I finally wrote something short! Go me! (This one is much lighter than yesterday's.)
Day Four
Necklace
Aang was always a little uncomfortable whenever he and Katara visited the Fire Nation.
He knew he shouldn't be. It was always good to see Zuko and being in the warm, tropical heat made Katara happy. It took him a while to put his finger on what exactly about being in the Fire Nation filled him with such discomfiture, but around the time of their fourth visit, it finally dawned on him.
"Zuko!" Katara called across the throne room with a friendly wave. Aang walked at her side wearing a large smile as Zuko looked up from some documents he'd been quietly perusing. The two of them had been around so many times by this point that their visits no longer warranted a royal announcement.
Zuko's face split into a smile and he stood from his seat to greet them. "Aang, Katara. I was wondering when you'd be by." He clasped Aang's hand in a brotherly fashion and then turned to Katara and wrapped her up in a fond hug.
There it was. The feeling of frustration that niggled whenever they came here. Aang realized he was frowning and quickly wiped the expression from his face.
Zuko grinned as Katara squeezed him tightly. When they released each other, Zuko gestured for her and Aang to follow him. They followed as he led them from the throne room and out to the gardens where they often went to catch up. As they walked, they made small conversation. Aang asked simple questions about the Fire Nation and Katara talked about some of the things the two of them had been up to since their last visit. Aang was only half focused on the conversation however as he found himself becoming increasingly distracted by the way Katara would put her hand on Zuko's arm while speaking and ruffle his hair while making a comment about how he never changed it. Again, he felt frustration rise within him. Shaking his head to banish the feeling, he turned Zuko's attention back to him by asking about Mai and how she and Zuko were getting along.
Zuko crossed his arms at the question and Aang watched his happy smile fade. "She's…normal."
Aang raised a brow at this. "I never see her when we come to visit. She must be pretty busy."
Zuko sighed and shook his head. "She's not. She just…gets moody whenever you guys come by. I've had about a million talks with her about it but she won't tell me the reason." He shrugged then and seemed to brush the matter away as he asked, "How was Omashu, by the way? I heard you had a disastrous visit with Bumi last month."
Katara snorted. "Oh, yeah. He and Aang went mail sledding and destroyed a whole city block. Don't ask how."
Normal conversation resumed and in a matter of minutes they were outside and settling onto a blanket by Zuko's favorite pond. A servant came by and laid out some platters of small snacks along with a pot of tea. They continued to talk and Aang tried not to be uncomfortable by the way Zuko smiled softly and watched Katara attentively as she talked about old times. "And you remember those pirates you hired to capture us? Well, Aang and I ran into them a few weeks ago and you'll never guess what they're doing now. They've started a law firm to defend victims of fraud!"
She laughed out loud at the memory and Zuko joined her, his face crinkling up in genuine mirth. Aang's eyebrows rose in surprise. They were laughing about the same pirates that Zuko had hired to attack them back when he'd still been hunting them. Aang had always thought those memories were a sore spot for Katara, but she was talking about them as if they were fond recollections of good-natured hijinks.
Zuko reined in his laughter and Aang saw his gaze shift downward just slightly to look at Katara's neck. A spark of curiosity appeared in his golden eyes and he leaned toward Katara to inspect the locale. Delicately, he reached out and touched the necklace she always wore, lifting the pendant in his fingers. "Speaking of those pirates, I see that you've had the band on your necklace repaired." He looked up into Katara's eyes for confirmation.
Katara nodded. "Yeah. It was getting pretty worn so I took it to a silk shop while we were in Omashu and had it restored."
Aang's brow furrowed. She'd done that? He hadn't noticed. More than that, though, why was Katara letting Zuko touch her necklace as if it was nothing? Did she not remember the time he'd stolen it from her? Did that mean nothing to her now?
Come to think of it, when he thought of all the times when he'd felt frustrated or uncomfortable while in the Fire Nation, it always seemed to stem from the way Katara and Zuko interacted. He knew they'd become close after Zuko took her to find her mother's killer and that bond had remained after the end of the war, but weren't they a little too close? Of all their friends, Katara was always the most excited to see Zuko. And whenever they were around each other they were always touching and standing near each other and laughing about something or other. When had that started, exactly?
When had Katara and Zuko become bestest buddies?
Without his consent, his mind pulled up a scene from that terrible play they'd seen back when they'd been hiding out on Ember Island. "I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."
Abruptly, Aang stood. Katara and Zuko looked up at him in confusion.
"What's up, Aang?" Katara asked, surprised by the sudden motion.
Aang tightened his hands into fists at his sides and in a controlled voice said, "I'm going to go see if there are any more of those nut cakes in the kitchen."
Not waiting for Katara or Zuko to acknowledge his declaration, he turned on his heel and walked briskly away back toward the palace. He needed some time to himself to sort out his thoughts.
It was going to be a while before they next visited the Fire Nation, that was for sure.
oO0Oo
Jealous Aang is jealous. I don't blame him, though. Tossing out the whole deplorable comics canon, I imagine it would be pretty tough for Aang to see how well Katara and Zuko get along with each other after the war. I mean, Zuko jumped in front of lightning for Katara. You know that bond is unshatterable.
Also, it's probably become apparent already that I don't jive with Mai. I can handle writing Katara and Aang in a relationship for the drama but I just can't do the same with Mai and Zuko. I hate that relationship. It's so toxic and horrid and it just makes me sad to think of Zuko stuck in it. I always imagine that they'd break up again like a week after the war.
That being said, I'm now going to shamelessly direct your attention to Boogum's epic 'The Undying Fire' for a much more awesome way in which Mai's character could be handled and also a surprise relationship that will totally rock your socks with how unexpectedly awesome it is.
