AN: I've been so swamped in homework that I haven't been able to do much writing for anything.

Pairing: Zutara

Rating: T

Words: 653

Destiny

He never believed in destiny or fate or of the idea that you future could be written in the stars. His uncle did, but he himself did not.

How could it have been fate that his mother abandoned him - even if it was with good intention? Was it really written in the stars that a few years later, he'd be banished from his home with a damned scar to remind him and every other bloody person of his great dishonor? As far as he was concerned, Destiny was a ruthless bitch and he - the Crowned fucking Prince of the Fire Nation - was the victim of her cruel and vicious torture.

At first, the Avatar's waterbending peasant was just another obstacle set up by Destiny herself. Just an obstacle. This girl was just a thing in the way of him going home, even if she had the most hauntingly beautiful eyes this side of the universe.

Then he learned that the Avatar's waterbender was just his enemy, but a person with emotions. That the two - completely opposite in every way imaginable - shared something in common: they had both tragically lost someone close to the at the hands of the Fire Nation, his beloved home. He even learned her name - so different from the smooth element that she bended.

He earned back his place on the throne and thought that Destiny might be kind to him for a change. And for a while, she was. He could have anything and everything he could have ever wanted, now that he was one better terms with his family. He even went to see his uncle, in prison for treason, sometimes. Although most of the time it was just to keep the rising quilt at bay.

He soon realized that this utopia of a life was just an illusion set up by Destiny. His father would never truly accept him. His sister was plotting against him. And the only person who truly cared about him had escaped from prison, following that Agni-damned fate to his freedom.

Somehow he knew that the only way things would get better for him - and for the Fire Nation itself - was if he aided the Avatar in his journey to end the war. So he left. He left his girlfriend, if that's what she was - he really wasn't sure anymore. He left his sister, his father, and even his claim to the throne.

He found them. The Avatar's group. He knew he would. That's what he was good at: finding the Avatar. They were all in that temple. The Avatar - Aang - let him stay to teach the young monk firebending.

The waterbender - Katara - did not trust him, not that he could blame her. What he thought of as a blessing in Ba Sing Se was really Fate's poison in disguise. She was completely right in the matter of his past wrong doings - which he was trying so har to overcome. He could never forget all of the horrible things he had done to all the people he cared about.

Katara forgave him in time. How, he'll never know. Maybe this one good thing could have been written in the stars for him. Maybe Katara was what Destiny had gifted unto him - a single act of penance to make up for all the tormoil she had put him through.

Through every touch and kiss, she felt his terrible fate fade away into oblivion. A blank sheet of parchment. She seemed too good to be true. He let himself be selfish enough to grasp her and never let the one good thing in his life go, even though he knew that he never and would never deserve such a nice concept like this.

He never really believed in Destiny, but when he was with Katara, Zuko almost started to.

Remember to Smile guys :)

~Becca