IMPORTANT!

This may be a bit confusing, I alternated between Zuko and Katara's POV so it starts out with Zuko and then goes back and forth.


Behind These Painted Masks

Chapter 7

Letting go

I have to admit the last place I wanted to be was here.

A Water Tribe girl pinning one arm to the ground, the other placed right above my shoulder.

-

The last place I wanted to be was here.

A banished Prince below be, wet hair falling into his eyes, my pinning him to the grass.

-

She was attractive; the girls in the Fire Nation had all the same pale skin, dark hair and eyes.

Katara was different, a chocolate mess surrounding her deep, shimmering sapphire eyes, her tanned skin moving up and down as she caught her breath.

Strikingly exotic.

-

He was handsome, his skin slightly darker than that of his people. A scar stretching over his left eyes, while the other pool of amber blinked lazily.

The hair was loose covering most of his face; sweat streaking down from his forehead.

Casually gorgeous.

-

"I could throw you off me." I reminded her.

She raised an eyebrow, "Then why don't you?"

Is this what people call flirting?

She sighed and rolled off me, where we laid side by side, watching the clouds pass by overhead. I noticed one looked like a dragon, a white dragon twisting in the sea of blue.

-

I rolled off him and closed my eyes breathing deeply.

The position had reminded me of the first time I danced with Aang.

I was coming down the stairs, all eyes were on my and as luck would have it a tripped down 7 steps onto an unsuspecting Aang. We landed with me on the top and him on the bottom. We were laughing and he helped me to my feet where we started dancing as though nothing had happened.

I can't get that smile out of my mind.

-

I turned to look at Katara, her eyes were closed but tears were still leaking out, creating dew on the grass.

"You're crying." I stated, unsure of what else to do.

Were girls always this difficult to understand? We had been fighting, that's no reason to cry...

-

I blinked and quickly wiped the tears away, "So what?" I asked harshly.

"You miss him…don't you?" Zuko asked gently, his gold eyes genuinely concerned.

The tears came again.

-

Before I could say anything she began crying. She drew her knees close to her chest and muffled the sound slightly.

I don't know why I did it…it just seemed right.

I wrapped an arm around her, she blinked, I smiled sadly and she continued to cry into my chest.

-

I don't know how long I cried for.

But it felt good.

I cried when Aang died, for hours I held his body, waiting, healing and praying that he would live. And when the sun set, I saw the last gleam of life leave his eyes, the last breath escape, the last smile creep onto his face and the warmth of the last Airbender drift away leaving only a legacy, a free world and a broken heart.

But this was different. I had held on for so long but this pent up sadness was coming out in great, heaving sobs.

And Zuko…he didn't mind, he just held me gently stroking my hair until the sobs died down into deep breaths.

-

She stopped after a period of time, though the odd hiccup racked her body. We just sat together, our breathing in sync. I had moved against a tree were I rested my back against while she cried.

She placed her head on my chest, a single piece of hair fluttering in time with her breathing.

A blush crept up to my face from the spot her lashes touched my skin.

-

His hair was falling artfully into his eyes.

"I miss him." I confessed, as though the crying had never happened. A small gust of wind gently caressed my face, drying the tears.

Zuko hugged me and whispered his own confession.

"Me to."


"Toph?" Sokka was wandering around, calling her name. But he was alone, the blind Earthbender was no where to be found.

"Toooooooooooppppppppphhhhhhhhhhhhh!?" He cupped his hands around his mouth and let her name ring through the hallways. Frustrated he made his way to her room.

The first thing Sokka noticed was the window as open, something Toph rarely did, the second was a piece of paper on her wall. He pulled the blade out of the wall and read the note.

A few minutes later he was standing at Katara's door.

"Sokka? You're shivering? What's wrong?" his sister asked, gaze fearfully.

"Toph's missing." he said unable to produce anything else.

"But who..."

Her brother interrupted before she could finish, every word filled with hate.

"Azula. She's alive."