Amnesia

Disclaimer: I don't own the show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. I also don't own the song, "Amnesia" by 5 Seconds of Summer.

A.N.- This will be my first A: TLA fanfic on . It's a Zutara short story inspired by "Amnesia" by 5 Seconds of Summer. I hope you will enjoy! Also, this will be AU/semi AU. I'm not sure, we'll see where it goes.

"Katara! What are you doing?" Zuko exclaimed. It was almost midnight and here she was under a small bridge. Within the Upper Tiers of Ba Sing Se, she continued drinking, not caring who would see.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm drinking sake, you imbecile," Katara slurred, drinking more from the bottle.

"Ok, we need to get you back to your house before you hurt yourself," Zuko carefully said as he gently grabbed Katara's arm.

"No, leave me alone! I don't want to go back! Not yet," Katara refused, jerking her arm back.

"Why are you here, anyway? What are you drinking for?" Zuko asked with a quiet sigh. "Everyone knows that you only drink when you have problems," He continued, carefully sitting down.

"Yeah, well, remember the man who killed my mother? The retired commanding officer of The Southern Raiders? Yon Rha? Today, I just found out that he died. The old coward who killed my mother just DIED! Why am I even crying about it, anyway? I shouldn't care, right?" Katara broke down, crying in distress.

"Ahh, Katara," Zuko said with a pained sigh. "Don't worry, it'll be ok. Everything will be ok," Zuko assured her, not knowing what to say. He slowly positioned himself next to her, holding her crying figure.

"I don't know why this hurts so much. He's the bastard that killed my mother! I should be happy that he died. But I'm not," Katara slurred, sobbing some more.

"Is it because he was connected to your mother?" Zuko simply asked. He remembered that chaining his father up in a cell caused him a lot of pain as well.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because of all the things we went through to get to him. Then he just went out and died. That's NOT FAIR! That's not fair to anyone. Especially to me," Katara answered, drinking more sake. "Didn't he think about what he did before he died? Couldn't he left a note to me, saying he still was sorry? How dare he just die like that? Without a sign or will. Who does that?" She further continued, more tears covering her cheeks.

"Come on, Katara. You know that no one could plan their death like that," Zuko answered. He gently wiped her tears, then resumed holding her.

"Why can't they? Why couldn't my mom? Why does death have to be like that? Doesn't death know how it makes people feel? So unexpected and sudden. Why is death like that?" Katara kept asking. Reaching for the sake bottle once again, Zuko slapped her hands.

"You can't keep doing this!" Zuko yelled out frustratingly. "At least, you can't do this alone," He quietly said, reaching out for the bottle himself. Drinking two gulps, he passed the bottle back to Katara.

"Why are you still here? I told you. I wanted to be alone!" Katara struggled, pushing Zuko away.

"You can't do this alone! If you won't listen to me, at least let me stay with you. No one should try to get closure like this. If you drink with someone else, with someone to talk to, it might just work," Zuko explained, placing himself next to Katara once again.

Katara thought for few seconds. "Alright. But there's two conditions: 1.) You can't lie and take me back to my house. 2.) You have to stay the whole night with me," She stated, holding two fingers up.

"Deal," Zuko agreed, taking another swig of sake. "Hey, this bottle is almost empty. Do you have any more?"

"Yeah, it's on the other side of the bridge. You'll see it next to some willows at the riverbank," Katara answered, pointing at a line of willows.

"Alright. I get them all," Zuko replied, walking towards the bottles.

"Ok. I'll just sit here," Katara said with a drunken laugh.

"When I was really young, I woke up alone. I ran, looking for my mother in the palace. Then Azula tapped me on the shoulder from behind. That's when she told me my mother was banished. My uncle was a traitor to the Fire Nation. She told me all the things my father did in just one night. All it took was one night for my childhood to fall apart. Funny, huh?" Zuko asked, taking a small gulp of the sake.

"My mother's death wasn't the most relaxing, either. The man gripped her so threateningly. Ron Yha's eyes was looking at us so intently; so deadly. My mom called out to me, telling me to run away. She sacrificed everything for me and Sokka. Once we went back to the tent, everything was gone. We were alone," Katara expressed, hot tears searing her face.

"Not having a mother hurts a lot. Especially if your father isn't there for you, either," Zuko said, moving into the moonlight.

"Yeah, I understand. My father did love me, but you know, duty calls. He was always at sea. My loving Gran-Gran was always supportive of us, but it's not really the same as having a real parent. You know the feeling, right?" Katara replied, laying down in the moonlight with Zuko.

"With a missing mother and an evil, neglecting father, how could I not? Uncle was the only one who cared for me. He was the only person who believed in me," Zuko answered. Both took two more swigs of sake.

"Heh, broken families suck," Katara said with a drunken chuckle.

"You got that right," Zuko rasped with a silly smile. "But don't worry about me. I'll be reunited with my mother. Someday. I guarantee it. As long as I'm still here, I'll never stop looking."

"You know what? I'll help you tomorrow. I have nothing to do. Sokka's married to Suki now at the Southern Water Tribe. Toph opened a metal bending school here. Aang's traveling around the world. We're the only free ones left in Ba Sing Se. Why didn't you leave, too? Why didn't you become the Fire Lord?" Katara asked, extremely curious.

"I am going to be the Fire Lord. Just not yet. Uncle's holding the place for me at the moment. I didn't take the position right away because I wanted to find my mother first. Finding my mother would be delayed if I already took the responsibilities of being Fire Lord," Zuko explained, gulping down more sake. "How about you? Why didn't you travel with Aang? Why aren't you the Ambassador?"

"Don't get me wrong. I love the idea of traveling all over the world, helping people. But once everyone broke up into their own journeys, I didn't know if I could do it. It wouldn't feel the same. I just wanted to think about it for a bit. Relax. Take it easy for a little while longer," Katara answered, chugging more sake.

"Ok, so we're two people who are taking a break from jobs we haven't even started, yet? How is that even fucking possible?" Zuko stated with a laugh.

"I don't know how that happened," Katara chuckled softly. "I guess that the timing was just destined. So we could find your mother. Together. So...are we going to look for her tomorrow?" She continued, looking up at the sky.

"Yes," Zuko said, taking Katara's hand. "We are."