Book One: Water – A different prince.

Hello there!

Next week, January 15, will not have an update, because I'll travel.

So this chapter is for next week!

Enjoy it, peasants!

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Pov. Third-person.

Several days had passed since Aang's encounter with Zuko on Kyoshi Island, Zuko at that time had moved on, heading north, towards the Fire Nation shipyard responsible for the supply of coal.

Coal was mined by nearby villages that were subjected to Azulon's rule.

At that moment, Zuko was contemplating in his quarters what he should do...

"My mission is to bring peace to this world... If I ally myself with the Fire Nation, the rest of the world will turn against me; if I ally myself with Aang, and therefore the rest of the world, a part of the Fire Nation will not accept me, in addition to the fact that it is quite likely that I will have several assassination attempts throughout my life until peace is established. achieved..." said Zuko, mulling over his options.

But then Zuko frowned.

"Although the 'peace' won't last for long, after all when Aang dies it will be the period of Avatar Korra, where it is marked by political divisions and divergent ideals... And I would be too old. I would have lived a lifetime and technically 'peace' would not have been achieved," said Zuko, sighing.

[I've trained intensely since I arrived in this world... But I didn't prepare myself for the moment of choosing which side I should ally with] thought Zuko.

While Zuko was deciding what to do, a knock on his bedroom door interrupted him from his thoughts.

"Prince Zuko, the ship has been supplied... The helmsman wants to know what our destination will be," shouted a soldier, who was outside.

Zuko soon got up and headed towards the door, during the entire journey he pondered over the options and finally made up his mind, as soon as he opened the door.

"…Is there any information from the colonies? Tell me... Prison Rig is still working, right?" Zuko asked.

The soldier thought for just a few seconds.

"The prison is fully operational sir… Do you… Do you wish to go there for some reason?" asked the soldier.

"... Yes, I would like to check out the facilities and if possible bring some of the prisoner restriction technology to upgrade our ship, especially after our encounter with the avatar in the South," said Zuko.

The soldier didn't seem to want to question or argue, and just bowed and stepped out of Zuko's way.

[... I just hope I made the right decision] Zuko thought, looking at the Fire Nation symbol.

A few days later, with the Avatar team, after Zuko left Kyoshi Island, the team (Sokka) decided that it would be better to move forward and not risk remaining stationary in just one place, so the group headed towards Omashu where they discovered that Aang's former friend was still alive.

Crazy and insane... But very much alive.

Following Team Avatar's journey, the group ended up camping near a village that was responsible for coal mining, where they met a young earthbender named Haru, who was arrested the other day after saving an elderly man in the mines.

Katara, guilt-ridden over having pressured Haru to save the elderly earthbending man, made the decision to capture herself in order to make the attempt to free Haru.

The young waterbender was soon arrested after a well-planned earthbending act... though the guards who witnessed the action were incompetent.

Katara was then taken to Prison Rig, a Fire Nation prison made specifically for earthbenders.

On the very day of her capture, Katara attempted a mutiny...

It failed spectacularly.

But then at night, right after a meeting with Aang and Sokka, Team Avatar had a plan on how to help the earthbenders fight again.

This leads to the current situation, Katara again attempting a mutiny...but with coal in her hands and urging the imprisoned earthbenders to fight again.

However, while Katara was making the second mutiny attempt, Zuko's ship arrived at Prison Rig...

And the prince was running towards the place, along with the guards, as soon as he heard about a riot led by a girl by the prison guards.

Zuko then arrived in front of the gates of the courtyard reserved for prisoners and grabbed the closest soldier.

"Open this door… Now!" said Zuko, frowning and snorting fire from his nostrils.

It was possible to hear the shouting on the other side, which made Zuko think he was wasting time.

The prison guard soon responded promptly.

"Yes sir!" said the guard.

The prison guard then soon ran towards a small cabin, responsible for the three access gates.

However, closing the gates was much faster than opening them...

As Zuko and the small group of soldiers passed through the second gate, they felt a tremor that confused the group of soldiers, while the screams on the other side became more erratic.

