The Boy in the Iceberg

Chapter One

When that light came into the sky, the young woman knew that nothing but terrible things would come from it. None the less, she had gazed at it, because truly, it was a sight for anyone's eyes. A spectacle. An omen.

She sighed as the column of light in the sky dissipated, and hugged her arms as the sharp, icy wind billowed around her. For a moment she closed her eyes, and reminded herself that the warmth of the sun would keep her from freezing, and her internal warmth rose, causing the heat to practically radiate off of her skin.

Her amber eyes turned downwards towards the foredeck, where two figures resided. One was sitting in front of a pai sho table, his hair gray and his body stout, and the other was moving towards him, a young man with jet black hair in a ponytail, a scar over his eye, and a horrendous temper.

She watched with a slight disinterest, seeing that the argument that was unfolding always seemed to be one sided. The young man always shouted while the older man spouted off wisdom and philosophies. The shouting part was what kept her up at the observation deck.

Suddenly, the ship changed course, and the young woman quickly adjusted her footing without having to remove her hands from her pockets, and then turned to look at the helmsman.

"Why have we changed course?" She asked. Her looked towards her, and gave a small shrug.

"Your brother's orders, Princess Lian. 'Head a course for the light', he said." He answered. Princess Lian sighed, and walked towards the helm so that she could make her way down to the foredeck, and speak to her brother.

As she walked by the helmsman, and lay a on his shoulder, and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, Lee, and remember, you can just call me Lian." She smiled, causing the old helmsman to just grin and nod at the Princess.

"Yes, Princ-" He stopped himself, and Lian chuckled. "Lian."

"Don't work too hard, Lee." Lian chuckled as she walked towards the door to the stairway, and waved over her shoulder.

"I'll try not to, until your brother says otherwise." Lee joked as Lian opened the door, and then disappeared behind it.

As she walked through the halls of the ships, she was given casual- but respectful nods of the head or a friendly hello. The first day she had boarded this ship the crew had been ordered to bow to her- and as soon as the first member of the crew had bowed, she had asked that he stand, introduce himself- and not to call her Princess.

For a member of the royal Fire Nation family- she was famous for her humble nature. Most of the population had known her more for her modesty- than her abnormal looks.

When she finally made her way to the foredeck, the first sound that met her ears was her brother's grunts and growls as he began his training- which after he finished, she would start her own training.

"Ah, Lian. Would you like a cup of tea?" The older man asked as she approached. Lian just smiled at him, and then diverted her own course from her brother, to the man at the pai sho table.

"I would love a cup of tea Uncle." She answered as she sat next to him on a mat that he always laid out just in case anyone else chose to play with him. "Jasmine?"

"Of course!" Her Uncle replied with a small laugh. She only smiled as accepted the tea, and brought it up to her nose to take in its wonderful scent.

"Of course, Uncle Iroh, how silly of me to ask." Lian smirked just before she brought the cup to her lips, and took a sip of it. Uncle Iroh always makes the best tea. Lian then looked towards her brother, and frowned. He seemed so… angry. More so than usual.

Iroh noticed her change in demeanor, and sighed.

"He believes he has finally found the Avatar." Iroh said quietly, causing Lian's eyebrow to raise as she observed her brother's form. He wasn't doing it correctly. He was forcing the fire from his body. He wasn't breathing correctly.

"Really?" She whispered back as she continued to frown at her brother's movements. He was too stubborn. He wouldn't listen. She turned back to her cup of tea, and raised it up to her lips with both hands as the boat shifted in the cold South Pole waters, and took a sip of the tea that had already started to cool. Lian took a deep breath of the cold air, held it for a moment as he Uncle watched with curious eyes, and then slowly blew it out as hot air that was as warm as any fire.

Her tea was warm in no time.

"Very good, Lian. You've gotten better at that." He commented. Lian just shrugged as she took a sip, and then gave a sideways glance at her brother, which he swiftly glowered at when he felt her gaze.

"Why does he keep doing this to himself, Uncle? It will only cause him hurt in the long run." She sighed quietly. So quietly that Iroh had strained to hear, but none the less, he did hear.

