ZUTARA WEEK 2012, Day 5: HEARTSTRINGS

Inadvertently Intertwined

DISCLAIMER: Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Bryke, but Zutara Week belongs to all Zutarians. And I always write in a context where neither Kataang nor Maiko ever happened.

It's my fifth year of Zutara week and though I was late during the actual dates, I did not want a year to go by without my contributing to it. So I decided to post all my entries on the last "special" date for the century – 12-12-12. Better late than never, I hope.

NOTE: A short, funny one-shot set after The Southern Raiders. Very light and hopefully not such a far-fetched interpretation of the theme. I always try to be as creative as possible, not always to great success.

Reconciliation meant a great deal to Katara of the Water Tribe. And the latest case of a repaired relationship was a particularly momentous one and she decided that it deserved a souvenir of some sort. After all, it wasn't everyday that one forgave a person who one had regarded as an enemy and decided to become his friend.

The incident with the Southern Raiders had made a great impact on Katara and since then, she had come to value Zuko's presence in the group. Once her judgment grew clearer and no longer clouded by her anger, she realized how much he had been helping them, and in particular, helping Aang by joining them and how much he had risked to do so. She admired him for his strength of character and now wanted to get to know him better.

He had thanked her many times for her offer of friendship and he seemed significantly happier now that there were no longer any hard feelings between them. He had admitted to her one day that next to the Avatar's forgiveness and acceptance, it was hers that mattered a lot to him.

"No offense meant to Sokka, of course," he had added quickly.

"Of course," she had replied with a smile, "and I promise that he won't find out about this."

"That's good to know," Zuko had said, returning the smile.

They were much more at ease with each other now and Katara was surprised at how well they got along. Despite the vast differences in their backgrounds, they had similar habits and values. Toph sometimes teased them both for being too serious and Katara had to admit that she understood the comparison and was not at all put off by it. Zuko, she decided, was a wonderful friend to have and she was so glad that she decided to accept him. With this in mind, she decided to make him a small present as a token of her friendship.

Somehow, the waterbender managed to find some time in the midst of their busy schedule of training and preparing to face the Fire Lord, to knit a simple Water Tribe scarf for her new friend. She didn't know what came over her and what inspired such zeal to create a piece of clothing but she really just felt like giving Zuko a present. So she devoted every moment of spare time to this little project, and she had to be careful to keep it a secret from the others so that it would be a surprise to Zuko and also because she did not want to have to explain herself to the others. She decided that when the time came, she would present the gift to him in private, to avoid teasing and questions. After all, she felt that she was doing this purely out of a generosity of spirit, and a fondness for a friend. That was all there was to it. She had given Aang and Toph presents before so she hoped that this would not appear too unusual.

Katara decided to give the item an original design, combining some Water Tribe patterns with others that she made herself, based on her recent exposure to Fire Nation culture. She took time to explore the old rest house of the royal family to get ideas on designs and patterns. She chose to knit the scarf in both blue and red, to somehow signify the unity and peace made between water and fire in their case.

So little by little, she made progress and she was proud of what she was accomplished. Katara also found herself enjoying her little project because it gave her an opportunity to relax a little bit after a long day of training and to have some time to herself after having to deal with the antics of the group. She loved them all dearly but sometimes, she just needed to be alone for a few minutes everyday and this was how she spent that time.

For the material, she had managed to find enough bits of blue and red string here and there to be able to craft a decent scarf. And her most valuable helper in the search for string had been Momo, who would explore the old house on his own and bring back as much string as she needed. He would often be hanging around her, watching her work and giving a chirp of encouragement every now and then.

One day, when the scarf was nearly complete, Katara found out that she had run out of red string.

"It's nearly done," she thought in dismay, "I just need a little bit more."

She turned to Momo, who was watching intently, as usual.

"Well, Momo, do you think you could find me a little more red string, please?" she asked.

The lemur gave a quick nod and darted off into the hall. While waiting for his return, Katara held the scarf in front of her and surveyed her work proudly.

"I like it," she thought, "I hope he will, too."

A few minutes later, Momo returned with a length of string that extended all the way out the door.

"That was faster than usual," Katara commended him, taking the string and starting to work, "good job, Momo. Thanks, and this is some pretty quality string too."

So the waterbender continued her project happily, impressed at the quality and length of the string Momo had just provided. It was longer than she had expected but nevertheless served its purpose.

"Where did you find this?" Katara asked curiously but Momo simply inclined his head.

Katara shrugged.

"I never questioned you before," she said, "so I guess I shouldn't start now."

She continued to work, humming a happy tune as she did so. She was so engrossed in her project that she didn't notice someone enter the room.

Someone cleared his throat and Katara nearly jumped in surprise.

"Zuko!" she cried, "what are you doing here?"

"Nothing really," he answered with a look of extreme amusement, "but would you care to explain why you're ruining my favorite vest?"

And it was only then that Katara noticed that the red string she had been using was part of a quickly unraveling red vest, which Zuko had on at that very moment.