the young monk's shoulders.

"But this does not mean we should let our guard down, you never know who's listening" The Firebender said, eyeing his new friends.

"I wouldn't worry" Sokka said casually throwing his arms behind his head.

"Those Fire Nation pussies don't stand a chance against us"

Zuko didn't seem convinced but didn't comment

Zuko looked curiously over at the Waterbender he had come to know quite well over the past couple of weeks he had been with them. She had been unusually quiet during the last couple of hours and he wanted to approach her about it but he didn't want to say anything in front of Aang or Sokka. Zuko thought he knew what was bothering her, they had flown (on Appa who seemed to really take a liking to Zuko) over a village. It was small and disturbingly quiet, the quiet however was broken by a scream- no a wail of pure, gut wrenching agony. Zuko could tell by the look on Katara's face she wanted to help, he did as well. That was the purpose of the Blue Spirit after all. Sokka's schedule was so tightly packed it was ridiculous and Zuko wanted to rip it out of his hands and wack him over the head with it. He restrained himself, it wouldn't make the situation any better.

The Prince was forming a plan. In fact the plan was happening right now.

No one had noticed but he had made sure that their campfire wood would burn out quickly. He had been controlling the fire by breathing in and out and burning out the wood faster than it would have on its own.

"I'm going to find some more wood for the fire" Zuko said in his usual voice that no one dared question or would go against but yet, that the group had come strangely accustomed to.

"Sure, okay" Aang grunted out from his fierce paper scissors rock game with Sokka.

Zuko gave Katara a look. Her eyes lit up and she jumped up mumbling something about helping Zuko find firewood.

…OooO…

The princess and rightful heir to the throne grabbed the throat of the pathetic piece of uselessness that this earth kingdom woman was. She had not given her the information that she had come all this way for.

"Where. Is. The. Avatar." Azula asked pacing out each word slowly as if she was talking to a child.

"I-I don't know he hasn't come through here" The woman was physically shaking with fear now, just how Azula liked it. She liked to make sure they knew she could kill them in a heartbeat.

"What about the vigilante known as the Blue Spirit?" Azula's voice was low and threatening.

Azula looked deep into the woman's face. She wasn't lying. Well she wasn't any use now.

Azula fed her hand the blue, elegant, power-hungry flame it craved so much. The woman let out a scream that would make the normal person want to vomit at the absolute horror in her voice.

Azula only smirked.

…OooO…

Zuko absentmindedly bent down to pick up another piece of wood.

"So is it what we saw-well heard at that village this morning that's been bothering you so much?"

Katara looked at him seriously "Zuko it sounded as if someone was seriously hurt and flying right past honestly killed me"

"Yeah, this is kind of why I…" Zuko paused making sure no one was around. He leaned in closer to Katara to finish his sentence "…put on the mask, you could say"

Katara stared back at him with a determined glint in her eye

"Maybe the Blue Spirit would like a partner in crime?"

"…What do you mean?"

The Fire and Waterbender had not gotten far in their journey when Zuko brought up the subject. Small furry animals approached the edge of the overgrown, under worn path curiously. The small delicate dragonflies danced among the wind with the gracefulness of a well-practiced dance. Squirrel-toads hopped across the path, their bushy tails leaving a fuzzy path behind them. The area was indeed beautiful. This went unnoticed by the Prince and the Peasant. All of the firewood they had collected had now been discarded as the two teens formulated a plan of pure brilliance.

"A Partner!" Katara already knew which spirit mask she'd be wearing, a childhood favourite that her mother used to tell her stories about all the time. She never got tired of those stories.

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on, I know you want a partner."

"It-it's just I don't want you to get hurt or anything."

Zuko blushed. He wasn't good with this sort of stuff.

"Fine" the Fire bender replied in his usual rough voice that Katara found quite attractive. She also began to blush at the thought.

"Well it's just past lunch" Katara said noting the sun

"Shall we go tonight?" She asked as sweetly as she possibly could.

"Midnight, after Sokka and Aang are asleep, if either of those two find out, they are going to get very overprotective of you" Zuko said beginning to pick up the sticks again

"This is going to be great" The Waterbender yelled attacking the other in a hug causing him to drop all of the firewood. He returned the hug with a little more ease than when he had first met them.

"The Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady" Katara said a wide grin on her face.

"They don't stand a chance"

_So the Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit are in the story those two are just epic! _


	5. Princess Azula

CHAPTER 5: PRINCESS AZULA

If you blinked, you would have missed it.

A streak of black, slipping past the clustered houses as silent as a ghost.

The Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady were looking for something-well, someone. The scream they had heard an hour ago would not let up and was replaying itself in Zuko's head. Which was weird, as being the Blue Spirit he had heard plenty of people scream. He had made those monsters that murder innocent people, scream but this was different. This scream was of terror. Terror at its purest, rawest form and he did not like the sound of it. He felt sorry for whoever was the source of the agonising scream. Zuko was known to show mercy, the Blue Spirit however, was not.

