1. Prologue

So this is my post-war, slightly post-apocalyptic story about what happened after the Fire Nation won the war. The story will mainly be staring Zuko and a character I made up myself (With a whole background story as well). Enjoy reading ;)

I do not own Avatar, The last Airbender

**_Prologue_**

_Katara:_

_Water, Earth, Fire, Air_

_Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most he vanished. A hundred years past and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar; an air bender named Aang. Since that day we've been traveling the world together so Aang can master all four elements. We met new friends and allies on our way, but sadly also made some enemies. Meanwhile the war went on and the forces of the Fire Nation became stronger. We made plans to stop the war, but they failed and after a long time of fighting we were defeated. _

_The war was over. The Fire Nation won. When Azula, princess of the Fire Nation conquered the last stronghold of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se she managed to kill Aang and take her brother and uncle prisoner. We managed to escape from Ba Sing Se, although since the war was won they were on the run. There was a huge bounty set on all of our heads and there was almost nowhere in the world we could go. The one thing we had in advantage was that nobody knew that Aang didn't die. He was alive, injured and hurt, but alive. We managed to reach the Western Air Temple where Aang had time to heal. The invasion plan we had failed when my father's fleet was captured by the Fire Navy and taken prisoner. There was no hope and we could only try to stay alive and get through. _

_The world soon sank into an age of darkness where the Fire Lord ruled with a hard hand and not a day went past without any fight, torture or murder. Criminality increased, rebellions started and ended. There were resistance groups all across the Earth Kingdom, but they didn't achieve much. When Sozin's comet arrived the Fire Nation attempted their final strike by burning down half the Earth Kingdom. That was when the last great resistance was crushed and all hope seemed gone… _

So that's the Prologue. I'd like to hear what you think of it and if you like it I'll update the first chapter soon


	2. Freedom

**Freedom**

Almost two years, almost two damn years he had been stuck in here. He tried to escape several times from the tower prison and failed. The first time was when Sozin's comet rose and his Fire Bending was enhanced. It was easy to break open the bars of the prison cell and run out, but a whole bunch of fire bending soldiers already awaited him. So that was wondered why his uncle didn't try to escape since he would have been able to do so easily. Although he hadn't seen him once since he had been locked up here he knew that his uncle was here as well, in some other cell.

He was laying on the thin mattress in the corner of hi cell, staring at the ceiling when he heard someone approaching. The door to the anteroom opened slowly and a girl came in. She was a little less pale than him and had shining, big brown eyes. Her black hair fell onto her back in a long low ponytail. Some locks always fell out and covered part of her right eye and the long cut that went from her forehead all along the right side of her face until it disappeared in her neck. She was about his age, maybe a year younger and it wasn't the first time he asked himself how someone so young could work at such a place as this. She wore her guards outfit and a dark red ribbon around her left wrist as she always did. He sat up as she approached with a plate of rice and a cup of water in her hands.

"Good evening, Zuko" she said and gave him a comforting smile. Unlike the other guards she had always been nice to him, although not without a careful look on her face. "I've got your dinner"

"Thanks, Meilin" he said with a small nod as he took the cup of rice through the bars. "Anything new to tell?" he asked curious. This was the only time of the day when he had actually something to do. Meilin had been the one to bring his food for half a year now and she would sit with him and tell him what was going on in the world almost every evening.  
She sat down in front of him and looked at his face.

"Well, not really. There are several small rebellions in the Southern Earth Kingdom which your father tries to bring down, but I suppose that's nothing new" she said with a sigh. He could hear by the tone of her voice that she wasn't as enthusiastic about the Fire Nation's victory as the rest of the nation's citizens. "You wanna know anything specific?" she asked. He looked down for a second.

"How's my uncle?" he suddenly asked. She looked away.

"He's still a little ill, but it's getting better" she assured him. A few weeks ago she had told him that his uncle had a visit from a medic and that he wasn't doing too well. Zuko nodded absentminded. "He misses you, talks a lot about you" She started looking at him intensely until he looked back at her. Then her eyes wandered to his cup of rice and back to his eyes. He understood fast and started to dig his chopsticks deeper into the cup. There was a crumpled piece of paper at the bottom. He looked back at Meilin. She held a finger onto her lips. He nodded slightly and took the paper out fast and hid it under his mattress. Lòng nodded at him and smiled again.  
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then" she said friendly.

"Bye, Meilin" he just replied. When the door was shut he took out the piece of paper and unfolded it. There were just a few words scrabbled on it.

_Out. Tonight. Be ready!_

Zuko's eyes widened slightly when he glared at the door and back to the paper. As the sun shone through the small high window of his cell he noticed some blurred lines behind the words. He held the paper straight against the sun and it revealed an insignia within the paper. It was a white flower, a lotus. _Uncle!_ So he had an escape plan. Zuko was going to be free! He looked at the paper for another second before he burned it to not leave any evidence. He laid down again and tried to sleep for a while.

Around midnight he woke up by the sound of armor falling to the ground. Shortly after that the door opened and an all black hooded figure appeared before him. It unlocked the cell door and tossed him a black bunch of cloth.

"Be fast" it hissed. Zuko stood up and put on the clothes over his prison cloth. When he was finished the hooded figure handed him a long object. As the moonlight shone on it he saw the dark brown and gold insignias on the sheath of his dual dao swords. He looked questioning at the figure for a second before he swung them onto his shoulders and followed outside. Next to the door was a guard lying unconscious. They walked through the halls passing a few other guards lying on the ground. They all had cups lying by their hands so Zuko assumed they must have been poisoned. They got out quite quickly. Outside the guards were awake and they had to try to sneak across them. Just before they reached the gates of the prison, Zuko froze. The hooded figure looked around and waved at him to keep walking but he shook his head in confusion.

"What about my uncle?" he whispered. The figure shook its head. Zuko's eyes widened. "I can't leave him here" he said a little louder. When he was about to turn around the figure grabbed his arm. A pair of desperate dark eyes looked at him. He couldn't see their color because it was too dark, but he saw the angst in them. It shook its head again, forceful this time. He sighed. "He planned this, didn't he?" The hooded nodded.

Another sigh and a desperate look back later and they were running through the gates, hearing the prison alarm ring. Behind them appeared a whole bunch of soldiers who followed them in an alarming speed. Fire balls were shot at them. Zuko managed to block some off while he followed the hooded into the darkness. They reached the edge of the forest where the figure stopped and turned around at him. The guards were catching up too fast and they wouldn't stop following them. As if reading each other's minds they stood back to back as the guards came surrounding them. Zuko had taken out his swords while the hooded figure took a fighting stance. The guards pointed at them with spears.

"Jump!" he shouted and while his companion jumped up into the air he got on his hands and twirled his feet around him creating a circle of fire that let the guards head backwards. As it got back to the ground the hooded rolled over to two of the guards, blocked off their spears and kicked them off their feet.

On the other side Zuko took down another few guards. They were fast and almost free when more guards approached. The hooded managed to free their way into the forest and they fled again. This time the guards didn't follow them which made Zuko slightly suspicious. The hooded pointed up into the trees and his gaze followed. There were movements in the trees and before he could make out what they were an arrow came flying towards him.

The hooded pulled him forward and the arrow missed him narrowly. He let out a relieved sigh. The next one came shortly after and the hooded pulled him forward to run faster. They dodged the arrows while running deeper and deeper into the forest. The archers seemed to follow them through the trees. While it signed Zuko to walk on the hooded jumped onto the branch of the next tree and disappeared in its crown. He looked confused for a second until an unconscious Yuyan Archer fell from the tree behind him. He turned his head around and saw another one fall out with an arrow in his chest. Zuko turned around again and ran on.

The hooded appeared next to him a few moments later with a bow and a quiver of arrows around its shoulders. They reached the mountainside where a man with a mustache was waiting. The hooded figure gave him a nod and he bended the earth on the mountainside up to reveal a tunnel. Just as they wanted to enter the tunnel another arrow came flying towards them. Zuko didn't see it coming and the hooded reacted just a second too late when it pushed him aside. The arrow hit the right side of his throat. He felt warm blood flooding down onto his shoulder and he chocked. Before he could fall the earth bender grabbed under his shoulder to support him. He turned his head around slowly and saw the hooded figure shooting an arrow towards the Yuyan Archer in front of them. It hit him right into the heart. That was the last thing he saw before the massive blood loss made him pass out.

XXX 

So that's the first chapter. tell ik you like it or if I could do something better, I'd be happy about some review :)


	3. Awakening

**Here we go,chapter two. This one wasn't easy. I wrote it over six times or so! I hope it's okay now. Let me know if you got any feedback :)**

**Awakening **

Zuko heard his pulse throbbing in his ears while he slowly woke up. He was laying on a hard bed, with a soft pillow under his head and thin blankets over him. He couldn't move or open his eyes yet. His head and throat ached and he felt drained. A cold touch on his throat made him shiver. Water dripped down his neck while he felt how the stinging pain on the wound eased. A sigh escaped his mouth.

