Well hi there! I just want to thank you for the reviews that I have gotten, they really mean a lot to me and at the same time help me learn so that next time I can do it better.

Some people said that they didn't understand very well what was going on last chapter so to make it really short what happened is that Zuko has lots of power but can't control it so he hates himself and always does the minimum effort so the power won't take over and hurt people so his cousin helps him by teaching another way of fighting. When his cousin dies he hates himself and the mask because he didn't want to become weak. He tries to keep love in himself, but loses it to all the tragedies in his life and learns that raw power is everything, meaning that his throne is what really matters. Well if you understood that good, if not please keep emailing me so that maybe with your help we can make this story have some sense for the people that just don't get it.

Ch 3: No Regrets

As the Blue Spirit carried her, Katara began to feel a little worried. She was indeed safe from the Earthbenders, but was she safe with this mysterious outlaw? Worse was that in her condition, she couldn't make it alone to go save her friends with the medicine she had worked so hard to steal.

Katara wondered how Aang and the others were holding up. If by some miracle the fever were receding, then she still might have the chance to succed. She had never felt so miserable in her whole life.

"No, I can't think like that…they're ok, I know they are! They're strong…they just have to hang on a little more!" Katara repeated over and over in her thoughts.

Her thoughts returned to her savior. She couldn't believe that she actually accepted help from a complete stranger; her instinct, the same instinct her brother told her to trust as it would never let her down, was that he was good.

"Plus," she thought, blushing a bit, "I certainly don't mind him carrying me."

A biting chill swept through the air, making her shiver. Even though the South Pole's temperatures had been far lower, she had been away from home for so long that she had become accustomed to the mild temperatures of the woods. As she lay on his back, she felt him emanate a comforting warmth. It was as if she were standing right under the sun's welcoming rays.

"How could anyone be so warm at a freezing temperature like this?" she wondered, contemplating her savior's identity. As soon as the Earthbenders recognized him, they shrank back in terror and ran like crazy, as if he really were an evil spirit. She checked the walls of buildings as they traveled, thinking that if he were such a terrible person, then wanted posters should have covered the town…but on the walls there were only the remnants of torn down papers.

"Maybe they were from the wanted posters," she thought; maybe he wanted to keep a low profile, taking down all of the posters when no one was looking.

As Zuko carried her, he couldn't help but get somewhat aroused from feeling her body on his back….her chest pressing against him. It was driving him crazy. How could he feel anything for this… this .. Water peasant? He suddenly felt his body starting to warm up: but instead of "warming up" like any normal teenager would, it was as if he were preparing to Firebend.

Out of his gloves and clothes, steam started to slowly hiss out, escaping skywards. He was losing his control again. For the first time since finally having mastered it in his childhood, he was losing control again.

"Why did this have to happen now?" he thought, feeling very stupid and ashamed of the knowledge that the cause was a physical attraction he had to a peasant!

He didn't understand how this could happen. He knew that the origin of his loss of control was the biggest glitch that all Firebenders had to manage: emotions. He had allowed a feeling of lust get the best of him. As a child, he eventually learned how to rule his emotions by rejecting to all of them, but apparently, that technique was going up in steam, literally. He was getting warmer by the second, so he started to concentrate, trying to think of something else.

"Ten more shops to pass until we reach the shack... nine more shops… eight more shops… seven more shops… six more shops…" The steam began to dissipate, and slowly his body temperature stabilized and began to descend.

He never managed to bring it down completely to normal, only to a level where he wouldn't be given away as a Firebender. Because if she did know, she would undoubtedly let him go to lie injured on the street, preferring death by the Earthbenders' hands than accepting his help. He couldn't carry the death of someone innocent on his conscience, even the life of an enemy.

Having spent the longest ten minutes of his life intensely concentrating, they finally arrived to the shack. Without hesitation, he entered the shack, depositing the injured girl on the bed and retreating to the opposite side of the room.

As the Blue Spirit searched for medical supplies across the room, Katara examined her surroundings carefully. From the dust on the window and floor, it looked as if no one had lived in the shack in ages. Turning her head, she saw that right next to her a stack of papers. Carefully stretching her injured arms, Katara managed to bring the stack closer to her.

