The Lone Earthbender ~REMASTERED~ (Rated PG-13 to R)

[DarkToph]

Author’s Notes: I didn’t like where TLE was going before. And the whole “Xemone in a “coma”” thing seemed too much like filler chapters, also, the written format of earlier chapters were kinda….bad. So, I am re-writing and revamping the entire story. Also, sorry to anyone who regularly follows the story but, it’ll be a long while before any “new” chapters come out for TLE. As along with the re-writing of earlier chapters, the writing of new chapters for my other FF I&BL, making AMVs and schoolwork, I also have to come up with new storylines to replace the ones I didn’t like before.
So, here’s the prologue to the new TLE. Enjoy!

~The Lone Earthbender~

Prologue


Eighteen years ago, an extremely powerful yet evil earthbender named Xemnas wished to control an extremely powerful demonic force to
overthrow all nations; Earth, Fire, and water and become the supreme overlord of it all.
While attempting to infuse a demon spirit with himself something went awry. He became extremely powerful with demonic abilities, but, along with having little to no control over his new abilities, lost his earthbending powers in the process.
Infuriated by this he searched for a way to gain the powers of an extremely powerful demon without sacrificing bending powers.
He discovered one way to do so....Infusing demonic spirit energy with an unborn child.
Suzuka, a broken, dark, earthbending woman, was found by Xemnas who swayed her into thinking that with the war with the fire nation was futile and  that utter chaos was upon all of us, whether the Fire Nation won or not. People were being killed, nations were falling and the Avatar was nowhere to be found.
Xemnas told Suzuka that the fire nation would soon have complete grip on every nation in the world and there was no hope to be found at all.
He told Suzuka that only with one true powerful force; one truly powerful person with power that may even surpass that of the Avatar was the only answer.
To stop the fighting but not the punishment, as the Earth Kingdom, along with the Water Tribes had committed great crimes against each other and punishment shall not be avoided.
Suzuka surprisingly wholeheartedly agreed with an evil glint in her eye.
Suzuka agreed to bear a child with Xemnas, all the time down the pregnancy he'd slowly infuse the unborn child with demonic energy. The child still sustaining earthbending powers while being inside its mother.
Nine months later Suzuka gave birth, but problems arose. Demonic and earthbending energy, along with the child’s reluctant human spirit energy, was clashing within the child expelling huge amounts of energy
Too much for Suzuka to handle, as the child was born and as Suzuka took her last breath she cursed the white haired red eyed child’s name.
"Xemone" a demonic earthbender born for the sole purpose of destruction and pain....

[Sonic]

Yay!

[DarkToph]

Author’s notes: Uh, here’s the first chapter of TLE re-mastered. This is going to be darker than the original, and Xemone is going to be a lot muter and less…annoying to Zuko. Though don’t worry, they still bicker, they fight, they’re still angsty, fight, fight, FIGHT!

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 1

   Walking through the snowy lands of the South Pole on a winter's morning, a mysterious girl stared off ahead as she sat down to rest. She tightened her hood and breathed into her gloved hands as she set aside her giant sand gourd. The South Pole is no place for an earthbender, but she had work to do.

The girl then took some sand from her giant sand gourd and wrapped it around her. The sun beating down heated up the sand slowly; she used earthbending to make the sand even warmer by constantly moving the grains of sand quickly to increase friction. The girl then sucked the sand back into the sand gourd, stood up, and began to walk ahead.

Moments later she stopped dead in her tracks and looked to the southwest of where she was standing as a sudden burst of light shot into the sky from a couple miles away. Her body then involuntarily shivered, but not from the cold, as the girl quickly ran towards the light. She then quickly stopped in her tracks when she spotted a fire nation ship not too far away. The girl then scowled and then took sand from her gourd and poured two foot sized spots on the snow and stepped on them as she earthbended them to shoot her across the snow as fast as she could go.

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About 20 minutes later, the girl stopped, realizing she was in front of open water. The girl silently huffed and bended her sand gourd under her legs as she knelt down and slammed her fists against the sand, transforming it into a bridge to the nearest ice berg, continuing the same process over and over until she reached the source of the light, but was too late.

He was gone.

She then spotted something in the snowy ice beneath her; what looked like a huge bison paw-print. She bent down and touched the paw print as she looked up into the sky to see nothing for miles. There was no doubt that this was a flying bison print, but why was the flying bison not flying? She turned back around to see the same Fire Nation ship. She huffed under her breath again and created another sand bridge to another ice berg as she headed off in the direction of the giant bison’s path.

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   She and the ship both stopped at a small water tribe village. She hid herself, not wanting to attract attention just yet as she watched and waited for the source of energy to appear, hoping it was him…

A short while later, the Fire Nation ship anchored at the small village. The girl watched as the ship opened its hatch, lowering a ramp down to the icy village as numerous Fire Nation soldiers emerged from the ship, soon followed by a teenager with a burn scar on his face, who seemed to be leader of these soldiers. As the scarred Fire Nation boy walked down the ramp, a Water Tribe teenager, who, judging by the face paint, was a warrior in training, lunged towards the other teen, wielding a club, but was easily kicked in the face by the Fire Nation teen and knocked off the ramp with the Fire Nation teen not even really breaking stride. He then looked at the gathered tribe and said in a stern voice,

 "Where are you hiding him?"

The tribe was silent.

He then got impatient and grabbed an old woman from the tribe by the collar of her shirt and said,

”He’d be about this age! Master of all elements?!"

The tribe was still silent, as he threw the lady back into the crowd. Tired of the Water Tribe’s insolence he shot fire over the water tribe’s heads, soon yelling,

"I know you're hiding him!"

The Water Tribe “warrior” then grabbed his club and charged at the Fire Nation teen, but he flipped him with ease and sent a fire blast at him. The Water Tribe warrior then threw a boomerang at him, but he dodged it with ease. A small child then threw a spear to the teen and he attacked the abusive Fire Nation boy only to have him quickly break the spear, smack him in the head with the handle and break it in two.

A couple seconds later the boomerang returned and smacked the Firebender in the back of the head, causing him to lose his composure for a few seconds as the Water Tribe warrior gave him a stern look.

The Firebender made two daggers out of fire in his hands and prepared for battle.

Just then, a bald boy covered in arrow tattoos one arrow on each of his feet, his hands and on top of his head, with a staff, slid down a snowy hill on the back of a penguin and crashed right into the back of the Firebender, sending him flying.

The Firebender signaled his soldiers to surround the boy, but he airbended the snow to shoot right at the soldiers and the scar-faced Firebender.

The boy stood in front of the frightened tribe and said,

 "Looking for me?"

Which received the reply of the Firebender who said in a surprised tone,

"You're the airbender?...You're the Avatar?!"

The Earthbender girl stared at the Airbender boy and analyzed him for a moment, both surprised that he was a small boy no older than twelve and half excited that she had finally found him.

The Firebender and the young Airbender took fighting positions. Not surprisingly the Firebender started with multiple fire blasts with the Airbender simply defending, as confrontation is against the teachings of an Airbender monk.

The girl couldn’t help but wonder if this boy was truly the Avatar. He was certainly an Airbender, and the Avatar is said to be the last Airbender, but his techniques, though advanced for his age, weren’t all that impressive. Those tattoos, however, say otherwise. Only master Airbenders are given those tattoos.

The Airbender saw how scared the tribe was as they watched the assault and quickly surrendered to the Firebender.

The girl then stood up, deciding she needed proof that this boy was the Avatar and stealthily made her way to the side of the ship and propelled herself up with her sand and hid in the ship as they prepared to ship off.

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A short while later, while hiding on this Fire Nation ship, the Earthbender overheard a soldier yell,

"He's escaped! The Avatar's escaped!"

She then peeked her head around the corner to get a better look of what was going on, seeing numerous soldiers running around frantically. She spotted the child, then hid again as she tried her hardest to stay merely a spectator for the time being. She wondered what the young Airbender was going to do. The boy may have had the ability to fly, being an Airbender, but he was surrounded for miles by freezing cold water, with little chance of not being followed by the determined Firebender. The scarred Firebender then emerged and chased after him as the Airbender tried to fly away. A flying bison appeared overhead with the same water tribe teen that attacked before, sans face paint and a seemingly younger teenage water tribe girl.

The Earthbender watched as the boy’s supposed friends attempted a rescue mission for him, getting increasingly agitated as they were interfering with her figuring out if he was the true Avatar. The Firebender continued to attack the child, eventually knocking him over the edge into the icy waters below.

They all thought the worst, except for the Earthbender, who basically saw this as her one opportunity to see if this boy truly was the Avatar. Airbending doesn’t help when you’re underwater. If he wants to survive, he either has to Waterbend, which will prove it either way, or enter the Avatar state. A few moments later the same light emerged from the frigid waters, soon followed by a giant cyclone shooting out of the water, with the boy on top of it, eyes and arrow tattoos glowing.

The Earthbender smirked, knowing it for sure now. This boy is the Avatar.

The Avatar then landed on the ship and Waterbended the water from the icy sea to knock the Firebenders away in one swoop.  He collapsed soon after, seemingly exhausted from the usage of his Avatar powers.

The Avatar’s friends landed on the ship also and gathered him up to take him back to the flying bison and away from the threats of the Fire Nation for now.

The Firebender then reappeared from the side of the ship, but the male Water Tribe boy knocked him off with the Airbender’s staff. The Water Tribe girl was about to be attacked by the soldiers and tried to freeze them, accidently freezing her brother’s feet, but she concentrated harder and froze the soldiers in place.

They all ran and got on the bison and flew away, but as the took off an older Fire Nation man helped the scarred Firebender back up onto the ship and they both shot giant fireballs at the bison, but the Avatar airbended the fireballs, intercepting them into the face of a huge iceberg sending an avalanche over the ship.

The Earthbender then looked up as ice and snow careened towards her and quickly covered herself in a dome of her sand.

Once the damage was done, she emerged a few minutes later from the snow and sand as she collected the sand back into her gourd, only to see a pair of Fire Nation boots in front of her. She looked up and saw the scarred Firebender in front of her with a very angry look on his face as he yelled "What are you doing on my ship?!"

[DarkToph]

Author’s Notes: Here’s the second chapter to TLE re-mastered. Comments are love. =D
Also, for anyone who was a frequent reader of the old version, I’d love to know how this version compares.

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 2

The Earthbender finished gathering her sand back into her sand gourd and stood up out of the snow to face the irritated Firebender who yelled,

“I asked you a question!”

The Earthbender just shot a blank look to the Firebender without replying as the older Firebender approached the girl and said,

“Please excuse my nephew’s rudeness. He’s just in a foul mood. What is your name miss?”

The girl raised her eyebrow at the man and replied in a quiet voice,

“Xemone…My name is Xemone…”

The man then smiled and said,

“My name is Iroh and this is my nephew, Zuko.”

Zuko then barged in front of Iroh yelling,

“This is no time for pleasantries, Uncle! She’s a stowaway on my ship!” Zuko redirected his attention towards Xemone and continued,

“What is your business here, girl?”

Xemone glared off into the direction that the Avatar and his friends were heading and said in the same quiet, monotone voice,

“That….is none of your concern.”

Zuko got straight in her face and said in a stern voice,

"It is my concern since you're stowing away on my ship!"

Xemone wasn’t fazed by this stare down as she remained stone faced as she said,

“Once we hit shore I will not bother you with my presence anymore.”

Zuko then yelled, "That is not the point! How did an Earthbender get on my ship anyway?! Is the Water Tribe housing rogue Earthbenders now, too?!”

Iroh then gently pushed his nephew aside and said,

“Calm yourself, Zuko, you’re just upset over losing the Avatar. Do not take out your frustrations on her.“

Iroh then approached Xemone again and asked calmly,

“Why were you on our ship, young Xemone?”

Xemone turned her attention towards Iroh again and blankly stated

“I just wanted to see if the boy was really the Avatar, so I stowed away on your ship when you set sail…”

Iroh raised an eyebrow and asked,

“Why were you in the Water Tribe to begin with? As an Earthbender, aren’t you a bit out of your element?....No pun intended.”

Xemone replied, “I had travelled there around the same time you had…”

Zuko huffed at her words and said,

“I don’t believe you just happened upon the South Pole just as we were.”

Zuko smirked a suspicious smile and said,

“Uncle, I think we have a spy on my ship."

The older Firebender responded by saying,

"If she is a spy why would she let us catch her so easily? Let alone stand here and speak to us so easily. She would’ve left as soon as she was discovered, one way or another.”

Zuko responded,

”Spies are clever con artists when they're caught. Besides if you're not a spy then what are you really doing here!?"

Xemone sighed and said,

"I’ve already explained myself. I was at the South Pole…you captured the Avatar, I stowed away to see if it was really him and you caught me hiding…Simple as that.”

Zuko became irritated and said,

“No matter. I give no mercy to stowaways on my ship, no matter the circumstances. Take her to the brig!”

As soon as the soldiers tried to apprehend her, Xemone sand-bended a ring of sand around her and expanded it to knock them away. The sudden burst of wind that the expulsion of sand caused caused her hood to blow off of her head, revealing her short, white hair, blood red eyes, and two, cat-ear like horns growing out of her head.

As Zuko and Iroh stared in awe and shock, both from the ease of the defeat of their soldiers and from Xemone’s appearance, Xemone said,

"I don’t have anyway of reaching shore from this far out…I won’t cause trouble in my time on…your ship, but if you insist on making trouble for me…I have no second thoughts against blowing all these excuses for benders off the ship, including you, scar-face, and driving myself home."

The young Firebender paused as he tried to figure out exactly what happened in those two minutes and then angrily said,

"Fine! You can stay! But only until we hit land and only if you stay out of my way!”

Xemone slightly nodded and headed towards the bow of the ship and leaned on the rail as Zuko watched her and said to his crew,

"Thanks to that avalanche, we must make repairs to the ship! Make haste as we head for shore! I don’t want the Avatar’s trail to get cold!”

Zuko turned back and walked to his quarters, Iroh heading for his own quarters, and they sailed to land.

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A few hours later, with Xemone still leaning on the bow, they hit land; a set of docks in the Fire Nation known for quick and decent repairs.

Zuko shouted, "Earthbender! We've hit land, so get off my ship!"

Zuko was in a hurry, so he got off first with Uncle Iroh and Xemone followed, with her hood back on her head. Zuko noticed her behind them and asked angrily,

"Why are you following us?!"

Xemone then smirked,

”Because the Avatar is heading out over sea. As an Earthbender…A poor Earthbender, I don’t really have reasonable transportation to any of his supposed whereabouts and you can provide me with transportation…so I won't waste valuable energy for nothing"

Zuko snapped and said,

“One, what is your connection to the Avatar? Why do you want him?! And two, I said you could ride until we hit shore, not cart you around until you can take my claim!”

Xemone smirked again and said in a smart-aleck tone,

"I did ride until we hit land....then I got off and followed you....then I'm going to get back on the ship...”

Zuko became increasingly angry as he said,

"Not only did you not answer my first question, but that is not what we agreed!”

Xemone continued her monotone smart-aleck ways as she said,

"Yes…we agreed that I could stay on the boat until we hit land and as long as I stay out of your way....well we're on land…I’m not on the boat...and I'm behind you so..."

As Zuko’s expression turned to a baffled one, Iroh joined in saying,

"You know she has a point. You did say she could stay until we hit land and as long as she stayed out of your way…"

Zuko started getting extremely angry and shouted,

"Fine! I don’t care anymore!" and walked off with Iroh and Xemone following.

"Uncle I want the repairs done as soon as possible.” Said Zuko as they walked, “I don't want to risk staying too long and losing his trail"

Iroh replied, "You mean the Avatar."

Zuko silently yelled at Iroh, "Don't say his name on these docks. Once word gets out that he's alive every Firebender in the world will be after him and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

A man’s voice then said, "Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?"

Xemone arched her eyebrow at the man’s “prince” statement, and then remembered an incident that was rumored around about a year and a half ago about the Fire Lord’s son betraying him and earning him a facial scar from a burn his own father delivered him. This must be the guy.

An older Firebender, younger than Iroh, but much older than Zuko, with odd sideburns then walked up to Zuko, Iroh and Xemone.

Zuko said to the man, "Captain Zhao..."

"It's 'commander' now.” Replied Zhao as he directed his attention towards Iroh, “General Iroh, great hero of our nation."

"Retired General.” replied Iroh.

Zhao then looked behind them, noticing a hooded girl with a giant sand gourd on her back that was seemingly made of hardened sand and asked in a suspicious tone,

"Is that an Earthbender?"

Zuko panicked and said,

"Uhhh...Yes. We picked her up along our last trip....She's our mechanic. She's very poor so she begged for a job with us and we took pity upon her."

Xemone snarled at Zuko’s words, but ignored them.

Zhao was suspicious, but brushed it off and said condescendingly,

”Taking in homeless Earthbender teens as your crew now, Zuko?...I believe you're the one who needs pity..."

Zuko got a bit angry, but kept his composure.

Zhao said, "The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?"

Iroh responded, "Our ship is being repaired"

Zhao turned his attention to the terribly damaged ship, covered in ice,

"That's quite a bit of damage" said Zhao in a suspicious tone.

Zuko became nervous and said,

"Yes, you wouldn't believe what happened....Uncle!...Tell Commander Zhao what happened."

Zuko nudged his surprised and equally nervous Uncle as he said,

"Uh...yes, I will do that.. It was incredible...What? Did we crash or something?"

Zuko got increasingly nervous as he said,

"Yes...right into an Earth Kingdom ship."

Xemone shook her head lightly at the spectacle in front of her, amused at how off-kilter they were as Zhao replied,

"Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details....Join me for a drink?"

"Sorry but we have to go..." replied Zuko quickly.

"Zuko!...Show Commander Zhao your respect.” scolded Iroh, “We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It’s my favorite."

Zuko got frustrated and blew fire in anger as he started to walk off with Xemone behind him. He stopped and said,

"No, you can't come! If you get caught around here, especially with horns, which we are going to get to later, and they find out I brought you I'll never be allowed into this harbor again. Stay beside the ship, put your giant sand jar thing inside the ship so you won't be as noticeable and don’t….move! We will be back later, and don't talk to anyone!"

Zuko walked off, following the Commander and Iroh as Xemone huffed and leaned against the side of the ship, with her arms crossed.

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Back at Zhao’s headquarters, Zhao was finishing up a very long rant,

"...And by years end the Earth Kingdom capitol will be under our rule. The Fire lord will finally claim victory in this war."

