Five years have passed since Sozin's Comet and being the Avatar's "girl" has caused Katara to lose herself in the journey of Aang's growth. Aang gave her life while also taking it away. Though she quickly grew to love him like no other, the love grew out of necessity, not desire. It was like loving a child at first but it changed and so did he. His emotions matured to a great degree. He became a man that she couldn't help but love. And he loves her with every ounce of his being. She was and still is the only thing he desires out of life and that's unnerving for her at times.
Katara felt like his prize, his catch. In the eyes of many, she was the Avatar's possession because she lost her autonomy once the war ended. She was no longer his teacher, his best friend, or even Katara: the Waterbending Legend. She become his love and was stripped of all other titles. Despite the atrocities of the war and all the pain they and many others suffered through, she grew to miss the journey they had as a family. Teaching Aang bending and assisting him on his Avatar journey gave her purpose. During those months, Katara was necessary for Aang's growth and survival, and essentially the world's survival.
But months passed after the Comet and she had no voice in the diplomatic affairs of the nations. Aang was the peacekeeper, not the ruler of the world. She was the peacekeeper's leading lady and that held no authority. Though many people respect and even fear her waterbending abilities, benders aren't born leaders. Blood still leads and she comes from very little back home.
Home became a personal project for a while. Sokka was quick to jump on board to help their father rebuild the Southern Water Tribe and restore it to its former glory. It didn't take long before it rivaled even the Northern Tribe. Katara held a large part in that by reconstructing the entire infrastructure of the ice and making it a beautiful fortress. However, Sokka designed it and that awarded him more credit. Katara didn't mind that because he always felt less than the group by being coined the "idea guy".
After that, Katara spent a few months in the Northern tribe teaching benders both young and old. Her people valued her opinion enough to do away with their ridiculous sexist customs and she was able to teach women and men alike her techniques. Katara felt truly fulfilled and blissful during that time. Aang also found time to visit frequently and she saw him just enough to miss him. He would always leave her with promises of their future and the uninterrupted time they would spend together. It made her swoon at that time.
Eventually, Katara taught all she knew or rather, all she was willing to share with others, and her purpose disappeared from the North Pole.
After she stopped teaching the daily waterbending and healing lessons, she remained in the North Pole and her days began to seep together. Time slowed but weeks would pass at a time without her even noticing. It wasn't easy feeling like she had lost everything while the world celebrated and reveled in peace and prosperity. There was an enormous pressure on her to be the cheerful companion to the Avatar. A lot was expected of her that she never agreed to or agreed with. She wasn't royalty and she had very little interest in being treated like it.
She saw how people looked at she and Aang after the war. They couldn't be seen together without being met with watchful, prying eyes. People wanted to dissect the young Avatar and his watertribe peasant girlfriend who destroyed the firelord together.
Katara was ready to have purpose again.
Author's Note: I've had this story gathering dust in my computer for over a year so I've finally decided to post it. Just to be clear, this is a Zutara fic that's going to be a slow progression. This will probably be a long story, if there are people who actually want to read it. I've always considered both Katara and Zuko to be fascinating and compelling characters so I'm going to capitalize on those traits in this story. Please review and let me know what you think!