Takes place before the comet, after the Southern Raiders.

This is my first attempt at an Avatar fic, and I'm hoping to learn more about the characters as I write. We'll see.

Growth in wisdom may be exactly measured by decrease in bitterness.

-Friedrich Nietzsche.

Wisdom

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the firebender shut his eyes and sighed.

"You need to concentrate!"

"I am concentrating!"

"There is no heat behind your attacks."

"Sifu-hotman, I've been training with you for hours and I'm tired."

Moving to the steps of his old beach house, Zuko ran a hand through his sweaty hair and looked up at the sun, high above them in the sky. He had been pushing Aang hard this morning and had forced him to get up at dawn to meditate on the beach with him.

"Okay, you can take a rest and don't call me that."

A huge smile split the young monk's face in two, and he ran towards the waterbender who was holding a drink of sorts for him.

Zuko walked over to where he had left his Dao, and took a deep breath. There was no need for him to break, and it helped him to take his mind off of everything.

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

Looking up, Zuko grinned as he saw Sokka coming towards him, his own sword in hand.

"Sure."

As they both readied themselves, Zuko saw black dots invading his vision.

Blinking rapidly, he tried to focus on the swordsman if front of him.

"You ready?"

Instead of saying anything, Zuko crouched lower and raised his blades. He had spent the last few days sparring with Sokka, and the younger boy had really improved quickly.

Then Sokka was rushing him, blade drawn in attack. Zuko lowered one blade in defense and raised the other to pierce. As if Sokka had predicted it, he stopped his forward momentum and turned so he was perpendicular to the firebender and countering Zuko's own attack. Zuko's smile grew. Sokka was getting much better. To predict what both blades were going to do was a difficult skill to learn and Sokka was close to mastering it. Close.

As Sokka swept around the raised blade, Zuko lowered the second even further and it came very close to Sokka's calf. Sokka's blue eyes widened and with a hastily made roll, he pushed more distance between Zuko and himself.

Brow's drawn together; Sokka focused himself on the older boy.

Watch both blades because they're essentially one blade.

Shifting his feet, Sokka pressed his weight into the heels of the floor and sunk low.

Zuko blinked the sweat out of his eyes. He was hot, very hot. The black dots were back and were proving to be quite a distraction. Zuko took a step back and tried to focus on Sokka, but there were two of them. And they were both rushing towards him.

Two swords were raised high in defense, and everything grew hazy, like Sokka was a hallucination or a mirage. In a panic Zuko swung his blades in an arc, trying to defend himself from every direction but the movement had the opposite effect. He felt a biting sting in his arm and down his back and his vision went. He staggered as his world was shrouded in white. All the blood that had been pooling in his face left and flooded his ears. The roaring drowned out all other sounds.

A cold sweat dripped down his back and at the last second Zuko realized what was going to happen. He dropped his blades in hopes of catching on to something, but there was nothing there. As he fell, Zuko thought that perhaps he should feel embarrassed, fainting like this.

People were yelling and he heard his name being called. There was a tight grip on his arms but then everything turned from white to black, and with a sigh, he fell into the abyss that had eluded him for so long.

Sokka watched as Zuko took a step back, preparing himself for another attack.

In a run, Sokka raised his blade with the intention of putting the other swordsman off balance but Zuko didn't move right away. Zuko's eyes kept staring at him, then to the right of him as if someone else was there beside him. Then at the last second he seemed to realize that Sokka was in front of him and twisted. The non-lethal attack had grazed his upper arm and travelled to his back.

Sokka stopped where he was. The intention of the sparring match wasn't to inflict damage on the other person, but to show dominance in the fight. Neither one of them had actually injured each other in battle before.

"Hey, Zuko are you okay?"

He watched as the other boy as he looked around slowly, as if time had slowed, swaying where he stood.

"Zuko?"

He could hear Aang approaching them slowly, just as confused by the situation has he.