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly then he is a fool” replied Zuko.

Zhao shook his head at the rebellious attitude of the young Firebender and said,

"Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue. So, how's your search for the Avatar going?"

Iroh knocked over a few spears that were hanging off the wall and said as he blushed in embarrassment,

"My fault entirely!" and backed away with a smile.

Zuko then replied, while trying to cover up his lies,

"We haven't found him yet."

Zhao raised an eyebrow and replied,

"Did you really expect to? The Avatar died 100 years ago, along with the rest of the Airbenders. Unless you've found some evidence that the Avatar is alive…"

Zhao was acting as if he was interrogating the Prince as Zuko responded,

"No...Nothing"

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the fire nation from winning this war. If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you’ll tell me what you've found." said Zhao as he got into Zuko’s face, still prodding for answers.

"I haven't found anything. It's like you said, the Avatar probably died a long time ago."

Zuko got up from his chair and said,

"Come on Uncle. We’re going."

Zuko was then stopped by Zhao’s guards as they crossed their spears in front of him.

Zhao’s guard said "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape."

Zhao smirked at this news as Zuko became increasingly nervous.

"Now remind me...How exactly was your ship damaged?"

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Zuko and Iroh spent the next hour or so telling Zhao everything that happened at the South Pole and at sea, followed by Zhao’s response of,

"So a twelve year old boy bested you and your Firebenders? You're more pathetic then I thought."

"I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again." replied Zuko in a stern, determined voice.

"No, it will not, because you won't have a second chance." Replied Zhao.

Zuko stood up immediately, angered at Zhao’s words as he said,

"Commander Zhao! I’ve been hunting the Avatar for two years and I--"

Zuko was interrupted by Zhao’s Firebending and shouting,

"And you failed! Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager’s hands. He’s mine now."

Zuko became agitated and tried to attack Zhao, only to be stopped by Zhao's guards.

"Keep them here" said Zhao as he left.

As Zhao walked away, Zuko kicked over the table Iroh was drinking tea off of, Iroh responding with an unfazed, "More tea please!"

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"My search party is ready.” said Zhao as he returned a short while later, “Once I'm out to sea my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go."

Zuko replied with a suspicious tone, ”Why? Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you?"

Zhao laughed and said, “You? Stop me? Impossible."

"Don't underestimate me Zhao!” replied Zuko, “I will capture the Avatar before you!"

Iroh intervened and said, "Prince Zuko, that's enough!"

"You can't compete with me.” replied Zhao to Zuko, “I have hundreds of warships under my command and you...You're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own Father doesn't even want you."

Zuko replied to Zhao in an offended tone, "You're wrong! Once I deliver the Avatar to my Father he will welcome me home with honor, and restore my rightful place on the throne!"

Zhao chuckled and said, "If your father really wanted you home, he would've let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

Zuko cringed and yelled, "That's not true!"

Zhao smirked and replied, "You have the scar to prove it."

Zuko jumped forward and yelled "Maybe you’d like one to match!"

"Is that a challenge?" asked Zhao in an unimpressed tone.

"An Agni kai, at sunset."

"Very well.” replied Zhao, “It's a shame your Father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your Uncle will do.”

And with that Zhao walked off.

 Iroh turned to Zuko and asked worriedly, "Prince Zuko, have you forgotten the last time you dueled a master?"

Zuko touched his scar and said, "I will never forget..."

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Later, at sunset, as Zuko and Zhao prepared themselves for their one-on-one battle, Iroh began to coach his Nephew.

"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons."

"I refuse to let him win." replied Zuko in a determined tone.

"This will be over quickly" said Zhao smugly as they took battle stances.

Zuko shot Zhao a glare as the battle began. Zuko attacked first with an all-out assault and Zhao easily defending, but Zuko wouldn't give up. He kicked fire towards Zhao, but he just kept defending. Zhao finally attacked and pushed Zuko back with huge fire blasts and soon after, with one huge blast, Zuko was down.

Zhao then jumped up in front of the fallen Prince and prepared a final attack. Zhao launched his attack, but Zuko lifted himself up and spin-kicked the attack away, while at the same time, tripping the Commander.

With Zuko in command now, he kicked up numerous fire attacks at Zhao who was now sloppily trying to defend. Zuko kicked Zhao down and prepared a final attack of his own. Zhao then shouted, as he was basically defeated on the ground,

"Do it!"

Zuko shot the fire blast, but aimed it to hit right by Zhao's face to scare him, not kill him.

"That's it?” replied a shocked Zhao, “Your father raised a coward."

"Next time you get in my way I promise....I won't hold back" said Zuko who then proudly, yet still annoyed, turned his back and walked away.

Zhao quietly got up and attacked while Zuko had his back turned, but the attack was negated by Iroh who grabbed Zhao's foot and threw him back. Zuko tried to attack Zhao again, but was also stopped my Iroh who said,

"No prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory.” Iroh redirected his attention towards Zhao, “So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat?...Disgraceful...Even in exile my Nephew is more honorable than you.”

Iroh’s words both irritated the defeated Zhao and touched the Prince as Iroh continued, “Thanks again for the tea...It was delicious..."

Iroh and Zuko walked out of the battle arena, leaving an annoyed Zhao in the dirt.

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A short while later, Zuko and Iroh returned to the ship. Zuko spotted Xemone on the bow and said,

"Oh yeah. I forgot you were still here."

His tone wasn’t nearly as annoyed as it was before as Xemone replied in a monotone, not really caring voice, "You were gone for a long time..."

"I presume you didn't cause me any trouble while we were away.”

Xemone shrugged as she stared back over the bow with Zuko stating,

“You are going to tell me why you want the Avatar and what…exactly you are…”

Xemone then turned slightly with Zuko continuing,

“But…not tonight…I’m too tired to deal with the likes of you.”

Xemone then turned back towards the bow, sat down and said, "I'm fine sleeping on the bow, in the open, so no need to do anything for me."

"Good because I wasn't planning to." snapped Zuko.

"...but be warned that if I wake up in a jail cell, that the damage I'll do to this ship will make what the Avatar did pale in comparison...." replied Xemone in a surprisingly threatening voice.

Zuko huffed at her "threat" as Xemone laid down; arms crossed behind her head, with her staring into the blood red sky, as Zuko and Iroh went to their separate chambers for the night, a long, long, dangerous journey ahead of them.

[DarkToph]

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 3

Two days later, after all the repairs to the ship had been done and they had set sail, Zuko woke up at the crack of dawn and got dressed in a hurry, knowing that no time could be spared if Zhao was after the Avatar as well now.

He walked onto the bow to see a sleeping Xemone.

Zuko yelled "Earthbender!! Wake up!!”

Xemone half-opened her left eye and, being a person who only despises one thing more than mornings and that's being forcibly woken up, took some of the sand that was wrapped around her to keep her warm, grabbed Zuko's feet and knocked him over. She then fell back asleep with an innocent yawn.

Zuko stood back up, sandy and furious and yelled,

"You're going to pay for that Earthbender!”

Zuko then stood right by Xemone’s ear and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Wakkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeee upppppppppppppp!!”

Xemone then fully opened her left eye and shot some of the sand straight toward him knocking him into the wheelhouse. Xemone rolled over and went back to sleep.

Zuko slowly got up out of the broken glass and wood, under the gaze of a shocked Helmsman, as he looked out the window of the wheelhouse and said, "I've had it..." He then shot a fireball toward the rail of the ship and it exploded in front of Xemone.

Xemone woke up in surprise of Zuko’s surprising assault.

"Well now. Wake up lazy Earthbender..." said Zuko who then walked down to the deck again.

When Zuko came back down to the bow, Xemone said angrily yet as monotone as ever,

"What....was that for?"

 Zuko replied, "If you had just woken up when I said I wouldn't have had to torch you awake so it's your fault."

Xemone then twitched her eyebrow as she scrunched up her face in anger and said quietly to herself, "Irritant...” She then raised her voice so Zuko could hear,

“Where are we going?...." 

Zuko replied, "We have knowledge that the Avatar is headed to Kyoshi Island and Zhao has no idea so we're headed there before he finds out."

Xemone lazily rubbed her eyes and yawned as she said, "....Kyoshi huh?...wonder why he'd go there..." 

Zuko huffed and said "It doesn't matter as long as we know where he's going."

Iroh then appeared from his quarters and said in a perky tone, "Hello, Young Xemone, greetings Nephew!" Zuko and Xemone both blinked and said, "Ugh..." at the perky morning person also known as Iroh,

"Would either of you like some tea? I just made it"

Zuko replied, "Tea?...It's barely sunrise and you're drinking tea?"

Iroh smiled and said, “There's no time in existence that isn't tea time, Zuko. Oh well, I see neither of you want any. If you need me I'll be in my quarters."

Xemone thought for a second then said, "Iroh..."

Zuko turned towards the Earthbender and asked, "What about him?..."

"Is...Is he the same General Iroh who attacked Ba Sing Se two years ago?"

Zuko flinched, then replied, "Yeah, but he doesn't like to talk about it...Why?"

Xemone shrugged and said,” Just wondering. I don't really care..."

Xemone walked inside the ship to wash up.

Zuko sighed then said to himself "What am I thinking? She can't be trusted to be alone inside the ship. Who knows what she could be stealing or messing with?"

Zuko then ran into the ship to find her. He then opened the door to a small empty room to find Xemone with her back turned away from the doorway, in her underwear and Zuko noticed a very long intricate tattoo on her back. Like an ancient seal at the base of her neck connected to what looked like interlocking diamond shape-chains running down her back branching off onto her limbs. The diamond chain-like tattoos end at the limbs by wrapping her ankles and wrists in almost shackle-like forms and noticing a similar chain-like collar tattoo around her neck. Along with the tattoo, Xemone was covered head to toe in deep gashing scars.

Xemone turned around and glared at Zuko who was frozen in shock at the number of massive scars on her and the intriguing tattoo in her body. She then blinked and knocked him away with her sand and said unscathed, "Apparently Firebenders don't knock..." then she shut the door again.

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Once Zuko regained consciousness, he got up and collected himself. He decided to leave Xemone be for now and went to the wheelhouse to ask,

"How much longer until we get there?"

"Not much longer." answered the helmsman.

"Good" replied Zuko, who then saw Xemone on the bow and decided to go down and ask her something.

He reached the deck a few minutes later and said, "Earthbender."

Xemone replied in a monotone, yet annoyed voice as the Firebender made his way towards her, "He sees me half naked and still can't say my name...Yes, Your Majesty?"

Zuko approached her and asked "How'd you get that ugly tattoo on your back? And what's with all the scars?"

Xemone snuffed and said,

"....Unlike being cushy-banished where you get your own army and ship and get waited on hand and foot, I was left to defend myself against everyone and everything. You get hurt here and there you know Scarface?"

Zuko replied with an aggravated huff, "Hmph....What about that tattoo? Pretending you're some form of airbender?"

Xemone stared off into the sky and said, "....Those marks....are my shackles....Cursed marks....nothing more...."

Zuko raised an eyebrow and replied, "Your shackles?"

Xemone replied quietly, "We're here."

Zuko quickly looked around and said, "Huh?...Oh, Kyoshi Island. He won't get away this time."

"I'll stay here. Chances are you won't catch him here anyway...”

Zuko snapped and said, "Shut up! What makes you say I won't!?"

Xemone smirked and replied as they hit shore and anchored, "The fact you couldn't contain him last time, you’re a second rate Firebender and I know something about this island that you don't"

Zuko huffed and replied, "Oh forget it. If you want to stay here, then fine, but when I bring the Avatar aboard you have to leave for good!"

Xemone gave a quick chuckle, followed by, "You're going to be defeated..."

"Be quiet!" yelled Zuko as he made his way off the ship with his soldiers.

Zuko took a quick look around the island and yelled, "Come out, Avatar! You can’t hide forever!!”

There was nothing but silence in response.

Zuko then commanded his soldiers "Find him!!"

Zuko’s soldiers quickly panned out and searched for the Avatar.

A couple moments later, a bunch of female warriors dressed in clothes reminiscent of that of Avatar Kyoshi attacked them from out of nowhere. Someone who seemed to be the leader of the girls attacked Zuko head on.

Xemone said while watching from the ship, "The Kyoshi warriors.....Should’ve listened to me…"

Zuko knocked the leader away and tried to send a final blow at her, but was blocked by the same Water Tribe teen from the South Pole, who was dressed in Kyoshi warrior clothing.

Another Kyoshi warrior fell from the sky and knocked Zuko down and was then surrounded by Kyoshi warriors.

He used a fire spin kick to knock them all away.

Zuko yelled "Nice try Avatar, but these little girls can’t save you!!"

Xemone said "Huh...guess he's better than I first thought. Taking out two Kyoshi warriors and a she-male..."

A voice then yelled "Hey!"  as the Avatar appeared.

Zuko smiled in presence of the child Avatar, "Finally..." and attacked the young Airbender.

Aang dodged and defended the attacks, then used two Kyoshi warrior fighting fans that had fallen onto the ground, along with his own airbending and blew Zuko smack into the side of a building. He then grabbed his glider and flew off.

Xemone chuckled quietly as she watched the spectacle.

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A little while later, Zuko spotted the Avatar’s flying bison fly overhead.

"Back to the ship! Don’t lose sight of him!" yelled Zuko as he and his troops returned to the ship to continue their chase.

Shortly afterward, the Unagi, a massive water serpent whose known territory was in the waters around Kyoshi Island, rose up out of the water with the Avatar on its head and shot water all over the flaming village that had caught fire due to Zuko and his small army’s assault.

Zuko and his soldiers were left standing there, getting soaked by the water the Unagi shot at the village which earned a small laugh from Xemone.

Zuko got back on the ship, still soaked, and watched as the Avatar jump back onto his bison and fly away.

Zuko could see that Xemone was about to say something sarcastic about his humiliating defeat, and stopped her before she could by saying in an aggravated tone, "Don’t even start with me, Earthbender!”

Zuko marched into his quarters yelling "Follow that bison!" and slammed the door.

Xemone sighed then turned back around, facing the open sea yet again as they headed in the direction of the Avatar...

[DarkToph]

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 4

A new day had fallen upon the Fire Nation Ship. They had lost the trail of the Avatar’s flying bison days ago, but were not giving up.

Zuko awoke with a yawn and quickly got dressed, eager to find the Avatar’s trail yet again, though they were now following purely off estimation.

Zuko went down to the dining quarters to eat breakfast, and Iroh soon joined him, greeting him with a question,

"Where's Young Xemone?"

 Zuko took a bite of the food on his plate and answered in an annoyed tone, "...Who cares?"

Iroh gave Zuko a small dirty look then continued, "...Has she even eaten this entire trip?"

Zuko took another bite and answered, "I don't know. I don't monitor her eating habits"

Iroh then sighed and replied, "Perhaps I should bring her some eggs..."

"Do whatever you want Uncle..." replied Zuko as he took a drink of some orange juice.

Iroh then grabbed a plate and got some scrambled eggs from the pan in the kitchen and brought it to the bow.

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Xemone was sitting at the bow staring intently at the ocean ahead, trying to see if she could still sense the Avatar, but to no avail. Seems unless he was in the Avatar state she couldn’t sense him at all.

She flinched as she heard someone approach.

"Greetings young Xemone" said Iroh cheerfully.

Xemone just kept staring ahead through his greeting.

Iroh sat down beside Xemone and said, "I noticed you hadn't really eaten anything since you came on this ship"

Xemone kept staring as she replied in a monotone voice,

 "....It's fine. I figured the Prince would get angered if I ate "his" food and we haven't docked for a while yet so I haven't been able to get anything myself but I'm fine...."

Xemone’s stomach took that opportunity to growl loudly.

Iroh chuckled and said, "You may be fine, but your stomach sure isn’t. Here I brought this for you"

Iroh showed Xemone the plate of food.

"....Hm..." said Xemone unsurely as she looked at the food.

Iroh gave a happy smile and said, "It's fine, believe me. It’s actually quite delicious."

Xemone then glanced at Iroh, then the plate of food as she eventually took the plate of food from Iroh and started eating.

"Is it good?" asked Iroh.

"Yes....Thank you..." replied Xemone with her same monotone voice.

”So tell me...Why do you pursue the Avatar?"

Xemone abruptly stopped eating.

Iroh looked at her then looked away and said, "If your motives are personal then I won't urge you to answer."

Xemone continued eating.

Iroh gave a small sigh and said, "You know...My nephew really isn't as bad a person as he comes off"

"Hmph...Really?" said Xemone sarcastically.

"He's just....been through a lot..."

"I'm sure he has...." said Xemone with the same sarcastic look on her face.

"You seem like you've been through a lot as well...Maybe too much..." said Iroh in a melancholy tone.

Xemone finished eating and gave the plate to Iroh as she said, "Thank you again...."

Iroh got a sad expression on his face as he caught a glimpse of Xemone's empty, cold eyes and said, "You're very welcome"

Iroh got up and left Xemone to her thoughts.

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As noontime approached, Zuko walked onto the deck with one of his soldiers. The soldier came up to him and said,

”We're low on provisions sir; we should find some land and stock up before we run out."

Zuko snapped back at the soldier, "We don't have time! We might lose his trail!"

Xemone silently sighed as she was forced to listen to another one of the Prince’s outbursts. She noticed the more time that went by without sight of the Avatar, the more irritable the Prince became.

Xemone spoke up and said in a flat tone, "Tell me something Prince….does this sound logical to you? A small army that can hardly stand their own at best of health and least of hunger and thirst, so starve them and dehydrate them for a bit so you can follow a trail that doesn't exist so that in the unlikely event that we do cross paths with the Avatar you'll have a nice starving, dehydrated, mediocre army to fight against the Avatar? Master of all 4 elements?"

Zuko huffed, got an extremely frustrated look on his face, but then caved and said, "Head for the nearest shore!" The man in the wheelhouse gave an acknowledging signal as they shifted direction towards the shore.

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A while later the ship arrived on a small island.

"Ok! Hurry up and stock up extremely well! I don't want to have to make another stop for a long while!!" yelled the irritated Prince.

Xemone then started to walk off the ship.

"Where, exactly, are you going?" Zuko barked.

Xemone gave a light sigh and replied, "I have to go stock up, too....Wouldn't want my tainted commoner lips to touch royal food. I might get a glimpse of heaven and take it all..."

Zuko’s eyebrow twitched in anger at her sarcastic words and yelled "Yeah?! Well, you better hurry because this ship leaves shore in one hour and if you're not back by then we leave!! Period!"

