Hey y'all, this is my Finals story for the Probending Forum so I hope you enjoy. The prompts that I utilized was the easy dialogue,"What is 'today' but 'yesterday's tomorrow'?" , the medium location, the Fire Nation Capital, and the hard restriction, no use of the word 'said'. Word Count: 863
He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited outside the open door of the restaurant. Their first date was tonight, and she was already an hour late. As he held the important, folded piece of paper, which was so important because it had her love proclamation in it, he felt his nervousness start to rise steadily. Most people would think that it's VERY soon to say 'I Love You' before the first date, but Katara is special. They had been friends for a while when they were in the Gaang but when that ended, they realized their feelings for each other. The problem was that Aang was OBSESSED with Katara so they couldn't bring their feelings out to their friends until he got over her.
"Zuko, I'm so sorry that I'm late," Katara exclaimed, out of breath from running to me, "There was this little boy, and he looked lost, so I went up to him and tried to get him to talk to me, but he wouldn't so I started tickling and then he started laughing–"
"Katara, it's fine, at least you came."
"–and it convinced him to trust me…wait, did you just say it's fine?"
"Yes Katara, it's always fine as long as I get to see you," Zuko confessed, giving Katara a big hug.
"Ok good, let's just go inside now."
"Yea, I am starving!" Zuko declared, holding his stomach as it growled.
After their food was delivered to their table, Zuko looked up and noticed Katara staring at him, looking as if she had something to offer to the conversation.
"Do you need to tell me something?" Zuko questioned, knowing Katara had something on her mind.
"Well…about the letter I gave you yesterday, can we just forget about it? It was in the past so it's better if we just stay in the present," Katara mumbled, embarrassed by her proclamation in the letter.
"What is 'today' but 'yesterday's tomorrow'?" Zuko teased, hoping to change Katara's mind.
"Don't go all Iroh on me! I'm worried about what Aang will think when his best friend dates the love of his life. You've already seen how he's been acting since I rejected him, and it's going to break his Avatar heart if he finds out about us."
"Katara…you love me right?"
Katara hesitated, "…Of course I love you, with all my heart. I'm just worried about Aang."
Zuko reaches his hand across the table to grab Katara's, "Forget Aang for one second. He has basically the whole world's support, but this is just you and me. If you love me as much as I love you, you would scream it out on the streets of the Fire Nation Capital, and it would be so loud that everyone in the whole world would hear it. That's how much I love you."
Katara sat in silence, tears brimming her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. "Zuko…that letter that I gave you is real, I love you so much it hurts, but… I can't be with you right now," she pleaded, hoping that he would understand as she stood up from the table, after leaving enough money for her meal, "I need to talk to Aang and Sokka and just everyone close to me before we can go on with our relationship. I NEED their approval before I do anything, I can't have them hate me for my choices. They are the only ones I have left, and I couldn't survive without them."
"Katara, wait!" Zuko exclaims, jumping up and pulling her outside since they were causing a scene on the inside. "Is it that bad to love me? Am I such a terrible person that someone would hate you if you even had the tiniest feelings for me? I'm sorry Katara, but I love you, and I will love you until the end of time. If you need to wait, I will. I would do anything just to be with you. Go, do what you have to do with your family and Aang. Just promise that you won't forget about me. I'll be here in the Capital, waiting for you to come back to me."
"I'm so sorry that we didn't work out like you wanted us to, but I promise that I will come back for you."
"Ok…I'll see you soon?" Zuko asked, nervous about the answer.
"I'll see you tomorrow remember…I live in the Palace with you!" Katara pointed out, laughing at Zuko's forgetfulness.
"Oh yea, well see you tomorrow. Love you?" Zuko questioned, hoping for a good answer.
"I can't yet, not until I see Aang," Katara cried out.
"So, you can't even say it anymore? You were able to say it a few minutes ago, but you can't now? Did you lose your feelings that quickly?"
"No no, I…if I say it now, it will make it harder to leave you, and I have to go. Just remember that the letter is still true, and please don't give up on me because I'll never give up on you."
Feeling rejected, he simply shrugged as he put his hands in his pocket and headed off down the road.