Note: My, isn't life hectic! I planned on updating every two weeks… That hope was dashed horribly as my NANOWRIMO adventure went horribly wrong. My computer crashed once more and deleted what I had been working on. I was actually working on the NANO novel, two fan fictions, and a work I would like to eventually publish so you can imagine my break down at this. None the less, my birthday is just around the bend and I thought "My readers, however few they may be, deserve a nice present." SO I give to you this update!
Katara wiped the sweat from her brow as she leaned back against the wall of her room. What was he thinking? She looked up at the sun, moving to stand in the window. It was really hot outside… Had the entire thing just been a mirage caused by the heat?
She rubbed her shoulders and remembered the scene. At the memory of Zuko's lips on her skin, she shuddered and instantly knew it was no hallucination.
Then was it some kind of trap? While he had recently earned her trust, she would believe he'd pull something like that. By that, she meant Zuko making her fall in love with him and then kidnapping her –or worse, she dared not think on that note- to get back at Aang and redeem his "honor".
Zuko was indeed cunning and clever. Was all that just a ruse to get her guard down further? Or was he genuinely into her?
Katara's lip found itself trapped between two rows of white teeth as she speculated over her situation. She began to think about it in a logical fashion and list the facts she knew:
Zuko was originally the face of the enemy that haunted her dreams.
He had chased Aang all around the world.
He'd had her tied up by pirates and dangled her mother's necklace in her face, teasing.
Katara actually smirked, remembering the day. A thirteen year old girl tied to a tree by an attractive, muscular boy around her ago –the entire ordeal was kind of romantic when she thought about it in a different way. She smiled at the sound of him telling her, "I'll save you from the pirates." She shook her head and continued listing facts after a small recap of the three she'd listed.
His grandfather started the war.
His father was crazy.
His sister was sure-as-La crazy.
This caused her to wonder if the craziness skipped him for some strange reason.
His uncle traveled with him after his banishment.
Iroh was a nice man and more like a father figure to Zuko, in her opinion.
Zuko had betrayed her in the catacombs of old Ba Sing Se.
Zuko saved them from Combustion Man.
Zuko saved her personally from being flattened by falling rocks.
He had helped her track down her mother's killer and comforted her when she needed it.
When he'd touched her earlier, she liked it.
Katara was now stumped. He'd gone from the nightmare she feared to this friend she liked when he touched her. Was it because he was her opposite? Was that what the attraction was?
She sat on the window edge and wandered what he was doing. 'I wonder if he's teaching Aang some new fire bending moves.' She thought.
Her thoughts trailed over to Aang. If Zuko was looking at her as more than a friend –and she lost her sanity , deciding to go with him- how would it hurt poor Aang? He was in love with her –he'd said so himself!
She pouted and thought, looking at the sky. Her gaze was caught when she moved her hand and glimpsed her reflection in the mirror on the wall. Standing, she went to look at herself. She hadn't dressed properly, having run in and dropped her clothes to continue hyperventilating over the events. She smiled at herself in the mirror. For a poor water tribe girl, she thought she looked alright. Her long hair reached her hips. Her curves had filled out a lot since she had met Aang and left the south pole. She sighed. A lot had changed.
Sokka hadn't changed a lot, but his attitude had improved. He wasn't negative over everything they encountered, only when it called for it. The Kyoshi warriors may have had something to do with that. It was such a foreign idea for the warriors to be girls and when he accepted it, he learned to look at a few things differently.
Toph had grown up quite a lot as well. At first she was stuck up, demanding that she pull her own weight and her weight only. She eventually lightened up and began to care. She helped when they set up camps and even had taken an interest in her looks. She'd often ask Katara to help her prepare for the day and who was Katara to deny a blind girl help in washing her face properly?
She, herself, had simply grown up. She was no longer the scared child Zuko had first encountered in her village. She had developed a very headstrong attitude that sometimes lead her into trouble –but never so much that she couldn't get out with the help of her friends. Her body emphasized that she was a young woman now, not just a girl.
Zuko had even changed. On their first meeting, his was a brat looking for blood to be shed. Now he was acting as a peasant and trying to create peace. Katara also noticed that he was much thinner now. He'd had a little more muscle back in the snow… Had it just been the armor? When he'd attacked Aang for the first time, she was sure he had more muscle mass. Now he was lean, still a littly muscle, but not as much. He reminded her of some large black cat-like creature now with his shaggy long hair.
She sighed. Aang still seemed the same. He was under a little stress, but who wouldn't be if they had to take on the strongest man who had years of expirence in fighting when Aang was taught that violence was wrong. He was still carefree and happy when he could be, only serious when it was required. He'd added a few scars to his visage, but that was about it.