Xemone sighed and walked off the ship as Zuko went with his soldiers.

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Xemone walked through town, gathering up food and filled a canteen with water, as she soon noticed the position of the sun. She decided she should be heading back to the ship. It was getting late and she knew the very angry Prince wasn’t kidding about leaving and he was her only mode of transportation.

Xemone started to walk back through the woods when she was confronted by three muscular Earthbender men.

"Hey, look boys, a wandering little girl." said the first man condescendingly.

"Are you lost little girl?" said the second man with the same tone.

The three started to laugh together.

"Hey, girly if you hand over all your stuff we won't have to hurt you." said the third man with a threatening voice.

"Have to...want to, what’s the difference?" said the second man as they started laughing again

"....I'm sorry..." said Xemone in a low toned, flat voice.

”Huh? Sorry for what?" asked the first man.

"This is my first time on this island so I'm not sure where the support group for people with the intelligence level of a gorilla-goat that’s been repeatedly hit on the head with a big rock is being held....Sorry." said Xemone with an unimpressed, sarcastic tone spiced with a smirk.

"Little punk!!" yelled the second man.

The men then attacked Xemone who noticed she had accidentally left her sand gourd on the ship, but decided it was more fun to go old school. She slammed the ground with her palm sending out a shockwave that sent all three men into the air then crashing into the ground.

"Ah...girly's got some moves...” said the first man, “Well let's show her our moves boys..."

The men then took stances in an organized fighting formation and then dispersed, quickly surrounding Xemone.

Xemone didn’t have time for this and she knew it so she decided to end it quickly as she slammed her foot and sent three huge boulders out of the ground and she triple kicked the boulders towards the men then started to run towards the shore accelerated by her earthbending powers. Little did she know that she had only taken out two of the men and the last had dodged the boulder.

He took two fighting hammers from his belt and sneak attacked Xemone by hitting her in the back with the hammer. She started to lose consciousness, but not before kicking the ground sending the man flying hundreds of yards away.

Xemone then fell to the ground, as she faded to black…

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A while later, Xemone woke up in a daze.

"Ugh…” said Xemone as she tried to get up. She jumped and said, “Oh no."

Xemone then looked up at the sky and saw the sun’s position. She had been gone at least three hours and there was little to no chance the Fire Nation ship was still in the harbor.

Xemone sighed as she lost her best mode of transportation, besides her legs. Xemone decided to walk back to the shore, hoping she could stow away on another ship, maybe find someway to take it over so she can navigate herself to the Avatar, if she could be so lucky.

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She arrived at the shore a little while later and, much to her surprise, the ship was still there.

Xemone’s expression became a confused one as she looked at the ship and wondered why he was still there.

Xemone ran onto the ship to find Iroh standing on the bow. He turned to face her and said, "You look exhausted young Xemone. Did something happen out there?"

Xemone impassively explained "....I got ambushed by some thieves…..but I defeated them...one of them knocked me out for a good couple hours or so..."

Iroh became a little worried and asked, “Are you all right?”

“I’ll probably have a rather large bruise on my back, but nothing to cry over…”

Iroh replied “That’s good. I was getting worried. So that's what took you so long?"

Xemone nodded slightly.

"...Zuko seems to have found a lead to the Avatar's whereabouts by some Fire Nation soldiers in the marketplace, who have heard some rumors from a small legion of Firebenders on another shore,"

Xemone replied"....Well at least we're not sailing blind anymore..."

Iroh smirked and said "Zuko's been very eager to leave ever since he came back an hour or so ago."

Xemone raised her right eyebrow and said, "Why is he still here then? If he’s so eager why hasn’t he left yet?”

Iroh’s smirk became a little bigger as he replied, "Yes, well, Zuko's been putting off leaving for some reason. He seemed very frustrated, but kept making up excuses not to leave."

Xemone got a puzzled look on her face as her attention was directed toward the wheelhouse when Zuko yelled, "You lucked out Earthbender! I've had some delays to contend with so we couldn't leave. Another couple of minutes and you would've been stranded!”

Xemone just blinked in response as Zuko yelled to the helmsman, “Set sail!"

The ship then left the harbor and Xemone Shrugged to herself, still confused as Iroh left the bow with a knowing smirk.

Xemone returned to her regular spot on the bow and stood silent for a minute then thought,

...He just doesn't make sense.....

[DarkToph]

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 5

Xemone awoke to the sound of firebending blasts as Zuko was practicing under Iroh’s direction. Xemone, a person who despises waking up, sighed and said in an irritated yet same flat voice,

“Can't you practice later?....And away from me?"

Zuko snapped, "You're lucky I even let you stay on my ship and it's my ship, my rules!"

Zuko then shot a fireblast directly over Xemone's semi-conscious head. Xemone half-opened her right eye and said sarcastically,

"Oohhh....Scary....Ahhh...and stuff..."

Zuko huffed and replied, "Either shut up or wake up...and then shut up"

Xemone huffed and groggily walked off to the other side of the ship and leaned on the rail, hoping to catch a little bit more shut-eye as she heard Zuko demanding Iroh to teach him the next set of firebending moves as the ship sailed in the direction they had been told that the Avatar was heading.

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Later, Zuko finished his training and decided to rest at the stern of the ship, who was followed soon after by Xemone who asked,

"So you never told me what this tip was....Where are we going and who tipped you off?"

Zuko gave a snotty chuckle and replied, "I'm sorry, am I required to share information with exiled Earthbenders?"

"No,” replied Xemone in a sarcastic tone, ”but evidently it's a law that all banished Fire Nation Princes have to be total jerks who don't possess the ability to answer a simple question even when no possible answer given could have any ramifications whatsoever...."

Zuko gave a snarl and said, "You know nothing about me or my reasons for banishment so you can just keep quiet!"

Xemone, fed up with the Prince’s attitude, replied with a deep sigh, "Well you know nothing about why I was exiled so you can keep quiet too..."

"You’re the one who asked me a question you don't tell me to be silent!!" snapped Zuko.

Xemone flashed Zuko a cold stare and replied, "....I just asked a simple question. Could you act like you have some sense of humanity in you and just answer it?"

"You’ve got some gall talking about my humanity. You look like some devil-person.”

Xemone just gave him the same cold stare as Zuko caved and answered, “If you must know a couple Fire Nation soldiers were talking about seeing the Avatar and his friends in a small Earth Kingdom city. Apparently he and his little friends helped to free a bunch of Earthbender prisoners so we're going there to see if we can pick up his trail again..."

Xemone replied with a simple "Hmph..." and then walked away.

Zuko got up soon afterwards and started to walk away when he heard an explosion.

"What was that?!?" Yelled Zuko.

A Fire Nation ship then appeared and started firing fireballs at Zuko's ship.

"What the!? We're not in fire nation waters. There's no reason for fire!" yelled a now extremely agitated Zuko.

"Ten to one it’s that Commander Zhao guy…” stated Xemone as he ran past her to get to the Wheelhouse to find out what was going on.

Zuko replied as Xemone started after him, "That's....possible I guess…"

Zuko then ordered to his soldiers, “Return fire!!”

Zuko’s Firebenders then shot fireballs at the opposing ship. Nothing seemed to cause much damage to them, with the opposing ship being much larger and more rugged.

Xemone attacked using her sand gourd and took out one of the opposing ships fireball launchers, but was then interrupted by an explosion to her right, which knocked her over.

She got up and said, "Ergh" as Xemone then noticed a burn mark on her right shoulder.

She took her sand and bended it under her feet and flew over to the enemy ship.
She started taking out enemy Firebenders as Zuko continued to fire from the ship.

The enemy shot a fireblast at the ship, blowing Zuko off the ship and into the ocean below. Zuko fell unconscious as he sank into the water...

Xemone was soon knocked off the enemy ship after receiving a firepunch to the stomach.
She started to panic. She was hazy and disoriented in the water, not only that, but she didn't know how to swim.

She spotted Zuko slowly sinking to the ocean floor and got an idea. She hardened her sand gourd into a rock and she plummeted to the bottom, grabbed Zuko by the collar and wrapped herself and Zuko in the rock so the pressure wouldn't crush them. Running out of air, she stomped her feet and two giant rock spikes then erupted from the ocean floor breaking through the water underneath the enemy ship piercing the hull and sinking it.

Xemone then stomped her foot again to raise the part of the ocean floor that was holding her and Zuko to above ocean level and dropped them back into the ship, lying the still unconscious Zuko on the damaged deck.

"....That was fun..." said Xemone uncharacteristically with a smirk as she coughed up the water in her lungs.

Xemone took some of her sand and fished out an opposing Firebender from the sunken enemy ship and asked with a very threatening, dark voice, "Why did you attack this ship? It's a Fire Nation ship so you couldn't of thought we were Water Tribe or Earth Kingdom....Unless you knew the Prince was on board, but even then you're not allowed to attack him while on non-Fire Nation waters...Who sent you?"

The Firebender said adamantly "I'm under orders not to tell."

Xemone shrugged in a unfazed manner and said, "Ok then..."

She took some sand from her sand gourd and wrapped it around the Firebender’s feet, hardened it to stone, grabbed him by the neck and held him, hanging over the bow.

"Have a nice swim then...." said Xemone.

"Wait, wait!" begged the man.

“Hmm?” replied Xemone.

“It was Commander Zhao! He sent us to destroy Prince Zuko’s ship!”

Xemone smirked in a conniving manner and said, “Yeah, well, apparently you weren't smart enough to realize that now that you've given me that information….. Anything Zhao is going to do to you when he gets his hands on you is going to be one hundred times worse than me drowning you...."

Xemone bended the sand back to its original form and dropped the Firebender back into the water. The remaining crew of the enemy vessel started to swim away as Xemone watched with a devilish smile.
Zuko was still unconscious with his Uncle over him saying, "Prince Zuko. Can you hear me? Zuko?"

"....Let me try...." said Xemone, remembering her rude awakening that morning.

She stood over him and waited for a second then slapped him repeatedly very hard in the face.

"Ugh ugh ugh UGH! OK OK! Stop it! I’m awake!" yelled Zuko.

"He's awake...." said Xemone with a cocky attitude.

"What happened?" asked Zuko.

Iroh replied, "You got knocked into the water, as did Xemone, but Xemone destroyed the Fire Nation ship and saved you."

Zuko turned to Xemone and gave a very unemotional "Why?"

Xemone shrugged and replied "....Because they were hurling fireballs at me.....duh...."

"Not that, idiot!” yelled Zuko. “I mean, why did you save me?”

Xemone shifted her stance in an uncomfortable way and replied flatly "Because if I didn't…. the ship would lose it's Captain and then they'd probably go back to the Fire Nation to say you died or something and I don't have time for that to be honest...."

"Selfish Earthbender...” said Zuko under his breath. “Who sent that ship!?"

Xemone sighed and replied "Stop yelling you're giving me a headache...Zhao sent them...”

Zuko stood up and said, "Figures....I'll deal with that later....For now lets keep sailing..."

Xemone replied with a simple, "Hmph..." and then walked to the bow and sat down as per usual....

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*on camera* Ahem I wanted this to be the equivalent of episode 6-Imprisoned and since Zuko appears in that episode only once to stand in front of the sunset with his hair flowing in the wind, I figured I should write out a comical end to this chapter. And so I give you...some crappy ending to this chapter... o.o I apologize in advance. I know this chapter’s ending bites.

Just imagine this whole series as a DVD and this is an alternate ending.


Xemone and Zuko landed at the Earth Kingdom shore as Zuko walked around and searched the area.

"Hmmm...." said Zuko, who then spotted a traditional Water Tribe engagement necklace on the ground.

He picked it up and stared into the sunset with the necklace in his hand and his ponytail flowing in the wind with dramatic music behind him.

Xemone walked up behind him with a confused expression and asked, "......Ummm....What are you doing?...."

Zuko jumped in surprise and said defensively, "What?"

"You're just standing there with your hair flowing in the wind aren't you going to say something?"

"Uhhhh....Yes..."

"....Ok....What?"

".....Let's go get the Avatarrrrrrrr!!!” said Zuko with booming music behind him.

"....Where the hell is that music coming from?!”

Xemone then noticed Zuko was holding something, “....What do you have in your hand?"

Zuko then showed it Xemone and replied, "A necklace. I think it belonged to that waterbending girl that's always hanging around the Avatar"

"Ohhhh.....Any reason you're now wearing it on your wrist as a bracelet?"

"No! I just don’t want to lose it! It could be a valuable bargaining chip!"

Xemone gave a small chuckle and said ".....What!?....You're planning on using a necklace as a hostage or something?"

Zuko blinked and replied, "No...."

"...Then what?"

"....I'm....not entirely sure...."

Several moments of silence exchanged between the two before Xemone broke it by saying "....You're stupid..."

Zuko snapped "Shut up! Let's get going."

Zuko and Xemone then walked back to the ship to continue their search.

[DarkToph]

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 6 part 1

Zuko’s ship had gone to shore to repair the minor damage that they had suffered due to the attack from Zhao’s little minions. It was early afternoon and Zuko started looking for Iroh who had said he was going to go off on his own for a while to relax.

Zuko ran into Xemone who was lying on a tree branch high in a treetop by the base Zuko and his soldiers set up.

"Earthbender, have you seen my uncle?" asked Zuko.

Xemone yawned lazily and replied blankly, "I spotted him this morning as he left....He went west I believe...."

"How about you stop being useless for 10 seconds and help me find him?" replied Zuko in his same annoyed tone.

 Xemone replied under her breath, “I wasn't the one unconscious and drowning while my ship sank..."

"What was that?..." snapped Zuko. 

Xemone sighed and said "Fine… I'll help you..."

Xemone jumped down and slammed the ground sending a small shockwave outward to knock Zuko over.

"....Ouch" said Zuko angrily.

Xemone responded sarcastically, "Oops sorry...Sometimes my bending gets the better of me..."

Zuko chuckled and replied "Bending?I just thought you put on a few pound--"

Zuko was then knocked away again by a bigger shockwave Xemone sent with her fist.

"Did you say something?"

Zuko rubbed his arm and said, "pain in the neck...Let's just go..."

Zuko and Xemone then went off into the woods to search for the estranged old man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"Uncle!....Uncle!!" yelled Zuko as they search through the woods.

"Hey...I think I heard something over there..." said Xemone to Zuko.

They went over to investigate the noise and made their way through some bushes as Zuko continued yelling "Uncle?! Uncle!"

Zuko and Xemone then spotted Iroh lying in a hot spring.

Xemone gave a small twitch and said quietly, "....Scarred for life...Thanks..."

"Uncle we need to move on.” said Zuko. “We're closing in on the Avatar’s trail and I don't want to lose him."

Iroh replied contently, "You look tired Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in this hot springs and soak away your troubles? You can join us as well if you'd like Young Xemone."

Xemone gave a slightly disgusted look and replied "Naked in a hot spring with and old guy and an angry emo....pass..."

Zuko snapped as Iroh and said "My Troubles cannot be soaked away! It’s time to go!"

 Iroh responded as he sighed into the hot spring, "You should take your teacher’s advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself."

Iroh then shot steam out through his nose to demonstrate how he heated up the water.

Zuko blew the steam away and Xemone fanned it away with her hand as Zuko yelled, "Enough! We need to leave now. Get out of the water!"

Iroh then stood up, giving Zuko and Xemone the “full view.” Xemone and Zuko both went groaned in disgust at the sight as Zuko turned away and Xemone covered her eyes.

"Seriously I have enough issues as it is..." said Xemone half-jokingly.

"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes? But be back at the ship in half an hour or we're leaving without you." Zuko and Xemone then walked away as Iroh went back in the water to relax....

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Later on that night, Zuko went searching for Iroh, yet again, as he hadn’t come back in the time allotted. He went back to the hot spring thinking Iroh had just fallen asleep in the water and went to get him with a couple of his soldiers.

When they arrived at the same spot Xemone and Zuko had found him in before, they found that Iroh was not at the spring.

"Uncle!” yelled an increasingly worried Zuko, “Uncle, where are you!?”

One of Zuko’s soldiers said "Sir, maybe he thought we left without him."

"Something's not right here." replied Zuko with a suspicious look. He noticed a strange rock formation in the spring.

"That pile of rocks!" exclaimed Zuko.

"Maybe there was a landslide sir." replied the soldier.

"Land doesn't slide uphill...” replied Zuko, his tone becoming increasingly suspicious, “Those rocks didn't move naturally….My Uncle's been captured by Earthbenders!."

Zuko then ran back in the direction of the ship.

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A few moments later he found Xemone lying on a rock formation, sleeping.

"Earthbender...." he said to the lazing Xemone.

"Earthbender....”

Xemone refused to awaken.

 “Earthbend--!"

Xemone then stuffed a baseball sized rock in his mouth in the middle of his sentence and said, "It's semi-acceptable to wake me up violently during morning hours since that is when you're supposed to wake up, but now it's nighttime and I'm tired...goodnight!"

Xemone plopped back down on the rock and tried to get back to sleep.

Zuko spit out the rock with a classy "Spfft spfft ech…” as he replied “Look! Uncle Iroh was taken by Earthbenders!"

Xemone half-opened her eyes and said "....And you're not capable of getting him back by yourself?"

Zuko folded his arms and said "I never said that, but I don't know how many of them they are and I don't want my entire squad going with me and.....”

 Zuko then sped up his speech and started muttering under his breath, “You're a pretty good Earthbender and I could use some back up....."

Xemone sat up, hearing what he had said and replied "Fine...Let's go find him...I haven't had any decent fights against Earthbenders in a while so I should be entertained..."

Xemone and Zuko then went off in search of Iroh, leaving the other soldiers to watch over the ship and camp, taking a Komodo rhino with them for transportation.

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The next morning, as the sun rose over Xemone and Zuko’s shoulders, they still had found neither hide nor hair of Iroh.

Xemone sighed as Zuko spotted something on the ground.

"What's that?" asked Zuko.

Zuko stopped the Komodo Rhino and got off. He walked over to the object and picked it up. It was a shoe that was thrown on the ground.

Xemone asked "Is that Iroh’s?"

Zuko inspected the shoe before sniffing it and cringed in a disgusted manner. He then replied "Yup...that's Uncle Iroh..." He got back up on the Rhino and they rode off a little closer to their goal.

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A while later they found some ostrich-horse tracks to follow in softer dirt. Ostrich-horses are a popular form of travel in the Earth Kingdom and were commonly used by bandits and Earth Kingdom soldiers for their speed and ferocity.

The Avatar's flying bison then flew overhead as they walked.

