Big thanks to every one who has read this story, added it to their alerts and favorites list and most of all to those who reviewed. I'm very grateful. here's another chapter. Please R&R.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Do not own A:TLA or any character from the show.
CHAPTER 5
Zuko had never been overly mistrustful, but as soon as Katara left, he followed her at a safe distance and parked in front of her apartment building. Just as he had gotten to the parking lot, he had seen her go into her building. He had guessed which one her apartment was by the light that came on soon after she had gone up. She lived on the top floor. He had stayed even after the light had gone off 20minutes afterwards. An hour and a half later, he was still staring up at her window when the security personnel came to knock on his window asking if there was a problem. He shook his head and said he was just leaving. He was a little ashamed of himself. He didn't know why he had waited so long. Was he expecting her to leave her apartment to go over to that creeps place? Or had he been expecting the creep to show up instead? What would he have done in either scenario? If he had been a little paranoid, he was not to blame though. He had been given cause to be!
How was a guy supposed to feel when the first time he saw his woman, in three long years, she was laughing up at some creep. To add insult to injury Katara was carrying his favorite bag of all time! The only time he could remember being as angry was when he had still been living with Ozai – his father. He hadn't wanted anything more than to punch the guy's lights out. Only two things had stopped him. He hadn't wanted Katara to see him like that. And he had had AJ to consider. The little boy had been right there in his mother's arms. He was sure if AJ wasn't there, Toph would have enjoyed the beat-down he would have given the Jet guy. What kind of name was Jet anyway?
Katara had looked so beautiful. Free of makeup save for her favorite sheer lip gloss. He couldn't get over how much more beautiful she looked to him. Even though he was angry with her for the stunt she'd pulled, he couldn't hold on to the anger for long. He just wanted her back, like yesterday. He hadn't come to show her how angry he was for the separation she had forced on him. It was the sight of Jet's arm around her waist and the bag that had done it. She had said she hadn't spent the night with the creep before. What did that even mean? That she had slept with the guy but not spent the night with him before? Or that she hadn't slept with him ever? He hoped fervently that the latter was the case. No matter, whatever it was she had had going on with the fellow ended now. Katara was his woman; it was as simple as that. If it hadn't been for this stupid misunderstanding that had derailed their plans, they would have celebrated their anniversary last month. They probably would have had a baby on the way by now too. Everything was going to get back on track now. He was confident of it.
He had seen the doubt settle in Katara's mind. He knew all he had needed was a chance to talk to her. She had been acting like it was his words she doubted but he had seen through her. It was self-doubt more than anything else. He was thinking of surprising her tomorrow. He had brought along her favorite box of chocolates – Godiva dark Chocolate Solid Gems. He was going to show up at her doorstep and sweep her off her feet – again. Not that he needed chocolates to be able to do that, but it helped to be armed. And Katara could never resist him and chocolates together. He had very fond memories of Katara, himself and chocolates. Did Katara work on Saturdays? Well if she did he'd wait for her anyway.
After breakfast, Toph told Zuko he was on babysitting detail. She had to go to the mall and talk to Katara. She had marched into Zuko's room with a bag full of toys and books on one shoulder, AJ clutching her other hand. Zuko had wanted to argue, but he knew better. Besides he enjoyed spending time with AJ. He had spent a lot of time at his uncle's over the past three years; and had obtained some skills. Toph instructed he should just order up some fresh fruits if AJ wanted a snack. With that and a kiss on both cheeks for AJ, she was gone. Zuko figured it wouldn't hurt to let Toph have her talk with Katara before he saw her. It would give her more time to come to terms with her mistake. Besides he knew Toph had missed Katara and they needed to patch things up since they had parted on an unpleasant note the last time they had been together. He settled down with AJ and switched to the Cartoon Network Channel.
Toph got to the mall at 9:45am. She saw the 'closed' sign up, but she could see Katara's assistant bustling about busily inside. The sign on the window said the worked from 10:00am to 6:00pm on Saturdays. She didn't have too long to wait so she decided to wait right there. Ekua saw her waiting though and quickly came over and let her in.
"Hello Toph! Come on in. Katara's in her office. Let me just inform her you're here, alright?" she smiled at Toph.
"Thanks Ekua. I would rather not surprise her again." She replied a bit glumly.