Zuko, however, knew what was going on.

The group of prisoners had already made a hole in the prison walls.

"As soon as this is over... This prison will be dismantled for default," said Zuko, glancing quickly at the guards who nodded quickly.

It was then that Zuko did something that scared the guards.

The prince placed both hands on the last gate that still showed no signs of rising.

It was then that the place Zuko put his hands on began to heat up, with the steel taking on a golden hue with orange edges. Zuko then pushed both of his hands into the steel and pressed his fingers together causing the superheated steel door to begin to tear apart from Zuko's hands.

The scene was also noticed by the Avatar team and the fleeing prisoners... In their view, they saw a firebender tearing through a door made of molten steel, which made the group of escapees hasten their escape to the ships.

When Zuko finished denting the steel door, he ran towards the courtyard, being soon followed by the guards.

But it was too late... He just saw the group of fugitives being escorted by the Avatar team away from the prison.

Zuko can only stare at the group.

The prince of the fire nation soon looked at the prison guards.

"Rescue who you can and help the wounded... And bring me the Warden of the prison" said Zuko, looking at the guards.

The guards exchanged a look, they didn't know what to do at the moment, the Warden wasn't around, the prison was in a mess, and some guards were injured due to the escaping prisoners...

And there was a firebender in front of them who overheated and tore apart a steel gate with his bare hands.

It didn't take long for the guards to bring out the Warden who was soaking wet from being thrown into the ocean.

The Warden looked and saw that the one in front of him was the banished prince of the Fire Nation.

"Prince Zuko! Greetings and welcome to my –" said the Warden before being interrupted by Zuko.

"I expected more from your prison, of course, it's not like Boiling Rock, but Prison Rig was created for earthbenders, so tell me… How did you manage to lose control of the prison to a group of prisoners with a fighting spirit rekindled?" asked Zuko, approaching the Warden.

The nearby guards and soldiers soon took a step back... though the Warden was quick to try to explain himself.

"My prince, it was a girl, she did all this with the help of the Avatar! The quest given to you by Lord – ACK" said the Warden before being interrupted by Zuko again.

Zuko was now holding the Warden by the armor and lifting him off the ground while looking into his eyes.

"I know my duty... Do you know yours? Let me remind you... You must prevent the prisoners from rioting and, above all, escape from the prison!" yelled Zuko, who then dropped the Prison Warden to the ground.

Zuko then saw a blue glow on the steel floor and approached, when he got close enough he realized it was Katara's necklace. The prince then crouched down and picked up the necklace, before turning to the Warden.

"If it was just the Avatar I would understand, after all, although he is a child, the tattoos on his head suggest that he is already a master of airbending. The problem Warden, is that the one who led this riot was a girl who was NOT the Avatar and that you let her rekindle the fighting spirit of the prisoners" said Zuko facing the old Warden, who flinched under the gaze, which did not go unnoticed by the guards.

If there was anything that pissed off Zuko at the moment, it was that a prison Warden simply let Katara talk about rebellion...

Twice!

And he did absolutely nothing but scoff.

The prince then broke out of the prison while being watched by the Warden.

"... He's not like the rumors about him being a coward describe..." grumbled the Warden, as he got up from the ground.

The small comment was overheard by nearby guards, who would unwittingly have the role of divulging the prince's firebending actions, in addition to most behavior, to other Fire Nation soldiers, until days passed and rumors reached their ears. from someone who was in the Fire Nation capital.

"So it looks like Zuzu is having fun~" said a girl with a smile, playing with a blue flame in her hands, while listening to the servant tell her the rumors about Zuko when she was combing her hair.

During this time, Zuko had already moved away from the prison and was now in an Earthrealm port, looking for a specific ship, as it had been days since the skirmish at Rig Prison, and presumably, the Avatar team had already returned from Crescent Island.

Zuko didn't risk going to Crescent Island, as it was completely unnecessary, and spent his off-duty time training in combustionbending and smokebending. He also didn't actively seek out the pirates to make the deal as he did in the original timeline, resulting in Katara's necklace still in his possession.