"Look.”said Xemone blankly as she pointed into the sky.

"....The Avatar..." replied Zuko. Zuko started to turn the Rhino towards the flying bison’s path, but stopped to look at the ostrich-horse tracks and was caught deciding whether or not to find Iroh or to go after the Avatar.
"Well, which way are you going?....The Avatar’s bison will be out of sight soon."

Zuko looked at the bison then looked at the tracks then looked back again and looked straight at the ground as he became silent.

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After sunset, Iroh was trapped by the Earthbenders who had gotten fed up with his trickery and firebending. So they decided to smash his hands with rocks to stop his troublesome bending. One of the Earthbenders then earthbended a huge boulder, hovered it over Iroh’s shackled hands and started to drop it.

Xemone and Zuko then jumped off an overhanging cliff over the group below.

As Xemone fell, she punched the rock into a blinding cloud of dust.

Zuko kicked Iroh’s chains and broke them.

Iroh said "Excellent form, Prince Zuko."

"You taught me well" replied Zuko with a smile.

"And very impressive Xemone." said Iroh.

Xemone’s reply was a simple look.

The Earthbender soldier then said to the trio, "Surrender yourselves. It's five against two."

"They're right… it's not fair..." sighed Xemone.

The Earthbender then smirked as if it was a victory.

"...You should get a couple more Earthbenders so you can actually stand a chance..." continued Xemone with a big grin.

"Why you little…!" The Earthbenders then lunged towards them and attacked.

Iroh used his chains impressively to smash the rocks,  as Zuko fought with his firebending and Xemone attacked full on.

The battle went on with Iroh, Zuko and Xemone winning. They knocked them back again and again until one of the soldiers grazed Xemone’s tattoo on her neck, slicing across it.

Xemone gasped and quickly grasped her wound as the tattoo glowed.
 
Xemone was frozen in her tracks. She seemed to be in growing agony as she clutched her neck.

Zuko looked her way and yelled "Earthbender! What's wrong, Earthbender?! Attack!"

Iroh glanced over her way and muttered “This cannot be good…”

Xemone started shaking, all the while staring blankly ahead until her scleras started to become cloudy until they turned black and her red eyes started to glow.

Iroh stopped and yelled "What is happening?"

The Earthbender became confused as well as Xemone started to glow black and she groaned even more loudly as she said in a pained and halted tone, “Wha--… This--…Not--…Can’t b—“ 

Xemone let out a loud, pained, yell and then disappeared and suddenly reappeared within the blink of an eye in front of one of the Earthbenders and easily earthbended him away, smacking him into a cliffside, imbedding him a few feet within it.

 Zuko stared in shock and horror and asked "....What...is she?"

Xemone smacked her foot on the ground and flung herself into the air.

Iroh then figured out what she was going to do, grabbed Zuko and jumped onto a cliffside, clinging to it as she came shooting herself down to smack herself superman-style into the ground creating a wicked shockwave that sent the other Earthbenders flying.

She stood up, unfazed and bended four huge boulders and shot them towards the Earthbenders, who were screaming in terror and trying to escape, smashing them as they fell back down to earth some unconscious...some dead....
 
Zuko then asked in a frightened tone, "What's going on, Uncle?"

Iroh just stared as he responded to his nephew, "I don't know..."

Xemone stood silently, the ground she stood on stained with blood. She then turned her head slowly towards Zuko and Iroh with the same soulless evil look in her eye.

"...But I don't think she's done yet..." continued Iroh.

He was right. Xemone then smacked the cliffside causing it to instantly crumble. Zuko and Iroh then fell to the ground and quickly got up and dashed out of the way from falling rocks.

Iroh used his chains to wrap up Xemone’s feet, tripping her to the ground. Xemone raised both her hands, about to slam them down into the ground as Iroh yelled "Zuko, quickly, get her hands! Get her hands!"

Zuko got some rope from the Earthbender’s ostrich-horse side bag before a huge shockwave followed.

Amazingly, Iroh kept his stance before the psychotic Xemone as Zuko rushed over and tied up her hands.

Iroh said "She can't earthbend anymo--" He was interrupted by Xemone smashing her head against the ground sending Zuko and Iroh flying.

Zuko shot Iroh a glare as Iroh then said "Who knew she could earthbend with her face?!"

Zuko then ran over and grabbed an Earthbender fighting hammer from the saddle bag of one of the enemy’s ostrich-horses and stood over Xemone who was still flailing in her binds. He then hit her in the back of the head with the hammer knocking her unconscious...

Xemone's glow dissipated, her eyes returned to normal and her tattoo stopped glowing.

Zuko then looked at her, exhausted and confused as he asked “What....are you?..."

[DarkToph]

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 6 part 2

Xemone started to awake the next morning, wrapped in chains by the bow of the ship and was pretty sore from yesterday’s little incident.

"Ugghhhhh.....Ugh...Hey....Hey! What the…?!" said Xemone in confusion as she awoke.

Zuko walked onto the bow and said, "So you're finally awake, huh, Earthbender?"

Xemone squirmed in her chains and yelled "What gives!? Why did you chain me up!?!"

Zuko raised an eyebrow and replied "You don't remember? You went berserk last night during the fight with the Earthbenders who captured Iroh. You were getting out of control so we had to chain you up, but that wasn't good enough so I had to knock you unconscious with a fighting hammer."

Xemone gave a slightly astounded look, "What?”

Xemone then recalled last night’s events and said somberly “...I see. I wondered why my head felt like your Komodo Rhino stomped on it..."

"Judging by the fact you have no sounds of surprise in your voice I'd say you've already turned into that thing before...What are you really?" asked Zuko.

"Nothing of your concern….” Said Xemone in a quiet, sort of shameful voice, if not somewhat defensive tone, “I just…” Xemone then touched her wound that she received last night, not surprised to see that it had healed already.

“Just what?..."

"Just….lost control of myself for a second…The wound…made me go a little crazy…” said Xemone without making eye contact with the young prince.

"A little crazy?” replied Zuko. “You murdered a group of Earthbenders with techniques that even master Earthbenders can’t do! You moved with speed rival to that of a cheetah-wolf and you glowed! People don’t glow from injuries!”

Xemone stared at the floor of the ship with a look as if she was very ashamed of herself before replying "Look, just unlock these chains…..I promise I won't attack anybody…”

Xemone finally made eye-contact with Zuko and said quietly “Honest"

Zuko wavered a bit; taken aback at the Earthbender girl’s uncharacteristic somber tone and sad eyes, but then took the key and unlocked her chains.

"I still want to know what you are." said Zuko.

"Don't you have an Avatar to chase?" replied Xemone as her hands fell out of the chains.

Zuko then pointed behind Xemone and toward the sky.

Xemone looked up in the direction he was pointing in and saw the Avatar’s flying bison in the distance.

Xemone looked back at the Prince and said, "How'd did you catch his trail so quickly?"

"One of the villagers nearby was kind enough to lend the information." said Zuko.

Xemone gave a blank look, blinked then said "....Knocked some poor guy into a wall?"

Zuko cleared his throat and said “....Yes."

"Ah"

Iroh then walked up behind Zuko and said "Ah, Young Xemone, finally back in the world of the conscious are we? That was quite the adventure yesterday."

Xemone sat quietly and replied "Yeah..."

Iroh decided to change the subject then said to Zuko, "Sailing into fire nation waters...Of all the foolish things you've done in your sixteen years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish!"

Zuko looked into the sky and said "I have no choice Uncle."

"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you!? What if you're caught?" yelled the worried Uncle.

"I'm chasing the Avatar; my father will understand why I'm returning home."

Xemone then said quietly, "Yes, because he just seems like an understanding guy...."

Zuko shot Xemone a look then Iroh said, "She's right Zuko. You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type."

Zuko ignored their words then looked into the telescope.

"There they go!”

Zuko then directed his attention towards the wheelhouse and yelled “Helmsman!! Full steam ahead!!"

Zuko readied for attack, preparing the fireball launchers and his soldiers.

Iroh started fanning himself as he stood by the steaming fireball launchers and asked "Really Zuko, couldn't you shoot them down with something a little more fragrant?"

“Yes,” said Xemone sarcastically “Don’t you have any nice lavender scented weapons of war?”

Zuko then lit the fireball with his firebending and prepared to launch.

"On my mark...FIRE!"

Zuko's soldiers then shot the fireball towards the flying bison who avoided it.

Xemone spotted something ahead and said  "....Hey prince...."

"Not now, Earthbender." replied Zuko, who was too busy focusing on the Avatar than on what she had to say. 

Xemone tried again. "Princey..."

Zuko snapped back again "I said…not…now!!"

Xemone then got fed up and yelled, “Scarface!!"

Zuko snapped back yet again with a deafening "What!?!"

Xemone cringed at the volume before pointing and yelling to Zuko, “Look!"

Zuko looked out to see a blockade of Fire Nation ships.

"....A blockade." said Zuko in a grave tone.

Iroh said "Technically, we're still in Earth Kingdom waters. Turn back now and they cannot arrest you."

The Avatar's flying bison continued on through the blockade, avoiding the blockade’s assault on them.

"He's not turning around!" yelled Zuko as he watched the bison fly off.

Iroh replied, "Please, Prince Zuko, if the Fire Nation captures you, there’s nothing I can do. Do not follow the Avatar."

Zuko then lowered her head his head and said quietly "I'm sorry Uncle....”

He ordered to his helmsman “Run the blockade!!"

The blockade then fired tons of fireballs towards the Avatar along with Zuko's ship.

An explosion was then heard on the stern of the ship. One of the fireballs had hit.

An engineer for the ship came out and yelled "Prince Zuko! The engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!"

"Do not stop this ship..." said Zuko sternly.

More and more fireballs were launched towards the ship as the Avatar’s flying bison tried to hide itself in the cloud cover, but a few moments later came back down after the Water Tribe boy fell off the bison. It hit the water in order to save the boy and flew off again.

The Avatar had somehow made it through the blockade, but now it was Zuko's turn to try to squeak by. “Squeak by” being the key phrase, as the ships were gathering closer together to block Zuko’s ship from entering.

Iroh shouted "We’re on a collision course!”

"We can make it!" yelled Zuko.

The Fire Nation ships then cut off their engines, allowing Zuko's ship to pass.

Zuko and Zhao then caught rival stares on the bows of their respective ships and Xemone watched the look in Zhao’s eyes.

Zuko’s ship entered Fire Nation waters and continued chasing the Avatar.

"What's Zhao up to? Why didn't he arrest me?" asked Zuko in a confused tone to Iroh.

"I thought it was obvious..." said the monotone Xemone.

”What?" replied Zuko.

"He wants to follow you since you'll give him a clear path to the Avatar. He sees you as no threat so he's basically using you...."

"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke then that's exactly what I'll let him do." said Zuko with a cocky tone.
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Later on that day, Zuko decided to use a small ship that was hidden within the main ship and started to deploy from the main ship with Xemone, whom he had brought as back-up.

He looked up at Iroh, who was to be controlling the main ship and said, "Uncle, keep heading north. Zhao will follow the smoke trail while we use it for cover."

Uncle silently nodded as Zuko and Xemone sailed away, hot on the Avatar’s trail.

"Earthbender.” said Zuko.

Xemone looked up at the Prince.

“Are you well enough for battle?"

Xemone blinked and replied, “Yeah…don’t worry about me….”

Zuko huffed and they continued on.

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Zuko and Xemone landed on the shore of the island a short while later and got off the boat.

"This is the island that houses the shine to the previous Avatar, Avatar Roku. The last Fire Nation Avatar to be born. Best bet is the current Avatar has paid this shrine a visit…”

Xemone gently nodded and they then ran off into the building, after the Avatar.

They ran through the Fire Nation temple and got to the shrine room and quickly hid as they discovered the Avatar was already there.

Zuko whispered to Xemone, "Earthbender, I'm going to find some way to grab the Avatar, you go over to the other side and block them if they attack."

Xemone nodded and sneaked over to the other side of the shrine room.

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The Avatar was instructed to hide before the sages came to apprehend them. He chose to hide behind the pillars, exactly where Zuko was hiding as he prepared to grab him.

Zuko quietly grabbed Aang and covered his mouth to keep his capture a secret for the time being.

After the sages came upstairs, the Gaang grabbed them and restrained them.

The Water Tribe girl then yelled "Aang, now’s your chance!"

Zuko came out from behind the pillar with the trapped Avatar and said "The Avatar's coming with me."

Xemone appeared from behind the pillar she was hiding behind and knocked the Water Tribe girl down.

As she ran towards Zuko, the sages  regained control over the Gaang and the "traitor" sage that had been guiding them and chained them to one of the pillars.

Aang looked behind him to see his friends being chained up.

He got aggravated and broke free of Zuko’s hold and knocked him down the stairs with a swift airbending kick.

Zuko yelled to Xemone, "Earthbender! Don't let him get away!"

Xemone chased after Aang and, using her sand gourd, wrapped the sand around his feet and knocked him down.

Aang said "I don't know who you are, but if you side with Zuko and are keeping me from helping my friends..." Aang then blew a huge burst of air at Xemone’s feet, knocking her down and causing her to lose her earthbending stance, freeing Aang.

Xemone got up quickly and hardened some sand into a decent sized stone and bended it at him.

Aang used a burst of air to knock it away, but Xemone just bended it toward him more causing a bending opposite tug-of-war.

The pressure between the bending energy and the air pressure got to be too much and the rock burst back into sand form with the shockwave blowing Xemone back.

Aang regained his composure and ran towards the open doors to the shrine room which were now closing.

He jumped over the monks heads and made it into the room just in time. Moments later light burst from the sides of the door as the room sealed shut.

Xemone got up with an angry look on her face.
Zuko stood before the doors and yelled “Monks get over here!"

Zuko and the firebending sages then tried to firebend the door open, as is the key to opening a Avatar shrine room door, but nothing worked.

"Why isn't it working?! It's sealed shut!" yelled Zuko.

Xemone walked over and coolly said "The light sealed it...evidently Avatar Roku doesn't want you to enter..."

Zuko then turned to the Fire Nation sage "traitor" who helped the Avatar and asked "Why did you help the Avatar?"

He replied proudly "Because it was once the Sages duty...It is still our duty..."

They heard someone clapping along with approaching footsteps. They turned to see Zhao clapping his hands, followed by a legion of Fire Nation soldiers.

Zhao stopped clapping and said "What a moving and heartfelt performance. I’m sure the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him."

One of the fire sages bowed before the Commander and said "Commander Zhao”

Zhao acknowledged him and then directed his attention towards Zuko and said, "And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort, but your little smokescreen didn't work. Two traitors in one day, the fire lord will be pleased..."

Two of Zhao’s soldiers then apprehended Zuko and Xemone.

Zhao then chuckled evilly and said "And this Earthbender will be a nice side-gift for Fire Lord Ozai as well."

"Hmph..." replied Xemone sarcastically. "What am I, a consolation prize?"

Zuko shouted "You're too late, Zhao! The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed!"

"No matter,” replied Zhao with a smug tone, “ ...Sooner or later he has to come out.”

All Zuko and Xemone could do for the time being was watch Zhao take away their chance at getting the Avatar as Zhao’s soldiers then readied themselves at the doors. Zhao then ordered "When those doors open unleash all your firepower!!"

A few minutes later, Xemone sensed something. She said "He's coming...”

Zuko glanced at her and she smirked “but he's got back-up as well..."

The doors then shined and bursts of light came out as the doors opened.

The light dissipated and Zhao shouted "Fire!!"

He and his soldiers then shot all the fire power they had at the door, but standing behind it wasn't Aang, it was Roku’s spirit in the Avatar State overshadowing Aang.

Zhao became shocked and was frozen in awe as Roku's spirit easily bended away the attacking fireblasts, sending them back towards the Firebenders with the resulting firewave burning away the ropes that held everyone captive, freeing the Gaang along with Zuko and Xemone.

"The Avatar will destroy this temple!” yelled one of the Sages “We have to leave, now!"

Zuko agreed and they ran out of the temple as it was collapsing, dodging molten lava that was bursting from the floor and falling rocks.

They ran onto the beach and back into the boat as they headed to rendezvous with their ship.

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After they had arrived back on the ship, Zuko took his telescope and watched the Avatar escape from the wreckage that was the Fire Nation shrine and fly away on his flying bison, as Xemone sat in anger over the fact that she didn’t get chance to have a proper face-to-face with the Avatar…A proper battle with the Avatar….A decent opportunity to take his life.

[DarkToph]

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 7

A few days later, Zuko decided to start the day by training in a sparring match with one of his soldiers as Xemone sat on the bow of the boat, with a bored look, as usual.

Zuko was winning the sparring match, but was then jolted when the boat swiftly turned causing the boat to lean and sending everyone to crash into the guard rails of the ship.

Xemone let out a hearty “Oof!” as Zuko careened with Xemone’s stomach.

He yelled "Someone's changing our course!"

Zuko went up into the wheelhouse and yelled at the helmsman, "What is the meaning of this mutiny?! No one told you to change course!"

Iroh then stepped in and said, "Actually someone did...I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."

Zuko jumped up and asked, "Is it something to do with the Avatar?"

"Even more urgent,” replied Iroh, “It seems I...ugh lost my lotus tile..."

Zuko folded his arms and rose an eyebrow as he said "....Lotus tile?"

"For my Paisho game. Most people think the lotus tile is insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."

Xemone stepped into the wheelhouse and asked, "You changed our course....for a game piece?"

 Iroh turned towards the Earthbender and said with a very ‘Iroh’ smile, "See you, like other people underestimate its essential value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at the shore, hopefully they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life."

Zuko became agitated and breathed fire, angrily, into the air.

Xemone sighed and said, "Iroh, he was calm--.....not angry for twenty minutes….. Why did you have to ruin that?"

Xemone then walked away as smoked filled the room and Iroh responded,” I’m lucky to have such an understanding nephew."

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Later on, at sunset, after Zuko’s ship hit shore, Xemone and Zuko had spent all day searching the shops by the docks for Iroh’s game piece.

Zuko and Xemone were standing angrily next to Iroh as he said. "I've checked all the shops on this pier, not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace."

Xemone then said sarcastically "It's such a joyous feeling, knowing that this entire day was a total waste even when our main goal for that ten minutes...was to find a game piece…"

Iroh then replied happily, "That's not true. I always say the only thing better than finding something you were looking for is finding something you weren’t  looking for at a great bargain!"

