You Promised
"KATARA!" Zuko cried in anguish as lightning filled the body of his little waterbender.
Not fast enough.
Never should have let her be here in the first place!
Stupid girl! Couldn't you have listened to me, just this once?
Water conducts electricity…
He watched, detached mentally from his body, as her lithe body twitched and convulsed. Her ice blue eyes locked with his, filled with an expression that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Azula stood, slightly hunched, tilting to side.
She cackled.
"Oh Zuzu, how did you ever expect to save the world, when you couldn't even save one, insignificant, Water Tribe, peasant."
Insanity dripped off of the Fire Princess in heated waves. She cackled again, something that, once upon a time, terrified Zuko. Zuko was through being afraid. He watched in horror, as the last beautiful glimmer in the waterbender's eyes faded. Her azure eyes shut, closing off a future that had been promised too him.
"Promise me you won't get hurt." They were huddled together under a tree, the night before the comet. Aang was still missing, taking with him the hope that the rag-tag team usually carried.
Everyone was dealing with the stress in their own way. Sokka and Suki had each other. They sat in Sokka's tent letting actions speak for them; pouring every unspoken word into gentle, reassuring touches. Toph and Iroh were making small talk, sipping a calming tea. Iroh promised to whip up a pot of his special tea, designed to boost energy and focus, in the morning.
Katara had ventured off, feeling the urge to waterbend in the nearby stream. When she approached the stream, she saw Zuko, in all his princely glory, firebending. His erratic movements put her into some sort of trance, like they had many times before. She was oddly reminded of Aang, and the sleepless nights he had spent before The Day of Black Sun.
Silently, she advanced, making her way stealthily to a nearby tree. Zuko's furious moves released stream after stream of brilliant flame. Katara watched, fascinated. Zuko roared to the heavens, vomiting a surge of molten fire. For one fleeting moment, she was the petrified little girl who had found the avatar; the little girl who could barely form a water whip. For one moment, she was the girl who had gazed upon the young scarred prince, and quivered with fear.
But when his startled eyes locked with hers, the moment passed. Zuko was no longer her enemy; no longer the confused young man who had betrayed her under Ba Sing Se. His liquid amber eyes glittered with restrained passion as he deftly advanced to sit by her side.
He tried to wipe the unattractive sweat from his brow, with little success. With one delicate flourish of her hand, Katara removed every bead of it from the firebender's body. "Thanks." He had said. Katara nodded her head, silently acknowledging his appreciation.
"Couldn't sleep either?" He asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence between them. His heart hammered violently against his chest, his body reacting to be merely close to the beautiful Water Tribe woman. "No. The moon is calling me." She smiled and looked to the waxing orb. "Yue? If you are listening, please stop tugging so hard." Zuko chuckled, and tried to hide it by covering it with a cough.
"And why are you still awake, Mr. I Rise With the Sun? Usually you are way out by this time of the night." Zuko frowned. "The comet is getting closer. It feels like the sun is already up. You would be surprised by the amount of adrenaline pumping through me right now." Katara smiled. It fell when his words really sank in. Sozin's Comet was really coming. The fight for their lives were really about to take place.
"Are you sure you want to face Azula with me?" Zuko abruptly asked. Katara looked at him, shock and annoyance covering her face. "Do you think I can't take her? Do you think I am too weak to face the Princess of the Fire Nation?" Her stupid pride had a mouth of its own sometimes.
"NO! I didn't say anything like that!" Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "I meant are you ready to face Azula?" Katara narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going to back out on you, if that is what you're implying. I have more honor than that." Instead of an explosion, Zuko quietly said, "I know you do."
Katara studied him for a moment. She could see the battle he had within through his eyes. "You're not thinking of backing out on me are you?" Katara asked quietly. Zuko looked at her like she was insane. "And leave you to fight alone? Against Azula? Are you insane?" Katara shrugged.
She hugged her knees. "Aang backed out on us." She said quietly. "Well I am not a twelve year old monk, afraid of his own shadow!" Zuko shouted, flames licking at his lips. He took a deep calming breath. Katara could only stare at him in bewilderment.
"You know, I wouldn't think any less of you if you backed out now." Zuko said softly, daring to graze his long, pale fingers across her delicate bronze skin. Katara shivered, but didn't pull away. "I'm not going to abandon you Zuko." She said just as softly, staring deeply in to his golden eyes.
Zuko's eyes flicked from hers to her perfect tan lips. He wondered what they tasted like, and after a pleading gaze directed to the waterbender, he leaned in to find out. He felt her still under the slight pressure he was applying to her lips, but soon, she slowly melted into kiss.
She tasted like salt water, but only faintly. Her mouth was cool, quenching the burning fire within his being. He drank deeply, savoring the bittersweet moment.
Zuko's mouth was pleasantly warm, lighting a fire within Katara's soul. At first, her brain had been too stunned to respond to Zuko's mouth, but as his burning passion turned into her own, she complied, allowing Zuko to continue.
He expertly ran his tongue along hers, making her gasp in surprise, into his mouth. She could feel his smile against her lips, and she couldn't help smile too. He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.
"Promise me you won't get hurt." He commanded gently, caressing her cheek with his thumb. Katara ran a slender hand through Zuko's soft, wavy hair. "I promise." She whispered before tentatively touching her lips against his.
Zuko still stood, frozen in place by grief.
You promised. He thought, staring at the lifeless body of his beloved.
Azula's cackle echoed across the court yard, hitting his eardrums like a scream.
The embers in his golden eyes suddenly blazed to life.
His fists were suddenly encased in white hot fury.
He turned, his whole being quivering with fury and sorrow.
"AZULA!" He roared, his entire body covered in fire hotter than anything Azula had ever bent.
The insane monster actually flinched.
Zuko advanced, only one thought on his mind: Kill. Azula.
By now, Zuko was an inferno, the color of the fire around him blinding.
He released stream after stream of fire at the Princess, aiming to incinerate.
Azula would not walk out of the arena alive.
Azula tried to counter her brother's relentless, merciless, attacks, but only feed fuel to the fire.
Suddenly, the flames disappeared, only to be replaced by a glittering ball of lightning.
Zuko fired.
Azula had no idea how to redirect the cold-blooded fire.
The lightning struck her where her nonexistent heart should have been.
Azula fell in a crumpled, twitching heap.
Zuko gazed upon her without pity.
He turned his attention back to the cooked body of his waterbender.
"Katara," He sobbed, caressing her cheek.
"You promised."
So when I sat down to write this, it was supposed to be a peice about Ozia and Ursa.
I geuss my inner Zutarian just kinda needed to express herself.
So I thought, what if Zuko hadn't caught the lightning that Azula shot at Katara in the final?
What would he have been like then?
So this little drabble came to me, when I was supposed to be sleeping.
Enjoy!
I don't know how original the concept is.
I know I've seen pleanty of fics where Zuko did catch the lightning, but he died, and Katara went crazy.
So if anyone else already wrote something like this, I didn't mean to steal your idea.
If I'm, the first...
Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Mike and Bryan! Not me!
Reviews and favs are much appreciated!