Broken then Healed

Chapter 10.

Do you ever wonder what would have happened if Zuko had let Katara heal his scar in the Crystal Catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se? A Zutara Fan-fiction

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR! If I did... Let's just say that things would have happened differently.

This story takes place at the end of season 2, and then what would have happened after in season 3.

IMPORTANT: I am going to North Carolina for a week, and I don't know if I am going to use my laptop there or not. So please don't be mad at me if I don't post for a week!

Please review! :) It makes my day!

Rinse. Scrub. Rinse. Dry. Katara repeated this mantra in her head while she was washing dishes. Anything was better than talking to the boy next to her. However, Zuko thought the exact opposite. He wasn't thinking about washing the dishes, he was just trying to find a way to talk to the stubborn girl. As he was contemplating how, he remembered something Azula had said to her back when they were imprisoned on her boat. She had demanded to know what Katara had done to her, and Zuko had never remembered a moment when she looked so determined to know something.

"Katara," Zuko spoke hesitantly, hoping she would acknowledge him. No such luck. But he continued anyway, "remember when we were on Azula's boat?" At this, the water bender stopped what she was doing and glared at him.

"Yah I remember," she scoffed. "What's it to you?"

The fire bender ignored her accusing tone and kept on blabbering. "Well, I remember something Azula said to you before we jumped of the boat. And I just rememeber it now-"

"Would you please just spit it out already?" Katara cut him off. "I have better things to be doing you know," she gestured to the pile of dirty dishes stacked off the the left off them.

Zuko set down his plate now and faced her full on. "Azula said something about wanting to know what you did to her. What was she talking about?" As soon as this was out of his mouth, he regretted it. He could tell by her reaction to his question that he shouldn't have brought it up. Katara immediately tensed up and glowered at him.

"It was nothing," the girl uttered after a moment. "I just got the upper hand and she was just wondering how I did it." There was about a minute of silence and tension before the banished prince decided to be brave and speak out.

"I know you're lying," he accused bitterly. "So you can either just tell me the truth or keep it bottled up inside you." He paused, then added one last thing for good measure. "I can tell it's bothering you by the way you immediately tensed up when I mentioned this."

"Since when are you the expert of reading emotions," Katara snapped, purposely avoiding his questions. "Last time I checked, you weren't in touch with your emotions."

The fire bender frowned. First of all, he was in touch with his emotions, thank you very much. Second of all, who was she to judge? For him, the only emotion she really knew was anger. And she was just plain insulting him. He growled, "will you tell me already? It couldn't have been that bad."

"How about no?"

"Ugh," this was clearly not going to work. Then Zuko got an idea, "how about a deal?"

Her head snapped up, "what kind of deal?"

The boy gulped and continued, "we would each tell each other something. I would choose what I want you tell me, and then you would choose what you want me to tell you."

Eyeing him warily, Katara slowly nodded her head, motioning him to sit down next to her. Dishes be damned. "You go first."

As soon as Zuko was done situating himself next to Katara, he told her exactly what he wanted to know. What had happened with Azula.

So Katara started. She told him how Azula had taken her to a room and interrogated her about the Gaang. He seemed especially surprised when she told him how interested Azula seemed to be about the general welfare and people in the group. Taking a deep breath, Katara briefly went over how Azula had momentarily freaked out and started to attack her when she tried to get away for the guards. Here we go... And then there was the part they both had been waiting for. She spoke of how energized and powerful she felt when she suddenly gained control of his sister's body, and Zuko looked stunned. He just sat there in shock for a moment.

"You see why I didn' want to tell you? I felt so powerful, but at the same time it felt so wrong..." The water bender admitted. "But I honestly didn't know what I was doing. I don't even know if it has ever been done before."

"Wow," Zuko muttered. Just what was this girl capable of? "Well, I guess it is your turn. What do you want to know?"

Immediately, she squirmed under his gaze, and he could see pink starting to creep up her neck. She coughed, "well, I was wondering if you could... Um... Tell me why you kissed me?"

"Oh," Zuko replied instantly. "I, uh, guess I could. Um, yeah." She stared at him expectantly. "You see..." He trailed off and she pouted.

"You've kept this from me long enough. Please just tell me."

The fire prince exhaled, and assured himself that he could do this. "When we were talking in the Crystal Catacombs, I felt more close to you than I had ever really felt to anyone before." Heat spread across his face, "and in the island cave, I felt that same way again. I had to do something... And I guess I just got caught up in the moment and took it too far." It was Katara's turn to be a but surprised. She was at a loss for words, even if his explanation was short and right to the point.

"Oh, um... Okay, I guess." She sat there while, before getting back up and grabbing another dish. "Care to finish these up with me?"

Zuko smiled a genuine smile, and for once in his life, he felt like he belonged here. "Sure, I'll help you."

|oO0Oo|

"We're done," Katara called out to everyone as they were closing in on the camp. Their little 'dish washing' adventure took about an hour, and everyone was looking at them suspiciously. Iroh was the only one who was grinning like a madman.

"What took you two so long?" Sokka accused, pointing his two fingers at them for emphasis.

The water and fire benders exchanged glanced before speaking. "we had some catching up to do," Zuko replied. Brushing of the tone of Katara's older brother. Toph wasn't really paying attention to them, but more like paying attention to their heartbeats. Aang on the other hand was paying very close attention to them. He was taking note of every little exchange between the two. The avatar noticed how much more comfortable they seemed with each other, and that made him upset. He needed to do something, and he needed to do it quick.

Lol I Love Zutara! They are one of the best couples in my opinion... Tui and La, Yin and Yang, Push and Pull, FIRE AND WATER! *fire and water emoji* Their little talk was pretty cute. But I am feeling kind of iffy about it...

Something is going on with Aang. I apologize in advance for the Kataang I have to write in the next chapter or two. I promise I will hate every minute of it, just bear with me please!

Special thanks to BendingDreams and MadTay for the wonderful reviews. Reading them really made my heart be warm and fuzzy... Like APPA! (I'm a nerd) Anyway, thank you so much, the reviews really inspired me! :D :D