Hi, there!
The neyt chapter got a little too long, so I split it in two. Thanks for waiting, I know I take a long time updating these things, but my holidays have been much busier than I had thought they would be.
Nooowww, we're getting closer to Zuko finally asking Katara!
I hope you'll like this chapter! Please review!
I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender, nor its characters.
Chapter Seven
Katara clutched her notes tightly to her chest. The only bag in which they would have fit was still packed somewhere in a carton, so she had to hold them with her hands and arms.
The houses in the part of the city in which Coffee Cups lay were smaller than those around the university. They were a bit more narrow and also looked older than all these posh sandstone and modern glass constructions. Katara liked it there very much. It wasn't only the coffee shop, but also the book shop, kindergarten, restaurants and the supermarket, which mostly vended organic and local food. All the houses had balconies and flowers in all forms, sizes and colours. A lot of green was there too, coming from small trees, palm trees and bushes. The smell of coffee and fried noodles lay in the air, mixing with the fresh air and the scent of the flowers.
Katara just stepped around a child, who played some sort of detective game, and smiled. It was a nice day. The sun was shining, children laughing and birds chirping. Occasionally, she could hear a bike ringing or an engine kicking. The sound of a clarinet chimed through the air, playing a lovely tune which Katara didn't know. But she immediately looked up to find out where it came from.
January in the capital was a lot different than in the south. It was too cold to be outside without a jacket, but it was still warm enough for children to play outside and for birds not flying against South. The sun shone almost the whole time, making the earth dry.
Katara had had a bit of a problem to find something to wear this morning. She had a lot of things still packed and she also wanted to look good, but not too good, since she only met with a boy she had considered an idiot and who turned out not to be one. So she just wore jeans, her boots and a white sweater with purple sleeves, which was very soft and cozy, and she loved it. To be fully protected against the chilly air she also wore a leather jacket.
But she still wondered if she was right in changing her mind about Zuko. Maybe this had all been a big prank. Trying to negate this she shook her head lightly. No, she wanted to believe in Zuko, and maybe also in a possible friendship. But she couldn't do anything against her fears and grew more nervous, when she reached her favourite coffee shop. Taking a deep breath she walked in and looked around, seeing Zuko standing in line to order.
Sighing relieved she made her way to him.
He only noticed her when she was standing right next to him.
"Hey!" she said, feeling a bit awkward, since she normally greeted friends with a hug, but Zuko... He was no friend yet. She had already considered hugging him goodbye yesterday after he had accompanied her to the underground station, but it really would have been too early then.
"Hi!" His eyes widened, his smile stretching, as if he was glad and surprised to see her here. Did he have doubts about her, too?
"How are you? Was meeting with your family okay?" Katara asked, shouldering her bag.
Zuko grimaced, and shortly looked to the side, walking up in the line. Katara followed him, feeling relieved that he had been the last in line, so that she didn't stand in front of someone else. Zuko looked back at her and made a vague hand gesture. "It was okay. I mean, I'm always happy to see them," he added, and Katara felt he was sincere. "It just makes me uncomfortable sometimes. Especially now that almost everyone knows my father."
Katara grimaced, too, and pressed her lips together. "Yeah, you'll probably be recognised everywhere in a few weeks ."
He nodded and shrugged. "Yes, but I'll have to live with it. Dad focuses on the family for his campaign, and he therefore has to present himself with his own family quite often."
"Hm." She didn't kow what to say about this. In her opinion Kasaishi Ozai could go back into the hole he had crawled out of, but she couldn't tell Zuko this. Biting on her lip she pressed her notes tighter to her chest. Right. Zuko wasn't only someone she had considered an idiot and descendent of the Kasai Emperors, he was also the son of one of the richest business men in the country. And maybe he would become the son of the president soon. But hopefully this wouldn't happen... although, she had to admit that she had probably been wrong about Zuko, so maybe she was wrong about his father, too? If Zuko wasn't so bad, then how bad could his father be?
Taking a deep breath she looked around and spotted her favourite table to be free. It was at the window, small, only for three people and the chairs were bolstered with a deep red velvet. Even the arm rests were bolstered. Those chairs were much fancier than any her family had ever possessed, but they were very comfortable and also felt like an armchair.
The chairs in this coffee shop were all looking ancient and fancy, just as the sofas and armchairs. The tables were a lot simpler, only made of dark wood, but their legs were a bit embellishedly carved. The walls were painted in a light purple, a colour Katara associated with Gran Gran's old house in the south. Maybe this was also why she liked this coffee shop so much.
