A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I was depressed after the finale. How is Zuko going to get out of this one? Well this is my version. This is Zuko's story.

Disclaimer: If I owned the Avatar, Zuko would've made the right choice.

Repent pt.1

Katara peered around the corner, blue eyes sweeping the empty hallway before nodding to her comrades. Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Momo crept behind her through the Earth Kingdom palace.

Why were they back here of all places? After escaping the Dai Li, the group (plus one Earth King) flew to the nearby island to recuperate and decide what to do next.

Thanks to Katara's special healing, Aang was up and about only hours after Azula's attack. It was he who said they should go back to Ba Sing Se to rescue Iroh, who had defended them. Katara and Toph quickly agreed; the old man had been kind to them. Sokka outright refused, calling them insane. But he couldn't argue with the fact that Aang still needed a firebending master, and the retired general was their only option.

Agreed, they rested up another day, then found an obscure earth town to keep the Earth King. The owner of the inn, a plump, gray-haired lady, took one look at the despairing king and shoved everyone out else of the room, ordering food and mothering him, so he was quite content to stay.

Then it was a short flight on Appa and here they were…again.

Toph stopped and felt the smooth marble beneath them.

"Dai Li. Ten of them," she said quietly. Katara exchanged a glance with Aang. He motioned to an empty room and they followed him in. Unlike last time they had raided the palace, the group was going for stealth. Amazingly, Azula and her group of Dai Li were more formidable than an army of earth benders. Go figure.

The guards went passed without pause and Sokka led the rest of the way down to the dungeon.

All of a sudden the door of the jail swung open and Katara found herself face to face with a very surprised Dai Li. He started, and swung a whistle up to his lips. Before he could sound the alarm, Aang airbended it out of his hands, but the rushing air found its way into the mouthpiece and…

"TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" Toph smack her forehead and Sokka raised an eyebrow at Aang. The young airbender smiled guiltily and blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Whoops?" The shouting of men echoed down the tunnel, and Aang rushed to the first cell. "Nope." He rode an airscooter to the next. "Nope," and the next, "Not here," and the one after that, "Not this one…"

Meanwhile Katara, Sokka, and Toph spaced themselves out, readying for battle. The battle came to them in an explosion of stone.

"He's gotta be here somewhere," Aang muttered, scootering to another of the endless doors. Peering through the little window, he saw the old general sitting hunched in the corner. Multiple chains bound his arms and legs and an iron band was clasped over his mouth. "Hey, I found—oof!" A large rock crashed into him, knocking him off the airscooter and sending him flying.

Katara whirled in every direction, dealing out furious blows with her water whip.

Sokka was a blur, darting in and out leaving painful bruises with his war hammer.

Toph stomped into the ground, twisted her hands, and yanked backwards. The rock hands flew away from the Dai Li in front of her. She smirked, then pushed forward; the rocks flew back at the man and hit with a sickening crunch.

Unfortunately, enemy forces kept pouring through the enlarged doorway.

Katara heard a footstep behind her. Twisting around she lashed out with the water whip…which evaporated in a cloud of steam. Katara's heart sank. This was going to be hard enough without having to deal with him. Prince Zuko step forward, both hands holding flickering orange flames, a scowl on his face.

Katara saw his eyes flick over to Aang who was busy with his own fight. Oh no, Your highness, you can't have him. Sidestepping to her right, she dodged a round house kick, and the fire that followed it, then rammed her heal into the drainage pipe that ran along the floor. It burst open, and swinging her arms, she sent the water up and around Zuko. Flicking her hands, it froze him into place.

Zuko growled and melted the ice, breaking it when it was weak enough. Katara walked backward, farther into the dungeon, away from Aang. Just as she expected, Zuko followed after her, bent on revenge. Hands out and pulling towards her, Katara brought the flowing water with her in a stream.

Without warning, Zuko rushed her—punch, kick, jab—Katara blocked each one, then went with his momentum, turning and sweeping his legs from beneath him. He hit hard, sprang up again, and resumed his attack.

There was a stutter in the water pressure from the pipe, leaving Katara vulnerable for a moment. Zuko took full advantage of it, swinging a flaming arm at her. She went flew five feet and landed further down the stone corridor. The pain was immense; already Katara could feel burns and bruises erupting on her side. She pushed herself up, gasping when she felt a sharp pain. Make that a broken rib or two.

"Aang, get General Iroh out of here!" Katara screamed. The young monk, who had just defeated the Dai Li attacking him, looked past Zuko at her. Emotions flickered across his face- first stubbornness to not leave her, then panic as a new wave of Dai Li came onto him, and finally regret and acceptance. Katara nodded in satisfaction. He would go. Ignoring pain and the tears sliding down her face, she managed to pull herself up to her knees.

With a battle cry, Aang stomped a foot into the ground and swung his fist. Rocks emerged from the ground and took out every earthbender around him. With one last look to Katara, he ran up the hall to Iroh's cell and destroyed the door. Carrying Iroh, who bound in chains, over his shoulder, he rode a rock mound up and out of the jail cell. Sokka and Toph had already gone; the fight had pushed them out the door.

"NO!" Zuko yelled. He started after them. Unable to do anything else, Katara flung up her hands and sent a wave of water after him. It crashed passed Zuko and flowed upwards forming a wall that filled the entire hall. With a twist of her wrist it froze. Zuko ran at it still with his hands lit and punched at the ice, melting and weakening Katara's wall.

