" CHANGE OF PACE "

01. CHAPTER ONE: "ALWAYS STAYS THE SAME"

He wondered if they expected him to come back, or if they were simply glad that he was gone; if they thought him dead and were saddened by it, or were relieved that they would no longer have to put up with any of his lies and deception. But, it hadn't been a trick. He had been sincere, but apparently sincerity was ignored in the face of the brutality done by him in months before that day. That was the day that he'd made himself an outcast...to everyone.

Once upon a time, he was the proud prince of the Fire Nation, a brave boy standing up to his father, a child injured and scarred for reasons his young mind could not comprehend, a determined teenager on a quest for the elusive Avatar, a hero welcomed back home, a traitor, a coward, a failure...nothing.

With a sigh, Zuko slumped down further against the rock he leaned upon, tossing another pebble into the stream. Looking left, then right, Zuko wiggled his still-outstretched hand a bit, as if he expected the water or the pebble to do something in response. When nothing happened, he dropped his hand back into his lap and gave a shrug.

"Still just a firebender," he commented.

The badger-frog sitting atop the rock he leaned against, who had seemingly become his new travelling companion - the blasted thing would not quit following him - croaked in response, as if it fully understood what Zuko had just said. The firebender looked up at it, receiving another croak, then looked back down, shaking his head.

"This cannot get any worse," he mused then and as if on cue, rain began to lightly fall from the sky.

At that, the former prince let his shoulder sag and drew up one knee, resting an arm that he pressed his forehead against upon it, letting the water the fell from the clouds wash over him. He sat there in silence for a while, not caring much about his now-soaked clothes, until the sound of the badge-frog emitting a high-pitched croak drew him out of his thoughts.

Looking up, he peered through the rain at the badger-frog, which was no longer facing him and was crouched in a position that looked like it was about to jump at something. Curious, Zuko turned and got on his knees, stretching up quietly behind the badger-frog to see--

He ducked quickly, just as an arrow went flying by above him, narrowly missing his hair and the badger-frog. Immediately, he jumped to his feet, whirling around to pluck the irate badger-frog off the rock and tucked it under his arm protectively. Glaring angry daggers at the attacker, Zuko drew back the fist of his other arm, bending fire around it that was sizzling in the water that fell from above, ready to attack...when he caught sight just who it was through the rain.

The waterbender, the Avatar's friend. ...Katara, that was her name, wasn't it?

Though she seemed unaffected by the rain, she held the bow and arrow clumsily in her hands, proving that just because one was good with bending, did not mean that they automatically mastered weaponry. He watched as she lined up another arrow from the quiver at her back, taking aim and ready to fire again, when she seemed to have noticed him holding her prey.

"What--" she started, the cut herself off, blue eyes going wide at the sight of the drenched firebender before her. That shock only lasted for a moment though, as those eyes soon narrowed and her lips pressed together in a thin, angry line.

Zuko frowned, a wave of guilt washing over him.

He shouldn't have left like that, but he had. Perhaps he should've persisted further, maybe they would've accepted him after he'd tried to stop Haretsu, the man Sokka had apparently deemed 'Combustion Man,' from killing them all, but he had felt so...defeated after the initial rejection, that he hadn't the energy to go back to them, only to get attacked again.

Attacked by the waterbender. Who was standing before him with an arrow pointed in his direction.

"That's our food you're holding," she stated sternly, eyes focusing on the badger-frog, before homing in on the firebender's face once more.

"That's my friend you're trying to eat," he countered, his grip on the badger-frog tightening slightly.

The waterbender rolled her blue eyes. "Oh, if that's so, what's his name?"

"Kawa," fell out of the young man's mouth before he had time to properly contemplate an answer. "His name is Kawa," he pulled the badger-frog out from under his arm, holding it up with both hands and smiling almost fondly at it, "and he's an awfully good listener."

She was silent for a moment, staring at both him and the newly-dubbed Kawa, before she finally lowered the bow so that the arrow was now pointed at the ground instead of the prince. She looked down as well, before snapping her head up abruptly to inform him: "You always stay the same."

This, took Zuko by surprise. How was him calling a badger-frog a friend mean he was the same?

"I...I don't understand," he said cautiously, setting Kawa down on the ground by his feat when he fidgeted in his grasp, straightening up to focus back on Katara.

"You do one thing and make us believe another," she clarified, though the former prince still didn't see her meaning.

"What do--"

She cut him off, "You made us think Combustion Man killed you. But, here you are...alive and well, with a new friend nonetheless. To think that Aang was actually feeling guilty about you dying trying to save us. But that was just another trick, wasn't it, Prince Zuko?"

Squaring his shoulders, Zuko did his best to bite back his temper, trying to be calm while explaining himself, as his uncle often suggested he do. "You told me to go, so when I climbed back up that tree root and saw that you'd killed Haretsu--uh, Combustion Man, I...left. I'm sorry if it seemed that I deceived you in that act, but I honestly felt as if my presence and my offer were unwanted, and frankly, I'm still getting that impression...from you, at least."

Katara seemed to tilt her head slightly to the side in idle curiosity, but the scowl did not vanish from her face - nor did her grip on the bow and arrow, even if the tip was pointed at the soil and not the firebender before her.

Zuko took a step back, one foot further behind the other, and bent down, eyes to the ground and arms spread out in an almost welcoming gesture. "If you want to attack me again, fine. Go ahead and get it over with. Agni knows I deserve it after all that I've put you and your friends through, and...I'm tired of fighting you--you, the Avatar...just, this needs to stop."

He closed his eyes, ready to feel himself slamming into the river to be washed downstream, wondering if it was even possible for him to be any wetter than he already was with the rain that was now falling steadily from the sky, when...nothing happened. Slowly, he looked up to find her starring almost...solemnly at him.

When she caught his golden gaze, however, her blue eyes narrowed once more and she turned on her heel to start walking away from him.

"Don't follow me," she warned, her back to him. "Just...stay here with your friend."

And with that, she was gone, disappearing back into the foliage. He was tempted to follow her, to grab her and shout at her, try to get her to understand...but he knew that would only make this complex situation worse. The last thing he wanted was to make the Avatar and his friends even more cross with him.

Falling to his knees, Zuko balled his fists in the mud, making a frustrated sound in the back of his throat...which was immediately echoed by a much softer noise from Kawa.

The firebender looked to the badger-frog, with an expression that could've been the starting of a smile upon his lips, reaching out hesitantly with one hand to lightly stroke the top of Kawa's head.

"Y'know," he told it, "if we were to find a princess to kiss you, I bet all the gold and jewels in my father's treasury that you'd be a far better prince than I ever was or ever could be. Of course, the only princess I know is my sister, and I'd never subject you to something that cruel. A kiss from Azula would probably turn you into some sort of deformed monster."

He smiled at that, lightly chuckling at his own joke, before his words sunk in.

...deformed monster...

Frowning then, Zuko pulled his hand away from Kawa, sitting back on his heels to touch his fingers to his scar. "Just like me..."

Little did the former prince know that as he closed his eyes and tilted his head up to let the summer rain gently beat down upon his face, a pair of blue eyes from the forest watched him, frowning and shaking her head before she left the area completely.

"Avatar: the Last Airbender" is © Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Haretsu is not Combustion Man's name, but merely one made up for use in this fic/chapter. Also, this fic is being written for the 30 KISSES challenge community on InsaneJournal, so the chapters follow the themes listed in their userinfo's alternate column.

12/26/2007