Told you guys it would be inconsecutive drabbles!
Enjoy nontheless
Revision 12.27.12
Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or any of the characters.
Serenade
It was so faint, but Katara could hear it. She looked at the documents and reports in front of her and debated whether or not to find the source of the melody. Since starting her new role as the official ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe to the Fire Nation, the amount of paperwork she had to go through almost rivaled that of the Fire Lord's. She had deadlines to meet and policies to still read. However, the melody was so enticing and lovely that she could not tune it out. She gave the papers one last glance before she decided to track the origins of the music.
It wasn't easy to find the light sounding melody in a building as grandiose as the Fire Palace. Katara had been living there for the past five months and could still not manage her way around without getting lost. Now, though, she had the sound of music guiding her way. It seemed to be getting a little bit louder by the step.
Finally, she reached a tall red door behind which the music was coming from. She contemplated knocking, but thought that it might interrupt the musician from playing. She quietly pushed the door ajar and peered through, hiding in the darkness of the hall.
With his back facing her, Zuko was facing a large, opened balcony with a tsungi horn on his lap. The music was coming from the great instrument, and Zuko drawing the melody from it.
Katara kept gazing completely mesmerized with the music and the musician. In all the years she had known him, he never once mentioned of his talent for the art. Perhaps it wasn't something her friend liked to share, she mused.
Suddenly he stopped. Before Katara could rouse herself from the music induced daze, he turned and glared right at her hiding place.
"Who's there?" he demanded harshly. He expected privacy during his practice, and did not tolerate interruptions.
Katara, although surprised, was not afraid of her friend's bark. She was never the less extremely embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping on what might just be, she realized, a private moment.
She opened the door a little wider just enough for him to see her face. Zuko's eyes widened and he scrambled out of his previous state. His cheeks were flushed in an endearingly adorable fashion that, lately, Katara couldn't help but adore.
"K-Katara!" he exclaimed, "What are you doing here? Did the music bother you? I'm sorry, I'll put it back right away." He began to replace the horn in its case.
Katara smiled at his mannerisms and giggled. She walked up to him and put a reaffirming hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"Nothing is wrong Zuko," she assured. She lowered her hand then began to play nervously with her hair, "I just heard the music and I thought it was so…wonderful. Where did you learn to play?"
Zuko smiled at her, inwardly pleased at her reaction.
"Uncle insisted that I learn some kind of art to distract me while in exile," he explained. "I wasn't a very diligent student, but I've picked it up again just see how bad I've gotten."
"Bad?" Katara said incredulously. "Zuko, that was anything but bad. It was amazing, I mean, I could never get a decent note out of a Warhol-whale flute back at home! Really, I loved the melody you were playing. What exactly were you playing?"
Zuko's cheeks reddened again, but answered unwaveringly, "A serenade. It's the traditional song to play when a potential suitor asks a young woman to allow him to court her."
"Oh?" Katara raised an eyebrow and teased, pretending to dramatic airs around her ,"And to whom are you planning to play this piece to? Hmm? When will this young lady hear the song from your heart?"
She looked at him laughing, but found him staring so intently at her that she stopped.
Zuko took one step forward and placed himself right in front of her. He lowered his lips to her ear, and Katara took a sharp breath. Her heart began to beat mercilessly, and she felt the blood rush to her face.
"She already heard it," he whispered, " and told me she loved it."