a_facility: Zuko
OOC Information:
Name: Gerry
Age: 17
AIM: Sanggre Habagat
MSN: sanggre.habagat@gmail.com
Y!M: lunaticmoon63
E-MAIL: sanggre.habagat@gmail.com
RP Information:
Rating: G to NC-17
Death: I don't wanna die. D: D: D: But, yeah, if you can justify Zuko's death, by all means ask.
Smut: Ask first. XD
Yaoi: HEHEHE. Suuure.
IC Information:
Name: Zuko
Fandom: Avatar
Timeline: After he joins Team Avatar, just after the Southern Raiders episode.
Age: 16
Appearance: Zuko is of average Asian male height, standing at 5'9". He is medium-built, not bulky, but muscular enough to practice advanced martial arts techniques. His complexion is rather light, typical of Fire Nation nobility. His black hair is a bit long, and reaches the middle of his nape; the bangs reach past his eyes. He is rather handsome, with features befitting a member of the royal family of the Fire Nation. His only major flaw: an ugly scar on his left eye, leaving a quarter of his face raw, a remnant of his rogue past.
He wears typical Fire Nation attire, but not royal armor: Red robes with orange trimmings and belt over a red shirt and pants.
Abilities: Zuko is a highly skilled firebender, and has been since his training days. He masterfully manipulates, creates, and utilizes fire for both defense and offense. From flame whips to fire shields and walls, Zuko is a master of the art of Firebending.
Other than Firebending, Zuko is also a mster of the dual Dao blades, a skill he picked up during his long voyages at sea. When unable to firebend, or in instances when discretion was needed, his skill with the double swords proved useful.
Zuko is also a very skilled martial artist. Strong, fast, and agile, he is able to run across walls and climb rock ledges speedily. Just as he is skilled with his swords, Zuko is equally adept in unarmed, hand-to-hand combat. He can easily break apart enemy ranks and disarm opponents without weapons. Zuko is also adept at stealth and tracking, concealing himself effectively for long periods at a time while searching for the Avatar.
While not the best, Zuko is also a good strategist, able to outsmart certain intelligent enemies.
Personality: The quintesential anti-hero, Zuko is a rather bitter and complex young man. From a young age, he was forced to believe that he had to earn his place as heir to the Fire Nation throne. He then displayed a determination beyond his years to capture the Avatar, a determination fueled by the drive to prove himself, instead of his family's evil intentions. He believes that a person becomes strong by fighting for what they want and believe in. Luck is not a factor: Zuko controls his own fate.
Zuko is clever, but, at times can be hot-headed, leading him to not think his actions through properly. Although this trait isn't as pronounced as it was before: his Uncle Iroh taught him to dicern and reason well.
Perviously a pessimist, Zuko gained a positive outlook on life after joining Team Avatar. He regrets his ruthless, disrespecful past, and looks forward to a brighter future as an ally of the Avatar.
History: Zuko is the first-born of Prince Ozai of the Fire Nation. He has a younger sister, Azula, who is two years his junior.
Even if Zuko was Ozai's only son, and therefore next in line to the throne, his father did no show him affection at all. He was cold, indifferent, and spiteful, for reasons Zuko never fully understood. He confided in his mother, Princess Ursa, the only shoulder he could lean on in a palace full of the Fire Lord's cronies.
Zuko was a prodigious firebender, already able to make small flames as a young boy. At that age, none of the other children could match his power and rage. None but his sister Azula. Azula had always obviously been his father's favorite. She was powerful, ambitious, and inherited that streak of craziness Ozai always admired. The fact only fueled Zuko's intent of mastering Firebending, if only to release the stress and tension of being an unfavored crown prince.
Once, when Zuko was ten, Ozai showed off Azula's prodigious Firebending skill and her knowledge of military strategy to then Fire Lord Azulon. Zuko was put to shame when he could not match his sister's talent, but Azulon was not amused by this display anyway. Azulon dismissed Ursa and the children while he and his son conversed. Azula and Zuko eavesdrop on the conversation, finding out that Ozai wanted to usurp his brother Iroh's place as Crown Prince. Ozai's reasons: Iroh's grief over his dead son caused him to behave erratically. That and Iroh had no heir anymore. Azulon declined forcefully.
