Chapter Text
Water.
Earth.
Fire.
Air.
My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days—a time of peace, when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads.
But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
Only the Avatar, Master of all Four Elements.
Only he could stop the ruthless Firebenders.
But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
A hundred years have passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war.
Two years ago, my father and the men of my Tribe journey to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my brother to look after our Tribe.
Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads, and that the cycle is broken.
But I haven’t lost hope.
I still believe that somehow the Avatar will return to save the world.
[][][]
Zuko let out a groan as he laid down on the saddle, and Appa must’ve shared his sentiment as the flying bison groaned from beneath him. The teenager closed his golden eye as he said through a breath, “I know boy. I miss her too.” His knees popped and cracked as he rose up to his feet.
He took in a deep breath, as he looked at the iceberg that was floating in front of him.
With practiced ease, Zuko masterfully went through the forms of airbending, resulting in an airblast launching towards the iceberg—which caused the massive chunk of ice to crack slightly.
Then he heard the voices.
“Leave it to a girl to screw things up!” A masculine voice yelled, before a feminine voice retaliated, “You are the most sexist, immature, nutbrained—”
Some water from rippled waves splashed up onto the saddle, soaking the felt boots Zuko wore, and he could also hear Appa groan in discomfort.
“—Ah! I’m embarrassed to even be related to you!”
Cracking echoed throughout the area, and Zuko’s eye flicked over to the iceberg, which had only cracked more since the water began to become disturbed.
Zuko knelt down, and patted Appa’s neck. “Go around the iceberg boy,” He murmured quietly, and Appa let out a peeved groan, but complied anyway.
“Ever since Mom died and Dad left, I’ve been doing all the work around the village! While you’ve been off playing soldier!”
The iceberg continued to splinter, and Zuko raised an arm to prevent shards of ice from hitting him. Zuko opened his eyes once the lethal rain stopped, and he could see two Water Tribe folk sitting down on an ice float. Both of them were dressed in parkas. One of them was a guy, and the other one was a girl. The boy she was with—her brother, Zuko would assume given the resemblance and the snippet of the conversation he’s overheard—was pointing at the iceberg, “Uh, Katara…”
The girl ignored what he was saying, as she continued ranting at him. “I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Because let me tell you—not. Pleasant.” She swung her arms back again, and the iceberg cracked even more.
“Katara! Settle down!” The boy screeched at his sister as he scooted back slightly on the ice float.
“No!” She—Katara screamed at him. “That’s it! I’m done helping you! From now on. You’re on your own!” The teenaged girl swung her arms back again, and the iceberg completely cracked open.
Both of the Water Tribe teenagers looked back at that with wide eyes, and both of them let out small noises of shock as the large chunks crashed into the water.
Waves rose up, crashing over the two siblings.
Meanwhile Zuko dropped to his knees, took in a deep breath, before forming an airball in between his hands. He momentarily stopped breathing, as he squeezed his eyes closed, and beneath his closed eyelids his eyes glowed a light blue, and his scar turned an ethereal silver. His hair flew up into the air, as the airball grew larger—big enough to protect Appa from being soaked by the water—as a shockwave of blue energy shot out from Zuko.
The water settled relatively quickly after that, and the glow vanished from Zuko’s eyes, the ethereal silver faded from his scar, and his hair fell down as the air bubble faded and he took in a breath again. He lifted his head, and blinked a couple of times to clear the blurriness from his vision, and he saw the two Water Tribe teenagers looking over at him.
He let out a breath to calm the nerves that popped up, and forced a smile on his face—one that he hoped didn’t look too creepy.
“Hello, Zuko here.”
[][][]
Kyro looked out to the deck of the ship, his dragonet sitting next to his side as the shockwave of blue energy rocked over the ship. He could see it coming, and instinctively knelt down and wrapped himself around the dragonet as if to protect him. His dragon—Fudo—curled into his master, while another dragon—Taiyo—ran up to the bow of the ship.
Kyro raised his head as the blue energy passed, and turned his head to look at his Uncle. “Uncle! Do you realize what this means?” He gestured to where the shockwave came from.
“I won’t get to finish my game?” His Uncle speculated, his eyes shifting from the pai-sho game in front of him to look at his nephew who was now kneeling down in front of him.
