Hello to all of my readers and thank you to all of my reviewers! I never thought that I would see the day that I actually posted my story and people actually appreciated it. You all mean a great deal to me.
I am not sure how often I will be updating during the week, considering my intense academic and athletic schedule. My consuming homework load is enough to keep me busy, but now I have soccer everyday, too. So I'm saying it in advance: I'm sorry! Please don't hate me and please don't stop reading.
I already have an outline for chapter four, it is just a matter of articulating my ideas. But in the mean time, here is chapter three, Opening Up.
Oh, and I don't know if I actually need a disclaimer or not, but here it is: I don't own them!
Ch.3
Opening Up
She had been walking in a beautiful garden with sweet-smelling flowers all around her. There was a magnificent fountain with water spouting ten feet into the air, crystal droplets then finding their way back to the azure waters below. She watched as the prisms of crystal caught the glint of the warm sun and cast tiny rainbows into the fresh morning air.
Suddenly, there was warm hand on her shoulder and she turned to face an extremely handsome man. He smiled at her and she returned it. His stunning smile and his gorgeous golden eyes caused her to forget every thought of her beautiful surroundings as he put his hands on her thin waist and pulled her slim body close to his. She could feel the warmth radiating off of him as he brought his lips to hers and kissed her tenderly at first, and then with a growing intensity. His tongue tasted her lower lip, waiting, and she finally parted her lips to allow him admittance into her mouth. Their tongues danced gently as he pulled her body closer into his. She did not want this moment to ever end…
Katara slowly awoke, not wanting the last feelings and images of her dream to fade and be lost forever. She quietly rolled over and sat up, smiling. But when her eyes landed on a particular firebender yards away, she gasped and jumped back. A strong feeling of embarrassment and shame came over her as she realized who the warm, charming man in her dream was.
Katara felt her cheeks blaze with a rosy fire as her gaze still lingered on his sleeping form.
He had been kind to her, comforting and calming. But still, he was Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. He could never truly care for her, a simple Water Tribe peasant.
She frowned at him, 'Arrogant bastard.'
But her feeling of contempt for him quickly changed when she thought back to his broad, strong chest and warm, comforting arms.
'What is wrong with me? Am I feeling something for this firebender? I can't be. It's probably just some fluke dream. Yet, she could not take her eyes off of him, and she could not remove the dream from her unconscious mind.
…
Zuko awoke to a beating, bright sun on his face. He closed his eyes tighter, trying to return to the peaceful realm of sleep.
It was no use. The sun was not backing down. Zuko resentfully opened his eyes and sat up. As he did, her heard Katara's soft angelic voice not but a few feet away, "Good morning, sleepy head."
He furrowed his brow at her and asked, "What time is it?"
"Almost noon, are you feeling ok this morning," came the reply.
"Yes, I still feel sore, but the pain is subsiding," Zuko said as he brought his hand to his wound, then added, "Thanks to you."
At this, Katara blushed a light pink and smiled, "It's nothing." Then she quickly changed the subject, "Do you think you can get up today, move around a little?"
"Thank the gods! I've been dying to stand up a stretch my legs!" And he readily did so.
But this motion was too much, too fast. Blood rushed out of his head and he staggered, dizziness consuming him.
Katara caught hold of Zuko and steadied him.
"Thanks, I guess I wasn't ready for that," and he smiled another of his soft smiles at her.
She released her gentle hold on him and they both began to walk into the forest, not knowing or caring to where they were walking. They just walked.
…
Zuko and Katara had been walk for a few hours, mostly in comfortable silence, but occasionally making light conversation about their likes and dislikes, adventures, bending, and other random topics. But whenever the topic of family came up, both of them would purposely change the subject. Family was a hard thing for both of them to talk about; they had both been through sad and difficult times. Therefore, they both did the best they could to avoid the resurfacing pain.
But after piecing together a few clues, Katara's curiosity got the better of her. She looked up at Zuko and asked him a question that she knew that she would probably regret, "Zuko. How did you get your scar?"
He could feel the heat of her eyes on him. He stopped walking, and when he turned to face her, she flinched. Now it was her turn to feel the blazing heat of his piercing golden eyes. But the flame was softened by a soothing sapphire sea.
Zuko opened his mouth to blow off the question with another change of subject, but then closed it, thinking. He didn't want to reopen wounds of the past by sharing his tale with this girl. He didn't want to tell her about the fateful day of council that would change his life forever. He didn't want to tell her about the pathetic Agni Kai that followed. He didn't want to tell her about the results of his actions, how he ended up a banished prince sentenced to sail the seas in a hopeless search for the Avatar. He didn't want to tell her any of this.
But there was something in her glistening, hopeful eyes that told him that she would not scoff, not disparage, not judge. It was something that told him to tell her, open up and tell her everything. So he did…
…
Zuko ended his recollections, "I lost everything that was ever dear to me: my family, my country, my throne, my honor. I lost it all. And now all I am left with is my scar, a symbol of my cowardice, my weakness, my dishonor."
Katara looked into his crestfallen face, her heart breaking further for him with every passing moment.
Katara could finally take the pain no longer. She spoke to him with a potent yet tender tone, "Zuko, no. You are anything but craven, weak and dishonorable. You are a noble man, a good man, a brave man, who stands up for what he knows is right. You stood up for your people, your country. That shows true loyalty. That is what your scar symbolizes. Courage, strength, and honor. I can see it when I look into your eyes."
At these words, Zuko broke their gaze and looked away. But Katara softly placed her hand on the left side of his face, partially touching his scar. She turned his face back toward her, leaned upward, and placed a small, gentle kiss upon his lips. Her cool lips slowly left his warm ones. She looked back up into his eyes and could not discern his emotion. But everything was understood quickly.
Her face got no more than a few centimeters away when one of Zuko's strong hands grasped her tiny waist, and the other lifted to the back of her head, pulling her into a deep kiss, filled with longing and hope, anguish and despair.
He pulled her tighter against him, expressing so many emotions in the only way he knew how. Katara slid her hands up his chest and rested them on his shoulders. She felt everything he was feeling and melted into his embrace.
When they pulled apart, Katara smiled a sad smile at him and Zuko gave a small, half-smile back. He looked down and before Zuko could say anything, he heard Katara's delicate voice.
"We should really get back to camp, Sokka and Aang will be worried."
Zuko nodded.
Katara took off, with Zuko a few paces behind. Both were deeply engaged in their own thoughts of the events that had just played out.
