No Guarantees
7/8/08
(At 3:13 so it's almost 7/7/08)
Normal Flashback
Normal text Normal text
"Talking" "Talking"
Thinking Thinking
"Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved by any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore." - Fahrenheit 451
It was a dark and stormy night. Lighting split the sky in a beautiful light show and was met with thunder's applause. Trees bent and swirled with wind's gale, dancing in the semi-darkness. Cold rain pounded the inverted Air Temple, causing its residents to burrow in their beds and block out nature's fury.
But fiery topaz eyes watched the liquid ice fall then explode. A long forgotten memory of another night so similar yet so different silently slid behind the eyes, and with a streak white, Zuko was gone.
The onslaught of rain reminded Zuko of a river. Of the sound the water made just before it rushed over you, smothering and entombing you in its clear blue depths forever.
Isn't that a nice thought, the young boy mused snidely.
He watched a stray drop slowly slither down the window ledge before evaporating it, satisfied with its hiss of steam.
I hate water.
Water could render you useless and slowly crush you. Water was the opposite of his great and honorable Fire. The Fire Nation had yet to find the Northern Water Tribe which kept them from winning the war and fully spreading their honorable element and culture to the rest of the world. Water symbolized everything he hated and Fire was everything he loved.
A spider leg of light lit up the sky and its sister crash shook the room and his thoughts.
Yet fire has its downfalls too.
Fire was like its lightning form; short and fast. It could build you up until you felt it would put you in a show as spectacular as the Aurora his uncle talked of, but with a snap it's done. All your honor, light, and glory snuffed out by the darkness of deceit. In an instant it could be on you and there would be no turning back. You'd catch like old paper and in moments your flesh would mutate into leather. Fire was a fair-weathered friend in a place where it eternally rained.
Besides, Zuko thought sullenly, I've caused my fire to no longer be honorable. He spun away from the stormy scene and forced his face to contort with rage. But it will be. I will capture the Avatar and return to my rightful place.
The air quaked with an earth shattering roar, wrenching Zuko from his past.
Howling winds joined the storm's ensemble, nearly drowning out the rain drop percussion. Zuko listened to the maliciously tranquil symphony, hoping that the lullaby would allow him to slip back into his memories, yet he remained alert and restless. Eventually he complied with his itching legs and slid out of his room and into the large corridor.
Without thought, Zuko followed his feet and began to aimlessly wander, and a chill went up his spine when he observed his lunar surroundings. During the day, the high ceilings and open archways were warm and inviting. The way the sun's rays would gently cascade down the walls creating a soft light was beautiful. But at night, the hollow halls transformed. Thick shadows clung to tall domes and crawled down their barriers. Some thrived, overtaking the floor and oozing to the other side. Every now and then a streak of lightning would flash and the black abyss would shrink back, repulsed by the light. Yet, before the sky could laugh, it would slither back into place.
Now, Zuko could have done the obvious thing and make a ball of fire in his palm, but he didn't want to risk the possibility of someone waking up because of it. Especially if said someone was a short tempered waterbender who wouldn't think twice about beating him to death with an ice club. So, the ex-Fire Prince lowered himself to bumping and stumbling his way through the ominous Air Temple.
Suddenly, Zuko stopped. In his absentmindedness his feet had lead him to the doorway of a partially covered garden. With a whoosh, a gust of wind blew through, splattering Zuko with water till he was chilled to his core.
"Prince Zuko, it would be in your best interest to move away from the window," the older gentleman suggested. With a chuckle he continued, "We wouldn't want you to catch your death."
Scowling, the scarred Prince followed his uncle's advice and moved toward the center of the room. A small flame crackled, fighting back the Air Temple's cold while its soft light illuminated the General's face, giving him a warm appearance.
Not that it's just an appearance, Zuko affectionately thought. Not that I'm affectionate either. That would be girly. And while Zuko"was not" affectionate, he was appreciative.
Throughout everything General Iroh had stuck by the banished Prince. He had been a role model in Zuko's youth and a mentor in his adolescence. Iroh had been thinking of Zuko's well being when he refused to allow him into the war council, then only gave in to make him happy. Iroh had then advised him to be a silent advocate, and even though Zuko had disobeyed him and was banished, Iroh decided to travel with the boy and be a source of training and wisdom.
"Zuko!" the man bellowed.
