Katara
"Zuko?!" I shout in surprise as I see the fire prince thrown into the pit with me. I wish I had water anywhere nearby, but no such luck. He doesn't attack either, though, which is good. I've seen him fight, and even without his firebending I'm no match for him without water. I let out a frustrated groan and walk as far away from him as I can before I sit down. My mother's necklace feels heavy on my neck, and I am suddenly overcome by anger and grief. It might as well have been him. He's heir to the fire nation throne, Ozi's son, banished or not. He'll sit atop as Fire Lord one day, and if we don't win this war then it'll be him waging it, trying to dominate the kingdoms and tribes that aren't his to possess. And I have no doubt that eventually if they can't possess the rest of the world, then they'll burn the rest of the world to the ground. Suddenly, I jump to my feet. Water or no water, I can't just sit here with him.
"Why did they throw you in here?!" I shout at him. He doesn't even look up. "Oh, wait, let me guess. It's a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help me you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches." Bitterness is dripping from my lips and seeping in my voice. He looks at me, but looks away just as quickly. He doesn't say a word, and his silence is infuriating. "You're a terrible person, you know that? Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the World's last hope for Peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" He answers me sharply, That statement infuriates me more than his silence did.
"I don't?" I say, more of a challenge than a question. He has no idea how exactly I know what I'm talking about. "How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me, Personally!" I sit down and feel my eyes well up with tears. Angry, grieving tears. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me." I tell him, my voice choked with emotion. I expect him to laugh, to call me pathetic. But instead, he does what I never expected from him.
"I'm sorry." Escapes his lips. He sounds…gentle, sympathetic, sincere. I look up, wiping my tears away, and I see he's turned to face me. "That's something we have in common."
"W-what?" I ask.
"The Fire Nation. My Nation. And my mother. She's gone." I harden my gaze at him.
"Liar. You're lying. Your mother was a Fire Nation Princess."
"I'm not lying, Katara!" He says and stands up. "It's the truth." I'm not Toph. I can't tell when people lie through their breathing and their heartbeat. But there's something in his eyes and his voice that makes me believe him. I stand up too. "What happened?"
"I'm not entirely sure. But my mother disappeared the same night my grandfather died. I think my father had something to do with it. When I was 10, my cousin died in the war. He was my uncle's only child. My father always wanted the throne, and he saw this as an opportunity. Azula and I hid while he spoke to our grandfather, asking for the throne. My grandfather got angry at his treachery at my Uncle Iroh. He said Iroh had suffered enough losing his son, but my father would suffer as Iroh had. That his suffering had only begun. I ran off before I heard anything else. Then my sister told me later Uncle was coming home from Ba Sing Se. Defeated. Later, Azula started taunting me, saying Dad was going to kill me. My mother pulled her away for a talk, and I went to bed. Later that night, my mother woke me up and told me everything she did, she did because she loved me. My grandfather died that same night. His will had just been revised and said my uncle lost his birthright when he left Ba Sing Se. And I never saw my mother again."
"You think she killed the Fire Lord to protect you? And that she was killed because of that?"
"To sum it up, that's exactly what I believe." As he speaks I feel a pang in my chest.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you before. It's just that for so long, whenever I pictured the face of the enemy, it was your face."
"My face." He says, turning away and putting his hand to his scar. "I see."
"No! No-that's-that's not what I meant."
"It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince. Cursed to chase the avatar forever. But lately, i've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny. Even if I'll never be free of my mark.
"Maybe you could be free of it." I say without even thinking. Before I can stop myself. He jerks his head towards me. "I have healing abilities."
"It's a scar. It can't be healed." He says. He sounds so…defeated. So hopeless. And all I want to do is help this hurting boy in front of me. I take the spirit water out of my shirt and show it to him. "This is water from the spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but…" I look into his golden eyes, his stern expression, and the scar that takes up most of the left side of his face. I wonder how he got it, and if it's as horrible a story as the one about his mother. He closes his eyes and lets me touch his cheek. I suddenly notice that with the scar or without it, he's actually handsome. He's let his dark raven hair grow out,and it frames his face in a less harsh way than his ponytail used to. His skin that isn't scared is fair and smooth, and he has a strong jawline that's very…attractive. I try to shake these new and confusing thoughts out of my head and try to remember all the chaos he's put us through. But it's hard to concentrate on all that after the story about his mother. He's right, we do have that in common. Maybe he really has changed. I go to open the vial of spirit water, but right before I can I hear a huge crash. We both get startled, and when the dust clears I see Aang. I'm so excited I run over to him and wrap him into an embrace. He came. Of course, he came. Out of the corner of my eye I see Zuko's uncle hugging him tightly.
"Uncle, I don't understand, what are you doing with the Avatar?" Zuko asks harshly.
"Saving you, that's what." Aang snarkily replies. I try to refrain from chiding Aang from being harsh. Not even an hour ago I was saying much worse before I knew what he had gone through. Zuko looks angry at Aang, and I keep thinking about the spirit water in my hand. If I should go back over to him and try to heal his scar. But maybe Aang and Iroh crashing into the cave when they did was a sign from the spirits to save it. So when Iroh tells us to go help our friends, I follow Aang, casting only a glance at Zuko, the hurting and banished prince I offered to heal and am now leaving behind.