The Fearful Prince (An Avatar the Last Airbender Fan Fiction)

Chapter 5

The comet would be arriving soon, so team Avatar was doing some sparring. Right now, Toph and Aang were in the ring going at it.

"Hey." Katara walked over to Zuko, who was sitting off on his own. It almost looked like he was shivering... "You ok? You look kinda jumpy..."

"I'm fine." He replied immediately. "I just... had a long night..." he said less harshly but continued shaking.

"Ok..." she pursed her lips. "Well, we're all here to talk if you need us..."

"Thanks..." they continued watching the fight in silence.

After a few more minutes, Toph was finally able to knock Aang out of the ring. "Ha! Nice job Twinkle Toes! If I wasn't earth bending god, you might have been able to beat me!"

"Thanks." Aang laughed, "I think..."

"Who's next?" Katara asked.

"Oh, I'll go!" Sokka waved his hand. "Sparky, want to join me?"

Zuko begrudgingly stood up. "Alright..."

Sokka noticed the bags under Zuko's eyes, "You ok man?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that." He got into a fighting stance. "Let's do this..."

From the moment the fight began, everyone could tell that there was something off. Zuko's usual fighting style was fierce and quick. However, he had taken a more defensive approach in this fight, only attacking occasionally. After several minutes, Sokka was able to knock Zuko out of the ring. Something that normally shouldn't have happened.

Sokka leaned down and helped Zuko up, "You sure you're ok?"

"Yes!" he said angrily.

"Mind if I have a go?" Everyone looked up as Hakoda entered the ring.

Zuko froze, "You... you want to fight me?"

Hakoda nodded, "yeah, show me what you got."

"I... I can't..." the fear was evident in his voice.

"Zuko, why are you so scared?" Aang came up to him. "it's just training."

"I'm not scared!" he glanced back up at Hakoda but looked away just as quickly. "I'll fight you..."

They each took a fighting stance. Hakoda threw the first jab. Once again, Zuko took the defensive. However, he was more frantic this time. Hakoda kept coming at him, and Zuko kept flinching away. Hakoda brought his hand up to strike. Finally, Zuko's walls cracked...

"I'm sorry!" he fell to the ground and covered his head with his arms for protection. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Please don't hurt me..." everyone's eye's widened.

"Zuko..." Hakoda knelt down next to him. He tried to reach out to him, but Zuko jumped away.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled and threw a fire blast. Tears were dripping down his cheeks.

"Zuko it's us!" Katara ran to him. Surprisingly, he let her hug him.

Aang came over, "Zuko... I think you should tell us what's going on..."

~time skip~

Everyone was sat around the campfire. Aang was passing out cups of tea while Katara laid a blanket over Zuko's shoulders.

"Zuko... why are you afraid of me?" Hakoda asked carefully.

He looked down at his tea. "It's not you it's just... you sort of... remind me of him... ever since... well I've never really been comfortable with..." he held his head. "Gagh... this is so hard to explain... and it's embarrassing I just..." he took a deep breath. "I've noticed... that I'm no longer comfortable around adults... well, men specifically... the crew on my ship, other soldiers, you..." he looked at Hakoda. "They always remind me of... him..."

"Who...?" Toph asked cautiously. But they all thought they already knew the answer.

"My father..." he said quietly.

"Did your father... hurt you?" Hakoda asked slowly.

Zuko turned his head so that all they could see was his scar.

"Your father did that to you?!" Katara gasped in horror.

"Yes..." he said quietly. "I... was 13. I was in one of my father's war meetings. A general wanted to sacrifice a battalion of new recruits. I knew it was wrong, so I stood against him. I challenged the general, so I inadvertently challenged my father as well... I was forced to battle him in an Agni Kai... I wouldn't fight back... so he taught me a lesson..."

"That's horrible..." Sokka muttered.

"I'm sorry I was scared of you..." he looked to Hakoda. "I just... I can't help it... And I'm sorry for last night.... I hope I didn't hurt you..."

"Don't worry about it." Hakoda smiled at him. "I just hope we can get to a point where I don't scare you..."

"I... I'd like that..." he gave him a small smile.

~time skip~

A few days later, the team went on to defeat the Fire Lord. Hakoda made sure to get a few good blows in himself, as they transferred him to prison. After that, things changed, but many others remained the same. Zuko became the next Fire Lord and was reunited with Uncle Iroh, team Avatar stayed best friends and tried to meet up at least once a month. Hakoda was even able to become more of a father figure to Zuko. Especially when he started dating a certain water bender. Everyone was finally able to have their happy ending...

The End.

(A/N - Well, that's it. Thanks so much for reading everybody. And remember, Flamieo Hotman!)