Beautiful Blue Eyes

Although it had only been about three days since he had knowingly fallen for Katara, it seemed like so much longer.

He just couldn't get over how beautiful, smart, and perfect she was.

He would do just about anything to be with her.

The odd thing was that he had only been a part of their gaang for a short two weeks…and, yet seeing her with Aang each of those long fourteen days only caused his feelings to intensify.

Now, Zuko desperately wanted to tell Katara how he felt…for the sake of his own sanity, he had to.

…

A few days later, the Firebender spotted Aang talking with Katara, saying what appeared to be goodbye. He had earlier overheard some rumors from Sokka saying that Aang needed some space away from them all. Apparently he wanted to clear his mind before having to face down the Fire Lord.

It didn't seem like Katara agreed with the idea of being away from Aang. Zuko suspected this had something to do with the raging war carrying on outside, clearly. However, Aang must've disagreed because moments later the Airbender glided off into the sky, leaving Appa and everyone else behind.

…

Watching the Avatar's fading form; Zuko knew this would be his last chance.

Aang was going to be nowhere in sight.

This left the prince with two whole days…forty-eight to win the Waterbender over...

"Hey Katara!" shouted Zuko, jogging over towards the defeated-looking brunette.

"What do you want Zuko?" she asked sharply, obviously wanting nothing more than for him to leave; reason being: Katara still didn't like having him in the gaang. The only reason she put up with it was for the sake of Aang's firebending. Other than that, she refused to tolerate the Firebender.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Zuko sarcastically pointed out.

"Quite honestly, I don't like you. So, what did you expect?" Katara gave him a harsh look. She definitely wasn't in the mood for his games.

"Look, Katara, can't we put the past behind us? We're about to fight in a war alongside each other. It seems only right, wouldn't you agree?" He tried his best to look sincere.

She eyed him cautiously, taking up several awkward minutes before responding, "I guess…but why?"

"Well, I figured since we're all going to be here without 'peacemaker Aang' for the next couple of days, why not prove that we can get along without him? We could even use this time to get to know one another-"

"Hmm…I recall trying that once Zuko; and last time I checked, it didn't turn out too well," Katara angrily interrupted, soon after turning to leave.

Zuko grabbed her arm before she could. "Look, everyone here has been able to forgive me for that. How many times do I have to apologize before you will?"

"This just-" Katara ripped her arm away. "This just isn't like you. I mean, do you seriously expect me to trust you after…" she momentarily drifted off, her face scrunched up in frustration. "I don't know what to believe anymore, alright?" Katara told him, having been referring to the prince himself. "Can you really blame me for that?"

The Firebender appeared to be torn between accepting her inner decision to never trust him…or try fighting for that to change. "After these two days, once you get to know me better, you'll realize I really have changed this time," he evidently chose the latter. "I'm only asking for one more chance," Zuko added at her look of apprehension.

"Alright," the Waterbender sighed, "I'll go along with your little game," she crossed her arms, "but if you try pulling anything-"

"This isn't a game Katara," he quickly corrected her.

The brunette remained stubborn and disbelieving, "I suppose we'll just have to see," she said more to herself.

Zuko decided to ignore the comment and moved on to more pressing matters. "How about we meet after dinner tonight?" she was watching him suspiciously, so he elaborated, "You know, to talk."

Again, the blue-eyed girl took her time in answering. "Fine," she reluctantly accepted the offer, "nine o'clock and don't be late," Katara finished harshly. With that, she walked back to the tents.

After she was well out of sight, Zuko smirked to himself. 'And step one is completed'.

…

At precisely nine o'clock, Katara left her tent to go meet Zuko.

At first, the northerner had absolutely no idea as to why she had actually agreed to speak with him…

…But then she thought, maybe he was right.

True, they were about to fight alongside one another soon, so why not put this childish hatred behind them?

'He could've changed', Katara mused, 'but if this is really nothing more than a game…' she clenched her fists at the thought before someone unexpectedly shattered the dark reverie.

"Hello Katara," said Zuko stepping out of his tent.

"You're late," she felt the need to point out.

"What? It's-"

"A minute passed nine, I know," Katara cut him off, inwardly knowing what a brat she was being, "Didn't you say nine o'clock?"

"Katara, can we just talk without snapping at one another?" Zuko looked defeated.

She sighed, realizing how childish she'd just been. "Go on, then," Katara urged for him to pick up the conversation seeing as she had nothing to say.

"Great," Zuko grinned at her, grateful that another fight hadn't been unleashed.

He almost looked kind of creepy.

"Umm…why are you looking at me like that?" Katara shifted uncomfortably.

Zuko shook himself, trying to conjure up the right words here. "I'm just glad you agreed to meet me out here tonight. That's all," he tried, hoping that would suffice.

"Oh? And why is that?" she still asked, much to his dismay.

"I don't know…I'm just really happy you agreed to give me a chance," the Firebender stated truthfully, feeling completely out of his element with the sudden mood change.

Katara sensed the tension as well, having practically been the one who initiated it. "Right…" she looked off, basking awkwardly in the newfound silence.

…

As the night drew on, the two gaang members stayed outside talking about frivolous, unimportant affairs. And after an hour surpassed them, Katara found herself wanting to go back to her tent.

"Look Zuko-" she began.

"Hey, do you want to practice?" Zuko knew where she was heading with that sentence, so he came up with a better way to break the ice.

"Oh," Katara appeared to be caught off guard. "Umm, are you sure?" she checked. After all, in the past they had sparred for entirely different reasons other than sheer amusement.

"Of course," he nodded affirmatively.

"Alright," she still held uncertain.

"Before we start," Zuko stood up, "you should know I have no intentions of taking it easy on you," he teased.