Determined- he would not get Aang!- Katara froze layer after layer onto her wall, though each movement made her grind her teeth in pain.

It wasn't going to hold much longer, the waterbender knew that.

"Why are you doing this!?" she yelled. Zuko did nothing but grunt and hit harder. "You've chased us all around the world, you help Azula nearly kill Aang, you betray your Uncle, the only one who stuck by you, and for what?!" No reply. Not that she really expected one. But he did seem to falter at the uncle part.

Sending another wave of water Katara tried again. "Iroh had said you were a good person Zuko, did you know that? I haven't had a chance to see it myself, heck, I wouldn't have believed it if Aang hadn't agreed with him, but somehow I figured you must be. Back in the cave, you seemed- different. Still you, cold and arrogant, but different because, you were hurting. On the inside. And so maybe there was a reason behind all the chasing and the 'capture the Avatar' obsession." Katara felt her body tiring, she wouldn't be able to keep the wall up. Then she got a reply, something she wasn't really counting on.

"My honor- punch- my home- punch- my father's love- punch-. It'll all be restored if I can give him the Avatar!"

"Zuko, your father will never love you!" Katara cried in desperation. Zuko's fist stopped mid punch.

"…what?" he said in a low, dangerous voice. Wondering if he was going to kill her for this, she went on.

"He banished you Zuko. He sent you away on a mission that at the time could never be completed. He sent your sister to capture you. Even if you handed him the Avatar now, it wouldn't matter. He's trying to destroy the world, Zuko, family is the last thing he is going to treasure!" Weakly, Katara collapsed forward, barely conscious. Zuko stood before the wall, which was weak enough to destroy, yet he didn't move.

Taking advantage of the moment of quiet, Katara bended water onto her hand and healed herself. But even as the pain faded away, the darkness closed in.

Spirits, she'd over extended herself.

Her eyes closed and Katara passed out.

Zuko

Zuko's head and heart was in turmoil. Close, he was so close. All he had to do was melt the last bit of ice and he'd have the Avatar. And… then what? 'Your father will never love you!' It was a lie, she was trying to trick him, weaken him. Zuko glanced suspiciously at the water peasant behind him. He was surprised to see her unconscious. Shaking it off he faced the wall again, the battle within him raging in full.

The only way he could ever go back home, to face his father, was with the Avatar. But... was that really what he wanted? Of course it was! Zuko thought back to his uncle's face when Zuko had helped Azula. His despair. And his disappointment. Pain seared through Zuko. Uncle Iroh had always supported him, in good times and bad; never before had he shown disappointment. His fists clenched, Zuko had to physically stop himself from tearing himself apart.

Vaguely, Zuko remembered the strange dream he had had during the 'metamorphosis' or whatever Uncle had called it. The blue and red dragon circling him; calling him Firelord Zuko. The Blue dragon, it's voice seductive and reminding him of Azula, had told him to sleep. To let it all go. The Red dragon, who's loud, pleading voice reminded him of Iroh, begged him to not listen to the Blue dragon.

Zuko had believed that it had meant that he must not give up hope of reclaiming his title, his throne. But now he wasn't so sure. In doing so, in siding with Azula, he had gone against everything he believed in, the one person he cared for. What honor was there in that? What kind of firelord would he be if he slept easy after his decision?

Zuko stiffened when he remembered the one mantra that was never before far from his memories. Azula always lies. Zuko snorted in disgust with himself. How could he have believed for a second that Azula would share power? In her manipulative mind he was just another pawn to be toyed with.

Zuko let a long sigh out as he felt his resolve break. He was never going home. He had no home; his stupidity had made sure of that.

Turning around, he looked back at the water peas—no, her name was Katara, wasn't it? She was crumpled on the ground in a growing puddle of water from the sewage pipe. Her long dark hair, normally carefully braided, was unraveled and spread around her, hiding her face. Hesitantly he walked over to her.

Squatting down next to her, Zuko winced as he remembered the blow he sent to her side. With light, experienced fingers, he checked for broken ribs and any other damage. His eyebrows shot up when he found none, then lowered when he remembered what she had said about healing powers.

Suddenly he heard the pounding clatter of boots on stone. The Dai Li were coming back. Quickly Zuko picked Katara up and trotted deeper into the jail to the tunnel he knew led out. Struggling, he managed to lift the stone door up and off of the entrance of the tunnel. Zuko lowered Katara in then leapt after her and shut the door behind him.

Complete darkness engulfed him. Lighting one of his fists, Zuko managed to position Katara over his shoulder so he wouldn't drop her. Once again he set off at a brisk, but awkward, pace. After some time, a really long time actually, Zuko neared the exit he was looking for. He groaned in exhaustion. Katara wasn't particularly heavy, but she was no feather, and sweat made Zuko's shirt cling to him.

Blinking in the bright light of the setting sun, he emerged from the side of a hill outside of Ba Sing Se. Looking around, Zuko realized they were in the broad forest north of the city.

Shifting the waterbender onto his other shoulder, he looked one last time at the life that was never for him. He felt regret and bitterness as he turned away and headed into the darkening forest. Strangely, though, Zuko also felt relief. From the second he had stumbled into that city he had felt as if he'd never belong. His false identity was just that—false. Outside the city he felt…free.

A/N: I think Katara might have known more than canon in this, but o well. And also, I didn't really get the dragon dream. I did my best with the interpretation, but if anyone has anything to add, let me know.