The Blue Spirit jumped out the window of one of the homes. He searched with a gracefulness that ballerinas would envy.

He seemed to have come across a ridiculous amount of deserted towns lately. He didn't even know there were so many towns abandoned like this. This one was a little different though, everything was in place like they had all just stood up one day and decided to leave. Although in a hurry, there were little signs of struggle but he could tell these people were forced to leave. Blue clenched his fist. The Blue Spirit had also found a full cup of Ginseng tea, it was even still a bit warm. He stared blankly in the cup. In all his three years of being the Blue Spirit he had never seen something quite as… eerie and frustrating as this. He couldn't find answers and it was beginning to anger him.

The Spirit stooped in his tracks, crouched just below the window sill. Someone else was here, in that house. He could tell it wasn't his comrade, the Painted Lady, she was on the other side of the village. The Blue Spirit smiled, he had found his mystery man… or woman.

…OooO…

Azula pleasantly made herself at home. She had seen the Avatar's flying bison and she knew they had heard that woman's scream. They would be back, there was no way they could ignore a gut retching scream like that. Azula had only killed a few people and after that everyone ran away screaming, leaving this small town all to herself. Azula knew patience was a virtue, and sure enough it definitely paid off. The Blue Spirit had shown his face and someone else whom she did not recognise.

'Great' she thought 'someone else to kill'. She sighed inwardly to herself. She supposed it would not be too bad having to murder anyone else, she would not kill them yet, she wanted to first see how much of a threat they were, unmask the Blue Spirit and 'ask' him where the Avatar was.

Azula stood up and made her way into the next house that the Blue Spirit had snuck into. He made no noise when he walked and Azula marvelled at it. She had never been very good at stealth.

"Looking for me?" she yelled. Sneaking around was getting old, and she was thirsty for action.

...OooO…

Katara was excited, to say the least. Being away from Sokka and Aang had made her feel free, they were constantly worried about her but Zuko believed in her abilities and understood that she didn't need to be babied and could hold her own against the enemy. She was even more exited and relieved when Zuko suggested they search a different part of the town each. She realised he did believe in her abilities. She also felt she needed to prove that to him.

So far in their search, much to the Painted Lady's disappointment she had found nothing. Absolutely nothing. No people, no animals, nothing. It made her head swirl with questions. The graceful spirit kneeled down next to a child's cot. The blankets had been thrown back onto the floor as if the child's mother had ripped back the covers and pulled the child out in such a hurry she had not noticed the blankets. The Painted Lady remembered the broken tea cup in the kitchen along with the broken door. The spirit sighed, she was getting nowhere with this. She decided to head back to the Blue Spirit.

…OooO…

The Blue Spirit gestured for the Painted Lady to crouch next to him just outside the old building he had been crouching behind when he realised they were not alone. The Painted Lady had decided to come back to him after finding nothing and for that he was grateful. He had wanted to get the young spirit's attention but couldn't without giving away his position.

"Looking for me?" Their unknown enemy yelled clearly frustrated.

"I say we give this enemy what she wants" The Blue Spirit said, anger lacing his voice. "Remember the plan?"

The two spirits had made a plan prior to their arrival.

"Of course! Remember don't be afraid to use you Firebending, the blue spirit is known to control fire" Katara reminded Zuko softly.

"Same to you with you Waterbending" Zuko added.

The two shared a nod and leapt inside the window to face their opponent.

…OooO…

Zuko felt ashamed.

His sister. Azula was the reason for the complete desolation of this perfectly innocent and rather beautiful town. She was the cause of the death that radiated off the town in waves. A member of his own family. He was embarrassed to say he was related. All this destruction and the unnecessary deaths for no good, relevant reason. He snapped out of it when he realised that this was _Azula, _not any normal Firebending bandit but _Azula. _She was always so horrible and violent even when they were kids, now she was worse, a lot worse. Not that Zuko cared though. The Blue spirit was prepared to take on anyone, even his sister. It's kind of sad how he doesn't actually give a damn about Azula anymore, he used to when she was just a toddler but now he could see a miniature version of his father sprouting. Great, another Ozai, just what the world needs.

The Blue Spirit dodged the third graceful but deadly fire blast and retaliated with his own along with a powerful water whip the Painted Lady made from the nearby well. The two benders had been at this for a while now and surprisingly Azula wasn't really trying. He knew what she could do and she was definitely holding back, as he was and the Painted Lady, but still it was weird and really unnerving.

Zuko unsheathed his Dual Dao swords and closed the gap between himself and the Princess. He cornered her, crossed his swords over and slammed them into the wall across Azula's neck. The blade was a mere inch away from her throat. The Painted Lady came and stood next to him. The Dynamic Duo looked like everyone's worst nightmare. As the sun was going down the soft glow of the sun shone against their masks and made them look ten times more horrifying than they actually were which they both thought was quite appropriate. The Painted Lady stepped forward, the top half of her face hidden by the hat.

