Chapter 1: Alliance

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"The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive."

John Green

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A swirly wind passed by them, making Aang's bare legs shiver. Otherwise he retained his meditation pose – the stony ground wasn't that cold. Soon enough he'd forgotten about it, his mind plunged back to Pathik's words.

"The Thought Chakra deals with pure cosmic energy, and is blocked by earthly attachment. Now, what attaches you to this world? Out of all the things you have, out of all the people you know: whom would you miss the most, if one day you had to leave this world?"

"What?"

Aang's eyes shot wide open. He leaned forward and gaped, no, stared at Guru Pathik. At the frail, dark man with creases and bags under his eyes.

"Leave this world? I'm not ready to die yet!" he shouted, unable to keep his voice down.

A flock of birds flew over their heads, then disappeared behind the mountain range.

"I have to end the war, and…learn to control all the elements, and defeat the Fire Lord. …Sozin's Comet!"

Aang panicked, was about to stand up, to run down, to fly after them. Damn those birds, they had no right to bail on him. When suddenly two wrecked old arms draped round him, cushioning and chaining him to the ground, to reality. He noticed they were Pathik's.

"Calm down Avatar. You're here to put your problems in perspective. If you go about it like this, you won't be able to solve anything. You'll break down, go mad. That's exactly what the Fire Nation wants."

For a long time Aang stared into the distance, closing an eye, not wanting to believe. He muttered something unpleasant, sat back down, angry at feeling angry.

"Most people never reach this level of chakra awareness during their lifetime. I know it's a lot to ask of you, and especially at this age, but still, try to understand."

Aang looked Pathik's way without really caring. After opening so many chakra channels already, his body simply refused. It wanted to shut down, go to sleep. He yawned, covering up with his hand.

"When you successfully open the last chakra, you become one with the universe. You are no longer Aang, or even the Avatar… It's hard to explain. But when you are there you forget about your own wishes and fears, about the things you used to love and hate."

"So, what, will I never feel anything anymore?"

The Guru laughed.

"No, no, no. Just when you're there, Aang. Ideally, you should not feel anything in the Avatar State. Completely devoid of emotion."

"What happens when I come out of it?"

"Then you are free to feel anything you like. You will always remain human, Aang, always."

"Okay."

The boy looked over his shoulder for a moment, estimating how far he had to fall from up here till gravity kicked in.

"Katara," Aang said. "I think…I'll miss her the most."

"Good. Now that you have located your strongest earthly desire, you can let it go."

"Why?"

Aang snorted, visibly displeased. He folded his arms, staring at the Guru, through the old man's eyes.

"Three chakra levels ago love was a good thing!"

"Because, my young pupil, if your love for her is so intense, you won't be able to concentrate. Just close your eyes and let go, come on."

Aang did the opposite. He jumped to his feet, balling his fists, and leered at his teacher.

"What are you saying? That love, passion, emotion are rubbish? That's….that's…"

He remembered how cold Azula's eyes looked when she struck out, ruthless fury. And her vicious laugh, was like a lion vulture's raving shriek.

"That's evil."

"No Aang, it's practical. How do you expect to focus on defeating your enemy, when you look and behave like this?"

Pathik pointed. Perhaps it had something to do with Aang's heaving chest and trembling feet, he didn't care either way.

"Sit down, Aang, think. Your letting Katara go can be a good thing. You'll learn to protect her better. Think about that."

"I have protected her just fine up until now."

"Really? Have you?"

Of course he had. Aang thought back to the many times he had rescued Katara from evil captors, natural disasters, and the like. Ready to retort, when he remembered the loss of Appa, and shut up. He glanced down, where the bison was grazing on a deserted balcony… The years hadn't been good to the Eastern Air Temple.

"So, are you ready to let go of your feelings for her now?"

Aang nodded. Then sat down next to Pathik, and stared at the massive darkening sky. He closed his eyes and followed Pathik's next instructions. Before long, a magnificent starlit path appeared before him. Climbing up towards the holy light, images of Katara flashed by: chained, tortured, vulnerable, crying out for his help. But he ignored the tempting figures, knowing they were all just figments of his own imagination.

A cool soothing feeling, water ran down Zuko's brow. He felt it draining deep, cleansing him of useless things, as though the liquid passed his brains as well. And Zuko breathed, out the old air, breathed in the new, every next breath coming easier than the last, feeling like for the first time in his life, he was really breathing. Finally noticing how soft the air was, how sweet its scent.

"You can open your eyes now."

Zuko staggered back up, touching, feeling, tracing fingers over his eye. He couldn't believe it. The scar was still there. Nothing had changed.

"I'm sorry…"

The girl shifted her weight from one foot to the other, fiddling with the pendant that hung from her neck. There was barely any water left, the remainder glowed and sizzled as it slid back in the vial.

"No. It's okay."

Zuko let his face go, his arms fell to his sides. It didn't matter either way. What was on the outside was on the outside. He could still change, could start a new life here. If not in BaSingSe, then someplace else. He looked the water tribe girl straight in the face and smiled.

"I feel kind of stupid for asking you now, but what's your name?"

"Katara," she replied cautiously, tucking the pendant back under her clothes.

"Thank you, Katara."

"You're welcome…"

"Sorry for being such a nuisance to you in the past. Perhaps it's too much to ask, but I hope you can forgive me."

Yes, that was right, there was no point in hunting the Avatar, not any more. Zuko was a new person now, he was transformed. If there was any way he could escape this cell, he wasn't going back to the Fire Nation.

"I guess the only thing we can do now is wait till my sister comes down to dispose of us, ha ha."

"That won't happen!"

"Hm?"

"Aang will be here. Aang will come to save me! I know he will."

The girl stood firmly now, both feet planted in the ground. Her long braid twitched, her eyes dangerously narrowed as she spit out her words.

"Until then, we'll just have to wait. He'll come to save me, you'll see. And then, then we can make it out of here, and…"

Then a puzzled frown consumed most of her face. Zuko knew what she was thinking, and it bothered him too. Just what would he do, when the Avatar arrived? And what would his newfound friend do? Perhaps this girl, this Katara, could accept him. But Zuko knew for a fact that Aang wouldn't. Not after he'd smashed the many chances the other had given him, right back into the Avatar's face. It was a lost cause.

"Well…we'll escape. Until then, we'll just have to be patient."

An awkward silence spread as the both of them sat back down on the floor, overcome by fatigue. Had Zuko known how draining water healing could be, he probably wouldn't have consented to it. But in that case… Zuko glanced sideways, noticing Katara had been watching him the entire time. In that case, who knew how the following events would have turned out?

A/N: So, shortly speaking this is an alternative ending to season 2. With a ZuTara twist (obviously). I've got a sequel planned of alternate season 3.

The focus in this story will be more on getting Zuko and Katara to know each other as friends. The actual romance will start in the sequel. I hope not to disappoint, and not be only about shipping. AtLA's universe is what fascinated me originally, so I hope I can represent that in this fic.

Enjoy!