A. N. I wrote this after hearing the song "Untouched" by the Veronicas. They're a pair of Aussie twins that sing, write, and play guitar. They're veryveryvery good.

I've been thinking about what Zuko was thinking in that priceless moment in the finale, when he jumped in front of Katara. I don't care if there was never a kiss. Zutara is the kind of relationship that doesn't always warrant the physical stuff. Hopefully this says what I wanted it to say. It was hard for me to understand what I wanted it to say. ;D Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. In fact, I have nightmares about owning Avatar right now because I just don't want to hate myself that much. I mean, really. You'd have to hold me at gunpoint to for me to write the garbage that the last 10 minutes was.

"Agni Kai!" Azula had challenged, the madness showing in her eyes.

Zuko had taken a deep breath, remembering the events of the past few days with the Avatar and his friends. He had been accepted, finally. He had belonged. And he'd gained Katara's trust. That was what had made him truly and wholly ready to face his sister. He tried to tell himself that he had gained a friend, but the smaller, unafraid side of his brain didn't buy it for a moment. He loved her.

Whenever he was alone enough to admit that huge, encompassing truth to himself, he felt vulnerable. Maybe it was because being in love with Katara wasn't something that was up to just him. Either she felt the same way, or she didn't, and the potentially devastating power that crucial fact entailed made him even more nervous around her.

And so that's why he told Azula yes. He wanted vengeance, but more than anything he needed to show Katara how much she meant to him. She had stared in shock from the depths of her cerulean irises.

"...she's trying to separate us," she'd said. Separate us, he had repeated in his mind. Us. An electric current had filled his entire body, a thousand times more powerful than anything Azula or Ozai could dish out. If he was going to face his sister, he was going to make sure that Katara survived. That was the most important thing. For Katara to stay safe. Oh, she could take care of herself, all right. But even the thought of someone he cared for so deeply facing his tyrannical sister was unbearable.

When he told her his reason—permitting himself to meet her eyes for only a short time—she had stepped down. He'd wanted to hug her, to let himself think back to all of the times he should have kissed her: during the play, after Aang had stormed off, on Appa's back, trying to find the Southern Raiders, that wonderful moment after they had embraced—when she'd smiled at him, for Agni's sake! She'd smiled at him, and it sent his head spinning.

He faced his sister, letting everything that he stood for control his actions. He wanted peace between the Four Nations. And love. He stood for love now.

"Afraid I'll redirect it?" he had asked, completely serious. Azula was playing games, but he wasn't.

And he'd watched in sheer horror as the center of his existence (as of late) had been threatened.

When one shoots lightning, there can be no emotion present. None at all. When redirecting lightning, only a trace of feeling can be allowed into the mind. But there had been such a rush of fear, hatred, desperation, and so many others, that there was no hope of returning Azula's favor. So he acted as a sponge, leaped in front of Katara—something that he would do again gladly—and absorbed it.

Her face...were those...tears?

He pictured everything before he lost consciousness. He saw her face as he dangled her most treasured possession in front of it, something that he would always be ashamed of, despite her forgiveness. He relived the scene with her mother's killer, when he had been in awe of her power, and then her mercy. And what replayed over and over in his mind was what had happened afterward. He remembered the warmth of her arms clasped around him, the profound sense of right that had surged through him. The way his arms seemed made to rest around her waist. The feeling of her face in his shoulder, the scent of her hair.

And then the blackness had engulfed him.

Maniacal laughter. Yelling. Electricity. Explosions. A hateful scream. And then footsteps.

Slowly his eyes opened into tiny slits, and he groaned, the red-hot pain still overpowering most of his vision.

He felt cool water on his burning skin, seeping through the wound. So this was what it felt like to be healed.

After a moment, he could feel the agony leaving his chest. He opened his eyes a bit more and was blinded by her smile as she hovered over him. Another few seconds passed, and the searing pain was gone.

He had wanted to kiss her.

But one nagging thought was screaming its lungs out in his brain, bringing his fantasy to a sudden halt.

Aang.

So he coughed.

"Thank you, Katara," he choked out.

Thank you for existing. Thank you for every time you've looked at me. Thank you a thousand times for that hug. Thank you a million times for saving me. Again. Thank you for being here for me to love you, even though you are the Avatar's girl.

He'd really enjoyed that moment in the play, as embarrassing as it was.

Katara had been saving him for a long time now.

Her eyes were glistening with tears. Would she really have spilled them for me?

He wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her how much he loved her. He wanted to ask her to be his Fire Lady, as far down the road as it was. But he didn't.

As he watched in amazement, the tears overflowed and spilled onto her cheeks.

"I think it's I who should be thanking you," she said quietly. Oh, dear Agni. How could he not love her? How could she possibly love him?

She'd helped him up and stood with him in front of his insane sister. Her hand supported him, and whenever he remembered that it was there it was like the lightning still had a stranglehold on his heart.

I feel so untouched
And I want you so much
That I just can't resist you
It's not enough to say that I miss you
I feel so untouched right now
Need you so much somehow
I can't forget you
Going crazy from the moment I met you