"How long has he been unconscious?" a female voice asked next to him, an all too familiar voice. She sounded professionally emotionless, which was rather unfamiliar.

"About three days. We stopped the bleeding as good as possible, but we were on the run so well" another female voice replied, also quite familiar. The cold touch on his throat disappeared and someone raised his head lightly to wrap some bandages around the wound on his throat.

"He'll wake up anytime. Tell him not to get up when he does. He's lost a lot of blood and I can't speed up the blood production" the voice next to him said. He heard a chair scratch over the floor and light footsteps leaving. A door opened and shot again. Another person went to sit on the chair next to him.

He stayed with his eyes closed for another few minutes, breathing regularly before he tried to open them. It was hard and he could feel himself slipping away slightly, but he tried to stay awake as good as possible. When he finally managed to open them his gaze was hazy for a while. He blinked a few times to see his surrounding properly. His eyes fell onto two shining brown orbs that where watching him carefully.

"M…Mei...Lin..?" he asked surprised, still feeling very weak. He tried to sit up straight, but she pushed him back into the pillow.

"Careful there, you need rest" she said slightly pulling up the corner of her lips.

"What…? Where are we?" he asked confused.

"In the rebels' hideout" she said with a sigh. "It took us two days to get you here. You were unconscious for three days now. You should drink something" she raised a cup from a table next to her. "It tastes awful but it helps" she assured him and led the cup to his lips supporting his head while he raised it to take a sip. When the liquid touched his tongue he pulled a face. It was bitter, very bitter. "Told you it was gross. Now drink up and I'll get you some fresh water and something to eat. You need to get back onto your feet fast"

She tilted the cup a little more and he drank the liquid fast, shivering from the awful taste. Then she left to grab some food. Meanwhile Zuko observed his surroundings. He was in a small room with walls of stone and no windows. His bed was in the left corner with next to it a chair and a table with a few candles on it. His dao swords leaned against the wall in the opposite corner. The air was thick and humid, a little like his prison cell, but it didn't smell so bad. He wondered where this hideout may be. It must've been somewhere underground in each case. If he were very quiet he could hear many footsteps above him. Where they beneath a city?

The door opened again and Meilin came in with a plate full of food. Now that he could see her completely he recognized that she wasn't wearing her guards outfit anymore. She replaced them for loose, black pants which were put in high, black boots and a dark green tunic. Her hair was loose now, but she still wore the dark red ribbon around her wrist.

"I figured you must be quite hungry since you haven't eaten in three days" She put the plate on the table and helped him to sit up. The medicine she had given him worked fast, he already felt a little stronger. She put the plate next to him on the bed and he was almost overwhelmed by the amount of food on it. There was half a loaf of bread, a bowl of soup and noodles, one with rice, a can of water with a cup and even some meat. In prison he would only get a cup of rice a day. He managed to take his eyes off the food and look at her seriously.

"Where am I?" he asked. She looked at him for a few seconds before she spoke.

"I can't tell you yet" she explained. "I would sleep some more if I were you, when you're finished eating" she added and stood up again. While she walked out he could see the dirt she had under her shoes. It was dark, of volcanic origin. He gasped.

"You were the hooded figure!" he figured. She didn't turn around when she spoke.

"I'm sorry about your uncle" she just said and shot the door behind her while she walked out.

Outside the room he heard her speak to the other familiar voice.

"What? I didn't tell him anything" she said.

"Good, I don't trust him" The other girl said. The sound of footsteps became quieter until they had both walked off. Zuko decided to do as Meilin had said. He ate all of the food, except the rice (After two years only rice every day he would probably never touch it again). It was long ago since he'd last eaten that much. He fell asleep with a full stomach.

He woke up when someone touched his wrist. His eyes opened to a familiar face; tanned with long dark brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. It was older than when he'd last seen it. The gaze she gave him was a cold one which made him shiver. She held his wrist and looked at it while she seemed to be counting. When she noticed that he'd woken up she looked into his face with the same cold glare.

"Your pulse and blood pressure are almost back to normal" she said professionally and let go of his wrist. "Your wound is completely healed" He took up his hand and touched his throat. The bandages were gone and where the cut had been was just a thin crusty line. She stood up and was about to go when Zuko sat up.

"Wait…" She turned around again, a cold glare in her eyes. "Thank you" he said. She snorted.

"Yeah, whatever" She turned around and left again. Zuko laid down again and stared at the ceiling. A memory came up in his mind.

_He sat with his head to the wall of green crystals, staring at the ground. Behind his back the Avatar's water bender walked back and forth shouting at him._

_"Why did they throw you in here? Oh wait, let me guess. It's a trap so that when Aang shows up to help me you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches!" _

_He turned around to look at her and then back at the ground._

_"You're a terrible person, you know that! Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope for pease. But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood" She said angrily. _

_"You don't know what you're talking about" he tried to defend himself, but she wouldn't let him. _

_"I don't?! How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through, me personally! The Fire Nation took my mother away from me!" she said in a sad tone. Zuko was surprised. Was she really telling him this? He sighed._

_He turned around at her again. She was sitting with her back towards him while she cried. "I'm sorry. That's something we have in common" he said. She rubbed her tears away and looked him in the eyes, surprised. It was silent for a while before she talked again. This time she spoke softer._

_"I'm sorry I yelled at you before" she apologized. _

_"It doesn't matter" he assured her. _

_"It's just that…" she tried to explain "for so long now whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face" He felt a little stinging in his heart and turned his back at her again._

_"My face, I see" he said while he touched the scar on his face. _

_"No, no, that's not what I meant" she tried. _

_"It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately I've realized that I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark" _

_"Maybe you could be free of it" _

The memory could have been a good one if it wasn't followed by the worst decision he'd ever made. He had betrayed them and what was even worse; he never got the chance to make up for it after he had turned against them and joined his sister. Then, on the day of black sun, when he wanted to face his father and make up for his faults by helping to end the war, Azula caught him and he was thrown into prison to rot forever. Would he ever get the chance to redeem himself?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

He felt stronger and he thought that he might be able to get up now. When he tried he was still a little weak on his legs but he managed to stay up and even walk. He still wore the cloths from prison. The black ones he had during his escape were gone. On the table lay a neatly folded batch of fresh clothes for him. They looked a little bit like the ones he wore in Ba Sing Se. He put them on fast before he went to the door. Surprisingly it was not locked.

He walked into a long hallway that seemed a bit like a tunnel. There were more doors which he thought led to other bedrooms. Behind one of them he heard people talking.

"Damn it, Lòng! This was not the plan!" he heard a male voice shout.

"I know that, but sometimes plans change" Meilin's voice said calmly. "You do realize that it where rather him or both of them, do you? He would've never gone without his nephew anyway" she told the male voice.

"Whatever, what do you expect us to do then?" the male voice asked.

"You know exactly what to do. You're just afraid it might not work. But let me tell you something, it can't get any worse anyway" she defended herself.

"She's right, ya know" another male deeper voice said.

"I'll send a message to Omashu, where I explain the situation. I'm sure _they _will get the point" Meilin said. Footsteps towards the door were heard and before Zuko could turn around to hide the door swung open and Meilin looked at him surprised. "What are you..." she whispered so no one in the room would hear. "Come with me" she hissed and grabbed his arm to drag him back to his room.

When they were back Zuko sat back on the bed while Meilin walked up and down before him.

"What in Agni's name is going on here?" he suddenly asked. She stopped walking and looked at him.

"I'm in a damn tunnel with a bunch of idiots, that's what's going on" she replied frustrated. "Well, since you heard that conversation in there…"

I didn't…"

"Shh! I know you did!" she sighed. "You needed to know some time anyway. So I'm just gonna tell you"

"Who is Lòng?" he asked before she could start explaining. She sighed again and dropped her head.

"I am. Meilin was my cover name. Meilin is a Fire Nation soldier who was supposed to be recruited to the Tower Prison and we caught her on the way so I could take her place" she explained dryly.

"I see, so you're with the rebels" he stated. She nodded.

"Now if you would let me continue, I'll explain everything" He took a deep breath and nodded then. "We're in a tunnel system beneath the Merchants pier, in the western Earth Kingdom. This is one of the headquarters of the resistance against the Fire Lord. There are more all across the Earth Kingdom. The rebellion is supposed to stay hidden for now. We work from the underground. At the time we mostly focus on getting more allies and gathering information about our enemy"

"If you think I have any information for you, I'm afraid I don't have any" he said, narrowing his eyes. "I've been locked away from the outside world for two years"

"We know that and that's not why you're here. Besides we would have more reliable sources than you anyway" She blinked her eye.

"Then why am I here?" he was getting slightly impatient.

"You're supposed to help" she said as if it were obvious. Zuko looked surprised.

"What makes you think you can trust me? I mean I know _they _don't" he said and pointed out the door.

"I trust you enough and I think my personal sources are more reliable than anything they heard about you" she said in a comforting voice.

