About this chapter I just have to inform you guys that sometimes I'll be doing some scene switching unannounced so try to bear with me if you get lost.

This chapter is more about Zuko's version of the day of what happened between how he left his uncle in the tavern and when he saves Katara. Memory scenes are written and will be written always in italics.

Ch 2: Brother

As Zuko stepped out of the tavern, he made his way through the town, heading to the abandoned room that he and his uncle had found earlier that day in an abandoned shack. Alert, he walked steadily and deliberately, trying to avoid any unnecessary conflicts with the drunks or the suspicious looking travelers that went by, so that if "she" were there, it would be more difficult to spot him in the middle of the night.

The shack that he and his uncle had discovered was located about a five-minute walk from the tavern. The two outlaws were hidden perfectly in plain sight: the area around the shack was totally deserted, and not too many shops were placed around it because the shopkeepers felt it scared away customers. When he entered the shack, the first thing he made sure to do was to place all the locks on the door and pull down all the dusty drapes. Five miniature balls of fire erupted from the tips of his fingers, directing the light towards the center of the room.

The shack was only made up of one room, excluding the bathroom, which contained a simple bed next to dusty window and a rotten table in the middle. He walked towards the bed where he found both his uncle's and his own bag lying. Pulling his sleeve back, he began to dig in high gear through the contents of the bag. After a few seconds, he abruptly stopped, hand still inside the bag. Zuko slowly pulled out what he had been searching for: the Blue Spirit mask. He remembered getting that mask from his first fire festival, when his late cousin Lu Ten gave it to him.

An eight-year-old Zuko fretted, the combination of anxiety and excitement making his stomach queasy. It was the day of the fire festival, and he was very nervous because it was his very first one and, to make it more special, his cousin Lu Ten was going to take him. Zuko smiled as he thought of Lu Ten: he always had fun with him, and he thought of him as his older brother. The brother that he always wished he had, instead of the demonic little blood-sucking imp he had for a sister.

Zuko waited for him outside his room, so that the minute he went out, they'd go flying off to the festival. The door opened and a teenage boy had come out. He was probably about eighteen and looked the same as Zuko, except that he kept all of his hair, instead of shaving all of it like Zuko did, and had brown eyes, which must have been a trait from his aunt's side of the family. Lu Ten looked down at him and said, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Zuko yelled as a childlike smile grew on his face of excitement and, while waving his arms, let off a small fire blast luckily facing the ground.

"You're all fired up I guess!" sighed Lu Ten.

Zuko bit his tongue and blushed from embarrassment, but his grin could not be shaken.

"But before we go, put on this," his cousin told him handing him a cloak. "I think it would be best if we don't bring any attention to ourselves while we're there don't you think?" Zuko nodded, putting on the cloak as instructed. Enshrouded with his cloak, Lu Ten set off to the festival, followed by the cloaked blur that was Zuko.

As they walked through the town they treated themselves to the main attractions of the festival. First, Zuko went over some fire nuts. His cousin warned him not to put so many in his mouth at the same time, but it was too late: Zuko was wailing, running around in circles in search for water. He was straining himself to keep his mouth shut to avoid making a scene, but before long, a blast of fire came out of his mouth, which shot everywhere. Lu Ten finally saved the day with a glass of water he had gotten from another booth nearby. The little boy drank it up as fast as possible, letting a deep steamy sigh of relief come out of his mouth.

"Hey, look at what that clumsy kid did to my stand!" yelled the keeper. "He almost burned it completely to the ground!" When Zuko heard this, a shiver went done his spine as he slowly turned around to see the damage that he had caused.

"Wah!" Zuko yelped as he surveyed the damage. Most of the stand was in ashes and the food was ruined. Lu Ten began to calm the shopkeeper, eventually paying him for the damage. As Lu Ten walked up to him, Zuko was looking down, too ashamed to meet him eye to eye. He suddenly felt a firm tap on the shoulder, and, looking up, was surprised to see his cousin smiling.