The prince was currently on the outskirts of Gaipan, to meet Aang's group 'by chance'.

Zuko had decided to go to the Fire Nation camp in the forest alone, leaving the ship and crew behind, where they were assigned to head north to the Yu Dao colony, where they would wait for Zuko. The banished prince made this decision for the sake of the advantages, as traveling alone will be faster, plus there will be chances to change things up a bit...

It was then that Zuko spotted the Fire Nation camp.

"... Greetings," said Zuko, looking at the guards who were on watch.

While most of the higher-ranking officers didn't have much respect for the prince, the soldiers were different.

During his time with the crew, the reason for Zuko's banishment eventually surfaced. Due to Zuko being less reclusive than in the original timeline, the prince ended up telling the crew about what led to his banishment, and the crew grew to respect Zuko once they learned about the 41st division's order.

Consequently, wherever the crew got off the ship, they would make a point of talking about the reason for Prince Zuko's banishment, which eventually spread to all the lower ranks of the army and navy.

The guards in front of Zuko consequently recognized the prince as soon as they laid eyes on them.

"My prince! Please welcome to our camp," said the guard, gesturing for Zuko to pass.

Zuko seemed to feel awkward about the hospitality beyond what was expected. But still, Zuko nodded gratefully and entered the camp.

The young prince was only wearing the standard armor and tunic, along with weapons plus small leather pouches attached to his belt and a larger leather backpack, which was strapped to his back.

All the soldiers who saw the prince stopped what they were doing for a while, before a soldier, possibly in charge of the group, wearing an eyepatch approached Zuko and bowed in the traditional Fire Nation stance.

"My prince, welcome to one of the camps of the 24th division responsible for policing the Gaipan colony, I'm Sergeant Ye Han, in charge of this group," said the officer, with an eye patch.

Zuko just nodded.

"...Thank you... I'm heading towards Yu Dao, but I changed my path when I heard that in the vicinity of Gaipan, there were reports about a group of children... Tell me, sir, have you heard about anything? If so, were any of these children depicted having an arrow through their head and wearing the robes of an air nomad?" Zuko asked.

The prince, in fact, already knew the answer, but he had to act unaware for a while so as not to arouse suspicion.

The group leader frowned before answering.

"Although there really is a group of children who are causing havoc in the forests around Gaipan, I'm afraid none of them match the Avatar's description… I'm sorry sir, but your coming here was in vain," said Ye Han, the officer at the command.

Zuko can only sigh.

[I suppose I arrived much earlier... I have nothing left but to go to Gaipan to rest a little] thought Zuko.

However, when Zuko was about to leave, a voice came from the woods, as he spoke with a tone of frustration.

"Look guys, I'm exhausted too, but the important thing is that we're safe from the Fire Nation... Oh..." said the voice.

It was Sokka, who was coming out of the bushes near the camp and was closely followed by Aang and Katara, who were carrying heavy-looking backpacks, and Appa along with Momo.

Both the Avatar team and the Fire Nation soldiers froze due to the convenient situation... Until Zuko was the first to act.

The banished prince then created fire whips, revealing for the first time a firebending other than combustionbending; It is worth noting that the color of the flames was golden in color, with no red or orange spark.

Zuko then swings both arms, cracking the whips and creating a fire on the ground on either side of Team Avatar.

"... I advise you to surrender to avoid problems," said Zuko, approaching the group.

The Avatar team seemed surprised by Zuko's presence, as they hadn't seen him for a few days. The Fire Nation soldiers, realizing that in front of them was the Avatar, began to follow Prince Zuko in surrounding the Avatar team.

But then a young man, carrying two swords with hooked ends, came down from the trees and fell on the soldiers, knocking them out, and ran towards Zuko. Several more of the youth's allies surged out of the trees and crashed into the center of the Fire Nation camp.

Zuko wasted no time, taking a deep breath and contracting his abdomen, he shot a beam of explosive energy near the young man carrying swords.

