Author's Notes: Written for The Doomed Ship Comment Ficathon on Livejournal a while ago, to the prompt "Avatar:The Last Airbender, Zuko/Katara, who I am isn't who I want to be"
Who They Are
She watches him stand there with Mai, they look so beautiful and regal and like they were made for another.
Later, when the palace is asleep, she will sneak out of Aang's bed and he out of Mai's. They will cling to another with the desperate passion only doomed lovers feel. Every kiss will taste of guilt and wistfulness. With every caress, they will paint worlds born of what if on another's skin. For a few precious hours they will pretend to be the people they want to see in the mirror.
But that is later and this is now.
Now, Katara smiles and laughs and pretends to be happy right where she is, for she is the Avatar's wife, not his, and they both are what a war-torn world needs them to be.
The End