…Nothing.
I watch them both, completely paralyzed and Zuko's eyebrows furrow, Aang's stance strengthens.
"No!" I whisper, tears falling down my cheeks, but they're completely unnoticed by me.
"Don't do anything stupid." Zuko tells him, his voice thundering, his arms raised, poised for defense…or attack? I begin to wonder he is bosses people around without even realizing it, "You know you cannot beat me with fire bending, Avatar, you can barely produce for than ten flames at a time."
"Who says I'll use fire bending?" Aang calls, attitude and violence shining through, violence from my sweet Aang, the once peaceful monk, the rightful bringer of peace.
I did this to him. I changed him, look what I've done to him!
I'm too frightened of what Aang will say to me to rush out and stop him. What if he tries and hurts me? What if he spat hateful words at me? I would die; I would sooner die than hear him say something awful to me, purposefully hurt me. I would heal my injuries but it would stay with me forever, the mental scar, even more daunting than Zuko's, that Aang had hurt me...
Zuko's cockiness disappears as he remembers that yes, Aang can bend more than fire. He's the greatest bender in the world, he's the Avatar.
He is no match for Aang, he knows this, Aang knows this, and I know it. So I have to stop them.
But before I can even move, Aang wilts like a flower that is blocked from the sunlight. His face resumes its hopeless expression. Zuko relaxes, but continues to watch Aang with caution.
"I'm sorry," Aang murmurs, "I should have more control, more dignity than that…I was acting like a spoilt child, I'm sorry." He hangs his head and makes to leave.
"Wait." Zuko calls, and Aang looks to him, wincing slightly, as if expecting a punishment, "Are you ok with…me and Katara?" He weighs those last three words on his tongue, as if that would make the blow more gentle, the blow of hearing him refer to us as a couple.
Aang thinks for a while, just staring at something behind Zuko, who's watching him intently. The winds tease their clothes so that they float around them, making them seem spectral and distant and not part of this world, as if I'm looking through a window into their lives. They both look so beautiful standing there, one of them safe and assuring, happy and lovable, the other wild and dangerous, gorgeous and desirable.
It tears my heart in two.
"I will be." Aang answers, loud and clear. And with that, he walks over and picks up his glider, which is lying only a few feet away from my hiding place. I recline even further into the shadows, my heart beating wildly. But Aang doesn't see me, which hurts even more.
With one swift movement, he's gone, soaring away from me like a graceful swan-eagle. He disappears as he is swallowed by the approaching mist, its fingers probing towards Zuko and me, who are still on a high part of the mountain. Zuko is watching the spot where Aang had vanished, his hair and clothes whipping around him in the gathering wind and I'm watching Zuko, emotions seeping through my skin and into my veins.
I decide to reveal myself.
"Zuko," I call. He jumps, and whirls around.
"W-when did you get here?" He asks, watching me closely.
"Just now." I lie, not looking him in the eye, "What are you doing up here?"
"Waiting for you." He tells me, and pulls me into an embrace. I stand there, pressed into his broad chest, listening to his brisk heartbeat and I relax. After a while, I wrap my arms around him and hug him close, my eyes squeezed shut, imagining that it is just him and me, alone on a mountain, with no one else waiting below, waiting to stare at me stonily and ignore my apologies, my words of defense.
After a while, my mouth is with his, and I pour myself into him, I let my hands wander and forget that it's me, gentle, innocent Katara. The kiss deepens, because I am no longer subtle, hasty Katara. I let myself go and I grab onto Zuko, my island, my sanctuary.
I'm not myself anymore.
But I don't need to be when I have Zuko, who's running from himself anyway.
We'll run together.