oooooh, an AU. Lets see how this plays out!

Because I Deserve Better

Zuko POV

Katara and I had been best friends since we were kids. Our friendship was the kind that could withstand anything. Even though we were only seven and nine, both of our lives had already been turned upside down. Her's when her mother passed away, and mine when my mother left. That year we spent hours lying in her back yard, staring up at the sky. We'd tried to count the stars; made pictures in the clouds. We had fallen asleep beside the swingset, and woken up the next morning with her white tabby cat Momo leaping between us. Then, three years ago when my father attacked me and burned my face, she was there for me. She missed school to be with me. Last year, when my father was taken to the loony bin, Katara stayed awake with me, sitting on that same swingset that we had outgrown many years ago. I remember that we didn't say much, but sat in silence and listened to the crickets sing.

Those were good times. Simple and easy to understand. Those were the days before she started dating Jet.

It used to be that she never went a day without talking to me, weather it be over the phone or IM. When she and Jet started going out, her calls would be few and far between. She quit waving in the halls, and didn't even look my way when he was around. She quit putting on her make up- though she didn't need it anyway, it was still strange to see her without it. But the thing that told me something was really wrong; she quit smiling. She became withdrawn from even Suki (the one she was all girly with). Needless to say, I was worried.

It wasn't long before her wordrobe changed too. She used to be all about t-shirts and beads and bracelettes. I think I'm the only one that noticed the long sleeved hoodies and wristbands. At first, I thought she was cutting herself. But Katara wasn't one to do that. She was stronger than that, and I scolded myself for even expecting weakness from her. One morning in homeroom, I caught a glimpse at what she was hiding. She had rested her chin on her palm tiredly, her sleeve falling down past her wrist. Four purple bruises stood out against her skin. I suppose she caught me staring, because she hurridly pulled her sleeve back up. "Its nothing, Zuko." She lied in a whisper. Though her words were calm, her eyes screamed one word. Jet.

The day that that happened was the day I swore to put a stop to it.

*&*&*&*&

I hadn't received a call from Katara in almost two weeks. She had never waited this long in between calls. I kept telling myself that it was nothing; I was just being paranoid. But in my gut I knew that something was wrong.

Rain. The constant drumming of rain on the roof almost lulled me to sleep. The only thing keeping me awake was a copy of S. A. Bodeen's The Compound. I was just getting to the good part, where Eli's father tells all, when I heard a soft tapping on the back door. I left the living room where Uncle and I had been sitting quietly and trudged through the kitchen to answer the door. Just as I opened it, Katara, half naked in her bra and a pair of jeans fell into my arms. She was soaked with rain and sobbing uncontrollably. "Uncle!" I yelled as he came into the doorway, "Get a blanket!" I noticed big, purple bruises all over her arms and back.

"I- I didn't know where else to go," she whispered. Though she lived right next door, I knew exactly what she meant. Her father, grandmother and brother would all want to know how this happened. None of them knew about her relationship with Jet. They didn't know that he was violent toward her. They all would have blamed her, even though she was the victim. Uncle Iroh came in then, a thick blanket in one arm. He draped the blanket over her shoulders lightly, and I led her into the living room. She shook violently as I held he in my arms, her dark brown hair falling over her face.

I pushed her hair away from her eyes and took her face in my hands. Wiping away a tear that was slowly trickling down her face, I spoke to her softly. "Did he do this to you?" I already knew the answer, but had to make sure. She took a moment, her eyes searching in mine. Slowly, Katara nodded. Her fingers were wrapped around the edge of the blanket so tightly that her knuckles were white. "Damn it!" I said through my teeth as I pulled her into a hug. I felt my own tears slid down my face. How could anyone hurt her like that? How could they hurt my best friend? How could I let them? Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with guilt. We sat there on the couch, sobbing into each other, while Uncle Iroh clammored around in the kitchen. "You," I started, my face close to her's. "Should probably get cleaned up." Before walking her to the bathroom, I stopped at my room and grabbed one of my old t-shirts -blue, her favorite color.