"What do you want?" She asked in a tone that would make the everyday person wet themselves in fear.

"I could ask you the same thing" The Fire Nation Princess replied.

Katara narrowed her gaze while the Blue Spirit moved his swords so they were now scraping against Azula's neck just enough to draw blood.

"We have plenty of time" The Painted Lady replied, her voice annoyingly calm.

"I was sent to kill you" Azula informed the two spirits. A smile spreading across her face. She might as well tell them since she's going to kill them either way.

"Who sent you?" The Blue spirit leaned in dangerously close to Azula's face.

"The Fire Lord" The Princess said rather smugly.

Azula diverted the conversation. "A Waterbender and a Firebender" Azula said. "Never thought I would see this, let alone a Firebender, betraying his own country, you should be ashamed of yourself and a pathetic Waterbending peasant." Azula spat the words out like she had poison in her mouth.

"What are you doing so far away from home little one?" She added mockingly.

The Blue Spirit had apparently had enough and ripped out one of his Dual Dao swords and wacked his crazed sister over the head with it. She fell to the ground unconscious.

"Do you remember when I told you I was the ex-prince?" The Blue Spirit said slowly, never taking his eyes off the Princess's form.

"Yes… are you okay?" She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Azula is the Princess of the Fire Nation, my sister is trying to kill us"

"Well, I wouldn't worry, she doesn't seem to pose much of a threat" The Painted Lady tried to comfort him.

"We would still be fighting if she wanted us dead, she was working out how much of a threat we are, and we need to leave here as soon as possible. Azula will be back and she won't be alone" The Blue Spirit tore his gaze away from his power obsessed sister and he grabbed the Painted Lady's wrist and pulled her out of the house.

The Painted Lady didn't really know what to say, but let the masked man pull her along. After all when in doubt follow the mysterious masked man! (A/N Reference to Lily Umbra's comment! Loved it!)

…OooO…

Sokka frowned and glanced at the sky again for the fifth time that minute. A couple of hours ago Katara and Zuko had gone to investigate that scream, he was worried about his baby sister. What if she got hurt?

"Sokka they'll be back shortly-"Aang was about to continue when Katara and Zuko stumbled into the clearing panting.

"We have to leave!" Katara yelled as she took her hat off.

"My psycho sister is trying to kill us" Zuko informed them as though this was not that surprising, which for him it probably wasn't, considering who he was and all.

"What did you do?" Sokka yelled accusingly at the two teens

"We did nothing! We were attacked!" Katara knew that wasn't exactly how things carried out but what Sokka doesn't know won't hurt him.

"There are a lot of people out there who would love to capture you Aang, and Sokka, people are going to want you dead because you are travelling with the Avatar. Do you expect everyone to open up to you with open arms?" Zuko asked the warrior with a hint of irritation

"I know that, it's just… never mind" Sokka gave up and began to pack his sleeping bag.

Aang, who uses no sleeping bag stood up. "I'll go get Appa!" He yelled and ran to the Bison, whom they had hidden.

…OooO…

Zuko glanced over the side of the Bison's saddle, his stomach had decided that it did not like flying and now he immediately regretted looking over the side as the contents of his stomach threatened to come up. The Firebender held back a gag and tried to act as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It seemed to work as Katara was busy patching up a tear in her Painted Lady costume and Aang and Sokka were in yet another intense game of paper scissors rock.

Azula had not picked up the chase yet but Zuko wasn't worried about having hurt her too bad, considering this is Azula. Zuko knew she'd be back and she certainly would not be alone. The Gaang had to be aware and ready for anything.

They would be ready for whatever life threw at them. And they would be more than happy to knock some Fire Nation monsters along the way.

Zuko figured the Fire Nation could use a little of their own medicine. Fight fire with fire. Zuko liked that idea.

He also knew that the Fire Nation had not seen the last of the Blue Spirit and Painted lady.

He was only just getting started.


	6. AUTHOR'S NOTE - HELP!

Hello!

I want to thank everyone who has added this story to their favourites, followed it and reviewed it.

I have left this story for way to long and I want to pick it up again but I am drawing a complete blank.

I would greatly appreciate for your ideas as to how I could continue the next chapter or how I could continue the story as a whole!

I really want to complete this story!

Thank you for every one's help!

Hannahmayski


	7. In Broad Daylight

_Hello everyone! I would like to thank everyone who made a review! This chapter is really short, I'm hoping this chapter will kick start the next chapter. _

_This may have errors in it, is so I apologise! _

…

Anyone who had known Zuko since his banishment would know that waltzing in to a fully inhabited town in broad daylight was not something he was particularly accustomed to. But – Zuko reasoned with himself – the others seemed to blend in almost perfectly with this foreign environment. Nothing could go too badly.

The Firebender felt an immense headache forming behind his eyelids as Sokka went on a mad shopping spree. He could hear the other's voice arguing with himself over the prospect of purchasing a 'manly' earth kingdom bag.