"Who might that be?" he asked warily.

"Your uncle" she said seriously. He looked down at the floor for a while.

"Oh" was all he replied. His uncle still believed in him after all this time? He was just too good.

"Will you help us?" she asked just as serious. He looked up again.

"I'll do anything to stop my father" he said determined. Relief filled her eyes and she smiled lightly.

"Good, 'cause I'd have to kill you otherwise"

**So far so good, I hope you liked it. Next chapter will be up soon and I have some very nice surprises for later chapters (also some not so nice...)**


	4. Always be prepared

**Always be prepared**

The next day Lòng took Zuko around in the tunnels a little. They were very long with a few exits here and there that would lead up to small lanes in the town. They could observe the whole pier from down here. She also gave him some more information about the rebellion itself and where the other resistance groups were. This was one of the smaller hideouts. Zuko learned that the headquarters were in Omashu. King Bumi had reconquered his city on the day of black sun and the order of the White Lotus was situated there since the comet. The Fire Nation had pretty much abandoned Omashu since there was no chance to get in with all the master benders inside. However, the largest resistance group was in Ba Sing Se, or better under it. That's also where Sokka and Toph were situated.

He was as well introduced to the other rebels in the tunnels. There were two guys who used to be freedom fighters. One was a huge guy who seemed to have been given the wrong name, Pipsqueak. The other was merely a boy, but he seemed determined about the rebellion. His name was The Duke. Then there was Haru, who was the one who had come with Lòng to the Fire Nation to set him free, and his father, Tyro. Haru seemed like a nice guy but his father didn't trust Zuko and seemed to be mad at Lòng about something. He would always give him a hostile look.

There were some more rebels, but those four were the leading figures. There was also Katara, who just stayed there for a while like Lòng did. She ignored him as good as possible and he didn't blame her for it. What he did notice was that Lòng was avoiding her most of the time as well. What kind of a problem did she have with her? Katara however seemed quite okay about Lòng.

"In a few days we'll be heading to Ba Sing Se. I'd say you train a little until then. In the lowest parts of the tunnel system are larger caves. I'll show you later" Lòng said while they were heading back to his room.

"What are we gonna do there?" he asked.

"We'll meet with the other rebels there and you will be introduced into further plans" she told him.

"Why aren't we traveling to Omashu, if that's where the headquarters are?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Omashu is impossible to reach. It is surrounded by Fire Nation troops since the liberation. We can barely even get messages there. Besides in Ba Sing Se are some people you will have to meet and also they could use some help there, anyway" she explained briefly. He nodded.

"Tomorrow night we'll go to the docks to gather some information. If you're strong enough you can join" she said with a small grin. "That means, if you pass my test first" Zuko looked confused.

"What test?"

"Two years in prison didn't make you stronger, Zuko. You'll need more training and then I'll test if you're ready" she told him professionally.

"Alright, show me the training cave then" he said resolute. She laughed at him.

"Yea, first we have some dinner" she laughed and walked out of the room. "I'll grab us some food"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The cave was large and had a high ceiling. It was perfect to train any type of bending. Zuko had taken of his shirt and was warming up with some fire bending basics. His chi was flowing and it was like a real rush. He hadn't been able to practice for so long, that it felt really relieving. He felt free. In prison he'd lost a lot of weight and some muscles and at the beginning he had been a little rusty, but soon he felt like being reborn. The fire bending made him stronger and he noticed how much he'd missed it. It was also different from before. He wasn't driven by anger so much anymore. He controlled himself better which made his techniques smother. His fire wasn't flickering so much anymore.

After warming up he practiced some more advanced techniques. When he was finished after several hours he was exhausted but also satisfied. That's when Lòng came in again to bring some water and towels.

"You okay?" she asked when she saw him breathing heavily. He nodded.

"Yea, just a little out of shape" he admitted.

"That comes back with some time" she assured him and tossed him a towel. He caught it and rubbed his face and neck with it. "So, you're interested in a little spar?" she asked. "Without bending" He looked up at her.

"Sure" He smirked.

After he relaxed for a little while and drank some water they stood before each other with fighting stances. Zuko observed her face for any signs of an attempt to attack, there were none. Was she going to wait for him to attack?

Silence.

They stared at each other for quite a while until Zuko decided to make the first move. He stepped forward in order to distract her with a punch while he slipped to her left at the same time. She blocked it of easily and turned with him so he stood in front of her again. She tried to slip him off his feet by putting her foot behind his heel. He noticed it fast enough to react and jumped before she could strike. He noticed too late that that was exactly what she wanted. She did a back flip while he jumped and her feet pushed his chest up. He fell, but managed to roll over to not land on his back. She stood a few steps away from him now while he was getting up again. The neutral look on her face remained while he looked a little surprised.

This time she attacked with a surprising speed. Zuko had a hard time blocking and dodging her attacks. "You need to get a little faster, I think" she said between hits. He snorted. After he dodged one of her attacks he pushed forward and managed to grab her shoulders and kick her feet away. She fell to the side, but before he could secure his victory she swung her legs around his and turned. He fell right on his chest to the ground. Her legs remained around his as she sat atop of him. One of her legs was behind his knee while the other pushed his lower leg atop. The result was a pulling pain that went through his whole leg. He exhaled heavily while she grabbed his hair to turn his head back to look at her.

"Alright, you win" he said in a pained voice. She smirked and stood up with a gracious move. He turned onto his back and laid down flat for a few seconds, regulating his breath. She waited patiently and helped him up when he was ready.

"You were quite good. Most people only last a few seconds" He was a little surprised.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" he asked. She looked away immediately.

"I've had a lot of trainers" she just said. He nodded.

"So is there then something you _can't _do?" he asked. She looked up again.

"Well, I'm not that good with swords" she admitted. He smiled.

"Well, then let's train with swords next time" he suggested. She punched his arm playfully.

"Maybe some time later, now we have to make plans for our info mission" she said.

"So I passed your test?" he asked. She nodded.

"You did"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The plan was to sneak into one of the information towers by the docks to gain information about the Fire Nation's foot troops within the Earth Kingdom. If they knew where they were settled they could avoid them easily and wouldn't get into trouble on their journey to Ba Sing Se. It wouldn't be an easy journey anyway since Lòng and Katara, who would come with them to Ba Sing Se, both had a huge bounty on their heads. Lòng didn't tell Zuko what she was wanted for, but he just assumed that it had something to do with the rebels. He himself wasn't searched for yet. The rebels manipulated the Fire Nations information flow as much as possible. The news that he'd been busted out of prison hadn't reached the Earth Kingdom yet.

The mission was simple; get in, find information, get out, and most important; don't leave any evidence. Lòng gave Zuko his black clothes again and had put on the ones she had worn when she busted him out of prison. His were the same ones he had two years ago and he wondered where she got them. He put his dao swords on his back and followed her to the exit that was nearest to the docks. Before they went out she put the hood over her head and a piece of cloth over her mouth and nose. On her back she had the bow she stole from the Yuyan Archer and a quiver with arrows.

"Here, you might need this one" she said and turned around at him. In her hand she held a blue mask. Zuko's eyes widened.

"How do you…?" he asked surprised.

"I did my home work, I don't go rescue an imprisoned prince without learning anything about his background first" she explained. "But more importantly, the Fire Nation has still no idea who the blue spirit is so" Handed him the mask and winked. He took it and put it on without another word. Then they took off.

The information tower was at the south of the harbor. It was surrounded by guards. There were four guards that walked around the tower in regular distance to each other, and two by each entrance. Zuko and Lòng hid behind a house wall and watched them.

"How are we supposed to get in there" Zuko whispered. Lòng pointed up at the roof, where there were a small balcony that went all around the tower and entrances for messenger hawks.

"Up there are two small doors that are hardly ever guarded. That's our entrance" she whispered back. He nodded.

They climbed up to the roof of the house to get a higher point of view. When they reached the edge that was nearest to the tower. Lòng readied her bow and took out an arrow that was attached to a rope. Her shot went precisely between two bars of the balcony railing and stuck into the wood behind it. She pulled at the rope and the arrow loosened and stuck between the two bars. The other end of the rope she attached to the chimney of the house.

"Let's go" she said and wanted to hang onto the rope, when Zuko pulled her back.

"Isn't the arrow gonna break?" he asked. She sighed and took out another arrow to show him.

"They're made of hollow steel, not wood. They can't break so easily" she explained. He saw the shining silver arrow and nodded.