In the stack were the wanted posters that she wondered about. On it there were five outlaws drawn and listed, along with their crimes against the Fire Nation.

The first one on the left hand corner was Jeong Jeong. She had always wondered what had become of him. She read under the picture his crime against the fire nation: "Has dishonored his nation through the rebellious action of rejecting his post and escaping arrest on multiple occasions." Glad to read the last part, she was sure he would continue being safe, being a Firebending master.

The next on the poster was Iroh, the former Dragon of the West. He had seemed nice enough during their encounters for a Firebender and Katara didn't have an issue with him, unlike his enraged nephew. Similar to Jeong Jeong, his crime was treason and escaping arrest. Katara frowned, a little bit worried about him, too. She remembered the day when he was shot by Azula's blue fire. She remembered the Zuko's face when he saw his uncle lie there, motionless. He was so sad and so angry. Even though they were enemies, she had offered to help, but Zuko wouldn't let her. It was the first time that she had seen a human side to Zuko, remembering her amazement that he could actually care for someone so.

The one she recognized, which probably was the biggest picture was drawn on the poster was of Aang. His supposed crimes were for creating insurrection against the Fire Lord and evading arrest. Katara smiled slightly as she noticed the poster mentioned that he should be approached cautiously because he was traveling with a Waterbending and Earthbending master and a Water Tribe warrior. She couldn't believe it: she was an outlaw. The idea seemed fun to her, but the she realized that as soon as she saw her friends again, she would have to tell them to start acting cautiously, as they were all wanted now.

On the other side of the room, Zuko had started a miniature fire for boiling tea, so that she could drink and thus relax the pain of her wounds. He also took out of his bag the old rags that he wore when dressed as an Earth Kingdom refugee, and some algae-looking plants. Zuko began to wash the rags, turning them into clean bandages; afterwards, he mixed the algae with water and crushed the mixture into a pulp using a stone.

The Blue Spirit first treated her wounded ankle. He tried to be as gentle as possible, maneuvering her body so carefully it was as though she were made of glass. Katara felt reassured by the kindness the Spirit showed her, and as she looked back to the poster, sure enough: there he was, the Blue Spirit, in the corner towards the bottom.

"There you are!" she said excitedly. Zuko startled. He thought that his uncle had gotten rid of those, but apparently he must of thought that someday not so far off, they would make excellent portraits for a family album. He was uneasy now, thinking that she would revoke her trust, knowing he was an outlaw. As he tended to her ankle, placing the finishing wraps around it with the rags, and making sure that it wasn't too loose or too tight, he took peeps to check the expression on her face. It seemed to be smiling.

Katara's eyes widened in disbelief. She read out loud to the Spirit, "The Blue Spirit, enemy of the fire nation and of the welfare of its people, committed the crime of assisting the Avatar, the most mortal enemy to the fire nation, by taking him as a hostage out of a military post under the control of Admiral Zhao. He is not be approached under any circumstance, for he is a deadly killer, who took out more than half of the security of the facility by himself. The reward for his capture is 10,000 gold pieces."

Zuko's stomach turned upside down. He had always regretted the day when he saved the Avatar's life from his mortal enemy and rival. Not only was he unable to take the Avatar to his father, but at the worst moment for weakness, he was saved by his prey!

He stood up and set her foot gently onto the bed. Katara looked at him, her face glowing with the moonlight that beamed through the window as she took in a deep breath and began to ramble.

"You're the one that saved Aang from Admiral Zhao! And here I was thinking that you were actually an evil outlaw. Aang told me that someone with a mask had saved him from Zhao, but I never thought that I would actually meet you! You're probably the most courageous righteous person in the world for having done all that alone, standing up to those fire nation bullies and taking them down, one by one, and without bending! Any friend of Aang's is a friend of mine. I'm Katara of the water tribe, what's your name? Oops, it must have slipped my mind…here it is, pointing with her finger to his picture on the wanted poster." She giggled in embarrassment for having forgotten in it so quickly even though it was practically in her face.

