a/n: Because we all know Zuko's luck. Also, I've officially spent five years on fanfiction! This year, my oneshot anniversary celebration covers the first five fandoms I wrote for.

disclaimer: I don't own A:tLA.

summary: "I'll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there. Permanently." – Zuko, Western-Air-Temple!AU.

lucky to be born

Zuko couldn't quite shake the itch of Katara's glare all throughout the morning. The breakfast she'd grudgingly handed out in the morning was all burnt on one side and she'd 'accidentally' spilled tea on him while tripping over flat ground. Now she was holed up in some corner and eyeing Aang's training like a hawk.

Her threat still echoed in his head. The food and the tea he could deal with – Azula was his little sister, after all, and she'd had a phase where she dumped bugs in his food. Some of them poisonous.

Perhaps it hadn't been just a phase.

And Zuko always smelled of tea after spending three years with his uncle. The scent was soothing and Zuko didn't have to think of the brave, wise, kind man that he'd left locked up in a prison cell. He didn't even know where Uncle Iroh was now, or even if he was still alive.

But Katara's stare was making him twitchy. Azula used to do that – stare at him until he messed up and embarrassed his father. And while Ozai wasn't here, Aang was and Zuko was already losing his temper.

"I don't know why I keep making smoke," Aang sulked. Sokka laughed from his perch on a nearby bench, eating fire flakes and watching their practice like it was a rumble tournament. "Your flame still isn't much bigger."

"I'm not the Avatar," Zuko said through clenched teeth, "And I'll deal with my power issues. I'm trying to teach you."

All the people staring at him were making him uncomfortable and his weak firebending wasn't helping. Add in an annoying brat, and Zuko was ready to rip out his hair.

"Monk Gyatso said that you should practice what you preach," Aang said solemnly, "Or you will never learn."

Zuko resisted the urge to tell the boy where exactly his Monk Gyatso could stuff it, and also resisted the urge to throttle him.

"Well, Monk Gyatso isn't here," Zuko said, as patiently as he could.

"Yeah," Aang's eyes narrowed, "Because the firebenders killed him."

Zuko was shaping up to be the worst teacher ever. He couldn't produce a decent fire, he was getting rattled by a bunch of teenagers, and he'd inadvertently brought up Sozin's massacre of the Air Nomads to the last living airbender.

Way to go, Zuzu, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Azula echoed in his head.

"How about we try something else?" Zuko offered. Aang was a monk, right? So maybe the meditation sequences would be a better starting point. "Do you have a candle anywhere?"

"I'll get it," Sokka said cheerfully, wandering off and returning with a short, stubby candle. It wouldn't have been Zuko's first choice, but it would have to do.

"Here, sit in a cross-legged stance," Zuko instructed, pinching the wick to light it up and placing it in front of Aang, "Close your eyes. Listen to the fire. Breathe in and breathe out, slowly but deeply. Firebending always comes from the breath."

Aang did as he instructed…for a minute. Then he cracked open one eye, "How long do I have to do this for?"

Zuko, who was trying to figure out why his katas weren't working, growled, "As long as I say so." Aang fell silent again and Zuko tried not to be put off by the smirk on Sokka's face. Thankfully, Katara wasn't close enough to hear them.

"And how long is that, Sifu Hotman?" Aang piped up again.

Zuko lost the slim handle he had on his temper. "Until I tell you to stop!" he yelled, turning on Aang. His anger seized the first outlet it found, which was the steadily burning candle and it flared up a foot high before dying back down.

Aang stared at him with wide eyes as Zuko tried to wrestle his temper back under control. Aang had backed up a few feet and was clutching his right hand to his chest. Zuko sighed at the fear in the younger boy's eyes. "I'm sorry," he said slowly, aware that fire flakes were falling from Sokka's gaping mouth, "I shouldn't have yelled."

"Oh, you're sorry," Katara said snidely, deliberately elbowing him as she pushed past him and made for Aang, "This is why I didn't want you to teach him! You have no control!"

Zuko took another breath and tried very hard not to lose his temper again. He'd faced Azula and her taunts and this water peasant was nothing compared to his little sister.

"What happened, Aang?" Katara asked in a soothing tone, dropping next to the Avatar. Zuko rolled his eyes and turned to face the open cliff. Katara's mothering wasn't going to get them anywhere. Fire was power, it didn't respect you unless you tamed it. Aang had to learn that.

And Zuko had to figure out what was wrong with his firebending. He couldn't fight like this, he couldn't face his father like this, and he certainly couldn't teach the Avatar firebending like this.

There was a sudden chill in the air and Zuko spun around instinctively. The fire that should've come to his fingertips was, instead, a wisp of smoke and Zuko cursed as he looked for the threat. Sokka was glaring at him, Katara was still bent over Aang, the candle wick still glowed dimly –

"You burned him," Katara said, her voice low and furious. For a moment, Zuko was confused – there was no angry red scar over Aang's face, no permanent reminder of his weakness, no punishment for his failure. Then he saw Katara's water-wrapped hands moving over a small burn on Aang's hand and he understood.

He must've accidentally burned him when the candle had flared. Zuko felt a little guilty, but it was firebending practice and Katara had been right there. No lasting harm. Zuko resisted the urge to bring his hand to the left side of his face.

"It's firebending training," he said instead, "Burns happen." He was acutely aware that it was the wrong thing to say as the temperature dropped even lower.

"I can see that," Katara hissed as she got up, her gaze fixed on his face. Zuko took a step back at the venom in her voice and even Sokka looked shocked.

Aang unsteadily got to his feet behind her. "Katara, I'm fine," he tried to smile, "See?" He waved his hand in emphasis but Katara didn't turn.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to betray us," Katara glared at him and took a step forward, "I was prepared to wait and wait and wait." Zuko didn't like the tone of her face. "I shouldn't have worried though," Katara slipped into a waterbending stance and without realizing, Zuko slipped into a stance of his own, "We all know that you have no patience!"

With that, she attacked, sending a wave of water towards him. The fountain behind her emptied itself, lending her a massive pool of water for attacks. Zuko tried to summon fire, but it wasn't strong enough to counter her water wave and the attack hit him, sending him flying backwards.

Zuko gulped and marked the cliff's edge, a few feet from his position. He got up and quickly ducked behind a pillar as she sent another slicing wave. "I'm not trying to betray you," Zuko called out, poking his head out from behind the pillar and hastily withdrawing it before he got a face-full of ice spikes.

"All that crap about your weak firebending?" Katara said incredulously, "You're just trying to trick us! Your firebending was strong enough to burn Aang!"

It had been a candle wick. Zuko had a habit of flaring candles. Power had nothing to do with it. Before he could voice it out loud, Katara spoke up again. "Come out and face me, Zuko!" she yelled, "And let's see how strong your firebending really is!"

Katara had gone crazy. There was no other option. And it looked like no one was going to stop her. The last time Zuko and Katara had fought, they had been more or less evenly matched. Unfortunately, Zuko's firebending was now as strong as a six-year-old's and Katara was spitting mad.

Katara had apparently realized he was never going to leave the pillar, because two giant waves of water crested on either side of it, ready to crash down on Zuko.

Zuko cursed again, and rolled underneath the wave before popping back up and sprinting for the next column. When he was halfway there, he snuck a glance at Katara and promptly ducked – the ice spikes headed for his eyes clattered harmlessly behind him.

"Katara," Aang spoke up, "I think it was just an accident –"

"Stay out of this, Aang," Katara growled and Zuko could hear her footsteps crossing the marble courtyard. He needed to find a better hiding spot, somewhere where a misstep wasn't going to launch him off the edge of a cliff.

He made a break for it, coming out from the right side of the pillar. She was waiting for him with a water whip. He dodged it but slipped on the ice now coating the entire courtyard and fell hard on his shoulder.

Another bruise to add to his collection. The one from the earth spike that had jammed into his abdomen still throbbed as did the ones from his painfully one-sided fight with the Fire Nation assassin.

Despite the pain shooting through his shoulder, Zuko got up again and slid into a dive that brought him behind one of the stone benches. He took a second to slow down his breathing and gingerly massage his shoulder. The pain was mangeable, which meant nothing was broken or dislocated. Zuko looked over his cover and didn't even bother wasting the breath to swear. He merely jumped over the stone bench, a moment before the water crashed down on his hiding spot.

"I'm sorry, Katara," Zuko tried again, "It was an accident."

"You expect me to believe that the great Fire Nation Prince does anything by accident?" Katara shrieked, and the water behind him rose up. Zuko didn't bother waiting for the trick, but slid out of the way again, coming to a halt on Katara's right.

She spun to face him but Zuko took a moment to respond, "I'm not the Fire Nation Prince anymore!"

