title Burning Snowdrops
title Burning Snowdrops
author khushiyan
fandom;characters Avatar: The Last Airbender; Zuko/Katara, Haru/Katara
rating 15
prompt 012. Distance
setting After B3, Chap. 12, so therefore has spoilers. Oopsie.
summary A snippet focusing on the sexual maturity of Katara. Quite clean considering, no smut, nothing explicit.
an Blame this song: Dido - Who Makes You Feel?.
Ay subah tu bhi jo ayi to akeli ayi
Oh morning, you came but even you were alone.
She watches him carefully, her eyes careful and practised enough to capture those secret moments. He sits cross-legged, slightly turned away from her, his eyes closed and frowning in concentration as he balanced the flame in his hands.
Ever since they had returned to the group, he vowed not to lose this true firebending. So whilst Aang practised once more with Toph, he would meditate. He would light up a flame and allow it to hover whilst his mind kept the flame still and sharp. And she would watch him from a distance. He had taken to staying within her sights to avoid flaring up her anger so she would tell herself that there would no choice but to watch him. She watched him darkly, her face half shying away as she held the blanket she was mending tightly in her hands.
Her gaze stayed on his face the whole time, wondering how he was almost two people. One side of his face reminded her of his betrayal and her easily broken trust, and the other was almost beautiful. It glowed to her, and she could see it more now than ever. The flame he carried showed every sharp and soft feature of his face, the decline and rise, the strong jaw, the wide eyes and his hair as soft as rain. His lips pursed in concentration, blushing pink slightly, parted with a secret breath. His skin glowed. That pale, milky complexion shone like gold to her.
She wanted to touch it.
Just to see how it felt. Nothing else. She had touched his scar before, but now she just wanted to touch his skin and hold his face. Run her fingers down his cheek and across his lips. He had just become so captivating to her that she just wanted to…
'Do what Katara?' A voice asked.
She shuddered and dropped her gaze to the floor, shame flooding her. He was still her enemy; she had no right to think about him this way. He was nothing to her.
She abruptly stood up, dropping her needles to the floor causing him to lose all concentration. "Is everything okay?" He asked her with those wide eyes again.
"Yes, it's all fine," she told him through gritted teeth. She stomped away from him and down towards the library. Haru stopped her in her tracks, asking if anything was wrong.
"Yeah," she whispered and bit her lip. She took a step closer to Haru and placed a small innocent kiss on his lips. His moustache tickled her. She pulled back abruptly and raised her brows in shock. 'Did I just do that?!'
"I'm sorry. Forget that ever happened," she muttered and ran back to the fountain where he sat, his mind still on the flame. He glanced at her with one eye and closed it again slowly.
She huffed and stared at him with hard eyes. He was a mere ten feet away.
And yet she had never felt more alone.