A/N: Hello. Sorry it took so long to get these up, but I've been suffering from major writer's block and the laziness of summer. (See the second A/N at the bottom for a word from our sponsor.) This batch is mainly Zutara, mostly pretty fluffy. Enjoy!
Six- Break Away-
My life has sucked so far.
I think I can fairly say that. The only consistency besides my uncle's strange obsession with tea, my father's inherent need for power, and my sister's cruelty is that people always leave. My mother left us. Uncle and I left everything. And I left Uncle.
But then I met the Water Tribe girl, Katara. There's something about her, something I can't quite name, but something that draws me to her like a magnet. I met her, and I knew, This is the one person I can never leave.
Seven- Heaven
"I'm scared," she wheezes. She has been ill for months. After a while, we expected that she might not make it, but she seemed to deteriorate suddenly. Then we knew we were right.
I am too, I think, but I don't say it out loud. Instead I say, "I know. But you're going to be fine." I run my fingers through her tangled hair, fanned out over the pillow.
"I know when you're lying, Zuko. You've been by my bedside for weeks-" she breaks down in a coughing fit "-and I know you well enough to tell when you're not exactly completely truthful."
I look down to where one of her hands has grasped mine on the bedspread. "I know." There's nothing else to say.
"It's okay. I…" She begins coughing again.
I hand her the glass of water on the bedside table. "You shouldn't talk."
She gulps the water eagerly. Then she's silent.
"Zuko," she says suddenly after about ten minutes have passed. "Do you believe in heaven?"
"Katara!" I can feel my eyes well up as I admonish her.
"Do you?" she persists.
I sigh, burying my head in my hands. "Katara… Yes. Maybe, for some other people. But not me."
"Why not?" Always questioning, she stares at me. I know she won't back down until I answer her question.
"Because… I've done horrible things."
"Oh." She nods knowingly. "I have too, you know. I've killed people."
"But you're not a bad person."
She pulls me into a hug. "Thank you. But you're not either. I hope you know that."
"Okay." I don't believe her.
"Hmm." She sighs. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
We hold each other like that for a while. Until I realize she's gone.
Eight- Innocence
"Zuko?" I march into the room where he is polishing his broadswords. "Have you seen my necklace?"
He doesn't even look up. "No," he says in a monotone. "Why would I want your stupid necklace anyway?"
"Well, it's not like you've never taken it before."
He sits the sword he's currently working on back on the heavy wooden table. "I. Didn't. Take. Your. Necklace."
I stare at him, unconvinced. "Well, where is it then?"
"I don't know. Ask Sokka or Aang?"
"Why would they have it?"
Even though his hair falls in a curtain around his face, I can still tell that he is wearing a pleased smirk. "Zuko." I wait for him to look up. "This is the last time I'm going to ask. Where. Is. My. Necklace?"
"Oh, I'm completely innocent." His smile widens, and he is silent for a moment before bursting into startling peals of laughter.
I cross my arms over my chest and tap my foot impatiently, waiting for him to calm down.
"Oh, I'm sorry." He wipes a few tears from his eyes. "I have your necklace. It's in my room. I'm sorry I took it."
I cock my head sideways and give him a lopsided grin. "No, you're not. I can tell. You enjoyed this."
"Hmm." A snort escapes him. "I guess I did."
I give him the death glare. "I'll get you back for this."
As I walk down the hall towards his bedroom, I can hear his roaring laughter and I smile to myself.
Nine- Drive
After ten days of him staying up until well after midnight working, Katara decided she had to take a stand. She managed to convince the guards surrounding his study to take the night off, giving her the opportunity to confront him.
"Zuko, I need to talk to you," she said. She stood in front of the doors, while he was turned, bent over his work table with his back to her.
Not looking up, he muttered, "Hmm?"
"I haven't seen you go to bed in almost two weeks." She crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps forward. Before Zuko knew it, she was standing right behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "What are you working on?"
He grabbed the object off the table and hid it behind his back, turning around quickly to face her. The look on his face was one of panic. "Um… Nothing."
She raised an eyebrow. "Mm-hmm. I can tell it's nothing."
"It's, uh, it's a… birthday present!" He seemed to relax a little. "For, um, Azula…?"
"Then why is it blue?" She knew if she stared at him long enough, he would confess.
"Okay, okay!" He threw up his hands in defeat. "It is a birthday present. But it's for you." He held out the hand with the item.
It was a necklace, the most beautiful she had ever seen, a dark grey stone carved with a sun on a royal blue ribbon.
"Oh, Zuko, I love it." She picked it up carefully, holding it up to examine more closely. "It's gorgeous."
"It only took so long because I kept messing up the carving and having to start over." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I wanted it to be perfect."
"It is. I love it," she said again. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you so much." Pulling away, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "Now go get some sleep." She kissed him gently before retiring.
Oh yes, those ten nearly-sleepless nights had definitely been worth it, he decided.
Ten- Breathe Again
You know how sometimes when you really screw up, and there's that split second of Oh my God, I can't believe I did that before you're really screwed? I know.
I remember walking next to the little pond out in the woods. She must have been nearby. I passed the pond and was strolling along the stream that flowed away from the pool of water when I came to the log. It reached across the brook like a bridge. I decided to cross it. That was my first mistake.
I tested the log as best as I could, to see if it would hold my weight. It seemed sturdy enough. I was halfway across when I hit the bad spot.
A section of the log was partially rotted away, a detail I didn't notice until I went to set my foot down there and it went right through. I lost my balance, and fell into the river, hitting my head on the log as I fell. The last thing I remembered, other than that Oh, crap feeling, was the thought that I, Prince Zuko of
the Fire Nation, would meet his terrible end by drowning in a little river barely three feet deep. Then everything went black.
--
When I woke up, I began to cough up water. I was on dry land, and I was alive, breathing air again rather than inhaling water.
"Are you okay?"
It was that Water Tribe girl that travels with the Avatar, the Waterbender. She must have saved me.
I started to answer, but I could only cough up more water. She waited patiently as I choked.
"Y-yeah," I stuttered. I was beginning to feel how cold I was, now that the initial joy of not being dead was wearing off.
"Okay." She stood and began to leave.
"Hey!" I must have gotten her attention, because she turned back to look at me. "Thank you."
She didn't say anything, but I thought I saw her smile as she left.
A/N 2: That's it for this chapter, folks. Sorry it sucks; I'm not thinking at my best during the summer, so writer's block often prevails over the need for some Avatar-y goodness.
I'm in need of some assistance from some fellow Avatar lovers. I'm planning a new story for Avatar, and I've found that in the AU universe my story takes place in, people need last names. So I'll need them for the following characters: Aang, Sokka/Katara, Zuko/Azula, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee. I appreciate your help! Just leave them in your reviews! :D
