Fanfiction: Holding Hands
Katara saw Zuko, sitting at the water's edge, flipping stones into the cobalt blue lake. He was alone. She didn't want to leave him there by himself, but she wished Toph, Aang, Suki, or Sokka were there to give him company instead of her. Zuko and Katara's conversations often induced a feeling of intense awkwardness that was better left inexperienced. Heaving a heavy sigh, Katara sauntered over to where Zuko was sitting. She rolled her eyes and playfully nudged Zuko. "What are you doing here all by yourself? Shouldn't you be with the others, gathering firewood or something?" No response. Great. The awkwardness had been ignited. All thanks to Katara. Her cheeks shined red as she recollected herself and started up the conversation again. "Um, Zuko, is anything wrong? I mean, you usually are like this, but never to this extreme, if you know what I mean..." Still no feedback. "Zuko! Would you at least try to talk to me?" Katara's voice hinted at her anger. Here she was, making all this strenuous effort to keep Zuko company, and she didn't even get any replies. The nerve of that guy! "ZUK-" Her sentence was cut off.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Zuko hissed. He was breathing heavily, his shaggy hair veiling his amber eyes. Katara was hurt. Tears began to rim her eyes, but she clamped her eyelids shut, refusing to let them out. She was about to get up and leave when she heard a sniffle. She swore it came from Zuko. Wait a second. Zuko, crying? That was impossible. Zuko did have a volatile personality, but he had never cried. Out loud at least. But she heard it again. Creeping closer towards his face, Katara slowly and gently parted the hair from his eyes. His gorgeous amber eyes. Sure enough, they shined with tears. Her heart melted at the miracle.
"Zu-Zuko? What happened?" Zuko shook his face out of Katara's grasp. He resumed skipping pebbles. "Zuko! You have to tell me what happened. I want to help you! Why don't you ever cooperate? Why do you try and hide your emotions when it is just so much easier to let them flow? I don't understand..." Zuko looked deeply into Katara's eyes, as if he was happy that she was willing to listen. But his voice sounded reluctant; hesitant.
"I-It's he-her birt-birthday. Today." Katara was puzzled.
"Who's birthday?" She inquired with genuine sympathy. Zuko shut his eyes and shook his head, pain rippling across his facial features. "It's okay, you can tell me anything. I promise." Katara meant it. Zuko shuddered before he went on.
"My mother. It's her birthday today." Zuko's eyes began to overflow once more, but he was silent, tears dripping down his rough cheekbones. Katara gasped. Realizing the source of pain of the lone firebender, tears began forming in her eyes as well. She knew what it was like to lose a mother, and the pain she felt on her own mother's birthday. At that moment, something came over her. A wave of love for Zuko washed over her heart. Impulsively, Katara took Zuko's hand and held it in hers. Her fingers crawled between the crevices of his, and he instinctively put his head on her shoulder. They sat there for a while, in each other's company, Katara's head atop his shaggy black hair. It wasn't too long before Zuko's sniffles died off. Katara attempted to get up, but she realized that Zuko's eyes were closed. She whispered his name, but there was no answer. Giggling, Katara concluded that Zuko was sound asleep. On her shoulder. Was it bad that Katara liked that? She shunned the thought from her mind and stroked his hair with her long fingers, until exhaustion made her eyelids heavy, and she entered a wonderful realm of dreams. A realm that Zuko just happened to be in.