Whisky Lullaby

Zuko

She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette

The sun beet down on his back. He had almost forgotten just how hot the fire nation could be. But that didn't matter; he could barely even feel it. Nothing mattered right now except where he was going. He would finally see her again. It had been so long, but she would still be here, waiting for him. He had thought of nothing but this moment since the day he left. When he would finally hold her in his arms again. He pushed open the gate to her small house and flung open the front door. "Katara!" he called. She didn't answer. She wasn't home. That was alright. He would sit there and wait for her.

She broke his heart

he spent his whole life tryin' to forget

Night had fallen and her still sat in her tiny kitchen waiting. Finally he heard her voice. There was someone with her, she was talking to them. Probably Toph or Suki. He jumped to his feet and heard the door open, and her laughter echo through the house. He grinned and walked back to the front room to meet her.

She dropped the package she was carrying when she saw him. She stared at him for a second, blinking, like she didn't believe what she was seeing. "Zuko?" It came out in a whisper. But after all of this waiting he hardly even saw her. It wasn't Toph she was with, but a man. He was tall and darker, and robed like an earthbender, and his arm was around her waist; and Zuko saw only him. "Zuko, I-" She reached ou to him. But he didn't here what she said. And he didn't care. It wasn't worth listening. He pushed past the man and ran. He didn't know where he was going but that didn't matter. He just didn't care any more.


We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night

She had promised she would wait for him. No matter how long he was gone. And he had promised to come back and make her his fire lady. He had thought she understood that he had a duty to the world. He had to help Aang rebuild it. To make it a better place for them to live. But there wasn't a them anymore, and all of that work seemed to be for nothing. So often he had wondered if she thought of him as much as he did her. But she hadn't. She didn't even love him any more. She didn't care what happened to him so why should he? He slapped another copper piece onto the counter, and reached for the mug that was placed in front of him. He didn't was to think about her any more.


He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away her memory

He staggered up the stairs to his chambers still clutching his half empty bottle. The door swung open when he leaned against it, and he stumbled on. He leaned his head back and tipped the whisky into his mouth. He couldn't swallow it. It was drowning him.

Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees

He fell to his knees, choking, and sputtering. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears as he crawled to his bed. He grabbed the sheets and pulled himself awkwardly up. His hand plunged into his pocket. Months had passed but he couldn't forget. She was everywhere, taunting him. An still he held tightly to what he had left of her; scrawled across the paper that he always carried.


We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I'll love her till I die

He couldn't stop loving her, not matter how she may feel about him. And she was killing him. Slowly, the darkness swallowed him, pulling him farther and further from her. She couldn't hut him anymore. Nothing could. He was completely numb. Though even as his fingers grew ridged, and blood spilt from his nose, he held on to her.

And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby


Katara


The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself

She kept a picture of him. It lay under her pillow, tearstained and worn. This never would have happened if… if what? If he hadn't gone away? If she hadn't betrayed him? And she had done just that, betrayed him. She had promised. It was her fault, she knew it was. He had deserved more than that. But that wasn't important. Not any more. She just wanted to hide; to be completely numb. Like he was.


For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath

Sometimes at night she saw him again. But she never was able to reach him. Something always held her back. When she wasn't dreaming him, she thought about him. And when she couldn't hold him again, when she couldn't find him at all, she drank him up.

She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night

He fallowed her everywhere. Watching her. Tearing away at her heart until she could barely breath. She could feel him there all the time. Hating her.

She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger

And when her knees hit the floor, she didn't try to get back up any more. She let the cold spread through her. And only the pain brought her back. Every day she lived on without him was more painful.

And finally drank away his memory

Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees

And when she fell again, she didn't have the strength to fight it. She just gave in to it.

We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life

She let the darkness swallow her up. She didn't cry out, she never even tried to open her eyes. She only held tightly to that picture.

We laid her next to him beneath the willow
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby