Summary: If Katara was being honest with herself, Zuko seemed drastically different than when he had left her unconscious in the Spirit Oasis just hours ago. "I know you need to end this war," he said to Aang, his voice warped with an incomprehensible resolve that sent shivers down her spine. "I only hope that when the time comes, you'll do what needs to be done." Time Travel AU, Zuko Centric.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, the Last Airbender.

Chapter I: A New Dawn

Uncle always said he didn't think things through. As Zuko made his way through the arctic tundra, dragging an unconscious, glowing airbender behind him, he couldn't help but agree, within the privacy of his own thoughts of course. It wouldn't be the first time he secretly agreed with his uncle's wisdom, but didn't voice it, even while alone. Even his proverbs seemed to horrifyingly make sense from time to time, once everything calmed down and Zuko actually had time to think about the clusterfuck he'd just lived through.

He resolved not to think about that as he continued trudging through the blizzard, desperately using his breath of fire to keep warm, the Avatar blissfully unaware of everything.

Then, all of a sudden, he collapsed into the snow, not out of exhaustion, but out of a mind-numbing, soul-wrenching pain, the origins of which he could not fathom. He felt as if a foreign presence was taking root in his mind, invading his thoughts and merging with his consciousness, as if to alter everything that he was. Even as he tried to fight the sensation, he realized it was futile, and before long, he stopped struggling, and embraced the newfound change with a quiet, serene acceptance.

He looked down at his hands as a whiff of fire escaped his mouth. Then he froze, as if registering that he had just let go of something in order to do so. Looking down at the Avatar's unconscious form, a million thoughts ran through his mind, but one took precedence over all others.

Why can't things ever be easy?

Uncle always said he didn't think things through. He couldn't help but think that he could hardly be blamed this time.

As Katara, Sokka, and Yue followed Zuko's tracks, something which was exceedingly difficult to do in the blizzard, Katara fought down her urge to panic. There's nowhere he can go, she told herself. We'll find him eventually. Still, the thought did little to comfort her. Aang was alone out in the blizzard with the Prince of the Fire Nation, because she had let said prince take him right out from under her nose. Well, it wouldn't happen a second time. This time, she would win.

"Stop," Sokka's voice called out, halting them in their tracks. Her older brother wore a puzzled frown as he surveyed the tracks they'd been following. "This doesn't make sense," he muttered.

"What is it?" Katara asked impatiently.

"The tracks stop here," Sokka replied in frustration.

"What? That can't be right! Look harder!"

"It's true! The boy insisted. "The tracks reverse direction briefly here, but then they just disappear! There's nothing else, just a bunch of melted snow where he probably vented his frustration or something. It's like he up and flew away!"

"Where do you think he would have gone?" Yue asked.

"Well, that's the thing about the Jerky Prince. Once he gets desperate, he'll do anything, whether or not he has a plan. Going out into this blizzard was not a good move, strategically, but that's exactly what he did."

Katara thought for a moment, before Yue's voice interrupted him. "What if he just came out here to throw us off? If he covered his tracks somehow, he probably wants us to tire ourselves out in the blizzard. Maybe he's back in the city?"

Sokka frowned. "But there are too many waterbenders there," he pointed out.

"In the middle of fighting against the siege," Yue reminded him. "He could plausibly slip through in the chaos."

Sokka's eyes widened. "Yue's right. If he gets back to a Fire Nation ship with Aang, they could take him straight to the Fire Nation, whether or not the siege fails!"

Katara was horrified. "How could we have not thought of this sooner?" she screeched.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Sokka yelled, his voice rising several octaves. "Zuko usually isn't that crafty! I thought he was being stubborn like usual, I didn't think he'd actually have a plan like that!"

"We have to get back," Yue said. "He can't go anywhere if he's out here, but if he's back in the city, this could become a lot harder."

Sokka nodded. "We'll start back at the Spirit Oasis and work it out from there."

As Aang awoke from his Spirit World journey to find himself back at the Spirit Oasis, he jumped to his feet and started looking around for Katara.

"Katara, where are you? We've got huge trouble!"

"You're telling me," came a frighteningly familiar voice from behind him.

Aang whirled around in shock to meet the eyes of Zuko, the banished Fire Nation Prince.

"And your girlfriend's not here," he saw fit to add.

Ignoring the girlfriend jab, Aang mustered his best glare. "Well where is she?" he asked determinedly.

Zuko stopped to consider that. "Probably out in the blizzard looking for us," he replied finally.

"Us?" Aang echoed.

"Well you, mostly. Me, simply so she can bury me under about a hundred feet of snow, I'd imagine."

Aang groaned as the situation he had awoken to finally dawned on him. Zuko had taken him from Katara while he'd been in the Spirit World, only to lead her on a wild goose chase before coming back here. That was actually a pretty good plan, not that he'd admit it.

"Look we don't have time for this! The Moon Spirit is in danger!"

"From Zhao, I know," Zuko replied, preemptively stopping Aang's prepared rant about how this was more important than the two of them, or even the Siege of the North.

