Well, I got nothing to say, so let's get this thing moving

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA nor I never will.

Ch 5: Another Zuko

With his blazing, fiery blue hand, Zuko reached up for his mask. Everyone's eyes were fixed on him now. He pulled it down slowly, dreadfully: he did not want it to happen this way. He had wanted to show who he really was on his terms, at a more appropriate time.

He violently threw the mask at the ground a few feet from Azula. Everyone immediately spotted red, deformed scar and his short, spiky hair. Azula wouldn't have guessed her opponent would turn out to be him, but, never one to show surprise, she softly passed her hand across her face and combed back a lock of hair that had fallen out of place, smiling wryly at him.

"I can't believe I didn't see this coming!" she laughed sarcastically. "Never in a million years did I think that you would be the Blue Spirit, Zu-Zu!"

Zuko didn't react when she called him by his most hated nickname; he was too mortified, looking at the rest, horror at his unveiling evident on their faces. Zuko could only imagine what the others were thinking.

Sokka's face grew pale, as he stuttered the words out: "We were going to be saved by him!I can't believe I actually started to like that Blue Spirit dude! Now all that's left for us is to just bet who gets to take us to the Fire Lord! Katara, I thought you said this guy was a good guy—he's evil incarnate!"

Katara didn't respond; her mind was too busy furiously reconciling the fact that her miraculous savior and her worst enemy were one and the same. She felt so naïve for having put so much trust into a complete stranger, and inside she was suffering the consequences. She felt sick, remembering the night that she had spent with him.

"It can't be him! He saved me…he took care of me, and was so nice to me!" But she couldn't embrace the idea that maybe Zuko had changed for the best. She began to hate herself, for actually having started to feel for something for him, for allowing him to get so close to her. She was just as hurt as she was confused. Seconds ago, she idolized him and had even grown feelings towards him; now, she just didn't know what to think.

"This keeps on getting better and better! I just can't wait to turn you over to Father… I wonder what he'll do when he hears about this: not only does his son betray the Fire Nation as one person, but as two! If there ever were a good enough excuse to kill you, this one is the winner by a long shot!"

Zuko only stood there, starring at Katara as she looked disappointedly at the ground. He turned to his uncle who looked him in the eyes and gave him a rough, reassuring nod, communicating that there was no shame in doing what he had done. Aang did the same.

Aang agreed that there was something wrong with this picture, though. Zuko was fighting against his sister…for them? But what would he gain from all of it? Aang knew as well as Zuko that should he try to turn him in, he would probably be locked up too as an outlaw. So where was the logic in what he was doing?

"Maybe Zuko accepted that he really was a good guy after all!" Aang thought. He could only hope for the best in thinking that true, because if it weren't then their plan for saving the world from the Fire Lord kaput!

Out of nowhere, Azula commenced the battle, delivering the first attack. It was her traditional, powerful lightning strikes.

Zuko jumped himself backwards, evading every shot that his sister delivered. He was faster now—a lot faster. Whatever power it was that surged through him not only increased the damage power of his Firebending, but also his fighting abilities. It was as if he were really a whole different person, or more like the Zuko that he wanted to hide from everyone… He had become the powerful Zuko that fought on the side of good, putting himself in danger for those he loved.

Zuko evaded strike after strike: he couldn't believe that he was fighting on the same level as his prodigious sister. Azula had noticed too, and was fast becoming furious. She wouldn't let some spineless weakling get the best of her.

Azula thrust both her fists forward at the same time, releasing a giant flare of blue fire. Though the fire reached him in but an instant, with luck and a swish of his arm, Zuko was able to deflect the flame. But he discovered that Azula had intended for him to do that: before he could react, Zuko found his sister inches from his face, throwing a fiery punch at his stomach.

Zuko's head immediately dropped as he folded slightly from the pain. Azula delighted in her momentary victory, but her grin vanished as Zuko lifted his head and delivered a kick that breathed out fire, throwing her meters away from him. Azula made a rough landing just where her friends were lying unconscious, shocking them back to consciousness.

"What happened? Azula, what's going on?" Ty Lee asked worriedly. The observant Mai, however, spotted their foe opposite Azula.

Now, more Fire Nation witnesses had seen the unmasked Blue Spirit; this was going to be difficult. Zuko knew he couldn't just kill them, as it was against his nature… But then again, he couldn't just beg them for their silence, could he?

He waited to see if Azula would get up, hoping that he wouldn't have to continue their battle.

"Just this once, can't she call it quits?" he murmured, but his wish wasn't to be answered.