"Oh dear, I take it last night didn't go very well? Maybe surprising her at her apartment hadn't been a good idea? She's going to kill me when she finds out I gave you directions." She said a little worried.
"Ah well, I might as well get it over with then. Wish me luck Toph. If I'm not out in 5minutes feel free to come looking for me, body bag in hand." Ekua added to lighten the mood, chuckling a little nervously.
"Don't worry Ekua. I'll just tell her you couldn't resist my AJ's charms. I owe you after all."
Ekua knocked and poked her head into Katara's office. She now had a slight idea what the dark circles under her boss's eyes had been about. She normally wouldn't have given Katara's address out. But she had felt compelled to by the desperation the guy Toph had come in with had been trying to hide. And she had only seen eyes like his in one other person – Katara's angel of a child.
"Hey Boss Lady, Toph is here to see you."
"What? Right now? Oh ok. Show her in please."
"Oh and she was here on Friday when you were out for lunch and…."
"You! Oh Ekua why didn't you at least tell me you had given my address to Toph?" she cried.
"I'm so sorry Katara. They had wanted to surprise you. They said they came all the way from the States and were very close friends but had lost touch. Forgive me?" she pleaded.
"It's alright Ekua. Don't worry about it. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Please just show her in." she responded tiredly.
Toph came into Katara's office and pinned her friend with a level gaze. She refused the seat Katara offered and got right down to business.
"Was that the best you could do? To leave without giving Zuko and your relationship a chance? Are you happy? I'm so upset with you! Do you have any idea how badly he missed you? You should have at least heard him out once! And you wouldn't even listen to me! I thought it was innocent until proven guilty, but it's the other way around in your books huh?"
Toph was on a roll and wouldn't let Katara get a word in edgewise. She continued with her diatribe when she saw Katara open her mouth.
"That was totally selfish Katara. Do you know how badly your cutting Zuko off affected him? He was a mess for a long time before he picked himself up. He never stopped looking for you. The only consolation he had was Sokka assuring him you were fine. He never betrayed you Katara. You betrayed the both of you! I would never forgive you if I didn't know how much Zuko loves and needs you, and how much I miss my friend!"
Katara could see how much of a bad choice she had made. She knew Toph had an uncanny perceptiveness. Toph wouldn't have been on Zuko's side if she had had the slightest doubt. She had screwed up big time!
"Oh Toph, please forgive me," she cried with tears shining in her eyes.
She got up from behind her desk and came round to where Toph was standing. She put her hand on Toph's arm. The plea was clear in her eyes.
"I was in shock at the time, I wasn't thinking straight and I was my usual stubborn self. I should have listened to him at least once. Or at least let you finish your argument in his favor. I was just so focused on my feelings of hurt I let it blind me."
She was crying softly now and hung her head. When she felt Toph place her hand on hers she knew it was time to come clean to Toph.
"That…that wasn't all. I lost sight of what was important. When the franchise opportunity came I jumped at it because…I…I was trying to not let Zuko know I was carrying his baby."
"Katara! You didn't! What were you thinking? You mean you and Zuko have a child and you didn't think to let him know all this time? And I thought that Jet guy you were with last night was your all time low!"
Katara flinched at her friend's words. She knew it was hard but it was the truth.
"What am I going to do Toph? I don't think Zuko is going to take this kindly. He's going to be furious!"
"You know what you have to do. He will be furious, but he'll forgive you. Is there anything he hasn't forgiven you for yet?"
"This isn't on a scale of any wrong I've ever done him!"
"He loves you. He will be hopping mad, but he'll get over it. But I gotta say Sugar Queen, for a highly intelligent person like you, this was one downhill ride from dumb to dumber!"
"I really hope so. I was afraid he'd take my baby from me since I wasn't going to marry him. The baby was all I had left of him. I wasn't going to risk him taking her away. I loved him though I was so angry and hurt. I still love him. I just hope we can get through this somehow." Katara sighed.
Looking at how dejected Katara looked, Toph found she didn't have it in her to keep scolding her. Putting her arms around her friend she hugged her tightly.
"Don't worry too much. Everything will turn out fine. I missed you Katara."
"Okay. I missed you too Toph." Katara sniffed.
