A/N: Here is my second part to something that will hopefully have thirty parts… Eventually =]

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Prompt no. 29: The Sound of Waves

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The sound of water reminded Katara of many things. It reminded her of her home in the South Pole. It reminded her of all of her battles she had fought over the previous months. It reminded her of everyone she had healed over the course of the journey. It reminded her of when she brought Aang back from the brink of death. It reminded her of battling Azula while Zuko was on the ground, twitching helplessly.

Katara still had nightmares about that battle. Except in her nightmares, it was always worse. Sometimes she didn't get to Zuko in time. Other times Azula had shot her down where she stood and Katara drew her last breath lying next to a lifeless Zuko. She always awoke in a horrible fright, breathing wildly, before she calmed herself down and reminded herself that isn't what really happened.

One morning after one of her nightmares, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. Looking around, she noticed that the entire room was decorated in reds and oranges.

That's right. We're visiting Zuko. Hm.. The sun is already up…He should be too.

She slipped out of the large bed and dressed herself quickly. When she left her room, she wondered where she should start her search for him. As she was thinking that it was about to turn into a serious predicament of where to go first, she heard a splash coming from the turtle duck pond.

"Come on, don't swim away! I know it's a little stale, but this is all I have this morning." Katara rounded the corner and saw the young Fire Lord staring after four turtle ducks that had already swam to the middle of the little pond.

"Zuko… Are, uh, you okay?" Katara quirked an eyebrow at the sight that was before her.

"Uh, yeah. It's just…. The turtle ducks, uh…. Well, see, I come out here every morning, but I guess this morning they don't like what I have for them," he gestured to the loaf of stale bread in his hand. A look passed over his face, as if he had just figured something out, as he looked at her again. "What about you? It's just after sunrise. You're never up this early."

Katara sat on the bench in front of the pond, and Zuko joined her. Katara had told Zuko about the nightmares before, but she could tell by the look on his face that they bothered him just as much as they bothered her. Well, not as much, because he wasn't the one having them.

"I, erm, had a nightmare. The nightmare, actually. The one where… where I couldn't get to you in time…" She did not look at him in order to spare herself the look of pain she figured that passed over his face.

He surprised her when he grabbed her hand with one hand, and turned her face towards him with the other.

"Katara," he stated firmly while looking her in the eyes, "if it were not for you, I would not be alive today. I'm quite sure of that. If you ever have one of those nightmares again, I just want you to remember that. And to remember that I am eternally grateful for what you did."

The sound of turtle ducks creating waves on the pond filled her ears as she watched Zuko lean in and place a kiss on her cheek. A blush rose to her face as she felt the small corner of his lips overlap with her own.

She added another memory, a good one for the first time in quite a while, to the list of things that the sound of waves reminded her of.