Frightened at Azulon's display, Zuko runs away, leaving Azula to watch the remaining drama. Later, as Zuko tries to sleep in his room, Azula returns and mocks him, saying that Azulon's punishment for Ozai is that Ozai must kill Zuko, as the Fire Lord wants his son to know what it feels like to lose a child. Ursa interrupts the fray and drags Azula away to speak with her privately. Later that night, Ursa then speaks to Zuko, giving him words of inspiration: everything she did, she did for Zuko.
The next morning, Azula tells Zuko that Azulon has died, and that Princess Ursa is missing. Ozai is named Fire Lord, as the sage reveals that Azulon's dying request was that he be succeeded by his second son.
A few years later, Iroh allows Zuko to attend a war council with Ozai and his generals. He was not allowed to speak, but breached the promise when a general reveals plans to sacrifice an entire division of new recruits as a diversionary tactic. Zuko believed it a betrayal of the recruits' patriotism, and the outburst is seen as a grave insult by the council. Ozai demands that Zuko participate in an Agni Kai, a fire duel, to which the latter agrees. Little did he know that he was to face his father, and not the insulted general. Zuko refuses to fight, instead kneeling before his father, begging forgiveness. Ozai takes this as cowardice and another sign of disrespect. Then, Ozai burns Zuko, giving him his trademark scar. He is stripped of his birthright and is exiled. He may only return once he captures the Avatar, who disappeared 100 years before.
Zuko, intent to prove himself to his father, spends the next two years at sea, searching for the Avatar. He scours the four Air Temples, and then the world, searching in every nook and cranny for his bounty. He was accompanied by his uncle Iroh, who trained him in Firebending and martial arts while at sea.
One fateful day, two members of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara and Sokka, discovered the Avatar in suspended animation within an iceberg near the South Pole. The flash of light in the evening sky alerted Zuko of the Avatar's revival. He arrived that day on the shores of the Water Tribe, after the Avatar accidentally sets of a signal flare from an old Fire Nation wreck. He threatens the village elder's life, demanding the location of the Avatar. The Avatar, Aang, arrives on a penguin otter, who surrenders and is taken aboard the ship as a prisoner. Aang tries to escape, goes into the Avatar State when he falls overboard, and is rescued by the Water Tribe people on the flying bison.
Zuko continued in hot pursuit of the Avatar, traveling wherever he thought Aang and his comrades went, going as far as enlisting bounty hunters and formulating devious plans. He forms a rivalry with Admiral Zhao, one of his father's soldiers, in capturing the Avatar, but his threats quickly pass.
Three years after Zuko's banishment, they find Azula waiting at a Fire Nation colony they docked on. Azula and Zuko fight, which culminates in Zuko and Iroh escaping the Fire Nation as fugitives. They end up in Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom, where Iroh opens a tea shop. Zuko wored there serving tea, and even met a girl who had romantic feelings for him. They never meet again.
Afterwards, Zuko appears to have developed a more optimistic view of life and living in Ba Sing Se. He is enthusiastic at the opening of Iroh's new teashop, and at the invitation for the two of them to come to the Earth King's palace and serve tea to the king. The invitation, however, is a trap set by Azula, who has struck a deal with the Dai Li to perform a coup on the Earth King. Iroh and Zuko manage to fight their way free, but Zuko chooses to stand and face Azula while Iroh flees. He challenges Azula to an Agni Kai, but Azula laughs off his challenge and has the Dai Li arrest him and imprison him in a cave with Katara. There Katara berates Zuko, who sits silently and absorbs the abuse until Katara mentions how the Fire Nation took her mother away from her, something which Zuko can sympathize with and relate to. This is a bonding point for the two, and Katara apologizes, explaining that for a long time Zuko's face was the face of the enemy in her mind, causing Zuko to acknowledge his scar and how it marks him. Katara offers to attempt to heal Zuko's scar and is about to do so when Iroh and Aang barge in to rescue them.
