Hello all. This is a collection of Zutara one-shots. They'll probably never be in any sort of chronological order. They're all based on words from a random generator. If you really want to see a particular prompt, send me a word. If I like it, I'll use it. If not, I'll at least give you a shout out for trying to help.
This one-shot is based on the word pebble. I don't really have a time-line for this. Maybe a little before or after the finale of ATLA.
He sits at the river's edge. She's practicing in the water, wearing nothing but her white bindings. It's rather careless, but he won't complain. He enjoys the view.
As he watches, he contemplates the pebbles at the bottom of the river. They are all smooth and rounded, no matter how they started out. A testament to the sheer power of the liquid Katara controls. He considers the stones. Nearly all of them, he'd wager, started out larger, rougher. Probably not even round.
Water can wash away the imperfect pieces. It smoothes out the rough edges of them. It wears away until all the damage is gone. He thinks back to her offer to heal his scar. The first time she offered to smooth away his roughness.
No, he thinks. It started long before that. It started on a cold day in the South. She's been slowly changing him ever since. That patient insistence that she shares with her element has changed him without his knowledge since day one. He never realized, the same way the mighty boulder never realizes that the steady trickle of water can one day crack even it.
She's done so much for him now. She's worn smooth his soul. He feels like an entirely new person. It's all her doing. She just has that power. The power of water to wear down even the mightiest mountains.
He's a pebble that she's worn smooth. He gets to his feet, tossing one towards her to signal the late hour. True, he's a pebble caught in her current, but he won't complain. He enjoys the view.