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

Ch.1

Zuko sat in his room in the fire nation palace, which Azula had given him, looking over his battle plans. After three years they had almost the whole earth nation under fire nation control, except for a few little towns.

There was one rebel group supposedly led by the great earth bender, who had taught the Avatar. Azula had made him general of the army, who was supposed to crush this resistance and they were to be leaving today to do it.

The Avatar had disappeared and Katara and Sokka had disappeared with him. Some people talked of them coming back with a huge army ready to defeat the fire nation, but those were people full of folly. Most people had lost hope and had fallen into despair.

He looked over his battle strategy and the map of the island the rebel group was supposedly hiding at. He had five thousand troops under his command, not that it would take five thousand troops to destroy the silly resistance, but he wanted to be on the safe side.

There was a knock on his door and it was a soldier telling him that the troops were ready to set out. They were to be leaving on four battleships to sail to the island. The island was between two earth nation cities and it was well guarded from fire nation attack. They would have to sail the long way around to the island, so they would not be discovered by the other towns.

He walked to where his troops were assembled and ordered them to there assigned boats. He was to be on the biggest battleship where the largest amount of jail cells were, where they were to take their captured prisoners.

He offered his sister a stiff goodbye, but she just gave him a cold smile, probably hoping that he would die in battle. Ty Lee and Mai were by her side. They had complained earlier that they wanted to fight too, but Azula had not allowed it.

He stood on his ship looking over at his homeland, which he was now leaving. They were sailing off into the distance ready to face the unknown. They were to shatter the last rebel group that really held hope for the earth nation people. He had become what his father had wanted him to be, a merciless, cold hearted person. He had changed; he had changed since his mother's death, his Uncle's death, and his father's death.

His father had died mysteriously just like his grandpa had, but his father's death was probably the result of Azula. He hadn't cried when his father had died, he hadn't even blinked an eyelid, but when his Uncle died, he thought the pain would never end. He blamed himself for his uncle's death and he probably always would, but now he was different, now he was Zuko of the fire nation, Zuko the Prince of the fire nation.

He was sent on a mission. He was sent to break up the rebel group and take the prisoners. He was sent to kill and bring pain upon anyone who got in his way. He knew what he was supposed to do, but he felt inside, somewhere inside he knew what he was doing and how it was wrong. He was supposed to be ruthless and brutal and everything his father was.

His life was broken. He was broken; he was just a fragment of what his life used to be. He had made his decision; he had turned to the fire nation. He had turned to where his loyalty lied, he had turned to where his honor was, and he had turned to a life that he was supposed to lead.

In his role, there could be no love or emotions in his heart. He could have no feelings. He could only have one thing and that was honor. He had restored his honor when he had joined with Azula and now he was on the side he was supposed to be on. He was on the side that killed and took helpless prisoners, but most importantly he was on the side that won.

They sailed on into the horizon. He ordered his workers and made sure everyone was in line and if they weren't they would be sorry. He had turned his life into what he had wanted it to be.

The first night on the ship brought back painful memories of his life. Memories of being with his Uncle, of sailing with him while trying to catch the Avatar. He had memories of his Uncle's patience and memories of his Uncle's wisdom. He had betrayed his Uncle and he could never forget the look on his face when he had.

The second night was better and he had a relatively peaceful sleep. His fire bending took his mind off his pains and he practiced most of the day and sometimes at night.

On the third day they were about a quarter done with their journey and he didn't know how longer he could stay with his ignorant crew. They drank all day long and talked of nothing but women. They played gambling games and many of the men lost large sums of money.

On the fourth day they got into a bad storm and had to take port at a deserted island, probably wiped out by the fire nation.

"Hold down the sails, throw everything overboard we don't need." Zuko shouted orders left and right, trying to keep the men from panicking. If he could keep the men in order, they would make it safely to the island and hopefully the other ships would follow behind them.

They eventually made it to the island, but it cost them a man's life or two. Two of the ships needed repairs and their journey was delayed for two days. He just wanted to find the rebels and do what he needed to do, then get back to the fire nation. He had his duties and he didn't like it when other things got in the way.

On the last day of their stay in the island, he and the commanders of the other three ships, which he had appointed had a meeting. They were to discuss the route in which they would take for the rest of the journey and what the plan for the battle was. He and one of the other commanders were in a heated discussion about what they were to do with the prisoners.

"Azula gave me specific orders to bring back the leader of the group to her and any other prisoners left," Zuko shouted at the commander who was arguing with his authority. The commander thought it was necessary to kill everyone. He wouldn't really care in another situation if they were killed, but Azula had given him instructions about what he was supposed to do. He was just a puppet in Azula's game. He was her puppet to do whatever she wanted him to do. He was supposed to do whatever she said, he was like everyone, supposed to be her servant and worship her.

