I was listening to Listen to your Heart by Roxette prior to typing it. It's such a lovely song. It makes my cry.

This was in a story of mine that didn't go as well as I'd hoped, so I killed it. But this part is a favourite of mine, and I thought I'd post it again on it's own for Pro-Zutara week, even though there is not that much Zutara.

Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender.

The Statue – Part one
Set in the North Pole during the events of the final chapter Book one.

They faced each other, each with a look of determination plastered on their face. One, a young Waterbender from the south. The other, a Firebending prince.

Katara and Zuko found themselves in an underground cave. Katara had led them in there, hoping to draw Zuko as far away from Aang as she possibly could. What she hadn't counted on was there being an opening in the ground that led to this forgotten place.

Already exhausted from a previous battle, both sought to end this one as quickly as they could.

Zuko sent a fire ball, which Katara quickly extinguished. She then bender water into icicles and sent them flying at Zuko. He encased the sticks of ice in fire, melting them so all that hit him was water. One icicle, however, did not melt in time, and grazed his arm.

Seeing him grasp the injured arm, Katara gave a smile of triumph, and sent a water whip at his feet. Once on the floor she bender the ice on the ground upward, sending him up and then down with considerable force.

Zuko felt the back of his head make contact with the hard ground. He moaned slightly and rolled onto his side, and was met by a strange sight. A rock nearby that looked strangely like a face. Curious, he reached over.

Seeing movement, Katara sent water over and froze his arm in place.

Undeterred, Zuko brought his other arm around.

Katara saw him melting the ice. But the ice was not the one covering his arm. Confuse and curious also, she made her was cautiously over. Zuko was slowly and delicately moving fire over a rock.

"So, you'd rather fight a rock than a real opponent." Katara smirked.

Zuko threw no fire, made no come-back, said nothing at all. He gave all his attention to the rock.

Katara moved closer, peering over his shoulder and taking a look at what he was doing. She saw the face, slightly distorted by the ice covering it.

"Be careful." She whispered.

Zuko hissed at her. Frowning, he returned to melting the ice, sweat beading on his brown. Katara held her breath and watched silently. As more ice melted she began to feel more and more agitated.

"Maybe I should do it." she suggested.

Zuko gave her a quizzical look.

"You might burn it." she said in response.

"Be my guest." he gestured to the rock.

So, Katara took over and Zuko managed to free himself. It was a good idea for Katara to do it, as it meant that the ice would melt more efficiently and it would not endanger what she was trying to free. It was also much faster, as it turned out that there a much larger area to melt than previously thought. And once it was finally done they stood back and beheld what was hidden.

"It's a statue." Katara breathed in awe.

Zuko stepped forward and tried lifting the statue up so it was standing. It was a lot heavier that he originally thought. Katara, seeing him struggle, moved under him and helped. Once upright they saw that the statue was in rather good condition. The rock it was carved out of was hard and durable. It looked old, but did not show any signs of deterioration. It depicted a young woman, standing tall and gracefully. Her face was slightly lowered, the look on her face was serene, but it was also sad, staring out at nothing. It was life-sized, Zuko noticed. Standing up to it he noticed that she, whoever she was, would have been a small woman, the top of her head coming up to his chin. But there was something about her that stood out.

"Fire Nation!"

"What?" Katara was not really paying attention.

"She's wearing Fire Nation armour. And her hair is in our style, also." he explained. "But what's a statue of a Fire Nation woman doing in the North Pole?"

"I don't know." answered Katara. "But I would like to know why a Fire Nation woman was carved wearing this."

Zuko looked at where Katara was pointing. Adorning the neck of the statue was a carved necklace.

"Yeah," Zuko shrugged. "It's a necklace. So what?"

"It's a necklace carved by a man of the Water Tribes, carved out of love." Katara paused, her hand hovering over the necklace. She sighed and looked at Zuko. "It's an engagement necklace."

Both stared at the statue, not knowing what to say.

This statue, this woman of the Fire Nation, was loved by a man of the Water Tribe. It was obvious he loved her, for he had carved a likeness of her out of tough stone and made it look so delicate and life-like. It was an excellent piece of craftsmanship. This man was an expert stonemason.

"There is something written here."

Zuko crouched down and traced the characters adorning the front of her dress with a delicate hand.

"What does it say?" Katara kneeled next o him, also raising a hand to the statue, their fingers almost touching.

Zuko brushed away some debris and moss that had grown over and began reciting the words carved into the statue.