Always thanks for reviews and favs and such, i stayed up waaay to late to get this one done for ya so now im going to sleep xD Night!
Ships:
Zutara
Release:
A smile snuck over Zuko's face as Katara pulled the water out and let it float between her hands, the soft blue glow reflected off her necklace and cast a blue circle on the floor between them. Katara smiled as well, she remembered their sparring matches fondly. Even before Zuko had joined them, it had almost a strange sort of joy to fight him, it pushed her to be better every time they fought, and it always ended differently. Katara's feet slid silently on the floor to a stance the she had learnt while she was away, one that Zuko didn't know. She lifted one hand, pulling the majority of the water with her movement; it arced in the air, spreading rapidly towards him. He spun on his feet, flattening his body to the ground, unleashing a short burst of flames from his bared feet to meet her water. The elements met in a gush of steam, filling the room with a wet heat. Katara smiled and stretched her other hand towards him, moving her fingers up and down. The water that she had kept wound itself around her arm, almost like an eel. Zuko watched the water coil around her as he rose to a stance; he had learnt to watch everything this Water Master did. Suddenly her fingers flicked towards him and the water eel launched itself from her arm, rippling through the arm as if it was swimming. Zuko blew a long thin stream of fire from his lips, the light casting dark shadows on his face as it left his body. Katara grinned suddenly and whipped her free hand down. The steam gathered to form a pool of liquid and hovered above his head. Zuko looked up too late. Katara simply released the water above him, letting it rain down.
Zuko shook his head, his dark hair slicked to his face and neck. He looked over the room at her, his eyes glinting under his dripping fringe. Katara smirked, sweeping the water back to her, mostly; she let his hair remain wet. The water dripped down his face, following the lines of his jaw and dropping to his chest. Zuko lifted his hand to his face, as though to sweep the hair from his face but instead they cupped his mouth. He took a deep breath, releasing it along his hands, fire burst from his fingers, and streamed out. It rushed over the room, swinging a few steps from Katara. The stream didn't stop, it wound its way around her, encasing her in a wall of fire. Katara didn't move within the wall, she could feel the heat lick her skin, never truly touching her. She knew Zuko. He wasn't attempting to hurt her, he was making it impossible to bend water to her. The air was too dry for her to create anything within his wall.
"That's a sneaky move for the Fire Lord isn't it?" She teased him, calling over the roar of the flames.
"No more than yours was sneaky for a Master Waterbender." He called back, his voice close on the outside. She could hear the soft laughter in his words.
Katara laughed silently and settled in to wait, she couldn't bend in here but he couldn't keep the wall up forever. She jumped when something hot touched her arm, her hand flew to the spot but it wasn't burnt. Zuko's hand was under hers, against her skin. She turned to face him, not letting his hand go. He smirked at her, the fire around the flared, burning with a blinding light then faded to nothing. Zuko was breathing steadily, the wall had taken some effort to control, but Katara had been saving her energy while he had been using his. She swept her hands between them, water instantly surged to her arms and hovered between them for a moment. Zuko's face was distorted through the water but she could see his smirk fade to a look of surprise. She laughed, letting the sound echo this time and pushed against the water. It surged into Zuko's body, lifting him from his feet and floating him across the room before it flew away, back to Katara. For a second Zuko seemed to hover in the air, then he dropped, curling his body to roll as it hit the floor. Katara whipped the water back out, winding it around his leg and pulling his back towards her. Zuko sat up as while he was being dragged and took the water in his hand, tightening his hand to a fist around it. It broke between his fingers and he slid to a halt on the ground. He spun to his feet, whipping out his own element as he did. Unlike Katara he couldn't let his fire touch her; he wouldn't let it touch her. He could only let it brush close enough for her to feel the heat on her skin. He was never going to do to anyone what his father had done to him. His fire danced beside her cheek, lighting her blue eyes in its glow. She whipped her water to wind around his fire, for a moment the two elements sat together. Winding against each other, their different coloured glow casting light on the other. Then, in an instant, the fire yielded in the waters grip and went out. The water whip, though thinner than before it was brighter, like it had swallowed the fire's light.
Katara was distracted by the glow, not seeing Zuko race forward, lowing himself to the ground at the last minute. He swept his leg out, knocking Katara's legs from under her, and killing all the fire in the room, even in the lights. Darkness surrounded them. Katara pulled her water to her, peering into the little light its blue glow provided. She couldn't see him anywhere, she could feel him though, the heat that coursed from his body. He was breathing heavily now, so was she, but he was trying to be quieter. He was trying to calm his breathing so she couldn't hear him. Katara didn't bother trying to calm her breathing, he could see her clearly because of the water anyway. She smiled suddenly and sent the water away, floating it across the room. Zuko didn't seem to be falling for it, or at least he wasn't making any noise walking. Katara pulled her feet slowly under her and crouched on the ground, the movement made little noise without shoes to squeak on the floor. She took a step away from her water, keeping herself steady with one hand and keeping the water hovering with the other. She heard a shuffle of clothes beside her and immediately took another step back, smiling as she did, until her foot caught. She slammed to the ground and lost her hold on the water as she did, it splattered to the ground.
"Damn it!" She hissed under her breath and reached for her foot, the wraps on her legs had come undone and caught her foot.
She heard him bend and pressed her body against the ground, a blanket of flames flew over her, more than a metre from her. He was being careful, clearly he couldn't see anymore than she could, until he'd sent that flame over her at least. Now she could hear him scramble over the ground towards her. Katara's fingers worked frantically to free her foot so she could move but she wasn't fast enough. He hit her from the side, scooping her into his arms from the ground and making them roll until she landed back on the ground with him leaning over her. Her heart pounded in her chest, her foot forgotten. His skin was hot wherever it touched hers and she wondered if hers was cold to him. His hands trailed up her arms and encircled her wrists, his legs resting either side of her stomach. She couldn't bend in this position and he knew it.
