Moonstruck
A Zutara fanfic
The full moon high in the sky was the only light that kept Katara from total darkness, mapping out her silhouette next to the pond. It illuminated the pond around her, creating a gloomy scene. Her eyes drifted down the silver lining casted in the water's reflection, stopping where the turtle ducks waded in the shallows. Everyone was sound asleep in the palace, ready for tomorrow's crowning of the new Fire Lord, but her. That was the price she paid every full moon.
She continued to skip pebbles across the still water, causing ripples to create chaos in something that was once calm. Sitting with her legs up to her chest and arms wrapped around them, she placed her chin on her knees, sighing tiredly. Yes, she was up because of the overwhelming power the moon gave her, but it wasn't the only reason. Visions of a couple days ago replayed in her head, flashing a familiar blue lightning in her eyes.
Vivid memories of the fearless fight between Azula and Zuko as she watched from the sidelines rippled through her head. First blue flames engulfed by red. Blow after blow, the battle raged. Then one second, a roar of thunder raced toward her motionless body. The next, the boy she once hated collided with the cement ground, crashing down into a fetal position. She shivered from the chaotic thoughts that flooded her mind. He looked lifeless after flinging himself in front of Azula's merciless attack, but his helpless shaking from the shock allowed her to fight back. Luckily, she stopped Azula in time to heal him, or she would have never forgiven herself. We saved each other's lives. That has to mean something, right? she thought to herself, watching the ripples she created from the pebbles.
As the ripples slowly cease to exist, a dark figure stood in the water's reflection. Katara lifted her head to see the boy that has been on her mind. "Zuko..." she said softly.
"What are you still doing up? It's really late," he glanced down at the seated girl in front of him with his arms crossed loosely across his chest. "You really should be getting sleep for tomorrow."
Katara rolled her eyes. "You're the one to talk; you're the one who's getting crowned tomorrow." She then bluntly pointed to the sky with her left hand "I rise with the moon, remember?"
Zuko looked up and smirked. "Oh... right," he scoffed at her comment, but she didn't have him completely convinced. Silence fell between the two of them as Katara shifted her legs to the side and propped herself up with her right arm. She continued to look at him, aware of the debate that was happening inside his mind, and decided to ease his troubles. "You can sit, if you want. It would be nice to have the company." He hummed in response, slowly moved, and carefully sat criss cross next to her.
"These nights are getting longer and colder for me..." she quietly added. Zuko only nodded as silence emerged once again. Both sat in each other's company watching the turtle ducks swim in union.
He decided that it was his turn to break the silence. "My mother used to take me here when I was little to feed the turtle ducks," he said with a small smirk on his face.
Katara's eyes softened as she too smiled at his expression, moving her left hand to lightly touch her necklace. "That's really nice. She sounds like an incredible mom."
"Yeah..." he sighed as propped his right leg up. He leaned back with both arms holding him up from behind him, revealing some of his bare chest through his loose clothing.
Her eyes widened upon seeing the bandages wrapped around his stomach underneath. Without realizing what she was doing, Katara reached out her left hand and brushed delicately over where the lightning struck his body. He winced from the slight pain the contact gave him as he looked up at her. Her eyes were still fixated on her fingertips rested on his wrapped stomach, filling with sorrow with each weave. Slowly, he brought his right hand to her lingering fingers and placed it over hers, making her eyes rise to meet his.
Regret closed Katara's eyelids as she took a long, weary breath, inhaling the night air. "You saved my life," her shaky voice whispered.
"And you saved mine," Zuko said quietly, still resting his hand on hers. Dropping his voice even lower, he inaudibly added, "That has to mean something, right?"
She turned her head to his mumbles that he was too afraid to say. "What did you say?" Her curiosity stung his chest as he quickly thought of something else to say.
"Thank you," Zuko finally whispered to her much like he did when she healed him.
Katara couldn't respond to him this and couldn't hold in her tears anymore. As they rolled down her tan cheeks, she quietly choked out, "I'm sorry..."
When he looked up at her and saw the pain in her eyes, he instantly brought her into a long, tight hug. Feeling her rapid heartbeat mixed with the uncontrollable trembling of her body against his chest, he softly responded, "There's no need to be sorry." His voice soothed her shaking body only for a while, but did not stop the silent tears running down her face. He broke their shared hug and sat with his left leg down and right propped up again. He put his right hand on her cheek that was pink tinted either from embarrassment or the cold as she sat back to her original seated position. He immediately brushed away the tear stains with his thumb and gave her a reassuring smile, making her smile a little as well.
Ice blue eyes locked onto the liquid gold, making their shared eye contact seem unbreakable to any force. Zuko's right hand lingered on Katara's left cheek with his right elbow resting on his right knee. The seconds seemed to drag on with anticipation wandering in the slowly closing space that is left between them. His black hair brushed through the breeze, as there was a slight tug from the muscles in his arm as if it was moving with the wind, subconsciously pulling her face closer to his. Before they both realized the tension hovering over them, a quack from a turtle duck brought them back to reality. Both quickly broke their contact and pulled away to their appropriate positions.
Zuko exhaled deeply, instantly rose to feet, and gazed the pond. The sound of just fallen leaves began rustling around, filling the holes of silence that was casted on them. With a troublesome look growing on his worn out face, he took a long breath and decided to break the silence once again. "No one is going to trust me. Not after what this nation... my family put them through..."
"Well, I trust you," Katara said under her breath, immediately standing up and taking a step closer to him for reassurance.
"You shouldn't," Zuko heard her say as he took a step back from her.
"Why not?" She questioned him, eyes widened in response. She didn't understand what he meant by that statement.
"Because..." he started with a small huff. "My family practically burned everything with each path they took, leaving unhealed scars on everyone that stood in their way. What makes you think that I won't do the same?"
