Avatar: The Banished Fire Prince

The Southern Water Tribe

"Uncle, do we really have to travel to the Southern Water Tribe?" Zuko asked, barging into his uncle's room.
"Yes! Of course! It is sad that all their benders and warriors are gone, but that means they will not fight us," said a very sleepy Iroh.

Their ship continued to steer closer to the Tribe. Suddenly, they came to a stop. The two stepped out onto the deck, along with Azula and a few others of the crew.

"What happened?!" Zuko demanded.
"I'm sorry, Prince Zuko, Princess Azula, General Iroh, but there is an iceberg in front of us. We will have to turn back and find another route," said one of his men.
"ARgh!!" Zuko yelled, closing his eyes and swinging his arms down from above his head, irritated.
(A/N: like imagine what Katara did ep. 1. I'm bad at describing stuff, sorry.)

He heard a uniform gasp from all his men and a huge "CRACK!" from the iceberg. He opened his eyes, and saw that everyone was staring at him, wide eyed. He slowly turned and saw that there was suddenly a crack in the iceberg.

"Prince Zuko," said his uncle, "You are a waterbender."

-----

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!" screamed a shocked and pretty terrified Sokka, "WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?"
"I don't know, Sokka," said his equally shocked sister, "Maybe that ship did it." 

Suddenly, the iceberg split in two, and the two pieces fell, heading for them. Their canoe was crushed, and the two of them almost fell into the water, but Sokka was able to jump onto a piece of ice and pulled Katara with him. The ship turned slightly, and front bit of the boat opened and stopped in front of the two siblings. Seeing that this was a Fire Nation ship, Sokka picked up his weapon and positioned himself in front of his sister. Katara got into a fighting stance and picked up some water. Although she was not a great waterbender yet, she still had to do her best to protect her tribe.

A short, chubby, old man appeared, and the two narrowed their eyes, preparing for the worst. Then, the man bowed at them. Still, they did not drop their weapons. 

"My name is Iroh. Please, my nephew, my niece, and I are here to visit the wonderful Southern Water Tribe. We come in peace. I am sorry our ship crushed your canoe."
With a sigh, a younger boy with a scar on his left eye said, "I am his nephew, Zuko. I was banished from the Fire Nation and we have been travelling around the world ever since." The girl said, "I'm Azula, his niece! It's nice to meet you."

Katara was tired from holding her water anyways and she dropped it. Sokka relaxed his stance slightly, but still did not lower his weapon.

"How are you going to prove it?" Sokka asked, "You know, we can't just bring people from the Fire Nation to our village."
"We would be happy to give you a lift, seeing your canoe is gone now," Iroh said.

Sokka and Katara exchanged a look, thinking about it.

"I don't think people of the Fire Nation can be trusted," she said to them.
"Of course. I understand," said Iroh, "Then, perhaps, do you know anyone who could teach my nephew waterbending?"
"Why would you people want to learn weird water magic?" asked Sokka, seriously confused.
"My nephew seems to have picked up a new trick on the way here," he said, smiling at them.

Zuko showed them that he was able to pick up the water. Then, to prove he was the avatar, he made a small flame and held it in his hand. "I think I'm the avatar," he said, "and I would like help from bending masters to learn the four elements." He bowed at them sincerely and respectfully.

Katara and her brother looked at the three people in front of them, stunned. Was this the avatar? The new avatar?

Katara finally realized that these people meant no harm to them, and she told them, "I'm a waterbender, but I'm the last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe, and I still barely know the basics. I'm sorry, but the only waterbending masters are in the North Pole."
"That is okay. We were going to head there soon anyways," said Iroh, "What are your names?"
"I'm Sokka, and this is my sister Katara," said Sokka, "And... Could we have a lift back? That you said?"
"Of course," Iroh said with a warm chuckle.

Iroh and the others escorted the two back into their ship. They were still a tiny bit sceptical, but they didn't really know another way to get back.

"Would you like some tea?" Iroh said once they were on the deck.
"No, thank you for offering though," Katara replied.
"Uncle, they still barely trust us. What makes you think they would want tea?" Zuko mumbled.

The group sat in silence while they headed for the village. Once they were there, they tried to not ruin the walls, so they stopped a bit to the right of the village and trudged through some snow to get to the village. It was empty. Everyone was inside the huts. Sokka and Katara ran to their gran-gran and told her what had happened. She decided to see the strangers. They bowed to her and introduced themselves. Zuko showed her that he was able to bend two elements. 

"You're the avatar," she said.
"Yes, I am,"

She brought the rest of the village to meet them, and they soon saw that there were only women, children, and two really old men.

----- 

It was almost evening now, and Sokka and Katara were getting back from their second and more successful, fishing trip of the day. They had caught almost ten fish. Zuko and Azula were with them, and they helped a bit. Zuko also almost fell off the canoe a few times, but luckily, he didn't. They knew a lot more about each other, and they were quickly becoming friends.

-----

Zuko's POV:

"Uncle, I have decided that I will never return to the Fire Nation," said Zuko, and Azula nodded in agreement.
"Well, Zuko, never say never. But I agree. For now, the Fire Nation is not our home, nor is it our friend."
"Thank you, Uncle."
"There is no need to thank me."

And we all cut our top knots, allowing our past in the Fire Nation to leave along with them.

A/N This is was just me getting rid of ponytail Zuko. Sorry if it was random.