A/N: Yeah…this was a slower update, but I'll probably post once per week from on, but have longer chapters, kay? I had a small writer's block anyways… On another side note, I really don't like asking for reviews, but I really need them to get motivated to write.

Chapter 14: The Hatched Dragon

"What?" Katara cried out, her azure eyes flaring at the Sun Warrior Chief, who was still shaking in shock.

"It's just as I told you," he replied slowly, "The Golden Dragon Egg has finally hatched."

"I thought you said it hadn't hatched in thousands of years, why did it hatch now then?" the waterbender demanded.

"I don't know," was the reply the watertribe girl got, "But I think it is because of your little friends over there…one is the Avatar after all. It's too bad that they're not going to live."

Katara suddenly remembered the white flames that had been closing in on Zuko and Aang. How could she divert her attention away from them? What if they had actually died?

Zuko could see the white flames reach the ground where he was standing on, and the hot flames were licking at his feet, the intensity of the flames causing him to sweat. The white flame that he had produced flared suddenly, and the prince heard a loud crack from the base of the mountain. He craned his neck over the flames, and stared at the golden blur that quickly rushed toward them.

As the blur got closer and closer, Zuko could tell that it was some sort of large reptile, and was the color of pure gold.

"Could it be…a dragon?" the firebender asked himself, remembering the mystical creatures he had seen before in the Fire Nation palaces. They were extinct though, the golden creature couldn't be a dragon, his own uncle was the one who had killed the last dragon.

As much as Zuko tried to convince himself that the creature in front of him couldn't possibly be a dragon, he couldn't help but notice how perfect it was, the way its golden scales shone under the rays of the sun.

The creature soon had reached the platform Zuko and Aang were standing on, and when it landed on the ground, the white flames quickly extinguished, leaving no trace that they ever were there to begin with. The only flame left was Zuko's, and it had grown in size since the last time Zuko had seen it. The "dragon" seemed to look directly at Zuko and then Aang, who was also clearly shocked at the appearance of the creature. After what had seemed like hours, the mystical animal seemed to give an approving nod, and glided gracefully in front of the two benders.

"What now?" Aang whispered urgently to the firebender.

"….I don't know, just try not to make any sudden movements that might scare it. You never know, it might attack us." Zuko said quietly.

Aang moved forward, much to the scarred prince's surprise, and the monk lifted up his hand and bowed formally.

"Hello, great mystical creature, I am the Avatar and this here is my friend, Zuko!" the airbender said loudly, emphasizing each syllable.

Zuko gulped, and he silently waited for any sign of movement from the creature. After a few seconds of silence, the firebender wondered if the dragon even could understand the human language.

"Greetings, Avatar Aang, Zuko, son of Ozai."

The banished prince swore he heard a voice inside his head, but didn't believe it until he saw the creature staring at him. Aang also stared open-mouthed at it, face filled with wonder and confusion. The "dragon" seemed to notice their confusion and spoke again.

"I can communicate telepathically with you, do not be afraid, young Avatar and Firelord's son."

Zuko continued to stare, confused, how did the creature before him know that he was the Firelord's son? He had never spoken about his background or his family in front of the "dragon!"

"I can tell that you are confused, firebender; I can read minds."

Upon hearing the creature's statement, Zuko suddenly felt more self-conscious. Did the dragon know what he had done in his lifetime, did he know about all his failures and wrongs?

"Sorry for being rude, but what kind of creature are you? Aang asked rather loudly. The dragon turned his attention away from Zuko, and the firebender relaxed slightly.

"I am a dragon."

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Katara paled when she saw the golden creature approach Zuko and Aang.

"What is that?" the waterbender asked the Chief.

"I can't believe it…." The man said, while he paced around.

"What?"

"It's a dragon." He said.

"I thought they were dead!" Katara couldn't believe the Chief's words. Didn't Zuko once say that all the dragons were extinct?

"That's what I had thought too," the Sun Warrior Chief said, "They died off a long time ago, I've never seen one in my lifetime."

"Then…."

"It doesn't really matter now. Dragons have always been known as very dangerous creatures. They are the original fire benders and very powerful. They have a big appetite too; I remember hearing stories of when the ancient Sun Warriors used to make human offerings to the dragons just to please them."

Katara paled slightly.

"D-Does that mean that…" she muttered, her small hands shaking.

"The dragon that just hatched must be hungry after all those years. Your friends are probably going to end up as dragon food."

