Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. All characters go to their respectful owners. I only own this story.

Liberating

When he put on that mask, he wasn't Zuko anymore. He was the Blue Spirit.

No longer did he have to obey the laws and do what his uncle wanted him to do. The Blue Spirit had no family, no laws to follow. Anything was possible when that mask was put on.

As the Blue Spirit, he could roam about villages, undetected. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop was as easy as breathing. There was no weight on his shoulders that would pull him down.

Zuko, however, was a banished prince. The scar on his face made sure everyone knew where he was. Disappointment and hatred sat like iron on his back. If he were to try to leap off of a roof as Zuko, the hated Firebender, he would surely fall.

While that mask was on his face, he could be the person he always wanted to be: quick, agile, and free. Zuko was just a myth, when the mask was on. But the Blue Spirit was a legend, and one to be feared, at that. No one would tremble when the name Zuko was mentioned. They would only laugh.

The Blue Spirit could steal all of their livestock before they could even blink. But they could see Zuko firebend from a mile away. Where was the element of surprise that came with swords, when he lit up his surroundings as he attacked? Sure, fire could be more threatening, but there was less of a chance of having to fight when he was stealthy. And when there was a war that had been around for one hundred years, it was nice to have a bit of peace, even if it wasn't the type of peace everyone else wanted.

If he had had to choose, Zuko would be killed in a heartbeat, and the Blue Spirit would live on; heard about, but never seen. Those who did see him would be killed, and his name would spread like wildfire.

But this fire would be different. It would be stealthy and more destructive than Firebending. Nothing would be more destructive than fear. And they would create that terror, themselves. Their overactive imaginations would make him more dreadful than the Firelord.

And he could feed off of that fear. All of his life, Zuko had fought and beat almost every opponent thrown at him, and he still wasn't frightening. But after stealthily stealing, once, the Blue Spirit was put on a Wanted poster. Even if that one act had been stealing the Avatar from the Fire Nation's clutches. Maybe it had been a good act that had made the Blue Spirit feared, but fear was fear, and it was something Zuko couldn't obtain. Sometimes, being nobody was more powerful than being famous.

Nothing could compare to being the Blue Spirit. It became the life he lived; Zuko was just a side job. Zuko became his enemy, and the Blue Spirit defeated his enemies. But if Zuko were to be destroyed, Iroh would be left alone. The Blue Spirit had no family, so Uncle Iroh would be left with the family that hated him. And neither Zuko nor the Blue Spirit wanted that. If Zuko had to stay around for his uncle to be happy, then so be it. Everyone had to make sacrifices. The Blue Spirit was no different.

But that didn't change the way he felt with the mask on. With that mask on, it was like he became a new person. Putting the mask on changed the aggressive, Prince Zuko into the levelheaded ghost.

When he put on that mask, he wasn't Zuko anymore. He was free.

The Blue Spirit was undefeatable. Taking him head-on was reckless, and hiding was fruitless. Where Zuko would have failed, the Blue Spirit was the successor.

But it was the Blue Spirit that died, in the end.

Because it wasn't the Blue Spirit's destiny to help the Avatar save the world, it was Zuko's.

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