Azula flipped herself up, bringing a hand across her lips, wiping blood that had escaped her mouth away. Her rage was no longer masked by a smile.

She lunged at full speed towards her brother, shooting fire balls from her hands like machine guns. Confident after winning an edge over his sister, Zuko placed himself in his horse stance, opting to take the fireballs head on. Breathing deeply, he brought his hands together and thrust them towards Azula in unison, unleashing a fiery, blue drago.

The roaring of fire clashing with fire reverberated through the clearing. Zuko's dragon took the fireballs between its teeth as they struggled to get free. Azula began to struggle as she put more and more into the blast. She knew she couldn't keep it up forever, but she knew Zuko couldn't either.

But Zuko really felt no pressure at all: it was as if an infinite supply of firepower were coursing through his veins. The dragon feeding on his wealth of power, he knew now that Azula was beat.

Swallowing the fireball, the dragon engulfed the rest of Azula's barrage. For her part, though, Azula couldn't move: she was petrified from fear. She knew she had to run, but her legs wouldn't budge. At the last possible moment, she threw herself to the right, but the dragon still managed to bite a piece of her. The blast seared through her left shoulder. As her body cooked in the blaze, she cried in agony, wishing that it would stop.

"Azula!" her friends cried from the back, seeing their leader partially devoured by the fiery beast. Hearing his sister's screams, Zuko instinctively closed his hands and ended the fire dragon's feeding spree. Azula's entire shoulder was scorching hot, as carbon smelling fumes fizzled from her burnt body. She was completely broken. Her deformed shoulder had already begun transforming itself into a red scar, like Zuko's.

Azula couldn't believe what had happened. The image of how the dragon had broken through her fireball and begun eating her alive replayed over and over again, as if she were trying to decipher at which point in the duel she had made a mistake.

Zuko felt heavy. "I win."

Everyone couldn't believe their eyes at to what they had just witnessed. Swelling with pride, Iroh was overjoyed that his nephew was able to win the duel honorably. In that fight, Zuko had grown more than he had in done in years. He mastered new powers that he never knew he had, and finally pulled of incredible stunts worthy of a Fire Nation prince.

Awe-struck, Aang could only grin, thrilled that Zuko had won. Not only had he escaped Azula one more time, but he had been present at a real Fire duel between two powerful contenders. Once free, Aang wanted to ask Zuko to be his teacher right away, so that he could pull of stunts like that against the Fire Lord.

Curious about her condition, Zuko walked towards his fallen sister. But as he walked closer, Mai moved in front of Azula and extended her arms, silently communicating him that he wouldn't pass to hurt her friend. Ty Lee followed suit, defiantly flanking Mai with a glare towards Zuko.

Unexpectedly, they both dropped to the ground on their knees and Mai, without lifting her head, spoke out to Zuko, "Please Blue Spirit, please spare our friend and princess!"

"We haven't seen anything, nor do we know who you are, so please spare our friend!"

Zuko stared down at them with cool eyes. He couldn't believe how lucky Azula was for having such loyal friends… Friends that she would easily trade away for a chance to take the Fire Nation throne.

Azula was staggering, trying to lift herself from the ground. Her shoulder was bleeding, smoking still wafting from the wound. The blood made rivulets down her arms to the tips of her sharp fingernails, dripping tiny drops onto the ground.

"What are you doing Mai!" she shrieked. "Get up both of you, we can still take him!"

Mai, still not moving from her bowed position, desperately screamed, "No Azula, we can't!"

"We can't beat him, not like this! Azula, back down! Haven't you ever heard of living to fight for another day!" Ty Lee appealed. Though she wasn't the best friend they could ask for, both Mai and Ty Lee cared for Azula and her well-being.

Zuko slowly turned and walked to where the prisoners were. Walking away, he said, "Mai, Ty Lee, make sure my sister sees a doctor right away…unless she wants it to become a permanent scar."

When he reached where his uncle and the others were chained up, he knelt down first where his uncle was to free him. He waited for some remark from his uncle, any remark, even his old annoying proverbs…but all his uncle could do was look at him with a smile

"You've done well Zuko!" Grabbing the shackles with his fiery hand, Zuko melted them right off. Zuko wanted to believe what his uncle had said, but as he looked to the others that were still bonded, he couldn't be certain. Even though Aang was smiling, the reaction of the other members of the group (including the one he cared for) was muted.

He next moved on to release Aang from his shackles, who said a formal thank you to Zuko, but then went flying off to break the chains that held Appa down.

Next came Toph, who strangely enough was the only one who wasn't making any face at him, good or bad, looking as if an enemy helping them were an everyday occurrence.