Jarred, Zuko blinked away his thoughts and turned his attention back to his uncle. "What?"
"You should learn to listen to your elders," Iroh half-heartedly grumbled before reverting back to his usual cheery disposition. "I asked you what you were thinking."
"Oh, nothing. Just…wondering where the Avatar might be." The lie stung, but Zuko pushed the feeling away.
"Ah, yes," the aging man sighed. "That is one of the greatest mysteries of our time." Iroh's eyes twinkled at the chance to tell a good story. "You do know that he has been missing for almost 100 years now?"
"Yes…," Zuko answered warily, unsure where his uncle was going with this.
A soft smile curled at the edges of Iroh's lips and he shut his eyes. In the orange glow of the fire, the angles and wrinkles of his face were caught, setting the rest in shadows and giving him an ethereal look. The tenor of his voice took on a wise tone while he enlightened his nephew on the history of their nation.
"After the death of Avatar Roku - your great-grandfather - Fire Lord Sozin truly set in motion his plans for the war. However, it was not until 12 years later that he began his search for the Avatar."
A grievous look flitted over the General's face. "He scoured airbender's temples, killing them along the way before moving onto the waterbenders. He never found him and over time, just stopped looking. It was as if the Avatar just up," a snap of the fingers and a crack of the flame, "and disappeared."
A harsh silence settled over the two males. The reality of Zuko's mission gnawed at the comfort of the fire and created an ocean between the relatives. Suddenly, the teenager was acutely aware of the rain. The hum of water drops, the murmur of wind, even the occasional flash-bang of thunder and lightening seemed to echo what crawled in his chest.
Hopeless.
And with that thought, Zuko had a grotesque epiphany. His current situation, his life since his mother's death, it was all like the rain and the river. No matter how hard he tried to keep dry, to keep his head above water, he kept failing. It was almost as if trying in itself was moot; was hopeless.
As if knowing his charge's sour change of mood, Iroh attempted to strike up another conversation.
"Nephew-"
"Uncle," Zuko interrupted, his face set in an unreadable mask, "Say that, by some stroke of luck, we do find the Avatar and capture him. Do you truly believe father will accept me again?"
"Oh, perfect. You're here."
The sharp female voice brought Zuko back to reality. How many times is that today? He turned his gaze to the tan girl, if she could be called a girl. The waterbender's abilities and fire-like temper could rival that of any man's and in no way made her feminine.
Though she is attractive. The firebender quickly caught himself. I-if you like that whole psychopathic you-so-much-as-sneeze-the-wrong-way-I'll-eat-you-alive kind of thing.
The waterbender moved away from the ex-Fire Prince, before turning back and staring him down. Though what shone in her eyes wasn't the ferocious fury that had dominated their glances, but caution and hesitance. It was like she wanted to do something and wasn't sure how to do it, or even if she should do it.
Well that's an improvement. …I think.
The truth was that, since he had come back from the Boiling Rock with her father, brother, and Suki, she become more…tolerant of the firebender, and had even gone as far as being almost friendly at times. It was a change that everyone but the two involved had noticed. Zuko had been too busy trying to stay on her good side and her; well she's a girl, who knows what goes on in there.
Though with this change came another; one that was much more subtle and hidden; one that had been growing longer than anyone could truly imagine and that had only become evident to its owner within the last few weeks.
A white heat had begun to smolder in Zuko's body and its flame could outshine even his inner fire when provoked. The smallest glance from those blue eyes would make the embers spark; make his face burn in the darkness he made sure covered him. But with the graze of a hand, the bump of an elbow or shoulder, his whole body was set aflame with the sickly sweet flames and with them Zuko would be rendered no better than the puddles she so easily bent.
Evil waterbending peasant with your weird…bloodbending abilities. It's all probably just some form of torture she's testing out on me. Must be a sister thing.
"Thank-thank you."
Odd how such a common phrase felt so foreign to his ears. It had seemed so long since he had actually done something to deserve it and the fact she was the one to say it jarred him even more.
"What?"
"I know you heard what I said, so don't push your luck! No matter what you may think, I am not heartless."
She quickly turned away, though not before Zuko caught a faint blush adorning her almost ever-present scowl.
She's blushing! That's a good sign, right?
"Um," Zuko struggled to think of something to stay on her good side. "I-I apologize. I just…never imagined you would say that."
