DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I don't own anything related to it. I earn no money from this. In fact, I earn nothing from it but my own enjoyment. I make no profit from my writings and don't want to; they're based on someone else's work and I would rather make my own way.

…I. Love. Zuko. His voice actor is just amazing and at the end of the series he's even better. I'm at least going to attempt a Zutara fic, so please bear with me. It's been a long time since I've actually written any fan-fiction, so pardon me if it seems a little strange.

Now, some of you will realize these are bits and pieces of episodes. The last six episodes, it would be, if I use something from all of them. Which I'm not likely to do, actually. A couple, but not much.

Please enjoy the story and I would sincerely appreciate feedback.

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Chapter One

She was beautiful and terrifying. She was one of the most frightening women he had ever met.

Oh, sure, Azula was completely insane and a Firebender of amazing power. A prodigy, for that matter. But Azula was his sister, and, now, he no longer feared her. He was stronger, and he had learned the true ways of Firebending. He had learned from the masters, from the first Firebenders—the dragons. He now knew how to truly use fire. Even if Azula was tough, Zuko had more on his side.

Katara was frightening. She had bluntly threatened to kill him—perhaps not in those words, but it was clear enough—if he ever showed a hint of trying to hurt Aang. She hated him for no apparent reason.

And for some reason, though Zuko had never cared for what people thought of him, always having his own goals, he cared what she thought. He had never cared about anything but regaining his honor and the love of his father. Of course, after that, it had been his uncle, but…right now, he needed to have her at least be civil with him, didn't he? If she was ready to strangle him at all times it simply wouldn't work out. She'd kill him before he could teach Aang any real Firebending.

But there was something crazy in him that cared about what she thought of him.

He offered to take her to see the Southern Raiders. They had taken her mother, and killed her.

She was so frightening when she was angry that it made him wonder how he had ever survived any fights with her in the past. She was not the typical Waterbender. And before all of her anger about this entire matter grew too great to block, he wanted to find a way to make it up to her, if that was even possible, really. Maybe then she wouldn't kill him. She still frightened him, though.

He had learned patience, and how to control himself. So he didn't show much of that fear. But when they had found the captain of the ship, she had done something so terrifying that Zuko had vowed that he would never, ever make her angry.

She had controlled the man.

He didn't know how she did it. He just knew that she had forced his Firebending to stop, and he had fallen to his knees, unable to control his body, and shouted in pain.

For the first time, Zuko felt that chill rise along his spine that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Oh, he was afraid of many things. He was only human. But fear like this he had never felt.

It was like she was…bending him.

She'd forced him to lift up and look her in the eye because, in spite of his fear, Zuko had been the one to speak. He'd been the one to try and force the man's memory.

It was an unnatural thing.

He was frightened of it. Katara was, quite possibly, more powerful than even the Avatar himself.

The Avatar could not, and probably would not, control someone.

That night, once they left that ship, he took over flying Appa. She was tired. And there was something else wrong. He found himself leaning down toward Appa's ears. "I've got you pointed in the right direction. Can you fly us for a while?"

He grunted, in the way he always did as a confirmation. Zuko climbed the bison's fur and went up to the huge saddle, and he found that Katara was still awake.

She was crying.

He reached for her gently, and his fingers brushed her skin. She flinched. "Katara."

"Leave me alone." She rolled over and faced away from him.

"Katara." His voice was softer and now, he put his hand on her arm. It was exposed, because, for her, the black was too hot right now. He scooted closer to her, softly taking her hand; his had gently slid down her arm. "Katara, look at me."

She sniffled deeply, but then rage built and, suddenly, there was a definite smack. She had used her water whip on him, trying to free herself. His cheek stung badly, but he didn't let go of her. "Katara, please. I have to ask you something. You can hurt me all you like. That heals. The rest of my face never will."

Reluctantly she turned to him, sniffling, and gasped. She had hit him hard. There was a red welt growing on his cheek and there was some blood softly seeping from the wound. She sat bolt upright and reached out, softly touching the area just below the wound. "I'm sorry, Zuko." Her voice was so soft and quiet and sincere that he couldn't refuse the apology, even if he had wanted to. He saw her pull out her little water pouch, and she pressed her hand to his face, the water wrapped around her fingers. It was chilly, and he flinched away, at first. Then, seeing her eyes widen, he leaned in to her hand and allowed her to heal him.