"Oh but you have to lose that looser Sugar Queen." Toph said dryly.
"What?" Katara asked, not catching on.
"The Jet guy, Katara. I thought one was supposed to move onto bigger and better things if one did move on, not downgrade."
"Oh come on Toph, Jet's not that bad. Not that I would know about the bigger and better part though. We didn't get that far. I'd been trying really hard to get over Zuko, you know? I needed all the help I could get."
"Well that won't be necessary now so get rid of him, and fast. He was too slick for you anyway. "
"I enjoyed spending time with him but I never could get close to him physically. Zuko was always intruding." Katara groused.
"Serves you right, you silly woman. So when are you gonna tell him about his daughter? It has to be right away. You wanna come with me? I sent the car back to the hotel hoping I could get you to go drop me off and make you go see him even if you didn't want to." She chuckled at her own ingenuity.
"I guess Ekua could take care of stuff for an hour or two. She does it every now and then so that shouldn't be a problem. Let's go. You know there's an Akan proverb that literally goes like 'If you owe a slap, it's better to take it sooner.' Ekua always says it about unpleasant stuff she can't put off. It sure fits my situation now." She grimaced.
Getting to the hotel Toph took her right up. Zuko came to the door and looked surprised when he saw Katara in tow. Katara wished this was the only surprise she had for him today, fearing the other surprise wouldn't bring a smile on his face like this one had. Not right away anyway.
She followed Toph into Zuko's room which was littered with toys and books. Apparently the two of them had been having fun while Toph was out. Toph's son rushed to hug his mother.
"Uncle Zuko and I watched Tom and Jerry! And then he read me a story!"
"Well, sounds like you had a lot of fun. Say hello to Aunt Katara." She told her son with a warm smile, ruffling his hair.
"Hello aunt Katara." He said shyly. He took more after his father than his mother.
"Hello AJ. You've grown so big. You won't remember me because when we met you were just a baby. Now look at you!" she beamed at him. He beamed right back.
"Well we'll leave you two to talk. See you later." Toph said leading her son to their room.
"Hey Tara." Zuko said softly, stepping towards her and taking her hand in his and raising it to his lips; kissing her without his gaze leaving hers.
"Hey Zuko." She answered. "Can we talk?"
"Of course. Come sit with me." He said, leading her to a seat.
Katara couldn't remember a time in her life that she had been more nervous. But this had to be done. And she had brought it on herself.
"I want to apologize. I should have known better than to make decisions while I was angry and holding on to the anger for so long. It was wrong and I had no right. Please forgive me."
"I wish things had been different, but what's done is done. What matters is that we're together now. I love you. I just want you back. That's all I ask."
"I love you too. I tried getting over you. I thought I had finally gotten over you but I kept thinking about you, even when I was with Jet…"
"Let's just forget about him, shall we? The thought of you with that guy makes me want to break something."
"I never slept with Jet. And it wasn't because of lack of trying. I just couldn't do it. Thoughts of you kept getting in the way. But let's not talk about him. I want to make things right."
Before Katara could go on, she was up in Zuko's arms. He ducked in and kissed her before Katara could get over her surprise and ask to be put down. Katara's eyes fluttered close as she felt Zuko's lips on hers. She couldn't believe how good his lips felt; it was so familiar, like they hadn't been apart for 3years. And yet it also felt like their first kiss; making her pulse quicken with the heat of it. She felt like a parched person being given a glass of cold water. She wound her arms around his neck and tilted her head just so. She heard Zuko groan in appreciation as he deepened the kiss. When she felt herself being lowered to the bed, she remembered why she had come to talk to Zuko in the first place.
"Zuko I need to tell you something!" she said trying to sit up.
"Tara I think it can wait. I've missed you so much, you have no idea. Can't we…"
"You have a 2year old daughter!" Katara blurted cutting Zuko off.
She felt Zuko go rigid, and he slowly got up into a sitting position. He looked rather confused.
"What are you talking about Tara?" he asked with a hint of incredulity.
Katara took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart and looked Zuko straight in the eyes though it was very difficult to.
"I had been on my way to tell you I was pregnant three years ago; that day at your condo."
Zuko's eyes widened in shock, and then he got the stoic expression on. And all Katara could think to herself was 'Uh oh, I'm dead!'