Despite the statement that he has changed, Zuko still holds a great deal of anger towards Aang, and within moments the two old adversaries nearly come to blows, until Iroh restrains Zuko and encourages Aang and Katara to leave and find their friends. While Katara and Aang exit the cavern, Iroh attempts to dissuade Zuko from continuing his pursuit once again. Azula arrives accompanied by two Dai Li agents who incapacitate Iroh in crystal. Both Iroh and Azula attempt to persuade Zuko- Azula seeking his assistance in capturing the Avatar, and Iroh begging him to seek his own destiny. When Azula leaves to fight Aang and Katara, Zuko later joins and decides to help Azula by attacking Aang, which he does with manic zeal. Surprisingly, Zuko also assists his sister directly several times, including freeing her when Katara had Azula trapped.
At the end of the battle, Iroh arrives on the scene and covers Katara and Aang's escape by holding off the siblings and scores of Dai Li agents until they have safely exited the cavern. Iroh then lets himself get captured, and Azula and Zuko triumphantly return to the Earth King's palace. Zuko is suddenly once again uncertain of himself, though, and expresses regret at having betrayed Iroh. Azula turns this aside, though, telling Zuko that it was Iroh who betrayed him. She then expresses confidence that, Avatar or no Avatar, Zuko has restored his own honor. We leave Zuko with the young man still looking conflicted about the decision he has made.
After this, Zuko is surprisingly reluctant to return to the Fire Nation as a hero. He is reassured by his girlfriend (Azula's best friend), Mai, that everything will be alright. While under the Fire Lord's trust, Zuko secretly visits his Uncle in prison, who does not even recognize Zuko's presence and remonstrations.
Meanwhile, Zuko, Mai, Azula, and another of Azula's companions, Ty Lee. After events in which Zuko does not impress Mai with gifts, and picks a fight with one of Mai's other suitors, Mai breaks the relationship off.
Soon, upon their return to the Fire Kingdom, Zuko gets an anonymous message telling him that he needed to know the story of his great grandfather's demise, since it would help him find his own destiny. He finds out, after being tipped off that the Fire Nation history is held in the Dragon Bone Catacombs, that not only were Fire Lord Sozin and the previous Avatar, Roku, friends. Avatar Roku was his other great grandfather, on his mother's side.
After a few days, Zuko was invited to another war conference, but found himself uncomfortable for conforming to his father's wishes. He then confronts the Fire Lord, revealing that it was Azula who "mortally" wounded the Avatar and not him. Zuko continues to spout his regrets, fears, and rage at the Fire Lord, and reveals his plan to leave the Palace and join Team Avatar. Ozai, ever the strategist, lured Zuko back by asking "Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?" Curious, Zuko stays and Ozai reveals what happened during the day he requested an audience with Azulon years ago. Zuko wonders aloud whether Ursa was still alive. While Ozai said that it was a possibility, the odds do not favor it. Suddenly, Ozai fires a bolt of lightning at Zuko, which the latter easily reflects back. Stunned by the attack, Ozai does not stop Zuko from leaving. Zuko finds out that Iroh has also escaped prison, and so sets off in a war balloon to find the Avatar.
Zuko arrives at the Western Air Temple, but Team Avatar is, at first, distrustful. Toph, an Earthbender who joined Team Avatar sometime while Zuko was on the run in the Earth Kingdom, senses that Zuko is, in fact, sincere. Attacked the next day by Combustion Man, Zuko helps team Avatar defeat him, which make Aang, Sokka, and Toph accept him readily. However, Katara does not, and confronts him, threatening that if he makes as much as one wrong move, he's dead.
After joining the group, Zuko teaches Aang firebending. Because of his change in perception, Zuko is not able to create proper fire blasts anymore. After Zuko informs the rest of the group about his loss of Firebending, Sokka and Katara poke fun at him, but Toph has another idea. She suggests that Zuko and Aang learn from the original source of Firebending. Earthbending came from the Badgermoles, and Airbending came from the Sky Bisons. Zuko feels he is out of luck because Firebending originated from the Dragons, which are extinct. He does inform them that there are old ruins of the ancient Sun Warrior's civilization located near to the Western Air Temple, and that they might learn something there. After arriving at the ruins, Aang is almost caught in a booby trap. Zuko avoids it, saying that places with booby traps always have something worth protecting.
Aang and Zuko then find their way into a room with a circular alignment of statues, that are labeled as "The Dancing Dragon", which is an ancient Firebending form. After the both of them perform the form, a glowing jewel appears in the center of the room. Zuko takes it, and accidentally triggers another trap. They are both found by members of the Sun Warrior Tribe a while later.