The clatter of metal reached his ears as Zuko dropped his blades and started to grope wildly about himself, looking like he was trying to grab something that was just out of reach.

Sokka dropped his own blade and ran towards him, at the same time Aang did.

He heard Katara and Toph yelling in the background but couldn't focus on what they were saying. Something was wrong with Zuko.

Then Zuko collapsed.

With one, last, large step, Sokka cleared the distance between them, and gripped his upper arms, pulling Zuko to his chest.

Aang reached them a moment later.

"Sokka, what happened?"

Sokka crouched down, keeping Zuko's head in his lap, as Aang tried to find the cause of the situation.

Suddenly Katara and Toph were there as well. Katara had her glowy blue hands and Toph was standing very still as if she was listening to something in the distance.

"I can't find anything wrong with him, other than the cut, but it's shallow and has already stopped bleeding."

"His heart beat his very slow right now," Toph said with a quiet finality.

Katara was bending the water back into the leather sack and said, "I'm not sure what happened but he seems fine, physically anyway."

Sokka nodded and looked at Aang. He looked upset, but reached over and gathered Zuko's blades, "we should head back then."

Sokka grabbed Zuko's arms and slung them across his shoulder, just as the other arm grabbed behind his knees.

Standing straight with the boy over his shoulder, they made their way to camp, without a word between them.

He was more comfortable than he had been in a long time. His body felt like it was filled with lead and his eyes were glued shut. He felt so heavy. But he was so warm. There was something threading through his hair.

'Is someone petting me?'

His bones felt like jelly and he couldn't find the energy to bring himself to care.

He could hear voices near him. Much closer to him than he was used to. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

His vision swam for a minute, then he focused on the mint green eyes of the little, blind earthbender.

"Oh, Sparky you're awake!" Toph smiled and he realized, slowly, that it was Toph petting him.

He could hear people shuffling around him, and Katara's face came into his view, "how are you feeling?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but it was dry and parched, and nothing came out. Her eyes warmed, "here, drink this."

Raising a jelly filled, shaking hand, Zuko brought the cup to his mouth and swallowed a big gulp of the cold water. It felt good, rolling down his throat, pooling in his stomach.

He noticed that they had moved his bedroll closer to theirs.

"We were worried about you Sifu-hotman," the young airbender sounded uncharacteristically subdued.

"I'm fine." His voice was raspy and a little gravelly, but it didn't hurt to speak.

There was a pause and everyone was quiet, they were all glancing at each other, as if communicating through looks.

Finally, Katara broke the silence.

"Why haven't you been sleeping Zuko?"

Golden eyes focused on the waterbender and he didn't say anything as she ploughed on, "we were talking and we figured out that you haven't been sleeping for the past few days, at least."

Zuko didn't answer right away, trying to think of a way to explain without giving anything away.

"I've had a lot on my mind."

It was an old and lame excuse, but the warmth of his blanket and the steady comfort of the fire was lulling him back to sleep. It would be so easy to slip back into the black oblivion. It was tempting. His eyes slipped closed without his permission and suddenly he could hear footsteps of the watertribe boy.

"Okay, give the man some space. He needs sleep."

Zuko could feel everyone move away except for the little earthbender, but he didn't mind. Her presence was a comfort.

He felt like he could float, free of some weight. The weight of acceptance that he had been carrying with him for three years but had refused to acknowledge. The heaviness on his chest wasn't gone, but it was lighter, more manageable. It was nice.

The space was filled with quiet idle chatter.

As he slipped off into sleep, Zuko listened to the quiet nattering of the small group. The small group he had come to admire.

The small group that was changing the world.

He fell asleep listening to the future of the nations.

Woo!

All done. That was fun.

Thank you to all for reading and thank you to those who left reviews, they are truly inspiration to continue.

Hopefully it was well written and enjoyable.

Constructive criticism is always appreciated and wanted.

Read and review.