Standing as well, Katara couldn't help but to crack a smile. "Same here," she informed him simply. Then, looking up at the starry night sky, she added, "Plus the moon is full tonight," she pointed at the illuminating sphere above.

This didn't seem to faze her companion, though, for he coolly replied, "Good. You'll need it."

Instead of saying anything back, Katara water whipped him across the face.

"Hey!" Zuko was shocked, "What-"

"You're the one who suggested we 'practice'," she reminded him playfully before adding the sarcastic, "Sparky," at the end of her taunt.

Katara knew Zuko hated the nickname Toph had created for him.

She hoped it would get him to fight back…

And naturally, it worked.

…

They ran around sparring for what felt like hours. And even with the moon at its fullest, Katara was starting to feel tired.

However, in the end, it wasn't her who put up a white flag.

Zuko raised his hands up, "Okay you win, I surrender!" he dramatically fell to the ground and started laughing.

Caught up in the moment, Katara laughed along and sat down beside him.

…

About a minute after they'd each sobered up, the blue-eyed girl felt the need to ask Zuko something.

"Zuko?"

Still lying down, he looked lazily over at her. "Hmm?"

"How did you get your scar?"she'd asked before seeing him stiffen. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to," Katara tried amending the tension.

But Zuko, apparently, was just full of surprises that day.

"No, I'll tell you," he sat up and faced her, proceeding to talk before she could say anything about his decision. "It was during one of my father's meetings," the prince started, "See, he was planning this big invasion that involved a lot of innocent people getting killed…I really didn't like the idea. And even though I wasn't supposed to, I spoke my opinion. That was, of course, entirely out of line. He then challenged me, a thirteen year old boy; to an Agni Ki…I didn't want to fight him-"

"So instead, he did that to you?" Katara looked at him in disbelief.

"Yes." He touched his scar. "Looking back I know I deserved it."

"Zuko," said Katara, gently taking his hand off of his scar. "Nobody deserves that."

Remembering all too well the pain he'd caused her and the gaang in the past, he uncharacteristically asked, "Not even me?"

Taken aback, she still had to make sure he knew, "Especially you..."

Katara honestly hadn't the slightest clue as to what came over her. She abruptly released Zuko's hand and embarrassingly tried to hide her red face.

"Thanks, Katara," she heard Zuko quietly say after he'd chuckled at her actions. The sincerity in his voice was all that had kept her from getting angry about it.

"Not a problem," the Waterbender replied hastily, getting up from her seat beside Zuko. "I think I'm going to head to bed now, okay?"she told him, more as a statement rather than a question. The poor girl was just so confused now. Some alone time would hopefully help to rectify that.

"Alright," the Firebender smiled a bit sadly, "Goodnight Katara."

Katara had journeyed all the way back to her tent before whispering, "Goodnight Zuko."

…

The next morning, Katara woke up to find a note sticking to the outside of her tent. It read:

"Katara,

I had a really good time last night.

Think we could do it again sometime?

-Zuko"

Katara considered this… All night she had been thinking about the time they spent together. Were they friends? She got a weird feeling in her gut every time she thought about it. All she really knew was that she definitely wanted to spend more time with him.

"Zuko,

Of course that would be alright.

Honestly, I'm just glad we're able to get along now...

So does meeting you by the pond at, say…one o'clock sound good?

See you then."

-Katara

She walked over and stuck the note to the outside of his tent.

…

Hours later, the two could be found sitting beside one another, unusually close at the edge of a pond. They were currently feeding some turtle ducks and seemed to be talking a lot more smoothly than the last time.

"So, Aang comes back tomorrow," Katara spoke up, unknowingly breaking to previously calm atmosphere between them.

"And then it's off to war," Zuko put in, trying to change the subject. Even the upcoming battle would've been a better topic over the boy she seemed to like.

"I can't believe Aang would just leave like that," Katara seemed determined in spite of his feeble attempt. "Right before we're supposed to do this…he just takes off," she shook her head, no longer in great mood by any means.

"I'm sure we'll be fine regardless," he was desperately trying to keep their conversation off Aang right now. He only had the rest of the day to tell her how he felt and he really didn't need the Avatar (who wasn't even there) to screw it up.

"I couldn't care less about the stupid war right now, Zuko!" Katara stood up angrily, having snapped. "I just want to understand how he could simply leave all of us here like this," she ran a hand through her wavy hair. "Aang's not the only one worried about defeating the Fire Lord you know!"

Zuko got to his feet right as Katara's eyes began brimming with unshed tears. "I really thought he cared…" the girl cried, leaving her partner at a loss.

Hating the scene before him (and also not knowing what else he could possibly do to fix it) Zuko pulled her into a comforting hug.

Unexpectedly, Katara didn't pull away…she held on to him even tighter. The Firebender took this as a good sign and decided within that moment that it was time for him to reveal his true feelings.

"Look Katara there's something I need to tell you…"

Still in his embrace, Katara looked up at him.

"Aang may not care about you in the way that you thought he did…but-" He took a deep breath. "I do."

Even though she was slightly shocked, a part of her turned oddly pleased. Katara now realized why she earlier couldn't decide if Zuko was a friend…

She was confused.

The Waterbender had been blinded because of her true feelings for Zuko.

So, after noticing that the prince had been watching her warily for the past few moments, Katara bravely replied by planting a light kiss on his lips.

Zuko definitely hadn't been anticipating this reaction…he had only ever hoped.

Sighing contently after the two pulled apart, he kissed the remaining tears on Katara's face away. He held onto her tight, afraid this was all just a dream.

"Katara?"

"Hmm?" she looked up at him in a way she never had before…it was lovingly.

"You have the most beautiful blue eyes."

And for the second time that day, the Waterbender kissed her Firebender.