"Can you order for me? I'm going to reserve us a table," she told Zuko, but looked at the buffet, asking herself if she wanted a piece of cake or a muffin.
"Sure. What do you want?" Zuko asked, and she looked back at him.
"A hot chocolate with whipped cream. Aaand... uh... an apple tart." She nodded to herself, feeling satisfied with the choice she had made.
"Hot chocolate with whipped cream and an apple tart, alright." He nodded, smiling, and lowered his gaze.
Katara frowned, since it felt like he was looking at her breasts, but then she noticed he was only eying her notes. The reason why they were meeting, after all.
"Uh, yeah, these are all I've got," she quickly said, still feeling a bit uncomfortable, since without her notes he would look at her breasts.
He nodded, lifting his head to look into her eyes. "Okay."
She gave him a last smile, and went quickly for her favourite table, when she saw that another girl was walking that way, too. Oh no, Katara would be there first.
The other girl seemed not to have noticed her, and walked on in a normal pace. Katara quickly overtook her, and let her notes fall down heavily at the table. She sighed and turned to sit down, when she saw that the girl had stopped abruptly, her eyes wide and her mouth forming an O.
Katara raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm so sorry, did you want to sit here? I guess I didn't notice you there."
The girl blinked, and then did something Katara had not expected. She smiled. "Oh no, it's okay, really. Nothing could make my day bad." She had a dreamy look on her face, and Katara frowned, twisting her mouth.
"Okay... Alright, I guess," she said, not really knowing how she should react to this. "How come?" She tried to smile.
The girl blushed and looked down at the ground. "Oh, you know, I just noticed something." The next moment she turned around, looking at the counter.
Katara twisted her neck, trying to see what the girl was looking at. Or who.
There were two people behind the bar. A middle-aged woman who owned the shop, and a young man with an angular jaw and oddly shaped eyebrows.
The people in line were Zuko, two girls Katara's age, a man around his thirties, an old lady and another girl who was suddenly standing behind Zuko. She seemed to be a friend of the dreamy looking girl, since she kept mouthing at her. Her legs were a little bent, and one hand shielded her mouth from Zuko's back, the other pointing at it. The girl's eyes seemed to nearly fall out, and her cheeks were flushed, too.
"Uh...," Katara said finally understanding.
Those girls seemed to know who Zuko was, and they seemed to like who he was.
She almost started laughing. Oh my, they didn't even now him, but only because of his father they were practically drooling over him.
"You know him?" Katara asked, feeling a bit wicked, when she saw that Zuko advanced in the line.
"Yes! He's so awesome!" the dreamy girl breathed.
Katara suddenly understood how Sokka had these urges to make gagging motions.
"Uh, why?" she asked.
The dreamy girl turned to look at her with wide grey eyes. She had the typical looks of someone from the western province. Pale skin, dark brown hair and a smokey eye colour.
"Well, I always see him in the volcano club, but only from afar. It's amazing to watch him train. He plays tennis, and takes kung fu and dual dao swords classes. It's astounding to see how he moves. That humans can even move like this... and well, he looks incredible handsome!"
Katara raised an eyebrow. Wow, this girl didn't seem to have any standards.
Immediately, she cringed, scolding herself for insulting Zuko, even in her head. She had to stop this, since she knew now that he was a nice person who didn't deserve to be considered low standards.
"I cannot believe he's here. I come here every week, but I never saw him here," the girl went on, and her friend seemed to pass out, when Zuko opened his mouth to finally order.
"Oh my gods!" The girl next to Katara breathed, leaning at her table. Was she going to faint, too? "I never actually heard him speaking. His voice sounds so deep and raspy!"
Katara only shot her a dry look and groaned inwardly. Why did she have to start a conversation with this girl? It was clearly one of those annoying bimbos who just talked about hot rich guys and what she had shopped and eaten that day. She hoped Zuko would come to their table soon to make her go away.
Of course, Katara had the possibility to do this, too, but she wanted to be nice today. She already stole the girl's table (Katara's table which the girl had unallowedly headed to), she didn't want to be more of a bitch today.
Sighing, Katara took off her leather jackett and laid her bag down at the floor next to her chair.
She turned around to see if Zuko needed help with carrying their food and drinks to her, but they weren't even ready yet. The middle aged woman talked to Zuko instead, her face showing an expression, as if a wounded puppy stood in front of her.
Katara frowned. What the hell about Zuko reminded her of a wounded puppy?