"It's ok, no harm done…at least you didn't barbecue someone!" Zuko laughed at that and on they went going to see what other things the festival had in store for them. He really loved his cousin, he was always getting him out of trouble, and even though sometimes the heat would fall on him, Lu Ten seemed not to care. To Zuko, Lu Ten was the most amazing person in the world.

They saw the magicians doing their dangerous stunts of manipulating fire, forming from them mythical beasts and awesome shapes like dragons and phoenixes rings in the air. His favorite was what the magician called "Taming the Dragon." He admired the precision that the magician had controlling the flaming beast. He wished that he could be that great a Firebender.

He had just starting learning how to form his fire about a year ago, but still couldn't manage to control the flame. Most of the time, because of this lack of control, he would set the everything in the palace on fire, from the drapes, to the family dinner table and all the cloths on it, and even Azula's hair, when she refused to give up calling him the name that he loathed the most, "Zuzu."

He couldn't forget the face she had when she finally found out that more than half her hair was already dust. She was furious. He knew that she would never let that go, and always tried to humiliate him in order to repay the debt. Even when he ended up as a wanted outlaw, she still tried to find new ways to mock him whenever they met.

As he kept on watching he saw who the volunteer or "captive princess" of the show. She was a beautiful young girl about his age, but as the dragon grew closer and closer to her, he saw how her little face turned from wonder into fear. Each time the dragon flew by, the girl squinted her eyes, fearing that the embers of the dragon would burn her face. Zuko saw this and knew that he had to do something. He quickly ran towards the stage, leaving his cousin behind. Lu Ten, however, didn't perceive this until Zuko was already jumping up on the stage running towards the girl. The crowd wondered what he was doing there in the first place, but thought that it was part of the show.

"Zuko, get of there, now!" yelled his cousin, but it was already too late. The fiery dragon was making its final swirl around the stage, charging in at the princess and Zuko. He stood there taking up the stance that his uncle had taught him for bending, breathed deep and from his mouth exhaled a ferocious fire ball which devoured the dragon in seconds. The people saw as how even after the clash between the dragon the fireball flew higher towards the sky. The people looked at him strangely, wondering who the kid was, but then they all started cheering.

"What are you trying to do, kid, upstage me?" said the frustrated magician, but all Zuko could do was blush, because he had made so many people happy. He was laughing with them too as they asked how long since he had begun bending, how he got that strong, and who his teacher was.

But then, his cousin pulled him from the crowd scolding, "What on earth do you think you're doing? Do you really want to get killed? What would your mother say if she knew what you did just now, or worse, what would your father say?" Lu Ten apparently was very angry for having been ditched like that, but he was more worried for the safety of Zuko, and Zuko could see that.

Zuko felt really bad for having made him worry like that, but then asked him, "Lu Ten, we're both princes, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so, why would we live in a huge palace if it were otherwise?" his cousin responded sarcastically.

"Well, don't princes usually save damsels in distress?" Zuko said, getting red around his face.

His cousin took of his serious face and started to smile and he laughed a little too. "I think my dad has been telling you too many fairytales," he said.

Lu Ten looked up at the sky, and then back at his imaginative cousin. "I think that we'd better get you home before your mom sends the National Guard to look for us!"

Zuko looked up smiling, and nodded in agreement. "Hey Lu Ten, are you going to tell my mom and dad what I did?"

Lu Ten looked back at him and answered happily, "Nope, but what you're going to tell me is how you managed to make such a big fireball. I don't think that anyone at your age could do something as comparable in power as you did."

Zuko smiled from the compliment his, which was even more special coming from Lu Ten. "I've always been able to do it, I guess…my problem isn't in letting the fire out, but controlling it and keeping it in."

"Well whatever reason it is, I know one thing: you will surely become a powerful bender, because if you're so strong now imagine what you'll be like when you're my age! Not even Azula, being the little prodigy that she is, will be able to even consider herself to be on the same plateau as you!"