Kyro titled his head to the side. “It means the search for my twin—the destined Avatar is about to come to an end.”
He let out a breath that was both melancholic and relieved as his hands went to tug back his hair into a ponytail, but just let it loose. “That light had to come from an incredibly powerful source. It has to be him,” Kyro mused, conflicted on his face as Fudo pressed his head against his master’s torso, showing his support.
“Or it’s just the celestial lights,” Iroh responded dismissively to his nephew as he waved one of his pai-sho pieces in the air. “We’ve been down this road before, Prince Kyro.” He looked back down at the game board before setting the piece he was holding down on it. “I don’t want you to get too excited over nothing. Please sit. Why don’t you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?”
Kyro let out a breath as he got up to his feet, he could feel his heart beating in his throat and the blood rushing to his head. He mussed with his hair again, as he started pacing. “Do you think Taiyo would be acting that way if Zuko wasn’t nearby?” Kyro asked, as he paced next to his Uncle, with Fudo’s head following him back and forth while the dragonet stayed stationary.
Iroh didn’t respond, and Kyro let out a frustrated noise before he turned to look at the helm and yelled an order at him: “Helmsman, set a course for where the light came from.”
The Prince could see a faint nod, as well as feel the ship redirect itself.
He let out a breath as his posture vanished, as he shook his head and walked away from his Uncle.
Fudo trailed after his master, while Taiyo glanced back at her egg-twin, before looking back in the direction they were heading as she stretched her recently healed wing.
[][][]
“Appa, go over to them,” Zuko murmured, as he patted Appa on the head again. The bison let out another groan—almost like a protest—but still followed the simple ask and swam over to the ice float the two siblings were standing on.
The boy backed up, pushing his sister behind him as he pointed out his spear at Zuko.
“He’s an Airbender!” Katara called out, as she pushed past her brother; only for him to yank her back and yelled back, “He’s also wearing Fire Nation colors! What do you want Fire Nation?”
“I’m not with the Fire Nation,” Zuko said, lying through his teeth—but he had always been a good liar. “You both saw me airbend. I’m an Airbender like your sister said.”
“All of the Airbenders were murdered by your Nation a hundred years ago!”
Zuko internally cringed at that because he knew the other teenager wasn’t wrong, but the correction tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop it, “The Airbenders at the Temples were.” He paused, as he felt his throat constrict because considering he was a former Prince of the Fire Nation—who had ordered the genocide—he shouldn’t be defending his former nation since what they did was vile. But unfortunately despite how he’s been treated patriotism ran through his veins. “Plenty of people related to Airbenders—non-bender parents, siblings, children survived. And not all Airbenders were at the Temples when they were attacked—they were called the Air Nomads after all.” Zuko swallowed and wetted his dried lips. “I’m descended from those people.”
The boy didn’t seem to fully believe him, but believed him enough to lower his weapon. Katara skirted out from behind her brother as Appa approached and Zuko knelt down on the saddle. He glanced between the two of them as he asked, “Do you need a ride back to your village?”
“What is that thing?” Sokka demanded, gesturing to Appa with his spear as he blocked his sister from moving past him.
Zuko’s eyebrows knitted together as he responded. “My flying bison, Appa.”
The boy scoffed as he gestured to his sister and sarcastically said, “Right, and this is Katara. My flying sister.”
Appa growled, not liking the insults that were being thrown at him.
Zuko let out a breath as he asked again, his already little patience running thin but he clutched onto it. “Do you need a ride back to your village?”
“I think I got midnight sun madness.” The brother turned around, starting to walk backwards on the ice float. “I’m going home to where stuff makes sense.” His eyes then widened as they flicked around the ice field that was mostly empty now due to the iceberg exploding.
“We’d love a ride, thanks!” Katara exclaimed, before she clambered up onto Appa’s saddle, sitting at the part that was closest to Appa’s head.
Zuko let out a breath, as he climbed over the edge of the saddle and onto Appa’s head.
“Oh no, no way am I getting on a fluffy monster!” The brother exclaimed.
Zuko let out a breath and rolled his eyes as he grabbed the reins that laid limply on Appa’s head.