Once the beam hit the target, resulted in an explosion, and sent the young man flying, as he hit a tree and was knocked out.

"Jet!" screamed a little girl with a look of shock, who was then quickly grabbed by Fire Nation soldiers as she let her guard down.

The little girl soon escaped when Katara used waterbending to make a whip and hit the soldiers.

And then chaos ensued, other youths fell from the trees and began to fight the Fire Nation soldiers, who returned the attack.

Zuko wasted no time either when he noticed something in his peripheral vision, and he drew his twin Daos swords and began to swing them quickly to block arrows that started to be fired at him with the blades.

Zuko then lit flames on his sword and, as it spun, began shooting waves of fire, with the intention of taking the archer, who was aiming at him, out of the trees.

A powerful gust of wind then interrupted the chaos, kicking up a curtain of dust.

Zuko just heard the screams.

"Jet is with me! Fall back!"

"I got the jell, let's go back!"

"You saw that, Aang?! You still think he's cool?!"

The last voice was definitely Sokka.

When the dust cloud dissipated, the Avatar team had already left, along with the other group.

The group consisting of two dozen Fire Nation soldiers was reduced to just a dozen, with the rest being wounded or knocked out.

Zuko just looked around the woods, looking for any movement, but it looked like they were too far away to determine which direction they were going.

"Errm... My prince..." said a voice.

It was a soldier, holding a spear, who approached Zuko. The prince just looked at the soldier, hoping to know what he wanted.

"… Ye Han was knocked out during combat and most of the men are recruits… So… We are waiting for your orders, sir," said the soldier, bowing respectfully.

When Zuko heard the request, he just took a second look at the camp and saw that some were looking at him, unsure of what they should do.

Zuko then gave a tired sigh before answering.

"... Break the camp, we will go to Gaipan, those who can walk, carry the wounded; look for long sticks and use the blankets, or any large piece of cloth, and make makeshift stretchers to carry those who are knocked out or who cannot walk," said Zuko, as he walked to a soldier in the camp.

Zuko then grabbed a soldier, who was supported by a spear due to having an injured leg, put the soldier's arm over his shoulder, and started walking, towards Gaipan, being accompanied by the group of soldiers from the camp, who complied with the orders. of the banished prince without question.

Upon arriving at the Gaipan colony, Zuko was soon greeted by the local guards, who began to ask about what happened, while helping the group of wounded soldiers and going to the healers.

At that moment, Zuko was having a small meeting with the leader of the city guards and the mayor of Gaipan. The prince was attending the meeting due to the fact that Sergeant Ye Han was still knocked out and the army had asked Zuko to be the representative instead of Ye Han.

"These brats are always causing trouble, even with the presence of part of the 24th army division they didn't back down!... Do you have anything to add, Prince Zuko?" asked the mayor of Gaipan.

Zuko seemed to consider it, but then the leader of the Gaipan City Guard began to speak.

"I heard from some of the surviving soldiers that the Avatar was there as well… Maybe we should extend a search party to try to find some trace, Fire Lord Azulon has already declared the Avatar as the enemy of state number 1 of Fire Nation, we can't let him escape," said the Gaipan guard leader.

It was then that Zuko spoke.

"No one will leave Gaipan unless it's strictly necessary," said Zuko, closing his eyes.

This surprised the men, considering that they both knew about the prince's banishment, and about the conditions if Zuko wants to return home.

"But Prince Zuko, the Avatar is –" said the town's leader before being shortly interrupted by Zuko.

"It doesn't matter at the moment, during the escape of the aided group to Avatar, I heard something about a jelly... If it's Blasting jelly... Then we may have a possible attack on Gaipan in our hands" said Zuko, opening his eyes again and looking at the leader of the city guard.

"You may talk to the soldiers to get a physical description of the rebel group... Have the city under maximum surveillance, we don't know why they took a detonation glacier, but it's a risk considering the clear dissatisfaction of these children with the colony from Gaipan" said Zuko.