Sokka tried to keep his calm as Zuko was walking closer to him. He stoically waited to be freed until Zuko extended his fiery blue hand on Sokka's shackles. The Water Tribe boy cried out when he saw how easily the metal melted off his wrists and jumped back, grabbing his boomerang, unsure as to what the dangerous Firebender would try next.

Finally, Katara's turn came. He made no expression on his face, and tried to avoid all eye contact. Zuko couldn't bear seeing her deceived and disappointed shaded blue eyes. For her part, Katara felt like she was frozen in place. But as soon as the shackles melted off, she quickly got up, running towards Aang and Appa.

Aang was already helping Toph up on the back of the bison, followed by Sokka. She was almost halfway to the bison when Azula, helped to her feet by her friends, pushed them aside to prepare to deal a final blow.

"No, I won't let it end this way! I would rather die than be a weak failure like you!" Azula cried venomously. Setting herself in stance, she began to wave her right arm around, sparks shooting out of the tip of her finger tips.

"If I cannot take them back alive," she shouted, "I won't let them leave this place at all!" Splitting the energy around her into positive and negative, she shot her arm out, releasing a deadly charge.

"Now, all of you die!" she screamed, dropping to the ground with exhaustion. As if in slow motion, Zuko could only watch as the fatal strike made its way closer to her target.

"Katara, look out!" the Avatar called out. Turning to see the strike coming towards her, Katara's eyes grew in fear, as she instinctive lifted her arms to protect herself.

Time seemed to freeze for Zuko. He could see the lighting strike move barely inch-by-inch as each second passed in his mind. His legs suddenly becoming unstuck, he dashed as fast as he could to save her, but as he ran the lighting bolt seemed to move faster and faster. Right then, the only thing he wanted in the world was to save her: he didn't care how, just that he needed to save her.

Just as he repeated those wishes in his mind, he felt a deep heartbeat in his chest. Strangely foreign, it started beating harder and more consecutively. He felt an unkown force taking over: he started to feel more of the same power he had when he fought Azula flow through him. His ankles released a burst of blue flames as he ran, propelling him so fast that it looked like he were actually flying very low to the ground. He stopped right in front of Katara, and swiftly allowed the lightning to enter his body through his fingertips, make a path down through his stomach, and shot it out through his opposite arm.

Eyes hidden as she recoiled from the impending attack, Katara hadn't seen Zuko dash to block the attack, and she wondered why she was still alive. Katara felt her stomach flip as she looked forwads towards the back of the Fire Prince, now facing forward and prepared in his regular fighting stance to see if his vile, dishonorable sister would try again. Aang couldn't believe what he just saw happen.

But before Azula could ready another assault, Ty Lee placed her on her shoulders as Mai released a smoke screen bomb, hiding their escape.

When he was sure that they were gone Zuko looked over his shoulder, gazing at the startled Katara.

"You're ok, aren't you, Katara?" he asked. She was still half-frozen with shock, but she managed to give a small nod. Even though she saw it with her two own eyes, she couldn't believe that this was the same Zuko.

The blue flames which radiated from his fists and legs fizzled away. He was still looking at her when he smiled, "I'm glad."

When he finally turned around to face her fully, Zuko felt a paralyzing exhaustion take over him. His body began to release a thick steam, making him look like a steamboat with too much pressure, as he finally gave up to the forces of gravity and fell down to the ground, passing out into a deep slumber.

Iroh ran quickly to aid his nephew, picking him up and placing him on his shoulders. Though an old man, he was still strong enough to carry Zuko's weight. He started to walk away from the rest of the gang when Aang hopped off Appa and ran up behind Iroh, calling his name.

"Wait! We owe your nephew our lives," panted Aang. "The least that we can do for you give you a lift to somewhere safe."

Iroh looked at him with an intrigued smile, answering back in a formal tone, "Your aid is much obliged, young Avatar." And so Iroh, carrying Zuko on his shoulder walked beside Aang, moving forwards to the large bison.

Sokka was completely confused.

"What are you doing?" Sokka screamed at Aang. "They're Fire Nation! They'll stab our backs the minute we give them a chance…plus, didn't you see what Zuko just did? He's a menace! He'll probably burst into flames like that again and go ballistic on us!"

"Sokka, these Firebenders just saved your neck from a public hanging, is that anyway to repay someone? I'm also dangerous, but that doesn't stop any of you guys to come along with me!"

