I don't own ATLA :(

Don't Move

"Don't move it." Katara had said.

Zuko ignored her. He was only trying to help. Katara had a nasty habit of cutting him off when ever he tried to do anything that integrated himself in the day to day activates of the group. He felt she went out of her way to indicate that he wasn't needed. He was sick of it. It wasn't what she had said but how she had said it. It was the disdain dripping from her voice that sent him over the edge.

Zuko ignored her. He underestimated the pot's weight and he dropped it… costing them not just the pot but the dinner she had made in it.

When Zuko had suggested that he go to recently abandoned makeshift camp to retrieve a pot that he had left behind it made Katara nervous. When he asked Aang and Sokka if they wanted to go with him she jumped in. It was too convenient. There was no way she was going to let Aang or Sokka go anywhere with Zuko. They both acted as if Zuko had indeed changed. Even Sokka had taken her to the side and asked her to lighten up on Zuko. When she argued he stated that Toph had said that Zuko could be trusted. Katara knew she wasn't crazy. She hadn't forgotten even if Aang and Sokka pretended they had. She'd seen this song and dance before and she knew what was coming next. She sent Sokka out to gather more food, Aang to get water and Haru to retrieve more wood for a new fire.

Katara went with Zuko herself.

Katara was not surprised when they were ambushed at his "abandoned" campsite. In fact she was fully prepared for it. She expected Zuko to have some trick up his sleeve. She expected Zuko to pretend it was a true attack by fighting full force. But what she was not prepared for was what he did next

"Don't-" was Katara had the time to get out before Zuko crashed into her. She would have knocked her head hard enough for it to swell if he had not braced their fall the way he did. She saw the waves of flames ripple over them. She felt the suffocating heat against her face. She felt Zuko's back arch violently as his right leg slid forcibly between her own. His finger nails dug into her shoulder, breaking skin. His face contorted in pain, his lips pulled back exposing his white white teeth .. but he didn't roll off. He stayed shielding her with his body. Sacrificing his flesh for her own.

For a moment it stunned them both. Neither of them moved. She lay still under his full weight with his heart beat rapidly invading her own. Even though he knew their final assailant was hovering over them there was nothing Zuko could do... his body refused to respond to his commands. It didn't matter. Katara had already formed the dagger of ice within her hand and when he raised his arms to deliver the finishing blow she sent it into his heart with a simple flick of her wrist. Zuko watched him die in the cold hard reflection of her eyes and then all he saw was darkness.

tbc...