When You Were Young
A/N: Why hullo! Welcome to my first Avatar fanfiction! Be warned, first. I've written a number of Rose/Scorpius and Draco/Hermione as well as one quick little drabble about Elena and Damon from TVD. Feel free to check 'em out.
Anyways, I got this idea from one of my favorite Killers songs. Obviously you should know which one it is from the title. Enjoy and positive feedback is always welcomed.
AU: There was no war. Katara and Zuko are both royalty and spend their summers with one another.
"You sit there in your heartache, waiting for some beautiful boy to save you from your old ways, you play forgiveness. Watch it now! Here he comes! He doesn't look a thing like Jesus but he talks like a gentle man like you imagined when you were young."
-When You Were Young, The Killers
Eight and Ten
"Zuko?"
"What Katara? I'm busy, see?"
An eight-year-old girl with wide, brilliant blue eyes and rich mocha colored hair stood before a pond. Her clothing was all different shades of blue. Her skirt and light underskirt were dark and contrasted against the light blue of her tank top. Her feet were bare, scrunching up the grass in her feet.
Sitting in front of her was a boy with alabaster white skin. His dark black hair was pulled up into its customary top-knot. His golden eyes were shinning brilliantly as he looked across the pond at the tiny cluster of turtle-ducks swimming towards him.
"But I'm leaving tomorrow!" The girl wailed. Her lips were pressed into a tight line. The boy turned around to face her. He sighed and motioned for her to come sit by him.
"Thanks," She whispered quietly before sitting down. They watched the tiny animals swim towards them. The boy threw pieces of bread out into the pond. The girl watches him out of the corner of her eye.
When he wasn't paying attention, she scooped his hand up into hers. The boy yelped before yanking it out of her grasp. "Katara! What was that for?" He yelled. "Only married people do that!"
The girl, Katara, scowled and then shrugged. She looked back out at the turtle-ducks as the boy continued to stare at her incredulously. "Did you ever think about getting married Zuko?" She said.
"What?"
Katara shrugged again. "Dad's getting married again," She said softly. "I don't like the lady she's weird looking." She scrunched her nose.
The boy, Zuko, continued to stare at her before he turned back to the pond. He fixed his red armor before speaking. "That's a mean thing to say Katara," He said softly. "She's gonna' be your new mom."
"But she can't!" Katara protested. Her olive-skinned fists hit the ground next to her. "She's nothing like Gran-Gran or Auntie Hama said that she should be!"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "And what did your crazy grandma say?" He drawled. Katara scowled.
"Gran-Gran is not crazy!" She said. "She said that a wife should be pretty. Have tan skin and dark brown hair and blue eyes and be 'good in bed' whatever that means!"
"Nothing you need to know," Zuko said with a crimson blush. He had heard the men on the council talk and, at the delicate age of ten, was scared.
Katara quirked an eyebrow at him before rolling over to her stomach and propping herself onto her elbows with a sigh. "Wanna hear my dream husband?"
"No,"
"Okay here it goes," She cocked her head to the side and looked up. "He has to be tan because that's very handsome. Or that's what Auntie Hama says. And he has to have blonde hair because that's rare and considered very pretty on babies. We'll have blonde babies that the dragon delivers, don't worry. And well he has to have muscles but not too much like your dad because that's gross. And he has to have blue eyes and be smart but not smarter then me because that's too smart. Finally he has to be a bender because I am and I want bending babies and-"
"Katara!" Zuko hissed. "I don't care about your husband!" He stood up on his feet.
Katara scrambled up after him. "Why not?" She whimpered before pouting. "You're coming to my wedding!"
Zuko scowled before stalking off. "I'm not going to a stupid water tribe wedding!"
"Zuko!" Katara cried out before slumping to the ground and letting the tears flow out of her eyes. "I hate you!"
Thirteen and Fifteen
Zuko strutted around the Fire Palace wearing a proud grin. He had successfully bedded the young tutor that his father had gotten him after he had done poorly on one of his maths tests due to sheer laziness. He continued to tell his father he didn't understand. "That makes four!" He said proudly to himself.
He walked around the corner only to bump into his father's chest. Ozai looked furious. "Throne chambers, now." The last part was a growl.
Zuko scurried off with wide eyes. He entered the room only to be met with the disapproving glare of all the councilmen. One, however, looked thoroughly amused. Zuko glared at him.
"Zuko!" Ozai snapped. He shifted his gaze to his father. "Listen, boy, I will not be spending valuable money on your own personal toys! Use your own damn allowance if you're that horny!" The council snickered and Zuko's lip twitched at the urge to light them all on fire.
"From now on," Ozai finished. "Katara will be tutoring you."
Zuko's eyes went wide. "Father! I-"
"No more excuses!" Ozai boomed. "I hope you won't fuck this one! Hakoda won't be too happy with you if you do." He ended his speech with a sadistic grin.
