Well, I haven't gotten very many reviews lately… :( Really, I know – or at least I hope – that more people are reading this than reviewing on it, and I would appreciate it ever so much if you guys would review. I work really hard on these stories, and it really hurts to see so few people telling me what they think. To those of you that have, you have my deepest thanks. :) I'm a budding writer, so any amount of constructive criticism is more than welcome, and it really makes my day and makes writing these things worthwhile to see people taking the time to give me their opinions. So please, please, please, please review.
Moonlight Reflections:
Silver danced off the water in the garden, broken here and there by the feathered shadows of turtleducks splashing together and quacking happily. A gentle breeze stirred the lemur tail reeds bent over the water, sending ripples dancing over the pond. A gentle sigh upset the water further, awaking it from its midnight slumber.
Katara sat cross-legged by the water's edge, ignoring the grass stains no doubt growing on her silk blue skirts. She'd come a long way from the simple Water Tribe robes she'd worn as a youth and the trademark braid of her people's women. Instead, the seventeen year old wore floor length silks in blue and pearl fringed with silver embroidery in waving curls. She'd been forced to abandon furs long ago, considering the naturally warm weather of her present home. Her hair, once tied back with strands of dark hair and beads, was pulled half way up, leaving the rest of her hip-length curls to fall loosely down her back in the Fire Nation style she preferred. But one thing would never change: her mother's necklace, the black ribbon, worn from wear, still rested against her collarbone.
She'd been living in the Fire Nation since the war's end three years earlier, visiting her family every chance she got, but otherwise remaining very busy. As the official ambassador of both Water Tribes to the Fire Lord, she rarely got a break. Every spare moment she had was spent here, in the garden. And every spare minute the Fire Lord had, he would be sitting next to her there. But those moments were few and far between.
Just thinking about Zuko brought a longing smile to the waterbender's lips. They rarely got to see each other anymore, what with all the private councils, the business trips, the treaty signings, the public speeches, all of which duties kept them both busy, and then just sleeping after a long day's work… Even after three years, echoes of the war could still be felt. Sometimes it seemed like they would never see each other again. But they always managed to pass each other in the hallway and exchange a smile – or even a kiss – but that was only when they were sure no one else was around. Plus, they always saw each other at mealtimes, and the rare parties were a given. He escorted her every time.
Katara's smile widened. Zuko's dedication to his country, a nation that had once called him a traitor and spat in his face when he tried to help them, was evident in everything that he did. Even if it meant missing out on a pleasant evening with her, he would do it. She understood, but sometimes, Katara felt an ache in her heart, wishing that, somehow, they could spend more time together. Every night she thought about it. For the last few years now, she had been expecting Zuko to propose the only solution that would allow that to happen, but he had never made a move.
Things had quieted down a lot since Ozai's death and Azula's imprisonment in a psyche-ward. The Earth Kingdom had been given back its land, what had once been called the Fire Nation Colonies, and its prisoners of war were returned. The Water Tribes, thanks to hers and Zuko's continual peace councils, were now on friendly terms with the Fire Nation. The Air Nomads, though they would take many years to be rebuilt to their former numbers a century prior, were still being preserved in the heart of the Avatar, her dear friend Aang. So why, with the world nearly at peace and things finally settling into a steady schedule, did Zuko not confront her with the question she'd been dying for so long to hear?
She loved him. Yes, very much so. And in his kisses, his glances in her direction, his touch and his smile, Katara knew in her very soul Zuko loved her just as deeply. So why, why, why couldn't their love be solidified? Maybe he was afraid they still wouldn't be able to spend enough time together? Maybe he felt it wasn't worth it? The thought cut her deep.
Trying to distract herself, Katara stared into the pond, her cerulean eyes focusing on the large pearly disk of the moon's reflection on the water. In a flash, she saw the long shadow fall over the water. In a flash, she had an instinctive ice blade in her hand and was standing, turning – old habits die hard. In a flash, his hands had her wrists, his lips had hers, and the ice melted to the grass.
Katara wrapped her arms around Zuko's neck, tangling her fingers in his long hair. The Fire Lord's arms rested around her waist, crushing her into his chest, stealing her breath in his embrace. They held each other for a long moment, lost in the long-awaited comfort of the other's arms. The full moon illuminated their figures in soft pearls and ribbons of silver, muting the shocking contrast in the colors of their robes into tranquil grays.
Eventually, Katara pulled away, her passions sobered by the thoughts plaguing her mind only minutes before. Her shimmering ocean eyes must have darkened noticeably in the dim light; Zuko immediately knew something was wrong.
"Katara, what is it?" he questioned gently even as she turned away from him. His arms enveloped her from behind and pulled her into his warmth, soothing her a bit. But the doubts she had planted inside her own mind wouldn't rest until spoken.
