A/N: This is my first venture into ATLA fanfiction. Be kind, please. Review and let me know what you think! :)
Nights were long and Katara had trouble sleeping more often than not. Usually, she would go to a river nearby to wherever they were and sit at the edge, watching the peaceful ripples that the water made.
Tonight, she was worried. Zuko had just joined the team and, sure, it was nice having a firebending teacher for Aang, but he wasn't to be trusted.
Katara shook the image of the vulnerable Zuko she had thought she had seen when they were imprisoned together out of her mind. He had seemed so human, so real, almost enchanting in a way.
She sighed and threw her head back, skimming her toes along the surface of the water.
"Mind if I join you?"
Katara turned to look behind her, at the boy that the voice belonged to.
"You've never asked to drop in on us before," she replied sarcastically. "Why start now?"
Zuko managed a half smile and sat down next to her.
"I know you don't want me here, Katara," he told her.
"That's an understatement," she muttered.
"I'm just following my heart," Zuko explained. "Doing what I think my destiny is telling me to do."
Katara snorted, tracing circles in the water with her feet.
"Do you come out here every night?" Zuko asked, evidently feeling that a subject change would help.
"Most nights," she shrugged. "I can't always sleep. You know how it is, when you're always being chased by a crazy firebending prince that's trying to capture all your friends."
He sighed, realizing that this conversation wasn't going anywhere.
"I've changed," he reminded her. "And I'll be here tomorrow night, and the night after that, until you're convinced."
"Be my guest," Katara chuckled.
Zuko nodded and tried to take it as an invitation to join her, instead of what it really was, a challenge that he was sure he'd have difficulty in beating.
:::
"You're back," Katara observed. "What do you want?"
"I told you yesterday," Zuko said. "I'm going to come out here until you realize that I've changed."
She closed her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them, he noticed that they were brighter than before, and filled with fire despite matching the color of the river before them.
"How is it that you plan to go about convincing me?" Katara asked finally.
Zuko chuckled sheepishly.
"I haven't quite figured that out yet," he confessed. "But you'll be thoroughly convinced, I know that."
"Great plan you've got there," she noted. "Can't wait to see how it plays out."
Zuko turned away so that he could roll his eyes without her seeing.
:::
"So, tell me about the Water Tribe," Zuko said conversationally. "Did you like living in all that ice?"
He shuddered at the thought, absentmindedly bringing a small flame into his hand to stop thinking about all that cold.
His fire was extinguished immediately by a torrent of water that also left him grimacing at the fact that he was now thoroughly soaked.
"I'm not a huge fan of fire," Katara told him.
She hesitated a moment before replying to his question.
"It's the prettiest place in the world," Katara smiled. "And it used to be the liveliest too, but ever since…"
She bit her lip and Zuko tried to grab the moment. He put his hand on top of hers and lowered his voice.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," he whispered. "I unde–"
"You don't understand anything!" Katara exclaimed.
She wrenched her hand away from his and glared at him.
"Don't try to touch me again," she warned him. "Or I will make sure that your hands cannot move."
"I'm sorry," Zuko apologized. "I was just trying to help."
"Well, you didn't!" Katara snapped.
He stood up and silently went back to his sleeping bag. He was done for the night.
:::
The next day, Zuko was wary when approaching the girl he had been spending every night with.
"I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that," Katara admitted, not turning around.
He raised an eyebrow, surprised at this sudden move forward.
"You're part of our team now," she continued. "And I guess I just have to accept that. That doesn't mean I've forgiven you for everything and that doesn't mean I'm convinced of your supposed reinvention of yourself. But I shouldn't have done that yesterday."
Zuko smiled, stepping forward to settle on the damp grass next to her.
"I get it," he told her. "You just have to–"
"I don't have to do anything," Katara retorted. "Don't get ideas just because I apologized."
"Just trust me, Katara," he sighed. "I'm not all bad like you think I am."
She didn't reply and instead turned her head up to stare at the stars.
"Are you looking for answers in the sky?" Zuko asked quietly. "I do it too."
Katara remained silent and he knew he was right. She was mildly surprised when his hand moved over hers, and mindblowingly shocked when she realized that her hand wasn't following her order to get out from under his. Sighing to herself, she looked back at the stars, careful not to look back at him.
Zuko smiled in quiet triumph.
:::
Zuko had spent weeks waiting for this moment, the moment where Katara would accept him as one of their own, the moment where he would truly be part of the team, the moment where he would become fully confident in his newfound destiny.
"You win," Katara shrugged. "Happy? I think you're definitely part of the team now."
Sure, they had gone on that little excursion together a couple days ago, and he had thought they were pretty good, but hearing the words was so different.
"I knew you'd come around eventually," Zuko replied. "I'm glad that we can be closer now, Katara."