The chief tells them that if they wish to master Firebending, they must meet the tribe's masters. They are both given a fireball to carry up a mountain where the masters are to prove their worth and commitment to Firebending. Shortly after arriving at the mountain top, they are confronted by the masters, which turn out to be a red dragon and a blue dragon. The dragons circle around a shocked Zuko and Aang. Aang and Zuko perform the Dancing Dragon, which mimics the dragon's movements. The masters deem them worthy, and demonstrate their bending by creating a rainbow colored column of fire.
Zuko and Aang are still shocked that there are dragons left. Zuko thinks that his Uncle lied when he found and killed the last dragon, but the Sun Chief informs him otherwise. Zuko's uncle Iroh found his way to the dragons, and was deemed worthy and taught the original source of Firebending as well. Zuko realizes that Firebending isn't just hate and destruction, but beauty and life as well, and why he lost his ability to Firebend. Hunting the Avatar was his drive for so long, so when he joined him, his drive vanished and he lost his touch with his inner fire. His new drive is to help the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord and restore balance to the world. Zuko is able to perform strong fire blasts again, and Aang is able to create fire too.
After returning to the group, Aang and Zuko perform the Firebending form they learned. Sokka pokes fun at them saying that they could dance to defeat the fire lord. A frustrated Zuko argues with him, but when he tells the group the form is called The Dancing Dragon, he is left embarrassed as the group laughs at him.
Soon, Sokka voices his concern about his father's capture by the Fire Nation. Zuko agrees to help infiltrate Boiling Rock prison, in which they rescue Sokka and Katara's father, together with Sokka's girlfriend, Suki.
Soon, it is Katara's turn to go on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Still wary of Zuko's real intentions, Katara walks out of a small party of theirs. Zuko follows her, finding out why Katara has been acting so bitter towards him, and that everyone seems to trust him now. She yells at him and says, "Maybe you can reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King! Or I know, you can bring my mother back!" She leaves him there, thinking about what she said. After inadvertently thwarting a tryst between Sokka and Suki, he asks Sokka about the death of their mother, since he thinks that is why Katara is holding in a grudge on him. He learns that the leader of the Southern Raiders, a fleet of Fire Nation warships, was responsible. He offers Katara his assistance in finding him (on Whale Tail Island), and she accepts. When Aang told Katara to let go of her anger, and that revenge is not the right path to go with, he is criticized by Zuko.
They sneak into the Fire Navy Communication Tower and find out where the Southern Raiders are: Whale Tail Island. They quickly escape on Appa and continue their mission to Whale Tail Island. Katara tells Zuko the story of what happened to her mother from her point of view. When the Southern Raiders came, young Katara went to her family's house to find her mother. There she sees the leader of the Southern Raiders, looking into his eyes, with her mother. Katara is scared, but her mother tells her not to worry, and to find her father. Katara runs outside as fast as she can and tells her father about this, and both start running toward their igloo. But when the got there, it was too late. Zuko tells Katara that her mother was a brave woman. Katara touches her necklace, and says she knows.
Zuko and Katara finally get to Whale Tail Island. Both start running toward the front where they predict the leader is, knocking down every soldier in their way. They get there and Zuko and Katara spot the leader. The leader, who is baffled and confused on what they are accusing him of, says he does not know what they are talking about. Zuko then witnesses Katara's power when she bloodbends the leader, which he never knew she could do. The leader, helpless and afraid, keeps telling them he doesn't know anything about the Southern Water Tribe invasion. Katara looks into the man's eyes and lets him go, realizing this is not the man they are looking for. Zuko interrogates the man to say where the veteran leader is and they both head off.
Zuko and Katara eventually found the man responsible of killing Katara's mother. At first he does not remember, but it all comes back to him. He remembers the little Water Tribe girl and her mother telling her to leave. Yon Rha asks Kya who the last Waterbender is. She denies at first that there are no Waterbenders left, but Yon Rha knows there is one more. Kya lies and tells him she is the last Waterbender of the tribe and to take her prisoner. Yon Rha refuses to take her prisoner and kills her.
Katara tells the man that her mother lied to protect the last Waterbender: her. When she finally had her chance to get revenge once and for all, she couldn't bring herself to kill him. After the group joins Katara on Ember Island, Katara tells Zuko that she has forgiven him, and hugs him warmly.