"I just… I hate that we're always pining for our time together." Katara felt Zuko's arms tighten around her ever so slightly, and his warm breath tickled her neck as he sighed. The waterbender leaned back into her lover's embrace, allowing him to fully enclose her in the natural room his arms made for only her.
"I feel the same," Zuko admitted sadly, tenderly resting his lips at the base of her neck. His next words were spoken into her skin, sending warm, comfortable tingles up Katara's spine. "I just don't know what to do…"
Immediately, the spell ended. Katara shoved Zuko away, startling him, and found herself having to restrain the sudden urge to slap him in the face with a splash of water.
"You don't know what to do?!" she practically shrieked. "What else is there to do?! I love you, you love me! Why can't we take it a step further? Why won't you just MARRY ME, ZUKO?!"
That last part escaped Katara's lips before she could stop it. Immediately, she clapped her hand over her mouth, wishing now that she could slap herself in the face with a little pond water instead of Zuko. The Fire Lord appeared just as mortified – if not more – at her sudden outburst. That only made Katara feel worse. If only Toph were there to bend her into the ground away from Zuko's shocked golden stare.
"I thought… I…" Katara watched Zuko's throat work as he gulped. "Can you say that again?" he finally managed numbly.
Katara lowered her hand, revealing her trembling lips. She fought to keep her voice steady. "I said… 'Why won't you marry me?'"
They both stared at each other for a long time, hurt and confusion and despair playing across both their faces. After a while, neither could make eye contact.
Finally, Zuko knelt on the grass before her, his head bowed. "Please don't hurt me, but… I just didn't want to end up like… like my father."
Katara's heart froze and melted; it did an impressive series of flips, diving to her toes, and leaping to her throat, all in the expanse of three agonizing seconds for Zuko. In the next second, Katara found herself on the grass in front of the firebender, squeezing his hands and fighting to speak through the cold tears of fury spilling down her cheeks and stealing her breath from her lungs. She noticed that tears of equal pain were misting his eyes.
"How… how could you…" No, the words refused to come. Katara's soul flooded with passionate feelings, all burning for attention. She hated him for thinking such a horrible thing about himself; she wanted to slap him; she loved him more dearly than anyone else; she wanted to tell him so; she wanted to tell him he was a hundred thousand times the man his father had been; she felt overjoyed that at least he had kept from marrying her for another reason than because he didn't share her feelings; she felt her heart be crushed under the intense sadness welling up from the depths of her being for him. But could she really express any of these emotions to him? No, the words refused to come. The only thing she managed was a hoarse,
"Why?"
Zuko refused to meet her eyes. "You said a long time ago that I was the Fire Lord's son, that spreading hate and violence was in my blood. It's a part of who I am…"
Now Katara really wanted to slap him, but she stayed her hand. He didn't need more pain right now.
"I was wrong!" she choked. "I didn't know you then, not like I do now. What I said then… it's not true! You have to know it isn't! Monkeyfeathers, Zuko, why would you even think something like that?!"
Something in Zuko's eyes changed, and a weak smile fought at his lips. He looked up, meeting her eyes for the first time. "Monkeyfeathers?"
"I HATE you!" Katara sputtered as she pushed him over and stood, infuriated. Immediately, Zuko turned serious, returning to the issue at hand. "Your father… I can't even begin to describe the evils he's done, and I know that you could do it better than me and still not be able to do it." Her eyes immediately fell to Zuko's left eye, where his scar used to be. "What have you done that would even plant that thought in your mind?!"
"I fought you at the North Pole."
"Ozai banished your mother just for protecting you!"
"I betrayed you in Ba Sing Se."
"He banished you for protecting your country's servants!"
"I used your mother's necklace to hunt for Aang!"
"His daughter, his student, would have KILLED Aang if I didn't bring him back!"
"Because I helped her!"
"You didn't know what you were doing!"
"I turned my back on my uncle!"
"So did Ozai!"
"Then I'm no better!"
Katara froze, her lips tight. "I did not say that," she said quietly, her voice tense like the muscles in her body. Zuko stood up.
"You didn't need to," he insisted, turning away. "I already know what-"
"He scarred you!!"
Zuko's step halted. Katara saw his head bow, but he didn't turn back to her.
"Zuko, if you had a son, you and I both know you would never burn him like that." Zuko shook visibly, and Katara felt her own knees go weak at the thought of Zuko, her Zuko, putting such a horrible mark on an innocent child. But she steadied her voice enough to continue, "You and I both know you would never banish me like that. What Ozai did to the world has nothing to do with you. What you've done… it's past. Please… please don't think such things ever again. You have more honor, even then, than Ozai could have ever dreamed. And now, now that you've done so much good for the world… I can't even tell you how much greater a man you are than him."
