Prompt: Mask
She could be in Ba Sing Se. She could be in the South Pole. She could be flying through the skies on Appa.
It doesn't matter where she is. She will always remember this day.
On this day, her life changed forever.
She walks through the dark night, weaving her way through alleys and streets of the outer ring of this great city.
It's so late. Everyone is asleep. No one is around.
God she wishes someone was here. Just someone to sit with her.
She finds a bench in a pitch black alley and sits there. She presses her hand so hard against the pendant on her neck that she can feel a tiny choke on her throat.
But she doesn't stop. The pendant is like a button; maybe, if she pushes it hard enough, she'll see her again. Kaya. The chief's wife.
Katara's mother.
Katara brings her hands to her face and leans against her knees, letting out a heavy, shaky sigh against her hands.
She can feel his eyes on her. She doesn't know it's him. She doesn't care who it is; she can handle herself. She's proven that.
Eventually, however, she grows sick of his gaze. She looks up, the distant light of the street lamp just illuminating her tear-stained face. "What do you want?" she demands loudly, her voice hoarse from crying.
The dark figure doesn't move from his place on top of the building. But she can see him. He doesn't say a thing.
"Why are you here?" she demands, "I'm not some damsel in distress. I don't need saving."
The figure remained silent.
"I know who you are," she says, "I know you are the great Blue Spirit and that you've taken station here to be some superhero. Some savior for the poor fools who can't defend themselves."
No movement. No words.
"Well you can't help me," she says. She looks down at the ground. "No one can help me," she whispers. Another tear falls without her control and she closes her eyes, once again not caring that he is watching her.
Only moments later, she feels movement beside her.
She looks up and standing to her side is the Blue Spirit. "Go away," she says.
He moves this time; he steps closer.
"Fuck off!" she hisses.
He hesitates. Then he sits beside her. She is frozen in her spot, watching her carefully, but she doesn't react badly. Then he touches her shoulder.
It's that one touch that makes her fall apart, "I miss her so much." She covers her mouth with hand, surprised by her burst of words. Then a harsh, powerful sob breaks out of her and her small frame shakes immensely.
She closes her eyes, letting the tears fall down her cheeks.
The Blue Spirit watches her. He grips her shoulder tighter, hoping that his one change of touch will communicate a question: Who did you lose?
Somehow, she knows. She answers, "My mother died six years ago today."
He knows a disease didn't kill her mother. That kind of death didn't cause so much pain six years later.
Katara's mother was taken from her.
The Blue Spirit pulls away his mask, revealing his face.
Katara doesn't know this, though. The darkness of their location shrouds both their faces in shadow. "I'm sorry," he whispers.
Katara lets out a bitter laugh, "Everybody is."
The Blue Spirit, now showing his true identity as Zuko, whispers "I lost my mother."
Silence.
"I don't if she's dead. All I know is that she left," he says, "Nobody told me they were sorry."
Katara, her eyes now dry of tears, looks towards the sound of the voice.
"No one said anything. I had to deal with it all on my own."
"I still haven't dealt with it," she replies.
"Neither have I."
Katara lets out another bitter laugh. She looks away from the voice, into the darkness of the alley, "Is heart-to-heart conversation with grieving girls part of your superhero agenda?"
Zuko is silent for a moment. Then he answers, "I'm not a superhero."
Katara frowns at his words. Then she reaches randomly into the darkness and finds Zuko's gloved knuckles still holding the doa sword. "Maybe not," she says.
Silence.
"But tonight, you came pretty close." Then she reaches her other hand out for his face. Finding his cheek, she then brings her face forward and presses her lips against his cheek. She lingers there for a while, feeling his cool, smooth skin beneath warm lips. Then she pulls away and whispers in his ear, "I'm not going to say sorry about your mom. I'm not going to say it because she's not dead. You should still try to find her."
He's still reeling from the shock from her kiss when her words register for him. When he finally opens his mouth to say anything, Katara whispers, "Thank you for listening." Then she stands up and walks out of the alleyway, not looking back, leaving a very confused Zuko behind. He'll go home that night and spend the next week thinking about that girl he couldn't see and how she completely outranked Jin.
He'll wonder about her words and for one moment, he'll actually think that he could be a superhero.
That he could save his mother.
Little did they both know that only a few weeks later they would be sharing the exact same moment they had in the alleyway, only underneath Ba Sing Se in the catacombs.
And even then, neither will know that it was Katara that kissed the cheek of the banished prince.
Neither will ever know.
But it'll stay with both for a very long time.