AN: This was solely inspired by a fic called "The ABCs of Finn and Rachel" by KhCcGlee. I was searching for Finchel fics to try and displace the horrible feeling I have in my gut that in Glee Season 2 Finchel will once again be disbanded: all my OTPs seem to be real only in the world of fanfiction. When I was done aaawing and cooing over the Finchel fic, a random thought popped into my head: A is for Aang, and B is for Ba Sing Se…
The fic just took life from there onwards. I changed many of the letters over ten times, and even now I'm not too sure I'm happy with what I came up with. Most of it is fanon from my own bizarre mind, but there is a smudge of canon here or there. If ANYBODY wishes to try this PLEASE link me to the story; I'd love to see what other people come up with. It's surely going to be better than my random C-r-y-p. Especially forgive me for X and Z. I honestly wracked my brains and came up with nothing else *hides in shame*
Reviews will be loved, no matter how flame-ish they may be.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, or the fic that inspired this one.
The ABC's of Zuko and Katara
A is for arguments. They drive everybody nuts with their constant bickering. Not a single day passes without them tearing at each other's throats. And the petty things they argue about! Not even Toph's greatest threats make them lay off each other for more than half an hour. And their constant bickering is driving Aang to a breakdown: as the Avatar he's supposed to keep peace between the whole world, but he can't even keep peace between his two friends. Nobody else seems to see the small smiles they give each other while they're yelling their lungs out. And even when the argument is real and heated they never stay mad for more than an hour. And the make-up cuddling and guilt-induced favours are always worth the frustration.
B is for breakups. They both had them, and they were both bad. Even now Katara cringes when she remembers Aang's face. And Zuko's walls still have the indents from Mai's knives. Aang and Mai have moved on too, and they can both see that their ex's are happy. But sometimes, in the dead of a quiet night, the regret will come back. Neither of them blames the other for their thoughts; it's natural. And they both know that the past is the past and nothing in the whole earth can come between them.
C is for catacombs. The catacombs underneath Ba Sing Se, the first place she let herself see him as a human and not just as the face for evil. She was the first outsider he'd ever let in, and he'd enjoyed every confession, no matter how much each one hurt. She can tell that his betrayal still hurts him and so she never mentions that day, not even when she's so mad she could just strangle him. She's promised herself she's going to take him back there one day so he can confront his demons once and for all, but she will steer clear until she's completely sure he's ready. Until then she'll just continue to send him physic waves of forgiveness every time she catches him thinking about it.
D is for denial. They had denied liking each other for so long, it had actually become an automatic response. Nobody close to them had believed them, but they had never done anything more than make cryptic remarks and raise their eyebrows knowingly. Mai and Aang had been in denial too, and that's the way the four had lived for almost two years. But denial never leads to anything except destruction, and finally the truth won out. Sometimes they still deny that they love each other that much, but the sincerity in their touch tells the world that they're lying through their teeth.
E is for ego. She's always known he has a big one, and sometimes it drives her up the wall. He's stubborn and a real jerk, sometimes. But deep down she knows she can be just as hardheaded; it's why they butt heads all the time. She also knows that he swallows his pride for her more often than not. And she knows that she'd pick his ego over some other guy's humility any day: she's never wanted anything more perfect than his imperfection.
F is for forgiveness. It was the thing he wanted most from her, in the early days. And while he still sees the trip to The Southern Raiders as his pardon she'd actually forgiven him long before hand but had had no way to tell him.
G is for grandchildren, the word Iroh loves to throw at them at every single opportunity he gets. People have yet to remember the small fact that he technically isn't Zuko's father. And while Katara and Zuko both pretend to be exasperated at all the baby hints, their private late nights talks say otherwise.
H is for healing, the thing Katara is adamant to put him through every time he gets so much as a paper cut. He hates being babied- honestly, he can take care of his own wounds!- but whenever he's 'hurt' she'll follow him around, sending death glares at his back until he relents and sullenly lets her have her way. If she deems the wound serious and he doesn't seem to be relenting fast enough for her liking she'll rally Toph or the guards- who are wisely on her side- and have them tie him down so she can heal him.
I is for irrevocable. Many people had predicted that their passion wouldn't last very long. For a long time, they had been scared of the same thing. Then their friends had shown them that what they had was not pure lust. And they had seen themselves how they had worked through the bad times and enjoyed the good. Now they both know that they belong to each other forever.
J is for jealousy. He tries to remind himself that Katara has other male friends that are not Aang or her brother. But every time another male makes her laugh or smile in a way he deems more than platonic, a monster awakens in his chest. It takes all his newly acquired Firelord-super-control not to fry them alive. He also worries himself out of sleep the night before he goes away on a long trip: what if some other guy makes her happier than him? Katara never tells him that she battles with jealousy too. Instead, every time she sees him seething at another guy she wraps her arms around him and gives him the smile she gives only him. His jealousy is endearing, actually.
K is for Koi fish. They'd visited the North Pole again and this time he'd entered the Spirit Oasis through the gate. They'd sparred again just for old time's sake and then she'd told him what the Koi fish really were. They'd watched the spirits swimming hand in hand, fully aware of how their relationship resembled what the fish stood for. Yin and Yang, push and pull, fire and water.