"Stay far enough," she teased. "Seems like you trained a little harder than usual today."
He was confused for a moment. Katara had been in town with Toph in the afternoon so how would she know?
He looked back at her, and at seeing the grin on her face, he realized that the smell of sweat had lingered on his clothes.
"Oh," Zuko said. "I'll clean up tomorrow."
Katara hid her giggles behind her hand.
"Go sleep," she told him. "Now that you've finally accomplished your goal, you've earned your rest."
Zuko managed a half smile as he turned around to go back to sleep, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach as he glanced back at the lone figure at the river's edge.
:::
Katara was quiet as she absentmindedly twirled a coil of water around her arm. She found herself missing Zuko's presence, even if he was a little clueless at times, and sarcastic at others.
"I couldn't sleep."
The water abruptly cascaded back into the river.
"Zuko!" Katara exclaimed. "You surprised me."
He bit his lip so as not to reveal that he'd been walking rather loudly, stepping on twigs and kicking pebbles in his way.
"Sorry," Zuko said. "I thought I was being pretty loud…"
"I was thinking," she shrugged. "Probably not your fault."
He raised his eyebrows, wondering what had her so deep in thought.
"What were you thinking about?" he asked, curious.
Katara smiled slightly, resurrecting her coil of water and making it dance through the air.
"Nothing," she said softly. "Just thinking, that's all."
"Right," Zuko replied, trying to act as if he understood what she was saying.
:::
"You know, you should really get more sleep so you can teach Aang properly," Katara reprimanded him.
Still, she did nothing as he sat next to her. The gap between them had closed in the weeks that had passed; now they were mere centimeters away from each other.
"I could say the same thing to you," Zuko pointed out.
She had no answer for that. He let the silence remain for a few minutes and it was only broken when he inadvertently shivered.
"You cold?" Katara asked. "You should probably make a fire or something."
"I didn't want to get waterbent at again," Zuko smirked.
She rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly.
"I'm not going to apologize for that," Katara laughed. "It was a lot of fun."
"Really?" Zuko said, his eyes lighting up. "I should try it out."
Before she could register what exactly was happening, he had put a hand in the water and splashed her, soaking her through.
"You are so childish!" she exclaimed.
Despite her protests, she splashed him and he splashed her back until they were both dripping.
"Okay, okay, I surrender," Zuko sighed finally. "Can't beat a master waterbender, huh?"
"I didn't even waterbend!" Katara insisted.
She starting pulling all the water out of her clothes and then moved on to Zuko's when she felt dry again.
"Well, that's what you say," he shrugged. "You might have."
"Oh, shut up," she told him, sticking her tongue out.
They sat in friendly silence for a minute, until Zuko finally gathered his courage.
"You seemed like you were thinking about something important the other night," he reminded her. "What's bothering you?"
Katara sighed, as if she'd seen his question coming.
"I think," she began. "No… Well, I think…"
Zuko felt the corners of his mouth turning up as she starting to turn pink.
"Katara, do you like me?" he asked.
Sure, he didn't look like a devil, but that didn't mean he wasn't one, Katara reasoned.
"Perhaps," she mumbled. "Or maybe I don't like you at all."
Zuko closed what little space was left between them and leaned forward to touch his lips to hers.
"Zuko, what are you doing?!" Katara exclaimed. "Did I ever–"
"I like you too," he told her.
She stared at him for a moment, as if unable to comprehend that this was really happening.
"Go to sleep," she said finally. "Aang will wear you out otherwise."
"If you're not sure about this, it's okay," Zuko told her. "I'll be there with you, every night."
He smiled as he got up to go to sleep.
Halfway there, he realized that she was saying something, so he stopped in his tracks.
"I like you too," Katara called to him. "Too. I guess I'd have to say too twice since you said too the first time, even though I never admitted…"
"Good night, Katara," Zuko replied firmly.
He was about to get into bed when he noticed that she was no longer sitting up. Quickly walking over to take a look, he found that she had fallen asleep, smiling widely. Sighing, he leaned down to pick her up, and he was surprised when bright blue eyes flew open and soft lips captured his.
"I'm sure about this," Katara said softly.
Zuko barely waited for her to finish talking before he kissed her again.
:::
"Told you Aang would tire you out," Katara told him.
"Yeah, yeah," Zuko sighed, sleepy.
His head was lying in Katara's lap and her hands were idly running through his hair.
"Looks like my great plan worked," Zuko mumbled sleepily.
"You're too sleepy to think straight," Katara giggled. "Just close your eyes."
He shifted so he was lying next to her, intertwined their fingers, and drifted off to sleep. Though she was slightly uncomfortable, Katara smiled, squeezed his hand, and closed her own eyes.