Disclaimer: I do not own ANY part of ATLA in any way, shape, or form. I own NOTHING!

WARNING: This story is rated for violence, sexual content, and dark themes. Read at your own discretion.

From Under the Ashes

Chapter 1:

ZUKO

Ashes fall around me like snow. The sky above is a tattered veil of gray, orange, and black with only a few clusters of blue where the sun is brave enough to peek through and look down at the ruin below.

I don't blame the sun for hiding behind all the smoke and ash-filled clouds. I don't want to see all the pain and destruction either, which is probably why I am lying on my back staring up at the sky now. It is my vain attempt to lose perspective and to make everything seem a little less hopeless.

The world still burns. Days have passed since the Sozin's Comet left the sky, but the Earth Kingdom still burns, and what doesn't burn still simmers and smokes. The air reeks of burnt flesh and is littered with ash. It blankets the ground like a layer of fresh snow and continues to fall from the sky, dancing eerily with glowing embers as it levitates down to the singed ground.

The mere thought of Sozin's Comet sends spirals of pain through me, making me sift on the ground and scratch at the bandages on my chest with my good arm. Much like the environment around me, I am still suffering, still full of pain…and defeat. I have never felt such an overwhelming sense of devastation and loss, and I've certainly experienced loss before. I am the banished prince. I know loss. I have lost my home, my honor, my throne, and my mother, but I never lost hope…until my father killed Aang.

I can hear the faint murmur of voices nearby, voices of what remains of Team Avatar and the White Lotus. Their pitiful camp sits atop a vast wasteland of charred earth. Somehow, they managed to find a sliver of ground that is a little less burned.

We are under the protection of the White Lotus now. I abandoned my throne when I received word that Aang was dead. Katara and I defeated Azula, and Aang had supposedly defeated my father so that I could take his place on the throne and help Aang restore peace and balance to the world, but that became impossible.

Aang didn't defeat the Fire Lord. Aang lost and my father is still alive, the Phoenix King still reigns, causing all of our plans to unravel, making everything we hoped for moot. Void.

Full of lightning and pain, I was forced to make a tough call, one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I knew I couldn't rule as Fire Lord with Ozai still in the picture, so I chose to abandon the throne I'd gained, the throne I was destined for. However, leaving was easier said than done.

Once I received word that Aang was dead, I told Katara, and she had a come apart that rivaled Azula's. She screamed that she didn't believe me and that I was wrong, that it was a lie, and that she was going to wait there until Aang came back.

Aang wasn't coming back though. The Phoenix King was coming back, and I didn't want to know what he'd do when he found Fire Lord Zuko instead of Fire Lord Azula on the throne. Plus, I was in no condition to fight although that was exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to ambush him. Surely Katara and I could take the Phoenix King. I liked to think that we could have, but I doubt it. Father would have returned with the hundreds of firebenders he had departed with. We might have been able to defeat Ozai but not Ozai and a hoard of firebenders still channeling the comet's energy…and Aang would have wanted me to take care of Katara, and the best thing for Katara was to get her out of the capital, out of the Fire Nation. So that was what we did. We left on Appa in search of Sokka, Toph, Suki, Uncle; anyone we might recognize.

Eventually, after searching for what felt like months, we found them, but we lost Appa in the process. When things seemed as though they couldn't possibly get any worse, one day Appa lied down beneath a partially burned tree in a pile of ash and didn't get back up.

Katara slaved away for hours trying to heal him. I could only watch, knowing that his ailment wasn't physical. Aang was Appa's lifeblood, and he couldn't live with their connection severed by death. He slipped away as if falling asleep while Katara held him and sobbed silently into his fur.

After losing Appa, traveling became much harder, but we managed somehow and rejoined Uncle and the others in something that had once been an Earth Kingdom village not far from Ba Sing Se. It is nothing but ash now, much like most of the Earth Kingdom.

I am amongst the same group of people who had greeted us at Ba Sing Se when Aang was just missing, but this seems like a completely different group of individuals now. They all speak in whispers when they dare to speak, but everyone is just at a loss, myself included, which is why I am lying on the ash-covered ground staring up at the sky, hoping to lose perspective.

Eventually, I regain the strength and the courage to return to the heart of the camp…or what's left of it. Many of the members have been trickling away to aid what is left of the scorched kingdom and return to their homes and families now that they've lost their cause, now that the war is technically over.

I can't blame them for that.

