Welp here's my Zutara Month attempt. Day 6: Desired. Hope it is enjoyed.
Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA, Zuko, or Katara. If I did, they probably would have ended up together.
Desired
There were many things he desired. Anyone could attest to that. When he was a boy he had desired the approval of his father. When he was eleven he desired his mother to come back from the dead and protects him from the hell that had been the palace. When he was thirteen he desired his lost honor and to go back home where he would be adored and glorified by all the people he would govern. At fifteen he desired the Avatar so he could regain he honor he had lost two years prior.
He found his prize in the Southern Water Tribe and his chase for the newly reawakened Avatar began. He would reach the personification of his desired honor only to be stopped by things like his Uncle or Zhao or the Waterbender - even though she wasn't any match for him. While on his chase, only one thing plagued his mind: The child Avatar and his water tribe peasant companions. More so the girl that accompanied the boy. Many a night he would suddenly wake up with no memory of his dreams except for a pair of exotic blue eyes.
In the Northern Water Tribe he had to battle the owner of those haunting azure eyes. He was surprised by the newly acquired skill and stamina from the Water peasant. He had defeated her though. He finally had what he was after in his grasp: the Avatar. But that damned girl came back and took the child away.
While running with his Uncle when he found out that he wasn't welcomed back home after the Northern Water Tribe incident, all he desired was to go home to the familiar - not the foreign life that he had to live and the foreign situations that he had to endure. When he left his Uncle and ventured on his own path, he just desired some time alone to figure out his own destiny. While alone, he desired food and shelter, two things he would have never thought that the Crowned Price of the Fire Nation would ever desire. He fought and soon realized that his homeland wasn't as like by others as he had once thought.
He and his uncle found each other again and made their way to Ba Sing Se, the only place they would be free of their past. In Ba Sing Se he met a girl. This girl was so much different than the other girls back home with her tan skin, green eyes, and uncontrollable hair. When on their date, he found out that he oddly desired to impress her and to make her laugh. So he lied about being able to juggle. At first it impressed her and she laughed when he failed miserably. He kind of liked that laugh. It was better than his sister's laugh anyways. He also lit those lamps up for her because that face that she made when it was found out that they were out was so sad that he had to do something. She kissed him and he kissed her back.
He found out that he was happy in Ba Sing Se, working in a tea shop and living as a refugee. But that all changed when the Avatar made an appearance.
Then the next thing he knows he's in the catacombs under the large city with none other than the Water Tribe Peasant herself. They bickered for a few minutes and then she was sitting on the ground, weeping and clutching onto her blue necklace. He felt sympathy for her because he knew where she was coming from. They had both lost their mothers to the Fire Nation and they can never be brought back. She tells him that whenever she thought of the Fire Nation she saw his face. Knowing that she was among those people who thought that the Fire Nation was a bad place filled with bad people he understood what she meant and felt a newly found guilt for all of the bad people in his homeland.
She offered to heal his scar with her magical spirit water and he accepted. She came closer and touched his face. It surprised him that he didn't flinch from her touch. He looked at her and saw that she was calm and focused on his face. Then all of a sudden the young Avatar and his Uncle came in and ruined the moment. The waterbender left with the Avatar and left him alone with his Uncle. They would go back to the tea shop and forget that this incident had ever happened. But then his sister showed up and destroyed any chance of leaving the catacombs unscathed.
And then he chose a side. His desire to return home rushed to him like fire through a forest. He turned against his Uncle. He sided with his sister and battled the Waterbender yet again. He was again surprised by how far she has come since their last battle. She shouted things at him and he shouted back. Betrayal and other emotions openly plastered on her face as she fought him. The Avatar went into the Avatar State and was shot with Azula's lightning. He fell through the air and the Waterbending Peasant caught him. The look she gave him was almost heartbreaking. She rose in the air on a cylinder of water and disappeared.
He went back home and was adored by his people for killing the Avatar. He knew that he didn't kill the child and the Avatar was probably still alive thanks to that spirit water, but she didn't care. He had everything he desired: his father's approval, his familiar life back, and even a girlfriend. But he still wanted something else. At night he would wake up in the middle of the night with the Waterbender's face implanted into his memories. He began dreaming about her and her soft hand on the rough flesh of his face. He should have been happy but he wasn't. Some nights he woke up and thought that the girl might be next to him on his bed. He opened his eyes to find that she wasn't there.
There was a new thing that he desired now. On the day of the Black Sun he confronted his father and told him what he was going to do. Zuko left the Fire Nation on an air ship in search of the Avatar - not to destroy him and his friends but to train him in the art of Firebending and more importantly to make amends with the Water Tribe Girl.
That's it guys. I know it's a bit late because it's the 27th now, but better late than never I guess.
Remember to Smile :)
~Becca