Easier To Run

by altern-angel

Zutara song fic. Zuko runs through the woods, running from his past. He is wearing his Bleu Spirit mask. What will happen if he finds Katara crying over her past? Will he be himself or will he be the cold, hard prince he always seemed to be?

1. Easier To Run

Easier To Run – Linkin Park.

its easier to run
replacing this pain with something numb
its so much easier to go
than face all this pain here all alone

A dark figure ran trough the forest at high speed. His clothes were black, his face hidden underneath a blue mask. Broad swords in each hand. Dodging the branches that hung low, trying to catch him. Trying to wound him, cause him pain. But what the trees didn't know, that this man was feeling a pain that could never be any worse. Only when he was running he couldn't feel the pain that he felt so deep within him. The pain of shame, lose, sadness, hurt, banishment. When he was running he felt numb.

So he kept running. He had left his uncle behind. He had left Iroh behind in the cell, back in Ba Sing Se. Trying not to think about the face that his uncle had made, Zuko had run to lake Loagai. He had dove in the cold water and after several attempts he had finally found his mask.

Zuko had made sure no one had followed him, that his sister hadn't followed him. Trying to convince him to fight on the side of the fire nation, the side of evil. He knew that the fire nation had started the war, he knew what his father had done to the air nomads, the water tribe, the earth kingdom and even to their own nation. He was blinded by the fact that he wanted his fathers love back. But now he could see it all clear now. He had seen in it his uncle's eyes. The war had to stop. But Zuko wasn't going to be a part of it.

He had escaped the wall's of Ba Sing Se and was now running towards a destiny unknown to him. The only thing he knew that he was going to be alone, for all eternity.

something has been taken
from deep inside of me
a secret I've kept locked away
no one can ever see

Katara sat on a dead tree that hung over a small pound of water. She sighed as she looked at her reflection in the water, rubbing her necklace. Thoughts went back to a time her mother was still alive. Happy thoughts followed by sad thoughts. Pain took over her body when the image of her dead mother filled her mind.

Katara cried, but she never knew. Not until one teardrop fell in the water beneath her. She saw how the circle began to grow in the water, making her reflection from blurry to crystal clear. She kept starring at the water. Seeing how her reflection turned into that of her mother.

"I miss you." Katara said between her sobs. "If I had trained harder I could have stop the fire nation from killing you. I am sorry."

She hugged her knees and let her tears fall upon her dress. She felt so helpless, so sad. Katara had put up an act in front of the others. For them she seemed happy and full of confidence, little did they know how she really felt. She would never let them see how miserable she was. No, she needed to help Aang master all four elements, to stop the war.

wounds so deep they never show
they never go away
like moving pictures in my head
for years and years they've played

He kept running. Jumping over dead trees, ducking under the branches, moving from left to right and back to the left, avoiding every tree that stood in his way. He felt the wind blow underneath the mask. Hoping that, one day the wind would blow away his memories about his home. Even the ones about his mother. Zuko didn't want anything to do with the war any more, and that meant his past as well. To many people he had let down. His father, his sister, his uncle, his mother.

'Mother, please forgive me. I am weak for running away, but I must. I can't fight in this war. I can't stand to see any more hate, murder, sadness.' Zuko's thoughts kept playing over and over in his mind, hoping his mother would hear them, somehow.

"Everything I've done, I've done to protect you." A sad voice filled the woods.

Zuko stopped running as he heard the words his mother spoke, the last time he had seen her. He looked around only to see he was still alone. He shook his head and continued his journey at full speed.

if I could change I would
take back the pain I would
retrace every wrong move that I made I would
if I could
stand up and take the blame I would
if I could take all the shame to the grave I would

Aang lay in his sleeping bag, trying to catch the sleep. But some how he couldn't. He stood up and walked away from the camp into the forest. His mind did not let him rest. Thoughts filled with Gyatso. Dead. His fault. Aang kept telling him self. He was not worth of being the Avatar. Jet he was and there was nothing he could do about it, he could only accept it. Maybe this was why he had a hard time mastering the avatar state.

Aang was told that everything always happened for a reason. But what was the reason for all of this? His absence for hundredth years, the death of all air nomads, the death of innocent people, the murder, the sadness. Aang didn't know, but he would find it out sooner or later. Until then he had to accept his role of being the avatar.

if I could change I would
take back the pain I would
retrace every wrong move that I made I would
if I could
stand up and take the blame I would
I would take all my shame to the grave

Zuko kept running. He didn't know how long he was running, he only knew that he had to keep on moving. He would feel it if he had reached the end of his journey. Never once did he looked over his shoulder when he had entered the forest. He didn't want to see what he had left behind, or who he had left behind, his uncle. He would be better of without him any way.

Zuko only looked back on his actions he had done, the past few years. The mistakes he had made. He never should have chosen the side of Azula. He never should've refused to fight his father in the Agni Kai. He never should have spoken in the war room. He never should have let his mother go the way she did. Maybe Zuko should have never been born at all. Then his mother would have still been alive, and he would have never felt the pain he felt since his mother had left.

