Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, nor do I own
the plays which spawned this idea (Aida, Antigone). I am not
responsible for any trauma you may go through while reading this piece
of purely fan-made fiction, though I am sorry.
Summary:-post CoD- In an attempt to rescue Iroh, Aang and his companions get caught and captured by Zuko. They have failed again. The only way they can see to save the world now lies with Katara's ability to turn Zuko around.-Z/K-
To Those who Love You
Chapter Eight:
Katara does not cease to surprise him. Zuko sends her on an errand one day to pick up a book from the ship's library. (It is one from the earth kingdom. He grows tired of his own country's literature.)
She comes back with an armful of books and scrolls for herself. It is something for her to do in her spare time.
"While we were traveling," she explains with a hint of steel in her voice, "We never really had a chance to educate ourselves thoroughly enough. I plan to take advantage of this little predicament I'm in."
Zuko has never really thought about her literacy before. After seeing the state of her village, he had assumed that most of the tribe could not read or write. He had again been proven wrong.
From then on, she can often be seen sitting on her cot, reading a history or solving a mathematical figure, flipping through a medical journal or dissecting a line of poetry or a metaphor in a novel.
While she learns from books, he is learning from her. He learns that she is a dreamer and an artist, not by visual means but by her memorization and performance of classic monologues. He learns that she has a delightful singing voice, one night when she thinks he is asleep. He learns that she has an endless amount of empathy, when she asks about his scar. He learns that the range of her experiences it vast and entertaining, when she tells him stories. He learns that she will not stand for anyone speaking against her. He learns that she is stubborn and determined and that she does not give up. He learns that she is not to be underestimated.
He learns how to maintain his first friendship-even if that friendship was only made on the ugly circumstances of war.
It makes him wonder what circumstances they would have without the war. He supposed it would have made for one life more lived, in her case.
He is honored to give her a chance to live her life more.
A/N: This is probably the last of the drabbles, though I am not comepletely sure. Zuko has started to regret the war his ancestors started. It will come to a height later.