"You know?" he repeated dumbly.

"I...figured it out earlier. That's why we're still here. I'd like to propose a truce, at least until this is over."

Aang eyed him warily. "Is that why you still have my arms and legs tied?" he asked, indicating his bound wrists.

Zuko blinked. "You know, I actually forgot about that. Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind lately." The scarred prince stepped behind Aang, who fought down his urge to flinch as his enemy of many occasions formed a dagger out of fire and easily burned through the ropes around his wrists and ankles.

Aang couldn't help but smile. Maybe they could actually save the Moon Spirit with Zuko helping! Things were starting to look up for once.

"Get away from him!"

Or not. Aang had just enough time to hear Zuko grumble something that sounded like, "Great, just what I needed," before a wave of water collided with the prince, pinning him and freezing him to the wall.

"Katara, wait, it's ok!" he shouted as the waterbender formed multiple ice daggers and pointed them at Zuko. "He's on our side!"

Katara started sputtering. "On our side? ON OUR SIDE!?" That jerk knocked me out cold and kidnapped you before leading us in a circle through a blizzard!"

Aang shot Zuko a look, and was surprised to see the prince actually looking rather sheepish at the reminder. He turned back to Katara.

"Well, that was before. We made a truce until the siege is over. See?" he showed Katara his freed wrists. Katara's eyes moved towards the fallen rope on the ground, before narrowing as they moved back to Zuko.

"How do we know we can trust him? The siege didn't stop him before," she spat.

"Worry about that later," Aang beseeched. "The Moon Spirit is in danger, and we can't fight amongst ourselves at a crucial time like this."

"Are you kidding? What makes you think the Jerkbender cares about the Moon Spirit?" Sokka asked incredulously.

Zuko twitched at the familiar term "jerkbender," but answered nonetheless. "The entire world is affected by the moon, not just the Water Tribes," the prince reasoned. "I don't want to die any more than you do."

Sokka still looked suspicious, but he must have realized that was as reasonable an explanation as any. He turned to Katara and shrugged.

The girl was having an inner battle. On one hand, she didn't trust Zuko. Plus, she was still fuming at Zuko and wanted to pay him back. On the other hand, if they fought here in the Spirit Oasis, whatever was threatening the Moon Spirit could go unchecked. She reluctantly lowered her arms from their bending position, and the ice daggers fell to the ground.

"I'll trust you this one time," she said, facing Zuko. "But if you even think about betraying us, I promise you won't even get the chance."

Zuko smirked. "Fine with me," he said, before fire burst from his every pore, melting the ice encasement around him in less than a second. "But I'm holding you to that," he informed her as he walked up to the group.

Katara's glare almost made him wince. Almost.

"So why is the Moon Spirit in danger anyway?" Katara asked, her tone icy.

"Zhao found out the secret of Tui and La," Zuko stated seriously. "He means to slay the moon so that all waterbenders will lose their ability to bend."

"That's...just crazy," Sokka commented, causing Katara to give a weak nod as Yue paled.

Aang was staring at Zuko strangely. "How do you even know all that? I had to go to the Spirit World just to figure that out!"

Zuko shot him a smug smile. "I know everything, Aang," he replied cryptically. Aang turned away and grumbled something about stingy princes not telling him things.

"Wait," Sokka said suddenly. "Did you just call him Aang?"

Katara also froze at the revelation, giving Zuko an odd look. The prince simply shrugged.

"That's his name, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically as he walked away. "Keep guarding the koi fish. Make sure no one gets near that pond," he instructed. "I'm going to find my uncle and tell him what's going on."

He left the oasis, leaving a stunned silence behind him.

"Did he just call you Aang?" Sokka repeated.

As a stroke of luck, when Zuko found his uncle, the old man was already making his way over to the Spirit Oasis. Zuko quickly announced his presence by intercepting a twin pair of water whips that was being sent towards the only real family he had left.

"Uncle, it's Zhao," Zuko said without preamble. "He's going to try to kill the Moon Spirit."

Iroh's expressions hardened, and Zuko knew he'd already had his suspicions. "Then we must stop him, Prince Zuko."

"I know. Follow me, I know where the Spirit Oasis is." Iroh nodded and the two made their way through the chaos, neither drawing more attention than any other firebender on the battlefield.

"Zuko, you realize this means you may have to put your quest on hold for the time being," Iroh stated carefully.

When Zuko caught his gaze, Iroh was surprised to see that their was no hesitation or indecision written on his features whatsoever.

"A lot's happened. I have to talk to you later," the prince stated tiredly. "For now, the Moon Spirit comes first."

Although Iroh was startled by the level of initiative and maturity his nephew was showing, he didn't show it. Satisfied that he would prioritize the balance of the world for now, Iroh trudged onwards, following Zuko into battle against their own nation.

AN: Well, here I am, starting a story in a fandom I've never done before. I hope I'm not out of my depth, but I think I know the Avatar verse pretty well. Let's see where this goes.