"Give up?" He asked softly, she was still unable to see his face in the dark but she was sure he was smirking.
"My foot got caught." Katara protested, wriggling in his grip. It wasn't anywhere near tight enough to hurt her, just enough to keep her from getting free.
He laughed and lowered his head. His fringe brushed against her forehead, making her aware of just how close he was. "Get out of this one then." She could see his face now, just. His gold eyes glowed dimly in the dark and his lips were pulled into an amused smile.
Katara sighed and frowned. She probably should give up, but it was never in her to give into Zuko, even when he had her cornered. She flexed her wrists a little, and his warm hands tightened their grip. She smiled suddenly and shuffled her whole body up a little, his hands slipped down her arm, only the tiniest amount but it was enough. She made a 'come here' motion with her fingers and the water in the air closest to her hands slowly cling to her skin. She pushed the water down her hands to her wrists and slipped it between their skin. Zuko's mouth parted in surprise as she froze the ice against her own skin, creating sharp little icicles against Zuko's skin. She pushed her arms into his palms and his hands jerked open slightly in surprise. It was all she needed. She pushed against his hands, letting the ice melt and fall away. As she pushed up she pulled her legs to her body and hooked them around his. With a grin she gave a shove with her arms and pulled with her legs. They rolled, just once but now Katara was on top, she straddled his chest, quickly using her bending to freeze his arms to the ground. Once they were frozen above his head from the palms of his hands to his elbows she sat back, balancing her body above his stomach.
"I win." She told him and summoned a small ball of water to float beside them. The glow it let off wasn't much but compared to before it let her see his entire face. He was half smiling, like he knew something she didn't.
She tilted her head to one side as she studied him, her eyes drawn to his scar as they often were. With a gasp she felt down his chest to the bandage, pulling her light with her she gently removed the bandages to see the forming scar. It was worse now, after Azula's second hit, but the it hadn't been close to lightening. She ran one hand over the rough skin and Zuko grunted, his body scrunching away from her touch. Katara looked up to his face, his eyes were closed and his face was tight, shut off. She ignored his reaction and went back to the scarring flesh. The second hit had been weak, but anything would have been enough to hurt him again. He hadn't even had time to heal from the lightening strike. She touched the rough skin again and got the same reaction, he tried to shrink away from her. She shook her head, knowing what he was thinking. In his eyes the scar marked him, marked him as weak, ugly. He thought the same about the scar across his eye, under Ba Sing Se she had learnt a lot about Zuko and his scar. He hated it, inflicted by the person who was meant to protect and love you. He believe in part that because of the scar no one could love him, that they would see the same flaws his father had seen in the physical form of a scar on his face. The scar on his stomach was just another flaw to Zuko.
Katara shuffled along the ground, moving her legs along his sides. She leant her face close to his, just as he had done to her but she didn't speak. Instead she touched his scarred cheek, gently, barely a brush of her fingertips. He didn't open his eyes but he tried to twist his face away from her. Katara rested her other hand on his smooth cheek, keeping him still and touched the rough cheek again. This time letting her fingers linger across the skin for a moment before taking them away.
"Katara." It was a warning, she could hear it clearly and she ignored it.
She ran her fingers across the scar, following the bumps and curves of his cheek. He drew a deep breath, tiny flames flaring from his nostrils. She was making him angry and it made her hesitate, her hand hovered over his face. She waited, and waited, slowly his face relaxed. Without making a sound or giving him any warning she lay her hand over his cheek. Her fingers rested on the bridge of his nose as the rest of her hand gently rested over his scar, concealing it from view.
"Katara." Another warning, this time she could feel the heat build under his skin as his temper grew.
"I don't care." She told him firmly, his eye opened and he looked at her in confusion though the anger was still there. She curled her fingers against his scar. "I don't care, Zuko. Without this you would have never been banished, you would have been the son Ozai always wanted. Without this you could have never met Aang and helped him master firebending and defeat your father. If you had never been scarred the war could have lasted another hundred years. I don't know you without this, and without this I might have never met you. I can hate what your father did to you, how he hurt you. And I do, Zuko, I damn him to hell for the rest of his pitiful existence for what he did to you." She rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes, tears down her cheek "But I could never hate this scar."
Now she knew why he had been smiling, he could have gotten out of her trap anytime he wanted. She felt his hand brush her hair behind her ears, she smiled through her tears. His other hand touched her arm and slid up to her shoulder, warming her skin in its path. She opened her eyes slowly and met his, her hand still resting on his scar. His face was perfectly still, no anger or happiness, no emotion, like he was thinking hard about something.
"Katara…" Her name wasn't a warning this time, it was barely even spoken, just a whisper in the dark.
She felt the breath of her name touch her lips, they were so close to his. She almost feel them on hers, feel the heat, more intense then the touch of his hand. The heat was closer, more intimate then the simple touch of their hands the brush of their skin. She closed her eyes, it was so close, the heat.
"Fire Lord Zuko!" There was a sharp knock on the door.
Katara's eyes snapped open and she leant back, away from him.
Zuko sighed heavily, his eyes never leaving Katara's. "Yes, what is it?" His voice was formal, polite.
"The prisoner Mai requests to see you." The voice called. "She requests rather ruthlessly Fire Lord."
"Of course she does." Zuko muttered under his breath, his eyes flicked to the door for a second. "I will see her." He called, waiting for the footsteps of the messenger to fade away and turning back to Katara.