Never Too Late Chapter 11: Love And Compassion, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last neither Airbender, nor am I in any way affiliated with Michael Dante DiMartino or Bryan Konietzko. This story is purely fan-made.

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"I don't believe this," Katara murmured weakly, re-reading the parchment in her hand. No matter how she read the words on the page, they always meant the same thing:

The whole gang had been tricked, and soon Azula would come to Siyu and kill them all.

"Believe it," Zuko said grimly, gently taking the parchment from her shaking hands and setting it aside onto a small wooden cabinet. His gaze lingered on her burnt wrist, before he forced his eyes elsewhere. He had lost control of his temper and did the one thing he had vowed never to do: he had harmed Katara. How she supposed to forgive him when he would never be able to forgive himself?

Worry about it later, he told himself sternly. Time to focus on the problem at hand. Tearing his wandering eyes once more away from Katara's wrist, Zuko was startled to see tears dripping silently once more down her delicate face. Every instinct Zuko had told him to stride across the room and envelop her in his arms, to comfort and reassure her, but he didn't want to frighten her anymore than he obviously had already that night. Hesitantly, he took a few steps forward to see how she would react.

"What are we going to do?" Katara asked, her voice hard, much to Zuko's surprise. When she looked up, he realized that her tears of sadness were mixed with cold fury. Her blazing eyes all but ordered him to answer her, and suddenly Zuko felt like smiling. Katara - the one he knew and had fallen in love with - was back, full force. Having been at the brunt of her anger many times, he did not envy Jia or Akio right now.

"We tell the Ava…Aang," Zuko corrected himself quickly, "and we fight them. If Azula's coming in five days, then we really don't have that much time to prepare."

"I can't believe they'd do this," Katara muttered through gritted teeth, her fists clenching and scrunching up the letter. Zuko strode across the room and gently tugged away the parchment, careful not to nudge her burns.

"We need that as evidence," He reminded her softly.

"You're right. I don't think Sokka or Aang will be trusting me anytime soon," Katara agreed with a heavy sigh.

"You did nothing wrong."

"Yeah, right."

Zuko put his hands on her shoulders lightly, gazing down into her sapphire eyes. Almost reluctantly, she looked back.

"You did nothing wrong," He repeated firmly. "You fell in love, that's all."

"I fell in love with the last person they would want me to fall in love with," Katara replied, raising her eyebrows. "In their books, that's pretty bad."

"Do you regret it?" Zuko asked quietly, taking his hands off her shoulders and placing them back at his side. It was a question he still felt the need to ask, even though he dreaded the answer. His face must have conveyed the worried thoughts going through his mind, because Katara smiled at him. Taking a small step forward so that their bodies were touching, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, her full lips meeting his only tenderly, before pulling away again. Elated as he was that Katara had kissed him, Zuko didn't let it show. Instead, he cocked his head to the side.

"I don't think that wasn't really a truthful answer. Maybe if you'd put a little enthusiasm into it, then…" He trailed off mock-suggestively.

"Don't push it," Katara advised, placing her hands in his chest and shoving him very gently away. "I still haven't forgiven you for earlier."

"I don't deserve your forgiveness," Zuko murmured, turning away in shame. "I hurt you, and I can't ever do anything to make that right."

"Forgiveness is an act of compassion and love, regardless of if you deserve it or not." Katara walked around to face Zuko again. Her azure eyes searched his imploringly, silently asking him to listen to her case. "Yes, you hurt me. But I hurt you more, and I don't just mean tonight. I didn't realize what keeping you and me a secret was doing to you, what it was making you think and feel. That didn't give you the right to announce it at the dinner table," she added sternly, "but I can sort of understand why you did it."

"In my defence, Jia told me that it would be a good idea," Zuko said sheepishly. Katara paused, a cloud passing momentarily over her face.

"And she kept trying to convince me why it'd be such a disaster if you told everyone." Katara's face contorted in rage. "That bitch."

Zuko lifted his hand and gently caressed her face, smiling softly as he did. Katara leant into his warm touch lovingly, before sighing.