Katara leaned over the edge of the saddle, looking down at her brother. “Come on Sokka, or are you hoping some kind of other monster—maybe a sea monster—will come along and give you a ride home. Before you, y’know, freeze to death?”
Sokka raised his arms off the side of his body, and opened his mouth to say something. But he quickly realized that he didn’t have any reason to protest before his mouth closed and his shoulders dropped. He took in a deep breath as he crawled up Appa’s side and into the saddle, laying down the spear.
Zuko let out a breath, before he patted Appa’s head and said, “Appa, yip-yip.”
Appa left the water for a brief moment, before he splashed down into the water below, splashing small amounts of water to hit the three teenagers. A small frown played on Zuko’s lips as he patted the bison’s head again as he encouraged, “Come on Appa, yip-yip.”
The bison just let out a tired groan, as Sokka leaned back on the leather saddle and sarcastically added, “Wow, that was truly amazing.”
Zuko glanced back and looked at Sokka as he defended his companion, “Appa’s just a little tired. He just needs a little rest. After he gets rest on dry land he’ll be soaring through the sky.” He made a flying gesture with one of his arms, and he felt his cheeks flush since he felt like he was acting like a child.
He sat back down, facing away from the two of them as his cheeks flushed.
Zuko felt like a child again for whatever reason, as the flying bison slowly swam through the ocean, weaving through the paths that had been made by the icebergs.
[][][]
Kyro stood at the top of the ship, tapping one of his feet against the steel floor. There were black bags under his eyes, and his eyes kept drooping shut as he tried to stay awake. Fudo nudged his master’s hip again, and a burst of wind woke Kyro up more as he shook his head to shake away the sleep. He rubbed his eyes with one hand as he scratched the white dragon’s head with his other hand.
He could hear heavy steps coming up behind him, and his Uncle Iroh pointedly said, “I’m going to bed now. Yep, a man needs his sleep.”
The Prince could feel Iroh’s hand rest on his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. “Prince Kyro, you also need some sleep. You’re dead on your feet. Even if you’re right—even if your twin is here—you won’t be able to capture him. Zuko had evaded us for close to a year, even with his animal guide you won’t be able to track him. Just because it’s his brother it doesn’t mean he’ll come willingly.”
“I don’t care,” Kyro snapped, as he stepped away from his Uncle and broke out of his grip. He was ranting in a sleep-deprived daze. “Me bringing him in as the Avatar is the only way he’ll be guaranteed any safety as the Avatar. If anyone else from back home finds out he’s the Avatar and comes after him they won’t care about his safety. Who knows what they’ll do to him considering he’s the Fire Lord’s disgraced daughter and a prisoner of war.” His voice cracked as he wiped away tears.
Iroh grabbed his nephew again, and started to guide him towards the stairs.
Kyro didn’t even seem to be fully aware as he said with a quiet voice. “Uncle, I’m the only one that cares about him. I need to protect him, like how he protected me.”
Iroh cradled his nephew against him as he almost picked him up. “Hush, hush. Come on, let’s get you to lay down.”
Fudo trilled in agreement, and Kyro just slumped against his Uncle, murmuring about needing to protect his brother as he was taken below deck.
[][][]
Zuko’s chin rested downwards against his chest, his airbending staff resting in his lap.
He could hear shifting on the saddle above him, and he forced tired eyes open to see Katara leaning over the saddle’s edge. She gave him a smile as she spoke: “Hey.”
“Hey,” Zuko replied, as he looked up at her, his voice gruff and tired. “Thinking about something?”
Katara’s shoulders slumped, not exactly liking how she had been immediately found out. “It’s just… I guess I was wondering. You being an Airbender and all… if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar.”
Zuko couldn’t hide his shock all that well—though he was sure Katara didn’t know how he looked when he was surprised—he took in a deep breath as he forced his eyes to narrow from their widened surprised state. He looked away from her, and down at the water as he responded, “From my knowledge, he was killed during the Fire Nation’s genocide. Though his descendants are still alive today—not that they’ll be any help since the Airbenders are still pacifists today.”
“There are more Airbenders?” Katara asked, her soft voice filling the air.
Zuko nodded his head. “Yeah, most of them are living in the hidden Air Nomad villages. Most of the locations are unknown since there weren’t any maps, and the only way to get there was through memory and those with those memories are long gone.”
