Author Notes: While the progression of the story roughly follows that of the show, many events are changed, arranged in a different order or omitted. This is fan fiction, after all.

"Trying to take our Sun Stone, eh?" a smaller man with a thin beard looked down at Mitsu.

"That thing is the legendary Sun Stone? It looks like a golden egg!"

"Oh, now you insult the Sun Stone!" the small man looked up to the one with the big feet and crossed his arms.

"Get them on their feet," the bigger man summoned some strange animals.

Soon the three were pasted together with the green gunk, which was slowly licked off by two animals that resembled ant-eaters. Mitsu's staff was rolled on the floor till it touched his feet, the two men pushing it straining from cramp and crashing to the floor. They were all still helpless in the face of the chief, and a man whose name sounded like Hug Now. Aang finally felt his hand wriggle free as the slime eaters slowly weakened his bonds, but it was still too little to do anything. In any case, these people were not looking like the type to pick a fight with.

"You're the Sun Warriors!" Zuko got up as the slime around him weakened. "Your civilization is alive!"

"You tried to steal our Sun Stone," 'Hug Now' planted his foot on Zuko's shoulder and pushed down on him.

"Look, I don't want to play this card … but I'm the Avatar."

The chief looked unimpressed, but looked at his lieutenants.

"I'm Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation…or at least I used to be." Zuko's reply brought even less favorable reactions from the men and women staring darkly at them.

"I know my people have distorted the ways of Firebending to be fueled by rage and hate. I've come here to learn the true way, the original ways of your people. No one knows that your civilization even exists in this day and age." Zuko was dead serious, a change from the pleading tone he had used with practically everyone in the last few months.

"And who are you with the backbreaking pole?" the chief nodded slowly.

"Mitsu Ishihara, Warden of the Great Rock," Mitsu stopped short of using his royal title. "We're here because the Avatar and the Fire Prince need to re-learn Firebending. I helped them get here."

"The Great Rock is as ancient as we are," the Chief made two men lift Zuko and Aang out of the last of the slime. "The Dream Chair still resides there?"

"It still stands, and the one to rest on it has done so," Mitsu pulled himself out and bowed. "The Ancient Flame is still here, I hope?"

"Ancient Flame?" Zuko also bowed as soon as he could, and pushed Aang's head down.

"Come with me," the Chief's men led the three at fire point up a nearby hill, reaching the temple in roughly fifty paces. More and more Sun Warriors appeared to them, dressed in feather headbands and red-hued vests, some with red face paint. They all looked imposing, with even Mitsu bristling as one of them walked past with a personal flame. The Chief stopped in front of a roaring fire encased in a frame that resembled a sharp toothed dragon. The fire seemed to have no need for fuel or sustenance and it burned brightly, almost like light rather than flame.

"If you want to learn from the Masters Ran and Shao, you will have to take a piece of this Great Flame up to the mountaintop where the Masters reside," the Chief used Firebending to cup a piece of the flame.

"This flame has burned since the Dragons first gave it to us," the Chief held it out to Zuko. "You must take this flame and present it to the masters. It must not go out, or you will have failed."

Zuko held out his palms and the Chief blew off a part of his flame, leaving him with a fist-sized flame that somehow comforted him rather than stimulated him.

"Um, Mr. Chief Sir, I'm not really a Firebender yet. Can't my friend carry my flame for me?" Aang nervously eyed the Great Flame.

"No," the chief deadpanned and nudged a smaller flame into Aang's hands. "You are the Avatar; hence you are a Firebender no matter what."

"It feels like a little heartbeat!" Aang surprisingly felt excited by the fire, which seemed to warm his entire body, particularly where his tattoos were.

"Fire is life, not just the means to destroy. All elements can heal or hurt, but only fire can truly represent the feeling of life," the Chief stepped in front of Mitsu.

"Oh, hold on Chief! I'm not a Firebender at all!" Mitsu took two steps back.

"You've come this far and you don't want to learn with the Masters? They will not think well of you if you refuse. Come on, take this flame! This is a place to learn Firebending, hence you too will learn."

Mitsu looked at Zuko and Aang, who were looking back at him when they weren't busy keeping their flames up.

