MD: I'm such an Avatard. And Zutara eats my soul.
I was listening to "I Won't Say I'm in Love" from Hercules and was inspired. Wewt. So this is loosely based off that song. Also posted on the eljay "Zutara" community. Teehee.
disclaimer: Zutara would be canon if I owned Avatar.
She's Not in Love
Katara knew for a fact she had crappy taste in men. She sometimes swore there was an otherworldly being laughing at her as she fell in and out of love with the wrong people. She couldn't help it if the fates conspired against her and continuously broke her heart into pieces.
So she decided to give up on love for now. There was no point in worrying about it during wartime, and she always had Aunt Wu's fortune to look forward to. She was unlucky in love at the moment, but that wouldn't always be the case. That much she could look forward to, at least.
Whatever she was feeling now was not love. It couldn't be, because she had sworn it off. Temporarily sworn it off, but she still refused it.
"What's up with you, Sugar Queen?" Toph muttered, gazing sightlessly at the waterbender. She was blind, but there was something off kilter about the older girl and vision wasn't necessary to see it.
"Nothing," she replied, blurting out something about getting firewood to avoid anymore of the earthbender's scrutiny. She disappeared in a flash, sighing with relief. If Toph had noticed something… No, she told her mind firmly. Feeling the urge to let out some stress, she meandered her way to a stream she had stumbled upon yesterday, anxious to waterbend the frustration away. Stripping down to her white undergarments, she slipped into the water, relishing in the instant relaxation it brought her. Slowly, she danced her fingers through the liquid, pulling slim slivers of the water into the air and splashing them about her like fireworks. The drops that landed on her tickled, causing an amused giggle to escape her throat.
A twig snapped and she jumped, instantly maneuvering herself into a defensive stance.
"Sorry," Zuko remarked, with only a hint of regret. "I didn't realize you were here."
She lowered her guard with relief, ignoring another weird emotion bubbling up inside. "It's fine," she said, suddenly feeling very self conscious and a little naked under his gaze.
"If you don't mind my asking," he started, stepping out to lean against a tree in his Earth Kingdom peasant attire, "What were you doing?"
"Waterbending," she replied simply, fighting the urge to dive deep into the water in a completely uncalled for embarrassment.
"For what? A circus?" There was almost a smirk on his face, but it must have been a trick of the eye.
She glared. "I was relieving some stress, thank you very much."
He didn't seem to have a witty answer, so he only shrugged. She stood frozen in place, watching him carefully. Was it her imagination, or were his eyes occasionally flickering lower than her face every now and then? Initially, she was flattered at the thought, but once it actually registered in her mind, she was absolutely positive her cheeks were flushed.
"What do you want?" she asked, averting her eyes to the fluid motion of the water below her.
"I was hoping to get in a quick bath, seeing as the blind girl just dragged the Avatar off for tutoring, while my uncle and your brother are absorbed in a conversation about foreign delicacies."
Her first thought was Wow, even as a fugitive he still talks like a prince, but this was quickly followed by Bath? He wanted a bath? Oh… that means… She almost pulled off her brother's signature facepalm to stop her mind from conjuring images of Zuko in his birthday suit. Bad Katara!
"But as you're currently using the stream, I'll come back later."
"No!" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
Zuko raised his eyebrow curiously.
"I mean…" But she was unable to finish her sentence. Why was she having difficulties around him? She was perfectly capable of talking to people without getting tongue-tied, so why should he be any different?
"What I mean is…" she babbled, biting her lower lip nervously, "Do you really want to go back to the camp?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure Sokka and Iroh would be thrilled to talk about the greatest recipe of Ba Sing Se with you." She amazed herself with her quick thinking.
He appeared to be mulling over her words. "True enough. But what do you suggest we do then?"
At his mention of the word we, Katara's heart skipped a beat. Stupid heart… she grumbled to herself. You're just a muscle. Don't interfere with my life anymore.
"I'm practicing my bending. You could do the same," she suggested, unconsciously twirling with a lose strand of her hair. He shrugged at her, but stepped away from the tree and began to stretch.
