Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. All characters belong to their respective owners.
Any and all flamers will be severely punished and haunted by the ghosts of all of my favorite characters that have died. (And trust me, there are hundreds of them.)
Sokka was looking at her. Katara could feel her brother's eyes boring a hole into the back of her head. He had been staring at her for the better part of the last half hour. Occasionally, when Katara would turn her head and meet his gaze, he averts his piercing gaze. However, as soon as she would turn away, she would feel his burning eyes turn on her once again.
The sun was starting to set, its dying rays streaking across the sky with a melody of reds, pinks, purples, and golds. Earlier, Aang has asked Katara if she would meet him on a cliff to watch the beautiful sun set. Katara had refused, saying she had too much work to do, which was a lie. It wasn't that she didn't want to watch the sunset with Aang, but to get to the cliff she would have to walk through the forest. Alone. And if she did, undoubtedly, he would… No. There was no way she could take that risk.
So engrossed in her thoughts, Katara didn't notice that she had been scrubbing the same plate for the last five minutes until Sokka spoke up.
"Are you trying to make that plate so shiny that you'll be able to see your face in it or what?"
Startled, Katara dropped the plate on the soft grass. She hastily picked it up and placed it in a sack with the other dishes saying, "There was a dried piece of egg that wouldn't come off."
Now that the dishes were done, Katara was out of things to do. She turned to her brother and the siblings simply stared at each other's faces for a while. Katara eventually broke the silence, asking, "Why do you keep staring at me?"
"I'm not staring!" Sokka objected.
One of Katara's eyebrows rose.
Sokka shrugged meekly, "You look different."
"Different? How so?"
"Well…"
"Older?"
"No…"
"Prettier?"
Sokka laughed, earning a venomous glare from his sister. "Nope!"
"Thin? Taller? Mature?"
"More like… tired."
Katara's blue eyes widened slightly and she felt her finger tips turn to ice. Was it so obvious?
"I seem tired?"
Sokka nodded, no longer looking at her, "Your eyes don't seem to be as lively as they once were and you don't smile as often…" he trailed off, "Maybe it's just my imagination."
"There isn't a lot to smile about considering we're in the middle of a war." Katara reminded her brother, fingertips regaining their normal temperature.
"True." Sokka mused.
The water bender smiled a relieved smile. Time to change the subject.
"Unless you're sneaking off at night."
She froze, her body turning numb, and tried to control the gasp that threatened to tear from her lips. Her stomach felt so queasy that for a moment she thought she might actually throw up.
Some part of her mind dimly noticed that Sokka was laughing at his "joke", and her survival instincts kicked in.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she regained partial control of her body and laughed. There was too much hysteria in her voice. She swallowed and tried again. Better.
Her hands were shaking.
Sokka stopped laughing and gave her a strange look, "Are you okay?"
Her hands were still shaking. Did he notice?
The bender simply nodded, not trusting her voice.
"Kay then." He believed her. He hadn't noticed. She hid her hands in her lap before he could.
"Anyway," Sokka leaned his back against a tree, "Toph went for a walk in the woods. She might have gotten lost. We should go find her."
"By "we" you mean me, right? I should go look for Toph?"
"Since you offered."
Instead of arguing that she hadn't offered to look for Toph, Katara sprang up and practically ran to the trees. Before she left the mall clearing that the Gaang had made camp in, she called back loudly, "Toph is probably close by, so there's no reason for anyone to come after me!"
Sokka looked after his sister's retreating form in confusion. "I wasn't planning on it." He mumbled. He looked over at a small ball of fur sleeping peacefully on the grass, "Maybe she meant Momo?"
Katara hadn't said those words for Sokka or Momo or even Appa for that matter. No, she had said it for someone that she couldn't see but knew was listening.
A figure sat in a tree only eighteen feet away from where the Gaang's campsite was. The figure was obviously male – there were too many muscles for him to be female.
He had watched the entire exchange between the water tribe siblings. He had even heard the brunette girl's parting words and knew who they were for.
He frowned and a removed a black mask that covered the lower half of his mouth.
"Overly cautious girl…"
Later that night, Katara lay on her bedroll, staring into the flames of the fire. On her right was Toph, whose snoring could wake the dead. Aang and Sokka slept on her left, Sokka mumbling something about food and pretty women.
Anyone passing by would dub the campsite peaceful. They would probably assume that four friends had gone on a camping trip to celebrate the last few days before school started. The passerbyers would smile and recall their own outings that they and their friends had gone on when they were younger.
But if they took the time to look closely, they would notice that something was slightly off. Three of the slept, dreaming of a world without war or (as was Sokka's case) a house filled with food served by beautiful girls. But the blue – eyed girl was wide awake, uncertainty written across her face. One would say that she was suffering from insomnia, or had eaten something that upset her stomach, or was afraid of the dark. They would assume regular, ordinary things, anything but the truth.
Katara was fighting an inner battle with herself. Her hands clutched her blanket so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Blue orbs flickered from the fire to the woods to forms of her sleeping companions and back again.
Stay, stay, stay! Her mind screamed.
Go, go, go! Her heart screamed back.
Letting out a small whimper, Katara buried her face in her blanket. Her heart was racing and a thousand thoughts whirled through her mind.
Don't move.
What are you doing? Get up!
No, not tonight. Too dangerous.