As he said that, most of Zuko’s soldiers walked in front of them carrying armloads of stuff that Iroh had purchased. Random trinkets and items that they honestly had no need for, but brought a smile to the old man’s face.

Zuko glanced at one of the items as it passed and asked "You bought a sogei horn?"

Iroh replied cheerfully, "For music night on the ship...Now if we only had some Woodwinds…"

Iroh walked away, caught up in his thoughts.

Xemone then directed her attention towards Zuko and said "You know...a lot of the time I wonder 'How can Iroh put up with you?' but at times like this I have to wonder…how you put up with him..."

"Patience...." replied Zuko, “Nothing but patience…”

"....So that’s why you have none left..." said Xemone surprisingly jokingly.

"Hmph...” replied the Prince, almost laughing at the sort of insulting joke, “Let's go Earthbender..."

Xemone and Zuko then followed Iroh whom they saw pointing toward a merchant ship.

"This place looks promising!" said a very excited Iroh, as a less excited Zuko and Xemone followed Iroh into the ship.

They all browsed through the random items the shop had for sale, not very impressed by anything when Iroh spotted a jeweled monkey and said "Oooohhhh that is handsome. Wouldn’t that look magnificent in the galley?"

Xemone sighed as she became increasingly aggravated.

Zuko soon overheard the merchant saying in a conversation with some of his “employees”, “We lost the water tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with."

Zuko quickly approached and asked "This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?"

The merchant turned towards the Prince and replied, "Yeah what of it?" 

"I'll show you what of it..."

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Later, Zuko, Xemone and a legion of pirates the merchant/pirate was with, set sail on the spare boat that was within the main ship, sailing besides the pirate’s ship.

One of the pirates asked "Shouldn't we stop and search the woods?"

Xemone replied in a flat and sarcastic tone, "Why? Is he going to be waterbending some dirt?"

The confused pirate replied "Huh?"

Zuko turned and said "What she means is that there's no point in stopping. They stole a waterbending scroll right?"

The pirate replied "Uh-huh"

"Then they'll be on the water..."

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Later that night, as their search for the Avatar continued, Xemone said, "I hear something..."

Zuko quickly asked "What?"

Xemone closed her eyes to focus and replied. "......Splashing water...rather violent splashing water..."

Zuko quickly walked over to her side and asked "Where?!"
 
"Over there by the shore...." said Xemone, as she pointed towards a small opening of shore between the trees, by the water.

Zuko glanced over there and ordered, “Head to the shore!" 

Zuko's ship then stopped on shore and they got off.

Xemone listened once more and said, "Whoever was splashing stopped...."

Zuko sighed heavily and asked "Ugh you mean he's gone!?"

"...No I mean..."

Xemone spotted something out of the corner of her eye then nudged one of the pirates and pointed to a spot behind a bush and he snuck away unnoticed.

"You mean what?" asked an annoyed, impatient Zuko.

"I mean shut up..."

She then took Zuko and hid as she heard the bushes rustling and a girl’s voice gasp then quickly run away only to be grabbed by the pirate who was instructed by Xemone to stand there.

"Now I mean move!" commanded Xemone as they both burst from the bushes.

Xemone and Zuko then ran towards the Water Tribe girl who smacked the pirate in the face with water from the shore, via her waterbending and ran off yet again, only to be stopped by Zuko who grabbed her by the wrists and said in a dark tone, "I'll save you from the pirates."

Xemone then non-chalantly walked over and stated "Must've just been her practicing waterbending then. The Avatar wouldn't have had time to run away while she saw us."

Zuko nodded in agreement and ordered to the pirates and his crew, "Tie her up!"

Zuko's soldiers and the pirates tied her to a small tree on the beach and Zuko began his interrogation,

“Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your brother."

"Go jump in a river!" shouted the girl.

"If she won't cooperate then why don't you show her your...."Secret weapon"" Xemone snickered.

Zuko snapped back, "Shut up Earthbender!"

The girl directed her attention at Xemone and stated with a glare, "Earthbender...I’ve seen you before. You were with Zuko at the Avatar shrine in the Fire Nation. Don’t tell me you corrupted some poor Earthbender into being your lackey, Zuko!"

 "...Ahem...For one, I am not his lackey...in any way.” Replied an annoyed Xemone, “His ship is my main mode of transportation to find the Avatar is all. Second, you don't have to be Fire Nation to be corrupt...Thirdly, I am not...some poor Earthbender...Forth, ...I'm getting sick of everyone calling me "Earthbender"…..my name is Xemone..."

"So you're with Zuko on your own will?" asked the girl in an incredulous tone.

"I wouldn't go that far. You have to do what you have to get what you want. I want the Avatar and he can give me better means of finding him and faster means of getting to him." replied Xemone coolly.

"Why do you want Aang?"

Xemone huffed and replied, "My reasons are none of your concern, Water Tribe girl"

Zuko then interrupted and said, "Enough..."

Zuko got strangely kind and said to the girl, "Try to understand, I need to capture him to restore something I've lost…. My Honor…Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you’ve lost."

He then showed the girl the engagement necklace that he had found. She had lost it after she had helped a group of Earthbenders escape the clutches of the Fire Nation.

The girl stared in shock and said, "My mother’s necklace! How did you get that?!"

Zuko waved the necklace around in a cocky manner and said, "I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering."

Xemone then said quietly to herself "Yeah he only found it on the ground and used it as a bracelet..."

Zuko ignored Xemone’s sarcasm and commanded to the Water Tribe girl "Tell me where he is!"

The girl snarled and replied “No!!"

The captain of the pirates then shouted "Enough of this necklace garbage! You promised us the scroll!"

Zuko then pulled out the scroll and held it over his right hand as he firebended a decent sized flame into his hand and said threateningly "I wonder how much this is worth"

The pirates then all gasped in horror at his actions and yelled "No!"

Zuko snickered and said, "A lot apparently...Now you help me find what I want, you’ll get this back and everyone goes home happy…. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here!"

The captain unwillingly said "Fine..." and walked off with his crew into the woods...

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The next morning, the pirates returned with the Avatar and the Water Tribe boy who was the already captive girl’s brother, tied up.

Zuko smiled and said "Nice work..."

Xemone also gave a devilish smile at the sight of the Avatar.

Zuko walked towards the pirates to start the trade-off.

The girl then said to Aang "I'm sorry Aang, this is all my fault."

Aang said comfortingly to the girl,  "No it's not."

Xemone then butted in and said "Actually it kind of is..." 

The girl shot Xemone a look and Aang said in a spiteful tone, "Oh you. I remember you. You’re the Earthbender who helped Zuko before."

Xemone sighed and said "My name is Xemone...”

Aang then gave a half-mad, half-sympathetic look to Xemone and asked, "Why are you helping him? You’re not Fire Nation right? What do you have against me?"

Xemone shot Aang a cold stare and said, "I'm not any nation. I’m me...and I have my reasons for needing you..."

"What?" asked Aang.

Xemone gave a smirk and said "Let's just say that if I can strike the right deal with the Prince over here...by nightfall....you'll be dead...."

Aang gave a surprised and horrified look at this statement, but was interrupted by Zuko demanding "Give me the boy!"

The pirate Captain then ordered, "You give us the scroll!"

The Water Tribe boy spoke up and said, “You're really going to hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?"

Zuko shouted "Don’t listen to him! He’s trying to turn us against each other!"

The Captain ignored Zuko and asked the boy, "Your friend is the Avatar?"

Aang nodded and the older boy popped up saying "Sure is! And I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that stupid scroll."

Zuko yelled to the boy, "Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" 

The boy continued "I'm just saying it's bad business sense. Imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"

It then clicked in the Captain’s head as he said, "Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid."

Zuko snapped and yelled “You'll regret breaking a deal with me!"

Zuko and two of his soldiers then attacked the group of pirates with firebending and Xemone earthbended two pirates into the water.

One of the pirates attacked with smoke bombs, covering a huge battle under cover of smoke, as more of the pirates used more smoke bombs.

Zuko was knocked out of the smoke and he then took the scroll and put it back on his belt.

He was then attacked from behind by the Captain who was now wielding a sword and then started a one-on-one fight.

In the middle of the battle one of the pirates took the scroll, but then Xemone jumped out of the smoke and grabbed it from him only to be stolen by the Avatar’s lemur which earned a hearty growl from Xemone.

She noticed the Avatar had escaped the battle and was trying to get away.

Xemone said quietly to herself, "Not this time..."

She then propelled herself with her earthbending, and jetted towards them only to be tripped by one of the battling pirates.

She knocked them away with the sand from her sand gourd and tried to continue on, but just kept getting caught up in more fighting.

She eventually escaped the battle and ran towards them.

Iroh interrupted the Captain’s and Zuko’s fight, grabbing Zuko’s ponytail and the Captain’s arm.

"Are you so busy fighting that you cannot see that your own ship has sailed?!"

"We don't have time for your proverbs, Uncle!"

"It is no proverb!" He then pointed to the pirate ship that was setting sail.

The Captain shouted "Bleeding hog-monkeys!"

Zuko laughed loudly as the Captain ran to catch up with his runaway ship.

Xemone walked up behind them and said to the still laughing Prince, “You may want to stop laughing….”
 
"Why?"

"You know that karma thing?" replied Xemone.

"Huh?" replied Zuko, not knowing what she meant, until he turned and noticed the pirates sailing off in his spare ship, mooning and mocking him from his own ship.

Zuko jumped up in surprise, yelled, “My ship!!” and ran to catch up to his runaway boat as well, leaving Xemone and Iroh behind.

Xemone got an exhausted look on her face and sighed at this lunacy. "Come on you two!" yelled Zuko as he ran.

Xemone and Iroh sighed and followed the young Prince.

Zuko stopped at a cliff overlooking a waterfall and saw the wreckage of the two ships below.

"My boat!!" yelled an anguished Zuko.

Xemone sighed heavily and sat down at the cliff’s edge.

Iroh caught up to them and caught his breath. After he had calmed himself, he put his arms in his sleeves and gave a surprised expression, followed by a laugh as he said, "Heh, you two are really going to get a kick out of this...The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" Iroh pulled the lotus tile from his sleeve with a giant smile.

Xemone twitched her eyebrow and said, annoyed, "You have got to be freakin' kidding me...."

Zuko lashed out in anger and took the lotus tile from Iroh’s hand and threw it over the cliff.

Xemone gave a relieved sigh and said "....Thank you.....So very much...."

[DarkToph]

Author's Notes: For anyone wondering, Xemone is pronounced "Zehm-oh-nay". Just thought I'd throw it out there, for anyone wondering.
This chapter is more for character development, and "friendship" development for XemoneXZuko.

And for those who were a fan of the old TLE and thought I was going to slow with their relationship. It goes a bit faster in this one, and there's more "drama", but I still refuse to rush it. You have a basically emotionally void demon girl and an emo Prince, they will not rush a relationship and I refuse to make them be OOC and force them into one. Zuko, on his own, sees emotions far more clear than Xemone, so if anything he'll catch on first.

BTW, I know Zuko rushed into his relationship with Mai in the show, but, uhh...that'll be addressed later on.....that'll be addressed....Muahahahahaha.

(I'll be implementing something I found on an Avatar comic about their relationship. That's all I'm willing to spill now.

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 8

Back on the ship, a couple days after losing the Avatar, Xemone went up to Zuko, who was sparring with one of his soldiers, yet again, on the stern of the ship, which seemed to be the Prince’s daily routine.

"Hey...." said the monotone Xemone.

Zuko continued his match and ignored her.

"....Prince..." said Xemone, who was now getting slightly agitated.
 
Zuko ignored her, yet again.

Xemone became irritated and shot some of her sand from her sand gourd at his face just as he was about to win the match, knocking him back to the side of the ship with a satisfying “Ping!” noise off the railing.

"What?!?" yelled the extremely annoyed Zuko.

"....What's the plan now?” asked Xemone in a calmer tone.

"What?"

"What's your plan to get the Avatar now? Keep going in the direction he was going?"

"Yes....” replied Zuko with an arrogant tone, “There a problem?"

Xemone sighed and replied "How do you know he's going to stay in one solid direction?"

Zuko got up, brushed himself off, approached Xemone and answered, "The shortest distance between two points is a single line."
 
"Yeah, but I doubt he'd go the entire trip in the air....That's far too conspicuous...A giant flying bison is kind of easy to spot."

"Hmph....I admit you have a point...but there's no signs of where he'd stop. Besides, maybe we'll get lucky and actually get ahead of him."

Xemone raised an eyebrow and asked, "How would that help?"

"A sneak attack..." replied Zuko.

"Hmmm...." replied Xemone in an unsure tone. They had tried sneak attacks before, but to no avail, obviously.

Iroh then appeared from the other side of the ship and said "You know what I think would be a good idea to get your minds off the Avatar?"

Both Xemone and Zuko asked simultaneously, "Who said we wanted to get our minds off the Avatar?"

Iroh paused with a surprised look at their dual outburst and said ".....That was weird....Anyway, I didn't mean forget about the Avatar, I meant just relax for a minute so you can clear your minds and be focused enough when you do meet up with him again."

Xemone and Zuko said simultaneously yet again, "Fine....what?"

"How about you two spar against each other?"

Xemone and Zuko both gave a confused look at the old General.

Xemone said with a small smirk, yet with still a confused look, "You want us to relax.....by beating the living crap out of each other?"

"People like you only seem to relax when you fight.” said Iroh “....So fight....just don't kill each other."

Xemone’s smirk turned into a sarcastic frown and replied "Well that just takes all the fun out of it..."

"You couldn't kill me even if you tried." replied a semi-offended Zuko.

"Let me try then...." said Xemone with a growing, devilish smirk.

Zuko was a tad thrown off by her, almost playful smirk but then snapped out of it and yelled, "Fine!"

Iroh smiled and said "I thought I said "Just don’t kill each other..."”

Xemone and Zuko ignored Iroh and took fighting positions on their respective sides of the ship.

"Prepare yourself, Earthbender..." said Zuko condescendingly.

"Hmph..." replied Xemone, still sporting her devilish smirk.

Iroh signaled the start of the fight and Xemone went on ahead first.

She created a wave of sand from her sand gourd as Zuko shot numerous fireballs at her with his fists.

The sand took all the hits and Xemone hardened some of her sand into a stone and bended it at Zuko who dodged by back flipping away from the stone.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Earthbender!"  yelled Zuko tauntingly.

"Don't tempt me Prince..." replied Xemone with a determined yet, surprisingly fun look on her face.

Xemone took about half the sand in her gourd and made about five thousand tiny marble sized rocks and shot them all at Zuko, like a machine gun.

The small pebbles were ricocheting all over the ship as Zuko tried to block, but just kept getting hit.

Iroh shielded himself from the excess pebbles and yelled "Be careful Xemone. You might damage the ship!"

Zuko then shot a huge fire blast at Xemone, knocking her off the sand wave.

Xemone caught herself with her sand and shot some more of it at Zuko.

Zuko defended this time and burst out from the sand with a focused fireball.

Iroh spoke up, "Well...He does seem very determined and focused in battle with her..."

She blocked the fireball with a wall of sand then punched him straight in the face, sending him flying backwards.

Zuko started becoming increasingly angry and sent out a huge fire wave towards Xemone which accidentally set the wheelhouse on fire, though Xemone and Zuko were too caught up in the fight to notice.

Iroh’s eyes grew wide at the sight and tried to get their attention, "Zuko..."

Xemone and Zuko continued their fight, not noticing the damage they were causing or the worried Iroh trying to gain their attention.

"Xemone...." said Iroh with a more worried tone.

They still continued...
Iroh then grabbed Zuko by the ponytail and Xemone by the foot and slammed them both to the deck and pointed their heads towards the flaming wheel house.

The expression on both Zuko’s and Xemone’s faces was reminiscent of that of when a child breaks something and their parent finds out.

Iroh bended the fire out much to the relief of the panicked helmsman and asked in a disappointed tone, "Is this how reckless you are when in battle together?!"

Xemone and Zuko both gave a quick glance to the other and replied "....Uhhhh….."

Iroh shook his head in disapproval and said "You two are never going to catch the Avatar if you can't work together. If you're not in sync then how can you battle side by side?"

Xemone huffed. "We're not a team or anything..."

"That's where you're wrong. You both have to become a team in order to get the prize you both desire and you can't be a team if you're out of sync."

Zuko said in his defense "We were fighting against each other; we were too caught up in the battle to notice. You always tell me to focus Uncle."

Iroh sighed and said "Yes, I do, but I don't tell you to be reckless. If anything that's the one thing I tell you not to do. You could've hurt innocent people all because you were too caught up in your rivalry to notice anything else around you, besides your fight."

Xemone said to Zuko in a taunting tone "...Yeah way to go..."

Iroh shot an unimpressed look to Xemone.

"What?"

"You are just as bad as Zuko. You don't to know anything about working with people."

Xemone gave a knowing look and replied "I...don't...Duh. I've been by myself practically my whole life. People are unreliable, so why should I team up with them?"

Iroh then looked a little hurt as he asked "You don't trust us?"

"You're Fire Nation, and your nephew’s a jerk…."

"Hey!" snapped Zuko.

"You've given me no reason to trust you, so why should I blindly trust you?"
A look as if an idea popped into Iroh’s head appeared on Iroh’s face as he replied "...You are right. We really haven't given you any reason to make you trust us....I have an idea. Like Xemone said before, the Avatar could've gone on foot by now to keep hidden for a while. How about we hit shore and you two go ask around the town for any signs of the Avatar?"

Xemone and Zuko said simultaneously again, with a tone of surprise "Why just the two of us?"

"Because at the very least you'll spend some time alone together, maybe learn to work better with each other."

Xemone and Zuko both went "Hmmmm..." with an iffy look on their faces, but both silently agreed that this would be the only way to get Iroh off their backs. They unwillingly agreed to his suggestion as they headed for shore.

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When they reached shore, Iroh waved Zuko and Xemone off as they went off reluctantly...

"Let's just do this quickly and get back to the ship with smiles so Uncle will leave us be..." said Zuko in an annoyed tone.

"Best idea you've ever had, Prince..." replied Xemone as they walked off.

Xemone and Zuko went off trying to see if they could find any rumors floating around the harbor or the nearby village, but to no avail.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

After a couple hours of endless walking, Xemone stopped and sighed, "This...is so pointless..."

"You're the one who said he might be on land." snapped Zuko.

Xemone rolled her eyes and replied "Yes, but I didn't suggest we blindly ask around a town if they've seen a kid with an arrow on his head riding through the sky on a flying bison..."