The mayor and the leader of the guard looked to consider for a moment before nodding.

Zuko then proceeded to leave the room as soon as he received an answer.

"... And where are you going, my prince?" asked the leader of the guard.

"…Until the situation is resolved, I will remain in Gaipan, only then will I go to Yu Dao," said Zuko.

This response was well received by the mayor.

"But of course, Prince Zuko, you are welcome to the colonies," said the mayor, bowing in respect as did the town leader.

It was then that Zuko left the room.

But the mayor still asked the city leader.

"…Is it true?… Are you absolutely sure?" asked the mayor, looking at the town guard leader.

The leader just nodded with a cold sweat forming on his forehead.

"My most trusted men interrogated the surviving guards... They all told the same story... Prince Zuko seems to have the aptitude for combustion bending," said the leader of the city guard.

The mayor and the leader of the city guard were silent, contemplating over the recent events.

And so, the day ended in Gaipan City, but during the night... A shadow could be seen running over the roofs of Gaipan.

This shadowy figure was wearing a black colored robe with a hood, as well as carrying only Dao swords.

But most noticeable was the blue color mask with white accents.

The mask of the Blue Spirit.

The Blue Spirit silently ran across Gaipan, avoiding all the stationed guards perfectly, due to him knowing everything about Gaipan's safety.

As soon as the Blue Spirit left Gaipan, it started running towards the forest quickly, looking for any traces left by the Avatar team earlier.

Blue Spirit ended up finding Appa's fur on some broken branches, and starting to follow the path to the 'freedom fighters' camp in the trees was easier.

The person disguised as a Blue Spirit soon noticed the sentinels in the trees, and then he approached each sentinel and knocked out each one of them with energybending. With the sentries knocked out for a few minutes, the Blue Spirit soon searched the place, until it found Aang, sleeping with Sokka and Katara, in one of the huts.

The Blue Spirit soon approached Aang silently, until he placed his hand over Aang's mouth and nose, he woke up because of the action and grabbed the Blue Spirit's hand.

Aang soon started to scream as soon as he saw the mask next to his face, but then Aang stopped 'screaming' when the Blue Spirit placed a finger over the mask's lips. As soon as Aang obeyed the command and went quiet, the Blue Spirit then removed his hand from Aang's mouth and motioned for the Avatar to follow him out of the hut.

Aang followed the Blue Spirit while whispering.

"Who are you? Are you a spirit? Why do you carry swords? Why did you ask me to be quiet? Why only use black? Why do not you answer me? Why –" asked Aang before the Blue Spirit's hand covered his mouth once more.

"... You are very talkative," said a voice behind the mask, the voice was very familiar to Aang.

Aang then widened his eyes and screamed again, but was muffled by the hand still covering the Avatar's mouth.

Aang recognized Zuko's voice.

"... Keep it down Aang! I'm not exactly in a safe place right now!" said Zuko, whispering fiercely.

Aang calmed down and Zuko once again removed his hand from Aang's mouth.

"… sorry," whispered Aang, apologetic.

Zuko sighed and took something out of his pockets.

"Here... Take it" said Zuko extending his hand to Aang.

Aang was surprised by the object in Zuko's hand.

"Katara's necklace! Thank you, she will be very happy" said Aang, with a smile and taking the necklace.

"I don't care if she's happy or not, but consider what I have to say a leap of faith," said Zuko.

From the moment Zuko got out of prison, he had made up his mind about which side to ally with...

He will help Aang.

But from the shadows.

That way, if he plays his cards right, he'll still have the support of the Fire Nation, and he'll still be able to help Aang bring peace more effectively.

"... What do you have to say that is so important? And why do you only want to talk to me?" asked Aang, cocking his head in confusion.

"Because you are the most impartial of your group, and therefore you are probably the only person who will be willing to listen to me at the moment" explained Zuko.

Zuko knew that, due to the teachings of the Air Nomads, Aang was without a doubt the most impartial person in the group, Sokka probably wouldn't trust a word he said, whereas, in Katara's case, Zuko was sure she hated him. These two had justified motives of course, after all the Fire Nation abused and nearly wiped out the Southern Water Tribe.