Shocked, Zuko's jaw hung down to practically mid-air. He couldn't believe his ears. He would have never expected so many compliments to be said about him in one sentence. And to top it all of, they came from her. He quickly recovered, but blushed an intense red behind his mask.

Suddenly, he began to feel hot again, from his hands this time. He panicked, looking for a quick solution. He turned to the tea, which was still far from boiling, so he walked to it as fast as he could and, taking off his fighting gauntlets, he pressed his hands on the kettle as hard as he could, making the water boil and the kettle whistle. He sighed from relief that his secret was still his own, though he wondered why the girl was not surprised by his strange action. But then, he looked over his shoulder to her and saw her eyes shining with hatred.

She was looking at Zuko's picture on the wanted poster. She knew that Zuko wasn't totally bad, but she still couldn't find a way to forgive him for what he had done over the months that he had spent chasing them. Scaring and invading her village, stealing her mother's necklace trying to use it as a hostage so that she would give information about Aang, and last but not least, trying to use Aang to bolster his image by turning him in to the Fire Lord.

Zuko paled as he observed her through the cold eyes of the Spirit mask. He knew that she still hated him—hated him with every fiber of her being. He was glad that he had his mask on, because right now if she were given the chance, she would have not hesitated in trying to attack him. Shaking his head and looking away, he poured her a cup of tea.

Walking over to her, he extended the tea cup to her as formally as possible. She tried to lift her arms to receive the tea, but struggled from her earlier injuries. Each time she would try to stretch her arms, she would flinch from the pain. Instinctively, he helped her into a more upright position, placing his left hand on her back, and putting the tea cup to her lips. When he saw that she had enough, he took the cup gently away from her.

Katara let a small sigh slip past her lips, and she observed the observed the mask, losing herself in the black, hollow eyes of the mask. Her grandmother, Kana, had taught her that someone's true personality can always be told through their eyes, no matter what expression they had on their face, but all she got from the mask was a deep feeling of loneliness. She wondered if that was the way the Spirit felt, lonely. If only she knew the half of it.

As she looked up into the mask with calm, tender blue eyes, she whispered, "Thank you, kind Spirit."

Zuko couldn't take it. He was happy beyond question, but at the same time overwhelmingly sad. He looked down to her, admiring her beauty: she was absolutely flawless. He didn't want to ever stop starring at her, until he realized that more than three minutes had passed while he was fixated on her face. He shook his head slightly and came up close to her, again gently helping her up so that he could tend to the rest of her wounds.

He gently helped her remove her coat, trying to make it as painless as possible. As her arm was finally freed from the sleeves, she flinched a little, now left exposed, only in her buttoned, ocean blue shirt.

Zuko, under his mask, began to breath heavily because for the next step, he was totally unprepared. Katara blushed crimson red from embarrassment, understanding what she had to do next for her wounds to be treated properly. Since she couldn't use her bending due to the damage on her arms, she felt like she didn't have a choice, and besides, she trusted the Blue Spirit.

He slowly helped her unbutton her shirt, trying to keep his hand from shaking. His hand trembling as he finally finished unbuttoning the shirt; much to his surprise (and disappointment), however, the shirt slipped off her silky skin but left her in tightly wound cloths that served as a type of undergarment for her. She looked away, her face burning red. Her heart was pounding hard even though she knew that nothing wrong would ever happen. She could feel it from him; even now, she was still treated with respect and kindness. She thought of him as a total gentleman for not acting in an improper way with her. In fact, to her, he seemed to act like a prince.

Zuko eased up a bit, his breathing slowly returning to normal. He wanted to treat her with the utmost respect he could. He was a prince after all: a banished prince, but a prince nonetheless, and that meant acting as a true gentleman of stature at all times. He caressed her shoulders, spreading the homemade remedy he had prepared for her wounds. Through the mushy goop that he placed on her, he felt her soft, smooth skin. As he rubbed the salve into skin, covering up her shoulders almost completely, the only thought in his mind was, "flawless."