Katara let out another sigh as she looked away.
Zuko picked up on that as he looked back at her. “Is something else wrong?”
Her crestfallen expression didn’t vanished as she stammered out, “It’s just… if the Air Nomad Avatar was killed during the Airbender Genocide. That means they’ve either been reborn into the Earth Kingdom, or…” She shuddered. “...the Fire Nation.”
“If the Fire Nation had them, they would probably just be their super weapon,” Zuko reassured her, despite knowing that was not true in the slightest. “They were more than likely reborn into the Earth Kingdom, probably just thinking they are just a normal Earthbender.”
That analysis of events didn’t really seem to cheer Katara up, but she let out a breath as she sat up, scooting away from him. “Okay, good night.”
Zuko watched her move away from him as he looked back down at the top of Appa’s head. “Good night,” He responded quietly, as he ran one of his hands through the fur of Appa’s head.
[][][]
Zuko opened his eyes, and blearily rolled his head around on his pillow as he looked around the brown-scaled room.
He was in the room he shared with his brother on their ship.
Taiyo was curled up next to him, and his eyes darted around the room to where his brother and Fudo normally slept, but neither of them were there. Zuko pushed himself up in bed, the tight sleep top he wore showing off the ‘unmanliness’ of his chest. He tapped Taiyo on her snout, and she stirred awake with a small ‘brr’.
Zuko rose to his feet, slipping on his boots, and changing into his chest binder before putting on that same tight shirt. He walked the hallways of the ship as it creaked and swayed on the water.
The steel steps creaked under his feet as he made his way up to the main deck.
Once he pushed open the doors he could see Kyro and Fudo standing on the far end in the pouring rain.
Zuko didn’t step out into the rain, staying under the cover of the command tower as he called out to his brother, “Kyro! Come inside. You’ll get sick.”
Kyro didn’t make any indication that he heard him, and Zuko grumbled before he walked across the desk, and reached out to grab his idiot twin by his shoulder as he said, “Kyro—”
Though Zuko barely had time to dodge an attack as Kyro shot a blast of white-hot fire at him.
Zuko’s head snapped up to attention and he could see Kyro’s mouth moving as if he was speaking—but at least at this moment Zuko couldn’t hear what he was saying.
Zuko had to block another attack, and he could feel the fire singe at the hair on his arms as he yelled back at his brother, “What is wrong with you?”
Kyro yelled something inaudible back at his brother, before launching another barrage of attacks as angry tears spilled out of his eyes.
Zuko blocked some of the attacks while launching attacks of his own.
In a moment of calm, Zuko darted forwards and impulsively shot off a fire blast that burned into his brother’s cheek.
That’s when he heard the first noise from his brother—a gut-wrenching scream that escaped from his brother’s throat.
Zuko stumbled back like he had been physically struck, as he stared at the brother he had just burned.
Kyro had sunk down to the deck, his hand covering over the blistering skin while the tears stopped trailing down his face as he seemed to panic.
Zuko could hear the creaking of doors, and he glanced back to see Uncle Iroh as well as a lot of the crew standing at the entrance to the deck. With his Uncle making some gestures to the crew he couldn’t make out in the rain—nor did he want to make out the signals to the crew to capture him.
Without a second thought, Zuko started running over towards the edge of the deck, with Taiyo darting out from the command tower to follow his lead while Iroh ran over to his brother.
Taiyo lagged behind, and one of the crew got close enough and not paying attention to where he was stepping—stepping down on the dragon’s wing which caused her to screech and slump down on the deck.
Zuko skidded to a stop as he heard that pained screech, and looked back to his dragon.
His eyes narrowed in on the disfigured wings of his dragon, and an almost primordial rage filled him. Within a second his eyes lit up blue, and the scar turned ethereal silver as his hair flew in the air.
Wind whipped around him as he hovered in the air slightly.
He could see his brother leaning against his Uncle. Kyro looked at Taiyo and despite injuries ran over to the dragon, shoving away the crew member that had stepped on her wing, wrapping his arms around the injured dragonet comfortingly.
The wind Zuko produced vanished as he dropped back down onto the deck, his eyes still glowing strong. He stood above Kyro who looked up at his twin in both awe and fear, the skin on his cheek still blistering.