"I guess you have to take it too," Zuko kindled his flame until it was as large as his head for a moment.

Mitsu took a deep breath and held out his hands, but winced as the fire washed over them. There was oddly no pain, or even heat. The shock of a non-Firebender holding a flame in control nearly brought him off his feet and unsettled Aang, but he found the flame almost like an extension of himself, beating like his own heart.

"I can't believe this!" Mitsu steadied himself as his flame burst and became larger, tough Aang's was still practically the size of a lit candle.

"Be careful! If you become too timid, your flame will die out like your ambition. If you are too fearful, your flame will explode and burn you alive."

The words were not comforting to Aang, but he nodded and began walking towards a nearby outcrop, between Zuko and a still surprised Mitsu.

"I'm going to be a Firebender?" Mitsu felt like juggling his new flame. "This is crazy!"

"Kind of makes sense, since your brother seems to be trying to learn how to Waterbend back at the temple," Zuko grinned and let his flame burn in one hand. He was clearly confident of his flame, but that was expected of all members of the Royal Family, banished or not. Footsteps of other travelers dotted the hillside, some terminating right in the middle of the hill, or turned around back to base camp. The number of prints that continued up the hill dwindled the further they went, until Zuko, Aang and Mitsu were literally walking in the steps of three other people.

"Aang, watch your fire! " Zuko turned to the shivering Avatar.

"If I don't walk slowly it'll go out!"

"You're too timid, give it a little juice! I know you can do it." Zuko's expression softened. "You're a smart kid."

Aang nervously smiled while Mitsu walked by him, transfixed by his flame, which was slowly turning white.

"Watch the road, Mitsu!" Zuko called out. Mitsu, perhaps unwittingly, began levitating and landed right next to Zuko. Aang's ascent took longer, as Airbending might have put the flame out while Earthbending such a sacred knoll might not be such a good idea. In the end all three were staring at a series of giant steps with the Chief and other Sun Warriors already at the summit. Two thorny peaks jutted out at either side of the stairs, a stone platform being the top acting as a bridge between two caves.

"Who do you think these Masters are?" Aang whispered to Zuko. "What if they say we're not worthy?"

"You're the Avatar, and we're the Fire and Earth Princes. I think we can take them," Zuko pulled out his sword. Aang let out a nervous smile as he and Zuko carried their flame up towards the platform.

"Mitsu, aren't you coming?" Aang turned around. The Force Bender just stood there, the Chief's arm just ahead of his chest, barring his way.

"He comes after you." Mitsu swallowed hard and looked at the Chief. Firebending Masters were not nice people even in the best of times, though for some reason he imagined Lo and Li walking out of those caves with the party gesture. His mind suddenly raced to Ty Lee, and his flame exploded to an even larger size, though he was able to calm it down before it burned anyone.

"I wish my fire was exploding like that!" Aang focused on his flame as hard as he could, though it was never larger than three fingers' width.

"THOSE WHO WISH TO LEARN WILL NOW PRESENT THEIR FLAMES TO THE MASTERS!" a Sun Warrior called out via a horn.

Aang and Zuko turned back to back and held their flames out. Sounds began to come from the two caves, followed by rumbling and falling rocks. Aang's fears came all at once, and as he turned to Zuko his flame disappeared.

"Zuko! My flame went out!"

"What do you want me to do!" Zuko found his flame dwindling.

"Give me some of yours!" Aang reached over to Zuko, who kept his flame away.

"No, stop cheating on me! Grab some from the Warriors or Mitsu! Stop it!"

Zuko soon felt his own flame go out as the rumbling became louder. He became as scared as Aang when the Masters literally burst out of their cave homes. Instead of two old men (or women) coming out, two pairs of golden eyes attached to giant creatures stared blankly at the two boys.

"Dragons!" Zuko muttered.

"Do you still think we can take them?" Aang whispered, though he didn't know what to do either.

"I never said that!" Zuko leaned on Aang.

Mitsu felt helpless being at the bottom, while the Sun Warriors were all prostrating to their Masters, ignoring the pleas of the Avatar and the Fire Prince. He wanted to dump his flame and help them, but the Dragons simply flew past the two in a nearly identical formation that included a lot of twists and turns.