"Your brother does not realize that he has the ability to control his own destiny, to restore his own honor." Iroh looks disappointed. Almost heartbroken, even.

Lian reached over, and mindlessly adjusted her Uncle's lotus tile that resided in the center of the board, and then looked back towards her brother.

He still wasn't breathing correctly. Lian sighed loudly, and her brother abruptly stopped, and glared at her.

"What?!" Her snarled. "You think you can do it better?" He challenged as he took a few steps towards her, his hands curled into fists and his face twisted with anger.

Lian simply frowned at him, and resisted the urge to snap back at him. She was well aware that she was more mature than that, no matter how tempting it was.

"Zuko, you are perfectly capable of doing that drill correctly if you would just listen to Uncle." She answered calmly as she held her cup of tea close to her lips, and prepared to take a sip of it. Zuko growled, and shot a small flame at her cup, and the cup of tea went flying into the air, tea and all, and coated the deck next to her with the Jasmine tea that she had been eager to drink.

Lian frowned at the open sea that was before her, her hands still held out in front of her face as if she were still going to take a sip, and then closed her eyes in an attempt to control her temper, unlike her brother. Iroh just gazed down sadly at the spill tea, and Zuko glared at his sister.

Finally, Lian lowered her hands, stood, and then politely bowed at her Uncle.

"Uncle, may I have permission to spar with Zuko?" She asked with her hands clasped in front of her. Iroh raised an eyebrow at his niece, and then glanced at his nephew.

The two were a year apart, but their maturity spanned lifetimes in differences.

He smacked his lips in pleasure as he pulled his cup of tea away from him, and then nodded at Lian, who promptly reached up, and began undoing her coat.

"Yes, you may. But do not hurt each other too badly." He answered almost lazily.

Lian slowly and carefully folded her coat, and placed it on the corner of the pai sho table. Her sparring clothes were simple, but still displayed her royal heritage with their rich red colors, and the warm gold lining.

"Alright Zuko." She spoke as she followed him back towards the part of the deck he had been training at. The soldiers who had been sparring with Zuko moved away, and watched at a safe distance as Lian carefully watched her brother when they came to a stop, and he turned to face her. "Your move."

The two only watched each other for a few moments, the wind stirring each other's hair.

Finally, Zuko made his move, and kicked a ball of fire at his sister, who only sighed and to her brother's fury, she simply gave her hand a casual wave, and the fireball her brother had sent towards her dissipated into embers. Zuko growled, and sent another towards her in the form of a forceful, but incorrectly done, punch, and she gracefully spun around and diverted the attack towards the sky, causing it to be blow out by the cold winds.

"The breath, Zuko, remember the breath." She encouraged as Zuko sent another fireball at her, and growled loudly when he watched her catch it in her hands, and simply press it between her hands to smother the flames. The smoke billowed away quickly in the cold wind, and Lian finally took a fighting stance.

Lian then pushed herself off of the metal deck, and rose into the air with one leg extended. The spun in a semi circle, leaving an enormous trail of fire in her wake, forcing Zuko back. He hissed in anger, and in an attempt to fight back, sent a violent fireball towards Lian.

Lian only turned, caught it in her left hand, and then blew air from her lips, willing the fire to spring forward like the breath of a dragon.

Zuko fell back to avoid the flames, and in his frustration, slammed a fist on the ground at his defeat.

When Lian rose from her fighting stance, she sighed, and then walked forwards towards her brother, who was still lying on the deck. When she was finally next to him, she held out a hand to him, and watched as she just glared at her- and then suddenly squinted.

"Your hair is shining in my eyes." He snapped as he reached up, and took his sister's hand. Even though Zuko was terribly abrasive towards his sister, the two somewhat respected each other outside of training. Zuko became terribly frustrated by Lian's success with firebending during their training, and most of the time forgot that she was not the enemy, but an ally.

Once Zuko was standing, Lian reached up, and held a piece of her hair between her fingers.