Name: Gerry
Age: 17
AIM: Sanggre Habagat
MSN: sanggre.habagat@gmail.com
Y!M: lunaticmoon63
E-MAIL: sanggre.habagat@gmail.com
RP Information:
Rating: G to NC-17
Death: I don't wanna die. D: D: D: But, yeah, if you can justify Zuko's death, by all means ask.
Smut: Ask first. XD
Yaoi: HEHEHE. Suuure.
IC Information:
Name: Zuko
Fandom: Avatar
Timeline: After he joins Team Avatar, just after the Southern Raiders episode.
Age: 16
Appearance: Zuko is of average Asian male height, standing at 5'9". He is medium-built, not bulky, but muscular enough to practice advanced martial arts techniques. His complexion is rather light, typical of Fire Nation nobility. His black hair is a bit long, and reaches the middle of his nape; the bangs reach past his eyes. He is rather handsome, with features befitting a member of the royal family of the Fire Nation. His only major flaw: an ugly scar on his left eye, leaving a quarter of his face raw, a remnant of his rogue past.
He wears typical Fire Nation attire, but not royal armor: Red robes with orange trimmings and belt over a red shirt and pants.
Abilities: Zuko is a highly skilled firebender, and has been since his training days. He masterfully manipulates, creates, and utilizes fire for both defense and offense. From flame whips to fire shields and walls, Zuko is a master of the art of Firebending.
Other than Firebending, Zuko is also a mster of the dual Dao blades, a skill he picked up during his long voyages at sea. When unable to firebend, or in instances when discretion was needed, his skill with the double swords proved useful.
Zuko is also a very skilled martial artist. Strong, fast, and agile, he is able to run across walls and climb rock ledges speedily. Just as he is skilled with his swords, Zuko is equally adept in unarmed, hand-to-hand combat. He can easily break apart enemy ranks and disarm opponents without weapons. Zuko is also adept at stealth and tracking, concealing himself effectively for long periods at a time while searching for the Avatar.
While not the best, Zuko is also a good strategist, able to outsmart certain intelligent enemies.
Personality: The quintesential anti-hero, Zuko is a rather bitter and complex young man. From a young age, he was forced to believe that he had to earn his place as heir to the Fire Nation throne. He then displayed a determination beyond his years to capture the Avatar, a determination fueled by the drive to prove himself, instead of his family's evil intentions. He believes that a person becomes strong by fighting for what they want and believe in. Luck is not a factor: Zuko controls his own fate.
Zuko is clever, but, at times can be hot-headed, leading him to not think his actions through properly. Although this trait isn't as pronounced as it was before: his Uncle Iroh taught him to dicern and reason well.
Perviously a pessimist, Zuko gained a positive outlook on life after joining Team Avatar. He regrets his ruthless, disrespecful past, and looks forward to a brighter future as an ally of the Avatar.
History: Zuko is the first-born of Prince Ozai of the Fire Nation. He has a younger sister, Azula, who is two years his junior.
Even if Zuko was Ozai's only son, and therefore next in line to the throne, his father did no show him affection at all. He was cold, indifferent, and spiteful, for reasons Zuko never fully understood. He confided in his mother, Princess Ursa, the only shoulder he could lean on in a palace full of the Fire Lord's cronies.
Zuko was a prodigious firebender, already able to make small flames as a young boy. At that age, none of the other children could match his power and rage. None but his sister Azula. Azula had always obviously been his father's favorite. She was powerful, ambitious, and inherited that streak of craziness Ozai always admired. The fact only fueled Zuko's intent of mastering Firebending, if only to release the stress and tension of being an unfavored crown prince.
Once, when Zuko was ten, Ozai showed off Azula's prodigious Firebending skill and her knowledge of military strategy to then Fire Lord Azulon. Zuko was put to shame when he could not match his sister's talent, but Azulon was not amused by this display anyway. Azulon dismissed Ursa and the children while he and his son conversed. Azula and Zuko eavesdrop on the conversation, finding out that Ozai wanted to usurp his brother Iroh's place as Crown Prince. Ozai's reasons: Iroh's grief over his dead son caused him to behave erratically. That and Iroh had no heir anymore. Azulon declined forcefully.