"I think they want us to do the Dancing Dragon," Aang whispered to his friend.

"What makes you think they want us to dance?" Zuko growled.

"Can you think of something to do?"

Zuko gritted his teeth and began his half of the dance. Amazingly, the red dragon followed his maneuvers as it twisted and turned through the air, almost in synergy. The blue dragon followed Aang, flying with the utmost abandon as the Avatar matched it in grace with the dance. They ended with the joining of the fists, where the Dragons suddenly broke off and landed beneath the platform, their mouths pointing right at the two prospective learners. Aang and Zuko screamed as multiple colors and shades of fire washed over them until their screams were drowned out by the Dragons' roar. The fire glowed with the light of centuries and seemed to speak to them both, ancient words that they somehow understood but were unable to repeat. Zuko heard the voice of the Sun itself, a warm and vibrant tone singing to his heart. Aang felt like he was in the Avatar State again, as the fire filled spaces in his soul that he never knew existed. The fire glowed purple, then white, then green, then yellow, then red, then blue, then purple again. Aang stopped trying to figure out the pattern in the fire, realizing that it was all the same fire when put together, a rainbow of flame that glowed in his eyes. He felt a surge of energy in his arms, which he noticed were glowing where his tattoos were.

Outside, Mitsu cast aside his flame and tried to get close to them, but the flame was too hot even for him.

"Aang! Zuko!" he called out as the flames died down, with the two boys unharmed in the center.

"I understand," was the only thing Zuko said, staring in the air as the two Dragons retreated to their lairs without as much as a single word. The fire inside him lit up again, though he felt it to be rounder, gentler and smoother, more a part of him that it had ever been.

"Are they worthy, Chief?"

"Yes, the Masters have spoken, and they have been taught the meaning of Firebending. It is life; it is joy and happiness inside of one person. It can be turned into hate, rage and fear if not checked, but the Masters have shown you the way. Now it is your turn."

"But my flame's died out!" Mitsu showed the Chief his empty hands.

"No, it has not. Look up." Mitsu saw his flame dancing up in the sky.

Zuko and Aang were ecstatic as they walked down the stairs, both brimming with energy and euphoria from the grand revelations of the Masters. The Chief greeted them, knowing that they had passed a test few had done throughout the ages.

"You have been deemed worthy by the Masters, and now you understand the true nature of fire?" the Chief stepped in front of Aang and Zuko.

"Yes. I hope I can redeem myself for disappearing one hundred years ago." Aang looked at his hands.

"It'll take a lot more than that to redeem my family," Zuko looked at his own hands and turned to Aang. "But I know why my flames were weak. I no longer had the drive to hunt you, to chase you across the world. Now, I have a new drive," the Prince began to assume a stance, "I have to help you defeat my father, and bring true honor back to my family." Zuko did a full turn and let out a thundering blast of orange fire.

Aang looked at the Chief and tried an Airbending stance, but thought of fire. A powerful blast, though not as strong as Zuko's flew out of his hands, making him smile in surprise.

"I was too timid once…after I hurt Katara, I never wanted to Firebend again. But now I understand that fire is natural and part of life," Aang mused. "I feel like a small sun is in me."

"You must be proud of yourself, as you are the first Avatar incarnation to have come here since the very first one, who is probably out of your mind's reach."

"The first Avatar came here?" Aang remembered the tracks that he had followed up the hill.

"Indeed, along with two others over the space of time," the chief nodded, pointing to the two other sets of footprints.

"I recognize these footprints…it can't be… Uncle Iroh? He said he killed the last Dragon. It must have been a lie," Zuko noticed the square prints of the slippers Iroh always wore even on duty.

"It was a necessary lie. Iroh was the last one to face the Masters, and they passed on the secret to him as well. He was the one who decided to preserve the two Dragons until no one would hunt them anymore. We thought he would be the last outsider to come here, but we have been proven wrong by you, and by the third set of prints."

Zuko looked down at the third set of smaller prints, which terminated well before the steps.

"Who was this?"

"You have to ask your friend up there," the Chief pointed up.

"MITSU!" Aang was breathless.