"Smart" he said through the mask and followed her onto the rope. They hanged on their hands and legs from the rope while they pulled themselves up. It was quite steep but they managed to reach the balcony fast enough so no one would see them. In the darkness the rope was hardly able to see from the streets, so no one would suspect anything. They made their way in through one of the small doors and sneaked down the spiral staircase. On the second floor was the office where all the maps and information where gathered. Lòng gave Zuko a sign to stay behind while she walked to the door and just knocked. Zuko was kind of shocked, but then again she had probably done this before and knew what she was doing. The door was being opened a few seconds later by an admiral who looked shocked when he saw Lòng before him in her black disguise. Before he could say or do anything she secured his hands on his back and pushed him against the wall of the doorway. Then she held a piece of cloth against his mouth and he slowly sank away. His unconscious body sank to the ground. She signalized Zuko to get in and watch by the door. Before she started to go through the documents she heaved the admiral's body into the chair by the desk and put his head onto the table. It looked as if he had fallen asleep during work. Then she picked a few scrolls out of a shelf above the desk. She seemed to know exactly what she was looking for and found it quite fast. It was a map of the Earth Kingdom with currant locations of the Fire Nation troops on it. She took a map of her own out of her quiver and copied the spots on it. She worked very fast and accurate and put away the scrolls exactly as they had been before. Zuko heard footsteps from down the stairs and gave her a sign to hurry up. She put away the last scroll and followed him out and shot the door. The way down the rope was faster than the way up. Lòng handed Zuko a small rope on which they slid down. Back at the house roof Lòng took off the rope to not leave any evidence and it seemed like they had never been there.

On their way back to the tunnels they walked quietly next to each other until Zuko broke the silence.

"What did you do to the admiral up there? He knows we've been there" he asked. She shook her head.

"The cloth was soaked in an anesthetic potion. When he wakes up he'll just think he fell asleep on his desk" she explained.

"You do this kind of stuff quite often, don't you" he said. She looked at him.

"It's always good to be prepared" she replied. "And thanks to this" She held up her map "our journey to Ba Sing Se will be a lot easier" 

**That's about it for chapter three. Next one will be a little more interesting and Katara will be in it as well, hope you liked this one anyway. I'd be happy to get some reviews :)**


	5. Taking off

**This is a little bit of a filling chapter since I had little inspiration the last days, I hope you don't bother. About the question where the other members of the Gaang are: Katara, Zuko and Lòng will meet them in Ba Sing Se, in about two to three chapters ;)**

**Taking off**

"Katara!" Haru said while he ran after her. She had just left the meeting room and was heading to her chamber.

"What is it?" She turned around and tried to sound as calm as possible.

"We just received a letter from Ba Sing Se" Haru told her and handed out the scroll. She took it from him. The seal had already been broken so she just had to unroll it. "He's there" Haru said while she was reading. She nodded.

Great, not only do we take the traitor with us to our largest hideout, now he can even see the only advantage we have. Why, Tui and La, why does everything have to go wrong at the same time, she thought. "Thanks, Haru. Have you already told Lòng?" she asked him. He shook his head. "I'll do it right now" she said in a sharp tone.

She took off again and went straight to Lòng's room. The small and slender, yet deadly girl was busy packing for the journey when Katara approached.

"We've got news from Ba Sing Se" Katara said. Lòng turned around at her.

"What is it?" she asked. Katara walked into the room and shot the door.

"Aang arrived there two days ago" she said in a soft voice, so no one outside the room could hear. Only a few people knew he was alive. Most people in this hideout didn't even know. And there was this one certain person that didn't know either and Katara would have liked to keep it that way.

"Well, great. Did they make it there without complications?" Lòng asked as if nothing were wrong. Katara snorted.

"Yeah, they did and I would like to keep it this way" she said determined. Lòng sighed.

"Zuko won't betray us. Why should he? He'd been imprisoned for two years by them" she said calmly.

"You're making the same mistake I made two years ago" Katara said bitterly.

"People change, Katara" she replied. Katara snorted again.

"You didn't even know him back then"

"Oh, and you did?" Lòng replied determined.

"Why do you even trust him so much? Don't you think that's a little dangerous under our circumstances, as well as under your personal ones? Shouldn't you of all people know better?" she asked pointing at her throat.

"I am well aware of what I'm doing, and if the Dragon of the West has faith in him then I have too" Lòng said calmly. "Besides, I can take good care of myself. Thank you very much" Katara shook her head in protest.

"The Dragon of the West was supposed to _be_ the person you should have brought" Katara shouted. "Not him!" Lòng sighed deeply.

"You can't bust someone out of prison I he doesn't want to and I bet he has his reasons why he sent his nephew instead" she defended herself. Didn't they have this conversation already twenty times or so, in the last two days? "We can't change the situation now anyway, so why are you still arguing?"

"Fine whatever, but if he messes up or does anything that brings us or our plans in danger I will make you responsible" she hissed back. Lòng merely pulled her shoulders up.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

At night Katara, Lòng and Zuko took off to Ba Sing Se. They had to get through the city undetected so they all wore long dark brown cloaks with their faces deep under the hoods and black clothes. They reached the city's edge within half an hour. From there on they would mainly travel through the forest. There were three ostrichhorses waiting for them which would make their journey a lot shorter.

"We'll bring a good distance between us and the city and then we'll set up camp" Katara informed them. She was riding ahead while Zuko and Lòng followed next to each other. Katara didn't turn around when she talked and her voice sounded overly professional.

"What's up with her?" Zuko whispered towards Lòng. She sighed.

"We had an argument this afternoon, she was acting irrational" she just said and looked in front of her. Zuko pulled up his eyebrow.

"Again something I'm not allowed to know?" he asked annoyed. She merely nodded.

"Not yet"

After a few hours of riding through the forest, along the river they set camp by a small clearing in the woods. Katara would search for fire wood while Zuko set up the tents. Lòng sat down and bent over the map she had unrolled before her. They would have to make a detour if they didn't want to bust into any Fire Nation troops. She sorted out a proper route for them which wasn't all too easy. When the tents were put up and a pot of soup was boiling above the camp fire Katara and Zuko sat by her around the map.

"So, you got our route?" Katara asked. Lòng nodded.

"There are too many troops in the north and it is full of Fire Nation colonies anyway. The fastest way would be if we stay on this side of the river, and follow it. We would reach Gaipan within about three days" She followed the trail she explained with her finger on the map. "If we go south, we'll have to travel all around the great divide" Katara nodded.

"If we take this route we get along a Fire Nation harbor" she exclaimed.

"Yes, but that's our smallest problem. In order to get to Ba Sing Se we'll have to take the Serpent's pass" Lòng said doubtfully. Katara mumbled something.

"I should have brought Appa" she said regretfully. Lòng shook her head.

"The Bison's alive?" Zuko asked surprised, which gave him a warning glare from Katara. Lòng ignored it.

"No, since all the airships are around that would be even more dangerous" she exclaimed. "We have to cross the pass within one day, we can't stop. There are Fire Nation fleets on both sides now. It will be dangerous" Zuko looked at the map and then at Katara.

"What way did you take last time you went to Ba Sing Se then?" he asked carefully. She snorted.

"Last time I came to Ba Sing Se there was no Fire Navy on both sides of the pass" she spat. Zuko flinched. "I haven't been there in two years"

"Oh" was all he replied.

"So Serpent's pass it is" Lòng decided, completely unaffected by their little 'conversation'. Zuko wondered why she seemed to bother so little about her two companions' arguments. Shouldn't she be a little more sensitive with Katara, who was acting like him in his bad days? And him, oh well he had gotten used to being shouted at. It would take a little more to get him angry. That was a thing he considered as a positive side effect of his imprisonment. He had had a lot of time to think and could control his temper better now. Katara seemed to notice it as well, but she wasn't too happy about it. She was looking for a fight and when she realized she wouldn't get one she was frustrated.

"So, I'd say we all get some rest now and continue our journey in the morning" Lòng said. "I'll take the first watch" So they did. Zuko took over the watch somewhat around midnight and when Katara woke up to take over she didn't even look at him. He just gave a sigh and disappeared in his tent.

In the morning they took off again. Katara rode ahead again and Lòng next to Zuko.

"Give it some time" she said softly, so Katara wouldn't hear. "It takes her some time to trust, but if she does you've got the best companion there is" she assured him. He nodded.

"I don't think she'll ever trust me though" he sighed.

"Give it time" she repeated. "And now something else, I was told you had a short temper and get angry fast, I must say I'm quite disappointed" she said grinning. He gave her a dead serious look.

"I've changed" he replied stiffly.

"I can see that, but what is the secret. I mean you can't just stop being angry" she said just as serious. He sighed.

"I didn't, I'm angrier than ever and if my father would stand here right now I think I'd try to blow his head off, but I can control it now"

"Sleeping volcano" she mumbled then rode ahead next to Katara.

Zuko remembered part of the route they were taking; the way along the mountainside though the forest, partly along the river. However for what came next he wasn't prepared. The forest ended abruptly and before them raised a dry desert-like land. No trees, no villages, no life; just desert.

"What is this?" he asked shocked. Katara turned around at him.

"This is what your people did when Sozin's comet came" she answered bitterly. "It killed thousands of people and it is impossible to settle here any longer" She turned back around and rode into the dry-land faster. "And now let's hope we won't come across Aang's old friend" she shouted over her shoulder.

"What old friend?" Zuko asked worried. She laughed bitterly.

