Here is the next chapter!:) Sorry It's been so long, been really busy going to school and what not. I would like to say thanks for the reviews!:)) I hope you love it!
I do not own any of the Avatar characters, only Slaji:)
Zuko awoke to Katara shaking him violently. He looked in to her tear filled eyes half asleep trying to figure out what was going on.
"Katara, what do you think you're doing?" he asked as he sat up. He looked around and saw Toph sitting at the end of his bed. Then he looked outside of his window and saw that the sun was just about to brake over the horizon.
"You were yelling in your sleep again." She said as a tear escaped her eye.
Zuko lifted his hand and slowly wiped the stray tear form her face. He realized that today was going to be rough for all three of them. He would be morning a death, but Katara and Toph were going to be watching him go through all of this, and he knew that wasn't going to be easy for them.
"I'm ok. There is no reason to cry Katara." He said trying to sooth her.
"I'm sorry Zuko. I didn't-"
"Shhh. It's ok Katara." He said as he pulled her into a hug. Over her shoulder he saw Toph wiping a tear from her eye. He stretched out his arm and pulled Toph into the hug.
They sat there for a long time just embracing each other. No one said anything; they just sat there in silence hugging. But they had to break a part sooner or later.
"Ok, I don't want to see any of this outside of this room." He said in a stern voice.
Both Katara and Toph nodded in agreement.
"I'm going to go feed Momo and Appa." Toph said out of the blue.
Zuko took this as her pretending nothing was wrong. He appreciated it very much. He didn't want anyone else knowing what was going on today. He looked up at Katara and saw the confusion on her face from Toph's behavior.
"I think she's pretending like nothing's happening today." He answered her silent question.
"Oh, I guess so."
Katara looked at Zuko. He never noticed how deep her eyes were. There was so much love and compassion behind her brilliant blue eyes. He could stare into them all day, and never got bored he realized.
"Zuko, are you sure you're going to be ok today?"
"Katara, don't worry about me, I'm going to be fine. I have been through this day three times, and I've found that each year it gets a little better." He answered honestly.
She grabbed him in a bone crushing hug, and he returned it. He wished he wouldn't have told her what happened to Salji. Now she was holding the burden of trying to make sure he didn't get upset all day. She finally pulled away from him.
"I better go make breakfast for everyone. Would you like to help?" she asked.
"Umm… I'm not a very good cook." He said flatly.
"Oh, ok." She got up to leave, but he grabbed her wrist.
"Thank you Katara."
"For what?" she asked confused.
"For everything. For forgiving me, for excepting me into your group, and for helping me through this." He finished with a small smile.
She returned the smile. "You're welcome Zuko."
He let go of her wrist, and she walked towards the door. Before she walked out she said, "And you're not just a part of the group, you're a part of the family." She gave him a huge smile.
He smiled back just as big. He never thought of himself as a part of the family. He thought they just took him in as Aang's firebending teacher, but Katara saying this made feel good. Ever since his mom disappeared, he felt like the only family he had was his uncle, and he didn't even know if he was live or not. He had felt alone without his uncle, but now knowing that the group considered him as family, he felt almost whole again.
He got up off the bed and hugged Katara again. When he let go of her he saw the biggest smile playing across her face, and he couldn't help but to smile back. Then she was off to make breakfast for everyone. Zuko shut the door and leaned up against it. How was it possible that Katara could make him smile so much on the day that should be the saddest?
He went to his bathroom to clean up for breakfast. He pulled on his shirt and brushed his teeth. When he felt he was presentable he made his way down stairs. Everyone was in the kitchen already eating. Zuko took his spot at the table and looked into the bowl that's was sitting in front of him.
It was fresh berry and leachy-nut stew. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. The last time he had this was three years ago to the day. It was Salji's favorite breakfast, and she ate it every morning. Zuko could never understand how she could eat it every morning and not get sick of it. But that was Salji for you, she always did what was least expected.
He could feel two pairs of eyes on him. He looked up and saw Toph and Katara staring at him assessing what was about to happen. He gave them a small smile in reissuance, and they looked at him a little longer then turned away.
He knew that this is how it was going to be for the rest of the day. He knew that every movement, every facial expression, and every word was going to be analyzed, and that was what he was afraid of.
Soon everyone was through eating. Katara picked up all of the bowls and started to clean them, Toph sat at her chair digging something out from under her fingernail, Suki was humming a tune to herself, and Sokka looked like he was in deep thought.
