DUH DUH DUH DISCLAIMER: I do not own A:tLA. I am ashamed!!!
Blue eyes. Dark, luscious long curls and full ruby lips. His dreams were plagued by these; visions in which they would disappear as quickly as they came. They toyed with him, pulled him this way then that, never coming close enough for him to touch. She was the worst kind of tease, because she didn't even realize she was teasing.
The way she'd idly twirl her hair when she was bored, or how she'd bite her lip when she was concentrating. Or the way she directed that cold, wet heat at him when she was angry. Like lightning. She could send a shiver down his spine with only a simple, content sigh. She was light; she was dark. She was sweet, yet bitter, and the taste made his toes curl. She was killing him.
He longed, so, so badly for her to see him as an ally. So he could make her smile. So she could maybe someday look at him the way she looked at the Avatar. He wanted her to look at him, to want to know him better. He wanted her to be tortured by him as he was tortured by her. He wanted her to see him, not Former Crown Prince, not Son of Ozai. Zuko. A young man only wanting happiness.
He could give her happiness, right? He might not give her peace, or enlightenment, or an honorable title, but he could give her happiness. He could give her freedom.
He could give her summers filled with "Sweetie, Kya dropped her pacifier in the sand," and "Dear, Lu Ten dripped his snow cone all over his clothes."and winters filled with "Where's the extra platypus-bear rug?" and "Come closer, firebender." He couldn't imagine those moments with anyone else.
She trusted him. Even though he didn't think so, she did. Maybe not at first, but that was to be expected, really. Ever since their so-called "Field Trip", she hadn't been able to peel her eyes off of him. His golden eyes followed her, and she found herself wishing she could swim in them. Drowning in pools of melted gold.
She thought it silly, swooning over a teenage crush. He didn't think of her that way, anyway. But still, maybe. Maybe... She purposefully did things, like turning her head sideways and pulling her hair to the side, exposing her smooth mocha neck. She discovered that doing this made his face noticeably redder, and so did her waterbending outfit when she was wet. Never before had she purposefully been a sloppy bender.
What was it about making Zuko squirm that she found so appealing? Maybe it was the hope that when he went back to his little depressive Mai, he would see brown curls instead of straight charcoal. Blue, instead of red. That every time he kissed her, he would think only of water, salty from the sea, on his tongue. But why was that thought so... Satisfying?
She had a dream once. A dream she would never tell anyone in a billion years. Thinking of it alone made her face redder than a beet. It involved a certain firebender, a moonlit pond, and a tree that accidentally caught on fire. For a time, all she could think about looking at him was that dream... The boiling water and the steam floating into the cold night sky... She thought it best to keep those secret thoughts just that: secret.
When they were trapped together in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se, he actually did feel sorry for her. He was amazed at how the hatred in her voice changed so quickly, how she actually offered to heal his scar even after all he'd done.
Agni, what he wouldn't give to have her touch his face like that again. Her hand was so warm, and her voice was so comforting. He hadn't been spoken to so tenderly since his mother was still... around. But then he saw the way she flung herself at that stupid, bald, immature kid, and his resolve to turn to their side was squashed. It'd be just like that, anyway. He'd get his hopes up on what was bound to end in ultimate rejection, (Because really, who falls in love with the guy who tried to kill you on several occasions?) and he'd get angry (again) and blow up on all of them (again) and then they'd leave him (just like everyone he loved) and he'd feel sorry for himself and enter an angsty depression (again).
But still... maybe they'd be different. Maybe she could see him as a friend. Maybe she could love him. Maybe. Not likely, but maybe. Seeing her face when she embraced that little boy, it was almost as if she had been trapped with some sort of horrible monster and he had saved her. Okay, so she probably couldn't love him. But still... maybe.
When he finally got the gall (and the brains) to join them, she made her distaste painfully clear. He tried, and tried, and tried to get on her good side, and she still spat in his face and turned her back. And not metaphorically, either. It wasn't until he helped her get closure on her mother's killer when she'd finally accepted him.
And how great was that hug?! In that moment, he didn't need to save the world, or the Fire Nation throne, or oxygen. He would've been content to just melt into a puddle of red Fire Goo.
The truth was, she was just so deliciously exotically fantastically beautiful. Not just because of her features, but her spirit in general. Whenever her eyes looked at him, his pride swirled, and he felt twice the man he was. Whenever she spoke to him, whether in kindness or in venom, he had to suppress the urge to silence her lips with his own. Knowing her was like riding a rollercoaster, so many ups and downs, and yet he never wanted off, ever.
It was her motherly instinct that made her offer to heal his scar.
She wondered, later, if she indeed had healed him, would he still have betrayed her? Somehow she didn't think so.
The truth was, she really didn't care if he was Fire Lord or not. She didn't care if he had nothing but the lint in his robes (and some strangely familiar dual swords...). She didn't care that he had half a face. She wanted to pull him into a hug again, and this time keep him there. She wanted to kiss his scar and tell him that everything is okay. She wanted to tell him that for the longest time, it's been him, only him. Only he held her heart in his palm, only he could make it pound in her chest. Only him. Not Jet, not Haru, not even Aang. And he was just too dim-witted to figure it out!
Zuko loved Katara like the sun loves the sky.
Katara loved Zuko like the sea loves salt.
Neither could part with the other, even if they tried.
This was more than lust, more than a stupid crush. This was what people wrote stories and songs about; what girls dreamed of finding in a magical Prince Charming. Ha, now that's irony. But still, this was what he had seen in his father's eyes looking at his mother. This was what love really was.
This wasn't anything like the fairy tales.
~*~Even though they both knew the other was completely oblivious, neither of them was going to be leaving any time soon.
"And all that I want is to be... where you are."
A.N. Yeah... so.... *cough* *cough*... That's it. I've never written anything like this before, (Well, I guess Kaede's Love was KINDA like this, but not really.) and I wanted to try it. I didn't expect to actually finish it, and I don't expect it to be very good. (I haven't read it yet. Fingers crossed!) So if you could, please, PLEASE tell me what you think? This is just so... adult-y. Wow...