A/N: Ok, this is a little fic I thought up the night after the season fanale, and it's kind of a continuation of it. So everything that's happened so far in Avatar applies, and I'm going to try as hard as possible to keep things in character and in context...but I'm not perfect ;)

Disclaimers: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender (thought I wish I did :D ), or the characters. I just write about them!

After the Storm

Chapter One: Rising from the Flames

The red and gold robes that covered his muscular body felt...itchy, and stiff. As his pale fingers moved against the fabric, he remembered how good he'd felt wearing the green robes that were his uniform when he'd worked at the Jasmine Dragon...had it only been two days before?

Zuko sighed, wondering again what was going on within his soul. The fever had left him a few days ago...and yet the strange dreams still haunted him, and he often couldn't find the peace to sleep at night. So much had happened in the last couple of days...his soul was in turmoil about the whole thing. It was this turmoil, burning within him, that kept him up this night, staring at the fireplace across his room in the royal palace of the Earth King.

His liquid golden eyes narrowed in the dim fierlight, concealing the rim of pink around their edges. That slight movement made him grimace in pain, and his hand moved up to his injured eye... his scar burned. Lying back on the luxurious pillow, he drew a single finger around the edge of the mark; from the corner of his eye to his brow, back to his ear, and down across his once handsome cheek back to his eye again. He sighed, letting a small amount of smoke flow from his mouth, and as his lids fell over his eyes, the image of that fateful day came back to him once more...

Tears fell down the young boy's face; his eyes stared fearfully up at the man before him, begging for forgiveness. But the Fire Lord's face was set in a grim frown, and no mercy showed in his eyes as he looked down upon his son.

Ozai's hand rose, clenched in a fist, to Zuko's face. "You will pay for your actions, Zuko." His cold voice rang out. The boy's throat clenched in fear, and just as smoke was starting to twist itself around Ozai's fist, young Zuko turned slightly to his right, seeing his sister, uncle, and Zhao out of the corner of his eye. Now he could smell the smoke wafting to his nostrils; the raw heat growing near his cheek. In a last, desperate attempt, Zuko glanced to his family. Zhao's face was set into a sneer, his mouth twisted gruesomely as a flash of fire danced in his eyes. Zuko felt the heat grow, and he saw Iroh turn away, unable to witness the next few seconds of his nephew's life. Zuko's eyes found Azula, and he had just enough time to see the look of triumph on her face before the searing pain hit him. He heard his own shrill scream ringing in his ears, and then the world started to fade to black around him as he fell. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the smile on his father's face...one of pure malice that made even Zuko's fiery blood run cold...

His eyes opened suddenly; his hair plastered to his forehead. He sat up abruptly, running his fingers through the shaggy black strands. He brushed the cold sweat and bangs from his brow, trying to breath deeply. His scar pulsated with heat, and he lifted a hand to the charred skin.

"The Mark of the Banished Prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever..." he repeated the words to himself.

"Maybe you could be free of it."

Her voice floated back to him, and a small smile tugged at the edges of his mouth. He could still feel the warmth of her fingers on his face...the tingle of his lips as her thumb brushed against them. She'd never noticed the shiver that had gone up his spine as she'd raised the vial of water to try and heal the scar that covered the left side of his face. Back then, he'd thought it was from the thought of finally losing the blemish...but now he knew differently.

It had been the look in her eyes as he'd closed them to her...a look that said she'd truly cared. She'd wanted to help him, and he felt sure that if...circumstances were different, maybe she could have looked at him as a friend...

But then he'd turned around and stabbed her in the back.

It wasn't safe inside the walls of Ba Sing Se, but Aang needed medicine...badly. Katara's attempts at healing his wound had done little to help it, so now she was turning to the herbalists and healers she'd seen before Zuko and Azula had taken over the once great Earth Kingdom city.

Zuko.

Even his name made her blood boil; and it seemed to her that every time she turned the corner she saw his face...the face of the enemy. By the time she finally reached the herbalist's shop, her heart was threatening to pound through her chest. With a sigh, she tried to relax, and entered the shop.

It was dim and dusty in the small shop. Katara coughed as she bumped into a rug, dislodging a cloud of dust. She waved her hands around in front of her, trying to blow the cloud away as she continued to sputter. When the dust finally settled, Katara opened her eyes...and found herself face to face with a sight that made her heart race again.

The girl's brown eyes glinted in the dim light, flickering with the light of a small fire in her palm.

Katara nearly screamed, but the young woman before her placed a hand over her mouth. "Shh..." she whispered, fear in her voice, "The Dai Li are everywhere."

The woman blew out the tealight candle in her hand, removing the other from Katara's gaping mouth. Gently, the girl took her hand and pulled her through the aisles of potions and herbs before disappearing behind a green tapistry. Curiously, Katara followed into a small room lit by hundreds of scented candles, and sat down silently on a cushion before the girl and another, older woman. The younger one's brown hair, like Katara's, was braided, but it hung in two strands that fell over her shoulders. The older woman's hair was a russet color, bound into a high bun on her head.

"You have come for medicine, have you not?"

The woman's voice jolted Katara out of her thoughts. She nodded. "Yes, for my friend, the Avatar. He was badly injured fighting Princess Azula, and my waterbending hasn't helped the wound much. Please, do you have anything that might help me?"

The young girl smiled. "Yes, I believe we do. Just a moment." She stood, her green robe swishing softly as she moved to the tapistry again.

"By the way, I am Hay Li, and that is my daughter, Jin." the woman stated, a small smile on her thin lips. "You said that the Fire Nation Princess injured your friend?"

"I am Katara." She smiled softly, "Yes...they were fighting in the crystal catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se. Azula took control of the Dai Li...and it was only Aang and myself. We couldn't defeat them...and though he tried his best, Azula hit him with a shot of lightning and nearly killed him..." The tears came back to her beautiful blue eyes again as she remembered...it had only been the day before.

Jin returned with a small bottle of a brown liquid, and a pouch full of a sweet smelling herb. She handed them to Katara as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Thank you."

The other girl smiled. "Anything for the Avatar. He is our only hope of peace now..."

Yes, I know...it was short. But that's just how it's gonna be so there! Please review and tell me what you think, so I can improve! This is also still a work in progress, so if you've got any ideas I'm happy to hear them!

Kornari.