A.N.: I am truly ashamed that I let two years slip by without updating this! I thank you all so much if you're reading this for the first time, rereading it to get reacquainted, or have left reviews or added it to your favorites. I really do appreciate it! If you are rereading this, I have begun to rewrite this, to extend the details, and work out some errors that I made in the original form. I will be not only updating what is already here, but I will be adding new chapters, and concluding this story by the end of the year. Thank you again for your patience and I hope you are all still interested! This is the ninth chapter to be rewritten as of July 21, 2010.

Of course I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of the characters except for Kelyin, Ren, Shaya, and the Outcasts. Though you will later find out, I'll make it clear now that everyone is 3 years older. Zuko was 16, now 19, Katara 14/17, Sokka 15/18, Aang 12/15, Toph 12/15. Also, the events of this story were written after the second season, so please disregard all events from the final season of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

/. /. / CHAPTER 9: The Free, the Unmasked, and the Loved

/. /. / This chapter takes place 2 MONTHS after Chapter 8: The Name, The Fall, and the Reveal.

/. /. / KYOSHI ISLAND

Katara watched in silence as he placed the kettle on the fire. Even now she couldn't believe that this was the man she'd once considered an enemy. He was a completely different person in every way. He was free now. No one to answer to, no one to chase. Free. He'd come to terms with what had happened in the past. His fathers and sisters hatred toward him, his scar, his banishment, the wasted years hunting Aang, siding with Azula, Iroh's death, the years of unending pain. Instead of dwelling on them as he always had, he'd finally accepted what had happened and move on from it. He was actually happy now, and though he never expressed it in words, she could see the change in him. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt a pang of guilt for her masquerade on those more and more frequent smiles he gave her, though there was always something somewhat shy and uneasy about them, and he never showed his teeth when he smiled. Though he seemed to have a more upbeat outlook about him, he still had several insecurities about himself. Being the older but more sensitive brother to the ever competitive Azula, it was clear he'd been raised with the idea of proving himself. Having been marred and banished by his own father didn't help. It would take years of freedom to rid him of his insecurities.

While she'd been able to heal all the scars produced by his captors, her fingers longed to sink into the one he wouldn't let her touch; the one left by his father over his eye and across his ear. She'd offered to rim him of it, but he refused, saying that it meant something to him. He refused to speak of it beyond that. Since finding him in the woods almost four months ago, he'd gained several pounds of the weight he'd unwillingly lost in the torture chamber, but he was still remarkably thin. It suited him though, being tall and lanky. She had to admit, she did sneak into the brush to watch him bath in the stream once, his back to her. So used to seeing muscular warriors, she liked Zuko's thin frame and the wiry muscle slowly reemerging where it lay dormant so long.

His hair had started to grow back, the black locks naturally spiky and unruly at its short length. She wondered how long he would let it grow this time. She'd finally found a pair of brown pants that fit him correctly, the other green pair being slightly too short for his long legs. He wore a long sleeve green shirt with brown robes over it. Fall was around the corner and the air was already getting chilly. She'd have to find him something heavier to wear soon.

"Kara?" The soft voice came from beside her, snapping her from her own thoughts. She turned to find Zuko standing beside her, leaning down to hold out a steaming cup of tea. She blushed, unseen beneath the Outcast face paint, embarrassed at her deep stupor. He smiled at her as she accepted the tea from him. He turned and sat by the waters edge. Sitting the cup of tea beside himself, he rolled his pant legs up and laid his legs in the cool water. She edged over and sat beside him, staring out over the stream. He looked over at her. "Are you alright?"

She stayed silent for a moment, then met his eyes with her own. Brilliant gold, full of trust and appreciation. She couldn't do it anymore. "No… I'm not. I've been lying to you since the day I found you…" His warm golden eyes clouded with worry. She hated to do this to him when he was so content, but she just couldn't stand lying to him anymore. "I know who you really are. Your name isn't Lee… it's Zuko…" He stood suddenly, looking away, absently touching his scar.

"Please Kara…" his voice was soft, "please don't do this. If you send word of who I am, all the work you've done will be erased in mere minutes because of my sisters vengeance. She'll come for me and the punishment will be ten times worse. I'm not strong enough to fight her. I can barely light the fight with my bending, let alone try to duel her. I just want to live in peace now, please…" She stood, taking his face by the chin and turned him to look at her.

"That wasn't all I had to say. I said I lied to you, Zuko." She walked to the tent, retrieving a small jar*. She returned to the waters edge and kneeled, her back to him. "I lied about who I was too, Zuko. I'm not really an Outcast." Zuko's heart began to race as she stood, her back still to him. When she turned, her face almost cleared of the black and white make-up. Zuko's good eye widened.

"Katara…" He whispered her name, taking a timid step forward. "Why would you go through all this to save me after what I did to you and your friends? The Avatar almost died because I chose my sisters side." Katara gave a small smile.

"He has a name you know. You could try calling him Aang once in a while. He's human, just like you and me, not just the Avatar.

"I'm sorry I hunted you, and Aang, all that time. I'm sorry that I chose Azula's side and attacked you after you trusted me."

