It's a long one. Hope you like it! Thanks to DragonLady616 for helping me figure out some of the choreography in these scenes!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This episode originally written by Aaron Ehasz.

Book 2: Earth; Chapter 26: The Crossroads of Destiny

Katara had examined every wall of her stone and crystal prison beneath Ba Sing Se. There was no escape. Even if she'd had her bending water, there were no cracks to send it through and no indication of which way was out. She gave up looking and began pacing back and forth, too restless to sit still. Suddenly the earth above her rumbled. She stopped and looked, clenching her fists and preparing to fight as a hole opened revealing a silhouette against the bright daylight.

"You've got company," came the sound of a rough voice. And then she heard grunts and thuds of someone being unceremoniously thrown in and rolling down the side of the chamber. Zuko landed splayed out at Katara's feet.

"Zuko!" she exclaimed, as recognition dawned on her. He pulled himself up to sit on his knees and look up at her as the hole closed behind them. Katara kept her fists clenched defensively and stance solidly grounded, unsure of what new game Azula was playing by trapping them together.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire, Zuko thought as his eyes met Katara's angry glare. Even in the pale green glow of the crystals, the blue of her eyes stood out to him. She had every right to hate him but he had no reason to fight her now, and no idea what to say. Instead, he turned his back on her and sat cross-legged with his elbows resting on his knees. Surely, there was no way out or Katara would have escaped by now. He knew she wouldn't have just sat around while being trapped down there.

"Why did they throw you in here?" Katara demanded. Zuko did not reply. "Oh wait, let me guess. It's a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches!"

Zuko turned to look at her and almost responded, then checked himself and turned back around. He was not about to admit to her that Azula had caught him, and he owed her no explanations. Besides, what if she was right? What if this was somehow part of a plan Azula hatched to capture the Avatar? But Katara wasn't finished.

"Well, I've got news for you!" she spat out. "Aang isn't even here. He's off learning to master the Avatar State. And once he does that, he'll be unstoppable," Katara finished triumphantly. She waited for a response, but the prince gave none. This only stoked the flames of Katara's fury. How dare he ignore me like this! "You're a terrible person! You know that? Always following us, hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!"

That got a response. "You don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko finally said, looking over his shoulder at her through his scarred eye.

"Oh really?" Katara snapped. "Aang is a child, Zuko! A powerful child, but he's still a kid. And you want to turn him over to the Fire Lord?" Her voice quieted to a whisper, full of dread, "What do you think he's going to do to him?"

He whipped his head around and glared at her, struggling to rein in his temper. "You really don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko knew plenty about what the Fire Lord was capable of doing to children. It was a thought that had sometimes kept him up at night once he discovered that the Avatar was still just a boy. But how could this girl ever possibly understand?

"I don't?" she countered. "How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through! Me personally!" Katara whirled around to sit on the ground, hiding the tears that she felt welling up in her eyes. Her hand reached up to touch her mother's necklace – the necklace he had kept from her, the only piece of her mother that still remained – and the tears spilled over and streamed down her face. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me."

Hearing her sobs broke him. He knew that pain all too well, and his anger evaporated as compassion washed over him. He turned to face her.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said softly. "That's something we have in common."

Katara looked back at him and wiped the tears from her eyes. "What?" she asked, entirely thrown off by the tenderness in his voice and this personal admission. Dare she ask it? "What happened to your mother?"

"I'm not sure exactly.," Zuko began. "After my uncle lost his son in Ba Sing Se, he called off the siege and my father asked to become the next Fire Lord. He said Uncle wasn't fit to rule and no longer had an heir. My grandfather reprimanded him and, according to my sister Azula, he ordered my father to kill me in order to understand the feelings of loss my uncle was going through. Azula always lies, but my mother came to my room that night and said, 'Everything I've done, I've done to protect you.' And, 'No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.' The next morning, she was gone, my grandfather was dead, and my father was the new Fire Lord. He refused to tell me where she was." It felt good to be honest with someone. Katara was the third person – the third girl – to ask him about himself and his family since he had become a fugitive, but she was the first one he didn't have to pretend with. She already knew who and what he was; he had nothing to lose by opening up to her.

Katara was stunned. She didn't know what to say. "Wow," she finally breathed out. "Zuko, I … it sounds like your mother loved you very much."

"A lot of good it did her," he retorted bitterly, standing up and turning away from Katara again.

She stood and walked closer to him. If it had been anyone else, she would have put a hand on his shoulder and given a reassuring squeeze. But this was Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation. The enemy. Wasn't he? Suddenly, Katara was not so sure about that part.