"Don't expect me to believe that Daddy Fire Lord disowned you," Katara snarled.

"You know nothing about my family!" Zuko yelled back. His father hadn't just disowned him, he'd tried to murder him. Azula had tried to kill him so many times that he'd lost count. Even his grandfather had wanted him dead.

But Katara didn't care, she wouldn't listen to him, and Zuko had spent precious seconds yelling at her without looking for her next attack. He snarled and spun around, just in time to get hit with blast of half-ice, half-water. He could've shrugged the attack off as just another bruise, but it had impacted him in the same place as Toph's earth spike last night and the pain was enough to halt Zuko for a moment.

It was an advantage that Katara took. Water drew up again into a massive wave but it was one that Zuko couldn't avoid. The last thing he saw was Katara's satisfied smile before his head slammed against a pillar and everything went black.

"Katara," Aang cut in again, moving to stand between her and Zuko, "I told you, it was an accident! You don't say anything when Toph keeps hitting me with rocks, so why is Zuko so different?"

"Toph didn't chase us across the world," Katara hissed, glaring at the mess of spiky black hair she could barely see over Aang's shoulder, "Toph didn't send a Fire Nation assassin after us!"

"Zuko tried to stop him," Aang argued, "You saw that! He nearly died!"

"How do we know it wasn't just a set-up?" Katara crossed her arms, "Just a way for him to weasel his way inside our group?"

"Toph said he wasn't lying!"

"Well, he burned Toph's feet, so clearly she doesn't have the best judgement!" Katara snarled, "He's the enemy, Aang! He's the two-headed rat viper that the fisherman let inside his home! He'll poison us and kill you!"

"You know how I hate to interrupt your screaming matches, Katara," Sokka cut in, "But Zuko's not getting up."

Aang gasped and slid across the ice until he reached Zuko's crumpled form. Katara clenched her hands into fists and glared, wishing that she could shoot fire beams out of her eyes. Then Zuko would be nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash.

"Aren't you going to check on him?" Sokka asked neutrally. Katara spun around to see him standing at the edge of the ice. The bowl of fire flakes was forgotten behind him.

"Are you seriously asking me to heal our enemy?" Katara gaped at her brother, "Have you lost your mind?"

"No, but I'm wondering if you lost yours," Sokka raised an eyebrow, "I'm asking you to check up on Aang's firebending teacher."

"Some firebending teacher," Katara narrowed her eyes, "Can't even firebend."

"I thought the whole point of this," Sokka waved a hand to the random puddles, broken icicles and slowly melting ice that covered the courtyard, "Was because you thought he was hiding his power."

Katara had thought he was hiding his power. She'd pushed and pushed to make him firebend, to make a liar out of him. But Zuko had looked at the wave with fear and resignation and allowed it to slam him against the pillar. Either he was a far more dedicated actor than she thought, or he wasn't lying when he said his firebending had become weaker.

"Katara," Aang called out, huddled over Zuko. The firebender was soaked and his dark hair sharply contrasted against his white skin. Had Zuko always been so deathly pale? "Katara, I think he's hurt!"

Katara stared at Zuko's unmoving body and stood frozen in place. Zuko was their enemy. He was Aang's firebending teacher. He'd switched sides. He'd betrayed her once already.

"Katara," Sokka said quietly, "Go heal him. And get over whatever grudge you have against Zuko. Sozin's Comet comes in less than a month and Aang's going to need all the firepower he can get."

It was easy for him to say. Sokka hadn't been the one tossed into the catacombs of Ba Sing Se, he hadn't listened to Zuko talk about his mother, he hadn't felt the gut-wrenching loss when Zuko sided with Azula over them. Over her.

Katara made an irritated flick with her hand and all the water in the courtyard trickled back into the fountain. She walked towards Aang and Zuko, drawing the last bits of remaining water to cloak her hands.

She didn't trust Zuko. Not after what he did back in Ba Sing Se. Katara bent over Zuko's pale, still body and felt for bumps on his head with her water-covered hands. When she found the gash, the water glowed blue and began healing it.

Katara remembered the look on Zuko's face when he talked about his family. Katara imagined having Azula for a sister. Katara imagined having the Fire Lord for a father.

Katara didn't trust Zuko, but perhaps she could try.

fin

a/n: Basically what would've happened if Zuko had lost his temper more explosively than he did in the episode and if Katara had taken it as hurting Aang. Also a reminder that I do take prompts.