She only saw someone who had fortunately not combed his hair back today, wore black jeans, leather dress shoes, a dark brown suit coat and a red scarf. Everything about him screamed "rich" and "law student" to her, and even though she studied law herself, nothing about this seemed really attractive to her. If he would wear boots, a leather jacket and maybe a beanie, and listen to music, then she would see someone she would find attractive. She had already noticed on Friday that Zuko looked good. He had done so during high school, too, but she hadn't really noticed it then. The military academy had sure made him broader, and his face seemed even more defined and angular than it had been during his teenager years. It wasn't him who wasn't attractive to her, but the way he gave himself. Everything about him which was transferred to his surroundings.
She blinked, when she noticed she had been staring and Zuko had looked at her questioningly and somehow expectingly.
What?
He gestured to something on the counter. Didn't he have money?
She raised her eyebrows.
He rolled his eyes, smiled shortly at the shop owner and took a tray in his hands with her hot chocolate and apple tart. She finally realised that there hadn't been enough space on the tray for his things, too, and that there was another tray and that he couldn't carry both to her. She grimaced, trying to look apologetically, and began to walk towards him.
But the dreamy girl stepped in front of her, walking towards Zuko. Katara frowned at her, and hoped that she didn't think he meant her with his gestures and impatient looks. The dreamy girl stopped in front of Zuko and turned around, following him with her eyes, when he frowned down at her, and stepped around her towards Katara.
She just pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh, but looked innocently at the dreamy girl. Her pointing friend openly stared at Katara with her mouth wide open.
Oh gods! Didn't they have better things to do than to adore someone they didn't even know?
She only smiled at the shop owner, and took the other tray in her hands, carrying it to her table, walking past the dreamy girl, who actually looked quite emberrassed. Well, good for her.
Katara had thought that girls would maybe want Zuko or drool over him, because he was the descendent of Emperors and without the revolution he would be a prince, and because his father was very rich and Zuko would (as he had said himself) probably overtake the company. But she had never really considered that there could be other reasons, too. Reasons which were really about him, and not his family. She hadn't known that he took Kung Fu classes and dual dao swords classes at the volcano club. He had only said that he played tennis. Did he find it embarrassing somehow? Or hadn't he wanted her to think of his ancestry again, since fighting and wielding swords was something the Kasai Emperors had been well known for.
She sat down on the cozy and soft chair, putting the tray on Zuko's side of the table. He had already put hers on her side.
Zuko looked at her with an open facial expression, a bit curious and friendly, which made it even harder for Katara not to laugh, since it meant he hadn't noticed anything.
Katara turned her head to the two girls, which stood now both in line, waiting for their order, and talking quickly to each other, risking some glances in their direction.
Katara didn't feel smug or anything, since this wasn't a date, she and Zuko weren't even friends yet, but she knew she hadn't done anything to give the girls the impression that Zuko was still free. Heat crawled into her cheeks, when she noticed that this was embarrassing for her, too. Because now those two girls would probably think that this was a date.
Was Zuko a person of public interest? Was he sometimes photographed to be in some magazines? Would drinking coffee (hot chocolate) with him lead people to think anything that was not true?
She had to keep an eye on those girls! What if they would take pictures?!
She inwardly cringed and grabbed her mug, searching for something to hold on to.
Zuko took a sip of his drink and Katara leaned over the table, trying to see what he had picked. Tea, again.
"What kind of tea is this?" she asked.
"Black. Darjeeling," he answered and swallowed again, suddenly looking really nervous. "How was your weekend? How did the move went?"
Katara rolled her eyes and stifled a groan. "It was exhausting! I had mum, dad, and Sokka for help, but if was still so much! And my new apartment is in the fifth floor! And there is no lift yet! They plan on building a few more floors on top of the house, and then there will also be a lift, but I will probably move out then!" She sighed. "The good thing is that I didn't need to paint the apartment anymore. We worked until late in the night, and the next day we still kept carrying and fixing up the furniture... It was even worse than moving in with Aang. And that had been exhausting, too. I'm totally spent!"
Zuko's eyes looked warmer than they ever had before, but also slightly amused. "I wish I could tell you I know how you feel, but my father paid a company to carry and fix up my furniture. I only carried some cartons, packed out and furnished everything."
Katara narrowed her eyes at him. "This is so not fair. You are male, you have more muscles than I have. Why do I have to carry the heavy stuff?"
Zuko shrugged and chuckled, although his cheeks had become a bit red. "I didn't want my father to pay them to do it. I couldn't stand the thought of other people carrying my stuff, but only because I feared they would break something. But it went well in the end. Do you have an apartment for you alone?"
