ZUTARA WEEK 2017, Day 5: MODERN TIMES
Transition
DISCLAIMER: Avatar: the Last Airbender belong to Bryke, but Zutara Week belongs to all Zutarians.
NOTE: This was the prompt I liked the least because I'm not good with modern AUs, which was the logical step to take. So I just tried to interpret this in a different way, to show how the end of the war would lead to "modern times."
Just a really short, simple piece for now. Not particularly imaginative but the best I can do.
Enjoy!
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"Are we ready for this?" Zuko thought.
He was standing at the arena where, only days before, he had faced his sister in a momentous Agni Kai. Aang had finally defeated Ozai and a strange calm had settled over the world. But the future still seemed so uncertain.
"What are you doing out here?" a voice interrupted the firebender's reverie.
Zuko turned to face Katara, who approached him with a look of concern on her face.
"You should be resting," she chided him gently, "Your wound needs to heal."
"The world needs to heal," Zuko remarked and Katara nodded.
"I couldn't sleep," the firebender added after a pause.
"I know what you mean," the waterbender replied.
The memory of that showdown with Azula was still fresh in their minds. And while they had rejoiced at Aang's triumph over the Fire Lord, they both felt less thrilled about the results of their own fight with the princess. They had won but seeing their opponent's misery and madness still weighed on both their minds.
"All this time we've been working so hard so that Aang could defeat the Fire Lord," Katara said, "and now that's it's finally happened, something still feels missing."
"Aang's victory was only the beginning," Zuko said, echoing the waterbender's own thoughts, "But the war has caused too much damage. We're all going to have to help pick up the pieces so that we can usher in a new era of peace."
Zuko hesitated and Katara sensed his doubt. He was always so aware of his duty, so burdened by the responsibilities he had towards his people. She understood him completely, being one of the few people who felt the same way. They both wanted to build a better world but were daunted by the sheer magnitude of this aspiration.
"Are we ready for what comes next, Katara?" Zuko asked, repeating his earlier question.
He looked at her with such anguish on his face that she felt immediately bound to reassure him. She smiled and took his hand and he held hers appreciatively.
"You worry too much," she said and when he raised an eyebrow at this, she added, "Though I'm one to talk, I do the same thing."
"We can hardly avoid it," Zuko said, "The last few generations have spent their whole lives surviving in a state of war. A new age of peace, though something we have all wished for, will be unfamiliar to us all."
"Then, we're as ready as we're ever going to be," Katara said, "This is what the world has needed for a century, and we're all going to be the better for it. It will be a tricky transition, I'm sure, but I believe that we're all committed to making it work."
"You're right, thank you, Katara," Zuko said, smiling appreciatively, "You always know exactly what to say to make everything seem less terrifying."
Katara blushed slightly at this and returned his smile. For the moment, their fears about the future no longer plagued them so they stood together in silence and looked towards the horizon.
Dawn was breaking, and already, as the soft light spread its healing glow over the broken world, the future seemed less bleak.