Author's Note: This takes place during season 3, but before Zuko joins the group.
Pairing: Zuko/Katara
Rating: T just 'cause :)
He almost doesn't recognize her. Blue robes have been replaced with a red outfit designed for the Fire Nation heat. Her hair is down - save for the top-knot - instead of up in its usual braid and loopies. He body has grown, as well. She looks taller and some of the baby fat in her cheeks had vanished. Her curves have made their presence more known; he can see it in the tight and revealing clothing.
Her eyes seem different. They seen colder, more guarded that from when he last saw her in Ba Sing Se. But they're the same brilliant blue that has entranced him time and time again.
He couldn't say why, but he called out her name from across the busy street. She's alone. She looks his way and spots him in the crowd. He sees surprise whirl through her eyes as she stares at him, frozen in place.
His limbs carry him across the crowded street on their own accord. He's so close to her side of the road that he can almost feel her. He hears the squawk of an ostrich-horse. He looks up to see a wagon heading straight for him. The animal is too fast for him to dodge it. Panic surges through his body, starting from his care and stretching to his toes and fingers. He waits for the inevitable pain that is about to happen. It doesn't come. He looks to see that the wagon has stopped. The wheels have been frozen to the ground. The ice vanished just as soon as it appeared.
He hurries off the road and to where he saw her last. She's gone, just like the ice that had struck the wagon.
Zuko walks through the village, seeing Katara everywhere he looks.
Remember to Smile :)
~Becca