Zuko stopped for the second time since his escape. Maybe it was better if he were dead. Zuko looked down at his right. The broad sword he kept in his hand reflected the moonlight that fell on it.

Zuko lifted it up and put the sharp end on his chest. He inhaled deep and was ready to stab the sword in his heart, to end all misery, all the pain he felt for to long now, to end his life and join his mother.

His grip tightened around the other end of his broad sword, making his knuckles go with from the lack of blood flowing through them. He could do this now, ending his life.

A girl's cry made Zuko jerk his head to the left. He looked back to the sword on his chest and lowered it.

'This is not my destiny.' He thought as he followed the sound of the girl's cry.

its easier to run
replacing this pain with something numb
its so much easier to go
than face all this pain here all alone

Katara couldn't take it anymore, she had to go. She had to run, hoping that when she did, she would forgot her pain. Let the wind blow away all her fear and pain.

She got up and started to run, no particular place in mind, just run into the woods, let fate decide where she would end up. She had passed about ten trees when she felt her body made contact with something soft. Katara felt down on the ground with a load thud. She looked up to the thing she had bumped into to. She couldn't see it clearly for it was dark. The light of the moon fell upon something bleu. Katara narrowed her eyes only to widen them as she saw what she had run into. A man with a bleu mask. Katara had seen him before on fire nation wanted posters. If he was wanted by the fire nation, then he wasn't evil.

"Sorry." Katara whispered as the man with the bleu mask held out a hand to help her get back on her feet.

"No I am sorry." He said as he helped the girl up.

'That voice, I think I've heard it before.' Katara thought as she gave the man with the bleu mask a puzzled look.

"Who are you?" Katara asked as she dusted of her clothes.

"A fugitive, like you." He answered, picking up his swords that had fallen to the ground when Katara had bumped into him.

"How do you know I am a fugitive?" Katara asked. She saw the man picking up his swords. "Why do you have those? What is your name? You are wanted by the fire nation as well, isn't it?"

"To many questions." Zuko said as he looked at Katara from head to toe. Was this his destiny?

"Sorry." Katara said. Was this where fate would let her end up? "What is your name?"

"The Blue Spirit." Zuko said, not wanting her to know who he really was. "I have to go."

Katara grabbed his arm as the man tried to walk away. "No wait."

Silence was upon them for a moment when Zuko had hold his step. Katara had let go of his arm.

"Do you believe in fate?" She asked him. Katara heard him let out a sigh.

"I was told that, we are the ones who make our own destinies." The Bleu Spirit spoke.

sometimes I remember
the darkness of my past
bringing back these memories
I wish I didn't have

They kept starring at each other until Katara spoke again.

"You seem lonely."

"I am." Zuko replied. He thanked Agni for the mask. With the mask on he could be his self. He didn't had to worry about what people would think of him because, they didn't know who he really was. "Are you lonely?"

Katara looked at the ground. "Yes." She was lonely, she felt lonely. Katara let out a sigh. "I have been traveling with friends for the past half year, but still I feel lonely. Ever since my mother had died, there has been a part of me that felt empty. No matter how many people are around me, I still feel the same way."

"Do you feel lonely at this time?" Zuko didn't know why he asked this question but it felt like the right thing to ask. 'Fate?'

Katara looked up to the man in the bleu mask and repeated the question in her mind, then she searched her feelings.

"No, no I don't." She said with a smile on her face. "Maybe because I'm with someone who is lonely to. Do you feel lonely at this time?"

Zuko smiled underneath his mask. "No, not any more."

sometimes I think of letting go
and never looking back
and never moving forward so
there would never be a past

"I am sorry for asking you such a personal question." Zuko asked as he got irritated by the silence that had fallen between them.

"That is okay." Katara said as she moved her hands to the mask on Zuko's face. "The greatest thing about wearing a mask is, that you can completely be yourself. You won't have to think about how your actions will effect on other people. They will never find out who is underneath it." She placed her hand on the mask and rubbed it gently.

Zuko felt the warmth of her touch through the mask.

"You are completely anonymous, you are completely free." Katara continued. "Only you know who you are."

'Never forgot who you are.'

"I have lost my mother too." Zuko said, voice filled with pain. "She had died because of me."

"I am sorry." Katara said as she moved her hand away.

"Sometimes I wish I had never been born at all." Zuko almost whispered.

"Don't think that way. Everything happens for a reason, even if we don't know what the reasons are." Katara said as she placed her hand on her necklace. "The fire nation took my mother away from me." A tear slid down her cheek at the memories of that awful day. She felt a hand on her cheek, a thumb whipped her tear away.

"That is something we have in common."

if I could change I would
take back the pain I would
retrace every wrong move that I made I would
if I could
stand up and take the blame I would
if I could take all the shame to the grave I would

if I could change I would
take back the pain I would
retrace every wrong move that I made I would
if I could
stand up and take the blame I would
I would take all my shame to the grave

That is something we have in common. The sentence haunted her thoughts. Could it be, was he really?

Zuko saw her puzzled look.

"Please tell me your real name." Katara said. She had to know. If this man was who she thought he was, then he had to show himself.

