Only One

By:

Sonic Flicker

Hi everyone! This is my 3rd story! I plan to finish this one no matter how long it takes! Ok, so this is before the whole thing where Zuko leaves his Blue Spirit mask behind...

And so it begins...

Dawn broke the horizon and I was already up and preparing for the day. Aang, Sokka, and Toph were still sleeping as minutes ticked by. Finally, I got bored and grabbed my bag. It was full of shurikens

and kunai knives so I was perfectly protected. I strapped my black dragon leather shuriken pouch to my leg, under my dress and above my tights. I also grabbed my camouflage poncho and navy blue water

bag. The poncho slipped snuggly over my head and the water pouch slid over my shoulder. All was ready, so I set out on my adventure. My feet slid over the ground like glaciers slide smoothly over flat land.

I jumped up to the nearest tree and startled something beside me. It fell, flipped, and landed on its feet. I saw its mask and my eyes widened. It was the same mask Aang had seen when he was rescued from

the Fire Fortress. Its mask was a sky blue and white with a half dragon, half human design. The person's body was covered in a skin-tight black suit. He beckoned forward and I followed, and an urge to

follow, so strong that I could not break free. We both followed the urge; resisting futilely and dragging our feet to slow down.

Finally, we came to a clearing. It had a huge willow tree with curtain like branches, beautiful roses and tulips scattering the ground, and long grasses waving in the gentle breeze. Red and gold butterflies flew

from flower to flower as though sampling each one's unique scent and the mighty willow tree stood tall and proud over the entire clearing. While I was taking in all the beauty I hadn't noticed the pull had

stopped. I looked over to the man and noticed how thin, but muscular he was. There was absolutely no fat on his body. I walked slowly over to him and gripped the mask. His hands twitched as though

deciding if he was going to let me take off his mask. The mask was half way off when his hands closed around my wrists. I jumped and realized the situation we were in. It was the same position Prince Zuko

had me in when I tried to run away from the pirates. I tried to pull away, thinking how pointless it was seeing as he was so strong, but my hands slipped gently out of his loosened grip. I moved forward again

and lifted off the mask. A gasp escaped my lips as I recognized the scar and amber eyes.

"You…You… Why did you bring me here?! Is this some sort of plot to get the Avatar?!" I screamed, as I pulled a kunai knife out of my pouch.

"No," He said plainly, "Please don't hurt me."

"And why shouldn't I?! Just because you asked nicely? Well, we asked you and you didn't give a crap about it!" I bellowed at him, "Come on! Tie me up and demand the Avatar! I know you want to!

Why? Because every opportunity you get you want to hurt us!"

"No, not anymore… I'm sorry." He whispered.

"You're damn right you're sorry. Think about all the pain you put us through! Think about how many nights we had to go without sleep to escape you! And why is that? Because you can't live without your

stupid honor! If you did something to help us, maybe you would get a different kind of honor called respect! Ever hear of it?!"

Zuko stayed silent. I groaned in fury as I sat down on the gnarled tree trunk. The sound of crying echoed through the clearing.

"A-are you… crying?!" I asked, bewildered.

"Why w-would you c-care?! No one could ever c-care for a-anyone l-like me! I've h-hurt to m-many innocent people t-to b-be forgiven." He choked out in sobs.

Sorry, not excactly a cliffy...but the next chapert will be better! I promise.