Didn't See That Coming

by Rebirth of the Phoenix

I am so sorry for the long wait. I had two exams at school and my drama performance Friday. I woke up yesterday morning intending to get straight onto writing, but I found out someone I know was stabbed with a machete Friday night. He's in hospital, critical. That little piece of info kind of took away my urge to write. I'm also ill so forgive me if this chapter is rubbish.

Read, Review and Enjoy!

Disclaimer – The votes are in and... I still don't own Avatar. Shoot!

- - - - - - - -

Katara pulled away from Zuko and searched his face.

'He kissed me! He kissed me, and he said he loved me!'

The two stared at each other, completely oblivious to anything around them.

Zuko rested his forehead against Katara's.

"I'm so sorry I hit you. I had no control."

Katara smiled at him softly. "It's alright. Did... did you mean what you said?"

Zuko smirked and leaned closer into her ears. "I meant every word, and when we get out of here, I'll prove it."

Katara felt shivers shoot down her spine as Zuko's warm breath tickled her ear.

Zuko saw her involuntary shudder and reached behind her neck to pull her in for another kiss.

Before their lips could touch however, Kaen's icy voice made itself heard.

Zuko and Katara were brought back to Earth with a bump and they turned to face the glowering demon.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'd rather not make myself sick by watching you two kiss."

Katara scowled at the demon before her. She was really getting annoyed with the interference the evil being caused. "Got a problem with displays of affection? I don't suppose you ever had anyone to love you."

Kaen's crimson and obsidian eyes flashed menacingly. "If I were you, wench, I'd shut my trap when I don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Unless you'd like me to kill you where you stand?"

Katara knew she should shut up and digressed.

Kaen glared at the Waterbender for a few more moments before waving her hand carelessly. The next stone on the path glowed with the word 'Future'. Zuko and Katara stared at the stone before them blankly.

Kaen grew impatient. "Well," she snapped."What is the problem?"

Zuko looked up at the demon. "I haven't faced my Present Fear yet. Why are we moving on?"

Kaen held the Firebender's gaze unwaveringly. She knew Zuko should face his fear, but she had a bigger plan now, one which she was most anxious to put into action. "Why my dear mortal, don't be coy. You faced your fear mere minutes ago."

Zuko was seriously confused. "That was Katara's fear, not mine."

A truly malicious smile graced Kaen's lips. "No, no Zuko. I know for a fact that you faced your fear at the same time."

Zuko stared, nonplussed at Kaen.

"Would you like me to refresh your memory?"

Kaen's eyes turned pure red and Zuko found himself entranced by her gaze. He could hear the blood pounding in his head and Katara, and the rest of the world blurred out of view.

Zuko stood just behind the kneeling figure that was himself. A bruised and beaten Katara lay on his bed, unconscious to the world. Zuko suddenly remembered the familiarity of he scene. He watched as his past self lent into Katara's ear.

"Katara, I know you can't hear me but want you to know I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what my country has put you through, I'm sorry for what those two men put you through. Most of all I'm sorry for what I've put you through; and as Agni as my witness I'll try to protect you from now on."

The pounding returned in Zuko's head and the vision faded, to be replaced with the cursed forest, and a concerned looking Katara. He looked into her sapphire eyes and recalled his feelings after he had rescued her. He had been so afraid that he would involuntarily hurt her. He had come close when Kaen had possessed him, but he had overcome it.

He looked up at Kaen."You've made your point, now what?"

Kaen pointed an emaciated finger at the stone before them. "Now you enter the future that you fear the most."

Katara was completely clueless what had gone on. For a moment, Zuko had held Kaen's flaming gaze and he had seemed unaware of the world around him. She knew he must have been shown a vision of some sort, but she had no idea what the vision was about.

Zuko turned to Katara and she nodded. They both gripped tightly to each other's hands as they stepped into their most feared future.

- - - - - - - - -

Zuko sat in his war room looking over some maps. The candles burned low and Zuko sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. His armies were coming close to achieving total control over the Earth Kingdom and the lack of sleep was giving him a headache. He heard the door open behind him.

"I thought I said I didn't want to be interrupted." He growled.

