Sooo, I know it's already the seventeenth (at least here), but I had exams until recently, so I didn't have time to write something every day, but after the last exam I tried to catch up with Zutara Month, and now I have! But I have to say that writing this at least a little bit after or during studying really kept me from going crazy with worry that I could fail. It helped me to balance, I guess. And I missed writing for my own stories so much!
Okay, so, the following content is inspired by Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. It takes place in the same AU as my Christmas story A Zutara Christmas.
For those who haven't read that story or watched Miraculous, firstly, you should totally do that, and secondly, I'm going to explain a few things: Katara and Zuko have little spirit companions, who can fuse with them and make them become the superheroes Painted Lady and Blue Spirit. I changed their spirit outfits a bit, so they look more like superheroes. I just thought that fighting in a dress with a large hat and a veil, or a mask that obscures half your vision might not be that practical. Katara and Zuko go to the same school and are friends, but Katara was crushing on him a while ago. They both don't know that they are also their superhero partners. Their enemy is Phoenix King, who wants to steal their powers. And anything else would spoil you.
I hope you enjoy reading it!
I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender or Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Day 1: Blue Spirit / Painted Lady
"Hey there," a voice just atop of her says.
Smiling she turns around, seeing Blue Spirit making his way towards her casually. He slides down the roof, then crouches down next to her, his arm touching hers.
Katara, currently transformed into Painted Lady, tries to hide her sharp intake of breath. It's not easy to be this close to Blue Spirit.
"H-h, uh, hi," she stammers, and tries not to grimace.
Turning his head towards her, she sees his white lips spread in a smirk, his fangs reflecting the light from the street lamps under them. "Are you okay?" he asks, and manages to make that sound flirty.
Her breath hitches, and her heart beats fast. How can she ever do that? This was a really bad idea. "Yeah, sure. It seems you're in a good mood, too," she says, waiting for an answer.
He frowns slightly, and she lets out a breath. Okay, good, that means he's not so fine. Great.
"Actually... I'm not," he murmurs, and stares ahead onto the other roofs of Ba Sing Se's middle ring.
"Oh. Uh, what happened?" she asks softly, trying to get him to tell her about his worries.
"I broke up with Katara," Blue Spirit says, sounding like a puppy who was kicked out on the street.
Katara blinks. Uh, no he had not!
Blue turns his head to look at her, his eyes wide, cringing at the sight of her facial expression. "Well, we kind of broke up together," he adds.
That makes her sigh, and she feels her dignity is safe.
Katara bites her lip, not knowing how to respond to that. She can't possibly lend him her ear and listen to his heartbreak, when she is suffering from the same. Not that he knows, though.
Hearing him talking about the pain she is feeling about their break up can only end in her revealing her identity, and telling him that she wants to get back together.
"You know how Phoenix King is, and I don't know if I could keep my feelings a secret, if Katara would ever be in danger."
Pressing her lips together, Katara tries hard not to smile. Oh gosh, this is torture! He's so sweet to her without knowing that it's her!
And she can never reveal her identity to him. At least not until Phoenix Kong is defeated.
"I see. That was very honourable of you," she says instead. "I know it hurts, but it is better that way. She could have endangered you."
Blue's head suddenly whips around, and he glares at her. "What? No! I endangered her!"
Katara's eyes widen, and she feels surprised and touched at the same time. That's not what he said to her yesterday, when she was only Katara, but they had agreed that a secret relationship between a super hero alter ego and a normal girl cannot work in the long term.
"Oh. How?"
"If our relationship had somehow been discovered, and Phoenix King would have known, he could have used her against me. Against us, actually, since I would rather give him your necklace than see her hurt or in danger," he admits a bit sheepishly.
Katara raises her eyebrows, not knowing if she should feel flattered or not. Of course, she loves that he fell in love with her civilian form, when she was only a normal girl, but Painted Lady felt very often offended by how Blue seemed to care more about Katara. Which is silly, of course, since she's the same person. But not so long ago, Blue crushed on her Painted Lady form, and not hearing him flirting with her, calling her "Milady", when she was transformed, felt strange, even though she still received flirting and flowers from him, but in her civilian form.
