A/N: I created this right after watching the latest episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender (7/17/08). The moment where Katara hugs Zoku filled me with inspiration to portray what possible feelings Zoku might have for Katara (take note that I'm not a big fan of May).
This is that exact moment, and I apologize if I didn't get the dialogue just right. If I need to correct it, I shall. Other than that, please enjoy!
"Katara!"
Aang rushes forward determinedly. I follow quickly, having just told Aang about Katara's latest meet up with what she would call 'the monster'; a.k.a. her mother's murderer. Katara is sitting at the end of the dock, and I can't tell if her eyes are on the sunset or the water. After knowing of her for years, and knowing her for the amount of time I have, my guess is the water.
"Zuko told me what you did! Or, what you didn't do. I'm proud of you. Forgiveness is the first step to healing," Aang stated. I watched him; he was a wise little kid, and I had come to admire him the most in the group I had recently joined.
"But I didn't forgive him. I can never forgive him." Katara's words are quiet, full of confusion and hate, distress and anguish. I sigh to myself; I had seen it coming. Katara's strong personality wasn't one to agree with something like what Aang had been repeating, no matter how much it would make sense to others. Katara stands and faces us, but her gaze is set on the ground in front of her.
All of those traits that were in her words are in her eyes now, and I feel a quick stab of guilt in my chest. I had gone with her to help her satisfy her hunger for revenge, in hopes that the bond of trust we had built not too long ago would rise again, after a fall by my own doing. To see those emotions in her eyes makes me feel like a failure once more in my life, and I look at the ground in shame, afraid to look at those pain-filled eyes.
I feel my eyes widen a bit in surprise when I see her shadow, cast by an ever-falling sun, move towards me. I lift my gaze to meet the cold stare I had come so accustomed to watching.
But it isn't there. My heart begins to race, and as I feel a small breeze fight its way through my hair, through hers, I notice that none of those emotions exist in her eyes anymore. They're gone. Instead I see something else, something I hadn't seen in years before I had joined the group… something I hadn't seen in Katara's eyes since the last time we had been imprisoned together.
Trust. She's in front of me, and she's smiling. Smiling. Her face is bright, full of a brilliant life that forces me to smile back at her.
"But I am ready to forgive you."
I feel an overwhelming rush of relief, and before I can reply, she throws herself at me. Overcome by so much reassuring comfort, I catch her. Her arms are around my neck, and her head is on my chest. I can still feel her smiling as my arms wrap around her waist, my chin resting quickly on her head.
As I calmly release her, she walks past me. I turn and watch her go, my smile never fading. As I watch her go, I let out a long, relaxing breath. As I watch her go, I suddenly feel forgiveness has found its way into her heart.
Through hers... to mine.
A/N: I'm a big ZukoxKatara fan, and I want to write a story for the pair when I can. But I want to know what happens after the movie and everything so I don't mess it all up.
