Zuko had ordered his crew to stay pretty far away from the Southern Tribe, definitely out of sight and hidden behind some ice. Everyone on board had been rather perturbed by the prince’s actions, it had seemed, and he didn’t really blame them. Usually he wasn’t one to be patient, to hide and wait- that was usually more of his Uncle’s forte. He also hadn’t given anymore commands since that, saying he was going to bed early and didn’t want to be disturbed under any circumstance. Zuko had then waited about an hour, laying in his bed silently for most of that time, and was now getting changed into his disguise.
It was slightly altered from his usual one, due to the extremely cold weather in the South Pole, but the main feature (the blue mask) was the same as always. He was slightly anxious over wearing heavier clothing than usual as he was going for stealth, but even in a black parka he could be light-footed as ever- it was an unusual skill of his. Zuko also put on gloves with grip and opted to leave his dual broadswords behind, since the villagers would be much less skilled with weaponry and it seemed dishonourable to challenge them, especially when he would be the one in the wrong in this particular scenario. He did, however, take his Earth Kingdom knife inscribed with never give up without a fight just in case. The prince was also planning on not using his firebending, revealing who he was would be less than good and he honestly just didn’t want to melt a Tribe full of mostly children and the elderly.
The young man then slipped down a deserted corridor of his ship, the opposite direction from where he could hear his uncle and the crew having their music night, and took a small boat out into the thankfully calm sea. He wasn’t too experienced with such small boats but, having spent three years at sea, Zuko was still able to navigate the icy waters with relative ease.
It was the dead of night when he docked, the village was completely darkened except for a few lone lanterns in the middle, and there was no one to be seen. The village itself was pathetic, just a dozen icy huts, each one indistinguishable from the others, and no guards to speak of. One hut, that might have been at the head of the village though it was hard to tell as all the buildings were so lopsided, seemed to be a little larger than the others and the pelts covering the door seemed to be from a rarer animal than the other pelts. Zuko decided it was his best shot at where they would keep sacred waterbending scrolls, and looked in cautiously. The only person in there was an elderly woman, who was fast asleep in bundle of fabrics, and her only furnishings were pelts and a single chair, no scrolls, not even a painting!
He checked the rest of the Tribe just to be safe, and found nothing except a lot of heavy sleepers. He had been about to leave when he thought he saw a figure in the distance, dressed differently from the blue parkas, hiding behind one of the further out huts, one Zuko had pegged as a guest ‘room’ though he thought it unlikely that these people had many guests in the South Pole. Still, he had to respect the savages’ courtesy. The prince might have slipped away then, but the figure noticed that he’d seen him and came forward, their hands up in a show of truce. Having no other options aside from run and let the person create a ruckus as they chased him, he let the figure approach.
“What are you doing here?” The figure was a child, a boy, and, to Zuko’s surprise, he was whispering as to not wake everyone else in the village and alert them to the firebender’s presence.
“I just needed some waterbending scrolls… I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.” He replied quietly, altering his voice slightly as he spoke. He had a bad feeling he’d be seeing this kid again.
“Waterbending, huh? My new friend, Katara, she needs a teacher too. But there’s this war so she can’t properly learn her bending yet and I guess… Neither can you.” Said the boy softly, talking about the war as if it was something brand new and tragic. He had also incorrectly assumed that Zuko was a waterbender, as that was the only logical reason Zuko would need a waterbending scroll. Though, if the prince really was the avatar (which was completely impossible, he was sure) then the boy would be right to think he was a waterbender.
“Ugh, yes… The war.” Zuko decided not to correct the kid, since he figured being a waterbender was the only excusable reason for breaking into a village and attempting to steal from them.
“But you were looking around for a while, so you probably didn’t find any. Even if there were any here they couldn’t replace a true master, that’s what Katara needs at least. Today we were playing about, I only just met her you see, and she did some waterbending- she’s really powerful but she needs some… Direction. Sokka said that was ‘ironic’ coming from an air nomad but…” The air nomad trailed off, and Zuko was glad to have the mask to cover up his shocked expression. Instead he just nodded as calmly as possible and quietly pondered why the kid would be giving a stranger so much information, maybe he needed to vent and talking to someone without a face was easier? Zuko wasn’t sure. But he wasn’t going to stop the kid now.
“I thought all the air nomads were gone.” Stated Zuko, trying to keep his voice steady and probably failing, but if the boy noticed anything he didn’t mention it. Instead he just nodded sadly and sat down on the icy floor, a gesture of wanting to talk more, Zuko assumed.
“Yeah… Apparently… But I’ve been trapped in ice for a hundred years, I’m trying to stay strong and be happy but… I’ll never see my friends, the monks, Giatso, Arianna… Any of them ever again…” The boy muttered, his voice cracking a little and making Zuko’s much too kind heart feel sympathy for the child. The firebender also recalled who Arianna was, the avatar that Sozen had killed at the beginning of the war, Zuko had always assumed she’d been 20 at least, but now he was starting to think she’d been younger, maybe just a child. A little feeling tugged in the back of his mind but, afraid of what it might reveal, he swatted it away.
“You knew the avatar?” He asked quietly, sitting down across from the boy so they were on more equal ground, though Zuko was still a good bit taller.
“I didn’t just know her, she was one of my best friends. The other kids didn’t think it was fair for us to take part in their games when they found out she was the avatar and I was, according to the monks, ‘the avatar’s spiritual guide, our fates bound, our lives intertwined’. But now Arianna is gone and the new avatar has disappeared, the Fire Nation are taking over and I just don’t know what to do.” He relayed sadly, head bowed but Zuko could still see the tears welling up in his eyes.
“Why don’t you find the avatar?” Suggested Zuko, mostly on impulse as it had been his answer to everything for the last few years. Need your honour back? Find the avatar. Want your crown back? Find the avatar. Your best friend died and you were frozen for a century? Find the avatar.
“I… I could do that! Maybe that’s what the monks meant, maybe my destiny wasn’t with Arianna but the new avatar, whoever they are. And whilst I search the world I can take Katara to the North Pole to learn waterbending! Erm, do you want to come too? There’s room on Appa.” The boy immediately perked up, shooting to his feet in a simple display of airbending that almost made Zuko fall over.
“I can’t… Good luck.” Zuko offered, getting to his feet as well and slipping back into the night and towards his boat (the boy waved excitedly as he left, before seemingly rushing off somewhere, probably to prepare for his new mission), it was still pitch black outside and it offered a good cover. The sea was still calm and the absence of challenge in the water gave Zuko a good little while to ruminate peacefully.
A plan was starting to form in the young man’s mind, a stupid, reckless plan but a plan all the same, which was impressive for someone usually incapable of thinking ahead. The boy and his friend would be traveling to the North Pole, where they would most certainly find waterbending masters and scrolls. Zuko needed those things to determine if he was really the avatar, which he was sure he was not, so it would be in his best interest to go too. And, when he knew for sure that he was just a firebender with a much too vivid imagination, he would be with the kid that was his best lead towards the avatar that he’d had in 3 years of ruthless searching. A win-win situation either way, plus, if he was the avatar, then his uncle would be forced to either capture him or become a traitor. And Zuko just couldn’t do that to the old man.
He’d have to do this alone.
YOU ARE READING
Avatar Zuko
FanfictionAU where Aang was never the avatar, and the airbending avatar had died in the Fire Nation attack. The next two avatars also both died without consequence, no one even realising who they were until, 16 years ago, the Fire Prince was born as the avata...