Zuko thought about that, about the day when he would actually be stronger than Azula, or even better, be stronger than his cousin, but at the same time got sad and a tear went down his cheek. "But already with the power I got I cause only damage and harm to other people, how would it be then? Sometimes, I wish I weren't a bender at all!"

His cousin grabbed Zuko by the shoulder and looked him in the eye, saying to him sternly, "Don't be ashamed of what you are and of what you can do. Your heart is in the right place, wanting to not hurt anyone, but giving up your bending would be like burying a piece of your soul! I know that it seems a little bit hard and far away, but someday you WILL be able to control your power and then NOTHING will be able to stop you, not even your father!" With that, he wiped away Zuko's tear. "Come on, we're going to be late." Zuko felt a little better after hearing his cousin's speech, walking beside him as they made their way back to the palace.

As they walked, Zuko saw a shop selling masks at the exit of the town centre which led off to the palace. As they walked past it, Zuko stopped. He looked up to the masks in awe. Each had their own special shape, form and color, but a very special one had caught his eye. It was the Blue Spirit mask.

At first, when Zuko saw it he stepped back, knocking into Lu Ten, who was walking behind him. It was an amazingly fierce looking mask.

Lu Ten noticed the boy's fascination and looked at the mask, remembering the legend. "That mask is of the Blue Spirit, the defending champion of all fire nation people. A long time ago, when the fire nation was still a small village, a fierce evil giant Earth serpent came to destroy us. The soldiers fought fiercely against the serpent, but to no avail, and things were getting worse by the day.

"But then, one day a young soldier stepped up towards the beast with the whole village behind him. The soldier was infused with the flame of all the Firebenders present, and their strong will to keep their little village alive. The soldier then transformed into a noble spirit of the most purest and powerful fire: the cold fire, lightning. He alone stood up against the Earth serpent, vanquishing him with his awesome power. It is said that he will appear to those who are in most dire need of help, and to face all those who have evil essences."

Then, he looked down to Zuko, who still didn't take his eyes of the mask for one second, even more awed by it than before, until he said, "Do you want it?"

Zuko stared up at him full of wonder, and nodded yes as hard and fast as he could and soon enough, Zuko was a new toy home with him. He put on the mask and looked up to his cousin.

"How do I look?" he asked. The mask was still too big for his head, and shifted a bit to the left, uncovering a piece of his face.

"Very powerful, almost as the Spirit himself!" Lu Ten told him in teasing tone. Zuko, happy with his new mask, he decided to wear it him all the way home, so that he could surprise his mother and uncle.

Suddenly as they crossed the small forest that was just in between the palace and the festival, rustling sounds were heard from the bushes and three suspicious-looking thugs came out of hiding. Two came up to the front, while the leader, was positioned in the back.

"Well, well what do we got here?" said the leader. "I think we got ourselves a good for nothin' punk and a sorry excuse for an imp!"

The gang started to laugh, but all Zuko felt was a numb sensation in his legs. He wanted to run but his legs felt like lead, and he couldn't fight: he still had mastered neither his aim nor his control over fire. That was when Lu Ten stretched his arm out signaling Zuko to get back behind him. He put his grip on the two broad swords he was carrying with him, hidden in his cloak, preparing for the worst.

The leader signaled his team to go for the attack. The first one charged right in front of the two princes. Just as the thug was about to reach him, Lu Ten pulled out half way his broad swords, hitting the thug in the stomach sending him sailing through the air. The second, along with the leader, then tried their hands at attacking Lu Ten, both trying to hit him from different angles. In that instant, Lu Ten pushed Zuko aside, just far enough for him to start waving his swords around him, spinning in the same place where he stood to generate a tornado made completely of fire. The two thugs were too close in on Lu Ten before they could react, and were deeply burned.

Zuko was impressed with his cousin's power and understood why he would be next in line for the throne, after his uncle, of course. Zuko looked as if Lu Ten's mastery of the broad swords was the best thing the carnival had to offer.