"So, what do you think she meant about remembering who you are?" Katara ventured.

Zuko shrugged. "The Crown Prince, heir to the Fire Nation throne ..."

Katara shook her head. "That's what, not who."

"Huh?" Zuko was confused.

"Fire Lord is a title, it's a what," Katara explained. "Who you are is the things that make you, you no matter where you are – like, uh, determination. I may not know a lot about you, but I do know you never give up. That's part of who you are that no one can take."

Zuko scoffed at this. But she's not wrong, he thought.

"So, who would your mother say you are?" She tried again. "What part of you was she afraid you'd forget if she was gone?"

Zuko looked down and let out a breath, taking a moment to consider. "Well, you sort of said it already. Once, I was discouraged because I'd failed at something. She said she loved that I was someone who keeps fighting even though it's hard."

I can relate to that, Katara thought as a smile played at her lips. That's something we have in common, she repeated to herself. "Well, that's one thing," she said aloud. "Now you just have to decide if you're fighting the right fight, for the right reasons."

"Lately, I haven't been fighting at all," he said. "I've just been helping my uncle in his tea shop, living like any other refugee. Uncle says there's nothing wrong with living a life of peace and prosperity, but it feels like something's missing."

"Maybe that's because it's hard to live peacefully when the world is still at war." Zuko looked away again as Katara narrowed her eyes at him, feeling her anger bubble to the surface. Conflicting emotions were swirling inside of her. She couldn't help but feel compassion for this mixed-up, confused young man in front of her. And she couldn't help being attracted to him with his muscular build, chiseled features, and molten gold eyes. But at the same time she was still angry at him for chasing Aang, for hurting her, for not realizing his own potential as an ally instead of an enemy. Was he realizing it now? She thought about Haru and the other earth benders; how she'd been able to inspire them to rise up and fight for what they believed in. What if she could inspire Zuko? In all likelihood, his own father had killed his mother. The Fire Lord was clearly a terrible person. Only an hour ago, she had thrown those same words at Zuko, but now she was beginning to reconsider. He didn't seem like a terrible person. He seemed confused and conflicted – like a good person in a tough situation. She hoped she could make him see clearly that he could help end the war, that he needed to join them and get back in the fight, but on the right side of it this time.

...

Aang and Iroh started down the tunnel Toph had opened up. Iroh held a small flame in his hand for light while Aang bent the earth to open their path. Aang chanced a sideways glance at the old man, then looked away a little bashfully, rubbing his neck as he spoke.

"So," Aang ventured, "Toph thinks you give pretty good advice, and great tea!"

Iroh smiled at this. "The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?"

Aang stepped forward and bent the next section of rock out of their way.

"Well, I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the Avatar State and control this great power, but to do it, I had to let go of everyone I love." Aang stopped and hung his head. "And I just couldn't," he confessed.

"Perfection and power are overrated," Iroh said without hesitation. "I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love. But sometimes," he continued, "love means letting go. Possessiveness is not love, after all. We hold our loved ones close out of affection, but we also must be willing to selflessly release them to live their own lives and make their own choices."

Aang took comfort in the familiarity of Iroh's words. They certainly mirrored the teachings of his own people who found happiness in nomadic freedom, but for whom love was the binding force that kept them all connected in their wanderings. He earthbent again to extend their path before voicing his fears.

"What happens if we can't save everyone and beat Azula?" he worried. "Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?"

"I don't know the answer," Iroh replied, looking around him for inspiration. "Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place." As Iroh spoke, Aang earthbent the rocks away again, revealing a large cavern. Iroh smiled and released the flame in his hand. The cavern was illuminated by green crystals, and held a large pool of water with a waterfall. They paused to take in the beauty of it, and consider how to find Katara and Zuko from here.

...

There is no war in Ba Sing Se, Zuko thought. But he knew that Katara was right. Living peacefully here in the city, hiding his firebending, denying the realities of the world outside, wasn't truly peaceful at all. He was living a lie. He may have cast off the burden of the destiny laid out for him by his father, but his true purpose still eluded him.

Seeing Zuko withdraw from her again made Katara regret bringing up the war like that. She had liked talking with him, getting to know him as a person not so different from herself. Now, feeling the loss of the connection they were building drove her to reach out again.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before," she apologized.

"It doesn't matter," he said dismissively without looking at her.

Katara went on tenuously, hoping her own vulnerable confession would rekindle the bond they had just begun to form. "It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face."

"My face?" Zuko repeated, finally looking at her over his shoulder with his scarred eye. "I see." He reached up and touched his scar.

"No, no, that's – that's not what I meant," Katara started, coming closer to him. But before she could clarify further, Zuko spoke again.