"And I thought you said you would have finished working before dinner."

Zuko sighed. "Look, Katara. This is a war, I can't just drop everything to go off and do whatever I please."

Katara stepped into the room fully and approached Zuko's desk. "You are the Fire Lord. You have the power to stop this war at anytime!"

Zuko looked up at her, catching and holding her gaze. "I could, but I won't. We've been through this a million times already, Katara. I am not stopping this war when I am so close to victory."

Katara sighed and turned away from him. "Yes, we have been through this a million times before. And each time your answer disgusts me more than the last."

Zuko stood up suddenly, some of the maps fluttering to the floor. He grabbed Katara by the shoulder and turned her to face him. "I have told you before, I will not be spoken to in that manner! As your husband I deserve respect and I will receive it! I rule over the greatest empire the world has ever seen, the least I deserve from you is unwavering devotion."

Katara turned her head away. "I have always been devoted to you Zuko because I love you. The problem is I fell in love with before you took your father's place as Fire Lord. The war has changed you greatly and the Fire nation is no longer an empire. It is a tyranny."

She extracted herself from Zuko's grip and walked to the door, before she exited she paused. "Our son wanted to know if he would see his father tonight. I didn't know what to tell him, I'll leave that up to you, My Lord."

Zuko sighed and sat back down wearily. He was the Fire Lord, he was married to the woman he loved and he had a son and heir to the throne. Yet he was still not happy. He longed for something, he longed for power and everything else seemed to blur into obscurity.

This all seemed very familiar to Zuko. The long night in the war room, the disagreement with his wife. It was like he had experienced it all before, just from a different point of view. He shook his head and rose from his seat. Maybe he was working too hard. He left the war room and headed through the immense Fire Palace.

He passed many portraits of previous Fire Lords, including his own father. He paused in front of the frame and traced a hand across the name plaque.

"I may have been a failure in your eyes, Ozai. But I am about to achieve that which you couldn't." He whispered to his deceased father's image and carried on towards his bedroom.

Zuko entered his bedroom and saw Katara stood at the window, gazing into the palace gardens. She didn't turn around when he entered, nor did she say anything when the small boy who sat by her feet got up and ran to Zuko.

"Father! I did not think I would see you tonight!" The boy reached up to his father and Zuko complied.

"I am very busy Dante you know that. What did you do today?"

Zuko carried Dante across the room and sat on his bed, his son on his lap.

Dante shrugged. "Nothing really. Great Uncle Iroh told me funny stories from his war days and then mommy took me down to the lake in the grounds. She showed me some Waterbending and told me stories of Uncle Sokka and Uncle Aang. Why did I never meet them father?"

Zuko looked up at Katara but she didn't turn around. "They passed on son, they are now in the spirit realm. Dante, how would you like it if you started official Firebending training tomorrow?"

Katara turned from the window and stared at her husband. Dante laughed and bounced on his father's knee. "I would like that very much father!"

Katara stepped forward. "It's time for bed Dante." Dante made to protest but his mother held up a hand "No arguments my Prince. Go find your Uncle Iroh. I'm sure he will gladly tuck you in and tell you a story. I will be by in a while to check on you."

Dante nodded and hopped off Zuko's lap. Katara kissed his forehead and led him to the door. "Straight to bed, no stops by the kitchen or the stables."

Dante nodded and ran down the hallway, Katara closed the bedroom door behind him.

She turned to face Zuko. He stared back at her, his face emotionless.

"I thought we agreed Dante would not start Firebending training until he was eight years old at the youngest. He's five years old, Zuko!"

Zuko got up from the bed and stepped towards her. "He is my son and I will do what I see fit! It seems as though you are trying to poison my son's mind against me."

"What?"

"Telling him stories of you bumbling brother and the Avatar. I suppose you told him how good they were and how evil I was?"

Katara stepped back from Zuko's approaching form. "No. I merely told him about the travels I had with Sokka and Aang."

Zuko hissed. "I thought I said never to mention the Avatar's name in my presence again!"

