The Reason

By: Moose Voose

A/N: Alright, I know some people will be irritated that I didn't actually finish it. At the end, they didn't end up in each other's arms. But I resolved the conflict, and I feel that I have nothing more to write. I want to see them together just as much as you do; I just don't have the talent to do it. I don't even think of myself as a writer anymore. I'm honestly not much of one. Anyways, this is some one of my older works, the product of my obsession with Zuko, who will never, EVER belong with Mai. It's either Katara...or nameless girl.

Ten years earlier:

"This is your last chance—yield!" He hissed, golden eyes large and angry, insulted that I had, not for the first time, questioned his royal blood.

Zuko's always defensive.

"Never!" I screamed.

He growled, "Fine, then!" Despite my struggles, he held me down. It seemed to happen in slow motion. His hands, bigger than mine, clutching the blade, reaching behind my head and slicing off my ponytail. I watched at my beautiful, wasted hair fell to the cold, tile floor.

He laughed cruelly and backed away. "That's what you get, peasant."

Present:

"Okay, I'll be the first to admit that….I haven't been the nicest," He allowed.

"Not nice?"I snorted and added scornfully, "You were cruel."

"You've been cruel to me too!" He argued feebly.

"Oh, yeah?"

Six years earlier:

He was sitting on the apple tree, gazing out with a sour look on his otherwise handsome face.

Zuko's always angry.

The gift from his father, a richly embroidered satchel that never seemed to leave his side, was carelessly tossed against the trunk of the ancient tree.

"Who died?" I called from a few yards away, bending to pluck a few fire lilies from the ground.

"Nobody," He snapped, irritated at me as he usually was.

"Then cheer up," I called back. "You're still Prince of the Fire Nation last time I checked. What have you got to worry about?" If I said this bitterly, he chose to overlook it, no doubt about to lament about the horrors of being pampered and adored by a whole nation.

"How can I be happy," he said the word with disdain and longing, "when I got a doll while my sister got a dagger?"

"Who cares? With any luck, she'll slit her own throat," I said lightly. He wasn't amused. He never is.

"You don't get it! My father thinks I'm a weakling!" Oh, Zuko! Why do you care what that tyrant of a man thinks of you?

"You can have one of my knives," I suggested, just wanting him to stop glaring. It really doesn't suit him.

"Really?" He seemed honestly shocked. As if I'd never done a favor for him. Well, it just so happened I did them for him all the time—he just never paid up. It didn't matter, anyway. We were only twelve—hopefully he'd mature enough to repay me for all the whining and mind-numbing work I put up with because of him. "That would be…perfect."

Of course he hopped out of the tree, graceful as air itself.

"Not so fast—I want a trade. I get to have the toy your father gave you, and you can have my blade," I announced.

"Whatever!" He snapped. I sighed and handed him the precious knife, ignoring his rudeness. His face dramatically darkened. "This blade is…rusty and…old."

I was immediately affronted. "Well, if it's so below you, then I can have it back and you can play with your stupid doll by yourself!"

"I can have whatever I want—I'm the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation!" He shouted, golden eyes shining with anger.

"That's not fair," I spluttered. "Give it back!"

"No! You gave it to me!" He drew away from me. I felt the oddest urge to smack him silly.

"I proposed a trade!" Stupid Crown Prince thinking he can get whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

"Fine. Here's your trade," He sneered. In a silly display of firebending, he took out a small, wooden soldier and lit it on fire. He left me gawking after him without the blade that my father had given to me before he went to war, and a charred doll. Despite myself, tears pricked at my eyes.

Present:

"I was trying to be nice and you threw it in my face!" I shook my head.

"Look, I was a spoiled brat," He pleaded. "Please believe me—I. Have. Changed!"

"This isn't the first time you've claimed to change!"

Two years earlier:

"I've been meaning to talk to you," He began. His otherwise pale cheeks were red. I couldn't help but notice how adorable he looked. Gah! He always looked adorable—especially bashful. Mostly when he was angry, (which was always) though. "Mai and I broke up."

I shook my head. "That doesn't concern me," I sighed, although my heart was thumping. I looked around him. "Look, oh Mighty Prince, despite the fact that you're the center of the universe, I have a job to do." I didn't add that I'd get a whipping if I lagged.

For a moment, he looked angry. Then, suddenly, his anger gave way to determination.

Zuko's always determined.

"I have to speak with you. Nobody will bother you if you're with me," He said confidently.

"Nevertheless—"

"Please," He begged, his amber eyes like liquid gold.

I melted. "Alright," I muttered. "Load me up with the drama."

"Mai and I broke up because she realized…" He spoke slowly, as if thinking carefully about his words. There was something in his eyes…something not quite right. "She realized I liked, no, loved somebody else."

"Charming," I murmured, my heart tearing a little. He didn't like me, or love me—he hated me, used me, as a slave. That's all I was to him. Below him.

"Please, be open minded!" He begged. His gold eyes were so intense…but, again, something seemed…wrong. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "Would you believe me if I changed? If I said that I've moved on from my spoiled and ridiculous ideals? Enough to see what has been right in front of me for so long?"

"What has been in front of you for so long?" I whispered, my thoughts and words barely coherent as he leaned closer, his lips dangerously close to my own.