"Why do you say that? Zuko, you helped train the avatar to take down the Fire Lord, and you have him to vouch for that. You brought order back to your nation when we won against Azula. You jumped front of an oncoming lightning bolt to save my life, for goodness sake!" She exclaimed as a sting behind her eyes started to take over.
"Because you just shouldn't, okay?" He whispered, looking down at his hands that were out in front of him.
"Well, why not then?" Katara demanded as a tear quietly ran down her confused face.
Zuko moved to fully face her. "Cause I..." He caught himself before he let any of his feelings for a particular girl slip out. He turned away from her, toward the pond and looked down at his reflection below. "Cause I'm still just a boy who can't even get his feelings straight."
Katara's brow narrowed as she shook her head. "What do you mean by that?"
He tilted his head toward her concerned face, seeing the worry in her eyes. He shared too much with her. "Never mind..." he mumbled as he started to head back toward the palace. "Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow..."
"No, wait..." she quickly turned, reached for his right arm and grasped onto it. Her action caused him immediately turn around and grab onto her hand out of impulse as her blue eyes rose to meet his gold. His scarred face was just inches from hers.
She wondered if he could see right through her. All her wishes..., her lies..., her regrets..., how can someone love someone that is so... broken? Little did she know that the only thought that rushed through his head at that moment was how can someone that is so broken be so... beautiful?
Tension rose as their eyes stayed connected and as they shared the same uneasy breath. "If I were to kiss you, would you kiss me back?" Zuko whispered with his hand still grasped onto hers, looking at the girl in front of him for any sign of an answer.
"What?" She inhaled nervously. A light breeze swept though, adding a slight chill in the air that sent goosebumps to their skin.
"If I were to kiss you," he exhaled, "would you kiss me back?" His voice was hesitant as it crossed over that unspoken line. The words he just spoke cautiously lingered in the air for a split second, steadily dancing between the two before drifting away.
There was a flicker in his eyes causing her heartbeat to increase. Their noses brushed against each other. Afraid that if she kept gazing into them she would get lost, her eyes darted away from his. Instead, she looked down at the grass beneath their feet. Her long chocolate brown hair fell down to cover her embarrassed face as she bit her lower lip. Without anymore hesitation, she softly responded, hoping he wouldn't hear her, "Well, yeah, but..." Her whispers rolled off her tongue, but they were too scared to fall because of the consequences that would follow soon after.
"But, what?" he questioned, taking one solicitous step closer to her as the once wandering anticipation now escaped the tighter space between them. He continued looking at her, but her eyes were still fixated on the grass. She closed her eyes and inhaled a long breath, feeling his body heat radiating off of him and smelling his scent of bonfire. Out of impulse, he reached out his free hand and tucked the strands of hair that were covering her face behind her ear. She flinched from his action as she moved her focus from the ground to her shoes. Realizing he crossed that line again, he immediately brought it back down.
She turned her attention to the moon just behind him. The bright full moon was only the second riveting thing on her list, just below the one thing she had been avoiding that cold night: his golden eyes. She let out a long sigh, swiftly shook her head from the thought, and looked at the ground. "I don't know..." she managed to muster, even though she was well aware as to why she couldn't.
He could see from her expression that her overthinking mind had gotten even more complicated due to his action. Thinking that her inner thoughts were going to consume her sooner or later, he let out a heavy sigh. She was completely lost, and he saw that. "Hey..." his voice reached out a hand to her. His tone was full of concern, but also full of love.
From the ground beneath, her pair of baby blues slowly rose to the sound of his caring voice. Her breath hitched when she eventually made eye contact with him, but, this time, she couldn't look away...
The two pairs of eyes now locked on each other, not daring to look away from one another. Desperately not wanting to disturb the moment, he continued his gaze as he cautiously reached out his free hand and brought his soft hand to her cheek. Not breaking away from their solid eye contact, she slowly exhaled her unknowingly held breath as she shivered from his touch. It was now or never.
Carefully, he kept his one hand at her cheek as he let go of the grip on her arm and snaked it around her waist, closing the space between them completely. Their dangerous eye contact had brought them to very deep waters now, neither of them knowing if the two will float or drown...
Their eye contact was never broken until he leaned his head closer to hers. As he closed his eyes and continued to lean forward, she followed suit and let her eyelids gently close too. With his hand still placed on her cheek, he guided her face to his as their lips gently brushed against each other.
Immediately after their shared contact, thoughts of negative responses to his action filled his head and he abruptly pulled back. Feeling like he forced his feelings onto her, he whispered softly, "Sorry, I shouldn't have-"
His apology was interrupted by a pair of lips reuniting with his, but this time with more passion. Even though the kiss only lasted a couple seconds, it felt like forever. She found a way to place one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his shoulder as he moved both hands around her waist. The highly anticipated kiss eventually broke, leaving the both of them breathless. He could see the pink tint left on her sun-kissed face as he rubbed his thumb delicately across it, and she could see the small smirk left on his.
Standing there in the cold late night as the fallen leaves rustling through the wind, the two silently continued to be lost in words, lost in time, and lost in each other's eyes... She reached up to touch his hand that was still lingering on her face and leaned her head into it. Letting out a chuckle, his other hand found her other and gave it a gentle squeeze. Another breeze intruded, causing him to pull her hip into another warm hug, holding onto her tighter this time.
The world stopped for a while, only to start turning again when he broke the hug again. His hand found its way back home to her cheek.
A quiet, little giggle escaped from her mouth as she too pulled away and moved her hands to both sides of his shoulders. "I love you," she finally whispered to him, afraid that her voice would wake up everyone.
He continued to gaze into her eyes with his hand at her face and this look of admiration. "I love you too," he said back to her, knowing that only the stars in the clear night were awake to hear them.