Chapter Text
3/2/26 UPDATE: I drew a cover for Book 1! :) It looks quite a bit different from the other art in the early chapters of this fic - my art style has obviously evolved since I first started doing digital art lol. Anywayyyy if you're a new reader, I very much hope you enjoy The Avatar and the Fire Prince!
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MIDSUMMER, 96 AG
Prince Zuko, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation, stood on one of the many platforms beneath the upside-down towers of the abandoned Western Air Temple, gazing into the chasm below. He couldn’t see the bottom, and didn’t know how far up he was, but the mist that obscured his vision indicated that it was very deep.
The mist wasn’t the only thing obscuring his vision. Zuko winced as he gently pressed his fingers over the bandage wrapped around his left eye, and felt hot tears sting in his right eye as traumatic memories flooded his mind.
Flashes of his mother, turning away from him, hood obscuring her face. Flashes of his sister Azula, chanting, “Dad’s going to kill you!” with a malicious grin. Flashes of his father, slowly approaching as Zuko kowtowed on his hands and knees before him, begging for forgiveness.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his uncle, who had approached behind him.
“What a stunning view,” Iroh said.
Zuko did not turn around, remaining faced towards the cavern. “The only view I’m interested in seeing is the Avatar in chains,” he replied coldly.
Iroh sighed. “You know, the Avatar hasn't been seen for nearly one hundred years. The chances of finding him here are very slim.”
Zuko’s brow furrowed in determination. “First we'll check each of the Air Temples, then we'll scour the world, searching even the most remote locations until we find him.”
Iroh stepped beside Zuko and put a hand gently on his shoulder. Zuko tried to hide his flinch.
“Prince Zuko, it’s only been a week since your banishment. You should take some time to rest and heal,” he replied.
Zuko felt the anger bubble up quickly inside him as he turned to his uncle and spat without thinking, “What else would I expect to hear from the laziest man in the Fire Nation?”
He heard Iroh sigh again at this, and felt a twinge of guilt, but forced the feeling out of his mind. He turned back towards the cavern, fists clenched at his sides.
“The only way to regain my honor is to find the Avatar. So I will.”
THREE MONTHS LATER
Zuko found himself being jolted awake as the Fire Navy ship that had been his new home for the past three months lurched forward with a loud crash. Irritated and sleep-deprived by recurring nightmares revolving around his father, sister, and mother, he quickly got dressed to go interrogate the captain as to why they had stopped. It was early morning, and they should have been due to keep moving for at least two more hours until they reached the next island outpost on their way to the Southern Air Temple.
So far, Zuko had attempted to do everything in his power to “scour the world” and “search the most remote locations,” but he was beginning to grow impatient—and worried. The longer he took, the more jeopardized his honor would become.
If I take too long, I may never be able to go home…
He tried to ignore the tiny voice in his head that echoed Iroh’s words:
The Avatar hasn’t been seen for nearly one hundred years.
And somehow, in all that time, nobody had found him yet. Not his great grandfather, not his grandfather, not his father—though, by the time Azulon had grown old, the Avatar was no longer a threat on anyone’s minds.
Zuko had, of course, taken on the task when assigned—not that he'd had any choice in the matter. He would do the impossible to regain his honor and return home.
As Zuko finally entered the captain’s control console at the top of the ship, he noticed that the captain, Lieutenant Jee, and his uncle were all engaged in a hushed discussion.
“What is the meaning of this stop?” he demanded, glaring at the captain, whose name he hadn't yet bothered to learn. “We haven’t arrived at the outpost yet. And what was that noise I heard earlier?”
The captain squinted his eyes at Zuko, but replied politely, “Apologies, Prince Zuko. There seems to be an… obstacle in our path to the outpost. Perhaps your uncle can explain. I must speak to our engineers to determine the severity of the damage.” He gave a quick bow and exited the console.
Zuko, still irritated, turned to Iroh. “Damage? What is he talking about?”