The golden hair glimmered in the sunlight that had peeked out from behind the clouds that seemed to coat the entire South Pole. Her hair was the second quality about her that the Fire Nation always seemed to remember. It was abnormal, and at first, the Fire Nation saw it as an atrocity. Her father had been appalled- and still was. It was the reason she had been sent with Zuko when he had been banished. To rid him of the shame that he was so open with his children of.

But it was the sign of thriving life. The sign of being touched by a Spirit.

"Sorry about that. I can't really help it." She muttered. Lian was never exactly a fan of her hair color, no matter what it stood for. But none the less, she was grateful for what the Spirit that had bestowed it upon her had done for her many, many years ago. And unlike her baby sister, Azula, who always wore her hair in a topknot and always wore her crown, Lian frequently wore her long hair down, or in a simple braid tied with a red ribbon.

Another sign of her humble demeanor. Because she never allowed a servant to touch her hair or make them clean her feet. She did everything- but dresses herself in her fine clothes, by herself. Those stupid dress clothes were far to difficult to put on all by herself. Too many strings, buttons, and other irritating fastenings.

"Lian, we shall train tomorrow." Iroh spoke as he stood, and stretched. "I am hungry and tired. And you have much more energy than I." He chuckled as he turned to walk with his niece and nephew, who were watching him carefully as they walked towards the entrance to the warm insides to the ship.

Lian smiled at her Uncle, and nodded.

"Alright Uncle. We'll train tomorrow. But you have to teach me that move you made up." She winked, and Zuko scowled. Whenever Lian and Iroh discussed knew techniques that Lian was ready to move onto, but not Zuko, he got agitated, and even went so far as to storm away and try them himself with only their description. This usually resulted in minor burns to the unlucky soldiers he had bossed around and damage to the foredeck. A few burns were still visible. Like scars on skin.

"I shall, Lian, I shall." He smiled. "But for now, I bid you two goodnight." He politely gave the two a slight bow, and then turned to walk away from his quarters, and left the two on their own, standing in the corridor.

Zuko huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, and Lian turned her eyes to look at him with a slight look of confusion on her face.

Lian gazed at him for a moment, and then cocked her head to the side slightly.

"What?" She asked as she turned her body towards him. He shrugged, and Lian promptly punched him in the arm, causing his eyes to enlarge, and his feet to stumble in surprise. It was rare that Lian would throw such a sucker punch at her brother, but this moment called for it.

"Speak, Zuko, it's not difficult. You just open your mouth and you know-"She moved her mouth around and rose up a hand and imitated speaking. Zuko shot her an annoyed look, and then frowned deeply at his golden haired sibling.

Even though Lian was incredibly mature most of the time, when she was with her siblings, she was incredibly childish at times.

"It's nothing." He replied as he began to walk off. "I'm going to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow, so I'd advise you to turn in too." And with that, he disappeared behind the corner, leaving Lian alone in the corridor with nothing but the sound of the ship groaning in the waters beneath her.

Lian only sighed, and then just as her brother recommended. She turned in for the night.

-0-

The next morning, Lian rose with the sun, just as she always did, lied around for a while, then dressed herself properly for the day ahead of her, plaited her hair in a neat braid, and then exited her room to find her Uncle Iroh, or her brother Zuko.

To say the least, she couldn't find any sign of them inside of the ship. She didn't even come across a single soldier in the corridors of the ship.

Lian stopped into the middle of the hallway she had been walking in, turned to look behind her, then ahead of her, and then suddenly threw her hands in the air in frustration.

"Hello?!" She yelled, causing her voice to travel down the steel halls.

When she doesn't receive any answer, she sighs, and then continues towards the deck. Zuko must have called a meeting. That's why no one was at their stations.

When she began climbing up the stairs to the deck, she wind already began to nip her skin and send shivers up her spine, and little pieces of hair that had escaped her neat braid whipped her cheeks and billowed around her. She only gave a small, quiet groan, and focused on her internal heat. And at her whim, the heat was radiating off of her, and she smiled as the cold seemed to disappear, and finally emerged onto the deck where her eyes landed on the sight of her brother, and the soldiers who had been missing from their stations all lined up and dressed in their armor behind him.

Lian raised an eyebrow at the sight and began to walk forwards towards her brother.