Aang was jumping around enthusiastically bombarding every person within a 5 metre radius with his rather overwhelming personality.

'They're all insane' Zuko heard himself mutter. 'Were all people outside the Fire Nation like this? All so… weird?

His eyes roamed around the market to find sanity in Katara only to find her in a heated argument with a flustered and irritated cabbage merchant.

Zuko found himself standing awkwardly among the chaos not knowing what to do with himself.

He knew that they had only ventured into this Fire Nation Colony for the sole reason of getting supplies and He had ventured into many towns himself but he was still adjusting to being so social and the Gaang's lively attitude.

He was amazed that a group of people could be so relaxed in their situation. No one was keeping a look out to alert them of possible danger so, Zuko, being the caring ex-prince he was, decided he'd keep watch.

Zuko's face remained stony with indifference as he glanced around the market looking for anyone he would regard as a potential danger to the Avatar.

Most people here were travellers, using the small town as a pit stop in-between their destinations to gather essential items.

He leant against the wall of a shop as a man of average height and build caught his attention. His body adorned a uniform that Zuko immediately identified as a Prison Guard's uniform.

Although uniforms of prison guards varied depending on the prison's location and the nature of the job within the building, Zuko could still identify the familiar patterns of the uniform.

He was unaware of there being a prison located in this area.

There hadn't been a prison here when he was still in the Fire Nation. It was possible for one to have been built since his banishment but it was in an odd spot. The town was small, painfully so. There was only one street of stalls and most of the stall owner's houses where attached to them. A few houses scattered behind the market street and were surrounded by crops. The other side of the street was the sea. A small coastal Fire Nation town that a prison?

The waves drifted onto the sand gently swaying the anchored boats. Boats were an easy escape route.

Zuko doubted they'd have the numbers for guards or even enough prisoners to put in there in the first place.

Plus Zuko hadn't seen a prison facility when they flew in on Appa.

The Guard picked up some fruit from the stall and Zuko caught wind of the small talk between the two men.

"We will be moving him off tomorrow, he's an old man but he's a dangerous Firebender. Used to be a general too, shame his talents are wasted on heating his goddamn tea."

Zuko's head shot up from the ground. He desperately tried to control himself from looking suspicious and keep himself from feeling any form of hope that threatened to ignite.

Zuko's initial thought was correct, there wasn't a prison here. They were transporting a prisoner. A prisoner whom he possibly knew.

Doubt began to flood his veins. There was no way it could be him.

He hadn't seen his uncle since they were separated in Ba Sing Se. They hadn't been out of the Fire Nation for very long at that stage.

Zuko had spent an entire year looking for his missing uncle with no such luck. Zuko had forced himself to forget about his tea loving uncle. He'd repressed every moment of actual happiness he'd experienced with the man he considered family more than anyone else.

Zuko had thought he'd been able to move on from on his uncle. But the burning hope that raged in his chest that refused to put out despite everyone's comments that had told him otherwise.

Zuko forced himself to listen and focus as the Guard put down his purchased goods and pulled out a worn parchment.

"A handsome price will be rewarded for any information you can give us."

The stall holder -an elderly man- gently took the parchment from the other's hand and stared at them for a moment.

"Arrows?"

Zuko blanched and subtly glanced around trying to locate the monk.

He zeroed in on Aang talking to a small child. He was partially hidden behind some crates and although Aang was wearing headgear to cover up his tattoos, his childish facial features would probably by easily identifiable. He silently prayed for Aang to stay where he was while the two men finished their conversation.

Zuko made a metal note of the direction the Guard went and promised himself to make sure it wasn't the man who he thought he was.

'I'll go tonight'

Zuko trotted over to the hyperactive 12 year old and roughly pulled him away from the small boy by the collar.

"Someone is looking for you, we need to leave the market as soon as possible." Aang's mouth opened and Zuko interrupted him before the avatar could assault him with verbal ammunition. "I'll explain later. Get the others."

Aang's eyes widened comically he began to vibrate in ignorant excitement.

"Wow Zuko! How did you find out! Are they still here? Is that guy over there? Do you have a plan? What should we do?"

Zuko groaned inwardly at the young avatar, amazed someone could have so much energy. He'd hoped he'd prevented Aang's onslaught of questions but apparently he had not.

Zuko's brows creased in irritation. The avatar backed up beckoning for surrender and took off to find Katara and Sokka.

….

_So the next chapter hopefully have Iroh in it. I was thinking Zuko goes to see if the prisoner is Iroh and realises he can't free him by himself, he doesn't want to ask Katara because he feels like he needs to do it himself and that's how Toph comes in. _

_I'm not sure if throwing in two characters very suddenly is too much. _

_So if not that option I was thinking this could just be a Zuko only rescue oporation or something. Let me know what you think! _

_Thank you!_


	8. A Light in the Darkness

_Next Chapter is up! Note this is unedited so there may be errors, I apologise for that _

Chapter 7: A Light in the Darkness

The shadows had always been a part of Zuko. The dark was something that many people were afraid of. Many were afraid of what hid amongst it. But Zuko and his alter ego the Blue Spirit simply embraced it and wore the night sky like a cape.