"I guess they really went to town on trying to break us up," she whispered. Zuko took a step forward and embraced her tightly, resting his chin on the crown of her head.

"They were close, but we're stronger than that. I promise I'll never hurt you again." He vowed, never more determined to stick to his word.

"I believe you," Katara replied, breathing in his soothing scent that made her head spin pleasantly.

Zuko let her go gently, moving back and shaking his head.

"Don't believe me until you've seen it, so that you know for sure," he told her. "I know that my actions were unforgivable tonight, and I don't expect things to be ideal between us for awhile, but I'm determined to make you see only the good side of me."

"Just because I won't see the bad side, doesn't mean it won't still be there," Katara told him sadly. "I'm not asking you to be perfect, just don't lose control like that again. You really scared me."

"I know," Zuko replied heavily. "I'm not so arrogant to think that you'll trust me readily after this…not again."

"It might take some time," Katara agreed, "but it will happen. I love you."

"I love you too." The words sounded so right that he could repeat them for eternity and still the depths of his feelings would not be realized. He cared for Katara more than he had ever cared for anyone. She was the center of his universe, his reason for living…and two twins had tried to take that away from him. Fury bubbled intensely inside him, so much so that smoke began to rise from his tightened fists.

"Zuko?" Katara asked, startled. She took a few steps back from him, her eyes alight with fear.

"Akio is as good as dead," Zuko promised. "I'll kill him myself…that son of a bitch."

"I know how you feel, I really do, but don't you think killing him is a bit extreme?" Katara asked, cautiously edging back nearer to Zuko.

"No." Zuko replied shortly. "He deserves to die for what he's done. So does Jia for that matter, but I wouldn't kill a woman. I could maim her," he added thoughtfully. At Katara's stricken expression, he unfurled his fists and held his hands up defensively. "Kidding. Sorry."

Katara nodded, the horror slowly leaving her eyes. "We should tell the others before we decide on a plan of action."

As if on cue, the door downstairs slammed open fiercely.

"Katara?" Sokka shouted loudly. "You here?"

Katara glanced at Zuko. "Time to face the music," she whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it briefly before walking out the ruined door.

"Yes, upstairs!" She shouted back, before taking a deep breath to compose herself and walking down the stairs. Her legs were shaking, no doubt from the nervousness and trepidation of the screaming lecture she would inevitably receive from her brother and Aang. Her footsteps seemed to echo loudly every time they touched the wooden stairs, making her arrival very public. When she reached the last step, she looked around nervously, too afraid to move onto the floor. Everyone was in the room, including Hin and Kuei, who both looked incredibly puzzled. Toph, Iroh and Jia all wore sympathetic expressions, while Akio leant against the door frame, smirking at her. It took all Katara's strength not to attack the twins right there and then. Instead, she watched Aang and Sokka who stood the furthest into the room, each wearing identical scowls as they averted their eyes from her. Her heart sank sadly as the realization that they were definitely angry with her hit her.

"Just making sure you were alive," Toph said, breaking the awkward silence with a comment. "Which you are. So…good."

"Is my nephew not back yet?" Iroh asked, his old eyes kind as they met Katara's.

"He's upstairs," Katara replied quietly, only too aware what reaction her words would get. She wasn't disappointed. Sokka made a noise of deep revulsion in the back of his throat, while Aang's eyes narrowed further more. Katara made a conscious effort to hide her burnt wrists; this would not do Zuko any favors.

More moments of unbearable silence followed, in which no one dared to breathe for fear of drawing attention to themselves. Finally, Sokka made a move forward.

"I'm going to bed," he said darkly, disgust etched all over his face and evident in his voice. Nobody protested this and he continued walking forward, his footsteps the only sound in the room. As he reached the steps, he passed Katara without a word. Unable to leave alone, Katara reached out her hand and placed it on Sokka's shoulder. He jerked away violently, turning to stare at her, his eyes filled with anger, repulsion and a trace of hurt.

"Sokka…" Katara whispered. Her brother shook his head at her slowly, his face mirroring his frightening eyes, and he carried on his way up the stairs. A few moments later they heard his bedroom door slam, a sound which made Katara flinch. After a moment, she turned to Aang, who hadn't moved.

