Written for avatar_500, Prompt #71: Equal

Rating: K/G
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Zuko
Summary: For the first time, Zuko fights his sister on equal ground

On the Field of Battle

Despite his regret over the fact that it had come to this, Zuko felt exhilarated as he dueled his sister for the crown and throne of his nation and the fate of the world. He was matching her blow for blow, meeting her every move. He had gotten hints of this when he had fought her at the Boiling Rock, but Sokka had also been involved in that battle, helping him. Unlike that fight, this one was one-on-one, with no need to worry about protecting anyone else. With the power of the comet thrumming in his blood, he was finally meeting his sister as an equal on the field of battle.

Written for the June Drabble Madness challenge at atlaland

Rating: K+/PG
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: June, Zuko
Summary: June never wanted to take another job from the Fire Nation prince again

Unwelcome Trouble

After the disastrous job she had taken from the Fire Nation prince, June was not expecting to see him again and she certainly wasn't going to take another job from him. So when he showed up at her favorite tavern asking for help in finding the Avatar—again—she brushed him off. That lasted right up until he asked, "Does the end of the world sound like more fun?"

Freezing momentarily, she slowly sat up straighter and put down her cup. "What do you mean by that?" she asked him.

Taking a deep breath, he answered her. "I mean," he said, "that Sozin's Comet is returning the day after tomorrow and my father is planning on using its power to burn the entire Earth Kingdom to the ground. If we can't find Aang before then, everyone is going to be in deep trouble."

"All right," she said, getting out of her chair, "I'll help you. And under the circumstances, I'll do it for free, since I doubt you have any money with you." Walking over to the prince, she got right up in his face and said, "But let's get one thing straight. If nothing happens the day after tomorrow, you are going to be in very deep trouble with me, Prince Zuko."

Written for avatar_500, Prompt #36: Lost

Rating: K+/PG
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Iroh
Summary: Iroh learns of Lu Ten's death

Grief

Your son is dead.

Only four simple words, but those four simple words had just knocked the bottom out of Iroh's world. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the messenger was watching him warily, as if afraid of his reaction. Swallowing, Iroh found his voice. "Are you certain?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," the messenger replied. "His battalion was ambushed by earthbenders. There were no survivors. He was one of the few who made it back to our lines, but he and the other three who did were too badly injured to be saved. The healers are preparing his body for cremation as we speak."

"Thank you for bringing me the news," Iroh said. "Inform the other generals that they are to meet me in the command tent in one hour and then you may return to your other duties."

"Yes sir," the messenger said. He bowed and then was gone, leaving the tent silently. Iroh barely noticed his departure. It was time to end the siege.

Two hours later, after a difficult meeting with the other generals, Iroh returned to his tent and was finally able to give in to his grief. Tears rolling down his cheeks, the Dragon of the West cried silently long into the night.

Written for avatar_500, Prompt #34: Red

Rating: T/PG-13
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Ozai
Summary: Ozai is furious when Zuko confronts him

Seeing Red

"I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

"He's the one who's been a real father to me."

"I'm going to join the Avatar. And I'm going to help him defeat you."

Zuko's words dinned in on Ozai from all sides. He could not believe it. His son, who had always been so eager to please him, was defying him. His son, who had always been so desperate for his approval, was declaring Iroh to be his real father. His son was going to join the Avatar, the Fire Nation's greatest enemy.

Seething, Ozai offered the one piece of bait that he knew would make his son stay long enough to be killed. As he felt his firebending chi getting stronger, Ozai prepared himself to create lightning.

When Zuko caught the lightning, Ozai was shocked to the core of his being. His son, the firebending failure, had created a defense against lightning.

Looking past the fire burning at the edge of the dais into the empty room, Ozai was furious. His son—no, the traitor, for the boy was no longer any son of his—would live only for as long as it took to capture him and return him to the capital. He would kill the traitor himself.

Written for avatar_500, Prompt #32: Empty

Rating: K/G
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Zuko
Summary: Zuko realizes why he felt unhappy after siding with Azula in Ba Sing Se

Realizations

Zuko should have been happy, but he wasn't. Finally, after three long years, he was going to return to the Fire Nation. He had redeemed himself and restored his honor—Azula had told him so herself. That was what he had wanted, wasn't it? But if it was, then why was he so unhappy? Was it because he had betrayed Uncle? No, that couldn't be right—Uncle had betrayed him, not the other way around.

After the war meeting, Zuko finally understood why he had been so unhappy. He had betrayed Uncle, but more than that, he had betrayed himself. In siding with Azula against the Avatar, he had done what he thought his father wanted him to do, not what he wanted to do.

Written for avatar_500, Prompt #30: Pirate

Rating: T/PG-13
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: The pirate captain from the first season
Summary: Captain Chang realizes he never should have gotten involved with Zuko in the first place

That Brat

Captain Chang was furious. Not only had he lost the waterbending scroll, he had lost his ship and his men had let the Avatar slip through their fingers. Those brats would pay for this, all of them, but the Fire Nation brat most of all. Prince or not, he would pay.

:-:-:-:-:

When Admiral Zhao hired him and his men to blow up the prince's ship, Captain Chang was nearly ecstatic about it. Not only was he going to get his revenge on the prince, he was even going to get paid for it.

:-:-:-:-:

Six weeks later, when he saw the Wanted poster for the prince and his uncle, the captain was simultaneously elated and annoyed. How had that brat managed to survive the explosion of his ship? The thought of capturing the prince and turning him in for the bounty was a welcome one, though. Maybe this time, his revenge would succeed.

:-:-:-:-:

Six months after that, when he was facing execution for his piracy, having been captured when he chose to attack a ship carrying Earth Kingdom soldiers, Captain Chang heard that the brat of a prince had ended the war with the Avatar's help and had become Firelord. Clearly the spirits were looking out for that brat. There was no other explanation for how he had managed to survive everything and still come out on top. He should have known better than to get involved with the brat in the first place.

Written for avatar_500, Prompt #28: Free

Rating: K/G
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Zuko
Summary: Zuko feels like a new person after confronting his father

A Free Man

Zuko had never felt more free than he did during the eclipse, when he finally spoke his mind to his father. Just knowing that his father couldn't stop him was wonderfully exhilarating. The moment he announced his decision to join the Avatar, it felt like all of the worries and concerns he'd been feeling and the troubles he'd been having since his supposedly triumphant return simply evaporated. He no longer felt weighed down by uncertainty. He was finally doing the right thing and his spirit knew it. Shedding the lies he had been taught like a lizard-snake shedding its skin, he walked out of that encounter with his father as a new, freer man, certain of himself and what he was doing.

Written for avatar_500, Prompt #26: Glow

Rating: K/G
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Iroh
Summary: Iroh waits for word of the Gaang's victories

Waiting

As Iroh oversaw the details of the surrender of the Fire Nation's forces to the Order of the White Lotus, part of his mind was still elsewhere, with those brave young people who were risking everything to save the world. Had Zuko and Katara defeated Azula? Had Sokka, Suki and Toph been able to stop the airship fleet? And most importantly, had Aang been able to defeat Ozai? For that last question, at least, he had a possible answer. Just two hours ago, the western sky had lit up with an amazing display of light, ending with a pillar of blue light reminiscent of the one that had signaled the Avatar's reappearance at the South Pole. Iroh could only hope that this display of light had signaled the Firelord's defeat by the Avatar.