ZUTARA WEEK 2014, Day 5: UNREQUITED
More Than Compensated
DISCLAIMER: Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra belong to Bryke, but Zutara Week belongs to all Zutarians. I write in the context where neither Kataang nor Maiko happened.
NOTE: A bit late with this entry but still on time. Just a short, reflective piece. A bit sad but with a prompt like this I guess it was inevitable. Its being so sad is probably why it took me a while to get into the mood to write it. But here it is.
Again, I tried to be creative with my interpretation. To tackle unrequited love between Zuko and Katara would be too predictable so I tried something else. Hopefully, it works. Enjoy the story!
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Katara smiled proudly as she watched her father and her fiancé return from a short excursion together. Hakoda was keen to welcome his future son-in-law properly and was pleased to know that the firebender could successfully maneuver a boat. Katara had had to remind her father that Zuko had spent years at sea searching for the Avatar. But all that seemed like ancient history.
She observed the two men and was glad to see that they were getting along splendidly. Hakoda gave the younger man an encouraging pat on the back and Zuko responded by saying "Thank you" and smiling awkwardly.
Even after living with Iroh, Zuko still felt unaccustomed to such warm displays of affection. And he always felt that he had to try and show how much he appreciated such gestures and some of his attempts were adorably awkward. But Katara was careful not to tease him too much because she knew that for all his courage, he was also so easily wounded and had yet to learn how to be teased. She was not worried about him, however, because she knew that after spending enough time with a real family, he would adjust.
"He looks at my father with such gratitude and even awe," Katara thought, deeply moved by the firebender's incredulous expression, "as if he can't even believe that he is becoming a part of a family."
She had never seen anyone so surprised by such warmth, which she found ironic since he was a firebender, after all.
As they were about to embark on a new journey together, Katara could not help but reflect on their drastically different backgrounds, particularly when it came to family. She had always known how lucky she had been with hers, even with the early loss of her mother. Simple though her early life had been, she had never wanted for the essentials. Hers had always been a home filled with love and happiness.
But when she had learned more about Zuko's life (a lot from Iroh since Katara noticed that it pained Zuko to discuss his past), she had been struck by how completely different a life it had been from hers. She was glad that he had had his mother and his uncle to treat him like family. And yet, she could not imagine having a father and sibling like Ozai and Azula.
It saddened the waterbender to think of how hard Zuko had tried to please his father, the person he had no doubt looked up to when he was young. All the years spent giving his love to someone who would never love him back, someone who was incapable of loving anyone but himself. Such misery endured by someone so young and someone, who she had learned, had the biggest and most generous heart.
Katara's eyes moistened at such somber thoughts and then she shook her head and put them aside. Painful as all of this was, it was all in the past. Now, there was such a bright future to look forward to. Destiny had a way of making it up to good people who had suffered. Whatever loss and deprivation they bore would soon be compensated.
"He is finally surrounded by people who can return all the love that he so generously gives," Katara thought with a heartwarming smile, "and that is just what he deserves."
With that happy thought, she ran towards her beloved and threw her arms around him in a warm embrace. Again, he looked slightly stunned at being shown such affection but he was gradually getting used to it. He smiled and returned the hug tenderly.