"No! That's not going to happen! Zuko and Aang are stronger than that!" the waterbender stated loudly, her eyes never leaving the top of the mountain where she could faintly see the boys and the golden dragon. Her hands were clenched at her sides, and she was trembling.

"I'm sorry, but your friends…." The Sun Warrior said, his head dropping.

Katara's azure eyes widened in shock and she let out a scream as she saw the dazzling golden dragon lean back and consume Zuko and Aang in a tornado of golden flames.

A few minutes before….

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"What? A dragon?" Zuko thought. "So there was one last dragon left after all, but hadn't they been extinct for a long time?"

"You are correct." The firebender once again heard the dragon's voice in his head. He had forgotten that the dragon could read his mind, and it was annoying how it could hear everything he thought about.

"Then why..?" he asked in his head.

"We dragons had gone extinct a while back; the Fire Nation had wiped out our species. I was the last dragon egg to be in creation at the time; dragons do not mate often. It was a just a stroke of luck that after the last dragon had been killed, that I had been found by Sun Warriors and placed in good care for the last hundreds of years."

"So that's why…" Zuko thought. There was just one more thing that was bothering him.

"Did my Uncle actually kill off the last dragon?" he asked out loud. Aang stared at him, surprised by the sudden outburst.

"General Iroh…no he did not. In fact, he was part of the reason why I 'm still here. He had found my egg and had placed it in the Sun Warrior hands, but had sworn to never tell anyone of the last dragon."

Zuko let out a breath of relief. So his Uncle hadn't killed the last dragon, but had protected them. It seemed a lot more realistic of his Uncle.

"Ummm….." the firebender heard someone mutter. Aang shrank a little bit when the two firebenders turned their eyes toward him, but soon spoke in a loud voice.

"We came to learn firebending. Could you possibly teach us?" the Avatar said.

The dragon thought for a moment, then glided gracefully over their heads.

"Yes. I haven't taught anyone before, but you two seem to be worthy of learning. I will teach you."

Both benders looked nervously at the dragon, wondering how it would possibly teach them, and both were equally surprised when the mystical creature drew back, and waves of golden flames engulfed them completely.

Zuko squeezed his eyes shut when he felt the flames cover him and braced himself for the searing pain, but when nothing came, he slowly opened his golden eyes. Instead of the flames incinerating them both, the firebender saw that the golden flames were swirling around them, no; they seemed to be dancing around them. When the prince tried to focus on a certain point in the flames, he would see brief flashes of someone firebending; it would be a small child, or an old man, or even a Sun Warrior. Aang seemed to be equally amazed, his grey eyes flashing with the flames reflecting off his eyes.

The more Zuko watched, the more he realized new things about firebending that he had never known about before. He saw a woman using firebending to cook food for a family, he saw a group of weary travelers huddling over a large fire, gracious for the flames providing warmth, and he even saw an injured man using small flames to stop his injuries from bleeding. After what had felt like hours, Zuko finally understood what all the images meant. They had all shown firebending being more than just a violent and angry element. Fire could be used to help and heal, not only to hurt. When he had been chasing the Avatar, all he had thought about when firebending was rage, and anger. After he had joined them though, he started to lose the anger and didn't want to hurt people anymore, and therefore had lost his temporary source of firebending.

Now, Zuko finally realized that all he had to do to get back his firebending was to believe in himself and his firebending. He hadn't been able to firebend before because he only knew it as something that would hurt, but he now knew better. The flames had already started to die down, and Zuko took in a large breath of fresh air, and took a customary firebending stance. He pushed out his fist and to his amazement, a large flame was produced, and it shot a several feet before extinguishing. Turning around, he watched as Aang produced a flame, which only went a few feet before it blew out.

The firebender felt as if he had changed inside, and he felt a small smile reach his face. The small airbender smiled widely at him.

"We finally firebended."

When the flames had weakened and gone out, Katara had been too busy crying and leaning on the Sun Warrior Chief's shoulder for support as she wept. When the Chief nudged her face gently, she raised her tearstained face and looked at the Sun Warrior.

"W-What is it?" she demanded painfully. The Sun Warrior pointed in the direction of the mountain, and Katara bitterly turned, and saw a bright golden blur race toward her. She could almost make out two people on the dragon, but only when the dragon had finally stopped had she found out that the two people were indeed Aang and Zuko.

