A/N:: This is a Zutara story but i'm gonna take it slow( the whole falling in love thing) Please enjoy, this isn't a one shot. Im goint to try to update every week, because i have most of the story alredy written.
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Katara was running through the dark, dirty, deserted streets of Omashu. The earth kingdom city was crawling with fire nation soldiers and Katara had to escape if she ever wanted to see daylight again. With the full moon as her only light source she forced her self to run faster until she could no longer hear the faint sounds of footsteps scurrying behind her. She stopped to catch her breath. The abandoned water bender blended in with the dark and mysterious night. She had on tight black pants and a black shirt. Her black gloves, boots, and cape matched the rest of her outfit. To complete her disguise she had on a blue and white demon mask that covered her face. She had found the mask on the floor one day while she was running from a bald man who was yelling something about a girl dressed in black who had stolen his bread.
After her lungs had gotten all the air they needed she started to walk back to the vacant hut she had been living in ever since Sokka and Aang left her. She knew they had left her because they did not want her to get hurt, but their betrayal still made her heart ache and brought tears to her eyes every time she thought about it.
She jumped through the back window and collapsed on the bed as soon as she got in. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. She fell asleep with the letter that had mysteriously flown to her clutched tightly in her hand. The piece of paper only bore five words, but those five words still frightened the courageous girl. The letter said…
You have something I want.
One week earlier…
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Zuko was running with all his might to the top of a large mountain. Why? Because that was all he could do to stop himself from falling apart. As he ran through the trees of the mountain tears continued to stream down his pale face. The exiled Fire Nation Prince had not cried in over nine years, and if the Fire Lord, his father, was present at the scene he would have called Zuko weak. But Zuko was not thinking about his monstrous father. The only thing he could concentrate on was to keep running. So he ran. He ran to try to erase the horrendous scene that was replaying in his head.
Zuko had just witnessed the death of his beloved uncle and he was desperately trying not to fall apart. So he ran. When he got to the top of the mountain that over looked all of Omashu he stopped. Suddenly his right hand swung to his blue and white mask. He violently removed it from his head. Then, unable to resist the urge to throw something, anything, he threw it with all his might to the city of Omashu beneath him. All of a sudden he was furious at himself for disposing himself of the only thing that made him unrecognizable. Anger boiled up inside him like fire running through his being. He pointed his head towards the sky. He opened his mouth and let a long stream of fire escape from it. He brought his arms up, and then down very violently; burning the grass around him.
He tried to calm down; well aware that fire bending abilities went out of control when the fire bender lost control of certain emotions. He focused on the fire around him and some how managed to concentrate on only that. He was able to make it banish. But then the tranquility he found also banished.
He dropped to his knees and screamed. Tears rolled down from his face to the burned grass underneath him. His uncle had died at the hands of his terrible sister Azula, and that made him want to kill her. "Why!" He yelled again and again. He then fainted.
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At the time Katara had been running with a man's bread in her hands. She knew that stealing was wrong but she had not eaten in days and the hunger was killing her. She heard the man she had robbed scream something at her. She had kept running and suddenly turned around a corner as she heard the Fire Nation Soldiers start to shout after her. She was running through a vacant street but then she tripped over something. She turned around to look at what it was; a blue and white mask. She picked it up knowing that it would make her unrecognizable and ran back to her hut.
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Five days after Zuko had fallen apart he had gone down to the city to buy, or more likely steal, some food. When he did he had started to walk back to the mountain but a certain sight made him stop. A girl, or what he decided was a girl because of the person's body, had just walked past him wearing his mask. He had fallowed her and delivered his massage by a non-violent way; paper. He had written…
You have something I want.
Katara was currently sleeping peacefully in her hut, not being bothered by the letter, and Zuko was somewhere in the mountain, pondering about how he would get his mask back. Contrary to Katara, Zuko could not sleep that night. He got up from the ground and started to slowly walk up to the mountain top. Iroh's death still made his heart and soul ache but he was gone and Zuko could not bring him back.
When he reached the mountain top he sat down on the burnt floor. He sat looking at the full moon. It made him think of the graceful yet deadly water benders who drew their power through the moon. The only water bender he had actually met was a girl from the southern water tribe who had been traveling with the Avatar.
He could not remember her name and that frustrated him, and he did not know why. So for a good three hours he sat there trying to remember the girl's name. What was it? He asked himself. Katana? No. Kara? No. Kamara? No. Kana? No. He knew it was something with Ka… He finally gave up and tried to fall asleep.
He could not get her face out of his head though. She's so beautiful. He thought. Whoa, where did that come from? He asked himself. He then fell asleep on the mountain that over looked all of Omashu thinking that it did not matter because she was probably with the Avatar and he would never see her again. The fire bender had never been more incorrect.
The fallowing day Katara was walking down the streets of Omashu, minding her own business and wearing the mask. All of a sudden she felt a strong arm grab her. The person pinned her to his body and whispered in her ear, "Don't move or scream. You will regret it." Katara let herself get dragged to a completely dark alley. Her heart was racing with fear but she could not help but blush under the mask as she felt the person's strong muscles against her back.
She found her voice and said. "What do you want?" The person replied, "All I want is my mask." Before she could react she was knocked out and when she awoke the person was gone and so was the mask.
She ran back to her hut. She was furious! But she was positive that she would get that mask back. She climbed to the top of her hut, something she did a lot, and sat to look at the burning sun. For some reason she thought that she recognized the voice of the man that had attacked her.
She kept looking at the sun for a few seconds but it hurt her eyes so she had to look away. But the sun did not leave her mind. She could not help but think of the fire bender that used to chase Aang, Sokka, and her. She could not remember his name and that frustrated her, and she did not know why. She suddenly realized that the voice of her attacker belonged to that fire bender, but she still could not remember his name.
Again she could not stop the faint pink color from creeping onto her cheeks as she thought about the conversation they had had at the Crystal Cave. Katara had been extremely close to healing his scar. She could not believe that she remembered every word that they had spoken but she could not remember his name. Suddenly she got very mad at herself. She should not be thinking about him that much. She should be thinking about how she was going to steal the mask.
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Meanwhile Zuko was running up to the mountain top, again. The mask was in his hand. When he reached his destination he stopped, his mind racing. He would have never imagined that the person who had come to posses his mask was the water tribe girl. He regretted knocking her out but he had to do that to get his mask back.
Now as he sat at the mountain looking at the city below him he could not help but ponder why she would need a mask. It did protect her, but didn't she have the Avatar and her brother for that? After giving the subject much thought he came to the conclusion that they had abandoned her. It all made sense. He had not seen them in the city while he was there with his uncle. And even if the Avatar was there the fire nation would have caught him. So she is alone, just like me. He thought.
The next day Zuko woke up with an uneasy feeling. He had fallen asleep on the mountain top and he could not brush off the feeling that he was being watched, and for once he was correct.
Earlier that morning Katara had woken up and decided to go for a walk. Not many people were up yet and as she walked deeper into the city a thought crossed her mind. She decided to go explore the mountain. She had never reached the mountain top and she thought that it would be fun. To her surprise when she got there she found 'that fire bender' asleep with the mask in his hand.
Zuko turned around and saw 'that water bender' standing behind him. "I want the mask." She said. She then got into a fighting position. She was not giving up. Instead of fighting the girl he sighed and said, "Fine, you obviously need it more than I do." He outstretched his hand. Hesitantly Katara took it. At the moment they both remembered the other person's name. "Zuko?" "Katara?" They both asked at the same time.
Thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!