When he finished, he placed the only comfortable pillow that he had against the back of the bed, helping her lay against it so that she could rest easily for the night. Immediately when she lay against the pillow, a light blue glow began to emanate from her wounds. Zuko was in awe as he beheld in confusion the unknown glow coming from her body…only to see it suddenly vanish! Zuko blinked his eyes in disbelief. "What the hell happened?" he thought. As soon as the glow disappeared, Katara experimentally stretched her limbs. Apparently, Zuko's remedy was water-based, so when it made contact with Katara's body, she instinctively healed herself!

After stretching and trying out her miraculously-healed limbs, she saw the Blue Spirit standing there motionless, knowing how perplexed he must have been seeing what he saw her do. "It's ok…see, I'm a Waterbender, so I can heal myself with water instantly," she explained to him in a calm tone. She got up out of the bed, starting to get dressed.

As Zuko watched, he could only admire her powers. "She is truly blessed! Like an angel!" He meditated on the great difference between both their powers. He thought of himself as evil reincarnate, whose sole purpose is to destroy, while she was truly an angel of God. She was blessed with the power of creation and the preservation of life.

As she finished getting dressed, she grabbed the medicine bottle that she had stolen and stepped forward to the Spirit. She looked at him seriously, and suddenly brought his masked face down to hers, kissing him slightly on the cheek.

"Thank you for your help, but I have to go help my friends now. I'll tell Aang that I finally had the honor to meet you, noble Spirit." And with that she made it to the door. She stood there for a moment, looking back at him and waving farewell, and with thatm she raced off into the night to save her friends.

The Blue Spirit closed the door and went to lay on the bed, waiting to be sure that she did leave. When he was completely sure she was gone, he threw his mask off as fast as he could, and smiled. The memory of the kiss kept replaying in his mind, over and over again. He didn't care if she were from another nation. He couldn't even care if she was from another planet! She had totally made his day…or night, to be more precise.

He lay there starring into the abyss of the crumbling ceiling above him. He began to remember the days when he hated himself for having saved the Avatar from his rival, but he realized that if he hadn't, she wouldn't have been so comfortable around him or given him her trust so easily.

For the first time in ages, he felt complete…at peace with himself. So much excitement was flowing through his body that he didn't realize that he was shooting sparks everywhere around the room until he caught sight of his uncle's tea set, which was melting from the heat emanating from his body. Then he noticed the mattress bursting into flames. Panicking, of course, he fetched buckets of water to put out the fires.

After the room was totally drenched, he laid back again against his wet bed. Even though he knew that he liked her, he couldn't determine whether it was mere infatuation or real love. He pondered on it for a long time being reminded by the tale his cousin told him of the Blue Spirit and the Waterbending girl that claimed his fighting spirit. Zuko felt as if he and Kataraa belonged in that tale, and how his previous heroic action seemed to be from the fairytales he had heard as a child, of princes saving damsels in distress. It was all too perfect…except for the fact that she loved the Blue Spirit, and not him.

He couldn't stand it anymore. There was a war going on inside of him. One half, telling him to chase after her and reveal his true identity; and the other part, telling him not to be so stupid as to risk giving his identity away and getting killed because of it.

He knew that if he joined her, he would have to give up the search and kidnapping of the Avatar, thereby giving up his only ticket home to his throne and the power that came with it. But he would end up lonely, like the Spirit after he had defeated all of his enemies. He shook his head violently. He loved her; she complimented his destructive power with the power of healing and made his soul feel free.

He had made up his mind: he would go to his uncle, tell him the news that he had fallen in love with someone special, and that he wanted to join that girl and be with her forever, even if it meant giving up his throne. So he grabbed his mask and tied a string through the holes that it had in each side, hanging it around his neck to rest against his back.

He placed his broad swords under his belt and wrapped a cloak around himself. Finally ready, he ran out the door, making his way to the tavern where his uncle was still passing the night in his Pai Sho tournament, thinking about the difficult decision he had made with no regrets whatsoever in his mind.

Well there you have it people! See I told you that I'd put some real Zutara in here soon and so I did! I hope that this chapter is easier to read and follow than the other ones. Well I'm off to continue with the next chapter and don't forget to keep those reviews coming!