The waterbender quickly pushed herself away from the Sun Warrior and half ran, half walked over to where the dragon had landed. The two benders had already unloaded the dragon, and were walking towards her. She ran and launched herself at the both of them.

Zuko was surprised when he saw the waterbender girl run at him and Aang, and especially when she had launched herself at them. The three of them had fell on the floor from the collision, and the firebender felt a small blush color his face. Didn't she hate him? Turning his head slightly, Zuko could see that Aang was blushing a dark red color.

Katara soon noticed how awkward the situation was, and pulled herself from the boys, but not before she could give the airbender a quick hug. Her face was slightly flushed, she had just hugged Zuko, but she was too relieved to care too much about it.

"Katara…." Aang said, his face still red.

"Stupid!" the waterbender cried.

"What?" both boys said at the same time.

"You guys just running off like that! I thought you both were…." Katara shouted, her blue eyes still moist with tears.

"Have you been crying?" Zuko asked quickly, trying to sound like he didn't really care too much.

"Huh? Uh….um…No! Of course not!" she said loudly, while rubbing the tears out of her eyes with her small fists.

"Why do you care anyways?" she replied, her usual hate for the prince returning again.

"Uh…" the firebender stammered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Anyways Katara, w-we kinda learned how to firebend." Aang interrupted.

"Really?" the waterbender shifted her gaze away from Zuko, and looked at the Avatar in amazement.

"See?" Aang produced a small flame from his fists, and it was extinguished as he put his hands down.

"Good for you, Aang!" Katara said happily. The airbender blushed again at her compliment. As Zuko watched the two talk, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He quickly dismissed the feeling, they just confused him.

After a while of catching up on each other's stories, it was almost time for the three benders to leave the Sun Warrior camp.

They all bowed respectably to the golden dragon, who had waited patiently for them to finish.

"Thank you for teaching us." Aang and Zuko bowed. The dragon nodded, and looked at the Sun Warriors, and then at Katara.

"No, thank you. Now I have done my part in restoring balance to this world. Remember to stay strong." The dragon said, before taking off into the sky. Zuko watched as the dragon became a tiny golden blur, and turned to the Sun Warrior Chief. The white flame that he had produced still burned at the top of the mountain, at the altar, and he still had doubts as to what had caused the flame to turn white. The Chief saw the firebender's gaze, and answered the prince's question.

"It seems you have been able to create the Sun Warrior's ancient white flame."

"Yeah…but how do you think I did it?" Zuko questioned.

"Only those with the Sun Warrior blood in them can bend this type of flame, so you must have our blood in your body."

"How? My whole family is from the Royal Family!" the firebender yelled.

"What about your mother?" the man bellowed.

"My mother…" Zuko's voice softened and he was lost in his thoughts. His mother's past was pretty mysterious to him. He only knew that his mother had come from a rich family, and that his father had fallen in love with her along the road. Was it possible that she had come from a family of Sun Warriors?

"Your mother's ancestors were probably Sun Warriors just like us." The Chief stated.

"She never told me!" the firebender said.

"You didn't need to know." He answered.

"Does that mean that I can bend white flames?" Zuko asked his eyes wide at the possibilities. This flame is even more powerful than lightning. If what the Sun Warrior Chief said about the white flames was true, then he would have a chance at beating Azula using the flames.

"Possibly, but this form of firebending is very rare among firebenders, usually only a select few have the ability to bend it." The Sun Warrior said, thinking hard.

"But will my sister be able to use the flames too?" the prince asked. If Azula would be able to use the flames too, then he would be at a huge disadvantage.

"No, only one child usually inherits the power to use these flames. Also, it is very difficult to use the flames, and even more difficult to control it. Even I cannot fully master the white flames."

"Then, can you teach me what you do know?" Zuko said.

"I would be happy to, but you have a duty to fulfill with the Avatar. If you do visit any other time, I will be happy to teach you though."

Aang had found Appa resting in the shade under a large tree, and he had happily jumped into the large animal's fur. Appa had let out a happy growl, and shook his fur out.

Soon, they had all got on the air bison, and they took off into the dark shades of the sunset, the Sun Warriors watching them leave.

"Finally….the trial is over."

A/N: I finally finished the Firebending Masters(Trial of Fire) arc! Did you know? It was actually intended for the trial to only last a sentence (as in not going in detail), and Katara wasn't going to go with them, but my fic seems to write itself, you know? :P

Anyways, I'd love it if you guys R&R! I'll update once I get enough reviews and support Thanks for reading! :D