Author's Note: While browsing through various fan fiction collections, I read some Zutara stories. None of the stories I read were very realistic, in fact, most were downright unimaginable. Though I support Kataang to the very end, I thought it'd be a challenge to write a realistic Zutara fan fiction. So here it is. It is my very first fanfiction and hopefully not my last. Enjoy!
Quite obviously, I DO NOT own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" but for some reason, they insist we type this every time we publish a fan fic.
"Is he okay?" Yue sounded worried. Her pure-white braids blew slightly in the wind and her gentle, sea-blue eyes reflected the fear that was slowly building up inside Katara. But Aang was her friend and she certainly knew how to handle him. After seeing the young Avatar in much worse situations, she silently persuaded herself to stay strong.
"He's crossing into the Spirit World," Katara replied with more confidence than she herself had. "He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world."
"Maybe we should get some help?" The Princess quickly voiced her fears and started to walk away, but was stopped when Katara responded in a somewhat defensive tone.
"No, he's my friend," the Waterbender said protectively, trying to keep the jealousy out of her voice. "I'm perfectly capable of protecting him." And so she was. Ever since she'd found out the meaning of Aunt Wu's prediction, Katara had taken a keen interest in watching over Aang. That included now, even though her job just consisted of watching the lifeless, glowing shell of her best friend. And maybe even more than friend, Katara thought hopefully.
She knew Aunt Wu had meant Aang was to be her future husband ever since she had witnessed him save the entire village by drying up the lava that was to destroy it. It just had to be him. She loved Aang and only hoped he loved her back. All of those times together… Through the good and the bad, Aang had watched her back, and she in turn had been the first to jump to his aid if his arrow-covered back needed her.
Katara suddenly had an image of an older version of Aang and herself flying on the fluffy back of their faithful ride Appa, holding hands and looking absolutely overjoyed. She then wondered if she'd be saving the world with Aang for her whole life. Either way, it didn't matter, as long as she was with the Airbender, she was at peace. Besides, the Fortune Teller had said her true love would be a powerful Bender. What other powerful Bender did she know?
"Well, aren't you a big girl now?" The voice that rang across the almost deserted oasis was cold and loathing, full of hatred and disgust. It startled Katara but she didn't have to turn around or even glance in the direction of the new arrival to know who it was. She knew that sickeningly sarcastic voice since the first time she ever heard it at the South Pole.
"No!" Katara cried out, turning to face none other than the former fire prince himself; Zuko.
"Yes!" Zuko sneered, stumbling over the bridge into the Spirit Oasis. "Hand him over, and I won't have to hurt you." Katara almost smirked at Zuko's belief that she would abandon Aang. But as the Waterbender assumed her Waterbending stance, she noticed something different about the banished prince. She realized what it was after quickly studying his face.
Though normally occupied by a large, hideous burn mark, Zuko's face now contained that and more. His right eye was severely blackened as though he had been punched, but knowing his temper, Katara assumed that was not the case. He also had several scratches above the same eye and even more cuts on his nose and mouth. Had he any injuries to his left eye, Katara wouldn't know as there was no red deeper in color than the conspicuous burn mark that had permanently singed off his eyebrow and prevented him from opening his eye to its fullest extent. For some reason, the young Waterbender felt a pang of sympathy run through her. This worried her, although she was quickly forced to drop the subject when Zuko launched several eye-stinging fireballs in her direction.
For some reason, the fireballs didn't even come close to hitting Katara. Most were off by several feet. That was odd, since Zuko usually had perfect aim. I won't have to hurt you… His words came back to her and she suddenly felt a looping sensation in her stomach. After a few moments, Katara decided the feeling was fear. She was terrified Zuko would take Aang away!
As if in slow motion, Katara countered his awfully aimed attack with streams of water from the Spirit Pond, just as Master Pakku had taught her. Zuko fired again but Katara blocked the attack. She realized her aim was much better than his, but her glowing pride faded almost as quickly as it had come when she realized she had knocked the Firebender off his feet.
Startled, Katara almost let down her defense. She wanted to run over to Zuko… Help him up and ask him if he was alright. She shook her head quickly as though to expunge the very thoughts from her head. It must've been his condition that made her a little sympathetic. He must've gotten into a fight. But why should she care? Though Katara knew it was a lie, she clung to this tiny and pathetic excuse and resumed the battle, slightly distracted.
Zuko got to his feet, water running off his robes. Katara suddenly realized he had ditched his normal attire and was wearing a set of ice-blue robes. Had it not been for the ponytail and scar, Katara wouldn't have recognized him. And then she felt herself unable to tear her eyes from his form. Had he always had such a slender build? Maybe it was the Fire Nation armor that disfigured his true shape.
"I see you've learned a new trick," her opponent scowled with a forced calm, bringing Katara back to the here and now. "But I didn't come this far to lose to you!"
He leapt up and launched another attack at Katara but she was more than ready. Soaking his fire blast with more oasis water, the skilled Waterbender knocked Zuko backwards, catching him off guard and causing him to lose his balance.
Before Zuko could retaliate, Katara froze the water underneath him, freezing his feet into the ice. Then, with a fire more powerful than Zuko's, the fire of defending her best friend, Katara preformed one of the most complex and difficult Waterbending moves Master Pakku had ever taught her. It had taken her days to learn and even now she hadn't mastered it. The idea was to create an enormous sphere of water to surround Zuko. Then, she could freeze him inside it.
