Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender of any of its respective characters.
Zutara Week '11
Day 2: History
"History is much like an endless waltz; the three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever." – Mariemaia Khushrenada [Gundam W: Endless Waltz]
A small group huddled around a fire pit, their encampment silent. They dared not speak as they spooned thin soup into their mouths. After just a few short years of peace, the world had once again been thrown into strife. Ozai had supports hidden within major cities in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, supporters who had simultaneously committed assassinations of the highest-ranking figures. Firelord Zuko had barely escaped alive. If Katara hadn't been visiting him the day the assassination attempt was made, Zuko would have surely died. They had fled that night as fast as Zuko's injuries would allow them to go. Even with Katara's healing he had spent a week recovering in a house owned by a White Lotus member. The day Zuko finally emerged from his room on his own, he found Katara and Aang in a heated argument. She blamed Aang for this so-called revolution by Ozai. If he had killed him instead of just taking away his bending, she yelled, a new war wouldn't be on the cusp of starting. Aang argued and Katara yelled more, and soon the Avatar stormed away. That had been almost a year ago. Katara and Zuko had been initiated into the White Lotus, their job being quick strikes to take out key players in Ozai's army. The week before they had received a new mission from Piandao. The small group around the fire was not their target. No, the man that was to arrive within the hour was their target. He was a field general whose job has been to gather the small groups to create a bigger battalion.
They had decided to take the man before he reached the small group to avoid unnecessary battles. They had gathered as much information on the man as they could in a week's time. The man was named Xian Whu. He was a Firebender of some skill; he was in his mid thirties whose only family was a brother currently residing on Ember Island. Xian Whu was a mercenary by trade, a heartless killer-for-hire who held his men in check with threats and pain. The two benders waited. Both tensed at the sound of confident footsteps, Xian Whu obviously didn't expect enemies in this territory. How surprised he was when a vine wrapped itself around his right foot as if on its own. Xian Whu's eyes traveled to the vine as Zuko burst from the bushes with a well-placed kick to Xian Whu's kidney. A grunt of pain escaped from Xian Whu as he whipped his head around to see his attacker. With his attention turned to Zuko, Katara rushed from her hiding place to deliver a hard blow to the back of Xian Whu's knee. A backhand from Zuko sent the man to the ground and Katara knocked him out with a blow to his exposed neck.
Zuko bound and gagged the man. He and Katara dragged him away without the group knowing the man was even nearing their encampment. It wasn't the first time they had done something of this sort, bringing a man back to one of the White Lotus bases to be interrogated. It most certainly wouldn't be the last, either. They would keep picking off Ozai's men until the time when one of those men broke and revealed to them the location of Zuko's father. There would be no mistakes this time; they would kill the man. If it would mean peace for the world again, Zuko would willingly be the one to bloody his hands. It was Zuko's desire that history not repeat itself, however it felt that as long as there were humans in this world there would always be a war to fight.
Katara settled into a cot in the room she shared with Zuko. They were often given temporary beds at the various White Lotus bases they happened to be closest to before they set out on their next mission. She unbraided her hair with practiced ease, running her fingers to remove any knots. She had lost her bone comb on the road during one of their outings and hadn't quite had the time to replace it. Katara began to undo her black robe, one similar to what she had worn when she and Zuko had gone after Yan Rha. Zuko pushed open the door to their quarters without a knock. Not that Katara cared. The last year they had both seen each other in various stages of undress and had gone past the stage of embarrassment. Katara studied Zuko's face and noticed just how tired he was looking these days. He was awake more often than he slept, and it worried her. Zuko noticed her scrutiny and gave her a smile in attempt to reassure her. She let her hands fall from undoing her robe and she made her way to where Zuko's cot sat. Her arms snaked around his waist as she hugged him from behind, her cheek resting against his muscled back. He relaxed at her touch, shoulders sagging as if they carried the weight of the world on them. If one stopped to think, peace for the world was riding on the shoulders of their small victories. Each soldier they captured brought them one step closer to defeating Ozai. Katara hadn't realized she had started to cry until she felt the cloth of Zuko's robe become damp. Despite being in the middle of what was threatening to be another large-scale war, the blue-eyed young woman had come to a conclusion.
"I love you." She whispered, listening to the beat of Zuko's heart.
"I love you too, Katara." Zuko replied and his voice was rough with raw emotion.
For that moment they had found a bit of peace, their own tiny world tucked away from the harshness of reality. Perhaps years from now, in the annals of history this moment would stand out for someone as much as it did for them.