The mirrors were broken, glass was scattered across the floor and the walls were scorched. At the center was the Prince of the Fire Nation with tears racing down his scarred face. Iroh, the retired general, had to make an effort to help him through this. He was alone when he lost Lu Ten but Zuko did not need to be alone. The prince turned around, "Uncle. Is it true? Azula told me I will be banished. She said the only way to regain my honor is to capture the Avatar."

Iroh placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder, "I am sorry. If I hadn't let you go to the meeting then-"

"No." the prince stood up, "It is all my fault. I insisted on going and I was foolish for speaking out of turn. Now I will have to take down the Avatar."

"How do you plan on that?"

"I'll scour the world for him. I'll bring him to my father and I will prove my honor."

"With what skills Prince Zuko? The Avatar may be around one hundred years old with bending techniques beyond any other. You are better off living in solace. Live a new life away from this war..."

"I'll never run away from a chance to reclaim my honor! Why would I ever do that?!"

Iroh sighed, "Prince Zuko. If you really want your firebending to be as strong. If you really want to reclaim honor, then you will have to go to the ruins of the Sun Warriors. Once you learn the ancient firebending secrets there you will be stronger. You will learn techniques that are on the level of dragons. Be careful though, there may be a few traps still lying around."

"I will leave before dawn then. Thank you Uncle." Zuko bowed.

Iroh bowed back, "I'm merely happy to see you smile once again Prince Zuko."

The prince sighed and hugged his uncle, "I'm sorry."

Zuko took a ship to leave the mainland and paid for a small boat to the ruins. The banished prince walked through until he noticed a wire. He stepped over and examined it while noting that the wires should have been old but they actually looked fairly new.

The prince pressed on and walked up several steps to a mural. The picture depicted a Sun Warrior surrounded by flames that were being spouted from two dragons.

The warrior was not getting burned or hurt at all by the dragon's flames. It could be possible that it is a technique that Uncle used to kill one of the last dragons.

He approached a sealed door. Zuko turned around to see a light hitting the floor. The prince examined the door, the floor and the light until he realized that the only way to open it was once the light hit the sunstone at a certain angle. He pulled out one of his swords and reflected the light onto the stone.

The door opened and revealed an empty room with statues depicting two figures performing a certain dance. He noticed the tiles and tried performing the Dancing Dragon but it needed two partners in order to find out what would happen. The prince left the room and decided to explore more.

Zuko began to investigate the rest of the area until he was surrounded by warriors in tribal clothing.

"Why do you trespass on our lands? Are you a thief?" the Sun Chief raised an eyebrow.

"Of course he is." one tribesman interjected.

"Quiet. Ham Ghao."

"No. I am Prince Zuko the ... former Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. I came here to learn the ancient secrets of firebending." the fallen prince answered.

"If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the Masters Ran and Shaw," he got closer to Zuko with a hard look, "When you present yourselves to them, they will examine you, they will read your hearts, your souls and your ancestry. If they deem you worthy they'll teach you, if they don't you will be destroyed on the spot."

The Sun Warriors guided him to a monument with a great flame at the center. The wall had ancient writings he was not familiar with and the flame was enormous.

"If you're going to see the masters you must bring them a piece of the Eternal Flame. This fire is the very first one. It was given to man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years." the Sun Chief explained.

"I don't believe it." Zuko was amazed by the flame.

The prince thought to himself, Maybe this is what Uncle was talking about. Achieving the power on the level of dragons would definitely help me take down the Avatar.

The Chief continued, "You will take a piece of it to the masters to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending."

He reached out and gathered fire from the Eternal Flame to give Zuko a piece, "This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy, you must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small, make it big and you might lose control."

"Remember this: Fire is life, not just destruction." he lectured.

Okay, maybe he is talking about breathing fire. I should try to become fire by ... eating it? No that is a terrible idea.

The Sun Chief pointed towards a stone structure between two mountains, "You will take your flame up there. The cave of the masters is beneath that rock."

