AN: Part 3/3
Prompt: Day 10-Oma and Shu
Part 1 is Chapter 3-mark my soul
Part 2 is Chapter 9-see my scars
I own nothing you recognize from your tv screens.
I would say enjoy, but...yeah. on with the story!
Whether they know it or not, their love story begins when they are six. On both the leeward and windward side of a tall mountain crawls a child, unsteady in their pace but certain in their destination. Brightly colored orange and yellow honeysuckles at the peak have caught their eyes, and while they do not understand the pull they feel, they do not resist it either.
When Oma finally reaches the top, Shu is already there, plucking at the grass and waiting patiently, although he doesn't know for what. Their eyes meet and they tilt their heads curiously. Shu has never seen someone clothed in red, and Oma thinks his robe matches the color of the sky behind him.
She tries to move a little closer and stumbles over a large rock. Shu holds out his palms instinctively and Oma falls against them, causing both children to topple over.
"Are you okay?" the young boy whispers. She nods and bursts into giggles. He follows suit and before long, the two children are rolling in the grass gleefully, yellow petals entangling themselves into their hair.
Shu rips a saffron honeysuckle from the ground and shyly offers it to Oma. As soon as her tiny fingers curl around the stem, her father appears, his roaring face looming over the two children. Oma is tossed over her father's shoulder carelessly and as she is carried away, she stares at her new friend forlornly. The flower is gripped so tightly the petals and seeds detach, and when she reaches home, she's holding naught but a leaf.
They meet again, but not for another twelve years.
This time, Oma is trekking up the mountain with intent. She's here to find the plants that will soothe the inflammatory disease that has snaked its way through her village and threatens her own mother's life.
A trail of honeysuckles that were not here last time are crushed underfoot.
The moment she reaches the peak, she has to hold back a shout. Just a few feet away stands a man, head buried in the weeds, hands rummaging through the dirt. The blue dress gives him away - he's the enemy. She tries to back away but falls into a thistle bush, catching the man's attention. He whips around, gripping a branch as if to use it as one of those spears his people love to skewer her people with.
"What do you want?"
"I am not here with malicious intent. I just need to find herbs."
He lowers his branch ever so slightly. "You ought not to be here."
She gets to her feet and dusts her hands off on her red robe. "I can be wherever I please. This is neutral ground. Your foul people have no jurisdiction here."
He doesn't respond directly to this, instead saying, "I recognize you."
"I have never met you in my life," she spits.
"Yes, you have. Right here," and he gestures to the earth beneath his feet. "Many years ago. I- I gave you a flower."
She glares at the ground, and when her eyes catch on the honeysuckle, the memories flood her mind. For some reason, she blushes violently. She glances up, observing the facial similarities between the toddler from her memories and the man in front of her. Seeing recognition on her face, he steps closer and she backs away in tandem. "We are not friends. Stay on your side of the mountain and I shall stay on mine."
Shu's jaw clenches, but he nods in understanding and steps away. He returns to collecting flowers and weeds when a thought occurs to him. He looks across the field at the girl and hesitates for only a moment.
"Are you searching for herbs to cure inflammation by any chance?" He sees her eyes flash before she nods sharply and returns to what he now knows is a pointless endeavor. "You will not..." He pauses. Should he help the enemy? He thinks of his mother whose life was snatched away so cruelly by one of the men dressed in red, and thinks she would want him to. "You will not find it over there."
She stands up, fists clenched. "And why should I believe you? For all I know, your people caused the disease!"
He takes the false accusation in stride. "I can help you."
She swipes her hand in his direction, and to Shu's shock, a few pebbles fly at him. "Why don't you just leave me alone!"
He doesn't know why either, but every piece of his soul is telling him to not leave this girl. He won't back away until he has helped her. He snaps his branch in half and tosses her one portion.
"You need to use that, ground it into paste. It is pine bark and it will help heal the inflammation. On your way down, be sure to take the honeysuckles as they will also help. I swear on my soul, I am not lying. I am taking the same combination to my home to help my people."