He used the darkness to hide from his father, to sneak around the palace, to help people as the Blue Spirit. He was constantly blending into the darkness, letting it envelope his body.

But somehow what Zuko was doing now felt different. It felt… good. Possibly rescuing his uncle almost made him want to laugh with joy at the thought. It felt as though he didn't rescue many people these days and instead he'd just been beating people up a lot more. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing but he hadn't realised how much he'd missed this area of his work until now.

And furthermore the mask felt apart of him like he's never really experienced before.

The ex-prince shook his head lightly intending to focus on the task at hand. There was a tent set up just at the outskirts of the town and judging by the not-at-all-subtle fire emblem emblazed on the side of the tent, Zuko could safely assume this was the right spot.

Before he'd left the Gaang's camping spot –after explaining what he saw, the scarred teen had decided to ask the others for their permission. If this was indeed Zuko's uncle than there was no way he could leave him, not after all this time of being separated and he couldn't show up with an old man back at their camp expecting the Gaang to accept a completely random stranger's sudden appearance. He would be kidding himself.

So, with sweaty palms Zuko had told Katara, Sokka and Aang of what he'd heard.

He must have done something right because the only aspect they were adamant about was the fact he was going alone. But Zuko insisted this was important he do it by himself. He needed this and he needed to do it by himself.

A part of him – a rather large part on that note – felt responsible for the separation and now his uncle's possible capture. His previous efforts of blocking out the memories of his uncle made him cringe at his own cowardice.

During Zuko's early days as the Blue Spirit dry leaves had been the bane of his existence. Dry leaves were noisy. Dry leaves gave away your position. Carefully making his way to the campsite proved easy as years of stealth training payed off the leaves being stepped on in such a way they made no noise.

He could make out the faint outlines of a cage.

His heart throbbed at the sight.

Loud snores pounded through the thin tent and Zuko mused to himself that the noise of the guards snores would have blocked out his footsteps anyway.

The small cage sat on the ground slightly to the side of the tent. It was small, but large enough to fit an average sized man inside.

The ex-prince inched closer. A burst of fear rippled through his veins. What if it wasn't his uncle? What if it was his Uncle but Iroh hated him because of Zuko's part in their separation? What would he do then?

Zuko paused and braced him-self, understanding his thoughts were irrational. With another few steps Zuko could make out the body of a man. Definitely old and only half dressed.

Zuko, now that he was close enough, began to speak.

"Your name?" He ground out.

The figure jerked at his voice but didn't say anything for a few moments.

"Now who would care about an old geezer like me?" The prisoner's voice was warm, soft and full of wisdom beyond his years.

"No one of any importance."

In the darkness it was impossible to see the other man properly but Zuko felt a warmth within him that he couldn't explain that was steadily turning into a burn.

Taking a deep breath Zuko considered doing something incredibly stupid that could quite possibly end in disaster or, on a slim possibility, could end in much happiness on the Firebender's part. Oh yes his idea was so impulsive he inwardly screamed at Sokka and Aang's childish endeavours rubbing of on his own behaviour.

Zuko pulled his mask down to rest on his chest and raised his right hand, palm facing upwards so his hand was just around his head and lit a flame in his hand. In the dark. While trying to be stealthy. What was becoming of his sanity?

The flame lit up a large area around them, despite its small size. Zuko's own face was lit up, his hair shadowing his eyes but extenuating his scar. The flame shone upon the face of the old man and Zuko took in his features as quickly as he could.

Grey hair, wrinkled face, soft expression, yet there was many things hidden in the man's hazel eyes that most men would not have been able to take in such stride.

Uncle Iroh.

Silence descended upon the two men as the ex-prince snuffed out the flame.

"Sorry I could not come to you sooner Uncle." His voice cracked involuntary.

"Its fine my nephew." Iroh's voice sounded thick in an attempt to hold back tears.

Zuko had never moved with such purpose than he did in those few moments- grabbing the lock and melting it, ripping open the cage and embracing in a hug that made him want to cry with happiness. Something that he honestly hadn't done in a long time.

Zuko wasn't quite sure how long the hug lasted, only that he truly did not want it to stop.

"You look well, Prince Zuko" Iroh said, muffled against the fabric of Zuko's outfit. The Firebender could hear the tears in his uncle's voice.

Pulling back, although not willingly, Zuko looked his uncle a smile graced his hard features. "I, uh… I made some friends Uncle."

The look of surprise that crossed his uncle's face in that moment, even in the blanket of darkness, was absolutely priceless. His eyebrows shot up, eyes widened in disbelief.

"I know, a shocking thing indeed." The Prince wiped at some of his own tears.

Iroh recovered and let a chuckle, rumbling deep within his throat.