"It's okay," he said, dropping his hand and turning back away from her. "I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

"Maybe you could be free of it," Katara said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Zuko's eyes widened. "What?" He turned toward her.

"What if I could heal it?"

Could she? Zuko remembered how she had healed his uncle. "It's a scar," he said bitterly, "It can't be healed."

Katara pulled out the vial Chief Arnook had given her. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important." She walked over to stand before him.

Zuko was still doubtful. "You said I was angering the spirits by fighting you there. And now you want to heal my scar with water from their pool?"

Katara raised her eyebrows and let out a breath of surprised laughter. "You were listening."

The faint hint of a smile played across his face. "Well I was kind of a captive audience."

Katara shrugged and bit her lower lip, feeling a little bashful. "Funny how things change," she said, willing herself to look into his amber eyes.

Zuko looked around at the walls of their stone prison and smirked. "I'm still a captive audience …"

Katara smirked back at him, and looked down at the vial again, returning to the issue at hand. "I don't know if it would work, but …"

Zuko looked straight ahead and took a deep breath. He hardly dared to hope, but was willing to let her try. He nodded and closed his eyes in consent. Katara took some of the Spirit Water onto her fingertips and placed them delicately on his scar, her thumb brushing lightly against his lips. She tried to push away the butterflies in her stomach as her skin made contact with his. The water began to glow blue and Katara gasped as she felt the intensity of energy from all the emotions bound up with his scar. Zuko flinched at a flash of memory, of his father's face when he burned him. They both fought to maintain contact and not pull away, and Zuko involuntarily took hold of Katara's left elbow to steady them both. Zuko opened his good eye to peer at her. She seemed utterly absorbed in her task, unaware of his hand on her arm, or the fact that her loosely fisted left hand was now resting on his chest.

"I can feel so much energy bound up in there," she said, gently tracing along the edge of the marred flesh. Her touch sent shivers down his spine. Zuko tried to ignore it.

Remembering the pain of her own burns, she said half to herself, "It must have been so painful …"

Enough, Zuko thought. It's not working; this is a waste of time. He took hold of Katara's hand and gently pulled it down from his face, rubbing his thumb back and forth across her knuckles without even fully realizing it. The scar appeared unchanged. Zuko's eyes drifted from their entwined hands to her face, and their eyes met in an intense gaze – his full of raw emotion and resignation, hers full of compassion and understanding. But before either could speak or react, an explosion nearby shocked them out of their reverie. They both turned and tensed, ready to fight side by side. But the dust cleared to reveal that Aang had burst through the rock wall with Iroh close behind.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed. Aang turned at the sound of his name and was surprised to see Katara and Zuko standing together – very close together, he noticed. Katara ran to Aang and wrapped him in a jubilant hug while he glared over her shoulder at Zuko. What were you doing with my girl? he wanted to know. Zuko received a hug from Iroh and glared back at Aang.

"I knew you would come," Katara said to Aang, pulling back from their embrace.

"Uncle, I don't understand," Zuko said, sounding more like his old self. "What are you doing with the Avatar?"

"Saving you, that's what," Aang jumped in. Zuko let out an angry growl and lunged toward Aang, but Iroh held him back.

"Zuko, it's time we talked," Iroh said. Then to Aang and Katara, "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you." Katara locked eyes with Zuko while Iroh was speaking. Fight the right fight, she silently pleaded. I know now that you have it in you. Aang bowed to Iroh and took off back the way they came. Katara reluctantly followed with a look back at Zuko, and he snuck a sideways glance to watch her go.

...

Aang and Katara ran together through the tunnel and into the cavernous remains of Old Ba Sing Se.

"We've got to find Sokka and Toph!" Katara exclaimed. As they were about to enter the tunnel leading back to the surface, a bolt of blue fire rushed at them from behind. Aang reacted quickly and raised a slab of earth to block. The impact knocked him back, but he steadied himself as he stared down Azula, smoke still rising from her extended fingers. Katara recognized the blue fire before the smoke even cleared. She wasted no time in running to the underground water channel and bending up a huge stream of water to hurl at Azula. Azula blocked it, but Katara swirled the water around and slammed it into the ground before Azula, causing the water to spring back up in a giant wave, which Katara immediately froze to create a wall. Azula stomped her foot and raised her arms, creating a blast that vaporized the wall. Katara and Aang stood ready, looking for Azula to emerge from the mist. She came flying in from above, blasting blue fire from her fists. Together, Aang and Katara swept a bridge of water over their heads as a shield. Azula landed on a pillar above them, but Aang extended his arms and brought them down forcefully to bend the rock out from under her. Azula gasped in surprise, but recovered quickly, jumping down between Aang and Katara and taking aim at them both with her hands. As her eyes flicked from one to the other, an orange fire blast shot into their midst and halted the attack with its smoke. It was Zuko.

