Well, I don't really like this chapter. It is a bit sad, but I'll live.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Avatar. If you think I do then run screaming to your nearest therapist because you are officially crazy!!
Mother Bear
I am the Blue Spirit. I am wild and free. I am Prince Zuko. I am this way because I have no home. I moved through the trees in the blue oni mask and black getup. I watch silently for my prey. More Fire Nation soldiers. Azula always lies. I should have known. Now, this is my revenge. I wait, but nothing happens. The silence is starting to frighten me as I can sense a trap. Still, I wait.
I feel someone grab my arm. I whirl and face the intruder in my tree. She is an older woman though pretty. She has hazel eyes the same shade as mine behind the mask. Her pale skin and onyx hair is also mine. I have seen her in better clothing before though. Her face once meant something to me, though recently I realize that her protection means nothing. I pull away.
"So it is true. There is a Blue Spirit," she says. Mother, I wish you could see me, I think. I still stay silent. No one can know who I am. I start to leave. Perhaps I can come back as me. I wonder if she'll recognize me. Unbiddingly, a thought comes: I wonder if she'll want to recognize me... She follows as if I'm supposed to be leading her somewhere. I stop and turn back to her. What does she want? "But you're not a spirit. I wonder whose face is under that mask." She reaches out like I would let her take of the mask. I move. She looks hurt. "Does the Blue Spirit at least have a voice if not a face?" I shake my head. She looks sad. I wait for her to leave. She doesn't. As if she thinks I have changed my mind she reaches for the mast once more. Once more, I move. She closes the distance once more and I again move. I feel something move at the back of my head and I know there is someone else. I catch the mask before it falls too far. But still she sees. She reaches for me.
"Leave me alone," I tell her. She looks shocked. I back away, retying the mask in place. She moves forward once again. "Stop," I command. She does. I missed her before now. But now I am the Blue Spirit. I cannot afford any hindrances. I cannot have any ties. No one must get the advantage on me. Not anymore.
"Zuko?" she asks, reaching once more for me. I move once more. No ties. It's said in the Fire Nation that mothers are like bears. My mother is, I know. Even by name. She wants to protect me. I don't need that now. I'm not sure I can accept it anymore. I've been independent too long.
"Leave. Forget the Blue Spirit," I tell her. But instead I leave. She left the den long ago. She failed to protect me like a mother bear. But now when she does return, I have left. I am no longer Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. I am not her son any longer. I am the Blue Spirit. I have no home. I have no mother bear.