"Hei Bai, the spirit who protected the former forest. He doesn't like fire benders" she said in a mocking tone.

"Wonderful" Zuko said sarcastically.

They became faster to leave the desperate place as soon as possible. The scar of dry-land went from north to south which meant that the way from west to east wasn't so long until they reached forests again. That would have been a good sign if it weren't for the colony cities in this area.


	6. Assasin

**And here I have the next chapter. Btw I kind of like angry Katara if you haven't noticed yet ;)**

**Assassin**

The small group set up their camp in the forest before they started planning their trip into town. Gaipan was the last city they would pass before they'd reach the Serpent's pass. Until then they hadn't had any problems with Fire Nation troops or bounty hunters. That was only because until now they had been avoiding any town and any village. But now they needed food. Without it they wouldn't make it over the pass.

Three years ago a dam near the town had broken and caused a flood which destroyed most of Gaipan. After the catastrophe the town had been rebuilt and become larger and larger since then. It now was quite a big inland harbor, which was of course run by the Fire Navy. Three travelers in disguise would not draw any attention among hundreds of traders and passengers.

First rule was to stay together while they bought supplies. Second rule was to be quick and get out as soon as possible. Third rule; let nobody see your face. Shouldn't be too difficult you would think, but when Katara turned around after buying a basket of vegetables, Zuko was gone. She could feel the anger boiling up inside when she gave Lòng, who stood next to her a deadly glare.

"Relax, he's right there" she said and pointed at the information board at the town square. It looked as if he was reading one of the papers that were pinned on it.

Katara snorted. "He'll bring us all in danger"

Zuko was looking at the wanted posters on the information board while Lòng and Katara were busy buying supplies. He kept looking around every now and then to make sure not to lose them out of sight. There were a lot of posters. Most people where wanted for war crimes (what else?). He even recognized some faces. There were posters of Katara, Toph and Sokka, all with very high bounties. The highest was for Katara's head. There was even one of himself, but it didn't ring an alarm bell in his head since it still was an old one from two years ago; the one with him and his uncle on it, when he still had that pathetic ponytail.

What surprised him however was the wanted poster with the face of a young woman on it. Long black hair, put back into a tight braid that went over her shoulder, a face of flawless skin with big brown eyes; it was Lòng, without the scar but definitely her. It didn't surprise him that there was a wanted poster of her. What did was the overly huge bounty on her and the fact that she was wanted not for war crime, but for treason to the Fire Lord himself. She was Fire Nation? What had she done?

From behind someone patted on his shoulder. He turned around and looked at the same face as on the poster, only this time with the long cut that went from her forehead all along the right side of her face, and her long black hair down.

"Come on, let's go. We're ready" she said calmly. Zuko turned back to look at the poster once more and back at her. Her eyes fell on it as well and she gave him a frustrated look. "Come on" she said again, this time fiercely and turned around to leave. He followed without a word.

It was almost dawn on their way back to the camp. Lòng kept looking around at Zuko, but didn't say a word. Katara was already there when they arrived, and prepared the vegetables for soup. Zuko wanted to ask Lòng about the poster, but he didn't get that chance. Katara came tramping towards him with rage in her eyes. Here we go again, Zuko thought.

"What in Tui and La's names did you think you were doing there?!" she started angrily. "We could have been caught!"

"I was being careful. I knew where you two were all the time. Do you think I'd just go to the next fire soldier I see and betray you? I'd be caught myself in such a stupid act" he declared. She snorted.

"If you give me any reason again to be suspicious I will not hesitate to kill you" she threatened with her finger pointed at his chest while she looked him right in the eyes. Zuko snorted back.

"What reasons do you have to hate me so much? I mean I think I've been punished enough now. Can't you at least try to trust me, just a little?!"

"Trust you?!" She spat. While walking up and down she held her chin with two fingers. "Let's see…" she said sarcastically "you hunted us all over the world for more than a year, then you said you had changed and that you were good so you could attack me the minute after and caused Aang to get killed!" Her voice became louder with every word she said. "You know what the Fire Nation did after Azula killed him?! They hunted all of us. We've been running for our lives for two years! They took my father and all the other men of my tribe as prisoners and I don't even want to imagine what they are going through right now, or if they're even alive" She shouted out. Zuko was at the edge of his temper now. Steam came out of his nostrils when he exhaled angrily. Now he'd had enough. He was losing it, couldn't hold back his anger anymore.

"You're not the only one who has been hurt by the Fire Nation, Katara!" he shouted outraged. "My entire family is made of people that are either dead, in prison, ran away or they hate me and would let me rot in a fucking prison cell for the rest of my life, all because of the Fire Nation! Do you see this!?" He pointed at the scarred side of his face. "That wasn't an accident! The Fire Lord himself, _my own father_, did this to me! For speaking out of turn! When I was thirteen! Agni! Then he banished me! Back then nobody knew if the Avatar would ever return, so in fact he just wanted me gone forever!" he yelled back.

Lòng just sat down between them by the camp fire and looked from the one to the other. She sighed deeply, almost annoyed, and then decided that she wasn't going to listen to their arguing for the rest of the night. "I'm going to get some more fire wood" she said, which caused the others to get out of their fight for a moment to look at her, dumbstruck.

Zuko sat up straight and looked at her while she took off. "What's with her?" he asked. Katara snorted.

"She probably laughs about how pathetic our problems sound" she said, feeling a little guilty. Zuko looked back at her, this time questioning. She sighed in annoyance. "Leave me alone, I'm going to sleep" another sigh and she went over to her tent, but not without taking a cup of soup with her. Zuko sat down against a bench and looked into the campfire.

He regretted what he had done in Ba Sing Se, but there was no way to change it. Katara refused to forgive him and it made him angry. She wasn't the only one who had suffered!

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

He must have eventually fallen asleep, because when Zuko woke up again it was dark. A noise from behind him in the woods made him wary. Rustling, then a breaking twig; someone was there. He kept listening but didn't turn around, acted as if he were still sleeping.

When the stranger approached he kept still until he was right above him. Then he opened his eyes and kicked with both feet into the stranger's stomach. He flew backwards and landed on his butt. Zuko took a fighting stance. From the forest approached three more, all men and armed with swords and daggers.

"Yung, who is this guy?" the man on his butt asked a big wide shouldered one.

"Oh, I know who it is!" a skinny guy next to the big one said. He grinned broadly. "That's the pr…" but he didn't get to finish the sentence because an arrow was stuck in his throat. Lòng jumped own from a tree, behind Zuko and put another arrow on the string.

"Kat!" she shouted. Katara came out of her tent immediately, her hands already covered in water. The three remaining guys were surrounding the camp. When Lòng shot another arrow at them the big guy burned it away in front of them and sent a large fire ball towards her. Zuko jumped in front to hold it off. He tossed it back at him. "Thanks but that wasn't necessary" she said determined while she put away her bow.

Katara and Lòng where standing back to back now while dodging and holding off more fire balls and daggers. This was definitely not the first time they fought together. They were in perfect symbiosis while Zuko was fighting off one of them with his Dao swords, which were covered in flames now. He watched Lòng fighting and shock filled his face when a stream of fire came right at her. Katara was too busy defending herself to stop it and Zuko was fighting off his own opponent. It would definitely hit her…

Except it didn't. Lòng just bent the stream back at her opponent, who seemed just as surprised as Zuko. In his surprise the man didn't see the next attack coming in form of another arrow right into his heart. He fell to the ground and Lòng turned around to help Katara who had just frozen her opponent to a tree; another arrow, right into the heart. Zuko's opponent saw it happening and went for the run. A stream of fire from Zuko's fist made him stumble.

"Please, don't kill me" he begged while Zuko grabbed him by his collar. He turned around at the girls who were just walking to him, a questioning look at Lòng.

"Step aside" she said in a monotone voice, and so he did. Before he had fully stepped aside the arrow had already hit the man's heart.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked slightly shocked. She hadn't even flinched when she'd killed the man.

"We can't take any risks. If someone else finds out about us being here we're toast" she replied in the same voice and turned her back at them. Katara gave a sorry sigh and made her way back to the tents.

"I doubt they told anyone that the found us here, so I guess we can go back to sleep" she disappeared in her tent. Lòng made her way to the dead bodies and grabbed one by the wrist to pull him on top of another, then the next one on top and so on. Zuko made an attempt to help, but she shoved him aside.

"Don't" she said determined. Zuko took a few steps back, sat down on the bench and watched. When she was finished she took some dry leafs and twigs to cover them. Her fist ran forward and the heap caught fire. She walked backwards to the bench, not taking her eyes off the fire, and sat down next to Zuko. He looked at her still emotionless face. After some time of quiet watching he spoke.

"Who are you?" he asked dead serious. She didn't take her eyes of the fire when she spoke.

"What do you mean?" He flinched at the hollow sound of her voice.

"You didn't tell me you were from the Fire Nation, or that you were a fire _bender, _and then you kill four people without caring at all!" Now she did flinch.