Sighing, she tried to refocus on the water flowing around her. There was no reason why the now shirtless Zuko should be a distraction – wait. When did he take that off? With what she hoped was stealth, she stole a glance at him again. He was breathing deeply, eyes closed tightly. Without warning, a burst of fire exploded from his palm, waltzing through the air to fizzle out in the water. Sensing her eyes on him, he tilted his head at her. "What?"
"Nothing!" she piped, swiftly forming a water whip to wave around. She heard the sounds of his movements and fire, but refused to look at him again. She hated, loathed, to admit it, but underneath his whole Argh! Must capture Avatar and Restore Honor! charade, Zuko was actually a fairly decent guy. Maybe more decent than other guys she'd known. And as a member of the female species, she could not deny his attractive physique. But that didn't matter. If she felt anything for the exiled prince, it certainly wasn't love, because she was through falling in love until she met her future, powerful bender husband.
Powerful. Bender. Husband.
Crap.
Her eyes fell to Zuko again, the impact hitting her head on. But there was no way… Sure Zuko was a firebender, but he wasn't powerful.
Crap.
He was rather powerful, now that she thought about it. Feeling irked, she angrily slammed her whip into the water, sending a rather large splash from the stream into the air.
"Hey!"
She froze, turning her head in the direction of the shout. Her eyes fell on a doused and irritated prince, and her lips twisted into a feeble smile. "Um… Sorry?" she offered weakly, trying to ignore the way the water glistened on his chest.
"You're not focused."
"What?" He couldn't have noticed her thought pattern… could he?
"Your bending is lose and not controlled. I can see it in your movements. In battle, your mind needs to pay attention to only the fight. Let it wander and you will die."
"Oh." So he hadn't noticed. Good.
"What could possibly rattle your thoughts so much that you lose priority on your waterbending?" he asked, crossing his arms as he gazed down at her.
"It's nothing."
"It's got to be something if you can't even control a water whip."
She almost glared at him. He was much more perceptive than she originally thought, a mistake she regretted gravely. But she couldn't very well tell him, Oh, Zuko! You've been on my mind for days now and I really can't figure out why! She might as well walk right up to Azula and say kill me now! before confessing her thoughts to him and he did the job for his sister.
"Listen…" he said, suddenly seeming a little uncomfortable. "I'm not going to chastise you or anything. I'll… listen."
Did the heavens just open up and spirits start to sing? Her jaw almost dropped at his words and she felt a blush sneaking up onto her face. She would have loved to have a conversation with him right now, but unfortunately, if she continued it would be a rather awkward conversation. "I'm not sure…"
His face grew stony again. "Fine. Just don't blame me if something happens to you during our next battle because you weren't paying attention."
"It's just a little complicated, okay?" I think I might be falling for you, Zuko. Do you really want to hear that?
"Whatever."
She sighed. She'd managed to get a tiny glimpse at what she just knew was the real Zuko, not the stoic façade he put up, and it had slithered away. The part that scared her the most was that she liked that caring part of him. It seemed genuine, like he actually cared, and spirits forbid if Katara find a guy that actually cared.
She stole another glance at him, rationality slipping from her grasp. Fluttering out of the water, she walked up to him and put a hand on his still wet shoulder. "Really, Zuko. It's nothing to worry about."
He stiffened under her touch and she pulled her hand away. He nodded curtly, expecting her to head back to the water. She smiled coyly at him, folding her hands behind her back. "But thanks for worrying about me."
She detected a sliver of red at the tip of his right ear and butterflies attacked her stomach. She wasn't going to fall in love right now; she had more important things to worry about. She swore in front of her brother and her friends that love was totally at the bottom of her to-do list right now.
But her azure eyes caught his topaz orbs and she could just feel something there. A familiar feeling, but at the same time completely different and deeper than anything before.
I can't help it though…
She just wouldn't say anything out loud. Her heart couldn't actually talk, after all.
END
MD: Soo. Reviews would be nice, if you don't mind telling me your thoughts. Squee.
And sorry if they were a little OOC. I tried my best. Gloom.