Zuko reached down and grabbed Kyro’s arm, fire jumping off his hand and burning his skin once more.
Kyro didn’t scream as tears ran down his face, and after a moment, he sat back before harshly kicking Zuko in the stomach, causing him to stumble over the guardrailing of the ship, and go crashing down onto the grassy ledge the ship was tethered to below.
Tht snapped him out of the Avatar state, and he groaned as he rubbed back and looked back at the ship.
Kyro wasn’t screaming or anything, but he was slumped against Iroh as his skin blistered and burned.
Zuko could see Iroh’s mouth move as he assumed their Uncle gave instructions to get things to treat Kyro’s burns.
After a moment his eyes flicked up to Iroh’s and a chill went down his spine as he saw that Iroh was staring directly into his eyes.
‘Run,’ Iroh mouthed at him.
Fear and unease at what he had just done filled his mouth with a bad taste and he almost wanted to argue. But the unease of his Uncle’s look made him more uneasy—and his feet ended up following what his Uncle had told him to do, as he heard the muffled yells of his former crew yelling about finding him—finding the Avatar—
“Zuko! Zuko! Wake up!”
Zuko heard his name being repeated, and he thought he was dreaming, until he remembered what had happened; and once he did he shot up in bed.
He was in a makeshift bed—well in the Water Tribe this probably was their bed, made of soft furs of animals he probably couldn’t name. He was still in his binder and his tight undershirt, since he knew that the undershirt was pretty much impossible to take off by someone else, even more so when the person was unconscious and couldn’t help. Zuko’s eyes flicked around the tent and landed on Katara as he subconsciously covered his chest by crossing his arms.
Katara was kneeling down next to him as she held up her hands as she continued, “We’re in the village now. Come on, get ready. Everyone’s waiting to meet you.”
Zuko nodded, and he looked to see his once-wet red tunic hanging up in the tent alongside his vest. He reached up and slipped on both of them, before stuffing his feet in the felt boots. He barely was able to grab his airbending staff before Katara dragged him out of the tent.
The cold sun rays came down on his face and he looked around the area only to lock eyes with Zuko for a brief moment, in which Sokka gestured to him that he was watching him.
Katara kept one of his hands on his back, as Zuko blinked his eyes a couple of times so his good eye could adjust to the sunlight again. While he was doing that he could see the entire Water Tribe village staring at him—judging him. “Zuko, this is the entire village,” Katara introduced as the two of them stopped; the entire village was made up of the elderly, young children, and middle-aged women. “Entire village, Zuko.”
Zuko tucked his staff in the crook of his elbow, as he bowed in the traditional way of the Fire Nation. He raised his head after a second, and looking up he saw that most of the children were curling against their mothers. Or the mothers were pulling their children to them. He stood all the way up, as he let out a breath. Zuko wasn’t surprised by this ‘welcome’, but the words quietly tumbled out of his mouth as he asked Katara, “Did I do something wrong?”
She shook her head. “Well, no one has seen an Airbender in a hundred years. Especially one that’s… that’s dressed like the Fire Nation.”
“Ah,” Zuko said as he looked down as an elderly woman shuffled towards them. His eyes met the older woman’s for some reason and he explained, “I’m… descended from both the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads. And while traveling—especially anywhere the Fire Nation has its claws in.”
The elderly woman seemed to accept that response as she stared into his golden eyes. “Well, we thought all Airbenders were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you.”
Zuko nodded, as Katara gestured to the woman, “Zuko, this is my grandmother.”
“Call me Gran-Gran.”
Sokka walked over to join the rest of his family as he snatched the airbending staff out of Zuko’s arm. “What is this, a weapon?” Sokka questioned as he spun it around as he inspected it. Then he made a stabbing gesture with it. “You can’t stab anything with this.”
Zuko let out a breath as he pulled the staff back into his hand with a small bit of airbending. “Because you aren’t meant to stab things with it.” He gently tapped it on the ground and red fans popped out of the staff. “It’s meant to be used with airbending.”
One of the children of the village pointed at it blurting out, “Magic trick! Do it again!”
He chuckled a little bit as he glanced over to the village children. “It’s not magic, it’s airbending.” He showed the entire staff to all the children. “It allows me to control the air currents around the gilder and fly with it.”
