One Hard Decision Out of Many
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(Zara's POV)

The ship that I have called home for the past three years was becoming unbearable. I sat in my room in front of my vanity, wiping my eyes. I made sure there was no sign of tears before going back outside. Zuko had some serious anger issues. He has a right to be angry but he does NOT have the right to take it out on me. I can't deal with yelling.

I beeline toward my father and sit down across from him. "Up for a game, my daughter?" Iroh asked me.

"Only if you're up for me beating you again." I smiled at him. Growing up my father was gone for years at a time and so we didn't get to bond over really anything. After some war he came home to me playing Pai Sho and he taught he everything he knew, now I'm almost as good as him. I do have my lucky matches though.

We were nearing the end of our match when my cousin yelled out. "Finally. Zara, uncle, do you realize what this means?"

"We won't get to finish our game?" I asked as I watched the almost blinding light.

"It means my search is about to come to an end." He stated.

"Ahh..." My father said in feign understanding as he took his turn.

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source." Zuko pointed towards it. "It has to be him!"

"Or it's just the celestial lights." My father reasoned. "We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing. Please, sit. Why don't enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?"

"I don't need any calming tea! I need to capture the Avatar!" Zuko yelled in frustration. "Helmsmen, head a course for the light."

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"I'm going to bed now." Iroh stated, trying to coax Zuko into sleeping too. "Yep. A man needs his rest."

"Prince Zuko," I cut in. "You need some sleep. Even If you're right and the Avatar is alive, you won't find him." I walked up and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all tried and failed." Father pointed out.

"Because their honor didn't hinge on the Avatar's capture. Mine does. This coward's hundred years in hiding are over."

"Please, for me. Get some sleep." I sighed as I walked back to my father and took his arm. I let him lead me to his chambers where I bid him goodnight. I wasn't going to bed though.

I went to my chambers and read. They were mindless fairy tales, exaggerated stories that I used just for passing time. I've read them multiple times.

Once I was sure everyone was either asleep or inside I went out on the deck, on the helmsmen's blind spot. I watched the passing ice, wishing I could be off the ship. Wishing I could be anywhere but here. All my life I've been stuck in the palace walls and now that I'm out and exploring it isn't at all like I had expected.

"Can't sleep?" My father's voice asked from behind me. He walked up next to me and leaned on the railing.

"I'm just thinking." I smiled at the retired general.

He paused for a minute and then spoke. "Something is troubling you, Zara. I may be old but I am not blind."

"I- I just don't feel like I belong here. I didn't feel like I belonged in the palace and yearned for a chance like this and now that it's here... it's not what I was expecting." I sighed.

"What is holding you back? You can leave at anytime if that is your desire." Iroh said.

"You. I can't leave you." I pulled him in for a hug,

"The only thing I want from you is for you to be truly happy. Don't let me hold you back from anything." I smiled at him as he pulled back from the hug. He held me at arms length and looked me. "You have become everything I could have ever hoped."

"I'm not planning on going anywhere, anytime soon." He placed a hand on my check and I held it there. We had been through so much, I could barely fathom leaving him.

"When the time comes to choose between me and happiness, promise me you'll choose happiness." He smiled.

"I promise."

"Good, now go to bed. You need your sleep just as much as Prince Zuko."

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"Again." My father's voice rang out and Zuko started training more. "Ahh, no! Power and firebending come from the breath, not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire!" He demonstrated. "Get it right this time."

"Enough. I've been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set." Zuko demanded. "I'm more than ready."

"No! You are impatient! You have yet to master your basics. Drill It again!" Iroh commanded but Zuko kicked and sent fire at one guard, knocking him down.

"The sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender. He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements. I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him." He got louder and louder after each sentence. "You will teach me the advanced set!"

"Very well. But first-" he paused, pulled out his lunch. "I must finish my roast duck."

"Be patient, Zuko. Firebending is about more than brute strength." I spoke up from my spot next to my father.

"Easy for you to say, grandfather gave you private training! I'm stuck with your father!"

"My father has taught me so much more than what those stuck up soldiers." I defended.