Zuko quickly made haste to get to the masters. He had to stop a few times due to his flame constantly growing too big. The prince took a deep breath. The flame is supposed to be life. I could be pushing too hard. Am I lacking focus? I already know it is though. To capture the Avatar.

Once Zuko reached the top he was met by all the Sun Warriors and their Chief.

"Facing the judgement of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you. Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearance."

"I know I would." Ham Ghao put his hands on his hips.

Zuko looked down at his fire as the Sun Warriors began the ritual. I can do this. If the masters judge me wrong I can take them. Uncle must have done something to learn from them if he knew anything about this.

"Bring 'em out!" the prince ordered.

"Chanters!" the Sun Chief called out.

Zuko walked up the steps with his flame as the ritual began. One tribesman told him to present his flame and then the call for the masters was sounded. The earth continued to shake until two dragons flew out from the cave. The prince's flame diminished before the dragons Ran and Shaw.

Dragons?! Uncle didn't kill them?! Maybe he impressed them?! They are doing some formations ... I didn't learn any... except for the dance! It's my only hope.

"Hehe. New food for the masters." Ham Ghao said with glee.

"Quiet, Ham Ghao." the Chief hushed him.

He looked away and muttered, "What? Everyone is thinking it."

The prince performed the Dancing Dragon as best he could. By the end of it the dragons were hovering parallel to each other. They were ready to judge him. He was frozen in fear as the dragons growled and breathed their fire.

Zuko cried out in fear only to realize he was surrounded by a beautiful flame with a plethora of colors. The dragons' fire was life, it was love and it was pure energy. The flames even seemed to speak to him or show him things.

"I understand." the prince said aloud.

The flame dispersed, the dragons went back to their caves and the ritual was over. The rest of the Sun Warriors left as Zuko walked down to the Sun Chief.

"That fire was beautiful. I saw so many colors that I never imagined."

"Yes. They judged you and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending."

"I can't believe there are still living dragons. My uncle Iroh said he faced down the last dragon and killed it. He lied."

"Actually, it wasn't a total lie. Iroh was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him."

"The secret ... the power I felt back there was like harnessing the entire sun. You guys realize this right?"

"Well ... our nation is called the Sun Warriors. So yeah."

"It must be why my firebending is even stronger. It's raw energy that requires balance instead of anger. Thank you." the prince bowed.

"Now that you learned the secrets and you know of our tribes existence we have no choice but to imprison you here forever."

Zuko's jaw dropped. What?!

The chief joked, "Just kidding."

Okay.

"But seriously. Don't tell anyone." he urged the former prince.

Zuko nodded in agreement and walked away to his boar.

Zuko was confused once he rode back to the mainland. I can't use that power against the Avatar. I can't 'love' honor. He looked to see a figure waiting for him on he beach.

Wait who's that on the shore?

It was his Uncle.

The prince hugged his uncle as he got off of the boat, "Thank you. I now know how to defeat the Avatar... but it's love. Uncle. I can't do this alone. I won't be able to use that fire. It won't help me regain my honor."

"Prince Zuko. You will have to find something you care more about than anything else in this world and fight for it. You were right when you disagreed with that general. You cared about the lives of the men who fight for this nation. That is honor. That was love and compassion your mother would have wanted from a Fire Lord. Your father was wrong."

"You're wrong! My Father loves me! He will accept me!"

"Zuko. What father scars his own son over a disagreement? You saw the truth of firebending. He does not care for you. What love is there in that scar he gave you! There was no love in that fire except hatred."

The prince cried out and tried to shoot a fireball towards the sky but nothing came. Not even a small spout of flame.

"Why?!" he yelled as he dropped to his knees.

"Prince Zuko. You must leave this behind you. Otherwise the anger inside you will destroy you."

Iroh continued as he pointed to a nearby ship, "I have a ship ready to take you to the Earth Kingdom. Try to find a new purpose for your fire. I guess this is farewell, Prince Zuko. I hope to see you with beautiful flames the next time we meet."

I will find my fire. I will find it once again. The prince thought to himself.