"Ugh...well...Firebenders always seem to bump into the Avatar, land, sea, or air..."

"Yes..."

"We should find some Fire Nation soldiers."

"Ok, I'll give it to you. That’s a decent plan, but one little thing. Do you honestly think any Fire Nation soldier that isn't assigned to you would give us that information? Everyone from the Fire Nation sees you as a traitor. And as an Earthbender, I doubt they’d be anymore friendly to me."

"Hmph….You have a point…”

"We could go for threats..." said Xemone with a smirk.

Zuko gave a smirk back and replied, "Any Fire Nation soldiers with useful information wouldn't travel alone. They’ll probably be in a huge group. Do you really think we'd have a chance against that?"

"And if we go back to the ship Iroh will just send us back out with a lame proverb saying we have to do this on our own...blah blah...Teamwork, yadda yadda, work together, harmony, peace, love, etc. etc…."

Zuko sighed and said uncomfortably "Maybe we should....try....to combine our abilities and maybe we'll be able to take on a whole squad."

Xemone gave an inquisitive look. ”Even if we could stand to fight together in a way that would combine our powers, do you know the risks? I’m an exiled Earthbender on Earth Kingdom soil and you're a banished Prince that would attempt to attack Fire Nation soldiers."

"Even if they miraculously found some way to capture us, there’s no way they'd keep us for long." replied an uncharacteristically optimistic Zuko.

Xemone sighed and gave into his brightened face then said "Fine....I'm willing to give it a shot if you are..."

Xemone put out her hand for a handshake.

Zuko wavered then shook Xemone's hand.

"Ok then...but we're going to need a game plan. Maybe some combo moves...." said Zuko.

"Hmmm..."

Zuko and Xemone then found a quiet place in the woods to try and brainstorm and practice.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX


A couple hours later, both Zuko and Xemone emerged from the woods looking trashed.

Xemone was covered in smoke marks and her clothes were singed, while Zuko was covered in dirt and bruises, his clothes partially ripped.

Xemone caught her breath and said "Well...It was a...painful couple hours but we got it down...."

Zuko groaned and said "Yes...Ow...Lets find some soldiers…”

Zuko and Xemone then groaned as they got up, stretched and went off in search of some Fire Nation soldiers.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

At nightfall, Zuko and Xemone lucked out and found a small camp base for a legion of Fire Nation soldiers in a secluded area of woods by a pond.

Zuko and Xemone hid behind a bush quickly as they spotted them.

Zuko whispered to Xemone "Ok, you know the plan?"

"Yeah, yeah...ready?" asked Xemone.

"Yeah...."

They then waited for their chance before they both yelled, "...Go!"

Xemone and Zuko then jumped out from behind the bush and Xemone smacked the ground with her palm, sending out a large shockwave, knocking all the fire nation soldiers over.

Zuko, still being in the air, landed after the shockwave, unaffected, he then did a spin-kick, combined with his firebending and lunged towards the soldiers.

The soldiers regained their composure and attacked.

"Now!" commanded Xemone.

"Right!" said Zuko.

Xemone then used most of her sand from her sand gourd to create a giant ball of rock.

One of the soldiers yelled in a conceited tone "That thing won't beat us!"

Zuko snickered "Maybe not, but this will."

Zuko then raised his hands, palms outward and a few seconds later the rock ball exploded. It appears it wasn't solid; it was hollow inside so that when Zuko heated the air inside it the ball would explode sending out billions of pieces of shrapnel from the stone shooting towards the soldiers.

"What!?" The soldiers all yelled as they were pelted with the small shards of stone.

The soldiers yelled in pain as most of them collapsed from their injuries and the rain of stone subsided.

Xemone said sort of surprised "Heh...it actually worked...."

Zuko gave a small smile, but then yelled "Now, while they’re distracted!"

"Yeah, yeah" Xemone then gathered up the soldiers, wrapped all the soldiers together with her sand and hardened it into rock, to make escape impossible.

Zuko walked up them and asked coolly, "Have you seen the Avatar lately?"

The soldiers didn't speak until one of them spoke up and said inquisitively, "Prince Zuko?”

Zuko turned his head in a bit of an ashamed manner, as the soldier gave a disgusted look,

“Attacking Fire Nation soldiers? Honestly, what has become of y--!?” The soldier was cut off by Xemone constricting the stone, tightening it around them.

Xemone said in an almost threatening tone, "Ground rule: If whatever you're about to say has nothing to do with the Avatar, then don't speak..."

Another soldier then said, "And teaming up with an Earthbender? Honestly Prin--"

The soldier was cut off when Xemone earthbended a rock over his head and smacked him with it, causing him to lose consciousness.

Xemone said flatly "If anyone was wondering what happens when you disobey me....it's that..."

Zuko asked "Do you know where the Avatar is heading?"

The soldiers were silent, unwilling to give information to the "traitor".

Zuko looked at Xemone who then nodded and stuck out her hand, palm straight out and started to close her hand slowly and forcibly while earthbending.

The stone around the soldiers then got tighter and tighter.

The soldiers groaned in pain as the stone constricted their bodies, crushing them.

Zuko asked one more time "Either tell me if you've seen the Avatar or be crushed by my friend here..."

A smaller, weaker soldier who couldn't take the pain yelled "He came by here yesterday!!"

Xemone stood her ground and paused.

Zuko asked "Oh really? Where was he heading?"

The soldier yelled, "He popped out of the bushes yesterday afternoon with his Water Tribe friends and his bison!! He was heading West I believe!! We almost had him when we cornered them in the woods but a bunch of punks stopped us!!!”

Xemone then loosened the stone around them, but still kept the soldiers constricted as Zuko said "Now was that so hard? Thanks for the info...oh, and by the way if you tell Zhao or my father we were here...let's just say the pain you felt here will pale in comparison...."

Xemone then sucked her sand back into her gourd but not before wrapping up the soldiers in normal dirt before they could retaliate and turned it to stone so they wouldn't chase after them and would be contained for some time...

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

As Xemone and Zuko walked back to the ship Zuko said, "Hmph...Guess we do make powerful allies..."

Xemone replied "Hmmmm...I have to admit...I haven't had that much fun in a fight in a long while..."

"Yeah...we should remember that shrapnel move...that could come in a lot of handy...."

Xemone then cast a taunting smirk, which was not left unnoticed by Zuko, who raised an eyebrow and asked “What?!”

“”My friend here?””

Recalling his words from before Zuko blushed in embarrassment at his slip-up and replied “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, of course…”

Xemone gave a small chuckle and relied in a sarcastic tone, “Riiigggghhhhttt….”

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As Zuko and Xemone reached the ship Xemone said "Just so you know....you haven't earned my trust as of yet...."

Zuko huffed in response and said "I figured as much...not that you've gained my trust either..."

"...But for the time being...I suppose we could be a team…for now..."

Zuko nodded and replied "Fine..."

Zuko and Xemone got back on the ship, Xemone returning to her normal place on the bow and Zuko went up to Iroh who then asked "You were sure gone for a long time. Did you get any information?"

Zuko replied "Yes. Seems the Avatar has gone to travel on foot for the time being. A group of Fire Nation soldiers said they saw them, but were defeated by a group of “punks” who saved the Avatar from capture."

Iroh replied in a surprised manner "Really?...Wait...you talked to Fire Nation soldiers?!"

"Yes." replied Zuko as if it were nothing.

"You're a banished Prince and an Earthbender and you talked with a group of Fire Nation soldiers?"

"Yes.” replied Zuko with the same tone, “We detained them and interrogated them."

"Ah, I see...So you and Xemone are more in sync now?" asked a curious Iroh.

Zuko shrugged uncomfortably and replied "....I suppose...She still doesn't trust us though."

Iroh gave a half-happy, half-disappointed smile and replied "It's a start anyway. Right, Zuko?"

Iroh then noticed Zuko was walking away up into the wheelhouse to tell the helmsman to set sail Westward without answering his question.

Iroh gave a small smile and walked away as well.

Xemone said to herself "Hmph...I knew I was right...."

[DarkToph]

Author’s Notes: This is basically the episode equivalent to “The Storm” where we hear Aang’s back-story (But due to him not being around, you won’t hear it in my story) and Zuko’s back-story.

This chapter is critical and has been fairly, carefully and majorly re-written to adapt to future chapters.

Part one focuses on Zuko’s back-story. Part one may be mostly ripped off from the series, but it is vital to my story for Xemone to hear it and understand for growth in their relationship.

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 9 part 1

A couple days later on the ship, after a certain flying bison was spotted over the sea, Zuko, Xemone and Iroh were standing on the bow of the ship, as they followed the Avatar's trail.

Iroh sniffed the air, and noticed a flock of birds fleeing in the opposite direction of the direction the ship was heading in and said "There's a storm coming...a big one."

"You're out of your mind Uncle" said Zuko in a totally unbelieving tone, "The weather's perfect, there’s not a cloud in sight."

Xemone closed her eyes gently for a second and then said "He's right, I can feel the storm..."

"You can [i[feel[/i] it?" said Zuko sarcastically.

"Earthbenders are far more in tune with nature than any other human beings, Prince Zuko." replied Iroh.

"Hmph, you're both insane. I’ve never seen better weather." said Zuko as he looked up into the clear sapphire sky.

Xemone sighed and said "This is another one of those "He'll learn the hard way" things right?"

"The storm is approaching from the North,” said Iroh, “I suggest we change our course to Southwest."

Zuko replied "We know the Avatar's heading North, so we will do the same..."

"Zuko, consider the safety of the crew." pleaded Iroh.

"The safety of the crew doesn’t matter!!” yelled Zuko.

Zuko then noticed one of his crew members, a Lieutenant, walking behind him.

The crew member glared at him, overhearing what the tactless Prince had just blurted out.

Zuko got into the Lieutenant’s face and said sternly "Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual’s safety."

Zuko then walked off into the ship without another word.

Iroh defended Zuko to the Lieutenant, "He doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up..."

Xemone just sat there and stared at the sky with a blank expression…

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

About an hour later, the crew, along with Iroh, Zuko and Xemone, stood on the deck, watching as huge, ominous, dark clouds came over the horizon.

The same crew member from before said in a cocky tone, "Looks like the girl and Iroh were right about the storm..."

Xemone then said sarcastically "Lucky guess..."

Zuko shot Xemone an angry look and said "You better be silent, Earthbender!"

Xemone huffed then turned her back, unscathed.

Zuko got irritated and said "Lieutenant! You better learn some respect! Or I'll teach it to you."

Zuko turned his back and started to walk away as the, now fed up, Lieutenant then said,

"Respect? What do you know about respect? The way you talk to everyone around here; from your hardworking crew to your esteemed Uncle, even the Earthbender girl shows you know nothing about respect. You don't care about anyone, but yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled Prince?"

Iroh got a bit of a tense look on his face, knowing all to well of Zuko’s temper and need to prove himself as Zuko took a fighting position towards the Lieutenant who did the same.

Iroh held out his hand and said "Easy now..."
The Prince and the Lieutenant then locked wrists as steam poured from them.

Iroh broke them up and said "Enough! We are all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I’m sure after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better."

The Lieutenant turned and walked away. Zuko turned towards the bow and said to Iroh, "I don't need your help keeping order on my ship."

Iroh offered a gentle hand on Zuko’s shoulder to calm him down only to be shrugged off as the Prince walked off in his same angry mood.

Xemone spoke up and said sarcastically, "Such a noble Prince...."

Zuko stopped walking then turned towards Xemone.

He quickly walked up to Xemone and got face-to-face with her and asked "You think you're better than me, Earthbender? I don't care how powerful you think you are, I don’t care if you are some super-powerful demon creature thing, you are still a dirty, peasant, Earthbender. No one cares what you do or say. No one cares at all…"
 
Xemone just shot an annoyed, yet almost hurt glare towards him as Zuko turned and walked away.

Xemone gave a short huff and walked off towards the bow again and leaned against the railing.

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At sunset, Iroh walked over to the bow of the ship where he spotted Xemone, sitting idly by as usual.

He knew that, even though she almost always had an emotionless face on, that Zuko’s words from before cut a little close.

He sat down next to Xemone, her not making any move or saying a word.

Iroh sighed and said "You know, my nephew just gets riled up a lot. He doesn't mean a lot of what he says in tense times..."

Xemone sat silently, eyes set on the crimson sky.

"I know he's never shown you any kindness, really, he’s never called you by your name nor has he shown much respect for you, but he's not the person he acts like..."

"Hmph..." replied Xemone as she finally spoke up, "I have to say I agree with the Lieutenant...Zuko has never seemed to show any care about anyone but himself. I know I don't care much either, but I wouldn't harm innocent people when there's easy ways around it....I mean he's banished yet he acts like he owns the world. Who does he think he is?"

"Do you really want to know?" asked Iroh in a somber tone.

Xemone turned toward him slightly, her way of saying “yes” discreetly.

"Try to understand...my nephew is a complicated young man. He has been through much...He used to be such a happy, optimistic, proud boy, but…” Iroh then sighed before continuing,

“It all started a little over two years ago. Zuko was finally allowed to participate in a war meeting in Fire Lord Ozai’s, his father’s, meeting room. When Zuko was about to go in I told him not to speak since if he did at his age it would be a sign of blatant disrespect towards the higher ups and towards the Fire Lord himself.”

“Zuko was really excited that he was finally allowed to be in a war meeting, seeing it as his biggest right of passage. He walked into the war room with me with a big proud smile on his face,” Iroh smiled contently at the memory before continuing,

“When the meeting started a General explained a battle strategy, pointing out a known concentration of extremely strong Earthbenders in Earth Kingdom grounds. He then suggested that the 41st battalion would be a good choice to send in to attack it. This was highly unorthodox, seeing as how we were pitting a battalion filled with entirely new recruits against a seasoned group of Earthbenders who were the some of the strongest in the Earth Kingdom. He then explained that it wasn't his plan to have the battalion defeat the Earthbenders, but to use them as a distraction as we mounted an attack from the rear. Talking about the soldiers in the new battalion as they were merely tools, throwing away their lives for a mere distraction, Zuko then spoke out in defense of the Fire Nation soldiers, explaining how disgusted he was with the plan, saying that the soldiers were brave warriors who love and defend our nation and that the plan was just a betrayal to the loyal soldiers.

Zuko was right of course, but it was not his place to speak out and there were dire consequences...”

Iroh sighed again, “Zuko’s outburst made the Fire Lord furious at him, and said that his speaking out at the General was a show of utmost disrespect. The Fire Lord then said there was only one way to resolve this...an Agni Kai with the person he disrespected. Zuko declared to the General he had disrespected that he was not afraid...but he should’ve been….”

“Later on that day at the dueling arena, Zuko prepared for battle with the General, but when he turned towards his opponent, who he had assumed was the General since it was his plan he spoke out against, he became shocked when he saw his own father, Fire Lord Ozai.”

Xemone’s eyes widened a bit as Iroh continued,

“Zuko misunderstood. Yes, he did speak out against the General’s plan, showing the General disrespect, but he spoke out in the Fire Lord’s war room, ultimately showing the Fire Lord disrespect. And so, Zuko had to face the facts. In order to clear up this whole dispute he would have to duel his own father..."

Xemone crossed her arms behind her head and laid back onto the deck and said with a sigh "Daddy issues...yeah I get that..."

Iroh continued saying "When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father that he had to duel, he begged for mercy. Saying he was sorry he spoke out of turn, that he didn’t want to fight his own father, that he refused to do so, but his father is not an understanding person, not even towards his own family...”

“Zuko bowed before his father and kept apologizing to him, but Ozai just said 'Rise and fight'. Zuko refused to fight his own father. Ozai then said, "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher...’”

Xemone raised an eyebrow at this, knowing what must’ve happened next as Iroh said softly, “...I looked away....as Ozai burned his own son’s face, Zuko screaming in agony...in front of all his family and almost every citizen of the Fire Nation."

Xemone looked up at the sky, silently.

"After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness and as punishment he was banished and sent to capture the Avatar, only then could he return with his honor."

"Hmph...So that's why he's so obsessed...” Xemone didn't really show much care in Iroh’s story but she did show interest.

"So that's his only chance of returning home huh? With the Avatar in chains or the Avatar’s corpse?"

"He may be able to go home if he gets the Avatar, but the one thing Zuko wants is for things to go back to normal, but he doesn't understand...things can never return to his version of normal. He wants Ozai to respect him, treat him as an honorable son. He wants all the Fire Nation citizens to look upon him with admiration and respect. He wants people to be proud to call him "Prince Zuko". But things will never change like that, no matter what he does. Ozai will never do that, that's for sure, but still Ozai is Zuko’s father and even though he burned his face, leaving him with a permanent scar, even though he banished him sending him off on what seemed like the ultimate wild goose chase, Zuko still wants his father’s love more than anything. Zuko gives my little brother far too much credit, though...Ozai is just not like that...Though still, catching the Avatar is his last glimmer of hope." said Iroh in a somber tone.

Xemone then stood up and started to walk to the door to the inside of the ship.

As she grabbed the handle for the door she said quietly to herself, "Little brother...” She then asked, “Iroh...How is Ozai the new Fire Lord if you're the eldest sibling?"

Iroh sat silently for a second and said "That's a story for another time, Young Xemone..."

Xemone gave an understanding look then turned back and opened the door, walking into the corridors of the ship.

[DarkToph]

Author’s notes: This chapter required a careful rewrite, as this is my OC’s back-story and is pivotal for future chapters. Also, if you’re wondering how Xemone has such clear recollection of things that happened with Xemnas before she was even born; Xemnas always repeatedly told her stories about it, while under his care.
(NOTE-Xemone is a name I just thought up off the top of my head a long time ago. I honestly have no clue as to if it has any real meaning, but that's the meaning I came up with OK?!)
NOTE: Yes, this chapter IS long. I know. So if you're going to comment, please don't make the only thing that comes out of your mouth or keyboard be "This is long"......
I think this is my favorite of all the chapters so far, so enjoy!!

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 9 part 2

Xemone walked into the corridors of the ship, after hearing Iroh’s story of Zuko’s rough past and walked in front of Zuko’s room, where Zuko was sitting on his bed looking over a map. She stopped, standing in front of his door.

Zuko then noticed her standing there, watching him and he snapped, "What do you want, Earthbender?"

Xemone slowly walked into the room and shut the door behind her and sat next to Zuko on his bed.

"Get off my bed, Earthbender!" shouted a confused if not somewhat embarrassed Zuko.

"Shut up..." said Xemone in her same monotone voice.

"Why are you in here?!" yelled Zuko, getting more and more confused.

