ZW 2015 Day 3: Clandestine
.
I shifted between crack and seriousness about 12 times. Which is it? I don't know.
.
Sword Fights and Other Disturbances
Katara and Zuko have been acting strangely lately, so Sokka takes it upon himself to find out why. Katara wonders whether or not her brother is an idiot or a master strategist.
"Zuko," Katara hisses. "Someone's watching us." She peeks over her shoulder, scanning the courtyard.
Zuko exhales a small flame (loudly). "Nobody's watching us, Katara." He tilts his head and nudges her chin upward.
She brushes his lips with hers, but her eyes don't close. "We should tell them."
Zuko elects not to respond. Katara looks over her shoulder, studiously avoiding Zuko's advances. That feeling of being watched does not leave her, hanging over their heads like the thick moss of the swamp.
"Let's go inside," she hisses, but he pulls her closer. "Zuko, I'm serious."
He groans, a bit overdramatically. "It's been three months, Katara."
"Then we can wait another night."
"Another night for what?!" A voice squeals, pitchy with indignance.
Zuko blanches.
"Katara!" The voice squawks as it emerges from a nearby bush, boomerang glinting in the moonlight. "What are you doing to Zuko? Get your gross sister hands off him."
Katara blinks twice. "To Zuko?"
Sokka points his boomerang at her face, nearly touching the tip of her nose. "I know all about you and your tricks. You'll get my friend here to fall in love with you, and then you'll go break up with him for being bald."
Zuko interjects, "Fire Lords have strong hairlines well into their nineties, Sokka."
"Well maybe you'll shave it!"
Katara rolls her eyes. "Sokka, I'm your sister. Shouldn't you be telling Zuko to stay away from me? And I didn't break up with Aang because he's bald!"
Lowering his boomerang, Sokka slings an arm around Zuko's shoulders. "Zuko and I are bros now, Katara."
"Bros?" Katara asks, one eyebrow raised, at the same time that Zuko's eyebrow also shoots up-"We are?"
"Come on, Jerkbender. I forged a new sword last week. You'll love it."
Zuko shoots Katara a look that suggests he'd really rather not come along.
Left to herself in the dark, Katara wonders whether Sokka is actually worried about Zuko or if Sokka came to "save" him because he thought it would work better than ordering Katara to stay away. Regardless, she decides (in a fit of pique) that there's nothing Sokka can do to keep her away from Zuko. They'll just have a clandestine meeting after all of Zuko's regular meetings tomorrow, or another tomorrow night, or every night, until Sokka either gets bored or surrenders. Katara has a strong will. He's not going to win.
Even so, Sokka's exact intentions are unclear, and it bothers her. Lovable idiot, or master strategist? Both? Katara sighs heavily, and sinks to her knees in the grass, waiting for the clanking of swords to still.
.
.
.
A/N: I messed with a trope, but I'm not sure I accomplished much else. Feels like I lost the characters a little, but it was fun. Thoughts always welcome.
