Breathless - A Zutarra Fanfic
Chapter 1- The Library
*This takes place the morning after the final battle between Aang and Ozai*
Katara
"Ouch," that was the first thought I had, blinking in the bright sunlight streaming through my bedroom window. It was nice of Zuko to give us each a room in the palace and everything, but these beds were just too soft. We were all so used to either sleeping on the rough ground, or in Appa's saddle as he floated through the sky, that just one night on one of the palace's luxurious beds was pure torture. Sure it's warm enough, but I was just so used to the feeling of solid ground beneath me, that I almost couldn't stand the feel of the cushion-y bed.
I flung the covers off myself and sat up, stretching towards the ornate ceiling. Yawning hugely I swung my legs off the bed and hopped down onto the cold marble floor. I did a few more stretches, bending low to the ground to touch my fingers to the floor before I headed over to the large dresser situated in the corner of the extravagant room.
I still could not believe where I was staying. After a year of hardly ever sleeping in a bed, I was now in the biggest bedroom I have ever seen in my whole life. The floor was a deep red marble, with intricate designs of golden dragons flying around with delicate sweeping wings, and long curling tails. The walls were also a dark red color, but a few shades lighter then the floor, and the large windows were covered with thick golden drapes that were open just a crack, letting the room be filled with a warm, soft light. I continued over to the dresser and pawed through the elegant kimonos that were stored behind its large golden doors, there were also matching slippers for each outfit, not to mention a jewel encrusted box tucked away in the corner that upon opening I found to be filled with hair ribbons in every imaginable color.
"This is just too much" I thought to myself. I had a feeling that at any moment I was going to wake up in a tent between Toph and Sokka, and that we were still on our way to the fire nation to stop a demented man from using the powers of Sozin's Comet to burn down the Earth Kingdom. I turned and looked at myself in the full length mirror mounted on the wall next to the dresser.
"No" I thought, "Those scrapes and bruises on your body are real...this is real." I could feel tears of relief, joy, and utter bliss sliding down my cheeks at the thought that this wasn't a dream, and that the fighting was finally over. Suddenly I wasn't tired anymore, I felt invigorated. I pulled out a dark red kimono with a white silk sash a dressed in record time. I slipped on a pair of snow white slippers and tied my heavy hair back with a red ribbon as I slowly strolled over to the window. I flung the curtains wide, bathing myself in the buttery light of a new day.
If at all possible the view that I had over the grounds of the palace had me more impressed then the room did. My window overlooked a small garden filled with fragrant flowers. There was even a clear little pond just beyond a pair of oak trees. There were five little turtle-ducklings splashing around in the cool water, their mother swam alongside occasionally nipping affectionately at them. I leaned against the window and took in the beautiful scenery before me. There were little birds flitting from branch to branch in the oak trees that filled the garden, and happy bumblebees hummed lazily from flower to flower.
"Today is going to be amazing" I thought to myself, "I just can't believe the war is over" I began to think back the end of the battle.
After that final battle we flew straight back to the Fire Nation, bringing along with us the unconscious forms of Ozai and Azula, (we had all decided that Ozai should not be the only one to lose his bending, and Aang performed the same thing on Ozai's psychotic daughter.) No body spoke the whole way there, we were afraid that this wasn't real, and that speaking would plunge us into a reality where nothing had turned out the way that we had wanted it to. We reached the capitol and hauled our prisoners up to some high-security prison. Zuko was the most stunned, he had just became Fire Lord, and when the guards started to bow to him, and offered to contact the Sages for us Zuko looked like he was ready to faint. I could barely process what was going on, we were all so exhausted. Toph couldn't stay awake on the ride to the palace, and fell asleep in my lap. I leaned my head on Zuko's shoulder, and he rested his head in my hair. Suki was draped across Sokka who was talking with Aang, trying to keep the both of them awake. When we finally reached the palace, surprisingly enough, not one of us went to bed. Zuko called over a fleet of servants and had each of them draw each one of us a steaming bath. It was the most relaxing soak I've ever had. They washed and combed my hair, then dressed me in soft under-wrappings, making sure to care for my many scrapes, bruises, and burns from my fight with Azula. I actually don't remember ever walking to my room, I have a vague memory of some guard picking me up, but I must have fallen asleep in his arms, and he brought my to my bed.
Looking out onto the grounds I finally realized something. It is not morning! It looks to be late afternoon.
