So, even though I am a die-hard Kataanger, I thought to myself one day - Hey, here's a challenge...write some ZUTARA!
It did start out that way...then Zuko became Aang, and Zuko moved around a bit...and it ended up being one-sided. Oh well! I like it anyway :D I hope you do.
DISCLAIMER - I own nothing.
Aang loved watching Katara bend; it made him feel peaceful, somehow. Like he'd gone all soft inside, and if it wasn't for that hard core in his back, he would turn into goo on the ground.
She twisted her hands, turning the water into a tight coil, her legs bending instinctively as she held it steady, flicking it out every now and again to swat at imaginary enemies. Aang couldn't help but notice how smooth the curve of her knees were, perfectly joining her muscles together, creating the most beautiful tan pair of legs he'd ever seen. To be fair, they were the only pair of tan legs he'd ever seen, but, in his opinion, they were pretty damn good.
That was the problem, he thought, running a hand through his stubbly hair; it was beginning to hang down over his forehead. If he looked up, he could just see the ends of it. "I'm turning into Zuko," he thought, with a chuckle.
Katara was far too distracting. He didn't know how he managed to concentrate with a half-naked, wet Katara wandering around half the time. Again, it didn't help she was so darn beautiful.
She caught him staring at her, head resting on the palm of his hand, and she sent him a sly grin; an I-know-you're-watching-me grin. He grinned back at her, acknowledging that he'd been staring, throwing her a shy wave. She beckoned him over, twisting out her wet hair and opening her arms to hug him, then pushed him into the water; he kicked out, so she fell too with a large splash.
Zuko heard her seductive giggle; heard Aang's ever deepening chuckle echo back, and he looked up to see the two teenagers splashing each other, both taking the chance to touch the other when they thought they wouldn't notice.
He sighed, wanting to drag his eyes away, but not able to. He couldn't stop watching Katara, and the lucky guy who'd managed to win her attention.
He'd managed to half forget Katara, with Mai. For him, Mai was like the sun, no matter how dark and gloomy she seemed, lighting up his world so the pain and the twisted agony was gone, leaving him feeling clear as a mountain pool inside; so clear that he knew Mai could see all the way down to the bottom.
But, as soon as he'd left her, as soon as he'd joined their group, Katara had worked herself back into his mind – unintentionally...it wasn't as if she could help it.
She was just so damn beautiful.
To Aang, he knew she was his water, his air and his sun; all of the things he needed to stay alive. Zuko doubted he would be if she wasn't. They were like two pieces of a two-piece puzzle: both needed the other to be complete.
He knew it, yet he hated the jealous monster who roared in rage whenever Aang looked at her in his way which always made her blush when she caught it, or when he was the only one who could comfort her, or when they had their silent conversations, just looking into each other's eyes for minutes on end, their eyes always full of laughter and love whenever they looked away. When she would laugh and peck him lightly on the lips, and he would grin as if he had received an award.
He hated that he wanted to be Aang.
He didn't want to hurt Aang in that way. Heck, he didn't even want to feel that way. He wanted Mai, yet still, he couldn't get Katara out of his head.
And, worst of all, he hated that he knew Katara could, if she wanted to, see all the way down to the bottom of the pool...when it was completely clouded over and he couldn't even see to the bottom. Even if he couldn't, he knew she could.
He loved her. That was the plain simple truth of it.
But Aang loved her too. And he knew that when Avatars loved, they loved forever. Something about a chosen partner being reincarnated too – legends, of course – wandered through his head as Aang and Katara sat, drying off in the sun, their hands just touching and Aang's eyes trained on Katara as she talked languidly. He wondered if Katara was his chosen partner. If that existed, he would never have a chance. Who could argue with 'destiny'?
"But I don't want a chance!" he growled to himself, repeating it to himself over and over again, "She's Aang's."
Their hands were entertwined now, arching round Katara's shoulder, Aang's head bent over hers, kissing her cheek. She turned her head, capturing his face with her hands, pressing her lips to his.
Zuko didn't want to watch.
But still, he couldn't bring himself to look away; all the while the monster growled and howled, unrestrained even though Zuko did his best to ignore it.
When this is all over, he thought, I'm going back to Mai. And I'll never think about Katara again.
Something else he knew: that wasn't going to happen.