-A/N- This actually sprang into life from a prompt from rashaka at the Katara Zuko lj community, but I was so happy with how it turned out that I decided to post it here too. The prompt was "We were all in love and we all got hurt." Which is simple phrase but it packs so much meaning. I would suggest you listen to Koe sung by Amano Tsukiko while you read it. It's what I was listening to as I wrote it, and the tone was very influenced by it. Rated T for death. Hope you enjoy!
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A Gently Fading Hue
Sunlight faded from the sky as it does every night, golden sunset being replaced by a deep blue. For Zuko, gazing at Katara felt like that, scorching gold being replaced by healing blue. For him, her eyes were the sky, and watching her now was like watching rain fall from a cloudless sky: unfathomable and unstoppable. Zuko had not known her long enough to understand how to handle her tears. Sadly, he realized that even should he live a thousand years her tears would still render him powerless. The fighting was done, the dirt and ash still settling around them, and the Avatar lay dead in Katara's arms.
It was but poor consolation that the Firelord lay dead also.
Tears began to prick at Zuko's good eye, but he blinked them back. He must stay strong for Katara, because he was the only one standing with her in the abandoned Great Hall. Sokka was as of yet unaware of the fallen boy; he was still out on the battlefield leaning over the body of a girl he had loved. Zuko knew that Toph would be hovering close to him; he had witnessed her unseeing eyes turned in Sokka's direction, her ears seemingly listening to his breathing. He had seen the blush that would paint the young earthbender's cheeks when Sokka would touch her shoulder or her hand. Her pain would be great indeed as she watched the Water Tribe boy mourn for another girl.
He knew that pain as he watched the girl he loved weep bitterly over the body of the Avatar. When he could bear the sight no longer, he leaned down next to her and took her by the shoulders. She shrugged his hands off and sobbed louder.
"He loved me!" she cried wretchedly. "If I could've loved him back, maybe this wouldn't have happened!"
Zuko grabbed her shoulders again and squeezed them reassuringly. "This is not your fault!" he told her fiercely, golden eyes blazing.
Her shoulders were shaking under his fingers. "If he hadn't come into battle with a broken heart, if I had loved him in return, oh, if only he hadn't fallen in love with me, then maybe—"
Zuko's voice was steel when he cut her off. "We were all in love, and we all got hurt." The young prince's mind was flooded with the image of Aang's broken countenance when he had discovered Zuko's relationship with Katara. At this unbidden image, a lone tear streaked down his face. Katara gasped at the emotions in Zuko's eyes.
"But I don't regret that I love you, Zuko. I could never regret that." She gazed into his eyes, frantically, willing him to understand her feelings.
She kissed him then, and it was a passionate yet sorrowful kiss. The kiss tasted like salt and ash and blood, but for Katara and Zuko, it was the only thing that felt real.
--I want to fall asleep in your forgiving embrace that rinses away my punishment-- lyrics from Koe sung by Amano Tsukiko
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-A/N- I don't actually want Aang to die. It was just what came to mind when I read the prompt. Thanks for reading!