Katara attempted the move, hoping against hope that it would work the way she needed it to. Bringing her arms to do some of the craziest patterns any Waterbender had ever seen, she pushed and pulled this way and that and watched as the sphere she needed so desperately swirled like the water on a stormy night over an undertow. She began to grow tired but focused all of her energy into this move, knowing it was the only thing that could save Aang. Finally, she completed her project and froze the orb completely around Zuko. The picture very much reminded Katara of the first time she had met Aang and her stomach crawled. However, the crawl had nothing to do with Aang as she had expected.
At last, the ice shards caused from the attack parted and Katara was able to stare in at Zuko. But unlike she had hoped he was still conscious and angry by the look of it. While her face showed nothing but determination and satisfaction, she felt grief at having to have done this to Zuko as well as a feeling of failure. The move hadn't been successful. A normal person seeing it would have thought so, but Katara knew it wasn't. The ice was too thin and she could tell when she heard the prince's next words.
"You little peasant. You've found a master haven't you?" While usually angered by insults of any type, Katara didn't feel at all like smashing Zuko into a pulp. Instead, a small smile spread across her face, but only for a moment, and she felt like shouting, "Good one, Zuko!" like Aang had always done to her when she'd made a good joke. Realizing herself thinking this, Katara immediately felt sick. What was going on? She hated Zuko! There had been so many times he had tried to kill her. Tried to kill Aang.
But suddenly, Aang didn't matter anymore. The troubled Waterbender felt herself thinking, "Well of course Zuko wants Aang! It's the only way he can help his country win the war!" and it made her even paler. That's not right to think, she scolded herself, even though deep in her heart, she longed to think it.
Once again, the Water Tribe girl was jolted back to her senses by Zuko, who had just escaped from the icy dome after a fiery explosion. He took Katara's inattentiveness in favor of himself by shooting blasts of fire at her, which she clumsily dodged. The two traded off blows, always missing. Katara could tell Zuko was getting tired and she was too. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. And she was dismayed to find out half of her didn't want to keep this up. That Katara just wanted to leave Zuko alone, to let him escape with Aang in tow, to stop fighting because she could tell he was injured and not healing any time soon. He needed rest.
Katara suddenly felt a presence behind her and realized she'd let her guard down while she had been thinking. Whirling around, she saw Zuko taking Aang's collar, ready to pull him away from the spot he needed to stay in, in order to return to the physical world. Furious with herself and new, confusing feelings, Katara took out her rage on Zuko by blasting him with another jet of water from the Spirit Pond. But when she did so, she felt torn and hated the feeling.
Zuko was backed up against the ledge that led up to the heights of the North Pole. Katara took this as her opportunity to strike and commanded a wave that crashed over Zuko. Once again, she froze the Fire Nation prince in place. Zuko hung his head. He seemed too tired to try and fight. Katara smiled in satisfaction, though her smile faltered slightly. But now that Zuko was out of the way, she could go back to watching Aang and be gone of these painful feelings.
As Katara headed back to Aang feeling unpleasantly confused, she realized Yue was gone. She must've run off when Zuko arrived and Katara, absorbed in her battle, hadn't realized her absence. She suddenly felt lonely in the sanctuary, alone with the lifeless Avatar and… Zuko! Katara wasn't alone after all. She was already feeling a happy, swooping sensation.
But that too was soon extinguished as the sun began to rise, casting shadows over the grassy oasis. And suddenly, Katara felt a blast of heat coming towards her. She whipped around in time to see Zuko firing at her but only had enough strength to weakly parry the attack. The force of the fire sent the Waterbender slamming into the post of the gate and she immediately slumped to the ground.
Zuko stepped forward, pride washing over him. He had done it. He had finally gotten the Avatar! But as he looked down at the Water Tribe girl, he felt his stomach lurch slightly. He hadn't… killed her, had he?
But then, why should he care? He had warned her. She didn't have to fight him, he wouldn't have hurt her. If she hadn't been so noble to try and save her friend… Zuko noticed that the girl was breathing and immediately felt relieved. He hadn't killed her.
Suddenly, the banished prince felt furious with himself. Why did he care if the girl died or not? She wasn't his responsibility. If she chose to die rather than hand over her friend, let her do it.
"You rise with the moon," he told her unconscious form coldly. "I rise with the sun." And with that, he departed, taking with him only the Avatar… and his confusing feelings for the girl.
Katara opened her eyes and blinked a few times into the light. It was bright out. She groaned as she raised herself up. What had she been doing? The Waterbender stared blankly around the empty oasis. Suddenly, she was being suffocated by a feeling of dread. Aang was gone and so was Zuko.
"Aang!" she cried in a strangled voice, scanning the empty sanctuary as though she had missed him. Panic suddenly coursed through her veins.
"What happened? Where's Zuko?" The worried voice of Sokka had entered the oasis and Katara turned to face him and Yue, both on the back of Appa and scrambling out of the saddle.
At the sound of Zuko's name, Katara shivered though it had nothing to do with the weather. "He took Aang. He took him right out from under me." Katara's voice was dead and flat. She had failed Aang.
"Where could they go?" Sokka did the smart thing and asked the question Katara so desperately wanted answered. But not because of Aang.
The three climbed back on to Appa and took off flying high into the mountains. Up to the heights of the North Pole, the frozen wasteland. And as Katara squinted through thick flurries of snow at the icy landscaping, she found herself wondering, what's going on? I thought I hated you.