You'll find out why Zuko's so OoC about chapter four, methinks, at least a little bit of why he is. Most of the explanation for things that happen in this fic will be told in it's sequel, Endless Winter, so just hang with me, alright?
Also, fluff will end in the next chapter, just to warn you again. This story will turn angsty. Don't be surprised anymore.
And I know they don't have watches or any convenient method to tell time in Avatar—LEAVE ME TO MY DREAMWORLD!11 /sarcasm
Jak
Chapter Two: A Perfect Broken HeartThe hardest thing for Katara was explaining the presence of the jacket.
"It's just a jacket." She muttered to her brother. "Why are you getting so uptight about it?"
Sokka rolled his eyes at her, as if to tell her she should already know the answer to that. "Because it isn't your jacket, Katara."
Aang circled around her, admiring the black jacket on her body. "It looks Fire Nation."
Sokka almost died.
"I'm serious." Aang noted, lifting the sleeve (which was much too long on her) on the jacket. "The embroidery, the style—even the fabric looks Fire Nation."
"You were in an iceberg for a hundred years! How do you know what Fire Nation fashions are?" She argued, feeling the heat rise to her face despite her attempts to stop it. "For all you know, this is an Earthbender jacket!"
Aang looked at her, bemused. "The styles don't change much." He commented lightly. "Earthbender's aren't known for their dark colors, and very few of them wear a jacket this light. You know as well as I do that it isn't Water Tribe, and if someone managed to get a hold of an Airbender jacket I would be thoroughly impressed."
Aang noticed her fallen look, and changed his argument almost immediately.
"But I suppose it could be Earth Kingdom. The cut of the jacket looks very earthy." He lied, and Katara was very grateful.
"So whose jacket is it?" Sokka glared. "And don't tell me you stole it. I'm not sure I could handle knowing my sister was a professional thief."
"I didn't steal it." Katara whispered, looking down at her feet nervously. "I got it from a boy."
Aang's heart fell; Sokka continued glaring.
"I should hope you got it from a boy!" Sokka yelled, his temper rising. "Which boy?"
The Prince of the Fire Nation. "Just some boy I met in the woods."
Sokka rubbed his temples tiredly. "So you met a boy." She nodded. "In the woods." Again, she nodded. "Who wears a Fire Nation jacket." She opened her mouth to argue, but Sokka gave her no time to do so. "And you were planning on telling us this—when?"
She winced. "This afternoon."
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "And I'm supposed to believe this, why?"
Katara looked up, a glint of defiance in her eyes. "Because I'm going to see him again this evening."
"Like hell you are!" Sokka yelled, his blue eyes glaring. "There is no way I'm letting my baby sister go off and meet with some strange boy who I don't even know to do Spirits knows what—"
Katara was so angry she slapped him.
Aang stepped back, blinking. It was a rare thing to see Katara so angry, but it seemed as though Sokka had finally pushed her over the edge.
"For one thing, I'm not a child." She growled to her brother, who was rubbing his cheek carefully. "I'm fifteen years old, and I am a Master Waterbender. I can take care of myself better than you can!" She rumbled. A pot of water near their campfire began bubbling at an enormous rate.
"Second, he's not just some strange boy! He saw I was lost and cold and offered to help me!" She made up a lie easily, hoping to paint a more heroic picture of Zuko, if only in her mind's eye. "He asked if I would like to join him for dinner tomorrow and I said yes! I'm going to have dinner with him, Sokka, not sleep with him!"
Sokka sighed and stood up, grabbing his sister's shoulders and pulling her tightly into a reluctant hug. "I know," he whispered, his own anger dying as quickly as Katara's had risen. "I know you aren't a child, I know that you can take care of yourself, I just—" He stopped, sighing heavily before letting her go. "Dad made me promise him one thing before he left, and that was for me to take care of you. I can't fail at that."
"You won't." She whispered against her brother, and Aang noticed the bubbling water had cooled and returned to its calm state. "I just want you to trust me, just this once—Can't you?"
Sokka frowned. "Can I meet him? The boy you're going to see—can I meet him?"
"No," she spoke softly. "I don't want you to." I don't want you to be disappointed in me.
"Why not?" Sokka asked tentatively, the verbal battle the siblings just had still fresh on his mind, for fear of another fight. "If he's this great guy, why can't I meet him?"
"Because I want to prove to you that I can handle myself okay." She said, a small piece of strength finding it's way into her voice. "I want you to trust my judgment."