"Azula is the one that tortured you, isn't she? I had a feeling it was her." She reached up and began to unpin the hood and scarf that kept her hair hidden. "You've paid dearly for your mistakes. Seeing what was done to you because you chose the wrong path, who am I to still hold a grudge against you." She pulled the hood away. Her long brown hair was pinned back and secured in a braid, wound tightly against the back of her head.

"You could have still left me there to die, as was intended."

"It's not in my nature to leave a wounded man to die, no matter who he is. When I realized it was you… when I saw what had become of you…" She looked down. "I saw the real you, Zuko. I saw who you were deep down, under the angry young man you were forced to become. You were so human in that cave three years ago. Even though you betrayed me moments later, I knew you had betrayed yourself as well." She rested her hand on his chest, over his heart. "Your true self. You chose your father's honor over your own heart. Even after three years, I couldn't forget that brief glimpse inside of you." She gingerly touched his final scar. The oldest and most meaningful. "This doesn't define who you are, Zuko. There is so much beneath this…"

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Katara." He held her face in his hands, her skin cool against the constant warmth of his palms. She couldn't hide her blush this time.

He smiled softly. "May I ask you to remove the rest of your make-up?" He lightly traced across her nose, and the edge of her jaw line, where the heavy make-up still lingered from the hurried removal. "It would be nice to see your face in its entirety again. I've known Kara for a while now, but it would be nice to know Katara." She gave a tiny nod and moved to kneel by the water. She dipped her fingers into the jar and spread the pale lilac colored cream across her nose, where Zuko's finger had been. Gentle hands took the jar from her hand as he kneeled on the white stones, facing her. "I can see where it is, may I?" She smiled, turning to face him as he dipped a piece of cloth into the stream and brought it to her face to gently wash away the make-up remnants and the removing cream. He held her chin with one hand, and carefully washed her face with the other. She couldn't help but smile at the concentration on his face as he worked. "Is your brother here? Or are you alone, besides that girl that had visited early on?"

"My brother lives with his wife-to-be, Suki, on the other side of the island. Sokka is the one that carried you here in the beginning, and Suki is the one that stayed with me for the first few weeks." His eye widened a bit as he looked down at himself suddenly, then up at Katara.

"Your brother carried me?"

"Yes, why?"

His voice softened a bit, and he laid the rag in his lap, dipping his finger into the jar to put the remover on the make-up spread around the edges of her face. "It's just a bit embarrassing, that's all. I'm older than him, and I don't remember him being particularly muscular. It just makes me realize how bad off I was when you found me."

"You're a fighter though, Zuko. I don't know of anyone that could survive what you went through for that long a time." He dipped the cloth into the water again, quiet, his face saddened. She watched him as he cleaned the rest of the make-up away. He put the rag down and forced a small smile.

"All cleaned up. I hope you don't feel the need to put it on again. I like seeing you." She couldn't contain herself at the look on his face upon being reminded of his pain and close to death condition. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him. His body stiffened at the sudden contact, seemingly unsure of what to do. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting on her shoulder as the tense muscles softened against her embrace. A genuine smile spread over his features. "Thank you Katara."

/. /. /

Ren watched as Toph idly levitated the pebbles around her and sent them flying against a tree trunk not far away from his place seated on a nearby tree stump. After the fall from Appa, Ren managed to swim to a small Earth Nation not far from Kyoshi. Toph's broken wrist was tended to by the tiny village's wise old medic and since then, they'd done their best to quietly move toward the Southern Air Temple, staying under the radar. Ren had heard rumors that the bounty hunter, Jun, was still searching avidly for them and a reward had now been posted for Toph.

"Easy there with the rocks, Half Pint. Your arm is still vulnerable." Toph huffed and laid down on the ground, her hands behind her head.

"How much longer will it take to get to the Southern Air Temple? I can't stand all this sneaking around anymore. I constantly feel people pursuing us."

"It's that damn reward money and picture that your parents posted everywhere. Everyone becomes greedy when there is a reward." The two stayed in silence for a while. "Have you ever seen anyone?" She sat up suddenly.

"Excuse me? What is that? Some kind of a sick joke?" She glared at him, her fogged over grey eyes staring through him. "Haha, very funny! A regular laugh riot!" She turned from him.

"You know, Toph, not everything is meant as an insult with you. My Aunt lacked sight, but she could see people by moving her fingers over their faces."

"That sounds dumb."

"When we get to the Air Temple, maybe you could finally see what Aang looks like. You could always just try it. Shed a bit of light on the people around you." She turned to face him once more.

"Let me try it on you then." He laughed.

"My face is like the side of a cliff, broken and cracked. You wouldn't know what you were feeling." She stepped toward him.

"What, are you ashamed, or just too chicken to let me see you?" She grinned. "You were the one that brought it up in the first place. Let me practice on you." She reached out. Large, calloused hands enclosed around her small thin wrists as he guided her hands to his face.

Her fingers met a mess of wavy hair. She slid her hands over his hair, which fell past his broad shoulders. She grinned. "Ever heard of a brush, girly man? Meanwhile, isn't it the girl who is supposed to have long flowing hair?" A calloused hand ran through her newly cropped ebony hair.