Oma holds the branch gingerly, searching the man's face for a sign of deception. Not finding one, she marches to him and takes his hand in her own.
"Oma and her people thank you," she says formally.
"Of course." He bows so his forehead brushes against their joined hands. "My own name is Shu."
Neither of them can explain why, but they are reluctant to end their contact, to break this tentative peace. When Oma finally backs away, the feel of her fingertips against Shu's lingers on both of their palms.
They meet yet again. For the first time, Shu is the second one to reach the mountaintop, and the sight that meets his eyes sends him into an inexplicable rage.
Oma is kneeling on the grass, her hair loose and curtaining her face. Her mouth is covered by her hands, but the heart-rending sobs are heard clearly. He wants nothing more than to cradle her head, put an end to her cries, and demolish whatever has brought her such pain, but he is terrified of crossing over unseen and unspoken boundaries, and so he leans against a wooden platform, patiently waiting for her to look up.
When she finally does, anger carves its way into her features. "It was all in vain! She is gone from this world and it is your fault! You led me astray!" She races at him and he catches her wrists, blowing air onto her swollen eyes gently before clutching her to his chest.
"I did not lie to you, Oma. I swore on my soul. I am sorry that you have lost someone. You are not alone in that." She wipes her eyes dry on his robe and looks up at him with pained curiosity. "I lost my mother to the war."
Oma inhales sharply, pulling away marginally to see him better. "I am sorry. I, too, lost my mother. To the disease."
Shu nods at her with compassion and silently navigates her head to rest next to his heart. Her arms rise to wrap around him and they stand on that peak until the sun sets, relishing in the lack of war and comfort of each other.
And they meet again. And again. And again.
They even learn to manipulate an element - the earth beneath their feet - so that they may meet in secretive security. They create a labyrinth that serves none besides them and on every wall is a carved testament to their love. In the chamber where they meet, Shu has crafted a towering replica of the two of them in love. He thinks he lives now only for the blushing smile on Oma's face every time she sees it. He lives now only for her. And she for him.
So when one night, he doesn't meet her in the cave, Oma knows without a shadow of a doubt that something is wrong. She races out of the mountain, heading for her village to grab a lantern and knife so that she can go into Shu's village safely when she trips on a log.
No, not a log. A body. Squeezing her eyes tight, she drags it into the moonlight so she may see it better and when she opens her eyes, a sob originates in the most ancient part of her soul and pours from her lips.
"Shu?" She kneels next to the body and spots the rock dagger lodged in the center of his throat. The rock dagger that is so familiar to her; it has been carved by one of her own people after all. Clapping one hand over her mouth, she bends the rock out of his neck gently but quickly. Oma jolts forward when his eyes open.
"Shu! What happened?" He gives a weak smile before reaching up to grab one of her hands. He tries to speak but it comes out garbled and she leans closer to hear him better.
"Do not…mad...I want...sad...I love…" There is blood dripping out the corner of his mouth and onto his normally pristine blue robe. She wipes it away frantically as his breathing grows more labored. It's all she can hear.
"Do not worry about speaking, my love. Please. I will-" She is cut off by the sound of her sister searching for her.
"Oma! Oma!"
Oma grows frantic and slides her arms under Shu's body, about to tell him that she'll save him, just hold on for a few more minutes, please, when he lifts a finger to her lips. His breaths are harsher and further spaced apart than they were just thirty seconds ago, but he speaks with clarity.
"No words. The last thing I hear should be...your name."
"Where are you? Oma! Oma!"
Shu's head lolls against the earth. Oma lets out a piercing shriek as the dark, thundering clouds above begin their torrent.
Oma is standing, once more, at the top of their mountain. This time, she carries Shu in her arms as the water from her eyes and the skies wash away the blood on his skin.
This time, on either side of the mountain stand the people of both her village and his, led here by an earthquake brought about by intense pain. They gape at her.
"This war is over! No longer will we fight, and maim, and kill over petty disputes and foolish misunderstandings! I will not stand for it!"
From the side of the mountain she is familiar with, she hears her father's scoff. "Silly child, never understanding the ways of the world. All this for a man? For the enemy?" Not wanting to hear anymore, she flicks her index finger imperceptibly, sending her father flying off the side of the mountain.
