Zutara Week Day 4: Gravity
(noun); Heaviness or weight (seriousness and/or solemnity)
Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself. –Walter Anderson
In the dead of night a storm raged on, lightning crackling through the ominous night sky and thunder roaring across the landscape around the Fire Nation palace. The wind pulled the surrounding trees in whichever way it desired, snatching many of their leaves to take them miles away. Every flash of lightning put Katara on edge as she watched this rainstorm carry through from her room's window.
The large raindrops pounded against the glass of the window, dripping down in long streaks only to be erased by more droplets. Gravity was what brought them down, but it seemed like such a powerful impact to be a mere force. The waterbender had never seen such violent storms at her home in the Southern Water Tribe, but they had always gotten blizzards. Lightning was something new to her; it flared and expanded over the dark sky as if reaching across the land.
Katara had missed the snow of her home, and began wondering how her family was doing. Her older brother, Sokka, was probably going to quickly become a general of the Southern Water Tribe. Her father was very proud of both of his children, and she smiled lightly at the thought. She had come to the Fire Nation palace to stay on his request, and it was no doubt that it was to form some kind of relation to the Fire Lord, but after a while she almost didn't mind.
But… Her mother might have thought differently. After all, it was a Fire Nation general who had taken Katara's mother from her. It was still a fact that she had hidden from Zuko, even after he had asked her out on a date. It did bother her, and it weighed her down heavily the more she thought about it.
She closed her blue eyes. She could still see the man's cold gaze and hear his harsh words towards her when she had entered the room. Her mother's worried gaze haunted her, despite the reassuring smile she had given young Katara. The fear the princess felt had been unimaginable; it froze her to the spot, tightening her chest and making it harder to breathe. She felt like she was suffocating.
Crack! The strike of lightning in the distance was what made Katara's eyes snap wide open, and she gasped for breath. The girl supported herself by putting her hands on the windowsill as she breathed quickly. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, gravity bringing them down. It brought everything down with its heavy burden, including the young princess.
Gravity hurt. Because it was love that brought it. Did that mean love hurt more than hate? Somehow it brought more pain to cherish someone dearly than to scorn them with hatred. She knew that it would bring pain just as easily to love the Fire Prince, even more so with the things weighing down her heart.
Could she endure?
The storm still carried on brutally, not only outside but also within. Every strike of lightning brought distress to the teenager. Tossing and turning, Zuko struggled in his sleep before finally being startled awake by his nightmare.
"No!" He cried out as if that one word could stop the tragedy he was about to witness in his anxious sleep. It took moments of heavy breathing, listening to the thunderstorm pass through, for Zuko to finally realize it was only another bad dream. He rubbed his face, wiping away the sweat that was dripping down his forehead and pushing his dark hair from his face.
The recurring dreams had constantly troubled him, even more so recently. It was the fear, the fact that he didn't know. He didn't know what happened that night, he only knew that she came in one night to tell him how much she loved him. Then she was gone, stolen by the night, never to return.
Where was his mother? Why had she gone? The questions pounded in his head just as often as the thunder growled angrily at the landscape. He needed to know, and it was beginning to turn into a heavy obsession. There was no clue where she had gone to, and his family couldn't—no, more likely wouldn't, tell him.
His mother's soft voice had always been so sweet as she spoke to him, her arms wrapping around him in a hug gently. Ursa had always known best, even though she didn't always see through Azula's schemes it seemed. Trying to remember every little detail strained him, making his head ache even more; he could hear his rapid heartbeat in his head by then.
Zuko got out of bed, holding his throbbing head. Why did things have to be so complicated there? Or was it really? The prince questioned everything by then, the confusion of his own life making storm clouds form inside of him. All it would take was one more heartbreak to happen and the lightning would crack down on him, striking him down instantly.
The burden on his shoulders seemed too much to bear. He was to be the future Fire Lord of his country, but would he be able to with so much fogging his mind? And what about Katara? It had only been over a week since he had asked her out on their first date, and he was already having second thoughts. It was the fear of losing another. Loving someone meant that you would mourn their disappearance if something interfered, whether it be death or some other force.
Could he handle it?
It was when he heard his door creak open that he could stop thinking, if only for a moment, to look to see who had entered. It was Katara, but something had seemed different about her. She was standing there in the dark, wearing her sapphire-colored nightgown. Her thick, long hair hung loose in its wavy curls. The thing he loved most, her eyes, seemed to be just as conflicted as the storm he was feeling inside right then.
"Katara?" He stood up straighter, looking at her with a little concern. Had something happened? The anxiety of that thought was enough to send him into internal distress. He got no reply though, only the teenager leaping forward into his arms. The waterbender wrapped her arms around him as her body began to shake.
Zuko was surprised for a moment at the sudden contact, and he eventually snapped out of his trance. He brought his hands around her, rubbing her back gently. "What's wrong?" His voice quietly murmured to her, which was more emotionless than anything; he didn't want her to know the pain he was going through, and only wanted to help her through hers.
"Oh Zuko," Katara sniffed, fighting back the tears but they didn't stop trailing down her cheeks. "I've been keeping something from you, I'm sorry." She choked up a little, taking in a quick breath.
Zuko tensed a little. Was this the heartbreak that was going to strike him down? His golden eyes widened a little, but he needed to listen! He couldn't block her out now. Not when she needed him like this.
"I… I never told you about my mother."
"What about your mother?" Zuko was a little relieved that she wasn't cheating on him or anything, but now he was concerned about this. He pulled her a little away from him to look down into her broken face. It pained him to see her like that, but he needed to hear what she had to say.
"She… She was killed by a Fire Nation general." Her words froze the prince to his spot. A general of his own nation had killed the chief's wife? He then realized the pain it must have brought Katara to be with a man of that same nation. Zuko never did so well with comforting others, so he put his own experience forward for her. If only to show her she wasn't the only one who lost her mother.
"I lost my mother too."
Katara looked up at him, surprised to hear such a thing. "R-really Zuko?" He nodded at her solemnly, not caring to elaborate. The fact that they shared a similar pain had seemed to create a binding thread between them though.
Finally admitting to the other their own pain, they each felt a wave of relief. A little of their burdens were lifted from their hearts, but both knew that it wouldn't be the end of their suffering. There was pain in love, but comfort in sharing their fears with each other.
That night, each sat in dim candlelight, illustrating their fears to the other. They seemed so similar, and it made each of them smile a little. Katara wished to heal Zuko's wounds, while Zuko vowed to protect Katara from harm; it seemed like a good balance, just like the elements of fire and water. They made promises to each other that night, swearing to face the storm together.
The thing to seal their promise: a delicate kiss.