Zuko
"This is Zuko in the bathtub, oh and this is when he fell into a puddle of mud. He cried for 3 hours straight and this is-"
"Mother! Please stop, why can't you show them pictures of Azula." I said crossing my arms. We were all in one of the secret chambers that's been refurbished into a sitting room. The room is for relaxing if you want to meditate, read, or take a nap. Everyone aside from Aang are sitting around my mother listening to her tell embarrassing stories about me. So far everyone knows that Azula dressed me up into one of her dresses and made me prance around the palace singing the Fire Nation National Anthem, the only reason I did it was because she gave me 20 gold pieces afterward. I say that was good money. She also some how got me to put rotten fish in one of the generals shoes, then I told my father Azula did it and she got in trouble. She thinks she's so smart, and she is, but sometimes I can out smart her.
"Fine, but I'm sure even Sokka, Toph, Katara, and Suki have embarrassing baby stories too." My mother said closing the red photo album. Instantly Katara's eyes lit up and a grin formed on her lips.
"Are you kidding? Sokka has the most embarrassing stories. One time he somehow got a hold of my mother's lipstick and rubbed it all over himself, he thought he was the prettiest boy in the tribe." Katara laughed. We all burst into laughter while Sokka grumbled to himself.
"Oh ya well Katara one time cut off all of her hair and for the next 5 months people thought she was a boy." Sokka snapped back. Katara's eyes went wide and she leaned over, punching him in the shoulder. I looked over at the far corner of the room and found Mai reading a book, not even paying attention. Ever since lunch she's been really quiet, more than usual. I got up from the couch and walked over to Mai.
"Hey, you ok?" I asked sitting next to her on the couch. She looked up from her book and gave me a dirty look. Nothing I'm not used to, except she looked angry, sad, irritated, and frustrated. That's the most emotion I've ever seen Mai have at once.
"Ya, I'm fine Zuko." She said quickly going back to her book. I took the book and placed it on the table next to the couch.
"Seriously what's wrong?" I watched as her jaw clenched, she then got up and walked out of the chamber. I wonder if I did anything wrong? "Alright, enough embarrassing me. Why don't we all head back to our rooms and freshen up for dinner." I suggested. Everyone got up and followed me back out to the corridors that held the sleeping chambers. After making sure everyone got to their rooms safely I walked back towards my study. I still had mountains of work to do, I'm happy the Gaang came to visit but the council keeps pestering me to finish it all by next month. I wonder where they find all of these papers for me to do, I don't even read them all anymore.
"Zuko, sweetie please tell me you're not going to start your work again. Your friends are here." My mother said leaning against the door way. She looked worried.
"I know but you know I have a duty." I sat back in my chair and rubbed my eyes in exhaustion. The last time I got an entire night of sleep was a couple of weeks ago.
"I'll take care of the paperwork sweetie, you go rest." She said walking over to my desk.
"I can't ask you to do that, this is my responsibility."
"As your mother I'm ordering you to go get some sleep." She said in a demanding tone. Well there's no arguing with that. I got up and started to make my way to the door. "Honey, is everything ok with you and Mai?"
"I don't know, she's been really distant. Well more than usual." Every time Aang and the gang visit she always acts like that, but it's not like she's not happy to see them. Whenever they visit us I see her smiling and laughing a lot more than when they aren't here.
"You should go talk to her." I nodded and made my way towards Mai's sleeping chamber. When I knock on the door I hear a faint 'come in' and I open the door. Mai's sitting on her bed reading a book with a tray of tea next to her, that's how she spends most of her time in the palace. She looks up from her book then rolls her eyes and goes back to reading.
"What do you want Zuko?" She asks in an irritated tone. She then puts her book down and crosses her arms over her chest.
"I want to know why you always act like this when ever the Gaang comes to visit." I walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge.
"It's just, your mother likes them more. She never acts like that with me." Mai says quietly. She turns her head in shame and goes back to read her book.
"Mai my mother really cares about you, she's the one that told me to come and check on you." I said trying to reassure her. Mai looked up at me and raised her eyebrow, not entirely convinced. "It's just she doesn't get to see them as much."