Frightened at Azulon's display, Zuko runs away, leaving Azula to watch the remaining drama. Later, as Zuko tries to sleep in his room, Azula returns and mocks him, saying that Azulon's punishment for Ozai is that Ozai must kill Zuko, as the Fire Lord wants his son to know what it feels like to lose a child. Ursa interrupts the fray and drags Azula away to speak with her privately. Later that night, Ursa then speaks to Zuko, giving him words of inspiration: everything she did, she did for Zuko.
The next morning, Azula tells Zuko that Azulon has died, and that Princess Ursa is missing. Ozai is named Fire Lord, as the sage reveals that Azulon's dying request was that he be succeeded by his second son.
A few years later, Iroh allows Zuko to attend a war council with Ozai and his generals. He was not allowed to speak, but breached the promise when a general reveals plans to sacrifice an entire division of new recruits as a diversionary tactic. Zuko believed it a betrayal of the recruits' patriotism, and the outburst is seen as a grave insult by the council. Ozai demands that Zuko participate in an Agni Kai, a fire duel, to which the latter agrees. Little did he know that he was to face his father, and not the insulted general. Zuko refuses to fight, instead kneeling before his father, begging forgiveness. Ozai takes this as cowardice and another sign of disrespect. Then, Ozai burns Zuko, giving him his trademark scar. He is stripped of his birthright and is exiled. He may only return once he captures the Avatar, who disappeared 100 years before.
Zuko, intent to prove himself to his father, spends the next two years at sea, searching for the Avatar. He scours the four Air Temples, and then the world, searching in every nook and cranny for his bounty. He was accompanied by his uncle Iroh, who trained him in Firebending and martial arts while at sea.
One fateful day, two members of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara and Sokka, discovered the Avatar in suspended animation within an iceberg near the South Pole. The flash of light in the evening sky alerted Zuko of the Avatar's revival. He arrived that day on the shores of the Water Tribe, after the Avatar accidentally sets of a signal flare from an old Fire Nation wreck. He threatens the village elder's life, demanding the location of the Avatar. The Avatar, Aang, arrives on a penguin otter, who surrenders and is taken aboard the ship as a prisoner. Aang tries to escape, goes into the Avatar State when he falls overboard, and is rescued by the Water Tribe people on the flying bison.
Zuko continued in hot pursuit of the Avatar, traveling wherever he thought Aang and his comrades went, going as far as enlisting bounty hunters and formulating devious plans. He forms a rivalry with Admiral Zhao, one of his father's soldiers, in capturing the Avatar, but his threats quickly pass.
Three years after Zuko's banishment, they find Azula waiting at a Fire Nation colony they docked on. Azula and Zuko fight, which culminates in Zuko and Iroh escaping the Fire Nation as fugitives. They end up in Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom, where Iroh opens a tea shop. Zuko wored there serving tea, and even met a girl who had romantic feelings for him. They never meet again.
Afterwards, Zuko appears to have developed a more optimistic view of life and living in Ba Sing Se. He is enthusiastic at the opening of Iroh's new teashop, and at the invitation for the two of them to come to the Earth King's palace and serve tea to the king. The invitation, however, is a trap set by Azula, who has struck a deal with the Dai Li to perform a coup on the Earth King. Iroh and Zuko manage to fight their way free, but Zuko chooses to stand and face Azula while Iroh flees. He challenges Azula to an Agni Kai, but Azula laughs off his challenge and has the Dai Li arrest him and imprison him in a cave with Katara. There Katara berates Zuko, who sits silently and absorbs the abuse until Katara mentions how the Fire Nation took her mother away from her, something which Zuko can sympathize with and relate to. This is a bonding point for the two, and Katara apologizes, explaining that for a long time Zuko's face was the face of the enemy in her mind, causing Zuko to acknowledge his scar and how it marks him. Katara offers to attempt to heal Zuko's scar and is about to do so when Iroh and Aang barge in to rescue them.
Despite the statement that he has changed, Zuko still holds a great deal of anger towards Aang, and within moments the two old adversaries nearly come to blows, until Iroh restrains Zuko and encourages Aang and Katara to leave and find their friends. While Katara and Aang exit the cavern, Iroh attempts to dissuade Zuko from continuing his pursuit once again. Azula arrives accompanied by two Dai Li agents who incapacitate Iroh in crystal. Both Iroh and Azula attempt to persuade Zuko- Azula seeking his assistance in capturing the Avatar, and Iroh begging him to seek his own destiny. When Azula leaves to fight Aang and Katara, Zuko later joins and decides to help Azula by attacking Aang, which he does with manic zeal. Surprisingly, Zuko also assists his sister directly several times, including freeing her when Katara had Azula trapped.