"You think I don't care?" Now she did look at him, right into the eyes. And there he saw it all; angst, sorrow, remorse, sadness and so much more. It was buried deep, very deep but it was there and there was much of it.

"Who are you?" he asked again, softer this time. She sighed.

"I'm a former Fire Nation assassin" she said looking down, beaten. "I was trained to kill" Zuko took a sharp breath. "Do you know the Bao?" she asked. He stiffened a little.

"Of course I do. They are the Fire Lords personal spies" he said. He remembered a few of them walking around the palace when he was a kid. They always seemed so…empty. She shook her head.

"Yeah, spies" she said bitterly amused. "Well, do you know anything else about them?"

"Not really" he admitted.

"They are the Fire Nations deadliest and most successful elite unit. If they have the order to kill someone, they operate in secret and they always succeed" she said still with the hollow voice. Then she began to unwrap the red ribbon around her left wrist. It revealed a tattoo of the Fire Nation emblem. Inside were five symbols, a bigger one in the middle of the emblem and smaller letters beneath it.

_Bao_

_84 7_

"What do the letters mean?" he asked after a moment of shocked silence. She turned her wrist back and forth while she looked at the tattoo.

"84 is my year of birth and the seven means that I am the seventh of my year to have passed the final test" she explained.

"What test" he asked, but recognized fast that it was the wrong question. "I'm sorry" he added.

"It's okay, I should've told you sooner or later anyway" she assured and a little bit of life came back to her voice. "Maybe I'll tell you someday"

"Does Katara know about it?" he asked. She nodded.

"Most of it" she stood up and stretched. "I'm tired, can you take the first watch?" she asked he just nodded and she went to sleep. Only when she was gone he recognized that the fire of dead bodies had burned out and there was only a pile of ash left.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**For some background information: The year 84 I mentioned is meant as 84 AG(After (air nomad) Genocide) Zuko was born in 83 AG, Katara in 85 AG. In this story Zuko is 19 which means that Katara is 17 and Lòng 18. The picture I used for my story is similar to Lòng's Tattoo (Bao=Panther) I used Google translate to make it so please don't blame me if it is completely wrong, thanks :) Further more, tattoos of the fire nation emblem mean that the person who is "marked" with it is property of the fire lord (at least that's what it means in this story). Everybody in the fire nation knows this. **

**I'd be happy about some reviews, thx ;)))**


	7. Xiang

**Sorry that it took me so long updating this one, but I was in Ireland for a week (which was awesome btw :D) Hope you like the chapter. I'd love to hear some feedback, could actually also use some advice about what I could do better. Not affraid of criticsm ;)  
**

**Xiang**

When Katara had woken up and came out her tent Zuko was sitting at the fire place alone.

"Where's Lòng?" she asked. He snorted.

"Good morning to you too" he said in a sarcastic tone without turning around at her. She sighed in annoyance.

"Where is she?" she asked again. Now he turned around and looked at her.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill her or something. She's still sleeping" he answered in a sharp tone and pointed at Lòng's tent. Katara rolled her eyes, but didn't react any further to his answer.

"Good" She sat down by across from him and gave him a serious look. "How much of it did she tell you last night?" she asked.

"About what?" he acted dumb. She rolled her eyes again.

"You know exactly what I mean, about her" she said in a low voice.

"You mean about her being an ex-Fire Nation assassin? Just that she left the Fire Nation and is now wanted for treason" he said. It seemed as if he was feeling betrayed because she hadn't told him earlier.

"That's not all, you know" Katara continued. "Don't mess with her today, just leave her alone then we're all happy"

"What do you mean 'don't mess with her'? What did I do?" he asked self-defensive.

"Don't ask her anymore about her past, it will only reopen scars" she said with a hard glare at him. She knew she was being protective and that Lòng didn't want her to worry about her, but she did anyway. They had grown very tight in the last few years and Katara knew that even though Lòng could take very good care of herself she sometimes needed someone to help her. Even if she didn't realize it.

"You know more then?" he asked curious. She dropped her glare on him and looked away.

"More than I would like to, and you're not gonna learn anything from me, understood?" she looked at him again with determination in her eyes. It was clear that he wouldn't get anything out of her. He slowly nodded. "Good then could you make fire so I can prepare breakfast?" she asked, although it sounded more like a demand. He got up with a sigh and started placing wood into the fire pit.

"I must confess, was surprised you didn't argue when Lòng killed those men yesterday" he said after a while of silence.

"War changes a person" was all she replied. Zuko left it with that.

When the soup was boiling above the fire they could hear noises from Lòng's tent. She had woken up. She came out and stretched before she joined the other two by the fire. They didn't talk during breakfast. In fact Lòng didn't say a word that day. She didn't even interfere when Katara and Zuko were fighting about the night watch. Katara claimed that she wouldn't close one eye if he was in charge. Lòng just took her bow and arrows and sat down by the fire, face towards the woods. When the other two saw it they stopped arguing and got to sleep.

Katara had more or less explained to Zuko that it was always like this after Lòng had killed. She didn't think of it as nothing, so to pay her respects to the dead she didn't speak for a day. It was her way of staying at peace with herself and not grow numb, and the others respected it.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They decided to continue their journey to the Serpent's pass at night. It would be easier to get across the colony cities on their way if they could hide in the dark. They had left the ostrich horses behind since the way wasn't that long anymore and the animals where exhausted.

While they were walking through a very dense part of the forest Lòng started getting restless. Her eyes wouldn't stop moving around, looking suspiciously at every tree they passed. She walked inconspicuously over to Katara.

"We're being watched" she whispered. Katara nodded.

"How many?" she whispered back. Lòng tapped on her back; just one.

"I'll take care of it, just keep walking" Katara nodded. She looked at Zuko and gave him a sign to walk on while she did the same and Lòng stayed behind.

The two others had disappeared in the dark while the person watching them stayed where Lòng was. So she was the target. She waited for a second, until she heard her follower move. She tossed a fire ball in the direction, but there was no reaction. Another sound from the opposite direction; another fire ball. Again, no reaction. The sound of two feet falling on the soft ground of the forest behind her. Before she was able to turn around a big hand grabbed her arms, and before she could scream the other one covered her mouth. She tried to fight back but a familiar smell surprised her; her defense weakened and the person dragged her back into the bushes. Soft lips touched her ear.

"Don't scream, little dragon" a low voice whispered in a teasing tone. Lòng's eyes widened. The hands and arms around her disappeared and she immediately turned around. With a shocked face she looked at the man behind her. He was very tall and muscular with a young angular face surrounded by messy dark brown hair, and shining grey eyes. He smiled down at her.

"Xiang" she whispered, not believing what she saw. "You're alive!" Before he could react she had already wrapped her arms around his waist. He leaned into the embrace. "I thought you were dead" she said in a croaky voice, holding back a sob.

"It's okay, little dragon. I'm here" he comforted her, rubbing her back. "But we have to go, _they_ are following us" he added fiercely. She pushed him back a little to look at his worried face.

"They're still after you?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Zuko stopped walking and turned back around.

"Isn't this taking a little too long, you think?" he asked Katara. She didn't answer, probably didn't want to admit he was right.

"We have to keep moving, she'll be fine" she said between cringed teeth. That was when a noise from behind made her wary. She turned around to get a glimpse at someone hiding behind a tree. With a whip of water from her bottle Katara lured it out of its hiding place. It was a woman clothed in black, her face was covered and she looked at her with deadly eyes. Katara cringed her teeth. "You must be kidding me" she said sarcastically.

Zuko turned around to face another person in black; a boy. "You know these?" he asked confused about her reaction. She snorted.

"They're Bao" she said fast before she dodged one of their flying daggers. Zuko widened his eyes.

The two Bao attacked with high speed, throwing daggers and bending fire. Zuko and Katara where pushed towards each other until they stood back to back. Smoke was rising which made it hard to see. Katara coughed.

"You alright?" Zuko asked. She coughed again.

"I'm fine. Are there archers?" she asked he looked around briefly then shook his head. "Then we can take them" she decided determined and took a fighting stance. Zuko did the same. He used his fire bending to get some of the smoke away. The two Bao attacked in a constant row and it was obvious that their goal was to finish them off.

Katara had gathered a ring of water around their feet and rose some tentacles from it to fetch the daggers they were throwing at them. Meanwhile Zuko attacked them both with his bending and blocked a few fire attacks. They held them off for quite a while until the attack stopped as rapidly as it begun. Two people appeared behind the Bao and threatened them with daggers o their throats. One of their heads popped up behind the enemy.

"Need some help?" Lòng asked. Zuko and Katara calmed down and dropped their fighting stance. Then Katara looked around at the young man securing the other Bao.

"Who's this?" she asked Lòng pointing her thumb over her shoulder at him.

"An old friend" she replied with a warm smile towards the man.

"What do we do with them?" the man asked Lòng. She grabbed the girl she was securing by the neck to turn her around and pulled off her disguise. The thin grumpy face of a pretty girl was revealed.