"I must have slept for... fourteen, fifteen, maybe even sixteen hours" I muttered to myself, I have never slept that long before. I heaved a big sigh, and decided that I would probably faint if I didn't get something to eat soon. With all the glamour of staying in a palace, I didn't even notice that my stomach sounded like a rabid Saber-Tooth-Moose-Lion. I stepped over to the large gaudy doors, pulled the long golden handle, and stepped out into a hallway adorned with paintings of dragons, and nobles, and beautiful landscape paintings that left me breathless. I stood in front of one painting that was particularly beautiful. It was a fiery red dragon releasing a jet of white flame. The dragon was elegant, and yet fierce at the same time, dangerous and gentle. It was the most beautiful painting I had ever seen. I slowly made my way through the hallway gazing at the paintings that surrounded me.
Soon the hallway opened up into a bright open room. Their were ten identical hallways leading to this room, and a huge ornate double door way directly in front of me. The spacious room was also filled with furniture. There was a low table with puffy red cushions surrounding it. There were also large cushy chairs everywhere. And at the low table there was a large buffet laid out, and in the chairs sat all of my friends stuffing their faces with the hearty food, as if they had never before eaten in their entire life, and each of them were wearing some of the finest robes that I had ever laid eyes on.
"Morning Katara!" Toph said in a sleepy voice.
The others turned to look at me with tired, but content, smiles. Sokka and Suki were curled up together in the same chair sharing from a plate heaped with steaming foods. Toph was sitting cross legged on another chair digging into her food with gusto. Aang was sitting on his knees on the floor, his plate, piled high with fruits and vegetables, was setting on the seat of one chair, he glanced at me waving, with a warm smile on his face, I gave him a wave and a smile back. And Zuko had his legs flung over one arm of a wide chair, his back against the other arm, with a large bowl filled with every food imaginable, on his lap. I smiled at them all and bounded toward the buffet. Piling my plate high with everything that smelled even remotely good, I spun around to look for a place to sit. All of the seats had been taken, noticing this Zuko smiled and waved me over to him. He swung his legs off the chair and patted the spot beside him.
"Thank you" I whispered when I sat down next to him
"No problem" He whispered back
We both leaned back into the cushy chair and propped our feet up on a nearby table at the same time, and we smiled at each other and our similar actions. We both looked back to our plates and began to eat our food in comfortable silence. The food was incredible, and was also piping hot, it felt good in my empty stomach, and soon my plate was empty. As soon as everybody had finished one plate, they darted back up to the table for more. Every one was in such a happy mood, even Zuko was cheery enough to tease me and bump his elbow into mine while we were eating. Each time he did I would glare at him, but he would just smile and chuckle at me, amused by my attempted anger, and turn his attention back to his food.
When everybody had had their fill, Zuko waved over a pair of servants who cleared away our dishes, and the little food we left untouched. We all stretched and sighed in contentment, glad to be able to finally relax.
"So are we just going to sit here all day, or are we going to actually do something?" Toph complained
"Oh come on Toph, we just got done fighting a war! I think we deserve some time to relax." Sokka said sleepily, Suki nodded her head enthusiastically curling closer to Sokka's shoulder, and wrapping her arms around his waist. Sokka blushed but held her tighter.
"We slept all day long! I'm bored. We should do something." Toph griped
"Can you show us around the palace Zuko?" Aang questioned. Zuko squirmed uncomfortably beside me, and sunk lower into the seat his head resting against my arm, Aang's eyes narrowed slightly at the contact.
"I don't know Aang..." Zuko mumbled
"Oh come on Zuko! Please?" I pouted. I jutted out my lower lip and batted my eyes at him, he smirked at me but gave in. He sighed and slowly rose from the chair and held out his hand to help me up. Aang's eyes narrowed to slits as I took hold of his warm hand and allowed Zuko to pull me up out of the chair. He smiled for a moment as he held on lightly to my hand, I felt a blush beginning to cover my cheeks and he smirked at me again. He released my hand and walked over to the giant double-doors. Nobody had noticed our quiet exchange except for Aang who walked over to me and laced his arm through mine, and I couldn't help but feel a little angry at his reaction. There was no reason for Aang to get jealous, there was nothing going on between me and Zuko. I mean, come on! This is Zuko we're talking about, he was a friend, a friend who I used to completely hate! What would be going on between us? I rolled my eyes at the thought. But I couldn't concentrate on that anymore, because Zuko had opened those gorgeous doors, revealing the room beyond.
Zuko
"I don't know Aang..." I muttered as I sunk lower into my chair, resting my head on Katara's warm shoulder. Why was he asking me to show him around? I hate this place, the last thing I wanna do is take them around and show them where I was "raised."