Uncle has brewed some tea, so I sit in a circle with Suki and Toph and attempt to drink it. The hot beverage touches my lips and even wriggles down my dry throat, but I still wouldn't be able to tell anyone what flavor tea it was if they asked me. I am numb. I've lost almost all feeling.

Sokka hops around on one leg, circling the camp like a lionvulture as he tries to come up with some kind of plan, but he has yet to voice a plan to anyone even if he has come up with one.

Personally, I think it's too soon to think about anything like that. Simply existing is hard enough. And in truth, I kind of want to give up and call it quits. We lost. We had our chance and we blew it. A part of me wants to just vanish and become a refugee again, live the simple life Uncle and I almost had with our little teashop in Ba Sing Se. Oddly enough, that doesn't seem so unappealing anymore.

'Maybe you could find a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt you!'

"Was Aang killed in the Avatar State?" Sokka asks, breaking the silence and causing me to jolt a bit. Sound is so strange in this camp that it's started startling me.

I shrug. "The letter to Azula just said he was dead, but the Phoenix King is telling everyone else that he was killed in the Avatar State."

"What do you think?" Sokka's blue eyes meet mine, shining with sincerity, desperation, and something else I can't quite place.

"I think he's lying," I reply instantly, scratching at my bandages. My burn is starting to itch. Katara was dedicated to my health initially, but she has been neglecting my care more and more since we found Sokka and the others again. I've resolved to heal the old fashioned way to prevent burdening her with more weight.

"Then…we should go to the Water Tribes," Sokka declares.

"To find the new Avatar?" The thought of that literally makes me ache and not just because I was almost fatally injured not too long ago. This is really happening. We are being forced to start all over again with a new Avatar who won't be of age to confront my father for at least another thirteen years. I will be twenty-nine by then, probably older.

"Unless you want the Fire Lord…or the Phoenix King – whoever! – to find him or her first."

"I didn't say that." I groan, bowing over and pinching the bridge of my nose.

Too much. It's too much.

"I think he just means that it is kind of hard to think about the new Avatar right now, Sokka," Suki chimes in gently, and I am grateful for her voicing what I can't.

"It is for all of us, but whether we like it or not, there is a new Avatar out there somewhere, and I think it's still our job to make sure that he or she is safe."

It feels pointless. I know Sokka is looking for something to live for, some new purpose in life now that everything has fallen apart, but the cycle has started anew, and frankly, I don't want to spend the next thirteen years or so taking care of the next Avatar and grooming it to defeat my father only to have it end up dead like Aang. It isn't like it could become a full-fledged Avatar anyway. Who would teach it airbending? The airbenders? Fat chance of that happening since there are no more airbenders. Maybe we should just accept that this is the world now and try to find some pitiful niche in it where we can live out the rest of our lives in peace.

'That's who you are, Zuko. Someone who keeps fighting, even though it's hard.'

"I guess…" Toph scratches the back of her neck.

It is odd seeing Toph unsure. Lately, she has mainly stuck to being quiet and indifferent, an earthbender who has lost their footing. She springs to life occasionally, spouting off snarky remarks every now and then. She even calls me Sparky from time to time, but she mainly calls me Zuko.

I never thought I'd miss being called Sparky so much.

"Run it by the White Lotus," is all I can muster because honestly, I can't think about it. Not now. It would be easier if someone else could just make it an order for me to follow.

Some almost Fire Lord I'm turning out to be…

With that, Sokka hobbles off to find one of said members of the White Lotus.

I place my tea on the dead ground and sit in silence with Suki and Toph for a while. Just how long I sat there, I haven't the faintest. Time seems to slow to a halt yet again.

"Where's Katara?" I ask although I already know the answer. She has been in her tent for days crying her eyes out. She doesn't eat, and I doubt she sleeps.

Still inside her tent," Toph replies lowly.

Sucking in a deep breath, I get to my feet (wincing only a little from the pain shooting through me as a result of the movement) and march towards Katara's tent.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" Touch warns, but I've had enough. I know she is sad and that she is mourning, but enough is enough. She can continue to mourn but not to this extent. She isn't going to starve herself to death, and she isn't going to torment Sokka and the others this way. Not anymore. Things are bad enough without her acting like this. She has to live. Life goes on even if she doesn't want it to. It is time for someone to put their foot down and remind her of that.

With princely authority, I pull back the flaps of the tent and ease inside.

"Katara."

"Go away."

Impressive. I've barely gotten her name out of my mouth, and she is already snapping at me.

