Chapter Text
Azula always seemed to think of fire as a toy. Something to entertain.
He'd watched countless times as she'd burned her least favorite foods, her old toys, or the insects on the ground. How she'd grin as the things that displeased her shriveled up and crumbled to ash.
He doubted she'd find it funny if she'd been the one with half of her face burned.
The healers had applied every salve they could, but they'd already done all they could. The Firelord had done a thorough job, the healers said it was only because of Agni that Zuko's eye hadn't been lost (though they still had to keep it covered due to how many burns were around it).
After treating the young prince to the best of their ability, the healers left Zuko alone. He welcomed the loneliness: his father had yelled at him before for crying in the presence of others. Princes didn't cry; it was a sign of weakness.
So he always had to save his tears for when no one was around.
He wanted his mother, knowing Ursa never would have allowed his father to do such a thing. She'd have warned Zuko who he was going to fight, she would have talked his father out of it, she would have stopped Zuko from walking into that war meeting in the first place...
But the Fire Queen had been gone for two years by then, and no one knew where she'd gone.
He desperately wished for two things. The first was to win back his father's love, no matter what it took. He knew his father would never look at him the way he looked at Azula, but maybe, if he was good enough, if he proved himself a worthy prince... Maybe things would be different.
The other thing he wished was that his face would stop hurting so badly.
"Prince Zuko?" Someone had entered the healing room.
"Leave me alone!" The boy shouted. It was bad enough that the entire royal court had seen his father burn him; couldn't he be left alone to sulk?
"Forgive me, Your Highness, but this cannot wait."
Agitated, Zuko sat up, opening his good eye.
There was a Fire Sage standing in the door. He sucked in a breath at the sight of Zuko's mutilated face, even if it had been bandaged.
"What do you want?" The boy growled. Still he listened closely to what the Fire Sage said; in the hours since the Agni Kai, he couldn't hear as well in his left ear.
"I know that you have suffered a great pain, Your Highness. I believe I have found something that may help. It is locked deep under the palace and kept a secret from everyone but the Fire Lord and my fellow sages. But it may be able to help you."
Zuko's hostility vanished.
"I'm listening..."
- - - -
"It is believed," the Fire Sage explained as he led the prince into the bowels of the palace, "that before Fire Lord Sozin began to spread the Fire Nation's influence around the world, he had several waterbenders from the Northern Water Tribe create this. The Sages before me told us that Avatar Roku himself blessed it with the power of the spirit world."
They had arrived by then. The Sage lit two torches with his fingers and handed one to the prince.
Zuko's one good eye widened in awe.
A massive waterfall stood before them. It was six feet long and eight feet tall. But the water fell so gently that there wasn't a single splash; just the constant sound of flowing water. Unlike a normal waterfall, the water wasn't pooling at the bottom. Instead, when it reached the end of the waterfall, it flowed right back up to the top. From the side, it looked like a massive oval. It was... breathtaking.
"According to legend," the Sage continued, breaking Zuko out of his stupor, "one needs only to touch the falls. After that, what they need most will be given to them."
"What I need most?" Zuko repeated in a murmur.
Deciding he had nothing to lose, the prince stepped forward. He hesitated only for a moment, then used a single fingertip to touch the waterfall.
The second he touched the water, he felt a massive pulling sensation. Before he knew what was happening, he was sucked through the waterfall.
Suddenly he was in a dark space, floating as though underwater. But... He could still breath. His hair, clothes, and bandages weren't even wet.
In front of him was a sort of window, the size of the waterfall. Through it, he could see the Fire Sage... and...
His heart was in his throat.
He could see himself. He was yelling at the Fire Sage.
"What was that? It didn't do anything!"
"I'm sorry, Prince Zuko, I thought..."
The real Zuko didn't get a chance to shout for the Fire Sage's attention. He began to fall.
He screamed as he fell, shouting for someone to hear him. For someone to save him.
"Father! Mother! Uncle! Please, anyone!"
But no one heard.
And he kept falling.
He didn't know how long he'd fallen. It could have been minutes or weeks; he had no way to tell. All he saw was endless blue, wherever he looked.
And then...
He was on the ground.
Zuko nearly jumped to his feet, but stopped himself. Lu Ten's words came to him.
"If you ever fall or get hit hard enough to get knocked down, don't get up too fast. Move slowly; that way you can see if you're hurt. You'll save yourself a lot of pain that way."
Agni, how he missed Lu Ten...
He slowly got up, moving first his head, then his arms, then his legs. By some miracle, nothing was broken. But his face still hurt so much... It was even worse now, which made no sense because the bandages the healers gave him had been soaked in ointments meant to help...
His good eye widened as he realized what was wrong. His bandages were missing!