Sokka scowled. "I'll get invited to the wedding, though, won't I?"
She laughed. "There won't be a wedding."
"No nieces or nephews yet, either, right?" He asked, sounding genuinely worried.
"No nieces or nephews." She smiled, kissing her brother on the cheek.
"So you're going to let me go off by myself, meet a boy I barely even know and have dinner with him?" She asked jokingly. "Father would be so disappointed in you." She clicked her tongue teasingly.
Sokka sulked. "That's what I'm afraid of."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, stop being such a worrywart!" She began digging through her things, looking for a hairbrush as she began to undo her braid. "Anyway, I want you to promise me one thing, Sokka."
"Okay." He said as Katara combed her hair.
"Promise you won't follow me, alright? I know how you get sometimes, and well, just don't, okay?"
Sokka began swearing.
XXX
Her hair was down from its braid, polished and curled with a touch of femininity that Katara had not shown in a long time. She had on her best tunic and had spent at least the better half of an hour trying to find the right shoes. (Which made no sense to Aang—she only had three pairs with her!)
Aang whistled at her. "Looking good, Katara!"
She blushed; Sokka scowled. "Thanks, Aang." She looked up towards the sky with sudden realization. "I said I'd meet him at sunset! I'll be late. I guess I better go!" She said, excited. "I went ahead and made you guys some supper, Aang, your bowl doesn't have any meat in it and is by fire. Eat it before it gets too cold. Sokka, don't eat the whole pot; I want to see how long it will last us. I'll be back around eleven tonight, so—"
"More like eight-thirty." Sokka commented. Katara didn't miss a beat.
"Ten-thirty, then, I guess, so—"
"If it's nine o'clock and you aren't here I'm sending a search party after you." Sokka said, as seriously as he could.
Katara glared at him. "Nine-thirty. Deal?"
Sokka contemplated her offer. "You better be here at nine-thirty or you are in trouble, got that?"
She rolled her eyes. "I get it, Sokka. Nine-thirty."
"I'm staying up and waiting for you, too. That boy better have the decency to walk you home."
She continued glaring. "I don't need anyone to walk me home!"
Aang could feel their fight coming a mile away. He jumped up instantly and stood in between the two siblings, his hands blocking them from each other.
"Hey now, let's not fight anymore, alright? You two give me a headache!" Aang argued, and the two siblings settled down only slightly. "Sokka, Katara is right, she doesn't need anyone to walk her home, she can handle that herself. Katara, Sokka is right, we would like to meet this guy," and his heart broke just a little here. "and it would be nice of him to walk you home, alright?"
Katara said nothing, only folded her arms and growled. She turned away from Sokka and Aang, walking into the forest coldly. "I'll be back at nine-thirty." She spoke callously, not even bothering to say goodbye.
Aang winced. "Maybe we were too hard on her." He said after Katara had disappeared into the forest.
"Nah, she'll get over it." He checked and made sure Katara was gone before he continued to talk. "Anyway, Aang, I have a favor to ask you." There was an unholy glint in Sokka's eyes that promised unusual amounts of pain for somebody, though who that person was, Aang did not want to know.
"I want you to follow Katara." Sokka spoke calmly, though with a fierceness that threatened bodily harm to Aang should he disagree. "She won't bring him back with her, she's too stubborn to do something like that. I don't care, though. I want to know what kind of guy it is she's dating." He spat the last word out as though it was poison.
Aang raised an eyebrow. "Didn't she ask us specifically not to follow her?"
Sokka rolled his eyes. "No, she asked me not to follow her. She said nothing about you!" The blue-eyed warrior got up and stood next to Aang, putting one arm around him like a brother. "This way we can keep her safe, you know? Besides," he began slowly, the real reason he wanted Aang to do this leaking out. "Aren't you curious?"
Curious, Aang agreed in his mind, and partly terrified.
"So you'll do this for me, then?" There was that unearthly glint in his eyes again, Aang noticed as he nodded. The warrior smiled. "Oh, thank you Aang! I swear, I'll help you do whatever you want me to, man!" He crushed Aang into a giant bear hug that lifted the small monk off of the ground. "Now hurry up and follow her! Make sure you aren't seen, though!"
It was like walking into the mouth of a hungry lion.
XXX
Following Katara was easy; the young waterbender had made no attempt to hide the path she was walking along. Years of being an airbender had taught Aang how to walk without being heard, which made spying on her even easier.
