Katara's eyelids felt like they were weighed down by a tsunami but her eyes flickered open. She saw that she was at the beach, but she was too weak to fully move around. She forced her eyes open and looked around her. She was sitting on a makeshift sand bed and with a glance to the right, there was a familiar red tunic laying on a rock. She looked around for its owner but couldn't locate him, when she heard his voice.
"You're awake," he said, in a tone of relief. "I was starting to get worried."
She had no strength to talk, nor did she have any words to say. She looked at him, at a complete loss for words. Everything was so overwhelming and she felt as if her heart had been bloodbended. More than anything in the world, she needed to be held, to be told she was okay. Despite the immense physical toll, she got up and flung herself into Zuko's arms. She succumbed to all the pain and let it wash over her, sobbing heavily into him. His split second hesitation almost seemed like an act, for he opened his arms at the exact time she reached for him and kept her locked in the embrace. When she finally regained her breath, the words poured out of her mouth faster than the sand spilling back into the ocean.
"I can't do this anymore. I can't keep doing everything for him and getting nothing for myself. I can't sit around and wait for him to save the world when he can't even save me. I can't keep killing myself, watching him save everyone else.."
She started sobbing again, becoming more incoherent by the word. "I just need to feel loved again." Her final plea left her utterly broken, feeling like her body was just a cracked vessel.
Zuko's eyes melted into his signature honey amber and he knew he couldn't leave her so broken, he had to fix her, he had to patch her up again. He loosened his grip on Katara, no longer resting his head on top of her, and pushed himself back to arm's length, causing Katara to glance up from her nest in his chest. She felt so raw, so utterly vulnerable, and the desire to be loved was too strong. Throughout her sobbing episode, all Zuko did was listen and be there. And that was all she needed. They made eye contact and before she knew it, she felt her lips pressing into his with the utmost sense of urgency. She hadn't expected him to respond with the same need yet here he was, cupping her face with gentle but firm hands, taking complete control.
Katara felt her sheer exhaustion slowly fading away and with its leave came a feeling of desperate urgency. At the same moment, she became aware of the fact that Zuko was lying shirtless with sweat glistening from his skin. She wrapped her arms around his nape and pulled him closer, as she slowly leaned back into the sand bed. He placed a hand under her waist, smoothly yet urgently lifting her back onto the bed.
He leaned in to kiss her, but paused as their foreheads touched, with a questioning look in his eyes. Her eyes had a hint of insanity in them but the permission was as clear as the ocean in her eyes was and she nearly dragged his face down. Over and over again their mouths found each other, and Katara felt herself slowly filling up again. Zuko paused every now and then to make sure this was what she needed, and the answer was clearly reflected in the repaired condition of the storm in her eyes. When it seemed like all the cracks in her eyes were finally patched up, Zuko propped himself on his arms, his face several inches away from her with their bodies retaining the proximity, totally tangled.
As he looked deep into her now electric eyes, he felt something move in his heart, and he felt the strongest, most inexplicable need for this precious girl in front of him to know that she was loved. His brain abruptly went into overdrive and his mouth formed the words his heart had never been able to admit.
"Katara," Zuko blurted. "I love you."