He began to look around to see if there was anything he could use to bind his face.
That was when he saw where he was.
Every building around him was taller than the palace... MUCH taller. And they were designed in ways he'd never seen. There were lamposts all along a street, but there was no fire in them... How were they lit?
He jumped back in fear when a sound like an explosion and a rattle of metal started coming towards him. He stared in shock and awe when a boxy metal contraption (it looked a bit like a carriage, but with nothing pulling it) zoomed past.
He stared after it in utter shock.
Zuko was NOT in the Fire Nation. So where in the name of the spirits was he?!
Before he could try and find a way to answer that question, though, he heard angry voices yelling.
"Hand it over, rich boy! Or we'll beat your face in!"
"Come on, guys, don't do this. Batman might be nearby..."
Curious, Zuko came over. He'd gotten a lot of stealth training from his uncle and cousin; they had taught him to use stealth as a weapon rather than just a tool. The royal shinobi couldn't even see him coming.
He got close enough to see two men dressed in ugly old clothes threatening a man who looked to be a few years older than Zuko; seventeen or eighteen. The two men were armed with knives, while their target held no weapon. In fact, he didn't look ready for a fight at all: he was wearing a white garment with an odd black attachment, plus black pants, black shoes, and a black jacket.
Zuko could see that the outfit was made of silk. This man was rich... and those men were trying to mug him.
The prince sneered; while his uncle had taught him to be compassionate, stealing was wrong.
He needed to do something... But he couldn't reveal himself, not until he knew where he was...
As he stood there debating, two figures dropped down from the rooftops.
One of them was a woman in a skintight, all-black outfit with black gloves, and black boots. She had long black hair that fell down her back, which was kept from her face with a black cowl. The cowl covered the top half of her head, and had two short, pointed ears on either side of the head.
The other was a powerfully built man. Like the woman, he wore a black cowl, only the pointed ears on his were longer. He wore a black cape with a jagged edge over a solid dark gray bodysuit. He wore black boots and black gloves, with a gold-colored belt around his waist. A golden insignia with an animal Zuko couldn't identify sat in the center of the suit's chest.
As the boy watched, the costumed man and woman began to beat up the would-be robbers. The criminals tried to stab them both... to no effect. The woman dodged their blades with ease, and used the claws on her gloves to slice them across the face. The man attacked with brute strength, though it was clear he knew some martial arts. In mere seconds, the fight (if it could be called that) was over.
The man and woman both relaxed once the men were down (though the victim seemed more annoyed than scared). As they were securing the criminals with chains, though, Zuko saw something move out of the corner of his eye.
There was a third man, and he was aiming some type of tool at the man in the cape. Zuko didn't know what the tool was, but based on the look on the third man's face, it was something dangerous.
Zuko couldn't just stand there and do nothing.
No longer caring if he was seen, he leapt from his hiding place. Using the fire fist his uncle had taught him, he sent a fireball at the third man.
He screamed and barely dodged it; the tool hit the ground and made a sound like an explosion. Zuko felt something small and hot whiz past his ear, but he felt no pain.
"You little bastard!" The third man yelled and pulled a knife out of his belt.
Normally, Zuko would have no issues fighting a man with a knife, even if he himself was unarmed. But he wasn't used to having limited sight yet, nor had he ever fought in the dark...
He managed to dodge the blade a few times and land a few lucky punches on the man before there was a sharp pain in his shoulder. Warm liquid began to flow down his arm.
Zuko cried out in pain, heard the man's laughter...
And then the man in the black cape was there, punching the third man unconscious.
"You saw the fire ball, too, right?" The rich man asked the woman. "Did... Did that kid make it?"
"He must be a meta," the woman replied. In seconds, she was in front of Zuko.
"Hey," she said to him, her voice surprisingly gentle. "Can you hear me? What's your name?"
No one had spoken to him like that in a long time. He turned to her, his good eye wide.
By then, the man in the black cape had joined them. And they all got a good look at his burn.
"What the..." The rich man started to say, his expression one of horror.
"Oh, sweetheart," the woman muttered, her face full of horror, sorrow, and sympathy. "What happened to you?"
"Never mind that, now." The man in the black cape took charge. "We need to get him to the Bat Cave."
"Why not a hospital?" The woman asked.
"Metas aren't given top priority there even with life-threatening injuries. I can treat him before any complications set in. Oracle, inform the police that we have three men down on the corner of..."
Their words barely made any sense to Zuko; his face and arm were in so much pain he could scarcely think.
"It's okay," the woman whispered to him. "I don't know what happened to you, but we'll do everything we can to help. You're going to be fine. I'm Catwoman; what's your name?"
He managed to say it before he passed out.
"Zuko."