There was a deep silence in the air after that. It was unbearable for the first few seconds and then she realized he was waiting for her to look at him. She reluctantly lifted her blue eyes up to meet his. They were a unique color; golden, almost.

Even she would admit that, even with his scar, he was a handsome young man.

Her train of thought ended as he reached for her hand again. This time, she offered it to him. "What happened on the ship? I've never seen anything like that, Katara."

Her eyes widened and she looked so afraid that he wished he hadn't asked. Her hand was gone from his so quickly that he didn't have time to tighten his fist and keep her there. She began to draw her knees up and she curled in on herself so tightly that he thought she might become permanently compact. She was so afraid, and something in his chest ached for that.

But he wouldn't take the question back now. He had asked, and as she hadn't tried to jump from Appa, he knew that she wasn't going to run away from him. He waited.

When she finally answered, he felt himself lucky that Appa's pace was too slow to create much wind around them; it was a soft whisper. "Bloodbending."

Zuko couldn't contain his reaction, this time; it was a soft, startled gasp and his entire back stiffened. He was slow to repeat the word. "Bloodbending?" It sounded so grotesque that he could not imagine what it could truly mean. He didn't want to know. Why had he asked?

"…Before the…eclipse, we were still hiding out in the Fire Nation. We were mostly traveling on foot, to avoid anyone seeing Appa. We found ourselves camping out in a small forest, telling…ghost stories. Of course, Sokka's were lame. I had the best." It was a quiet and soft chuckle that escaped her, but it didn't last. "An old woman found us in the forest. She heard me telling the story. She said it was dangerous in the woods, that…we shouldn't be out there. She said people had been disappearing in the forest, lately. She offered us shelter for a couple of days; she had an inn. Sokka had a bad feeling about her and started snooping around her house one day. We found a locked room, and inside it was a tiny treasure chest. She found him peeking—I had fussed on him throughout his exploration—and told us what was inside the chest."

There was a very long pause here. Zuko wondered what was going on. "She was from the Southern Water Tribe. The last bender to be captured from there. The Fire Nation kept her far away from water. But, desperate, she learned that she could…bend rats. They had water in them, after all. Blood is a liquid, and our bodies contain water." The pause was a little shorter this time. "She bent the man who kept them locked up and freed only herself. She ran far away." The pause was only a couple of seconds. "The people disappearing were because of her. They were members of the Fire Nation and she was locking them up under the guise of it being a Spirit." There was a long and painful pause. "She taught me to draw water from plants, from the air. She had me meet her under the full moon. We were at our strongest as benders. She told me what happened when she was locked up…and then she tried to bend me. Tried to teach me how to do it. It was…terrifying, to feel that. I never wanted to do it. But I turned it against her." She was shuddering violently now. "Just the idea of…controlling someone, I couldn't stand it!" There was a sniffle, a quiet sob. "…And then I turned and used it on her. She looked at me and smiled and said, 'Congratulations, Katara. You're a Bloodbender,' and she had this…awful look on her face. I hated myself for it." She shook for a few seconds, crying, unable to speak. "And now I used it again!"

Zuko didn't know what to say. It was a horrifying idea. And Katara clearly didn't like it. But she had used it, in her anger. He didn't know what to do, what to say, what to think. But she continued after several seconds. Her words were broken by sniffles and sobs and for the first time, scary, intimidating Katara seemed her age once more. Like an unsure girl without a clue as to what she was supposed to do. "I don't wanna do it again, Zuko. I don't wanna."

This time, he did know what to do. Well, he sort of did; Zuko was still learning how to handle crying women, how to comfort people. He was used to relying on himself, but he was learning. He hesitated, but he went to her, and he gently put his arms around her, his grip gentle, but strong. He felt her stiffen up immensely, but when he didn't let go, she relaxed and, after a few moments, she seemed to shatter. She let go of great sobs and her body shook in his arms, her face snuggled in against his shoulder.

In time her sobs slowed and softened, and her body stopped shaking. He heard a few soft sniffles now, gentle, and finally, her breathing began to even out. She relaxed in his arms and fell in to a world without a single dream or nightmare.

Zuko didn't bother to try and put her down; it would wake her. Instead, he shifted enough to lean against the back edge of Appa's saddle and, in time, he joined her in that world.

End Chapter

Thank you for reading this. I would appreciate at least one review per chapter, because, frankly, if there's something I can improve on, I'd like to do it.

I hope you enjoyed it.