Disclaimer: I own nothing... Obviously.
The magnetic pull was slightly stronger than the last time, just as it always was, urging Katara to let go... to take control.
She could feel the strings of her heart twanging as she fought against herself, against her very nature, against the insistent need that seemed to grow stronger with every cycle of the moon.
Her fingers curled uselessly at her sides as she fought to keep her breaths even, as though through sheer will they might reach out and take that power of their own accord.
It was happening again.
It was time to leave.
As the frigid wind whipped at her skin beneath the thick furs she wore, Katara was glad the Southern Water Tribe was so isolated. The land was so frozen that barely anything could survive here - and if nothing could survive, she could avoid temptation.
Why postpone the inevitable... a malicious voice hissed to her across the wind, but Katara merely ignored it. Like the distant slap of waves against the icy shores back home, she had grown used to the constant whispers in the recesses of her mind.
She continued the slow trudge to the cave she had visited so many times before, praying to the spirits that she would reach her destination before full dark. You never knew what - or who - you might meet in the frozen outskirts of the village, and Katara only had enough strength to fight one enemy tonight.
The persistent blast of wind hindering her journey drew her thoughts to him, though she wanted more than anything to forget, if just for tonight. What would he say if he could see her now?
Of course, she knew exactly what he would say. She knew that the hands that had been so ruthless when they had first met would now be all care and concern. She knew how those piercing golden eyes would take her in, enchanting her despite his ruined face - the face that had always seemed so profoundly handsome, despite his often twisted expressions.
She knew how he would touch the compassion in her - coaxing it just as he had all those years ago and in the years since - the kindness that no one else seemed to possess so fervently.
She couldn't explain it to him. Not to her family, her friends; not to anyone. They could never understand.
Katara was alone.
There wasn't much further to go when she felt it. She could always sense it before it fully seized her, as though she had some kind of sixth sense warning her of the oncoming evil - or desperate to lead her further to temptation.
She scrambled breathlessly for the small cave she visited once a month, as though the meager shelter might offer some kind of protection, though she knew it could not. Katara put everything she could into pushing forward, putting one foot in front of the other out of sheer will as the very fiber of her being begged her to stop and turn back.
She was so focused on simply persisting that she never saw it coming.
The razor sharp claws came from nowhere, cutting deep through her clothing as she fell to the side. A heavy weight crushed her chest and yellow eyes glinted down at her. You'll do, they seemed to say, and the polar leopard's ferocious looking teeth sneered at her through the growing darkness.
Without a thought her arm shot up, sending a shaft of ice from the ground and hitting the animal's side. It leapt back, barely giving her enough time to scramble to her feet before it came at her.
She moved again, her arms creating those familiar, fluid shapes as she drove more ice toward the leopard, but it continued to advance, driving her toward the solid wall of rock at her back. Trapped.
Katara glanced around helplessly as she continued to defend herself, her heart a fierce staccato echoing the constant thuds of her bending, until her eyes landed on the round orb hanging low in the sky above them.
Her hands tensed, arms raising as the beast ran at her, and she succumbed to the call that had been thrumming through her body for so many months she couldn't remember a time without the ferocious need for control.
It froze in place. The leopard's eyes darted wildly in distress, snarling at her as it rose onto its hind legs, until its back twisted around with a deafening crack. Bone cut through skin and crimson spurted through its fur, spattering across the pure white snow.
Katara fell to her knees and watched as the life slowly bled from its body.
Zuko stood in the shadows of the village's northern entrance, the ragged scar across his eye barely visible without the full moon's glow. "Where were you?"
Katara turned, careful not to let him see the torn and blood stained side of the clothing - though he must have already, if he'd stood sentry at the gate as she snuck back in. "Hunting," she said weakly, lifting the parts of the animal she had managed to drag back, as though she could convince him of the lie.
His eyes flickered to the sky then back to her face as he stepped toward her and his expression softened. "We can learn to control it. Together." His hands snaked around her waist, pulling her close as he said the words she'd known he would.
Katara gazed up at the moon, so full and round, as she hid her smile against his neck. "Yes. I will learn control."
Author's Note:
Well, that was fun to write. I've had this sitting on my drive for a while and only posted it now, unbetaed - if you see any errors feel free to point them out. Also my first time writing outside of Harry Potter, so it's entirely possible that any kind of characterisation here sucks (and I suspect my Zuko is at least marginally OOC, but whatever).
Thanks for reading, feel free to review and let me know what you thought!
Anyone reading Chaos Theory that has somehow stumbled their way onto this fic: the next chapter has been totally finished for a while, but my beta hasn't had time to go over it yet. That's one fic I'm not willing to post unedited (oh god, the plot holes. You have no idea), so you're going to have to bear with us until then. I've given her a deadline of two weeks, since the DG Forum has a Fic Exchange (prompt submission just opened!) starting up and I don't want to leave CT hanging while I participate. Feel free to check the FE out - links on my profile. ;)
Haz