Zuko finally turned towards her, his golden eyes bright with tears. "I… what if… I'm afraid that I'll… hurt you…"
"You won't," Katara insisted, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, pulling a hopeful smile. "We'll get through it together. And we'll get mad… and argue… I'm sure, but we'll still love each other in the end." She swallowed, loving the sound of those words, and this. "Forever."
That brought a reluctant smile to Zuko's face, and once again, Katara found herself crushed into his chest, surrounded by his warmth, with his heart pumping against her ear, and his arms around her waist. She found herself wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and laying her head on his chest, her tears dried in the comfortable heat of Zuko's embrace. A strange, hard lump greeted Katara's cheek as it rested on his heart, separated by the Fire Lord's shirt.
"What is that?" she asked, boldly feeling Zuko's chest for the object tucked into his tunic. The firebender shied away, his hand instinctively grasping the item through his shirt, like clutching at an ache in his heart. Katara eyed him strangely. "Zuko, what is it?"
"It's… it's yours."
Katara moved closer, playfully curious. She reached for him, but he backed away again, making her trip. "Come on, let me see!"
Zuko returned her sly smile. "You have to close your eyes first."
The waterbender made a sour face, but complied, covering her face with her hands. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah, just hurry up! I want to see!"
She smiled when she heard Zuko's soft laughter at her impatience before inhaling sharply at his sudden warmth by her side. Gentle fingers brushed along her shoulders and gently laid themselves at the base of her neck, fingering the ribbon of her mother's necklace. A puff of breath tickled Katara's neck and stirred her hair as Zuko unhooked her necklace and lifted it away. Katara felt a smile tug at her lips, and tears wet her hands.
But before the silky ribbon of her engagement necklace could rest on her neck, Zuko paused.
"Do you really want this?"
"Do you have to ask?"
She could feel his smile, and a thrill bulleted through her when the cool silver pendant and the tiny pearl rested against her collarbone. Finally, Katara uncovered her eyes and turned to Zuko, beaming.
"You kept this in your shirt, over your heart, all this time?" she asked, her heart melting more with each word.
The nineteen year old Fire Lord blushed furiously, rubbing his neck with an adorable, sheepish grin on his face. "It… it's sort of like your element. It made me feel more alive during those long meetings… and encouraged me during speeches… just because it reminded me of you… and…" Zuko just let the sentence die, his blush all the more intense, praying he didn't sound too corny.
Katara just smiled wider and rushed for the pond, gasping a little at her reflection in the water. The silver and gold pendant, surrounding its singular pearl, glistened in the moonlight above, adding prominence to the sparkle in her own blue eyes. Unknowingly, the waterbender was leaning forward towards the rippling pond, as if she could fall into the sky through the water, soaring in her happiness. Zuko looked over her shoulder into the pool, smiling at her smile, slowly wrapping his arms around her waist so she didn't fall in. She didn't.
She fell back.
Right into him.
And then she was kissing him.
They'd shared many kisses before, but none with so much fire, so many tears, so much laughing and sighing. Zuko immediately pushed back against Katara's passion, pressing his mouth against hers in newfound freedom. He pulled gently on her bottom lip with his teeth, and she only responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing harder. Zuko took his cue and moved down the waterbender's neck, touching her collarbone, making her sigh contentedly. He tickled her ear with his warm breath. He could taste her joyous tears on her cheeks, already disappearing with every puff of his breath against her skin.
And before either of them realized how it started or where they were going, they were running. Katara laughed out loud, a beautiful melody of notes like a gentle breeze whistling through the glaciers of her homeland, as Zuko chased after her, trying desperately to catch his playful waterbender. He quickly overtook her, beaming as he lunged, but Katara sidestepped him quickly, sending him into the grass. Then she became the one tackling him. They rolled over each other, laughing aloud and smiling. Katara's hair came loose of her ribbon, as did Zuko's, making it hard for them to kiss again. They sat up, both sputtering and blushing and breathing hard, their arms wrapped around each other in an unshakable embrace. The moon just smiled at them from her perch in the sky, celebrating the betrothed youths, while two pairs of loving eyes watched from the shadows of the palace, one happy that her son had finally made the proposal, the other wondering how many great nieces and great nephews he would receive.
El gasp! What could this be?! Fluff? I'm a hopeless romantic, what can I say? ;) Hurray for fluff! I could choke on it, but I still don't care! Fluff rocks this world! Fluff, fluff, fluff!! Also, a not-so-subtle mention of Ursa and Iroh at the end because I just couldn't resist.