"Pay attention... I want to help you establish peace in the world" said Zuko in finality.

Aang soon opened a smile.

"That's great! I need a firebending master, Katara and Sokka didn't believe me when I said you were cool, Appa has plenty of space to–" said Aang, before being interrupted by Zuko.

"I'll stop you there... I'm not joining your group, not officially at the moment at least" said Zuko.

Aang raised an eyebrow.

"... What?" asked Aang, confused.

Zuko can only sigh in frustration.

[... Sometimes I forget the fact that he's only twelve years old] Zuko thought.

"I can't just join your group without expecting consequences, nothing personal, but you're not currently the most beloved person in the Fire Nation, so I'll act as a 'friend in the right places.' As technically I am 'hunting' you, it will be very easy for me to help you when needed, as I will always be close by" said Zuko.

Aang thought for a moment, before cracking a smile.

"Oh! Are you going to be like a spy?" Aang asked excitedly.

Zuko looked listlessly at Aang's reaction.

"Yes... Yes, I will be a spy" said Zuko.

But then Aang looked worried.

"But… Doesn't that mean you're going to betray your family? Your Nation?" asked Aang.

"... It will be worth it in the end," said Zuko.

[If all goes well... My mission to bring peace will be accomplished, and then I can finally go back home... My true home] thought Zuko.

Aang smiled in response.

"I had a friend from the Fire Nation, his name was Kuzon... I may have lost him to time, but I'm glad to know that some things haven't changed, and there are still nice people all over the world, including in Fire Nation," Aang said, holding out his hand.

Zuko looked at Aang's hand and thought about it for only a few seconds before taking it and shaking it, symbolizing a new alliance.

Zuko then said goodbye to Aang and left as silently as he had entered, towards Gaipan. While Aang waved excitedly and walked back inside the hut.

In the morning of the next day, Zuko was patrolling Gaipan along with other soldiers, the reason for this was that although Zuko had a brief idea of ​​what would happen due to the original timeline, he must always remember that this timeline could be different in some things.

One of those things could be a different way for Jet to destroy Gaipan with the detonation glacier. Therefore, the certainty would only be if Sokka came to Gaipan shortly before the detonation.

"Prince Zuko! This old man was the victim of aggression from the group of children earlier today" said a guard, escorting an elderly-looking man, who walked by means of a cane.

Zuko looked at the old man and then recognized him as the old man who was assaulted in the original timeline.

"…Tell me, sir, what exactly happened?" asked Zuko, looking at the elder.

"Well, I was on my way back to Gaipan after visiting my daughter's family, when three young men came out of nowhere and threw me to the ground and robbed me… It was then that another young man appeared and stopped the others from harming me further," said the old man.

Zuko frowned as he realized that everything was in line with the original timeline. The prince then turned to the soldiers.

"Help the elder return home and go back to patrolling the colony," said Zuko.

The guards did not question and just waved, as Zuko was now considered by the army as someone responsible for orders while there was no one of higher hierarchical rank.

The rest of the morning was a lull, though many citizens of Gaipan began to wonder at the more active Fire Nation military presence around the city.

It was only in the late afternoon that something happened.

"Listen, you have to believe me! It's not safe here! You must leave the city, and quickly!" shouted a voice.

It was Sokka, who had appeared with Appa in the middle of town and was now yelling at the townspeople to get out of town. However, the locals didn't see him as anything more than someone crazy or wanting to get attention.

"You come to Gaipan and start making such claims, are you crazy boy?" asked an approaching soldier.

It was then that Sokka tried once more to speak.

"Look, I swear, the dam will be blown and Gaipan will cease to exist, we need to move, and fast!" said Sokka looking at the soldier.

"It's a pretty serious statement... But we have no reason to believe a stranger, by all means, you could be a spy!" said the soldier, already pointing the spear at Sokka, who raised his hands in surrender.

"Wait!" shouted a voice.