Danger is a part of life!
Sokka knows, he'll catch you!
Sokka is too dense to figure it out.
Too risky.
I need to see him.
He'll understand. Stay.
Go.
Stay.
Go!
Katara pressed a fist to her mouth, trying to contain the scream in her throat. This was so frustrating! She had to leave. Get up and walk into the forest. It would only take seconds. When the dark foliage engulfed her, she would be safe. She would run and not stop until she was in his arms. And then… bliss.
The girl sat up, every fiber of her body ready to sneak away. She wasn't listening to the arguments and warnings from her mind; she simply listened to her heart.
Go.
I am.
Meet him.
I will.
Oh my precious, Zu-
Sokka snorted in his sleep and rolled over so that if he opened his eyes he would have a clear view of his sister trying to escape.
Completely derailed, Katara practically threw herself back onto her bedding. If it was even possible, her heart was beating faster than it had five minutes ago. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. That had been close. What if Sokka had actually woken up? The "I'm going to get more firewood" excuse wouldn't work; Aang had decided to do the "good monk" thing and had collected plenty of kindling on his way back from watching the sunset.
I'm definitely not going now!
Way too risky.
I'll have to wait.
I hope he won't get mad.
. . .
But I want to see him so badly!
The risk; you almost just got caught!
To have his arms around me…
Not tonight!
The male was watching. He had been watching all day… and waiting. Waiting for the cover of darkness. Waiting for the slightest movement from a certain someone's bedroll. Waiting ever so patiently when his arms would close around her small frame and the two of them would be alone.
When he had seen the water bender sit up, his heart had started to beat uncontrolably fast. Silently, he had slid down from his perch and raced to the extreme edge of the trees. He had waited anxiously, ready to whisper her name when she was close enough.
And then she had sat back down.
He had not been able to contain a small hiss. Why had she sat back down? What had stopped her?
By the look of things now, he seriously doubted that Katara would attempt to sneak out again.
His frown deepened. He had to see her tonight! Tomorrow he had to return to the Fire Nation; he wouldn't be able to stand it if he was forced to leave without one last touch… one last kiss.
Quietly, he knelt close to the ground, grabbing tufts of grass to pull himself forward. The grass was cold and rough on his bare skin but he didn't notice. Ever so cautiously, he crawled close enough to the campsite so that he could hear Toph's snores and feel the heat from the fire. Pressing himself completely flat to the ground, he whispered her name.
"Katara."
That single word was nothing more than a whisper, but Katara heard it as clearly as if it had been spoken in her ear. Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice.
It was him.
He was calling her.
A smile slowly crept over her face and she sat up again. His voice was like a siren. It banished all logic from her mind and crushed her will to dust. Mechanically, her arms pushed away her blanket, and she stood up without so much as a glance in her brother's direction. She artfully stepped over Aang. It seemed so easy now. Why hadn't she gone before?
When she could no longer hear the crackling of the fire, Katara stopped, waiting. She didn't have to wait long. She heard the grass rustle, then a hand slipped into hers. She instinctively squeezed the foreign hand.
"Katara."
At the sound of her name, Katara and the figure began running, still holding hands. They plunged into the dark forest, scattering twigs and other debris in their haste to escape. The wind rushed through their hair, giving them a sense of speed that they had never felt before. Adrenaline coursed through their bodies, urging them to run faster, further. Laughs threatened to emerge from the lover's mouths, but some sense of caution remained, and they kept quiet.
At last they stopped at a small creek. Both of them collapsed onto the grass, panting. They still held each other's hands. Katara rolled over so that she could see his face. Burning amber eyes met with excited blue ones, and before a word was spoken, their lips met in a soft but passionate kiss.
Katara drew back after a few seconds and placed one hand on the man's scarred cheek. "Zuko." she whispered.
It was Prince Zuko, of all people, that she had chosen to fall in love with. It had not been love at first sight; it would have been odd if the two had fallen in love while death threats were being issued to each other. No, their love had been made over time, hardships, trials, and pains. They had pulled through each difficulty together, sometimes unknowingly, and had triumphed. They saw both the good and the bad in each other, and they helped one another make up for their shortcomings. Their love hadn't been a fairytale, but it as complete and true as love could be.
Zuko wrapped one arm around Katara's waist and drew her closer to him. He breathed in her sweet scent and ran his fingers through her soft hair. It seemed to be too good to be true; how someone like her could fall in love with someone like him. But it had happened, and every day, their love for each other grew.
He had followed her all across the continent just to be able to spend some time – even if only a few minutes – with her. Sometimes when he couldn't see her, he would leave her little gifts: a flower in her pack, a sweet roll that he had purchased from a nearby town. Little things like that.
Katara looked up at him, a wide smile on her face, "I love you, Zuko." She whispered.
Zuko leaned down and rested his forehead against hers, "I love you too, sweet."
And they kissed again, drowning out the problems of the world in one small kiss.
Daaang, this is one long puppy. At least seven pages… This is my first Zutara fic ever. I absolutely love this couple. No offense to the Kataang fans out there, but Katara needs a real man.
I would like to dedicate this to my best friend, Catherine, and her boyfriend, Daniel. Watching them spend time together is like watching a fairy tale play out right before your eyes. They inspired parts of this fic. CatherinexDaniel foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!