Katara's thoughts were racing a mile a minute as he approached, hands up and ready to fight. At first, her heart soared. Yes, he's in the fight! He looks like that felt really good – I bet it feels great to be on our side. But then she thought, Wait, where's Iroh? Uh-oh, what happened? And then her heart dropped to her stomach. She waited for seconds that lasted an eternity – hoping, dreading, praying he would look at her and remember who he was, who he could be if he joined them. Zuko gave Azula an angry sneer, then shifted his gaze to Aang and the sneer dropped into something more sinister, lethally focused. Aang's eyes grew wide as he gasped in realization that he would be Zuko's target. Zuko punched a fist of fire in Aang's direction, and Aang swiftly spun around, whipping the air to jump back from the blast. Zuko savagely punched rapid-fire blasts at Aang, giving him no chance to rest. Azula smirked victoriously and quickly turned her attention to Katara with a surge of blue flame.

Katara blocked attack after attack from Azula. All I need to do is keep her away from Aang, she thought. Just keep her busy so Aang only has to deal with Zuko. Zuko … she cut herself off from that train of thought. Katara needed to keep her head in the fight, and hopefully find an escape route. There would be time for deeper processing, and for heartache, later.

Meanwhile, Aang created an air shield to deflect Zuko's attacks. He ran in a circle, building momentum as he bent the air currents around himself to send an Aang-shaped blast of air at Zuko, who braced himself for impact but was still thrown backward. He landed hard on his back and bounced off the stones with a grunt. Aang flew at the prince with another airbending attack, but Zuko rolled aside and Aang missed. Zuko bent a flame out from his feet, then rocked himself up to standing and continued bending fire from his fists at Aang. Aang dodged the fire blasts by airbending himself across the tops of the nearby pillars. He crouched atop a clump of crystals, finally able to catch his breath for a moment. Furious, Zuko brought his arms down to the ground and up to a focused point toward Aang, pulling his breath all the way up from his toes and bending a massive blast of fire that sent thermal shockwaves out in a ring, as the fierce tongues of flame raced toward Aang. The Avatar blocked with crystals, but they shattered, sending him sailing into another crystal grouping. Zuko wasted no time waiting for the dust to settle. He maintained the flame in his hand, passing some of it to the other hand and forming long whips of fire. Aang grunted in frustration and jumped out of the way as Zuko sliced through the crystals with his fire whips. Aang retreated, leaping from crystal to column avoiding Zuko's attacks. Aang leapt onto a stalactite and earthbent the point of it free with a kick. He landed on the falling section, increasing its velocity with earthbending, and sent it plummeting into the ground with a mighty blast of rock and dust. The impact sent Zuko flying as Aang disappeared into the crater.

Continuing their own battle, Azula jumped to the wet ground with a splash as Katara sneered angrily at the Fire Princess and they charged toward each other. Katara bent water up from a puddle between them and hurled it toward Azula in a razor-sharp wave. Azula dodged, but the sharp edge cut a lock of her hair. Katara immediately reclaimed the water and sent it her way again, knocking her down. As Azula recovered, Katara bent the water over her own body and extended it past her arms. Azula threw a blue flame and Katara blocked it, pulling the water up her arms into water tentacles and capturing Azula's arm with one. Katara quickly hurled the second tentacle toward Azula who threw out a kick to block, but Katara captured her kicking foot as well. Katara lifted her arms and was about to slam Azula down when Zuko used a sweeping kick to bend a flame across the channel and break the tentacles. Azula landed deftly and smirked at being free, turning her attention to the crater where Aang had landed. An exhausted Aang crawled out, and Azula ran toward him to attack.

Seeing this, Zuko turned his attention to Katara and threw a fire blast at her from across the water channel. Don't think, he told himself. Just fight. Just do what you have to do. Katara blocked with the water whips still on her arms, and Zuko reformed his fire whips to counter her.

"I thought you had changed!" she shouted as the ends of fire and water whips collided across the channel.

"I have changed," Zuko replied, dropping the fire whips and using an outside forearm strike to throw another fire blast at her.

"Sure doesn't look like it!" Katara retorted as she blocked him. She was unable to compartmentalize her hurt and anger while face to face with him, so she used it to fuel her fighting. "I can't believe I trusted you!" She hurled a water whip and punched him in the gut with it, pushing him back. "What was I thinking?" Zuko was on the defense now as she propelled herself over the waterway to continue driving him back. "'Azula always lies?' Then why would you join her?"

Zuko continued blocking her attacks. "I wouldn't expect you to understand!" he countered.

A chilling thought struck Katara then: What if that was the plan all along? What if he was playing me the whole time? "Maybe you're the one who always lies!" she spat out. Katara's attacks had brought her in close enough range for hand-to-hand combat. But before she could land a punch, Zuko grabbed her wrists and forced her back, pinning her against a clump of crystals. His face filled her vision, anger and rage now masking the vulnerable hurt and confusion she had seen there just moments before.

"Say what you want about me," he said, "but I never lied to you." She could feel his breath on her face, his body close to hers as he held her in his grip, both of them panting from the exertion of the fight. The proximity only intensified her heartache and disappointment, which quickly turned to anger in the heat of the moment.

Azula caught her brother's comment and glanced at them. "That's because he's a terrible liar," she said coolly. Capitalizing on the momentary distraction, Katara braced herself against the rocks and raised her legs to kick Zuko away.

"Then you're lying to yourself," she said as she resumed a defensive stance and the fighting continued.

Azula and Aang stood opposite each other. Azula raised her arms and summoned blue fire behind her to propel herself forward toward Aang. Aang looked at her in amazement and horror as she advanced, then recovered and summoned crystals to encase himself in a suit of armor. He ran to meet her, but when Aang crossed his arms to deflect her attack, the impact shattered the crystals and sent him crashing into an old building.

With Aang momentarily out of commission, Azula turned to join Zuko in fighting Katara. They combined their fire to strike her hard, propelling her backwards. She slammed into the crystals behind her, knocking her hair loose as she fell to the ground.

A rumbling noise commanded Zuko and Azula's attention, and they turned from the fallen Katara to see Aang emerge from the old building in a cloud of dust. He plunged to the ground with enough force to break the rock apart, and then earth-surfed toward Zuko and Azula to come to Katara's aid. As the royal siblings turned their defenses toward him, a Dai Li agent came forward to break Aang's surf with earthbending, propelling Aang through the air to flip and smash into the ground.

Aang and Katara both rose and looked up to see Dai Li agents descending from the walls, some landing to surround Katara, the rest backing up Azula and Zuko. Hopelessly outnumbered, Katara was not about to go down without a fight. She swirled water around herself in the octopus form, preparing to fight off multiple attackers. Aang stood and surveyed the scene.

"There's too many," he said hopelessly, realizing that they would not make it out of this without the Avatar State. He recalled Guru Pathik's words: The only way is to let them go. "I'm sorry, Katara," Aang said as he closed his eyes and turned away from their attackers. Aang earthbent a crystal tent to shelter himself while he meditated. Revisiting the crown chakra meditation, Aang recalled the vision of the Avatar Spirit, holding a sphere of cosmic energy containing a smaller image of himself entering the Avatar State.

Back in the crystal shelter, Aang entered the Avatar State and a glow emitted from the shelter causing Aang's opponents to stand at attention. Aang opened his glowing eyes and broke through the crystal with a large blast of shockwaves, rising up in a beam of light as Katara looked on with pride and hope. The others braced themselves from the blast. But before Aang could take action in the Avatar State, Azula struck him from behind with a bolt of lightning. He jerked and thrashed in the wake of the electric shock coursing through him. The Avatar Spirit released Aang and fell out of the cosmic plane of existence, and the physical Aang plummeted toward the ground head first. Katara, tears streaming down her face, whirled her octopus form into a wave and rode it toward Aang, knocking down everyone in her path and catching him just in time.

Katara looked down at Aang's lifeless body in dismay, and then back up at Zuko as he rose to his feet, dripping wet and menacing. She was unable to stop her tears and unsure if she had the will to fight her way out of this. Azula joined Zuko and the two prepared to attack Katara, but a blast of fire blocked their path and held them back. Iroh jumped down from a high wall to come to Katara's defense.

"You've got to get out of here!" he commanded her. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!" With that, Iroh fired blasts at his niece and nephew and the Dai Li to hold them at bay.

Katara rose with Aang's arm draped over her shoulder and dragged his body to a waterfall. She circled a column of water around them and bent it upwards, propelling them up to the waterfall's mouth and away to safety. As soon as Iroh saw that they were gone, he ceased firing at his kin and surrendered in a resting stance. The Dai Li moved swiftly to contain Iroh in crystals as Zuko watched motionless. Iroh closed his eyes and turned his face away from his nephew, overcome with sadness that the young man was lost to him.