"Hm...," she hums, but starts thinking about it. When she still crushed on Zuko, she did a lot of bad and unintelligent things in order to save him or simply, because she got jealous, after seeing him with Mai. It was very dangerous sometimes, and she regrets deeply, how unfocused she was. But she wouldn't change a thing about it. Zuko is still her friend, and having him safe is more important than some magical powers. "I understand that."
Blue raises an eyebrow. "Is this how you feel about this boy of yours?"
Katara smiles slightly, and shakes her head. "It's more how I felt about him."
Blue blinks, looking surprised.
Some part of Katara wants him to try something, but another part would be deeply offended at that behaviour.
Blue simply grimaces a little. "Didn't work out?"
Katara shrugs. "Not really. I never told him how I felt, and then he got closer to another girl, and I... fell for someone else," she adds, blushing, although he cannot know she's talking about him. She still looks away, though.
"And now you're happy?" Blue probes.
Determined not to talk about her anymore, she shakes her head and stares back at him. "Not important right now. We were talking about your love life! That you're heartbroken, because you cannot be with Katara anymore, because you love her so much!" Well, that was probably a bit too much.
But Blue doesn't deny anything, and Katara's heart almost leaps into her throat.
A sad smile covers Blue's lips, and he sighs. "You got it."
He never actually said he loves her. Not once. Whenever he visited her in the evening, or deep in the night, all those things they said, every time they talked about their feelings for each other, he never said he loved her. But he isn't denying it now. At all.
It takes all of Katara's willpower not to end her transformation by saying "Paint off!" and tackle him with a hug and kisses.
Her stomach clenches as does her chest, and her heart beats so wildly she's surprised she doesn't simply explode from love. Yep, that's what she feels. She loves him. Great that she's realising that now, after they broke up. In the next moment, she only wants to cry.
Maybe she can arrange a film and ice cream night tomorrow with Suki, hoping Sokka won't disturb them, or snatch Suki away to stick his tongue into her mouth. Ew.
"But that's not the end," Blue suddenly says confidently.
Katara turns her head to look at him questioningly. What is he talking about?
Blue Spirit grins his full demonic grin. "If Katara would fall for my civilian self, and I wouldn't reveal my identity to her, we'll still be able to be together!"
A large smile spreads on Katara's face, as her eyes widen. Oh spirits, would he really do that? But, wait... His civilian self?
"Are you sure Katara won't recognise you?" she asks, her eyebrows raised. Then again, he hadn't recognised his super hero partner in his secret girlfriend, too.
That makes him stop, though. "I don't think so. Although, she's really smart. But... I mean, you know that I normally look way more different than that." He points to his face, the blue skin, white eyebrows, and cheekbones and lips, the fangs, and the all black eyes, not showing even a little white.
Katara blinks. Well, yeah. After all, her skin is normally darker, her eyes aren't brown and her hair isn't black. But she's very thankful for the great change in appearance her transformation brings her. With how often she had to be close to people who actually know her that came in handy. That, and she always changed her voice when she was with them.
"Yeah... But I didn't mean your appearance. More your voice, and behaviour. Your whole demeanour. I mean, if you're going to..." Her blush growing fierce, she thinks about the feeling of his hands, and the way he whispered her name, how hungrily and sweetly he kissed her, what noises he made, when she stroked his back... All that are things she can't forget, and she is positive she will recognise him in an instant. "... spend a lot of time with her, won't she notice?"
Blue frowns, but shakes his head again. "I know she won't, but I cannot tell you why."
Now she's the one scowling. "Seriously?"
"It's to protect my identity," he explains evasively. "And you really don't have to worry. I'll just watch Katara for a while, wait until she doesn't feel sad anymore and restart dating. Only after she'll be with someone else will I approach her."
Shit. Katara has to find a boyfriend. Immediately!
"Okay. I'm sure this will work," she smirks, bumping her shoulder into his.
Blue smiles at her, and because of the way this makes her heart melt, she's sure she won't ever fall for anyone, before he will come into her life again.