In front of the audience, she earthbends a grave and gently lays her lover's corpse in it. She fills it with dirt and raises a slab of rock to be the tombstone.
She gets on her knees and says a prayer for the departed soul before standing and lifting her arms. Around her, the ground starts to shake and pillars of earth rise. Right then and there, she creates a new city.
"Here, we all will reside in harmony. This will be the start of a new era - one of peace, rather than misery and hatred! Go forth and live with love in your hearts!"
A tentative clapping noise comes from the people of Shu's village, and then one from hers, and soon enough, she is surrounded by cheering. With a twist of her wrist, the people are sent away from her and to the new city. She has no patience for cheering or celebration today.
She sinks into the wet earth next to Shu's tomb and lowers her head.
Oma dies a few days later with her hand over the left side of her chest, a piece of bright blue fabric shamelessly displayed on her wrist. The legends say she died of heartbreak.
In the Western Air Temple, there is a garden. It is surprisingly well-kept considering the lack of inhabitants, but it is placed just so, in a spot where both sunlight, the wind, and rainwater may reach it regularly.
Many flowers grow there, but the only ones that catch Katara's attention are the honeysuckles. She stands, her arms crossed, glaring at this strange yellow flower she feels familiar with, despite having never seen it in her life, for some reason she cannot explain.
After a few moments, she looks up and her gaze locks onto Zuko's. Her eyes narrow as she worries about how she had not noticed him standing there. How could she have let her guard down? The banished prince bites his lip.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. I was just looking at those flowers," he says, waving his hand at the honeysuckles she was looking at.
"Why?" His face wrinkles. She knows that's a stupid question, he can look at whatever flowers he likes, but it irks her that they were attracted to the same one.
"I'm...not sure, actually. They seemed to call out to me or something." Now her features scrunch up.
"The flowers call out to you?" she says with skepticism, but it's forced, because she knows exactly what he means. Unbidden, her mother's stories of soulmates make their way to the forefront of her mind.
"Yeah, I- I can't really explain it, but it's like I've been waiting to hold one my whole life." He twists a stem until it snaps and lifts the flower to be level with his eyes. "Which is weird, because I'm pretty sure Uncle said these were native to the Earth Kingdom." He makes eye contact with her again and shrugs sheepishly before holding the flower out to her. She blinks at his outstretched arm rapidly before sneering. She smacks the honeysuckle out of his hand and stalks away.
(Later that night, she'll sneak back to the garden and pick the flower up, breathe in the sweet scent and take it back to her room to tuck it into her knapsack.)
When Azula's fingers shift to the left just enough to end Katara's life, Zuko sees it all play out in his head as though it's already happened. As though he's already seen a body clothed in blue, lifeless. As though he's already been deafened by the soft sound of difficult breaths and then absolute silence. As though he's lost Katara before. And it will not happen again, it will not, so he runs and leaps.
For the longest seconds of her life, when Zuko is suspended above ground as the air around him crackles, there is an ancient thing roaring in Katara's mind. It screams at her, paralyzing her, telling her that they've been here before and she cannot let this happen. Do something, the voice shouts. It should be you, it shouts. They must live, it shouts. All of that spills out of her when she shouts his name.
She runs toward Zuko, and when Azula gets in the way, Katara takes care of her with a speed she didn't know she could move at.
When she kneels beside Zuko, something tells her that the roles have reversed, but she doesn't know what that means, and she truly cannot bring herself to care, so she coats her hands in water and gives all her energy away, puts it all into her hands, into him.
Let him live, she chants, again and again. Let him live.
His eyes crack open as her tears fall onto his torso.
He says something stupid and she says something stupid back, because really, what words can they exchange after this that will mean anything at all?
She moves her hand upward to help him stand and it brushes over the skin that lies above his heart. Zuko's pale face disappears from view and suddenly, she is having a vision, akin to the ones she has when she presses down on her scar. Except it's different in a major way, because she doesn't hear anyone calling out for their mother, nor does she see a flash of red. Instead, she sees a strip of blue cloth, the same shade of blue that Azula had colored the world around her just a few minutes ago, and hears harsh, loud breathing. Her hand moves again and Zuko's face comes back into focus. She exhales, dismissing the moment as a hallucination caused by all the stress. That is…the only explanation that makes sense.
When Zuko turns away from his sister, Katara's hands on either side of him, holding him up, he thinks of his soulmate. Of course, there are a hundred other topics that he should be thinking of, but he can't help it.
He's not thinking of his soulmate as he has for the past sixteen years. Instead, he is choosing to let them go. He knows that is not solely his decision to make, but he must.
He will have three scars now. Two of them are irrevocably linked to Katara, and as much as he wishes the third one was as well, he knows the chances of that are slim to none.
What if he never finds his mysterious soulmate? What if they don't want to meet him? He doesn't want to live the rest of his life clinging to uncertainties and miracles like a six-year-old boy.
And at the core of the matter lies the fact that he cares not for a random person the spirits have picked for him when Katara is right there.
"Katara, when did this happen?" Zuko's voice is overflowing with concern and she meets his eyes in the mirror to see that he's looking at her neck.
"Oh. That."
Five years have passed since the war and Katara and Zuko have found themselves irreversibly entangled with one another, in more ways than one.
But there is still one way in which they are connected that they have not yet realized. Neither of them wanted to bring up their marks, because the fear that the person they love may not be the person the universe had planned for them is just one more that keeps them up at night.
Except now Katara might have to come clean about it. The ribbon of her necklace is being mended and so for the first time in a long while, her scar is on display for the world to see. No one has noticed though, except for Zuko. Because he notices everything about her.
She turns around to face him and looks into his eyes, begging him to understand before she's even said anything, hoping he'll know that she could care less about what the spirits want, she wants him. She loves him.
"I...I was born with it," and before she can continue, he nods and lowers his head. She swallows in nervous anticipation for what will come next. He has made it a point to kiss every one of her scars he has ever seen, and so it stands to reason that he would do the same for this mark.
As soon as his lips press down on her neck, she is shocked into a vision. It's similar to the ones she's had every time she presses the mark of the soul, but the quality has increased. This time, instead of just a swath of red fabric, she sees the entire dress, as well as the woman who wears it. The shouts she had assumed were someone calling out for their mother are clearer and it is apparent that they are actually screaming for someone named, "Oma." The pressure on her neck is removed and she gasps for air as Zuko looks at her with wide eyes.
"Did you…"
Now her eyes widen. He saw it too?
Without even a conscious thought, her trembling hand rises to push aside the collar of his robe. Her eyes are drawn to the mark she has never noticed before - why? Why hadn't she looked for it on him, of all people?
She moves so that there is not even a sliver of space between their bodies and touches the jagged mark on his chest. Half a second later, she can feel his warm finger touching her scar delicately. And then her vision goes pitch black.
He sees it all, hears it all, feels it all - for the second time. The frolicking six-year-olds, the hurt teenagers on opposite sides of the war, the hand that Shu extends to Oma, the pain of losing a mother, the budding romance, the moment his beloved dies, the moment he dies of heartbreak. As soon as he sees his previous incarnation cross her arm over her chest and breathe her last, he is brought back to the present.
Out of shock, he takes an involuntary step away from Katara, his lips wobbling. He can't decipher the look on her face as her hands come up to cover her mouth and he can't form the words that will let him ask her what she's thinking.
So she's the first one to break the silence.
"You?"
That's not even a full sentence. But he knows what she means. She's been right there, all along. Lu Ten was right - he shouldn't have worried about missing his soulmate. The universe had already done its part.
He pulls her into his arms and buries his head in her hair. Oma breathes in Shu; Zuko breathes in Katara.
"Us."
AN: honeysuckles = bonds of love
if you tell me all the symbolism/parallels you noticed, I will literally love you forever
anyway, if there are grammatical errors, I'll fix them tomorrow morning when I'm not feeling so emotional
as always, all my love to the readers/commenters/favoriters/followers 3