Iroh guided Zuko to the window of the console. “It appears we have suffered some minor damage to the hull after our ship ran into an iceberg. The captain said it seemed to have appeared out of nowhere."
Zuko looked out the window. To his shock, he saw that the hull of the ship had indeed become embedded in a very large iceberg.
“Well, can't they... I don't know, back us up?” Zuko questioned irritably. “We can just go around it. And we must be close to the outpost, so even if our ship is damaged we won’t have to go far for repairs.”
“Prince Zuko, that would be far too dangerous," Iroh warned. "You don't know how severe the damage would be if we were to attempt that. This ship was designed to cut through wooden Earth Kingdom ships, not solid ice. I'm not sure we can remove our ship safely if we are too hasty. Think of the crew."
“The safety of the crew doesn’t matter!” Zuko blurted angrily, fists clenched as he noticed Lieutenant Jee enter the console with the captain. Judging by the scowl on his face, it seemed he had heard Zuko’s outburst.
Zuko took a deep breath in and out, pressing his hands together and bringing them up to his face. He was supposed to be in charge of this mission. He needed to contain his anger and frustration for now and show his crew that they must listen to him.
“Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual’s safety,” he said as he marched up to Lieutenant Jee, not breaking eye contact. “We need to at least try to get the ship out so we can continue forward with the mission.”
Jee continued scowling him, but before he could protest, the ship lurched again.
They all turned to look out the window to see that the iceberg appeared to have cracked and split in half, freeing the ship. Zuko was about to sigh in relief, but suddenly, he felt himself falling backwards as the front of the ship began to lift up. After a few seconds, with an massive splash, Zuko watched wide-eyed as another iceberg rose up from the depths of the ocean between the original one that had just been split in half.
This iceberg was not like the others. It was spherical, and it somehow seemed to be glowing from the inside.
As the mist of the crashing waves cleared away, Zuko peered more closely at the iceberg. He felt like he was going crazy. He could have sworn that he could see the faint shadows of a person, sitting as if suspended in the ice, with some sort of giant beast floating directly above them.
To Zuko’s astonishment, the figure in the iceberg opened their eyes, which were glowing. Something else appeared to be glowing on the figure’s forehead as well, although he couldn’t quite make it out.
His heart began to pound, and he felt himself pulled, as if by an invisible force, as he impulsively darted outside and climbed down the ladder onto the deck.
“Prince Zuko!” he heard Iroh yell after him in a frantic tone. “Prince Zuko, wait! It's too dangerous!”
Zuko ignored the former general as he continued running and jumped off the deck of the ship, wincing as he just barely managed to land on the edge of the nearest floating sheet of ice with a tumble roll. He hopped carefully across several subsequent floating clumps until he finally reached the base of the spherical, glowing iceberg, and made his way up to the wall of ice that separated him and the figure. He could faintly hear Iroh calling for him from the ship behind him, his voice growing more and more distant by the second.
Have I done it? Have I truly found the Avatar?
There was only one way to find out.
Slowly, he lifted his hands and placed his palms on the ice. He drew in a sharp breath as he pushed forward, melting it with his firebending and using as much energy as he could muster.
After several moments passed, Zuko began to grow impatient, and struck the spot he had worn down with the side of his fist.
Only a split second after the strike, he was blown back with a powerful gust of air as the iceberg finally cracked open. He watched with widened eyes as the entire iceberg continued to crack along the top, and a bright beam of light shot into the heavens.
As the beam of light dissipated, Zuko spotted the figure he had seen suspended in the ice standing at the edge of the highest point remaining on the iceberg, eyes—and arrow tattoos—glowing.
If this person was the Avatar, the most powerful bender on earth, they were now free, and Zuko was the first person in their line of sight.
His heart raced in terror as he waited for the figure to obliterate him with an awesome display of bending, not daring to move an inch from where he lay on the ice.