It did nothing, however, to help his guilt.
Katara sat down quietly on a log near the river, staring quietly and contently up at the sky. She did not look lonely or even frightened; she seemed determined, if anything, to meet this guy. If she was suppose to meet him at sunset, then whoever he was should hurry; it would be dark soon, and if he got there too late then…
"Sorry I'm late." An all-to-familiar voice echoed through the small hollow in the woods, a voice so achingly familiar that it caused Aang to jump and his heart to pace. There, in a small clearing, stood Prince Zuko.
A part of him held out his staff, ready to do battle ("Touch her and I'll kill you.") but he stopped himself. If he jumped out and began fighting, Katara would realize he had been and was spying on her. He remembered all too clearly the fight she had just had with Sokka, about wanting a chance to prove she was capable of handling herself. If Aang interfered with her battle, she would get just as angry at him as she had been with Sokka. Aang didn't want that, he never wanted that.
However, he was not sure how he could live with himself if he stood by and watched Katara get hurt…but if she needed him, he would be ready. He steadied himself in the bushes, staff ready, and eyes keenly aware of everything around him as he waited for Katara to make the first move.
She didn't fight Zuko. Instead, she smiled up at the scarred Prince. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up."
Realization hit Aang like a ton of bricks.
Katara was not meeting with just anybody.
She was meeting with Prince Zuko.
Flabbergasted, it was all Aang could do to stay still in the bushes. She was meeting with Zuko? Why? What on earth had inspired her to see Zuko, and to lie to them, her friends, about it? What could possibly be more important than her friends?
Zuko smiled at her in return; it was the first time in Aang's memory that he could remember the firebender ever smiling. "I know, I'm sorry. Azula…doesn't like it when things don't go her way." Azula? Who's Azula? "I hope you weren't waiting for me for too long."
She grinned. "I just got here myself, actually. Sokka had a panic attack when he saw your jacket." She took the dark colored jacket off of her body and handed it to him shyly. "I meant to give it back to you yesterday, but I sort of forgot." She said sheepishly, handing the jacket over to its rightful owner.
He laughed at her. It was a genuine laugh, not cold or hard or evil, like Aang had always thought it would be. "Keep it. If you've already gone through so much trouble, I'd hate to take it back." He brushed the jacket away, and Katara blushed as she put the jacket back on. "Are you ready to go?"
She nodded.
Aang followed, but for more reasons than before. One, he wanted to make sure Katara was safe. Two, he wanted to see exactly why Katara was meeting with Zuko, and while it broke his heart to think this way, he wanted to make sure she wasn't jeopardizing the mission. (Don't be stupid, Katara would never betray you.) And reason number three…well hell, wouldn't you be curious too?
Curiosity killed the cat, Aang. He could hear Monk Gyatso say in his mind. Aang couldn't help but smile.
But satisfaction brought him back.
XXX
"Raw fish?" the Prince asked suspiciously, as he eyed the meal Katara was eating.
"Sushi." She said, laughing quietly. She picked up a piece of it with her chopsticks and held it up to the Prince's mouth. "Go on, try it. I promise it's good."
Zuko brushed her off. "No thanks. I prefer my food cooked, if you don't mind."
She rolled her eyes at him. "It won't hurt you. Try just a little bite."
"What part of 'no raw fish' do you not get?" He asked, sounding rather exasperated with her.
"—For me?" She asked, batting her large, crystal-clear blue eyes in just the right way that it caused the firebender to blush.
But he didn't back down. He still had a spine, dammit, and no waterbender, no matter how pretty she was, no matter how many times she batted those perfect blue eyes, and no matter how contagious that sweet little laugh of hers was going to get him to do something he didn't want to.
He lifted his hand, and lit the smallest of fires on the edge of his index finger. "Can I cook it first?"
She laughed at him again; it's a gentle laugh, one that's calm, cool, and serene. It's different from the laughs he remembered from his childhood. Those laughs are harsh and cold, filled with malice and hate. The only other comparison the Prince could think of was Uncle's warm, hearty laugh, (but he didn't want to think about that).
"It's suppose to be eaten raw, Zuko." She smiled. "That's what makes it taste good."
He smiled back at her. Perhaps, another day, he would he would eat the fish—the sushi—for her.
XXX
It wasn't romance.
At least, it wasn't yet.