"No, you've said it your self that, if one wears a mask he could be himself without watching his steps. That is what I am doing now. I am being myself. If I tell you my name, you would run away. I would hurt you." Zuko looked at the ground and whispered. "And I don't want to hurt you."

Katara was silent for a moment as she thought about what the masked man just had said. 'He says he is his self.'

If this man is who she thought he was, then this man had put on an act every time they had met. She hated that person, but this person, the one with the mask, Katara liked him. He was nice, understanding, caring.

just washing it aside
all of the helplessness inside
pretending I don't feel so misplaced
is so much simpler than change

"Sorry. You are right. I trust you." Katara said. "I've been putting on a mask myself in front of my friends and brother."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

"You see, they think I am happy with my self. They don't know that I feel guilty for the death of my mother. I am a water bender. If had trained instead of playing with the children of my tribe then I could have safe my mother from her death." Tears ran down her cheeks and Katara turned around. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You were a child. Even if you had trained, she still had died. Things always happens for a reason." Zuko whispered as he turned Katara around. Katara's tears stopped from falling down her cheeks. The space between them got smaller by every breath they took.

"Things do happen for a reason." Katara said as she placed her hands on the mask. Zuko flinched a bit.

"I won't take it of all the way." Katara said as she looked in the eyes of the masked man. She was sure who he was now, he was who she thought he was, but not completely. His body was from the man she had met several times before and who she hated, but his heart and his soul were from the man she had spoken with the past half hour.

Katara moved away the mask, only to expose his lips enough for her to kiss them.

"It takes one moment to notice one, it takes one moment to make up your mind about some one, it only takes one moment to fall in love with someone, with you." Katara said as she moved closer.

its easier to run
replacing this pain with something numb
its so much easier to go
than face all this pain here all alone

Aang had walked for an hour now. His mind had seemed to be free from his haunted thoughts and he was now heading back towards the camp. He suddenly stopped when he spotted something that made his blood run cold.

'No, it can't be. Why?' Aang thought as tears ran down his cheeks. There in the middle of the woods stood Katara. She was kissing The Bleu Spirit, Zuko.

"Katara!!! Stop!! Do you know who he is?!" Aang shouted as he ran towards them. Katara and Zuko ended their kiss and Zuko turned around.

"Don't." Zuko hissed at Aang. "Do not tell her who I am."

"You know who he is?" Katara asked Aang with a questioned face.

"Yes, he had saved me from Zhao. He is…" Aang never finished his sentence as he got hit by a small fire blast.

"I said, Do not tell her!!!" Zuko yelled. Aang avoided the second fire blast, coming towards him and jumped over Zuko and grabbed the mask off of his face.

"Aang, please leave. I can handle this my self." Katara said angrily at Aang as he landed down in front of her.

"But you don't know who he is." Pointing at Zuko who was still with his back towards Katara.

"Leave!!" Katara yelled. She felt guilty once she saw the hurt look in Aang's eyes as he walked away in defeat. But the things she was about to say weren't the things Aang need to hear.

its easier to run

if I could change I would
take back the pain I would
retrace every wrong move that I made

its easier to run

"I am sorry." Zuko whispered as he turned around to face Katara. "I don't blame you for hating me." He hung his head in defeat. He was sure Katara would yell at him for being a liar, a traitor.

"I knew who you were. You aren't the man you tried to be." Katara said as she walked over to Zuko. He gave her a puzzled look as he did so.

"You are the person behind the mask. The person I love." Katara said as she moved closer and placed one hand on his scar.

Zuko jerked his head away from her touch.

"You can't love me. My nation has killed your mother. How can you love someone from a nation that has hurt you so much?" Zuko said as he turned around.

"I love you, not your nation. And your mother was also killed by the fire nation." Katara said as she lowered her hand.

if I could change I would
take back the pain I would
retrace every wrong move that I made I would
if I could
stand up and take the blame I would
I would take all my shame to the grave

"I have to go." Zuko said as he started to walk away. "My destiny is waiting for me."

"Please don't. Make your own destiny. Stay with me." Katara said almost crying.

Zuko turned around as he heard her cry. A sad look came upon his face. He had to go. He had to continue his journey, and the journey didn't stop here, not jet.

"Do you believe in fate?" He asked Katara as he put a hand underneath her chin and tilled her head so that she would have to face him.

"I don't know." Katara said between her sobs.

"Well, do believe in it, because fate will bring us back together, when time is right." Zuko said, he kissed her softly on her lips. Enjoying her taste for on last time until they would meet again.

"I have to go now." Zuko whispered against her lips.

"Then go." Katara whispered back, voice filled with sadness. "I love you."

Zuko turned around and started to walk away from Katara. "I love you too." He whispered too soft for Katara to hear.

The wind played with his words for minutes. Katara had walked back to the camp. She kept crying the whole time and she would, until she would see him again. The wind blew a string of hear in Katara's face. Then the wind spoke with the voice of The Bleu Spirit, the voice of Zuko.

"I love you too."

I hope you liked it. I loved writing this fic. Please review. :P