Author's note: This is a new version of a story I started years ago. Let's see how far I get this time.

Disclaimer: I, the author, do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

This can't be right.

For years, he had dreamed of only one thing, the Avatar. Every night as he tried to sleep with the ship lurching in the waves he lived out this dream. In it the Avatar was a hardened warrior, over hundred years old and with countless battles under his belt. No doubt he would be grizzled and scarred. His arsenal was the entirety of the world, all of the elements. His predecessor had leveled the imperial place on whim, and Roku had not lived through a hundred years of war. The tale of the battle would be sung by the sages for generations.

Prince Zuko and the Avatar! The exiled prince battling against the world most powerful bender to regain his honor and throne. The seas would heave. The earth would rumble. The very stars would fall from the sky. Fire, glorious fire, would consume the fabled Avatar! The world would have proof that fire is the superior element. And proof that Zuko was the true heir to the throne.

This was not that dream; this was very wrong.

This was a child, a child! Wide gray eyes stared up at him in confusion and something else. the looked so very small. Ropes were tightly wrapped around his wrists; they had no shackles small enough. The child squirmed under the firebender's gaze, eyes never looking away. It took Zuko a moment to realize that the avatar was cowering. This little boy was afraid of him. He suddenly felt very disgusted, with himself.

Was it honorable to strike fear into the heart of a child?

An old memory crawled out of his subconscious.

"Was this how I looked when…"

You will learn respect….

"How old are you?" Zuko's voice croaked, dry and gravelly.

"Twelve," came the hesitant answer.

Twelve? Even younger then I was, the prince thought. Suddenly the boy grew taller and older, more muscular. He was wreathed in a cloak of shadow and flame. The gray eyes now burned gold.

Suffering will be your teacher…

The prince took an instinctual step back as the ghost of his father stepped towards him. Ozai radiated heat and power like furnace, the very essence of a firebender. Zuko's heart pounded in chest. Every footfall echoed and reverberated as his father drew closer and closer.

Zuko wrenched his face away and closed his eyes.

His scar hurt.

Aang had watched the reactions of his captor with fear and concern. Suddenly, the firebender started backing away, fear etched on his face. But Aang hadn't done anything yet. He wasn't even looking at him anyway. Perhaps he saw a ghost, the airbender thought. The avatar himself looked halfway between running for it and trying to help the distraught teenager.

Unknown to the Aang, Zuko's thoughts were running a similar thread. After all, if his father would do…that to his own son, what would befall this child?

The exile reared his head back and let lose a roar of flame. The almost liquid fire spread out across the ceiling of the room, bathing the room in an orange and amber hue. This effect faded slowly as Zuko looked back to the boy, the object of his multi-year hunt, the price of his honor.

All he had to do was hold him and take him back to his father. The Fire Lord would deal with the child, not him. Zuko would be home, honor restored. He would be whole again. This child, however, would not. If he was allowed to live, Ozai would take…steps to insure he would never be a threat again.

He shuddered at the thought.

Zuko roughly grabbed the ropes around the boy's wrists, eliciting a yelp from him. Using a quick, hot, burst of fire, Zuko burned through the bindings between the boy's wrists. The gray-eyed boy looked up at him, waiting to see what happened next…perhaps too afraid to hope…

"Go," barked the prince, a little harsher then what he intended.

"Really!" The boy's eyes lit up, his face breaking into an ear to ear smile. Zuko didn't even know people could smile like that. The prince's train of thought on overly-cheerful smiles was short-lived. The boisterous child decided to show his gratitude by glomping the gloomy teenager.

Normally, anyone in this situation would have found themselves rather crispy. Fortunately for the Avatar, Zuko was still shocked by his own decision to free the child. Being on the floor embraced by that very same child, forced the prince's mind to shut down temporarily. The poor teenager's mind could only take in so much in one day after all. Taking the silence as an acceptance, the boy quickly began to ramble.

"Hey! Have you ever meet my friend Kuzon? He is from the Fire Nation too. Course he would really old by now. Do they still make fire fla…"

"Get off or the chains go back on."

"Yes sir!" The happy child quickly jumped back and gave the prince a mock salute. He then proceeded to ignore the smoke coming from the prince's mouth. Aang gave him a wry smile. The boy they wondered if all teenagers in this century were this grumpy. Any further musing or retaliation by Zuko was quickly as the pair heard fighting break out on the deck.