However, instead of obliterating him on site, the figure slowly stopped glowing, and Zuko watched in astonishment as they collapsed.
Zuko ran up to where the figure had fallen, for some reason forgetting who this person could be and the danger he could be in, and pulled them onto their back. He was surprised when he realized that the person he was holding appeared to be a boy, seemingly around the same age as himself. The boy wore robes of yellow and orange and had a completely clean-shaven head, as well as unmistakable blue arrow tattoos all over his body, with the most prominent one making a point on his forehead.
Still astonished, Zuko watched as the boy’s gray eyes fluttered open. Forgetting who this person was and what he was supposed to be doing in this situation, he found himself mesmerized, unable to pull his gaze away.
“I need to ask you something,” the boy said in a weak voice that had not even deepened yet.
“What?” Zuko responded, his mouth acting before his brain could tell him to stop.
“Please… come closer,” the boy said again.
Zuko found himself once again unable to stop himself from answering, his curiosity overtaking all other thoughts and instincts. “What is it?”
In a split second, the boy’s eyes shot open, all indications of weakness gone. With a toothy, lopsided grin, he asked brightly, “Will you go penguin sledding with me?”
Zuko took one or two moments to process this peculiar question, and snapped out of his confusion enough to jump back into a fighting stance, regaining his senses.
“Woah, are you okay? I’m not gonna hurt you,” the boy said as he floated to his feet. “I don’t think I could if I tried!"
“What do you mean?” Zuko demanded. “I- I order you to come with me to my ship!”
“Sure thing,” the boy replied nonchalantly, brushing the front of his robes. “But first, I need to make sure my bison is okay.”
Zuko stared incredulously as he watched the boy hop over the peak of the iceberg to the other side, light as a feather. He cautiously followed the boy, much more clumsily as he attempted to not slip on the ice. He pulled himself over the peak of the iceberg, sliding down the other side into a crater. As he haphazardly attempted to push himself to his feet, he found himself falling back down with a yelp as he saw a giant, furry beast with horns, six legs, and a ginormous flat tail shaking itself dry.
“What is that thing?!” Zuko gasped, terrified.
“Appa? He’s my flying bison,” the boy replied, petting the beast’s muzzle. “You mean you haven’t seen one before? I know that Fire Nationals don’t often venture up to the temples, but we’re no strangers to coming to the Fire Islands to trade. I was just there last week to see my friend Kuzon!”
None of what this boy was saying made sense to Zuko.
Flying bison haven’t been seen in nearly a hundred years. Airbenders haven’t been seen in nearly a hundred years. Is this some sort of trick or illusion?
He felt a sudden spike of terror.
Is this a trick by dark spirits to sink our ship?
He had heard many a tale from his superstitious crew about the dangers of spirits dragging boats into the depths of the ocean, especially the closer one sailed to the north or south poles, where spiritual energy was more concentrated. If this was one of them, what was this boy—if he even was just a boy—waiting for?
“Hey. Are you okay?" the boy asked, approaching Zuko. "I’m so sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself yet! I’m Aang." He bowed respectfully in greeting.
Zuko had two options: the first one was to attack. But he knew that if his worst fears were true and this was some dark spirit, or the Avatar, he would not stand a chance alone. His only other option was to take this boy—Aang—back to his ship, where he would have his uncle and crew members to help subdue him if he attacked.
Hoping the boy wouldn't notice how nervous he was, he carefully bowed back to him.
“My name is Zuko.”
“Nice to meet you, Zuko!” Aang replied with a grin. “I have a feeling we’re gonna be good friends.”
Zuko nodded slowly, attempting to appear calm. “So, uh... do you... wanna come back to my ship? You know… so we can help you get back to wherever you came from?”
A shadow moved over Aang’s face momentarily. It was so quick that Zuko barely caught it. “Well… I’m kinda on my own right now. I understand your concern, but I can just fly on Appa to get where I’m going. No need to trouble yourself,” he said, hopping up on the beast’s neck, reins in hand. “Appa, yip yip!”
