Disclaimer: I own nothing, just my plot!

Author's Note/Excuse/Apology (Again): First of all, I swear on Zuko's Almighty Ponytail that this is not an April Fool's joke. I got another chapter done…HUZZAH! Sorry it's so short. I got nostalgic while finishing Legend of Korra recently and wanted to revisit my AtLA fandom once again! Look out for typos—I'm too eager to post to check to errors. I apologize if you find any, but if you do, do me a solid and leave a review so I can fix it. I'm struggling a little bit with how many stories I still have to finish, along with all of the new plot bunnies that plague my mind. One person cannot possibly write all the ideas in my head, but by God, I'm gonna try! Thanks to everyone who has had the faith to stick around, review, favorite, or add an alert to this story—you are the fuel to my fire!

Zuko bit his lip and sucked the air in between his teeth. He'd never imagined this would be so difficult, but he had to tell the truth about himself. Jin deserved that much. As he worked up the courage to confess his true identity, his eyes cradled the girl's own in an intense stare. A moment passed, and her small mouth parted for a moment as she too sucked in an uneasy breath. One hand rose up and grasped a bit of her wild ponytail, and she twisted her tresses between her fingers. Finally, the Fire Lord took a deep breath and began his story.

"First of all, Lee is not my real name—and I never worked for a traveling circus as a juggler." His eyes dropped to the floor and then darted back up in embarrassment.

"That's not hard to believe," Jin unexpectedly giggled, breaking the tenseness stretching between them momentarily. Then her face fell, and she became serious again. "But—if you're not Lee, then what his your name?"

Zuko closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He felt as if his logic and his emotions were having a tug-of-war with his conscious. On one hand, if he told Jin what his real identity was, she might hate him and scorn him forever. However, on the other hand, he desperately wanted to right his previous wrongs by telling Jin the truth. He only hoped that she would take the news well—that she would understand his reasons for telling her—and that she would forgive him for his past mistakes.

"My name…is Zuko," he finally breathed, and he watched as the breath from his lips distorted and tumbled the dust that hung in the air. His confession reached Jin's ears, but she didn't react as expected.

"Zuko?" she echoed, the foreign name rolling off her tongue. "That's an unusual name."

"That's because it's not an Earth Kingdom name," Zuko explained. "It's Fire Nation."

The Fire Lord watched intently as the realization slowly sunk in, and Jin's expression changed from one of thoughtfulness to one of shock. Her jaw dropped and a loud gasp escaped her mouth. "You—you're Fire Nation?" she asked, her voice desperate for some sign that the boy was pulling a cruel joke. "H—how?"

"My uncle and I came to this city to begin a new life," Zuko continued on with his lengthy explanation. "But now you understand why I had to lie to you about who I was. If I'd told you the truth, we could have been imprisoned."

Jin leaned away from him, and it pained Zuko to watch her act as if she were genuinely frightened of him for the first time. But her eyes never looked away from his, and she didn't scream or try to escape out the door. Instead she stared at him, and the hand that had been playing with locks of her long, brunette hair gently wavered over to cover her quivering lips.

"Is…is that it? That's the truth?" she whispered through her hand.

Zuko shook his head, and inwardly he cringed. Now he was getting to the hard part. "That's some of it—but not all. I'm not just any Fire Nation citizen, Jin."

"What?"

"I'm a person of great importance to my country. When—when I met you—I was…" Zuko paused to take another deep breath in hopes that additional air would calm the loud thundering of his heart. "I was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Prince Zuko."

Jin practically fell to the floor, and her hands gripped the edge of the desk behind her as if she were clinging to life itself. "What?! You're—you're-Prince?"

"Well—I was a Prince. But now I'm different."

"You—you mean—you're good, right? You're not evil?" Jin seemed to be recovering from her shock, but she looked at the firebender with accusing eyes and a suspicious heart. "You didn't come here to spy on the Earth Kingdom?"

Zuko smiled at her sadly. "Of course I'm not evil, and I'm not a spy. I'm nothing like my father, Fire Lord Ozai…but that's not what I mean by different. I'm not Prince of the Fire Nation anymore. I helped the Avatar defeat my father, and—and—someone had to take his place."

"Wha—what?"

"Jin, I'm the Fire Lord now," Zuko let the truth spill freely from his lips. "And I'm working to help the rest of the world instead of conquer them. That's why I'm here in Ba Sing Se—to help it recover from my father's Invasion, and to let everyone here learn the truth about the war."

The young Fire Lord shrugged his shoulders uncertainly and continued. "I'm so sorry I was forced to lie to you before. But I'm glad I met you—because honestly—you were one of the only people who showed me kindness during the time my Uncle and I were trying to survive here. I'm happy I got the chance to tell you the truth and to thank you for the compassion you showed me."

Again, Jin could only stare at the young man standing so vulnerably in front of her. She felt the need to sit down, but there was not a seat in this room, so leaning heavily on the counter behind her was her only relief. Finally, she took a few deep breaths, and then a sudden realization dawned on her, and she gasped.

Zuko's eyes widened in alarm. "What? What is it?"

Jin's eyes had grown wide as well. "I…kissed…the Fire Prince?!" Her reaction was caught somewhere between excitement and what Zuko perceived to be disgust.

"Yes, you did," he confirmed quietly. "I'm sorry I had to tell you this way."

"We're still friends though, right?" The girl suddenly asked, her unusual question taking the Fire Lord off guard. He blinked at her, surprised.

