Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 8 of Day's of Future's Past! I hope you guys enjoyed the last part! I know you all have been dying to find out what Zuko is and we will find out more very soon. The way I see it is each culture has its own fairy tales and myths and such. So our version of a werewolf may not be another culture's werewolf. Not culture knows about Snow White as another example. But we will figure out what Ketsueki means in our modern terms. Here's a hint. In Japanese, Ketsueki means blood. There's your hint haha. As always, I do not own Avatar or Zutara or the characters but the world is very much my own. On to the story!

Katara is the most popular girl at Kyoshi High. She had everything she ever wanted. A boyfriend, tons of friends. But when she discovers a secret of her town that longed to be hidden, was it everything she wanted?

Let's find out!

Chapter 8: Dinner and Confessions

"I'll save you from him"

Zuko.

Katara looked at him, gasping for breath. He lead her behind his back, holding her in a protective way, the way an animal would protect his mate. Zuko looked at the man that attacked her, who had gotten up from the ground, wiping away the blood that now seeped from his nose. Zuko gave the man a look that Katara could not see, but the man took one look at his face and stepped back in horror, running away from the two, onto the city street. Zuko turned back to Katara, only to see the confused look on her face. "What did you do to him?" she asked, looking him up then down. Zuko shook off her question with another question, "Are you alright?" he asked. He placed his hand on her arm comfortingly. Katara shook him off, "I was handling it perfectly myself" but he merely laughed at this. "I'm sure you were." Katara couldn't tell if he was making fun of her or agreeing with her, but she decided not to ask. "How did you find me?" she wondered aloud. He shrugged slightly, "I was walking to my car when I heard you scream". "I'm sure you were" Katara retorted, making him laugh again. Katara sighed slightly, "But thank you for helping me… Again". Zuko nodded, "Of course… I can walk you to your car if it would make you feel safer" he added, trying to be the perfect gentleman. Katara shook her head, "I had a friend drop me off. I'll hitch a cab" she tried to walk around him but he stepped in front of her to stop her. "Let me drive you home. So you don't have to pay for a ride" Katara tried to shake her head to decline, "I insist." He added. Katara sighed and nodded, feeling she was fighting a losing fight, "Okay".

Katara didn't fail to notice the way Zuko wrapped his arm around her protectively as they walked to his car. She hoped that he was just being a gentleman. Then she remembered he was probably a Ketsueki and she gave up on the whole being a gentleman thing. He opened the door for her and let her into the passenger seat, then closing the door and getting in next to her. Katara ran her palms over her jeans to clean off the sweat. She hoped that he couldn't smell her fear. "Are you hungry? I could stop and get you something" he asked her politely. Katara began to decline but her stomach betrayed her at the sound of food. Zuko laughed again. Damn that laugh she thought to herself. Zuko glanced at her and said, "I'll take that as a yes" Katara smiled shyly back at him.

As he drove, Katara took a chance to get a good look at him. His shaggy black hair just fell into his eyes like it was cut only a few weeks previous. His golden eyes shown brightly in the dark car. They weren't the color of fake gold or fool's gold. They were a rich caramel gold, like a warm sunset in the summertime. His face was very angular and defined as if it was a chiseled statue. His skin resembled a statue as well. It was the shade of the most beautiful marble. It made her want to run her fingers along it to see how smooth it was. His arms looked strong but were not large with a lot of muscle like some of the jocks at her school. He did not look like he could beat anyone up from far away, from his lean figure. But his muscles were clearly pronounced, not to mention his Ketsueki strength. Assuming he is a Ketsueki anyway. Katara looked away before he caught her looking at him. Last thing she needed was for Zuko to think she found him attractive. Not to say she didn't find him attractive. But he didn't need to know that.

Zuko pulled up to the 24 hour diner in town, parking near the door. Katara looked at him, "You don't have to go here. You could just go through a McDonald's drive thru or something". But he shook his head, "My treat" he got out of the car and walked to her side, opening the door for her. Katara stepped from the car, looking at her feet, "Thank you…" she said quietly. Zuko simply nodded and walked into the restaurant.

