A Fighter's Heart (An Avatar Fic)

Under The Surface

Zuko's eyes opened as the sun rose, just as they had for the past five years. He stared at a blade of grass that stood less than a foot from his face and focused on it narrowing his eyes. The blade began to smolder, folding in on itself crumpling until nothing remained. He smirked to himself and sat up, resting his right elbow on his knee and rubbed his eyes clear with his left hand.

Today's the day. He sighed and glanced at the trees. He was no coward, but he was no fool. He knew how slim the chances were of him making out alive. He remembered the day when his father received the news that the group of Ignis Furiis that he'd sent in to gain information and kill Chief Hakoda, had been pronounced dead. The Fire Lord had been furious because he'd sent every one of into the abyss, now there wasn't one remaining. That was the day before his training started.

He sat up to his knees and emptied his only bag, in it he had :the remainder of the dried meat he'd brought, a pouch filled with water, and a large assortment of knives and the place where he slept was his bow, container of arrows, and his dao swords.

He picked up one of the daggers and examined it, it was one of the smallest of his deadly collection and had a sinuous blade on both sides. It was the first dagger he'd ever received; his good friend, Mai, had given it to him for his twelfth birthday along with a promise to teach him how to throw it. Her promise was kept, and every morning for a year they woke up at dawn and practiced together. Zuko smiled at the memory, he just learned how to throw it with perfect precision when he left.

Before that tragic day everyone had teased about how Zuko and Mai would one day be married; Zuko had even thought that he may have had feelings for the girl. But that didn't matter anymore. Ignis Furiis had been known for their lack of mercy, compassion, and overall ability to show emotion. So it was assumed that Zuko was the same... but he wasn't. After about two weeks after his training had begun Zuko had received a strictly forbidden visit from his mother, he remembered her words to this day,

The door to his cell creaked open and Zuko lifted his bloody and bruised head to see who it was.

"Is it morning already?" His voice was scratchy from the lack of nourishment. But then a figure in the doorway rushed in and wrapped loving arms around him.

"Oh Zuko," He could hear the tears in her voice, "I'm so sorry." He recognized the voice as the one who had raised and treated him with love all his life.

"Mom," He choked wrapping his arms around her and burying his fists in her cape. She pulled back and brushed hair that was caked with blood out of his face with a solemn expression.

"Zuko, my love, please listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you," Her voice turned dark and Zuko realized in fear where this was headed. "But you must promise me something," He nodded his expression now as serious as his mothers. "No matter how this change, no matter what these monsters do to you, never forget who you are; never forget the love and compassion that comes from inside of you." She said placing a hand over where his heart was. A soft tap sounded on the door and Ursa placed a soft kiss on his forehead and turned toward the door, pausing right before exiting to turn and give him a sad smile. Then she pulled her cape over her head and was gone.

That was the last time Zuko had seen his mother, but he'd kept his promise, he had remained compassionate and merciful. He stood and began hiding the weapon in his light tunic so that they were concealed but easily accessible. Then he took his bow and arrows and slung them over his back, saving his dao swords for last. The swords were his favorite weapon, he'd trained with them the most during the time he'd spent in his prison. He ate what remained of his food and water supply and set fire to both of the packages. He wanted as little evidence as possible that he'd been here. He kicked dirt over the ashes and turned to the trees. Then, he took a deep breath and plunged into the unknown.

Katara had woken before the sun. She took the morning shift for guarding the borders of the forest, but before she left she had her own mission to accomplish. She left through the back door of her apartment dressed in dark colors and headed deeper into the village, sticking to the shadows to avoid the unwanted gazes of those who woke early. She soon came to a large building and stood in front of it for a moment before walking up the front steps and sliding open the door, and bracing herself for what she knew was inside.

Squeals and laughter met her and she saw dozens of children racing around the large room, while a few young women tried pointlessly to calm them down. She crossed her arms and plastered a glare to her face, as she waited to be noticed.

"Katara!" A high-pitched voice squealed from somewhere inside the room. All eyes were on her and she allowed a small grin.

"My, my what's this? Are you giving these poor women a hard time?" She said with a slight tease in her voice. Suddenly she was swamped with hugs and kisses and "I've missed you"s. The orphan house was the only place she ever found any joy in her life, and she visited the children as often as she could, but with training and guard duty constantly calling her it'd been hard to visit them these past few weeks.

"Why haven't you come to visit, Tara? Don't you like us anymore?" The innocent voice broke her heart and she turned to see little Kuzon looking up at her with sad and somewhat fearful golden eyes.

One of the Earth Kingdom refugees found him hiding next to a creek near a fire nation village that had been burned down when it was discovered that some leaders of the resistance were taking refuge there. All were assumed guilty and none were allowed to live. The poor boy had witnessed his parents death and fled. A few of the members of their tribe had been resistant of taking on one of the enemies. But Katara had stood up for the boy. She reminded her people that the boy was too young to understand the depth of the evils that his nation had dealt, and certainly too young to have performed any crimes other than stealing an occasional apple from a neighboring tree. Over time the entire city grew to appreciate the boy's love for life. And so had she.

"Of course I still like you, Kuzon. I like all of you." She said with a smile. She made a point to look into every child's eyes as she said it. "Now," She said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "How about a story?" The multitude of cheers gave her the answer she anticipated.

She got a stool and sat on the edge of it as the children sat in front of her. She began telling stories of more exciting times, when she, her brother and her good friends Aang and Toph traveled the world together fighting the Fire Nation together. She always avoided the one question they seemed to always ask.

"What happened to Aang?"

She herself didn't like to think back to that memory. For her it was a very dark one. So instead she told stories of courage and honor. Now she was telling the story of the time she met the blood-bender Hama. She watched closely to their eyes widening as she darkened her voice to give the proper effect. She knew that they loved her stories. Sometimes she told funny stories or inspiring ones; but at the same time, she knew it was necessary to show them a glimpse of the evils in the world.

As she was nearing the end of her story she began twisting the facts so that it was a happy ending, she didn't want them having nightmares because of her. They all smiled and clapped satisfied with the ending she gave. She stood and gave and over exaggerated bow. And then straightened with a grin on her face. But then the sun peeked through the window and her smile faded. The children followed her gaze and knew what it meant. She gathered them all into a large group hug as they whispered their "good bye"s. Kuzon came close and pressed his lips close to her ear.

"I know that it didn't really end like that, I know that most stories don't have a happy ending." He pulled back and she gave him a sad smile before standing and walking to the door. She turned to see all the children standing silently, watching her. She gave a small smile and turned and jogged down the steps and toward the forest.