Winning
"He wants to bend the fire within her the way he can bend the flame of a candle; to his will. He wants her."
a.n.
This is a very short one-shot spanning all of season one with some of my favourite Zutara moments.
He can't help but be attracted to her. She has fire in her in a way he can understand; a longing to prove herself, a secret thirst for power. He hears it in her voice when she struggles with bending: jealousy, anger, and implacable desire. And when he first captures her and holds her necklace to her throat, he feels the flames beneath her skin and he wants to claim them as his own. He wants to bend the fire within her the way he can bend the flame of a candle; to his will. He wants her.
Soon, his hunt for the little trio becomes partly about her. He still wants the Avatar, of course, but he can't lie to himself and pretend that an urge to experience her fire isn't constantly present within him, itching just below the surface of his being. Water-benders are supposed to be calm and relaxed, marshaling their power from deep wells of serenity buried in their souls. But her power is driven by anger, fueled by passion and intensity. When she bends, the water is nearly boiling.
The second time he captures her she is limp, yielding; struck down and paralyzed by June's tracking monster's venom. While they ride in search of the Avatar, he keeps a steadying hand on the small of her back, almost without realizing it. He wants her safe, he realizes, just as much as he wants her to be his. And he realizes that he can never have both.
When they battle, entirely in her element, and he sees that she has been trained, controlled, the anger is almost impossible to contain. He insults her, regardless of whether it hurts her or not, in order to prevent himself from finding the master who tamed her and destroying him. The jealousy burns (less like fire, more like acid) when he comes to the inevitable conclusion that he has lost his chance to have her, to bend her. She is too far gone now; too moral, too conscious, and the Avatar is too much in love with her.
He is tired. He has lost. If he had forsaken his search and focussed on her, would he have had her? Could he have won her flames? Would things have been different?
As he collapses on the raft with his uncle, he understands that things would never have been different. He could never have won. He would never have had her. He was too cold for her heat, and she was too hot for his ice.
Besides, they were far too alike.
a.n.
That's it! I hope you enjoy it. Any feedback would be appreciated.