Katara was now fully backed into the door. "What's the big problem? He's dead thanks to you! Some days I can't stand to look in the mirror because I know I've fallen in love with my family's killer. I hate myself for it, but then I hate you more!"

Zuko leaned in and placed a hand either side of Katara's head. "I thought you loved me." He smirked.

Katara closed her eyes. "I do and that's the problem. I hate and love you at the same time and it's driving me insane." She looked at Zuko and he could see tears in her eyes. "If I didn't have Dante I probably would have killed myself a long time ago. But if you are bent on turning my son into a tool to be used in your war, then I don't know how much longer I will hold on."

Zuko removed his hands from the door. "My decision stands, Dante will start training tomorrow, and you will not tell him hero stories of the Avatar again."

He turned and lay on the bed. Katara fled into the bathroom and locked the door. Zuko heard water running into the marble bath and sighed. All he wanted was a wife to support him, but Katara was becoming more and more outspoken about the war.

Zuko had another feeling of deja vu but quickly pushed it away.

- - - - - - - - -

Zuko lay there in the dimly lit room and waited for Katara to exit. The bath water had stopped running a long time ago and Zuko had heard nothing else from inside.

Zuko was getting impatient, he wanted to use the bathroom. He was about to go in and find out what was taking so long when the bedroom door was pushed open.

Dante stood in the door way sniffing slightly. Zuko stepped forward and lifted his son from the ground. "What is it Dante?"

"I had a bad dream and mommy wasn't there to sing the special song to me."

Zuko put his son down and nodded. "Mommy's in the bath, I'll find out what's taking so long."

Dante yawned and went over to the bed. "Mommy seems sad."

Zuko's hand froze over the door handle. 'Mommy seems sad.' He remembered hearing that before when he was little, but where?

'Mommy seems sad.'

Then he remembered. He had said it to his father before they had found his mother...dead.

Fear gripped Zuko and he yanked on the bathroom door to find it was locked. His memories were starting to leak back into his mind and Kaen's grip on reality was beginning to loosen. He threw his wait onto the bathroom door and it opened with a splintering sound.

He looked to the bath and his blood chilled. Katara was submerged in the bath water, her eyes closed. Her hair floated around her face and she looked peaceful, almost ethereal.

Zuko pulled her out of the bath and onto his lap. She lay there not breathing. Zuko could remember his father finding his mother dead like this and he had watched as his father had done nothing, just left her lay in the water. He never attempted to revive her, he had merely walked away, yelling at Zuko for crying.

Zuko looked around frantically and caught sight of himself in a mirror. He froze and looked at himself. He didn't look like Zuko, he resembled his father...Ozai.

Zuko closed his eyes and started mumbling to himself. "No! I am not my father, I never will be! I will not lose that which I love."

He opened his eyes and looked down at Katara. She was still breathing, yet barely. Something was pushing through his mid, but he couldn't understand it fully. Something was telling him not to believe what he saw, that it wasn't real and that he should not give up. None of it made sense to Zuko but he obeyed the voice telling him to have hope. He bent his head down and pressed his lips to Katara's, intending to give her mouth to mouth. At the moment their lips connected Zuko remembered something.

He was holding Katara's face gently and telling her he loved her. They were sat on a stone in the middle of a forest, and a wraith of a being was watching them.

Zuko smiled and pulled away from Katara as everything came flooding back.

'Nice try, Kaen. I will never be my father because I have the ability to love.'

Zuko saw the bathroom, the mirror and Dante all disappear and he looked down at Katara. She opened her eyes and expelled a spout of water from her mouth. Then her clothes and hair dried and she smiled at Zuko.

"I'm really glad that that is the future you fear, and not your ideal future."

Zuko smiled back and brushed some hair from Katara's face. They relished the moment they had together suspended in empty bliss. For they knew it couldn't last long.

- - - - - - - - -

Hey, hope that made up for the length of time you had to wait for an update! I feel as though I've gotten back into the swing of this story so I may find time to update again today, you never know!

Aang and Sokka will pop up in the next chapter, I promise!

I just want to thank all of the reviewers that I've had so far and a special thanks to colorcrystals for the kick up the rear end that got me updating! It really helped!

Hope you liked. Review!