Katara blinked, still thinking about what he had said about his own move. She let her fingers drum on the table plate. "Yep. No roomies for me. Just a lot of privacy." She frowned. "This will be really strange, since I never lived alone before."
Zuko looked down at his tea. "Me, neither. Sometimes, when Jet is annoying as hell, I wished I would live alone, but I'm mostly glad I don't. It's just that being roommates brings one even closer together in very unpleasant ways, too, and I could really live without knowing these things."
"What things?" Katara asked warily, but also curiously.
Zuko gave her a dry look. "Private things about Jet. He's not so much into privacy and always tries to invade mine!"
Katara grinned. "Yep, that is Jet. I hope you'll recover from your tragic experiences."
"I don't think I will," Zuko rasped, sounding depressed and lonely.
Katara chuckled and held tighter onto her mug.
He looked up at her, looking hurt. "What? I meant that!"
She raised one eyebrow. "Welk then, boohoo. Poor rich hot guy! Your life is so miserable," she scoffed.
Zuko first frowned, and Katara face palmed inwardly. Dammit, why was it so hard to keep being nice to him? And did she just say he was hot?
Yes, she did!
Her eyes grew wide, and she flushed heavily, although, good for her, it wasn't seen so well on her dark skin. But it still was awful. She risked a glance at him.
His expression suddenly changed, and he looked thoughtful and... calculating. He had never looked at her like this, not even in high school, when he had planned his next evil attempt on making her life miserable.
"It actually is sometimes," he said, sounding completely sincere. "My father just found a way to make my life even more miserable."
Katara raised her eyebrows again, but this time she was serious. "Really? What did he do?"
Zuko's jaw moved from side to side and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Urgh... He..." Sighing, he laid his hands on the table. "He wants me to find a girlfriend."
Katara couldn't stifle her laughter now.
Zuko scowled at her, something she knew he did rather well, and made a displeased noise with his tongues snapping against his teeth.
She knew this meant a question of hers was answered now. That Zuko did not have a girlfriend.
Katara tried to stop her laughter and swallowed, drinking something of her hot chocolate. "Okay, I'm sorry. And why is this so bad? Do you want to be single for your whole life?"
His scowl even deepened, if that was possible. "No, I don't, but..." He sighed, looked around and lowered his voice slightly.
Katara frowned in confusion. Why did he do this? What was he going to tell her?
"Because of our ancestry my father knows that a large part of the population of Elementia won't support him during his campaign. And... uhm, he wants me to get a girlfriend, who would make the people like him more." His voice became lower and he blushed darkly.
"Seriously?" Katara asked with a deep frown on her face. "I'm sorry, Zuko, but what hell of a father does that?"
He frowned at her. "What do you mean? This is really smart of him! Of course I don't like it, but I think it could really help him. People love romance between opposites!"
Twisting her mouth, she thought about this. He was right, this might actually work. If Zuko would get a girlfriend, and Ozai would show his acceptance of her in public, even though she might not be rich or something special or even be a mountainer or southerner, since they had been slaughtered by Zuko's ancestors. She had thought he was prejudiced, but with a girlfriend from the mountains or the south for his son, the people would maybe see Ozai in the same light she saw Zuko now.
She blinked. Wait, no, this couldn't be!
"What do you mean with opposites?"
His look became more cautious. "My father told me it shouldn't be a girl from a rich family. He also didn't want someone who stands in public herself. He wants a girl who is pretty normal. But, uh, I don't want to pretend to be interested in someone only to please my father."
Katara closed her eyes, nodding. "Well, that's only logical. I can't understand how your father would want something like this of you. Finding a girlfriend is something private, and shouldn't depend on something political."
Zuko raised his eyebrows at her words. "Well, it's like that now. But a hundred years ago no one here could decide freely who to be with or who to marry. The parents always had a say in this."
Katara rolled her eyes, hating these old fashioned beliefs. "Yeah, and I wouldn't be able to study."
Zuko nodded, frowning and sighing. He murmured something inaudible to himself, looking angry somehow.
"What?" she asked, feeling slightly annoyed. "What's your problem?"
"I just... I try to do something, but I don't get to do it!" he snarled, looking a bit desperate.
Confusion and a very bad feeling rushed through her. "W-what is it?"
He sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. Katara noticed that he did this quite often. Did he maybe have migraine?
"You don't have a job right now, do you, Katara?" he suddenly asked, probing.