“You know last time I checked, humans can’t fly,” Sokka grumbled as he crossed his arms.
Zuko glanced back at Sokka with a slightly cocky smirk on his lips. “Check again,” Zuko responded, as he used his airbending to make himself fly in the air and he could hear awed comments coming from the children. Once he came close to the wall of the village, he flipped off the staff and landed on top of the wall, flicking his staff closed. He looked back out to the village, and Sokka was standing there with his jaw dropped, and Zuko could see a bit of flush to his cheeks.
While Sokka just stood there, the children and Katara ran down to where he was sitting down on the wall. Katara’s face seemed to be shining as she said, “That was amazing!”
After a moment Sokka walked over with a look of awe on his face for a brief moment before a clump of snow fell onto his head, which caused him to stumble back into a snowdrift that was below him. Sokka crossed his arms as he admitted defeat as he slumped back into the snowdrift as Sokka said, “Great. You’re an Airbender, Katara’s a Waterbender. Together you two can just waste time all day long.”
Zuko hopped off the top of the wall, and he offered a hand to Sokka to help him up.
Sokka seemed to hesitate for a moment before he took the hand, his face flushing a little bit before he turned around and stomped off back to his tent.
“So, you are a Waterbender,” Zuko said, as he glanced at Katara.
Katara smiled as she interlaced her hands. “Well, sort of. Not yet—not really.”
Gran-Gran walked up behind her, the elderly woman telling her granddaughter, “Alright. No more playing. Come on Katara, you have chores to do.”
Katara’s face fell as she willingly let Gran-Gran take her away.
Zuko let out a breath as he watched her walk away, the two of them having a quiet conversation. He remembered similar expectations back when he was living in the Fire Nation. Though once he was exiled those expectations fell away quickly, Kyro and Uncle Iroh were quick to squash any misogyny on the ship, and made sure that they were to treat him the same as his twin.
Zuko shook his head to get those thoughts out of the head, as he started playing with the children of the village. He used his airbending to boost the children up to the top of the wall, and they would slide down the snow drift. And the children just kept doing this and they were giggling and screaming in joy.
A small smile spread on his face as he watched this. He was causing joy for once—people weren’t scared of him for once.
[][][]
Kyro stood on the deck of the ship, with two of the crew standing across from him, and his Uncle was a couple of feet away from him on his right. Fudo was standing next to his Uncle, while Taiyo was elsewhere on the ship.
“Again,” Iroh ordered.
Two blasts of white-tinged fire left Kyro’s hands, and the two soldiers dodged those attacks. One of them shot a blast of fire that caused Kyro to panic for a brief moment, before he ducked his head and let the blast of fire go over his head.
The other one shot a blast of fire at his feet and the Prince jumped into the air to dodge that attack as he sent out a blast of fire at one of the soldiers with his right hand, then sent out another blast of fire at the other soldier that came out of his left foot. Kyro then landed back on the deck with his fists pointed out in front of him while the two soldiers slid back into a battle stance.
“No!” Iroh shouted, and Kyro flinched as he looked at his Uncle. Iroh got off the stool he was sitting on and walked over to his nephew and said, “Power and firebending come from the breath, not the muscle. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire!”
Iroh slid through one of the basic firebending moves and ended up shooting a blast of fire at his nephew.
Kyro just stood there frozen as the blast of fire dissipated directly in front of him, the fire flashing in his gold eyes.
“Get it right this time,” Iroh said in a tone that was both stern and paternal.
Kyro dry-swallowed as he nodded, turning away from his Uncle, and he started going through his drills with the soldiers once more.
[][][]
Zuko’s legs dangled over the edge of the wall, as he watched Sokka pace in front of the male children of the village like a drill sergeant as he spoke to them, “Now men, it’s important that you show no fear when you face a Firebender.”
Sokka reached back and pulled his club out from the back of his belt as he continued, “In the Water Tribe, we fight till the last man standing. For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?”
All of the children looked between him and each other, confused until one of the boys in the back raised his hand and whined, “I gotta pee!”
Sokka just stood there and stared at the kid. “Listen! Until your fathers return from the War, they’re counting on you to be the men of this tribe. And that means, no potty breaks!”