"Oh come on Zuko! Please?" Katara pouted. I looked up at her, her lower lip was trembling slightly as she batted her eyes at me. I smirked up at her.
"She knows how to get what she wants doesn't she" I thought to myself. I sighed then slowly heaved myself up out of the chair. I looked back down at Katara and offered my hand. She reached out and wrapped her long slender fingers around my mine. I saw Aang's eyes narrow as I pulled Katara up towards me. She glanced up at my eyes and I couldn't help but smile as she blushed lightly.
"What exactly am I doing?" I thought to myself as Aang came over to Katara to place his arm through hers. I saw her roll her eyes and I knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Why is Aang acting so jealous?" I thought, "Me and Katara? Yeah right!" I rolled my eyes along with her, and led the small group over to the double doors. I pulled open the heavy doors and smiled as I saw the look of wonder cross Katara.
Toph hopped out of her seat and let out a low whistle.
"This place is really big" I heard her mutter, I was still so amazed at Toph's abilities that it took me a moment to reply;
"Yeah, this is the main hall past these doors" I told the group. I looked over to Sokka and Suki, but they were still cuddled up in that chair. Sokka noticed my questioning glance and waved us on ahead.
"We'll catch up with you guys later" Sokka said
"Yeah, way later" Suki chimed in, causing Sokka's face to turn bright red. I rolled my eyes at the couple and led Toph, Aang, and Katara through the main hall. Katara and Aang began to "Oo" and "Ah" at the extravagant palace as I took them through each of the wings of the palace, as Toph kept commenting on the size of the place.
"This is the most beautiful place I have ever been to." Katara mentioned as we passed yet another hallway adorned with paintings of the Royal Family.
"I don't know" Aang stated, "I think the Southern Air Temple is the coolest place we've been to." But Katara wasn't paying any attention to the bald monk, she was standing front of a portrait of a young boy. Me.
"Zuko?" Katara questioned.
"Yeah." I reluctantly answered.
"This is you" She said in a soft voice.
"Yeah, it is." I muttered. I couldn't understand why she was so interested in that picture. "It was painted almost a week before." Katara just nodded, knowing what I was referring to, Aang however either didn't remember, or was trying to make me angry for being in such close proximity to HIS Katara during breakfast (or a late lunch considering that it was very late in the day).
"Painted a week before what?" Aang said in a bored voice.
"Aang! How could you be so inconsiderate?" Katara turned on him, her eyes blazing. It was actually really funny to see Katara turning on Aang like that, and watching him cower before her. It wasn't like anything the boy said would hurt my feelings. I had gotten a really good grip on my anger since the fight with Azula, since Katara had saved my life, since the war had ended, I could keep my cool no matter what he said, no matter what anyone said.
I smirked at him and said "Before I realized that my father hated me." Katara looked back at me, her eyes comforting. I loved when she gave me that look. Not many people in my life had really cared for me, but she was one of the few that really did. Ever since I took her to go find that evil man who had stolen her mother away from her, we had become very close. We were like family now, she was like the sister that I should of had. Though I did have trouble thinking of her as my sister, it wasn't exactly like that, but we were close.
Aang looked down abashed and muttered faintly "Sorry Zuko." Katara still towered over him, but began to back off as Toph started to laugh.
"Man! I am never bored around you guys." She snorted through her laughter. I smiled along with Toph, and soon Katara and even Aang jonied in.
"Alright, moving on with the grand tour" I said sarcatically. I turned and led them to the next room. When I opened the door Katara let out a high pitched squeal, Aang, Toph, and I all covered our ears. Katara kept screeching and ran into the room.
"You didn't tell me that you had a library Zuko." Katara grinned at me. I was just happy that she had stopped her high pitched assault on my ears. I smiled back at her and she turned and ran into the depths of the library.
"You had better make yourself comfortable Zuko, we're gonna be hear a while" Aang smirked. Katara rushed back at us a pile of heavy books in her arms,
"You guys don't have to wait, I'll could spend all day in here" Katara said to us as she rushed to the other side of the vast library.
"The only part of the palace we haven't been to is the grounds Katara! Come on we're almost done, I wanna go earth bend" Toph complained.
"Yeah me too!" Aang chimed in.