The inside of the tent is pitch black, no lanterns or candles and no light leaking in from outside. I almost trip over several unknown objects before my eyes adjust to the blackness and see the mound of blankets I assume the waterbender is hiding inside.

I kneel beside the heap of covers and bedding. "You need to get up, and you need to eat. It's been days."

I am really trying to be kind and patient with her, but that isn't why I have taken it upon myself to try to coax her out of this tent. Sokka, Pakku, Suki, and even Toph have continually tried to get her to come out to no avail. Clearly, kind, tentative words are getting us nowhere. Katara is stubborn, and she needs more force, she needs someone to tell her to buck up. She needs someone who isn't afraid to hurt her feelings.

"What's the point? Why bother?" Her voice trembles, suggesting that even talking without bursting into tears is still a struggle. "It's easy for you to tell me to get up and eat; you didn't even like Aang."

I recoil at that. "That's not true. I'll admit that losing him wasn't the same for me as it was for all of you, but I did care."

Silence.

I inch closer to her and place a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Katara, Everyone's worried about you, and you'll probably feel better if you get out of this tent and talk to them."

"Leave me alone, Zuko. I mean it." She curls into a tighter ball and jerks away from me.

"No, I mean it," I counter. "Get up."

She scoffs, but it is choked by a sniffle.

My resolve almost wavers but being gentle won't do her any good, being gentle won't get her out of this tent. She needs to get up and eat and help support our little group as it falls apart at the seams.

I yank the covers off her, wrap my good arm around her waist, and haul her to her wobbly feet.

"Let go of me!" she howls and fights my hold on her waist, wriggling and punching my arm. It almost works too. It hurts like hell because I am still so sore, but I persevere. I've resolved to get her out of this tent, and damn it, I'm going to do it!

"Good to see you've still got some fight in you." I muse before releasing her and nudging her towards the entrance of the tent.

Katara stumbles a bit but eventually regains her balance. She stands at the entrance for a long moment, seriously contemplating returning to her bedroll, but after giving me a quick glare, decides it is no longer an option.

"Go on." I cross my arms, standing my ground. If she wants to go back into that bedroll, she's going to have to go through me.

She doesn't say it, but I can tell she is thinking that she hates me even though her eyes are red-rimmed and tear-filled.

That's fine. She can hate me if it makes her feel better, if that's what she really wants. She can hate me if she can use that as some kind of fuel to live off of.

Begrudgingly, Katara wipes her eyes, lifts the tent flaps, and enters the campsite. She squints as her puffy eyes adjust to the glaring, red brightness that still leaks from the sky.

Suki jolts to attention, and Toph's sightless eyes widen when she senses her.

"Uncle made tea and some stew not too long ago. It should still be warm." I nudge her forward again, earning a slap on the wrist, but she gets the implication and eases toward the pot Suki and Toph encircle.

Sokka doesn't say a word as the lurches across the camp towards us but embraces Katara the moment he reaches her. Suki and Toph follow suit, and it isn't long before Katara is setting by the campfire and attempting to eat the stew and drink a little tea with us.

"How'd you do it?" Suki asks, leaning towards me and keeping her voice low.

My brow furrows. "Do what?"

"Get her to come out," Suki practically gawks, her eyes shifting between Katara and me. "We've been trying for days."

"Honestly, I basically threw her out. I didn't give her much of a choice."

Suki smirks. "So a little tough love then?"

"If that's what you want to call it." I shrug.

"I was expecting her to throw everything in that tent at you until you came stumbling out and begging for mercy," Toph muses, a smile hinting at her lips. It is amazing how Katara's presence alone has already lifted their spirits.

"How's your chest, Zuko?" Katara inquires, and that surprises me. I didn't think she cared anymore. My injury seems pretty trivial at this point.

"Fine. I'm just a bit sore." I try to stretch a little to show improvement but end up showing how stiff and hurt I still am.

"I'll look you over if you want," she offers, but her eyes favor the stew in her lap.

I shift uncomfortably on the ground. "…You don't have to."

"I don't mind."

"All right." I surrender. "If you insist."

After easing me out of my old bandages, Katara begins attempting to mend the crater in my chest, the crater I got protecting her, the crater that somehow changed the dynamic of our relationship.