At the end of the battle, Iroh arrives on the scene and covers Katara and Aang's escape by holding off the siblings and scores of Dai Li agents until they have safely exited the cavern. Iroh then lets himself get captured, and Azula and Zuko triumphantly return to the Earth King's palace. Zuko is suddenly once again uncertain of himself, though, and expresses regret at having betrayed Iroh. Azula turns this aside, though, telling Zuko that it was Iroh who betrayed him. She then expresses confidence that, Avatar or no Avatar, Zuko has restored his own honor. We leave Zuko with the young man still looking conflicted about the decision he has made.
After this, Zuko is surprisingly reluctant to return to the Fire Nation as a hero. He is reassured by his girlfriend (Azula's best friend), Mai, that everything will be alright. While under the Fire Lord's trust, Zuko secretly visits his Uncle in prison, who does not even recognize Zuko's presence and remonstrations.
Meanwhile, Zuko, Mai, Azula, and another of Azula's companions, Ty Lee. After events in which Zuko does not impress Mai with gifts, and picks a fight with one of Mai's other suitors, Mai breaks the relationship off.
Soon, upon their return to the Fire Kingdom, Zuko gets an anonymous message telling him that he needed to know the story of his great grandfather's demise, since it would help him find his own destiny. He finds out, after being tipped off that the Fire Nation history is held in the Dragon Bone Catacombs, that not only were Fire Lord Sozin and the previous Avatar, Roku, friends. Avatar Roku was his other great grandfather, on his mother's side.
After a few days, Zuko was invited to another war conference, but found himself uncomfortable for conforming to his father's wishes. He then confronts the Fire Lord, revealing that it was Azula who "mortally" wounded the Avatar and not him. Zuko continues to spout his regrets, fears, and rage at the Fire Lord, and reveals his plan to leave the Palace and join Team Avatar. Ozai, ever the strategist, lured Zuko back by asking "Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?" Curious, Zuko stays and Ozai reveals what happened during the day he requested an audience with Azulon years ago. Zuko wonders aloud whether Ursa was still alive. While Ozai said that it was a possibility, the odds do not favor it. Suddenly, Ozai fires a bolt of lightning at Zuko, which the latter easily reflects back. Stunned by the attack, Ozai does not stop Zuko from leaving. Zuko finds out that Iroh has also escaped prison, and so sets off in a war balloon to find the Avatar.
Zuko arrives at the Western Air Temple, but Team Avatar is, at first, distrustful. Toph, an Earthbender who joined Team Avatar sometime while Zuko was on the run in the Earth Kingdom, senses that Zuko is, in fact, sincere. Attacked the next day by Combustion Man, Zuko helps team Avatar defeat him, which make Aang, Sokka, and Toph accept him readily. However, Katara does not, and confronts him, threatening that if he makes as much as one wrong move, he's dead.
After joining the group, Zuko teaches Aang firebending. Because of his change in perception, Zuko is not able to create proper fire blasts anymore. After Zuko informs the rest of the group about his loss of Firebending, Sokka and Katara poke fun at him, but Toph has another idea. She suggests that Zuko and Aang learn from the original source of Firebending. Earthbending came from the Badgermoles, and Airbending came from the Sky Bisons. Zuko feels he is out of luck because Firebending originated from the Dragons, which are extinct. He does inform them that there are old ruins of the ancient Sun Warrior's civilization located near to the Western Air Temple, and that they might learn something there. After arriving at the ruins, Aang is almost caught in a booby trap. Zuko avoids it, saying that places with booby traps always have something worth protecting.
Aang and Zuko then find their way into a room with a circular alignment of statues, that are labeled as "The Dancing Dragon", which is an ancient Firebending form. After the both of them perform the form, a glowing jewel appears in the center of the room. Zuko takes it, and accidentally triggers another trap. They are both found by members of the Sun Warrior Tribe a while later.