"Wow" I thought to myself, these two have no patience. Aang and Toph were practically jumping out of their skin. "Why don't you two go ahead, and I'll wait here with Katara" I offered. Aang's eyes immediately narrowed again as he began to glare at me. But before Aang could say no, Toph grabbed him by the arm and drug him out the door,
"Thanks Zuko!" Toph called over her shoulder. I smiled at the thought of Toph dragging Aang all the way to the immense rounds outside. I was still smirking as a turned aroundto go look for Katara. The library was so huge, and it had been so long since I had been in here that I soon lost myself in the labyrinth of the towering shelves. I wandered around corner after corner but still I couldn't find her. The smell of musty old books was comforting, however, and the drapes to the huge windows were closed, so the vast room was dim and shadowy. This was actually the nicest room they had visited, I forgot how much I used to love to hide out in the library. Nobody ever thought to look for me in here, not even Azula. Thinking about Azula made me think of recent stressful events, images of the fight with Azula began to flash through my mind. I didn't try to fight them off, that is until I remembered Azula's eyes darting away from me as she directed her lightning towards Katara. She had never asked me why I had jumped in front of her, but the truth is I couldn't stand the thought of Katara being hurt. That was one reason that I had agreed to the Agni Kai in the first place, because I didn't want Azula to hurt her. I kept thinking about the fiery duel as a turned a corner and found Katara curled up in a small windowed alcove, a stack of books on the floor beside her. She had taken out the red ribbon holding back her heavy dark hair, and it framed her slender face like curtains. Her blue eyes were bright as the flicked back and forth across the pages of the book she had in her lap. The soft afternoon light was streaming in through the small window, throwing half of her face in shadow, while one side was bathed in buttery warmth. She is so beautiful, the very sight of her like that left me breathless.
"What am I doing?" I thought to myself, "This is KATARA, I'm thinking about right now, my friend, one of the few people who could beat me up if she really tried, was I really just thinking about how beautiful she is?" Katara glanced up at me with a warm smile and soft eyes, interupting my silent contemplation, and I felt a blush starting to stain my cheeks.
Katara
I felt so at home in this library. As I wandered quickly through the maze of shelves, plucking out any book that looked interesting, I turned a corner and found a sweet little alcove with a window overlooking a small garden. This library was so perfect and beautiful that I just couldn't believe that this wasn't a dream. It was so big, I probably couldn't find the exit without some one leading the way, and it didn't help that most of the curtains were closed, shrouding everything in shadows. But the dim light, along with the seemingly endless shelves made everything better, a library should always feel the way that this one felt. I walked over to the alcove, setting down the heavy pile of books on the floor next to the cuchioned seat, and sat down, my back against the wall. I gazed out of the window, watching the sun set behind the trees of the garden. It was just so peacful here. I reached up and pulled out the ribbon that was holding my hair up, and shook out my hair around me. It felt good to let my hair loose, I relaxed against the wall, then picked up a book from the top of the pile, flipped it open, and began to read. It was a story about a betrothed woman who didn't love her intended. Soon the woman fell in love with another man, who turned out to be her betrothed's best friend. I was just to the part where the woman was trying to confess her love for the man when I noticed that I wasn't alone any more. I looked up and saw a pair of shining golden eyes.
I smiled up at Zuko, and noticed the faint blush that covered his cheeks...I smiled wider. I don't really know why, but I love seeing Zuko blush. I think it's because he always acts like he is so tough in front of everybody. I like seeing him look so vulnerable and human.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you" Zuko said quietly, he was still blushing and staring down at the floor instead of meeting my eyes.
"You're not bothering me Zuko, I mean this IS your library." I said chuckling.
"Well you're the only one who has found any use for it" Zuko teased finally raising his gaze to my eyes. I smiled even wider at him, and he returned it with a smile that was just as warm.
"I could spend forever in this library, I really like it here Zuko, this palace is so beautiful. ." I told him, my gaze being drawn back to the beauriful garden beyond the window.
"Yeah" I heard him murrmur, "Beautiful." My gaze flicked back to him, and I felt my face turn pink as I realized that he wasn't looking at the garden beyond the window, he was looking at me. Our eyes met. I expected him to look away, but he didn't. Our eyes were locked onto eachother, and we were lost in eachother's gazes. I don't know how long we stayed like that...it could have been years, but soon Zuko started to walk towards me, our eyes never moving from eachothers. He kept moving forward until he was standing right beside me. He hesitantly reach out his hand, and swept my hair back, away from my face. His fingers grazed my face as he tucked a loose curl behind my ear. My skin burned where he had touched me, and I realized that I was blushing madly. He had opened his mouth and said.