"First off, I said shut up, secondly….Quid pro quo..."

Zuko, not knowing the meaning of such a phrase just shot Xemone a confused look and said “What!?”

"You wanted to know what my intentions were with the Avatar, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." replied Zuko, still confused.

"You wanted to know what it was I became in that valley that day?"

"Yes..."

Xemone then breathed deeply and said "Then be quiet and listen...”

Zuko gave a confused yet, semi-understanding nod as she started, “Around 18 years ago my father, an extremely powerful Earthbender named Xemnas, watched as the war raged on before him day after day after day. He thought it was all so pointless, saying to himself day after day that it was futile. So what if the Fire Nation wins the war? So what if we defeat them? There will never be ultimate peace between anyone.”

“My father thought all the citizens were fools and wanted to overtake all the nations as a supreme overlord; overthrowing all forms of nationality and just make it all a world under his guise, his ruling, his eternal power…He wanted the total control of every living being on Earth and he wanted that control to be gained through pure fear….”

“He knew he needed great power for this and he knew just how to acquire it. You see, my father was sort of viewed as demented, growing up. He was obsessed with demonic entities, supernatural powers, ultimate powers. Though, under his parents rule, he was denied access to any such things as a child.”

“Once he was old enough to leave the house, he indulged his obsession and researched demonic entities and such for many years. After reaching his revelation about the status of the world he dove into his studies ten times as hard as he ever had, looking for a solution. Treading through book after book, scroll after scroll.”

“He came to one conclusion...that if he was to become powerful enough on his own to overtake the entire world, powerful enough to have no enemy worthy of note, powerful enough to be hailed as a “god” of sorts, that he would need to infuse himself with a demon spirit.”

“My father searched around for almost a year for the right demon. Demons are found everywhere, if you know where to look...but powerful ones like to hide in the darkest corners of the world.”

“He came upon a huge demon that seemed to be made of darkness itself. It was, as my father described it, “unreal” as to how powerful it was and the type of energy it emitted…”

“With all the research my father had done, he had learned how to seal a demon’s energy within itself, thereby making it immobile and weakened. The demon attacked him once it spotted my father, but he was too agile to be hit and the demon was far too bulky to catch up with his moves. My father used a special chant and painted a small seal on the demon with his own blood, causing him to become fully immobilized. The demon fell to the ground, paralyzed. My father set up an elaborate ceremony right there, drawing a huge intricate symbol into the ground and took off his shirt to reveal an ancient seal tattooed on his chest. He chanted in some demonic language, he told me what he said then, and I didn’t know what the words he were saying translated to, but…I somehow…knew what they meant…”

Zuko gave an inquisitive look her way, but didn’t say anything as she continued,

“He then placed his hand on the demon’s head as he wiped the seal he had painted on the demon away. The symbol on the ground glowed black as the demon’s soul and spirit energy then started to transfer into my father as he continued his chanting.”


“A while later it was almost done, but then he realized something was going wrong. His body felt like it was literally on fire, like he was being burned alive and shortly afterward a huge expulsion of the demonic energy knocked him backward into the trees. He got up a couple minutes later and noticed the demon was nothing but a steaming skeleton now and the seal on his chest was glowing black, pulsating as he felt the power coursing through him, the energy within him made him almost drunk with power, but something went awry...”

“A short while later, he tried to earthbend to try out his new powers and abilities, but it didn't work. He tried over and over for hours, getting increasingly frustrated, but he could never even move a stone. The ceremony somehow caused him to lose his bending abilities. His entire plan was a failure. The power was in him, but he had no way of channeling it.”

“My father was almost insane with anger. Not only had he failed to gain true, raw power, but he lost his earthbending abilities, leaving him with almost no chance of achieving his dream...He knew that great demonic energy could be unleashed if he broke his seal, but was afraid that he would not be able to control it and might even lose his own soul in the process, allowing the demon full reign over his body and his actions, to cause reckless damage to the world, not to overtake it. He wanted to rule on his terms, not the demon’s.”

Xemone sighed and continued, “He decided to research for a couple more months and discovered a new plan amongst his readings...Demonic infusion is much more effective and easy to control if you use an unborn child and slowly infuse it with demonic energy not a demon’s spirit or soul. This would be contradictory to the spirit of the child who would then kill him/herself from the inside out with her/his own energy. Instead, the child would grow with a bit of a…split personality; one being innocent and generally human, the other as cold and unfeeling as ice with an unquenchable bloodlust.

He got the idea to take some willing woman, someone who would understand his cause, impregnate her, and start the process of tainting that child with a demon’s power while it was still in the womb.”

“My father told me it was strangely easy to find a worthy candidate. An Earth Kingdom woman who had lost her family in the war when she was a child and had lost all sense of morals and lost all sight of what is wrong or right. A woman named, Suzuka.”

“He explained his plan full out to her, saying how the war was futile, it was all futile, the Avatar would never return to save us, that it didn't matter who won the war, there would always be chaos and confusion, death and pain. He told her that the most logical solution would be for one person, or one being, the most powerful being ever alive, even more powerful than the Avatar would ever hope to be, to rule over all nations, breaking down the barriers that divided them and mixing them all together under the eternal rule of one being. Suzuka oddly agreed to his points and his plan right away and not that long later she became pregnant....”

Zuko interrupted her, after listening intently to her story the whole time and asked, “Why don’t you call this Suzuka woman, your mother?”

Xemone sighed and replied, “Calling Xemnas my father is but a mere habit. He was by no means a father. Biologically, yes, he was my father. Biologically, yes, she was my mother. By they were by no means “parents”. Parents, from my observations, are supposed to protect you, love you, unconditionally.”

Zuko gave a nostalgic frown at this as she continued,

“They’re supposed to conceive children in love, not because you needed a tool for your own selfish gain…”

Xemone regained her composure as Zuko gave a semi-worried look her way and she continued with the story,

“Anyway, all the while down her pregnancy, Xemnas would place his hand on her stomach and infuse a bit of demon energy that he gathered from another powerful demon he had caught, but kept “sealed” and locked in a cell down in the basement that I would…soon know all too well, almost every week at a steady, but ever growing pace to maximize the power.”

“My father had learned in his studies that this was also the only way that if I was to be born an Earthbender to keep my powers and seeing as how I was a child born to two Earthbenders, it was pretty much a lock that I would be one….”

“It seemed like it was the most intricate process. Almost fascinating;  my small body adapting to the energy, infusing with my own spirit, my own energy, but also tainting it, slowly eating me away.”

“During my birth, I suppose problems arose which apparently had been predicted by my father. He knew no living being could contain the energy that would be expelled during the birth of the, now demonic, yet still very human, child...”
”My human energy and my human spirit were clashing with the demonic energy trying to take me over. He knew all along that the woman that was giving birth to me would die, he just didn’t care. And from my father’s retelling of the story, she welcomed death at that point…. As Suzuka gave birth, her final word was my name. An unflattering one but suiting nonetheless "Xemone" which means "Pure darkness"

“Born curiously with white hair, red eyes and tiny horns”

Xemone gave a small laugh at this and noted “My father said later on that he thought the pureness of my snow white hair, mixed with the wicked emptiness behind my blood red eyes was a testament to what I really was. My human half pure, my demon half thirsting for blood as red as my eyes….”

Zuko just listened intently at her words, a bit uncomfortable with just how demented her father and ultimately her childhood really was.

“...As soon as I was born, my father quickly tattooed a seal mark on the back of my neck, knowing that the demonic energy would surely try to destroy me in a short amount of time. He knew that to control the demon side of me, the only way would be to control the human side of me....”

“Through my toddler years and I assume as a baby I was kept in a cell, or a basic type of cage in the basement of my father’s house. The same cell the now dead demon that I was “feeding” off of during Suzuka’s pregnancy was being housed in, keeping me locked away from the outside world until the day of ruination.”

“Every single day he would torturously train me. Trying to agitate me in order to invoke some demon energy so I could control it, learn to master it. He tried every form of pain and torture he could, every now and then succeeding in me gathering up some demonic energy, whether it be because I was close to death or because I was scared out of my mind, which explains some of the deeper scars you saw on me before...”

“When I reached the age of seven, I became far too unstable, my demonic side sometimes taking me over completely, causing me to attack everything in a blind rage. I couldn’t control myself. It….it was painful. Like I was being eaten alive from the inside out… My father took me and intricately tattooed a long tattoo on my back made up of a base tattoo in the middle of my back as a center point and from there branching out from that tattoo, made up from black diamond shapes that looked like chains, descending from the tattoo on my back, down my leg and the tattoo then wraps around my ankle. The same thing goes onto the other leg and both my arms, the insanely painful process took a non-stop forty hours while he added the final touch; The same black diamond-like chain tattoo around my neck as a collar. I then got up from the table I was lying on, half unconscious, and covered in blood. I was in unreal pain, but the pain I was experiencing right then was a lot better than the torture I was enduring before.”

“As my father completed the new, stronger seal onto my back, he placed his hand on my back to enforce it more with his demonic energy. He then said in a grave and condescending tone, "Child....these are your shackles...they keep your demonic energy locked up enough for the time being, but never forget...these are also a symbol of your imprisonment to me. You are shackled to your fate. You are shackled to me.” I was sent back to my cell as usual...The same training persisted. All the while telling me the stories of how great the new world is going to be under his law.


“I then got some unknown courage to speak, something I was never allowed to do unless addressed to do so, and asked "If I'm the one with the power....how can you be the one in control?" The instant I said that I regretted it. I covered my face out of fear. Then my father just laughed and said "Once you become old enough, once you're balanced enough, once you've become strong enough...I will kill you and break your seal, absorbing up all your controlled demonic energy and your human energy that is stored within, the unrivaled powers that will rest within you and become an almighty being.” He scoffed in a cocky tone at me and said “Did you really believe I was training you to be the star of the show, while I sit idly by backstage? You’re not the one with the real power. I am. Since the energy grew within you, as a human I can take it into myself, regain my earthbending powers and gain infinite power with an infinite life span."

Xemone began speaking in an ever increasing volume, more and more rage behind her words as she continued, “I wasn't surprised to hear that. I knew the kind of man my father was so no form of cruelty ever surprised me with him, but I don't know what snapped that day...everything hit me at once; the pain, the torment...the fact that to him I was not his daughter...I was not his child...I was a tool...put on this earth to feed his desires and nothing else. Seeing myself as a being with no purpose the demon within me then emerged at full strength and broke through my metal cell.”

Xemone hung her head, as if in deep shame when she continued, “I don't entirely remember what happened that day, but from what I gather, I escaped from our house, destroying it in the process, I rampaged all through the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, murdering people, destroying buildings through earthbending, causing nothing but pain and sorrow, destroying everything in my path. I remember seeing that deathly black glow around me; I remember the sting in my eyes as I witnessed sunlight for the first time, I remember the power surging through me. I remember, how good it all felt, but I didn’t want to, nor never intended to hurt anyone…I just, I…I couldn’t stop myself….The Earthbenders of the city tried to contain me, tried to fight against me, but I just blew them away. I—I was….killing people…lots of people….and….and I--….I liked it.”

Zuko’s eye’s widened at her last sentence. Her tone was as if she was both ashamed of herself and like she was afraid of the feeling she felt that day. It’s an understandable feeling, though. Doing things you know is horribly wrong, yet not being able to stop yourself.

“My father appeared a while later, outraged at my actions and chanted something similar to the chant he told me he used on the demon he absorbed before I was born, that undid my transformation and I fell to the ground, unconscious. The last thing I remember after that was fading out as he stood over my body saying, ”Don’t think that you’ve escaped me, Xemone. Remember what I said to you before. You are forever shackled to your fate, forever shackled to me. Once you become old enough I will find you, I will kill you and take your powers for myself. Until then, remember to keep running, Child..." He then ran off out of the city and I soon faded out....”

“Later I awoke to a rock to the head thrown by one of the survivors of the city. I then saw a huge mob of the villagers standing over me, battle ready and angry. They said I was too young to be given the death penalty for killing all those people, but I was to be exiled from the Earth Kingdom for life by decree of the Earth King himself, and they ran me out of the city, throwing rocks at me and cursing me. I ran out of the city and never looked back.”

“I had no choice, but to travel around, living in the woods unnoticed. It was either there or the Water Tribes but an Earthbender has no place on a slab of ice. Then there was the Fire Nation, but you can figure out what's wrong with that plan. I spent the next seven years of my life thieving to get food, living like an animal, waiting for the day it'd all end somehow. I still had had no sense of the word "happiness", but I wanted some form of peace at least...”

”Then I had a dream one night...I had vivid dreams about the Avatar in all of his incarnations and the dream ended by seeing a glowing iceberg. When I woke up I came to a realization. That to prove that I was the one with the power, to prove that I wasn't a useless tool to be thrown away for someone else’s goals, to give me some sense of clarity...I had to kill the Avatar...and absorb his power. If I could destroy the Avatar, The true Avatar himself, I’d prove that no being could match me. I am not a tool. I am not to be controlled. I am the one in control.”

Zuko said intrigued yet confused, "How did you know he was still alive?"

"...The dream was too vivid at the end....I could feel the cold water....I could feel the ice....and when I woke up I could still sense the Avatar state....Though it didn’t last long…"

Zuko replied as intrigued as a child listening to a bedtime story, "So you're reasons for chasing the Avatar are because you want to kill him and take his power, to prove your own worthiness as a human or at the very least, as a being?"

“Does that sound foolish?”

Zuko had to think about that for a second. It didn’t sound right, but he could relate to her fully. She wants to prove herself to her father and everyone else.

Yes. She was just like him.

“No…No…It’s just….Nevermind. Continue.”

Xemone shrugged slightly and continued, "The same morning I left the woods, heading to the South Pole. Following the power I sensed, hopping from boat to boat searching the waters for him...you know the rest...I found him, he turned out to be a child, I stowed away on your boat....yeah."

"So....what are you going to do about your father?" asked Zuko in an understanding tone.

"Hmm?" asked Xemone.

"Your father said he'd return for you once you became old enough and the demonic powers were developed enough or balanced enough."

"Yes, but he's far too weak to do anything to me....he can't bend and he's not prepared to release his demon powers just yet....”

A moment of silence passed between the two before Zuko spoke up and said, “Earthbender?”

"What?"

"What do you plan to do if you do kill the Avatar and gain his power? I mean, what's next after that?"

"I’ll have to kill my father…That way I can finally be at total peace. I can punish him for treating me the way he did all those years…” Xemone scowled as she replied.

She then loosened up and continued, “After that, I really couldn’t care less...The Fire Lord could succeed in the war....the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom could somehow win....I don’t care what happens afterwards...even if I die afterwards I wouldn't care...As long as I prove myself and earn my one moment of true peace, I’ll be good. After-all there would be no more point to my existence after that….”

Zuko gave a somber look, not really knowing what to say to her before she continued in a grave voice, “This is the perfect plan either way. I’m sure the Fire Lord may even be happier if you brought back the Avatar’s corpse instead of him being alive. I’ll even let you take the credit for killing him...make Daddy so proud..."

"Hm...." said Zuko who then got up from his bed and was about to say something when all of a sudden they heard a huge explosion on the ship.

Zuko and Xemone ran out onto the bow. A violent storm had started outside during Xemone’s story.

They looked up to see the top of the ship had been struck by lightning. The helmsman was hanging from a part of the ladder leading up to the top of the ship into the wheelhouse, the rest of the ladder had been destroyed and he was losing his grip.

Zuko yelled in a worried tone "The helmsman!!"

Xemone started to climb up the remaining part of the other half of the ladder to reach the helmsman and Zuko followed right behind, as did the Lieutenant who arrived on the scene before them and had bad-mouthed him so badly before.

The helmsman lost his grip and started to fall.

As Xemone reached as high as she could get on the broken ladder she tried to catch the helmsman, but the force of catching him made her lose her grip.

Realizing she left her sand gourd on the deck earlier she knew she was going to fall, but then both of them were caught by someone.

She looked up to see Zuko with a smirk on his face, hanging onto Xemone's arm.

She gave a smile back and he handed them off to the Lieutenant and the Lieutenant gave Zuko a respectful look which Zuko acknowledged with a nod and they climbed down the ladder to safety.

A few minutes later Zuko spotted the Avatar’s flying bison flying off into the dark clouds.

"The Avatar!!" yelled Zuko.

The Lieutenant then asked Zuko "What do you want to do, sir?"

Zuko paused and thought about his question for a minute. "....Let him go...We need to get this ship to safety..."

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm." said Iroh who then smiled proudly at Zuko.

Xemone paused and said "Yes..." in a peaceful tone.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

As they reached the eye of the storm Zuko looked up into the clear sky and told Iroh "Uncle...I'm sorry"

"Your apology is accepted." replied Iroh followed by him patting his nephew on the back before walking away.

A couple minutes afterward, the Avatar’s flying bison came flying out from under the water with a bright glow.

Xemone noticed the energy signal and turned her head quickly.

The Avatar and his friends then flew off into the sky and Zuko just stood there staring for a few minutes before he walked off back into the ship.

Xemone was soaking wet from the rain and shook her head to dry her hair a bit.

She felt something being dropped on her head.

"...Hmm?" said Xemone.

It was a light blue towel. She then lifted the towel from over her eyes to see Zuko behind her with his arms crossed. He then breathed deeply and said in a soft voice, "Xemone...the bow probably won't dry until morning. You’re of no use to me if you become ill so you'll sleep in the spare quarters for the night."

Xemone gave a surprised if not totally shocked look and said "Hmm?"

"You heard me. Now go get some rest!” Zuko then stomped off into the ship.

Xemone sat there for a moment trying to recover from the shock of the Prince actually doing something very nice for her before jumping up in surprise at a realization and said,

"Wait a second...What did he just call me?"

[DarkToph]

I can see now that no one gives a damn about this story, but for anyone that cares, I AM going to continue it. So thar! HAR!

I've got some schoolwork to catch up on, but gimme a few days and I should get going on the next chapter.

[DarkToph]

The Lone Earthbender

Book 1: Water

Chapter 10

Xemone came out of her temporary quarters, which she was allowed to sleep in since the bow was wet after the storm and Zuko was feeling uncharacteristically kind the other night after they reached a mutual understanding.

She went onto the bow of the ship which had dried overnight, and sat down looking over the horizon when shortly afterward she was interrupted by a certain Prince.

"Earthbender!” yelled Zuko from the window of the wheelhouse.

Xemone sighed heavily as Zuko used her “nickname” to call her before yelling “What?!!" back to the young Firebender.