A waitress walked to their table and asked them what they would like. Katara looked at her, "I'll have the sea prunes and rice please". The woman nodded then looked at Zuko, but he just shook his head, "Nothing for me, thanks". Katara looked at him, as the waitress walked to the kitchen, "You don't want anything?" she asked him, curiously. Zuko shook his head again, "I ate earlier"

Their unique characteristics include their blood thirst…

"Right…" she simply said, looking into her lap. Zuko watched her, "What were you doing out this late anyway?" he asked her, raising a eyebrow. Katara looked at him. She was a terrible liar. Sokka could always tell when she was lying. She decided to only tell part of the truth, "I was at the library, studying. I fell asleep and the librarian woke me up when it closed". Katara watched for his reaction. He nodded, seeming to buy her story, whether it was for her sake or reality she wasn't sure. Katara watched him again. He looked out the window of the diner, and then looked towards the door, almost like he was looking for someone. Zuko tapped his fingers on the counter. "Zuko?" Katara asked him. He looked up and cocked his head to the side, "Hmm?" he looked at her questionably. Katara bit her lip, "Your scar…" his face immediately fell when he heard this, looking into his hands. "I'm sorry for calling you scarface… I don't know how you got it. But you can always tell me… If you need to…" she looked at him and gave him a sympathetic smile. Zuko smiled back, "I appreciate it… But I'd prefer not to tell anyone" Katara nodded understandably. She leaned onto the table, "I still don't know much about you. Why are you so mysterious?" she asked him. Zuko leaned onto the table as well, their faces a few inches apart, "Why do you ask?" he asked her, in retort. She raised her eyebrow at him then answered, "There's just so much about you that I don't understand… You seem like you're hiding something… And I'm pretty perceptive about that stuff" she leaned in closer, "You're different… Why is that?" she asked him, seeing what reaction he would give. He chuckled deeply and looked at her, smirking knowingly, "I don't know. You tell me… Why am I different?" her eyes widened at this.

He knew.

He somehow found out that they were trying to figure out who he was. "I-I…" she stuttered, flabbergasted, "I don't know yet… But I'm going to find out…" she looked him straight in his face, trying to put on the bravest face she could. She wasn't scared of his reaction. Deep down, she knew he wouldn't hurt her. If he was planning on it, he would have done it in the alleyway. He nodded slowly, "Well when you find out… Let me know". Katara nodded slightly at this, saying no more on the subject.

The rest of the dinner was quiet. Zuko pulled up to her house, putting the car in park. He looked over at her, "Be careful when you walk around at night… There are some real creeps out there" he told her. Katara looked back at him, "I can take care of myself you know…" he laughed slightly at this. "I'm sure you can… Doesn't mean you should take the risk". Katara nodded and got out of the car, "Goodnight Zuko". "Goodnight Katara" she closed the door and began to walk up her driveway, but he rolled down the window and called after her, "Katara?" she looked back at him. "Don't forget what we talked about." He smirked and closed the window, pulling away onto the street. She let out a breath and began to walk towards the door.

Katara walked into her house, only slightly surprised to see Suki sitting on her couch, reading the book they purchased earlier, "How did you..?" she began. Suki cut her off, "Never mind that! Where were you?! I was worried sick. I thought you got jumped or something and were bleeding in an alleyway". Katara sighed and began again, "I was…" but Suki cut her off again, "Never mind again. We have so much more important things to discuss" she pulled her friend onto the couch and flipped the book to a marked page and began to read aloud.

A Ketsueki has many forms throughout different legends. The Irish have a similar legend called a Fuil. A woman who comes into a barn while a man is there and seduces him into having intercourse with her then she sucks his blood and kills him. In Nepali, there is the legend of the Ragata, a man and woman who destroyed an entire village by creating earthquakes to draw people from their homes, then drinking their blood. But the most common is the

"Vampire"

Suki finished reading and looked at Katara for her reaction. But Katara was silent. "Well? We figured it out? Say something" she prodded at her reaction.

"Suki…" Katara began.

"I just had dinner with a vampire…"

Ta-Daa! Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! We finally know Zuko's identity! Yayyy! First of all, super long chapter! I got writing and couldn't stop and I didn't want to split it in two so meh. It's a treat for you guys. Second of all, I just want to say. Some of you may be turned off by the fact that I made Zuko a vampire because you may think Twilight vampire. There may be some similarities in the story, (Zuko being a loner, him saving her from the guy, etc). But my version of a vampire is EXTREMELY different from the Twilight version. I didn't want this story to be just Avatar in the Twilight universe. And its not, there is a lot of backstory that Twilight does not have. No offense to twilight fans btw. I actually own all of the books and have seen all of the movies. But this story is not Twilight in any form of the word. My version of a vampire is like every version of a vampire in existence all mashed together, with my own touches thrown in. But anyway enough of my ramble. Until next time guys!