It was the elder Sokka had helped the other day, and he was being accompanied by someone Sokka recognized immediately.

"Zuko?!" Sokka said.

"Do you know him?" asked Zuko, looking at the elder.

"Yes, he was the one who helped me against those other young people who tried to harm me," said the elder.

Zuko then looked at the soldiers.

"That's enough for me... Warn the inhabitants to leave Gaipan and stay somewhere high, take only the clothes on your back and nothing else, be quick!" said Zuko, in a loud voice, as he approached Sokka.

The soldiers wanted to object, but they stopped when Zuko glared at them and began to move and issue orders to the villagers.

"And… what will you do?" asked a soldier nearby.

It was then that Zuko, as soon as he was close, grabbed Sokka by the collar and pulled him.

"You're going to take me to that group," said Zuko facing Sokka, who swallowed hard.

A little way from Gaipan, Aang and Katara looked at the dam in confusion as they saw that Jet's team was placing the barrels of detonation jelly at a specific point on the dam.

"What are they doing?" asked Katara, looking at the movement on the dam.

"Those are the red barrels they took from the Fire Nation in yesterday's melee," said Aang.

"Why would they need the Blasting jelly?" Katara asked.

The Avatar was the first to realize Jet's true intentions, among him and Katara.

"... Because Jet wants to blow up the dam," said Aang, in shock.

Katara soon disregarded it.

"No, Jet wouldn't do that, it would destroy the city," said Katara, looking at Aang.

Aang then waved his staff and opened the glider and started running towards the cliff.

"I don't know, but whatever it is I have to stop it!" said Aang walking away, while Katara still had a doubtful face.

It was then that a figure ran close to Aang and tried to grab the glider... But then a dagger appeared spinning and colliding with the figure.

The figure was Jet, and the dagger had pierced the right shoulder, which, being in armor, only left a shallow cut.

The dagger came from whoever was on Appa's head, who landed near the cliff group. Surprisingly, the one on Appa's mind was Zuko, not Sokka.

When Jet saw a Fire Nation person he quickly turned to Katara.

"Katara, help me! This Fire Nation guy came here to stop our resistance and to fight for the freedom of the valley!" yelled Jet, pulling the dagger from his shoulder while grimacing.

Katara froze over what Jet had said after all, although she knew Zuko and was wondering how he managed to ride Appa... Katara noticed that Jet was running towards Aang as if to stop him from going toward the dam.

Aang, wasn't as confused as Katara, in fact, he did something that surprised the people nearby.

"Hey Zuko!" said Aang, as he waved quickly.

Zuko looked listlessly at Aang's reaction.

"... We'll talk later, now you need to go take care of the dam before it's too late... I want my people to still have homes to live in when this is all over" said Zuko.

Aang stopped and his eyes widened as he ran back to the cliff and jump quickly.

Meanwhile Jet went back to talking to Katara.

"Katara, he's Fire Nation! Don't you remember what you told me about your mother? About what they did to her?! We cannot let them continue to hurt others anymore!" yelled Jet, in one last attempt, as he got to his feet.

Zuko then chose to speak, as he climbed down from Appa and walked over to Jet, unsheathing his Dao swords and igniting the blades in a golden-colored fire.

"You should start worrying less about others... You should worry more about what I will do with you and your group when this is all over" said Zuko.

It was then that a stream of water appeared between Zuko and Jet, which drew Zuko's attention to the source.

Katara.

"Don't take a single step! I'm not going to just stand by while you hurt others," said Katara.

Zuko then turned his gaze to Jet, who was smiling after Katara's action, and then replied calmly, as he sheathed his Dao swords again.

"Oh, really? But here you were, standing in place while your little boyfriend planned to destroy a colony of my people, full of innocent people... Get out of my way, that criminal little boyfriend of yours will be arrested, and he, like his small group, will be treated as an adult criminal due to recent actions," said Zuko.

Katara looked shocked.

"They were just defending their home!" screamed Katara, indignant.

