Disclaimer: I… don't… own… Avatar:theLastAirbender.
A/N: Hey all my dedicated readers. Okay, maybe you people aren't dedicated, considering I've gotten 211 hits and 8 reviews, but we can fix that. Right? RIGHT??? Okay, whatever. All I want is some reviews, people, can you do that for me? Thanks. Okay, in the beginning of the chapter, Zuko might seem a little out of character, but whatever. So, I hope everyone's enjoying the story, and my other stories, my favorite of which is Forgive and Forget. Oh, and I'm doing my own version of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows epilogue, so any Harry Potter fans that were not satisfied with the epilogue provided, I'm going to add on my own thoughts coupled with J.K. Rowling's to make my own epilogue. So yeah, I think this is the longest author's note I've ever written, so I'm going to stop.
Katara walked around the area surrounding the new campsite. They had been traveling daily, seeing as Azula was back and hot on their trail. Zuko had proved useful in this aspect, though. He knew his sister, and knew what she was likely to do. So now, Katara was walking in the forest, looking for the hot springs she had seen from the sky on the way there.
At the same time, Katara was also thinking about Zuko. They had grown much closer over the last two weeks, and now instead of just tolerating each other's presence, they were able to get along, while also flirting with each other and always trying to get each other's attention. That was why Sokka was now not speaking to either of them; Zuko liked getting on Sokka's nerves to begin with, and the flirting was just another tool for him; Katara was just trying to get closer to Zuko, even though she knew by doing this she was killing Sokka.
Katara had just rounded the bend to the hot springs, when Zuko jumped up behind her and grabbed her. She shrieked, but it soon turned into laughter as Zuko spun her around. When he put her down, her face was still alive with laughter, and they stood there and stared at each other. Zuko was smiling as well (this was a big thing for him, and it had been happening more and more over the last two weeks).
After couple minutes of standing there holding each other and looking into each other's eyes, Zuko spoke. "You have the most amazing eyes, Katara," he said. This caused her to bow her head and flush. When she picked her head up again, she said, "Thank you. I like your eyes too. They always…"
"They always what?" Zuko asked curiously.
"They always make me feel warm, like there's an inferno blazing in them," Katara said, before bowing her head and blushing deeply again. Zuko smiled gently, and took her chin in his hand and raised her face to look at him. "Thank you. Your eyes always remind me of the ocean. They always seem like there are waves tumbling in them, and when you're angry, it seems like a storm on the sea, all right in your eyes," Zuko told her.
All Katara could do was look at him, look into those eyes like fire. Zuko was also looking at her, and before he knew what he was doing, he had leaned down, and she had leaned forward and up, and their lips met in a light kiss.
After they pulled away, Katara said quietly, "We should probably get back, before Sokka jumps to conclusions."
"Sure," Zuko said, leaning down to kiss her once more before letting her go, save for her hand. The two of them then walked back to the camp, letting go of each other just before entering the clearing.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Aang was getting much farther in his training with Zuko and Iroh. So far, he had only been late one more time, and he was now able to control the fire, use it for offense and defense, and he was now going to learn to make it into different shapes (like a fire whip). He walked through the forest to where Iroh was waiting for him in a small clearing.
Before he could ask when they would be starting, Iroh said, "We are just waiting for Zuko; when he gets here, we may begin." As he finished saying this, Zuko walked into the clearing.
Aang and Iroh both noticed that he was especially happy, for some odd reason. He was never happy when he came to teach Aang…. But that was cast aside as Zuko suddenly attacked Aang.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Aang shouted at him, jumping aside to avoid the blast.
"We're sparring today. Now, start defending yourself. Maybe even try an attack," Zuko told him before shooting another fire blast at him.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
By the end of the training session, Katara, Sokka, and Toph had come to watch, and Aang had been knocked down too many times to count. Now, Zuko was standing over him again with a flame to his throat. He stepped back and held out a hand to Aang, which he took gratefully.
"We're done for today. Be ready; we'll be doing this every other day from now until you can beat me. Who knows, if you ever do beat me, maybe we'll let you move onto Uncle," Zuko told him, beginning to walk away. He made a curt nod to Sokka as he passed, then gave Katara a look that he hoped said: Meet me at the springs.
Luckily, Katara did understand, and said to Sokka, Toph, and Aang, "I'm going to the springs to practice. I'll see you guys at dinner." She then walked back to the camp, grabbed a towel, and continued on to the springs.