"Stop being lazy and get up here!!”

Xemone huffed then stomped off angrily while mumbling in a mocking tone, "Blahdy blah blah make yourself usefullllll, stop being lazzzzyyyy, I'm emo and I have a ponytail!"

She reached the wheelhouse and said mockingly "Yes, your majesty?"

Zuko turned towards her and asked "Do you remember which direction the Avatar was heading when he emerged from the water?"

Xemone thought for a second and replied "Uhhhh.....No"

"Urgh." replied the frustrated Zuko.

The Lieutenant from the other night told Xemone "We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm."

He pointed to the map in front of him and continued "But if we continue to go northeast then..."

He stopped after a huge shadow darkened over the map. A huge ship went by the ship’s window. They all recognized it, beyond a doubt to be his ship.

"Oh, great, what do they want?" asked Zuko while rubbing his temples to relieve the stress.

"Perhaps they want a rousing game of Paisho." said Iroh who was sitting at a table playing said game with some of the crew.

"....You live in a fantasy world don't you, Iroh?" asked Xemone.

"Oh, come now. Everyone enjoys a nice game of Pai-sho!" exclaimed Iroh in a happy tone.

The giant ship soon boarded Zuko’s ship and three soldiers came aboard.

The leader of the three showed Zuko a wanted poster of the Avatar and stated, "The hunt for the Avatar has now been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be sent directly to Admiral Zhao."

Iroh spoke up and asked in a surprised, yet, somehow happy, tone, “Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him."

Xemone gave an annoyed look towards Iroh. Why was he always so chipper, even when speaking of jerks such as Zhao?

Zuko snapped and exclaimed "I have nothing to report to Zhao! Now get off my ship, and let us pass!"

"Admiral Zhao is not letting ships in or out of this area." said the leader.

"Off my ship!!” yelled Zuko who was fed up with Zhao and his army.

As the soldiers left the ship, Iroh exclaimed to his opponents, "Excellent! I take the pot!"

He grabbed all the chips on the table as he finished a game of Paisho with the crew. “But you're all improving! I’m certain you will win if we play again." Iroh then plastered a big grin on his face.

".....Seriously, there’s some weird alterna-world in his head right?" asked Xemone while trying to lighten the mood while Zuko just stared out the window with a scowl....

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Later, at sunset, Zuko got into his training clothes and decided to blow off some steam on the deck by practicing his firebending.

Xemone later walked up, unnoticed and thought Well...he's angry...looks pretty upset....I better stay inside...

Xemone started to walk away, but suddenly stopped and sighed, becoming increasingly frustrated with her conscience, then turned back around and walked towards him, knowing she had to say something...anything!

"Uhhhh....Is everything all right?" asked Xemone in an uncomfortable tone.

"Yes!" shouted Zuko without looking at her or stopping his training.

"Cool." replied Xemone, rather relieved that she didn’t have to talk with the young Prince as she headed back into the ship but then she stopped again.

Xemone sighed deeply, even more frustrated than before, damn conscience, and turned around again. She decided she'd talk to him with her own style.

"That's a load of gorilla-goat crap and you know it..."

Zuko just stood there.

She walked towards him and said "It's been over an hour and you haven't barked an order to the crew."

"I don't care what they do!" snapped Zuko.

Xemone sighed and got an uncomfortable look on her face. She’s not used to "talking" let alone talking 'with' people.

She cringed and continued, "You....shouldn't give up you know....I mean...We can still find the Avatar before Zhao...I guess..."

"How?!” yelled Zuko as he turned to face her, “Zhao has unlimited resources! He has a fleet of ships! I have one! He has a small army at his command and I've got a small naval crew with a minute band of soldiers! It’s only a matter of time before he captures the Avatar!”

Zuko turned away from Xemone and stared off into the horizon and said somberly “...My honor...my throne...my country...I'm about to lose them all."

Xemone awkwardly scratched the back of her neck for a minute before stating "Well....”

She was getting increasingly uncomfortable. Not only does she have to talk with him she has to comfort him too?

“You’ve got…something Zhao doesn't have and never…you know….will."

"What?" asked Zuko without turning around.

Xemone paused for a second before replying, "Me."

Zuko turned around quickly and almost fell over with an extremely confused, shocked and embarrassed expression.

Xemone raised an eyebrow at this and replied "....Huh?....Not like that! I mean I can sense the Avatar when the Avatar State is activated so that means we can have a bit better chance of finding him!....Mind in the gutter..." yelled Xemone, blushing harshly with a look of embarrassment.

Zuko matched her blush before replying "Oh...Well...That may be true, but Zhao is too close to finding him. That’s a **** just waiting for him to activate the Avatar state."

Xemone sighed and replied "I suppose...but do you have a better idea?"

Zuko then turned silently and said "....No...Except...

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Later that night, the ship docked at a small island. They had secretly been following Zhao’s trail ever since the boat that came to “warn” them departed, so when they stopped at a dock further away, so did they.

Zuko had gotten the idea to try to get some information by spying around the island Zhao was docked at. There must be a reason he stopped there at that island and Zuko was going to find out.

Zuko sent Xemone out a while after they docked, since she wasn't known there, unlike Zuko who could be identified by a glance.

Xemone walked around, skulking in bushes and earthbending to hide in the ground, while she spied around the island.

She soon spotted two soldiers talking excitedly, but she was too far away to hear and there was no place to hide.

Earthbending may be risky as well since they might hear her. She then thought to herself for a second before getting an idea.

She placed her hand on the ground while hiding behind a bush and closed her eyes to help her concentrate. The vibrations from the Fire Nation soldiers’ voices echoed in the ground, being picked up by Xemone’s earthbending ability.

I can't believe he actually did it. said one of the soldiers.

Yeah, I know. The Fire Lord will be very pleased when he finds out Admiral Zhao caught the Avatar. said the other soldier.

Xemone twitched slightly at his words, stopped listening and quietly snuck back to the ship, to give the fallen Prince the bad news.

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A short while later…

"What??!" yelled Zuko in a surprised yet very disappointed tone.

Xemone had met with Zuko privately beside the boat at the shore and had just broken the news to the saddened Prince.

"You heard me..." said Xemone, "It's no mistake...Zhao already has the Avatar....”

Zuko stood there looking at the ground for a few minutes.

"Are you going to say something?" asked Xemone after a few moments of silence.

Zuko kept quiet, but then whipped back into his old self all of a sudden after getting an idea. "Yes....how about "Follow me"?"

Zuko then took Xemone up to his quarters and closed the door.

"....What…are you doing?" asked Xemone.

Zuko grabbed a black stealth-like suit out of his closet. He grabbed a spare one and handed it to Xemone.

"Hmmm...What are these for?" asked Xemone.

"I always thought I'd have to spy and sneak around sometime, but I never thought I'd do this..." replied Zuko, still not answering her questions.

"Do...what?"

He then took Xemone down to a small meeting room where two twin blades were displayed on the wall.

"We can't use our bending for the moment. We need normal weapons. Do you have any?"

Xemone nodded then grabbed two Earthbender fighting hammers from the back of her belt and explained, "I know they're meant to be basic weapons to improve earthbending, but non-benders use them too."

"Good.” replied Zuko. “Go into your quarters and get dressed in that suit. Put away your gourd, but keep your hammers on your belt. Don’t let anyone see you and meet me beside the ship in a half hour."

Zuko then quickly went off the ship.

Xemone decided to just do as she was told and got dressed into the suit. She put away her gourd and placed her fighting hammers on her belt and soon walked off the ship, unseen, and stood beside the ship and waited for Zuko.

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A little while later, Zuko returned, wearing the black suit and the two sheathed swords on his back. He was carrying something in a medium sized, brown sack. He reached inside the sack and handed Xemone a red, tribal, almost monster-like mask.

"What is this for?" asked Xemone as she took the mask. She then looked up to see Zuko was wearing a blue version of the same mask.

"Put it on." said Zuko, ignoring her question.

Xemone sighed, put on the mask and asked. "What are we doing?"

"...We're going to free the Avatar...."

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Later that night, Zuko and Xemone were hidden behind the bushes at the Fire Nation base.

"So we're going to infiltrate a huge Fire Nation base, free the Avatar, somehow get him out of there, avoiding all the big, tough, fiery guards and all without using any bending huh?" asked Xemone.

"Yes." replied Zuko.

Zuko received a questioning look from the young Earthbender.

He sighed then said "Look, the reason we're freeing the Avatar is because if Zhao doesn't have him then we still have a chance. The reason we can't show our faces is obvious, if we get caught doing this you'll be arrested and I'll totally lose my chance at the throne while being tried with a bigger treason charge. And the reason we can't bend is because it'll just be a clue as to who we are. You can use bending as long as it’s at least partially discreet."

"Fine, fine...." replied Xemone.

Xemone and Zuko then peaked out of the bushes to look for an opening to get inside.

They ducked back down and Zuko instructed "Whatever you do, stay quiet..."

"Yeah yeah..." replied Xemone in an annoyed tone.

A carriage soon appeared in front of the gates. Zuko and Xemone nodded to each other and as the carriage passed they jumped under the carriage and grabbed onto the underside, hiding them from sight as the carriage passed through to the building.

The carriage stopped.

A Fire Nation soldier then inspected the carriage for any suspicious items or people. 

Zuko and Xemone stuck to the underside of the carriage, silently, throughout the inspection, praying they wouldn’t get caught.

The soldier quickly looked under the carriage, but saw nothing.

"Ok you're all clear." said the inspector and the carriage continued. Xemone and Zuko had quickly hidden themselves inside the carriage before the soldier could see.

The carriage passed through the gates and parked. The driver disconnected the Komodo Rhino from the carriage and left it.

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A short while later, when all was clear, Zuko and Xemone stealthily escaped from the carriage and continued on through the building.

They reached the level the Avatar was on and hid behind a wall.

A soldier came around the corner only to meet up with Xemone who jumped in front of him and swiftly kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious and knocking his helmet into the next room.

Another solider then came from down the hall and Zuko jumped out and punched him in the face. The soldier yelled out in pain, alerting the other guards.

The other soldiers who were guarding the Avatar’s holding cell then went to the hallway to investigate, leaving two behind to stand guard.

The ones who had gone then saw the previous soldier hanging from the ceiling by chains.

Zuko and Xemone were hiding themselves on the ceiling and they both attacked the soldiers, knocking them out one by one.

Another soldier then tried to call for help with a signal horn, but was stopped as a flying hammer knocked the horn out of his hands. Xemone recovered her hammer as the Firebender attacked.

Zuko used a bucket of water that was on the floor and extinguished the enemy's firebending, then knocked him away.

Zuko nodded to Xemone who then nodded back and Xemone stood guard as Zuko entered the room.

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Zuko stood before the Avatar, who looked confused and scared.

He spoke, trying to figure out who the masked intruder was. “Who are you?”

Zuko ignored him, took his swords from their sheathes, took a fighting stance and attacked towards the Avatar, who screamed in terror and closed his eyes.

Two slashes were heard and the Avatar opened his eyes to see that Zuko had sliced his chains, freeing him.

Zuko then sliced through his shackles and sheathed his swords.

"Who are you? What’s going on?! Are you here to rescue me?!" the Avatar asked frantically.

Zuko signaled to follow him, meeting back up with Xemome who signaled that the coast was clear.

"I'llllll take that as a 'yes'" said the Avatar as he followed Zuko and Xemone.

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They walked down the corridors of the building, quietly, knowing they had already caused a small disturbance and were worried that the building would be crawling with even more security than before.

The Avatar then noticed frogs hopping on the ground. They were escaping from the confines of his shirt.

"My frogs!” yelled the Avatar as he chased the small frogs “Don’t go! And stop thawing out!!"

Zuko went back quickly and grabbed him by the shirt.

The Avatar yelled "Wait!! My friends need to suck on those!!" as he was dragged away by Zuko.

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They eventually entered the sewer system, the best way of moving without being detected, staying against the walls under the drains so they won't be seen.

Xemone popped her head up through one of the sewer covers and looked around. She then went back under, seeing that it was all clear, and signaled to go up.

Xemone climbed out of the sewer, followed by Zuko and the Avatar.

They spotted a rope that was set up by Zuko earlier, attached to the wall that was barricading the base.

They headed for the rope and climbed up. Shortly thereafter, before they climbed very far, an alarm sounded.

Soldiers then surrounded them and one of them shouted, "Look! There they are!!"

A soldier that was positioned on top of the wall then cut the rope they were hanging on and the three fell to the ground. The Avatar caught them before they hit the ground with his airbending.

Xemone grabbed her hammers from her belt and Zuko unsheathed his swords and pointed to an exit. The three nodded in agreement and ran for it.

The Avatar ran ahead and told them "Stay close to me!"

Soldiers blocked the exit and the Avatar blew them away with a big gust of air.

They kept running for the exit. Aang made it to the gate, but Xemone and Zuko were held off by soldiers.

They fought back with their weapons, trying desperately to catch up with the Avatar. The gates were closing and more and more soldiers were coming.

The Avatar blocked an attack from behind as Xemone and Zuko continued to fight. Aang blew the attacking soldiers away.

He then blew a gust of wind under Xemone and Zuko, sending them flying on top of the wall.

More soldiers appeared from both sides on top of the wall and Aang used a make-shift staff from a broken Fire Nation spear as a helicopter and grabbed them off the wall. He was struggling to keep them airborne for an extended period of time, but knew if he could just make it over the wall, they’d all be safe.

The soldiers on the ground threw spears at them and Xemone and Zuko knocked them away with their swords and hammers, as Aang continued to fly them towards the wall.

Aang couldn't keep up with the technique and fell onto another wall, which was then also covered in soldiers.

They fought the soldiers off, the Avatar blowing the soldiers away again.

They then heard soldiers climbing up the walls with a technique using giant bamboo-like poles.

Xemone knocked them off with her hammers as Zuko slashed them off with his swords. Aang blew them away, one after another. He blew a huge gust of air down the pole blowing numerous soldiers that were climbing up it away.

Aang then ran off and quickly returned to Zuko and Xemone with three poles yelling "Take this!"

Xemone took one as Zuko took another, and the Avatar took the last one. He jumped onto a standing pole and used it as a stilt.

"Jump on my back!!" he yelled.

Zuko jumped onto the Avatar’s back and Xemone jumped on Zuko’s back, using the other poles for balance. As one stilt fell, Aang used the pole he held as another stilt and continued moving forward.

"Gimme the next one!" yelled the Avatar.

Zuko then handed Aang the pole and used it as another stilt.

"Last one!"

Xemone handed Aang her pole and they used it to start to get over the last wall.

A Firebender set the last pole on fire and they were forced to jump off the flaming pole to avoid being burned.

Aang tried to grab onto the wall before they fell to the ground below, but slipped.

Zuko tried to grab on after he fell, but slipped too.

Xemone grabbed them and the wall. She hung on for a few seconds, trying to imbed her hand into the stone wall with earthbending, but just couldn't handle it and slipped also.

As they hit the ground they were surrounded by soldiers yet again.

Zuko and Xemone grabbed their weapons and prepared for battle. The soldiers then sent fire blasts their way and Aang grabbed Zuko and Xemone and pushed them behind him as he airbended the fire away.

"Hold your fire!" yelled Zhao as he finally appeared. "The Avatar must be captured alive!"

Zuko got an idea at Zhao’s words and crossed his swords in front of Aang’s throat.

Xemone stood in front of them, defensively, hammers in hand.

Zuko, Xemone and Zhao faced off, eyes locked, waiting for the other to make a move.

Zhao then said defeated, "....Open the gate..."

"Admiral what are you doing?" asked a soldier.

"Let them out!...Now." said Zhao demandingly.

The gates opened behind them and the three walked off slowly, walking backwards to keep an eye on all of the soldiers and Zhao, keeping the Avatar hostage.

They got further and further away, still keeping their guard up and keeping the Avatar under swords.

Mere minutes later, two arrows came out of nowhere, hitting Zuko and Xemone square in the face, knocking Xemone backwards onto Zuko as they both fell unconscious onto the ground.

The Avatar then took this chance and blasted the ground with airbending, creating a cloud of dirt for cover so he could escape, but stopped in his tracks.

He looked toward Zuko and saw a glimpse of his scar behind the mask as he lie unconscious.

Aang’s eyes grew wide as suspicions grew in the boy’s mind.

He walked over slowly, still under dust cover, grabbed Zuko’s face and removed the mask, revealing it to be Zuko.

He then freaked out and jumped up in surprise. He scrambled towards Xemone and tore off her mask, revealing her face.

The Avatar panicked and started to run away at the sight of his two sworn enemies, but then stopped and turned to look back at them, feeling a twinge of guilt in his chest.

They may not have always been the nicest of people, but they tried to rescue him.

He grabbed them both and ran off into the woods. The dust cloud settled as the soldiers reached where the dust cloud was only to find that the Avatar, Zuko and Xemone were all gone....

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Zuko slowly regained consciousness and saw the still unconscious, unmasked Xemone lying next to him. He stared at her for a second and then turned towards Aang, who was sitting on a big root to a huge tree.

"You what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago is?” asked the Avatar.

Zuko just stared at the boy as a response.

“I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. I mean...before the war started, I used to hang out all the time with my friend Kuzon.” He chuckled a nostalgic laugh, ”The two of us...we'd get into so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had and he was from the Fire Nation...just like you. If we knew each other back then...do you think we could've been friends too?"

Zuko stared for a second then quickly stood up and shot a fire blast at Aang, who sprang up and hopped from treetop to treetop and disappeared.

Zuko’s expression turned somber and he walked back towards Xemone, who was still unconscious. He grabbed the masks and attached them to his belt before grabbing Xemone and carring her in his arms back to the boat.

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The next morning, Zuko snuck back onto the ship and set Xemone down by the ship as he went in and changed out of his suit and put away the masks.

He came out a little bit later in his normal clothes and grabbed Xemone’s clothes from her quarters.

He snuck back out and put her normal clothes back on over her suit and carried her on board.

Iroh spotted them walking back up and asked, "Where have you two been all night? You missed Music Night! Lieutenant Gi sang a stirring love song....What happened to Xemone?"

"She fell....Asleep." replied Zuko, tiredly.

Iroh didn’t believe that escuse for a second, but decided to leave the pair be as he walked off.

Zuko walked onto the bow and set Xemone down in her normal spot.

He sat down beside her for a second, then yawned and tried to stay awake. But he was too tired from staying up all night and fighting.

He collapsed down next to her and fell asleep.