Zuko left the room with a groan. He was not doing this. He would fight until the dragged him, kicking and screaming.
Sure enough, the next night, he found himself sulking to the door to let Katara into his large room. She stood outside with a wide grin, books and parchment piled up in her hands along with other writing utensils.
"Hi!" She exclaimed. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek braid, her bangs too long and slightly fringing over her eyes. She huffed and blew them out of her face. "I have all the stuff we need and I'm sure-"
Zuko rolled his eyes and walking into the room before scowling at the back of his head and making several rude hand gestures. He was already sitting at the coffee table in the middle of the lounge before his main room when Katara stepped in.
Her eyes raked around the room. "Wow," She breathed. "I've never been in here!"
"I didn't want you in here," Grumbled Zuko under his breathe. Katara plopped her stuff down on the table and huffed again before brushing her bangs back.
"Okay so let's start with something simple," Said Katara. She wrote a simple problem on a piece of parchment before sliding it across the table to Zuko. He looked it for all of five seconds before stating "Eleven."
Katara blinked. "Okay too easy," She sighed before snatching the paper back and writing a complicated problem down. She slid it back across the table and again, Zuko looked at it quickly before lifting his head and staring her in the eyes before saying "Seventy-one."
Katara's jaw went slack as she threw her hands up. "Why do you need a tutor?" She exclaimed. "I didn't even know that one until my tutor helped me!"
"Why do you think?" Zuko said before waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Katara scoffed and quickly gathered up her stuff.
"Katara, come on!" He protested. She glared at him then turned and went towards the door. Zuko slid in front of her with his palms up. "Don't tell me that you wouldn't go for it if Mr. Perfect was standing there, begging for it!"
Katara narrowed her eyes into a scowl. "What are you talking about?"
"When we were eight?" He said. "You had this elaborate description of your Prince Charming."
Katara tried to shove past him but he swiftly blocked her. "I was eight!"
"So you're saying it's not true?"
Katara blushed violently. "What's your point? You certainly aren't him so there is no way we are doing it!"
He chuckled slightly at her virgin ways. "Please," He drawled as he inched his face closer to hers. "I don't meet your water tribe standards?"
"Exactly opposite," She spat. "You will never be with me so stop trying Zuko."
Seventeen and Nineteen
She wished she could take back her words. The words she said four years ago that could have sailed her away from Zuko forever. She stood at the annual Summer Solstice Ball at the Fire Palace with Jee, her perfect description of what Zuko called her "Prince Charming."
He was water tribe; muscular but not buff, the way Zuko turned out to be; and smart, yet not as smart as Zuko. He should have been perfect with his tan skin and light hair. There was something missing though, a lack of anything special.
Dancing with him there, as Zuko waltzed a general's daughter, some snooty girl with a lack of any emotions named Mai, she realized what she wanted. She wanted pale skin that stretched across rippling, sinewy muscles. She wanted jet black hair that was soft when she ran her fingers through it. She wanted those golden eyes, one scared over as the result fit of rage that had Ozai removed and exiled from the country. She wanted that arrogant ass who would always correct her or outsmart her. She wanted his warm body that was always warm from the fire that burned inside of him.
She wanted Zuko.
The song ended and Katara felt a set of warm hands drag he out of Jee's grasp. She whipped around to see Zuko's sister, Azula, and her friend, Ty Lee. "Zuzu looks bored," She stated as her arms crossed her plated chest. "You should go dance with him."
Katara scowled. "Shouldn't you be with Sokka?" She snapped. Azula waved her hand.
"He can wait," She said as she looked as her manicured fingers. "I'm trying to set you too up right now."
Katara stormed away from a grinning Ty Lee and and an amused looking Azula. They want me to hook up with Zuko, She thought angrily. Fine! I will! She marched up to where Zuko was looking bored next to Mai.
He saw her walk over and his hooded eyes immediately light up. Katara's heart thumped in her chest. "Katara, I was-"
She silenced him by crushing her lips to his. Her arms laced around his neck and yanked his tall frame down to her height. He was still and Katara became nervous. It was quickly pushed out of her mind as Zuko wrapped his arms around her waist and began furiously kissing her back.
Her hands tried to thread their way through hair but were blocked by the golden top not. She nipped slightly at his bottom lip with her teeth. He groaned slightly into her mouth before he pulled away.
"Let's leave," He breathed huskily into her ear. Katara nodded quickly before Zuko dragged her off.
In the corner, Azula smirked knowingly. Sokka walked over to her and handed her a glass of red liquid. He pecked her cheek lightly before staring off after his sister. "What's up with them?"
Azula grinned before turning to her husband. "I believe the Fire Lord just left his own party to fuck your sister." Sokka's jaw went slack as he stared after the two.
A/N: Wah-la! It's finished. Poopy ending I know, I'm sorry!
Review!
~The Lovely Zee