"Zuko, what are you-? " The ship abruptly lurches, and Lian is forced to adjust her footing awkwardly to avoid falling onto the hard, cold steel. When she looks back up, her feet are spread wide apart, and her arms are held out straight to keep her balance.

"What in Agni..?" She whispered to herself as she gazed about the deck. It appeared they were sailing through ice. But for what?

"Zuko! What are you doing?!" Lian shouted as she finally began to move towards her brother, but was forced to adjust her footing continuously as she went due to the ship's uneasy travels. When she finally reached her brother, and held onto his shoulder and the rail of the deck for support, she could see what they were moving through ice for. She watched with wide amber eyes as they plowed through giant wall made of snow, and small blue tents and people running from the ship came into view.

A water tribe village.

"Zuko, what-" Zuko cut her off when he ordered the men to lower the bowsprit, and prepare to disembark.

Lian glared at her brother when he chose to ignore him, and then roughly grabbed his shoulder, which was covered by his armor. This was when he finally looked at her.

"What in Agni are you doing?!" She shouted over the chaos. Zuko's eyes narrowed at his sister, and he somewhat gently pushed her hand off of him.

"Ending my search for the Avatar, that's what I'm doing." He snapped as he placed a helmet on his head- making himself look absolutely ridiculous, and then waved his troops forwards when the bowsprit finally landed.

Lian sighed as he brother moved down the lowered bowsprit, and after all the troops had passed her by, she followed. The least she could do was make sure he didn't make a total fool of himself.

By the time Lian was halfway down the plank, Zuko and his soldiers were already in the snow, and the villagers looked terrified out of their wits.

Except for the one that was crying like a banshee as he charged at Zuko.

Lian didn't even bother to stop her descent down the plank as she watched the scene unfold.

Zuko kicked the boy's weapon out of his hands with a straight face, and then without a single ounce of effort, kicked the boy in the face, and sent him flying back into the snow, where his head gets stuck and he begins to struggle to free himself. Lian couldn't help but giggle at the sight. He looked like an ostrich horse that had stuck its head in the sand just a little too deep.

Zuko moves closer to the villagers, and they cower in fear.

"Where are you hiding him?" Zuko demanded as he moved closer to the villagers, who looked even more afraid now that their only protection had been tossed aside like a set of dirty underclothes.

Lian's amber eyes moved swiftly across the small group of villagers before her. Most of them were women, which was no surprise. Most men where off at war even in the fire nation, where the military allowed women to fight.

It was only when Lian finally stood slightly behind her brother that she felt eyes on her, which was nothing she wasn't used to.

Suddenly, Zuko snatches an elderly woman from her granddaughter's hands, and the all of the villagers react with shouts of worry and fear.

Lian's eyes widen at her brother's actions, and she moves to stop him from doing anything rash.

"He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?" He shouted accusingly. When Lian grasped his shoulder though, he turned his head slightly to her, and scowled even more.

"Let her go, Zuko. She did nothing to you." Lian hissed quietly enough for only Zuko to hear. Zuko growled, and then roughly shoved the woman back towards her granddaughter. Lian scowled at her, but was pleased that he let the woman go.

But before she could stop him, he snarled in frustration, and launched a gout of flame over the villagers heads, causing them to scream in fear.

"I know you're hiding him!" Zuko shouts violently.

Lian's eyes widen for fear of the villager's safety, and she grabs Zuko's wrist, and turns it towards the sky, causing the flames to stop short.

"Zuko, stop!" She shouted over the screams and the cackling of the flames. Zuko pulled his wrist from his sister's grasp, and took a step away from her.

"Lian, if you're not going to help me, then get out of my way!" He bellowed through gritted teeth, and his narrow eyes glared daggers at the golden haired girl that stood before him, returning the glare with just as much vigor as her brother.

But abruptly, the sibling's argument is interrupted by yet another feeble war cry, and the two royal fire benders turn to look. Lian's expression was curious, while Zuko's was horribly annoyed.

Lian swiftly moves out of the way, and the water tribe boy yet again tries to attack Zuko, who expertly dodges the boy's charge, and then flips the boy over his head, winding the water tribe boy.