"I'm bored!" Sokka said loud enough for the people at the North Pole to here.
"Well find something to do. Maybe you could help me clean the dishes, or wash the clothes." Katara suggested.
"No, I don't want to do that kind of stuff." He whined.
"Let's go into town and see if there is something to do!" Suki said.
It was decided that they were to go into town to find something that kept everyone occupied. They all had to go get dressed in their Fire Nation clothes, and then they would meet outside.
It didn't take Zuko long, because he always wore his regular clothes. And since nobody really knew who he was here, he didn't have to wear his bulky cloak. He liked walking around without anyone knowing who he was.
They all met outside and were on their way. They had to walk through dense forest for a while, and then the town came into view. They all decided that they would split up to cover more ground, and maybe find different suggestions faster. Sokka grabbed Suki's hand and they were off. Aang was about to ask Katara to go with him, but Toph grabbed his arm with lightning speed.
"Let's go Twinkle Toes." She said as she halled him off in the opposite direction.
So that left Zuko and Katara. He was secretly happy that Toph took Aang. He liked being around Katara, more than he should. He never let himself get close to anyone, but it was so easy to be around Katara. When he was with her, he felt like he wasn't being judged or watched. He could just be himself around her.
"So I guess that means we're partners." she stated bringing him out of thought. He looked down at her and saw a smile stretch across her face. She was happy to be with him too.
They walked into the courtyard in the middle of the small town. There were some people gathered around the fountain in it, and some waiting in line to buy groceries. Zuko and Katara walked around eavesdropping on some of the people's conversations, but found nothing of interest. Soon they ended up running into the others, and they found nothing either.
"Why don't we go to the beach?" Zuko said after he racked his brain trying to think of something to do.
"That sounds fun!" Suki agreed.
"To the beach!" Sokka said enthusiastically pointing his index finger in the air.
When they arrived at the beach there were like ten people there, so there was enough room for them to spread out and relax.
Sokka broke out a big beach towel for him and Suki to sit on and Toph was occupying Aang trying to teach him how to sandbend. Zuko walked over to the edge of the water and sat down in it. He patted the sand beside him for Katara to join him, and she did.
They sat there for a moment in silence as the waves rippled into their bodies. Zuko liked just sitting there with Katara. Nothing had to be said, and he enjoyed that. Katara had been one of his first friends, besides Toph, since Salji died. But it was a different friendship than the one he had with Toph. Toph was like his little sister, Katara was something more. He never let anyone get close enough to him for them to befriend him, but somehow Katara got past that. This made him feel like he was replacing Salji with Katara in some way. He didn't even realize that tears started to well up in his eyes.
"Zuko," Katara said in a soft voice, "are you ok?"
He looked over at her, and also saw a small tear escape from her eye. He didn't want to put Katara through pain. Seeing her like this made his heart hurt.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." He said with a sure voice.
She looked at him assessing if he was telling the truth or not, and apparently he passed because she let her gaze drop. He didn't like it when she didn't look at him, he loved looking into her eyes that he had come so accustomed to the past few days.
He put his hand under her chin and made her look into his eyes. "Are you going to be like this the rest of the day?"
"I just don't want to see you in pain Zuko. If there is any way I can stop it from happening, I will. When you're in pain, I'm in pain." She finished in a whisper.
"Well I never want to see you in pain, and I will never do anything to hurt you. So if seeing me in pain causes you to be in pain, then I'm going to be the happiest I can be" he finished with flashing her a broad smile.
"Zuko, it's not good to keep your feelings bottled up in side.
Zuko did have feelings bottled up inside. About Salji, his dad, his mom, his uncle, and many more, but he didn't want to worry Katara with them. He didn't want her to be in pain, never did he want her to be in pain.
Under the water Zuko intertwined his and Katara's fingers. "Katara, I'm ok, stop worrying so much."
Katara's face turned scarlet red across her cheekbones. The color was so beautiful on her. To the sudden color change in her face Zuko couldn't help but to smile. He also felt himself bush a little, but he couldn't figure out why.
"For some reason I don't believe you" she said shyly.
"Well you better" he said untwining their fingers, and picking Katara up as he stood.
"Zuko! What do you think you're doing!" she yelled.
He gave her a brilliant smile. "I'm being the happiest I can be."
Then he threw her into the water. She came back up to the surface panting for air.
"You're going to regret that." She said with a wicked smile.