"Juan" she said disgusted.

"Nice to see you, Lòng" the girl replied with a cold smile. "How little you`ve changed in all those years, except for that little detail maybe" she said pointing with her eyes at the cut that went down Lòng's cheek.

"You can tell your boyfriend, thank you, when you meet him" Lòng replied coldly. The girl's eyes filled with rage.

"You traitor! You filthy bitc…!" she shouted but was cut off by the knife slicing her throat.

"Get over it, Juan" she replied and let the body fall to the ground. She gave Xiang a nod and he did the same with the boy.

"Another necessary kill I guess?" Zuko asked, slightly disappointed. Lòng shot him a serious glare.

"No, this was personal" she replied.

After Xiang had gone burying the bodies, Katara and Zuko both looked at Lòng asking for an explanation.

"I told you, he's an old friend. Don't worry, we can trust him" she assured them.

"How do you know him?" Katara asked suspicious.

"We fled from the Bao together" she admitted. "We were separated fleeing and I thought he'd died"

"Is he coming with us?" Zuko asked. She pulled up her shoulders.

"He can be of great help, so I think it'd be a good idea" she explained. Katara lost a little of her tension.

They reached the Serpent's pass together while Lòng walked next to Xiang, talking to him, while Katara and Zuko walked ahead.

"So you're just okay with this?" Zuko asked Katara softly, so the others wouldn't hear.

"I trust Lòng in her opinion. If she says he's fine I believe her" she replied matter of factly. Zuko snorted.

"Not always, obviously" he said a little hurt. She shot him a glare.

"That's something completely different" she said just as serious. Zuko kept looking behind him to see what they were doing. Lòng was smiling brighter than he'd ever seen her before. She looked so happy. The sight of them caused a slight stinging in his heart.

At sunrise they reached the pass. They decided to camp here until nightfall to continue their journey. Lòng left Xiang's side to have a talk with Katara, while Zuko prepared the camp fire. He eyed Xiang suspiciously every now and then.

"You're the Fire Nation prince" a voice said behind him, when he was just about to place the fire wood in the pit. Zuko got up and looked at Xiang.

"I _was_" he exclaimed. Xiang nodded.

"I'm sorry"

"Its fine" He coughed a little. "So, how do you know Lòng?" Zuko asked. Xiang frowned, memorizing.

"She ran into me when we were kids, I think she was something about five or so, and I was seven" he told him. Zuko was surprised.

"That's a long time" he stated. Xiang gave him a bitter smile.

"Yeah, we were orphans and the people from the Bao project took us in" he explained. More confusion in Zuko's eyes. "You don't know where Bao come from, do you?" Xiang asked. Zuko shook his head. "Well, they are little kids, taken off the street to turn them into killers" he said with a tiny little bit of dark humor in his voice. Zuko was shocked. That was… to the point.

"You were little kids?" he asked shocked, and slightly disgusted at the thought. Xiang nodded. There was no self-pity in his eyes, only determination.

"They mostly take orphans because nobody misses them when they disappear. The training begins right after they take them into camp" He looked somewhat disgusted at the word 'camp'. "The kids are taught extremely strict discipline and all kinds of combat forms. When they are ready they're sent on their first kill. If they succeed they passed their training. If not, well, then their target most likely killed them first. Most Bao lost the feeling for what is right. They do what is asked of them and they never hesitate to kill, or ever think about it"

There was an awful long moment of silence in which Zuko couldn't keep himself from looking at his feet in horror. This entire plan, this sick project, it was set up by his very own ancestor, his great-grandfather Sozin. It seemed like pure evil.

It took him awhile until he looked back at Xiang.

"Lòng does" he stated. "She does think about it" Xiang smiled sadly.

"Yeah, she does, but there's a reason behind that. See, you never forget your first kill and for her… it was a rather traumatizing experience" he took a deep breath. Zuko frowned.

"She never talks about her past" Zuko said. Xiang nodded.

"Think it hurts too much" He continued his story. "She and I had the same instructor, Zhen, an ex-Yuyan archer. She was… different. Always kind to us, unlike the other masters. Besides the normal training she secretly taught us all sorts of things about our history, the rest of us never heard of. We learned that the war wasn't a good thing and that she was part of a secret society, which fought against the war" He sighed of the thought of her. "However she was double crossed by one of her students. That was after I was sent on my first missions. Lòng was still in training… She was forced to prove her loyalty to the Bao because they accused her of being on Zhen's side…" he stopped talking. Zuko frowned even more. He was almost afraid to ask. After a long moment he did it anyway.

"What happened?" Xiang rubbed his face with both hands before he continued.

"Lòng was sent on her first assassination mission. She had to kill Zhen" he said slowly. A gasp escaped from Zuko's mouth. "She denied to do it, but Zhen told her before that she would die anyway. It made no difference…" He sighed heavily, shaking his head.

"But to Lòng it did" Zuko finished his sentence.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**So that's the chapter. I promise they will meet up with the rrest of the GAang soon, and btw yes Appa and Momo are still there (although not in Ba Sing Se), you'll meet them in later chapters, I promise ;)**


	8. Arrival

**So before I continue here some info I forgot to mention: **

**I want to keep this Story close to canon when it comes to past events, so here is some background information: Zuko's past is the same as it is in the series until the day of black sun. There he challenged his father and got caught by Azula afterwards. The GAang's story is the same until the battle under Ba Sing Se, although there are some events form the series after Ba Sing Se that happened anyway. You'll find out in the coming chapters ;) Hope you like it so far and I'd be very very happy about some feedback**

**Oh and: I do not own Avatar, the last airbender **

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Arrival**

They were quite fast passing the Serpent's pass and had only few complications. Actually the only complication was the serpent, which Katara managed to hold off with her water bending skills. Zuko and Xiang had talked some more. He seemed nice, but still Zuko didn't trust him hundred percent. There was something odd about him. Lòng seemed happy, although that was only logic since her oldest friend happened to be alive. Zuko couldn't help but look at her and Xiang every now and then. They were very close. On the end of the pass they stooped again to rest. They'd made it in one day.

"You seem happy" Zuko stated when he and Lòng were setting up the tents. She smiled at him.

"Yeah, I am. I haven't seen Xiang in two years. We went away together and… got separated" She stopped talking and looked at her hands, tying together a rope. The smile was gone. "He told you about the Bao project?" She didn't sound surprised or mad. He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I hope that's okay for you…" Zuko gave her a questioning look. She raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that I have a problem with you knowing it" her eyes trailed off. "It's just… I don't like talking about it" she admitted. Zuko nodded again.

"I get that" he said. "Know the feeling" he assured giving her an understanding look when she raised her head again.

"Lòng," Katara said from the other side of the camp. The ex-assassin looked up and saw her kneeling in front of a map on the ground. She walked to her to see what was going on. It was the map she had marked the Fire Nation troops on.

"What is it?" she asked, seeing Katara's concerned look.

"This" she pointed at a part on the map that was quite near to their location. "There are troops near this pass, do you think it's safe to stay here?" she asked. Lòng nodded, understanding her concerns.

"We'll only stay for a short while" she assured her. "The caves aren't far from here" she added quieter, so none of the others could hear. Katara nodded, taking a glare at Zuko. Lòng rolled her eyes at the gesture.

"Something else then; why did you never tell me about Xiang before?" She asked a little hurt. Lòng sat down next to her.

"I didn't think it was necessary" Lòng took up her shoulders in an apologizing gesture. "Besides it is safer for all of us not to reveal all our secrets" she added.

"Alright, but do you… you know, are you two in a relationship or something?" Katara suddenly asked. Lòng laughed a little.

"Oh, so that's what this is about" she smirked. "No, we're not" Katara looked a little disappointed. "I've known him all my life, he's like my big brother" she punched Katara's arm playfully with her elbow. "He always took care of me" Katara smiled. Her thoughts wandered to Sokka, who was always worried about her. It hurt a little though, since she hadn't seen him in months.

"That's what big brothers do" she confirmed smiling.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The day went by and everybody was waiting for nightfall to move on. Katara took the first watch and started cooking at the same time. Lòng superseded her around afternoon, and at nightfall the all sat together and ate before they would head towards the caves. There was a little protest from the guys when they were blindfolded, but nobody would take the risk at revealing the caves. Only Katara was allowed to know, because she would have to come and go alone at some point maybe, so she basically had to. Lòng leaded the way.

It was hard to walk properly without seeing a thing, but Zuko managed not to struggle over every branch he walked past. After a while of silent walking they stopped and Lòng started talking to someone.

"It's good to see you again" she said. The other person replied in a male and slightly familiar voice, although Zuko was not able to place it anywhere. It seemed… too low.

"Nice to see you, too Lòng. Who's this?" the guy replied happily.

"Xiang, an old friend. He's clear" she said.

"Hi" Xiang said a little awkward.