Zuko then fires a blast of flame at the boy, but the boy is quick, and rolls out of the way, and suddenly throws a boomerang at Zuko, which he is surprised by, and narrowly avoids.

Lian watches as the boomerang flies away, and raises an eyebrow at it. She then leans towards a nearby water tribe woman, who cowers slightly as Lian continues to watch the boomerang and whispers; "Don't those things come back?"

The water tribe woman just nods with her eyes wide, and full of fear, and Lian only replies with a small hmm.

A little boy nearby shouts out as he throws a spear at the water tribe boy that continues to attack Zuko and Lian gives a small smirk.

"Show no fear!" the little boy shouts.

The Water Tribe boy catches the spear, and charges at Zuko, who, as the Water Tribe Boy reaches him, breaks the spear's shaft with his wrist guards, then roughly pulls the staff out of the boy's hands, and whacks him on the head with it several times before snapping the staff in half on his knee. The Boy is now on the ground, rubbing his head, while Zuko stands over him.

As Lian watches on next to the villagers, who keep a wary eye on her, and another eye on the fight, she feels a tug on her pant leg, and looks down with wide eyes.

It was a little water tribe girl, probably around three or four years old with a multitude of hair doilies in her hair that she had obviously made and put in herself.

Lian crouched to speak to the girl, and the child promptly pointed at Lian's hair.

"Your hair is pretty." She spoke bluntly, but sweetly, and loud enough for her mother to hear. The woman Lian had been standing next to gasped loudly, and on reflex, began to reach down to the girl; but before she could pick her up, the girl had already latched onto a piece of Lian's golden hair, and was now stroking it with her other small hand.

"It's soft too!" She shouted. Lian laughed, and then looked over to the fight, just in time to watch the boomerang fly back- and peg Zuko in the head, causing his helmet to turn to the side. With the helmet now stuck on his head, he began to fire of random spouts f fire.

"Why thank you, sweetheart. I like your hair too." Lian commented as she chuckled at her brother's insolence. Lian turned to look back at the girl, and smiled at the multitude of hair ties and fastenings.

"Here, I have something you may like." Lian chuckled as she reached into her pocket, and pulled out a bright red hair fastening. It was shaped like fire, and was made to hold a royal top-knot. She held it out to the girl, and she squealed happily, and accepted it in her mitten covered hands.

"Thank you!" The girl giggled as she attempted to place the hair fastening in her hair, but her mother snatched her up, and held the girl tightly in her arms, silently telling Lian that she was no longer welcome to speak to her.

Lian silently looked up at the woman, who was looking at Lian with a mixture of anger and fright, and Lian only bowed her head, stood, and walked away from the Mother and her child.

"Bye bye pretty lady!" The girl managed to shout before her mother shushed her.

Apparently Lian had missed something, because when she turned away from the Mother and her child, she ran straight into a very confused penguin, and her brother was sprawled out on the ground with his butt in the air, and his helmet resting on top.

Zuko quickly pulled himself up as Lian slowly walked over, and assumed a firebending stance as a boy with an sky blue arrow on his head, planted his staff into the ground, prepared to fight if necessary.

Zuko's soldiers had already surrounded the boy with the arrows, as Lian dared to get closer, but not too close. But when the soldiers take one step forward to face the boy, Lian is given a surprise.

The men flew backwards, and Lian had to dive into the snow to avoid them as they went flying into walls of snow and knocked over tents.

As soon as Lian knew she was safe, her head popped up from under her hands, her amber eyes wide and full of shock, even if they were covered by a few strands of hair that had been knocked out of place by her fall. Zuko was hit with blast of air as well, but just as Uncle had told him to during training, he braced himself, covered his face with his arms, and held his ground.

When Zuko looked up, the Boy with the arrow on his head gave Zuko a severe look.

"Looking for me?" The Boy asked as he took a fighting stance, and pointed his staff at Zuko.

"He's an airbender?" She gasped in awe as her brother began to shout.

"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko gaped as his eyes nearly popped out of his sockets.

The girl whose grandmother had been ripped from her hands and the boy who had attacked Zuko both gaped as well.