"Do you want to know how to fight without having to depend on your bending, so that you could control the damage that you inflict without worrying about how much strength you put in to your attacks?"

Zuko looked confused: he thought that the only way to fight was through Firebending. He thought that was why his parents stressed it so much.

"Here," Lu Ten said, handing him the two broad swords he just used in the combat. "I think that I'm going to give you your very first lesson!"

Zuko took the swords immediately and started to slash around where he was, cutting the bushes and stabbing the defenseless trees.

"Lesson number one, when using dual broad swords, you must always remember that they are not separate weapons. They are two halves of a single whole, and you must always use them in unison. If not, they will not last long enough against other weapons."

Zuko started to wave the swords around like his new instructor told him, and by Lu Ten's standards, he performed fairly well.

"I think you got the basics down; tomorrow night, we'll try doing something more advanced, but only if you keep practicing your Firebending, ok?"

"Ok," answered Zuko excitedly. He was finally learning something that he was good at from the beginning, and the best part was that he would finally have a way to defend himself without the possibility of burning his enemy or innocent bystanders to death.

They were finally making their way up to the palace, when Zuko realized something. "Lu Ten, what happened to the Blue Spirit afterwards?"

"Since he was the reincarnated fighting-will of the Fire Nation, he was condemned to fight for them, or otherwise lose his awesome power; so he did. He fought and eliminated all of the enemies of the Fire Nation village. After that, he fought in secrecy in the wars against the other rivaling villages and tribes that were done over the lands that make up the Fire Nation today, until he found himself with a beautiful maiden from another tribe…I think either she was from a Waterbending, or it could have been Earth, I can't remember…But anyway, he found someone from another nation."

"He did what!" yelled Zuko in total disbelief. "From another nation, was he crazy? He gave it all up for someone from another nation?"

Lu Ten sighed and looked at his younger, immature cousin saying, "At that time, there was no war between the other nations. Everyone was at peace and all was balanced, but still he did give it all up for her. She calmed his mind and made him feel for the first time at peace, giving him in return something far more valuable than power!"

"Yeah and what's that?" said his cousin in a disappointed tone.

"Love, love is something far more powerful and valuable. Love for your country, for your people, for your family and friends, and love for that special someone you carry in your heart. It is the fuel that prompts us to become stronger and surpass our limitations. It's what makes us become better people."

Zuko looked at him in a really funny way and said, "You almost sound like your dad".

Lu Ten chuckled and added, "I hope I'm not that old!"

Zuko and Lu Ten both laughed as they made it up to their palace, hoping that they would remember that day forever.

Zuko, illuminated by the fire from one hand, placed on his face the mask of the Blue Spirit with the other. Every time he wore it, he felt as if the spirit of Lu Ten were there to help him: to lend him his strength and to guide him to his prize.

He quickly changed outfit, removing his old Earth Kingdom rags, and put on his black infiltration wear. Grabbing a black sash, he wrapped it around his waist, using it to stow the broad swords that his cousin had given to him as a present on his tenth birthday. Putting out the flame he created, he scaled the shack so that he could get a better view of the unsuspecting prey he would attack next, so that he could go on living.

He hated himself for doing this: he knew that this was no way for a prince to act, and at the same time, felt as if he were disappointing Lu Ten for misusing his teachings. He looked up to the sky, remembering the days of his childhood where he spent most of his time training.

During the day, Zuko would start Firebending practice with his uncle from dawn until dusk. While he enjoyed spend time with his uncle and away from the dark insides of the palace, he hated trying to control his power. His uncle could see the frustration in his eyes whenever Zuko couldn't get the basic sets right.

Whenever Zuko had to move and shift positions, he would hesitate, being uncertain if it were the right step of the set. When he had to shoot a jet of fire, he tried with all of his might to make it proper, but inevitably it would get too small, to become just a miniscule flare. And to top it all off, his sister Azula would be close by with her top teachers, advancing set after set in a matter of minutes.