"Katara" His voice sent shivers down my spine. It was like he was caressing my name, not just speaking it. He seemed like he was about to speak again, but what he was going to say, I don't know. We were soon interrupted by Aang's angry voice.
"Katara! Zuko! Are you guys still in here!" His voice made me jump a foot in the air, and Zuko lept back as if he had been shocked. We glanced at eachother but quickly looked away, both of us blushing furiously.
"What is going on?" I thought to myself "Were we just... Did he...was I...?" I had no idea what to think about what had just occurred. "This is ZUKO I'm thinking about, there is nothing going on between ME and HIM. I mean this is Zuko! He has Mai, and I have Aang. There is nothing going on."
"What's going on?" Aang asked as he and Toph turned a corner and found us.
"Nothing!" Zuko and I shouted at the same time.
Zuko
"Sorry I didn't mean to bother you." I said softly. I shouldn't have interrupted her reading, she looked so peaceful.
"You're not bothering me Zuko, I mean this IS your library" She said laughing softly
"Well you're the only one who has found any use for it" I teased her, she smiled widely at me and I couldn't help but give her a warm smile back
"I could spend forever in this library, I really like it here Zuko, this palace is so beautiful. ." She said quietly, her gaze returning to the garden just beyond the window. I couldn't help but stare at her, her face was bathed in the warm afternoon light.
"Yeah" I murrmured, "Beautiful" Her eyes darted back to mine, and she blushed realizing that I wasn't talking about the garden. Our eyes locked, and neither of us could look away. I think we stayed lost in eachother's eyes for years. Suddenly, I couldn't stand it, I had to move closer to her. It was like I couldn't control what I was doing, those blue eyes of her's just pulled me in deeper. Soon I was standing right beside her, and still her eyes held mine. I tentatively reached out my hand to sweep her hair back, so I could get a better look at her face. And she began to to blush furiously as my fingers trailed gently across her cheek as I tucked a loose curl behind her ear.
"Katara," I whispered gently. She shivered at the sound of my voice, and blushed even more deeply.
"Katara! Zuko! Are you guys still in here!" Aang's voice made us both jump up ten feet in the air,and I swiftly backed away from Katara as Aang and Toph turned a corner and found us.
"What's going on?" Aang asked us
"Nothing" Katara and I yelled. Aang's eyes narrowed suspiciously, he could tell what was going on. But what was going on? Katara and I are just friends, what was I thinking? I brushed her hair back, that was all I did. Well, that and stare at her for who knows how long, but she stared at me to! I was so confued, I didn't know what to do or say, or how to act. I glanced at Katara to find her looking at me to, we both looked away, both of our faces were deep red.
"What the hell was I doing!" I screamed at myself, "I have Mai, and she has Aang. Not that that has anything do do with what just happened. Why am I feeling like I just cheated on Mai? We weren't doing anything! This is Katara. We are friends and nothing more." I scolded myself.
Katara and I still wouldn't look at eachother.
"You guys are lying!" Toph said in a sing-song voice.
"What!" Katara and I shouted at her. "We weren't doing anything" I explained to Toph, "Katara was just telling me about the book she was reading" I said nervously
"That's right!" Katara agreed quickly, nodding her head
"Sure thing Sugar-Queen" Toph said sarcastically, "You and Hot-Head weren't doing a thing" she said through her laughter. Aang looked at her, then back at me, then Katara. He looked really angry, and really hurt too.
"Fine" he said stiffly. He turned on his heels on walked quickly back the way he had came. Toph and I ran to catch up with him, and Katara sprung up out of her seat and followed us. After several minutes of turning corners in the vast labyrinth of towering shelves we walked out of the door to find Aang pacing back and forth just past the opened library doors.
"I think we should leave" Aang said while he paced.
"Leave?" Toph said questioningly
"Where do you want to go?" Katara asked as she quirked an eyebrow
"I think we should go back to Ba Sing Se" Aang said as he finally stopped pacing and looked at Katara with cold eyes
"You mean LEAVE leave? Like, leave the Fire Nation? For how long?" Katara asked her voice shrill and angry
"For a while. I think we should move there, the land is under the control of the Order of the White Lotus, and they could use our help." Aang said icily
"And when do you think we should leave?" Katara asked in a low and dangerous voice
"We have had plenty of rest, I think we should pack our things and move on tonight...right now." Aang said angrily. There was a lound crack that left Aang's head turned to the right, a pink handprint on his cheek. We all stared, shocked at Katara's violent outburst. Katara spun on her heels and ran away from all of us.