"Aang?" The girl said quietly, but loudly enough for Lian to hear.

"No way." The Boy gasped. Lian stared at the two for a moment, and then looked towards the boy and her brother, who were both in fighting stances.

Zuko looked like he was ready to explode, while the boy looked calm, but also a bit intimidated.

Lian finally decided to intervene, and began to move forwards towards her brother.

"Zuko I don't think this is-" She was cut off by her brother.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko snarled as Lian came up close by him.

"Zuko-" Lian tried again, but was yet again cut off, but this time by the boy.

"Well you're just a teenager." He replied with a slight tone of confusion in his voice. Lian couldn't help but giggle, and for a moment, the airbender's eyes turned to her, and he was distracted.

Zuko spotted this opportunity to attack, and began firing blast after blast, causing Lian to jump and the airbender to quickly move into action, by spinning his staff to keep the flames back.

Lian runs towards her brother as the villagers begin to scream, and the airbender begins to look terrified, and just as she had before during their training, she grabbed Zuko's wrist, twisted it, and his last blast was forced up into the sky, far, far away from the innocent villagers.

Zuko forced his wrist from his sister's grasp, and pushed her with his other free hand.

"What are you doing!?" He snarled at his sister as she rubbed the shoulder he had shoved. He had pushed a bit harder than he had though, and she wasn't wearing armor. "You're supposed to be helping me!" He yelled loudly as the villagers and the airbender watched with curiosity.

"Zuko this is not the way to do this," She whispered, trying to keep their conversation as private as possible. Obviously that didn't do much. The villagers were dead quiet and they were making the only sounds for miles. "You don't have to put innocent lives at risk!" She snapped as she stomped her foot and pointed a finger at her brother.

Zuko growled, and with the hand that was out of Lian's reach, he threw one last blast at the airbender, and the airbender did the same movement to dissipate it. Before Lian can try and stop Zuko again, the airbender shouts.

"If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" He asks as he holds his staff to his side, and stares at the two firebenders before him, as if both of them played a part in that decision.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at the proposition, and was about to retaliate when Lian put a hand on his outstretched arm.

"Zuko. He's asking you to take him." She pointed out to him. Zuko's amber eyes rolled up towards his sister, who was still standing straight up, and narrowed. "Just do it." She practically pleaded with him.

Zuko looked at his sister for a moment longer, and then finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, he stood, and nodded his head at the airbender in agreement.

The airbender planted his staff in the snow, and allowed the two guards that approached him to bound his hands behind him.

"No, Aang!" The girl shouted as she moved forwards. "Don't do this!" Lian sent the girl a sorrowful look, and sighed, causing the boy that was next to the girl to look at Lian.

Lian froze, and her eyes grew wide. His did too- but she could tell she wasn't looking at his face, he was staring at her golden hair.

"Don't worry Katara," The boy named Aang said kindly. Lian thought him to be brave as she looked towards him. "It'll be okay."

The guards holding him pushed him forwards roughly, and Lian sent them a deep frown, and began to move forwards as the boy began to speak again, but this time, his smile didn't look as genuine.

"Take care of Appa for me until I get back." He said as Lian finally approached the guards, and held up a hand to them.

"I'll take him." Lian said as she reached for Aang's shoulder, and gripped it firmly, but gently. The guards looked confused, but didn't protest, and allowed Lian to guide the boy onto the ship.

Lian looked down at the boy, and sent him a small smile, but all that the boy could muster was a small, forced looking grin.

"I'm sorry about this," Lian whispered as they walked up the gangplank. "I really am."

The boy shrugged, and looked down at his feet as Lian guided him towards the entrance to the ship.

"It's alright." He sounded so downtrodden. It broke Lian's heart. "I guess."

Zuko walked past them, and shouted up to the helmsman.

"Head a course for the Fire Nation." He then looked towards his sister, and smiled for the first time in years. Lian looked stunned. "We're going home."

While Lian forced a smile on her face, she saw Aang turn around one last time, and send his friends a smile as if to give them an ounce of hope.

Lian hoped that an ounce of hope would go a long, long way.

-0-

Hope you guys like it!