“But I really gotta go!”
One of his gloved hands went to pinch his bridge as Sokka asked, “Okay, who else has to go?”
He opened his eyes to see all the boys raising their hands, and he just groaned as he waved them away.
“Have you seen Zuko?” Katara asked her brother, as she walked up to him. “Gran-Gran said he disappeared over an hour ago.”
Zuko watched them from where he was leaning against the little snow watchtower as he spoke, “I’m right here.”
Both of them jumped, before Sokka narrowed his eyes and pointed his club at Zuko while ordering his sister, “Katara, get him out of here! This lesson is for warriors only.”
“I am a warrior,” Zuko stated, his golden and blind eye meeting a set of brown ones. “Just because most people might have the stereotype of Airbenders being pacifists doesn’t mean all of us are.”
Sokka scoffed as he watched Zuko hop down from the top of the wall. “Oh yeah? Then why don’t you spar with me, hand-to-hand. No weapons,” Sokka offered, as he tossed his club into the snowdrift next to him. Zuko just looked at him, before he followed suit and threw his airbending staff into the same snowdrift the club was sitting in.
Both of them stood across from each other, and it was obvious that Sokka hadn’t had any proper military or hand-to-hand fighting training, since Zuko had caught his attacks and taken him down quickly. Zuko had forced Sokka onto his knees, and he knelt over Sokka as he heavily breathed in Sokka’s ear as he asked, “That warrior enough for you, Sokka?”
A blush spread on Sokka’s face as he looked away from everyone muttering, “Yeah. Now get off me.”
Zuko obliged as he let go, and Sokka sprung up to his feet almost immediately. Which minorly impressed Zuko since he had taken hardened soldiers down like that and it took them a moment to get their bearings.
Or those soldiers could just have bad knees.
That was also possible.
As Sokka got to his feet, all three of the teenagers could hear the shrill cheers of children, and they looked behind them to see all the children of the village using Appa’s tail like a slide. Katara let out a little giggle as she covered her mouth, while Zuko used his airbending to bring his staff back over to him.
Sokka on the other hand narrowed his eyes as he ran over the children, mainly scolding the children as he yelled at them, “Stop it! Stop it right now!” He then turned around to glare at Zuko before he yelled at the sixteen year old as well, “What is wrong with you! We don’t have time for fun and games with a war going on!”
Sokka yanked out the spear that was propping up Appa’s tail up like a slide as Zuko scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest defensively, “Me? You’re blaming me? I had nothing to do with that. Those kids set that up themselves. You have no right to blame me.” He let out an irritated breath as he walked away kicking some snow up with boots. Zuko didn’t know where he was going, he just started walking away from the village.
The two siblings looked at each other for a second, before Sokka muttered, “Good riddance.”
“Sokka!” Katara exclaimed as she pushed her brother. She pointed in Zuko’s direction. “Go after him!”
Sokka let out a groan as he muttered, “Fine! Fine! I’ll go apologize.” He walked over to grab his club, tucked it into his belt. Then he followed Zuko’s footprints.
[][][]
Zuko let out a sigh, as he watched the rookery of otter penguins waddle around the area, completely oblivious to him. Or they didn’t care about him as long as he didn’t hurt them—which would be a first. People always saw him as a threat in one way or another.
“Zuko!” Sokka called out, as he walked into the general area.
The false Airbender raised an eyebrow as he heard the other teenager. He wasn’t expecting anyone to come after him, the only person who cared enough about him to do that was Kyro. Zuko let out a breath, as he shook his head only for snow to come off his hair. “I’m over here,” He called out, and Zuko could hear Sokka’s leather boot stomping as he came up the snow drift.
He looked up as Sokka came up, and sat down next to them.
It was awkwardly silent for a moment before Sokka let out a breath. “I’m sorry.”
That was not what Zuko was expecting in the slightest. “You’re sorry?”
Sokka fiddled with his gloves as he nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you for blaming you for the kids having fun.”
“Kids deserve to have fun,” Zuko said. “They deserve to have a childhood that isn’t always filled with the fear of war.”
Sokka tapped his fingers on his knees. “Yeah, they should be having one.” He rubbed his face. “I should probably be encouraging it.”
