During season 3, Ember Island Players. Katara storms off after Aang kisses her for the second time.
Why would he do that? Why would he kiss me right now? The comet is almost here, and I can't deal with all of this. I can't think about Aang or… anyone else. I run back into the theatre and try to hold back the angry tears. I put my hands on my hips, close my eyes, and take a deep breath.
"Katara?" I keep my back to him and freeze. I look around and realize that it's just us. Just me and Zuko. Great.
"Are you okay? I know this play is all wrong and it's upsetting, but they don't know the truth. This is all just Fire Nation propaganda and we're going to prove them wrong." I sigh and slowly turn towards him. I know that my face feels puffy and there are a few tears rolling down my cheeks.
"It's not the play, Zuko. It's like everyone forgot about the reason we're all here. The comet is coming, and everything is about to change. We have one shot here, and either we make it through, or we're done. There is nothing else that is more important than that comet and I just don't get why we've lost sight of that!" My breath catches in my throat and I can't stop the fresh tears. I raise my hand to touch my mother's necklace, but it's not there. It's back in my room. Can't let anyone know I'm a water bender trying to uproot their lives.
"We're ready for this fight, and you know that. We know the plan, and we will protect one another," He stands up and puts his hand on my shoulder. His expression looks so soft and concerned. This Zuko always pops up at my worse moments.
"It's um. It's not just the comet. I'm sorry if this is weird but Aang kissed me," Zuko nods and takes his hand off of my shoulder. He bends his head and walks back over to the wall, his arms folded.
He clears his throat, "So, this is the second time, right?"
"Yeah, second time. I know this is weird, sorry. I'm just confused and scared about what's going to happen soon. I can't think about anything else yet." Zuko turns back to me and rubs his chin.
"I know you're scared; we all are. But are you trying to avoid Aang because you don't know what you want?" He looks at me again and I can't hold his eyes.
"What are you implying?"
"C'mon Katara, I know that we said we wouldn't talk about it, but you seem just as confused as I am. I don't need you to make a choice, I just want to know if there was something? Or am I just making it up?" I clear my throat and step a little closer to him so that I can whisper.
"I don't think we should talk about this here. I'm clearly upset, and anyone could walk by. Let's just go back in."
"Please? Please, Katara. You don't owe me anything, I know. It's just been eating me up since we got back. Once we saw everyone you have been trying to stay as far from me as you could. I sat next to you tonight because I want us to be friends," He leans his back against the wall. He just looks sad, like he's been waiting for the perfect moment to bring us up again. To be honest, I have been avoiding him so that a moment would never come up. Why didn't I just walk straight to my seat and not say a word to him?
"Zuko, I can't give you an answer because I don't even know how I feel. I just talked to Aang about this too, it's like you guys are trying to pull me into a thousand different directions when instead we should be resting, training, and that's it. We shouldn't even be here tonight, and you know it," I move away from him and start to walk back to my seat.
"Fine, fine you're right. I can wait until after the comet to talk to you about this. And if in the end you decide that it's not me, then I can live with it. But if you change your mind and want to talk to me or anything then I'm always open, okay? You and I are about to go into the hardest battle of our lives, and I want you to know that I have you're back. I won't let anything happen to you," I just nod my head and look away from him. He looks tense, his body is rigid, and his hands are balled up into fists.
"After this play we need to talk about strategy, actually. We're facing Azula and we both know that she's crazy. We have to anticipate anything, right?" I changed the subject and his body relaxed a little. I guess the idea of fighting Azula was more calming than the idea of us talking about feelings. I agree.
"After the play, for sure." He turns from me and walks back to his seat. I release a sigh of relief and follow behind.