"Well, yes…if you want."

Jin shrugged and exhaled a long breath. Her green eyes reflected shyly up towards him. "I guess that…even after all—all that you told me—that I still like you…so yes, I want to be friends."

Zuko finally allowed himself a breath, washing some of the nervous energy from his body. "Good. I was so afraid you'd hate me after I told you."

"I don't think I could hate anybody for trying to tell the truth," Jin admitted with a small smile gracing her pink lips. Zuko returned the expression.

"Thank you, Jin."

"No, thank you…uh…what was your real name again?"

"Zuko."

Jin played with the sound of his name, rolling it around her mouth. "Zuko. ZU-ko. Okay, I think I'll remember now," she bounced a little on her feet and moved away from the counter. "You know, I actually kind of like that name."

"It's much better than Lee, anyway," the firebender agreed.

Jin laughed; it was a pretty sound. "Okay, Zuko, maybe we should get out of here. My dad could get suspicious."

"Wait, Jin!" Zuko reached forward and clutched the girl's upper arm as she turned to open the office door. "I have to ask you a favor."

Questions formed in Jin's eyes, and she regarded the young Fire Lord curiously before turning back towards him. "What is it?"

"I don't want you or your father to suffer from any kind of…attention…because I came here. He can know who I am—he's going to wonder what I told you, and I don't want to lie, but will you please not tell anyone else who Katara and I really are, alright?" Zuko's fiery gaze held hers steadfastly as he spoke.

Jin nodded slowly. "Of course," she promised softly. Then she scowled unpleasantly. "Wait—if you're the Fire Lord—then who is Katara? Is she your royal bodyguard or something?"

Zuko glanced at her once more in surprise, and then had to laugh. It pressed itself out from his lungs in a pleasant huff, and he leaned forward and shook his head. "No, Katara's not a bodyguard," he told Jin, still laughing. "She's my friend. She's one of the ones who helped Avatar Aang and I defeat my father."

"Oh, so she must be a warrior," Jin guessed.

"She's a very powerful waterbender—probably one of the best in the world," Zuko confirmed. He smiled warmly. "She's also one of the best friends I've ever had."

There was an awkward pause between the two teens, until finally Jin replied.

"You're lucky to have her with you," she said, gesturing towards the outside where Katara was waiting.

Zuko cast a warm, grateful gaze upon the girl. "I'm lucky in more ways than one," he said softly and meaningfully. "Thank you, Jin. I meant it when I said that meeting you was one of the only positive experiences I had in this city. I'm so grateful for that."

Jin could only stare back into Zuko's powerful golden eyes for a moment before she felt a familiar hot blush creeping up her cheeks. Her eyes flickered downward, towards the dust-covered floor, and the two youths stood awkwardly another moment. Finally, Zuko moved towards the door, grasping the antique brass knob and turning it.

"Well, maybe it's time to introduce me properly to your father," he said, preparing to swing open the door.

Jin's enamored smile suddenly disappeared. "Oh, no…let's give my dad a chance to get to know you before he finds out who you are," she said in a whisper, so those outside couldn't hear. "He might have a heart attack."

"I suppose that's sensible," Zuko agreed after a moment to ponder.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the wooden door. Both teen's heads snapped up towards it as they heard the familiar rapping coming from the other side. Zuko and Jin exchanged confused glances before either one spoke.

"Uh…hello?" Jin asked uncertainly.

"Zuko?" The anxious-sounding voice of Katara reached them through the wood. "We have a problem out here!"

Zuko frowned, and then cast a worried glance at Jin, who moved to be at his side. The Fire Lord opened the door, and gasped. Katara grabbed him and pulled him out quickly, apparently in an attempt to escape from the Inn with him, but the two benders and Jin were quickly surrounded by a crowd of shouting, scurrying people. Zuko muttered a few curses under his breath, and then tried to shield both girls behind him as the crowd converged towards him. At the crowd's head, a familiar face smiled its feline smile.

"Fire Lord Zuko, Lady Katara!" Ling Ling Dao advanced towards the shocked trio of teenagers. "How very lovely to see you again…"

PERSONAL THINGY:

Thank you to all of my reviewers! And if you're a reader, go on and type me a quick note below! It's quick and fun and feeds my muse! Thanks for reading!

Tortoise01Swe: Here ya go, I hope you liked! Thanks for the review!

Guest 1: Ah, well Katara and Zuko will have a lot of obstacles to work their way around before they realize their mutual affections for one another—but it will be entertaining, and I promise you'll enjoy it. And don't worry about not reviewing as soon as you could, my friend, because I would be the ultimate hypocrite if I called you out for that. Thank you for your review!

Guest 2: I'm glad you like my story. I'm trying to keep up with updating all of my older stories…my muse just has this terrible ADHD thing where she gets completely addicted to something new and then abandons all other fandoms, but I'm determined to keep her in line and finish my Avatar stories! Thanks so much for reviewing!

ML7: Once again, my friend, thank you so much for sticking by me all this time! Yeah, school and teaching is by far the biggest obstacle to writing. I do so much reading and writing as part of work now that it's no longer fun…doesn't that stink? It's so wonderful of you to help teachers in your hometown – I'm sure they thanked you, but I want to thank you too for being supportive of the teaching profession! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and as for Katara and Zuko fixing what's broken…well, let's just say that things are more broken than they seem! It will be an adventure. Thank you ever so much for your readership!