The chief tells them that if they wish to master Firebending, they must meet the tribe's masters. They are both given a fireball to carry up a mountain where the masters are to prove their worth and commitment to Firebending. Shortly after arriving at the mountain top, they are confronted by the masters, which turn out to be a red dragon and a blue dragon. The dragons circle around a shocked Zuko and Aang. Aang and Zuko perform the Dancing Dragon, which mimics the dragon's movements. The masters deem them worthy, and demonstrate their bending by creating a rainbow colored column of fire.
Zuko and Aang are still shocked that there are dragons left. Zuko thinks that his Uncle lied when he found and killed the last dragon, but the Sun Chief informs him otherwise. Zuko's uncle Iroh found his way to the dragons, and was deemed worthy and taught the original source of Firebending as well. Zuko realizes that Firebending isn't just hate and destruction, but beauty and life as well, and why he lost his ability to Firebend. Hunting the Avatar was his drive for so long, so when he joined him, his drive vanished and he lost his touch with his inner fire. His new drive is to help the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord and restore balance to the world. Zuko is able to perform strong fire blasts again, and Aang is able to create fire too.
After returning to the group, Aang and Zuko perform the Firebending form they learned. Sokka pokes fun at them saying that they could dance to defeat the fire lord. A frustrated Zuko argues with him, but when he tells the group the form is called The Dancing Dragon, he is left embarrassed as the group laughs at him.
Soon, Sokka voices his concern about his father's capture by the Fire Nation. Zuko agrees to help infiltrate Boiling Rock prison, in which they rescue Sokka and Katara's father, together with Sokka's girlfriend, Suki.
Soon, it is Katara's turn to go on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Still wary of Zuko's real intentions, Katara walks out of a small party of theirs. Zuko follows her, finding out why Katara has been acting so bitter towards him, and that everyone seems to trust him now. She yells at him and says, "Maybe you can reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King! Or I know, you can bring my mother back!" She leaves him there, thinking about what she said. After inadvertently thwarting a tryst between Sokka and Suki, he asks Sokka about the death of their mother, since he thinks that is why Katara is holding in a grudge on him. He learns that the leader of the Southern Raiders, a fleet of Fire Nation warships, was responsible. He offers Katara his assistance in finding him (on Whale Tail Island), and she accepts. When Aang told Katara to let go of her anger, and that revenge is not the right path to go with, he is criticized by Zuko.
They sneak into the Fire Navy Communication Tower and find out where the Southern Raiders are: Whale Tail Island. They quickly escape on Appa and continue their mission to Whale Tail Island. Katara tells Zuko the story of what happened to her mother from her point of view. When the Southern Raiders came, young Katara went to her family's house to find her mother. There she sees the leader of the Southern Raiders, looking into his eyes, with her mother. Katara is scared, but her mother tells her not to worry, and to find her father. Katara runs outside as fast as she can and tells her father about this, and both start running toward their igloo. But when the got there, it was too late. Zuko tells Katara that her mother was a brave woman. Katara touches her necklace, and says she knows.
Zuko and Katara finally get to Whale Tail Island. Both start running toward the front where they predict the leader is, knocking down every soldier in their way. They get there and Zuko and Katara spot the leader. The leader, who is baffled and confused on what they are accusing him of, says he does not know what they are talking about. Zuko then witnesses Katara's power when she bloodbends the leader, which he never knew she could do. The leader, helpless and afraid, keeps telling them he doesn't know anything about the Southern Water Tribe invasion. Katara looks into the man's eyes and lets him go, realizing this is not the man they are looking for. Zuko interrogates the man to say where the veteran leader is and they both head off.
Zuko and Katara eventually found the man responsible of killing Katara's mother. At first he does not remember, but it all comes back to him. He remembers the little Water Tribe girl and her mother telling her to leave. Yon Rha asks Kya who the last Waterbender is. She denies at first that there are no Waterbenders left, but Yon Rha knows there is one more. Kya lies and tells him she is the last Waterbender of the tribe and to take her prisoner. Yon Rha refuses to take her prisoner and kills her.
Katara tells the man that her mother lied to protect the last Waterbender: her. When she finally had her chance to get revenge once and for all, she couldn't bring herself to kill him. After the group joins Katara on Ember Island, Katara tells Zuko that she has forgiven him, and hugs him warmly.