L is for lightning, both his and Azula's. Her face still crumples when she looks at the scar on his chest for too long. If she hadn't been able to save him… He always tries to brush it off, but she refuses to put it behind her. She will never forget the sacrifice he made for her. However, she did nearly drown him for practically giving her a heart attack by summoning lightning out of thin air without warning. He'd been too pleased that he'd finally managed to create cold fire to really notice her angry shrieking.
M is for mothers, which they both lost and then gained again. Ursa returned to the Fire Nation and adopted Katara almost immediately. The two get on very well together, and their constant ganging up annoys the living fire out of Zuko. But he loves them both more than the world itself, and so he tolerates their "betrayal".
N is for necklace. She'd freaked when she couldn't find hers one morning. Then he'd given it back to her that night, after treating her to the most wonderful date she'd ever even imagined in her life. She'd accepted it, obviously, and still can't help but beam proudly at how well her mother's blue pendant looks on traditional Fire Nation silk.
O is for Omashu. Just after the war had ended she'd told him Oma and Shu's story, hoping that it would ease some of the longing for him she had in her heart. He had remained silent for a long while after she told him the tale only to ask her quietly if she thought something like that could happen in the present. She'd replied forcefully that it couldn't, because there was no war to kill another Shu and she wouldn't let anything else take him away from her. He'd just smiled. But on their third date he'd taken her to the secret tunnel and they'd both placed flowers on the lovers' graves. It had seemed like an important thing to do, somehow.
P is for pirates. He'd brought the memory of the tree and the scroll to her attention and she'd pelted him with waterwhips, blushing furiously the whole time. She hadn't dismissed his request to revisit the tree, though.
Q is for queasy, what he'd been feeling the first time he was set to officially meet the rest of her family. She'd told him over and over to relax, but the butterflies had refused to go away. Everybody had accepted him, though, proving Katara's theory that he was worrying for nothing. That night he'd gotten sick after dinner, and Katara had made him stay in bed for a week, peeved that he hadn't told her he was sick and not just nervous.
R is for red, the colour Katara has learned to love. Zuko says she looks really good in it, and she doesn't even bother wondering if he's just saying it. Fire Nation clothes are lighter and nobody objects to her adding a bit of blue here or there.
S is for scars, both seen and unseen. They both know they've healed each other in more ways than they can put into words. Even Katara's healing side isn't ashamed to admit that Zuko has knitted her back together inside. When they'd started to date, she started to ask him about the physical scars that lined his body. After six months she finally worked up the courage to ask him what happened to his face. It took him a month to work up the courage to answer her. After he'd told her the story she'd cried, holding him as though she never wanted to let him go ever again.
T is for Toph. If they'd thought Iroh was bad, they'd been proven wrong very quickly. Toph seems to seek out ways to put them in uncomfortable positions. Like the time she'd been 'practicing her earth manacles' and somehow managed to 'accidentally' cuff Katara and Zuko's wrists together, so that her back was sandwiched to his front. They had stayed like that for an hour, permanently red in the face because every movement got them into an even more awkward position. Some movements even caused unstoppable and inappropriate shudders to run down their spines.
U is for undiscovered. Like the previously unseen shades of red Sokka's face turned the first time he'd caught them kissing. Zuko had been alarmed at the violent colours- Sokka hadn't appeared to be breathing. Katara had been too busy glaring at her older brother to notice anything. Later, Zuko had recreated one of the more outstanding colours for one of his servants. He found that it suited the cushions for his new couch perfectly.
V is for venting. Neither of them is afraid to tell the other exactly what's on their mind. Sometimes they get on each other's nerves and sometimes the world makes them mad. No matter what the case, they're always there to be each other's therapy. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to whine into, a bender to spar with: to each other they're all that and much more, no matter where or when.
W is for Waterbender's Dominance. Katara's the boss of the relationship, and everybody knows it. She lets the world assume Zuko's in charge because the political aspects of their life demand it to be so. But behind the scenes she wields all control. Okay, so sometimes she lets him have dominance. Sometimes. And it's all totally her intention to let him win… ehem…
X is for X-Marks-The-Spot. Nobody really knows who started the silly game. They all think it was Teo, though; it seems like something he'd do. The rules are easy: one person hides another person's possession and marks the hiding place with a hidden X. If the person finds his or her item within the allotted time, they win. Loser has to do what the winner tells them. Almost every time victory is Katara's, Zuko finds himself wearing his apron from the teashop in Ba Sing Se. He suspects his uncle had something to do with its reappearance, but he can prove nothing. And, anyway, he wins more often than her (he's good at tracking by now) and he always thinks of much more interesting prizes for himself…
Y is for Yon Rha. He confessed to her that he'd always known she wouldn't kill him. He told her it said something huge about her character. She's always too afraid to ask him what that 'something' is. All she knows is that that one evil, hateful man brought her closer to the one person who healed her heart. Zuko had been the only one to truly understand her desire to find The Southern Raiders. It is one of the things she will never stop trying to thank him for.
Z is for Zutara. A silly little name Suki and Toph both came up with. It is supposed to be their names smushed together, but to them it just sounds ridiculous. Who will ever pledge to something so silly? I ask you…