Well, it turned out that that wasn't the best thing to say either. She swung around to face him, redder and angrier than before. "So you're saying I'm not appreciative!"
"No! That's not-" Why you little…Twisting my words around. Forcing his voice to stay level, Zuko tried again. "I only meant that I never thought you would say it to me."
Her eyes darkened further, like the ocean's waves just before a storm. "So you're saying that just because you're a pompous, cocky, selfish jerk, I wouldn't have it in me to thank you when it just so happened that you might have done something good!" Her body language screamed that she was livid, though Zuko's frazzled mind couldn't quite grasp anything other than…
She…she actually thinks I did something good.
And he wanted to celebrate. He wanted to dance and sing and cry out for joy. Not that he ever would, just the thought of doing it was humiliating; that and he'd never live it down. But above all he wanted to tell her that he was grateful, and the fact that she was the one who thought he did good was more than he could ask for. Yet all she received was a very intelligent, "Well…yeah."
Zuko could tell immediately that any kind thought she might have held for him at any time in their short relationship was now completely and irrevocably gone. The fire in her eyes brightened the baby blues to where they almost glowed as they searched for a way to smite him. And somewhere in the back of Zuko's mind he realized they'd be pretty if it weren't for the fact they signified the end of his life.
"I can't believe you!" she seethed. "You are the most annoying person I've ever met, you know that? I try to be nice to you, and you turn on me. I try to scare you away, and you help Sokka bust my father and friend out of prison. Pick a side and stay on it! Oh! And another thing-"
On and on she rambled, never staying on one subject too long. She jabbed at everything she could, from the fact that he never seemed to choose a side, to how he only kept up his big innocent farm boy routine to stay on everyone's good side. And as she ranted, she paced. Back and forth like a caged pygmypuma, waiting for the perfect final strike, all the while never letting her eyes stray from his face.
I've got to calm her down before she really does strike. Zuko desperately thought, moving his gaze so it wouldn't catch her's. He didn't know why he did it only that deep down he felt it would change something. All right, got to calm her down. Should be easy, like dowsing a fire.
"Now, listen-" he started, yet her sudden halt stopped him.
"Don't you 'Now, listen' me!" she snapped before continuing her tirade again.
Or like putting out a raging wild fire.
"I can't understand how the others could even consider accepting you, much less how they could even trust you!" Now that started a spark of rage in Zuko. He had to deal with that enough without her rubbing it in. "I mean, you chased us all around the world."
"Hey-"
"And you've tried to kill Aang hundreds of times!"
"Could I just-"
"And then you tell me you've changed-"
"Would you just-"
"-only to turn around a moment later and try to hurt us again!"
"Just lis-"
"And after you've gone home and played prince-"
"You don't know what-"
"-you come crawling to us, saying you changed again!"
"Listen!"
"And what about Combustion Man? He was just following your orders, and you turned on him!"
"Would you let me speak?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if no one really trusted you!"
"Would you just shut up, Katara!"
"I wouldn't be surprised if even your uncle didn't trust you," Katara finished, cold as steel. She had stopped pacing long ago, and now only stared at the scarred teen that fought to control his boiling anger. And they stayed like that, Katara's watery blue eyes burning holes into Zuko while his fiery gold were sealed shut as he attempted to hold back waves of anger, until an almost animalistic growl rumbled from Zuko. With a growl of her own, Katara turned away from him and walked out from under their canopy shelter into the harsh rain which she bended away to keep dry.
Zuko would have stopped her, should have stopped her, and tried to convince her that being out in such a storm was unsafe. However, the healer's harsh words bounced around the young man's head and struck a cord.
"And I don't want any of that philosophical stuff," the boy stipulated, "I want you to tell me if he will or won't"
The wrinkles in Iroh's aged face creased more as he watched his young nephew. He seemed to weigh his words before slowly answering, "I believe my brother will keep his word."
"Can you promise?" the young prince pressed.
Iroh sighed at the question. Not the normal sigh of an exasperated babysitter, but the sigh of an old man with too much knowledge of the world.
"Zuko," he began, "You must know that no matter what you, or I, or we might face, you will always be my nephew, and you will always be someone with whom I could trust my life."
Zuko caught the change in his uncle's demeanor. Confused, he started, "You're changing the topic-"
"Please, let me finish," Iroh stated. With a soft glance to his charge he continued.