There is some unspoken affinity between us now that I have saved her life, now that Aang is gone, and we have spent days traveling the Earth Kingdom together in search of the others. It is strange but not that surprising considering I caved and crossed a few boundaries while we were traveling by holding her as she grieved. At first, I ignored her tears, keeping my distance, but just like in the green catacombs of Ba Sing Se, I yielded and tried to comfort her.

Katara goes through the motions of treating my latest injury. Her drained eyes are distant, and she continues touching my chest aimlessly after the water stopped glowing, her fingertips drawing invisible pictures along my torso.

"Katara?"

That seems to jar her out of her trance, and she suddenly becomes more aware, jerking her hands away from me as if I've burned her.

She doesn't even realize what she's doing…

I start to ask if she's okay, but I know she isn't so I don't bother. That question is more of an insult than anything at this point.

Sitting up, I ease back into new bandages and my shirt (with Katara's help) and prepare to leave, knowing I have probably outstayed my welcome and that she will want to crawl back into the bedroll I yanked her out of earlier. However, before I can even attempt to get back to my feet, she collapses against me and begins to cry.

Genuinely caught off guard, I gape down at her for a moment before I am left with nothing to do but hold her. I don't know what else I am supposed to do or what she even wants me to do. What could Katara possibly want from me that she couldn't get from someone else who means much more to her than I ever will?

Sure, I caved when we searched for Sokka and the others and held her during the night as she cried herself to sleep but that was because no one else was there to comfort her. She has Sokka, Suki, and Toph to comfort her now. I always thought that once she had other options, she wouldn't seek my comfort anymore, but apparently, I was mistaken.

I've never been able to understand you...

"It's so bad, Zuko… What are we gonna do?" Her tear-streaked face leaves my chest only to gaze up at me with huge, pleading eyes that pierce right into my soul.

Why is everyone asking me that? Why is everyone looking at me for answers to this horrible situation? I am Fire Lord in name only and probably not even that. I have no power. I am as powerless and as lost as everyone else.

"I don't know yet, but…we'll think of something. We'll just tackle this…one day at a time." It is a horrible excuse, but strangely enough, she seems pacified with it.

Unthinking, I reach out and wipe one of her many tears from her cheek.

She stares at me for a long-suffering moment, eyes swimming with emotions I can't quite discern before she returns to my chest, an action that I admit I wasn't expecting either, but I go with it and loosely wrap my arms around her, resting my cheek against her thick hair and staring out at nothing as I contemplate what we are supposed to do. I try my damnedest to come up with something I haven't already thought of ten times over, but all I can focus on was her, how much she smells like orchids, how soft her hair is, and the feel of her hands clutching the fabric of my shirt for dear life.

Everyday I find myself flocking to Uncle's tent in search of answers and wisdom, but there is none, not even here. There is nothing but rugs, pillows, blankets, a chest of some of Uncle's supplies, and a few farming tools.

"Your father will want us imprisoned or killed. We should start moving again soon," Uncle declares, stroking his beard gently as he contemplated this.

I nod, knowing it is true and that bounty hunters and the loyal will be coming for us soon to take our heads back to the Phoenix King. It is probably time for us to trickle away with the others who continued to leave our cap to aid other regions of the wounded Earth Kingdom. Our foundation has crumbled with the loss of the Avatar, and everything is unraveling. The common ground is gone, and now we are just trying to figure out where we fit in the world again and how to survive in it. The end of the war has left us with few choices. Still, I am reluctant to leave the others even though I know we are destined to do just that.

"To where?"

Iroh shrugs. "Anywhere. I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as we don't stay in the same place for too long. There are many places in the Earth Kingdom that could benefit from our aid."

"Should we go back to the Fire Nation? Rally some troops? Forge an army?" I sound unsure and desperate because I am. I feel that I am obligated to do...something proactive. I can't just sit here. My father has all but destroyed the world, and Agni knows what kind of nightmares he will unleash on the world now that he is the Phoenix King. He has to be stopped. I have to find my way back to the throne…somehow.

"It would take a long time to forge an army large enough to conquer Ozai's forces," Iroh replies, his brow furrowed and his eyes low.

I bury my face in my hands. Who would follow me anyway? People are tired of fighting. No one will be jumping at the opportunity to go to war again after the Phoenix King has laid waste to the land and all but destroyed the world. As Azula once put it, they had taken their precious hope and burned it to the ground. Even if people aren't happy with the Phoenix King, they are all too broken to even think of fighting. They have been fighting for one hundred years, and they are exhausted and broken, myself included.

Uncle places heavy hands on my shoulders. "A man needs his rest, and right now, a lot of men need their rest, Prince Zuko."