The commander stopped arguing at the mention of Azula and immediately agreed with Zuko. He was afraid of her and most people were. Some people were even more afraid of her than they were of his father.

The next day they headed back out to sea. The air had a brisk chill to it and the sun wouldn't come out. It poured down light misty rain all day. It was the after math of the bad storm that they had had and he was happy another one wasn't coming their way.

On the tenth day of their journey, they were less than a day's worth of sailing away from their destination. The men were sharpening arrows or swords they had on them for extra protection. They all could fire bend because the fire nation only allowed firebenders to join the army and if you could and if you didn't want to join, you were drafted anyway and if you refused you were killed.

They arrived at the island early the next day. They had planned a surprise attack, but they had arrived too late for that plan to work. The army assembled. In the first row each soldier was holding a fire nation flag. They were ready for battle and they were ready for a fight.

A horn sounded in the distance from the rebel forces showing him and his soldiers that the rebels were aware of their presence on the island. There was a thick haze that hung in the air, contributing to the eerie feel of the place.

When they had walked for about ten minutes they came into a clearing. The Rebels were standing on the other side, ready to face their enemies. He could see a figure of a woman standing on a pillar of stone, ready to command her soldiers. Through the fog he could barely make out her or anyone else.

The girl started the fight by sending quakes through the ground at his army. They answered immediately back by sending shoots of fire.

They were one cause against the other, each one fighting for what they believed. The rebels were fighting for freedom. The fire nation was fighting for power. To some each one would seem honorable, but to others freedom would seem the best cause. Men were guaranteed certain rights and freedom was one of them. There would be no freedom for the rebels once the fire nation took over. They would be living a fragment of a life, just like he was.

"Don't kill the girl," He shouted at the army. Azula had given him orders to bring the leader back to him. She wanted her, probably for answers. Answers to where other rebel forces were hiding or answers to if she knew where the Avatar was. He had a feeling that this girl would give no one answers and if she would, she wouldn't do it without a fight.

Pretty soon the whole clearing was filling up with dust and fire. With that and the fog it was almost impossible to see more that five feet in front of you.

Bodies were falling left and right, though most of them were from the rebel group. The rebels were largely out matched and had almost no chance of winning, but they had determination to them, they had strength for what they believed in.

He sent a fire blast at a body in front of him, sending it into a tree. The man was now most likely dead. Life was full of death and pain and the men he was killing all had lives. He was killing people that had families and friends, but none of that mattered because to him they were not people they were just his enemies.

The girl he was supposed to capture, Toph, was soon in front of him. She was an amazingly skilled bender. He had heard of her skills, of how she could see through vibrations, of how she could bend metal. They had built a special prison cell for her in his boat and in the palace, so she couldn't escape.

She took out three men in front of her with one gesture. The earth bended to her will. He was soon engaged in a battle with her. She was sending rocks at him at a remarkable speed, but his agility had gotten better and he was able to quickly dodge them.

All around him the battle was slowly coming to an end. People were piling up on the ground. He would soon be taking the wounded and the newly acquired prisoners back to his ship, but first he had to take care of the girl in front of him.

There was no way he could beat her with his firebending, she was too good. He sent the trees on fire around him at the edge of the clearing. She couldn't sense things through the air and that was the tactic he needed to beat her.

The trees he had set on fire were dropping everywhere through the air. Before the girl could react they fell on top of her pinning her to the ground. Soon another branch fell on top of her head knocking her out. He quickly extinguished the fire on the branches before she was set completely on fire.

He got her out from under the branches and was surprised to see how young she was. She only looked about fifteen or sixteen.

The men around him were cheering in their victory. It hadn't taken them long to defeat the rebel forces.

"You," he said pointing at a soldier near by him, "Take this girl up to her cell and make sure she can't escape." He would take no chances with this dangerous girl. If they had to chain her legs and arms to the wall he wasn't afraid to do so.

He and the men started finding the wounded. The wounded rebels would be treated and than taken to their cells. The dead of each army would be burned. They wouldn't have time to be buried and even if there was he didn't want to do it anyway.

The dead fire nation soldiers would have a brief ceremony in their honor before they left the island, but nothing would be said for the rebels.

At the end of the day a big smoke cloud was filling up the sky from the burning earth nation soldiers.

The men of his army were all gathered in the clearing. There weren't nearly as many dead fire nation guards as there were dead rebels. Friends of the dead or family came up to say a thing or two about them and there life. The battle had ended, his side had won and he had done what Azula had wanted him to do.

At the end of the ceremony, three family members of the dead came up and they each placed a torch on the bodies to be burnt.

"They died for their country. They died with honor," he said to his army. Honor was the only thing he needed and honor was the only thing he wanted. He had killed for honor.

He ordered the men to retreat back to their ships, the next day they would set sail for home. Home was what he had yearned for when he was a kid and he had achieved it.

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