After rushing up to the deck, side by side with the Avatar, Prince Zuko was unsure whether to be impressed with the boy's friends or angry with his own men. The waterbending girl already had three of his soldiers frozen to deck and fourth was just washed overboard. Her moves were amateurish and lacked some of the pure grace the prince knew waterbenders were fabled for, but she was effective none the less. He found himself admiring the determination in her eyes, as well as some other parts of her.

The water tribe boy, thankfully without the face paint, wasn't faring as well. Obviously untrained, the boy swung his weapon wildly screaming all the while. Though even he managed to get in a couple lucky shots. The prince quickly decided that his men would be running drills for the rest of the month.

Now the third one, was entirely different story. The giant six-legged bison landed short before the ship started tip towards it. A half dozen of his soldiers stood in front of the fluffy beast, trying to figure out how to fight something like that. The bison promptly swung around and knocked them into the arctic waters with a beaver-like tail. The creature gave a deep rumbling below as it noticed that its friend was on deck.

The prince decided enough was enough.

"Stand down!" he yelled, sheer command reverberating in his voice. The soldiers quickly turned to face their prince and stood at rapt attention. The water tribe siblings stood dazed as they their enemies ignored them. The water tribe boy started to reach his club over to whack the head of the soldier next him when the avatar called out.

"Sokka! It's alright!" Aang said, barely hiding his amusement.

"The Avatar and his friends are free to leave," declared the banished prince of the Fire Nation. Though they looked at each other in disbelief, the sailors and marines quickly moved away from the water tribesmen and the bison. If any harbored doubts about the prince's actions, they kept it to themselves, for now.

Zuko decided it would be best not to give them too much time to think. " Don't just stand there! Get those men out the water! Unfeeze them! Medics, do your jobs! I want this ship ready to go an in hour!"

He looked down at the avatar. There that silly grin was still on his face. Mirth danced in his gray eyes. The boy looked towards his friends and started head towards them. Zuko quickly and quietly said, "Stay by me."

The avatar looked back up at him, worry and confusion marring his face. "You said we can go."

Keeping his eyes forward, Zuko replied. "You can, don't worry. But you are still the Fire Nation's biggest enemy."

He could almost see the boy's heart sink. Zuko sighed, now he felt like a jerk again.

"Just stay by me."

With a steady determined pace, they crossed the ship over to the bison.

The male warrior kept a firm grip on his club and a wary eye the firebenders, himself especially. Zuko approved. This was the most the boy had acted like a warrior so far. He nodded to him, the water tribe boy seemed to understand the gesture.

The waterbender looked more confused more than anything else. She had no idea how to react, torn between attacking the invaders and being friendly. Her hands we close to her bending water, but her eyes were watching his men unfreeze their comrades that she had frozen. Compassion for the enemy? He understood her confusion, all too well. He thought of trying to smile at her, but knew how that could backfire with his scar. Zuko settled for another nod.

The bison, like his master, took an instant liking to the prince, when he wasn't attacking them. This new show of affection left prince once again on his ass. This time had the bonus of being covered in bison slobber. Wiping the large amounts of the sticky liquid from his face, the prince decided that anymore displays of affection would probably kill him…or force him to hurt someone else. Neither were good options.

Standing, Zuko found the avatar sitting on the bison's massive head with his friends in the saddle behind him. The prince locked eyes with him, "You shouldn't return to village, there will be other ships coming soon."

The young avatar nodded, his face looking more grave then a twelve-year-old should.

"Come with us," said the water tribe girl uncertainly. She was quickly admonished by her brother, which she ignored with practiced ease. Gold-amber eyes locked with those ocean-blues. "We could use your help."

He could see the worry in her eyes. Perhaps she had deduced the amount of danger he was in now. She was too soft for this war. Still, the prince stiffened at the request. While the concern was warranted, he doubted they fully understood the ramifications of what she asked.

True, he had most likely destroyed any chance of every going home. However, there was a great difference between releasing a scared little boy and siding with the enemy. He couldn't do it.

He turned his back on her, "I have committed enough treason for one day."

Not watching his nation's greatest enemy leave, the prince walked back to his private chambers. The men along his path said nothing, but several watched him leave. He had at least a few moments before the mutiny then.

His footsteps seemed to be louder than usual against the metal plating. The dark and silence surrounded him, as if understanding his crime. The fires lighting his path whispered, "traitor." And the shadows they cast taunted him with images of home he would never see again.. Zuko was prepared to succumb to the finality of the moment when a comforting hand placed on his shoulder.

"You did a good thing, my nephew," spoke the caring voice of his uncle, "There is no honor in harming an innocent child, avatar or not."

"Thank you, Uncle."