A/N: I was told "angsty sexy field trip." This is for you, Nicole. Hope you enjoy, buddy.
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
All Paths
Katara felt quite proud of herself. Sure, everyone in the group was a bit on edge and high-strung, but she had a Plan. Sokka liked to think he got all the plan genes in the family, but Katara knew hers would work way better than a beach party.
Something had to be done to sew the fragmented pieces of her family back together. The tension from the Comet was tearing them in all different directions, and Katara knew that everyone had to be on the same page if Aang was going to defeat Ozai.
Somehow she had coerced Zuko into unlocking the attic and letting her run amok in it. She dug through boxes and crates, setting aside a few things.
A tea kettle. A hand-drum. A shawl. A wok. A couple pairs of mis-matched shoes. A set of finger cymbals. A jeweled hairpin. A wooden dragon toy.
Zuko stood near the trapdoor, hiding in the shadows and dust. Katara wasn't sure she wanted to interrupt his brood, so she kept pilfering.
Ten boxes and two trunks later, she found it. A painted scroll with a chubby-cheeked baby trying to build a sand castle. Katara's heart melted. Zuko had been an adorable baby. She glanced up at him, but he was looking at something else. Grinning, Katara rolled up the scroll and tucked it in the back of her waistband.
No need to spoil the surprise, even if Zuko had probably seen it before some other time.
She walked up to him, grabbing the wok.
"Okay," she chirped. "Found it."
Zuko stood still, tracing the edge of one of the cymbals. Katara's smile faded.
"Zuko?" She ducked her head to meet his eyes. "Is something wrong?"
He blinked, fingers stilling. "What? Oh, no."
"Really." Katara pursed her lips, dragging the word out. His face hardened and he glared at her.
"Yeah, Katara. Everything's fine." She hadn't heard his voice sound that ugly in weeks. A muscle along his jaw twitched, and he pulled in a sharp breath.
"Umm, okay then."
"You done?"
"Uh, yeah." She held up the wok. "Found what I needed."
Zuko turned towards the trapdoor and stomped down the ladder. Katara follows slowly, biting at her lip.
Had she done something? Why did he seem so angry and… ponytail-y right now? She knew he was prone to mood swings, but Zuko hadn't been in this grouchy since he lost his firebending.
He stopped abruptly. She managed to freeze just before smashing into his back. The upstairs hallway was dark, but she saw the huge sigh Zuko heaved out. He half-turned towards her, hiding his expression behind his hair.
"Sorry," he muttered, harsh tone gone. "I shouldn't have done that. It's just—"
Zuko clenched his fists and collapsed in on himself. A trickle of smoke trailed from his nose with every exhale. Katara clutched the wok to her, watching him trying to get a handle on himself. After a few minutes, he rolled his shoulders back and looked at her fully.
"It's hard sometimes, being back here," he said. His voice didn't waver, but Katara watched his eyes. Now that she looked, she could see the tension under the skin, the sagging skin under his good eye, and the redness tangling itself across the whites of his eyes. "Really hard."
"I'm sorry no one's noticed," she replied softly. She let the wok hang by her side and stepped closer.
"I didn't want anyone to." Zuko stared at the floor. "There's bigger stuff to worry about."
Katara wondered if maybe her plan had focused too closely on the big picture. How could she hope to mend the whole group, when the pieces themselves were crumbling?
She released a shaking breath and placed a hand on his shoulder. She could feel his collarbone under the linen. Zuko brought his stare up to her face again.
"There might be bigger stuff," Katara murmured, rubbing her thumb along his collarbone. "But that doesn't mean you should ignore everything else. We won't be able to survive the next few days if we can't hold ourselves together, Zuko."
He didn't blink. She didn't want to break their eye contact. Zuko's hand moved up and gently held her wrist, his thumb rubbing her palm. Katara licked her lips.
"Yeah, you're right." He gave a small smile. Katara was pleased to see laugh lines crinkling at the corner of an eye and the worry relaxing a little bit.