"For killing innocent lives? If he wants to fight the Fire Nation, he should have enlisted in the Earth Kingdom army and not played hero when he's really nothing more than a petty thief. He will be arrested and tried..." said Zuko looking at Katara.

Jet, taking advantage of Zuko looking at Katara, jumped towards the prince with the dagger, removed it from his shoulder, and raised it.

The action surprised Katara who was paying attention to Zuko more than Jet, but... As soon as Jet got close enough, the world seemed to slow down, as Zuko soon raised his hand and grabbed Jet's arm, which was wielding the dagger.

*crack*

That was the sound made when Zuko twisted Jet's wrist...

Hard.

"Aaaargggh!" Jet screamed in agony as he dropped the dagger and clutched his wrist in pain.

Zuko wasted no time and grabbed Jet by the collar and pulled him violently, headbutting Jet in the nose, who was knocked out after the hit, in addition to leaving his nose bleeding, while at the same time grabbing the dagger that Jet dropped from his hand and guarding it.

All this time, Katara just watched Zuko's brutality and stared at him with fear, because whether or not she was still inexperienced in the art of waterbending and she was alone against what seemed to be already a master in firebending, in addition to a possibly experienced hand-to-hand combat fighter.

Zuko seemed to ignore Katara, as he soon removed ropes from one of the leather pouches around his waist and tied Jet, and placed the body on his shoulder, starting to walk back to Gaipan.

In the distance, an explosion was heard.

But luckily, it was possible to see that the explosion was far from the dam, signifying Aang's success.

It was then that Zuko looked at Katara.

"By the way, your brother is in Appa's saddle, he will need someone to untie him," said Zuko, before walking back towards Gaipan.

Katara, hearing what Zuko said, ran towards Appa, where she found Sokka, bound from head to toe, with a rope being used as a gag.

"Sokka! What did he do to you?!" Karata asked in surprise as she took the rope from Sokka's mouth and started to untie him.

"He... He said I talked too much... And I might have tried to hit him with my boomerang," Sokka said, in a defeated tone.

In truth, Sokka's attempt was something shameful that could be described as a futile action.

It was then that Aang returned with a relieved smile.

"I managed to stop them!" said Aang.

The Avatar then looked around.

"Where are Zuko and Jet?" asked Aang, in confusion.

"They left... Zuko took Jet to be tried and arrested" said Katara with a dark tone.

"Good!" Sokka said.

Katara frowned.

"How can you say that?... Jet may never come back... Just like our mother" said Katara, reaching up to her neck and lightly touching the necklace.

"Katara, Jet was crazy, he was really going to destroy Gaipan. There were only a few Fire Nation soldiers, the vast majority were innocent civilians... And Jet had even bragged that 'it would be a great victory', he was sick Katara," Sokka said, looking seriously at Katara.

Katara, however, didn't fully agree.

"He was a victim of the war, Sokka... We can't just judge him like that, he doesn't need to go to prison, he needs help..." said Katara, frowning.

Sokka was silent, while Aang chose to speak.

"The people of Gaipan are also victims. In fact, everyone is a victim as long as there is war, Katara... That's why I need to end the war so that there are no more victims" said Aang, with a firm tone.

Both Katara and Sokka looked at Aang and nodded seriously. Meanwhile, Zuko had returned to the vicinity of Gaipan, where he found the inhabitants on a nearby hill.

"Prince Zuko! Nothing has happened so far," said the mayor.

"The situation has been resolved... This is the leader of the group of children, they call themselves 'freedom fighters', arrest him and organize an escort to the nearby prison where he will be interrogated. You can go back to Gaipan, but I suggest starting to move the city to a higher place so that situations like this don't happen anymore" said Zuko, dropping Jet's body, still knocked out, on the ground.

The mayor and the leader of the guard soon approached to say thanks, bowing respectfully.

"Where are you going now, my prince?" asked the leader of the city guard.

Zuko just said one word.

"… Yu Dao"

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Well, that's all folks!

Hope you're enjoying this fanfic so far, peasant!

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