"Well, this is just great. A labyrinth, you said it was?"
Katara sighed, ever suspending what she wanted to tell him. "Yes."
Zuko let out a long whistle-y exhale. He put his one free hand on his hip—his other hand held a little tongue of yellow flame. Katara could barely see his face.
"You said that you and Aang were stuck in here before." Zuko glanced at Katara.
"Mmh-hmm."
"Well?" he prompted. Katara whipped around to face him. "Well what?"
"How did you get out?"
Ack. This was it. If she told him, would he shrink away? Would he be the opposite of Aang—rather die than kiss her?
Katara must have been silent for a long time, because suddenly Zuko dropped to the ground and tangled his hand in his hair. "Please don't tell me you don't remember," he pleaded. Katara's mind stopped wandering aimlessly.
"No, I do remember." She chose her words carefully, slowly. "Um. Well. We kinda…hugged but moreso." Her eyes flickered down to Zuko. He turned his head towards her—would he actually do it? Of course, it was either kiss her or die, but still, if he did choose to kiss her—
"What the heck do you mean by moreso?!" he yelled, anger clear in his voice.
"I mean kiss," Katara explained slowly, in the tiniest voice she could manage without whispering. Whispering would sound…sexy-ish, wouldn't it? Like she could barely keep her voice at the thought of kissing Zuko.
When he didn't say anything, she hurried on, her words a blur. "I mean, Aang and I actually didn't hug, come to think of it. I'm sure if we did, the ceiling would light up and show us the way out. We probably don't have to kiss--"
"You don't want to kiss me?" Zuko asked, bemused.
"What?... No. I mean, I don't mind." Katara hung her head. Zuko waved his hand, the one with the flame in it, towards her face, illuminating a very sad Katara.
Would Mai mind that much? It was kiss her or die, and of course she wouldn't want him dead. And it's not like it would be a big, loving kiss. Just a peck. Between friends, he told himself. He stood up and tipped Katara's head toward his. "Okay. Let's…go," He told her. He almost said let's get this over with, but decided that would not make matters better.
"Oh,
um… Put out that flame. I don't…the fire could burn me if
we're close," Katara supplied lamely. She hoped that the
firelight didn't reveal that she was blushing. Zuko put it out—she
suddenly realized it was only a matter of seconds before the dim
green ceiling tiles lit. Was it a mistake, fooling him into kissing
her?
She quickly grabbed hold of his hair and kissed him. Zuko
snapped his eyes shut…this
isn't so bad, maybe a little long, but what the heck? She's been
through this before, she knows what works…
He suddenly felt Katara's arms snaking up and around his back. Gently, gently, he pushed her away. "I think that's enough," he told her. She was blushing, he noticed, under the glow of the ceiling.
They walked for a bit in silence, their trail marked by the green stones which, both Zuko and Katara thought, were reminiscent of the ones in the crystal catacombs. Katara didn't dare say anything—what would she say? Could she say?
Zuko finally couldn't take the silence any longer—he asked her a question. "So…did you have a secret thing with Haru?"
"What? No, no no…uh, Haru…" (More blushing from Katara's side.) "I mean, Haru was—is—nice, and…and sweet and all, but,"--she laughed a little—"but no. No."
Silence. Then…
"Look, I'm sorry that…that I can't return…the, uh, feelings you have for me."
Katara was stunned—every single muscle in her body tightened up. Who was he to think she liked him? Or—or was he so used to affection, he just assumed…! "How did you know?" was all that came out of her mouth. Her voice was weak. Zuko didn't say anything, and suddenly Katara felt the need to apologize. Or explain. Or something.
"Look, I am so sorry that I…" she struggled for words. "See, I really hate it—I have let myself like so many people, like you." Her voice softened. "Like Jet."
"You really liked this Jet, huh?" Zuko's voice was equally soft. Katara nodded. "And I was pretty sure he liked me back, but…well, it doesn't matter anymore." She hugged her arms, suddenly cold.