After some more training he finally took a break, then a flare signaled. Zuko ran to look and he softly spoke. "The last airbender. Quite agile for his old age." He turned and order guards: "Wake my uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar, as well as his hiding place."

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We were heading for the Southern Water tribe and so I had to get ready. I put on my armor, strapped my swords to my back, styled my hair into the infamous Fire Nation topknot. I braided the top until the slope of my head and tied my hair up with a blood red ribbon, no helmet. I tied my clock around my neck and reached for my staff.

The staff was carved in a beautiful way, depicting all four styles of bending and their stories. It was also an airbender glider. I decided if the Avatar was an airbender it would be to risky to bring it but then again, I didn't really care. I grabbed it and took my place on the deck. Our ship crashed it's way into the small village, destroying their wall. The ship stopped and the guards let down the ramp. I followed after Zuko as he kicked a Water Tribe soldier off as he tried to attack him. I stood back as he examined the villagers.

"Where are you hiding him?" He asked. When no one answered he grabbed an old woman. "He'd be about this age, master of all elements." He pushed the woman back into the arms of a girl, most likely her granddaughter. Zuko threw fire at them in rage.

"Zuko!" I called out but he yelled on.

"I know you're hiding him!" The soldier from earlier came running at Zuko but he easily blocked and threw him before firebending at him. The solider threw a boomerang and narrowly missed Zuko's head.

"Show no fear!" A young boy cried out as he threw the soldier a spear. He came running at Zuko who easily broke it and took the staff. He jabbed the soldier in the head a few times before then breaking the staff as well. Out of nowhere the boomerang came back and hit Zuko in the back of the helmet. I couldn't help but laugh which made him send a dirty glare my way. He lit his fists in anger when a young boy came sledding in on a penguin and knocked him off his feet. I'm not even kidding. The boy was riding a penguin.

I laughed again as the young children of the tribe cheered. "Hey Katara, hey Sokka." The boy smiled.

"Hey Aang." The soldier from before sighed. Zuko stood and motioned his troop and I out. We surrounded the boy. He used airbending to propel snow at us but I discreetly used my airbending to stop it with my firebending, melting the snow right where I wanted. He shot snow as Zuko which sizzled and steamed on his armor, it then started melting.

"Looking for me?" The boy asked.

"You're the airbender?" My cousin asked, enraged. "You're the Avatar? I've spent years preparing for this encounter, training, meditating. You're just a child!"

"Well, you're just a teenager." The boy, Aang, the others called him.

I laughed again. "I like this kid."

Zuko attacked, sending blasts of fire his way. Aang used his staff, one that looked a lot like mine, and blew the fire out. Zuko sent blast after anger fulled blast which Aang barely put out. He then sent a blast toward the villagers which I stepped in and blocked with my fire.

"You are here for the Avatar, remember? Don't hurt the innocents!" I yelled at my cousin who ignored my cries. Aang processed what I said and slammed his staff on the ground.

"If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" I nodded at Zuko who then in turn nodded to the Avatar. The guards took him and led him into the ship.

"No Aang, don't do this!" A girl cried out running past me towards him.

"Don't worry, Katara." He called out over his shoulder. "It'll be okay. Take care of Appa for me until I get back."

I whispered a small 'I'm sorry' as I passed the girl who turned to me in surprise. I got on the ramp behind the guards and Avatar.

"Head a course for the Fire Nation! I'm going home." Zuko called out as he entered the ship.

Aang sent a small smile to the girl, Katara, as the ramp closed which faltered when he was out of view. We pulled out of the village as quickly as we had came.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." Zuko spoke as he admired it. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."

"Zuko!" I reprimanded. "You just took him away you could at least show some respect!"

Again, my cousin ignored me. "Take the Avatar to the prison hold, Zara you go to. And take this to my quarters." He handed the staff to my father who in turn handed the staff to a different guard.

I walked in behind of the guards who were leading the Avatar. "I'm sorry about my cousin, he doesn't know when to quit." I spoke quickly.

"S'okay I guess." Aang said, like he didn't expect me to care. "So, I guess you've never fought an airbender before. I bet I can take you all with my hands tied behind my back." I slightly turned and watched him, ready for anything he was going to do.

"Silence." One of the guards called out. As the guard inserted the key he inhaled. I used my airbending to jump up and hold myself against the roof as he blew himself and the guard back toward the stairs. I ran after him as he jumped onto the deck. He kicked air at the door and ran inside.

"The Avatar escaped!" I called to the guard on one of the top decks as I ran inside to find him.

"You haven't seen my staff around, have you?" He asked some guards he encountered as I caught up to him. He circled around them using airbending, running on the walls and ceiling. I decided to try and my luck and did the same.

"You staff, it's in Zuko's room. This way." I said as I ran in front of him. He looked at me in surprise as he realized I had done what he had.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Zara." I said as I took out a guard at the top of the ladder while Aang jumped over him. Aang looked in one of the rooms where my father was sleeping and I paused.

I gave him directions. "I'll meet you on the deck, there's something I have to do." I knelled in front of my sleeping father. I took a piece of parchment and quickly wrote on it. I tied it with the red ribbon from my hair. I set it next of my father and ran to my room. I quickly changed out of my Fire Nation clothes and changed into black pants that where slightly baggy and a black tank top. I grabbed a blue cloak that I picked up somewhere on this three year journey. I grabbed my two broadswords, much like Zuko's and hid then under the cloak. I paused before I pulled out a box under my bed. I opened in and inside was an old Earth Kingdom doll. I hesitated before I grabbed it and put it in a bag. I then stuffed a sleeping mat in and my Pai Sho tiles before I was gone.

I met the Avatar on the deck as Zuko forcibly brought him down. "What is that?" He asked as he saw something flying toward us.

"Appa!" Aang yelled out in joy. Zuko took the moment of distraction to try and take him down but I jumped in front of him and stopped the flames.

"Zara, what are you doing!?" He cried out.

"I'm sorry, Zuko." I said as I sent a wave of air toward him. Aang and I worked together, trying to deter the flames from my now enraged and hurt cousin. Aang lost his staff and jumped to avoid more flames. I wasn't able to save him as he fell off the boat.

I felt all my hope drain out of me as dread filled where it had once been. Without him I was screwed. "NO!" I cried out.

"Aang! No! Aang! Aang! Aang!" I heard yelled out. The girl from before was flying on the beast. Suddenly Aang broke through the surface and in a huge water spout. Zuko looked up with terror as he came down. His eyes and tattoos glowed as he took out everyone but me.

"Zuko!" I cried out. I may have just betrayed him but he was still family.

Aang collapsed as I ran to him. The creature landed and the two water tribe kids got off. "Aang! Are you okay?" The girl asked but hesitated when she saw me.

"Get away from him!" The boy, who was the soldier from before, shouted.

"I'm not going to hurt him! Besides, you couldn't beat my cousin, how are you supposed to beat me?"

"Because you're a girl!"

"You did not just say that." I said, offended.

"Hey guys." Aang called out in a weak voice. "Thanks for coming."

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory." The boy said as he came to Aang's side.

"I dropped my staff." Aang said before he looked at me. "You, who are you and why did you help me?"

"My name is Zara, and I'm a duel bender." I stated as I showed him my glider. "Fire and air. I've never seen another airbender before, I felt like I had to help."

We heard a surprised grunt from the boy who had went to get Aang's staff. Zuko was now hanging off the end of it. The boy managed to hit Zuko in the head and push him off. I drove off of the ship and used my airbending to fly and catch him but he had managed to grab the chain of the anchor. I landed on the ship again in time to see Katara waterbend to fight some of the soldiers and accidentally get her brother.

"Hurry up, Sokka! And get on, Zara!" She called as she climbed on the creature.

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying and magic." He cried out as he broke the ice around his feet. I ran up the creatures tail with him as Sokka called for Appa to fly.

My father came outside just in time to see me leave. I waved to him and saw a sad smile appear on his face.

I had chosen to find my happiness.

He helped Zuko back on the boat as he cried, "Shoot them down!" He watched but did not interfere with his nephew.

I jumped and blew the fire away, accidentally causing an avalanche.

I sat down in the corner of the saddle, cradling my bag close to me. The other three talked among themselves but I asked myself a question.

Had I made a mistake?