“Bad childhood?”
“Yeah.”
Zuko leaned back in the snowdrift. “Does anyone have a good childhood during war?”
“No.”
They fell silent again before Sokka asked, “Do you want to see why everyone distrusts the Fire Nation?”
Zuko tapped his fingers against his knees. “The raids?”
Sokka got up and tugged Zuko up with him. “Come on.”
The two of them walked for a while, through an ice tunnel before they came upon an old and rusting Fire Navy battleship trapped up in the ice.
“During one of the first raids our Waterbenders caught this ship,” Sokka said as they stood in the shadow of the ship. “That was probably the only time they were winning against the Firebenders. The attacks after that… our men died, our Waterbenders captured…” He let out a breath as he looked up. “It’s always been a reminder of the war. Most people don’t come here, but I come every so often to remind me why… why I need to be strong. So I can protect the people I care about from the Fire Nation.”
“You lost someone to the Fire Nation?” Zuko questioned as he glanced at him.
Sokka looked at the ground as he nodded. “Yeah, my Mom.”
He let out another breath. “I also lost my Mom to the Fire Nation’s cruelty.”
“But you were raised in the Fire Nation.”
“People are in the Fire Nation, and people are cruel,” Zuko said after a moment. “Just like the cruel people that took your Mom they drove my Mom away.”
The two of them were quiet for another moment before Zuko took another step forward. “Have you ever been inside?” Zuko questioned as he slid down the snowdrift.
Sokka’s eyes widened. “We’re not allowed to go near it. The ship could be booby-trapped.”
Zuko had already climbed up the ice stack that led to the hole in the hull of the ship as he looked back at Sokka. “Come on, I know these ships I can take you through it. It’s just a ship, Sokka, the only thing from it can harm you is memories.” His scarred eyes met Sokka’s unscarred eyes. “Come on soldier.”
Sokka hesitated, before he ran over and allowed himself to take Zuko’s hand.
Like Zuko told him, the Fire Nation boy took the other teenager through the old battleship. This ship—the FNS Crucible—had a similar layout to the FNS Fireborn. As they went through the ship Sokka explained, “This ship has haunted our village and tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl. It was a part of the Fire Nation’s first attacks.”
“The FNS Crucible,” Zuko replied as he glanced back at Sokka. “The only Fire Navy ship that was lost in all the attacks on the Southern Water Tribe.” As he started to climb up to the command deck Zuko stopped and looked down at the other teenager. “Nice job.”
Sokka chuckled a little as he followed Zuko up the ladder. “Thanks, I guess.”
As the two of them walked into the engine room Zuko felt his foot catch on something in the snowdrift. He blasted away the snow, and he could see a tripwire. Him and Sokka’s eyes met as it must’ve partially activated the engines since dials and smoke started to come out of the engines.
The two of them darted to one of the unbroken windows and the two of them saw a golden flare fly up to the sky.
Zuko took a step back as he ran a hand over his face. “What did you say about booby traps?”
Both of them ran out onto the deck, and could see the golden flare start to fall from its peak. Zuko let out a breath as he pulled out his staff and flicked out the airbending fans. He held out one side to Sokka as he said, “Hold on.”
Sokka grabbed onto the handheld as he asked, “Okay, well what are you doing—”
Zuko started to run off the side of the ship, dragging Sokka with him. He boosted the two of them over the guard railing and Sokka screamed as Zuko used his airbending to make them fly through the air back to the village.
[][][]
Kyro peered through the telescope as he watched his brother jump off the ship flying through the air with the help of his airbending staff with another teenaged boy gripping onto the staff like his life depended on it. He took a step back as he rubbed his face as a bittersweet feeling filled up his chest. His heavy leather war boots clicked on the top of the command tower. He leaned against the guardrailing as he looked out. “My brother.”
He hesitated for a moment before he turned towards the soldiers that were behind him. “Wake my Uncle, tell him I found Prince Zuko.”
The Fire Prince walked back over to the telescope to see what direction his brother was flying in. He guided the telescope to that direction and was met with the sight of smoke coming up from the Southern Water Tribe village. He let out a breath at the sight of the ruined village. His hand fell from the telescope as he said only to himself, “And I’ve also found his hiding place.”