She frowned at herself. She returned to the thoughts of the war. Three things occurred to her. One: She's in the middle of a war! She didn't have time to stop and be part of some petty love triangle. Two: If Aang defeated the firelord, who would rule the fire nation? Obviously not Azula! But after her, who was next in line? That's right, the banished prince who helped the Avatar take down his father. Zuko would be the fire lord. Three: Once the war was over, she'd probably go back home and live her life as she always had –like a water tribe peasant. Her father would probably choose her husband if none called to court her.
She didn't have time to be in love with her future so dim. She cast her gaze from the mirror to her clothes. It was soon to be lunch time… She had to prepare the meals for the others. She bowed her head, dressed, and sadly continued her duties as a mother-figure to the gang.
Zuko simply plopped down on the fountain, settling himself into it. He needed something cool to wake him up because it had to be a dream. Katara was in his arms, yes. He'd kissed her, yes. Now he needed to wake up because Aang needed to learn fire bending. The only problem he found was… This wasn't a dream.
What the hell was he thinking? Why did he just kiss her like that? He covered his face with his arms. "What is wrong with me?" He asked himself.
Katara was a lady not a child. He should've asked her permission for something like that. He should have at least given her a warning. He needed to make this right –make an offering for peace, just in case this sparked bad blood between them.
He wondered what a girl like Katara liked…
He could always ask Toph… He thought better of that. Toph and Katara were two very different girls. Katara was sweet and gentle like fire lilies in a meadow. Toph was less ladylike and still a child in most senses. Katara, he wagered, was the type to like sappy poetry, romantic evenings, and flowers.
A groan tore from his throat. That was not Zuko's style. Zuko was the kind of guy who acted on impulse when it came to things like this. He was just kind of lost in the wind. The only girl he'd ever had a long relationship with was Mai and she was fine with him just being himself and bossing people around. He didn't like bossing his new friends around and he doubted Katara would like that either.
He remembered that being nice to her when she didn't trust him only got hostility. Now she trusted him… even allowed him close contact.
He wondered if she was thinking about him. More accurately, about their encounter in the water. It was definitely the best day of his life so far.
Not only was Katara a beautiful girl, she was strong and stubborn and passionate. If he had asked her to court when he first noticed her, she'd probably be on his arm. Seeing her all that time ago, surrounded by the snow with her hair up in such an adorable fashion with wide blue eyes…
But he had different priorities then. He thanks the gods he'd gotten over them.
Standing, Zuko shook off the main water content and shook out his shirt. He needed more than to think if he wanted to win Katara from the Avatar.
How was he going to do that?!
Aang and Katara seemed to very shy in their relationship –what of one there was. As far as Zuko knew, Aang was simply infatuated with her, but when Katara would blush around Aang or at what he said, Zuko knew Aang was attempting to get her.
At first Zuko ignored that feeling that made him gag whenever he saw Aang attempting to flirt with the lovely Katara. She was, in a sense, out of his league. Zuko, however, may have had a shot. He remembered when he had helped her hunt down that bastard who had killed her mother…
The tears in her eyes leaked down her cheeks when Yon Rah ran away and she was left wishing she had taken his life –wishing merely to feel his blood on her hands. Zuko knew these were her thoughts because she'd told him in her sleep.
They'd set up a small camp for the night, giving Appa a break from the rain. When all was settled, Zuko insisted on staying near Katara.
"I won't let you catch your death." That's what he'd told her. The rain had clearly soaked through her clothes enough to make her shiver and he could change his temperature. Eventually she'd cried herself to sleep, mumbling unintelligible things. She was dreaming about her mother, he could tell.
"Mother, I'm sorry… I wanted no more than to avenge you… I was so weak when you needed me and I failed you again. I should have killed him for you. I should have pierced his flesh with ice and bent his blood so he would feel all of it… but I didn't. I'm sorry."
Zuko had to wake her after hearing that. It chilled him to the bone to hear her usually nurturing voice so full of venom and hatred. She woke and screamed till she was exhausted. After that, Zuko hadheld her and told her she was strong. She was strong enough to let the Raider live with the knowledge that he ruined her childhood. Left him alive to suffer. She'd given him a second chance in Aang's eyes, but to Zuko she only prolonged his suffering. He held her in her sleep, barely getting any himself in case she needed him during the night –for anything! A story to take her mind off of things, a relit fire, literally anything.
He slipped on his shirt and smiled to himself. She trusted him with more than he thought… He could win her heart. All he had to do was open her eyes to how much she let her guard down around him. Once she saw that, she wouldn't find it so repulsive to be with him.