"Aang…" she pleaded, her brow creased in sadness.

"No, Katara," Aang replied to a question she hadn't needed to ask, his bitter voice filled with something that sounded like regret. Katara bit the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from crying once more as Aang followed in Sokka's footsteps and left the room. He was not as dramatic as Sokka, but the door still shut a little more forcefully than it would've normally.

Again, silence descended on what was left of the group like a black cloud. Katara struggled keeping her tears locked away, and soon she was sure she would draw blood if she carried on biting her cheeks any harder.

"I guess that could've gone worse…" Toph said hesitantly. "At least everyone knows now."

"She's right," Iroh said encouragingly to Katara. "Your brother and the Avatar just need some time to adjust to the idea. They love you and want the best for you, so they will come around soon, I'm sure of it."

Katara nodded wordlessly, not trusting herself to meet anyone's eyes in case they saw the raw emotion her own sapphire eyes were desperately trying to conceal.

"I think I'll go upstairs now," Katara said carefully, slowly turning on the spot and beginning to climb the stairs. As she reached the halfway point on the dark stairway, she heard the murmuring voices below her start talking.

"Would someone mind telling me what's going on?" The Earth King asked, his voice only just distinguishable above all the others. Katara did not bother to strain her weary ears to hear her companions' version of events. They would probably only get it wrong anyway, especially if Jia or Akio were relating the tale. Katara forced one foot in front of the other as she climbed, to numb to feel much besides sorrow. The two people (not including Zuko) who she was closest to in the whole world had effectively abandoned her. Their eyes and expressions had betrayed them the moment they found out about her and Zuko, and that image would never leave Katara's mind. She often found herself wishing for a simpler life where she was free to love and be loved by anyone, regardless of their Nation and family history. But such a place didn't exist in this world anymore. Ever since the war had intensified, there was no trusting other Nations. Distantly wondering if this would ever changed, Katara felt a mild relief when she reached the top of the stairs. Glancing momentarily at the ruins and shattered wood that had once been Jia's door, Katara trudged to her room, wondering as she did where Zuko was.

It was pitch black in the bedroom after the dim light of the corridor vanished as she shut the door, but Katara knew roughly where her bed was. She bumped into random objects occasionally, but it didn't bother her. A sudden wave of sleepiness had washed over her, but, irritatingly, she knew that sleep would elude her. When she finally found her bed, Katara slumped down on it, at first sitting and then lying down. She turned on her side, away from the wall nearest the door, and stared bleakly into the darkness. The tears that she had forced back earlier were returning with a vengeance, escaping from her eyes quicker than she could wipe them away. As moisture trickled down her cheeks, she brought her knees halfway to her chest in the foetal position. As the tears came faster and thicker, a sob escaped her throat. She buried her head further into the bedspread to stop this happening again, but it was too late. A few moments later the bedroom door opened, spilling outside light into the dark room. Assuming this was just Toph going to bed, Katara didn't say anything, but made more of an effort to stop crying…or at least be quieter. There was a slight snap as the door shut, thrusting the room into blackness once more. However, there was still a flicker of light coming from somewhere. Guessing that Toph had brought a candle in, Katara still did not move. Only when light footsteps stopped next to her bed and the small light went out did Katara know that it wasn't Toph.

Zuko's gentle arms scooped her up from the bed and cradled her like a child. Sitting down on the bed, he leant himself against the headboard, before carefully setting Katara down next to him, placing his arms around her quivering shoulders and drawing her close to him wordlessly. As Katara continued to cry into his chest, Zuko kissed her head softly and rested his head on top of hers, willing to wait all night with Katara if it made her feel comforted.

"I love you," he whispered into her head.

A/N:

Little bit of fluff for you there (: I know this chapter's only short, but it meant I could update sooner. The next chapter will be longer, promise :D

Thanks for all your amazing reviews, my reviewers are the best and if I could buy you all diamonds then I would :D

I'll leave you with my favourite Azula quote:

"My own mother thought I was a monster…she was right of course, but it still hurt."

Have a good week everyone!

- Momo