Iroh had just finished loading up his nephew on top of the bison, laying him flat on its back and sitting beside his resting nephew. Toph lounged beside the old man. Even though she couldn't really see, she could sense something was wrong with Iroh. She knew from their meeting on the mountainside that Iroh had wanted to protect his nephew from harm, and realized he ust have been feeling useless.

"Don't worry, he's going to be ok," Toph said, looking at Iroh with a confident face. "Even though your nephew was our enemy and not too many good things can be said, one of the few is that he never gives up! He'll be in great health again real soon."

Toph's words comforted the retired Dragon of the West. He could only look down to see his nephew's face, still in disbelief in how selfless he had really become in such a short while. As Katara finally got on top of Appa, Iroh examined her for a minute, remembering how his nephew acted at the last minute to save her… And finally, as if he had been struck by lightning, he understood the cause of his nephe's amazing transformation.

Katara sat herself in a corner with her angry brother, as far away from Zuko as she could. She looked back at Aang who was on top of Appa's head, whipping softly the reins of the bison and yelling the magic words to make him move: "Appa, Yip-yip!"

They were soon high above the forest, making their way to a safer location to drop the Firebenders off. She wondered why, of all people, Aang would be the first to pardon Zuko. He knew that there was a chance that Zuko had not really changed, and that this was one of his schemes to catch Aang.

But then she thought again. What kind of a scheme would involve facing a huge number of Fire Nation soldiers, and later facing the most powerful Firebender with her elite team of bounty huntresses? There was nothing that he could actually get out of it. She looked back at where Zuko laid, flanked by his uncle and Toph. She listened as the two struck up a conversation about the fiery trouble that Zuko pulled off in his youth, so that she could better understand the Firebender, rather than just relying on the bad reputation he had earned while chasing them.

"Zuko wasn't the best of the best Firebenders, despite what one would imagine about him being a prince. Actually, he spent more time making cooked ducks turn into ashes at the dinner table than burning up his targets in training! I remember this one time when he actually set off Azula's hair on fire! Everyone thought that it was an accident since he really couldn't control himself, but something in his eyes told me that it was on purpose…"

Toph rolled around laughing when she heard that one. The idea of a mini-Azula with her hair on fire tickled her terribly. From the distant corner, Katara let a small giggle pass her lips.

When Iroh heard her, he called over to her saying, "Hello there, why are you sitting over there in the depressed, gloomy, and waiting-for-the-evil-Fire-Nation-to-get-off side?" He yelled that part out just for the fun of picking on Sokka. She giggled again at that remark, as her brother grumbled some not-so-nice words and turned to face away from them.

Katara walked over to where Toph and Iroh were having their conversation, making sure not to step on Zuko who was still resting from the almost impossible rescue mission. Katara didn't partake much in the conversation between the two, but she began to learn from his uncle's perspective who the real Zuko was.

He told them about the time when his late son, during the siege of Ba Sing Se, told him about his nephew's first Fire Festival. From the description, she learned that Zuko was a spirited, happy boy with a lot of good in his heart. She especially came to that conclusion when Iroh told the part where he saved that girl during the magic trick with the dragon. She remembered the same thing happening to her with Aang and couldn't believe the odds of that happening.

As she heard on more tales about the young man's past, she began to wonder if the Zuko that they had met was in fact a mask, and that when he would use the mask of the Blue Spirit, it was the only time he could truly be himself.

Everyone else fast asleep but Aang, still at the reins with Appa, Katara reflected on her memory of the last few days: from discovering Aang and Toph, all the way to when Zuko saved her for the third time, from the lighting strike. She looked at him with tender eyes as he slept peacefully. She was beginning to feel that the feelings that she had grown for the Blue Spirit, had transformed into feelings for the young prince.

With her cool hand, she caressed his red scar, slowly leaning down to give him a soft kiss on the lips for good night. She raised her head slowly away from his and laid herself against a side of the wooden deck on Appa's back, slowly closing her eyes and sleeping with a small smile on her face that didn't wear off till the next morning. As she slept, Iroh watched her from an eye that remained open.

"You're very lucky, Prince Zuko," he murmured as he slowly dozed off again.

Sorry for the late update. I would have submitted this earlier but well, it was fates turn to call the shots for this one and decided that I should suffer with a short circuiting of my whole block, taking away my precious light and electricity. But anyway I hope the fic is better for all of you guys that are reading this. I tried to make sure this time that people wouldn't get confused with who is talking by shortening more the paragraphs. If you think they should be shorter or want to inform me of another mistake I'm doing please feel free to review. May the holy element of Light bless you all, illuminate your paths, and shine a big light bulb on your heads so that you can et good ideas for your fics.