"Fine, I understand." She smiles. I kiss her forehead and make my way to my sleeping chamber. When I reach my room I rush over to my dresser and take out my gold headpiece letting my hair fall over my eyes. I hate wearing this thing, I think I look better without it. I also hate wearing this stupid robe, it's heavy, it's hot, and it's really hard to run in. I quickly take a bath and change into a pair of loose pants and a red shirt. Before I can sleep I have to light candles, it's just a habit I picked up from my mother. The heat calms me and helps me sleep better. After lighting about 9 candles I lay down and drift off to sleep, the last thing I remember seeing are blue eyes.
Loud banging on my door is what I wake up to, how nice. When I fling the door open I see Sokka laying on the floor trying to see under the door.
"Oh Zuko, I just came to tell you that everyone is in the dining room waiting for you." Sokka said trying to sound casual. By now I'm use to Sokka's strange ways.
"Thanks Sokka, I'll be right out." I close back my door and go to blow out the candles, don't need the Fire Nation Palace to burn down. How ironic would that be. On my way to the dining hall I started thinking about the dream I had before Sokka rudely woke me up. All I remember from it was seeing blue eyes, that's it. The only two people I know with blue eyes are Sokka and Katara, it would be a little less weird if it was Katara because I always dream of her. And it's always the same dream, instead of me getting hit with the lightning it's her. After the war I would have that dream every night, after 4 months it finally stopped with the occasional dream here and there. But this time it was just blue eyes, what if I did dream of Sokka? Gross.
"Zuko, did you have a nice sleep?" My mother asked. I looked up and saw everyone already sitting at the table waiting for me. I walked over to the head of the table and sat down.
"Yes, I had a great sleep." I mouthed 'thank you' to my mother and she gave me a smile. "Well what are we waiting for, bring out the meals." Throughout the whole dinner I was just staring between Sokka and Katara, I couldn't help but look at their eyes. I noticed that Katara's eyes are kind of lighter than Sokka's. I now know that it was Katara's eyes I was dreaming about, which was weird I've never just dreamt about her eyes before. It's normally of Katara dying which makes me feel sick every time I think about it. Well one time I had a dream that she was my wife and that we had a kid but I try not to think about that one, it makes me feel funny.
"Uh Zuko, are you ok?" Katara asked, I looked up to see everyone staring at me.
"You were staring at Sokka for the past 10 minutes." Toph said with a smirk. She knew exactly who I was staring at, she's just covering it up. Thank Agni.
"Ya, sorry I was just somewhere else." I mumbled taking a bite of squid. The rest of dinner went by with Toph sending me knowing looks and Suki taking food from everyone's plate.
"Well I'm exhausted, I'm off to bed." Sokka said standing up from his chair and stretching. Everyone nodded in agreement and went their separate ways. It was about 9 now so I decided to go back to work. When I walked into my study I saw that half of my work was already finished. My mother's too good for me, I definitely have to do something for her. She's always helping out even though she doesn't have to.
3 hours later and I finally finish the rest of the paperwork. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Looking over at the clock I see it's midnight but I don't feel tired, probably because of the nap I took earlier. I decided to head over to the garden and relax for a bit then head to bed. I walked to the back of the palace and looked over at the guard towers. They were all sleeping, not sure if I should be thankful because it makes it easier for me to sneak out or angry because then anyone can sneak in and attack. Whatever, I'll deal with it later. When I make it past the guards I start walking down the dirt path that led to the garden. The gate to the garden is about 7 feet tall and made of gold with red diamonds scattered across it. I opened the gate and slowly closed it behind me. While walking towards one of the small lakes I could hear cricketbirds and even a catowl. As I walked up to the lake I could see that someone was already sitting at the edge with their feet in the water. I was about to get into a fighting stance but stopped when I saw that the person had long chocolate brown hair. I smirked and started walking towards the lake again, I can recognize that hair anywhere.
"I couldn't sleep, full moon." Katara said before I could sit down. I sat down and turned to face her. She looked breathtaking, the moon hit her face making her look like a goddess and it also made her eyes look more blue. "Yue would have been happy for Sokka and Suki. She really liked him, I'm not sure if she loved him but in time I think they would have."
"Yue turned into the moon right?" I remember Sokka telling me about her turning into the moon, and I thought me and Mai had it tough.