She gave a small snort, glancing at her shoes. "Of course I am. I'm always—"
Zuko cut her off, softly touching the side of her face. "You're always right," he finished for her.
Katara met him the rest of the way, leaning up and kissing him lightly.
He pulled her closer, pressed down a little harder. She dropped the wok.
It clanged against the wooden floor. Loudly.
They jumped apart, looking anywhere but at each other. Katara tried to slow her heart down. She couldn't help but lick her lips again. She glanced up and saw Zuko rubbing at the back of his neck, blushing darkly and biting his lower lip.
"Sorry." They both said. Each froze and finally looked each other in the eye again. Katara broke first.
"I shouldn't have—I mean, you were just—I don't even—I just—Um." She couldn't figure out what she wanted to say. Zuko looked to be in about the same state. His mouth kept opening and closing, and she could see his larynx bobbing up and down with his throat.
He furrowed his brow a little. He settled on, "Don't be. Sorry, that is."
"Oh, um, okay." Despite the hallway only being a few feet wide, Katara would swear the Great Divide could fit between them.
She watched as a calmness finally swept across her features. "I'm not."
"Good." Her voice wavered. "I—Great."
"I think," he said slowly, his right hand reaching towards her. "I think I've wanted to do that for a while."
"Yeah?" Katara's heart beat triple-time somewhere in her throat.
"Longer than I realized."
Her hands shook a little. Why was it so hard to breathe? "How long?"
Zuko's hand finally touched her face. He traced her eyebrow, down her cheekbone, settling his thumb on her bottom lip. Her eyes fluttered shut.
"Ba Sing Se," he whispered. The breath whooshed out of her.
She pulled her hands up and held his hand, his wrist, pressing closer.
"Me too."
They were kissing again.
His hands were on either side of her face, and she buried hers in his hair. She tilted her head. He sucked greedily on her lower lip. They stumbled towards the wall behind Katara. She was glad of the extra support.
Katara wasn't usually much of a romantic, but she liked to think she knew enough to know what was right. She'd heard girls say kissing the right boy felt like flying, like the whole world stopped, like nothing else mattered. Katara disagreed with their assessments.
Kissing Zuko was more than just those asinine sentiments.
She'd been flying before, but this felt like a hot fire during the Days of Darkness. She'd heard the world stop as a thousand Avatars spoke through one boy, but this felt like the world was spinning faster. She'd been dedicated to a cause where nothing else mattered, but this? This felt like everything mattered.
Every touch, every sound, every taste, every texture, every smell. Every past, every present, every future. Everything led to and from this moment.
She opened her mouth a little more, sucking in some air. Zuko's tongue moved across hers. Her knees wobbled. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. She ran her fingers along the sides of his face.
He froze, pulling back a few inches. Zuko's eyes held a hazy sort of clarity Katara appreciated. She put that there.
He stared at her hard for a few seconds before turning his head to press a kiss to the heel of her right palm. She sucked in a sharp breath. Katara pulled him back down and kissed him chastely this time. First on the lips, then along the edge of his scar, then mirroring the feeling on the other side, finally pressing her lips to his forehead.
Zuko shuddered, shoulders relaxing fully.
That small sigh, that faint whimper told Katara what she needed to know. He wasn't crumbling anymore. He could hold himself together again.
He pressed his lips firmly against hers and threaded his fingers through her hair. She brushed her tongue against his lips, wanting to feel how everything fit together again, but Zuko pulled back. Katara couldn't hold back her pout. He leaned his forehead against hers.
"Thank you," he said once his breathing calmed. He licked his lips. "Thank you for noticing."
One more short kiss and he was gone, back downstairs, back to help hold everyone together. Katara stared after him, a hand drifting across her lips.
"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you," she whispered.
Katara shook her head and picked up the wok. There was bigger stuff to worry about. She still needed to make dinner.
A/N: I think I nailed the angst. A bit wibbly on the sexy. And as for the field trip? Well, Katara did force him to have an adventure up in the attic. Sooo... yeah. I'm gonna go tie myself into a knot because of feels now. Thanks for reading.