"I am Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation."
Lee's eyes went wide as he heard his hero's words. He couldn't believe it. It just couldn't be true. Not this boy who had defended him, protected him. Not this boy that reminded him of his brother. Lee trusted him.
But the fire blossomed that the prince had swirled around him, filled Lee's heart with fear. His whole life he'd been afraid of the Fire Nation, and his whole life he'd hated it. The prince walked over, extracted his knife from the bully Earth Kingdom soldier he had just defeated. He came closer.
Lee's mother stood in front of him.
"Not a step closer," she commanded, shielding her child, Lee could see that she was shaking a little. The prince laid the knife a few feet in front of them.
"Here," he said softly.
"No!" Lee cried. "I hate you!" He lied to him. He was from the Fire Nation! But Lee noticed the sadness in the prince's eyes. He couldn't understand. He couldn't reconcile the boy who'd been his hero, with the image of a fearsome Fire Nation prince.
And when he watched the prince ride away, his hat pulled low, Lee too was filled with sadness. And he realized that perhaps, this prince did want to be his friend, all though he couldn't imagine why. Perhaps this prince wasn't evil. Perhaps… It was all too much for Lee to comprehend.
A/N: This is sort of a companion story to "Outcast". I originally intended to put them together but they weren't really 100 compatible, so I made them separate. This one follows Lee's thoughts, and the other follows Zuko's (and it's a bit longer). Please review!