I dampened a wash cloth in the sink for her and wiped her face off gently. Something flickered over her lips. Something I hadn't seen in a while; her smile. It pulled something in me. I found myself leaning toward her, her eyes round and lips slightly parted. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't kiss her when she was like this. She would brush it off as pity, or just hormones because she was still only half clothed. I pulled my face upward and pressed my lips to her forhead. "Zuko," she said, wrapping her arms around my neck. I tried not to think about how this would look if Uncle Iroh were to walk in.

"Here," I said, handing her my shirt.

She pulled it over her head easily and muttered a quiet "Thank you." Katara sat down on the edge of the bathtub, her face serious. "I need to tell you something. It's very important, but you can't tell anybody." I sat down beside her and held her hand. "Jet made me do things that I didn't want to do. Not tonight, but he tried to. It was about a month ago. After that I tried to break up with him, but he said that if I did he would kill me. You don't know what he's capable of. You'll never know..."

"No," I breathed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold back my tears. "Katara, no! I should have known. I should have been there to help you."

"Zuko, I'm alright. I'm okay."

"Damn it, Katara! No, you're not! For God's sake, he... he hurt you." Along with the incredible guilt, I also felt unveleivable rage. Anger that of all the other times I had been there, I wasn't there the day... the night that a monster took away her innocence. And then another feeling set in, one that almost made me jump. I wanted to be the one that she loved. I wanted to be the one that -respectfully- took her innocence. How could I be feeling this way for my best friend? My eyes scanned over her:she was beaten and bruised, yet a tiny smile graced her lips. It was almost as if the girl who had stumbled into my house, soaked through with rain water and tears was gone, and in her place was this strong young woman that sat before me.

"Zuko?" Her voice was soft as she touched my cheek. "Please, don't cry for me." Her fingers lingered on my scar, then something softer came into contact with the red skin around my left eye. She'd kissed my scar. Nobody had even touched my scar. "I've cried more than enough for the both of us. We should get back down stairs." Still in shock, I simply nodded and stood up with her. I felt her hand clasp around mine. We decended the stairs hand-in-hand just like we did when we were kids. And, just like when we were kids, we skipped the third step from the bottom. We never really had a reason why; it was just more fun that way. Uncle was waiting for us in the livingroom, teacup in hand. Katara accepted it with a smile. "Thank you, Uncle Iroh." I watched her sip her tea carefully. Every so often, she would squint her eyes shut and let out a deep breath.

"If you need to cry," I whispered into her ear. "You don't have to hide." She sat her cup down with a clang and rested her head on my shoulder. I listened to her cry softly for amost an hour before her cries faded into soft, short breaths. I couldn't help thinking about all the times we had fallen asleep together when we were kids. On warm summernights we would play flashlight tag, and end up pushing each other onto the ground. The night of her tenth birthday we sat in her tree house, our legs dangling out the door. We talked and laughed just like always, but I had to tell her some bad news; I wasn't able to buy her a birthday present. Kids in our neighborhood had a rule that a kiss didn't count until you were thirteen. So my present to her was a quick kiss on the cheek. That was the last night that we had fallen asleep together. We had gotten too old for that when I turned thirteen. But tonight she fell asleep in my arms, just like back then, and I couldn't help but smile as I drifted off to sleep.

*&*&*&*

We woke up to the phone ringing sharply. Katara jumped nervously as she was shocked awake. "It's just the phone," I told her, wiping away the sleep in my eyes. I stood up from the couch to retreive the phone. Checking the caller ID, I handed it to her. "It's your dad."

She took the phone from me and frowned as she answered. "Hello? Yeah, dad, its fine. I stayed over here last night. What? No, no. We haven't talked in a while and I wanted to stop by on my way home from the movies. Well, I left my key in my jacket. I left my jacket at the theater. I'm fine dad. Yes, I know we live right next door but- . I'm on my way." She hung up the phone and sighed. "I have to go. Thank you." She hugged me before heading for the front door. As she reached for the handle she turned back to me. "I don't think you'll get this shirt back."

She always knew how to light up the room, lift the atmosphere. To make people happy even in the worst situations. She deserved better than Jet. She deserved much better.

*&*&*&*

Awe... no kiss? No nothin? AWWWWEE MAAAAN!

If you want more Zutarian lovin, ReViEw!!!