"Ya, isn't she beautiful." I looked up at the full moon and I had to agree, she was beautiful. Waterbenders are lucky, they actually get to look at their source of bending. Firebenders can't look directly at the sun unless they want to go blind, well nobody can look at the sun really. "How are you Zuko?" She asked, I couldn't help but notice how sad she sounded. She had bags under her eyes and she was frowning slightly.
"I'm ok I guess, what about you?" She tried to smile but Katara knows she can't fool me that easily.
"I'm, not ok. I'm confused." She simply answered. I didn't want to push her, if she didn't want to tell me what she was confused about than I wouldn't ask. "I'm stuck and I don't know what to do. I know you don't know what I'm talking about, but I just need you to listen. You don't have to say anything." In the moon light I could make out tears running down her face. Katara doesn't cry as often as she use to, she always tries to cover it up because she told me once it made her feel weak. When I got shot with the lightning is the last time Katara cried. I took her in my arms and pulled her to my chest. She was their when I cried when Uncle Iroh died, so I promised myself that I would be there when she cried. Katara buried her head into my neck and continued to sob. I felt completely useless, what ever was making Katara feel like this I wanted to help her with it. What could possibly make her feel so confused that she had to come here tonight by herself and cry? I then started to feel angry, did Aang know about this? If he did why hasn't he helped her with it. From the moment Katara landed in the Fire Nation I knew something was bothering her, how could Aang not see. It was written plain as day on her face. "Thank you." She whispered into my neck, sending shivers down my spine.
"For what?" I asked, confused.
"For being here and listening." She then pulled back and wiped away her tears.
"I'll always be here Katara." I looked into her eyes and let me tell you, that was a mistake. I couldn't look away, they were so hypnotizing. I could swim in her blue eyes for the rest of my life. I subconsciously started to lean towards her, my eyes flickered down to her lips and they were just as mesmerizing as her eyes. Right when our lips were about to touch a turtleduck came up and bit my finger. I yelled out and jumped up accidentally shooting fire into the sky. Katara doubled over, laughing. "Oh you think that's funny?"
"Yes." She continued to laugh. I then picked her up, throwing her over my shoulder and tossed her into the lake. "You asshole!" She yelled. Now I'm the one laughing. I then feel something cool wrap around my foot and pull me into the lake. Damn I forgot, Waterbender. "Haha." she laughed back at me.
"Alright, I deserved that." I said holding my hands out in surrender. We both laid back and floated on top of the water, watching the stars. For the rest of the night we didn't mention the almost kiss, thank Agni. I'm not going to lie, I wanted to kiss Katara. It wasn't a spur of the moment, I've thought about what it would be like to kiss her since the day I tied her to that tree. I know that meant I would be cheating on Mai, but we haven't really been doing well for the past couple months. I feel guilty that I think about kissing Katara even though I'm already with someone else. The only reason I didn't tell Katara about my feelings was because I knew she had feelings for Aang and I knew Aang would treat her right. The Airbender has had a crush on Katara from the moment he laid eyes on her, everyone could see that. I just wanted her to be happy, but she doesn't look happy now. It's not my place to get into her business, I'm not her boyfriend. Don't get me wrong I love Mai, just not the same way she loves me. I know she cares about me and that's what makes me feel so guilty, it's not fair to her. I can't help how I feel for Katara, I don't know if it's love but I do know that I care about her a lot more than I should. She's perfect, from her eyes to her lips to her long brown hair, her personality is so caring and kind. When we were trapped in that cave in Ba Sing Se Katara offered to heal my scar even though I was the enemy, that was the nicest thing anyone has ever done to for me. Even though she didn't get a chance to heal it, I know she would have. But I went and betrayed her, I know she already forgave me but I still feel guilty when ever I think about it. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I joined them in Ba Sing Se. I look over at Katara and see that her eyes are closed.
"Katara." She doesn't move. She must have fallen asleep. I stand back up on my feet and pick her up bridal style and carried her out of the water. I didn't want to wake her up so I just carried her back to the palace. On my way back I could see that she was smiling in her sleep and she looked gorgeous. If I could have it my way I would have her sleep in my arms every night.
Chapter 2 is complete! R&R because it would make me happy, please. :)