Here's my second Zutara one-shot. Maybe if I get enough motivation coughreviewscough I'll make it a chapter fiction. ;) Enjoy! (BTW: I unfortunately don't own Avatar. Check my profile to see what I'd do if I did…hehehe!)
Close Enough to Dream
A sneer contorted Katara's features as she stormed from his room to her own. 'Who does he think he is, begging to join us like that?' she thought indignantly. She pulled the door to her chamber in the Western Air Temple open, walked in, and cursed Zuko's name. "Stupid, lying son of a…ugh!" she cried as she fell to her bed, frustrated.
The arrival of Zuko had opened many old wounds in Katara's heart. He'd tried to kill her, he'd held her captive, stolen her mother's necklace, and betrayed her in Ba Sing Sei. His betrayal had cut her the deepest. She honestly thought he had changed, but when push came to shove he chose to help Azula take down the avatar. An angry tear leaked from her eye, and she quickly wiped it away.
Late in the night, a knock sounded at Katara's door. She woke with a start and climbed out of bed. "Come in," she called, disgruntled at being woken up in the dead of night. The door opened to reveal the last person Katara wanted to see: Zuko.
Infuriated, she yelled, "What could you possibly want from me in the middle of the night?" Her eyes blazed.
"I wanted to talk to about every thing that I've done wrong, wanted to apologize," Zuko replied softly.
She snorted. "You want to apologize?" He cringed at the harshness in her tone, knowing this wouldn't go the way he'd hoped. "You can't just say sorry for hunting us down and trying to kill us, Zuko. You can't say sorry for stealing my mother's necklace and taking me hostage! It won't change what you have done to us, what you've done to me!" Her voice escalated as she rejected the prince's offer and turned away from him. She cursed herself as a few tears fell from her blue orbs.
Zuko stood watching her for a moment, praying to Agni that she'd talk to him. After what seemed like an eternity, he sighed hopelessly and turned to leave, disappointment heavy in his chest. But, before he reached the door, a broken whisper reached his ears. "You can't change what happened in Ba Sing Sei."
Zuko bowed his head in shame. "I know," he murmured. "I've done so many terrible things to the people around me. I've hurt the people that I care for." He sighed. "And I know that some of the scars I've left in people's hearts are even worse than the one on my face. Like the one I gave you."
Zuko and Katara turned to face each other in Katara's room, dimly lit by the moon's light pouring through the windows. Tears were still snaking across her face, but she paid them no mind, choosing to instead address the golden eyed boy in front of her that had caused her and her friends so much pain in the past and who was now joining their cause. "You cut me so deeply, Zuko. You hurt me more than someone has hurt me in a long time. You've destroyed so many people's lives, caused so many bad memories."
He looked away from the girl whose face haunted his dreams, both good and bad. "I was confused. I'd forgotten who I was, what I stood for. Breaking your trust was the worst thing I've done in a long time."
Katara walked slowly up to him and placed a cool hand on his face, forcing him to look at her. "Zuko, you broke more than that," she said softly as their eyes burned into each other's. She tore her eyes from Zuko and let her hand slowly slip from his scarred face.
She meant so much more than she'd said. In Ba Sing Sei the Waterbender had been ready to use her most important possession, next to her necklace, to heal his scar. He'd been the enemy and she was still ready to take his biggest burden away. 'She was ready to use the spirit water to heal my scar, and she didn't even know if it would work,' he thought. 'Had she started to feel the way I do?'
Hope rose wonderfully high in his chest, lighting the long lost spark in his amber eyes. "My mother told me right before she left the palace never to forget who I am, but over the years I got confused." He took Katara's soft, cool hand and placed it back on his scar, his hand over hers. A small smile pulled at the corners of both of their lips. "But down in the caves with you, I remembered. When I'm around you, I just feel right. I feel like the part of me that I lost when my father banished me isn't missing anymore. Katara, I never want to lose that."
As she looked at him with shining blue eyes and a beautiful smile, she said, "You know, in Ba Sing Sei when Azula threw you down that hole I didn't ever picture us even being civil toward each other, but I guess destiny is a funny thing."
Zuko chuckled. "My uncle once told me that. Back then I never thought I'd listen to a thing he said, but now I think he's a lot smarter than I ever gave him credit for." The two stood there like that, content with their comfortable silence, with their thoughts, with their daydreams. They weren't quite in each other's arms, but standing there so close, they were close enough to imagine. They were close enough to dream.
TaDa! My second Zutara. I hope you enjoyed it. If a few of you want me to make it longer, just let me know. If I get enough people that want me to do it, then let it be done. Lol.
Best wishes,
Chlesea