"Speak for yourself, Half Pint. You're the girl here, yet I distinctly remember having to take you to the barber to have all your hair cut off after you tried to hack it all off yourself with my sword in the middle of the night." She yanked her hands away from his hair.

"It was for disguise! So I wouldn't be as recognizable!" She turned away from him again. Hands embraced her shoulders.

"That wasn't the only reason, and both you and I know it, Toph." He whispered softly in her ear from behind her. "You hate what they made you. A weak little china doll. A perfect, proper young lady. Now that you're away, you think that destroying your image will fix everything. Cutting off all of your hair and wearing the robes of a young man, as far from their world as you can get." He ran his fingers through the feather soft hair at the nape of her neck. "They're wrong, you know. You are beautiful as you are. You don't need the dresses with the corseted waists. You don't need to lose weight. You don't need every hair in place. You don't need the petal colored lip paint and blush on your cheeks." He stroked her pale cheek with the backs of his fingers, then lightly cupped her chin. "This is beautiful, Toph. You don't need their face paint." A tear rolled down her cheek. "And this…," she gasped as his hands slid over her breasts, cupping them briefly before moving down her side and over her hips, moving back to wrap his arms around her stomach, "this is absolutely gorgeous. Strong and healthy, not weak and frail like all the other women. You are beautiful, Toph, right here and now. No face paint or extravagant gowns, but here and now with your shorn hair and your oversized men's clothing." She turned to him suddenly, pressing her lips to his as tears rolled down her cheeks. He pushed her away gently. "No, Toph… you're too young."

"Then what did you say all that for?"

"I said you are too young, Short Stuff. That doesn't mean that I didn't mean every word I said about you."

"I'm not a child. I know what I want…"

"I said no…" His voice lacked the resolve it originally had.

"… I want to…" She pressed her lips to his again. "And you want it… I'm ready…" She whispered softly as he embraced her. "I'm almost 16, I know what I want…"

/. /. /FIRELORD'S PALACE

Ty Lee hugged the walls as she tiptoed down the hall, keeping a close ear for any movement of guards up ahead. A makeshift sling held her mangled right arm, the once broken bones having healed incorrectly with the lack of medical attention. Her long dusty brown hair was a tangled mess, falling to her waist. Her face was heavily bruised and lacerated, as was the rest of her petit form. She pressed herself to the corner wall of the turn as she heard a guard moving toward her. As soon as his footsteps began retreating, she snuck out, her left hand fingers in position. She took a deep breath and struck. She'd always been better at the presser points with her right hand, but the guard went down like a rock all the same. She took his ring of keys, adding them to the two sets from the other guards she'd over taken, in a small fabric pouch she'd made from strips of her prison garb. She took off once more, down the hall to the door at the end. She moved through the keys, trying each one rapidly before moving to the next until she found the right one. She flitted out the door, quietly shutting it behind her before flattening herself to the outside wall, clutching her mangled arm and breathing raggedly in fear. She clenched her eyes closed, biting her bottom lip to keep herself quiet as a guard passed close by. When his footsteps faded, she took a deep breath and ran towards the main wall as fast as her legs would carry her. Her feet threatened to sink into the mud with each step, but she was fast enough to stay above, the mug splashing up her legs and over the hem of her rust colored prison dress. Her heart thudded against her ribs, threatening to burst out of her chest, just waiting for someone to see her escaping. Waiting to feel fire licking at her back. Tears rolled down her cheeks, mingling with the rain. She hit the dark shadow of the wall, moving along it, praying to find the door quickly in the darkness. An arm caught her waist as a hand locked over her mouth, pulling her close. A voice hissed in her ear. "I need you to be very quiet okay?" She gave a small nod as he let her go and lightly gripped her upper left arm. "Alright, good. Let's get going. I'd like to get out of here just as much as you." He stealthily led her in the darkness, feeling along the wall.

/. /. / POST SCRIPT AUTHOR'S NOTE:

P.S.A.N. : So, the big reveal of Katara to Zuko, with a couple of extra paragraphs in the rewrite. I thought it would be sweet to have him remove the extra make-up while having a brief discussion regarding Sokka. As I said originally, it wasn't supposed to happen this way. Zuko wasn't actually going to find out until the last chapter of this story, but when describing his new found personality and freedom, it just seemed like the perfect time for the reveal.

Now, for those of you who read this before, you'll notice a huge change in the scene between Ren and Toph. In the original, Ren comforted Toph as she cried out years of verbal torment. Now she's doing something a hell of a lot bolder. It may seem a bit un-Toph like, but I always saw Toph as a bit of a rebel and of any of the characters, I could see her pulling off the controversial move of sexual relations with a man 10 years her senior. As far as him feeling her up, I also see her having the least issue with a scene like this. If you hate it, hey, it's only fan fiction, dealing with characters that aren't even real. This is just my take on it. You will also notice the whole bit with Ty Lee is brand spanking new. 997 words were added in this rewrite, the most added so far. Only two chapters left to rewrite, then I can finally update this story.

*- The small jar that Katara retrieved is a special cream to remove the thick Outcast make-up. It is water resistant and won't come off without softening it up with the cream.