Frowning she blinked. "Uhm... no. How do you know?"
"Sokka told me. Look, I might have a solution to both our problems." He kept on talking, but Katara didn't really hear it.
The nice, shy, and grumbly Zuko she had come to know disappeared again, showing her a calculating and focused person who only focused on pleasing his father.
"You don't really want my notes, do you? Are you even studying law?" she wanted to know, her voice snarling and accusing.
His eyes widened in shock. "N-no! I am studying law! But I... I told you it would feel like cheating to me."
She narrowed her eyes even more. "So they were a pretence?"
"I... I thought if I'd just ask you to meet me you would get the wrong picture," he admitted, looking a bit guilty.
She couldn't believe it. This was so damn wrong. How on Earth could he think such a thing?
She frowned, and confusion rushed through her. "Maybe. But wouldn't that only have served your purpose?"
Zuko shook his head. "No. I never wanted you to think I would want, or uh, be interested in you!"
She blinked, shooting him a dry look. "That doesn't make sense."
"Of course it does," he objected, frowning.
She shook her head, because she thought she didn't really get what he wanted of her. "What is it that you want from me?"
He jerked his head back, looking bewildered, but also frustrated. He quickly glanced around and then leaned forward.
Katara looked around quickly, too. Other than those two girls no one was looking at them, and they didn't seem to be too interested in their conversation, since they kept whispering to each other.
"I would like you to pretend to be my girlfriend."
"What? Why?"
"I told you! My father..."
"But there are tons of normal girls in this city! Why me?"
"Because it wasn't just about normal girls. My father wants this girlfriend to be from the mountains or the south. She should study something intellectual and be pretty, strong, and uh... You're the only girl I know who is like that," he finally said. "There aren't any other southern girls studying at the university, as far as I know."
She slightly opened her mouth, and couldn't help the feeling of betrayal which coursed through her. "So that's the only reason you've been nice to me? You still can't really stand me, right?" She knew it was odd how hurt she felt, since it had only been like this for two days, but she had really come to like him somehow.
He widened his eyes in shock and quickly shook his head. "No! No, that's not true! When I saw you again on Friday I didn't want anything to have to do with you. Jet told me you would be perfect for the role..."
"Jet knows?!" she interjected, horror rising within her. Although she was completely over him for years it still angered her that he had been part of this.
Zuko seemed to shrink a bit more. "Yeah. I told him, and he wanted to help me to find a girl which would fit my father's description. He immediately proposed you, but given our history, I didn't want that." He pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Just when we talked and apologised I started to think that it might work."
Katara still scowled at him and asked herself if she should just leave. But she still had a hot chocolate to drink. A really good hot chocolate.
"I know you're probably upset with what I'm asking of you, and I know it could offend you, but please listen to me. And when I'm done you can just call me an idiot again and walk out of here," he proposed, his eyes looking pleading and suddenly he did look like a wounded puppy.
She narrowed her eyes even more, and couldn't believe she was going to listen to this. But he had said earlier he had a solution for her job problem, so maybe it would be worth it to at least hear him out.
"I won't call you an idiot. I'd call you a crazy asshole and your father, too. But I'll listen."
Answers to reviews:
To Ohfortheloveofpete (Chapter 1): I agree with you, that's why I always try to include Kataang in my stories, even if it doesn't last. I'm just not convinced it really would have been something for life, but I totally love Aang, so I think he really deserves Katara. But I don't think I would actually write a multichaptered Kataang story, since I think there's less material there, after all, they are really together in the series, so why also write a fic about them being together? At least, that's how I see it.
To Smckoy929 (Chapter Seven): Thank you! I tried!
To IDidn'tSignUpForThis (Chapter Six): Oh, that happened to me once, too, but I also check the ATLA fanfiction website with all the updated stories kind of every day, so it was okay. I'm sure you will still be able to follow this story. Besides, isn't it a great feeling finding out that there have been several new chapters posted you haven't read yet? I always love it when that happens, because it means more to read for now! Yeah, it wasn't so easy to get Zuko and Katara to warm up to each other. Haha!:D Well, that's why it is a Zutara fic!
To IDidn'tSignUpForThis (Chapter Seven): Wow, thanks! I guess that means I did it right. I was kind of afraid of having written it too cliché. Yep, he is!:D That's why he's got so many fans!
To uchihaNaruto247 (Chapter Seven): That's a good way to say it, and is exactly what is happening. But Zuko should probably be used to things blowing up in his face... Oh, and the hole will even get deeper... (evil laughter)