In Aang's mind, at least, but that's what was keeping him sane rather than having to deal with a broken heart.
The closest thing to romance either of the pair had with one another was a brief, chaste kiss on the cheek as a way to say thank you. What happened between the two was not love, nor passion, nor desire, but curiosity. This was a chance to get to know someone (an enemy) better, to have another person to talk to, to laugh with.
It wasn't romance, Aang mused as he watched from afar. But with time, it could be.
As of right now, however, it was making the air monk sick to his stomach.
The envy (monks were not suppose to be jealous) he was feeling was eating him alive, destroying every fiber of his being that so many years of training had taught him to shy away and hide. The fact that Katara, his love, his crush, was sitting there, flirting (he had no other word for it) with his worst enemy hurt him, and yet, he could find nothing to condemn Katara for, when it came down to it. Nobody ever said she couldn't date the Fire Prince; it just seemed so unlikely to happen that no one had ever bothered.
What hurt the most was the fact that they weren't doing anything wrong.
They weren't kissing, they weren't holding hands, they weren't discussing future plans and no one was threatening to injure anyone. His name wasn't even mentioned once the whole time. The way they were acting was completely normal, actually. Seeing the two teens who had almost no normalcy in them whatsoever act so…so normal was scary to the young Avatar.
And now he had a decision to make.
One option was that he could do as he was expected to: go back to Sokka and tell him exactly what he saw and who he saw Katara with. The problem with this was that it would not end well, for anyone, really. Katara would get angry, Sokka would get angry, and Aang felt as though he himself would get hurt in the crossfire. Not physically (at least he hoped not) but emotional scarring could do so much worse. He was not sure he could handle having Katara or Sokka angry with him; the two southerners were the only friends Aang had. Without them, he would be alone. He remembered all too well the time he had lied to them both about their father's whereabouts. He had never felt so horrible as he did for that short time when his friends had left him alone. Again.
So no, option one was out. He could not betray his friends again.
Option two was to go back, lie to Sokka, and confront Katara about it later when the warrior boy was not around. This could work, he thought with a grin. He could lie to her, say he didn't mean to follow her; he just needed to go into the forest for something and happened to see her there with Zuko. If he was calm about it, Katara might even feel bad and leave Zuko. Maybe, he whistled as he continued walking back to their campsite, he would even tell her of his own feelings. A rush of confidence hit him like the wind; he could do this. He could be strong, he could win, and he could—
"Zu-ko!" A high-pitched, familiar voice echoed, laughing through the woods. Aang whirled around quickly, jumping into the bushes just swiftly enough to avoid being seen by both Prince and peasant. "Put me down!"
"And why would I want to do that, huh?" the Prince asked, twirling the girl in his arms around until both of them became dizzy. He set her down gently, a childlike grin still on his face as she left his arms.
"I have to go." She whispered sadly. "Sokka wants me back soon—"
"I understand." Zuko answered, a soft look replacing his childlike one. "But I have something for you, before you go."
She frowned. "I can't—I already have your jacket—" She stopped speaking when she saw the flower in his hand.
"Think you can hide this one?" He whispered, leaning in closer to her. He handed the red flower to her gently warning her cautiously not to poke herself on its thorns.
"What is it?" She asked, taking in the sweet smell of the foreign flower. "I've never seen a flower like this."
"It's a rose." He answered as she put the flower in her hair. "It's a common Fire Nation flower. Azula has plenty of them, and I figured you might want one."
"It's lovely," She said gently, a sudden hitch in her voice that was not there before. "Thank you."
"Don't—don't mention it." A shy blush crept to his face as she leaned in to hug him.
She left his embrace gradually. "When can I see you again?"
He shook his head. "Not tomorrow…I don't know when. Soon, I know that much."
"We'll have to leave soon," she thought aloud. "Sokka won't want to stay in one place for too long, it will be too dangerous."
"I'll follow you." He whispered softly, so low that Aang could barely hear him. "I've always managed to in the past."
"I know."
She was close to him. Closer, in fact, than Katara had ever been to him, to the point where their noses were touching and the warmth of his breath was tickling her gently.
She closed her eyes and leaned in towards the Fire Prince…
Aang left before he saw the kiss that followed.
XXX
His guilt would not let him follow his plan.
"Aang," Sokka jumped up, looking jittery and nervous as he saw the young Avatar wander into the campsite alone. "What happened? Where's Katara? Is she hurt?"
