They say you never forget your first love. Katara realizes as she grows older that there are a lot of things from her youth she tries to hold on to, but most things fade away as life takes her in a different direction—to places and people she never expected.
She'll never forget the first time their eyes met when the iceberg broke away that fateful day, when blue and gray supposedly sealed their destiny.
I thought we were gonna be together. But we're not.
And they never would be. Katara knows she loved Aang in some way—still does. But she couldn't love him in the way he wanted, and as the Avatar and the last airbender, he deserves more. Everyone deserves a chance at true, passionate, self-sacrificing, toe-tingling love.
The kind of love she found with Zuko.
Zuko doesn't really count Mai as his first love, but she was his first kiss, and there's something to be said about sharing a certain level of intimacy with a person who knows where you came from. None of his new friends truly know his background, and part of him wonders if they did, would it scare them away?
Katara has heard enough, though, and she's still here. In some ways, she can even relate.
His childhood friendship with Mai—if one could call it that—would have made a good foundation for a relationship, which is why he tries to make it work. Because she knows. Right? But she doesn't relate. Or never tries to, at least. They've made sacrifices for each other, but in the end, it's not enough. There must be more to love, he decides. He is still young, though, so there is time to figure it out.
But he doesn't need more time. He already knows, and he's known for a while now.
A/N: For Zutara Month, Day 27: Youth. Short, sweet, and to the point. I also had plans to introduce Aang and Mai's new loves, but that will have to be another chapter for another day, I think.