"Don't worry Prince Zuko, you'll get it eventually. It's not how fast you can master the sets but how well you perform them"

"But even when I'm doing them at the speed of a turtle I STILL can't do it right!" yelled his nephew. Zuko really hated those practices, but he knew that he had something better to look forward to after sunset, something that he knew he was good at.

Sunset had come, and outside the palace walls in the forest where they had their first class, was his new teacher already waiting for him, lying back on a tree.

"Ok Zuko, ready to practice some sword wielding?" his new instructor would ask, and Zuko could only show a face full of excitement as he picked up the dual blades into his hands.

Lu Ten would run him through every single position, attack, block, counter, and set that he knew. Each time he practiced, Zuko got better and better. He loved the way his swords looked when they would swish and slash through the night. They reflected the light of the moon, making it look as if two spirits were dancing around each other. It was absolutely mystifying.

"Good Zuko! Good…you've got the motion and position learned, but how well can you extract this information in a real fight?"

"Huh?" Zuko looked at him clueless of what he meant.

"I want you to fight me with all you got!"

Zuko's face showed fear, but he quickly shook it off, and with a wry smile to his cousin, he said, "Prepare to lose," beginning a charge.

The swords would clash and sparks would fly everywhere. Of course, Lu Ten controlled his strength against his cousin, since Zuko was at a big disadvantage, but with the charges that he made, he forced Zuko to learn the positions and maneuvers by instinct.

These were pretty much the practices that they had after sunset for the next two years until on Zuko's tenth birthday, right after the party, which ended at sunset, he went running to his training ground and like normal, his instructor was there. He was really anxious that day because he had all his energy stored up because he had no Firebending exercises that day.

"Zuko, tonight I won't be giving you anymore lessons because there's nothing else that I know that I can teach you."

With that, he extended to Zuko a package wrapped in a purple cloth. Unwrapping it, Zuko looked at Lu Ten in awe. "I can't take these." They were Lu Ten's dual broad swords.

"I want you to have these as a gift to remember me by," he said in a grim voice. "I'm going off with my dad to the war front tonight so this will be our last lesson together."

"Why do you have to go, why can't you guys stay here with us?" Zuko was almost crying then, he didn't want to lose his beloved cousin/brother.

"My dad is a General, and I'm the son of a General. We have our duties to our people, to our loved ones."

"You're going to fight for us, like the Blue Spirit once did right?" Zuko said, his voice cracking.

"Yes, and we'll fight with the same will and power that he did so that our nation can be safe." Lu Ten put his hand on Zuko's head, saying to him, "I'm giving these to you so that you can practice while I'm gone. By the time I get back, I want you to be the most powerful swordsman and Firebender that I know you can be, understood?"

Tears were already falling from Zuko's face, "Ye- yeah I'll be the best fighter the fire nation has ever seen, even more powerful than the Blue Spirit!"

"I'm glad" Lu Ten smiled. He knelt down and embraced Zuko in his arms giving him a last farewell.

With that, Lu Ten disappeared into the bush, taking a short cut to the outside of the palace where his father was awaiting him. Zuko took another path, running for his life so that he could say goodbye to his uncle, but as he was just making it, the wagon and the rest of the soldiers were mounted, beginning the journey out of the Fire Nation. He was crying, feeling that he had already lost Lu Ten, but then he looked down to the gift that he gave him and remembered that his cousin was a very powerful fighter and bender, probably even better than Uncle Iroh, so he wiped off his tears and returned to the palace, knowing that he would see his cousin again.

Ever since then, Zuko practiced his swordsman skills under the night sky, keeping it a secret from the rest of his family. It was the secret that he and Lu Ten had together, so if he were to ever get caught with that secret, he wanted Lu Ten to be at his side to share the credit. And every night just before he went to sleep, he went searched under his mattress and pulled out the mask that his cousin had given him, staring into it while hoping that the Blue Spirit would protect his cousin just as it had done so long ago with the first Fir Nation villagers.

But unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be. When the news that Lu Ten had died in combat at Ba Sing Se, Zuko felt devastated. He couldn't believe that his older brother would never come back again.

He ran to his room and pulled out the mask from his bed and yelled at it in an uncontrollable rage, "Why didn't you protect him, like you should have, wasn't he a member of the Fire Nation, too?"

The mask would not answer him back. It only stared coldly into his eyes with no expression. Zuko pulled it back to him again and began to weep for his beloved cousin, instructor and older brother. He knew that he had to be strong for Lu Ten's sake, so he began to practice even harder than ever, so that he may one day fulfill his cousin's optimistic expectations, that he would too become a great warrior and Prince for his people...so that one day, no enemies would be able to touch the Fire Nation and all his loved ones would be safe.

But unfortunately, he learned that love was not something that gave men a fuel to increase their strength, but on the contrary made them weak. In this department, his instructors were his parents. He felt as though his mother had betrayed him by leaving him behind, and his father taught him that love for anyone is weak that people were only instruments to be used to gain power. It was with this in mind that Zuko left after being exiled, determined to use the Avata to reclaim the power that was rightfully his, his throne.

Zuko shook his head, trying to clear the dark memories. As he came back into his senses, he decided that it was time to move. He began moving from rooftop to rooftop, in search of unaware prey that would provide him with another chance at survival. That was when he heard a scream from a few streets down; he rushed to see what was going on.

He saw three Earthbenders chasing someone. The leader of the benders was probably the father of the other two, but the thief they were chasing…he recognized her. It was that girl that always accompanied the Avatar! What was her name?

"Katara," he breathed, recalling her name from the many encounters he had had with the Avatar. He saw as how she ran, trying to escape the Earthbenders.

Even though she was indeed the enemy, she was very beautiful. She had grown a lot from their encounter at the North Pole physically, although he couldn't believe he noticed that when they met even more recently in that ghost town, when his uncle was sucker-shot by Azula. He saw curves on her that he never saw before until that very moment. She was quite beautiful, reminding him of the princess that he saved when he was a boy in the festival. In fact, they were almost identical except for the loops that Katara had braided in her hair, and the fact that she had a deeper tan, but other than that identical. Still, she was the enemy.

As they ran he followed them, hoping rooftop to rooftop, wanting to observe how the little Water peasant was going to get out of this one.

But to his surprise, she was taking many blows, overcome by the power and number of Earthbenders attacking her. He saw as they began to close in on her, steadily like a pack of lions cornering their prey, waiting to land the final blow.

He couldn't understand why at that moment he wanted to jump in and save her. It was like when he was a kid and he saw the look of fear in the little girls face. Before him was another princess, another damsel in distress that needed a prince, even an exiled prince, to save her. When the final blow was about to be dealt to Katara, he jumped in just in time, breaking the boulders with his swords.

Even though she was the enemy, he offered to carry her on his back and take her to safety. As he walked towards the shack where he was residing he couldn't help but like carrying her on his back.

She smelled sweet even though she had been running for her life, and on top of that he liked the feel of her body on his back…the body a young woman. As he continued with these thoughts he felt for a moment that he was betraying the Blue Spirit for having taken his noble form to save a stranger from an enemy tribe, one that would not hesitate to destroy his home in one blast…but worst of all he felt as if he was betraying the word of his older brother.

Well this was the end of chapter two. I don't know if you people like it when the stories are long or not, but I really felt that his chapter had to be somewhat long to get all the facts in about Zuko's "inner turmoil" as his uncle likes to call it, But it's for the reader to get an idea as to what obstacles he has to go through in order to find out what he really wants. Kind of like the resent version of the legend of the Blue Spirit in a way, to want love or power and the cost of each. All reviews are strongly encouraged, except really negative ones