"You," Was all he whispered as he gently kissed me.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I felt as if fire raced through my very veins. My dirty, damp hands hesitantly caressed his hair. He moaned, so I began running my fingers through his silky tresses.

I heard laughter from behind me, and I pulled away. I saw Azula laughing hysterically, Mai watching with the subtlest of smiles, or perhaps smirk is a better word. Ty Lee was looking guilty by the doorway.

I turned to Zuko. "What's going on?" I asked in a low voice.

"I…" He trailed off. He looked incredibly guilty. "It was…a bet…"

"You and Mai..." I said slowly. "You didn't break up."

He winced. "No."

"You were just…"

"Lying," He finished.

I knew my own eyes were wide. I closed them tightly shut, and clenched my fists. "That's the last time you waste another second of my life, Prince Zuko. Agni dealt me a bad hand the day he arranged for me to meet you."

Zuko's always cruel.

"It was stupid!" He moaned. "I've been trying to fix it—"

"Listen here, Prince Zuko! We were never even friends. All that exists between us is me being a slave and you being my master. You've had me beaten, starved, and miserable many, many times. You've lied to me, cut my heart to pieces, played with me as if I were an animal. Now you're asking for forgiveness, friendship, love. Well, for once in your life, Zuko, you're not going to get what you want!"

His expression was not of shock, much to my own surprise. He hadn't been expecting me to forgive him. No, it was of hurt and…shame.

"Please, listen," He whispered. "I have made so, so many mistakes. I can't justify the way I've treated you. All I want is for a chance to prove that I'm going to try my hardest to make up for them."

"You're lying," I whispered, closing my eyes tightly shut. His words echoed in my mind.

"I'm not lying!" He shouted. "I am done lying to you," He said in a softer voice.

"No, you're not!" I knew that tears were threatening to prick my eyes. "The second I believe you, everyone is going to come out of hiding and you'll say 'psyche!' I'm not falling for it—not after last time, not after how you've treated me since the day I was born!" I back away from him, turning on my feel. He grabbed my wrist, his hands hard as iron. "Don't you dare manhandle me!"

I expected him to yell, "I can do whatever I want to you. Now sit here and listen!" Instead, to my utter shock and surprise, he let go, his fingers lingering on my own. I shivered at his gentle touch. "What can I give you? What can I do to prove myself to you?"

"Oh, I don't know. Join Team Avatar and take down your loon of a father?" I said sarcastically.

He could hang me, torture me even, with those words. Instead, he nodded, eager. "Alright, I'll do it. I'll go find the Avatar, and—"

"Zuko, are you insane?" I hissed. "I…I was joking!"

"But I have to prove to you that I'm not," He said firmly.

"This is your father," I reminded him.

He looked off into the distance and spoke in a low voice. "After…after what happened last year…When I saw how hurt you were, when I saw that Mai hadn't gotten jealous, when I saw Azula only taking joy in your pain…I was angry. I didn't know who I was angry at. At first, I thought it was Mai. We actually broke up over the matter. But…I was still extremely angry. When you refused to talk to me, or meet my eyes…I thought I was angry at you. But then…I realized, the person I was angry most at was myself. I had acted on a dare, a bet, a childish prank, a whim. I hurt you because I felt like it." He was clenching his fists. "I started to backtrack, started to wonder why I was that way. My mother and Uncle had always tried to teach me to be the opposite, to be kind to slaves, to people, to animals—to be good. But the prevailing side, the side that made me who I was…was my father."

"I know you don't trust me," he sighed. "So I have to earn your trust. If…If ending this war will do it, then I will…For you."

"No, you won't!" I shook my head. "It's too good to be true. You're lying to me." I shook my head, and knew that I was crying now. "You always lie to me, cheat me, mock me, hurt me. This is a joke."

"I'll prove to you," He said strongly. His amber eyes gleamed like his element—fire. "I'll prove to you that I love you, and that I'd do anything for you."

I bit my trembling lip. "You don't know me," I whispered. "How can you love me?"

"I know you!" Zuko objected immediately. "You're giving, forgiving, feisty, empathetic, hard-working, you love your family, you miss your father, you secretly hate the Fire Nation's part in this war, you hate most royalty, but you've always been kind to me. You're intelligent, quick, amusing, usually laid back, and beautiful…Inside and out."

Zuko always knows what to say.

"Azula could have told you those things. She could have arranged for this whole thing," I said. I looked around. "Very funny, guys! Well, you've had your pound of flesh!"

Now Zuko looked as if I had just killed his puppy. "Have I hurt you so much that you can't believe that I'd say anything nice about you?"

"Yes, yes you have," I snapped. I turned on my heel. "Come face me again with you've got actual conversation and not half-hearted lies!"

"I'll go find the Avatar," He called after me. "I'll find him, and I'll help him defeat my father."

I shook my head. Zuko's crazy.

"Have you heard?" Anya whispered. "The Prince is missing. He left without a trace!"

I felt sick. "No…How long as he been gone?"

"Days. Fire Lord Ozai tried to keep it a secret, but it's been made public today," She gossiped.

Days. Days ago, Zuko told me he was going to leave and help the Avatar.