Zuko tried not to panic as he closed his eyes and waited for the beast to move towards him and attack. However, instead, it just huffed. Aang moved the reins again, confusion evident on his face.
“Come on, Appa. Yip yip!” he tried again.
“It looks like your… bison needs some rest," Zuko quickly suggested. "Maybe we can take you to where you need to go on our ship while he recovers."
“Hmm," Aang mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I won’t turn down kindness when it’s offered. Hopefully Appa can fit,” he replied with a smile. “I’m sure you won’t mind, will you buddy?” he asked the beast, patting its head.
“Great!" Zuko replied with a forced smile. "Oh—uh, most of the crew haven’t seen a sky bison or an air nomad before. It’s best if I go up first and explain what’s going on. Will you stay here, out of sight while I go... do that?”
Aang nodded succinctly in response. “Flameo, hotman!”
Zuko tried to control his expression so that his utter confusion—mixed with an overwhelming urge to laugh—would not be completely obvious on his face. Why did this young boy talk like an elderly Fire Nation man?
“Uh, yeah, same to you,” he managed to choke out, and quickly climbed back over the wall of the ice crater.
He periodically checked behind him as he hopped on the clumps of ice back towards the hull of his ship, fearful that the boy would attack or flee as soon as his back was turned. He breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted his uncle speaking with several soldiers, standing on the large platform of ice in front of the now-lowered ramp of the ship.
“Uncle!” Zuko yelled, waving his hand as he approached the group.
The relief was evident on Iroh’s face as he turned at hearing the sound of his voice. “Nephew, what was that beam of light? Are you unharmed?” Iroh asked, his normally serene face riddled with anxiety.
“Uncle, you’re never going to believe this, but you have to trust me," Zuko said, speaking quickly. "Did you see that figure suspended in the ice? I freed him. He- he’s an airbender. ”
Iroh’s brows furrowed in concern. “Prince Zuko… are you certain? There haven't been any sightings of Air Nomads in almost a hundred years now.”
“Uncle, I’m telling you. I saw him float in the air. He has arrow tattoos,” Zuko emphasized, growing impatient.
Iroh’s face suddenly turned serious. “Arrow tattoos? Did you see him perform any other types of bending?”
It seemed that Iroh had come to one of the same initial conclusions Zuko had the moment he'd seen the boy.
“No, uncle. I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t know how he could be the Avatar. He looks like he's around my age, his voice hasn’t even lowered yet. Wouldn’t the Avatar have to be around a hundred years old by now?”
Iroh remained silent, face still deadly serious, but nodded as he listened intently.
“He doesn’t seem to be dangerous…" Zuko continued. "In fact, he was rather friendly to me. He also isn’t scared of the Fire Nation—he told me that he had been to visit the Fire Islands last week. I told him he should come on board our ship so we can take him to his destination since his bison is too tired to fly.”
“Bison?” Iroh replied, eyes widening. “They’ve been extinct for nearly a hundred years as well! Was that the creature encased with him in the ice? Could they have both been... somehow frozen in there for all that time?”
“Uncle, we don’t have time to think too much about where he came from or how long he was in there," Zuko snapped. "We just need to focus on getting him onto the ship, and keeping him here."
"Then why isn't he with you now?" Iroh asked confusedly.
"I told him to stay in the iceberg crater and that I would be back to get him," Zuko replied, glancing over his shoulder nervously. "If the soldiers immediately started attacking, that would tip him off, and he could escape. I need you to inform the crew about what’s going on, and that no matter how unbelievable it sounds, they need to refrain from making any moves to attack or subdue him. Just long enough for us to get him on the ship so we can capture him.”
Iroh nodded. “As you wish, Prince Zuko. I will inform the crew. Let's hope your plan works.”
