Night Swimming

It was one of those hot, quiet nights on Ember Island; the kind where most people sleep soundly, warm in their beds. But she wasn't most people. She was a waterbender, and she lived for nights like this. These were the nights that she snuck out of the house and into the courtyard behind the garden. There was a pond in the courtyard. There she practiced her bending, and sometimes even took a little swim. Some nights, like tonight, she floated in the pond, her face turned up toward the stars and thought of home. She wondered if Gran Gran was looking at the same stars that she was. These were the nights that she missed her Gran Gran the most.

The water around her was cool, a nice contrast to the hot air crushing down all around her. Her eyes closed lazily as her mind wandered back to the south pole. Memories of how life was before flooded her mind. For a moment she saw a pair of bright blue eyes and a bunch of dark brown hair framing an almost forgotten face. How she wished she could remember her mother's face as perfectly as she could remember Sokka's or Aang's or Zuko's. When she closed her eyes and tried to picture her mother's face, little parts would be smudged away; an eyebrow, her nose, an ear, her smile. And every time she saw her mother's face, no matter what part was missing, the expression on her face was always the same; fear. That was the last look Katara ever saw on her mother's face: pure fear.

She found herself sobbing silently, her tears mixing with the pond water. The thought of someone forgetting their mother's face was terrible. How could she, of all people, not remember what her own mother looked like?

"Katara?" Her eyes flew open at the sound of someone speaking her name. Ashamed of her tears she turned away from the sound of the voice. "Are you alright, are you hurt?" Hearing the voice again, she realized who it was. It was the firebender boy. The one that had hurt her. So why did he care about her?

"I'm fine," she replied, splashing her face with water to hide the tears. Her back was still to him but she could feel his eyes lingering on her.

He sighed. "You're crying... sobbing in the middle of the night. You're not fine. Did Aang do something to you?" She heard grass crunching beneath his feet as he moved.

"No, I'm fine. Please just leave me alone." Her voice shook slightly. Behind her was a light thud (maybe the Firenation boy sat down?), and then to her surprise, her ears were filled with the sound of water being displaced behind her. Oh, that's exactly what she needed, Zuko in the water with her! Katara jumped as she felt a warm, dry hand on her shoulder.

"Look at me..." his voice trailed off. Hesitantly, she turned around to face him. His eyes were soft, sad even. "I know those tears," Zuko whispered, withdrawing from her a little bit. His lips separated slightly. "You were thinking about her, weren't you?" He was scared, sad, sympathetic; she had seen it in his eyes. She knew that he had lost his mother, that, he had shared with her in the catacombs at Ba Sing Se. Her mind flashed back to a scene of him staring at her, eyes burning with what she thought then was hatred. Now she is seeing the same burning in his eyes, as he is sharing this moment with her. The emotion isn't hate. His eyes are screaming I'm sorry. I never wanted this, and I don't want you to hurt.

Katara's breath hitched in her throat suddenly. "I- I can't remember her face!" She cried softly, burying her face into the boy's shoulder. Zuko rested his hands hesitantly on her, one pressing against her back and the other lightly resting on top of her head.

He sniffed back his own tears as he whispered into her hair. "For so long, I couldn't remember either." Zuko clutched her to himself tighter. "I was so scared. No one should ever have to go through that." Katara pressed her forehead into his shoulder and cried harder. Suddenly, she didn't care that this boy was Firenation. She didn't care who he was, as long as he was there she would be grateful that she had a shoulder to cry on. For once, she felt like she actually needed Zuko. In her moments of weakness, she realized, he had always been kind to her. He had treated her well in Ba Sing Se, and really only turned against her when his family and his home came into the picture.

"You want to go home. That's all you've ever wanted, isn't it?" She breathed into his neck.

"You don't know what it was like..." Zuko started. Something in his voice seemed different, like he was far off in a different world. "For three years I couldn't go home. You have people that love you. I don't even remember the last time I was loved."

Katara lifted her head away from his shoulder, pushing away from him slightly. Her eyes focused on his face, but he wouldn't look at her. Shimmering streaks had made their way down his face. "Zuko," Katara whispered, pressing her hand against the unscarred side of his face. "I love you. Remember that."

…...

So I got this idea while I was-in fact- night swimming with my family. The water just looked so ace, and there was steam coming off of it and I thought... OMG! Steambabies! And so this FF was born. Hmm... I'm not sure if I should put this in Cry for Me or as its own little oneshot... Hmmm.