He breathed out, not realizing he had been holding his breath. "She's fine, Sokka. Just fine."
"Where is she, then? I told her to be back here by nine-thirty!"
"She's…" another pause. "She's saying goodbye to her boyfriend." His voice was bitter and condescending as he spat out that last word.
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "What's he like, then?"
His breath became very ragged all of the sudden; he was finding it hard to breathe. "He's nice, Sokka." He lied easily. "He's a nice guy from the Earth Kingdom—a perfect gentleman, you'd like him. Offered to walk her home and she refused. Gave her a flower. Only held her hand once, that I saw." He lied; following what Katara had already lied about earlier.
Sokka glared. "I'll kill that bastard if he does it again."
Aang leaned back, resting his head against Appa tiredly. "Are you alright, Aang?"
"I'm fine." He whispered, closing his eyes tightly. "I'm just tired."
Sokka put a grateful hand on his shoulder. "You can go to sleep, then. I'll stay awake for Ka—there she is! KATARA YOU BETTER GET OVER HERE NOW, OR YOU ARE IN TROUBLE, MISSY!"
"I'M RIGHT HERE, SOKKA!" She cried out, hopping over a log to where her brother and Aang were. Aang lifted his head from Appa's stomach and smiled rather forcibly at Katara.
"Have fun?" He asked politely.
She grinned. "Loads. I almost got him to try sushi, but—"
"And where have you been, exactly?" Sokka tapped his foot. Katara blinked at him.
"It's nine-thirty!" She complained. "I'm here on time!"
He clicked his tongue in a condescending manner. "Nine-thirty-five. And why is your hair so messed up? Did you get into a fight? –And what's this?" He pulled the flower from behind her ear "OW! It poked me!"
Katara laughed. "It's called a rose. It's supposed to have those pokey things on it."
Sokka held his hand where it was bleeding. "I don't get it. What's the point of having a flower if it hurts you?"
"Because it's beautiful." She said, taking out her canteen and allowing the water to flow out of it. "I don't think the rose wants to hurt you."
"I don't get it." Sokka said as his sister healed his hand. "If the rose is so beautiful, then why doesn't it just let go of it's thorns and be happy?"
"I don't think it knows how." Katara said quietly as she took the rose away from her brother. "I think the only thing it knows is how to be beautiful and to hurt. It's been hurt before and it doesn't want to get hurt again."
"It's not even that pretty! Look, it's wilted on the side." Sokka looked up at her, curiously. "And it doesn't hurt you, for some reason."
"Of course it does." Katara answered, showing her brother her bloodied hand. She took her water and placed it on her hand, healing the small cuts that had come from the rose's thorns. She then twirled the water around the rose's wilted petals, twisting and coiling the water until it became whole again. "I just know how to make it beautiful again."
XXX
It was later that night, long after Sokka and Katara had fallen asleep. Aang was the only one still awake, and he was finding it hard to sleep.
"Aang?" Katara asked, rolling over in her sleeping bag towards Aang. "What's wrong? Why aren't you asleep yet?
Have you had another nightmare?" Strange how every time he was awake at night, that's what she assumed.
He shook his head. "No, no nightmares. I just can't sleep."
She got out of her sleeping bag and sat beside him, curling like a cat near the fire. "Want to talk about it?"
"Not really." He said quietly, huddling his knees towards his chest.
She put a warm hand on his shoulder. "Aang, you know you can trust me. You're my best friend; I would never, ever do anything to hurt you."
Can I trust you, Katara? He thought idly. You've already gone back on one promise—you said you'd never hurt me.
Guess what, Katara? He thought bitterly, the tiniest hint of anger reaching his thoughts. You've hurt me now.
It was a perfect broken heart; warped and bent until he was no longer sure if he was the bad guy or the good guy in this situation.
She kissed his forehead like she would a brother, looking down at Aang, eyes filled with hope. "I'll always be here for you, Aang. If you ever want to talk, I'll be there." Her hand left his shoulder silently as she left his side and headed back to her sleeping bag.
I hope you're right, Katara.
XXX
END CHAPTER
What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I feel the need to keep inserting literary devices into fanfiction? This is the second time I've done that! Ah, well, that's a good thing—right?
Chapter ended up longer than I wanted it to be. It was just going to be a short little chapter on a Zutara date, then I decided to add Aang and his aangst, then the plot bunnies came and raped me in my sleep. Why do they do these things to me?
Jak