"Then…we'll rest." It is easy to comply. It is easy to take that advice because despite the obvious urgency of our situation, I want to rest. One day the chips will fall into place again. That day just isn't today. Now just isn't the time for drastic action and armies and talk of overthrowing kings. As discontented as we all are, it just isn't something anyone wants. I can sense that. I can feel it in my bones.

Before anything else can be said on the matter, Sokka bursts into the tent, Momo flying in behind him and perching himself on my shoulder.

"Hey, Zuko, you got a minute?" Sokka inquires.

I glance back at my uncle.

"Go ahead. I should stretch my legs. We can continue discussing this matter further later." Uncle rises to his feet, stretching as he makes his way past Sokka and out of the tent.

Sokka lurches across the tent and takes Uncle's place across from me. "Will you do me a favor?"

"If I can," I reply, scratching Momo behind the ears.

"I've talked to Katara, and she has...begrudgingly agreed to help us search for the next Avatar," Sokka begins, spinning his crutch around in his hands.

That surprises me. I wasn't quite sure what Katara would do, but I hadn't really been expecting that. I figured she would agree eventually after going to aid those in need in the Earth Kingdom for a while but not this soon. Then again, I know how exhausted she is. She probably surrendered to avoid a fight or an argument with Sokka. She just doesn't have the strength to fight the inertia of this anymore than I do. I'm not crazy about finding the next Avatar either, but this seems to be my fate, my destiny. I can't get away from that certainty anymore than Sokka and Katara can.

"She wants to go home to the South Pole to see our grandmother and to see if they have heard from our father. She also said she would ask around to see if there were any births the day of the comet. Suki and I are going to do the same in the Northern Water Tribe. We'll probably go to Kioshi at some point too. I know Suki will probably want to see her family and village, and I don't want her going alone. I don't know how bad things are there, but some of the members of the White Lotus are saying that bandits are becoming a serious problem."

"I've heard that too, and considering the state the world's in, I'm not surprised it's come to that."

"I also don't want Katara going south alone either. Toph is going to aid the Earth Kingdom with Bumi, and I asked Pakku if he would go with Katara, but he is more concerned about what's going to befall the North Pole. He and other members of the White Lotus suspect Ozai will have some nasty plans for them."

"They're probably right. They dodged Sozin's Comet, but my father won't forget that they are still a threat to his…dynasty." I snort.

"My point is, I want you to help us with the next Avatar, and...I also want someone to go with Katara to the South Pole. Will you go with her and make sure she gets there safely?"

My brow knits as I weigh my options.

Katara will undoubtedly have something to say about being babysat, especially being babysat by me. Then I think about Aang, just like I thought of him back at the palace.

Aang would want Katara safe, and since I played a part in getting Aang killed, I feel obligated. Plus, if I were honest with myself, I would admit that I want her safe too.

"Why aren't you going with her? I figured you two would stay together…" I counter.

"That was my plan originally, but…honestly, Suki and I are going to try to look for Dad and the others in the Earth Kingdom on our way north, and if something bad has happened to our dad or if we find something…I don't want Katara to be exposed to it—at least not yet. She says she wants to go home, help some of the villages in the southern parts of the Earth Kingdom, and see our Gran Gran. I think that's the best thing for her right now, but I don't want to go home until I find out something about our dad, make sure Suki's village is okay, and analyze the Avatar situation up north."

I nod my understanding.

"After we find all the Avatar prospects, we'll rendezvous somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, but we agreed splitting up is probably for the best right now, and oddly enough, you're one of the few people here I know who would do anything to keep her safe. You've got the scar to prove it." His eyes linger on the bandages that cover my torso. "So will you do it?"

"…Sure." It isn't like I have anything better to do. "But I don't know if she'll like it."

"Don't worry-" Sokka digs his wooden crutch into the ground and hoists himself up "- I don't think she'll put up too much of a fight."

A/N: Thanks so much for reading!

This is obviously an Aang-didn't-defeat-Ozai-the-world-has-gone-to-shit-and-now-we-have-to-find-a-new-Avatar story. I've always wanted to try my hand at this type of universe...so here we are! Point of view will vary from chapter to chapter and chapter length will vary as well and of course, this is ZUTARA. There will be sprinkles of Kataang and Maiko mentioned here and there because of canon divergence and whatnot but nothing overwhelming I assure you. I'm just trying to stick to canon as much as possible.

Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!