"And it's nothing to be ashamed of, Zuko."

Loud coughing and series of curses broke the two wanted men out of their joyful stupor. They had forgotten about the very soldiers that had been keeping Iroh captive.

Zuko yanked the mask back over his face quickly, concealing his identity and stood up, swords drawn. Iroh stood up next to him with - despite the man's old age and lack of clothing - a terrifying aura radiating from his core.

The guard stumbled out grunting, intoxicated after a large consumption of what was most definitely alcohol, made obvious by the bottle hanging loosely in his hand.

The guard rubbed at his face, trying to remove the fogginess clouding his head.

He stood and stared at the two for a moment, too far gone to actively comprehend what was actually playing out in front of him.

Zuko walked slowly up the intoxicated guard, the smiling mask seeming more terrifying through the guard's drunkenness. He lifted the sword in his right hand and brought the hilt down, smashing into the man's skull. The guard immediately collapsed.

Zuko turned back to his uncle. "Was there more than one?"

A soft chuckle rippled out of Iroh's throat. "Just the one. It seems the Fire Nation forgot who they were holding captive. Those pore men thought I couldn't do them even the slightest damage."

Zuko smiled under his mask. An unfamiliar feeling bubbled in his chest. It was warm, and weird but somehow he didn't want it to leave. For once in his life Zuko felt – happy.

Iroh retrieved some rope from the guard's tent and began to tie him up.

"I guess we should get back to the others. I'll introduce them to you when we get back."

"I can't wait, Nephew."

The two began their trek back to camp, content to walk in the darkness together.

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter! _

_Let me know what you think and any ideas of how to continue! Thanks_

_Have a wonderful Christmas Everyone! (p.s does anyone live where it snows? As an Aussie I've never even seen snow before!) _


	9. Faults of the Past

_Hello everyone! Sorry for any errors! Anyway, enjoy!_

Zuko and Iroh stumbled into the campsite where the Gaang and Appa were located still hours before the would begin rising over the trees.

Zuko had never been much of a chatterbox and was far more content to listen to his uncle talk about anything and everything and adding in his thoughts when needed as he and his uncle walked back to the Gaang's campsite.

It was the first time he'd seen his uncle in over a year. Zuko had been searching for him for so long after their unfortunate separation while traveling to the Earth Kingdom, on the run from – well everyone. Going back to their beloved Fire Nation was practically suicide. Going to the Water Tribe… The Water Tribes are known for being close knit communities. Blending into such a community with the duo's vastly different way of life, their pale skin and their golden eyes and Zuko's dark black hair. All these features would contrast them greatly against the golden brown skin, deep blue eyes and deep brown hair of the Water Tribe people.

And the fact they were both Firebenders did not help at all.

So the earth kingdom seemed to be their only option. Already full of refugees and many diverse skin colours no one would notice two more.

It was going well too. However, Zuko was determined to not make friends. He didn't want to get close. There was the automatic barrier between him and anyone else. _He was Fire Nation for agni's sake._ People would ask questions. People _always _asked questions. And his scar stood out like black on white. He didn't want to continually lie.

It seemed the earth kingdom people and his uncle had a different idea.

First there was a boy. He was around Zuko's height and age skilled with hook swords. Jet's scars ran deep into the flesh not visible to the naked eye but just as damaging as a physical scar. The Fire Nation had ruined his life and ripped away his home and family. It took Zuko a while-mostly due to denial but can you really blame him? - but he realised the Fire Nation had done the same to him. Zuko could relate to the boy and that was the problem. Jet had a grudge against every Firebender regardless whether they were a high ranking officer or a two-year-old girl. There was a manic vibe about Jet that told Zuko to _run _yet there was a part of his that really wanted the other as a team mate.

Then there was Jin. Sweet, naïve Jin. Zuko wasn't sure if he really _loved _her. But he knew he didn't really want her to leave. He also knew that he _absolutely had to get Jin to leave. _This was not optional. She was one of the few people left he knew who was genuinely light hearted. Zuko was reminded of Iroh a lot from her. Being with Zuko would cause too many problems that she shouldn't have to deal with.

It all went to hell when Iroh- bless his soul-heated his tea.

Jet was already highly strung as it was and maybe the discovery that Firebenders living normal lives in the Earth Kingdom behaving like normal people and not setting everyone who pissed them off on fire completely sent him over the edge.

With the combination of Jet on their tale, trying to keep Jin from worrying and the Dai Li bothering them because of the dust Jet dug up the two of them were left with no other option then to leave. It was then they got separated. It was while trying to get to the rural areas of the Earth Kingdom and they ran into some not so nice bounty hunters hired by the Dai Li.

Zuko had then spent so long trying to find his uncle and then spent the rest of the time trying to move on from the terrible loss.

His uncle told him that his capture had only taken place a few days prior to Zuko finding him and it hadn't been a long term imprisonment.