"I cannot promise you something over which I have no control, and you should not ask me to. Life is full of twists and turns, many of which we do not see until we have passed them. The only thing you can even begin to be certain of is yourself, and even that is not always true. If you do find the Avatar, who knows what you will do after that. And if you do capture him and take him to your father, I can only pray that he will accept you.
"Please remember this over everything I have told you. Do not ask for guarantees. And do not look to be saved by any one thing or person…
A rumble shook the garden. Zuko mutely watched as Katara looked about, dumbfounded as to where the sound came from. But he knew. Somehow in the deep recesses of his mind he knew what the sound was and what it meant. And before his mind could process the information and before he could make an excuse, his feet were propelling him towards the waterbender.
…Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore."
Zuko grabbed the back of Katara's tunic and crushed her to his chest. In shock, she lost her concentration and allowed them to be drenched in the assault if rain, but sooner than she could strike him with her words, he had turned and began sprinting towards the canopy. With a final burst of energy he cleared the edge of the roof and moved them to the safety of the temple wall mere moments before an avalanche of mud, water, and debris tumbled off the rim of the canyon and onto the balcony.
Danger evaded, Zuko hesitantly let his vice gripe on Katara loosen, and then slid himself to the ground in fatigue. Katara however, couldn't seem to stop staring at him.
"How did you-? Why did you-?" she stumbled over her words. She made to start again, then seemed to second guess herself and took a look at the two of them. Zuko knew they probably didn't look their best seeing as he felt like drowned koalarat.
He watched as she bent the water free of herself and tossed it away. However, she then turned to him, hesitated but once, and slowly but surely bent the water off of him. After she was finished, she turned and caught his eyes.
And he was trapped. He valiantly fought to reach the brown shores of her deep pools, yet the more he struggled, the more he became entranced. As he sunk into her blue oceans and drowned in their euphoric waters, they began to shimmer with the extremely tiny smile that graced her lips, and something in him clicked. What it was, he did not know, nor would he probably know for some time.
"Thank you," Katara reluctantly uttered for the second time that night.
And then underused muscles easily curved Zuko's mouth into his own tiny grin.
"You're welcome."
It's a start.
Far away from the two benders sat another, who carefully watched the entire ordeal.
"Sparky's such a sucker for falling for it," the devious blind earthbender chuckled. "Ah, revenge is sweet."
A.N. IT'S FINISHED! With 3,232 (I'm not even kidding) words it is done at 3:13 a.m. I almost made my goal for finishing on Monday, BUT I DON'T CARE!! XD
Now a little drabble for Zutara Week. I know you're not supposed to post them on different days, but hey, I only missed it by 3 hours.
The theme is denim.
Zuko had at on time believed that Azula was the only person capable of such torture. He was gravely mistaken. While Azula could spin you in circles till you didn't know up from down, only Katara could spend an entire day in one store, looking for one pair of jeans, without trying anything on.
Zuko was the kind of guy who went in, got what he needed, and got out. No muss, no fuss. No going though endless aisles of clothing five times, no fretting over prices, and no flirting with the sales people. Not that he minded that she did, believe you me, it was just that he wished to speed up this whole process.
And he wouldn't voice his wish. That would leave him with an angry Katara and that was got him in this trouble in the first place. He hadn't been thinking and said something that offended her. So, to keep the peace, he agreed to assist her in shopping, not knowing the torture that would follow. And no matter what one might say, and no matter the fact that they were finally at the dressing rooms, it was so not worth it.
"Uh, Zuko. Um, what do you think?"
The irate teen turned his attention to his female friend and gaped. She had only changed her pants, but she had changed into a pair of those denim Daisy Duke Shorts that everyone knew were too small, but seemed not to care. That was, unless you were Katara who never wore anything that went above the knees.
"They're a bit short, but Toph told to try some so…"
Zuko's eyes subtly raked over Katara's newly unearthed legs.
This is so worth it.
A.N. 2 Well there you have it. But before you go I have a small request. If anyone who is reading this enjoys making AMV's and is interested could you maybe make a Zutara AMV to either
Accidentally In Love
The Ghost of You- by My Chemical Romance
Fall In Love
Savin' Me- by Nickleback
If you do make one, please send me a review with the web address so I can watch it. Thank You!
Also if you see any errors (It took me three tries to get errors) could you please point them out. Again, Thank You!
And review please!