Zuko slung his arm gently around her shoulders—he felt them stiffen, then melt. "Don't you have anything else? Someone like, Aang?" he supplied.
Her shoulders froze again.
"Aang…I just…sometimes I really do like him, maybe a little bit, uh, more than normal. He's the Avatar," she said, almost in way of explanation. She took a breath. "But sometimes, I'm not sure if he feels the same way."
"Feels the same—oh, Lord, Katara--!" Laughing. Why was Zuko laughing? Katara frowned. I am being completely serious.
"All right. Zuko. Shut up."
"No, no, okay. I'm okay now." He brushed away his laughs. "Katara—Aang is so obviously deeply in love with you that it's pathetic. I feel bad for the little guy, almost—you hardly pay attention to him."
"I pay attention to him!" she yelled.
"Yeah, like a mom pays attention to a kid—'Aang, don't do this, it's dangerous! Aang, don't do that, it's annoying!'"
Katara stared blankly at him. He put his hands up. "Okay. Yes, I'm bad at impersonations. Believe me, I know." He looked genuinely sorry, but was it for his own self or Katara's situation? "But, Katara, if you make a move, he'll give you what you want."
And then she said it: "I made a move on you, and look what happened." Her gaze shifted hard onto his eyes, a cold, dangerous stare. "You didn't actually think the cave would just light up if we kissed, did you?"
"Wait…what?" Zuko asked, confused.
"The lights! The stones! When the candles or whatever go out, the lights go on! See, here, make a flame." A little sweep of fire flew from Zuko's fingertips.
The glow of the green stones faded.
"Now put it out," Katara ordered. Why was she being so mean? Zuko was trying to help; why did she suddenly hate him?
The fire went out; the maze was dimly lit again.
"See?" Katara was almost crying—why? If they just took a few more steps, she would be with someone who actually loved her, not like this big, awful…conceited jerk in front of her, who… "Katara, what do you want?" Zuko asked.
"You know what I want," she said bitterly. Zuko shrugged and sauntered over to her. He kissed her long. Hard. His eyes were closed; he tried to imagine that it was Mai he was kissing. And Katara found her thoughts somehow flickering back to Aang…this time Katara pushed Zuko away. "Let's go," she told him, but not unkindly. He smiled.
"Hey, look who made it!" Sokka swung his arm off of Suki's shoulders and faced her. "Told you they'd get out alive. Hand it over." Suki sighed and dropped a sack of peanuts into his hand. Aang appeared behind them. "It couldn't have been that hard. All they had to do was put the candle out and follow the crystals. Suki, I thought you were smarter," Aang said. His eyes glanced at Katara; he caught her gaze for a moment before hers drifted away.
"Yeah, well, somebody failed to tell me that, Sokka," Suki said between clenched teeth. Sokka just smiled crookedly and swung his arms around her once again.
"Where's Mai?" Zuko asked. Why wasn't Mai there? She said she would be, before…where was she now?
He felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. Uh-oh, Katara, he started, but no, Katara was over there. Who—
"It's me, stupid," Mai grinned and turned Zuko around. "Honestly, who did you think it was?"
"You weren't…you weren't behind me the whole time, were you?" Zuko was suddenly very, very uncomfortable. Mai raised one eyebrow and exhaled. "Wow, being stuck in that place must have made your mind fuzzy." She grinned and took his collar. "Let's shut you up." She kissed him and suddenly Zuko felt lucky. Lucky to have her close to him, lucky to be able to hug her. He suddenly felt almost sad, too, because if Mai cared about someone else, he'd feel what Katara felt about him. He blinked one eye open and peeked over at Katara; there. With Aang. And—oh, Lord, time to look away. He smiled to himself, happy that Katara was happy, happy that Mai was happy—well, he was happy.
"Doesn't it make you feel left out?" Sokka asked Suki wistfully. After all, she was the only one around who could reply, the only one whose mouth wasn't already occupied.
"Eh, not anymore," was what she told him. Sokka dropped the bag of peanuts and smiled—he was hoping that Suki's response would be to kiss him.
It was.