The others were weary at first of the old man but after watching Zuko be so relaxed with him and of course after talking with Iroh he just made everyone around him open up in an entirely frustrating yet strangely welcoming way.

Which left Zuko at a bit of a loss.

Talking to people outside of Iroh proved a difficult task.

Katara's speech flowed. Caring but stern. She reminded him of his mother. Katara seemed to able to look past Zuko's problems and _understand him _in a way that almost scared him.

Whenever Sokka talked it was always choppy, straight to the point and no beating around the bullet. Sokka's words were usually friendly and held a lot of humour and kindness to it that Zuko didn't realise he needed.

Aang had a different kindness from Katara and Sokka. His words held no weight yet they held the weight of the world. He was an optimist at heart. A stark difference from Zuko and Sokka's 'worst case scenario' view. He was the avatar but also a child. He was always upbeat and he _always smiled. _Zuko didn't really know how to feel about that.

Iroh was an entire different league.

His words were in riddles and bullets of wisdom that Zuko should have listened to more. He could _talk down _a robber, and calm even the highest strung soldiers.

Words wasn't something Zuko was ever good at.

He yelled when provoked by Azula, simply biting into her bait. He talked when he should be silent- his ridiculous sense of justice and his inability to know when to be quiet is what got him into his mess and he was silent when he should talk.

He covered up his other emotions with anger. Azula said his face was too easy to read. So Zuko came to a logical conclusion, he couldn't put on an unreadable stoic face like Azula or his father but if all they saw was anger, there'd be nothing for them _to _read.

He stumbled over his words when flustered and was terrible at thinking on the spot.

He'd always been blunt to the point where it hurt.

Zuko was a man of action.

One could talk as much as you liked. One could say they'd do great things. One could say they'd win the war. But none of that really mattered if you couldn't actually _do _it.

However, being with Iroh and the Gaang made him doubt his way of living.

Communication was a vital part of living and of course –because the world hated him apparently- it was another thing for Zuko to be absolutely terrible at.

Action was all fine and dandy but that alone won't keep you alive.

Zuko was jolted out of his thoughts as Iroh busted out the small kettle that Aang had insisted they bring with them.

"You can't go wrong with tea" his uncle was saying.

Katara smiled and insisted she help while the others hung back, observing.

Zuko stood up, quietly excusing himself, heading towards the forest wear he could change out of the black garments of the Blue Spirit.

The blissful silence of the forest and the soft sounds of the chatter from the campfire soothed him. It was easier to sit back and watch rather than be always involved in the talks the others shared.

Zuko slipped off the Dual Dao swords, propping them up against a tree and began to remove his top, folding it up next to the swords. Goose bumps shot up over his arms as a wind brushed through, rattling the leaves.

Zuko could withstand the cold better than most fire benders and it wasn't particularly cold. It was more unsettling than anything. He looked out upon the forest, frowning with his shirt still bunched up in his hands.

_You're just paranoid, Zuko. Get it together. _

It's not like the guards would come after them. Being far too drunk to do so much as stand let alone search for a masked vigilante and an old man.

Paranoia had been a common part of Zuko's life after he got separated from Iroh.

As an enemy of the Fire Nation and because of his ties to the Fire Nation made him an enemy of the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom, he really had no one left to trust. And Ba Sing Se was totally out because of Jet and his slightly manic ways.

The itching voice at the back of his head telling him to _run_ had saved his life more times than he could count.

Now, that he had Aang, Sokka, Katara and Iroh to watch his back, the nagging voice telling him to _turn around_, to _run _and to _not trust_ was become that of a hindrance. At least that's what it felt like.

Glancing out into the forest one more time he turned back to his now crumpled shirt and sighed.

He re-folded the shirt and quickly striped off his pants and pulled on his earth kingdom clothing.

Zuko picked up his swords and the rest of his clothes, intending to make his way back to the campsite when shouting erupted through the forest.

Birds squawked in protest of the continued yelling, fluttering throughout the forest and making it impossible to make out any coherent words.

The teenager's body tensed and he willed himself to calm down.

Slowly without making not a sound he made his way back to the campsite. He must have looked rather scary with his scowling as everyone immediately stopped their boisterous laughter and soft chatting.

"There was yelling coming from the forest. I couldn't tell if it's someone we should be wary off though."

Sokka's face steeled over and the warrior in him that many people who did not know him well doubted came out.

"Katara put out the fire, Aang pack the sleeping bags away and load them on to Appa, Iroh I assume you'll be joining us?"

Iroh stood up, a content look of his face despite the situation "only if I am not a hindrance to you"

Muffled sounds of protest erupted from all of them making Iroh gush.

"Zuko, you and I will venture out and see how close they are to here, cool?" Sokka grabbed his boomerang. "You ready?"

Zuko's mouth twitched in an attempt to smile "Of course."

_Sorry I've taken so long to update! School's been so crazy! I've got exams coming up soon so I don't know when I'll be able to update next _

_Let me know with any ideas you guys have!_


	10. Bonding

Sokka knew he wasn't the strongest. He knew he wasn't the best. But he also knew if he just laid down and accepted defeat then he was the equivalent of dead meat. And if there was one thing that Sokka wasn't going to be it was a liability.

On another note, Zuko turned out to be unexpectedly stealthy. Every step he took was calculated and precise, he'd dodge twigs and particular patches of leaves that would make too much noise without focusing too much on just the ground.

Zuko barely looked at him throughout their manoeuvring through the forest and at first Sokka had been insulted by the other man's behaviour when it dawned him.

Zuko didn't feel he needed to look at him and that was because Zuko trusted him.

This information took a rather long time to process as he studied the Firebender. He knew Zuko had trust issues, of course he did. Sokka did too to an extent. Aang could befriend a stick and Katara was an 'innocent to proven guilty' type of person. He wasn't trying to say that they were bad qualities; god no. It was just in their circumstance you couldn't just trust people on a goddamn whim. There were too many people who wanted Aang dead and not everyone in the world was as nice as people from the South Pole. Not that Katara and Aang didn't know that especially after what had happened to their mother all those years ago and what had happened to Aang's people. They all knew that there were terrible people in this world but the problem was sometimes those terrible people came to you in the disguise of a comrade and a comrade would come in the disguise of an enemy.

He glanced over at Zuko as they crouched behind different trees. Pale skin and black hair verses Sokka's heavily tanned skin and dark brown hair. These were physical and racial differences but is that all they were? These differences seemed to run deeper than he could describe. He could imagine his father's face, the tribe's face when he told him he's befriended not only a Fire Nation man and not only a Firebender but the Prince of the Fire Nation. Sokka had to control himself from snorting out loud as he pictured the shock written on their faces.

But it made Sokka think, something that many seemed to assume he never did. Sure, the Fire Nation was bad there is no doubt but from the perspective of a soldier, did they ever think that what they were doing was wrong? How could they think that what they were doing was right? He remembered Zuko had briefly and vaguely mentioned something about his education and propaganda and it seemed to click. What the Fire Lord was wrong but he was telling his people that was right and if you were told that since the day you were born, who are you to question it?

Why did most of Sokka's serious thinking happen when he was doing important things such as sneaking up behind a possible enemy?

Zuko looked at him and frowned. Sounds of fighting had erupted from only a couple of metres further into the forest. The puzzling thing was that it was hard to tell _who _was fighting. He knew there was most definitely swords involved by the scraping of metal against metal but due to the trees blocking their view and the slight darkness that remained of the night it was difficult to tell whether or not Firebenders were involved or not and whether or not they should be concerned.

Zuko carefully and silently made his way closer to Sokka, hiding behind another tree a little closer. "It sounds as though there is a lot of them" Whispering didn't suit Zuko's husky voice Sokka decided than internally shook his head of such strange thoughts at this time.

"I think we should just re-group with the others." Sokka moved his body to crouch facing Zuko more. "They seem to be pretty pre-occupied in whoever they're fighting so it's probably not worth our time to butt out heads in."

Zuko nodded in agreement and the two boys slowly made their way back to the clearing and to where they would then walk a bit further on to meet Appa and the others.

Sokka had told them to fly not _too _far away so when Sokka and Zuko walked to their location they'd get there within a few hours.

They began their walk in silence, adrenaline still present and still too cautious to make too much noise. Sokka was grateful for the silence in a strange way. He usually started conversations and was constantly making jokes but with Zuko he felt he didn't need to. He felt whether he talked or not it didn't matter. Zuko wasn't going to throw him to the side.

The other boy seemed to be getting a little weary as time wore on and understandably so after all he'd just rescued his long-lost uncle and gotten no sleep so Sokka could empathise. However, they'd slowed their pace down to a not so suitable walk.

Sokka leaned over to the Firebender "you fairing okay, you've slowed down a lot and you're looking kinda pale" Zuko could be incredibly stubborn and so Sokka supposed if he actually pointed out that Zuko wasn't looking too flash then he's actually listen.

Zuko didn't answer straight away instead looking Sokka up and down carefully.

"Sorry, I'll rest when we get to the others"

Honestly Sokka should have expected such a short quipped answer but he was happy Zuko acknowledged that he was tired.

"I wonder who those people were, I mean we never got to see them." Sokka glanced over to the other boy.

Zuko frowned. "If we got any closer we would have had to get involved and it was just unfortunate that is was dark and those trees were in the way, but hopefully they this won't come back to haunt us"

Sokka nodded, they'll soon find out.

_Due to a personal issue that happened I was not able to post for ages. I can't promise consistent updates because of school but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! _


	11. AN: Reconstruction

Hey sorry everyone but I've been thinking and I'm really unhappy with the first few chapters of this story so I'm going to try and fix them up and maybe add some more in before I make any new ones.

Thanks to everyone who's followed this story and sorry for anyone who was waiting for another chapter!


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