When Katara reached the springs, she immediately shed her outer clothing and sank into the water to relax for a moment. She knew Zuko would be giving Iroh a cover story before escaping. After sitting for a minute, she stood up and began to bend the water around her, practicing some of the stances Zuko had taught her while still merging them with her waterbending stances to make them more smooth.
She did not realize it when Zuko came up to the bank and began to watch her. He found it soothing to watch Katara surrounded in her element, which he guessed was why he was feeling so happy lately. He stood there for a minute before getting an idea.
As Katara was doing an especially noisy set of movements, he slipped into the springs, wearing only a wrap around his… well, you know. So, as she moved around the springs, he came up from behind her soundlessly and grabbed her legs from under the water. She shrieked as she was hoisted up into Zuko's strong arms, but relaxed as soon as she realized it was him.
"Spirits, Zuko, you must be trying to give me a heart attack, scaring me so much," Katara said, punching him on the arm playfully. She was smiling as she said this, reassuring Zuko that she was not angry with him.
He smiled back as he replied, "How did you figure that out so quickly? You must be catching on to my 'evil schemes' again!" using Sokka's constant phrase that he was up to something. They both laughed for a moment before it subsided and they stood there in each other's arms.
How did I end up so lucky, to have Katara actually like me, and maybe even more! I started out as just a banished prince/firebending teacher for the Avatar, and now I'm Katara and Aang's friend, Toph's acquaintance, I guess, and Sokka's worst nightmare! I'm so glad I came with Uncle… Zuko thought as he looked down at Katara. He stared into her eyes and felt himself getting lost in them, but didn't look away.
How did this even happen? First, Zuko's our enemy, chasing us all over the world, and now suddenly he likes me, just like I like him. Not that I mind though, it just happened so fast! I wonder how far this will go; will we stay at this point of friendship/love or go all the way? I'm not sure I'm ready for a major commitment for now, but it could be nice later in life… were Katara's thoughts as she looked at Zuko's eyes. They were like fiery pools of amber, and she always thought she could feel heat emanating from them whenever she looked into them like this.
Finally Zuko was able to tear himself away from Katara's eyes, and he put her down in the water carefully. She still hung onto him, her arms wrapped around his neck, as his were still on her waist. He leaned down and put his forehead against hers, whispering, "You know I love you, right?"
Katara looked up into Zuko's eyes and said, "I do." Then, she stood up on her toes and kissed him. He leaned down into the kiss, deepening it by tilting his head slightly. As he did so, he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, asking her permission to enter.
Neither of them realized what was happening when all of a sudden, the water around them was bubbling and bursting, as if a volcano had suddenly erupted beneath their feet. Katara and Zuko broke apart, still holding each other and trying not to fall down as they stumbled out of the spring. They then looked around for the source of the commotion, as they were sure that an underwater volcano had not erupted beneath their feet.
A few feet away from the springs was Aang, his face contorted with a mixture of anger, sadness, and confusion. His chest was heaving, and he had tears in his eyes.
Katara broke away from Zuko with a warning glance and walked over to Aang. She reached out to touch Aang's arm and said, "Aang? Are you okay?" As she said this, Aang flinched away from her and turned around to walk back into the forest with his head bowed.
Katara's eyes began to water as she watched her heartbroken friend slump and stumble into the forest, not paying any mind to where he was going. She turned around to see Zuko right behind her, and she immediately fell into his arms and cried. He just held her, knowing that he should feel jealous that she cared that much about Aang, but only feeling sorry, for both Aang and Katara.
Zuko and Katara stayed there until dusk began to fall, when she lifted her head, sniffing and wiping her eyes roughly with the back of her hand and gathering herself together. Zuko took her face in his hands and turned it upward, where she refused to meet his eyes.
"Katara," he said, wiping her tears with his thumbs. This caused her to look up at him, and he saw that her eyes were still swimming with tears. "Don't worry. Aang will be fine. He just needs some time to get used to the idea of us. If he doesn't come back by tomorrow morning, you can go and look for him, but he needs some time alone. Now come on; we need to get back to camp for dinner. Plus, I think now we'd better tell Sokka, Toph, and my uncle about us. They'll need to know why Aang isn't there, if he isn't, and it's time they knew. We can figure it out on the way back. I'm here for you," he said softly. This last statement caused the tears in her eyes to spill over, and she buried herself in his arms again.
Zuko smiled slightly and pulled her back, leaning down to kiss her softly before taking her hand in his and walking away. Katara followed along next to him, deep in her own thoughts, but still paying attention whenever Zuko made a suggestion about what to tell their 'family'.