"Hey" the male voice replied. "Alright then, let's go"

There was silence and footsteps and certainly he heard the guy stand in front of Katara, who was standing next to him. They mumbling to each other. He could hear something that sounded like _I missed you_.

They walked on and it became darker and the ground more even, they were going down however. After turning around a few corners, most likely more than actually necessary, their blindfolds where taken off. Zuko blinked a few times before he could see properly. They were in a tunnel. Katara and the guy carried torches while Lòng held a flame in her hand. The guy was young. He looked like 15, was the same height as Katara and had short, dark hair and a headband over his forehead. He wore typical Earth Kingdom clothes and his eyes were big and grey, and he wore a bright smile looking at Katara and holding her closely. Zuko froze when he realized who was standing in front of him. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. The boy noticed his strange look and gave a funny laugh.

"Remember me, Zuko?" he asked amused, shoving up his headband for a second to reveal the arrow on his forehead. He turned with his head towards Lòng. "You didn't tell him?" he asked surprised. Lòng merely pulled up her shoulders.

"Katara didn't want me to" she replied.

"We have to remain careful" Katara defended herself. The boy turned his attention back to Zuko.

"This is… awkward then" he confessed. Zuko nodded, managing to close his mouth. He took a deep breath before speaking up.

"You're alive" he stated, trying to look normal at the Avatar, who was looking at himself making sure he really was.

"Yup, I had much luck" he smiled again "and a very good healer" giving Katara a thankful look. A smile appeared on her face, but faded when she looked at Zuko. She gave him a look that was unmistakably saying; _if you hurt my family you're toast._ Then she looked back at Aang, realizing something obviously.

"Wait, you don't seem too surprised. Since when did you know _he _was coming?" she asked wary. Aang rubbed the back of his neck.

"You know, Kat I…" he lowered his head, still looking at her. "I kind of was involved with the idea of bringing him" he admitted. That didn't only leave Katara surprised; Zuko dropped his jaw once again. Only Lòng stood there, rolling her eyes in slight disinterest.

"Yeah, well that's great, but let's discuss this at some place more safe" she said pushing Katara and Zuko forward.

They kept on walking through the tunnels. From above them, came more and more noises; they were under the city. It sounded crowded although the tunnels where empty except for them. The system went over into more rectangular shape until they reached a room with a ladder and a hole in the ceiling.

"From here on we have to go through the city. The headquarters are under the middle and upper ring of the city. To get there we have to go through the lower ring" Aang informed. "So hoods up" He went onto the ladder first while the others were working on their disguise.

"Don't you need to be more careful" Zuko asked when he saw the Avatar just walk outside without any kind of disguise. The younger boy smirked.

"I'm in less danger than all of you. No one's searching for me, they all think I'm dead" he said and one could hear that he wasn't all happy about it. Zuko nodded.

They reached the end of the ladder and Aang shove away the plate above their heads with earth bending. He first took a look outside to see if the coast was clear and then jumped out of the hole and landed on light feet. He signed the rest to follow him. They jumped out one by one, hiding under their brown capes.

"Alright, let's go. Make sure not to draw any attention. Keep your eyes open for the Dai Li" he warned. And so they walked on. It was still night and the streets were empty except for a few cats and gamblers. Zuko looked around and started recognizing the streets. Not far from here was the old tea shop he and his uncle used to work at when they were refugees. He could barely believe it but the place looked even worse than two years ago. Most of the houses seemed abandoned and it stank. There were Fire Nation emblems on a few doors.

He heard a gasp from Katara and looked around. A woman was sitting on the ground holding a bundle in her arms. She had a grip on Katara's cloak.

"Please, some spare coins?" she begged. He couldn't see Katara's face, but he knew it must be heartbreaking.

"I'm sorry" she said sadly, pulling out her empty pockets. The woman let go of her and looked at the ground, rocking the bundle in her arms.

"Are you okay?" Aang asked Katara after they passed the woman. She merely nodded.

"You've never been down here before, have you" Zuko asked. It didn't sound accusing. Just a statement.

"Have you?" she asked a little harsh. He sighed.

"I _lived_ here" That got him a surprised look from all of them, except Lòng (she really did her research). Nobody responded further to this.

They walked on in silence until they reached the wall to the middle ring. Aang looked up at the watch towers to make sure they weren't seen, then he laid his hand on the wall tracing for their entrance. They walked along the wall for a few more meters until he stopped. Bending away a part of the wall he revealed another tunnel. There were stairs going down. Aang went first, followed by Katara, Zuko, Lòng and then Xiang.

"A little light would be nice" Aang said turning his head towards Zuko and Lòng. They understood and both created a small flame in their hands. Zuko looked around at Xiang, who was just standing there. He noticed and shook his head while pulling up his shoulders; no fire bender here.

Aang close the wall behind them when they had enough light to see and then continued the way down. The way was long, and it went deep and there was a very familiar smell in the air. A few more meters below ground they started to see green light at the end of the stairs. Lòng pulled Zuko's sleeve from behind to get his attention. The flame in her hand had faded.

"Most of the rebels down here don't know I'm Fire Nation, and I'd like to keep it that way for a while" she said. He nodded understanding. "Oh, and if I were you I would put that out now" she added, pointing at the flame in his palm. He did.

The light at the end of the stairs became brighter and suddenly they reached the end where a large cave was revealed. It was full of glowing green crystals and a small river ran through it. Zuko saw how Katara's shoulders tensed when she realized where they were. Aang notice the worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, these parts of the catacombs are so low, I doubt even the Dai Li know they exist" he assured her. She loosened up a little, but Zuko could sense that was not the reason she acted that way in the first place. There was this unpleasant feeling of Dejah vu, he felt it too. "Come on most of the others are in the cave behind this one" Aang said and twirled himself up into the air to land a few meters further on the somewhat lower ground of the cave. One could see that he felt better down here where he didn't have to hide who he was.

They past the first cave to enter the second through a smaller opening. Zuko was surprised to see so many people. There were some tents and some holes in the walls that were used as living place. There were at least fifty people in this cave. Aang looked around at his guests and smirked.

"This is just a small part of the rebels, I assure you" he said proudly. Katara watched the crowd with hopeful eyes until her gaze fell on a familiar face. A man stood by the weaponry together with a few soldiers. One of them looked a little small though. They were laughing and talking. Katara started to smile brightly. Aang followed her gaze and grinned at her. "Come on let's greet them"

Katara started to walk down the entrance fast and became even faster when she reached even grounds.

"Hey!" she shouted at the man, playing angry. He turned around at the sound of her voice. His face looked older, more grown up and he had grown some facial hair. He was more muscular too.

When he saw her he smiled from ear to ear. "You didn't write!" she shouted, trying to look angry but she couldn't hold back a smile. The man laughed at this.

"Well, before you start shouting couldn't you give your brother a welcome hug first?" he asked, laughing. She ran into his arms and he welcomed her in a big bear hug. "I've missed you little sis" he said.

"Missed you too, big brother" she answered happily. He freed her of his embrace and turned to the other men.

"No hug for me, sugar queen?" the smaller person next to Sokka asked disappointed. Katara looked past Sokka and saw that the smaller person had taken off her helmet. She walked over and hugged her too.

"Toph! I'm so sorry, I didn't recognize you in that uniform" she apologized grinning. Toph hugged her tightly. "Toph…no…air" Katara gasped. She let go and laughed.

"Drama drama, sugar queen" Toph replied and punched her playfully. She could feel a few other people arriving. "Hey killer girl, how is it?" she shouted.

Lòng pulled a face at the unloved nickname, but didn't argue. "Fine, pebbles" she teased. The younger girl laughed and gave her a punch too. She knew Lòng could handle her teasing. Lòng did the same and laughed with her.

"You brought visitors" Toph stated, not surprised obviously. Sokka looked at Zuko, who looked slightly nervous.

"Welcome to Ba Sing Se" Sokka offered Zuko a hand, which left him dumb struck, not only him, also Katara turned a shocked face towards the calm looking Water tribesman.

Lòng gave him a small punch in the side and he took Sokka's arm. "Thank you" he said, trying to hide his confusion. Sokka nodded. He turned towards his sister, who seemed to be trying to kill him with her gaze.

"Aang, are you taking the newcomers around?" he asked. The young Avatar nodded.

"Come on, guys" Xiang followed, Zuko stood still looking at Lòng who didn't seem to be moving just like Katara.

"You go ahead, I know the caves" she said. "I have to talk to some people" Zuko nodded and followed Aang and Xiang.

When the three were gone Katara started talking.

"You knew too" she stated. Sokka merely pulled his shoulders up.

"Aang told me when he arrived. We had a long discussion about it and I think he's right" he explained. Katara snorted.

"Am I really the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?" she almost shouted.

"Definitely not" Another male voice said. A young man shove himself forward from behind two soldiers. He was tall, with brown hair and a slyly smirk on his face. Katara's eyes widened when she recognized him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

** Here comes my little quiz question: Who do you think is the guy Katara recognizes? **


End file.
